The Beginning?

It was the year 50 of the rebirth era. By that time almost everyone had forgotten what life used to be before the energy crises were resolved, a small amount of time, but the difference it made was impactful...

One memory comes to Azai when he thinks of why his parents were lying in a pool of their blood right in front of him. It was a year before this horrifying scene. He was in middle school an eleven-year-old kid. They were studying history. His teacher was a very caring woman, had a very soothing and calm voice that always grabbed his attention.

"Today, I'm going to tell you a story class. It's about how we discovered celestial energy! The energy we now use in our everyday life and the same energy that is powering distant colonies and nations out in space too!"

Humanity as a whole suffered an energy crisis 200 years ago and the planet could not sustain life anymore from the resource drain it suffered, due to that they left the planet colonizing moons and planets, a hard but necessary feat that was required to extend the species life until a solution was found. In that time whenever humanity decided to jump towards the next destination, some stayed and some of these colonies would declare independence while others not, shattering the unity that was formed a long time ago, but all were still united in finding a solution to their problem and sharing it under a treaty that every nation signed. 150 years later, a small team of independent scientists discovered huge power readings on earth that were made due to recent advancements in technology. After secret studies, they discovered that it was coming from two different locations, that had small cracks leading to what can only be explained as another dimension, two different dimensions at two different locations. They could never traverse into those dimensions, but they could extract energy from it, that appears to be infinite, and combined gave even greater results. After that discovery was made, the nations declared a summit, to ensure that no one nation take hold of that power, a private company called "Celestial Energy Research and Distribution" that was formed by the head of the scientific team that also had representatives from every nation was assigned to distribute that energy. And that marked the beginning of a new era for mankind. Every nation made its studies of these energies, and of course, they weaponized it. C.E.R.D had a private military sect that ensured securing the rifts, with cutting edge warfare technology, thwarting rising threats of any kind. And the company was doing a perfect job for almost 100 years now...

"So, class, thanks to Dr. Solomon Gage and his C.E.R.D company, we can live free of energy crises. As a matter of fact, one of your fellow students should be familiar with this matter. Azai Balor's parents work for the C.E.R.D his father is a very respected scientist in the field of celestial energy, and his work revolutionized the way we use it. You should be familiar with the name David Balor, isn't that right dear?"

Azai as the odd introvert kid felt a bit surprised to get that attention, so he tried to drop the subject by saying something quickly

"Ye..yeah but at home, we don't talk about work, so I don't know it." That was a lie on his behalf actually, he knew a lot, because of his inquisitive nature towards his father and his work

"That is fine honey, and that is for the best to leave work for work and just be with your family. Your parents must really cherish you"

For the first time, he saw the reaction of people when they know about his father, the positive impact of his father's work that changed people's lives for the better.

Azai's mind returned to the gruesome scene that was taking place in front of him. He was barely holding his heavy breathing. Hiding in a closet near his bed, his mother hid him there seconds before the two assailants barged into the room, dragging the corpse of his father, that was filled with burnt holes of laser rifles. They were screaming at his mother looked insane, laughing hysterically. Yet his brain couldn't understand a word they were saying it was all a blur like the effects of a grenade exploding. 

In all that chaos he could see moments where his mother would gaze swiftly towards the crack of the closet, meeting with Azai's eyes giving him a faint hope that everything will be alright. Only to be destroyed seconds later as one the assailants had a failed attempt at beheading her with a shed ax, but didn't finish the cut all the way through, leaving her head dangling from her neck. 

Before his mind could process what just happened, one of them noticed the closet and barged right to it, like he knew what he was looking for, as if it was calling for him. He grabbed Azai by the collar of his pajama and lifted him.

"Now kiddo can you repeat what you just said? Hm? Hmmm?"

Azai was shaking uncontrollably, his eyes couldn't focus on anything, the fear and madness had consumed him. The guy could notice that he wasn't responding so he shook him hard until Azai could pay attention towards him

"This is the face of a monster boy. It is monsters like me who lurks under your bed while your sleeping. I'm th-..."

Azai's terror-filled face turned blank, stoic, as a calm deep voice from behind him interrupted the man.

"Really now? So what would you call me then?" The guy froze as his partner's attention was also caught by that interruption. A skeletal figure appeared, covered in a black robe resembling a traditional grim reaper. It approached its face slowly towards the man "Boo!!" He lashed, scaring the two men, dropping an unconscious Azai into the skeleton's arms.

"You have done a fantastic job gentleman, but I can't let you hurt the master's latest project." The skeleton looked up for a moment "I will enjoy skinning you" the skeleton grinned joyfully.

Moments later a police car arrived, the screams of agony were loud and clear. The two officers in the car immediately rushed into the house, barely grazing by the mess that took place on the first floor. Following the blood trail, they arrived at the horrific scene. The blood stench was vomit-inducing added by the quantity of four corpses that bled almost everything they had. But the most horrible scene was the skinned men from head to toe, one of them was still screaming in pain "It hurts!! You mother fucker, it hurts!! Make it stop! That fucking monster!! He messed me up bad! Ahh!!" while the other took his last breath pointing at Azai, who was lying unconscious "Monster" one went to check on Azai and the other checked the pulse of the two men.

"The boy is alive; he's just knocked out." Said the officer

"Well, those two are dead now... The woman is dead." The officer walked towards the father "And the father is dead too, just had to make check first" the officer turned to his partner who was holding up Azai in his arms "well I'll contact H.Q and secure the place"

II.Truth

From behind the police tapes, a grey-haired man crossed sighing at the first look he took at this bloody crime scene. Detective Ron Lesley, a senior detective in the Moon Colony police department, dressed in a stereotypical detective long brown jacket and wearing white gloves. 

After he thought that he would be sleeping to another uneventful day, he had a call to this crime scene. 

Nothing significant ever happens in this colony other than petty crimes, but today all of that changed. A brutal crime that can only be described as a horror movie scene took place and the victim was none other than the scientist Dr. David Balor, a very important figure in the scientific community. So, he had to be here in person, even when he knew that his skills as a detective that was considered the best in the station were mediocre at best.

"So, what do we know so far son?"

The detective asked a junior CSI who was scanning the room, to create a 3D model of the scene. The CSI turned around and saluted him nervously "sorry sir I didn't notice you there sir!" The detective waved his hand to let him be at ease "Well sir I don't know what to tell you, but using the house's advanced systems and our AI, we were able to see what happened. But we still don't know what happened"

The detective was confused, for a moment he thought he was making fun of him "Care to explain what do you mean son?"

"Well, sir, at 10.45 pm two masked assailants entered the house through the back yard, yet the security system did not sound an alarm, the two deceased victims were upstairs sleeping. Alarmed by the noise downstairs they woke up, waited a moment then the father proceeded downstairs, tried to overtake the assailants by surprise, but failed to do so resulting in getting shot multiple times by standard laser rifle belonging to one of them. In the meantime, the mother went towards their son's room and hid him in the closet, by the time she finished, the assailants barged into her room, screaming at her blabbering some unknown gibberish, then proceeded to cut her head with a shed ax they took from the back yard. One of the assailants approached the closet and held the boy up and the feed then cu..cut up sir to be resumed moments later when the assailants were skinned off from head to toe, and the boy lying unconscious next to them" the young CSI seemed more nervous, he didn't know how to explain to the detective how a high-end system suddenly went off without a reason

"So, you mean to tell me that a high-end house security system didn't sound an alarm when the intrusion was detected, but also just shut off! A working system that is also unhackable by any technology here in this colony just cut off suddenly, only to resume working properly moments later to a scene of two skinned men from head to toe!!"

"We..well sir there is an anomaly detected just before the feed was cut off. A huge power surge of beta celestial energy was detected just before the feed cut off. And we're working on figuring it out as we speak" the detective seemed furious clenching his fist and groaning at the CSI, knowing that it's probably not his fault.

"All right son, carry on with your job" the detective sighed again, thinking this was going to be a long night.

He went upstairs to see if he can make sense of this mess by looking at the bodies.

Arriving upstairs he met another CSI analyzing the bodies of the brutally skinned men

"Just tell me we know something" the detective sounded desperate more than angered at this situation "Come take a look sir" the detective kneeled to the bodies covering his nose with a scented mask, that he was given to cover the stench of the bodies "Oh God this sight is awful," the detective said in disgust

"Sir the skinning was done very quickly, and smoothly. The perpetrator must've restrained the men somehow since they do not have any assault wound and the fact that they were conscious while being skinned. So, it must've been multiple perpetrators and also insanely strong with some experience in surgery. I do not think it was a robot since no rouge military robot was reported recently, and no reports were made about an incoming shipment of military-grade robots either. So, until further investigations, we are assuming the perpetrators are insanely augmented humans with some surgical knowledge, yet all of that doesn't explain the speed at which it was done. We are also excluding the men's last words about a monster since it could've been said by the effects of severe pain"

The detective sighed once more "this just keeps getting weirder by each discovery" the detective stood up looked around not knowing what to do next, then asked, "where is the boy now?"

"He's with the officers who arrived first at the scene outside" the detective waved his hand "thanks, keep up the good work"

Approaching the vehicle, he started wondering how will he talk to the boy who just witnessed something horrific while trying to get some facts that would help him know what happened. 

One of the first responding officers noticed the detective approach. The detective waved his hand "How is he now?" The officer replied "He woke up a while ago sir, but he's still not responsive, a paramedic checked on him, he seems physically fine. But all attempts to talk to him failed. Child services were called to handle this situation, we are just waiting for them to arrive"

"Fuck. If these bastards take him, it will almost impossible to take a statement from the boy" Ron walked towards the car, the other officer was kneeling next to the opened door of the back of the car, keeping an eye on Azai. Ron kneeled beside him, staring at the blank face of Azai staring at the back seat of the car, he could tell that the boy was lost. It broke his heart, reminding him of his son, who is the same age. He didn't know what to tell him to make him feel at ease, he couldn't promise him that they will catch who did this, not that everything will be fine, nothing was fine. The only thing that came to his mind was saying some hard facts, something that those at child services will never do. It was logical, the boy just witnessed some of life's hard truths.

"Shit happens..." Azai muttered turning his face towards the detective who couldn't bring himself to say the same, even though he just thought of that.

Ron was stunned for a moment.

"But why? Why me? What is the great meaning of this? Why did I have to suffer this? Why? Why?" Azai's face turned red, tears filling his eyes and snot coming out of his nose "Mom! Dad! I need you! I need you to hold me and tell me everything is going to be okay! Mom!"

Ron's eyes teared feeling a painful ache in his gut, this was fucked up on many levels. These truths could go fuck themselves for all he cared, this boy just needed a warm embrace, that he knew he couldn't provide. Yet if it made him feel any difference it would be great. He held the crying boy tightly; he wasn't able to hold his tears anymore and let them loose

"Cry son, cry all you want. I'm here for you, let it all out" the boy cried even more loudly everyone behind them couldn't but feel the aching too. For a moment everything fell silent but for that boy’s cries for his mother.

III.Perception

Child services arrived. By that time Ron had backed down on getting a statement from Azai and stayed in the car beside him, letting the boy who cried himself to sleep, lay on his legs.

A middle-aged lady dressed in a typical child services suit stepped out of the car that arrived, arrogantly asking where Azai was, but before she arrived at the car where he was sleeping, two black SUV vehicles parked, they had the logos of C.E.R.D on them, and from them stepped out a security team surrounding a man who was stepping out, the lady stopped to see what was happening. Then a police officer interrupted them, telling them that this was an active crime scene and that they can't just barge in. But an old man from behind the team introduced himself as Dr. Oliver Stand, yet the officer didn't recognize him and demanded that they leave the premise.

Ron heard the commotion that was happening outside and went to see what was happening, gently leaving The kid asleep in the back seat, he immediately recognized the old man

"Hey, officer, step back don't you know who this is?" The officer stopped what he was doing, realizing that maybe he did something disrespectful. Ron approached the officer explaining who he is

"That's Dr. Oliver Stand. One of the most influential scientists in C.E.R.D., show some respect." The officer apologized and backed up.

"I apologize for my subordinate behavior Dr. Stand, but he didn't recognize you" Ron was obviously trying to suck up to the guy, who could end the whole department career if he wanted. He was one of the top executives in the company, even presidents showed him proper respect, which made it weird that he would show out of the blue here, he didn't know that he had a connection with Dr. David Balor even if his work was known through the galaxy.

"Don't worry detective, but we need you to leave the premise shortly, and we will be taking the boy with us" Ron was shocked to hear this. But the lady from child services was furious and interrupted him

"Who do you think you are, to think you can take this child, without consulting us first?!"

The scientist didn't seem fazed by her arrogance and gave her a disgusted look of insignificance that made her shut up

"As I was saying detective, we will be taking over. We have the approval of the governor if you have any problem, you can talk to him directly from my phone"

"Oh, that won't be necessary sir, we'll pack and leave right away" replied Ron immediately

"And one more thing, it would be very helpful if you gave us the data you collected and every copy of it"

"Sure thing" Ron stepped back to give out the new orders, he wasn't bothered at all by what just happened, he couldn't have done anything to prevent it, nor that it was something unfamiliar, to begin with. But his mind was just focused on Azai, he didn't know what kind of life the poor boy will face now, even if he hated child services it was still a better option than to be taken by a company. Now his mind was even more curious about this case, there was something fishy about it, yet he wouldn't know now for sure.

Azai woke up later after all the police had left, to see an old man sitting beside him in the back seat of a different car that he was sitting in, he rubbed his eyes looking around confused a little bit.

"I bet you don't recognize me, but I knew you since you were just a baby, I'm a friend of your parents, my name is Dr. Oliver Stand, a scientist who worked with your father"

Azai didn't say anything, but he could slightly remember a photograph on his father's desk with someone who looked like him. With all that happened, he couldn't remember much, but maybe he would've under normal circumstances.

"Don't trouble yourself with talking, I'm just here to tell you that I'll be taking good care of you now. Your parents entrusted me with this task should something happen to them. And believe me from the bottom of my heart I wished that this day would never come to be. I'm sorry for your loss and for what you witnessed. A gruesome random act that no one can really find an answer to, a grim truth to this world, that many live and die without witnessing. Yet you did, and I would reckon that this would help you grow stronger. Even if I don't make sense now but with enough time you will understand"

Azai couldn't completely understand what he was talking about but to some degree, he understood enough to allow him to have the strength to not fall into tears again.

"Do not trust him completely kid..."

A deep menacing, yet calm masculine voice whispered into the back of Azai's head. Confused he turned around to see who was talking to him only to find no one

"Did you hear that mister?" Azai asked the scientist

"No, I didn't hear anything" the scientist didn't pay any attention to what he said

"You're probably still tired of what happened. Now, these two gentlemen outside the car will take you to a hotel room, where you will be staying the night, I'll meet you there after I finish my work here. Deal kiddo?" Oliver was sounding too nicely trying to get the boy's head off about tonight even for a little bit.

Oliver stepped out of the car and in came one of the security guys, while the other got in the driver seat.

"Take good care of him alright. And dear Azai if you want anything just tell Sam here, and he will get it for you, he will be staying with you all the time until I get to the hotel"

Azai nodded his head, feeling shy with all these new faces he's with as the car drove away.

"Hey kid, want a bubble gum?" Offered Sam the security guy sitting with him.

He hesitantly took the gum "thank you"

"Oh, don't be shy I look scary, but that's just for show" Azai nodded once again and ate his gum.

"No one can hear me but for you, if you want to talk just think with your head, not your mouth I can hear you"

The voice once again whispered in his head, he looked around to see what if there was someone there. Once again there was no one, he remained silent trying hard not to talk to him, maybe he was just imagining things.

"Oh, you don't want to talk, that's fine maybe later then. But I would like to know what you think happened back there at the house"

Azai remained silent until they arrived at the hotel. It was the grandest hotel on the moon colony. On other days he would be awed by it, but not tonight.

His mind was racing with thoughts about what happened, but more importantly, that voice, was he going crazy? Well, it wouldn't be odd for that to happen. But should he try to ignore it? Fight it? Cope with it? Or maybe embrace it? This was a complex issue for a twelve-year-old boy to handle.

Sam got out of the car and opened the door for Azai. They went into the reception area, where the receptionist greeted them right away, she recognized them immediately.

"Welcome sir, we've been told about your arrival." She turned to Azai who was staying silent at the time and kneeled down to him.

"You must be young master Balor. Dr. Stand tasked us with providing you with everything you need" she looked back up to Sam.

"We have provided a change of clothes for him; would you like for one of our staff to take care of him?"

"Oh, that won't be necessary, I'll be with him the entire time. Would you please show us to the room for now?"

"Here's the key card, just insert it in the elevator keypad and it will take you to the last floor, the penthouse suite."

They proceeded without further delay. 

As they got to the suite Sam couldn't help but to whistle, impressed by the lavish decoration of the suite

"It's not always that one gets to stay in such luxurious places, don't you think kid?" Azai was also impressed by the room, but he only replied with a nod, still feeling shy with the scary tall, yet a kind man. 

Sam was a black man with a towering height of 190 cm, with ripped muscles that could be seen from under his suit. His knuckles were scarred from all the bare punches he delivered throughout his job. He wasn't bald, yet he shaved his head, so no one could use it against him, but let out his beard grow and with the huge scar on his left eye, it gave him an intimidating look that would scare most men. He wore sunglasses almost all the time, hiding a pair of sad eyes that radiated with empathy. With all this look he still acted kind and friendly, cracking some jokes from time to time. 

Azai pulled Sam's sleeve "I need to go to the bathroom"

Sam looked around and pointed at its direction

"It's that way buddy, and it seems your room is that way, I'll be watching TV here if you want me just call"

Sitting on the toilet, the same questions about his sanity ran through his head again.

"I can't say for sure that you're not going mad. But who I'm I to say that, I'm just a voice in your head, yet I could be something more?"

The voice came out of nowhere, startling the boy. He was scared, the voice certainly had to know his thoughts, a scary thought indeed. This time though he had to confront it, however, he decides to handle this situation he had to confront it at least, or so he thought.

"Are you a voice that belongs to me? Or are you separated from me?"

"Hmmm... A good question indeed, but really how can you tell? Am I a voice separated from your being, or am I a manifestation of your scarred mind? But does it even matter? You are the only one who can hear me, so to everyone else, I do not exist. But let's assume for now that I'm a separated entity for now for the sake of what remains of your sanity."

Azai was somehow making sense of what the voice was talking about, but he was right with one thing it didn't matter if it was a separate entity, maybe if it was it would bring more questions than answers.

"So, what do you want from me then?"

"Want from you? I do not want anything from you, it is you who want something from me. It was you who called for me, I am the sense for your suffering, or so you would believe. Like I said I wanted to know why do you think this suffering came unto you in that house, so I would give you my answer."

"The reason? I don't think there is a reason. Shit happens, something I heard my father once said. I think it means that sometimes things happen for no reason."

The voice laughed amused by the words of a twelve-year-old.

"That's right my boy, but is it? If hypothetically you see the events that led to those men invading your house, you would definitely find a reason. That is what humans do, they try to find a meaning in everything, yet you somehow skipped that and saw the whole picture, and knew that at its core it had no meaning. Humans can spend their whole lives searching for meaning only to find at their deathbeds that it meant nothing. But with that bleak truth what will you do now?"

Once again, the boy somehow understood what he was talking about, and pondered with it a while before giving out an answer

"Well, I think some events don't have meaning, but I guess there has to be meaning in it somehow. I'm still young and don't have an idea what I want to do when I grow up, but maybe if I try hard enough with what I want to be, then I will find meaning in it"

"That is a matter of perception boy just like I said, but I like your perseverance and your will. Even if I do not agree with you completely, but I would like to stay around and see what will you accomplish if you try hard enough the next time we may even meet face to face boy until then I will stay here giving you my perspective about things."

When Azai came to be he noticed that mere moments passed, even though it felt like minutes. The whole conversation passed on at the speed of one's thoughts.

After going out of the bathroom he went out to his room; Sam was relaxed watching TV.

IV.Light

Hours later Dr. Stand arrived at the room, he was just finishing a call on his phone.

"Yes, just make sure everything goes accordingly, things on my end are almost done, by tomorrow he will be there."

Sam turned off the TV, as he went to greet the scientist.

"Hope everything went smoothly sir."

"Yes, Sam thank you for your concern. So, how's the boy?"

"Oh, he hasn't gotten out of his room since we arrived. His B-celestial energy readings are still within normal parameters."

"Hm... That might just be for the better, for now, it will give us more time to study the development stages thoroughly."

Dr. Oliver walked towards the mini-fridge and grabbed two beers.

"Here you go Sam, let's drink a cold one for now."

Sam gladly accepted the beer. 

He was very close with Dr. Oliver, he has been his bodyguard for over a decade now, and Oliver trusted him with many things aside from his wellbeing, he was more like a friend. And Sam always appreciated Oliver's kindness and friendship towards him.

"Thanks, sir, but weren't you eager to probe the boy? I thought you would head straight over to his room"

Oliver sat at one of the bar stools, sighing, drinking his beer.

"Yes, I still am, but the boy's father was a friend of mine if you remember, it was true that I was meant to take care of him. I feel a certain type of responsibility towards him. I never thought that he would be the matter of our project, so it doesn't feel right to treat him like any other test subject."

Sam sat at the stool beside him and chugged his beer.

"Yeah, I feel you. Man, that's gotta be tough. To suddenly have to take of a friend's child. Well, I don't know how I can help. But it seems the boy is shy, yet somehow coping with what happened, he must be one tough kid. So, I think you will be fine."

Oliver sighed once again and finished the rest of his beer.

"I guess you're right, but maybe I gotta approach this differently, maybe I need to let things take its natural course and observe for now. So, I think I'll just lay his options and let him choose for now and see where it will lead us, after all, we can always keep things under our control"

Oliver stood up and patted Sam's shoulder as he headed towards Azai's room.

He knocked on the door and called the boy to see if he's awake. He replied with a simple "yes"

Oliver opened the door and walked in and sat next to Azai on the bed.

"So how are you feeling?" "Fine," said the boy and kept silent, Oliver struggled to find the right words to say for a moment.

"So, I'll tell you straight what are your options for now... You could either understand more about the nature of what happened to your parents by enrolling in our special program, or you can do whatever you want. But whatever you choose you will always be under my care, that was my promise towards your parents. But just one thing before you make your decision that I want to be clear about. The program will be dangerous and it will involve many hardships, you will be fighting many battles in the future and probably even wars-"

Before Oliver could continue Azai interrupted him.

"I want to be in the program. Maybe I will find my closure there"

Oliver hid his smirk well, it seems everything was going to be fine after all, he was worried about nothing.

"All right son, first thing tomorrow we'll be heading towards Earth, your new home. So have a good night's sleep then."

Oliver patted his shoulder and just before he could close the door Azai said.

"You won't betray me ever, right doctor?"

Oliver shocked for a moment, stood still, then regained his composure.

"Of course, not son, where did that come from all of a sudden?"

"Nowhere. Just a random voice in my head. Thought I should ask you"

"Oh, is that so, don't worry son I'll never do anything to betray your trust in me, I swear. Now go to sleep we have a long day tomorrow."

Oliver shut the door behind him, surprised by that conversation, and went to his room immediately, Sam was out of the room by that time.

"Oh, that was a nice move kid, you rattled him for a bit if you noticed"

"I noticed, but I just hope it was for different reasons."

At first light Azai opened his eyes, he was trying hard to sleep, yet he couldn't. All night his mind was racing through random thoughts. A lot of things happened in the span of one night, that his brain couldn't just stop processing it.

He felt hungry so he got up and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

He spat the water when he finished and stared at his reflection in the mirror, he could notice a laziness in his eyes more than usual, exhaustion was apparent on him.

Azai was a handsome boy, dark-haired and wide dark eyes. His expression was almost always blank, not because he lacked emotions, but because he didn't like to show his teeth when he smiled and laughed, he just wasn't confident that his smile was pretty enough, by default that made him shy and introverted.

"You're already doing one of the most boring and repetitive tasks and you still feel that you need to take more time to finish it?"

"Where did that come from all of a sudden?"

"Just a thought I felt like sharing. Don't you think that there are so much wasted potentials in this useless repetition?"

"It's not useless, I need to keep my teeth healthy, and need to wash my face"

"Yes, but don't you think that with all this advancement we achieved that we could save up this wasted time and invest it in something more meaningful? Just like washing your hands too. I know you can't do anything about it, but you could at least not make it longer. Just a thought I felt like sharing."

"You're weird you know. Just let me do my business"

Azai washed his face quicker than usual and went out to the living area.

Sam was already preparing breakfast. The aroma was delightful, smelled good that Azai almost drooled.

"Don't just stand their kid, come, and have a seat. You must be hungry; you haven't eaten anything last night"

Sam's passion for cooking was shown all over his smile. The fried oil smell of scrambled eggs and fried bacon compelled Azai's stomach to growl. It was a simple wholesome meal, yet the passion it was made with, gave it that much more appeal. 

Sam appeared in a new light in Azai's eyes, as if Sam took off that fearful feeling he gave like he took off his suit.

Azai sat on one of the stools, watching in awe that huge man cooking, he wanted to get to know the man that intrigued his senses, but just needed that small talk to maybe start a conversation.

"Thank you for the meal" "Oh, you're welcome, but wait till you taste it" Azai continued with that startup.

"I'm sure it will be delicious, but why did you cook when you could just order from the hotel kitchen?" The boy's shyness was overcome with his sense of intrigue.

"Well, that's what you learn when you live alone for a long-time kid. You get to a point where you don't like any cooking, it has to be special."

"Oh, I guess, I don't know much about that, I only ate my mom's cooking."

He looked down at the table, silently remembering his deceased mother. Sam noticed the boy's silence; it was just by the time he finished. He placed the plates in front of him.

"Well, I'm not sure if this will be as good as your old lady's cooking, but I sure hope it can bring a smile to that face."

The colorful mix of beautifully organized food did bring a smile to his face. The smell that intensified as it was entering his mouth was heavenly. But the juiciness of the flavor was the right finish to that hype. 

A tear fell on his face as he was taken back to a pleasant scene of a morning breakfast with his parents. Only to look back at the face of a smiling Sam.

"I can tell from your face, but how did that taste?"

"It... Was awesome." Azai noticed the tear and wiped it "sorry... I remembered my mom's cooking"

"Don't be kid, it's alright. But how about you learn how to cook, that way you can remember her every time you cook"

"I guess I will." Azai was delighted by that idea. It didn't cross his mind that something insignificant could make him feel wholesome even for a moment.

Oliver came out of his room dressed in his suit as if he came out of a meeting.

"I see you two are getting along. Sam had undergone the special program too and now he's an instructor there from time to time. It will be good for you to learn from one of the best Azai"

Azai was surprised, could he be looking at a future version of himself. 

Sam raised his eyebrow interested.

"Oh. So, you're gonna join the program kid. Well, I'm not gonna sugar-coat it for you kid, you're in for a world of pain if you don't prepare yourself for what's to come."

"really? Just last night my parents were murdered, I think I'm ready for anything."

"I sure hope so kid."

Oliver sat on the stool beside Azai and grabbed a plate.

"Don't scare the boy now Sam. He chose it so he better be prepared for it. Now let's eat some of your fine cooking, we have a long day ahead of us, we need to be at the shuttle station in about an hour."

Azai munched on his food while staring at Oliver, he still didn't know if he can trust or not.

Oliver was an old man, grey-haired. the wrinkles of his face gave him an advantage of looking friendly and trustworthy, yet if he was 20 years younger, he'd have a wicked face, filled with mischief, his small narrow eyes are the only thing that gives away his wickedness. He had a thick mustache hiding the top lip of his mouth, maybe a typical thing for scientists? even his clothes were almost stereotypical. He was wearing the same brown jacket and brown pants he was wearing yesterday, but these much cleaner, suggesting he may have several of them.

An hour later, they arrived at the shuttle station, this wasn't Azai's first time at the station, he was here before when his father went on for a month or two to C.E.R.D's HQ when he was needed. But this was his first time getting on the shuttle himself. He was excited by the idea and sad at the same time because this was now an unfulfilled promise by his father, he'd promised him that one day he will take him with him.

drifting in his thoughts, he now arrived at the medical checking gate. First-timers go through a full-body scanning before flying, space travel was something not all people could do without proper equipment if they appear to have an issue at the scanning procedure. Many risks came with this travel. 

Everything was fine until Oliver walked to the booth were an examiner was shocked for a second. The booth was made of glass, and the scanning pod was right next to it, so Azai could see what was happening, it seemed fishy for a second. But moments later the examiner opened the pod and handed the paperwork to Oliver.

Azai thought it would be useless to ask what happened, yet a bullshit answer was better for him than nothing.

"So, was there a problem doctor?"

"Oh, nothing that can't be handled. It seems that you have a spike in beta-celestial energy levels, it's because of your late father work that you may have been exposed to it more than normal, so I just explained it to him. people on the moon don't get those readings often, so they get confused and we don't have that time"

For some reason, that explanation seemed truthful so he didn't question it much himself.

They headed into a dressing room just before the boarding gate. It had suitcases with their names on it, two of them that belonged to Oliver and Azai, standard space suits meant for traveling, they were ordered by Oliver. The third one was a battle armor meant for many things, one of them was space travel, custom-built for Sam by C.E.R.D warfare department. 

After finishing with the fitting, with Sam's help. Azai looked in the mirror he felt cool and awesome in this suit, but behind him stood Sam, who looked many times cooler and intermediating in his shiny black armor that resembled a medieval armor, with modern functions and aesthetics.

"When you graduate from the program, you can get a custom-made armor like this. So, for now, bask in the awesomeness of my badass armor" Sam laughed loudly, clearly looking down on Azai, which made the kid feel a bit salty.

"When that time comes, I'll get an even cooler armor"

"When that time comes, I'll personally ask the guys to make it the best for you, after all, they can't refuse the request of the best fighter to graduate the program."

Oliver was waiting outside, annoyed by the time they are taking to finish.

"Are you finished yet?"

"Oh, the doctor seems annoyed, let's get out before he gets angry"

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

They walked through the gate towards the shuttle. It was a private shuttle owned by Oliver, something that Azai never thought he would never experience. It gave him the same luxurious feeling that he felt at the hotel.

"Enjoy it while it lasts kid, everything that goes up must come back down."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing in this world stays as is, everything must come to an end at some point. That's how life works"

Azai paid no attention to what he just said, he must be voicing the inner paranoia that he left in the back of his mind. But it sure killed his enjoyment of this ride now.

It took some time to prepare for launch, everything needed to be double-checked. having technical issues in space is deadly, to say the least.

The seats in the shuttle were placed facing each other, Sam and Azai were sitting facing each other, while Oliver was sitting in a different seat checking his emails and getting busy with his work. The feeling of excitement filled Azai's face, his eyes couldn't be taken off the window.

From his huge window protruding outwards, he could see Earth, the bright blue marble he used to look at every night from his bedroom window. living on the moon due to the lack of an atmosphere, he could only imagine what his parents used to tell him about the daytime there, and the pictures he saw didn't give him enough immersion in that beauty, he needed to experience it. Here it was only bright light in a dark sky, not different from artificial light in the city. Earth's moon didn't go through terraforming like most parents that humanity colonized, instead, multiple dome-like structures were made and within it, life conditions are met so humans and animals can live in it.

"anxious kid?" Sam interrupted the boy's fantasies.

"No, just excited about the trip, I always wanted to feel what day time was like on earth. And these preparations are taking too long!"

"Well if we were in a military frigate, we would've been out of here by now. But military standards vary so much from civilian ones"

A beep sounded and a red light appeared above them signaling that preparations are complete and they are ready for lift-off.

"Here we go, fasten your seatbelt kid we're ready to go"

Azai was fastening his seatbelt when a thought occurred to him. From what he knew at school and from his father, that this trip usually takes a long time, almost an entire day, but his father never boarded a private shuttle. He wasn't going to stare out of his window for a whole day and he didn't pack any sort of entertainment to keep him busy.

"How long will this trip take exactly?"

"Well, about three hours, this shuttle packs an engine as fast as a military one. So, don't worry you can sleep it off if you want to, or you can use the holographic terminal in your seat arm to access the internet and entertain yourself, just touch the blue light dot on it."

Azai was surprised by the answer, he looked at the arm seat and touched the light dot, and a screen appeared before him, but he quickly drew his attention off towards the window as the shuttle started moving.

Strangely enough, there were not even light vibrations as the wheels started moving, it was even smoother than a car, he could only feel the gravitational force as they took off, pulling him, but that was probably the pilot flexing the powerful engine on other shuttles that were about to take flight after him.

It just occurred to him that now he is leaving home, yet he didn't feel bad about it, yes he had probably the best moments in his life there and probably the best he will ever have, but at the same time, it ended with such a tragedy for him, that leaving it all behind would be the best thing he could ever do. He probably wouldn't even return for the funeral of his parents; his relatives most likely didn't even know what happened. It wasn't even important to him, both his grandparents died before he was born and the rest of his relatives lived in distant colonies with separate lives, that they had almost no contact with each other except for rare occasions.

As his thoughts drifted in that notion, the moon was beginning to look a lot smaller, it almost reached the size of a boulder, while the earth was getting bigger and bigger, demonstrating the speed of the shuttle, he was fascinated by the speed of the shuttle, his eyes were kept glued to the window as he didn't want to waste this experience, yet after a while it became boring, he yawned and his eyes slowly started closing barely fighting that urge, until it finally succumbed and his lids closed.

A gentle shake woke him up. To see Sam smiling like always.

"We're almost here kid, thought you wouldn't want to miss our entry through the atmosphere." Sam looked towards the window "And that's Earth space station. People made this huge station back when the earth was inhabitable, to stay closer to their original home. They and the moon colony were the first to separate the unity of humanity."

Azai rubbed his eyes and was breathing heavily and sweating with unease in the back of his mind, yet he didn't know why. Maybe he had a nightmare? He didn't think much about it since he couldn't remember and instead admired the station, that stood tall all these years with their conviction that one day, they will return to their home. 

With the advances in technology and ease of travel, people kept living here, since it took only an hour to reach earth, not hassle enough to relocate.

A light flashed once again signaling them to lock their seatbelts. As they were beginning to enter earth's atmosphere, this time a rumble vibrated through the shuttle, the amount of force was staggering even for advanced shuttles, Azai was pressed to his chair. But then moments later it appeared, the blue hue was beginning to cover the sky. The pressure started to lessen as the shuttle reverse engine kicked in. Azai once again glued his face to the window, admiring the scenery, his heart was pounding fast and skipped a breath. Sam was laughing at the excited boy.

"I don't think I've had enough of people's reaction when they see the earth, just wait till you see the rest of it!"

"So, are we going to one of the rifts bases or HQ?"

Sam and Oliver were a bit surprised, it seems the late David had shared this secret information with his son, so Oliver was intrigued to know more.

"We'll be heading to HQ for now, but later in your program, you will definitely go there."

"Aww, I really wanted to see the ruins of Babel."

Oliver shrugged it off since he was eventually going to know about this information, Azai was a quiet boy so it shouldn't be a problem, but it wouldn't hurt to keep more of an eye on him he thought.

The HQ tower appeared in the distance. They have circled the globe, and it was nighttime now. The tower was enormously extending to the atmosphere, with a huge base that made the whole thing visible from space. The tower had the C.E.R.D logo on it vertically covering the whole front of the building, glowing with white light.

There were a couple of people waiting to welcome Oliver, a standard protocol for higher executives on helipad made at the lower half of the tower, leading straight towards his office.

The natural air fresh air that hit Azai compelled him to take it in until his lungs couldn't expand anymore. The sweet breeze tickled his face turning it slightly reddish, he stopped still at the stair leading to the pad. Sam was watching the boy at from the bottom of the stairs, he always watched people when they had that reaction, it made him think about what he took for granted, he smiled waiting for the boy. Oliver was talking to his assistances, taking care of some matters.

"So, you found some joy in this experience I see, good for you. So, did you find meaning in this experience yet?"

The boy opened his eyes, with a cold unimpressed look, dread in the back of his mind hit him, the realization of the emptiness that he tried to fill with these experiences to find meaning in his existence.

"Why do you have to be such a bummer? Just shut up for today, I don't want to speak to you."

The boy may have realized what he was feeling, but still, he is yet to realize the full impact of such a mindset that he was on.

Sam noticed when the boy arrived down, that he didn't smile like when he was back at the shuttle, he raised his eyebrow, yet didn't say anything to the boy, Oliver had just finished talking to his assistances and turned to Azai.

"Dear Azai, go with Sam to change your clothes and get your medical scans, we do not have time to waste, the other initiates are already arrived since yesterday and were waiting for us. We'll talk later about your accommodations."

Azai nodded his head and followed Sam.

Later they arrived at the medical scanning room, both have taken off their suits. A young nurse was waiting for them, she noticed Sam walking in with the boy.

"Oh, what do we have here? Sam Temple in the flesh! And not on a stretcher too! It's been a while, how are you?"

Sam laughed as he entered through the automated door.

"I'm fine Natasha, and here you go!" Sam presented her with a wooden box.

"You sure know how to get yourself out of trouble. But don't think that a box of expensive cigars will you get out of your deal mister, you promised dinner and I will uphold you to that."

"Well, I'm sorry but this time I'm staying for a while, so we'll definitely go to that middle eastern restaurant you want so badly. But for now, I'm in a hurry, they told about the boy, right?"

"Yeah, so this is the kid. You're such a cutie I bet you're gonna turn to such a hottie when you grow up." Azai was getting annoyed by how she was pinching his cheeks, and touching his face. This was too invading for him from someone other than his late mother.

"Kid, you just got praised by a former Miss Russia, show some a smile for a change."

Azai was still annoyed, yet he was more intrigued by her story, but still, it wasn't the time for that.

"Alright boy, get in the chamber to the left so we can get you to your meeting quickly."

There was another room separated by glass, it had a pod for full medical examinations and scans and an operating table for emergency operations. There were several of those rooms as he was walking towards Natasha's office.

The whole scanning took about five minutes, he couldn't hear what they were talking about outside, but Natasha's reaction was surprising, it seemed like the same reaction at the station on the moon, but with less shock. She called for him to get back to them.

"Boy, you seem to have high Beta Celestial energy in you, just so you know, it doesn't seem as high as the other initiates, but you will get through."

Sam was a bit surprised by that statement.

"You mean there are even higher energy levels by the rest?"

"Well, not by much, but there is one boy who came, the name's Chozai, he had unprecedented levels of Alpha Celestial energy in him. Don't worry about it boy, you will soon know what it all means, we'll be meeting a lot in the future. Now hurry along you two."

The two descended to the base of the tower, the meeting will be taking place in a field meant only for them. Along the descend Azai encountered a lot of scientists and military teams, all held high regards towards Sam, which made Azai more fascinated with his character, all the time he just thought that he was just another terrifying bodyguard, but that look towards him was changing by every encounter they had.

Arriving at the main reception lobby of the tower, the two were interrupted by a security guard, stopping them from moving forward.

"Mr. Temple sorry, but you need to take the back door if you want to go outside, we have a protest taking place outside."

Sam sighed and scratched his head.

"Those religious fanatics again. When will they ever give up? Every time I return to HQ they are here."

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience sir, but there is a huge crowd and we predict that things may escalate violently. But will handle it if it comes to that."

Sam looked outside at the crowd from a distance. There was a preacher to the crowd, rallying the crowd with his megaphone.

"Brothers and sisters, this is the root of evil! These people hold the most sacred of places behind guarded doors! But we! We have discovered the truth! We through our faith shall reclaim it! The gate of God's heaven cannot be touched by scientists who dare use the sacred energy of God's heaven in their twisted experiments! They consult with demons! Rather than destroying the gate to Hell, they blind the soul of man by using its energy! But through us, God will smite these heathens!"

Azai was watching eyes wide open, this was a first for him, he never encountered such convictions, yet his eyes were focused on the man speaking to the people, fascinated by his ability to sway these people. He had a bad taste in his mouth at the same time hearing the lies he was spreading, his blood boiled with every word he said, it was a clear insult towards his father's long life work, he didn't understand how he was convinced in his bullshit, how could people not trust science he thought.

Sam sighed once again and placed his hand on Azai's back to move along.

"When will this shit end? Well, keep up the good work my man, we won't disturb you, we'll take the back door."

As the two walked towards the back door, they heard a shattering far behind them, followed by the sound of explosions. The two stopped in their place, Azai's heart began pounding quickly, he looked ahead on the ground to see a shadow looming over him, he turned his head to see Sam smiling over him, his heart's racing slowly calmed, as Sam's smile turned to a frown. An intimidating aura swallowed Azai's being, while Sam remained calm in his movements

"Hey you protect the boy; this will take only a moment."

The guard that was talking to them earlier was frozen in his from the sight of Sam who was talking so calmly and could only nod, as he took Azai into a safe corner, where he could watch from a distance.

The crowd outside dispensed in a panic as eight masked, armed men barged through the smoke and rubbles. The five guards near the entrance were regaining their composure as the men were quickly riddled with a burnt hole, another team of guards was on the way, but they were still far. The nearest person was Sam, who was simply walking towards them calmly assessing the scene before him, his intimidating aura made the attackers stop for a moment.

"You mother fuckers just made my day. I love my fanatics ripped and tore by the way!"

The attackers fired their assault laser rifle, but by the time they took of their eyes from their scopes, the huge man was gone. From afar Azai saw Sam's right foot take a quick step aside, that was all he was able to see, the next thing he saw was Sam behind them and they were all lined horizontally before him. The distance between them and Sam wasn't far, but the speed of such a dash was unbelievable. It was an explosive sound that made the attackers look behind them, but by that time two of them were already seeing two massive fists coming through their chests, the moments that took the others to react was enough for him to grab another two men by the head plunging his fingers in their skulls and swing them as weapons to break the rest of the line. Confusion filled their minds as this beast of a man was killing them with ease two at a time, they were all lying on the ground as he stomped another two in their chest, splattering blood all over the two remaining attackers, who were now riddled with terror unable to do anything else. Sam grabbed one of them by the neck and walked towards the last guy who was crawling on his back in fear. He punched through his chest taking out his heart. That's when the last guy pissed himself surrendering, it was mere moments till the rest of the guards arrived, but it was enough for Sam to take care of them.

The guard who was protecting Azai couldn't cover the kid's eyes from that scene, it happened so fast, with such strength and violence that he couldn't react to it. Azai's face was red, a smile grew on his face that he didn't realize, the brutality had captivated him, he didn't know why, but that strength and speed made the adrenaline rush in his veins.

"Well, that takes care of things now, I trust you will take care of the rest boys."

Just another day at the job. That mentality was adopted by such a degree by Sam that the other guards were left speechless, he just took care of an intense situation professionally with ease as nothing happened. Sam looked at his bloodied clothes with an annoyed look.

"Aww. we'll be late for sure now. Oh, fuck it." Sam mumbled to himself.

He walked towards the guard and that frightful aura has changed back to the usual friendly one.

"You dumbass! Don't tell me you made the kid watch that!"

"I'm sorry sir, but I...I"

"Just get back to work now!"

The guard had shut up and walked towards the other team with his mind still struck from what he witnessed just now.

"I'm sorry kid that you had to witness this."

Azai bit his lower lips trying to say something to Sam, who was genuinely feeling guilt for having Azai to witness that. He didn't feel that he should tell him that he enjoyed it and chose his words carefully.

"They were bad guys who killed those guards and tried to hurt you. They got what they deserved."

Sam for some reason didn't feel much comforted by those words, but he didn't want to go much deeper on the subject and simply gave his usual smile and pointed his finger at their next destination.

The two arrived at the field outside, Oliver and the other initiates were already there waiting for them. They saw them coming, everyone noticed the blood on Sam's clothes with a surprise on their face

"What the hell happened Sam?!"

"Sorry sir, but we encountered a situation in the reception area, but everything is taken care of now"

"The important thing is that you're both safe, we'll talk later so, let's begin."

The initiates immediately caught Azai's eyes, they were all formed up in a straight line, including him they were eight initiates. Sam went up to stand beside Oliver's side on the ramp.

"Alright since we are here, at last, let's begin. All of you chose of your own violation to be here. So, to cut to the chase, all of you had a certain event in your life that had most of you be on the watch by us. You've had unique encounters with either Alpha or Beta celestial energy. Due to that your bodies now harbor huge quantities of it, that would kill any human being, yet you do not even feel any effects by it nor you do know about this fact. What is interesting about this fact, is that through proper training you can control this power in various ways, unique to your energy wave, of course, this information was not only discovered by us, governments all over the galaxy also have similar programs. So, we are yet again in a nuclear race. Our aim in this program is also like the aim of the company. We must keep the balance between nations, till the time comes back when we are united once again."

A kid raised his hands from the line.

"Yes, what is your question?"

"Well sir, do we really hold such power that we are considered a nuclear level threat? I find that hard to believe within the realm of physics and reality."

"Interesting question. Do you know the process of getting celestial energy to power everything? I guess not, even though it's public information, but not many people care as long as they have electricity to power their home. In short, we combine both waves, to stabilize and cancel the side effects of each wave. Then it is diluted through a long process to a 0.0000001% of its original power, so it can be safely handled, we can't even use it to power anything without exploding or melting until we get to that percent. Military uses could only go up to 0.0001% of its power, while you, my dear, have it in its raw form inside your body!"

The initiates were all struck with awe, nuclear bombs weren't enough to describe them, they were essentially gods, capable of feats heard only in myths.

"Yet despite all that, the best someone has ever achieved is 90% utilization and the one who accomplished such feat is standing right beside me, Sam Temple. He can take down armies on his own, but against others like him, the quantity will triumph against quality. That is why we need you and this program and I hope you achieve great results till your graduation year. That is all, for now, kids, Sam will guide you to the building that will be your school for these years, you will also meet your instructors there."

Oliver stepped down from the ramp and went back to the tower, while Sam stepped down.

"Alright kids, follow me to a place that some of you will call hell." He laughed knowing what kind of harsh training they will go through after all this was coming from the best of the best, so it weighted something.

After a couple of minutes walking, they arrived at the building, it was more like a warehouse than a school, rough and old, it was huge from the outside though.

They entered a hall and a woman was waiting for them.

"Miss Agostino! Long time no see!" Sam opened his arms wide as he kept walking towards her.'

"Sam! My friend, it seems even home the battles find you, I heard about what happened at the tower."

"News reaches you rather fast, but it was not even a warm-up. Anyway, here is the young blood. Kids this is miss Maria Agostino she will be responsible for your entire education. Her knowledge in every field is extraordinary, the best teacher one could ever wish for."

"Oh, Sam you give me too much credit."

The woman chuckled. Maria a middle-aged Italian woman, who was in Sam's class. Nothing was special about her looks. But the way she placed her hands, on top of each other Infront of her gave her a humbling look. She had a strand of white hair that contrasts her long jet-black hair. Yet again the smile was as captivating as Sam's smile was.

"Then Maria, I'll the rest for you, I'll go change these clothes."

Sam winked to Azai as he closed a door behind him.

"Well then kids, like Sam said I'll be your educational teacher, as for the rest of your training, Sam will handle that along with Mr. Zain. For now, let's head to your classroom, so we can get to know each other more."

Arriving at the class, the kids sat at their desks, just like any other classroom, each desk was fitted with a PC, and a huge screen was placed at the wall Infront of them behind the teacher's desk.

"Let's begin from the left row. Start by your name and where you come from, then what energy you exhibited."

"Ronald Queen and I identify as a male, I come from the Titan colony, Alpha energy."

"Sora Oda, Born and raised here on earth, Alpha energy."

"Yara Carell, Mars colony, Beta energy."

"Azai Balor, Moon colony, Beta energy."

"Lana Sarina, also from Moon colony, Beta energy."

"Malina Boris, Mars colony, Alpha energy."

"Rami Set, Grand Fleet federation, Beta energy."

"Chozai Lumi, earth, Alpha energy."

"Nice to meet you all, since this is the first time we meet, do you have any questions? Or anything you would like to share kids?"

Sora raised his hand and stood up before the teacher could reply to him.

"Yes, Sora." She raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"I think this question is one everyone's mind. But what is the difference between the two energies?"

Maria scratched her forehead right between her eyebrows.

"Let's see, first you need to know what abilities you possess with this energy. First, with training your overall physical performance will increase to superhuman levels, but it caps at a certain level, the lowest output is 5% while the most were 20%. Then you will need special suits to utilize your full potential. Now to your question. Sometimes for reasons still unknown to us, some users will have extra abilities, they sound like magic, but that's because we still don't know how they work or how they manifest. So far, we have seen attack skills, regenerative powers, support abilities, and crossover between them. But everyone was just able to have one and Alphas mostly can affect others with their abilities, while Betas tend to only affect themselves. So, does that satisfy your curiosity?"

"Actually, I have more questions now."

"And they will be answered with time as you learn more. Now any more questions?"

Chozai raised his hand. "Yes, dear?"

"By those abilities is it something like this?"

The boy stood up, closed his eyes expression turned very relaxed as he started shining from every inch of his body. Everyone turned to the boy with wonder in their eyes, Maria's eyes opened wide open as she witnessed that light coming from him lit the entire classroom like a midday sun. A relaxed smile swept everybody's face, as a torrent of light kept coming from him. Maria looked down at her hand as she felt a tingle in it, there was a small cut on her index finger she had this morning when she had breakfast, that closed up. But then groans came from the Beta users, they all started scratching their bodies, and twisting their bodies as if trying to shake something off.

Chozai noticed the groans and immediately stopped. Maria was getting concerned for a bit, till he stopped and they all returned to normal.

"I was told we had a very special Alpha here, but you dear maybe one of a kind. Yes, that is an ability, but you were able to manifest one before you had training and a suit, you, my dear maybe a one of a kind. But please refrain from using it around your Beta friends, till we learn more about it. Now any more questions?"

Chozai sat down and turned to Azai who was sitting beside him and whistled quietly.

"You're a Beta, right? Yet you didn't experience what they did, no noticed. I won't tell if you become my friend how about that?"

Chozai extended his hand towards Azai who raised his eyebrow and stared for a bit. He had golden hair, his eyes were blue as the sky, seemed like a condescending snob to Azai, despite what his mother told him about never judging a book by its cover, but his instinct was telling him that, yet for some reason, he shook his hand.

"I'm Chozai, let's meet when we are done with the class to talk."

Azai didn't reply anything to the kid and turned back his head forward...

V.Sins

A week had and Azai never did meet Chozai after class, they never had that free time they needed, this whole week spent adjusting to their new lives. Between grueling physical training and classes and also time to adjust to their living accommodations. They all stayed in dorms located within the same warehouse building that they studied and trained at. It was like an elite boarding school, they were allowed to have an internet connection without restriction and to go outside, but with the condition of secrecy about their involvement in the company and the program, yet the company kept an eye on them all the time.

It was a hot night; it was late spring on earth. Seasons was something Azai never experienced. He was sweating like a pig, it bothered him, but the experience overshadowed the downside of it.

Azai's room was like a small apartment, it had everything he needed. The kitchen was within the living area, which also had a small balcony connected to it while the bedroom and the bathroom were separate.

Azai was just about to hit the sack when he heard a knock from the front door. He stayed still for a moment wondering, but then went and checked who it was.

For some reason, he was expecting this visit. It was none other than Chozai, he knew that boy will not just forget what happened.

Azai opened the door sighing.

"I knew it was you for some reason."

"Oh, but I did say we will meet." Chozai chuckled with an exaggerated smile drawn on his face.

"Yeah, but this was a week ago! Just come in. I have fruit juice and coke, or I can make tea if you want." Azai scratched his head frowning as he went ahead of him inside.

"Juice will be fine; I don't want to trouble you, friend." Chozai closed the door behind him sleekly laughing.

Azai grabbed the juice from the fridge and two glasses and he sat on the couch pouring the drink "So why are you here exactly?"

Chozai took his shoes off and sat on a chair facing Azai "What else? I said I won't tell your secret if you become my friend. And how can we become friends unless we sit and talk? Glancing at each other in class and training isn't becoming friends, it's more like two people having a crush on each other."

Azai raised his eyebrow as he placed the glass of juice in front of Chozai.

"So, what do you want to talk about that couldn't wait till a later time?"

"Aw! Don't be like that! Well, first of all, most of the stuff they are teaching us here, I've already done it. I don't like to mention it to avoid any kind of privileged treatment, but my parents took part in this program, they retired a long time ago. But in all of my experience I never once encountered a Beta user who felt nothing in the presence of my ability, to be honest, my intrigue pulled me towards you. What makes you special I wonder?"

Azai took a sip of his juice and looked straight at Chozai's face with glass between them, he did not react against that background, as he didn't judge him as some people would do.

"Sorry to smash your hopes, but I'm not special in any way if I did my father would have noticed a long time ago, even if he did, that is something he has taken to the grave with him. There is no meaning in your excitement, it may be an insignificant anomaly nothing more, or a future ability that I will develop, but I don't think that it will something on par with yours if that's what you're hoping for."

"Don't sell yourself short now, you're already special to be able to use celestial energy, do you know that only 1 in 10 people can feel celestial energy's effects, and only 1 in 10000 people can use it like us?! We are already special enough for that. But like I said you are the only one who doesn't get uncomfortable by my ability. So that means that there is something special about you, maybe you're virtuous despite your energy wave."

Azai shook his head at that last sentence and raised his hand in front of Chozai's face.

"Wait, what do you mean by that last thing you said?"

"I think I wasn't supposed to say that. But since I already ran my mouth, I guess it won't hurt to tell you about it. Wavelength affects one's personality, or rather one can use specific wavelength, because they have a certain trait in them, and that trait gets more dominant the longer the energy is cultivated and trained with. Beta users show negative traits while Alphas show positive ones, though it is only theoretical, only religious sects believe in it. But in my opinion, I believe there is something to it."

Azai closed his eyes and inhaled longer than usual, took a sip another sip of his glass as he remembered those fanatics, he encountered with the Sam.

"Well, it doesn't matter to me what you believe, but also what does it matter if that stuff is true, as long as it doesn't affect my performance I don't care. So, until now I don't really know what you want."

Chozai took drank his glass in one go, while Azai watched that comedic scene unfolding before him.

"Should I bring the bottle?" Azai sarcastically said.

"If you don't mind. Sorry, but I consume foods and drinks faster when I'm excited."

Azai went to bring the bottle from the fridge, while Chozai gazed on the room decorations.

"I see you haven't done much to your room, I wonder why."

"Well, it's only been a week since we got here, and besides I still haven't figured what I want to change still." Azai sat back at the couch, pouring juice to Chozai.

"Maybe you're more adaptable than me, I couldn't stay in that room without immediately changing it. But anyway, why did you enroll in the program what led you here I mean? If you don't mind, I mean?"

Azai paused for a moment wondering if he should talk about what happened, but decided that there was no harm in it and he wasn't uncomfortable talking about what happened.

"Well, my parents got murdered, I don't really have a strong memory of what happened, but the murderers got killed later when I woke up, Dr. Oliver took me in, because he knew my father, and told me I can get in the program so I did, that's pretty much it."

Chozai's eyes were wide opened, his jaw was barely open and stopped his hand midway from grabbing the glass.

"What?! I don't know what is more shocking, your story, or the way you casually talked about it! I mean, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry for what happened to you, but are you okay with what happened to you?"

Azai had a small smile on his face, amused by Chozai's reaction.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I mean the murderers were killed, no one knows how, or why. But in some way justice was served for me, and I accepted the fact that shit happens all the time, with no inherent meaning behind it, I won't be depressed about it, I just need to continue with my life and this is the best option I think I could take."

"Yeah, but in my opinion there got to be something more behind it, like I know your father was the David Balor, so first why was there nothing in the news about it, second there has to be someone behind it. I don't believe that stuff happens for no reason."

"Well, if you want to fall in that loop, you would find reason eventually, most likely a made-up one, since I don't have the requirements to find the proper one if there is one, so I won't dwell on it when it will not make me happier or less sad. So, I just need to do the best I can now and maybe become happy."

"I can understand that, but still, I think you should not let just go like that and investigate more when you can. But like you said your happiness is more important. For me as far as I had this ability, I felt like it was a sign for me to do something important with it, not just healing wounds, but I think I should help heal humanity's wounds too. Ever humanity overcame the energy crises, they went back to their old self, I want to be able to make humanity a whole again, but the weak don't have a voice in the world, and the only way I can have a voice is by becoming the strongest warrior using my gift and giving a voice for the weak. Well, that is the dream I hope to achieve here, even if I stand alone, but I hope to gain friends along the way too. So, will you be my first friend and help me?"

Azai stared at the little dreamer, a very strange dream he thought. A childish dream he thought, that he will outgrow when he realizes the ridiculous impossibility of achieving it. Yet he admired the notion, that most would not even consider and instead think of their own happiness.

"Well, I'm still not sold on this dream of yours, I honestly think it's a ridiculous and impossible dream, that need even more than being the strongest. But I like your excitement, so, friend, since I was always the best in school, I do plan on being the best here too, so, let's have a competition for the first place here."

Chozai's eyes brightened like a starlit sky, his smile could reach his ears if it could and jumped on Azai hugging him tightly.

"You just made my day! No one ever wanted to be my friend whenever I mentioned my quirky dreams, but you are the first, Aww. I love you, man!"

Azai bit his lower lip, annoyed by Chozai's excited nature.

"Alright, alright, but can you control your enthusiasm, you're touching me too much."

Chozai backed off to his chair.

"Aw, sorry, I just got very excited." He laughed as he scratched his head.

The boys continued chatting until it got late, and the needed to get their sleep for tomorrow's day.

"Alright, see tomorrow Azai, you gotta play me more of that music, I think I like it more now."

Chozai was skipping on his way back to his room, Azai face palmed his face as he closed the door behind him. But before he realized, there was a smile on his face, that he saw when looked at the mirror in the bedroom.

"That is one eccentric boy, I like him."

"Me too, even though he's weird, but he's a good guy."

"He will help you push yourself further kid."

"By the way, we haven't talked much lately, why is that?"

"What is there to talk about? You've been barely able to scratch your head."

"Yes, but there is something I need to ask you. Did you appear in my head because of Beta energy? I think the more I learn about it the more it makes sense."

"Why? You want to confirm that you're not mad? That I'm simply a side effect of your exposure to Beta energy? Well, did any of the other Betas have the same side effect?"

"No."

"Then, that is a sign, maybe you're a unique case? What are the odds? Slim to none, but what about the odds of you being insane? Well, here the odds make more sense, I just wonder why they haven't gotten you a psychological evaluation yet. But like I told you once, does it matter that you're mad? You can always ignore me, yet you don't and you can always get treated there are pills for this kind of stuff. You want me to be here with you, so, kid I'll give you this advice, embrace your temptations, it is a part of you in the end."

"You know when you talk like that, I don't know whether to trust you or not, maybe because I just feel weird talking to a voice in my head, but again I think you make sense, anyway like you said I can always ignore you. Anyway, it's time for sleep I gotta wake up early."

Azai was running as fast as he could through the hallways, he was late for the morning training, he just hoped that Mr. Zain would let it go this time, he was the type of teacher that was pinpoint with timing.

The boy rushed through the back door of the warehouse, to see that everyone was already there stretching their bodies. Chozai waved at him, while Azai glared at him, believing it was his fault instead of his.

"There you are kid; we were waiting for you. You're lucky I'm here today for your morning training Carlos is a hard guy to reason with."

Azai didn't meet Sam since he left them with Ms. Maria.

"Sorry, it won't happen again."

"Don't worry about it, you're not that late. Anyway, we'll just be doing your normal training, Mr. Zain will join us later, to give teach you basic self-defense combat, your bodies are now ready."

Two hours later the kids were exhausted, the hot day was only beginning and they were already scorched, the moist grass field provided a little cooling and with a gentle breeze every now and then, it made it tolerable.

The kids were standing on their hands, the blood had filled their brains for some time and their veins were popping up visibly on their foreheads. Rami was grunting with his breath.

"This. Is. Not our. Normal training. It's been two hours already!"

Rami was struggling with his breathing.

"You better not talk, or you will fall, this is only natural for our training."

Sora had a calm expression, but his tone had a sense of smugness to it, clearly wanting to express how easy this is for him.

"Smug bastard." Rami mumbled as he took another frustrated breath.

The kids were about to hit their limit when Carlos arrived.

"That's enough, for now, Mr. Zain arrived."

"I see your torture has already started."

Sam laughed. "Nah friend, this is only warmup."

Carlos was the same height as Sam only slightly shorter, barely noticeable. But he wasn't as buffed as Sam, he had a slender athletic body. But that razor-sharp look in his eyes spoke seriousness, with his buzz cut he appeared like a war veteran, nobody dared to mess with him.

"Here is a thing kids, in our world, the difference in energy utilization is so significant in terms of physical superiority, that for a time some programs in countries made cuts if one didn't meet a certain level. But that all changed with certain tactics and strategies that covered that gap considerably. Now Carlos here is one of the best tacticians in the galaxy. So, from today you will learn combat, and build the strategies that suits you."

After a while of learning how to punch and kick, the kids were paired with each other to try what they learn and also learn basic counters. The training was going smoothly, they had spent the entire morning practicing. Mr. Zain clapped his hands.

"That's enough. Line up. After spending the whole morning teaching you basics and correcting your forms, it's time to test it in combat, let's head inside to the ring."

Ronald raised his hand.

"Yes, Ronald?"

"Are the boys going to hit the girls? That's just wrong. And our scores won't be fair, I mean it would be sexist that the boys will have higher scores."

Carlos approached Ronald and was about to lay a hard explanation to him when Maria came from behind.

"Allow me to answer that dear Carlos."

"Miss Agostino! Great timing, please demonstrate."

The kids turned back to Maria that was chuckling disturbingly. She stood on her spot and stretched her hand in front of her.

"Dear Ron, I think you missed the part that we said about energy using so, I'll remind you again, will you please step aside people."

The kids all cleared a way for Maria. Sam and Carlos had an excited grin and their eyes were focused on Maria; it was like they were about to witness a once in a lifetime spectacle.

"Energy users don't rely on their physical attributes which means it doesn't matter if you are a boy, girl, old, young, even if you are an extraterrestrial alien. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt since your appearance never change when your energies rise. So, who of you two pricks will face my attack?"

The grin intensified on their faces; they were waiting for that signal.

"Fuck, it's all yours Sam, I'm afraid that the kids will be injured if I defend."

Sam laughed as he took his shirt off and stomped his feet in the ground tightening his muscles, yelling.

"Come on!"

Light particles formed around Maria's stretched palm, then sparks flared out before an intense flash of light covered the natural light as she yelled back at Sam.

"Here you go big man!"

It was fast yet the kids' eyes, were able to see it, their excitement for what was happening unconsciously kicked in compelling them to use their energies to enhance their eyes. A beam of light ripped through the air, traveling towards Sam, He laughed as the beam hit his hands, this time there was lightning coming from the point of contact, the beam kept coming with no sign of stopping soon. Sam tightened his jaws and clenched his teeth, then a loud roar came, the beam was waning slowly, the particles were decapitating to the sides of its center, all around Sam's body.

"This the final shot!" Yelled Maria.

Sam roared again, as he pushed forward, to finally push the last bit of the beam upwards. Carlos's focus was all poured in Sam the entire time, that muscle mass of pure strength and will fascinated him. Sam emerged after the light disappeared, covered with burns over his hands and torso, his skin melted while showing muscles underneath. Despite the grotesque sight, he didn't feel pain nor concern about his injuries.

"That was intense Maria! I felt that pain in my being! Mt regeneration stopped almost completely, it's gonna need some time to kick in."

Carlos clapped his hands at the spectacle he watched.

"You see now Ronald, that attack is capable of melting entire armies with one sweep, miss Agostino was feared by enemies for her skills in battle and that attack, that made the strongest user stop in his track. Now, do you see why it doesn't matter what you are?"

Ronald nodded his head, like the rest of the kids they couldn't talk after witnessing that godly display. They didn't even get bothered by Sam's sight.

"Alright let's head to the ring now. Line up!"

That short display was enough to keep Azai and Chozai talking about their future potential for half a year, each trying to get better than the other, that drive they felt made them push their selves in studying and training, they were often the top of the class, but success always had its drawbacks…

It was a cold winter day, Azai had just finished his class and was heading out to his room when Rami, Lana, and Yara were waiting for him, he nodded at them, but Rami stopped him.

“Hey Azai, would you mind coming with us for a second?”

They seemed rather suspicious a little bit, but Azai didn’t think much of it.

“Alright, lead on.”

They headed towards Rami’s room. The very first thing that caught Azai’s eye was the posters on the wall, they were all heavy bands, Rami seemed like he had the same taste of music as Azai. Azai had just recently put similar posters in his room. He didn’t comment on the subject though but felt a small connection that maybe uncovered a layer about Rami’s personality, the girls went ahead and sat down on the couches laying on the floor, there were no sofas in the room, the whole setting was on the floor, it reminded him of his uncle’s living room. Lana patted on her left.

“Hurry up and sit next to me.”

Azai had just taken off his shoes, and sat down next to her, slightly keeping a distance between them, he was a bit shy to be so close to a girl. The mood didn’t seem bad like he anticipated, it felt rather comfy, yet he kept rubbing his palms. This was the first time he ever spoke to them outside of class and training. Yara sat across of him, and calmly with a warm welcoming tone said.

“We are glad that you came with us, sorry if we appeared a bit scary when we called you, but we really wanted you to hear us out. So, I don’t know if you know, but the last months, those condensing Alphas have made their own little club sharing notes, doing homework together and sharing combat tips together, when we asked for some of those tips they refused to share, saying that we should ask from our top Beta as they did, you know your friend Chozai. We know that you two are always competing for the top place, and most of the time you two are the top. So, we formed our club and now we want you to join, you know us Betas need to stick together.”

Azai paused for a moment scratched his head and sighed. He didn’t believe that Chozai would join a club, but he knew that his helpful nature would lead to this kind of situation, he thought about telling them just to ask him and all of this would be solved, but then he thought more about it if he did then Chozai would likely get hated even more.

“Well, I will help you with what you want, but I won’t join the club, I think the idea of us versus them is stupid.”

Rami interrupted Azai suddenly.

“What!? We know it’s stupid! But doesn’t it infuriate you that they think that way?! It makes my blood boil, those fuckers, I bet even your so-called friend is in on it too! I think you just don’t want to face them because you don’t have to since they didn’t bother you! But think about us for a second man!”

Azai was taken back by Rami, he had a point with what he said, but he clearly didn’t think this through. But before he could reply Lana replied.

“He can do whatever the hell he wants you know! As long as we are getting what we want. But I think I know what you want, so how about we say that Azai is in our club if you don’t mind, I mean you are technically in the club, helping us, but you just don’t want to be involved anymore.”

Azai scratched his chin and stared a bit at the ceiling.

“I don’t mind like she said technically I am in the club, but I just don’t want to get involved in future troubles, I just want to be able to focus on the program. I like to have friends and help them out, but I don’t want to be dragged down with unnecessary troubles.”

Rami crossed his hands and leaned back, silently agreeing with them. Yara also seemed pleased with the decision.

“So then, since we agreed on it, can you come back tonight? So, we can study together?”

“Sure. Then I’m gonna head out, I’ll be back tonight. And nice to meet you all.”

On the way back he saw Chozai about to enter his room.

“So, I was just Rami, Lana, and Yara, and guess what happened?”

“Well, don’t just stand there and come tell me inside.”

The two-headed inside and Azai told him what happened.

“I didn’t expect the Alphas to be such bad guys. But why didn’t they come to me instead? I would’ve gladly helped them with what they needed.”

Azai raised his eyebrow and sighed.

“You clearly don’t know how these things work. These guys don’t know you, so, they don’t trust you. And I couldn’t just tell them that they could, if they did eventually ask for your help, how do you think the Alphas would feel? I would just get you in trouble that you don’t want. So, just trust me on this one, I got your back.”

Chozai looked down on the floor for a bit and sighed.

“I didn’t think about it this way, but I still think it’s stupid nonetheless. Even stupid things like energy separate people. But I won’t let this continue, I will find a way to get through everybody. Thank you dude, for helping me out, I would’ve made the situation worse if it wasn’t for you.”

Azai warmly smiled.

“No problem, we are friends after all.”

Azai didn’t stay long, he needed to rest a bit and shower before heading back to Rami’s house.

“That was one hell of a kick you got there when you did something nice for him.”

“What do you mean? Why would that matter?”

“Nothing, but it seems that you care about him more than yourself kid.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but he is someone worth helping, the more we talk the more I think that he will achieve his dream, and I would like to help him with it.”

“Well, just a piece of advice then. Don’t get too invested in that dream, you know shit happens, and when he suddenly disappears, the emptiness will kill you.”

Azai felt a sudden tingle in the back of his head, he didn’t want to think much about that possibility, but then again he was a separate individual, he wasn’t depended on Chozai, he may have been attached to his dream more than the person, but of course, he would feel some kind of attachment to Chozai. At this point, he was just getting confused with his thoughts and stopped thinking about it.

Later that night he was knocking at the door to Rami’s room, he had a couple of notebooks in his arm. Rami opened the door and walked straight back to the living room.

“The girls are out to get some snacks, they won’t be long, I’m gonna put some music, I hope you like heavy stuff.”

Azai sat on the couch adjusting his sitting and laying his notebooks.

“I love metal music, some of my favorite bands are actually on the posters you have on your walls.”

Rami grinned contently, as he was scrolling through the list on his watch.

“I see you are a man of culture; I listen to it because they let me pent up some of the anger and stress, I pile all day. Ah, here we go.”

The music immediately began with a heavy riff that set the mood right away, Azai instantly began banging slightly to the music, but Rami was immersed without concern to the world around him, he was rocking his whole body and lip singing.

Rami had sharp piercing eyes, that exploded with rage to any who would look into them, with a medium length nut browned hair that was dyed crimson red at the last half of it, implying to Azai that he wanted people to know he had anger issues, but that look somehow looked beautiful with his brown skin, a trait that was strongly dominant through generations of space travel on the Fleet, keeping true to his middle-eastern origin.

Azai was more curious about Rami’s love for metal music because for a second all that anger morphed into energy capable of creating instead of destructing. But it didn’t seem right to just blatantly ask him, instead they talked about different bands and songs and got lost in the conversation.

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying, but I think the lyrics and story behind the song are also important. Even an instrumental track can convey a story.”

“Yes, but maybe because I look for certain things that can energize me and detach me from reality, you know.”

“To be honest, in our conversation I get the feeling that you want to be immersed and escape reality in music. If you don’t mind me asking, why is that? What is it that you want to escape from?”

Rami was leaned back to the wall, from his forward posture, and rubbed his face.

“Well, I guess there’s no harm in telling a fellow metalhead. As you know, us Betas get our energy spike when something bad happens to us, here’s what happened, I trust that you will keep this between us. When I was a little boy I had a friend that got bullied a lot, and I used to stand up for her on those occasions, I thought that everything was fine since I would always be there to protect her, and oh how wrong was I for believing that. Under her constant smile and confidence that one day she wouldn’t rely on me, she was struggling with coping with that bulling, she couldn’t find a way to be stronger. And then one day she left a note to me and disappeared without a trace, till today I don’t know anything about her. In short, the note she wrote how sorry she was for not being strong and always depending on me, and didn’t want to get to a point where I would hate her for that, but that was my fault, for not properly helping her. I was an idiot! I was mad, so mad that I wanted to hit something and who else was better than those boys who took her away from me. In short, they ended up in the hospital, some ended up with permeant disabilities, I ended doing some time in juvie when some guys from C.E.R.D found me and offered me to join the program. And since that incident, I always had this rage, but the thing is that I like it, it made me think clearly about things and most of the time led me to make the right decisions even when they seemed tough on people.”

Azai paused for a second, he was overwhelmed by that story, he felt that anger himself when he learned that he had such power within him, yet couldn’t do anything when his parents were killed, he always thought what if he was able to just use 1% of that power, he probably could’ve saved them. The more he dwelled on that thought the more angered he’d get. But that’s when he was thankful for the voice in his head, for having someone to talk to, someone who knew him too well.

“Since I told you about how I got here, it’s your turn now.”

Azai was pulled from his thoughts by Rami and with a straight face just said.

“My parents were brutally murdered right before me. And then Dr. Stand a friend of my father David Balor took me in, he is my godfather, but also offered me to get in the program, so I said yes. That’s it.”

Rami’s jaw was wide opened, shook his head then yelled.

“What?! How can you just talk about it like it’s nothing?! I mean, you must’ve gotten over it, but still those dead fish eyes you had while saying that. Are you an android by any chance?”

Azai laughed at his comments and reaction.

“Well, I had some help from a friend I kept in contact with, so I got over the shock and fear I had, but I still feel a mess whenever I think about it.”

Rami didn’t know how to act now. He couldn’t get what Azai was feeling, he didn’t know what to say.

“Well. You’re one tough guy I’ll give you that, most people would get traumatized for life by that and don’t worry I won’t tell anybody if you don’t want to.”

“Oh, don’t worry I don’t mind, I just don’t feel it’s a thing that I should say in every conversation I get into.”

The doorbell rang just when he finished talking.

“Oh, they really took their time those two, they’re gonna get a piece of my mind for that.”

Rami opened the door, yelling at the girls for being late, while they argued back at him. Azai was in the meantime enjoying the music, not paying attention to them, just drifting in thoughts as usual.