“I’ll show you.”

Minji’s mouth opens to speak again, startled by the sudden presence next to her. Micha, however, quickly grabs her gently by the shoulders and turns her attention on her. (The touch burns, take it off, shove it off— no, no, no, the white man will be angry) Now that the smaller girl has the chance to properly look at Minji, she notes the purple color on her soft looking hair and the slight discomfort on her otherwise expressionless face. Upon making eye contact, Minji sees the girl dissolve in smoke.

“Now where do I begin?”

Micha’s voice resonates in her mind, the surrounding now only a swirl of white smoke. Minji moves around in panic, but there is no end to the new white dimension.

“Hey, hey, calm down! I told you my ability is illusions. Now relax.”

Taking a deep breath in, the Vessel steels herself for what’s to come, her determined expression earning her another round of loud laughter from Micha.

The sound is new to her… it’s nice.

“Let’s go with the basics.”

The white smoke morphs into blurry images of white walls, escalators on multiple corners of the spacious hexagon shaped building. Glass separates parts of the space into formal cubicles, signs and banners with illegible writings decorating the walls.

“Sorry, I’m still not that good with this. Anyway, for some reason the Academy is divided into the Numeral Vessel Division and the Lettercode Division. We’re both from NVD.”

Minji tries to walk around the place, palms nervously reaching out to get a feel of everything, her mind trying to remember as much detail as possible.

“I don’t know much about LCD, but NVD is made of 4 Wings: Academic Wing,”

The image fades away just as Minji was about to try ride the escalator, startling the girl and making her jump away. The white of the walls didn’t change, but this time there are faceless people frozen still along the halls. A pause in her steps and everything is gone again, only for her eyes to blink in surprise as she finds herself sitting next to Micha in a room full of tables and chairs.

“This is a classroom, and that is usually my friend’s seat.”

The small girl chuckles and Minji feels heat rising to her cheeks at the bright smile the girl shoots at her. Without the dim light of her room, she can see the girl clearer now, calmer, a strange warmth in those eyes she realizes are gray like Lockdown walls, yet not as coldly embracing her under their weight.

They change locations again, this time sitting on the sidelines of an empty fighting arena.

“Depending on which year you are, we have theory, practical classes and combat classes. The last one is strictly for this place. I heard the audience area is guarded by some invisible force field.”

The arena turns to black smoke, the gas quickly reshaping itself into a small map with messy drawings, one she assumes Micha had just made out of memory.

“I’ve never been to Lockdown Wing, but it’s said that an anti-GA force field envelopes the entire area, thus being ideal for wild or uncontrollable GAs with inexperienced Holders. The field greatly weakens their abilities or even temporarily shuts them down, depending on how strong it was to begin with.”

The map is a cluster of hexagons, tightly stuck together with four lit, triangular shapes enclosing the upper and lower parts. Minji assumes these are the respective areas of the Lockdown Wing.

(Micha confirms her guess soon after. Minji wonders if illusions can read minds.)

“There are multiple floors to the Academic Wing, though it is focused mainly in the center of the building. Lockdown’s a pair in the north and south. Should have extended it west and east and then nobody would have to walk all the way to a specific area.”

The blinking blue of the Lockdown Wing dies down, but the same shapes light up red on the aforementioned sections, these ones extending beyond the cluster.

“Is this where we are?” Minji asks, the surroundings turning back to the white smoke it was before.

“Mhm. The 3rd Wing is the Isolation Wing. It has rooms to supposedly punish rebellious GMVs, detention you could say, but also to house all the newborns whose Rank has yet to improve… like your case. You already know what your room looks like so I’ll tour you to mine.”

“Are you one of the rebellious students?” There is curiosity and a sudden smirk in Minji’s voice, it soon morphing into a short laugh as the image of a pouty Micha shows itself within the illusion.

Minji feels nice. Different, strange, but nice.

The white smoke morphs into blue and purple, finally settling into a room with two beds, couches, a table, a wardrobe and nightstands beside the beds. It’s simple, Minji notes.

“I haven’t decorated much, as I just moved here. The academy made me change roommates so that’s how it is for now. I’ll have to show you again when my roommate finally decides on a theme.”

“There is also the 4th Wing, Research Wing, but that section is forbidden to all students so I’m not sure where it even is.”

“I think my tests are taken there.” Minji muses, putting a finger under her chin to try and remember. “There are a lot of screens there. And people dressed in white. Everyone is the same there.”

“Professors and Researchers dress almost the same. Students also got a dress code, the only time you don’t have to wear it being during free days. The uniform we need to wear depends on your rank and year. The year is the lining detail in the uniform and the rank a band people wear somewhere visible on their body.”

The smoke is blown away and Minji is back in her room, eyes roaming around before landing back onto Micha’s closed ones.

“Sorry, there’s a time limit.” The smaller girl smiles apologetically, eyes still closed as she tries to keep her breathing cool.

“Does it tire you?” Minji asks, her hands traveling up to hold the ones still on her shoulders. She doesn’t know much about common human interactions, but Micha’s smile encourages her to continue the slow circles her thumb is drawing over the other’s knuckles.

Micha exhales shakily, gasping softly when she feels Minji’s forehead against her own. Minji parts her lips to say something, unsure what exactly. Is she supposed to express gratitude? The same as the relief when her examination is successful? Or is she looking for forgiveness, much like when fingernails dig too deep and mistakes slither beneath the table. The conflict rends her speechless, thoughtless mutters and exhales passing over her tongue. Micha feels the breathing tickle her nose, so she open her eyes to gaze into Minji’s closed ones. Her brows are furrowed in concentration. A warm smile finds its way onto Micha’s lips, something blooming within her chest at words she hasn’t heard yet can somehow understand. There’s sincerity to the secret not spoken between them.

When their eyes meet again, the same conflict is still present. In a world such as theirs, is she really wondering how her ability affects her? Minji would be one of the few, which made the stranger quite precious in the young girl’s eyes. She can’t really pinpoint the peculiar feeling at the moment, but it pushes her to enjoy the short time they have, rather than ponder on it.

“I want to show you more.”

Minji doesn’t protest, understanding from the way Micha’s eyes shine that this isn’t a topic to go around of, instead only giving a small smile as her own gaze focuses entirely on Micha’s.

Just like earlier, Minji’s room dissolves into smoke, waves of it dancing around them before settling down into the color green. It overtakes the floor and parts of brown walls, light filtering through cracks and numerous bulbs. Flowers grow between crevices and along crisscross patterns on the ground, creating a harmonious disarray in the closeted space.

It’s the first time Minji sees a chaos so vast. Whenever she’s surrounded by four walls, they all follow the same scheme, each a perfect copy of the other. It makes unity easier, yet also makes individuality so much harder, because Minji can hardly tell where she is and when she last was there.

This is a safe haven, their garden, Micha explains. At least it is that to her and her close friend.

(The illusionist wouldn’t normally share such a private piece of information with anyone, but considering Minji’s case, it felt safe with her.)

The garden is a hideout for a close circle of teens, who all seek a place away from the strict observance of the researchers, pondering on how everything used to be before the Dystopia, or even Utopia. There are books of the eras even, but Minji only passively stares at them. The letters are foreign to her and the words have no meaning. Her lips press into a thin line as she scans surfaces for anything resembling her exam sheets.

(Would it be absurd of her to assume an intention behind the different alphabet she has been taught?)

The beautiful garden shatters like glass, the green crystals melting into a sandier tone, falling onto the illusory floor, leaving behind a desert.

If the academy is the outside to Minji, this wasteland is the outside to Micha.

“I’ve been toured briefly outside the academy once. Everything looks so… empty. But there are still living creatures out there, all fighting for survival.”

The desert and destroyed buildings collapse on themselves, Minji falling with them, until her feet securely plant themselves on soft grass again. The illusion isn’t perfect, and neither are the feelings, but she still takes everything in, ready to grab at straws if she has to.

It will also take her some time to get used to illusions as a concept to begin with.

The next second, the grass leaves place for the hard floor of her room, the two girls pulled out of their daydream by a robotic voice down the hall.

“They finally realized.” Micha exhales with a voice that holds a foreign emotion, one Minji can only guess came from their moment being interrupted. “Thank you for making this trip interesting, though.”

Thank you?

“Minji, I’ll see you again, and I’ll show you more!” Micha caresses her cheeks with her thumbs, the taller girl not even realizing their change of position. “I’ll introduce you to my friends, too! Maybe help you learn reading…”

At that time, Micha’s words held a lot of promises. They made Minji feel a change in her heartbeat — excitement.

However, when the heavy doors slid open and a guard walked inside, Minji hurried to imprint Micha’s features in her mind.

Because that was the last time she saw her in the Isolation Wing.

Vessel 910
Micha Ancora, Age 17
GMV-GAH
GA: Illusion
Rank 4