Sirens Wailing
Red emergency lights pulsed through the corridor as Kasper and Sean sprinted toward the assembly point. The piercing wail of sirens bounced off the polished metal walls, making Kasper's enhanced auditory sensors automatically dampen the sound. Boots thundered against the floor panels, the rhythm broken by panicked shouts and the hiss of automatic doors sealing off sections of the academy.
"What the hell is happening?" Kasper shouted, his heart hammering against his ribs.
Sean's usual smirk vanished, replaced by a hard-set jaw. "Terrorist attack. Army of the Technological Awakened."
The name hit Kasper like a physical blow. His nanotech implants responded to the surge of adrenaline, heightening his senses as memories flashed—his brother's broken body, his father trapped in an exoskeleton just to walk. The same terrorists. Here. Now.
"On my first damn day," Kasper muttered, his fists clenching involuntarily.
Chaos in the Halls
A new alarm joined the cacophony—three short blasts followed by a long one. The evacuation signal. The narrow corridor suddenly flooded with students, their bodies pressing against Kasper as they rushed toward the exit. Their tech-enhanced uniforms glowed with status indicators—some flashing red for distress, others pulsing amber for low shield capacity. A girl stumbled beside him, her glasses projecting tactical overlays that flickered with each jostle.
An explosion rocked the building. The concussive force rattled Kasper's teeth, the boom followed by the tinkling crash of shattered glass and the groan of stressed metal. Screams erupted from ahead, high-pitched and primal.
"This way!" Sean grabbed Kasper's arm, yanking him down a side passage where the crowd thinned. The holo-displays lining the walls flickered with emergency protocols, casting their faces in alternating blue and red light. "Shortcut to the safe room."
The acrid smell of smoke reached them before they rounded the corner. Kasper's implants filtered the worst of it, but his eyes still watered. They skidded to a halt. Three masked figures stood before them, weapons raised. Their faces were obscured by breathing apparatus, but their gear was unmistakable—the same tech Kasper had seen in the Mirage City attack footage.
One terrorist's voice came through a modulator, cold and mechanical. "Well, well. Fresh meat from the academy." The sound echoed oddly in the empty hallway, inhuman and threatening.
Kasper's implants pinged, highlighting weak points in their armor. This is what his father had prepared him for.
Trial by Combat
Kasper's mind raced, tactical overlays from his implants highlighting potential moves in glowing blue lines that only he could see. No weapons. No backup. Just the combat training drilled into him since childhood and the nanotechnology humming beneath his skin.
He caught Sean's eye. Sean gave a slight nod, one finger discreetly tapping his wrist—their old academy signal for a split-flank maneuver.
In that moment, Kasper pushed away thoughts of his brother. Of revenge. Focus on surviving. Now.
Kasper lunged left. Sean went right.
The terrorists, caught off guard, fired wildly. Energy bolts sizzled past with the smell of ozone, one grazing Kasper's shoulder. Pain receptors flared, then immediately dulled as his implants administered a localized analgesic. The burn tingled uncomfortably but didn't slow him.
He ducked, rolled, came up swinging. His nanotech-enhanced fist connected with a satisfying crunch of the terrorist's mask. The impact sent spiderwebbing cracks through the breathing apparatus. The terrorist staggered back, gasping as air hissed through the broken seal.
One down.
Sean grappled with another, his enhanced strength evident as he slammed the attacker into a wall. The terrorist's head snapped back with a sickening thud, weapon clattering to the floor with a metallic skitter.
Two down.
The third terrorist raised his weapon, finger tensing on the trigger—
A blur of motion. A flash of curved metal. The terrorist crumpled with a gurgling sound, revealing a tall figure behind him.
"Professor Vex," Sean breathed, his shoulders slumping slightly.
The professor's cybernetic eye whirred as it scanned them, the iris contracting to focus with a series of soft clicks. A thin line of blood dripped from the retractable blade extending from her forearm, pattering against the floor in crimson droplets.
"Good work, cadets," she said, her voice as sharp as her weapon. "Now move. We're not out of this yet." She sheathed her blade with a metallic snick, then gestured toward an unmarked doorway that had slid open at her approach.
Safe Room Revelations
The journey to the safe room passed in a blur of sealed corridors and biometric checkpoints, Vex leading them deeper into the academy's secure areas. They finally reached a fortified bunker, its walls gleaming with embedded security measures. Hundreds of students huddled inside, the space awash with the blue glow of emergency terminals and the murmur of nervous conversation.
Kasper slumped against a wall, the cool metal soothing against his back. His nanotech implants worked overtime, sending waves of tingling sensations through his body as they regulated his breathing and heart rate. He'd survived his first real combat against the ATA. The same group that had taken his brother. The same terrorists his brother had been investigating before...
A voice crackled over the intercom, cutting through his thoughts and the hum of nervous chatter. "Attention all students. The threat has been neutralized. Remain in place until further notice."
The tension in the room eased. Sighs of relief mingled with nervous laughter as the immediate fear dissolved.
Sean dropped down beside Kasper, his normally perfectly styled hair now sticking up at odd angles. He nudged Kasper with his elbow. "Not bad for your first day, rookie. That punch was something else. Your enhancements?"
Kasper nodded, flexing his hand. The nanotech beneath his skin rippled visibly for a moment before settling, creating a brief pattern like mercury under his skin. "Dad's parting gift. Never thought I'd be testing them so soon."
"Nah," Sean grinned, eyes bright with the aftermath of danger. "Usually it's worse."
"That's supposed to make me feel better?" Kasper raised an eyebrow, but felt a reluctant smile tugging at his lips.
Sean shrugged. "Just saying. You held your own. That's what matters." He patted Kasper's shoulder, then winced when Kasper hissed in pain. "Sorry about that. Should get Maria to look at it."
"Maria?"
Sean's grin widened. "You'll see."
Meeting the Team
The lockdown lifted gradually, sections of the academy clearing one by one. Instead of being released with the general student population, Kasper found himself directed to a smaller room along with Sean and three others he didn't recognize.
The room was a tactical briefing space, its walls transparent screens currently displaying security footage from the attack. The images shifted every few seconds—terrorists breaching the east entrance, cadets evacuating the mess hall, drones deploying countermeasures.
Professor Vex stood at the head of the room, her cybernetic eye still scanning, always alert. Her uniform showed signs of combat—a tear at the shoulder, specks of blood on her cuff—but her posture remained impeccable.
"Congratulations," she announced without preamble. "You've just had your first teambuilding exercise."
Kasper exchanged a confused look with Sean. The others appeared equally perplexed.
"This," Vex continued, gesturing to the group, "is your core team. Get to know each other. Your lives may depend on it." Her blade retracted into her forearm with a soft click. "The ATA isn't done with this academy. Or with any of you."
With that cryptic warning, she left, the door hissing shut behind her with the soft beep of an engaging lock.
Awkward silence fell, broken only by the hum of the air filtration system and the occasional ping from the displays. Kasper studied the others, trying to piece together why they'd been selected.
"Well," a lanky boy with wild hair and grease-stained hands said, twirling a microspanner between his fingers like a drummer with a stick, "that was dramatic. I'm Lucas. Tech specialist." His eyes lit up as he noticed Kasper's hand. "Those are Lazarus-grade implants, aren't they? The subcutaneous weave pattern is unmistakable."
Kasper instinctively covered his hand. Project Lazarus. His brother's obsession before his death. How did this kid recognize it?
A stern-faced young man with immaculate posture and expensive Academy upgrades nodded curtly. His uniform was somehow still pristine despite the chaos. "Valerian. Tactical." His accent carried the unmistakable polish of upper echelon education, each syllable precisely formed.
"Maria," a girl with kind eyes and a no-nonsense ponytail added. A medical kit was strapped to her thigh, its contents meticulously organized. The smell of antiseptic followed her as she stepped closer. "Medical and long-range support. Anyone need patching up?" Her gaze lingered on Kasper's shoulder where the energy bolt had grazed him, now a raw, red welt.
Sean, lounging in the corner as if terrorists attacking was just another Tuesday, smirked. "You know me. Jack of all trades, master of awesome."
All eyes turned to Kasper.
He took a deep breath, suddenly aware of how little he knew about why he was here, about Project Lazarus, about the ATA's interest in the academy. "Kasper de la Fuente. I'm... still figuring that out."
What he didn't say: I'm the guy whose brother died investigating what connects the ATA to this academy. I'm the guy with experimental nanotech that shouldn't exist outside military applications. I'm the guy who's not leaving until I find out why the ATA targeted my family.
First Test
The screens flickered, security footage disappearing. "Alright, newbies," a gruff voice barked. A holographic instructor materialized in the center of the room, its form intentionally intimidating—a drill sergeant stereotype taken to the extreme. "Time to see what you're made of."
The walls shimmered, transforming into a war-torn cityscape that looked eerily like Mirage City after the attack. Distant explosions echoed. The smell of smoke and concrete dust filled the air—too real to be just simulation. The floor beneath them shifted, debris crunching under their boots. Wind carrying ash stung Kasper's eyes.
Kasper's implants pinged a warning. His heartrate was spiking again, memories of the news footage of his brother's death threatening to overwhelm him. He forced himself to breathe, to focus on the present.
"Your mission: extract the VIP," the instructor continued, pointing to a figure huddled behind rubble in the distance. "You have ten minutes. Failure is not an option."
Kasper's hands trembled slightly. He clenched them, feeling the nanotech respond, strengthening his grip. This wasn't just about passing a test anymore. This was about getting strong enough to find answers. To find justice.
He looked at his new teammates, searching their faces. Sean's cocky confidence. Lucas's analytical gaze already mapping tech weak points. Maria's calm assessment of potential injuries. Valerian's strategic mind calculating odds.
"Let's do this," Kasper said, surprised by the steadiness in his voice. The trembling in his hands stopped. "Lucas, what can you tell us about those turrets? Maria, we'll need med supplies for the VIP. Valerian, tactical approach?"
As they moved into the simulated chaos, each bringing their unique skills to bear, Kasper felt something shift inside him. The weight of his brother's death, the mystery of Project Lazarus, the threat of the ATA—none of it had disappeared.
But as they navigated the battlefield, communicating with hand signals and working in seamless coordination despite having just met, for the first time since losing his brother, Kasper felt something else pushing back against the darkness.
Hope.
The cityscape faded, debris dissolving under their feet, the sounds of battle dying away. The room returned to its original state, blank and sterile. The instructor's hologram reappeared, its expression unreadable as it analyzed their performance.
"Interesting," it mused, focusing particularly on Kasper. "Very interesting indeed. The de la Fuente boy shows promise."
Kasper held his breath, waiting for the verdict. How did it know his family name? What was so "interesting" about him specifically?
Pass or fail, this was just the beginning. The real test would be finding the truth about his brother, about Project Lazarus, about why the ATA had attacked his family.
And he was ready for whatever came next.