The rest of the afternoon wasn't good for Lucas; he couldn't stop thinking about how he should have hit those cops, regardless of whether they were his future colleagues. Maybe that was the hardest part of choosing this path. What would people think if they saw an academy graduate punch his possible superior or coworker? He knew he couldn't give in to his worst impulses, especially not to clear provocations.
Keeping his composure after hearing all that was difficult, and it was easy to think about what he should have done or said instead of standing still and throwing a punch. He usually doesn't dwell on these things and just accepts life as it is but his mind can't let go of things that make him angry, nor pretend nothing's happening when it obviously is. That's something his friends knew perfectly well; everyone knew something was off with Lucas, even if he didn't say a word.
Too many things were spinning in his head, and none that he could talk about: delayed application results, the mysterious man the director had been speaking to, disguised and unidentified agents, the cruel jokes and prejudice toward Aria coming from the same incompetent police officers, and last but not least: being locked in with no idea what was happening, and nothing to do.
He couldn't even sleep in peace. He was afraid something would happen and everyone felt the same. When night fell, he received a personal blanket similar to those new camping blankets that work as both a blanket and a thin mattress. But all it did was let him toss and turn in bed. The irony was brutal. He'd woken up earlier than anyone, but he was always the last to fall asleep.
"Lucas," murmured a female voice.
Lucas thought he was hallucinating at this point, after so long without sleep. So he just ignored the voice.
"Lucas, hey," the same voice repeated.
His mind was just clear enough to recognize it:
"Lucas, I know you're awake. Get up."
He received a hard smack to the head. There was only one person who always hit him on the forehead. Lucas yawned a little and sat up abruptly, gathering himself inside the blanket.
"For all the gods' sake!" he whispered angrily. "What happened now?"
"Shhh," Artemisa hissed to silence him.
"You..." Lucas began, but was interrupted.
That brute of a woman put her hand over his mouth. He caught the familiar pineapple scent and knew he had to listen to what she was about to say.
"Lucas, this is serious. If you don't shut up and listen to me, I'll knock you out the second you blink," she threatened.
Lucas licked Artemisa's hand to get her off him, which made her recoil in silent disgust and mutter complaints while pulling away.
"You're insane," Lucas murmured with a relatively loud voice. "Knock me out? What the hell is your problem?"
"Lucas, for fuck's sake, just shut up and listen," she replied, frustrated.
They were both exhausted and stared at each other until Luna stirred in the middle of the blanket, and they froze for several seconds, not even breathing. Then they looked at each other and took a deep breath.
"Tell me why you're watching me at 2 in the morning. If you don't have a good reason, I'm going to..." Lucas started.
He was waving his hands around in desperation as he spoke, but couldn't come up with anything to threaten her with.
"Okay, I won't do anything. Just tell me."
"Not here," Artemisa replied.
"What do you mean 'not here'? If not here, then where?" Lucas asked her.
"The rooftop. I've got an idea," she proposed.
"Oh, the rooftop," Lucas said, incredulous. "And how do you plan to get us up there? There are guards everywhere. Do you want them to suspect you or something?"
"Did you forget we're soldiers now? Obviously we can dodge them and sneak away for a bit. I just want to check something out."
"You've got like 50 people around and you bother me?" Lucas complained.
"Do you want to go out for some fresh air or not?" she asked bluntly.
"I mean, yeah, I do," Lucas replied, then paused for a moment. "And how exactly do you plan to sneak out?"
"I spent some time listening to the guards behind the door. Apparently, they switch positions every 30 minutes between each floor. We'll use that to our advantage and take the emergency stairs to the fifth floor—where the rooftop is."
Lucas stared at her for a long moment, incredulous at the amount of planning she'd done just to have some fun.
"Are you always like this when you get bored?" Lucas asked.
"Are you coming or not?" she asked again.
Lucas was going to be honest: between staying here and playing another offline game until sunrise, or doing what Artemisa suggested, the choice was obvious. He didn't think anything worse could happen, like dying or something. Besides, he knew Artemisa could sneak out alone and get in trouble by herself, so he decided to go with her.
"I knew I could always count on you," she smiled conspiratorially.
"Of course you can count on me. Just like that time we made a system to cheat on exams," Lucas laughed.
Artemisa let out a short laugh before checking the time again. It was 1:24 a.m. Most of the graduates were asleep in different areas, and those who weren't were just staring at the ceiling, waiting to fall asleep. Nobody had the energy to do anything else given the circumstances. So both of them took advantage of the situation to break curfew.
They used a small excuse to leave, saying they were going to the bathroom, and then slowly opened the cafeteria door. Just as timed, the guards had their backs turned and were walking away. Artemisa pressed herself against the wall and the two of them used their skills to slip into a dark hallway with agility. Lucas followed closely behind.
There were a couple of cameras scanning side to side, and he noticed how Artemisa had already studied their movement patterns. She would freeze in place at specific distances and then quickly move, taking advantage of the blind spots, with Lucas close on her heels. However, Lucas abruptly pulled her back and covered her mouth. If Artemisa had crossed at that moment, she would've been spotted by the new group of guards entering the corridor.
The two young agents exchanged a knowing glance. It was true that Artemisa was a thousand times more agile than Lucas, but he was way stronger than her.
They watched the four guards walk below them, and it was almost funny how easily they were getting away with it thanks to how distracted the guards were. Lucas couldn't help but let out a tiny laugh, then quickly sealed his lips. That laugh, unfortunately, made all the guards stop and look at each other. One of them then turned and confronted another guard who suddenly came running toward them.
"Why are you laughing at me?" asked one of the guards, who looked older than the rest.
The supposed newbie, thinner and smaller than the others, looked shocked and couldn't hide his confusion, his face just didn't allow for much subtlety.
"I didn't laugh," the accused protested.
Artemisa and Lucas saw the perfect opportunity. Artemisa pointed her wrist forward like a gun, and from it materialized a sleek red crystal slide. Lucas stared at her in disbelief and surprise, but when she signaled for him to let go of the ceiling and slide down with her, he didn't hesitate. As soon as he landed, no sound was made because the slide would disappear the moment it was used, turning into a path of red crystal that cushioned Lucas, who was still carrying Artemisa. Though it wasn't exactly a princess carry it was more like a sack of potatoes slung over his shoulder.
"If it wasn't you, then who was it?" the older guard asked, still unaware that two graduates had just escaped.
"I don't know," the accused guard kept insisting.
But obviously, in any group of five people, there's at least one person with some intelligence and awareness.
"Hey!" one of the guards exclaimed, spotting the young fugitives.
All the guards turned to look down the corridor completely empty. No one was there. The graduates were simply too fast.
"Who are you yelling at?" one of the guards asked.
"I think some students escaped," warned one of them.
"Are you joking? It's impossible we didn't see them. Plus, it's almost 2 a.m. most of them must be asleep. We're the least important shift here; the third-floor guards have way more to worry about. Stop covering for the newbie, Nico."
As soon as Lucas and Artemisa heard "third floor," their interest was piqued. They'd heard rumors that high-ranking officials might be stationed there. So once they reached the emergency stairs, they did their best to move silently.
"What's so special about the third floor that it's so heavily guarded? Weren't there just computers and files?" Lucas asked, then opened the door for Artemisa.
"Computers, files, records... a bit of everything, I guess," Artemisa replied as she crossed the door. "I think that's why the higher-ups are stationed there."
"With guards like these, I don't know how well those files are actually protected," Lucas commented as he followed her through the door, closing it slowly to avoid making noise.
They both climbed the stairs, staying on high alert in case they ran into anyone and needed to hide. But surprisingly, the stairwell was completely empty and not a single person appeared, not on the second, third, or even the fourth floor. There were no guards watching over the place, which struck them as very odd.
Nervously, once they reached the fifth floor, they pressed their ears against the rooftop door. After confirming there was no one on the other side, they finally opened it and were met with an artificial starry night and a city lit by neon signs, glowing billboards from various brands, and music video ads projected onto building windows acting as massive screens.
After everything that had happened that day, nothing felt more relaxing than the fresh night breeze on their faces. Artemisa closed the door and leaned against it, then showed Lucas the screen of her phone. He looked at it and noticed they had enough signal to access the internet, even though they were in a restricted research zone. Even with just one bar, they could still connect to the outside world. They both smiled at the flood of notifications from the apps they usually used.
"I was right. The DeadZones don't reach the rooftop," Artemisa declared.
"I always thought those DeadZone signal jammers weren't affected by altitude," Lucas replied.
Already exhausted, they sat down on the ground without guilt. It was cold, so Artemisa rested her head on Lucas's shoulder while scrolling through her private Flare feed, checking out the latest trending news, while he downloaded a tycoon-style farming game to kill time.
Lucas glanced at her screen, reading a headline about Aria:
"Didn't we come up here precisely to forget about what happened with Aria?" he asked, casting a sideways look at Artemisa.
"Yes, but…" she paused, "it stresses me out not knowing anything."
Lucas understood that feeling. He locked his phone and let out a deep sigh.
"They've put every possible obstacle in our way to keep us from investigating or leaving. But escaping and getting up here was so easy. These guards are supposed to be part of the national guard, and they couldn't even stop two untrained graduates," Lucas said, growing suspicious.
Artemisa looked up at the sky.
"It's really weird. We have some physical training, sure, but no one noticed we were gone. I didn't feel like there were as many guards as they claimed. Did they leave? Where are they?" she wondered aloud, also suspicious.
"They're probably all on the third floor. Maybe they just want to restrict our movement and nothing more," Lucas suggested.
She didn't seem satisfied with everything going on around her, so Lucas tried to distract her:
"Better watch me download more tycoon games. You should get one too, stop overthinking everything. Do something else instead of drowning in what we can't change."
Artemisa sighed and looked down, feeling helpless. Until Lucas pulled her into a hug.
"Do you think she really deserted?" Artemisa asked, concerned.
"I don't even know if the police are considering that option. When they questioned me, they framed it as something passionate, not as an intelligence or sabotage issue," Lucas clarified.
Artemisa looked surprised and gave him a puzzled look:
"They didn't give me a passionate angle at all. They suggested she deserted," she replied.
Lucas stared at her, stunned and thoughtful: Why had they implied a romantic motive to him and a desertion motive to Artemisa? As if suddenly realizing they were not supposed to be sharing the information they'd been given, they instinctively decided to change the subject.
"I think I'm going to miss you once we're separated," she said.
"Don't talk like we're in the 17th century and can only communicate through letters! Of course we'll still see and talk to each other, you know. We've got Glimpse, Flare[1], Vivasphere[2]…" he replied.
"You don't get what I mean. It's not the same as having you here like this," she said softly.
Lucas felt his heart pounding. He was nervous because, ever since they met, he had liked Artemisa. Though, of course, he had moved on from those feelings once he found out she wasn't into men. So he buried those feelings for his own good and for the sake of their friendship.
The truth was, he did know exactly what Artemisa meant. But he also didn't want to make her uncomfortable by confessing everything.
That would be out of line, almost a betrayal.
She had always been someone energetic, even a bit aggressive. Their friendship was one of the few things he truly valued, apart from his other friends.
"It's not that. It's just…" she hesitated, "I want to ask you something, but don't take it the wrong way."
Lucas's mind was already a mess: Did she notice? But he had tried to be subtle. Was he making her uncomfortable now?
"So?" he asked her.
Artemisa looked unsure about asking, but suddenly began scanning the area.
"I hear someone," she said, suspicious.
She was about to stand up, but Lucas grabbed her arm to stop her, smiling in an attempt to calm her and keep her from changing the subject again:
"It's probably someone else sneaking out. Ignore it. What do you want to ask me?" Lucas insisted.
"It's something personal. You don't have to answer if you don't want to," Artemisa said in a gentle tone.
"Yeah, of course. Just ask," Lucas replied.
"You're gay, right?"
Lucas froze. Of all the questions he had run through in his mind, this one hadn't been part of the plan. The truth was, even he didn't really know anymore. He had been so focused on graduating and making his family proud that he'd never given himself space to consider dating anyone, even though both Artemisa and Pascal were openly in multiple relationships.
"I… don't know?" he answered. "I mean, when I was a kid I thought girls were pretty and all…" he paused briefly, "I guess I never really asked myself that? At least not until…"
"'Until'?" she asked with a mischievous smile. "Is there something you haven't told me?"
"Why do you think I'm gay?" Lucas asked.
"You like watching sports, you hang out with girls, and your Glimpse feed is just men working out…"
"What's wrong with sports?" Lucas asked, almost offended.
"Watching sweaty, shirtless men doesn't feel at least a little gay to you?" Artemisa teased.
Lucas thought about how many women he found attractive Artemisa included but his mind still drifted toward that unknown beauty he had seen twice today. That same beauty had appeared in his dreams more than once.
"I like women, but… why are you so sure it's a man?" Lucas asked, leaving the question unfinished.
"You're way too obvious. If it were a woman, you wouldn't be overthinking it so much. There's nothing wrong with liking men."
"Of course there's a problem and that problem is that I don't know him!" Lucas snapped, losing his patience.
Artemisa grinned playfully:
"So it is a crush? On a stranger?" she teased with a knowing smile.
"You're so annoying!" Lucas complained. "When we were in the auditorium, I saw a guy sitting up front and I thought he was cute, okay? That was it. Nothing more."
"Which guy?" asked Artemisa. "And do I know him?"
"I don't think he was from around here to begin with?" Lucas replied. "I don't know, when I saw him I just thought he was really handsome. His body was very... 'well-trained'."
Artemisa's smile faded due to how vague the description was.
"You only noticed his body? What did he look like?"
"Blond—but like, that platinum blond kind? And really pale skin, golden or yellowish eyes, and his face was just... handsome, I guess? He had a mole under one eye and…"
Just thinking about the guy made Lucas a bit nervous, and he swallowed more saliva.
"Wait, are you talking about the one who ran off with a woman because journalists were chasing them and they left the session as soon as it ended?" Artemisa asked.
"Yeah…"
"Lucas, that wasn't just some random civilian. In fact, he might be the reason we're locked in and stuck in this mess!" Artemisa snapped.
"I-I don't know? I hadn't thought about that."
"You hadn't thought about it?" Artemisa repeated, exasperated. "Lucas! You can't be like this. You're telling me that if you see that same guy at base and he turns out to be a spy, you'd just let him be one so long as you get to stare at him because he's 'hot' and you liked his ass?"
"Don't twist it like that! I never said I'd let him go if he was a spy."
"Oh, you wouldn't let him go?" Artemisa laughed, surprised.
Lucas couldn't help but blush furiously.
"Stop hearing only what you want! I just thought he was attractive, okay? Maybe I'd ask how he trained to get a body like that... I mean, if you'd seen him! I think his waist was like this size."
Lucas held his hands parallel in the air, showing the approximate size of the guy's waist.
"So… do you want a one-night thing with him?" Artemisa asked.
"I told you I don't even know him!" Lucas groaned again.
"If we end up in the same faction, I'm going to tease you every single day about your runaway crush," Artemisa said, grinning.
"So, what did you choose?"
"ACE," Artemisa replied. "I changed my mind last minute."
Lucas covered his face, catching Artemisa's attention. When she realized what that meant, she burst out laughing:
"You picked the same one! I'm going to remind you of this every day!" Artemisa teased, reading Lucas's expressions with ease.
Lucas kept that handsome face in his mind as he drifted in thought, but when he looked at Artemisa and saw her in a better mood, he smiled:
"Still, I don't think he's dangerous. I mean, he signaled the director of our maybe-future faction and she replied, but I don't know what she said." Lucas tried to defend the stranger.
"I think that's your heart trying to convince you you didn't fall for a spy," Artemisa laughed. "That would make a great gay comic: A soldier who fall in love with a 'handsome blond' spy."
"There's a lot of comics like that," Lucas added.
At that moment, Lucas felt a piercing gaze. He raised an eyebrow, catching Artemisa's inquisitive look.
"Luna reads them and posts them on her story," he explained.
"And she talks to you about them?"
"Yeah, and I listen. They've got good plots and stuff, and the art's good."
"And you're still unsure if you're gay, man?"
"Could you not be so direct for once?" Lucas asked.
"You're making such a big deal over someone you saw once?" said a third voice, not previously in the conversation.
Artemisa and Lucas looked around for the source of the voice that had just chimed in. To their surprise, it was the last person they would have expected to sneak out of the facility just for a few minutes of internet access.
The young man with dyed hair was wearing oversized headphones and a black portable computer. Apparently, he'd been listening to the whole conversation from a corner, a blind spot for both of them.
"Aqua? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be inside?" Lucas asked, pointing a thumb at the door.
"I could ask you the same," Aqua replied.
"When did you sneak out? We never saw you," Artemisa asked.
"About half an hour ago," Aqua said. "I was bored downstairs."
"And how did you manage it? Did you climb out the window or something?" Lucas asked, confused.
"I asked the most tired-looking guard I could find if I could use the bathroom. He said no, since there were bathrooms in the cafeteria. Then I told him I had a cold and low immunity, so I preferred the one on the second floor because it wasn't crowded. He said I could only go through the first floor and only for five minutes."
"That doesn't explain how you got all the way up here," Lucas interrupted.
"I told him I had irritable bowel syndrome and that if I went to the downstairs bathroom, the smell would be so bad no one would stand it. Then everyone would want to go to the second floor bathroom. I explained that if he let just me go, it'd take longer but he'd only have to deal with one person. If not, he'd have to deal with tons of complaints and traffic. In the end, people always pick the option with the least trouble." Aqua explained.
"So, are they looking for you downstairs?" Artemisa asked.
"No, because I left during the guard shift change. That guard handed off his watch to someone else, and that guy had to go to floor -1 like half an hour ago. I think they already forgot about me," Aqua replied.
"You planned all that just to sneak out?" Lucas looked impressed.
"I didn't plan it. I just saw the opportunity and took it," Aqua said.
Since Aqua had responded to him rather than ignoring him like usual. Lucas tried to make him laugh and break the ice a bit more:
"We went the movie-style route, almost crawled through the vents, but it's nothing like the movies," Lucas chuckled, but Aqua gave him a look like he was an idiot, and he immediately stopped laughing.
"We did like—woah, zap, ching," Artemisa added.
She followed Lucas's vibe, making silly sound effects and motions, leaving Aqua even more confused by the onomatopoeia.
"You've got guts. I wouldn't have taken that much risk just for a whim," Aqua said.
Apparently, Aqua only said that to avoid sounding too cold after all the "effort" his companions had put into their escape story. As if he didn't really know how to respond.
"At least it was more fun," Artemisa muttered.
Lucas decided to talk about what he saw after the interrogation—about the man talking with Vice Director Goryashko. The other two listened closely and exchanged glances, especially when Lucas mentioned the guy wasn't wearing the proper uniform or ID.
"It's illegal for an agent to not have their ID unless the mission requires it," Aqua said.
"The vice director didn't seem to mind, so he probably wasn't doing anything wrong," Lucas replied.
Aqua and Artemisa glanced at each other briefly upon hearing that answer. Neither of them could match Lucas's unshakable optimism.
"Haven't you ever thought you're too positive sometimes?" Artemisa asked.
"Sometimes. But then I think, 'if I'm not positive for myself, no one else will be,' so I just keep going. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing..." Artemisa replied.
The three of them didn't talk much after that—there just wasn't much chemistry between them. And besides, romantic topics weren't exactly Artemisa's or Aqua's favorites.
After 40 minutes, they decided they should return, and so they did. Strangely, the guards seemed to be focused on some other part of the building, since they had no trouble getting back to their beds in the middle of the night. Sleep was beginning to take hold of the three youths, as their eyes began to burn with fatigue.
They planned to take a short nap, so they laid down under their blankets to rest. But unexpectedly, an alarm that seemed to come from the very pits of hell began to sound, and at that very moment, the walls vibrated loudly, along with the floor beneath them. Everything felt like the onset of a catastrophe, as the room lit up with severe emergency red lights and a powerful flashlight beamed through the windows. They could make out a portion of a massive ship just outside the room. If the dining hall had regular windows, they would have shattered—but since they were reinforced, they remained intact.
"An invasion!" shouted Artemisa.
Everyone woke up or jumped to their feet in fear at what was happening. The room was filled with voices asking, "What's going on?" "Are they invading the facility?"
None of the youths knew how they had managed to get up from their blankets, now standing with their beginner-level nuclear weapons and in attack position. Lucas had a thick broadsword resting easily on his shoulder, Artemisa had a small hand sickle and stood in front of Lucas, Pascal had his fists clenched and ready, and Luna had her ring activated. Meanwhile, Aqua was hanging from the chandelier in the dining room.
Everyone was ready to defend the facility from the threat, until the alarm stopped—though the noise from the ship remained deafening. The lighting returned to normal, revealing Vice Director Goryashko, flanked by a high-ranking agent on each side and a horde of support operatives.
A platinum-blonde man stood next to the vice director, confident, with a daring smile and powerful yellow eyes that looked like sharp gems. He wore the ACE black suit uniform like the director and the dark-skinned young woman beside him though his shirt was unbuttoned, he lacked a tie, and wore a black overcoat. He had a pistol on his belt that looked like a high-level anomalous weapon, while the dark-skinned woman carried an anomalous spear on her back.
Seeing them, the young group felt somewhat more at ease, though still tense about the information that would soon be revealed. They lowered their weapons to listen to their superiors, who radiated authority and power.
"Young people, first of all, our apologies. The alarm system was triggered accidentally due to the arrival of the ACE ship Arthur and the National Guard ship Alicia at Silvermist," explained the vice director.
The platinum-blonde man stepped forward to explain, and Lucas looked him up and down carefully. This was without a doubt the mysterious crush he had told Artemisa about. Where had he gotten that uniform if he had been wearing casual clothes? Lucas didn't know, but he looked almost like a prince. The most funny part was when Artemisa look at Lucas with a cheeky smile because she knows the crush was him.
"We've temporarily restored wireless connections to come pick up the graduates who will be joining the Agency…" said the blonde, trailing off as he got lost in thought.
The youths exchanged confused looks at the blonde man's clumsiness, and he just rubbed his temple before continuing:
"Anyway, the ACE," he concluded, then resumed, "You have your results in your email, but my partner Irene has the list to speed things up. Those who are called must come with us. If you have any complaints or issues with the result, don't bring them to me. I'm not to blame," said the blonde man carelessly.
The vice director looked visibly annoyed by the lack of professionalism in this agent, who by his badge was an inspector. Just two levels below her.
The dark-skinned woman, Irene, began naming several graduates, including Lucas, Pascal, Luna, Tori, Artemisa, Orion, and Aqua. They received goodbyes and well wishes from their peers as they were called and joined the group standing in front of Vice Director Goryashko. She stared at Lucas for a long moment until he noticed, then smiled at him—Lucas returned the smile, slightly shy.
They walked down a silent, dark hallway, led by the two young inspectors and the vice director, while ACE soldiers flanked them. Behind them were two men and a woman dressed in tight white suits and white overcoats. These people, however, were expressionless in the rear.
"Why am I in investigations?" Pascal muttered under his breath. "I applied for the police…"
"Because you got rejected," Aqua replied calmly.
Pascal looked around, taking the comment as offensive. But before he could respond, the blonde man at the front let out a loud laugh.
"Perfect, I love blunt people. You're Neubauer, right?" the blonde guy asked Aqua.
Aqua seemed puzzled by the response:
"Yes, sir," Aqua replied.
"Just call me Calisto or Cal. I'm your inspector and superior officer, and this is Irene, also an inspector. We're fine with anything as long as you follow orders."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Irene De Santis and this is Calisto Gavrilnov," said the dark-skinned woman, a bit more formally than her partner.
The youths accepted the introduction as they made their way outside. For some reason, Orion leaned toward Lucas and Pascal to whisper:
"Is it just me, or do they look like they just got out of prison?" she asked, concerned.
Orion didn't whisper very quietly. She was known for being quite blunt with her thoughts. Surprisingly, the inspectors didn't say anything, as if they hadn't heard. Though to be fair, they did have a bit of a thug-like aura. Especially the blonde one, who walked the line of informality, though never rude.
"I don't think so," Lucas replied.
"If I end up on the same team as him, I'll go insane," muttered Pascal, glancing at Aqua.
Aqua heard that but didn't seem to care, as if unaware of how poorly it came across.
Lucas remained silent. By now, he thought Aqua might not be a bad person—maybe just "awkward" and unaware of how to interact with others.
"Did you at least get placed where you wanted?" Pascal asked.
"Actually, yeah," Lucas replied. "Getting into my first choice is a good thing."
"I changed my mind in the auditorium. I think this'll be more fun," said Artemisa.
"Last year I considered applying to ACE," added Luna.
"Great. So I'm the only idiot who got rejected by every option," said Pascal, frustrated.
"I'd rather see you here than with the military police," Lucas responded.
Lucas looked closely at Pascal, it was clear he was deeply upset. Being a military police officer and reforming the institution from within had been one of his dreams. That comment made Lucas feel like a bad friend. But in his heart, he knew Pascal would never be accepted by that institution, no matter how qualified or well-intentioned he was.
Pascal's profile didn't match the military police not because he lacked something, but because the organization lacked values.
"The police don't protect us," Lucas thought.
That phrase had been branded into him from a young age. So the trigger for this thought wasn't just the earlier interrogation, it went much deeper and rooted in his early years. If not for the scholarship lottery, he wouldn't have even considered the military academy.
Lucas quickly patted his friend on the back.
"It's better this way. Trust me," he said.
Lucas didn't know how to explain his perspective without provoking a reaction or causing more frustration. Meanwhile, Tori walked like a zombie because apparently, she hadn't slept at all that night.
"I don't want this. I need an explanation. What do you mean we have to leave now? I'm not going anywhere until I talk to the director and he tells me personally why I didn't get into the police," insisted Pascal.
"Pascal…" Luna tried to get his attention, she didn't need more context to understand what was happening.
"When they interrogated you, did you say you wanted to join the police?" Artemisa asked. "I heard them say really nasty things about Latinos who want to apply."
Lucas gave Artemisa a disapproving look. Her lack of filter wasn't helping. It wasn't the right time to say those things when Pascal's emotions were already flaring. Still, Pascal went from disappointment, to anger, and finally to sadness.
"Accusing someone of discrimination is serious in this day and age—there has to be another reason. They can't be that…" said Pascal, pained.
"They absolutely can," said Luna. "Sorry, Pascal. But clinging to the idea of joining the police is a waste of time."
Pascal clenched his fists as he walked.
"You don't get it, Luna!" Pascal shouted. "I just want to know what I was missing!"
The people in white at the rear were startled and looked confused at Pascal's outburst. Just like the vice director and the inspectors, who unintentionally created a very awkward moment.
"You weren't missing anything, Pascal! That's my point," insisted Luna.
"Don't go all motivational on me now! That's the last thing I want to hear," Pascal tried to mentally block Luna out.
"Pascal! You're a Díaz! I'm a Martinez! Lucas is a Marilef! The military police are Beckman, Muller, Durand, Miller, Lincoln…" Luna looked at him with sadness. "It's not that you're lacking something… it's that we'd never make it there, not even with a scholarship would they want us. That's not our place. We belong to the Latin ghettos…"
Pascal sighed and zipped his lips shut, realizing everyone was now looking at him in disbelief. Lucas knew Luna was right: when had they ever seen a Latino in the military police? None of the three even had a relative who'd been fortunate enough to become a cop. Not to mention, they barely spoke enough basic Spanish to communicate with those in the Latin ghetto.
"So much effort and work… just to be rejected for something like this?" said Pascal, on the verge of breaking down.
"You're the only one who can actually do things right in that place. Come on, maybe we don't share your dream, but you've got us and a giant spaceship waiting for you," said Lucas, trying to stay positive.
"Well, between this and desertion, it's obvious which one I'm going with," sighed Pascal.
Once they stepped outside, they saw a giant, imposing ship floating near the building, unable to touch the ground due to its massive size.
[1] Twitter
[2] Inmersible social app