I sit at the table with the other trainers. They’ve been taking us for meetings for a majority of the day. There’s only ten of us now. We sit in a large conference room. It seems as if they are giving a five-minute presentation over and over again. The trainees aren’t doing well in school because they have too little time to do their work. If we don’t train them for a certain amount of time during the week, they won’t continue to be what is arguably the best soldiers in the solar system. They claim to be the best out of all the countries on Ayhiri. But why?

Of course, I want all these kids to be able to protect themselves, but no one ever wants to see a child, their child, out on the battlefield. No one knows if their loved one will come back in one piece. I’m always conflicted with this thought. Yve will still have to leave me at the end of the day. Unless I make the choice to go with her. Maybe one day I should run away with her and the others. We don't belong here. We belong in the City. Technically, by being here, I'm committing treason against Urbem. Whoever is in charge now might not forgive if I were to go back.

The war going on around us has not slithered its way into their school lessons. One day we have to tell our kids what’s really happening. I don’t know if I should tell Yve the short version or the long version. Urbem is a city planet. Once upon a time, the Aenon lived there. Humans landed there because it seemed uninhabited. The Aenon were few, and a plague claimed their lives. The humans were immune, though. The emperor asked the leader of the humans to marry his daughter so their legacy could remain.

They began to build a beautiful utopia, but as their city grew larger, the Vuskai royalty began to loathe them. It's hard to reorganize their own cities into what Urbem is. They, to this day, want that organization. That power that the royal family has. Their claims that land should be shared among the planets continues to go ignored. Why share our planet with those who refuse to share theirs?

Tensions built up, and just over a decade ago, the Vuskai attacked Urbem. They still do to this very day. The Ayhirians never decided their sides. No one could agree, so different countries sided with different planets. Ayhiri may be beautiful, but behind the glamorous façade, it's ugly.

“Tristayne,” I lift my gaze up to my superior. His glare is so harsh I feel it burning into me. “What is your vote? Education overtraining, or training over education?”

“Would my vote matter in the long run?” I raise my eyebrow. “You’ve already met with hundreds of trainers today. There must already be a majority.” He leans back in his chair.

“This group is actually our tiebreaker. Your opinion matters the most.”

“Let everyone else vote first. I need more time to hear the arguments. From the other trainers, not you.” In truth, I don’t need to hear more. I’m in the exact middle. I wish we had an option to say make it even, but they aren’t willing to do so. I value their education and safety. I decide to take the side with the most votes to make my conscience clear.

Before I can give my vote, an alarm goes off. It’s not loud in the room, but in the hallway, I can hear it echoing off the tile floors. There has only been one other time this has happened. That would be when one of the trainees ran away. It was a girl who was at her final stage of training. She didn’t want to fight in the army, so she made the choice to run before the government could throw her away.

When they found her, they decided to execute her. There were so many dark pieces to the story. Scandals like rape and abuse that would go ignored because her voice was never heard. The other kids pass it to each other, though. They believe the ending was the worst part. She was hung in the courtyard. The way she went was gruesome. So much blood. After that, the kids acted differently. They started to hate it here. They began to hate the people. Sometimes, I fear that they will become monsters. Their version of revenge will be murder.

“What is that for?” The question one of the trainers asks brings me back to reality. Our superior shakes his head.

“Guards!” He calls to the men who are now standing in the doorway. “Check the cameras, the gates, and then do a roll call.” He clenches his fists and leaves the room in a hurry.

“I wonder what that is about.” A woman says. “I hope that it isn’t another trainee.” I look down at the table. I want to say that it isn’t another one of the kids, but knowing what horrors occur in this place sometimes, I wouldn’t be surprised. Hopefully, it’s just some animal striking the fence outside. It's happened before.

“He said they’re doing a roll call,” I tell everyone, standing. “Let’s go back to our quarters.” Without another word, I walk through the labyrinth that is the complex as fast as I can. When I get to our quarters, I see that everything is undisturbed. I feel my heart skip a beat, and try to rationalize where she could be. The house is abnormally clean for this time of day. After training, she would have made a mess of the place just to go to sleep.

No. It's her birthday. She probably went out to hang out with Sailor or something when she was finished. She'll be back soon.

“Yve?” I call. No response. Maybe she didn’t hear me over the alarm. Slowly, I walk to her bedroom door and push it all the way open. Please let me have evidence that she was here. The box Sailor asked me to leave here for her is still where I left it. I know I shouldn't assume anything. But she's a reckless girl. I have no idea how far she goes with things. "What have you done, kid?” She’ll come in any second. I’m sure of it. She has to. The thought of the girl who died has shaken me up too much.

I hear a pounding on our door and jump. Hopefully, it isn’t anyone important. I quickly walk over to the door and open it only a crack. Milo stands there, breathing heavily. Realization dawns on me.

“It’s our kids. They’re gone aren’t they?” I say flatly. He nods. I open the door all the way to let him in. He shuts the door and gestures for me to put some space between it and myself.

“I found them in the forest.” I feel my eyes widen.

“Where are they?”

“I have no idea. I told them to get the hell out of here for a few hours. They have to wait until the security levels are down. I bet you a certain Ayhirian knows where they are too.” He means Ty. There is no way they could have gotten through without his help. “Should we pay him a visit?” I flex my jaw.

“We have to figure out how to cover for them first.”

“We say they’re sleeping. They’ll want proof, so they’ll check on the fingerprint detectors to see if they’ve been home recently.”

“Well, how do you plan to figure that out? We have no way of tricking it. Plus, they might look at the cameras if they haven’t already.” He presses on the skin just below his ear. A holograph appears in front of him. He pushes a few buttons, and there’s a ringing noise. Within a few seconds, his call is answered. Clara, Ty’s trainer, pops up on his screen. She just stares at him and raises an eyebrow.

“Send Ty to Tristayne’s place, send Evita to mine.” She grimaces.

“They didn’t.” She probably didn't think much of it until he called. He never talks to her. Milo hates her and only speaks with her when he has to. She's a suspicious character sometimes. Not something we're trained to be fond of.

“Oh, but they did. We need them to hack our detectors and cameras. Ask Ty and Evita a few questions when they're finished with us.” She nods.

“I’ll send them off now. Expect Ty in a minute or two, Evita in five.” Without another word, Milo ends the call. He looks at me.

“I have to go. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.” Before I have a chance to respond, he takes off to make sure he reaches his quarters before Evita gets there.