A robotic voice began the speech:

‘You have been trained with the hope that you will choose a faction. These are the following: The Military Police, as an integral part of our security system, has the important mission of maintaining order in urban zones, whether in high population density areas or smaller communities. Their job is to guarantee the safety of our citizens and protect the peace in our streets, bravely confronting any threat that risks our peaceful coexistence.’

Lucas couldn’t help but grimace at that description, even if he tried to hide it so as not to be rude to his comrades who would still choose that option despite what happened with Aria. His deep disapproval of that faction was still too obvious. To his eyes, as a resident of one of the most marginalized zones in the underground world—where you need luck to get out—the Military Police was nothing but a pond of corruption and abuses of power. It was true that now the police officers and even his friend Pascal would be his colleagues, but despite being in a special forces academy, the resentment still burned in his chest due to past experiences with police discriminating against ghetto residents because those areas don’t cooperate with taxes. In response, ghettos prohibit entry to anyone who isn’t family or known. He, Luna, and Pascal were quite familiar with this issue.

Luna, like Lucas, was a resident of the Latin ghettos, particularly the Mexican one, and had also been a victim of police inefficiency from a young age after her mother died. So she also had strong disapproval of the institution—in fact, Luna had taken this scholarship only because she wanted to escape her home.

The robotic voice continued presenting the factions:

‘The National Guard is responsible for guarding border areas and low-population zones; unlike the police, they are involved in commercial areas such as underground and external customs checks.’

Lucas did have great esteem for the Civil Guard. In fact, on more than one occasion he had thought about choosing them today, but then rejected the idea because he felt his adventurous heart wouldn’t be fulfilled with the idea of going from one confinement to another. Being part of the Civil Guard would mean going from ship to ship, visiting customs zones and preventing illegal trafficking.

The robotic voice kept presenting other factions:

‘The Space Forces are one of the most valued entities recently. They are in charge of controlling the Andromedan invasion with advanced technology. They have bases on the Moon, Mars, Saturn, and Kepler. Additionally to the faction selection, the applicant will have to take an additional exam to be assigned to logistics or the combat front.’

He always said, ‘I want to go outside,’ but what he really meant was not returning to the ghettos, which was what he knew best. But could he get what he wanted? It was well known he had great charisma but little brains, so the Space Forces were not an option for him: if selected, he definitely wouldn’t pass the second exam for logistics and would end up at the battlefront, which was a sure sacrifice. The truth was theory and memory had always been difficult for him; in fact, he only stood out because he could fake confidence he didn’t have. It hurt him to think he wasn’t half as good as Artemisa, Luna, Pascal, Tori, or other classmates. Knowing the selection process, he’d probably end up in his second, third, or fourth choice, since the best always grab the most wanted spots—and those people were Orion Nesheim in the Military Police or Aqua in whatever he chose because he’s a know-it-all.

He shook his head and looked forward, making eye contact with the woman in black on the platform. The blue eyes of the woman—clean, around 46 or younger, with soft expression lines on her pale face due to age—clashed with the young man’s purple eyes, forming an almost unbreakable visual bond. He felt as if she could perfectly attack his soul right there; more, it made him feel uncomfortable but not intimidated. Despite her unique face, he knew he had seen her before.

More than that: suddenly, the whole scene felt like something he’d seen before. He began to look around without stopping feeling that he wasn’t really there, not in his body. Everything was as if he was standing, watching himself and his friends like a slow-motion movie. He looked at his hands for prolonged seconds, not knowing exactly what was happening, but it wasn’t new either.

‘Confusion crisis.’

That’s what he called this event when he can see himself as if he weren’t himself, feeling increasingly tired as usual. This effect, which could be a product of his nuclear energy, might also have another cause he hadn’t considered. But he had to snap out of it, so when these confusion crises happened, he focused on the following:

One thing I can taste

Two things I can smell

Three things I can hear

Four things I can feel

Five things I can see.

He closed his eyes tightly and began biting his buccal mucosa to feel several things at once: the taste of blood, his teeth biting, the mucosa being bitten, and the pain. To that he added stroking the rosary his grandmother had given him. The things he could hear were his friends’ voices, so now he just needed to see five things.

He opened his eyes and scanned distinctive people or objects: first he noticed Artemisa with her naturally pink hair, Aqua with his serious expression, Tori with her heterochromatic eyes, and finally saw a blond man walk past him. Lucas focused on those yellow eyes; they stared at each other for a second that seemed eternal.

His face had very soft lips and a Greek nose, accompanied by snow-white skin and a long neck. The perfume emanating from him was very pleasant, as if it were calling him.

When Lucas looked at him, the more he felt like he had seen him before. Maybe that’s why he stared so intensely. But the man didn’t seem to recognize him. In fact, he didn’t even seem to notice Lucas at all. The yellow-eyed man was the one who broke eye contact first and kept walking. From behind, that body looked firm. Although Lucas’s own body was much bigger and more muscular, that man’s build looked agile, with a waist Lucas thought would be rare in a man. He was so slender and beautiful that Lucas was left in a trance. Those well-trained legs and that ass —barely hidden by his pants— completely captured Lucas’s attention. Without a doubt, that blond man’s amazing body had brought Lucas back to reality, though he had forgotten to breathe in the process.

The woman in black clothing was focused on the hologram just as he stopped feeling like a grim reaper was draining his vitality through his eyes. He knew she was nowhere near being a reaper or anything like that, but then why did he feel dizzy when looking at her?