Aqua was staring at his phone, unintentionally ignoring Lucas, who had tried to high-five him, leaving Lucas’s hand hanging. Artemisa, too, was left mid-sentence. Now it wasn’t just Artemisa who was frozen; Pascal and Lucas also stood still, watching him walk away with his phone in hand.

“Did he just ignore us?” Lucas was surprised by his teammate’s coldness.

“What do you think?” asked Artemisa with irony. “I already told you that guy’s an asshole. I don’t even know why I bothered saying hi again.”

“I thought he’d say hi because I was next to Luna, but he ignored me too,” Pascal complained.

“That reminds me of when one of the people who dropped out in the first year of training told us at lunch he wouldn’t eat with us because we were speaking Spanish and it disgusted him,” said Lucas, crossing his arms.

“I’d forgotten that. Seems like it really stuck with you,” Pascal commented.

“I’m used to people liking me!” Lucas protested. “It’s weird when they don’t, I feel like I did something wrong and start overthinking.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, that guy’s just full of himself,” Artemisa said, patting him on the back.

Luna looked down at the floor before chiming in.

“Honestly, I don’t even know why Aqua greets me,” she said. “Sometimes I don’t even talk to him, and he says hi before I do. He’s weird, but it doesn’t bother me. Sometimes he even sends me his notes when I say I don’t understand something. I don’t even ask, he just gives them to me.”

Pascal looked astonished.

“You’re at that level? I don’t think anyone talks to him besides you. At least I’ve never seen Aqua interact like a normal human with anyone else,” Pascal complained.

“Aren’t Aqua and Orion friends?” asked Lucas.

Judging by Aqua’s behavior, Lucas could guess why Orion and Aqua got along. Both seemed to come from wealthy families, and it was common knowledge at the academy that Orion’s father was someone important, a company leader. Of course, Lucas couldn’t quite remember what exactly Orion’s dad did—he only knew his mother was from Uranus, a refugee, and his father was Earth-born.

“Yeah, but Orion’s very sociable, and Aqua is way too withdrawn. And since Orion knows a lot of people, that scares Aqua off, from what I’ve seen,” Luna explained. “They’re total opposites.”

Luna was right: Aqua was reclusive, but Orion was quite sociable and not unpleasant at all, so Lucas dismissed his previous assumption.

“So is he just introverted or something?” Lucas asked again.

“There’s a big difference between being introverted or shy and just being rude,” Artemisa said, crossing her arms in frustration.

“I do get nervous around a lot of people and I’m introverted,” Luna admitted, embarrassed.

“You get nervous, but you don’t treat people badly when you’re nervous,” Artemisa clarified.

Luna, although a standout student, had very little courage for most things. For instance, she had no issue standing up to someone when needed, but in most situations, she tended to hide behind others.

“You’re right, that’s why I’m happy working in a field where I don’t have to deal with people! My palms sweat, I stumble over my words, I forget English, and I end up not knowing what to say,” she listed off before hugging herself for comfort. “And people just see a little bundle of nerves looking everywhere because eye contact freaks me out instead of... me!”

Artemisa had placed her crossbody bag on the empty seat next to her to save it for Tori, who, as usual, was running late. Tori was currently part of one of the search teams looking for Aria. So not only was she delayed, but she was also risking suspension if she didn’t show up. However, while Artemisa wasn’t looking, a woman with heterochromia and black hair came running in. Despite the lights in the auditorium being turned off because the event was about to start, her features were still visible. Tori simply grabbed Artemisa’s bag, placed it on her lap, and caught her breath. That woman was Tori Labong, one of Artemisa’s friends. Even though she had just run in, she left behind a faint trail of jasmine scent.

Professor Pavlov confirmed attendance one last time, for reasons nobody liked—Aria was still absent, and this led to a moment of silence. Once attendance was finalized, the ceremony began with a 30-minute delay due to the news and the incident with the journalists.

The young students watched as four people stepped onto the platform in front of them, each wearing uniforms in different emblematic colors: three men and one woman. The men wore white, light blue, and red suits, and the woman wore black. Each had badges displaying their ranks, and their ranks were also indicated by the lines on their right shoulders. Many of them were often seen walking around campus or heading to Director Landry’s office on official errands. At the same time, the students knew that many of their evaluations had been recorded for these individuals to review—future colleagues in the making.

The whispers grew as soon as they saw the Police Vice Captain in his navy blue uniform. Among those whispers, which were a clear act of disobedience to authority, they could make out: “He was here all this time and still did nothing for Aria.”

Besides the woman dressed in black stood one of the instructors who held the rank of general. Everyone knew she was going to be the presenter of this event, so she approached the podium with the microphone and then said:

“Welcome graduates: on this solemn occasion of the 16th graduation of the military academy, we mark the beginning of a new stage in your lives as law enforcement agents and specialists. Here, doors open to various careers and professional fields, which you can access through two criteria already well known to you: first preference and selection in case of low demand within a faction, which will be conducted here during this event. Then, at midnight tonight, the results of your applications will be revealed and you will be reassigned to your respective stations within 2 days, so that by Monday you will be at the station of your choice. Therefore, those who brought luggage will have the opportunity to be moved to the academy’s rooms before being transferred.”

“Within 2 days?” Luna whispered to Lucas.

Pascal silently nodded and answered:

“Sounds reasonable if you think about it,” Pascal covered his mouth as he responded, “we’ll probably go on military ships.”

“They say those ships are so huge they don’t fit in the underground,” Lucas commented excitedly, “I’d never left the lower district before; the closest I got was the academy.”

The instructor continued her speech, though she seemed somewhat upset, as if something was bothering her. So the whispers turned in that direction. The general assumption was that she was displeased with the police’s response to Aria’s disappearance:

“Thus, you will be able to specialize and contribute to the maintenance of the galaxy and Earth with our values such as ethics, humanity, empathy, and above all, the desire for justice. Congratulations to our graduates, and we dedicate a round of applause to each of you.”

Applause sounded, but stopped as soon as she took the microphone again:

“We are aware of the situation involving one of your comrades, precisely Aria Schmidt and her disappearance this morning, so we hope she is well and appears soon to receive her ceremony.”

Everyone knew that wasn’t part of the prepared speech; that part was completely improvised. They appreciated that she faced the audience along with Professor Pavlov, and also used the moment to reprimand the police Vice Captain. That gave Lucas some calm, seeing that deep down they were still human.

The young people were distracted by the news, so one way they showed their displeasure was by silently not listening to the Vice Captain’s speech, even if it meant disrespecting a superior. One of the most subtle complainers was Lucas, who after talking for several minutes and gradually raising his voice, received a shoulder tap from one of his instructors who called his attention. The group interpreted that as a not-so-subtle “quiet” signal and ended their chatter. However, as soon as the tutor continued walking down the hallway, the group covered their mouths so their laughter behind the tutor’s back wouldn’t be so noticeable.

This wasn’t the first nor the last time Lucas received warnings for being chatty—even if it was Luna or Pascal who talked more, Lucas always got called out. Honestly, all the teachers knew the friendly young man with cinnamon skin, sweet purple eyes, big muscles, a strong jawline, and a marked sandalwood scent. Lucas was also a social butterfly who tended to brighten any group, so many liked him for that transparency he showed—he found it hard to hide how he felt. Therefore, his cheeks couldn’t help but flush as soon as he was caught. However, his embarrassment faded quickly when he saw the projection in front of him.

A giant holographic screen spelled out the names of the awaited factions letter by letter to which the young people could join.