‘Next!’ a man shouted, who was accompanied by two security guards.
Eikichi looked at Alyssa. It seemed like he was still conflicted.
‘Young man, are you coming?’
‘It’s alright,’ Alyssa assured him.
Eikichi nodded before approaching the man with the tablet.
Alyssa observed the interaction, then another person yelled for her. She walked over to find a blonde woman ready to take her information.
‘Name, please,’ the woman said, without looking at Alyssa.
‘Alyssa Krovana,’ Alyssa replied.
‘And what is your age?’
‘16.’
‘And your place of residency?’
‘11/81 Auxil Ring.’
‘Last question.’ This time the woman looked at Alyssa intently, as if studying her expression. ‘Why are you here?’
Alyssa was taken aback by the question. Why am I here?
She took a moment to gather her thoughts. ‘I...uh, I want to do my part to free us.’
The woman offered a gentle smile, appearing satisfied by her response. ‘You may go on through.’
Alyssa bowed her head and walked past the guards. She saw Eikichi waiting for her. ‘Ready?’
‘Not really. Would have preferred to have waited for my meal to digest a little longer, but… oh well, I’m here now.’
‘I’m glad you are.’
They continued walking where they were greeted by opening doors to a dome. On the ground level, all types of people were patiently waiting for further instructions. People of different ages and ethnicities.
‘Whoa,’ Eikichi said.
‘This is good to see,’ Alyssa said. ‘Faith and trust must be placed in others if we are to survive.’
‘I agree,’ a girl said from behind.
The pair turned around to find a teenager of similar age. She had bronze coloured skin and wore a wooden pendant. ‘I didn’t mean to butt-in if I did.’
‘It’s okay,’ Alyssa said. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Janice. You?’
‘I’m Alyssa, and this is Eikichi.’
‘Hey,’ Eikichi said, standing closer.
‘You guys keen on this space academy thing?’
‘If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be here. She’s keener than I am. How about you?’
‘Well, I was with my momma when the broadcast was on, helping out and stuff. And I thought hell, that does like fun. Momma didn’t think it was a good idea, though it did sound pretty cool to me, you know? Travelling to another world other than Earth. So, I came here.’
Alyssa smiled.
Chatter around the room increased, as a supervisor walked out from a large room with two assistants.
‘Alright, people,’ the supervisor said. ‘the tests have been set up and we are about to commence.’
‘Tests?!’ Janice said.
Everyone looked at her in bewilderment. She recoiled, diverting her attention away.
‘You couldn’t say that any louder?’ Eikichi muttered.
‘Sorry,’ Janice said.
The supervisor smiled and resumed. ‘Seeing how there are hundreds of you here, and with expectation of hundreds more coming, we’ll be evaluating a group of two hundred individuals at a time. After you’ve completed your tests, you’ll be sent home. Later, an e-mail will be sent to you. It’ll inform you of your performance, and whether you’ve been accepted into the space program.’
He continued. ‘With that said, I wish you good luck and I hope everything goes well. Let’s begin.’
The supervisor counted the number of people entering the large room, giving them each a wristband.
The doors were left open for everyone to see the inside of the examination room. It was an indoor athletics field. The two assistants asked everyone to form a queue while the tests were starting.
While the three of them positioned themselves in the line, Janice was cursing softly to herself. Clearly she had little interest in doing the tests.
‘Tests? Seriously?’ Janice said. ‘I didn't know there were tests. The lady from the broadcast said nothing about it.’
‘What were you expecting?’ Eikichi asked. ‘A free pass?’
‘I knew there was an entrance exam. You know? One. Not many.’
‘It makes sense,’ Alyssa said. ‘They want the best enrolled into the program.’
‘Well, there’s little chance of us making it in now since many of the people here are adults. We’ll be outclassed.’
Near them, someone yelled in pain.
The three of them looked and saw a young bespectacled teenager with soft olive skin, being shoved around by a group of troublemakers.
‘Quit it,’ the guy said. ‘I’ve done nothing to do you.’
‘Is that a fact?’ a blonde teenager said, pushing the guy to the ground. ‘Go somewhere else. Your kind don’t deserve to be here.’
‘What?’
‘Oi!’ Janice said. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’
Alyssa and Eikichi followed her.
‘Something that isn’t your business, missy,’ the blonde teenager said.
‘I’ll make it my business. Leave him alone.’
‘No.’
The other troublemakers blocked her way.
‘Really?’ Janice didn’t appear impressed.
‘It’s best you stay out of this, if you know what’s good for you.’ the blonde guy said.
‘Thanks for the head-ups, now beat it.’ Janice’s fist clenched.
The blonde guy stared at Janice, not intimidated.
‘HEY! Enough of this,’ a security officer said. ‘No fighting here.’ He was followed by other officers. He pointed at the blonde guy and his friends. ‘You lot, go away. We already have enough problems. We don’t need you to make another one.’
The blonde glared at the officer, and then he looked at the guy on the floor. ‘Pfft. Come on.’ He marched off to another area with his entourage following him closely.
Janice extended her hand to the guy. ‘Need a hand?’
The guy smiled. ‘Thank you, but I can get up.’ He lifted himself onto his feet and collected his glasses.
‘Name’s Janice.’
He nodded in acknowledgment. ‘Ali.’
‘Why was that guy bothering you?’
‘I don’t know. I glanced around and happened to look at him, at which point he came after me.’
‘All because of a look?’
‘Yeah.’
Alyssa glanced at the blonde teenager, who was looking at them with a contemptuous gaze.
Janice introduced Ali to Alyssa and Eikichi.
They introduced themselves to Ali, all recounting their stories and explaining to him their reason for being here before he explained his own.
‘I’m here for my family, though I’m mostly here for myself. I’m someone who is still meandering in their life, searching for a way to contribute to something that doesn’t entirely focus on me, but on everyone. I thought this program might allow me to do my part for the greater good to help us with in our ordeal.’
‘Does your family know that you’re here?’ Alyssa asked.
‘No.’ His gaze dropped. ‘They’ll definitely be upset when they hear about it, especially my father. I didn’t hear much of his opinion on the subject when he heard about the program, but he forbade the family from getting involved. Said it was to best stay here and let someone else deal with this.’
‘He’s probably afraid of losing someone he cares about.’
‘I know. Though I don’t like the idea of being stuck here feeling useless while there are people doing something about our problem.’
‘I know the feeling. It’s why I’m here, as well.’
Ali smiled. ‘Thank you. I just hope he will understand that what I’m doing is best thing I can do for the family and for everyone else.’
There was a pause.
‘So, do you think you can pass the exam?’ Janice asked.
>
‘I think I have a chance.’ He pulled a brochure out of his pocket. ‘In here it specifies the requirements for young adults to make it into the academy, which vary from the adults.’
‘Really?!’
‘Well, there are three levels. Novice, Intermediate, and Elite.’
‘What are we supposed to do for Novice?’ Eikichi asked.
‘For a novice, they are required to complete a 1500 meters run in under 7 minutes, perform 30 push-ups and 50 sit-ups in one sitting, 12 pull-ups, and squats. All of which will be performed with weights and expected to be completed under a specific time.’
Janice dropped her head in disbelief. ‘Is there a level below Novice?’
Eikichi peered into the room, watching the group completed the test. He inquired further about the other levels, which Ali explained.
BANG!
Everyone shot looks at the door and saw the participants running.
‘We’ll be doing that shortly,’ Eikichi said.
‘Don’t remind me,’ Janice said.
Thirty minutes had passed since the first group was taken.
Alyssa observed the two assistants. Any moment now, she knew they’d be taken in to have their turns. She was right.
The participants from the first group were seen leaving the building via the side entrance toward another building, which caused a stir for the eagerly awaiting newcomers.
The group appeared fatigued and in pain, like it was their first real experience in completing set of exercises.
‘I don’t think many of these people exercise,’ Ali said.
‘Looks that way,’ Eikichi said.
Alyssa watched the group disappear into the building before returning her attention to the supervisor, who was walking out of the gymnasium to the waiting area to take in the next set of participants.
He had a small container of wristbands that were used by the first group. ‘Alright, it’s time for the next group to be assessed.’
The line advanced with the man giving a wristband to every person permitted inside.
Eikichi looked at Alyssa. ‘Here we go.’
Alyssa smiled.
CHAPTER 3
THE GROUP OF participants were taken in, Alyssa and her companions being amongst the last people allowed inside. As they were guided into the room, they surveyed the area and noticed an indoor 400-meter rubberized running track. In the middle of the track was an area of equipment, specifically high bars and weighted barbells.
Two examiners––a man and a woman––along with ten assistants, were waiting at the area as the students approached them. Both appeared to be soldiers or police, as the pair wore black T-shirts, beige cargo pants, and thick laced boots.
Alyssa looked at Eikichi and the others. They all appeared excited except for Janice, who appeared afraid.
‘Are you okay, Janice?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, I don’t feel so good. I think this is going to end badly for me… very bad,’ Janice said.
The examiners appeared to be studying the approaching group.
One walked toward them as they assembled in line. ‘How you guys feeling?’ he asked, energetically. ‘Excited?’
His question was met with great enthusiasm from the majority of the group.
‘So most of you are. That’s okay. My name is Felix and this is my colleague, Sarah. We will be splitting the group in half. One group will be with me doing the dryland exercises, and other will be with Sarah doing the 1500 meter run. Once the groups have completed their tasks, we’ll switch. All good?’
The group voiced their confirmation.
‘Alright, who is the 100th person in the group?’
‘I am,’ a girl replied, raising her hand.
‘Everyone whose number is after her will go with Sarah. You’re doing the 1500 meter run first.’
Alyssa walked with Eikichi and Ali, while Janice trailed behind.
‘This should be easy for you,’ Eikichi told Alyssa.
‘I doubt it,’ she said. She noticed her wristband activate with a stopwatch materialising around it.
Sarah took the group away, leading them toward the starting point of the run. ‘Okay, everyone, I want you to line up here and position yourself as best you can. I don’t want anyone falling down accidentally. If you feel like you’re slowing down during the run, move to the second or third lane to allow those who are ahead of the group to pass.’
‘Come on, it’s just 7 minutes, I can do this,’ Janice muttered to herself.
‘Keep telling yourself that,’ Eikichi said.
‘So much for the support.’
He smirked.
‘On you marks! Get set!’ Sarah said, aiming her pistol to the ceiling. ‘Go!’
BANG! The pistol echoed through the room, capturing the attention of the participants in the waiting room.
The group bolted ahead like elite athletes. Some appeared to be real athletes, while others clearly were not as some participants started to slow down before finishing the first lap with others overtaking them.
Alyssa, to her surprise, had already positioned herself in the top five with ease. For some unknown reason, it seemed easy for her to run fast. She peered back when she ran along the curve, and saw Eikichi and Ali with intense looks on their faces, as if they were already struggling. Other participants were walking off the track, either from a cramp, or had burnt out of energy.
She turned her attention to the person in the lead. It was a paled-face guy who looked to be in his teens. He had black, greasy hair that dropped to his neck, standing taller than her.
As the run progressed, two people in front of Alyssa began to slow down, putting her in third––behind Janice. This motivated Alyssa to push herself closer to first place. She put more power and stretch to her stride, which bridged the distance with the leader.
‘Whoa,’ Janice said, as Alyssa overtook her for second place.
Alyssa looked at the guy, who noticed her come up before returning his gaze ahead.
Eikichi and Ali watched the pair speed past them.
‘Go Alyssa!’ Eikichi cheered.
‘Alyssa’s fast,’ Ali remarked.
‘Yeah, she always was. We raced each other in the past, many times. Though, I never found myself beating her in all the times we compete.’ He looked at Alyssa. ‘I’m actually surprised to see she is still fast. If not faster, compared to the last time I saw her run.’
‘Do you think she can beat that guy?’
‘Don’t know. The guy looks like he’s able to keep up the pace.’
‘He sure does,’ a girl said.
The two guys saw a petite girl running beside them. She had hazelnut eyes, and wavy blonde hair dropping beside her face, with the rest held in a ponytail.
‘Whoa,’ both said.
Eikichi looked at Ali, who was blushing.
‘Umm… do you know that guy?’ Eikichi asked.
‘I do. He’s a friend.’
‘I see.’
‘What’s your friend’s name?’ Ali asked.
‘Yannick.’
‘And yours?’
‘Clara.’
‘Nice to meet you.’
‘Same. Your friend looks like she’s doing good. She’s definitely giving Yannick a challenge.’
Alyssa and Yannick distanced themselves from the group. They passed the 1200 meter mark, and the two started to push themselves to the limit. They had turns being in the lead, but it was dead even until the last 100 meters.
Come on, the end is right there, Alyssa thought, as she pushed herself to go beyond the tightness and pain she was feeling in her arms and legs from the lactic acid.
Before she could advance, Yannick blitzed ahead. This surprised her as he crossed the finish line with her completing the run two seconds later.
The first two runners were gasping for air as their examiner walked to them with a tablet in her hand.
Alyssa dropped to her knees. She had never exerted herself so much in a ru
n before.
‘Whoa, that was fast!’ Sarah exclaimed. ‘Like close to world record pace. Are you guys athletes or something?’
‘I’m not. I don’t know about him,’ Alyssa replied, dropping her head to focus on her breathing.
‘Huh… interesting.’
Alyssa heard someone approaching and looked up. It was the guy, who beat her to the finish line. He appeared less fatigued than her.
He extended his hand, pulling her upright. He nodded, showing his respect, and walked away.
Not much of speaker, I guess.
One after another, the participants completed their runs.
Eikichi and Janice completed theirs with only Ali left to finish.
‘Gosh, Alyssa,’ Eikichi said. ‘I didn’t expect you to finish the run so quickly. I think you ran past us twice.’ He gasped for air, lying down on the floor. ‘Man, I shouldn’t have done this after having lunch…’ Inhaled air. ‘It was a close match between you and Yannick.’
‘Yannick?’ Alyssa said.
‘Yeah, that’s his name. His friend told us when the two of you ran past us. She’s the blonde girl over there with a bottle, waving to him.’ He pointed for Alyssa to see.
Alyssa caught sight of the girl approaching Yannick with a bottle of water in her hand. He did a hand gesture to her which she responded in kind after passing the bottle to him.
He’s deaf?
Eikichi sat up. ‘Ali looks like he’s going to drop any moment now.’
Janice looked at the timer and realised there wasn’t much time remaining before the seven minutes were up. ‘He has about a minute or so left to complete the run or he won’t make it in.’
The three of them exchanged looks.
‘Come on, Ali!’ Eikichi shouted. ‘You don’t have much time left. Use those legs of yours.’
Ali looked at his wristband as he came around his last bend. Only 20 seconds left. He ran through his final 100 meters, passing a few participants and crossed the finish line, a second before the time limit expired.
‘Good job, you made it.’ Eikichi said, clapping Ali on his shoulders.
‘Never… again,’ Ali said. He dropped to his knees, exhaling loudly.
‘Oh, we’re not done yet, mate.’
‘Don’t remind me.’
Unknown to the participants, a man in a dark suit and shades, with black scruffy hair, closely observed the activity at Ascent University. A half-burnt cigarette was locked between his fingers as he kept his attention at the streaming line of people being escorted inside the complex.
Wanderers in the Dark Page 2