Chapter 01

Present day...

The alarm beeped from the glowing, blue hologram that projected from the wall. It made a sharp ping that reached deep into Mark's subconsciousness to make sure he would wake. Punctuality was something that was important for the colony, especially students. He arose from his deep slumber. As much as his body wanted him to get out of bed, his mind had other groggy ideas. He let the alarm rattle his brain for the minute until it went silent on automatic snooze.

But, unfortunately, his dad kept tabs on everything he did. Not that Mark blamed him. It's kind of his job.

His face took the place of the clock, emerging as a light blue light. Mark peeped through his closed eyes, knowing the inevitable was drawing near.

"Lights on," Jason's voice came through the speaker below.

The lights flashed on in the room, reflecting off the gray, metal walls. He groaned.

"Come on, champ," he called him by his favorite nickname. "It's Friday. Last day of school for the week."

"I know, Dad, I know."

Regrettably, he pulled himself out of bed and set the gray covers back in place like he did every day. He tucked the covers into the bed frame and adjusted his pillows.

"Did you study for that test you have today?"

His voice was a little robotic with some static coming through the speaker. It was made for alarms and not voices, but that would be fixed later. Once there was enough metal to replace it, and once it was a high enough priority, it would get changed. Everything does eventually.

"Yeah. It wasn't that difficult," he said. "Microbiology is easier than I first thought."

In the small room was a closet and a small space indented into the wall for showering and using the bathroom. It looked like an old stall, but it was really high tech. He walked in and looked in the mirror. His hair liked to curl up while he was asleep, but it was having a bad hair day. The hair was sticking up everywhere. His stubble had formed longer strands of about half an inch long. Mark didn't want to shave it, but he didn't want to look like his father, either. He threw off his pajamas into the hamper and took his shower. He stood under the showerhead.

"Begin bathing procedure," he said.

Almost instantly, water, mixed in with some soapy cleansing compounds, began to drop from the ceiling to the floor in a steady stream like summer rain. He could feel his skin warm from the soap, cleansing his pores. Scrubbing wasn't required, but he did it anyway. Shortly after, a flow of warm air replaced the water, drying him within two minutes. There could be no more excuses for being late to work or school since the shower was on a timer. He fiddled with his hair so it wouldn't fall in his eyes while it dried and resumed its normal shape.

He moved to his wardrobe. The sensor picked up his presence and slid the hidden door up from its magnetic seal. His Silver Suit, having been washed overnight and calibrated, hung clean and shiny. This was their uniform.

"And you did your training?" His dad asked from the wall. He was keeping his eyes on his tablet, paying Mark no mind while he dressed.

The material separated from its tiny chain links, allowing him to step inside. It sealed itself using the magnetic technology discovered some time ago, though he couldn't remember when.

"Yup. Those Drax didn't know what hit them."

He looked at himself in the mirror again. The gray suit fit just right. The entire suit was basically a "onesie" from looking through the old archives he found the word from. He turned the cuff of his wrist and heard a familiar *click* as his communicator became active. Blue holographic images with different functions appeared as it adjusted to his body's presence. The colony really liked the colors blue and gray. He checked the diagnostics that came up on the screen and confirmed everything was operational. He turned to look at their genus's symbol shine like silver on the shoulder of the suit. Canis lupus. The wolf.

"Remember, those are only class C simulations, Mark. The Drax are much tougher than that."

"I know, Dad," he said as he turned to look at him on the wall. "I'm not being cocky. Promise."

"Okay. Remember our arrangement for tonight?"

"How could I forget?"

"Well, I was asking because you forgot to brush your teeth again."

"Whoops. Just a sec."

A laser toothbrush killed harmful bacteria in his mouth without the need for toothpaste. He rinsed his mouth out with water from the faucet.

"I know you've been waiting a long time to try it," Jason said.

He picked up his arm and fiddled with the small piece of metal on his ring finger. He could see it appear on the screen.

"You know it," he said. "Super excited."

He sat down on his bed. He heard a small whimper and looked down at the large animal nuzzling his hand.

"Hey, Blaez."

He leaned down and rubbed Blaez's furry head. He was a wolf. Everyone had a wolf. To Mark, he was one-of-a-kind. He understood him like no other. His fur was dark gray on his back. His chest was shaded light gray like the walls. He had rich, blue eyes. He was genetically bred and diverse like their other wolves in the colony.

"See you then, Mark," his dad said. "I love you."

"I love you too, Captain O'Connor."

He smiled. His face was replaced with the clock. Mark sighed.

"Come on, Blaez," he said. "Sad as it is, we need to go."

He barked at Mark and took a seat by his bed. He used his paw to scratch at the drawer under it.

"Oh, right. That would've been embarrassing," he said.

He knelt by his bed and put his hand on a panel on the wall. A single drawer opened below it, stretching out to just under a meter. He took out the weapon that lay inside its metallic sheath. It was his katana. The scabbard was made of similar material to the Silver Suits, so they could put the sword wherever was comfortable for them. Usually, they had it hanging on their side, but Mark liked to put it over his back. He was limber enough to grab it from his back without cutting himself.

Mark reflected on the lessons they learned about the weapon. It was easy to maneuver, and it made the Drax's physical defense easy to counter. Every day, they were training for a possible all-out war with the Drax. He hoped that day wasn't anytime soon. They sure could have used weapons back in 2176 when the Drax attacked the Arks. LEDGE, the "Leaving Earth and Desolation for a Greater Existence" foundation, would have found it useful.

His family, the O'Connors, were chosen to lead Canis into space. His brave ancestor got them out and helped to repopulate the population. The descendants of O'Connors passed down the reigns of leading the colony from generation to generation. His father, Jason O'Connor, is the current leader. Mark was the heir. Someday soon, he would be made the leader. For now, though, he had school to attend to.

He looked into Blaez's glistening eyes. The wolves were a gift from their ancestors. DNA capsules of their genus, along with the DNA of other animals necessary to survive in space, were on the Arks when they jettisoned into space. The other ships had Buteo, Felis, Ursa, and more. So many animals didn't survive. Mark was going to make sure the wolves did.

"Let's go to school," he said.

The door opened as they exited his room. The central living room lit up when he entered. The computer chimed into the silent hum of the walls.

"Good morning, Mark," it said in a soothing, female voice. Blaez searched for the source of the voice as always.

"Morning, VAL. What's for breakfast today?"

VAL stood for "Virtual Assistant for Living."

"Eggs and toast, your favorite," she said as the server opened in the wall.

A plate of scrambled eggs and a slice of toast sizzled on the plate. All of them came from the farmers who grew the food supply in the colony. They worked hard for years to build infinite farms.

"Thanks."

He took the food and ate it all quickly. Blaez didn't even get a chance to beg. A bowl protruded from the wall where Blaez normally ate his meals, which consisted of some imitation meat and some grass-like plant. He gobbled it down as fast as Mark did. Mark put his plate back to be cleaned and used again.

"Okay, Blaez. Ready to head out?"

He barked in affirmation. Mark stepped in front of the door. It slid open, revealing the long, wide hallway that led out of the living quarters and into the social area, the hub. His arm vibrated lightly and beeped. He pushed the answer button on the hologram, and wave lines appeared. They moved with the other person's voice.

"Hey, Mark! Where are you?" His best friend James asked on the other end.

"I just left my quarters and heading there now."

"Okay. Sara is waiting for you when you get to the hub," he said.

"I'll be right there."

He ended the call and started fast-walking down the hallway. Blaez walked alongside him with a trot. A couple of people exited their quarters and gave him a quick salutation as he went by. They knew him by name. Everyone knew him by name. It was kind of scary.

He could see Sara in the distance with her long, brown hair in a ponytail over her shoulder as she looked out at the large group of students gathered in the hub. It was a giant social area where people from other parts of the colony could gather and talk. It was also the easiest way to access all of the other sectors, including the archives, the school, engineering, security, etc. One of those passages went to where his dad works with other scientists to test new inventions that could help them survive. Mark felt it ironic in relation to that old Earth joke about living under a rock.

"Sara!"

She turned around when she heard her name. Her wolf Sasha looked back at them. Both of them had the same expression with the same green eyes.

"What took you so long?" She asked with a slightly annoyed tone. Her wolf looked at him as if to say "Hmph."

"Sorry. Friday has got to be the hardest day to wake up on."

She was always two inches taller than him, no matter how fast he grew. She felt like a tower compared to him.

"No kidding. Come on, James is waiting over with the other students. It's not looking good for him."

"Please tell me he isn't trying to impress girls with his smarts again."

"More like his wits," she said. "Or lack thereof."

She looked down and saw Blaez and Sasha rubbing noses, which was how they always greeted.

"Aww, they're so cute."

"Kind of strange. None of the other wolves do that," Mark said.

"None that you've seen," she said. "Anyway, we better stop James before he gets reported for harassment. Again."

They weaved through people and their wolves and reached James just as he was trying to show off to a couple of girls. His wolf, Juno, was lying on the ground, obviously tired of James's shenanigans. James wriggled his eyebrow, which made one of them giggle.

"Oh, brother," Mark said.

"Well, you know, I know a couple of neat tricks about combat that I would be glad to show you during training if you're interested," Mark overheard him say.

"Um, I think we have other things to take care of first," one of the girls said.

She tried tugging at her friend, but she was just slightly younger and obviously falling for his cheap advances. The young blonde seemed to have a crush on him. The wolves didn't look too happy. They knew their place, but if they felt their owners were being threatened...

"What are you talking about?" The other girl asked, clearly not feeling the same as her friend.

Mark interjected.

"Excuse me, ladies. I'm going to save your lives. Try walking away, please."

Finally, after some minor coaxing, the other girl obliged to her friend's wishes, and they left.

"What was that for?" James turned to Mark.

He was pretty buff and big. One of his arms nearly knocked him down. Sara caught him and helped him up.

"I forgive you, and, like I said earlier, I just saved those girls from seeing you mess up, and I just saved you from total embarrassment."

"Sorry. Okay, so maybe I'm not that good at combat. But I'm strong!"

"You're only as strong as your mind, James," Sara said. "And your mind and brain are two totally different things. One is really smart, and the other is... special."

"Wait, what's the difference?"

A ring echoed in the Hub.

"Attention academy students. Please make your way to your classrooms," VAL's voice reverberated in the open space.

"Back to the grind," Mark said.