“Wait, where are we? What’s with this color?” I asked, trying not to forecast my suspicions as I jogged to catch up to him. After my first step out of the spherical room and into the hall, I felt my body tingle and warm. I looked at my hands and arms. They were softly glowing like a bright flashlight was shining under the skin. “What the…” I felt great as the glowing intensified, then quickly subsided.
“Your planet possessed no Arcana, so that glow was you adjusting to the Arcana on the ship. But we have a very low saturation in the halls. You will learn more later. As for this vessel, it has been orbiting your planet for the last 100 years,” Please follow me. I followed as he took a turn down another hallway. Nicol continued to explain, “We have seeded your planet throughout our mission. We were seeking compatible Arcane hosts. It is exceedingly rare for a newly Awakened world to be compatible with the Arcana. We were not surprised to be unsuccessful during the entire mission. But then, just a few minutes ago when we found you. We were in our departure countdown when we received the signal. At this point, we are late to transport you to Arcana Prime. You will have to join tardy or wait for a cycle. And, the ship color is due to the ship being infused with Arcana.”
“I’ve seen this exact color before. I drank a whole container of it.” My steps faltered as I blurted out my possible connection to the substance; then, I stopped when I realized my cancer treatment did cause all of this.
“We will need to take readings, but you certainly had contact with Arcana. You wouldn’t have registered on our scans otherwise. I would guess you were exposed to a large amount simultaneously, and your body needed time to adjust.”
“We will depart for Arcana Prime now and assume that our scans were correct. If not, you must be taken to the nearest non-arcane civilized system planet.”
“What? Are you serious?” I had more questions the longer he talked. “We’re in space, and you’re taking me to a distant planet to what? Train me?” I was shocked and reeling from all the news.
“Yes,” Nicol confirmed.
“But my family is on Earth, can’t you just send me to the tutorial,” I protested, “How long will I be gone? I can’t leave here without at least leaving a message. They’ll think I got myself killed outside of town,” he let me rattle off my concerns.
Nicol fully turned to face me. “I apologize for taking you from your home. We have no choice. And you will do your family and Earth a great service by embracing your new life.”
“How is it a service when I’ll be somewhere else?” I didn’t see me going would change anything.
“This is likely the only way to protect your planet. Otherwise, you will not be strong enough to protect them. And no one else gained the Golden Path.”
“Protect them from what?”
“The other Arcane who will come to claim your Star System. But even if they didn’t, there is the escalating Mana process. It will be difficult for a G-rated species to keep up with. If your species were E or even F, they would adapt in time to the changes. But there is almost no chance for a G-rated species on a planet targeted for D and eventual C grade levels of Mana. So, that should be your motivation and driving forces; if you don’t want to see your civilization and people subjugated, enslaved, or killed, then you need to learn and advance.”
“Enslaved?” Was the only shocked response I could muster.
“Yes, the Arcane that will come here seeing their arrival as a salvation for a weak planet like this. They will protect your species from extinction at the heavy price of generational slavery. All future generations of earthlings will have to serve the Arcane that wins the rights to Earth. Your only chance is to win that right and learn to protect them yourself.” He paused his explanation and waved for me to follow.
I followed him down the hall. Eventually, we came to a four-way junction. Above the halls hanging from the ceiling, was a display like a wide but not tall flat-screen TV. It looked a lot like the menus that popped up in my vision but less pronounced and was a fixture on the ceiling.
“Are those in English?” I wondered aloud as I could read them, but I also didn’t know how I was making sense of the images as they seemed to shift from symbols to legible words.
“No, they are in the language of the gods,” Nicol chuckled as he explained further, “No F-ranked newly awoken planet could know this language, and you are seeing it translated due to your Arcane System’s AI.”
I looked from Nicol’s back to the sign we passed. I was looking back the way we came, and it said Teleportation Pad 3.
“So, I have an AI in my brain now?” I scratched the side of my head as if I could feel something inside my head.
“Not your brain. It is part of your every fiber. We call it Arcane because it is a mystery to all but the most advanced. Even my people do not have all the knowledge. We are servants to the gods. You will need training from those like yourself. Your primitive planet couldn’t even see the universe’s building blocks, let alone the Arcane structure. What your scientist called Super-subatomic structure was only the narrowest of understanding. You will learn more about this at the academy. Let’s find your gear and get to your housing.”
At this point, we’d covered about a mile of walking, and I saw a sign that read housing complex 1. We followed the signs, and the hall opened to what I thought was a warehouse with open shelves on the sides.It was easily 2 or 3 stories tall to the ceiling, and as I looked closer, I realized the shelves were bunks. They each had a bed with bedding and a locker with a narrow ledge next to each. Each level was accessed by ladders going up between the bunks. The lowest bunks started about 12 feet off the ground. Underneath were benches, tables, and then, I saw what looked like gym equipment and a few rooms with small windows on the slightly larger-than-human-sized doors.
“Go to any of the lockers and grab what’s inside. Change into the clothing and meet back here. Since you are the only Arcane in our survey, I’ve decided that you can stay in available crew quarters. It will be less spacious but more comfortable. We will come back from training. Now go, I’ll be waiting.”
I was just along for the ride; after that “save the world” speech, I had much to process. So I nodded and walked to the nearest bunk. I climbed the ladder and opened the first locker. I stepped out on the two-foot wide ledge and looked in. As the locker fully opened, lighting inside lit up the contents. There was a lightweight white jumpsuit. I reached to touch it. It was like silk but also felt durable. It reminded me of what everyone on Earth wore after a tutorial. But this was bright white and looked like they were for little kids.
“This doesn’t look big enough; where are the adult sizes?” I yelled across to Nicol.
“Please just try it on; it will fit,” he spoke without yelling, and I could hear him in the otherwise silent room.
I pulled the kids’ jumpsuit out of the locker. As I held it beyond the locker, it expanded and lengthened. In about three seconds, it became something I could fit.
“How?” I questioned in a shocked whisper. There were too many questions, and I needed to play along if I wanted the answers. I went to the nearest bed beside the locker and sat. I peeled off my dirty earth clothes. They were ragged and bloody. Some of the blood hadn’t thoroughly dried. I quickly made the white bedding a brown and red mess. But it was too late to fix it, so I kept peeling off my old clothes. I left my underwear on as the locker had no other garments besides white boots.
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“No, remove all your clothes. It will be best. The ones you have are not durable.”
“And these silky things are?”
“Yes,” was all he said. Maybe he was getting annoyed by my questions.
I did my best to protect my modesty as I laid down, slipped my boxers off, and pulled up the jumpsuit. As I was on the bed, I realized I was exhausted. But I followed the instructions and went back and grabbed the boots. They were much nicer than my pair of sneakers, which had been old before the world went wild. Still, they were my favorite.
“Can I wear my shoes?”
“You may bring them but put on the boots,” he wasn’t harsh, but I could tell he was getting impatient, “But leave your old clothes in the locker. Someone will get them later,”
“How will they know which locker they’re in?” I asked, and he didn’t respond.
I put the boots on and tossed my old clothes in after confirming the locker had no more clothes, only a towel. I climbed down after shutting the locker.
“Look back at the room. Can you tell which locker was yours?” He asked with a sigh.
I turned, and out of the giant gray room with white bedding was a glaring trail of dirt and a bright bed with blood and grime where my legs had been down the side.
“Sorry about the bed,” I was genuinely sorry and subconsciously lowered my head.
“It’s of no consequence, but why didn’t you grab the towel? Always have a towel,” he smiled as if it was a joke only he knew. “We should continue. There is too much to learn, and I am not authorized to tell you everything, nor do we have time. We will arrive tomorrow,” he spoke as he walked.
“Earlier, you said we were late. Late for what, again?” My curiosity was only growing today.
“Your education and initiation,” he smiled. “It was our pleasure and surprise to find you, and we will receive honor and rewards. But you are like an infant. You need to learn much if you want to survive.”
“Survive…” I started to interrupt.
“Yes, this is a life and death situation. We are not taking you to an earth-like school with your chemistry and physical education. You will train with the other Golden Path Elite. You are at a great disadvantage but remember, for the sake of everyone you know, you must survive.”
His words were, again, sobering. I didn’t want to see my family become slaves, and I didn’t want to waste a chance to be living my fantasy. I didn’t expect this after everything that I’d been through.
We kept walking and eventually reached a new part of the ship. The halls were the same gray cylinders. There were fewer signs but just as many junctions and closed doors as we passed.
He stopped in front of a nondescript door, no different than many others, except it had a small 12 stamped in the center. Like the rest, it wasn’t a numeral like I was used to, but it was immediately translated for me to understand. I knew it was not a one followed by a two but one character from this alien civilization.
He stepped towards the closed door, and it briskly split open, retracting into the wall on each side before he could collide with it. I followed and stood to his right side, taking in the room.
The inside looked like a small apartment. There was another bunk and lockers on each side to the left. In the center area was a table with three chairs. On my right was an open door with what looked like a bathroom.
“Your body will need time to adjust. Please clean up in there,” he pointed to the bathroom. “Then get rest. You are going to need it. I will gather you in 12 hours. If you are hungry, food is in that compartment to the left. Please get some sleep. You are a great find, and I’m pleased you appeared in time. But the cycle starts today, and you have no preparation. The others have had decades as they’ve grown up and were raised by Arcane instructors and their parents if they were able. Your performance will also impact my team. Please don’t concern yourself with us. I only mentioned it to reinforce your need to rest and to perform well.”
“This is a lot to take in,” I looked at Nicol.
“Rest; answers will come soon,” he pushed me a step forward and walked out. The door closed behind him. I turned back to the room. I suddenly realized I needed to use the bathroom. I started removing the jumpsuit as I shuffled to the right side of the apartment.
Thank God there was a toilet. There were differences, but it did the job. I started to pee, and it hurt. I looked, and I was peeing some dark red blood. It passed, and then I felt sick. I stood and tried to find some way to flush, but I couldn’t in time. I grabbed a cube-shaped trash bin and puked. More blood and some black sludge came up. I kept spitting the remnants into the box.
Then as if I wasn’t miserable enough, my gut churned. I was back to the toilet. It took a while, but my body finally evacuated all the junk it had. The healing and changes didn’t magically remove the internal issues and damage.
I did find a way to flush the toilet, but I was feeling dirty; my skin and hair still had remnants of blood. When I removed the new clothes, I noticed all the blood and grime were gone. It didn’t do anything for my head or other body parts not inside the suit. Feeling less sick, I used the shower. The water was refreshing, and I would have stayed there for hours, but I was about to collapse. So I grabbed a towel, dried myself, stumbled to the other side of the room, and just collapsed into the bed face first.
I awoke on my back to the sound of the voice. I struggled to wake up, and opening my eyes took a minute. When I did, I had a moment of shock before I remembered where I was. Then I realized a voice was talking to me, and I turned.
There before me was a human female mid-sentence explaining something.
“…best you change as we are on a tight schedule,” I only caught the last bit but scrambled to find a blanket, but it was underneath me, so I used one hand to try to cover up as I used the other to wrangle the blanket out from under me.
“What are you doing? Please get dressed. Nicol asked me to get you ready. He has been in last-minute meetings concerning you. He is doing what he can to help, but we are ready to disembark.”
My blanket finally covered me but more embarrassed than I could remember. The woman before me looked mid-twenties. Her face was gorgeous, and her outfit was a more form-fitting version of mine but in blue. She didn’t seem embarrassed seeing my naked body sleeping on the bed.
“Do you mind turning around,” I sheepishly asked, knowing my cheeks and face had to be red.
“Why?” She asked, surprised by my request.
“Oh yes, your culture has concerns with privacy and nudity. I apologize for not remembering,” she turned away as she responded.
“Thank you,” I squeaked as I hurried to the edge of the bed, clinging to the blanket. I found a new set of clothes in the locker next to the bed and got the blue jumpsuit up to my stomach before I dared drop the blanket. I zipped it the rest of the way up and turned back towards her.
“Ready,” I announced.
“Boots,” she added.
“Okay,” I pulled on the new white boots and grabbed my sneakers as she had already left through the door. I caught up and was on her heels in my Smurf outfit. That’s when I noticed she had boots that matched her blue suit.
“Um…do I need to grab the blue boots?” I asked, looking back as we got further from the room.
“Ah, no,” she glanced back, “it won’t matter; these are only worn on the ship. And we don’t have time to get your ceremony clothes. We are going to try to get you something before you present.”
“Present? At a ceremony?”
“The induction to the Arcane Academy is today. Most students have been on campus for about a week. They have already been housed and introduced to their classes, the campus facilities, and the planetary opportunities. You will need to catch up quickly. I recommend making connections and friends.”
We walked further in silence as I considered what was coming. I was going back to school. I’d never had a typical school experience. Cancer and treatments meant I was mainly home-schooled after I turned 14 and got sick. So high school was not something I got to experience. And with my prognosis, I never planned for college. Near the end, my parents didn’t even ask me to do my homework when I was drugged or depressed.
So yeah, this was a new shot at school for me. But the stakes were higher. The words “survive” and “only hope” didn’t make it sound like a cheery place.
Still, part of me was excited. I was going to learn magic and how to get strong like the people on Earth had. Wait…
“So, what’s different between Earth and this place, as far as what Arcane can do?”
“Good question, but save it for the academy. We are here,” she said as she brought me to a different door, already sliding open as we approached, and Nicol was standing on the other side. He was dressed in a white and golden robe. The robe was spotless and regal. The only other adornment he wore was a golden chain with a ring hanging in the center of his chest. The center of the circle was filled with clear glass. Inside were two moving fluids. One was black and settled at the bottom, like a much denser fluid; the other was white and took up the top half. Other than that, I noticed his big blue feet were bare. He was in an airlock with windows on all sides except for the door we walked through to join him and another behind. I apprehensively looked through the glass below me. The view was spinning slowly.
“Did you sleep?” Nicol asked.
“Yes. We’re in space still?” I exclaimed. Suddenly realizing I could see a planet out the side window.
“Yes, we are docked and will transfer to the surface from here. This ship is not authorized on the planet. As we were the ones to find you, I am allowed to escort you to the surface. Then I will leave you at the ceremony. Come, we are already very late,” he turned and led the way.