Five-Minute Break

— Keep up! — Darius's loud, threatening voice echoed across the sports field. — If you can't even handle a light jog, then what can be said about combat?! You'll die in disgrace on your very first mission, and, if you're lucky, you won't drag your comrades down with you! Cadet Lucas! — he addressed the blond-haired guy, not even trying to hide the tone of malicious glee. — If you break formation again, the whole group will run two extra laps, got it?

— Yes... Sir! — he quickly shouted through labored breathing, maintaining a guilty expression in response to the instructor's clearly deliberate nitpicking.

— What... The hell... Light jog? This?! We're running... ha... The damn fortieth lap... — sweat streamed down Cassian's face like a river as he tried to squeeze out words of indignation.

— Shut up, all of you! — the instructor's shout followed. — Two more extra laps for talking during the run.

Suddenly, Cassian felt several short, grimly cold glances directed at him.

*

— Five-minute break!

Immediately after, there was a dull sound of human bodies hitting the ground. Some lay on the ground, greedily inhaling air, hoping to recover even slightly during the meager five minutes allocated for rest. Some drank water greedily, not thinking about possible consequences. Some, struggling with their labored breathing, tried to talk.

— Hey, Cas, — Ryuji began, sitting on the ground and leaning against Cassian's back. — Do you think Lirian is even human? — he pointed at the short-haired girl. Unlike most, instead of resting, she stepped away from the group and began performing a set of light stretching exercises.

— So what? — Cassian asked with a long exhale. — If you've decided to enlighten my ignorant self by telling some crazy theory that she's a robot or something, then I'd rather stay blissfully unaware.

— What? Why would you even think I'd say something like that? Who do you take me for?

— A hyperactive fool?

— What?! You know, taking after Sora isn't the best decision... But even so. Tell me, is it normal that Lirian ran fifty freaking laps of three hundred meters each and looks like she just finished a morning jog?! — even without seeing his face, it was easy to understand his disbelief. After all, an ordinary person is hardly capable of such a feat. — And she's even demonstratively stretching in front of us! — Ryuji complained again.

— Ryuji... I hate to break it to you, but if our physical fitness sucks, that's only our problem. And just admit it, you're jealous, — Cassian smirked sarcastically.

— Why do you think I'm jealous? — came the quick response.

— Just a gut feeling, you could say, — Cassian replied, shrugging.

— Your indigestion is clearly mistaken, — Ryuji snorted. From his tone alone, it was clear he rolled his eyes.

Ryuji suddenly stood up, causing Cassian to lose his support and fall with a crash.

— At least give a warning! — Cassian shouted, rubbing the spot where he hit and getting up from the floor.

— But we've practically proven one interesting fact.

— If you're about to talk about your idiocy, then sorry to disappoint — that's been known to everyone for a long time and doesn't need confirmation, — Cassian cut him off.

— No. You know how if you knock on a hollow object, it makes a ringing sound? Well, when you hit the ground, I heard exactly that, — finally finishing his joke, Ryuji grinned widely. Unfortunately, he only received a disappointed look in response.

— Ha-ha. You could've come up with something better, — Cassian reproached him. Somewhere in the background, a familiar strict male figure appeared. Barely noticeable, Cassian smirked and, using his rather pathetic acting skills, made a face as if he was in pain.

— I'll go sit somewhere until the pain subsides, — without waiting for a response, Cassian turned and quickly walked away, leaving an unsuspecting Ryuji alone with the approaching figure.

— Stop faking it, you couldn't have hit yourself that hard... — someone was standing behind him. Ryuji fell silent.

— Cadet, didn't I tell you that breaking discipline during training leads to punishment? — in response, there was only a sound resembling a panicking hamster. — I think to properly learn the rules, you need to run three more laps, right?! — Darius's voice, cold, stern, and indifferent, sounded like a death sentence.

Standing a little further away and watching Ryuji, who, with an exhausted expression, went to serve his punishment, Alexa whispered to Cassian:

— That's pretty cruel, — she said, not taking her eyes off Ryuji. — You could've at least warned him or hinted.

— Serves him right. Next time he'll think before acting, — Cassian just shrugged in response.

*

Cassian lay on the bed, unable to move. During training, Darius seemed to be mocking them. Upon arriving at the dormitory, Loren handed them communicators. Unlike the civilian version, they had very limited functionality and could only interact with the internal network.

— We were promised that after getting accommodation approval, we could move freely around the citadel, — a reasonable question arose in his mind. Yesterday, Cassian wanted to go out and walk around the city, maybe even see the park. But, to his surprise, Vincent stopped him. And very insistently "asked" him not to leave the dormitory for now. — This is all strange... — he got up from the bed. His body ached, and every movement was difficult, his knees trembling.

Each step resonated with a dull pain in his legs, as if his muscles had gone on strike. Cassian gritted his teeth, approached the sink, and turned on the cold water. For a few moments, he just watched the drops fall into the sink, as if trying to gather his thoughts.

He splashed water on his face — refreshing, but not enough. In the reflection, he saw a person he barely recognized: a dull gaze, disheveled hair, scratches on his neck and collarbone.

— And what sadist designed this training program? — a fleeting complaint was followed by a long exhale. — Maybe I should take a walk? At least go to the cafeteria.

Cassian took a step out of the bathroom and immediately lost his balance. His only salvation was the corner of the wall, which he managed to lean against.

— Well... or not, — deciding to starve for the rest of the evening, Cassian lay back on the bed.

The sound of vibration was heard. He reached out and grabbed the communicator. On the lit-up screen was a message from Ryuji:

— Are you alive?

Cassian sighed heavily, looking at the communicator's screen. Without waiting for a response, he squeezed it in his hands again and wrote:

— No. Dead.

A few seconds later, a reply came:

— So, I'm talking to a corpse right now? Fun.

He smirked, but the pain in his body still lingered.

— Corpses can't send messages, Ryuji. I'm alive... barely. What do you want? — Cassian leaned back on the pillow, burying his face in the blanket.

On the other end of the screen, an instant message followed:

— And this is the person who called me weak... Well, fine, as I understand it, you're not coming to us? Sora and I are in the cafeteria, you wouldn't believe the delicacies they're serving today! — the message radiated enthusiasm. It wasn't hard to imagine Ryuji's smiling face.

— I'm not coming. I'll just lie here and suffer until tomorrow's training, — Cassian turned off the communicator. And within a minute, he fell asleep.