“Firmament initialization at 50%,” the Lexicon reported directly to my brain. Despite being unconscious, it was still able to communicate with me, as if I was awake.

I guess “unconscious”, in this case, is a strong word. What the Lexicon does is put your mind into a state of extreme focus, akin to meditation–like when you're daydreaming so intensely that you basically lose your sense of reality.

“Firmament initialization at 85%.”

It does this to open up the Firmament, a place in the mind that carries every potential aspect of oneself, like a skill tree in a video game. For most people, there’s no point in trying to get here, especially since the Military Achievement System did everything this region of the mind did, but with a thousand times less effort. Just the training required to naturally achieve this state would take decades.

Despite that, this place does carry its uses. When thoroughly studied, a person can pre-build themselves before they ever get their hands on a MAS unit–essentially allowing one to see the apex of their power without the need for experience. It also gives data on special attributes people might have and how others can obtain them.

“Firmament initialization complete. Unknown manifestation detected, caution is advised.”

These are huge benefits and the human race may very well just be scratching the surface of this machine. But, for me, the most prevalent thing about my Firmament is its preferred form: a graveyard. According to Kyle, most Firmaments show up as a great grassy plain, filled with mana-made forests and animals, with a giant tree in the middle that stretches into the sky. Mine is filled with mana-made tombstones, fog, rusted fences, and cloudy skies.

Home, sweet home, I mumbled to myself, standing up and making my way to an old dead oak tree at the heart of the graveyard.

This is what I had done for the past fifteen checkups when I realized I couldn’t stop what was going to happen.

When I got there, I sat down and did my best to hide.

As I did, the sky filled with a purple smoke which converged into a legion of unblinking, giant eyes. They began moving around the sky, looking at different things in the graveyard, some were examining gravestones, others were observing the metal fencing, and some were glaring at the grass. They scanned all around for what felt like hours, then dissolved back into purple smoke.

I thought about climbing the tree to get out of what was going to happen next, but I knew it wasn’t going to change the end result.

The purple smoke started to violently swirl, like a tornado: the doctors were trying to take a mana sample.

Everytime we do this, I tell them it's impossible to take a sample from my Firmament. I don’t know how I know this, but from the first time they tried, the idea was chiseled into my mind. That never stopped them, though.

The swirling of the purple smoke grew stronger and started to pull me from the ground. I held tight onto the roots of the tree.

Then I heard it, the sound of all my nightmares. “Uuuuurrr,” like the waking of a great beast.

It started from my left. A hand emerged from the ground, tearing its way out of a grave. Seconds later, the other hand followed, opening a hole big enough for a person. From the hole came the first of many, a zombie whose head was half-eaten, brain dripping blood, and the odd smell of pork.

It pointed at me. “Unworthy,” it wheezed. “You have yet to know us. Unworthy.”

The wind was blowing so hard at this point. I was unable to answer the monster, but it didn’t matter.

As soon as the statement was made, all the other graves gave way to similar zombies who inched their way towards me, unaffected by the wind.

The army of the undead eventually reached me and tore off pieces of my body. It never hurt, but the sight was something I could never get used to. Chunks of flesh easily ripped away, revealing bone and veins, blood spurting out like a faucet, and reanimated dead faces surrounding me, which, oddly enough, looked saddened.

I closed my eyes and let the nightmare end.

“Again, we failed to take a sample. I swear, everytime we try, the undead in his Firmament rise faster and faster, like white blood cells reacting to a known disease.”

My racing mind started slowing, and I was able to hear a small bit of the doctors’ conversation.

“Yes, I concur with that observation. It also seems they are growing in number, with three more tombstones than last time. Interesting. I’ll record the data of the encounter, you help him into a chair before he collapses. Can’t have such a highly-valued commodity die over something as trivial as hitting its head on the Lexicon.”

The noise of busy footsteps were joined by the sound of a wheelchair being propped up behind me.

“Please refrain from sudden movements as the clamps remove themselves. We, at the Galactic General Council, thank you for using the Lexicon. We hope it can bring you closer to the stars,” the holographic woman stated, as the clamps loosened and my eyes opened.

I was back in the Mind and Blood Center, surrounded by doctors that looked deeply invested in the data they had collected. I looked back to where I had come from, and, to my relief, saw Kyle sitting at a table, waiting with my other two brothers.

Instead of throwing myself into the wheelchair, ramming the unlucky doctor behind it, like I had planned, I turned, moved the chair, and quickly limped to my family.

The Lexicon does a number on the body, even though most of its functions pertain to the mind, making walking a difficult feat. I didn’t care though, I wanted to get to my brothers and leave this place as soon as I could.

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Seeing me limp in their direction, they all stood up and jogged towards me. Kyle and my other brother Joshua grabbed one arm each, which made for a comical scene involving one of my arms being lifted much higher than the other. Joshua had at least a foot on Kyle.

I giggled under my breath.

“You ok?” Joshua asked with his barely used voice.

“I’m good,” I answered back.

He nodded his head slowly. The guy was huge, even towering over me, and hardly ever talked.

From the very beginning, Joshua and I were unsuited to the cursed attribute Sigrun, which meant we both underwent other changes as children, to try and make us useful to the Valkyries’ goals. In this, I failed pretty much everything, since I wasn’t emotionally in a good place at the time. But Joshua had been, and still is, trained and augmented into something. He’s not allowed to tell us, for legal reasons, but he always assures us that it is being done of his own free will.

I still worry about him, can’t help it since he’s younger than me. When others see a scary giant, I see a tiny baby with a huge forehead who kept me up with his crying.

In front of me, with a worried face, was the youngest of us: Lahi. He’s a very girlish-looking guy that sometimes turns the heads of other men.

Out of all of us, he was the one most suited for Sigrun, so they pumped him full of Valkyrie serums which have done about eighty percent of the work of making him into a female. I don’t think they’re allowed to do that now, since he’s no longer a part of their program, but something inside me tells me they haven’t stopped trying to convince him to take Sigrun willingly. Even though he’s the younger brother, he still watches me like a mother hen.

“How was it, Steven? Did they try to take a mana sample again? Did the zombies come? Did they hurt you really badly in the combat portion? Did they at least give you a snack?”

The bombardment of worried questions was a lot for my recovering mind. “Stop fussing, Lahi. I’m okay.”

He then started to look me up and down, making sure I was unharmed. “Okay, but don’t be afraid to tell us if they hurt you, alright?”

I rolled my eyes, “Jeez man, I’m not a kid anymore.”

The sound of a throat-clearing caught all of our attention. We looked at Kyle.

“Shall we make our way out of this dreary place and get something to eat?”

All of us smiled and nodded.

We began to walk through the massive complex to the parking lot. We liked getting out of there fast, because the scientists had a habit of forcing redos of tests until they were satisfied. If we didn’t leave when we could, we would be there until sunrise.

Upon exiting the building, we were met with the blackness of the night. When we had finished work, the sun was still in the sky, so that means we must have been tested for hours.

“The Valkyries can learn a tad about punctuation, can’t they?” Kyle commented under my arm.

“They can also learn about physical fitness,” I interjected, remembering my combat test. “Did they tell you what score they gave me on hand-to-hand performance?”

Lahi jumped up from behind us, hands behind his back. “Yeah, Kyle was complaining the whole time you were in the Lexicon. ‘He bit a man's ear off. Who does that?’ he told us, and ‘He didn’t even have the decency to score high on his hand-to-hand to show our family’s martial dominance.’ I don’t do the posh-voiced Kyle well, but you get the idea.”

My head swiveled in disagreement. “If I had the practice MAS unit on, it would’ve given me ‘Stellar Physical Performance,’ and you know it, Kyle.”

The MAS was an earpiece that connected to the brain and showed an interface, similar to what you would see in a video game. We still had our practice units in the truck from when the World Government was teaching everyone how to use them. It gives stats, like health, and a few attributes out of fifty, focusing on specialized attributes for each person's specific DNA makeup. This means that some people might get strength, intelligence, and dexterity, while others have wisdom, speed, and will. Ma’he explained that real MAS units could actually affect your abilities. So, if you started with a strength of two, and could only lift up to four pounds, and the Military Achievement System gave you stat points, you could put them into strength, making it six. Then, you would instantly be able to lift up to ninety pounds. I’m not sure if that's how the math would work out, but that’s how I remember it.

Kyle’s lips turned up in a sarcastic grin. “I don’t think your memory is lining up with the video I witnessed. If anything, a practice MAS would tell you to report to your captain for human assessment,” Kyle retorted.

My eyes narrowed. “Yeah, whatever, man. If you took these tests, I bet you’d get a worse score.”

He appeared to ponder my words. “In physical combat? Yes, it just makes sense. I neither have your strength nor your burly disposition. But a sophisticated gentleman, such as myself, outstrips you in the most important thing of all…”

My eyebrows raised as he let the comment hang for dramatic effect.

“Sexual attraction. I cannot deny that the ladies find me irresistible.”

I cracked a smile as my other brothers began to laugh.

I looked away from my jovial brothers and up at the moon, as it slowly strode to the peak of the sky. I noticed the halfway point, where the frontlines were. On one side, the normal coloring of the moon, and on the other, complete darkness. It was like someone painted half the moon jet black, giving off a permanent first-quarter phase.

Looking closely, it seemed like the dark side had taken more of the moon today. It was hard to tell if that was actual movement on the frontlines, or the phases of the moon moving along. Either way, it got me thinking, What if we had lost ground today? That would mean the Mangle were one step closer to winning.

The sad thought followed me into the truck where I took the back passenger seat, behind Lahi.

Kyle looked at me through the rear view mirror, gesturing for me to put my seat belt on, but my mind was wandering and I ignored him.

When we were all situated, Kyle started to drive, exiting the parking lot and getting onto the highway. We must have driven for thirty minutes before we finally made it back into town, taking back streets towards The Hat, our favorite 24 hour food place.

As we drove through neighborhoods, I looked back up at the moon and wondered how many must have died fighting, how many must have lost their identity to the Mangle, and if Ma’he was okay. My mind swam with the possibilities, and it slowly started to drown me. As if the moon itself was pulling me into a vast ocean of doubt.

My eyes eventually broke from the moon's grasp and met with a kind set staring at me from the reflection of the side mirrors. The reflection of Lahi offered a sympathetic gaze.

“He’s fine. I know it,” Lahi said, with the gentleness of the stars in his voice.

The other two looked back when they heard Lahi’s words and figured out what was going on.

A quiet moment passed, as if to honor those fighting.

The first to speak was Kyle. “Don’t worry. When the time comes, we will be up there fighting as well. Hopefully, registering under Captain Ma’he Lotu.”

I perked up a bit at the comment, thinking about seeing the old man again.

The next to break the silence was Joshua, putting his hand on my shoulder and saying, “Soon.” His voice expressed the word deeply, like an old dragon.

I smiled. “Yeah, you guys are right. I’ve got nothing to worry about.”

The ocean of doubt that threatened to take me slowly began to shrink. Becoming a puddle in the face of my family.