August 18, 2152
The week had gone by smoothly as everyone really settled into their schedules. Emory's martial training had continued to improve, but she still couldn't seem to cover the last bit of her stomach with her magik. It was like a last hurdle she couldn't quite overcome, one that frustrated her quite deeply. Still, her footwork had improved drastically as had her fighting instinct when sparring against other people. She even went toe-to-toe with Innes during today's class. Though he still had more experience than she did, she was equal in footwork and better at magik control. Boyle stopped the class a few minutes early and spoke from the riser platform, "If you could all gather for a moment, I have something important to go over with you."
The class stopped sparring and congregated near the stage as Boyle continued, "At the end of next week, we will meet on the main holodeck instead of in this room like normal. We will be taking an assessment to see how well you are doing in combat training so far. The top five students from each class will be invited to take part in a special assignment, so do your best. With that, class is dismissed." The students were instantly gossiping about what the special assignment could be. Even Emory, Innes, Gwen, and Sam were chatting about it when they arrived at the cafeteria and met Gatrie, Tana, and Tethys.
"Did you all hear the announcement as well?" Sam asked as they all sat down with their food.
"About the special assignment?" Tana replied while gnawing on a piece of chicken, "Of course. Here's the real question. What do you think it is?"
Gwen huffed, "Why are you all so excited for a special assignment? Won't it just be extra, maybe advanced, training?"
"It can't just be extra training," Emory grumbled, "I was really hoping for at least equipment or something."
"If you all really want to know, I may have an idea of what the special assignment is," Innes smirked.
After a brief pause, Sam spouted, "Well are you going to leave us in suspense or tell us?"
"Well, my family has a close relationship with the military, and my cousins have been talking about their movements recently," Innes started, "They said that even before Proxima Centauri B went dark, troops were getting prepared for deployment. That can only mean one of two things. Either we've found the Mantoan or we're going to deploy more habitat units. Those are the only two reasons we have implemented boots on the ground in the last few decades."
"But what does that have to do with the special assignment?" Gwen asked as she scratched her head.
"It seems unlikely that we've found the Mantoan," Innes continued, "Otherwise, they probably would have announced it to the world, and the troops would have left already. Which means we're going to explore some other exoplanets like Proxima Centauri B."
Tethys squinted her eyes, "You really think they're going to send kids like us to explore new worlds? I doubt it."
"You might be surprised," Tana disagreed, "The military has been known to take drastic steps during wartime. Although, if it is true, it doesn't make sense why we would be doing it now."
"Except we don't know where the Mantoan's home world is, but we know it must be fairly close to us, right? What if, instead of waiting for them to show up here, we just happen to land on their planet? And even if we don't land on their planet, we will have better guess of where they are by eliminating other options," Innes pointed out.
Emory added as she pulled up a hologram of the Local Bubble, "There are twelve exoplanets suitable for immediate deployment within 15 light-years of the Sol System, including Proxima Centauri B. With 100 of the best students, we could reasonably explore five to ten of them, depending on how thin they wanted to spread us. Still, it is quite a task for new recruits."
The group spent lunch looking at the different planets, assuming they had cracked the code. But Tethys didn't join in on the conversation; in fact, she got quiet and began thinking about how this might change the plans of the Commission. It was clear that the school had its eyes on Emory, so some sort of extraction seemed unlikely. She really didn't know what they wanted with Emory in the first place and was too low in the organization to get the full details of their plans. Perhaps they were already aware of the change in plans at the school which was why her mission had changed. All these possibilities swirled in her mind and made her stomach twist in knots. By the end of lunch, she looked quite pale, almost ghastly.
Emory looked at Tethys as they stood up, "Are you alright, Tethys? You look like something you ate didn't agree with you."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tethys lied, "I'm sure it will pass."
The group, minus Gwen, made their way to Morris's homeroom class. Almost as if to confirm their hypothesis, Morris transitioned from talking about the war to talking about the exploration humanity did before the war. This made Tethys sicker than before, so midway through class, she abruptly left class and headed to the restroom. Once there, she went to the farthest stall, quickly locked the stall, and began meditating. After a few moments, a sphere began to expand outwards from her body until she seemed to be in a translucent bubble.
"At most, I can maintain this for ten minutes," she mumbled to herself and dialed on her phone, "Someone better pick up."
After waiting for half a minute, a deep male voice answered, "Agent, you are calling during restricted hours. It is assumed that you are in an emergency or under duress. Please state your mission target and type."
"Emory Reiss," Tethys huffed, "Delivery."
"What is the situation regarding this escalation?" the man rapidly replied.
"I was just making sure the Commission had all the facts," Tethys rushed, "Miss Reiss is at the top of her martial class and will most likely be selected for the upcoming special assignment which I believe will be a settlement or exploration mission. Interfering could cause the Commission to be discovered." Tethys waited for a response for almost a minute before spouting, "Did you catch all that?"
The man had paused for a couple of minutes and finally snarked, "Agent 100. Not only have you called during emergency hours, but you have also directly suggested that the Commission was unaware of the current situation. Do we need to send you through re-education after your current mission?" Tethys froze and her stomach dropped when she heard the comment.
"No, sir," she mumbled, "I do not need to go through re-education."
"Then see to it that you complete your mission. After completion, your rank will be reevaluated in light of this call," the man yelled before the phone cut off. Tethys stood there, in silence and terror, as her bubble slowing faded into dust particles. Once the reality of the situation set in, she quickly turned and vomited into the toilet; her nerves had got the best of her. She took a few minutes to clean up before returning to the classroom.
Sam asked as Tethys walked by, "Are you feeling better? Do you need me to get you anything?"
"I'm coming around, I think. Thanks for asking," Tethys said.
The class continued, and though Tethys felt a little better after throwing up, she couldn't stop fidgeting throughout the class. Emory noticed this as she was only a couple chairs down. Normally, this sort of movement wouldn't bother her, yet it was odd behavior for Tethys, a girl who normally calmly paid attention to every detail of the lecture. However, Emory tried to push through the distractions and pay attention as the thought of exploring new planets sounded thrilling. On the other hand, she was becoming rather annoyed by the constant disturbance and decided to pull Tethys aside after class.
After they all funneled out of the class, Emory tilted her head as she said to Tethys, "Why don't we take the long way to dinner?" Then she looked at Sam and motioned with her head for the rest of the group to go on ahead. The pair walked outside, taking a route that would be much less traveled and would allow them to speak freely. Although Emory and Tethys weren't the closest, in the short time the group had been together, it seemed like the group had coalesced around Emory and had made her the unofficial leader. Emory didn't really understand why they had done this, but she felt like it was her duty to solve little problems like this now. Emory started, "Okay, Tethys. What's been going on? All week you've been quiet, and now today, you were going bonkers in class."
"Emory, I'm in deep," Tethys panicked, "I need your help."
"Tell me what's going on then," Emory tried to be patient but was still getting the hang of dealing with people instead of data.
"Remember all the clothes I brought home a few weeks back," Tethys trembled, "Well, the person who bought me those wants a favor. They want me to meet them tonight."
Emory paused, "Okay, that doesn't sound too bad. What kind of favor do they want?"
"That's the problem; I don't know what they want," Tethys quickly responded, "Emory, I don't know if you realized this, but those clothes were several thousand credits. That's a big favor they could ask in return."
"I'm sure they just want you to inscribe some equipment, since your Creation is level two. Look, would it make you feel better if we all went with you?" Emory countered.
"I don't think everyone has to come," Tethys blushed, "But if you would come with me, I would feel safe enough. Could you meet me by the main gate at 7:30 tonight?" Emory nodded but thought this was strange. It was odd the person wanted to meet so late in the evening and odder still that Tethys only wanted Emory to come with. If the person was truly bothersome, the smart approach would be to bring as many people as possible. Still, Tethys did seem truly worried about the whole situation, so she let the thought pass.
The pair joined the rest of the group at the cafeteria, and Tethys appeared to have calmed down significantly since leaving the first time. Emory informed the group that she and Tethys had something to take care of and would miss their normal evening training. Sam made a puzzled look with her face. While Tethys wasn't the most dedicated to their evening training, Emory was incredibly committed to them, so it was odd that something came out of the blue and caused her to cancel. The group quickly pivoted to looking at the nearby exoplanets they had started looking at earlier, but Sam remained focused on Tethys. After finishing dinner, the group split up with most of them heading to the holodeck, but Emory and Tethys went in the opposite direction towards the entrance. Sam initially went with the holodeck group; however, curiosity got the better of her and paused after Emory and Tethys were out of earshot.
"Tana, I don't feel so good," Sam faked, "I'm going to go back to the room and lay down."
Tana rolled her eyes, "I don't know why you're worried. Emory is a level five, and if you ask me, she's probably closing in on six. Tethys is a four. Plus, you've seen Emory's sphere; there's nothing like it. But go ahead and follow them. I'm curious what's up as well." Sam smiled as a glow started to come over her body. After a minute, she transformed into a rodent and ran after the pair.
Emory and Tethys strolled through the entrance to the school and out into the courtyard. Students were often seen leaving the grounds in the evenings on the weekends to head into the city, though the traffic had dwindled in recent days. The two traveled quite a distance from the areas Emory was aware of and towards an upscale neighborhood. She wondered what kind of person lived out this far from the rest of the city. Tethys's demeanor also struck Emory as odd. It was only a few hours ago that she was panicking in class, yet now, she ambled through the district seemingly without a care in the world. Finally, they reached a proper mansion secluded by trees on three sides. The estate was well kept with a fountain in front, and the manor itself was made of marble with gilded steel accents. Though it appeared to be only a single story, the roof in some parts was almost forty feet high. Emory stopped at the fountain for a moment.
"What kind of person did you get tangled up with?" Emory asked with awe in her voice.
"Someone with disposable income," Tethys briefly replied, "Come on, we don't want to keep them waiting." As Emory walked towards the large white wooden doors, she thought about how vague Tethys had been about the entire situation, so she decided to ask a few last-minute questions while they inched towards the manor.
Emory began, "You haven't said yet, but I assume this person has a name."
"Viktor. Viktor Quinn," Tethys countered.
"Viktor," Emory repeated, "How did you meet Viktor?"
Tethys replied, "I met him a while ago when I was shopping before coming here for school."
"How convenient," Emory commented, "He sounds like a decent enough. Why were you so scared of him then?"
"Are you kidding me? Look at the area around us. Rich people are powerful. Besides, this is the first time he's asked anything of me," Tethys gestured to the grounds of the estate as they reached the massive double doors. On the front of each door was a hula hoop-sized brass ring knocker with the head of a fox in the center. Tethys, as if she had done this several times before, grabbed one of the knockers and banged the door. A few moments later, an older emaciated man opened one of the large doors and welcomed the girls.
"Master Quinn has been expecting you," the caretaker said in a monotone voice, "Please come in and I will alert the master to your arrival."