CHAPTER 1

A young man, closer to a boy than a man, walked into the room, located in room 420 of Joint Judgement’s Bayshore Academy of Yroishire, Elkraford. He wore thin round gold-rimmed glasses with a lazily styled yet seemingly immaculate hair, like every strand of hair was perfectly placed. Along with a perfectly fitting and ironed out black jacket that just spewed elegance and a long, dark, but not baggy pair of trousers. His confidence was notable too as he set his bag down and introduced himself, “I’d like to hear some silence now everyone…” He then waited for his point to get across. As the noises finally began to simmer down, he continued, “Good morning. I’ll be your substitute teacher today—”

But before he could finish, a sharp voice from the back interrupted, “Uh, aren’t you a little young for this? Shouldn’t you be in school instead of teaching it?”

The laughter spread like wildfire, rippling through the class. Amelia Lu rolled her eyes and stared out the window, while Zack, in his usual loosey goosey dark blue jeans, and his flowy and flappy jacket that he claimed he was “gifted to buy by an old hobo”, leaned in close. “Ey, Amelia, why so serious? Pitying the poor guy?”

“Pfft, as if,” she muttered. “I just couldn’t care less.” She opened her pocket, pulled out her earphones, which were pink and decorated with kitties, and popped them on - instantly causing the earphone to light up, connecting to her Tele-communi-phonus-mobilus©. She started playing her favorite STB playlist - a popular Chinese boy band.

But as Amelia looked at the teacher again, something strange caught her eye. His hand, just for a moment, flickered like static on an old TV.

Amelia blinked, unsure if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Even if he had a strand, what could his ability possibly be? If only there was a way to tell… She straightened in her seat, her attention now fully on the substitute teacher. His hand was steady again, no sign of the strange distortion she thought she’d seen.

“Alright, settle down,” the young man said, clapping his hands together. His voice was calm, even amused, as if he dealt with this kind of reaction every day. “You can call me Mr. Asher. Let’s get started.”

The class began to quiet down, though a few students in the back kept snickering. Amelia noticed that Lex, sitting a few rows ahead, was already scribbling something in his notebook, completely unfazed. He had shiny yet dark-black hair, which was also perfectly styled, and wore a very conspicuous light blue flannel jacket with matching pastel sweatpants. Typical.

Mr. Asher moved to the whiteboard and started writing something, but Amelia couldn’t help but keep on staring at his hand. The way it moved seemed… unnatural, like it wasn’t entirely solid. And then, as he stepped aside to reveal the words on the board, she noticed something else. The marker he’d been using wasn’t a normal marker—it was glowing faintly, the ink shimmering like liquid light. She blinked-once, and the glow and shimmer was gone. Was she seeing things? She looked around the room, noticing how no one had any reaction, excluding her.

Amelia leaned in to Zack, “Hey Zack, did you see that? His marker was glowing.”

“Wha- huh? Oh nah, you must be tweaking, I was watching him the entire time and I didn’t see anything like that.”

“Sure you were.” she replied with a huff of frustration.

“Today, we’ll be learning about the fundamental concepts of chaos and order,” Mr. Asher said, his tone almost too casual for such a strange topic. “But before we begin…” He turned to face the class, his gaze sharp as it swept over them. For a moment, his eyes locked with Amelia’s, and she swore his pupils flickered, like a glitch in a computer screen.

“Let’s start with a question,” he continued. “What do you think happens when order collapses into chaos?”

The room was silent.

Amelia’s hand shot up before she realized what she was doing. “Interesting,” Mr. Asher said, raising an eyebrow. “Let’s hear it.”

Amelia hesitated. Why had she even raised her hand? This class doesn’t even teach chaos and order or whatever! “It depends… Sometimes chaos reveals the truth about the order that came before it.” The words had spilled out of her mouth out of nowhere.

The room fell quieter, so still that you could probably hear if an ant was crawling, and for a moment, Mr. Asher just stared at her. Then, slowly, he smiled. “Exactly,” he said, his voice filled with a strange sense of approval. “You’re more insightful than you let on, Amelia.”

Her stomach felt queasy. How did he know her name? Perhaps she’s just having a bad day…wait, was she schizo- “Hey,” Zack leaned in, “how’d you answer that question? This class isn't even about chaos or whatever…” Then he noticed her face, “You good there Amelia?”

Finally snapping out of her daze, Amelia realized that the entire class was staring at her, even Lex, with a face of surprise, awe, and skepticism - which wasn’t typical of him. “I’d actually like to know that too, Amelia.” Lex piped in.

“Oh! Uh… actually I-”

Suddenly, a scream interrupted Amelia in the middle of her excuse, causing everyone to turn their heads towards the hall, where one young boy was seen running down the hall frantically. “AHHHHHHHHHHHH HEAAEAEAEEAELEAELALELPPPP!!?!?!?! THERE'S A SCARY MAN DOING SOME STRANGE THINGS OUTSIDE!!!”

There was a second of silence before a loud explosion went off in a nearby building, and a gleeful cackle could be heard in the distance. The room instantly filled with panic, someone ran out of the door and down the hallway, trying to escape. Some were cowering under their desks. Others opened the windows and jumped out, and at this point nearly everyone was filled with fear and was scrambling about.

Even Zack was muttering under his breath, “what the hell is going on here?” The only ones who seemed relatively unfazed were Lex and Mr. Asher. Lex stood silently, his face unreadable, but his hands tightly gripping a pencil. Mr. Asher remained calm amidst the chaos, speaking to himself, his words fragmented and barely audible over the noise, “Hm… very interesting… chaos… disrupting… timeline…”

Lex started walking over to Amelia. Typical. “Come on Amelia, follow me, I think I know what to do.”

“Wha-what? Wait, isn’t there security here? We should be safe here right?” She replied.

“...” Lex sighed, shaking his head.. “If the security were still here, then I doubt we’d be hearing the explosions. The school has all sorts of wards, but those only prevent attacks from the outside - not the inside. Which means this attack was perpetrated by someone on the inside. I’m sure they’d have the security handed - some way or the other by now. Anyways, I think there’s a basement somewhere down the hall near the principal's office, it’d be much safer since it’s not easily accessible.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Wait… How do you know that?” Amelia asked as she followed him out of the classroom. The hallway was chaos. Students ran in every direction, their screams echoing off the walls as teachers tried - and failed - to restore order. Papers fluttered through the air like fallen leaves, and lockers clanged as people slammed into them in blind panic.

“Well, my father is funding the school big-time so… let’s just say he’s got some insight into things that aren’t shared publicly.”

The sound of an explosion rang loudly in a nearby building. Lex swore under his breath. “Crap, we have to go. Now.”

“Is there anything you aren’t telling me, Lex?” Amelia just couldn’t shake a strange feeling, whatever it was, and it was making her uncomfortable. Lex ran off without responding. Amelia’s heart pounded in her chest, but she forced her legs to keep moving, her mind racing. “Lex, what the hell is going on? This isn’t some random drill or prank!”

Lex glanced over his shoulder, his face unusually serious. “I don’t know, but we’re about to find out. Stick close.” Amelia wasn’t sure if she should feel reassured or even more nervous. Before she could reply, another explosion rocked another nearby building, the vibrations rippling through the floor beneath them. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling as the lights flickered. More and more explosions and chaotic sounds started erupting from nearby buildings, all of them coming closer and closer to the one she was in. Realizing that it was probably better to follow someone she could trust than think about what to feel, she ran after him.

Zack, who had been frozen in the classroom, stumbled after them, his face pale. “Hey, wait up! You’re not leaving me behind!” The three of them hurried down the hall, weaving past panicked students. The air was thick with tension and fear, but Amelia couldn’t shake the nagging sensation that something—or someone—was watching them.

***

When they reached the principal’s office, Lex stopped abruptly. “I think it should be around here,” he said, his voice low. His eyes darted around the area, searching. Lex reached for a panel near the corner of the wall. He pressed something - Amelia couldn’t see what - and with a faint hiss, part of the wall slid open to reveal a narrow staircase descending into darkness.

Zack stared at the hidden entrance, his mouth hanging open. “No way. The school has a secret basement? What kind of sketchy stuff is your dad funding?”

Lex ignored him, grabbing Amelia’s wrist and pulling her forward. “Come on.” Amelia hesitated. Something about the dark staircase gave her a terrible feeling, like stepping into a trap. But the sound of another explosion - this time even closer, jolted her into motion. She followed the stairs, with Zack trailing behind, as they descended into the darkness. Lex locked the door behind them.

***

The stairs led to a dimly lit hallway lined with reinforced steel walls. The air was cold and carried a faint metallic scent. Amelia couldn’t help but feel like they’d stepped into some kind of military bunker. There was another Tyrolite reinforced titanium double door awaiting them, with a hand scanner to the right. “What is this place? Is that Tyrolite? How did they get such a rare material?” she asked, her voice echoing in the silence.

Lex glanced back at her, his expression unreadable. “My dad called it the Contingency Wing. Apparently, it’s meant to protect the school in case of emergencies, and he gave me permission to use this to help either myself or others. The government gatekeeps lots of information, there are actually many more elements than they admit. Tyrolite isn’t that hard to get if you know what you’re doing.”

Zack frowned. “Yeah, hiding information? That's scummy. But still, that's a really strong material. What is it supposed to be defending against? Exploding chemistry labs? This is definitely an overkill…”

“Contingency means unforeseen events or circumstances, we don’t know what we’re supposed to be defending against, but it’s better safe than sorry. Plus, tell that to the explosions going on outside and see how they react.” replied Lex, without even looking back.

“Yeah well, who would possibly know the academy would get attacked in the middle of the day!? I just don’t see why the academy did this.” Zack snapped back. He would keep that thought until a little while later.

Amelia gazed at the end of the hallway, where a faint blue light pulsed rhythmically from behind the heavy doors. Lex stepped up to the door and placed his hand on a scanner. To Amelia’s surprise, the doors slid open without a sound, revealing a large room filled with screens, equipment, and what looked like weaponry. There were countless doors that probably led to other rooms. The entire room was lit up by countless floating tiny balls of blue light.

“What is this place? They have all this under the school?” Zack whispered, his eyes wide as he took in the sight. “I… I think I'll take back what I said earlier.”

Amelia walked over to one of the consoles, her fingers brushing against the surface. It hummed faintly under her touch. “Lex, are you sure this is just some emergency shelter? This feels like… something else.”

Lex sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, he looked at Amelia and Zack, as if deciding whether he could tell them. “Yeah, okay. Maybe it’s more than just a shelter. My dad doesn’t really tell me that much, but maybe the weapons are here to protect us? Honestly, I don’t know the details,” Lex admitted. “But whatever’s happening up there - it probably has something to do with this.”

“What the heck?” Zack cut in, pointing at the floating balls of light around the room. “How are these balls floating?”

Before anyone could say more, the doors behind them slid shut and the room's largest monitor flickered to life. A distorted figure appeared on the largest screen, cloaked in shadows. Its voice was deep and chilling, filled with malice. “Ah, I see, a child of Prometheus has found their way to the heart of the operation. How… quaint.”

Amelia’s blood ran cold. “Who—who are you?”

The figure chuckled, a sound that seemed to echo from everywhere at once. “Perhaps the child of Prometheus knows? No matter, consider this a warning. You cannot escape what’s coming. The chaos has already begun.”

The screens went dark instantly after that, leaving the room in silence.

Zack was the first to break it. “Okay, what the hell was that?”

Lex tightened his fists, his jaw clenched. “I… don’t know…”

Amelia glanced back toward the staircase, her mind racing. She didn’t know what was happening, but one thing was clear: whatever “chaos” the guy mentioned had definitely started already. “Lex, what should we do?” Amelia asked with a hint of hopelessness.

“Well, finding out what happened out there could be a start.” Lex said while pointing up.

Zack snorted as if he wanted to make a remark, but kept silent. All of a sudden, the trio heard a flurry of movement outside, and some growling and slashing. Something slammed into the double door denting it. Zack panicked. “The heck? How the hell did they find this place? Isn’t this supposed to be some secret?”

Lex whispered in a low voice as he scanned the room, “I know another way out, it leads to the back of the school and into the forest. We should go the long way to my place, it has safety wards installed everywhere.” As he led the trio towards one of the doors, more and more banging could be heard, growing increasingly louder and rapid. “...Right, it was 13…F.” Lex mumbled. He went up to a door labeled with the words ‘13-5’. “Alright! Hurry up and just go through the door and through the tunnel, it’ll lead to the forest.” He urged.

As Zack and Amelia scurried through the tunnels the door at the front finally gave away to whatever was assaulting it, and an alarm instantly started blaring. Lex, being the one that was trying to close the door to the tunnel, saw a dark figure entering the room. Instantly, the room filled with a heavy and repressing force. Lex noticed the figure was surrounded by wolves, which was probably why they had heard growling and slashing. He quickly shut the door, not wanting to get caught in the wrath of that… whatever that was, and sprinted as fast as he could to catch up to the others.