Fragment of Destiny

Stepping from the tram car into the sector four C-terminal Tess was acutely aware of the enforcers posted by the exit. A foreboding tingle rippled across her body and landed like a stone in her gut. Surely if she had been spotted last night the enforcers would have confronted her then and there? Her feet became like concrete slabs as she forced herself closer to the exit. Tess was so vexed by the presence of the enforcers that she was nearly upon them when at last she noticed the color of their insignia, white and gold. A stupid chuckle escaped her lips as the stress of the moment melted away. They were not real enforcers after all, or at least not the kind to be afraid of. Just a hand-full of grumpy looking staff officers from the Jr. Academy out to greet the new students.

The enforcers hardly noticed Tess as she passed, just automatons handing out small slips of paper by rote. The woman who handed Tess her paper looked half dead. Large dark bags hung under her eyes that even a generous amount of makeup couldn’t hide. Yet her hair and clothes were pristine and she moved with inhuman-like crispness. There was both a beauty and a tragedy to the immaculate order of the enforcers. Something this woman could have been the poster child for Tess thought as she followed a crowd of students away from the Terminal.

Tess turned the paper over expecting to find some welcome information. Instead, there was a detailed grid of the sector with a fat red line guiding her to the Jr. Academy.

“Oh yes, so helpful,” Tess mumbled. No wonder the enforcer’s looked so annoyed. The Jr. Academy was enormous, add to that the street choking line of students heading there and a blind person could have found their way.

Peering across the sea of students Tess got her first good look at the school. A boy beside her let out a whistle followed by a mumbled curse at the sight. Tess made a mental nod in kind. She had known it was big. Yet seeing the two full levels of ergo weather plating up close, she couldn’t help but wonder what the hell they could possibly need all that space for.

After only a few minutes the surging sea of students became a stagnant mass of grey and blue uniforms outside the academy’s south entrance. Tess swore under her breath, if she had been thinking straight, she could have dodged the crowd by taking the tram farther up the line to the D-terminal and used the back entrance. It was a longer route, and for a moment Tess considered doubling back. However, it quickly became apparent that this was not a novel idea. Already streams of students were moving back to the terminal and even more broke away to make the long walk around the academy.

Despite the thinning line it still took the better part of an hour to make it inside the first building. That was when the wait truly began to suck. Just like primary school the Jr. Academy was signal shielded and without being officially enrolled as a student she was blocked from using the academy network. The shared pain of the signal loss was audible in the narrow corridor that ran through the outer building. Despite being surrounded by her peers Tess recognized only a few as upper-casters like herself. Even if they all went to the same school now, it was not like she intended to make friends with any mid or low casters.

When at last her time in purgatory was over Tess found the sun nearly blotted out by plumes of dust from hundreds of shuffling feet as the students crossed a wide dirt track. In front of her, massive twin doors stood open, each bearing the blazing eclipse in brilliant white and gold. The doors were magnificent, nowhere in Central had Tess seen anything beyond the Imperium standard save the gates to the catacombs. Through the doorway, a large lobby with painted concrete flooring and matte gray walls held the teeming mass of students. Rows of recessed lights and cameras dotted a vaulted ceiling. Tess wrinkled her nose in disgust. So, all that extra space was pure vanity, what a waste.

As she inched farther Tess could see signs separating the students by name. So much for the efficiency of the enforcers. Why wasn’t this automated? The one saving grace was the brief minutes of access to her phone again.

“Next,” Muttered the gruff attendant as Tess reached the head of the line labeled H-M.

“Tess Labou.”

The man entered her name and a packet was dispensed from a nearby file system. He grabbed it and with a red marker wrote one hundred eighty-six on the front. “That’s your seat number. Next.”

Tess rolled her eyes as she stepped aside, this definitely should have been automated.

Despite the congested state of the lobby, the double high ceilings did a lot to alleviate the feeling of being gill-tripe crammed in a can. She could almost take two full steps without bumping into another student. Forcing her way through the crowd Tess headed for a long curved hall at the far end of the lobby. With the pack of students thinned she spotted Demetrius who had taken up residence along the wall. He was stooped over and looked to be vacuuming up loose papers with the end of his sleeve. Even as she wanted to chuckle at the sight Tess couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for him. Even his pants were bunched in bulging wads at his ankles. Demetrius had always been small for his age, but this felt like a cruel joke by the quartermaster.

“Planning on a growth spirt sometime in the next few days?” Tess asked as she approached.

“Something like that,” Demetrius said, his face creasing in a smile even as his cheeks went flush. “Apparently if your parents forget to submit your size, issuance will assume you are the size of a house.”

“Have you submitted for a replacement?”

“The officer that checked me in updated my profile. Said I should have a new uniform by tomorrow.”

“Nice, one less thing for me to do.”

“I could have filed the ticket myself.”

“Could have and would have are two different things, Mr. Cross.”

“Don’t call me that. You’re making me feel old.”

“Meh, one more year and you're a full-fledged adult, might as well get used to it.”

“Come on Miss Lebou, before we get left behind,” Demetrius said indicating to the steady flow of students moving down the hall.

Demetrius frowned as he glanced over at Tess’s packet, “My number is fifty-three. I had hoped we could sit together, or at least be close.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Tess said giving Demetrius a wink.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’ll figure something out.”

Demetrius shrugged and fell in stride beside her as the duo made their way down the long hall.

Ahead of them, a group of boys moved brazenly through the stream of students, one of them intentionally ramming into a small girl who had been innocently reading her packet.

“Keep out of the way,” He yelled back over his shoulder, at the girl who now stooped over scattered papers.

“Son of a bitch,” Tess muttered her hands doubling into fists.

“Hold up, what are you going to do, go start a fight?” Demetrius said grabbing her sleeve before she could get away. “Just let it go. They would gang up on you anyway.”

Giving Demetrius a far nastier glare than he deserved Tess relented. It was probably for the best. It wouldn’t look good on her record to be caught in a fight on the first day.

“Fine. They get off the hook today, but only because I don’t want to make a scene,” Tess said. As Demetrius let go of her Tess snatched his jacket sleeve, it was torn. “What happen?” Tess demanded her eyes darkening with suspicion.

“It’s nothing. I tripped on the last step of the tram station stairs. I was looking at that stupid grid.”

“Tripped and fell, and I am sure the four of them had nothing to do with it?” The look on Demetrius’s face said it all. He never was a good liar. No one messes with Demetrius and gets away with it.

“They really should know better,” Tess muttered.

Demetrius ripped the torn sleeve away from Tess, “Look it’s no big deal. Those losers are low casters, what do you expect, and besides we won’t have to see them again after the first few days. The schedule said that the classes will be splitting up after an aptitude test.”

Low casters, so there was no way they would have known Demetrius was off limits. Still, they would get what was coming to them.

“Those punks have to get to school the same as you. You going to let them rough you up every day on the way here?” Tess demanded.

“I’ll just get to school a bit earlier, it’s no big deal. Just drop it. Look we are getting left behind,” Demetrius said gesturing with both hands to the nearly empty hallway.

“Yeah, whatever wuss,” Tess said with a twinge of disgust before pushing Demetrius forward.

Down the hall, double doors opened up into a curved corridor with several sets of stairs leading up to a stadium landing. Nearly every seat in the stadium was taken and only one open seat remained in the front section marked 1-100. Tess frowned. Damn, now she was going to have to force someone to move so she could sit next to Demetrius. Tess smiled as she got a good look at a lanky boy in seat number fifty-two.

“So where were you planning on sitting?” Demetrius asked.

“Right there next to you,”

“And what? You are going to just kick him out of his seat?”

“No. I am going to kindly ask him to move so I can sit with my dear friend,” Tess said, trying out her sweet voice and putting on a flirty smile.

“Excuse me, Mike, right?” Tess said, tapping the lanky boy on the shoulder. Immediately he recoiled as if stung and his face became bright red.

“Um… Yes,” The boy said, barely meeting her eyes.

Tess rested a hand on his knee and he gave a squeak, “I don’t suppose you could do me a huge favor? You see they gave me the wrong seat number. My number was supposed to be fifty-two. Somehow they got ours mixed up,” She held up her packet with the number 186 on the front, but Mike just gave her an uncomprehending stare. Tess took a breath attempting to keep her annoyance off her face.

“So... do you think you could switch seats with me? I’ll owe you one.”

Mike looked to be waking from a dream as he fumbled over his words again, “Um… yeah, sure.”

“Thanks, you’re the best,” Tess said.

“Where did you learn to ask nicely? You didn’t even have to threaten him or anything,” Demetrius said making room for Mike who shuffled past like a zombie.

“I can be nice too you know. And besides, I knew Mikey-boy there would do anything I asked,” Tess said giving Demetrius the same flirty smile and a small giggle.

“Mikey-boy?” Demetrius asked with a raised eyebrow.

“He has had a crush on me since the first day of primary school. He told me once, and apparently, he still does.”

“That’s cold even for you, but I can’t argue with results-"

Their conversation was cut off as the stadium lights dimmed and a tall, regal looking man made his way to the center of a large stage platform.

“Welcome, I am Head Instructor Reynolds. From today on my staff and I will be teaching you everything you need to know to survive the Trial of Ascension. Pay close attention, your lives will depend on what you are able to learn.

Ascension is a gift passed down from our forefathers to us. Countless generations have passed through this trial. Our birthright, however, is not without cost. Yet it is my sincerest hope that each and every one of you will prove yourself worthy of being a part of the great Imperium. In your Primary schools, you learned our history, our heritage, and the greater knowledge of life. Here you will learn how to preserve that life. That one day you will be able to make it worthy of honor,” Reynolds said, then quietly walked off stage. A moment later a view screen came to life where he had stood.

A man in enforcer gray and blue appeared. The blazing eclipse burned red on his uniform. He was military. The figure on screen was much younger than Reynolds. He looked to be around eighteen.

“My name is Trevor Folcoolie. Today I have been asked to share with you some moments from when I trained at the Jr. Academy and my introduction to the trial. You will be able to see firsthand through my eyes what it was like to be there.”

A moment later images of different classrooms, outdoor activities, and simulations filled the screen as the enforcer chronicled his time in at the academy. Already Demetrius was starting to look sick. Tess was confident that she could handle everything they were seeing, but could Demetrius?

On screen, lights washed over the enforcer airfield revealing a fleet of dusk blades. The scene cut to the inside of a dusk blade hovering over the massive storm. The next moment they were falling with swirls of purple and gold dancing all around. There was a blinding flash and the view planted face first into a snow drift. Powder sprayed everywhere as the screen tumbled violently before coming to a rest dangling off the side of a cliff. Looking up Trever’s parachute had caught on a tree and it was the only thing saving him from an immeasurable drop.

Pulling the survival knife from his belt Trever anchored it in a chunk of solid ice. The view trembled violently as Trever hoisted himself up on one arm and reached for an outstretched branch with the other. After a moment, the view lifted up, then tumbled to the side coming to rest with a tree tangled parachute and the stormy sky overhead. The image cut off, and the enforcer once again appeared on the screen.

“That was just a sneak peek at my welcome to the Trial of Ascension. As you can see, the things you learn in this academy are critical to your survival. Not only will you need your physical strength, but you will need to hone your mind. Out there it is your greatest tool,” The viewscreen disappeared and head instructor Reynolds walked back out on stage.

“Under each of your seats is a terminal. Get it out and find the icon labeled test one,” Reynolds said, and an image of the test icon appeared on the screen. “Once you complete the test it will give you direction to your next assignment.”

Tess retrieved the terminal and got to work. The test was open notes with links study articles. Skimming each article Tess zipped through the questions with ease. Upon completion, she was ordered to the track for her next test. Stowing her terminal, Tess looked out over the stadium, nearly everyone still had their eyes glued to their test. This was good, the fewer students that had finished the higher she would rank. She was about to leave then hesitated. Demetrius. If she left him now that would be it. He would never make it on his own. A strangled growl escaped her lips as Tess plopped back down and kicked up her feet on the chair in front of her.

Each passing minute felt like hours as she mentally prodded Demetrius to go faster. When at last he completed the test, the stadium was empty.

“About time there Demetrius. What did you do read every single word?”

“I did, and I got every question right too. Besides remember what the instructor said, everything from this point on is vital information. I learned a lot from those articles. I don’t plan on missing anything, and neither should you.”

Tess was in no mood for a lecture on school work. She rolled her eyes and dragged Demetrius out of his seat towards the track.

“We got laps next. If you hurry, I can still outrun some of the slowpokes,” Tess said, prodding Demetrius into a run.

The track was a churning mass of students that caused dust to billow into the sky like a smokestack. Tess smiled when she saw so many people walking. Overtaking them would be easy despite her deficit.

“See you at the finish line I am not waiting around for you this time,” Tess said, as she started with a few stretches.

On such a mild day the run felt nice, yet the thought of doing ten laps in the blistering heat once first-summer had truly arrived made Tess cringe.

She blew past the walkers and overtook most of the others who had kept up running by the time she completed her final lap. Sucking air, Tess paced in lazy circles by the finish line. She had not been first or even close but she was happy with her time. She considered moving on but didn’t. If she was going to speed through these tests, she should have never waited for Demetrius in the first place. Finding a pocket of shade against the building Tess forced herself to remain patient, she was committed now, so it was no use getting pissed about waiting.

“You have rested enough, head to your next test,” An enforcer said stalking up to her.

“I am waiting for my friend to finish.”

“I don’t care if your friend isn’t finished. Get to your next test.”

“Look, I am going to wait until he is done. So why don’t you get back to making carbon dioxide somewhere else,” Tess tried to suck the words back between her teeth but it was too late.

“You, insubordinate little bitch. You want to wait for your friend. You do it out on the track running laps.”

“Fine I will,” Tess said as she got up to go find Demetrius.

“How many do you have left?” Tess asked between breaths when she found him.

“Three more. Didn’t you finish? Why are you still out here running?”

“I told the enforcer over there I was waiting for you. He didn’t like that much, said move on or run with you.”

“You don’t have to wait for me.”

“Come on slowpoke, keep up,” Tess said as she started to jog again.

Demetrius groaned but followed in step. With his ten laps complete, Demetrius stood at the entrance doubled over with hands on his knees panting for air.

“Alright, that’s enough you two, hurry up and get to your next test,” The enforcer said in a gruff tone.

The rest of the day was just more of the same. A mental exercise followed by a physical one. Each tested something different, mental acuity, endurance, critical thinking skills, raw strength, general survival knowledge, as well as survival specifics. Most of the things in the written tests were new to Tess, and the physical ones wore out her body over and over in new ways. By the end of it all, she was thoroughly spent, both mentally and physically.

“Hey Tess,” Demetrius said quietly as they walked slowly to the C-terminal. “Thanks for waiting. You didn’t have to you know.”

“Don’t mention it. You would have done the same for me.”

“Yeah… thanks…”

The tram ride home was quiet, just Demetrius and a small hand full of people. Tess closed her eyes, her body ached from head to toe. How was she possibly going to do this if she had to babysit Demetrius all year?