The clock inched towards ten in the morning, signaling the commencement of the lab training for new faces entering the elite medical school of Europa.
The newly enrolled students settled into their designated seats, glancing around the well-equipped laboratory, where Azalea Everest, a diligent research associate with a crown of short, raven-black hair, had meticulously arranged the tools of the trade: microscopes, scalpels, forceps... Each item received her undivided attention, a half-hour ritual that marked the start of another academic semester.
With a touch of fatigue, she pushed her hair behind her ears and plugged in her headphones, ushering in the day with the morning news.
Like countless mornings before, the ongoing discourse revolved around the enduring tensions between the two dominant powers divided by the asteroid belt: the Solar Union and the Jupiter Alliance. After a prolonged standoff, news of their reconciliation finally aired.
As Azalea absorbed the updates, her calm gaze fell upon the holographic screen, displaying the roster of incoming students. Her index finger danced across the screen, following a practiced rhythm, until it abruptly paused. A perplexed furrow etched her brow.
"Galaxy Enlight?"
Her memory had its quirks, but she distinctly recalled inputting the names of the new students during the department meeting. Yet, the name 'Galaxy Enlight' was conspicuously absent.
A sudden unease washed over Azalea as she logged into the campus's primary database. Her heart quickened, a blend of anxiety and suspicion coursing through her. The data unveiled Mr.Enlight as a recent nineteen-year-old, with an impressive undergraduate record. While not the standout among the fresh faces, his academic achievements were noteworthy.
After a thorough examination of his profile, Azalea found no discernible issues. Yet, an instinctual unease lingered. She made a note, flagging his name as a student warranting closer observation. A knot of uncertainty tightened in her stomach as she pondered the possibility—could he be a spy or an agent from the Solar Union? Had her identity, so carefully concealed over the years, inadvertently surfaced? Such thoughts sent shivers down her spine, contemplating the perilous risks that might now loom before her.
###
The clock ticking inexorably towards ten in the morning, all the students, eager and expectant, settled into their seats according to the seating chart. However, Galaxy Enlight's assigned seat remained vacant.
Internally, she marked this absence with displeasure, silently deducting points in her mind. However, as a seasoned research associate, she maintained her customary warmth and approachability. She made discreet inquiries if anyone knew how to reach this missing student, but it appeared that Mr. Enlight was an unfamiliar name to his fellow classmates.
And so, with or without him, the class began.
The students who earned coveted spots in this prestigious medical institution had one thing in common: impressive research internships on their resumes. This shared background allowed Azalea to skip the usual handholding, with confidence that they could handle the tasks ahead with little guidance.
However, just as she settled into this expectation, the classroom's serene atmosphere was violently shattered by an unexpected, blood-curdling scream that pierced the air.
"What's happening?" she inquired.
A quick survey of the workstations revealed nothing amiss. In fact, the alarmed student responsible for the outcry wasn't engaged in any experiment at all. She pointed a quivering finger towards the window, her voice trembling as she spoke. "Miss Everest, look over there. Is there something out there?"
Azalea followed her gaze to a point several kilometers away, toward the rear slope that belonged to the School of Life Sciences. There, a nearly vertical cliff, rising a hundred meters high and devoid of vegetation, dominated the landscape. On top of the cliff, a few small white dots were descending.
She scrutinized the scene for a moment before offering an explanation, her voice composed, "Those appear to be the goats the Biology Department imported from Earth. The animal has a penchant for foraging on cliffs. There's nothing to be alarmed about; those folks frequently conduct experiments with peculiar organisms. Just last week, they let corpses walk around the campus which scared a lot of young innocent people like you. If curious, you can pay them a special visit after class. But for now, focus on your work."
"Alright, understood. Sorry for the disturbance," the girl replied, her initial panic now replaced by a playful blink. She shifted her attention back to her experiment, following the lead of her fellow classmates.
Azalea exhaled a quiet sigh of relief, her gaze returning to her memo. But with an air of listlessness, she peered out of the window, attempting to relocate the group of goats she had referenced earlier.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
After a fruitless search, her eyes widened with realization. Those distant white dots were no longer perched on the cliff. Instead, they had descended to level ground within such short time, and were swiftly approaching her building. Finally grasping the truth, Azalea could hardly believe her eyes. Those were not goats at all; they were human skeletons!
Despite the astonishing sight, panic did not overcome her. Instead, her mind raced with strategies. As the situation outside remaining shrouded in uncertainty, her priority would be to ensure the safety of her students. Fortunately, the laboratory was equipped with windows and walls made from advanced aerospace materials, capable of withstanding the impact of asteroid debris.
In an instant, she pressed the blackout button, causing the window glass to instantaneously turn opaque, while simultaneously illuminating the interior lights. Unaware of the unfolding situation, the students were puzzled by this sudden change. They looked at the covered windows and then back at Azalea.
"Everyone, please pause your experiments for a moment and set aside your surgical tools," she calmly instructed, her face a picture of composed authority. Her nimble fingers navigated the control panel, sending an urgent message to the campus security office.
Within the laboratory's hallowed silence, a muffled thud reverberated against the window, causing Azalea's heart to skip a beat. Before the startled occupants could react, two more ominous thuds resounded.
"Thud! Thud!"
The sounds that ensued grew increasingly dense; a cacophony reminiscent of a meteor shower bombarding a spacecraft. Azalea hadn't anticipated skeletons packing such a punch. With the intensity of the impacts, it was clear the glass wouldn't hold for long. But there was one curious student reaching out, intending to touch the window out of curiosity.
"Hold it! Everyone, move to the other side of the classroom."
Following the assistant's warning, the student reluctantly withdrew his hand, only to hear a sharp "crack." Then, his wrist constricted, and an icy chill raced up his arm. He lowered his gaze to discover a skeletal hand firmly gripping his wrist.
"Help! Oh, God, help me!" the student cried, frantically shaking his arm, but he couldn't break free.
Chaos reigned in the classroom. Some tried to flee, only to discover that the main door was locked — the breach in the window had triggered the biological security system, sealing off all entrances from the inside.
Azalea acted swiftly, covering the distance in a few strides. She grabbed a scalpel, a glint of cold determination in her eyes as she sliced through the skeletal wrist with precision.
The skeletal hand instantly went limp, releasing its grip on the student.
Immediately Azalea pulled the student behind her, the scalpel dancing in her hand, efficient and ruthless. She expertly dismembered the skeletal figure wedged in the window into several pieces.
Facing the oncoming stream of skeletons through the breach, her gaze remained unwavering, her strikes precise and lethal, and in no time, what had once been agile skeletons now lay on the floor, scattered in pieces. Only five skeletal heads remained, lined up in a row, gnashing their teeth in frustration.
Azalea heaved a sigh of relief, setting aside the scalpel. She turned to the terrified onlookers, offering a reassuring smile.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Human Anatomy 101 – Presented by your dearest Doc…Miss Everest."
It was only at that moment that the campus alarm blared to life, confirming that the escapees were indeed experimental subjects from the School of Life Sciences. Without hesitation, Azalea contacted campus security, swiftly informing them that the skeletal experiment had been successfully neutralized. In response, they lifted the door restrictions and guided the students in a calm and orderly evacuation.
###
Given the incident, the day's classes came to an abrupt end.
Azalea, after tidying up the laboratory and counting all the equipment, began to gather her belongings in preparation to head home. As she reached for a book, a sharp pain shot through her arm. Startled, she realized her right shoulder sported a bruise, and she had also sprained her ankle, making her movements somewhat laborious. She grimaced in pain as she shifted her bag onto her left shoulder and limped out of the laboratory building.
This unexpected occurrence not only disrupted the medical school but also led to the suspension of classes across the entire campus. Along her way, many uninformed students exchanged hushed speculations, occasionally muttering phrases like "zombies" or "monsters," only to be met with ridicule from those around them.
Monsters? Azalea couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. If there were really monsters, did she qualify as one? After all, she had died once, about a decade ago. The details of her death remained hazy, and then she miraculously came back to life.
Her original body had been destroyed, yet her consciousness had mysteriously awakened in another Azalea clone. This new form, nearly identical in height, age, appearance, and voice to her former self, bore a unique feature - the absence of certain female organs like ovaries and wombs. But Azalea didn't view this as a deficiency or something to lament. To her, it was a deliberate choice, a testament to her unwavering dedication to science. She believed this body was meticulously crafted, perhaps by her own hand before her initial demise. This is because, in her pursuit of knowledge and research, romance and reproduction were mere distractions she had no interest in.
Yet, despite this careful design, the sporadic nosebleeds she sometimes experienced hinted at minor imperfections in the cloning process. Azalea couldn't fathom making such errors herself, raising suspicions that someone else might have played a role in her body's creation, introducing these anomalies into her otherwise precise existence.
With her head down, thinking about the cloning, she continued to stroll across the campus as usual, following the red-brick path and avoiding the gray ones. Until she noticed a commotion up ahead, and people blocked her way.
It was a group of students, their backs to Azalea, slowly retreating, with more distant cries of alarm echoing through the air.
A sense of unease washed over her. "Another skeleton?"