《The Burning Empire》


 Intro to History

    The Silver Eagle Fallout and Creation of the Gifted


    By D. Hillinck


    World War III, The Consolidation War, began not in the previous battlefields of Europe, but in the silence of space. In 2046, the United States President, Beatrice Ford, gave the green light to a mission. The Silver Eagle Operative. If anyone were to have asked President Ford about the project before it was signed into action, her response would have been a confused start and a dismissal accompanied by a concise, ¡°Never heard of it¡±. This was not a lie. Unlike most politicians, Ford would have been telling the truth. The Silver Eagle Operative was so secretive, that until President Ford was informed of its existence the only people who knew was the research and engineering team assigned to the mission.


    The project had originally been founded under the strenuous tensions of the Cold War under President John F. Kennedy¡¯s office in 1962. Before man ever set foot on the moon, Kennedy had organized a group to achieve a far more difficult objective; colonizing Mars. He saw the limitless potential of an entire new planet for the USA. With the resources of Mars and nearby high quality minable asteroids, Kennedy foresaw an American supremacy of space. If they controlled space, then there would be no need to fear the Soviets. After all, if they ever took offensive action, the US would be able to retaliate effortlessly and crush the threat.


    The President understood the gap in technology needed and even better understood the need for secrecy. Using private contractors and the excuse of the space race to bolster NASA funding even further, Kennedy was able to construct an incredibly sophisticated and enormous underground research facility complete with tons of metals, ores, and every other rare resource that scientists and engineers could potentially use. With an estimated square footage over twenty square miles, the facility contained every modern tool and plenty of equipment, all hidden away underneath the Appalachian Mountains. With a base of operations complete, the President began poaching the best and brightest in rocket science, chemical engineering, material science, and dozens of other specialties.


    Unfortunately for the President, the USSR noticed the unusual disappearances of NASA scientists and was watching Werner Von Braun, a world renown rocket scientist, before he could be brought into the program. To save the secrecy of Silver Eagle Operative, President John F. Kennedy desperately unleashed a shocking news report to the world, America was going to the moon. It worked. The USSR scrambled to adjust to the new objective in the Space Race, while Kennedy used the support the public gave the Moon mission to cautiously finalize and sweep Silver Eagle under the carpet.


    As the years progressed, the team maintained strict isolation working on the project leaving the site only to recruit more members.


    And so the years passed.


    The USSR imploded, yet the project continued under the unanimous vote of all the staff.


    Scientific revelations were discovered. Engineering designs drafted, created, and improved. Finally, after 84 years the colonization fleet was ready. But the world was not.


    Once President Ford signed the operation into effect, seventeen rockets flew out from the Appalachian Mountains scaring hikers and wildlife. Seconds after the launch, President Ford announced humanities greatest journey yet was underway. That humanity could soon call Mars home. Seconds after the announcement various world leaders threatened, congratulated, pleaded, and praised the White House.


    But twenty seconds into the launch, a lone missile rose from the mid-Atlantic targeting the lowest rocket. As the missile gained on the heavier slower rocket, militaries around the world began to hear alarms as the higher echelons feared the worst.


    What happened next has been theorized to have occurred in many ways with two prevalent theories.


    First was that the missile struck and destroyed the rocket, crashing the debris down onto the eastern Mainland of the United States. The Russians (or potentially the Chinese) claimed the attack and attempted to justify is a communication error with the HAMDS (High Altitude Missile Defense System) due to the short time interval between being briefed on the rocket launches and the actual launch.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The second theory was that the rocket destroyed the incoming missile before it could detonate. With this revelation the world saw the monstrosity the US was attempting by putting warships into space and therefore breaking the Newman Treaty of 2034, which banned weaponized satellites and ships in orbit and above Earth.


    The actual events that occurred have been lost to time as all records were lost in the war that followed. While a fog of mystery hid the perpetrator, the world split into two sides in a conflict of nations. World War III began with the U.S.A allied alongside the U.K., Germany, India, Canada, France, Japan, and Australia. But Russia, China, Brazil, Italy, United Korea, and the newly formed Arabian Empire, opposed the predominant space faring nations. As both sides prepared for war, the rest of the world tried to broker peace before it was too late.


    They were too slow.


    Without warning, nuclear explosives began to burn the face of Earth. New York, London, Hong Kong, Berlin, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Jerusalem all crumbled away before the Silver Eagle fleet managed to pass the moon. With the death toll already in the hundreds of millions and climbing, the enraged nations only agreed to ban nuclear weapons when the neutral countries intervened in a desperate attempt to save Earth before humanity destroyed itself. The war that followed lasted over 10 years. After two years of fighting the opposing sides each individually grouped together to form their own superpowers, the Pacifica Alliance and the Eastern Bloc. From there the fighting intensified and grew bloodier. Soon every continent, even Antarctica, saw bloodshed. The Middle East was hit the worst, as the two superpowers often met to fight over the oil reserves. Soon the everlasting bombings turned the oil deposits aflame, doomed to burn until the war itself burned out.


    While the Earthbound armies mercilessly butchered each other, a thriving society flourished on Mars. Disgusted by the barbaric war between the two factions, the Martian society had long separated from the Pacifica Alliance and pleaded with both sides for peace. Acting as an intermediate, they were able to get the lead generals to see the futility of the war and broker peace between the two militaries despite the refusal of each nations¡¯ politicians to admit defeat. With the support of the public, both militaries managed to remove their obstinate leaders and unite together for the ultimate peace.


    Rising from the ashes of humanities worst decade, The Phoenix Empire became a symbol of freedom and revivalism to the remaining humans numbering a scarce 3 billion. And on February 19, 2056 with the signing of The Declaration of Unity and Constitution of Humanity, Earth became one democratic nation alongside Mars.


    But peace was short-lived.


    Soon unexplainable events began occurring. A teenager managed to survive a shuttle crash which completely pulverized all the other passengers onboard without a scratch. A youth gang in New Tokyo managed to rob 14 banks without once being caught on camera. The only clue they were ever there were the notes they left taunting the police.


    Finally, after numerous sightings and stories of almost supernatural gifts amongst the younger members of society, scientist from Olympia, the lone city of Mars, discovered genome mutations amongst the gifted specimens. All the afflicted showed changes to their base DNA from radiation absorbed after the initial nuclear stage of The Consolidation War.


    The changes were miniscule, yet the affects could never be truly charted. Scientist tried mapping the genome structures, but despite finding out that the alterations were located in seemingly useless parts of the ¡°junk DNA¡±. This is the DNA that humanity originally deemed to have no effect on the human body and its growth.


    We were wrong.


    Composing 98.8 percent of our DNA, junk DNA quickly became the subject of research around the world as new ¡°Gifted¡± appeared. As the years passed and scientists were unable to duplicate the changes, the Gifted rose to the top of society. Their unique abilities and skills allowed them an untouchable advantage in whatever they pursued. Even the weakest of the Gifted were soon viewed far more favorable than an ungifted human.


    Lately there has been an increase in the number of religious cults appearing throughout the Empire with roots primarily in the old religions of the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians. They claim that the gifted are the reincarnations of the old gods and worship them fully. The most prominent cult sees the gifted as a sign of a future rebirth of humanity to a higher state. While they are not violent they have been caught disturbing the peace to end rallies against the Gifted.


    With their numbers rising, I fear a new wave of change will envelope our society and not for the benefit of humanity.


    Davied Hillinck


    Historian/ Professor at Olympus University


    Copyright 2074 Olympus Times

 A Bright Future

    August 13<sup>th</sup>, 2106. The day my life will change forever. It is Test Day. The day I have spent the last 18 years of my life waiting for with dread and hope. To find out if I am somebody or nobody, Gifted or an Omega. I mean I will be gifted right? My father is Gifted although incredibly weak, or an Alpha. But I should get something from them, right? After all the scientists say it is probable for offspring of Gifted to have gifts. I hope so.


    My nervous thoughts sprang through my head faster than I could rationalize. Staring at the plain beige walls in front of me with nothing to focus on, my anxiety began to grow. Determined to stop worrying over nothing I stood up and paced the waiting hall. Students lined the wall to the left sitting in hard plastic chairs waiting to know their fate just as I was. There was Charlie the resident all star athlete sleeping on the floor to pass the time. He had led our plasma team to our 2<sup>nd</sup>Martian championship in the past year and was sure to be recruited for the professional leagues if he wasn¡¯t Gifted.


    I was so nervous I was sweating, and my mouth was dry. Water. I needed water. With an objective in mind I headed down the hall past groups of students trying to pass the time. Past Jordan King, the only student already known to be Gifted. He was one lucky guy to have already had his Gift unlocked. While the Gift is typically unlocked by some chemical process scientists perfected, extreme situations and events can rarely force the Gift¡¯s development. Jordan had been in a hovercraft when the rotors and propulsion drive lost power due to a loose bolt. The craft had fallen straight downward into oncoming traffic. While Jordan claims not to remember what occurred, a traffic camera recorded him leap from the craft to land safely in a pond. Normal right? After all, hovercrafts only stay at most 50 feet above ground. Well the pond was over 200 feet from where he jumped. Needless to say, his superb jump became instantly famous around my school since natural formed Gifted are incredibly rare.


    Finishing my envious thoughts, I rounded the corner to the water fountain. I guzzled the cool water down, dousing my nervousness. I turned back to hurry down the hall, my turn was coming up and I can not miss it.


    ¡°Jason Werner¡± came the metallic noise over the speaker system a full hour after I had returned and sat down. I stood up and shook my hands in an attempt to hide the tremble in my fingers. I knew what was about to happen, it was common knowledge. I was going to be given an injection of a whole cocktail of chemicals designed to trigger a variety of junk DNA while sending the recipient unconscious. If successful, some sort of unique dream appears. Always different for every person some believe it relates to the person¡¯s Gift, but there have not been enough tests to support this theory. If the person is not gifted nothing happens and they simply wake up understanding their place in society is with the rest of the Omegas destined to serve those who succeeded where they failed.


    I pushed through the metal double doors marking the Testing Room. It¡¯s a small room with metallic walls and a single chair in the middle. The chair however is frightening to see. It is like the full body dentist chairs, except those don¡¯t have numerous restraints on them.


    ¡°Please lay down so I can strap you in before we begin¡± startled by the proximity of the voice I look over to see a man standing in the corner of the room next to a refrigerator. Following his directive, I lay down. He efficiently straps down my legs and moves up my body until I am unable to move anything except my eyes.


    ¡°I understand this is uncomfortable, but it is for your safety during the Test. Sometimes acquiring a gift can cause some¡­ problems.¡± He stated after my eyes questioned the point of the straps. Relaxing I try to release my tension and fail miserably as I see the man bring over an enormous shot filled with an ambiguous mixture. My breathe starts to come faster and faster as he brings needle closer.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Relax¡± He says right as he jabs it into my neck. Immediately I do. All my nervousness seems to flow out of me and now all I want to do is sleep. My eyes began to close, and I notice funnily that the man is running away towards his original corner.


    Weird he just disappeared into the wall.


    Colors began streaming across my vision as my eyes finally close.


    Darkness streams with the colors as if it is chasing them away.


    For an eternity it seems as if the colors battled until eventually the colors are pushed out of my vision.


    Now there is only black.


    Only black.


    Red. I blink


    Yellow. Streaks of lighting flash across my vision in front of a dark indistinguishable background. I blink.


    Blue. Streams of Energy fly towards me. Impact is inevitable. I blink.


    Purple. Plasma flies across a war-torn battlefield. The broken buildings cast sinister shadows upon the smoke drifting across the landscape. I see a small child crying underneath fallen rubble, trying to survive. I take a step towards her just as a plasma beam hits her frail protection. I blink.


    The darkness came back yet it was no longer foreign or frightening. Comforting like a favorite blanket. I let it envelope me.


    ¡°Ugh¡± a gasp of pain slipped from my tense lips as the bright lights of the room blinded my sensitive eyes. I quickly covered them with my hands and relieved the burning sensation that wouldn¡¯t go away.


    Wait. How did I move my hand? They are -were- strapped down. Not willing to risk my eyesight yet, I curiously feel around for the restraints on the chair. One problem, I couldn¡¯t find the chair. I was lying on cold ground surrounded by ¡­ dust?


    I opened my eyes. Closed them. Opened them. And blinked once more trying to rationalize what was going. I am still in the same room as before, I think. But there are a few differences, mainly the dark scorch marks etched all over the walls and floor and the fact that the dentist chair appears to have been transformed into a pile of ash/dust. Weird.


    ¡°Clap. Clap. Clap. Well that was not normal¡±


    I jumped at the unexpected commentary as the man from earlier walked into my vision.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± I growl angry at his interference in my Test. ¡°Nothing. You did this¡± he gleefully replied. ¡°The moment you went under you unleashed enough energy to vaporize your seating arrangement and seriously damage the room. I also want to add that you nearly caught me leaving the room and turning into a pile of extra crispy bacon is not on my plans for the day¡±


    ¡°How?¡± I stuttered as I realized the danger I possessed. ¡°Actual answer, I have no clue. Probably enhanced mitochondria and some sort of reinforced nervous system. Short answer, congrats you¡¯re Gifted!¡±


    I¡¯m Gifted? I¡¯m Gifted. I¡¯m Gifted! This is incredible! I¡¯m not nobody! I am ¡­ dangerous. I have a terrible power that I have no clue how to control. Crap. But I will learn and once I do I will be a great power for good.


    Glancing down at my hands, I se nothing different with the skin. Same tan complexion, long slender fingers, my three moles that from a right triangle, my scar from¡­ wait. My scar is gone. The long scar starting at the webbing between my middle and index finger and ending at my wrist is gone. The reminder of my carelessness with knives is no longer there. What ¡­.


    ¡°Now since my equipment is showing that you are clearly a higher level Gifted you will have an automatic acceptance into The Academy.¡± He interrupted, derailing my train of thought.  ¡°Congrats! This is an incredible opportunity typically only available for Premier legacies or unusually strong gifted from Alpha or Omega classes. Only .1% of gifted can attend, roughly .0000001% of humanity. I should mention that due to the dangerous and powerful nature of your gift you will be required to attend for your benefit as well as for societies¡±.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say¡­ its mandatory?¡± I questioned.


    ¡°Yes. Now if you would, I have many more of your classmates to test. While I seriously doubt they will put on as good of a firework show as you have, there is a slim chance. I have gone ahead and blocked your Gift. You will receive everything you need to know about The Academy later. Now go celebrate with your family, this is a momentous occasion¡±, he concluded.


    Dazed, I left the room. Left the school. Left my old life behind to join the ranks of the Gifted and the students of the academy.

 Corporal Punishment

    The gleaming towers of the city center shined in the mornings light as if waving goodbye to faithful tenant as I rode the tram out of my city, Olympus. My family had been ecstatic to hear of my prestige, looking at me afterwards with new sight. As if I had already become a new person.


    I shivered at the thought. I don¡¯t want to be foreign to my family. Simple fix then, I won¡¯t change. I¡¯ll stay the same boy who loves friends and videogames. The guy who was always up to leaving the city for a weekend and enjoying the solitary only found in nature. I will always be Jason Werner even if I am Gifted.


    With my mind put to ease, I focused on enjoying the red hills and tall trees of Mars for one last time before I arrived at the Space Station to leave for The Academy. My world was about to change literally. The Academy was on Europa, One of Jupiter¡¯s moons, and was terraformed only 15 years ago making it one of the youngest settlements for humanity. Its luscious forests and blue oceans have also made it the most successful colony and home to numerous Premiers. Drawn to the planet¡¯s unrivaled beauty, the majority of Premiers in the system have a home on Europa earning the nick name ¡°Paradise Lost¡± amongst Omegas.


    ¡°Another terrorist attack has marked the Singaporean Slums today. With an estimated 160 Omega deaths and 1 Premier, the Terrorist group known as Last Freedom has been steadily ramping up their attacks on both clergy of The Rebirth and military leaders with the previously mentioned Omegas having been devoted clergy to our state sanctioned religion.¡± The radio report crept into my thoughts as I lost concentration on the red tinged landscape.


    The Rebirth was officially my religion. Not like I had a choice in the matter, but I had never truly been a true devotee. My mother on the other hand was a true believer and worshipped the strongest Gifted. Her favorite was Setrakus Ruah, the current Phariah, head of the religion. Clips of his power was always used in the religious broadcasts. He would call down ¡°holy light¡± with beams of light illuminating the weakness of his opponents. Alone it seems weak, but with his army of Flames (Gifted followers) and Sparks (Omega devoted) he always was able to bring down the latest challenger to the faith and save their spirit¡¯s flame.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    By the time I made it to the space station and found the appropriate docking bay, my thoughts had long left the fanaticism of The Rebirth and returned to reality.


    As I entered the bay, a thumping noise caught my attention distracting me from the sleek metallic ship resting before me. Another teenager was flopping on the deck... wait nope, he was doing burpees? Questioning his workout schedule, I moved towards a woman in the common red and black Phoenix Navy uniform. With a smile that left some friendliness wanted, she directed me to a line of other youth with the workout buff.


    ¡°What is your name soldier?¡± an authoritative voice stopped me as I was about to step in the line. I turned towards the voice and nearly jumped out of my skin at the sight of a grizzled face complete with a facial scar and buzzcut scarcely four inches away.


    ¡°Jason Werner?¡± I timidly replied.


    ¡°Jason Werner, Sir¡± He angrily shot back spittle flying from clenched jaw. ¡°15 burpees. Count em out¡±


    Rather than argue or even think about what was happening, I compliantly dropped down and started. 1.2.3. Guess I shouldn¡¯t have judged workout guy so much.


    Once I finished and got in line, the intense soldier dressed in an officer¡¯s uniform complete with an antique projectile service pistol began introductions with a tone that commanded attention or there would be hell to pay.


    ¡°My name is Corporal McCroy. You will address me as either Corporal or Sir. Anything else is unacceptable. I will be your instructor for basic training and the majority of your physical education. AKA I will be the guy that makes you feel death creeping into your bones, so that when you are in a battle you recognize him as an old friend and continue fighting. I am not here to help you. I am here to hurt you. Now due to a severe case of food poisoning the typical greeter was not able to pick y¡¯all up. Lucky you. So, while normally y¡¯all would be given some time to acclimate into the fact you¡¯re joining the military, my motto is to keep moving forward. So, move it. Onto the ship¡±


    A petite Asian girl stepped forward and asked, ¡°Wait we are in the military? I thought we were going to The Academy¡±.


    ¡°20 burpees. The Academy is the military. Everyone who survives is drafted into the special operative section of our glorious military, it¡¯s a requirement. Don¡¯t ask about quitting.¡±


    And with that glorious revelation of our fates we stumbled onto the ship, some in a state of disbelief, some thoughtful, some excited, and one who boarded 11 burpees after everyone else.

 Empty

    ¡°Welcome to Europa recruits¡± Corporal sarcastically remarked, as we neared the green and blue orb floating around Jupiter. As the 15 of us squeezed next to each other to get a better look on the monitor, a wave of BO rose up. Three and a half days in a confined space was long enough to really get to know people so no one really noticed.


    ¡°Wow, I am pumped to hit the beach on that baby¡± Matteo excitedly announced. Matteo was a scrawny Hispanic guy with an unfocused mind and an active lifestyle. Like he had trouble sitting down. Not even sitting still, just sitting down. This voyage was basically his worst nightmare.


    ¡°As if we will have any free time. We got drafted so¡­ yeah I doubt you will be able to find time to surf¡± Katherine sharply quipped back at him. She was¡­ interesting. Basically, she had a strong opinion on everything. Despite having grown up a Premier, she apparently found our political landscape a ¡°joke¡±. Needless to say, she generally preferred solitude over our company on this flight.


    ¡°Quite.¡± McCroy briskly interrupted our chatter from the cockpit. ¡°We are about to enter the atmosphere. Buckle up it could get rough¡±. A sudden tremble shuddered through the ship, reinforcing his order.


    We fell into our seats, upright position ready for reentry. The lone monitor displayed the heat shield refracting the frictional heat of breaking through the atmosphere. Occasionally bright flares would be shown from the shield disrupting objects larger than a few atoms. The ship shuddered again this time rougher. And again. A glass fell from its hiding place amongst the drawers and smashed into pieces on the ships wall. Another sudden spurt of turbulence caught the shards and flung them in the air and toward the cockpit.


    Before I could even begin yelling, the shards were in the cockpit, burying themselves in flesh and computer alike. In a daze, I saw the Corporal¡¯s hand fly to his neck where a piece of glass was embedded. As blood began to pour between his fingers, he turned to us in his final act and calmly stated, ¡°Abandon ship, I have been critically wounded and the controls appear to be damaged beyond use.¡± Pausing for a slow breath, he continued, ¡°Unless one of y¡¯all isn¡¯t useless and can repair a state of the art machine do that, otherwise grab the emergency parachutes in the back and have fun skydiving.¡±


    ¡°Not without you Sir.¡± I retorted as I clumsily tore my restraints off and tried to make my way to the front.


    ¡°Stop! Save yourselves. I am not going to make it¡± He yelled at me as his skin paled. ¡°Go now! That is an ord..¡± He trailed off falling forward in his chair.


    ¡°McCroy!¡± I screamed. Angry at the unbelievable misfortune that has happened. How in the world does a glass crash a plane?


    ¡°Jason, come with me. He is probably gone and if we don¡¯t leave we will be too¡± Matteo said as he grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the rear where the other recruits were pulling out the parachutes. Katherine tossed me a package; it was the parachute. But it had no determinable way to put it on, was it magnetic?


    ¡°Place it on your chest!¡± Katherine screamed when I looked at her questioningly.  Annoyed she knew what to do, I slapped it on my chest.


    ¡°What the..!¡± slipped out of my mouth as the package expanded across my body. After a few seconds it had formed a full suit with a small bulge on the back. Huh neat. Scary and creepy but cool.


    ¡°The door won¡¯t open!!¡± Jackson screamed as he tried to push the door open. Besides him Ella was fervently messing with the control panel and out of options desperately began pounding on the panel. ¡°The controls are not working!¡±


    With that announcement everyone began muttering and talking trying to solve the problem with chatter. Overwhelmed by our trapped situation, I left the arguing behind and headed to the cockpit. With Matteo behind me, we made our way to the control panel. It was a mess several panels had been smashed and others torn apart. IT was an incredible amount of damage for a glass¡¯ worth of shards. Especially considering some of the pieces hit Corporal McCroy. Wait. McCroy.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    I rushed over his body and checked his pulse.


    ¡°Is he there?¡± Matteo asked


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.. Wait yeah I felt something!¡± I excitedly responded.


    Matteo stepped forward and slapped one of the suit packages on and we watched as it crept across his body and effectively bandaged the wound. With him reasonably taken care of, we dragged his solid frame back to the exit hatch. By now the other recruits had resorted to all pounding on the door and kicking the control panel with a few recruits sitting off to the side ¡®staring of into space as silent tears slid down their faces.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± I scream to get their attention. It didn¡¯t work. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so I grab the Corporal¡¯s service pistol from his holster, and praying it doesn¡¯t send ricochet everywhere, I fire the old six-shooter into an empty room.


    ¡°Bang!¡± Everyone stops and stares at me. 14 sets of frightened eyes waiting to see what I wanted.


    ¡°Stop panicking! We are better than this. We are Gifted. Let us find a way to survive without running around like our heads are cut off! We don¡¯t have much time until we crash, can anyone control their Gift enough to get us out?¡± I desperately asked in an attempt to beat death.


    ¡°If someone has some explosive plant seeds on them I can help, otherwise no.¡± Ella sarcastically responded.


    ¡°How do you release your Gift? I have no clue what I can do¡± Matteo asked.


    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t really know how to explain it. It feels like I¡¯m pushing some type of energy out, but it is natural. Like using a leg to stand up. You kinda build up an inner pressure and then release it I guess.¡±


    ¡°Guess I¡¯ll try that then¡± Matteo stated as he moved to the hatch. After a few moments he released a defeated breath of air and dejectedly moved out of the way.


    Curious I moved to the hatch and place my hands on the edges. Breathe. Build up the energy and push it out. Easy. Except it wasn¡¯t. There was nothing to push nothing to move. Dejected I angrily tensed and tried one final angry mental flex. And there was something. A spark of energy. I coaxed it from its hiding spot and brought it towards my center. This is incredible! Nearly forgetting my time limit, I hurried to try and expand my inner spark until it grew in size. Then I pushed it through my hands.


    ¡°Boooom¡± An accompanying blast tore through my hands and everything turned black.


    ¡°Beep. Beep.¡±


    A bright light filtered into my shut eyes. Closing them completely, I slowly opened them to adjust to my surroundings. I am laying on a stark white bench. Dressed in white undergarments. Fashionable. In rows past me, the rest of the recruits are stirring and finding themselves in the same situation.


    ¡°Congratulation recruits! You have managed to do something no other batch of intakes has ever managed. You managed to all die before crashing into the ground¡± Corporal McCroy¡¯s voice boomed out from a doorway.


    ¡°While you did attempt to save me, you ultimately failed in an explosive fashion.¡± He taunted. ¡°I would like to congratulate Recruit Jason for accessing his gift and taking control of the situation. However, in his attempt to open the hatch he used his gift and released an incredible amount of energy which succeeded in blasting a path to freedom. Unfortunately for y¡¯all, the energy released also rebounded off the hatch and incinerated every single one of you instantly and finished Jason off moments later. So, Congrats. Jason is the first recruit to have single handily killed every other recruit. Lets give him a round of applause.¡± McCroy joked.


    ¡°CLAP¡±


    Everyone turned to glare at me.


    ¡°CLAP¡±


    No one was quite sure what had happened, but everyone knew I had messed it up for them. Great.


    ¡°CLAP¡±


    *****


    Further into the depths of the Academy, a figure clothed in an ornate red and black robe hunched over a monitor replaying the latest batch of recruits¡¯ introductory simulation.


    When he finished watching Jason¡¯s explosive power decimate the ship, he rewound the scene. Again. And again.


    ¡°How is this possible?¡± The robed man asked in a gravelly voice.


    ¡°Apparently his power was strong enough to not only work out that he was inside a simulation but to affect the coding, so it could manifest inside their scenario.¡± The response came from a figure hidden in the dark corner of the room.


    Corporal McCory stepped from the shadows into the light streaming off the monitor. ¡°Needless to say, Jason is now our most promising recruit. I have never had another recruit bring their Gift into the simulation. Much less have one do it without even understanding his Gift.¡±


    ¡°Keep an eye on him¡± came the rough response.


    ¡°Yes, General¡± McCroy saluted and exited with his new orders.


    *****