Gaia walked straight to Rain and stopped beside his bed. Zheairn, standing nearby, shifted slightly to make bed.
"Oh, you're up," Zheairn said.
Gaia nodded, his expression more serious than usual.
"Hey, guys, I need to talk about something…"
Rain, sitting on his bed, tilted his head up, his view of the ceiling blocked by the bunk above. He lowered his gaze to meet Gaia's. "What's up?"
Gaia's fists clenched tightly. He raised his arm, inspecting the spot where he'd been injected. Not a single mark remained—not even the faintest pinprick. He turned back to Rain and Zheairn, then glanced over his shoulder at both girls' beds, where Zyn and Eliza were chatting. Returning his focus to Rain, he let out a soft sigh, wrestling with what to do next. He wasn't sure how to handle the situation—whether he should speak up or what consequences might follow if he did. Finally, he shook his head lightly and forced a faint smile.
"Never mind… Let's just get ready for class."
***
Rain stood in the bathroom, having just washed his face, reaching for a towel to dry off—
Thud!
Someone brushed past him, slamming into his shoulder with force. The impact felt deliberate, not accidental. Rain lifted his head from the towel and turned to see who it was. A stocky boy, vaguely familiar but not someone he knew, glared at him with a provocative sneer.
"Watch where you're standing, jerk."
The boy turned and walked away, leaving Rain standing bewildered in the busy bathroom.
"Huh…?"
A hand tapped his shoulder from behind. It was Zheairn, grinning brightly and waving playfully in Rain's face.
"Yo, you're taking forever! Gaia and I are wasting away out here."
Rain paused for a moment, then quickly dried his face, hung the towel on the nearby rack, and nodded at Zheairn. Zheairn led the way out of the bathroom. Gaia was leaning against the opposite wall outside, lost in thought, his expression distant as if unaware of his surroundings.
"Hey, he's here!" Zheairn called out cheerfully, startling Gaia, who hadn't noticed their approach. Gaia looked up, gave a faint, strained smile, and let out a dry chuckle.
"Haha… yeah, let's hurry to class."
Zheairn nodded. The three of them headed toward the classroom, navigating through the corridor bustling with other students passing by. The uneven clatter of countless footsteps echoed off the floor, drowning out the eerie emptiness of the hallway.
________________________________________________
A sharp *beep* from the automated system pierced the sterile white classroom.
Rain stared blankly at the wall ahead. The massive monitor's light shifted from pale blue to silvery gray, slowly revealing a graph of bioenergy overlaid with a chaotic web of thin, tangled fibers, like a spider's web.
; "The conversion of nanoscale biochemical compounds, facilitated by an energy synthesis system derived from the targeted degradation of cellular structures within a root-bond-consciousness framework…"
The teacher's voice droned through the speakers, steady and emotionless, neither fast nor slow. Each word felt like a barrage of cryptic technical code assaulting the brain.
; "The Endo-synaptic Mycelium structure within the Sub-root lattice of Enseria has been analyzed to exhibit properties akin to human brain communication at the Gamma-wave level…"
The screen displayed an X-ray image of… something. Roots? Nerves? Or some nameless biological network?
Rain wasn't sure. He just stared, his mind empty.
Other students scribbled furiously, the rapid tapping of their devices against the desk screens filling the room with relentless noise.
; "Stimulation via synthetic neurotransmitters, such as Neurotoxin-67A, combined with Infrawave resonance, enables ancient root systems to 'memorize' and 'selectively utilize' biological hosts automatically—"
He didn't understand…
; "And based on the Bioenergetic Entropy model, the potential difference between organic remains and the root structure generates energy crystals known as Nexalite Crystals…"
Nexalite Crystals?
Weren't those the crystals used in power plants…? Rain's mind wandered, drifting away from the lesson.
; "…A single crystal, just three microns in size, can power this classroom continuously for 47 hours without diminishing output."
Rain's head began to throb.
It wasn't just the complexity of the material—it wasn't meant for kids his age.
Yet everyone in the room was frantically "trying to understand."
The boy in front of him was breathing heavily, almost panting.
The girl behind him was secretly pinching her wrist, leaving red marks.
Rain just stared at the screen, his mouth dry, a string of saliva pooling unnoticed.
; "The operation of bioenergy relies on a delicate balance between 'life' and 'systematic decay'…"
The instructor's voice pressed on, unrelenting.
Rain felt like his brain was being forced to "age" at an unnatural pace.
But he had no choice…
_________________________________________________
At noon, in the dining hall, Rain idly pushed his food around with his spoon, as usual. The five of them sat together at the same table, the room buzzing with the usual chatter. Gaia leaned back in his chair, letting out a small yawn and pinching his cheek to stay awake. Rain, sitting nearby, nudged him and whispered, "Something up?"
Gaia flinched slightly inside before standing, brushing off his pants and stepping away from the table. He glanced at the others, then back at Rain. "I need to hit the bathroom. Come with me."
Zheairn, seated next to Rain, turned to Gaia and raised a hand, volunteering. "Hey, hey, I'll come too! Even though I don't need to pee."
Gaia glanced out toward the dining hall's door, then back at the two of them, shaking his head lightly. "oh ummm, it's fine. Just Rain's enough. It'll be quick."
Zheairn pouted slightly but didn't push back. Rain and Gaia headed toward the dining hall's exit.
***
---
***
"Shhh…"
Gaia's face and voice were deadly serious. He gripped Rain's wrist tightly, pushing him against the wall, and whispered softly in his ear. His eyes flicked to the collar around Rain's neck. He wasn't sure if his suspicions were right, or if they were being secretly monitored, but he needed someone to know. He wanted to uncover the truth about what was really happening here. Releasing Rain's wrist, he stepped back.
"Listen… last night… I—"
A cold, flat voice cut through, sharp and authoritative.
"What are you two doing here?"
Both froze for a moment. A guard in black approached, stopping right in front of them, staring down at Rain and Gaia through an opaque black mask that hid any hint of expression. The guard had appeared out of nowhere, despite Gaia's careful check to ensure no one was coming this way.
The guard pressed further. "It's mealtime. What are you doing out here?"
Rain and Gaia stepped away from the wall. Gaia felt uneasy, struggling to keep his emotions from showing.
Gaia hesitated before forcing himself to act normal and speak up.
"Uhhhh, We—"
Before he could finish, the guard walked away silently, without another word. He didn't even wait for an answer to his own question, his demeanor cold and emotionless, as if bound by an unyielding sense of order.
Gaia stood frozen, grappling with the strangeness of it all. He turned back to Rain, an immediate realization hitting him: no matter what they did, it felt like they were being watched constantly. Rain broke the tense silence.
"Hey, what were you about to say?"
Gaia looked down, rubbing his temple, then glanced back at Rain, shaking his head lightly.
"Bathroom. Let's just go…"
_______________________________________________
"Hey, Eliza, how do you do this part?"
Zyn slid her textbook in front of Eliza. The two were discussing the morning's lesson. Eliza leaned in slightly, explaining the material. Zheairn ate his food listlessly, boredom settling in after Gaia and Rain left for the bathroom. Most of the other kids who'd finished eating were gradually trickling out of the dining hall. About twenty minutes passed.
Zheairn stood from the table, stretching briefly. Eliza and Zyn followed suit. Eliza adjusted her skirt slightly.
"How about we head to the library?" she suggested.
Zyn nodded. "Sure, I could use a nap like Rain to recharge."
Eliza turned to Zheairn. "What about you?"
Zheairn's gaze drifted toward the door, his mind seemingly elsewhere. He turned back, flashing a wide smile and answering softly, "I'll go let those two know, just in case they come back and can't find us."
The two girls nodded in understanding.
***
The three parted ways. Zheairn veered off in a different direction, following the path Gaia and Rain had taken earlier. He walked slowly, his steps light, turning a corner and moving through the repetitive, almost copy-pasted corridors. Despite having been here for a while, the place never felt familiar. Zheairn glanced around, the wide, empty hallway stretching before him. Strangely, no matter how many times he passed through, it never felt the same.
After walking for a bit, he froze when something caught his eye in the distance. He flinched, squinting to focus, but it was too blurry to make out. Something was slumped on the floor, just past the red line marking the restricted area. Zheairn scanned his surroundings—no one was around. He decided to approach, the object still some distance away before he reached it—
Zheairn's eyes widened in horror, his face draining of color as he stared at the scene before him. He stopped dead, gaping at the sight. His stomach churned, nearly forcing him to retch. Zheairn clapped a hand over his mouth, stumbling back two steps in shock. What he saw—
It was the body of a classmate, lying in a pool of their own blood beyond the red line. The head was severed, rolled a short distance from the body, its face ghostly pale. The collar lay discarded nearby, half-submerged in the blood. The corpse's eyes remained open, staring blankly at Chern with an empty, haunting gaze.