“So, how do you feel, hero?” Ratcatcher asked, leaning against the back of Vasily’s chair and making the trainee groan in frustration.

The past few days flashed by like a streak of lightning. After the Archangels had saved everyone’s lives, the police took her family into custody. There were no official charges, but she knew they were in trouble. In Iterna, you were supposed to stay out of harm’s way and let the police do their job. And not only had her father failed to do that, but he had also inadvertently dragged his children into the fray. Sitting with Liam in a rather pleasant room filled with toys and game consoles, Ratcatcher was sweating with worry, despite the police therapist’s best efforts to calm her down. Thanks to the Planet, Liam had no idea what had happened and rejoiced at a chance of taking the room apart.

After a few hours, her parents and two smartly dressed people arrived. A man and a woman, the lawyers. And not the ones who worked for the government, but the cream of the crop—the most expensive and skilled people who worked for the Rhos and the Barjonis.

The Family still felt indebted to her for saving Carlos’ life, even though it was all thanks to Mr. Argus, and the instructor had asked his uncle for help. The lawyers advised the Vongs to stick to the story that Mom and Dad had acted on the spur of the moment to save Vasily’s life. This was true. What wasn’t true was the lawyers’ claim that the elder Vongs acted out of fear for their lives afterward. But Mom and Dad complied with the story to make things smoother.

Both lawyers worked together without any animosity, surprising the girl considering how much venom Rho’s and Barjoni’s representatives spewed at each other when they came to visit. There weren’t any direct threats, but at every point, the two men let out snide comments at each other while maintaining perfect civility with others. Both companies had offered to reimburse the taxi’s driver for his damaged car, but Dad had refused their offer and paid out of the family budget, stating that no matter how good a deed is, you must never frivolously drag outside people into danger. He and Mom had also refused to pin any blame on the archangels’ supposed late arrival, speaking nothing but praise for their swift act, annoying the lawyers by complicating the case. Even though Dad and Mom’s decision had put a small dent in their savings, Ratcatcher herself felt nothing but pride about them. They were heroes! And credits come and go; a year later, a year earlier, who cares? A house will be theirs!

The criminals were put in jail and awaited trial. So far, all charges of murder and assault have been dropped against her parents, and the taxi driver didn’t press charges. Also, several police officers even told her, mostly in hints, not to worry over a nothing burger, and, most importantly, everyone was alive. For the duration of the investigation, her parents were forced to stay at Morningstar, and on the advice of the lawyers, Ratcatcher had moved into the Academy’s dorms, which was fine too. Liam was growing big and needed a room of his own, and she dreaded the day the little rascal would get his hands on her diary.

“Listen, I appreciate the sentiment, but you and Elina don’t need to check on me all the time!” Vasily said, turning his attention back to the screen. “My wounds had already healed... mostly.” She kept looking at him, and the boy snapped. “I am fine!”

Ratcatcher doubted it. Once the police stuff was taken care of, she raced to the hospital to check on Wedge and Vasily. There, Wedge’s father rushed to check on him; Nadya’s parents came to pick her up, but only Vasily’s grandmother and his sister came to visit. And when she later spotted a sour-faced Elina in the hallway and decided to give her a piece of her mind, worried that the trainee might blame Vasily for what had happened, Elina brushed her off. Elina admitted that she had overheard the doctors calling the boy’s parents, and they had told the doctors not to bother them about the “orphan”. Something was fishy, but Ratcatcher didn’t dare stress her classmate with questions.

Elina asked, not ordered, asked Ratcatcher to keep an eye on Vasily and left to meet with the therapist, leaving Carlos in charge of finishing the preparations for the festivities. The Barjoni threw a party in the hospital, stuffing themselves along with Wedge before fuming in anger Vasily, who was forbidden to eat any hard food for a couple of days. Carlos ignored Ratcatcher’s pleadings and kept teasing the wounded, calling this payback. The Headmaster paid a visit later, dragged Carlos away by the ear, and approved of Vasily’s decision to retreat rather than stay and fight the criminals. Torosian also forbade the students from meeting with the press, enforcing the Academy’s rules against using its students as political pawns.

This left Wedge as the main hero of the incident. Ratcatcher burst out laughing when a TV anchor asked her friend if he had almost killed the person by accident. Wedge, looking disappointed, replied that no, he wasn’t afraid and had intended to off the bastard with his elbow. Rather than stirring up resentment against non-human-looking Abnormals, the shocking admission boosted their popularity in Iterna. Slavers weren’t popular in civilized lands.

Elina left them alone, becoming quieter over the last few days. The only time she broke her sudden mood was during a collective ‘holy shit!’ shout that came out of fifty throats when Yura, a student from the Akebia Group, had cleaved a stone block in two with her bone sword when Ratcatcher and Elina introduced the student to the Fencing Club. The Malformed did it without any use of power armor, and the air pressure created by her arm left the training mats torn.

“What are you researching, anyway?” Ratcatcher glanced over Vasily’s shoulder. The screen of his terminal was filled with maps overlapping each other and detailing the locations of the known Old World cities.

The boy sighed and dragged a chair nearby, slamming his hand down on the seat. She accepted the invitation and sat down next to Vasily, putting her elbows on the table and resting her head on the knuckles. They were all alone in the computer class. Once, the place was filled with standard tables, chairs, and terminals, but with the addition of the unusually sized students, the room experienced some changes. With the push of a button, the entire auditorium could be rearranged and modified so that someone like Jumail could sit comfortably and rise from the floor. The terminals also underwent changes, but instead of leaving them to a voice command, the teachers taught Yura and Jumail how to use subdermal implants to contact the machines and operate them with a thought.

“Okay. You know that humanity once inhabited the moon and other planets, right?” Vasily asked.

“Technically, we still do,” Ratcatcher said. “It’s just a bit too deadly on the moon these days for a visit.” She sighed, dreaming of a day when she could visit this exotic place. There were tours of the orbit, but they were so expensive! If she was going to spend so many credits for a momentary pleasure, she might as well make it count. And sitting in a shuttle, looking at space, was no different from viewing it through a terminal’s display. No, she wanted to walk on the moon to feel the change in gravity and admire the ruins and rebuilt cities!

“Nice to see someone wasn’t sleeping at the lessons,” Vasily said. He coughed and added, “Sorry.”

“Nah, that’s fair! My grades could’ve been better!” The girl laughed. His admonishment was part of the reason she left her room today. It was time to start making amends.

“But do you know that space wasn’t the only place the people expanded into?” Vasily looked at her. “Seas, underground, even the planet’s core, the cities were built everywhere!”

“Makes sense.” Ratcatcher shrugged. “Exotic scenery attracts tourists. I know I would’ve liked to see the molten core.”

“It is more than just the scenery, Eliza!” Vasily tapped, and the display changed, showing a tear in the space.

It took her a second to realize that she was looking at the massive and wide cavern, with electrical devices forming a sort of portal along the smooth edges. Energy was emanating from these devices, tearing open the space in the center and opening a doorway to a place filled with dome-shaped buildings. The edges of the portal were almost pitch black, dotted with occasional ‘stars’, small explosions of energy. Meanwhile, the portal itself and the space where the buildings stood gave off a faint white light, turning the steel buildings white.

“Is that…” she gasped.

“Got your attention, did I?” The boy grinned at her gaping eyes. “About three hundred and fifty years ago, a group of scientists decided to cross another frontier. The probes hadn’t yet found a habitable planet outside our system, and our home planet was getting crowded. While most countries planned to create portable habitats, and some were created, this group of scientists ventured into a place not yet mapped by human hands.

“Another dimension! We know of some Iterna’s proton generators allow us to draw energy from one such dimension, hostile to all life. But this! Eliza, this was a monumental undertaking. An entire city built in the White Void, a city capable of sustaining itself for thousands of years! Engineers, military officers, the brightest minds on the planet... They were all working there, founding another control center in our system. The portal itself was opened thanks to the flow of energy coming through the power grid connected to several underground cities scattered across the planet.”

“And on the day of the Extinction, it collapsed, leaving the people stranded,” Ratcatcher said, understanding where he was leading.

“Yes, and no.” The boy nodded with sorrow. “If you had studied the material a bit better, the command to shut down the portal came from within the dimension. The leaders of this city severed all ties with our reality to weather the storm. And in the years afterward, archaeologists found a series of automated commands in the ruins. The portal was supposed to be reopened after a century. But whoever planned this operation had no idea of the sheer scale of the destruction. There were no more underground cities.” He tapped again.

She saw the destruction wrought by the Extinction. It was a simulation, aside from the few videos recorded by Iternian satellites and cameras, but the general picture was clear. Black clouds clotted the sky. Defensive installations all over the system gone mad, opening fire at the planet and ramming entire spaceships into the ground. People choked to death in the habitats when all the air was flushed into the space. Nuclear mushrooms rose across the continents. As mountain ranges sank, entire cities were reduced to nothing but ash beneath the surges of plasma coming from space. And the Glow! The substance capable of granting powers to a few lucky people was unleashed, along with other bioweapons, in full, polluting the atmosphere and murdering billions. Whole continents shifted, crushing the underground cities. Hungry caverns, hundreds of kilometers wide, had opened and devoured the surface structures before the torment unleashed on the planet made them close again, pressing the ruins into each other. A day. This is how long the Extinction had lasted. A single day had crippled humanity’s potential for centuries ahead and reaped an uncounted toll among the population. The lucky ones died fast. The less fortunate had struggled for hours, often years, before the release of death finally took them.

“Not all underground cities are gone.” Ratcatcher looked aside, trying not to show the anguish in her heart. So many people had died… “We have two in Iterna, and the Oathtakers were rebuilding another prior to the war.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Yes, but one of them was ruined, and ours was freshly built before the Extinction and thus was unconnected to the lost city.” Vasily called up the map again. “That city is still out there. Cut off and...”

“Vasily, the people in that city are dead,” Ratcatcher tried to reason with him. “I read this project. It was a theory that the city was self-sufficient enough to live in another dimension, but that theory was never tested. In addition, they were connected to our network when the viruses were unleashed, and the AIs became corrupted…”

“I know!” Vasily nodded. “I do not harbor hopes they are alive. But! The city could still stand. Imagine all the untapped databases, all the research waiting to be unearthed.” He leaned back in his chair, summoning the map of the Old World and overlapping it with the known map of the New World. “Instructor Augustus approved this hobby, as he called it, of mine; he even provided me with maps,” the trainee said in a tired voice. “It is why I wanted to get into the crawler to get a copy of the maps out of their databanks. Well, that and I wanted to see their engine at work,” he added. “Those generators are a marvel, albeit a dangerous one.”

“Aren’t the Reclaimers providing us with geographic data anyway, as part of the scientific treaty?” Ratcatcher asked. “Just open the Net and find whatever geological data you want.”

“Yes, but it is modern data!” Vasily cried out. “And in the centuries after the Extinction the tectonic plates still were shifting their position; it is why it is so hard to find lost laboratories and why we sometimes find ruins in the strangest places. But the crawlers are cities on their own; perhaps there is…”

“Vasily.” Ratcatcher put a hand on his shoulder. “The place is gone. If there was even a hint of a chance to unearth it, Artificer and the others would’ve done so.”

“You sound like the instructor.” Vasily smiled, but did not shrug her hand off. “Listen, Eli, I understand the skepticism. I am not foolish. But discoveries made by normal people are made to this day. If there is a chance to find an intact underground city, if there is any chance to restore power to the energy grid still running in some places of the world, if I can just find the lost city, then maybe I can be accepted by my…”

“By who?” she asked.

“No matter.” He shook his head and turned off the terminal, yawning. “Thanks for listening to my ramblings, but it’s time for me to rest my eyes before the teacher comes grumbling again.” He stood up, picked up his jacket, and then halted. “Eliza. Sorry for being an ass before.”

“Oh, are we apologizing now?” Ratcatcher laughed and bounced off her seat. ‘Treat others the way you want to be treated yourself.’ This was one of the creeds of the Planet’s faith. Sure, maybe Vasily deserved a cold shoulder for the taunts and his behavior before, but if he was trying to change, why kick him down? She bowed to Vasily, pressed one hand to her chest, and held one hand out to the side. “It’s a holy season soon, sirrah. How about we forget about the mistakes of the past and focus on the mistakes of the fu… er, I mean on the future, yes, all eyes on the future!” She straightened, scratched the back of her head, and offered him a hand. “Let’s start over and put all the bad behind us, ‘kay? Name’s Ratcatcher; nice to meet you.”

“Ratcatcher?” Vasily asked, shaking her hand. “Not Eliza?”

“Eh, I like my tribal name. Screw whatever is written in my passport…” Her eyes grew wide. “Just don’t tell Mom I said that; she’ll be mad!”

“Fine, fine,” Vasily laughed. “My name is Vasily, dear lady. Say, are you planning to skip town this New Year for a party or something?”

“Nah, I’ll be at the Academy, drinking and eating until I burst like an overripe apple!” Ratcatcher put her fists on her hips and slashed the air with her tail. She and Nadya usually spent these nights together with Wedge, but their families were taking them to a party this year, and she couldn’t leave Morningstar because of those stupid thugs. And no one else was inviting her anywhere.

“Is that so…” Vasily took himself by the chin. “Well, happy New Year to you, Ratty… Is it okay if I call you that?”

“Keep pushing your luck, and I’ll eat your heart for dinner,” she joked, and the teens laughed. Vasily waved his hand in goodbye and left for a medical examination before leaving the Academy for good this year.

She looked around and put the chair back, allowing the auditorium’s automatic system to take over and begin cleaning the place. In a rare show of mercy, the teachers had decided not to use the trainees’ manual labor to keep the Academy clean before the New Year and let the young students have their fun. The trainee walked to the window and looked at the four large Christmas trees that had been placed in front of the Academy and the members of the Student Council who were handing out gifts to the students who were leaving for a well-deserved break. Day by day, the Academy grew emptier, and the clouds over Morningstar became thicker with drones.

The same scene was repeated in other cities as Artificer promised something exciting this year. No one knew what it was, but the Reclaimers’ newest ambassador, a large wyrm with purple scales, had sent an official note of protest, claiming that Artificer’s idea reeked of mockery and was unworthy of a person of his status. This only heated the discussions on the Net.

Eugenia Mylli and members of her team had already started their own tours of unity. During the day, the towering Elite appeared in the most remote regions, helping surprised farmers prepare for celebrations, cleaning snow, or giving gifts to children. No one could keep track of her; the portals opened seemingly at random, allowing the Elite to appear in every corner of Iterna. At night, she joined the singing group, dressed in black and white skintight garments that left her arms and legs bare. Eugenia’s angelic voice could be heard on radios and television screens as the Elite sang new songs or the national anthem to the delight of the populace. She was often joined by a few surprised non-human looking kids and teens, both Abnormals and mutants alike.

During televised debates, the Elite listened to the complaints of citizens who feared that the promotion of other cultures and non-human forms would bring problems to Iterna. She allayed their fears by pointing out that not all change was bad, and that much of Iterna’s technological advancement was for the betterment of the country. Eugenia drew a parallel with the Abnormals, telling stories of their bravery in service to the nation.

And the last Elite, Lightbringer, was the busiest of all. Doom cults, terrorists, former enemies, and, of course, rare Numbers, all sort of mad and crazy, raised their heads to cause as much destruction as possible during these precious weeks. The police were hard pressed, but every time an archangel or a police officer found themselves overwhelmed, a streak of light appeared in the sky, and Lightbringer arrived in all his glory. Beams of light bisected crazed cyborgs and cyborgs, leaving smoking ruins as the Elite was already gone. No matter the distance, his sheer speed had allowed him to stop potential domestic violence in one corner of the country and cave in a Number’s head in another. But even Lightbringer could not stop everything alone.

And he wasn’t alone. The police and military treated this season as the most troublesome, and this year the government has hired several mercenary groups. Last year, the Godsworn, a doomsday cult, managed to carry out a massacre in the name of True God, killing five hundred people in a small, remote town in the North Mountains. This, naturally, stirred public opinion, especially after it was revealed that two of the terrorists were members of the Insectoid Commune.

Vetted mercenaries with precognition monitored the situation across the country, linked to video feeds from cameras and drones around the country. Abnormals and people with precog abilities were precious and highly sought-after individuals, and Ratcatcher had a sneaking suspicion that the government was negotiating with them even now, aiming to recruit these mercenaries at all costs. To this day, only four precogs serve Iterna, and all of them work on outside affairs.

The Iternian government had also pushed the boundaries of tolerance, bringing in an unprecedented number of Abnormal mercenaries to duty, most of whom were non-human in appearance. Giants, insects, tetrapods, trolls, Malformed and many other kinds were operating at the cities’ and villages’ outskirts, shocking the citizens when they visited bars to have a drink after a hard day of work. So far, four terrorist attacks have been prevented and fifteen kidnappings have been prevented by a joint force of police and mercenaries. Explorators helped too, although it was not their area of expertise. They had discovered fifteen bombs and helped keep Iternian peace.

A city south of Morningstar was spared a potential horror by Brie’s Maneaters. This mercenary group was composed of sixteen people, all of whom looked like praying mantises and were two meters tall. One of them, a person with the power of enhanced hearing, had overheard the Godsworn’s plan to unleash a toxin into the water. Joined by the police, the mercenaries raided the lunatics’ hideout and collected a heavy toll with their sickle-bladed arms. The news didn’t give the exact numbers, but if the rumors on the Net were to be believed, seven people died, sliced from their foreheads to their groins.

Ratcatcher exhaled, stopped staring like an idiot, and headed out to find the teachers. She went to the history teacher first and knocked on his classroom door.

“Mr. Brock! Sorry to bother you, sir, but I have a question,” Ratcatcher said, unsure of how to start the conversation properly. She wrapped her tail around her waist, hiding it underneath her jacket out of worry.

“You’re not bothering me, Eliza,” the ever-cheerful man said, picking up his documents from the table. “Ask your question. But classes are over for the year. I would have expected you to be out with your friends by now, celebrating in earnest.”

I’d wish.

“Sir. Why is Iterna keeping the captured prisoners?” She saw his raised eyebrow and added. “I don’t mean to kill them or anything. But other nations often expel whole groups from their borders for not following the rules...”

“Because banishing the dissidents, rebels, or murderers would not solve the problem.” He smiled and pointed at the chair, inviting her to sit. “Eliza, you can’t solve the problem by dumping it on someone else. Yes, Iterna is strong. Yes, it may seem easier to expel problematic elements from our lands. But such a perception is dangerous.”

“Sir?”

“Take Malformed, for example.” He raised a finger. “No, I do not have anything against either Jumail or Yura, aside from Yura’s poor grades, but that is partially the fault of a teacher too, even if she joined us so recently. The girl is trying her best. But here lies the crux of the problem: If we had exiled their people, Jumail…” He stopped.

“I know about his history, sir,” Ratcatcher said.

“Then you know what fate awaited him. And Yura would’ve followed in her parents’ footsteps. By exiling them, we would be passing the problem on to someone else. And what would happen then? Either someone would triumph and stop the sudden invasion, or they would fail and the misery would spread. Worse, it would fester; those we’d banished would grow in strength, emboldened by a victory and drunk on dreams of revenge. And one day a battle would happen anew, and who knows if Iterna would’ve prevailed then? There is your answer. For the sake of humanism and for the sake of the future, Iterna solves the problem here and now, never stooping to barbarism, and uplifting those less fortunate than us.” He studied her face, throwing Ratcatcher off balance. “But I don’t believe for a second that you don’t know that. What is the true reason for your coming, Eliza?”

“I… I wanted to apologize, sir.” She bowed her head. “My grades aren’t as good as they could’ve been…” The teacher nodded, as if saying he had noticed. “And I should have been doing better. There was something on my mind, but in retrospect, it was not a problem. I won’t be slacking off ever again, sir.”

“Your apology is accepted, but it is too late to change your grades for this year. Take it as a consequence of your actions. I am leaving for hiking today, so no special treatment, student!” Brock smiled. “But I am relieved at knowing that you do care about your education. I look forward to seeing a resplendent Eliza next year. Off you go; have fun already, trainee!”

“Sir, yes, sir! Off to have fun at once, sir!”

“And if possible…” the teacher hesitated and continued. “Try to become Jumail’s friend. The boy might look unusual, but his heart is in the right place, and if you know of his past, you…”

“Know about his goal.” She smiled sadly. “Yes, sir. Don’t worry about it. It is the same with Yura. We’ll do our best to help them overcome their worries.”

“Yura?” Brock said, shaking his head. “Fuck my life. I’m going blind with age. No wonder the poor girl had trouble adjusting to the city.” He gave Ratcatcher a sharp look. “You didn’t hear me swearing.”

“Of course not, sir!” She put on a cap and saluted him.

“Good.” The teacher looked at the papers on his desk. “Well, what do you know? It seems we both should have done better. Thank you for helping me see that flaw, Eliza.”

“What flaw, sir?”

“I didn’t notice Yura’s problems. Not at all.” Mr. Brock tapped on the table. “I admit, given more time, I would have figured it out… But as a teacher, I can’t fail my students because I can’t read their body language. Hiking is for later; it’s time for advanced training courses!”

“Sir, no one thinks you failed us in any way!” the frightened Ratcatcher fired out quickly. Mr. Brock was always willing to listen and help with homework and lessons, often very late at night. The man lived at the Academy and left only for his hobby of traveling across mountain ranges. He didn’t deserve to have his weekends taken away by her!

“Relax, Eliza!” He smiled warmly. “Judging by your panic, I seem to have failed to impart the most important wisdom to you. Learning something new is the best. It is both humbling and exciting, really, to be able to learn even at my age. Now go, kids your age should have fun this time of year.”