A NEW BEGINNING

“ Ryo, stop sleeping in my class, you lazy brat !“ said the teacher towards me, waking me up from my usual daydreaming .

“Sorry, old man—I mean, Mister Takashi,” I said in a sleepy and indifferent tone, getting up from my chair to apologize.

“Old man?!” he shouted, gripping harder the laser pointer he was using for his class. “Going back to the lecture, the Third World War—or rather, the First Nuclear War—wiped out nearly 80% of humanity 20 years ago. However, the most important aftereffect of the war is the destruction of our ozone layer. The UV rays of the sun have a tremendous impact on Earth now, changing how we live forever—”

“That’s so boring. Can you show us the holographic graffiti lantern that just came out?” said one of the class delinquents while keeping his feet on the desk.

“Yeah, that’s right! That thing can project graffiti from miles away. Isn’t it cool?” shouted another delinquent from the same gang.

“For God’s sake, is that what matters to you youngsters in this new world? Don’t you see how much sadness that war caused?”

The Third World War... I wasn’t even born when it happened, so I have no memories of how life was before that. Sad? There’s nothing sad about something I’m not interested in. However, that was not the case for her...

“Teacher, is it true that there is an enormous crater separating our enemy nation?” yelled my childhood friend, raising her hand as high as she could.

“Yes, Riko, I was going to discuss that as well. As she said, the Third World War between the Western and Eastern forces created a crater.”

We could see the gruesome nuclear attacks on our holograms, recorded by satellites 20 years ago. The whole planet was wrapped in clouds of fire, and the oceans were rising significantly.

“Say, when are we going to see inside the crater?” asked Riko in a heartbeat. You could see her eyes sparkling with curiosity; something about them was yelling adventure into the unknown.

“That is impossible. The Selenoran Nation’s army controls the crater, so you would be dead. Are you dumb?” added another one of my childhood friends while playing on his phone.

“Hmph, I’m not listening to boring people like you, Masashi,” she responded, crossing her arms and looking away.

“Attention, everyone, this is not an emergency drill. We are being attacked by the enemy. Please evacuate the school with your teacher,” said a robotic voice through the speakers, followed by loud sounds of explosions, reminding us that we were at war with the Selenorans ever since the continent split and the War of Light started.

“We’re being attacked? What are we going to do?” screamed one of the girls in the class.

“I can’t believe this is happening. I don’t want to die!” continued another girl, even more scared.

“Stay calm, kids; we’ll evacuate together soon,” said Mister Takashi, leaving his materials behind.

I looked at the window close to my desk and saw multiple robots causing chaos in the streets, along with dragon-like drones winding around the village’s houses, scanning for us. I could only think of one thing:

“I gotta go there right now and save her...” I uttered to myself before sprinting toward the exit.

“Ah, Ryo, wait!” said Riko, seeing me run away. However, I was already out and about to take the stairs.

“That wasn’t very nice of you,” said Masashi, who caught up with me.

“I need to hurry up. You take care of Riko, as always,” I said, reaching the first floor and seeing the entrance.

“Obviously. You don’t gotta tell me,” he said, unwilling to stop me from going alone. He turned his back to me and was about to go back to the class. “You’re strong, but it wouldn’t hurt to rely on people more.”

I opened the entrance doors, seeing numerous villagers running in every direction, unsure what to do.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be with everyone else? Where are you going?” said the security guard, confused why I was alone.

“Give me your gun,” I said, holding out my palm and pressing him.

“W-what are you talking about? You need to go back—”

“Just run away. You have someone to save too, right?”

I sprinted toward my house, the pistol in my hand, taking the closest route I could think of, dodging the turmoil. I stopped after seeing a house being burned to the ground but then continued, remembering she needed me. I could see it; I was very close to it when suddenly...

“Ack, what the hell is this?” I said, looking at my body. I got shot with something similar to a suction cup. However, it didn’t hurt at all. I was just... feeling increasingly tired, eventually lying on the ground.

“Neuro-leech. It inserts serotonin and melatonin into your body. You’re lucky I was passing by, kid. When were you shot?” said a soldier, cutting the thing off my body.

I-I don’t know. Just now...”

“Now? But I don’t see any enemy—”

““How convenient, being distracted by helping him. It’s my lucky day,” said another soldier, shooting him with the same thing.

“You bastard. Selenorans never fight fair,” he said, barely standing on his knees.

“I could say the same thing, Amethystian.”

I quickly pulled out my own pistol, shooting him. However, his armor reflected all of them like it was nothing.

"Too bad. I won’t let my guard down twice.”

Out of the blue, the allied soldier rapidly got up and sprawled with him.

“You think I can’t get up being a little tired?”

“Impressive, but it won’t make a difference” Said the enemy , shooting him with a pistol this time

“Impressive, but it won’t make a difference,” said the enemy, shooting him with a pistol this time. His body dropped close to me, along with his weird-looking weapon.

“It’s over. Any last words?” he said, reloading his gun.

I could do nothing to him; not even bullets or the experienced Amethystian damaged him. However, all I could see from this havoc... was the weapon he dropped. I picked it up, and it read “raybeam” on it. I felt powerful holding the gun. I felt like I could achieve my dreams. I felt like I could save her. I felt like this weapon had searched for me this whole time, and I would regret not holding it. I pulled the trigger, and the only thing I could see was a beam of light going through him, melting his skin instantly. However, I felt too tired to do anything after that; my eyes were gradually closing. Did I fail to save her? Am I like that stupid father too? I thought of too many things, but a voice woke me up.

“Ryo, Ryo, are you awake now? How long are you going to sleep?” said a woman in a purple military uniform.

“Where am I? Who are you?” I said, looking around the small room I woke up in.

“Rin, captain of the dispatch division,” she said, proudly showing me her badge. “You’re being transported to Apatite City via a rescue military train.”

“Hold on, stop the train! I have to go back,” I said, suddenly getting out of my bed.

“Wait, wait, wait, calm down. We cannot do that,” she said while putting her hands on my shoulders. “Why would you want to go back to that madness?”

“My mom... she’s been sick for years and in a coma. She can’t move from her bed! I gotta save her.”

“Relax, Ryo. She’s been transported as well with another train,” said Masashi, entering the train’s room.

“Masashi... is Riko with you? It’s good you escaped too.”

“Yeah, Captain Rin will explain it to you now.”

“Listen, I’ll be straightforward. You have two options now: either join the military in order to get a free place to stay, or be sent back when you’re recovered.”

“Free place? Can the military provide that so easily?”

“The army can provide anything for its soldiers. The more you advance in your rank, the better it gets. It’s been like this since we started the war.”

“Anything, huh? Do they also have a cure for a sickness?”

"I’ve never heard that request before but it could , though I’m not sure “

I felt like a new opportunity arose, even in the midst of this chaos. Perhaps it was a good thing this happened, no matter how cold-hearted it might sound. Needless to say, I wouldn’t refuse any chance to help my mother. I had always hoped to find a great power to help me do it.

"Count me in," I simply said, getting off my bed.