Ninja 3006 and the retrieve of the source

The Entry

Sara lost no time heading home once school was over. She took special care of the paper Ninja 9999 had given her all the way back. As soon as she reached home, she closed all the doors and windows and drew the curtains. Then she switched on the table lamp and opened the paper. "Oh?" said Sara, "It's a map!"

She examined it carefully. On top was the heading NINJA ACADEMY and on the bottom right corner, 6:00 AM. She then tried to follow the map with a visualisation of the actual layout in her head.

"Let's see," she muttered, "Turn left from Crimson Alley, then right and walk till we reach Rochester Street. Then walk through the narrow passage and cross the road. Then comes the Inner Ring Road and, oh! That's the way to my school!"

She felt excitement mounting inside her as she ventured further.

"Then we turn right, then left, then left and, OH MY GOD! Ninja Academy is right behind my school!! Wow! she exclaimed, "A hidden secret of our school! That explains everything." She was so excited she nearly knocked over the vase beside her, which would have surely bought up chaos from her mom. For a moment, she wondered if she should tell her mom about her recruiting. Then deciding she stuck to the protocols, she remained discreet.

She focused back on the paper. There, she noticed in words so small, she could hardly read it, Press the button and scan it. It made absolutely no sense to her at that time but she decided to give the topic a rest. But she didn't take the words off her mind in case it would make sense at some point.

The next day, she woke up at 5:00 AM and got ready. She walked off to the indicated destination, which was basically her school. Then, she confronted the large, iron gates of Ninja Academy. She could see that the academy consisted of 3 floors, the top floor having only one window. Suddenly, the thought of how to enter the gates came to her mind. Panic rose as she feared she'd reach late on her first day. She looked around if there was anyone nearby to help her but it seemed deserted as if Ninja Academy were nothing but an abandoned building.

Then she saw it; on the door, there was a button and–a scanner!

The words on the paper rushed back towards her; she slowly reached for the button and pushed it. Immediately, a red laser shot out of the scanner and scanned her badge, which she had thankfully not forgotten. The doors opened slowly and she entered. The moment she had entered, the gates shut close. She cautiously approached the building, wondering if anyone would be in.

The internal environment was quite the contrary of the outside. It was as crowded as Sara's school corridors during the break. Everyone seemed busy, going on errands, engrossed in meetings, discussions and plannings. Some ninjas were barking orders at other ninjas, some shouldering and bustling past each other and in short, it resembled a fish market. As Sara looked around, a ninja advanced.

"Ya new?" he asked.

Sara nodded.

"Come along then." he lead the way till they went up one flight of stairs. None of the ninjas who passed them seemed to have noticed the new kid. Everyone seemed busy and failed to notice her.

However, halfway, the ninja stopped

"Why, ya don' have yer uniform!"

"Well, I didn't get it."

The ninja chuckled.

"Geddit? There's nuffin complicated in tha'. Jus' do this." he gave his badge an anti-clockwise turn and his black clothes turned into a red, informal tee and brown shorts. He had sandy brown hair and blue eyes. The only thing which had not changed was his mask. "The mask manual." he added, "and fo' uniform," he gave the badge a clockwise turn and he was back to the way Sara saw him first; full black. "Yer turn."

Sara turned her badge clockwise and there was a 3-second-glare of light. She closed her eyes tight, and when she opened it, she asked, "Well, how do I look?"

"Perfect," he replied with some satisfaction. "Lessgo, and fast."

They ran up the flights of stairs all the way to the top floor. Before opening the door which stood in front of them, the ninja said, "Jus' a free tip; do not show any sign of nervousness or hesitation. Ninja 9999 may tolerate it fo' firs' encounters, bu'-"

"Ninja 9999?" asked Sara, "we're about to meet him?"

Just then, the door flung open and stood Ninja 9999, sword unsheathed.

Sara trembled for a few seconds till she saw the ninja beside her stand absolutely calm. She followed his example after some time, and she held it that way till the silence was broken by Ninja 9999.

"Ah, Ninja 2369, it looks like you've told our friend here about the uniform."

"Yessir" said the ninja.

"You may leave us now." and Ninja 2369 left.

Ninja 9999 eyed Sara for a few minutes before saying, "Come in."