Unexpected outcome

CH 3 (E)

Lucas's hands fidgeted with the rubber on his chair, as the event slowly came to a close.

"While my colleagues and I bring this transfer ceremony to a close, we would all remind you all that as soon as you exit the auditorium you are to go straight to your rooms, pack, and board the subframe set to your specific schools." He paused to add weight to his words.

"Thank you all for your hard work, and I hope to see you prosper on the battlefield. dismissed!" The general saluted the stands as the new recruits saluted back in one last gesture of respect.

The subframe was implemented after the beginning of the war to add a new and efficient way of transportation from district to district. being hundreds of meters underground it served as a secret transport system and a viable shelter.

Lucas wheeled his way across the wooden floors of the auditorium and out into the bright sun. being in a wheelchair had been highly disadvantageous in his life, but queues were not one of these instances.

He wasted no time as he decided to go straight to the room number shown on his digital ID.

When he noticed that nobody else was headed in the same direction as him, his mind went to the worst possible scenario. Had he done something wrong and gotten in trouble?

Whatever had happened, he needed to get into an academy.

Lucas could hear fast footsteps behind him,

"Academy zero… must be new huh? Or highly secretive!" Said a voice behind him as the person matched his pace.

Lucas immediately recognized the owner's soft tone as it invaded his ears,

"The last time I talked to you it didn't end well. Although, it doesn't matter much anymore since it is our last day." Lucas said blankly.

"Woah? What do you mean by that? I thought we had a good conversation last time" She was genuinely curious as her attitude changed to concern.

"It's nothing important, what do you mean by secretive?" He attempted to be friendly, but his tone came off as flat. His emotional outreach was terrible, and it showed.

"What, not happy to see me," her face turned to a pout as the previous concern left.

Lucas looked at Allison as his eyes peeked through his hair.

"Umm… don't know, I've just never heard of academy zero before" Answered Allison as she smiled at him.

Lucas felt butterflies in his stomach at the gesture, he cursed his teenage mind as he focused on the task at hand.

"Your right, of course. No one that I know has ever discussed an academy with the number zero. As you know we are only taught about the eight academies in the United States."

Allison held open the door to a side building while Lucas rolled through the entrance.

"So, it's safe to assume you also don't have any clue what we're headed into, being from a prestigious family I'd have thought you'd be aware of stuff like this." it was a rhetorical question that Lucas asked Allison.

"No, they aren't around much," she said as the door swung closed, continuing side by side with Lucas.

"Oh, well at least I know we aren't in trouble, there's no way they'd call you for something I did" Lucas tried to bring up a positive as Allison looked at the ground in dejection.

Now nearing their destination, they focused on blue screens displaying room numbers, silently searching.

The oak wooden door of room 24 slowly came into view as they paused before entering, their breaths baited.

"let's go in I guess," Allison said as she twisted the metallic knob.

She held the door open for Lucas as he rolled inside,

He had plenty of time to think about what they might find, but he couldn't predict what met his eyes, darkness.

"Why are the lights off… did we get the wrong room?" Lucas proclaimed.

Allison peeked at the door label,

"Room 24, this is the right one" She answered.

Lucas reached to the side as he flipped on the light switch. The lights flickered on, illuminating a figure as his silhouette emerged from the darkness.

A man with shaggy blonde hair lay atop a small desk, his sharp black eyes fell on the kids. He looked to be around 25 with a distinctly clean-shaven face and strong build.

Plate carrier straps lay loosely at the man's sides, while his green, brown, and black color scheme stood out in the white room.

Lucas looked at his own uniform and compared, the student's uniforms were clearly urban-based while the man had a digital forest camo.

"Finally… I was wondering how long it would take Cobalt to wrap it up, I nearly dozed off." the stranger sighed as he stood up, tightening his straps.

"If I may ask…, why were you sitting here in the dark." Lucas felt the need to ask even if he got a stupid response. He felt that the more he knew about this mysterious individual the better.

"It helps me with my powers… I won't go too in-depth since we haven't even introduced ourselves" the man walked over to Lucas and Allison as he stared them down.

"At least that pile of bones brought me some interesting recruits this time." his focus mainly being on Lucas, only looking at Allison after a thorough examination.

The look of confusion on both the student's faces was apparent.

"Alright… let me explain" The man only said this after taking a few extra seconds to look at Allison.

He took a deep breath as if he was burdened by this task.

"I am your guide. And your supervisor for the next two years during your attendance at military academy 0." He exhaled as the look of curiosity on his face faded.

"You can call me Agent 42 or…" he trailed off as if thinking of a name to use this time. "Sam"

Agent 42 or 'Sam', leaned on the desk as he lowered himself between the two recruits' eye levels.

Sam checked his watch reassuring himself that he was still on schedule.

"In exactly five minutes we will board the helicopter on the roof, Then-I will transport us to the Academy. You're probably wondering why you have never heard of Academy 0. Simple really, it's both relatively new and extremely secretive. You two should feel lucky that you were picked, I personally only take one student at a time but with the current situation and each of your prospects. We had to bend the rules a bit" he chuckled at his last remark.

"By hiding promising students such as yourselves we can guarantee the safety of future generations. Hence the secrecy, it's rather simple," Sam talked as if revealing this information to students was a daily occurrence.

"So. any questions?" Sam asked them out of kindness as Lucas and Allison thought about his words.

"Why haven't I heard about other academies having supervisors? Do you do this for all the kids at academy 0" Allison asked.

"The other academies are already stretched thin when it comes to teachers, so no. And secondly, yes, every student at the academy has a supervisor. This year however, some of us were tasked with taking more than one. Lucas?" Sam quickly moved on.

"Why was I chosen?" Lucas asked the only question on his mind.

"…I didn't make the major decision. So, I don't know. But I can agree with her reasoning" Sam answered the question truthfully and without hesitation.

"Who Is "her", and I can't walk, what do you expect me to do?" Lucas asked pointing at his legs.

Lucas's mind was working overtime to try and figure out what he had unwillingly gotten himself into.

"Now that's… classified as of now, unfortunately. Though you will find out soon," Sam laughed at the conversation while Lucas just stared at him with a blank face of disappointment.

"Also, we are aware of your issue and have some things to fix that."

Sam checked his watch one last time as he stood up from his crouched position

"Alright. We are going to have to cut the questions short, Let's head to the Helipad"

They left the room with Sam leading the way, neither of the students had been to the roof before, being off limits to students.

Lucas thought about how Sam could help him walk but kept coming up with illogical answers.

The serious complexion caused Allison to reassure him of their future safety.

"There's no need to worry, I'll protect you once we get to the academy, I think we are being set up as a team from this point on, so we really need to watch each other's backs." Allison almost giggled in excitement as she said this, the idea of being Lucas's protector played in her mind.

while the group walked and respectively rolled down the hall at a fast speed, Lucas scoffed at the remark,

"There is no need for that, I can handle myself" he knew that he actually couldn't. But hanging out with Allison would probably cause trouble.

"I'm sure you can, but help doesn't hurt" Allison wasn't trying to be condescending, but the first remark didn't help.

Lucas didn't respond,

"Just let me help. You'll be the only person ill know at the academy, and we are going to be in the same squad too." Allison proclaimed as they walked through the winding corridors, Sam trying not to pay much attention.

They had finally reached an elevator as Sam pressed the up button, the door quickly slid open revealing a sizable elevator meant for people and supplies.

Comfortably fitting in, Sam pressed a button labeled 'Roof' and then waved his id card at the panel, it flashed green then the elevator doors closed.

The ride to the roof was deadly quiet as each person thought about their future, Sam not so much.

Lucas and Allison's new lives started now.