Julienne Yarrow worked late into the night. After checking on the status of her overnight patients, she reviewed the inventory count from the student medics and prepared for tomorrow’s schedule by assembling the day’s data for her assistants to enter. Then she returned to her desk to write up a report of the late afternoon’s field task and subsequent visit to the Order & Safety Civilian Station. She blamed Giles Heliconia for leaving the kids alone during the operation, resulting in the incident. He should be writing this report to make up for the blunder.

Julie leaned back in her chair and tapped her fingers on the desk with a frown on her face. At the Newcomer Rankings Exam, a team of healers from the Central branch’s Medical Division had assisted her, but she had personally healed the cuts on Alstroemeria’s torso. A separate team of instructors were on duty to observe students and award points, assigned by the colored armbands. She’d taken the initiative to speak to the instructor responsible for evaluating him during the second part of the exam. The outcome? He merely existed. Then he had sustained grievous injuries and was removed from the arena. The instructor had caught nothing remarkable from his performance. Yet Julie was curious. There was something off about him.

She closed her report, logged into the database, and the dug into his student files. The publicly available information was fairly simple. Za Alstroemeria. Age 14. Class 1120 NE. NO. 2465/2465. It was the locked details accessible only by faculty that interested her. Currently there wouldn’t be much data with only several days into this year’s training. She clicked into the drive anyway. His academic scores were unimpressive. She paused upon reading his entrance application.

Around half a million youths and young adults had applied during the latest recruitment. Only 100,000 applicants passed through to the interview stage. However, two other avenues for acceptance into Hollyhock existed; by unique recommendation or approved transfer. Both were rare. She reread his locked file.

Recommendation by Anonymous, approved by Counselor Davis Mazus. Attribute information, a tactical detail, was also hidden in this file. As expected, an i-VORY. Altogether, a strange combination.

Julie grinned. Another exciting student.

* * *

Coming up was Alight’s Day, the three days of remembrance for the lives lost in the attack of Dorylus, a city in the country of Formicidan. During those days of terror, several quints on the front lines had been crushed by CODED led by OGREs, who proceeded unchecked until they reached the highly populated city. The death toll quickly rose. In the ensuing chaos to evacuate survivors and fight the CODED, the ForeGuards stationed in the city were quickly overwhelmed. Eventually, more ForeGuards arrived to assist before the creatures could move on to the neighboring cities and held the line until the First Quint Kali reached them and could eliminate the threat.

The devastating news spread across the ISC nations and remained a chilling memory. Pictures and videos of the disaster had been captured by survivors, and data leaks from ISC-M detailing their ineptitude to quickly respond spread mass fear and doubt among the public. This event reminded the people of their vulnerability. Mankind was no longer the dominant living beings on MotherEarth. This attack was also the worst break in the front lines in the last half century, costing too many lives.

The Hollyhock Student Council organized a presentation with an honorary speaker, a ForeGuard who had been dispatched at the site of the tragedy. Announcements and notices were sent out to students. The presentation was to be held after lunch break at midday in the arena. Attendance was mandatory and students would be released from their blocks. Lessons would resume after.

All Hollyhock students had been issued standard phones for personal and professional use, but Za did not carry his as he did not know how to use the tech, and he never cared to view the bulletins either. Knowing this, Lucas informed his roommate of the presentation after Za returned from one of his early morning routines. Of course, Za looked confused so Lucas said as he got up from the bed and lazily stretched, “Next week. I’ll get you before it starts.”

Meanwhile, in the girls’ room Erina initially froze upon seeing the announcement on her phone. Ya Nu finisher her prayer to Bo and stood from her circle to catch Erina slamming a hand on her desk. Startled, Ya Nu asked, “What happened?”

“Nothing. I slipped,” Erina lied.

That night, Ya Nu was woken by small movement in their room. Erina sat at her desk with her phone pressed to an ear, her back turned. Her volume was lowered and the lamp on her desk was dimmed, but Ya Nu was usually a light sleeper and any stirring or small noise could easily rouse her if she hadn’t succumbed to a deeper slumber.

Ya Nu turned on her other side and pressed a pillow over her head. As she drifted back to sleep, she mildly wondered who Erina was speaking to at this time of night and why it couldn’t have waited until the morning.

Engaged in her own space, Erina distractedly scribbled onto the note in front of her. She said into the phone, “I submitted my request on the first day but it hasn’t been approved. It’s too early.” She listened to the response of the individual on the other end and then said, “I’ll be there. In Lasius. Even if it’s rejected.”

Their quint was almost set: Lucas Lobelia, Erina Marigold, Ya Nu Amaryllis, and Za Alstroemeria. Lucas calculated the strategic combination of his team. They needed just one more member to complete the requirements. Their quint had himself and Amaryllis for offense. Marigold for support and defense. Za was an all-rounder. Lucas was confident in their attack strength and determined to seek a fifth member for the rear. Balance was his priority.

But that decision was taken out of his hands when he was summoned to meet Instructor Maybelle Jonquil at her office.

Similar to the student dorms, the faculty’s quarters were removed from the rest of the buildings. The isolated structure rose several stories high with the receiving staff and administrative office residing on the ground floor. Assistant-instructors and the short-term or day instructors were assigned desks in the central open area on this first floor. The next few floors consisted of individual office spaces for the long-term instructors. Above them were private rooms for faculty that did not rent personal lodgings within Celaeno outside of the institute, or for use if they wished to temporarily remain on the property. The top most floor belonged to open conference rooms and the office of Counselor Davis Mazus.

When Lucas arrived at Instructor Jonquil’s office, she was already waiting for him. She stood next to her desk when he entered. Maybelle gestured for him to take a seat at one of the chairs facing her. Although Lucas felt some nervousness, he had survived many meetings with clients and political representative who visited his father. He was able to maintain a polite façade as she continued to stand and face him with arms crossed domineeringly.

Maybelle did not waste time. She directly gave an order. “Lucas Lobelia. You will be adding Noel Fennel to your quint. He cannot be traded until the end of this year’s term,” she said.

That managed to catch Lucas off guard. He was under the impression that students could make up their own quints, especially with the restricted trading policies for first years that already set them at a disadvantage. Anyway, he did not know this particular student that the instructor had brought to his attention. He had yet to meet all of his classmates.

“Instructor, I’m not familiar with Fennel…” Lucas trailed off.

“Noel Fennel returned to the dorms this morning from the medical ward,” Maybelle said.

All student injuries from the Newcomer Rankings Exam had been dealt with quickly, and most had returned to begin their lessons within a week. The questions continued to build in Lucas’ head. There was some essential information missing.

“May I ask why?” Lucas requested as politely as he could muster. His unwavering gaze was levelled at Instructor Jonquil. The rest of their class had a choice of quint members and yet a student was forced into theirs. This was an unusual case.

Maybelle could have brushed him off but she understood his hesitation. Although the full truth could not be given, she focused on a reasonable explanation. “No Free Agents are allowed in the first two years of your mandatory training. All new students must be placed within a quint. Many of your classmates have officially announced their full quints and its members.”

Lucas was not convinced but he did not want to argue with Instructor Jonquil. He guessed she wasn’t the main force pushing this agenda, only the messenger. After all, she was merely an instructor. Someone higher up wanted this addition to his quint.

“I’ll inform my team,” he said without much enthusiasm.

As he excused himself and stood from the hard chair, Instructor Jonquil said, “We don’t only score students on their individual combative skills. Lobelia, try to understand why Fennel was accepted to Hollyhock.”

He acknowledged the attempt but it did not sway him. As soon as he left Maybelle’s office, he searched the student database. The barest details about students were publicly available. Noel Fennel. Class 1120 NE. NO. 2464/2465. Age 13. Even younger than Za. One of the youngest students to be accepted for this class year.

Lucas realized that Fennel was the infamous student that missed the Newcomer Rankings Exam. The only zero points in their class, one place above Za in the rankings. A student that had been bedridden until recently. Most likely an undesirable teammate and the institute had to step in to ensure he could be involved in a quint. Not tradeable. Either the boy was incompetent or there was something more to it.

Lucas called a mandatory team meeting to pass on the news after the day’s lessons. They gathered in the girls’ dorm room. Like most rooms, Erina and Ya Nu’s four poster beds were parallel and equally spaced on each side of the decently sized area. Besides their closets, Ya Nu had her shrine for Bo in her corner while Erina had her desk on her side. Each dorm room was accommodated with a bathroom stall and sink, but baths and showers were in a separate quarter and shared by all the building’s occupants.

Sitting cross-legged on her bed, Ya Nu searched up Fennel’s student file to confirm Lucas’ research. On the floor and leaning against the end of her bedframe, Za was disinterested in the conversation and had his nose deep in a book. Across on her own bed, Erina visibly appeared even more irritated by the forced addition to their quint than Lucas, who was seated on the chair at her desk and facing the team members.

“I don’t know him. He’s not in Block 1 or 2. When do we meet him?” Erina asked.

“What if he’s scared when all of us see him together?” Ya Nu wondered.

“Not if we’re careful,” Lucas said. He had to work with this kid for the rest of the term. For the sake of the quint, they should get along and work together.

Erina threw in a different idea. “Submit our full members. Then wait for him to contact us. That’s the least Fennel should do.”

“Za, what do you think?” Lucas asked.

Za peered above his book and Lucas reiterated the question. “Does it matter?” he said without giving a conclusive opinion.

Erina became even more adamant after they could not reach an agreement. “Instructor Jonquil approached you. Who knows if Fennel actually agreed? It’s up to him to make the next move. If he wants to be in this quint, he’ll reach out to one of us.”

To an indecisive Lucas, her logic made sense and he eventually went along with her idea. “All right, I’ll turn in our members list tomorrow. Then we wait for Fennel.”

After the boys left, Erina went to tidy the desk. She pushed in the chair Lucas had vacated and brushed off all surfaces. Randomly, she stated, “The book reader.”

“Alstromeria?” Ya Nu filled in for her as she changed out of her jumpsuit and prepared to head to the cafeteria.

“Is he always like that?”

“Like?”

“Studying.” Erina recalled coming across him several times in the library, buried in books.

Ya Nu reviewed all the times she noticed him during their lessons and his intense concentration and determination. “Yea, I was curious. It’s wrong but I glanced at his score on yesterday’s exercise. History study. Not good. Probably bottom of the class.” She paused, then added kindly, “But he works hard.” If his current scores reflected his hard work, she didn’t need to imagine the drop if he stopped caring.

“I don’t know. What do you and Lobelia see in him?”

“Hm?”

While changing out of her own jumpsuit, Erina pointed to her neck to indicate where she had seen Za’s distinguished mark. “An i-VORY. He’s ranked NO. 2465.”

Ya N’s expression was unreadable. “Is that so? He has a terrible attitude. But maybe I think he’s interesting.”