Thirty minutes later, a buzzer chimed, and a notification flashed in my HUD.

Schedule Update: Class Dismissed

Instructor Feedback Logged

Reminder: Physical Assessment Pending

"All dismissed," Professor Zhal said, and everyone started packing up. "Except Cadet Lynx and Argassa."

It looked like Rob knew we'd have been staying behind. He wasn't fazed at all.

Professor Zhal made sure the rest of the class had left before she walked to us.

"Thank you for volunteering," she said to Rob, surprisingly casual. She ran a hand through her hair.

"You gave me a break once, remember?" he replied.

"That I did," Professor Zhal said, pulling up a chair and sitting in the aisle between the two desks. Now I got a better look at her. She looked tired and had dark circles under her eyes.

"So," she said and looked directly at me.

"So," I echoed. Then, I instantly thought back to my exchanges with Major Kuba. "Sorry, professor."

She laughed and picked up my datapad, starting to flick through screens.

Student Profile: Piotr Argassa

CAR: 9.5 | Fitness: 55% | Education Index: Null

Stat Anomalies: High-Cognitive / Low-Physical Distribution

Risk Warning: Adaptation Pressure – High

Suggested Plan: Conditional Mentorship Enabled

"We have exams at the end of this week, then the end of the semester. I'm highlighting what you should already know and what I've still to teach. I really do hope you learn fast."

"This for every class he's in?" Rob asked.

"Yes," Professor Zhal looked up. "Don't expect any leeway, you fail these—no amount of strong-arming will keep you in this academy."

I swallowed. "People really think that I strong-armed my way in here?"

"There's a lot of speculation, but yes, you wouldn't have gotten in here without backing from someone very high up," Rob said, then lowered his eyes when the professor glared at him.

"Don't listen to the rumor mill."

"Every workplace has one," I said, then added. "I'll try."

"Good. Looks like you could use a few decent meals," the professor stood and moved in closer, much closer. "Epidermal health is sup-par. Schedule dermatology and a regulation haircut, Rob."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Take some pictures. I want to track his progress in everything and get him up with you on the circuits in the morning."

"What?" I laughed.

"You're a classic, scrub-meets-quality. I want to track how fast you move, Cadet Argassa, call it a side project."

"Oh," I glanced at Rob. "Were you a side project too?"

He nodded. "Got me on the straight and narrow, sorted me out in fourteen weeks."

"I don't have fourteen weeks," I sighed.

"We'll see a marked improvement in what you have. Trust me." She picked my datapad up once more. "Get yourself into medical first, after classes. Then Bonnie's cuts, for your hair. Uniform should be delivered to your bunk by 18:00."

A spider type drone scuttled out from nowhere, and proceeded to scan over my frame before scooting off.

<<Captain, system alignment pending. Medical baseline and body scan required. Do you wish to enable Performance Monitoring during physical routines?>>

<<Yeah, go ahead. Then we know it's active for later.>>

<<Copy that. Bio-telemetry will stream to the instructor dashboard; local encryption key: Cadet Argassa #temp-91A.>> The idea of half the faculty watching my pulse spike made my skin crawl.

Zhal put the datapad down once more. "And if you don't want to go hungry, the two of you had better run for it. Sorry to keep you so long."

Rob snapped his pack shut and we cleared the class in under ten seconds. "We'll get food then I'll sort your data to HUD transfer."

"Thanks."

"Hey, if you're really that smart," he said. "I really could do with you raising the bar on my team's learning."

"Worried about those exams?" I saw him flinch. "Don't worry, I'll do my best." I didn't add, I only hoped my best was good enough…. But I should have.

The mess hall for lunch was still teeming with people, and the queue, though probably shorter than it was ten minutes ago, was still fairly long.

The server held out a wrist ID which I watched Rob scan and then they served him up his food. "Everyone has tailored meals to some extent. You won't get one today, but once you've seen medical for some preliminary testing you'll be on one from tomorrow."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

The server scanned my wrist, frowned and then piled my plate like she had Rob's. "Macros look on spec; I skipped breakfast."

"You won't get a choice to forget now, you'll likely be on snacks too, so you'll have to get used to eating some food on the go."

Nutritional Baseline Assigned

Protein: ↑ 20% | Carb: ↑ 15% | Sugar: ↓ 12%

Preliminary Goal: Fitness +10% in 14 days

Daily Nutrient Intake Now Logged

Muscle-density stim protocol T-4 recommended—subdermal patches issued tomorrow 06:00.

When Rob turned to try and find us somewhere to sit, an arm waved to him from over by the window. He then made his way over, and I followed.

Passing a table I noticed a blonde hide her mouth. I don't think she realized I actually caught her words.

"Boutack capital bankrolls 50% of the AI division" she whispered. "They're hunting the next paradigm shift.

Rob was waving at me to walk faster, so I couldn't hang back to wait for the blonde friend's answer.

"Finally," the girl said as Rob slid into the seat beside her. "Thought you'd gotten lost."

"Hardly," Rob replied, jerking his head toward me. "Meet Piotr. He's the new guy."

"I did see you both in class this morning, though, right?"

The girl who waved was a brunette with dark eyes, and tanned skin. Her eyes narrowed slightly, sizing me up. "Kerry," she said, offering a brief nod. "And that's Sylvk."

"Hey," Sylvk said, his deep voice surprisingly warm as he motioned to the seat across from him. "Take a load off." Despite his bulk, he shrank in on himself.

I sat down, feeling the weight of their scrutiny. "Uh, nice to meet you."

Kerry smirked. "So, what's your story, Piotr? How'd you land here mid-term?"

No beating around the bush was there. I hesitated, glancing at Rob, who gave me an encouraging nod. "It's… a long story," I said finally. "Let's say I got an unexpected opportunity."

Sylvk chuckled. "Sounds like code for 'I did something stupid.'"

"Not far off," I admitted, earning a laugh from both of them.

"Relax," Kerry said, leaning back in her chair. "We're all here because someone thought we had potential. You'll fit in—eventually."

"Eventually?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You've got a lot to catch up on," she replied. "But don't worry. We'll make sure you don't drown—too much."

"So we're Beta271?" I asked on Rob's nod. "Is there an Alpha271?"

"Oh, this is good. We're going to have some fun with you," she tapped the table once.

"We only have two classes this afternoon," Rob said. "But they're not easy ones."

"What makes them not easy?" I asked.

Kerry grinned. "Ever been in Zero-G?"

I swallowed my next mouthful of food fast. "Shit, already?"

"Zero-G in two hours," Sylvk said. "Eat light."

"No," I said and slid my tray away from him. "Mine."

"Fair," he said and directed to Rob. "He up in the morning with us too?"

Rob nodded along.

"Gonna make me hurt, aren't you?" I asked the big man.

"Yeah, this ain't gonna be easy at all."

"The mind might be fine," Kerry said. "But that body—"

"Is pathetic," I admitted.

Sylvk nodded, giving me the once over. "We can work with it, don't worry."

"What were you doing till you came here?" Kerry asked, absentmindedly while eating.

Rob choked and elbowed her back. "Don't mind her, you don't have to talk about yourself at all."

"I don't mind," I said. "No parents. Went into the legal system when I was seven. Up through different homes till I was fourteen, when Orla, my foster carer was fixing up one of the homes cars. I walked over because she looked to be struggling with one of the computer systems. Took me all of two seconds to tell her why. She went straight to the office after getting the car going, and within a day I was somewhere else, under her apprenticeship and watchful eye."

"So local nobody who managed to get a leg up by what? Working in the local—"

"Runner's yard," I said. "Marts and Sparks."

"No way. My dad takes all our gear there." Kerry said. "Not only cars, though."

"Then likely I've been the one doing the work on them."

She looked at Rob. "My dad doesn't mess about with his tech."

"I know," Rob said and put his fork down, having finished his lunch already. "That goes a long way in proving you're capable."

I scraped the last few bits of my food together and ate. "Good," I said. "What about you three?"

"In what sense?" Rob asked.

"How'd you get here, what made your choices, decisions?"

"Trust fund brat, still slumming it for the thrills," Kerry said.

"Her sister leads the Academy's science and nanotech division here." Rob hit her under the table this time. "Don't even…."

"She works in the medical wing mostly. At least that's the line I tell everyone."

"Kerry has bigger plans," Sylvk said.

"Truth is, there's a medical station out there with my name on it."

"Doctor?"

"Aiming for top in her field." Rob confirmed.

"Which is?"

"Nanotech and Nano Engineering." Sylvk added. "Like her family, Hinada Tech."

I whistled. "Smart then," I said. "What's your Cognitive Aptitude Rating?"

She grinned when she said it. "Nine-point-eight."

User Comparison – Kerry Hinada

CAR: 9.8

Active Module: Nano engineering

Cognitive Index Differential: -0.3

Note: Competitive Pairing Detected

"That is smart." She was three tenths higher than me.

Kerry held up a hand. "Remember, CAR's not IQ. It measures reaction bandwidth and pattern-locking speed—combat calculus, not trivia night." With a playful shrug she added. "I was top of the Academy, looks like I've got some competition."

"I—err," I didn't know if she was joking or serious here, till she laughed.

"Seriously, it's good to have you around, maybe I can have some intelligent conversation, instead of with these grunts."

Sylvk growled. "Look who's talking."

"So, you really learn fast?" Rob asked.

"I better, because I got a lot of shit to take in." I replied.

"I got work after classes," Rob said. "He needs to go to the med bay and then Bonnie's—"

"—I'll take him," Kerry said. "No bother."

"We can hit the gym after," Sylvk added. "If you like, of course."

"Already?" I picked up my pudding bowl and though it looked divine, he was probably right. When I glanced at him, his look said. We're still on for the gym.

"Are you sure?"

Only on my nod did he say, "Thanks." Then scooped in one huge mouthful of dessert. "Won't go any easier on you later, though."

"Didn't think you would," I said with a shrug. "But since you'll be busy tearing me apart, you can fill me in on everything else about Razors?"

Sylvk paused, thought about it for a moment, then ate more pudding and nodded. "Deal."

"We better hustle," Rob said. Then he went through the procedure to get my datapad linked to my HUD, my classes all showing, and everything else I needed.

Five minutes later, we were clearing the table and making our way to the next class.

"Why are we rushing?" I asked.

"Teacher wants to see us before class starts," he said. "Or wants to see you."

"Ahh," I nodded. "Think it's going to be like that for a while."

"You're the talk of the academy," he said. "Expect so."

When we got to the sprawling room that was our next class, I did a double take. "Sergeant Major Cotah," Rob said. "Anything he hasn't done, well…."

"Sounds like it's not worth doing, right?"

Rob nodded and when Sergeant Major Cotah jerked a thumb toward the open hatch. Beyond it yawned the sixty-meter parabolic training bay—a hollow cylinder that spun just slow enough to kill gravity.

He was giving me the once over, his eyes cool, calculating. "You just had lunch?" He directed at me.

"Yes, Sir. No pudding." I answered.

"You've got a good one as a mentor. Listen to everything Rob says here, understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"We're doing recon practice, through the maze. Find the flag, return to base. You're going to put your team on the backfoot already, so I'll give you leeway, Rob's team usually performs well."

"Thank you, Sir." Rob said. "Wi—"

"No, it won't affect your team ranking either," he said.

So this was a marked test? And he was going easy on Rob because of me. Yeah, that didn't sit right with me. "Sir, may I speak freely."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Please, go ahead."

"Please don't treat me any differently than you would the others. That goes for if this is a test."

Override Flag Triggered

Handicap Compensation: Disabled by User Request

Simulation Updated

I saw Rob's face fall.

"You've never been in Zero-G?" The Sergeant Major asked.

"No, Sir."

"This is a timed event through an unknown maze," he looked at Rob. "You are team lead. What do you think?"

Simulation Type: Live Recon – Zero-G

Objective: Flag Retrieval + Return

Team Mode: Activated

Team Stat Matrix:

Composite Fitness Average: 58%

Cognitive Lead: Assigned – Piotr Argassa

Risk Warning: Physical Metrics

Dexterity: 2 [Slow reflex timing]

Toughness: 3 [Fatigue risk]

Performance Modifier: Manual Override Active

All assistance protocols disabled.

Rob crossed his arms thoughtfully, his body language wasn't closed off, just that—thinking.

"Piotr has a lot to prove," he said. "He's smart, almost as smart as Kerry and that's saying a lot."

"So you're in?"

"We're in," he said.

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