The attunement hall hummed like a machine devouring electricity—ozone, white light, and pressure thick enough to choke on. Cadets lined up with trembling hands on glowing Aether pillars.
One touch. One pulse. One new superhuman.
"Cadet Rhea Calder."
Rhea stepped forward, confident as always.The pillar flared in a clean white burst, arcs crawling up her arms like living lightning.
Module: Surge. Attunement successful.
The class erupted into cheers.
Kairo Veil stood at the far end of the line, hands in pockets, face unreadable.
Another success.Another reminder.
"Cadet Kairo Veil," Instructor Raen said—his tone never rose, it only sharpened, like a blade being pulled from a sheath.
Kairo stepped up.Placed his hand on the pillar.
Nothing.
Raen tapped the console once, twice—each press sharper than the last."Again."
Kairo tried.A flicker sputtered… then the entire pillar collapsed into darkness with a snap.Sparks spat from the base. Warning lights flashed red.
A ripple of laughter spread through the line.
Malik muttered, "Pillar number six. Man's breaking more equipment than records."
Aya shot him a glare. "Not helping."
Raen exhaled through his nose, irritation barely masked. "Step away, Cadet Veil. We'll escalate you for Administrative Diagnostics."
Administrative Diagnostics.The academy's polite way of saying: don't get your hopes up.
Kairo stepped back without a word.
Drills followed. Cadets buzzed about their shiny new powers.
"I got Bastion!""My reaction time doubled!""Rhea, your arc-jump was crazy!"
Kairo walked through them like a ghost—present, unseen.
Aya caught up to him. "Kairo, seriously, maybe you're a late attuner. It happens. Diagnostics might help—"
"It's fine," he said.
But her frown lingered.
Malik jogged up, protein bar in hand. "Listen, bro. If Aether hates your guts, we can always become cafeteria legends. Maximum calories, zero supernatural nonsense."
Kairo dodged his attempt at a friendly shoulder-slam. "I'll consider it."
Combat drills. Mat floors. Sweat. New powers sparking everywhere.
Kairo faced a Surge cadet whose fingertips crackled with fresh voltage.
"Begin."
The cadet lunged.
And then something inside Kairo snapped open—not slowing time, not freezing movement—just sharpening everything.
Every muscle twitch, every shift of weight, every micro-tremor painted a luminous thread through the air:the exact path of the attack before it left the cadet's hand.
Kairo stepped into that thread.
Tapped the opponent's wrist—gentle but perfect.Redirected the arc into the mat.The cadet stumbled, shocked.
The room went dead silent.
Raen stared, stylus halfway raised. "Veil. Again. Explain."
"Reflex," Kairo said.
Aya recognized the lie instantly.Rhea narrowed her eyes.Malik mouthed, BRO??Juno somewhere whispered, "That was… predictive?"
Kairo kept his hands loose at his sides, pulse steady—except for that cold rhythm pulsing in his chest.The same one from last night.
Lights-out. Dorm quiet.
K-chk.
One sharp tap echoed from inside the metal wall beside his bed.
Kairo opened his eyes.
Two beats followed—a three-tap rhythm with the second beat delayed.Not random.Not mechanical.
Intentional.
He pressed his palm to the cold metal.
For a split second, the taps synced with the strange pulse inside him—a beat he shouldn't have, from a memory he didn't own.
Then the wall fell silent.
Morning assembly.
Raen presented the updated compatibility chart with military precision.
Kairo's name sat alone at the bottom:
AETHER COMPATIBILITY: 0%MODULE SUCCESS: 0/6STATUS: UNATTUNED
Whispers spread like infection.
"Zero again?""He broke another pillar.""Is he even human?"
Raen's gaze flicked to Kairo for less than a heartbeat—then away just as quickly.Too quickly.
As if he already knew what Kairo was… and didn't want to acknowledge it.
"Aether chooses the worthy," Raen said. "If it rejects you… consider alternative service branches."
He didn't say Kairo's name.He didn't need to.
Kairo kept his expression blank.
Not angry.Not defeated.
Just… curious.
Why Aether rejected only him.Why his body resonated with something else.Why that three-beat rhythm felt familiar, like a ghost knocking from inside his bones.
He walked toward the dorm stairs.The same metal panel vibrated—once, sharply.
Kairo paused.The cold inner pulse flared in response, matching the same three-tap pattern.
He lowered his hand.
Something in him was waking.
Not Aether.Not anything the academy had a name for.
He walked away, calm as ever.
Let them call him the weakest.
For now.