Everything froze.

Sebastian, on the cusp of passing out, looked around helplessly, his consciousness hanging on by a thread. There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t feel his body. His chest hurt. He was going to die here. Weak. Worthless. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lawrence and Mara stuck pushing a soldier away, their faces frozen in shock but their eyes still moving.

A horrible smell filled the room, one that reminded Sebastian of the burnt offerings his father had. Around them, bolts of blue plasma hung in the air. Everyone was still aware, but no one could move.

Except for one person.

Floating above them all, near the sound reflectors and stage lights on the ceiling, was Professor Li. His hands lay still, folded behind his back, as his eyes glowed red.

He slowly began to descend towards them as he seemed to walk down the air, emotionlessly surveying the audience below him.

“You are trespassing on Halcyon grounds. You have threatened and have attempted to take the lives of its students and professors.”

The authority of his words blasted throughout the hall. He paused, as he made contact with the ground.

“You have committed your final mistake.”

The soldiers, still frozen, started to twitch, struggling to point their guns at Li, but he ignored them.

“Drop your weapons, and I will grant you a quick death.” Li commanded, closing his eyes. “You have 5 seconds.”

Yet, none of the soldiers did. Some looked like they were trying to kill Li with their stares.

“I see,” Li’s expression did not waver, but his words no longer felt overwhelming. “I had hoped some of you were smarter than this.” Li gracefully raised his hand, causing the frozen plasma bolts to fly towards him, condensing into a large ball of light, hovering right above his hand.

In one swift motion, Li brought his hand down. The ball of light burst, releasing a wave of crimson energy, washing over the entire audience. While the wave passed harmlessly through students and professors alike, when it came in contact with a soldier, their armor suddenly fell to the floor, the bodies of the soldiers vaporized instantly. There wasn’t even a sound as the armor hit the ground.

All of the soldiers were vaporized except for one - the leader.

Completely undisturbed, Li clasped his hands behind his back once more. “Madam Antonov,” he greeted, gazing off into an empty corner of the auditorium as if something of interest was there. “I see you have finally decided to join us.”

A woman burst out of the ground, straight through the floor, right in front of Li. Her right eye was covered with a blindfold, her other eye glowing red. Her eye blazed with anger. “I was busy.” She growled, clenching her fist. “You know what I was doing.”

Li, with his ever calm demeanor, merely looked her in the eye. “Of course, Madam,” he replied, giving her a slight nod.“There are students and professors here that require immediate medical attention. Dozens of them are in critical condition,” Li continued, gesturing towards the audience around him. “Are the Ministry’s Teleporters arriving soon? I am afraid I cannot hold this for much longer.”

Madam Antonov looked towards the main entrance. “One minute out,” she sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Release the professors that are not injured if you need to do so.”

The professors around Sebastian started moving, but Sebastian was slowly losing his senses. They quickly moved to organize the students and get the wounded students together, some using their powers to heal a student if possible.

Charron appeared at Sebastian’s side, putting his hand on his back and closing his eyes. He then looked Sebastian in the eyes. “Mr. Rutherson, I apologize for not being able to help you. I should have moved you to cover much quicker.” He turned, jogging over to Professor Philips, doing what looked like the same thing, before whispering some words into Philips’ ear and moving away.

A few moments later, Antonov opened her eye. “They’re here,” she announced, shooting Li a look. “We need to discuss this at a later time. No excuses.”

Li nodded, folding his arms as he moved towards the entrance.

The doors burst open. Alabaster-clad medical robots and personnel rushed in, stabilizers and other medical equipment in hand as they made their way towards the injured.

A few members of the Crimson Guard, the main peacekeeping force of Triumph, followed right after. They made their way towards the remaining prisoner, their crimson armor glowing as they started preparing to subdue the terrorist.

Sebastian was quickly grabbed and laid out on a stretcher by one of the robots, who started with a diagnostic scan and checking Sebastian’s POD for any important medical information.

The robot froze, seemingly confused. Within a few seconds, a medic showed up and looked over his vitals on the tablet as well. For a brief moment, a grim look appeared, but it faded almost immediately.

She smiled at Sebastian, but her eyes didn’t agree. “You’re looking fine, kid,” she reassured, “But I’m going to get a second opinion.” She turned and briskly walked towards another woman with a brown-colored vest, who seemed to be reading off a POD over another student.

However, something started to feel… off. Something seemed to be reaching out to him. Something wasn’t right. Suddenly, all Sebastian could think about was that he couldn’t feel anything below his chest. All he felt was that his chest was going to burst. Pain coursed out of his chest, as if a hole was going to appear in his chest-

He barely noticed as the two medics ran over to him. The pain was growing exponentially.

The medics looked confused as they looked over his diagnostics, “This doesn’t make any sense,” whispered the first medic. “While he has the expected injuries, he’s not an Aetherite. He should not have this much Aether in him. Without the Professor’s power, I doubt he would still be with us, thank the Fates. But this Aether, it's not natural. It’s not-”

“His,” They both said, looking at each other. The brown-vested medic reached to unlock the stretcher's hover motor. “We need to take him out of here and to the nearest hospital, fast.”

“Triumph is closest,” the other replied. “EXS, prepare the route-”

That was all Sebastian could hear, his consciousness diving once more.

Despite his poor experiences with the Triumph General Hospital, he couldn't think anymore. As long as they could get him out of this, Sebastian didn’t care what they did to him. The last thing he heard was Li calling out that he was going to release the hold. He felt his mind slip away, and then there was nothing.

— —

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Madam Antonov wrinkled her nose in disgust as she watched, from the roof of the main building, as the last of the wounded were guided out of the gates of the academy.

The security AI, HAPAS, had been forced offline, with all of its weapons and robots disabled. None of the Aether sensors, which were on a separate system from the rest of Halcyon Academy, went off. And someone was able to transport and set-up a full Class-B nullification field into the middle of her academy! Threatening her students with bombs as well?

It was nothing short of a miracle that she’d noticed the massive change in the maintenance tunnels’ pressure underneath the auditorium before the bombs went off. Worst of all, because of the placement of the bombs, she had to trust that- Li, she corrected herself- to deal with the terrorists in her stead as she was the only one that could’ve reached the bombs in time.

She sighed, absentmindedly pulling out her POD. An investigation would have to be launched immediately. There were simply too many coincidences. These terrorists had access to floor plans, working schedules, even possibly, in the worst case scenario, accurate descriptions of the faculties’ powers.

The only way this was possible was if there was a spy in her ranks. That was always a possibility, especially after the break-in a few months back. No one should have been able to get on campus during off-hours, much less into her office without someone’s help inside.

She had hoped that the assembly would go without a hitch, especially with the increased security that should’ve been there. Now, she had to deal with the PR fallout of having the safest school in Triumph be attacked while the President was visiting, a complete lapse in security, all while still keeping an eye out for traitors. Perfect.

“Madam. An official message from the Republican channels,” alerted her personal AI in a gravelly voice. “It is from the President. He says it requires the utmost privacy.”

“I see. Prepare my office for lockdown.” She turned around, curling the air around her, folding it. She stomped forward, releasing the air, launching her forward towards the center of the academy grounds.

As she fell towards the ground off the roof, she wrapped the air around her, launching her once more as she made contact with the ground. With a leap, she crossed over the central plaza of the academy, towards the main administrative building, where her office presided.

As soon as Antonov landed on one of the balconies of her office, hidden metal sheets surrounding the office went and covered the windows and walls, slammed shut as she stepped inside her office, putting on a big smile.

Power immediately rushed throughout the room. The President’s translucent aura covered the office, blasting down on Antonov, almost causing her smile to fade, as she saw a mirror-covered figure sitting at her desk.

“Kira Antonov,” it said, its distorted voice mirroring what the President sounded like. “While I certainly wish we were speaking on better terms, the attack has ruined what good will I have for today. While this outcome was a possibility, I did not believe that it was possible, especially with what you know is at stake. After all, I expected much better from one of my own appointments.”

The figure slowly stood up. “Figure out what went wrong, Kira. I don’t have time for this,” it growled. “Someone will pay. Make sure it's not you.”

The figure shimmered, folding into itself, its mirror-like appearance bending light randomly, before finally disappearing. The aura immediately disappeared, allowing Antonov to breathe once again.

She dropped her smile as she took a seat at her desk. While she had some ideas and leads to go after, she would probably be stuck in her office for quite a while. There always was work to do, especially now. Her top goal right now, was to make sure that the various families and conglomerates would not pull their children out of her Academy. While she was working on that, she would also have to start looking through her faculty once more. For the other leads, she would just have to leave it to her most competent to go after those. Starting with those anomalies in the hospital.

“HAPAS, notify Li of his new assignment,” she said to the Halcyon Academy Protection , as she began to type on her POD. “Tell him to come to my office.”

Within a few moments, she heard a couple of knocks on her door, as if he had been waiting for her to call him in. Which he probably was, all things considered.

“Let yourself in, Li. There’s no one else here.”

The door slid open as Li entered, looking right at Antonov, his outfit pristine as ever. “Madam, what is the situation?”

She didn’t look up as she gestured for him to sit down, but he remained standing, letting the sunlight shining through the windows hide his expression. She sighed, pulling up more documents to look through on her POD. “Li, you already know what the situation is.”

“Of course, Madam,” Li acknowledged. “However, I need to know what exactly your ‘operation’ entails me to do. These kids have gone through arguably the worst attack this academy, if not this city, has seen in decades.”

“Multiple students, all of which were shot by the plasma bolts, have suddenly had Aether pumped into their bodies. According to these reports,” Antonov swiped at her POD, displaying holographic records in front of her. “These students would be considered C-ranked with the power in their body running rampant in their bodies. Many of them might still die from the exposure. Some of them are even approaching awakening, which is something we have never seen before, period.”

While strong emotional responses were a part of manifesting Aether at a young age, having said emotions did not turn humans into Aetherites. That wasn’t how the Aether worked.

Li nodded as he began to read through the list. “I see that Mr. Rutherson is at the top of this list. Why?”

Antonov raised an eyebrow, unsure if Li was messing with her or serious. “How many Ruths do you know, Li?”

“There are many, Madam,” he answered, as he continued to read through the data. “Do you mean Ruth Vogel, by chance?”

“Yes, and I’m sure you know where I’m going with this.”

“Of course, Madam. I looked into his files when he was enrolled here. Someone paid extra to make sure he stayed with no questions, as long as his scores were adequate.”

“And I’m sure you turned down the poorly hidden bribe?”

He tried to hide it, but she saw, even for a fraction of a second, the sly look on his face. “Of course, Madam.”

Antonov shook her head in defeat. “Sebastian was expected to develop powers, but he never did. Yet today, the diagnostic scans picked up multiple anomalies.” She pointed at the tablet. “While he has foreign Aether from what I believe was the destruction of the field, there is something else in his soul as well. Something the scanners, medics, and doctors were unable to identify. They plan on keeping him in the Hospital until a S-ranked doctor can be sent down, which could take months.”

“That would take quite a while, Madam. I believe the nearest one is bogged down by the Potorian Conflict,” Li agreed. “Do you wish for me to retrieve Mr. Rutherson from the Hospital, then? I do not believe that is the best course of action.”

“Of course not,” she clarified, waving her hand. “There are too many eyes on Triumph right now. Especially not with the rumors that the Iron Commandant will be paying us a visit.”

Li’s eyebrows rose. “That is… unexpected. Her? She rarely leaves her office these days, according to, how do I put it, word on the street?”

“That was my response as well,” she agreed, leaning forward as she looked up. “But if it is true, the first place she will visit,” Anatonov pointed straight down, “is here. She will ask me about… fate knows what she’ll ask me. I need to know everything, with my… contacts being radio silent.”

She paused. “I need you to be my eyes and ears, Li. Especially about Sebastian.”

“I understand, Madam. I will take my leave, and keep you updated on the situation.” Li bowed and left.

Antonov leaned back in her chair. For the first time in her career, she was unable to plan for what could happen next. Which meant that the diviners were probably right, which was horrible news for everyone involved.

She even forgot to ask Li about that little stunt he pulled in the auditorium. While A-rankers could resist or even nullify the effects of a B-class nullification field, they couldn’t do what Li did.

She clenched her fist. It would just have to be another variable to plan for.

She hated the cold calculus that came with her position, but if she didn’t, someone else would come and take what was hers. One of those monsters in human skin that played their games in the capital would always show up.

As she sat there, her hand drifted towards her covered eye. Someone needed to protect the kids, to prepare them for the real world. Most of all, nobody threatened her Academy or her students.