Arc 1 - Chapter 14: Prepare For ... The Array

(Prominis 19, 58 / 6:00PM)

Four years later.

“Class dismissed! You guys are finished with your last day of training! I hope you all do well on the final test!” Yelled Jerry, dismissing the class full of teens and young adults. Like usual, he was the first one to walk out of the classroom, his face lightened and calm.

‘Maybe this is the day’ thought Jerry.

All of the 14 candidates began to pack up their things, pushing in their chairs as they began their leave. Luke, now 16 years old, looked out the old window to see the sky turned a sleepy orange.

—Guess this is it…

Getting up from his seat and pushing in his chair, he walked toward the calendar on the back of the room. As he stared at today’s date, Fred, his best friend, walked over beside him too, along with Luke’s other friends.

“Why do we have 24 months in a year?” Said Fred.

“Because Terra goes around the sun in 24 months?”

“Yeah, but how come we’re both 16 and not eight?”

Both boys didn’t tap their chins with their fingers, but just stared motionless at the black and white calendar.

“It’s quite simple dumbasses. We all have two birthdays in the same year. One year is an odd, and the other an even.” Said Gary.

“I said the question in a more philosophical tone …” Muttered Fred.

As the friend group huddled around the calendar like a pack of vultures, Luke couldn’t remain still. Turning to a girl who stared at him, she averted her eyes away, her hands clenched together over her stomach.

Since Fred was near Luke, he placed his arm over his neck, pulling him in so he could whisper. Having his mouth right beside his ear, Fred’s right lip pushed up to the bottom of his ear.

“Just ask her out man, the worst she could say is no.”

“She is … kind of cute …”

“Then?”

“There’s her though…”

Luke let his eyes trail to a woman sitting on her desk, a 20 year old who glared at them with a sparkle of dominance.

Four years prior, Luna was feared, talked about like an infamous serial killer. Now, she was more of an annoyance, with even Luke’s friends just calmly looking at her from afar.

“You always attract either the shyest or the craziest…” Said Stan.

Getting up from her seat, she pushed in her chair as she began her walk toward the boy group. Her hands resting on her waist, the group of boys all turned to silently look at her.

In the past four years, Luke hit a growth spurt, putting him an inch taller than she was. As Luna examined Luke with her predator's eyes, she let out a smug grin.

“I’m going to need you for something.”

“Ok…”

Grabbing his wrist, both her and Luke turned around to walk out of the room, before they were stopped by a girl with blonde hair. In her way, Luna let out a hard scoff, seeing Hope’s eyes glare and pinch out of pure jealousy.

“Move.”

“No.”

“Then I’ll make you.”

Letting go of Luke’s wrist, she had her right hand balled into a fist. Thrusting her left hand to Hope’s collar, her shadow and height dominated the poor blue-eyed girl, which led Luna to slowly pull her up—

“Hello! I hope all of you are having a good evening!” Yelled out Gwen, barging into the room. Noticing both Luna and Hope going at it with each other, like always, she let out a loud sigh.

Crossing her arms underneath her flat chest, she let out a calm smirk.

“You two again? Fighting for a boy like always?”

Both Luna and Hope’s cheeks burdened red. Hope remained timid, looking down to the floor as she fiddled with her fingers. Meanwhile, Luna let go of Hope, as she pulled in her left hand into her jacket.

“Shut up! It’s not like he’s special or anything…”

“Hmmm…”

“What are you here for anyway? If it’s for a dumb reason then I’ll kick your ass!”

Gwen released her smirk, fading it into obscurity as she replaced it with flat ips. Straightening her body, she narrowed her eyes and placed her hands behind her back.

“Tomorrow, we’re going to be leaving for Fort Damns, a former major city in the country of Ticia.”

—Fort Damns … We’re going back to Ticia?

Confusion cuddled with them, leaving Luke’s friends, himself, and Luna and Hope to furrow their brows. Why would they go back to the now destroyed nation of Ticia? A dead zone of supernatural creatures such as the horde resides?

Even though they were confused, Gwen’s eyes were unwavering, as she continued to speak.

“It’s part of your last test. And yes, it will be a long drive, 13 hours give it take.

Everyone huffed out low groans from their throats, hearing the brutal journey they partake for their final test. Luke and his friends, lost in thought, raised their hands up to their chins, rubbing them softly along their skin.

—That’s a whole day’s journey. Come to think of it, what even is our final test…?

“Oh, and one last thing.”

Gwen cleared her throat once, as she raised her right hand to rub her upper stomach. Garnering everyone’s attention, she made a peace sign with her left.

“Everyone is leaving at 6 in the morning, so make sure you guys are up by 5.”

________________________________________________________________________

(Prominis 20, 58 / 5:00AM)

“GOOOOOOOOD—”

Luna stormed out of her room, sprinting furiously toward Gwen.

Half asleep, she ran on pure anger, her reddened yet sleepy eyes pinning on the metallic object Gwen wielded. Gwen, on the other hand, still maintained her carefree attitude.

Her right hand was enclosed into a fist, and with enough momentum, she thrusted it to the megaphone. Dodging her punch, as well as keeping the megaphone intact, Gwen had already lunged back, while Luna continued to seethe with a growling hum.

“I’ve had it with that thing!”

“Luna! Calm down!”

Quietly running up to her from behind, he grabbed both of her arms. Trying to hold her rage, Luna…

Was much stronger than him, as she pushed him away like an obstacle in her path. Broken free, she thrusted her body toward Gwen yet again. But then he stopped, his feet glued down to the wooden floor below.

—Oh wait, the donut!

Feeling a leftover donut from his pajama pocket, he pulled it out, his finger wrapped around the hole while jabbing it up in the air.

Like a hellhound, Luna halted her fist from throwing, pulling her arm back to her body. Sniffing the air around her like a dog-human, her eyes led to the strawberry glazed donut that had already been bitten.

Lowering his hand, he shook the donut in the hope she would be lured.

“I’m not some animal!”

“Do you want it? I mean … I could eat it if you—”

“No!”

Stomping the floor, she snatched the donut from his hand. Taking a big bite, her entire demeanor changed, and replacing her angry and frustrated avatar…

Was a closed eyed, smiling, and jolly woman who ate her donut in peace. The sugar and fluffiness of the pastry nurturing her mouth, it also soothed her soul.

—Wait, why did I have a leftover donut in my pocket to begin with?

The rest of the candidates exited out of their rooms, their eyes showered in eye bags. Their bodies sluggish, their hands motionless and low to their thighs, their eyelids wanted to shut down and resume their extra one hour of sleep.

But Gwen had startled them awake.

“Alright gang, so here’s how we are doing this. We’re taking two vans. One van would be driven by me and David, while the other would be driven by Jerry and Jenny.

From behind, David, Jerry, and Jenny came up from behind her, the three of them checking and analyzing the candidates. Uneasiness sweeping through like a plague, even the adults felt … nervous.

“There’s no seating chart, so you could sit whoever you like, but the limit is seven.”

Luke and his friends heft out a joyful sigh, smiling and nodding their heads at the statement from Gwen’s mouth. With Gwen being the leader, she led everyone to the downtown stairs floor, seeing everyone had gotten dressed.

Many minutes later.

Exiting out of the building, and prior to them eating breakfast, all of them took note of two brown spacious vans. In the back of both vans, there were two rows with four seats in between, leading the capacity to be eight.

Luke and his friends formed a big group, while Sean, Jack, and Miles were a trio, and Ryan and Cameron were a duo.

“Let's go with Gwen and David.” Said Stan.

Stan, along with Luke, Gary, Fred, and Diego all made their way to one of the vans.

“Follow me, we’re going with Jerry and Jenny.” Said Miles.

Both Jack and Sean tagged along with Miles. Ryan, who walked with Cameron, went into the same van as them. With all of the boys going into their respective vans, it only left four other candidates; who were all women.

Two women looked toward the van Luke was in, and then both, in unison, looked at one another with a glare. Hating the idea that Luke would be taken from them, one of the girls crossed her arms.

“You better go with—”

Hope sprinted her way to the van. Leaving Luna to choke on her own words, her face crimsoned a bright red.

“Get back here!”

Without pushing much of her leg muscles, she instantly grabbed a hold of Hope’s collar, as her right bicep bulged upon her strength. Knowing Luna would push her away, Hope instantly had a hold on her right arm, keeping her in place so Luna wouldn’t make her fly.

“Get off me!”

Two other girls, one being Luke and Fred’s age while the other to be 12, saw the commotion unfold.

“Come on, let those two lovebirds just handle it out.” Said Gemma.

“They should kiss!”

“Loraine!”

Loraine, the 12 year old, raised her hand to cover her mouth, as she giggled.

Gemma was the tallest girl out of the candidates, as she was barely an inch taller than Luke. Skinny, pale, she had long hair that reached down to her lower back, the color being dark brown. Having green eyes, she looked fairly pretty, her resemblance close to Gwen but without freckles.

Loraine on the other hand was the shortest. Having the same build as Gemma, her hair was wrapped in pigtails, which stretched down to her upper stomach. Her hair color was shaded black, a pink hair ribbon wrapped on top of her head, making her look more childish than she already looked.

‘So Fred really is in this van… then … .’ thought Gemma.

“Loraine, quick let’s get on—”

Just as Luna was about to karate chop Hope’s head, she decided to turn her head to look toward…

Two girls were about to enter into the van Luke was in. Gemma, the tallest girl candidate, quickly turned to look at Luna and Hope once more so—

Her face paled upon. Sweating buckets, she and Loraine scurried to the van Miles’ group was at, once she saw Luna deathly glaring at her.

‘Good riddance.’

Unfortunately for Luna, since Gemma and Loraine had already filled the last two spots, it meant Hope and her would…

‘Finally, I could sit next to Luke.’ thought Hope.

‘Damnit…’ thought Luna.

Both girls walked side by side toward the van, their throats mumbling curse words at each other. Once they reached the van, both entered at the same time, and saw…

Luke sat with Fred, Diego and Stan, while Gary—

“Hey girls!” Exclaimed Gary, sitting in the middle seat of the empty row.

Hope paid no heed to Gary and sat on the farthest seat from the door. Settling herself in shyly, a warm smile dawned upon him, his face brightening up along with Hope’s cheeks flushing a pink red.

For some reason, Luke let his eyes draw down to the floor, his hands clenched together as he tapped the floor repeatedly.

—Why am I getting jealous?

Unluckily for Gary, one woman put an end to his little plan.

“Hey fatass, switch seats with Luke.”

“Huh? Who are you calling a fatass—”

“Now.”

“Hey, be nice.” Said Luke.

“Then trade with Gary.”

Letting go of his clenched hands, he used his right to pull out another glazed donut. The flavor looking to be blueberry pie, Luna bit her lower lip, her drool circulating inside her mouth.

“I’ll give you it if you apologize. To even things out, I’ll trade seats with Gary.”

‘Oh come on!’ thought Gary.

Her glaring eyes continued to skull deep into Gary’s soul, leading him to puncture out a cold sweat. Sighing, she crossed her arms, as she placed her butt hard on the seat next to Gary.

While putting her right foot onto her left knee.

“I guess I’m sorry I called you a fatass—”

“Say it like you mean it.” Said Luke.

“Tch … sorry.”

Without bothering to look at him, she snatched the donut right out of his hand. Opening her mouth wide, she engulfed the donut in just three bites, letting the blueberry flavoring coat her teeth.

Both boys traded seats, with Luke being in the center of Hope and Luna while Gary sat with the rest of the boys. Luke, whose body swelled with nervousness, had glares perceived by not just Gary, but his own friends.

As the two vans set off from the pavement, heading East.

________________________________________________________________________

(Prominis 20, 58 / 8:03PM)

Crossing into the forest wasteland of Ticia, David’s eyes began scanning the area, scouring the trees for any sudden movements. Meanwhile, Gwen laid back deep in her seat, her sleep mixed with snoring.

‘She’s been sleeping through the entire trip.’ thought David.

Everyone in the back of the van was asleep, except for two. Stan and Luna, who woke up from the border crossing prior, let their eyelids twitch and quiver.

‘Damn border crossing…’ thought Stan.

Luke was deep asleep, as the back of his head bruised on the metallic wall from behind. Not leaning on any woman, he had his neck wrapped around by Luna’s arm, while Hope had her head leaning on his shoulder.

Luna glanced down at the sleeping boy.

‘I wish he wasn’t this shy…’ thought Luna.

Seeing Luna glare at the sleeping Hope, Stan was curious, as he placed his fingers below his chin. Staring at mostly Luna, he saw her trying to nudge his head to her shoulder, but cautiously.

“I know he’s better-looking than most boys, but why him?”

“Huh?”

“It’s pretty rare for two girls to fight over some socially awkward dude, so why?” He raised his hands to the back of his head. Slumping forward, he let his eyes turn casual, taking note of Luna’s brow furrowing up. “You’re possessive over him, yet you say you don’t ‘like’ him.”

“So?”

“You don’t seem to care about his well-being, but when another girl does…”

“What the hell are you pointing out?”

Her voice raised an inch higher than normal, but not loud enough for Luke to jolt himself up. Quietly, Stan’s eyes focused on Luna’s, his voice low but audible enough for Luna to hear.

“Let Luke decide who he wants to be with.”

“Decide?”

“If Luke was a dog-human, which partner would he rather go with?”

Her throat began to agitate, with frustration trembling her vocals like a grinder. Clenching her fingers into her palms, her body shivered relentlessly as if she was freezing. Despite her silent anger, Stan continued to talk, his eyes soon turning casual to serious.

“Dog-humans usually go for people who treat them with respect, the same goes for cat-humans, but they're mostly spoiled…” His voice began to tone up more, his body showing a cloud of confidence which blanketed his fear. Hunching his body forward, he placed his hands onto his knees. “If Luke wants to be treated with care—”

“Shut up…”

Trying not to yell, Luna’s voice was at its limit, using every vocal muscle to constrain her anger. Unfortunately for her, Stan isn’t sympathetic like Luke.

“You’ve seen the way he looks at Hope. Recall a scene where he looks at you like—”

“Shut up!”

Luna flinched out of her seat, pressuring her boots as she barely stood with a dominant stance. Unsurprisingly, everyone awoke to Luna’s outburst, including Luke and Gwen. As well as making David lose focus, he directed his voice while returning his eyes to the trees and road.

“Hey, keep it down.”

Calmly, David gave her an order, a simple request he knew Luna would barely keep. Sluggishly blinking, Luke his head turned to the frustrated tanned woman, who kept her arm wrapped around his neck.

“W-W-What happened?”

“Go back to sleep.”

“But…”

“Now.”

He followed her order, as he placed the back of his head onto the metallic wall again. Forcing himself to sleep, so did everyone else, their faces perplexed with crusty eyes and drool marks near the edge of their mouths.

“Guess I should go back to sleep.”

Having his hands placed on the back of his head, he began shutting his eyes and drifting to sleep. Tightening her arm over Luke’s neck, she looked at Luke’s resting face, causing her cheeks to blister a pinkish red from his shy snoozing.

‘After all these years, I still haven’t apologized to him’ thought Luna.

________________________________________________________________________

(Prominis 20, 58 / 9:15PM)

“We’re here!”

The van’s engine turning off, David swayed the driver door open to let himself out. Heading toward the back, he punched in the code for the lock, as he heard the mechanism shingle open. Opening both back doors, everyone huddled out, their eyes grudgingly gazing around…

It was quiet.

Despite it being night, no crickets or cicadas chirped, followed by the silenced darkness nestling the large oak trees.

In back of them, the second van pulled in right next to the first. Jerry, the driver, got out the same way David did, punching in the code to let the seven candidates out. And similar to Luke and his friends, the seven others also had sluggish eyes.

“Alright everyone, get inside that building!” Yelled David.

“Listen to what David said!” Yelled Jerry.

The 14 candidates walked toward the small white building, as they felt their legs brush against the tall grass. Pushing in through the small metal door, their eyes took in the highly darkened room, while also noticing how cramped they all fit. The outlines of the room looked to have stalls, as well as toilets…

—Is this a bathroom?

‘Why is there a sprinkler system here?’ thought Fred.

Most of everyone acknowledged the room to be a bathroom, mostly because of the stench from toilets.

“Damn, it stinks in here!” Spurted Jack.

“The pipes probably broke after six years, so try not to use any sinks or toilets.” Said Miles.

All of them pinching their noses, their faces wrinkled from the horrid stench. Unhappy, some of them turned to the door—

It closed shut.

With a loud shudder dampening the marble floor and walls. Their bodies heating up from their stress, they humidified the bathroom to enact it like a mild sauna. Cameron, the nearest soul to the door, tried to open it by pulling the handle back and forth.

“It’s locked…”

“Why did they put is in here? Aren’t we supposed to do our final test?” Said Ryan.

“What if this is—” Gemma said, before she got interrupted.

—“Welcome to the final test.”—

They all could hear a faint recording, turning their heads left and right to determine the location of the sound. Jack, whose eyes peered at a small black box nestled on one of the sinks, let go of his pinched nose.

“Is that Boris?”

Everyone huddled closer to the recorder box, their shoulders rubbing against each other like sardines in a can.

“If you could hear me, then allow me to explain. Known to the public, some people possess certain magical abilities, also known as blessings. If you all listened in class, blessings originate from crystal white bananas, and by eating one, you gain magical powers that suit your DNA and personality.”

The candidates continued to listen to Boris’ speech, with memories of training flooding in them like a rapid river. Nodding, most of them had their hands low to their waist, or had them raised up to their chins or jaws.

“But we’re already familiar with blessings.” Said Gary.

“Some of us probably forgot about blessings, so it makes sense of him giving us a review…”

“Stan is indeed right.” Said Boris.

The teens and young adults all gasped out loud, sucking in the abhorrent sewage air into their lungs. Taking a single step back, the clattering of teeth initiated with several of them, their bodies tainting with sweat the more they bathed in the wannabe sauna.

“I thought it was a recording.” Said Gemma.

“It’s a handcrafted box designed from the government to—”

“I’m hungry.” Said Loraine.

“Stop interrupting me!” Yelled Boris.

Heavy panting assaulted through the recorder box, his lungs sounding like charcoal rubbing against iron. Worried for Boris’ health, all of them shuddered under the roaring motor of his black lungs.

Even when they first met Boris, his lungs and health were always in a bad state.

“pants … anyway … pants … your final test will reward you with one…”

Leaning in once again, they acknowledged and felt safe with the government crafted box. Lumping with one another again, their shoulders touching and spreading sweat like a game of tag, their ears opened to Boris’ radio sounding words.

“In Fort Damns, you’ll find these crystal white bananas in the center of the city. Once you eat them, it may either give you a supportive type, defensive type, or offensive type; or a mixture of all three of them.”

Drawn to Boris’s voice from the speaker, all of them completely ignored the smell of sewage water and body odor.

“And when using them, there’s a limit. Since this is reality and not some work of fiction, the power of a blessing and its usage determines how much stamina the person has.”

‘So that means the healthier the person, the longer the usage… No wonder they put us through hell in training’ thought Stan.

The more Boris explained, the more intrigued everyone was. Their ears, blistened and gleaming under the old voice trailing from the radio box, made Gary rub his chin with his right hand fingers. With a curious tone, he spoke to the metallic box.

“I have a question?”

Boris sighed, the static of the radio flickering with the metal. “Yes Gary?”

“A while ago, I heard the government had a monopoly on these white bananas. If we get our blessings, will we be forced to work under the government?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I received the funds for this project from the government, but they had some demands that even I was hesitant to push forward…”

His tone flinched with hesitation, a small gap of silence spurred out from the box. Leaving the teens and young adults to be left in the dark, they tightened their bodies, along with their lungs and chests.

“A demand from the government that I was fine with was the time limit, in which everyone had to get to the center before 6AM, starting at midnight.”

The candidates, who all strained their bodies from stress, loosened them like the release of a yo-yo. Relaxed and calm, Luke softly let out a chuckle.

—If we were to work missions under pressure, then it’s for the better.

“But one of the demands the government wanted … was to only give out seven white bananas.”

““““““““““““““WHAT!!!”””””””””””””” Exclaimed the fourteen candidates.

All of them felt their stomachs plunge deep into their digestive tract, leading them to feel nauseous and sick upon hearing the news. Unable to bear, everyone’s eyes remained solely on the box.

“Why seven?” Said Stan.

“They said they wanted the best … I was a little hesitant, but it’s for the greater good…”

From the other side of the box, Boris’s legs quaked under the weight of his body. Feeling like an anvil of guilt was placed on his back, his hands which held the box, connecting to the other box from the bathroom, trembled under his strength.

“And another demand, that they wanted … was the worst of all.”

“Can this demand be any worse than culling half the group—” Said Stan, before he was interrupted by…

“The government wasn't content with the simple layout of regular traps … so they flooded the city with zompires …”

There was no shock, no voice uttering amongst the teens and young adults.

Everyone’s bodies began to shake uncontrollably, their faces white as glacier snow on a blizzard night. Even the toughest of candidates, Luna, Miles, and Stan; all felt their stomachs squeeze and turn as if they wanted to throw up.

—What … why would they have—

“Please forgive me…”

Something began to spray above them.

Coming from the sprinkler systems, it wasn’t a liquid, but an odorless white gas traveling through everyone’s noses. All of them, feeling the loss of their legs and arms going numb, began to panic once they started to cough.

“Everyone, break down the door before … before …”

Fred slowly started to collapse onto himself. Slowly, the candidates started to lose consciousness.

“Someone … get … get a stick …”

More candidates were slowly falling asleep. Even Luna, who was kicking at the metal door, started to lose her strength, her kicks slowly becoming more and more weaker.

“I’m … going to kick your … kick your …”

“Please stick together! Use everything that we all taught you for the past four years! And prepare …

As Luke collapsed, his eyelids flickered violently to stay awake. Before he began to fall asleep, his eyes caught the last of the sleeping candidates, as he heard one last—

—“For The Array.”—