by S. G. Basu
Maia lay staring into the darkness for the longest time. She was tired, but her mind was racing. She had been through a lot since the morning, and not everything had been pleasant. Yet, Maia felt hopeful. She recalled her first night on Xif—she had been distraught then, but even with the setbacks, the visit to Zagran seemed uplifting and not as ominous.
15: The Initiation Speech
Maia woke up to utter chaos the next morning. A battle was raging in the room, and surprisingly enough, Nafi was not involved. Loriine and Baecca were trading their candid opinions of Anja at the top of their voices, and Anja replied in no gentle terms her own views of the two girls. What had caused the current grief, Maia had no idea, but she noticed that Dani and Nafi had wasted no time in getting out of the warzone. Maia decided to follow their example and quickly began to get ready for the day.
By the time they managed to slip out of the room, Anja had casually thrown a pillow at Loriine and shut herself in the dressing room. Baecca soon called it quits while Loriine still fumed indignantly at the nerve of the “stupidest girl in the whole universe.”
“I hope they don’t kill each other.” Maia was genuinely worried about the situation they left behind in the room.
“I hope they do,” Nafi said with a harrumph and strode faster than ever in the direction of the stairs. They met Joolsae halfway down the staircase. The sweetest smile flooded Joolsae’s face as soon as she saw the girls, and she rushed forward to slip an arm over Nafi’s shoulders.
“Hope you slept well,” she said. As they waited at the base of the stairs for the boys to arrive, Joolsae decided to acquaint herself with the group’s quests on Xif.
“You guys are really brave,” she said when she had heard of some of their adventures. “Wish I was there.”
“Wish you were too,” Maia replied. “Our stay would have been a lot happier if we had a mentor like you.”
“I’m sure we’ll have our share of fun together,” Joolsae laughed. “It all begins today. I’ll show you the refreshment center and then take you to the Initiation Arena where the trainers will introduce themselves and present the agenda for the next six months. After that, we can take a tour of the university floors. That’s all we’ve got planned for today. Starting tomorrow though, you have to be prepared for a real lot.”
After the boys joined them, Joolsae led the group triumphantly to the elevators.
“The refreshment center, the RC, is on the 450th floor,” she stated as the elevator zoomed past floors.
When it came to a stop, Maia and her friends followed Joolsae through some corridors up to a gigantic silver door. Its surface was etched with precision, and the lights shone and rippled in an eye-catching pattern. At the center of the door was a picture of a mermaid leaning on a rock that jutted out of the water. Her gaze was soft and felt almost real, her hair a cascade of curls, and her tail gracefully bowed in the water. Arched over her elegant figure, “University of Advanced Arts and Sciences” was written in big, bold letters.
“That’s our emblem,” Joolsae said, nodding at the ethereal being as the group stood transfixed, admiring its beauty. She held up her abalone talisman. At the center of the swirls of white and blue was the shimmery image of the same mermaid. “See, it’s also here.”
Joolsae then pushed the door open to reveal a large hall with at least hundred tables and about a thousand people gathered around them. All along the walls were food kiosks where cooks busily prepared food, throngs of students queued up in front of them. A wonderful and appetizing aroma whirled throughout the room making Maia’s stomach growl in an instant. Maia recognized some of their fellow contestants in the crowd as Joolsae led them forward. Soon they had picked seats for themselves, lined up for food, and returned to the table with their food trays.
“Now this is what I call food.” Nafi’s eyes sparkled as she affectionately eyed the steaming pile of bread, eggs, vegetables, and fruits. “Not stuff wrapped up and shoved into boxes.”
Maia chuckled. Evidently, Nafi had not been able to forget or forgive the boxed food they were served at the XDA.
“And this is what I call the lack of privacy,” Ren countered, grimacing at the open surroundings.
Nafi did not reply; she either agreed with Ren’s comment wholeheartedly or was too distracted by the food on her plate. They finished breakfast quickly and left the table earlier than most. Joolsae led them back to the elevators and up a few floors to the 455th, and down a maze of busy passageways to a room that was filled with rows of chairs and desks.
“Aerika will be here shortly for the initiation speech,” Joolsae informed. She picked a chair in the first row after seating Maia and her friends in the row behind her. And then they waited. Soon the room filled up, but there was no sign of Aerika or any other trainer. The wait grew long; the contestants huddled in groups, chatting. Joolsae was never short of questions and answering them kept Core 21 busy, but the incessant chatter made Maia feel exhausted.
Maia was wishing for a little quiet when the harsh clip-clopping of Aerika’s shoes drifted in through the open doors. The sound reverberated across the room and a hush descended immediately. The training supervisor walked in with two men in tow. Once again, there were no smiles and no greetings from Aerika. The two men looked equally impassive; their shiny heads were devoid of hair, they wore tightly fitted white suits, and they looked like identical twins. Even as they stood, their postures and the expressions on their faces were mirror images of each other. The trio placed themselves at the central podium, the men flanking Aerika on both sides. The crowd quickly settled back into their seats, and Aerika started to speak.
“Mentors, please pick up the booklets and distribute to your respective teams,” she said, pointing at the corner of the room where a pile of satchels were stacked high. Joolsae and the other mentors immediately headed to the corner.
Aerika cleared her throat and addressed the gathering.
“While those are being distributed, let me introduce you to your instructors, Trainer Palak and Trainer Dill. Trainer Palak will be assisting you with the backgrounders.” The man to the right of Aerika nodded curtly.
“Trainer Dill will help you with the hands-on work.” The man to the left nodded exactly in the same way as the other man had.
“The rules booklet can be found in the book bag, and I advise you to pay attention to it. Please note the floors to which you are allowed access. I will not have you loitering around on the secure levels. I will also not have you talking politics around here. Any debate or discussion of anything other than what is in your curriculum is strictly forbidden.” Aerika paused.
Meanwhile, Joolsae had dumped a bag that weighed like a ton of bricks on Maia’s lap. The dark blue satchel had the emblem of the UAAS at the center and “Core 21” emblazoned below it. Maia could feel the hard outlines of thick-bound books inside.
“And they call these booklets?” Ren whispered.
“Any violation to the Code of Conduct will be met with the severest penalties. Each time you fail to adhere to instructions, it will be counted as a strike against your group. And the moment you manage to accumulate five strikes, you will be asked to leave this contest. There will be no considerations, no exceptions, no second chances.
“Mentors will also collect your personal weapons now. We, the Jjord, do not believe in the need for arms. So, we will not allow you access to any. These will be handed back to you during the challenges, although their use during the time will be strictly monitored. Any unjustifiable use will result in your scores being diminished, so I suggest that you get used to a life without these tools of bloodshed,” Aerika stated.
Maia started unhooking Bellator from her belt. The announcement did not surprise her. After all, she had heard of the Jjord’s passion for non-violence, so it made sense that they would take away the weapons. Even the Xifarians did not allow weapons at the XDA, and Bellator had been stowed away in the counsel room for most of the first phase of the Initiative. A dull racke
t erupted as the weaponry was collected and placed in a large storage locker. Aerika waited until the din reduced to a few murmurs and then resumed her speech.
“Now for a quick overview of the stages. In about three months we will have the first challenge; only fifteen teams will advance. The second challenge will be in six months from now and of the remaining teams, we will pick the top ten to participate in the Solianese phase.”
Aerika paused as if to ponder. Maia sensed a faint hesitation in her voice when she started again.
“The UAAS believes education should be tailored to fit individual sensibilities. In our opinion and experience, this sort of universal training is impractical and ineffective. So we do not expect grand performances from all of you. We do demand, however, that each of you apply yourselves and you learn to be respectful of our heritage, our beliefs, and our way of life.”
The room was quiet. Aerika’s speech was strange, Maia thought grimly to herself. It’s going to be a very long six months.
“You are free to leave now. Take the rest of the day to familiarize yourself with the area. The mentors will show you the training floors where you will congregate starting tomorrow morning,” Aerika said, and gestured dismissively at the audience.
“Excuse me?” A lone hand rose tentatively in the air. It was the always-curious Jiri. “What about team leaders? Should we pick new team leaders for this phase?”
“We, the Jjord, believe in the power of the collective. We believe that many is more important than one. So we will not place one person above the rest. In this phase, all team members shall remain equal.”
A wave of murmurs rose, and heads turned to exchange glances. Maia felt an unexpected emptiness inside her. She could not quite pin down the feeling.
I am . . . sad. But why? I never wanted to be a leader anyway. I hated it when I was forced to be one in the last phase. I should be relieved.
Maia suppressed a wry chuckle—there was no denying it, this was disappointment. How hard she had tried to give up her position as a team leader during the Xifarian phase, but now—
Aerika cleared her throat loudly. “We are done here. Please disperse.”
As the crowd rose to leave, Aerika walked over to Maia and her teammates and tapped their desk.
“This team will stay behind.”
Maia could feel the stares and the frowns as she waited breathlessly for the trainer to say something. Aerika spoke after the last person had shuffled out of the room.
“You will need to take that off,” she said, pointing at Kusha’s signature red headband.
Kusha froze, and so did everyone else around him.
16: The Ultimatum
Kusha’s hand trembled slightly as it touched the dark red band circling his forehead. The rest of the team simply gaped in disbelief. Maia knew how Kusha felt about that headband. She remembered how heartbroken he had been when he had misplaced it in the design studios on Xif, only to find it later in a parts bin. The fabric was faded and worn out in places, and a symbol that looked like a child’s drawing of the sun was sewn on it in gold thread. It was an inheritance, Kusha had said, and irreplaceable.
“Why?” That was all Kusha could ask when he finally found his voice.
“I am not required to justify our rules, but I will answer your question,” Aerika said curtly. “Because it does not fit in with the regulation uniforms.”
“It’s an heirloom,” Kusha said with increasing vigor. “I can’t take it off.”
Aerika’s eyes narrowed. She shifted slightly backward and crossed her arms. “It is up to you,” she said rather casually. “If you should choose to wear it, it will be considered a strike against your team. So you decide.”
Kusha threw a frantic look around; for the brief moment that Maia looked into his eyes, she found the helplessness in them unbearable. She did not care if they had five strikes against them—she wanted Kusha’s eyes to sparkle and shine again.
“You can’t give that up.” Maia’s confident voice broke the oppressive silence.
“Yup. We’ll take the strike or whatever,” Ren added brusquely. “Kusha gets to keep his band.”
“Yes, you should keep it, Kusha,” Nafi asserted.
A wave of cold rage swept through Aerika’s ice-blue eyes. Then she smiled. It was more like she bared her teeth than smiled; there was nothing but viciousness on her face.
“All right,” Aerika murmured in a low, guttural voice. “So it will be.”
She flashed that cold gaze once more over the gathered group, clicked her heels, and turned away toward the door. She had almost walked out when Kusha jumped up and took a few stumbling steps after her.
“No, please . . . wait,” he yelled.
Aerika turned to face him, anger and disdain still deeply etched on her face.
“I’ll take it off. Please excuse my friends’ words,” Kusha said, peeling the band off his head.
A ghost of a smile drifted across Aerika’s face before her lips hardened again. In that moment, Maia realized that it probably did not matter anymore that Kusha chose to respect her wishes; she would not forget the group’s bold stand anyway.
“Okay, I accept your decision, a little late as it may be. I have to tell you, this is a wise choice. I like that you made this choice for your team’s sake—that was commendable. And since this is practically your first day here, I shall waive your first strike. But . . .” Aerika paused and raised an ominous finger, “try not to defy me again.” With that, she abruptly left the room.
The gang, along with Joolsae, did not waste a moment in gathering around Kusha, who still stood quietly with the band in his hand, staring at the doorway.
“You did the right thing,” Joolsae said emphatically. “Aerika wouldn’t tolerate disobedience, especially not from your kind.”
“Our kind?” Nafi burst out.
“I mean visitors, of course,” Joolsae mumbled.
“You mean visitors?” Nafi asked, frowning. “Really?”
Joolsae fidgeted.
“What about my kind?” Ren smiled impishly. “Does she tolerate people from Xif any better?”
“You should never ever challenge Aerika, no matter what your heritage,” Joolsae said to Ren. “She does not forget things easily, and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of her.”
“You should’ve kept it, Kusha.” Maia ignored Joolsae’s comments. “We still had four more penalties to go and that’s plenty.”
“Yes,” Nafi piped up.
“It’s okay, I’m fine with this,” Kusha said, although he did not sound fine.
“All right, we’ve had enough of that discussion,” Joolsae interrupted rather rudely. “We have a lot to do today, so let’s get going.”
They followed her around the seemingly endless floors, corridors, and elevators. Joolsae was quite a nice guide, and she was overly enthusiastic about the tour around the UAAS, but no one seemed to be very much into it anymore. They tagged along listlessly all day, and were looking forward to a good night’s rest when Joolsae led them out of the RC after dinner.
A familiar figure waiting for them right outside the RC made them forget the unpleasant encounter with Aerika almost immediately. Hans stood at the door flipping through the pages of a magazine. The moment he saw the group, he smiled widely and walked over. He was wearing a white-and-blue uniform quite similar to Aerika’s garb. Not only did he look strangely formal in the uniform but also remarkably dashing, Maia noted.
“There you are.” There was nothing formal about his warm and friendly voice. “I’ve been trying to find you all day and had almost given up hopes of locating you. You’ve been busy tourists today, haven’t you?”
“I’ve tried my best,” Joolsae chimed in before anyone else could reply. She looked extremely happy and joyful for some reason.
Hans smiled back. “Joolsae, nice to see you. And thanks. If you don’t mind, I’ll walk them to the dorms.”
“Sure, no problem,” Joolsae replied with a la
rge grin, but her voice did not sound that cheerful anymore. Then she left, waving a quick good-bye.
“She has quite a crush on you,” Nafi announced casually as they boarded the elevator up to the 500th.
Hans stared at the diminutive girl before chuckling loudly. “And you have quite a personality,” he said. “Be careful with Aerika though, she is not very fond of spirited children. She usually likes them timid and docile.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. No one seemed eager to relate the incidents of the day to Hans, as the memories were still too fresh and painful. Hans led them out to the sitting area next to the glass wall when they came out on the 500th.
“I wanted to meet you not just to say hello,” Hans said as he sat down on a bench. “I have some news to share with you.”
The group quickly deposited themselves around Hans, curious to hear what he had to say. Hans glanced over the small assembly and took a deep breath before he started.
“I’m not telling you this because I have to, but because I want to. This news is not supposed to be shared outside the government offices, but I’ll tell you because I know that all of you had risked your lives trying to protect our settlements.”
Maia felt pride swell inside when Hans referred to the incident with the Chrysocolla key during the Xifarian phase. Maia and her friends had stumbled upon a plot—it involved sabotaging the energy supply to the Jjordic settlements, thus endangering the lives of thousands. Unable to warn the settlements of the impending peril, the teammates had taken upon themselves to pursue clues, and after a daring face-off with two masked saboteurs in the Grotto, they had foiled the conspiracy.