Everyone else was already standing in the waiting area when we arrived. It was a light grey room with doors on each side, two of them leading to the trainer’s observation windows and one leading into our living space.

Standing on the right side of the room were Congo and Scotia. Scotia looked nearly as pissed as Zealand, as per the usual, but her temper didn’t annoy me like Zealand’s did. She didn’t let it control her.

I took a spot next to Scotia and Zealand filed in beside me, his breathing loud in the quiet room.

On the other side of the room was the opposing team, now joined by blonde and pretty Sarmatia, who smiled at her victorious group.

Next to her was Graec, the most handsome of us with straight black hair, slicked back from sweat. His muscles were almost too big for his uniform, once again reminding me that I was an inferior soldier.

On his left was Libyci, who was always considered the best looking of the girls according to the others, though I still thought Scotia was prettier. Libyci had spotless brown skin and big eyes and was unofficially Graec’s girl. She was also the smartest of us, though she would never admit it. Her interests strayed away from combat and leaned more toward Earth’s biology.

Beside Libyci was their final teammate, Sina. She was the tallest in the group, though the thinnest as well, to the point where she often looked sickly. She’d always had difficulty finishing her meals and had slippery fingers too. She was more likely to drop her gun by accident then use it on someone. Her skin was like mine, not as dark as Congo’s but not light like Scotia’s and Zealand’s.

We all straightened our postures and raised our chins as our Occisio teacher Gregis entered through the left door, his long neck making him three heads taller than Congo. It gave him the perfect vantage point to peer down at us all, those big black eyes studying us carefully. If he had pupils like the rest of us, I’d be able to see who specifically he was looking at.

“Well done,” he told us, his voice lisping and mechanical due to the translator he used to communicate with us. “I would like to congratulate your teams on yet another successful training.”

This was always what he said. There was no win or loss mentioned even though this was obviously a competition. We were all judged separately yet they treated it like a group effort regardless. When there were more of us, people used to be more selfish and fight solo but as each child was slowly voted off and sent away, we started working together again.

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There was no spoken meeting where we agreed to act as a team and support each other. It was just a subconscious reaction to our uncertain future.

We didn’t know what really happened to our friends when they were dismissed. The Occisio said those unfit to serve were placed in stasis-tubes and put to sleep until Earth was safe for humans to inhabit, but all of us knew there had to be more to it. It couldn’t be that simple. If it was, they would have shown us videos of it. We would have heard from our friends again.

Instead, as soon as someone was sent out, it became like they didn’t exist.

I straightened my posture as Gregis passed. His skin smelled like the paint covering my chest, bitter and acidic.

“You will complete your final test tomorrow,” the trainer continued as he paced before us, his hands clasped behind his back. “But it has been decided that two of you will not be continuing beyond today’s practice.”

I glanced at Scotia out of the corner of my eye. She was watching Gregis, that rebellious expression never leaving her face. She was the type to talk bad about the Occisio and their suffocating protection behind their backs, but luckily she never said it to the alien’s face.

Scotia was the main reason I questioned where the dismissed kids went. She made me believe there was more to our lives than what we were told.

“Since this is our final day together, I feel the need to remind you why the Calumnia were able to so easily bring your race to near extinction,” Gregis continued slowly. “They do not dominate with strength or superior technology. They do not prey on your weaknesses as an animal might.”

I knew the name of every animal on Earth. I had learned all I could about the plants and wildlife that existed down there. Animals were violent but predictable, unlike how the Calumnia were said to be. The Calumnia were monsters from the sea, masses of red tentacles that had laid dormant on Earth for centuries until they were randomly awakened.

“The Calumnia prey on your strengths,” he explained for the seventeenth time this year. He always repeated this fact.

I had seen videos of the Calumnia at work. Their tentacles were like thin worms, able to bind themselves together and take any form. They could imitate anything they pleased.

“They focus on what you’re good at, mimic it, then turn it against you,” Gengis concluded.

I was tempted to laugh. If that were true, the Calumnia would have nothing to use. I had no strengths to take advantage of.

Glancing to my left at the other seven, I knew most of them felt the same. With the exception of Congo and Sarmatia, we were all pretty useless in our own way. I was cowardly, Zealand had anger issues, Scotia didn’t like taking orders, Sina was malnourished and weak, Graec was overconfident, and Libyci always second guessed herself.

Congo and Sarmatia were the only competent teens left.

That’s why I was so shocked when Gregis announced who would be leaving next.