The professor crosses his arms behind his back and regarded his rapt audience.
“In the Nexus, we count time in eras, years, months, weeks and days,” the Professor said. “An era consists of one hundred thousand years. A year consists of fourteen months, a month of five weeks, and each week comprises seven days, named from First to Seventh. First to Fifth consist of the weekdays, and are generally considered as working days, while Sixth and Seventh are, for the most fortunate, considered weekends, and rest days. For you, most weekends will usually be normal work days.”
He tapped something on the screen and a big light blue circle showed up on the screen on the wall, where it proceeded to circle what looked like the beginning of a series of rows of boxes.
“This is a calendar, and when you add events to it, it becomes a schedule. For example, Intro Week 1 it's where we are now. This week will be split between physical and aura training.”
Then he slid his finger across the boxes, the blue circle matching his movements. “Then Intro Week 2 right after it, we will begin basic path specific training, but aura will be the main focus. At the end of that week, we will have reached the gateway, which will take the ship into the Labyrinth proper. From then onwards, the rest of the Intensive Pre-Delve Training will either take two months and half, or three, depending on the conditions we find in the Labyrinth and many other different variables. In three weeks' time, you will face your first combat assessment, with two others forming the core of the faculty’s decision on whether you will be invited to stay on board or not. In due time, you will know more about these three assessments, but for now, let’s get properly started with some knowledge, shall we?”
He swiped his hand over the screen, and a new image showed up. Nar did a sharp intake of breath as he realized what he was staring at.
“This is the Nexus,” the professor said, pointing at the middle of the image, where a cube could be seen. “From inside outwards, at its core lies the Inside-Nexus, or I-Nex. Then we have the Between-Nexus, or B-Nex, from where you all hail from. And finally, comprising the Zero level and the first -20 levels of the Nexus, is the Outside-Nexus, or O-Nex.”
The professor drew his finger across the outer edges of the cube.
“The vast majority of the Nexus population lives in the O-Nex,” he explained. “While the I-Nex is reserved for the nobility, the seat of the Church and the Holy Crystal Itself, as well as all those who work for them. As for the B-Nex, that is the place for the cubeplants, where the critical aetherium is recycled… All of the gates leading out of the B-Nex, the One Hundred Thousand Gates as they are so aptly called, are located in the -20th level. That is where we scouted you all, just outside gate BN455TE, at the end of the Ceremony of Final Atonement. Though Ceremonies might be a more apt way of putting it, seeing as all of them occur at the same time and are broadcasted across the entirety of the Nexus as proof of atonement for the Climbers. Of course, most consider it purely a form of… Entertainment.”
“As fucking what?” Mul said, very loudly.
Nar stared agape at the professor, unsure of whether he had heard the man correctly, or whether his knowledge of the word “entertainment” was gravely incorrect.
The rest of the party looked similarly too stunned to be worried about Mul’s loud outburst. In fact, Mul wasn’t the only one to do so, or even the loudest in the room.
“What did you just say?” a tall morsvar shouted, standing up a few rows below and to their right. “My brother died in that fucking Ceremony! What do you mean by entertainment?”
The professor nodded along the outraged morsvar, and encouraged, more apprentices joined in, voicing similar grievances.
And then, it was like everything was flipped inside out.
One moment, he was Nar, attending a lecture aboard the Scimitar that was quickly falling off the rails, and the next, he was something else. Then, he was himself again.
He gasped and burst out into a hacking cough.
It was as if, for a split moment, his lungs had been deprived of all the air within them, and the next, filled back up to the brim again. His blood pounded against his temples, not painfully, but almost in a state of confused panic, as if his brain and heart had no idea what had just happened and were trying to figure out if Nar was in danger or not.
“That was the effect of your first micro-jump,” the teacher explained, to a roomful of coughing people. “I was meant to tell you about it, but the lecture took a non-unexpected turn there.”
The professor walked down the podium and approached the apprentices on the first row.
“Don’t worry, after a few more of these, you won’t even notice them anymore,” he said, leaning down to smile and rub the back of an apprentice who seemed to be particularly affected. “As for the reason for what we were just discussing… Listen to me, and listen well, for I speak neither in malice or unkindness, but with the desire that you are well informed and prepared for your futures. The truth is, the O-Nex is not a kind place for you B-Nexers, or BNs for short. People look at you as those who have escaped their just punishment from what is considered to be the greatest sin ever committed against the Crystal in the entire, eternal history of the Nexus.”
Nar glanced though at the teacher, even as he sought to get his breathing under control again.
“Yes, we may not know what it is that your ancestors have done, but the consensus is that it must have been something truly horrifying to earn such a brutal, and un-sentient punishment,” Professor Thim said. “Add to that the ever-growing shortage of aetherium in the Nexus, which increases the cost of everything and worsens everyone's lives across the O-Nex, and you can start to see why the ONs do not look very kindly upon the BNs. You are supposed to take your punishment, and through your work, make their lives easier by easing the supply of aetherium through the critical recycling of spent aetherium. Now, I know this sounds… Well, it is cruel. There is no denying that. But this is the reality. And in fact, the greatest goal of most BNs is to accumulate enough experience so that they can afford to give their children longer names, as everyone knows that only BNs have three letter names,” he concluded, reaching up a hand in the air with three fingers held up.
“What? Names?” Tuk muttered to himself.
“They do seem to have longer names, here,” Cen mused. “But you need to pay to have longer names?”
However, someone down below was more concerned with matters that to Nar mattered much more.
“That’s fucking crazy!” a girl shouted, an altei it seemed. “Don’t you know how things are like down there? We don’t have light. We don’t have food. Or-Or showers, or all-all this stuff that you guys have! How can they think that we deserved that?”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“The reports of the BNs' living conditions in the B-Nex are usually accepted to be much better than they truly are, and the accounts from the BNs themselves are usually dismissed as… Exaggerations.”
“Exaggerations?” the girl asked, sitting back in disbelief. “Why would we lie?”
The professor grimaced. “Unfortunately, most people believe only what they want to, and what makes their lives more convenient and easier to bear. The reason why the Ceremonies are broadcasted is because it was meant as a way to make ONs see how harshly the Climbers were forced to atone in order to earn their forgiveness. And while that eased the grumbling a lot, from what we understand of history, it’s never gone away. Nor has that abhorrent attitude towards BNs… Of course, it's not everyone, and the Crystal Itself denounces such attitudes, but it’s not truly enforced unless it gets out of hand, meaning that it is still, quite unfortunately, the prevalent attitude in the O-Nex and I-Nex.”
“What do you mean by it getting out of hand?” Kur suddenly asked, raising his voice to be heard down below, by the teacher.
Professor Thim sighed. “Let’s just say that there are reasons why there is security present at the Ceremonies, and why that security is mostly handled by Ex-Climbers... And let me just say that there are places in the O-Nex where they will refuse to serve you food and drink and services. And places where you should not ignore the anti-BN graffiti at all...”
The teacher crossed his arms with a sad, resigned look.
“The Scimitar is not only your chance at a great life,” he said. “It is also your chance at getting taught enough to protect yourselves. Of course, Tsurmirel will protect you, but you won’t always be under the protective gaze of the guild. And when those times come, and they will, you will need to be able to defend yourself. Or suffer for your lack of strength. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Kur said, in a strangled voice.
“In the O-Nex, you aren’t all working together for your quotas anymore. You’re fighting for your own existence and for that of your parties,” Professor Thim said, his tone firm. “That is the kind of place that you’ve come into. Is it better than the cubeplants you left behind? One thousand percent yes! Is it perfect? No. So take every opportunity you are given to grow stronger, as it might mean the difference between life and death at some point in your lives...”
Professor Thim sighed again, his posture hunching.
“This talk always takes it out of me,” he said, rubbing his one big eye. “However, it is something that we must go through, as unpleasant as it is. It lets you all know what’s really at stake here, and why you should work hard to learn what we have to teach you, and for you to improve in your capabilities. Even if you eventually decide to pursue a non-combat delving future, or a civilian life in the O-Nex, it won’t hurt to be able to defend yourselves and those you care about... And with that, I believe we’ve earned an earlier break. Let’s take ten minutes. Oh, and there’s toilets to the right and left of the doors through which you came in through. I advise you to make use of them. Real food and drink goes through your bodies much faster than the nutrient dense crackers and jell-os that you are used to, and I rather you not spend the whole lecture distracted with your complaining bladders!”
And with that, at a wave of his hand, the screens disappeared, the lights came back fully on, and the professor walked off the podium and out the door, leaving behind him a speechless audience.
*********
Nar sighed as he lined up to exit the massive toilet.
His head pounded with the revelations of the morning so far and the effects of their first micro jump, whatever that had been.
Not only was he never likely to know what his forefathers had done against the Crystal to earn them, and their descendants, their heavy-handed punishment, but, as it turned out, he would never be allowed to forget it either. He might be forgiven in the eyes of the Crystal, but to the people of the O-Nex, the ONs, as the professor had called them, he was avoiding his due punishment, and making their life harder in the process.
The concept of it, the idea that him not bleeding out inside a machine was inconveniencing people’s lives was so utterly bizarre that he had actually burst out laughing in the toilet cubicle.
How could that be? How did that make any sense or have any semblance of sanity? And even liberated and healed, it meant that he and his dad would always be considered pariahs in the O-Nex, no matter what price they had paid to get out.
“Fucking insanity…” he muttered to himself.
Good thing the plan was always for us to get our own ship and live out here. Crystal…
He slowly made his way to the auditorium again, and as he walked down the stairs towards his seat, he noticed that the professor was back, and that a circle of apprentices had surrounded him, no doubt bursting with questions or wanting to make sure the man wasn’t just messing around with them.
The dream of a happy life… Is that something we can ever get, even out here? Nar wondered, bitterly, as he scotched past other apprentices to get back to his seat.
When he got there, he noticed that only Gad was back already, so he kept going until he sat by her side.
“Not exactly what we hoped for, is it?” she asked him.
Nar could only shake his head in reply.
“No point in thinking about it, I guess,” she said. “We need to get strong and that's it. Though the more of the O-Nex I hear about, the less I feel like going there. Or living there. You might have the right idea after all. I hope you have extra space on that ship of yours.”
Nar looked at her, too stunned to speak, and she chuckled at him.
“O-of course!” Nar stammered. “You… Everyone can join! I just… Are you sure?”
Gad shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe it's not so bad, and he’s just trying to motivate us to work hard. But at the same time, there is what happened to us. The O-Nex is clearly a place to be wary of. Or at least, respectful of, no different than the Labyrinth or even the B-Nex we Climbed through. Besides, I’ve got to say, I’m liking this ship. My bed is like nothing I’ve ever felt and that shower is a blessing from the Crystal. Not to mention the food… Or the view.”
“It was amazing, wasn’t it?” Viy asked, sitting on Nar’s other side. “I still can’t believe that we’re flying!”
Gad smiled and nodded at that. “It is hard to believe.”
Viy nodded, smiling brightly.
“And how are you feeling, Nar?” the spear woman asked him. “I heard that you were as banged up as I was. And that you saved our lives… Again.”
She looked down at her hands over the half-table and gave them a squeeze. “Thank you. And sorry for always being such a burden.”
“You-I… No, what?” Nar said, struggling to find words, heat rising to his cheeks. “Don’t-don’t worry about that! We help each other out! All of us! And I-I didn’t really do anything!”
“Well, yes, we help each other out, but I wouldn’t say you didn’t do anything,” Gad said, her mouth curled upwards in amusement. “And Viy is right, how are you feeling today? And what happened to you?”
Nar grimaced, remembering the pain from the previous day. “Aura exhaustion and burning in my aura channels. And aura collapse…”
“What?” Viy shouted.
“That sounds bad…” Gad said.
“Yeah… It wasn’t great. I used too much aura and I was dying…”
Viy gaped at him, her eyes going wide.
“It’s fine now! I’m okay!” Nar rushed to tell them. “Their Master of Aura fixed me up with a touch!”
“Still…” Viy said, uncertain. “That is so… Crystal. What did you do?”
“Hmmm,” Gad said. “Kur did tell me that you used an advanced skill. Clearly, you’re not strong enough to pull something like that off again anytime soon.”
And leaning over to look at Viy. “You should've seen him. Covered in aura, with a sword at least two times bigger than me. Whoosh! He cut through everything with his aura! Massive explosion and all that.”
“Wow…” Viy breathed, dropping her mouth open.
“It wasn’t like that…” Nar mumbled.
“No, it was better. Maybe we can get that footage they keep talking about,” Gad said. “And you’ll both see. Actually, it might be good for us to get footage of all of us. Be good to have a look through it and see where our weaknesses are…”
“Alright, it looks like everybody is back in,” professor Thim called from down below.
Nar leaned forward past Viy, and saw that the rest of the party had, in the meantime, all arrived.
“I understand how shocking what we discussed was, and know that I, and every member of the faculty is available for you to talk to, should you want to, about this or any other topics, questions or worries you might have,” their teacher said. “For now, however, we really need to continue on with our lesson. Our schedules are iron clad, and whatever I cannot talk about today we will have to squeeze in in two days’ time.”
He waved over the podium and the rectangle of light appeared again, the lights dimming once more overhead. The screen behind him showed the same image of the Nexus and a massive chaos of lines drawn out around it.
“Alright then, let’s see what we can cover before lunch time, shall we?” professor Thim asked, rubbing his hands.