The journey from my old home was long and I have been feeling sleepy since I got here. However, between finding a place for Pringles and digesting my fiasco in the kitchen, it took some time for me to get my bearings again.

As I lay down to sleep, I couldn’t help but feel antsy. Worried about how I should’ve reacted and what was waiting for me. I had the best bed that I ever lay down in my life and I couldn’t enjoy it. So much work to do, so many things to change.

It was hard to concentrate. Thoughts raced through my mind, making it impossible to relax. Despite my struggles, the melodic lullaby of the weary came for me eventually, catching me off guard just when I thought I would spend a restless night. I let go and in the next second I was...

In a completely empty space.

“Hello again, Ern.” The voice rang right beside me, but all around me was just whiteness as far as the eye could see. It was only when I turned back that I catched the hint of what looked like a black man in a suit sitting in an oval chair far away from me. The chair was completely white like the rest of the room. I couldn’t see his face from that distance, but the deep voice was unmistakable.

“Cedric.” I nod and in the time that it took to lower my head and look up again the distance had vanished. My colleague was standing a couple feet from me now.

My tall friend stood up and shook my hand. “It is good to see you again, Ern. You’re looking good.”

That was when I realized that I was using The Company suit for the very first time. My pistol and my horologium with me.

“It is strange seeing in uniform once again. What is all this?” I said, looking around. My arms were open, trying to gesticulate the absurdity of all of this.

“You should be getting used to it by now, Ern. To not know.”

“I should, but I am stubborn.”

A faint trace of a smile flashed on his face.

“This is the reality that the time-capsule is able to produce.” As if on cue, a yellow seed appeared next to us. It touched the floor with a soft sound and began to grow right in front of our eyes. Years happening in seconds. Cedric’s chair already gone.

“Are we going to see each other like this now?”

“I am afraid not. It is safe for you to communicate like this, but my circumstances are different. I will contact you here from time to time, but how often I can not say.”

“So why am I here?”

“To give you the thing that you are craving.”

“According to Molly, I’m already rich.”

“That is not what you’re after and that is not what we promised to provide you.” Cedric picked up a fruit from the freshly made tree. “What we have here is far more precious. This room will give you the means to learn what you need to know and the training to know how to use it.”

The single tree now stood imposingly, more seeds growing into trees, the floor painted in a deep brown color. My colleague let me witness the spectacle in silence until the empty space formed a clearing surrounded by thick vegetation.

“Use it as much as you possibly can. The more upgrades you have the more it is going to cost you.” Cedric's body began to crumble, first his shoes, then slowly working its way upperwards to the rest of his body. “Your first week has been paid, the rest is on you. Good luck.”

“Cedric.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for the paintings.”

“Sure, Ern.” The vegetation kept growing. The blank sky contrasted with the growing flowers, trees and plants, forming a fractured ecosystem.

There was no time to ponder what I'm supposed to do here all by myself, since a distinct tingling sound could already be heard in the distance. As time went by, a slouch black hat appeared among the thicket before a fully dressed cowboy made its appearance.

Every step of his spoke of confidence, through his open coat I could see his hand resting on his pistol while the other held a cigar.

“Howdy, partner.” His accent was thick, just like I’ve seen so many times in the movies. “My name is Milch. David Milch.” He extended his hand, his vice-like grip almost sent me to tears, while I tried my best to keep it cool. He wasn’t impressed.

“I am Ernest. Ernest Montgomery. You are my new teacher I presume.” His dark hat combined with his angular chin and thick moustache made for a striking appearance. He had long grey hair going all the way to his waist, the exotic match up somehow increasing his gravitas.

“That's right.” He put his hand inside his embroidered vest and pulled out a cigarette case. He opened the lid and offered me a cigarette. Everything he did had a fluid motion to it, his body slim and graceful despite his rough look.

I politely declined, raising my open palm. He insisted on it, jabbing the case towards me. “No thanks, but I appreciate the generosity.”

He threw the butt of his lit cigarette away and stepped in it with his brown boot, an exquisite pattern sewn into it. “I didn’t ask you if you want it.”

It took a second for me to realize that the cigarette case looked Company made. The clock wheels ran through the glistening metal, different shades of black giving the distinct feel. I pulled the cig from the case and it lit instantly. I let it hang between my fingers, watching the man’s face. His mouth formed a thin line, noticeable even through the canopy that surrounded it.

“Put it in your mouth.” He nodded, pressuring me to do it. I decided to just let the silence linger, not obeying his wishes. Smoking was a nasty habit that I didn’t want to partake so late in my life.

His eyebrows furrowed as his mouth tightened even further. “Junior, we don’t get cancer. Now, put that goddamn cigarette in your mouth before I lose my patience.” He said through clenched teeth.

I just had to ponder for a second before I put the non-cancer stick in my lips. The moment I did dizziness took hold of me. I spat the foul thing and my world got back to focus once again. The cigarette vanished immediately without even singing the shrubs of grass that filled the floor.

Butch Cassidy over here lit another cigarete and gave it to me. “This isn’t just for you to suck on, pal.” I held it like a joint due to sheer inexperience. “Before you can use your gun right you have to know how to do this in the right way too.”

Once again, the cigarette threw me completely off balance before I managed to find a way to endure the sensation. It was hard to feel at ease as I saw everything around me at once, three hundred and sixty degrees.

“Okay, keep going now.” I saw his head bobbing up and down, seeming like he was going somewhere with this experiment. I kept inhaling and exhaling. The world seemed to go back to focus step by step. I still could see everything around me, my blindspots completely gone, but the experience was not as daunting as it was in the beginning. After fifteen minutes and twenty two seconds, I became somewhat used to watching the world through this new perspective, that is until I noticed something. A muzzle carefully hidden behind a tree. This gunman behind it looked exactly like my teacher, his face constricted in anger, one eye closed, the other aiming through the crosshairs of a rifle, which had my back as the target.

I spit the cigarette again. Jumping, I drew my pistol while I was still in the air and pointed straight towards David. “Bang, bang!” I get shot once in the back, the bullet piercing my heart and another in the face right between my eyebrows, blood flows freely from both bullet holes. The second shot, immediately stopping the pain I felt from the first. Twirling his pistol back to the holster, Milch watched, indifferent towards my fatal wounds.

His lips twitched downwards before settling back to his usual scowl. “Not bad, kid. Not bad at all.”

The bullet wound closed, leaving without a trace. The pain also faded. Recovering my bearings, I noticed that I was still on my knees. David didn’t so much as lend a hand for me to get back on my feet.

“I guess I can’t die here, right?”

“You're a bright one, that’s for sure.” He spitted what I hoped was tobacco. A full cowboy package.

“Where did I go wrong?”

He shrugged. “Thinking about the expectation I had on you and all, you did alright. The truth is that you and I will have a jolly good time together and you will die. You will die all the fricking time.” His voice held a very melodic tone. Not very reassuring. “Now let me show you how to squeeze that thing of yours.” Milch snorted at his own joke.

We spent all the remaining time trying to make myself better at controlling my new way of seeing the world, it was almost six hours of uninterrupted practice. He showed me something that he called focus points. The cigarettes, my gun, my pocket clock; they all served the same purpose as anchors for me to ground my ability.

He showed me how to unlock the same view and how to use it with the other two. The best way to do it when you have a revolver, according to him, was to just rest my hand on the butt of my weapon, just like he had done when we met. He said that it looked harmless and it was a good habit to maintain. It might be a good habit, but only a savage would see the gesture as non-threatening.

At the very end he showed me how to use the Colt. He showed me how to hold, how to aim, and how to breathe. He was a ruddy man and a lousy teacher, but he didn’t seem straight up evil, as far as I could tell.

“What I want you to do from now on is to keep this gun with you at all times.” He looks me up and down. I could see his moustache dancing to whatever he was chewing at that moment. “You got heart kid, but you soft as butter. Gotta toughen up.” He shook his head. “You got to sleep with your gun. You brush your teeth with your gun. You scratch your ass with your gun. You have to use it so much that you feel like you’re naked with your little finger dangling when you’re without it. Do you understand?”

“Use my gun at all times, sir.”

David snorted. “That’s right, junior. Just between you and me since we’re good friends and all. Don’t fall for all the crap you gonna hear tomorrow. To be one with the essence… It is the only way.” It seemed like he was imitating somebody, probably my next teacher. He slaps me on the back, chuckling. “I’m just telling you to make sure you don’t end up a entitled prick just like your scumbag teacher and the rest of you lot, alright?” He winked at me.

The man had no class. “What do you mean by it?”

“You’ll see.” He looked upwards towards the blank space. “Here is the important thing though. Orion sent you another upgrade, accept it.” His image began to crumble as he finishes the sentence, his face still holding his stupid grin.

I didn’t care too much about his remarks, but it wouldn’t hurt for me to keep an eye open on whoever was next. My musings were interrupted by a strong tingling in my feet, I looked down and saw that my body was also crumbling.