Clarissa walked into a meeting room. Inside of it Mikasa, Armin, Captain Levi, Commander Hange, and Commander Erwin were sitting down at the table. By the looks of it Clarissa was the last to the little meeting. Clarissa was in the middle of helping with cooking lunch when someone came up to her and told her Commander Erwin needed to talk with her in the meeting room. She had no idea that other people would be there.
Clarissa saluted before she sat down at the table. "Looks like you finally showed up. We can start now." Commander Erwin said. Clarissa nodded and looked over to Armin and Mikasa. By the looks of it they didn't have a clue of what was happening either.
"As you three know there has been a lot of… hate towards the Survey corps in the last couple of months." Commander Erwin said. Clarissa, Armin, and Mikasa all nodded. In the last five or six months there had been articles in different newspapers about how the Survey Corps is useless. Mostly because of the large casualties of the last expedition that happened a month prior to the uproar. And a year after Alina left to join the military. Sixty-two percent of the Survey Corps were taken out during that expedition. Leading to very small numbers of recruits. This year there was only nine new recruits.
"We have decided to-"
"Promotional work!" Commander Hange cuts off Erwin. Erwin looked over at her stunned and he nodded. Clarissa raised her eyebrows.
"Promotional work?" Clarissa asked. Commander Erwin and Commander Hange nodded.
"You will be going to Ermich district to walk around and talk to people." Captain Levi said. Commander Erwin and Commander Hange nod.
"Why us?" Mikasa asked putting together the pieces. Captain Levi looked out the window waiting for anyone else to explain.
"You three, Section Commander Hange, and Captain Levi will all be going to Ermich. Mikasa had chosen because of her combat abilities. Armin for his social skills, and Clarissa for her kindness towards children." Commander Erwin said. The three of them nodded.
"When do we have to head out?" Armin asked.
"In two hours." Captain Levi said then he stood up and walked out of the room. Clarissa looked over at Armin and Mikasa waiting for something to happen.
"You guys can go back to what you were doing." Commander Erwin said. The three stood up. They began to leave the room when Commander Hange stood up.
"Clarissa, I would like to speak with you." Commander Hange said. Clarissa stopped walking out of the door and turned around. Commander Erwin stood up and left the room along with Armin and Mikasa.
"What would you like to speak with me about?" Clarissa asked walking up to the table after the front door was closed.
"I have an update on Alina, here." Commander Hange said taking a paper out of her pocket. Clarissa smiled and took the paper from her hand.
"Thank you Ma'am." Clarissa said looking down at the paper in her hand. Commander Hange nodded then walked to the door.
"I will notify the rest of the people working in the kitchen that you will be absent until lunch." Commander Hange said with her hand on the doorknob. Clarissa nodded and looked up at her.
"Thank you," Clarissa said. Commander Hange nodded and left the room. Clarissa sat down at the table and opened the paper. Ever since Alina joined the military Commander Hange had been getting Clarissa status reports of Alina every two or three months. It was just a simple status reports. But Clarissa was always waiting for them.
The note read:
Alina Everdeen, 15, in second year of training,
Everdeen is excelling in her ODM abilities. Her small size is very helpful in that area. She is somewhat talented in titan killing, she is improving every day. Her academic ability leaves some things desired, but she can still keep up with the others. Though her observation skills are off the charts. She would definitely be helpful during any expedition.
The only thing she excels at, other than ODM, is teamwork. She is always really social when it comes to team exercises. There has never been one situation where she hasn't been kind or helpful to her comrades.
Clarissa folded up the paper and sighed. Every letter was the same. Saying how she is talented at ODM gear, and teamwork, and how she isn't the best when it comes to academic abilities, but how she is amazingly talented at observation. It wasn't a surprise at all when she got the first report. Everything ever written in them are things that Clarissa expected.
After lunch Commander Hange, Captain Levi, Armin, Mikasa, and Clarissa were on their way to Ermich. They traveled in two different carriages. Captain Levi and Commander Hange in one, and Armin, Mikasa, and Clarissa in the other one. It was an hour long trip, but once they arrived there was a large crowd.
The three got out of the carriages and were instantly meeted with a large crowd around them. No one was talking, they were just watching. Commander Hange walked up to the three.
"Walk around a little, talk with people!" Commander Hange said with a smile. Then she turned away and walked into the crowds of people. Clarissa looked over at Armin and Mikasa. They both shrugged. Clarissa took in a deep breath then she started wondering around. Armin and Mikasa did the same. Captain Levi was off somewhere with a crowd of fangirls around him. Commander Hange was speaking with a crowd of people about titans. Mikasa was standing in the middle of the crowd just looking around. Armin was following Clarissa into the crowds.
It was obvious that Commander Hange and Captain Levi had done this before. But Clarissa had absolutely no idea what to do. As she was walking someone walked up to her.
"Why are the Survey Corps here?" The woman asked. She looked middage and had long blonde hair.
"Because we had a free day and wanted to come hang out with people." Clarissa said with a smile. Armin stopped beside her. Everyone around Clarissa were watching her.
"Shouldn't you guys be off trying to figure out how to block up Trost?" The woman asked crossing her arms. Clarissa shrugged half-heartedly.
"We are, we are working constantly. I myself am part of Section Commander Hange's squad. Part of her job is to research different ways to figure out how to block up the whole in Trost. Meaning, part of my job is to research as well. I can assure you that we have spent the last year and a half on research." Clarissa said. The woman shook her head.
"But why are you here instead of researching?" The woman asked. Clarissa nodded.
"Because we needed some air. We needed a break to refresh our minds. I am sorry if you do not think we are doing everything we can, but rest assured we are working as hard as we can on it." Clarissa said. The woman nodded.
"What, what exactly are you doing? The Survey Corps keeps promising they are working towards a solution. But we aren't getting any answers!" The woman yelled drawing the attention of Captain Levi that was nearby. Commander Erwin did warn them that there may be some upsetting conversations. But Clarissa was not really prepared to answer every single question.
"I would tell you, but it is confidential." Clarissa said. Armin took a step back.
"It's always confidential! What is confidential? What have you guys been working on this whole time that is so confidential?!" The woman yelled. Everyone in the crowd was now looking at them. Clarissa took a deep breath to try and find an answer.
"There is nothing that I can tell you, other than we have a method of closing the hole. If I would say anything else, I am afraid I would not be able to help with the whole fixing up." Clarissa said with a smile. The woman shook her head then turned away. Captain levi walked up to Clarissa after the woman walked away.
"Next time, don't tell anyone something confidential." Captain Levi said. Clarissa nodded.
"Sorry sir," Clarissa said. Captain Levi nodded then walked away.
"Clare, you handled that better than I would have." Armin said. Clarissa turned to him and she raised an eyebrow.
"Really? I should've let you handle that! I messed up, you would have done better." Clarissa said crossing her arms. Armin smiled.
"Probably not, but you didn't do bad!" Armin said. Clarissa shook her head.
"I didn't do well either. But beside that, we have work to do." Clarissa said then she walked away into the crowd. Armin followed after her. Clarissa walked around a little then ran into a group of three children, and their parents. The oldest was six, the youngest two.
"Hey miss!" The oldest said. She was a girl. Clarissa paused at the sound and turned to where the voice was coming from. "Are you from the Survey Corps?" She asked. Clarissa nodded and walked up to the small family. The mother father, and the three children. The two oldest are girls, and the youngest is a boy.
"Yes I am." Clarissa said with a smile. Armin walked up beside her. Clarissa knelt down with the children.
"What does outside the walls look like?" The middle child asked. Clarissa looked to her.
"It is nice, lots of fields, and a lot of titans, that is the not so nice part." Clarissa said. The youngest started walking off. The mother was going to walk after him. Clarissa grabbed onto him and placed him her lap.
"What do titans look like?" The oldest asked. Clarissa hummed in thought as she tickled the youngest.
"They are large," Clarissa said.
"Are they scary?" The middle one asked. Clarissa shrugged.
"They can be, they can be really scary, but I am not scared of them." Clarissa said handing you youngest up to his mother.
"You're not?" The oldest asked. Clarissa shrugged.
"Not really, I was at first." Clarissa said.
"Clare, I am going to report to Captain Levi." Armin said. Clarissa looked over at him then she nodded. Then he walked away dissapearing into the crowd.
"Why aren't you scared of them?" The oldest asked drawing back Clarissa's attention.
"Because I know I can protect myself. See my gear," Clarissa said showing her ODM gear and the carrier that holds many blades. "I can use it all to keep myself and others safe."
"What does that do?" The middle one asked pointing at ODM gear that is only slightly visible from the front view.
"Oh, that is what makes me fly. It is called ODM gear." Clarissa said. The two girls nodded.
"How long did it take for you to learn how to use it?" The oldest asked.
"Well, training is three years, but you learn how to do simple things like that early on. So I can't really tell you exactly, but we started using them a couple of months into training." Clarissa said.
"What is the hardest part of being in the Survey Corps?" The oldest asked. Clarissa hummed in thought.
"Cleaning, definitely cleaning. We have to clean our rooms everyday and we have to clean the bathrooms, and the kitchen." Clarissa said. The little girls smiled.
"We have to clean our rooms everyday." The younger one said. Clarissa nodded. Then she stood up.
"I am going to go talk with some other people, but please if you want to come talk." Clarissa said. The mother and father nodded.
"Thank you for taking time to speak with us." The father said. Clarissa nodded.
"No problem, have a great day." Clarissa said before she walked off. Clarissa walked over to Commander Hange. Commander Hange looked away from the people she was talking to. The person looked bored, Commander Hange was probably boring him. She was boring him.
"How can I help you Clarissa?" Commander Hange asked. Clarissa saluted to her.