The detention room smelled like industrial-strength disinfectant and bad decisions. Metal chairs scraped against scuffed linoleum floors. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead like angry bees. Elara sat in the furthest corner, arms crossed, flanked by two empty chairs no one dared to fill.
The Class Zero students filed in one by one, their energy a jagged, barely restrained chaos. Elric slumped into a seat without looking at anyone, fingers tapping out some unheard rhythm. Tamsin dragged her chair noisily next to Elara's with a grin that promised trouble. "Roomy," she said, nodding at the unoccupied space around them. "It's like you've got plague aura or something."
"Maybe I do," Elara replied without looking up.
Across the room, a boy with white-blond hair and a bruised cheek sat backwards on his chair, arms draped over the backrest. He watched her like someone evaluating a new species in a cage. "So, new girl thinks she's above us?"
"No," Elara said evenly. "I know I'm above you."
A few snickers. A louder scoff.
"You're Elara Moen," said a girl with razor-cut bangs and sharp green eyes. "The mind-reader who lost control. They said you nearly fried your last instructor."
"They exaggerate."
"They also said you broke a Class One student's nose for getting too close."
"That part's true."
More laughter this time, edged with something else—something like approval.
The door creaked open, and Instructor Harrow stepped in. Tall, expressionless, with a data pad in one hand and a stun rod strapped to her hip. "Quiet," she said, not raising her voice. They fell silent instantly.
She glanced around. "This isn't punishment," Harrow said, tone clipped. "It's observation. Each of you is being evaluated for reassignment or… other outcomes."
"What kind of other outcomes?" Elric muttered.
"Graduation," Harrow replied. "Or disposal."
Tamsin made a low whistle. "Straight to the point. Nice."
"You'll be paired up for tomorrow's simulation. Survival-based. Standard wilderness scenario. Power restrictions will apply. You'll be monitored."
"Pairing?" Elara asked. "How is that determined?"
"Random," Harrow said, tapping her data pad. "Mostly."
A subtle chill ran through Elara. She didn't trust randomness, especially here. Especially not when Harrow's gaze lingered on her half a second too long.
Pairing for a wilderness test in a class full of broken weapons?
This was a setup.
As the students were dismissed, Elara stood slowly, but didn't follow immediately. Tamsin had already melted into the hallway, chatting with a hulking boy covered in burn scars. Elric paused by the door.
"You're not like the others," he said to her without turning around.
"I'm not trying to be."
He gave a dry laugh. "That's the problem. You think survival here's about standing apart. It's not. It's about knowing who'll bleed first—and who'll make you bleed later."
She watched him leave, spine stiff.
As she finally stepped out of the room, her reflection caught in the glass of a classroom door. Her eyes were calm. Her mouth neutral. But underneath?
Something else coiled. Something that hadn't had room to surface in a long time.
She wasn't here to save anyone. Not even herself.
But if the academy thought it could pit her against ticking bombs and walk away clean?
Let them try.
The hallway outside was mostly empty now, silent except for the hum of overhead lights and the distant thump of training simulations down the corridor. She passed a glass panel labeled "Confiscated Artifacts" and saw, locked inside, a silver circlet humming faintly with psychic residue. Something about it made her pause.
Her reflection hovered beside it in the glass. Two versions of herself—one stripped down and unarmed. The other, the girl who once held control and terror in equal measure.
She moved on.
In the dormitory common room, the rest of Class Zero had begun to circle into factions. She could see it already—the burn-scar boy had followers. The sharp-tongued girl was whispering with two others who looked like they could kill without blinking. And Elric…
He was alone by the window, staring into the dark.
Tamsin appeared beside her with a protein bar and a grin. "Roomie," she said again. "Looks like we're stuck together. I saw the list. You and me, partners tomorrow."
Elara blinked. "Seriously?"
Tamsin held up her wristband and showed the digital assignment. Elara's name blinked beneath hers.
"And guess who Elric's paired with?" Tamsin asked.
"Who?"
"None other than the scar-faced psycho with lightning issues. This'll be a show."
Elara didn't respond.
She wasn't afraid of survival tests. But trust?
That was going to be the real challenge.
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END OF CHAPTER 3
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