A faint light shone deep in the arena's dark supply corridors. Kouji was sitting on one of the benches that the technicians used during their break. Only the light of the PDI that he held in his hands illuminated the surroundings. Two other people stood a little further behind him, the light of the PDA only illuminating their outlines.
"Damn! What do you mean?” He swore, stroking the PDA.
Then one of the two shadows approached him, a girl in a white dress appeared as she stepped into the light of the PDA. Meanwhile, the light of the PDA was joined by another green light that came from the collar that the girl was wearing. Carefully she put her hands on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.
"What are you doing here anyway?" He snapped at the two of them.
"We should bring you back," replied the other shadow with a significantly larger stature than Kouji. With an annoyed expression on his face, Kouji reached for the bracelet on his left wrist.
Suddenly the color of the light on the collar turned red. The girl let off Kouji's shoulders and fell to her knees. She shrugged, her face pained as she tried to put her hands on the floor. The other shadow sank to his knees, another red light also visible around his neck.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Kouji glared at the two of them. "I know what I have to do myself!"
"Sorry, it wasn't my intention ..." stammered the shadow behind when Kouji interrupted him.
"Enough!" He rebuked them as he threw the PDA against the wall.
The corner of the glass screen hit the wall and a deep crack cut through it. Fragments of the screen flew around before it fell to the floor and stayed there. Just before the light from the screen faded, a strange symbol flickered, but the noise created by the crack and impact made deciphering difficult.
At the same time
> Alliance base
Sunlight shone through the glazing of the long corridor that clung to the outside of the base. A lone secretary came out of the first door, which was at the end of the corridor on the window side. A large PDA and some paper files in hand.
The name on the sign next to the door: Leon Leadway.
Leon sat at his desk, the glass front in front of him converted into a screen. The screen was flooded with reports, maps, statistics, surveillance images, and a small window with the live stream from Halsion.
"Seranis ... hmmm," Leon said to himself, his gaze fixed on the PDA in his hand.
A picture of Zane was in the corner of the PDA, surrounded by data.
As if he had seen enough, Leon got up from his chair and put the PDA to one side. He walked towards the glass front, all reports began to disappear, and the window became clear, revealing the ocean in front of the base. To his right was the long, glazed corridor the secretary had entered.
After a while, watching the clouds and the ocean to sort out his thoughts, he tapped the air to his right, and a holographic window appeared.
The door to the lounge opened with a hiss.
"Hey Zane" greeted Nathan Zane, who had thrown his jacket over his shoulder. "Good job out there!"
"Thanks!" Zane grinned back.
"Kouji seems pretty angry". Nathan wondered at his demeanor.
"Yeah, I didn't think he was such a petty loser," Zane laughed and put his hand on his left hip.
"Don't say it like that, you almost lost in the first minute", replied Nathan, infected by Zane's cheerfulness.
"I was nervous ok? You don't fight in front of hundreds of people every day!” Zane laughed, embarrassed.
It was after 1 p.m. when Zane and his friends arrived downtown to celebrate Nathan and Zane's graduation. Billboards and screens lit up everywhere. The shops were full of people, some of whom had just come for the exam. Even though it was the city center and there were a lot of vehicles, pedestrians could easily visit the city center. The reason for this was that the pedestrian area was on its own level above the street, which connected the shops on both sides of the street, creating a separate shopping street. The floor itself was made of semi-transparent, glass material that enabled people to see the street below, but also served the purpose of illuminating the street below with daylight. The problem of lighting the streets and lower levels in large cities led Halsion to adopt this approach, even though the city was not even close to the size of the cities concerned.
"Once again congratulations on your final exam you two." Asagi congratulated them with a slightly tilted head.
The group had picked up a couple of crepes at one of the stands on the boulevard to celebrate the day and were now enjoying those on the edge of the boulevard before Zero would pick up Carol.
"Thanks, Asagi," Zane replied with a big grin and a crepe in hand.
"Thanks, but let's see how we did."
“I'm not worried about you. You have a 100% on the theoretical part anyway”, Zane laughed at Nathan's statement.
"And what are you going to do now?" She continued, clasping her crepe with both hands.
"I've already applied for the next semester at the Magician Academy," Nathan replied.
"That's right, that was your plan, but next semester already? Then you won't stay with us much longer", Zero noted. "What about you Zane? Are you sticking to your plan?” He hacked.
"Ah. Yes”, Zane replied with his crepe in hand, gesturing. "I will enroll in the military."
"They'll be happy to have two talented people like you", said Zero.
"That's right!" Added Asagi in support of Zero.
"What about you Zero? Are you staying here in Halsion?” Zane asked. For better or for worse, his plan would lead him away from Halsion. Away from his friends, so he wished that perhaps Zero would change his mind and join him.
"Yes, I'm staying here," Zero confirmed Zane's guess. "I don't even know what to do out there."
"Looks like you have to find someone new to patch you up Zane", laughed Nathan
"I'm not hurt that often..." Zane defended himself, a little discouraged by Zero's decision.
"You always overdo it", added Nathan, and patted Zane on the shoulder with a smile.
"That's right," Asagi laughed with her hand over her mouth.
"Hey! I have to do my best if I want to protect everyone”, Zane started laughing.
"What about you Asagi?" Brought Zero Asagi into the conversation, her eyes fixed on him. "You got an invitation from the military, didn't you?" He asked.
"I did," she nodded. "But I'm not sure what to do yet."
"Hey, that's great, just like Aki," said Zane happily. "Maybe you will meet a few more Mytics."
"I ... uhm ... maybe," Asagi hesitated when Zero came to her aid.
“Take your time with the decision Asagi, there is no need to rush. Just do what you want.” He encouraged her and took a bite of his crepe.
“Zane is probably right, there are definitely more Mytics in the big cities than here. And it would certainly be easier... But Zero is right, no reason to rush anything”, said Nathan.
"And if you both change your mind ... I'll be happy to add you both to my team if you want," laughed Zane.
"You need a corresponding rank Zane first," said Nathan to Zane.
"Yeah ok", laughed Zane, putting his hands behind his head.
"Don't discourage him, Nathan," laughed Zero too.
"Carol will probably stay here too, right?" Nathan continued.
"Probably ...", thought the group, Carol's face in front of their eyes with a thumbs up: "I'll stay with Zero!"
"She stays with Zero ..." Nathan withdrew his question.
"Yeah," Zane confirmed to Nathan and bit off his crepe.
"It would also be health-wise ..." Suddenly the scream of sirens interrupted Nathan.
"What's going on now?" Zane dropped his crepe in shock and covered his ears to protect himself from the noise of the sirens. Messages appeared all over the city, on screens, on billboards, as well as holographic messages, followed by a mechanically generated announcement:
"Alarm! We are under attack. Alarm! To all military personnel: report to your unit immediately! This is not an exercise! Alarm! To all civilians: go to the nearest shelter immediately! I repeat! Alarm! We are under attack…"
In the middle of the messages, the word "Alarm" was emblazoned, while instructions ran in the information bars above and below.
Panic broke out while the sirens and the announcement continued unchanged. Zane and his friends also stared in shock at the holographic message that appeared over the railing in front of them. Zane looked around uncertainly, people ran in all directions in panic. Nathan stared at the message, Asagi clasped her hands in shock.
“Quickly to the car,” Zero took the initiative. As if freed from their trance, all followed Zero, who ran in the direction of the parking garage in which he had parked his pickup.
The mood was depressed, Asagi ran right behind Zero with fear written on her face. Even Nathan, who was usually objective and calm, didn't seem to get along with the situation. Only Zero, who ran ahead, Zane could not recognize his reaction. The civilians, where Zero and Asagi were included as well, had all headed towards the bunker. Only Zane and his group seemed to be rushing to the parking garage.
Zane and the others had been prepared for situations like this during their training at the academy. All students taking a specific subject were instructed to provide assistance to the appropriate departments. In this case, Zane and Nathan should help the military, to which the academy was subordinate in times of crisis. Zero, on the other hand, should help the hospital or the paramedic unit as a paramedic. Evacuation of civilians, behavior in dangerous situations, were all taught in simulations.
But this wasn't a simulation. It was an emergency and no training could have prepared them for it. Nobody thought it would ever happen and the fear of what could happen to everyone plagued Zane's thoughts. He looked around again and saw the uncertainty of the others, he was not alone.
"I think tonight's party is canceled". Zane tried to loosen up the tense mood.
"You would just have gotten sick of eating anyway," laughed Zero and turned his head briefly to him.
Then Asagi started giggling too, Zane had made it.
"Where do you two have to report?" Asked Zero, maintaining the speed.
"The PDA said we should report to the next evacuation point," Zane replied.
"That would be at the hospital," added Nathan.
"Okay, I would have gone to the hospital anyway, I'll drop you off there," Zero replied.
"Shouldn't you go back to Ben?" Zane asked, whereupon Asagi threw a questioning look at Zero.
"He'll be fine, and besides, they need me more urgently in the hospital than in the restaurant," Zero explained to the three of them.
"You are probably right," Asagi supported Zero.
"There is the parking garage," commented Zane. When they turned a corner and saw the parking garage.
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