He opened the door by the chalkboard and out came three people walking to the front center of the room. The Integrator stood to the side and asked them to introduce themselves, starting from our right.

“I am History Professor Daniel Lorraine, and you might know me from the recent annual public seminar on Integration Day, two days ago.”

I did not notice him at first, but looking closely, I recognized his silhouette with a brown ponytail and half-rimmed glasses. The rest of his body was draped in the same ceremonial robe as the Integrator and officers, which the two other teachers also wore.

“I am Doctor Amy, and I oversee most doctors around the planet and practice in healing.”

Instead of an off-black color for her robe, it was white. Her blonde hair was also in a ponytail, but compared to Professor Lorraine, it was lengthier. She had visible wrinkles around her face showing her old age, but other than that, she looked and felt vibrant and young with her sharply shaped nose and chin that was ready to take on whatever the world threw at her.

“And I am Seamus; you could say I get in touch with supernatural beings. I will also be your primary teacher during your training period. We will be meeting regularly, which reminds me that I’ve got some very nice stories to tell!”

He had the same colored robes as Professor Lorraine. The only conspicuous thing was his extremely messy white hair—a record-breaking messy that was much wilder than that of Olma’s and Kailus’ when Kemia ruffled it. Combined with his sharp nose and thin features where his cheekbones could be seen, he had a hysterical look accented by his scouring eyes that wanted to pounce on the next opportunity to cause an uproar in the room.

“Please don’t tease them any further, Seamus,” the Integrator pleaded with a facepalm. Doctor Amy giggled as Seamus poked the Integrator like he was playing with a child. Surprisingly, the Integrator was ticklish and appeared terrified, or at least feigned his act so well to fool us. If a supernatural medium can make the Integrator act this way, what was he going to do to us during our training?

The adults stopped their play and allowed the Integrator to return to his presentable self and continue his speech. “So how do you all like this room so far? Pretty neat!” He asked and answered.

“If you designed this yourself – compared to the exterior design of this building and the hall – it’s quite lackluster,” I said, recalling my first impression of the room. “Anything outside of this room gives a sense of beauty that this room doesn’t quite capture.”

“See, even one of the candidates agrees with me, master,” Professor Lorraine teased. “You should leave the interior design to the experts and not force yourself to impress your selected children.”

“I don’t need any expertise to enjoy what I’m doing. Also, my candidates are a reflection of how well I chose them, given by their ability to see the truth in certain aspects,” the Integrator winked at me. “Also, Professor Lorraine, you will not be calling them children very soon; they will be surpassing you after their training. And since I have selected you as my disciple, you better make sure you don’t fall behind!”

Professor Lorraine rubbed his head with a shy, resigned smile and seemed to not want to get into more banter in front of everyone. Though he did appear younger than the Integrator, it split my reality in two to see someone as knowledgeable as him being this submissive and calling the Integrator his ‘master’. Now, seeing the Integrator being submissive to someone or something else would eject me out of this body; I just hope it wouldn’t be something like a rock. Who would I look up to then?

“Now that everyone has been introduced on the teachers’ side,” the Integrator continued, “I will expand mostly on Seamus’ role during your training period.

“Like he said, he will be your primary teacher, giving you broad and generalized knowledge that you will need to learn about in your free time to better prepare for ETs. Since he has a background with supernatural phenomena, he was selected for this opportunity to aid in your growth in perception. The other two – Doctor Amy and Professor Lorraine – will specialize in teaching you individually, depending on what they deem is fit for you and their capability of providing the necessary guidance.”

“So that means we get to separate into groups, right? Right?” Kemia perked up and asked.

The teachers looked at the Integrator, then at Kemia. Doctor Amy was the only one to giggle out of the three. “I don’t know what gave that away, but yes, you will be separated into groups—pairs to be precise.”

“We get to choose too, right?” Kemia asked again, already making up her mind.

“Well, as you may or may not see, the Integrator here loves to play games,” Doctor Amy said. “We already know who we are training, but he wants us to keep it a secret until you choose your own partners. There is this part of him where he enjoys his predictions and wants to see them play out.”

Now I'm curious as to who Kemia would be picking and whether the Integrator will be correct. Since predicting human behavior is already quite impossible, it is within my power to prove him incorrect and even choose my preferred teacher. First, I would prefer partnering with Lyviria since everyone else seemed unfit for me. I don’t want to deal with another Ruyo, so no Notemi, especially since she is not at her full power. Kemia is a bit too smothering. Kailus is a watered-down Ruyo but highly erratic, unpredictable, and dramatic. Olma wants to use me as a nail for assembling furniture. So yes, Lyviria would be the best choice because there will be less chaos I have to deal with.

As for a teacher, I would prefer the Integrator, but since that’s not an option, then I prefer Doctor Amy for the same reason as Lyviria. I don’t see how I would fit with Professor Lorraine since memory is the last thing I want to spend my life on, and he’s a history teacher. I also learned from his public seminar already—even though it was only a glimpse of his knowledge and there were some interesting topics, solely memorizing things was no different from my engineering classes. As for Doctor Amy, I do not know what I would learn from her, and considering that she is a doctor, it gives room for possibilities in a myriad of specializations. Whatever it may be, I would not mind throwing myself into more adventure since I’m already here.

“As I was saying,” the Integrator continued after clearing his throat, “you candidates can now call yourselves Explorers and will be meeting weekly with Seamus. For the rest of the week, it will be your personalized training with whoever your teacher is.”

“How long will the training take? And where would we train?” Notemi interjected.

“Training will span a few months, most likely into early or mid spring, northern hemispherically speaking. Since Antarctica will be in perpetual darkness for the next few months, you will be going off here to fly to a remote island in the northern hemisphere that I have prepared for this occasion. There is a small community there, and you will be out of contact with the rest of the world to ensure no distractions. The only contact you can have will be with family, but it will be kept to a minimum.”

“Why did we come here to Antarctica, then?” Notemi asked. The Integrator turned to his disciples and paused as they slowly moved their eyes with still heads to look at him.

“Because I am lazy and wanted you to come here. And because… why not?” The Integrator said while sweeping his head to get a full view of the room.

A shake of Doctor Amy’s disappointed head and Seamus’ facepalm prompted some of us to laugh and follow the lead in our teachers’ disappointment. Professor Lorraine’s zeal in portraying the Integrator as his master subsided into silent disbelief while he rubbed the back of his head.

“Sometimes you are just unbelievable, given the importance of your presence on the planet,” Doctor Amy said. “Fortunately, you haven’t gone on screen before, so no one in the general public knows what you look like and that you exhibit childlike qualities, even when you’re about half a century into your lifetime.”

“Who knows how long I will live? Which reminds me—I will be going on public news after everyone’s training. You,” the Integrator swept his pointer finger to all us candidates, “will also be introduced to the public. But unlike Doctor Amy here, I have no inkling of shame as to how you want to present yourselves.”

Half a century into his lifetime? If two days ago was the 40^th anniversary of Integration Day, it could mean he was either slightly older or the same age as the anniversary. How did he end all wars and violence? For one toddler, child, or teenager to change the whole world, it did not make sense.

“Bro!” Olma shouted in his deep and booming voice.

“Who are you referring to as ‘bro’?” Seamus asked, looking around in confusion.

“The Integrator—what can I or can we call you?”

“You can call me whatever you like. Professor Lorraine likes to call me master and other people like to call me Integrator. While others like to call me…” When he trailed off his sentence, I saw Doctor Amy reach past Seamus’ back and give a pinch to the Integrator’s shoulder, who squeezed his face and displayed visible anguish, then bared his teeth before the pain broke through and he begged her to stop.

“Okay, now that questions are over, and I have introduced your teachers, it is time for you to pick your partners. Your teachers will be waiting for you outside in front of the entrance gate and inside the bus that will be flying you to the northern hemisphere.” With the closure of his speech, the Integrator gestured our teachers to the door leading to the arched hallway while he stayed behind and waited for us to pick our partners at the front of the room.