The classroom wasn't a classroom
It looked more like a clean underground warehouse, with plasma lights, training circles, energy-proof walls and a whole wall-sized weapons rack glowing with interface locks.
Thirty students stood shoulder to shoulder, waiting for instructions while low murmurs ran through the group, mostly complaints about being made to show up this early.
Z stood at the edge of the group, silent, already feeling the sideways glances from the others.
Nobody talked to him directly, but the whispers were there.
Tier-0.
Defect.
Waste of a slot.
Some even looked pissed, like his presence here personally insulted them.
A sharp whistle cut through the noise and everyone turned.
Instructor Tolen walked in wearing a gray coat and combat boots, no nonsense, scar on his jaw like he'd earned it in a real war.
He looked over the class once, then pointed at the rack.
"Pick a weapon," he said, voice clear and sharp, "First lesson today is training, but you don't choose what you want, the Code does"
He walked to the side, arms crossed.
"Your Code knows what weapons you're allowed to use, what your Root permits, what your Tier can handle, no one else can use what's not unlocked to them, so don't waste my time swinging a blade that doesn't respond"
The students moved forward, excited now.
They started holding their hands out toward the weapons.
Some of them glowed in response. Others buzzed and displayed floating red warnings.
Z stayed at the back, watching.
A boy in a sleeveless jacket stepped up and reached for a Codeblade, the weapon shimmered once, then a soft ping sounded and the words appeared above it.
Weapon Class: A
Status: Access Granted
User: Devran Korr
Code Tier: 2
Root: Pyrostring
The blade unlocked and extended in his hand, heat spiraling around the edge.
Another girl reached for a twin pistol set, the interface said:
Weapon Class: B
Status: Access Granted
User: Lira Tem
Root: Hexmachina
Link Status: Synced
Soon the arena was full of students sparring, testing their weapons, calling out stats, throwing light jabs and laughing when someone's weapon shorted out.
Z stepped forward. He placed his hand near a low-grade staff.
Nothing happened. He tried a basic pistol, still nothing.
One by one, he moved down the line, but the weapons stayed locked, cold and unresponsive
A few students started watching, some smirking, a few openly laughing now, then one of them stepped closer.
Devran, the Pyrostring guy
Same one with the sleeveless jacket and the punchable smirk.
He pointed his blade at Z
"Hey, defective, maybe the weapon rack's just allergic to trash"
Z didn't respond
He kept his eyes on the last weapon on the rack, a dull training shield with no glow.
He reached for it, it stayed locked. Devran walked up to him, louder now.
"Or maybe your mommy forgot to install your combat settings"
Still, Z said nothing. He turned, planning to go back to his spot, but Devran wasn't done. He stepped into Z's path.
"You don't belong here, Tier-0s don't get scholarships, not unless someone's using you for bait"
Instructor Tolen didn't say a word, he just watched and Z realized it then. He wasn't going to stop anything, this wasn't just training, this was a test, or a message.
You don't belong here, so let them break you until you quit.
Devran shoved him back, Z didn't fall but the blade swung. It was blunt, training grade, not lethal, but still enough to leave a mark.
Z raised his arm
The flat of the Codeblade hit him hard and sent him to the mat
Laughter followed
Someone shouted "Welcome to Galenhart"
Z got up, Devran came again. This time Z blocked, barely. He didn't have a weapon, just his hands and reflexes but Devran didn't slow down.
Another hit connected to Z's ribs, he stumbled then another hit to the side of the head.
Z dropped to a knee, breathing heavy, Code symbols on his palm pulsing harder now
Everyone was watching. Tolen still didn't say a word. That's when Z made the mistake
He looked up, not at Devran, at her, Winter Limos. She hadn't moved from her spot since the start of class.
She leaned against a pillar near the edge of the arena, arms folded, hair silver and clean, uniform perfect.
Expression unreadable, like none of this mattered to her and maybe it didn't but Z looked anyway, maybe for half a second too long.
And Devran swung again, full force, overhead. Z barely saw it but something shifted. Not in the blade, in his mind.
The same flicker from the glider returned and just for a second he saw the Code around the weapon.
Weapon Type: A-Class |
Owner: Devran Korr |
Status: Active |
Mode: Standard |
His focus narrowed
He didn't know why, but he reached for it again, mentally. No ritual, no chant, just a thought.
Status: Inactive |
The blade shut off mid-swing, no glow, no hum, just metal.
Devran froze
The blade hit Z, but it was like getting slapped with a steel rod instead of a weapon.
Everyone went silent, even Tolen leaned forward a little. Devran looked at the blade, then at Z, then back at the blade.
"What the hell," he said, shaking it, smacking it like it had shorted out.
Z got to his feet, confused, he didn't know how he did it, no one had touched the console, no one had issued a system override.
That should've been impossible.
He didn't say anything, just stood there and Winter? She was watching now. Not impressed, not angry, just curious... like maybe for the first time, she actually noticed him.
That was the last thing he needed
---
The walk back to the orphanage was quiet, he didn't talk to anyone, didn't answer the campus drone that flagged him for leaving early, didn't stop to look at his palm again.
He didn't want to know if the Code was still responding.
When he stepped through the orphanage door, Sylvia saw the bruise on his jaw immediately.
She pointed at him from the kitchen.
"Room, now"
Z didn't argue. He sat on his bed and waited. A minute later, she walked in holding a med cloth and dropped it on his lap.
"What happened"
"Training"
"That doesn't look like training"
Z didn't answer.
She sighed, sat on the edge of his desk.
"You could've walked away, said you didn't have clearance, pretended to be sick, I've seen you fake fevers better than some real doctors"
"I didn't want to"
"I know you didn't, that's the problem"
They sat in silence for a while then she stood again, walked to the door but before she left, she paused.
"I'm not going to tell you to stop, because you won't, and you're too damn stubborn for that anyway, but I'm still your guardian, which means I still get to worry"
She opened the door wider, then stepped back in. This time, she was holding a small black box. Plain, no markings, no label.
She set it on his bed
"That was with you when I found you, seventeen years ago, storm night, you were just a baby, wrapped in a thermal cloak with that box tucked under your blanket"
Z looked at it. He hadn't seen it before
She nodded once, then walked out, closing the door behind her. He waited until her footsteps were gone, then reached for the box.
It was light so he opened it. Inside, there was a photo. Two adults, a man and a woman, both smiling, both holding a newborn baby.
Z didn't recognize them, but something in his chest tightened anyway. There were a few baby toys, a blanket, old tech pieces and one thing that didn't look like a toy.
A pendant
Simple silver, clean edges, with a pulsing blue core in the center.
Z picked it up, it was warm
The moment his fingers closed around it, his vision glitched.
Code Access Detected |
Verifying Signature… |
Code Key Matched |
Unlocking System Fragment |
Root Classification: REWRITE |
Status: Active |
Z didn't breathe, he couldn't. The light from his palm exploded
And—
---
To be continued...