Long before Jelo Millon's time, before the world became what it is now, the earth had been almost reduced to dust.
Humanity's golden age of peace ended the day the Ihes arrived.
The Ihes were an alien species that came from another planet. When they first arrived, humans thought they were friendly beings and had come to foster interplanetary relationships. They had sent representatives to welcome them.
But the Ihes had other plans, they were not interested in friendship, they wanted to conquer earth. They began to claim lands and harvest resources for themselves, ignoring the peaceful protests of humans.
Humans finally had enough and resisted forcefully. It was almost as if the Ihes had been waiting for an opportunity like that, they immediately retaliated with a bloody response and a war began.
The Ihes were much more advanced than humans, both biologically and technologically. They had bodies that could move at superhuman speed and strength and had heightened senses, they added powerful technology and weapons to that.
Humans couldn't keep up and within weeks, cities were falling. All the nations came together under one government, joining all their resources and manpower to fight back, but it still wasn't enough.
They were still losing.
As if that wasn't enough, the Ihes launched biological warfare and sent their beasts of destruction, called Dabbas.
The Dabbas were massive feral beasts that defied all logic, they had different shapes and they attacked everything, further destroying the earth.
At first, humanity was doomed but soon scientists discovered that inside each Dabba was a crystal that contained its energy core.
When they tested it with humans, they found some humans had no response and some gained new superhuman abilities.
The people who gained abilities were called Supers.
Soon, millions of humans were absorbing Dabba cores. Most didn't get any abilities but the ones who did got powers like control over the elements, enhanced senses, regeneration, and many more.
With this development, the tide of the war shifted and the Supers became earth's greatest weapons. They pushed back against the Ihes, causing them to suffer heavy losses.
They were able to drive the Ihes back to their planet and destroy the path with which they came to earth.
However, the war had taken its toll, a lot of continents were now unlivable due to the damage the Ihe war had done.
As life continued and Supers married and gave birth, children began to be born with abilities, and right now about 30% of humanity are Supers.
These Supers are recruited into the military and they guard the earth from the still roaming Dabbas, and if the Ihes are to attack again one day, the Supers are meant to handle it.
Therefore, once a child awakened, he would be sent to the military academy where he could receive the training to become earth's protector.
That afternoon in the school, it was break time. Jelo walked slowly across the yard, his hands in his pockets.
He watched as students laughed and played in groups under the golden rays of the sun, but he had no friend to play with. But that was good, right now Jelo was not in the mood to talk to anyone, he still had the system to think about.
He was still lost in thought walking when two figures walked in through the gate. One was a tall muscular man and the other was a slender lady.
They both looked like movie stars, with their outfits, gloved hands, and frowns on their faces. Jelo immediately knew who they were, Supers.
"Jelo Millon?" the tall man asked in a gruff voice.
Jelo froze. "Uh… yeah?"
The woman nodded and pulled out a small device, the logo of the military glowed above it. "You've been identified as an awakened Super," she said. "You are to report immediately to the military academy for registration and testing."
Jelo blinked. "What? Right now?"
"Yes. Now."
Jelo thought about it, if he was leaving, he wouldn't leave alone. "There's another Super, a boy…"
"It's being taken care of, don't worry," the woman said.
Jelo rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "But my mom… she'll worry if I just disappear."
The first man exchanged a look with his partner, then sighed. "We'll talk to her."
XXX
Fifteen minutes later, they were at his apartment.
His mother stood by the doorway, wiping her hands on a towel, confusion was written all over her face as the officers explained.
His mother tried to argue at first, her voice broke as she told them Jelo was still just a boy, but it didn't matter. Once someone awakened, they belonged to the military, it was the law.
The officers seemed a little embarrassed at the scene and went outside to give them privacy. Jelo turned to his mom who had tears running down her eyes.
"I'll be fine, Mom," he said quietly. "It's… what people like me are supposed to do, right?"
Her eyes watered, but she smiled anyway. "Just promise me you'll come back when you can."
He nodded. "I promise, Mom."
He hugged her one last time before walking out the door.
XXX
Outside, he and the officers entered the car. They drove through the city in silence until they reached an open field where a large transport bus waited.
It was already full of other kids, Jelo felt they had to be around thirty in number. All of them carried the same look in their eyes, excitement and fear.
Before Jelo climbed in, he looked around, hoping to see a familiar face, maybe one of his classmates or someone from his block. But there was no one, he sighed, climbed into the bus, and sat down.
The sergeant from earlier walked down the aisle, holding a tray of small glass bottles filled with a blue liquid. "Alright, recruits, my name is Danny," he said in a voice that boomed across the bus, "now each of you should drink the contents of the vial."
One boy near the front raised his hand. "Uh, sir… what exactly is this?"
The sergeant smirked. "A tranquilizer, we don't need you knowing the route to the military academy yet."
Immediately, murmurs spread through the bus, no one was willing to drink tranquilizers.
The sergeant's grin widened and he rolled up his sleeve, flexing a massive bicep that looked more like a cannonball than a muscle. "Or," he said, "I can help you sleep the old-fashioned way. One by one."
There was silence, and then one by one, the kids quickly opened the bottles and swallowed the glowing liquid.
Within seconds, it started to work and they all fell asleep.
Jelo felt his eyes close but he struggled to keep them open. He was born with a condition that made his melatonin receptors resistant to chemical triggers, so drugs couldn't make him fall asleep, and even though this tranquilizer was very powerful it could only make him drowsy.
The sergeant noticed him struggling to stay awake and smiled. "You're a tough one, huh?"
Jelo tried to speak, but the man was already beside him. "Don't worry, kid," he said. "We've got other ways."
He raised two fingers and jabbed them against Jelo's neck, into his carotid artery.
Sharp pain flashed through Jelo's body as his vision blurred and he passed out.