Graduation

Marcus's chest felt like it was being crushed by a balancing group of elephants, as though at any moment each of his ribs would dissolve and allow his body to cave in on itself. 

Trickles of blood clung to his nose hair as a stream of red attempted to escape out of his nostrils, he inhaled sharply in a struggle to remain conscious.

In his lap was a pile of yellow-green vomit, it would slosh around like it was an active and raging sea as he kept being spun at ungodly speeds. His head throbbed as it was thrown around wildly, his trembling hands clutched the armrests of his seat in desperation. 

All five senses of his were dragged into hell, he had no awareness of anything, everything was up, and everything was down. He blinked repeatedly, a bid to stay awake as a wave of force pressed down on him continuously. 

This is disgusting! His thoughts scrambled together a complaint as his glazed eyes peered down back towards the sick in his lap. 

Finally, it appeared as though the movement all around Marcus was beginning to slow gradually, until it came to a complete stop, the sick in turn splashed out of his lap and onto the cold metallic floor of the pod. 

His sensations returned back to him sluggishly, as his head turned to observe the outside of the pod whirring, as mechanisms and gears turned slowly. Sweat trickled down his forehead from the exhausting endeavour.

His breathing was fast and unsteady when the door finally opened, drowning the tiny space he was in with white light. 

He scrambled upwards balancing his shoulder against the door as he walked out of the pod with a stumble. 

I threw up, does this mean an instant failure... Marcus dreaded internally as he stepped into a brightly lit but similarly small room outside the pod door as it closed. 

Suddenly a sea of foam shot out of holes in the walls and ceilings, followed by columns of vaporised and warm water which sent the sick that clung to his outfit flying away, mixing in with the hot liquid and foam as it drained into grates in the floor. 

I guess the academy accounted for stuff like this happening, that, I am glad of. Marcus's thoughts were interrupted by a green light clicking on in front of him, followed by it, a blast of hot, dry air overwhelmed him, almost blowing him off his feet.

The air seemed to be focused on certain points, blowing the straps of his training vest and undershirt every direction. 

When he was completely dry, and all the water had receded from the small room, the second door opened with a prominent clank, exposing him to the outside world once again.

"You can take off your training vest and throw it in the room." A voice sounded from outside.

Marcus did so, dumping the heavy equipment on the floor.

The larger control room had people walking briskly in different directions, observing panels with holograms that softly beamed flickering lights, displaying numbers and statistics.

This was the pilot simulation control observatory, and what he had just come from, was a human centrifuge, a g-force machine that simulates the conditions that pilots could face whilst in their ships. 

Marcus walked out into the larger control room, concern hinted across his face. 

The atmospheric pilots get it a lot easier, I hear their machines are a couple times less in force compared to our ones. Marcus shook his head as he caught sight of someone approaching him with a holo-tablet.

A woman in a neat dark blue military uniform walked up, she tapped and scrolled with her fingers on the tablet as various green lights appeared outwards. 

"You passed the final exam, congratulations, Mr. Marcus of class 578, you're going to be a space-ship pilot." Arianna, the head of the academy, and officiator of the exams was the giver of the good news, she warmly smiled as she saw Marcus's expression light up.

"No way... what about me throwing up?" He scratched his head in slight embarrassment.

"Everyone does upon encountering the forces in the centrifuge, it doesn't fail you in the slightest, the only failing circumstance is if you fall unconscious." She explained, enlightening Marcus, who at this moment, knew he had actually passed.

I'm... I'm going to become a pilot! He inwardly exclaimed in joy. 

"I've got to leave you now, as there's still a hundred more students to examine, however I will see you all tomorrow on graduation day." A nod as she immediately walked off.

What a commanding presence... As expected of the head of the pilot academy. 

He proceeded to walk off, his unease vanishing off of him, replaced by a deep sense of joy, he also wondered which academy friends of his would pass too, either way, he would see them at graduation. 

His steps carried him out of the control centre and into the fresh air of the campus. He peered upwards as pristine white spires carried themselves into the sky, distant ships floated skyward and around these spires, making them look like bees flying near a hive.

Trees swayed in the breeze as he went down a paved path, seeing many people pass by with stress etched on their face, tapping away at their holo-tablets

Studying at this institute was always a nightmare, I feel bad for these fellow strugglers, at least I'm free of it now. He shook his head as he passed other students. 

His glare landed on the large fountain in the middle of the campus grounds, a statue presented itself majestically on an island in the middle, the indomitable stone figure made a gesture of cupping his ear, as if getting information from the heavens. 

It depicted the founder of the Congregation of Earth, Lord-President Samuel, receiving the warnings from that great being, as everyone else did on that day in 2040, and would as such use it to create a united Earth just 15 years later. 

What an insane individual, to unite a warring collection of countries that for it's entire history have been split, through the mere words and warnings of some odd existence, but I'll be next up, one hundred percent. A man capable of rivalling him. Marcus inwardly hoped. 

He scratched his head, finally deciding with some deliberation to use the campus transport system, the 'Personalised transport field'. He pulled his holo-tablet out from his pocket, it was only a tiny stick projector.

He clicked a button as it turned on, a flat projection emanating out from the stick in the shape of a rectangle. He scrolled through, clicking the option for campus transport. In an instant, he felt his shoes gain a slight weight, yet he was now a couple of centimetres off of the ground.

Marcus kicked off with his feet, floating swiftly across the path as if the rules of gravity and friction didn't apply to him, the only reason he hesitated using this, was that it always looked embarrassing.

He had to make motions with his feet to gain momentum, as if he was ice skating across the ground.

I wish it wasn't but the transport on campus is like this for a reason, it mimics the emergency movement system when a pilot is out of his ship in space if the thrusters on his spacesuit failed. Marcus grumbled inwardly.

Everything here was designed to prepare you for your interstellar career.

With the technology allowing him to glide across the path, he quickly reached his accommodations on campus, walking up the stairs to floor four of the complex, he pressed his fingerprint against an unassuming room door, it slid soundlessly open.

He walked into the bare and basic room, it contained a bathroom with a shower and toilet, although the shower and sink were in the same spot, the only separate space was the toilet, with the room itself not being big enough to move around in.

Marcus sat on the edge of his one-person bed, staring at the white wall in front of him, before a notification suddenly popped up on his holo-tablet, he got it out to read:

"To Mr. Marcus Debecross,

Congratulations Candidate 23452 of class 586, with your brilliant final exam results, you are now on course to become the best of the best amongst our pilots, in whichever space branch you choose to pick. 

As a result, you are formally invited and must attend the Graduation event tomorrow, at 3 PM, where our passing candidates will each come up and give a speech, amongst a crowd of visitors and proud lecturers, about which branch they will be choosing. Whether it be the Interplanetary Defence Force, the Pilot Reserve Corps, or the Stellar Enforcement Agency, we welcome our graduates to sing their choices loud and proud in front of their friends and family. 

Our best regards,

Centralis Pilot's Academy"

I can't believe it, I've really passed, I'm a Centralis Academy graduate. 

Centralis was the new capital city of Earth, and by extension, the Congregation, meaning the pilot school here was in leagues of it's own, the top of the crop within all of Earth and it's dominions. 

It's a pretty tough choice for us graduates because both the Enforcement Agency and Interplanetary Defence Force are fantastic career options, with the Reserve Corps obviously being the Reserve Corps. Marcus mentally pictured himself in a neat uniform.

The Interplanetary Defence Force, it's abbreviation being the IPDF, defended the orbit and surrounding area of each planet, they included varied fleets of large to medium star ships you could take command of, but the aim was always to be a fighter pilot, the most glamorous job imaginable for our occupation. Marcus continued to note.

Not only that, but the stellar enforcement agency could be an even better choice, it essentially acted as a space police force, patrolling travel routes in-between planets for smugglers and space pirates, anything of that nature. 

The Pilot Reserve Corps was the joke of the systems, you were deemed either a fence sitter or simply a lazy bastard if you chose this, although people would never say it directly, only behind your back.

They sat, doing nothing planet-side, only being used in case of pilot shortages elsewhere.

He then peered down at a fine print, an incredibly small piece of text at the bottom of the hologram. 

"You may also announce your intention on becoming a Spacer, however special circumstances will surround this." It said simply.

The Spacers were considered mad, rare, and heroic existences of the Earth Conglomerate respectively, people who would gather a crew and venture out into the depths of unexplored space to find 'him'. 

The chances of returning were incredibly rare, and if people ever did, you could find on the internet incidents where many people died involving the return, whether it be these mutations on a person that would have a mind of it's own, or some strange virus being released on a hanger deck. 

Marcus's heart pounded as he read this, he clenched the stick projector of his holo-tablet tightly.

I'm going to become a Spacer tomorrow. He internalised with excitement.

He proceeded to close the notification, opting to go on the internet for a bit before starting to pack up the things in his accommodation, as it was his last day and night spent in the campus.

Two years here, but I've finally made it, I'll be back with my family for a bit too... He nodded his head in hope.

On a website, he found an article from the day of happening, 2040. The event was marked all around the world.

A being had descended to Earth, his presence too bright to observe directly, as if it was the sun, it spoke with a male voice, which is the reason why 'he' was addressed as such, and whenever he did speak, it echoed in the minds of everyone on the globe as if they were people's own thoughts. 

 Thus, he warned everyone.

"Find me amongst the stars, or existence will fold, you have a suitable amount of years to prepare." Were the simple words exchanged the world over, yet the terror they caused. Riots, looting and mass hysteria, eventually paving the way for a new order, the Congregation.

Now the events after had been declassified, it told of the being suddenly disappearing in a flash of brilliant light on the spot, and that everyone in the interrogation room they brought him to had 'felt' him ascend upwards into the sky. However he had also left something.

A pile of sparkling, blue-reddish powder. The 'Stardust', rather simply named could supposedly bestow onto someone supernatural powers when snorted or eaten, however information regarding this was kept close to the chest of the government.

Perhaps it was the corpse of this existence that had descended? Marcus questioned.

Only high-ranking military officials and figures could have a chance at consuming it, due to it's limited nature, with only one pile being produced by the entity's disappearance.

Though there was one exception.

Any Spacer and their crew had the right to have it upon qualifying due to their risky circumstances and lofty goal. 

He kicked his feet as a wide smile appeared on his face.

"I'm going to become a Star Born!" Marcus proudly announced to no one in his room.

The Star Born were designated as those who had consumed the dust and manifested abilities, once again, only a few public Star Born existed, including the current Lord-President, as well as some high level officials, who chose to disclose some small details of their powers of their own volition.

Once his excited thoughts had come to a close, he had decided to put away his tablet, instead focusing on moving various items of his into boxes to prepare for the moving out tomorrow.

This ate into his time and when it got to him wanting to stop it was already dark, so he had decided to go to sleep, diving into his crunchy and uncomfortable one person bed.

I'm not going to miss this bed. He criticised inwardly. His eyes closed as he ended this eventful day.

Morning light did not reach Marcus's room as there were no windows to be found in his dorm, however his alarm soon notified him of the time needed to wake up, blaring annoyingly until he finally decided to hover his hand over it to stop it. 

He got out of bed groggily. I'm glad this is the last time having to experience this alarm and routine, but I'm definitely going to have nightmares about it in the future. He scratched his head in annoyance as he made his way to his boxes.

Marcus woke up at an early time even though his graduation was in the later afternoon in order to finish packing his things up, he also planned to meet one of his friends he had made in the academy beforehand to chat about whether he'd passed and their respective futures. 

The man's steps quickened as he rushed around, as everything was dumped in the boxes and wrapped up, being done within the hour, and with nothing else to do, he went into the shower, hitting his head a couple of times in the bathroom, which was usual for Marcus.

For the best academy in the worlds, you'd think they could afford higher ceilings. He lampooned inwardly.

His shower was short-lived, as the accommodation's water had been cut off, since he technically no longer lived in that dorm, it was a means of cost-effectiveness, water was increasingly more expensive on Earth after all.

I heard of plentiful amounts of water on Europa, so much so that there's a joke the water there pays for you to drink it, what a dream. Marcus thought as he wiped himself dry with the towel and begun a shave. 

He just turned 19, so his face was still a little rounded out, but when he had grown a small beard before around a year back, it looked incredibly weird on his young face, so he'd always ensure he shaved every morning from that point forwards. 

Marcus had completed his routine by the time the clock struck 12, he knew this from the overt and loud sound that always emanated from every speaker in the campus at that time, it'd always blurt out something like "Enjoy your lunch!".

He mixed in the terrible memories with the fond, as he was about to step out of his dorm for the last time, a stand out memory from his time here was when he threw up on his floor when drinking too much with his friends, and since it got into the dorm's carpet he had to cut an entire hole out of the floor with a knife. 

The accommodation department never went in to check the room after the event fortunately, but they'll definitely bill me when they find out.

Carrying a few boxes piled up high, Marcus skilfully opened the door whilst balancing the weight of the towering boxes. An attendant of the academy was already waiting for him outside his dorm.

"Congratulations Mr. Marcus, let me take those for you, we'll return them to your family so that you and them can meet in the graduation without hassle, as you know, it's tradition not to see them until the ceremony, so I hope you can hold out." The attendant gracefully nodded, before taking the boxes, which were seemingly light work for her as she already went down the hall with them. 

"Ah, thank you!" He called down to her, she'd respond with a wave without looking.

The Academy always has weird focuses when they wanted to be frugal, we have butlers who help us move out but coffin-like bathrooms. 

Marcus lamented over his past two years of Academy, but nonetheless carried on through the hallways of the accommodation.

He quickly exited the building back onto the wide spanning campus, where the towering bone white and sleek spires as well as the entire cityscape of Centralis surrounded the Academy like a wall. 

Hesitating before scrolling through his holo-tablet, he enabled the personalised campus transport once more, his boots growing a little heavier as he floated off the ground.

He motioned forwards with his legs, gliding towards the Campus café which was on the opposite side of the colossal fountain and statue at the centre of Campus grounds to the accommodation block. 

Marcus quickly approached, and with his skilful manoeuvring weaved by other 'skaters', a derogatory term used by students for people who overused this transport system, or used it at all. 

The young man heard booming laughter erupt from the outside seating area of the café upon approach. 

There, at the source of laughter, sat Linus, a fellow friend of his, one who had witnessed the carpet incident, in hysterics. 

He disabled the boots with a grumble and a swipe at his tablet, storming over.

"What's so funny." Marcus narrowed his eyes. 

"I never pictured you as a skater." Linus spat through his giggles. 

Him and Linus were prominent 'walkers' on the campus, the other side of the coin, they'd constantly laugh at the ones using campus transport fields. I suppose it's deserved. Marcus criticised himself in his thoughts.

"It's the last day, I figured I should live a little, see how the other side cope." A smirk appeared on his face. 

It was the truth though, I really don't like skaters, it just seemed appropriate to try for the only time ever, hopefully, unless I'm stuck out in space. Marcus attempted to cast away any jinxes. 

"Uh huh, sure, in any case I wasn't expecting you to 'skate' over here so fast, so the Coffees you asked me to get have yet to arrive, do you think you can wait long enough before floating off?" Linus constantly cracked jokes regarding his friend's use of the 'skates', much to Marcus's discontent.

"Should I tell campus staff about that escort you snuck into your dorm some months ago?" Marcus snidely stated.

His friend now sitting across the small metal table from him instantly froze up, scratching his head.

"Welcome to the café, fellow walker and buddy!" Linus politely grinned as he spoke.

"Mhm, anyways, you excited for graduation?" They'd already exchanged the fact they passed on tablet messaging with each other. 

"Uh, of course I am, it's my first ladder to becoming a System-Class Admiral!" 

Once you reached the most prestigious office of admiralty, your rank from then on decided the size of fleet you commanded, those who lead small fleets were Moon-Class Admirals, you have Planet-Class Admirals a stage higher, and Star-Class Admirals of course have colossal fleets, but it's the System-Class Admiral, only a couple, who presides over the capital fleet of their respective system, as well as the four space branches as a whole within their system jurisdiction.

"In your dreams, the only ladder you're on is to get chlamydia." Marcus's comments would have led to Linus spitting out his drink if it had arrived yet. 

"You should apply to be a motivational speaker instead, you're really inspiring." Linus stated ironically, a scowl on his face.

Their coffee had finally arrived, and amongst the chatters of the crowd around them, they'd begin talking about small details of what they'd do when arriving at the graduation.

"So what branch are you deciding on?" Marcus queried, hoping inwardly that he'd say the Reserve Corps so that he could be the butt of the next jokes he had. 

"Interplanetary Defence Force, of course, that's the best ticket to Admiral, I'll take command of a decent ship, earn my place and rise in ranks easily, then I'll become a star born and be able to blow stuff up with my mind." Linus's long drivel was coming from delusion at this point. 

"You barely passed the theory exams, you're a good jokester." Marcus smiled at his friend's preposterous claims, as he took a sip of the steaming coffee.

"What about you?" Linus's response sent Marcus into a state of introspection.

Should I tell him now? No, I'll leave it as a surprise.

"I'm on the fence about it to be honest, not sure yet." He'd make up an excuse not to say on the spot.

"So the Reserve Corps?" Linus looks like he was about to burst out laughing.

"No, no, the Enforcement or Defence force, either suits me." Marcus quickly shot the reserve accusations down. 

"It's bad not knowing on graduation day, are you going to make the choice as you come up, that's brave." He'd joke, but Marcus knew that the answer he would give would be even worse then that. 

"Yeah, something like that." He would respond, their conversation soon wrapped up as time passed by, 3 PM approached swiftly, and Marcus and his friend would exit the café.

Marcus scanned the developing crowd outside of the campus auditorium, where the graduation ceremony was set to take place, opting to walk instead of using the transport field. 

Too many people, don't want that to be my last impression on this campus...

Linus sighed deeply at the length of the line in, however it was expected, over 500 people were graduating today at the most prestigious Pilot's school on Earth. 

Everyone eventually filed in, the two walked in on the great hall, the roof reaching far above their heads, with various skylights that flooded in a warm brightness to the room.

"Marcus!" A mature female voice called out amongst the crowds finding their places to sit. 

"Mom!" He grinned as he saw the familiar sight of his family, walking over briskly to greet them. 

There were sat 4 people, his father, mother, younger brother and aunt, all were incredibly ecstatic to see him.

They seldom saw him, only once a week at most over the years he was on Campus, as it was an incredibly far trip from the other side of Centralis to make it over. 

"Congratulations son, you can't even fathom how proud I am of you." The former military man that his father was spoke, getting up to give him a tight hug, a burly voice filling Marcus's soul with both confidence and pride. 

"Thank you so much, you got me here by paying for it, I'm in all of your debts." Marcus exuded with gratitude, he took a seat in the reserved spot for his family, next to his little brother.

"So you're gonna be out at space huh." His little brother, Isaac, who was 12, said with a glint in his eye.

"I sure am, maybe you'll follow me out one day, we can fight off the threats in Earth's orbit, that'd be cool." Marcus reassured him, the boy nodded excitedly.

"Stop putting such ideas in the boy's head, we don't need two of you late to dinner everyday because you're too busy on Mars or something." Marcus's mother, Catelyn grumbled.

"Of course, of course." Marcus admitted defeat in trying to convince his brother to go to space.

"May everyone please stand for the arrival of the head of Centralis Academy, Miss Arianna." A speaker went up to the podium to announce.

Collectively, everyone stood, staring out as a distinguished woman entered onto the stage with a flowing head of crow black hair. 

"I'd like to thank all of you for being here, and most importantly, would be honoured to express my pride here today for all of our students, no, pilots here who have passed at our great institute." She expressed passion with every word that passed through her lips.

"Now, without further ado, we ought to begin the graduation ceremony post-haste, please wait for your name to be called up, I'll shake your hand and give you your passing stellar certificate, you'll then be able to make a short speech and announce your option, and we'll try to make that happen for you." She stated with a smile on her face. 

A stellar certificate marked being able to fly a space-ship, it was the cherished item of any pilot, as it was what made them. 

"Mister Areal Sinclair, please come up." She said with a gentle, but firm voice.

The nervous looking young man quickly walked up to the stage, announced he was joining the Stellar Enforcement Agency, and walked down, people applauded in response.

"Mister Jarel Lambeau, please come up." 

The more stalwart looking man, already grizzled for his age clambered on up, reaching for his certificate, he shook hands and begun his speech, exclaiming his thanks to his parents and that he was joining the Interplanetary Defence Force. He was followed by a large applause.

"Mister Tyler Evans, please come up." 

An even more nervous looking man sauntered to the stage, whilst shaking he limply shook the head's hand, and didn't even do an introduction speech before giving out his choice. 

"Reserve Corps." He said, almost stuttering.

A less intense applause this time, and a few snickers within the crowd, Marcus would shake his head.

Some of these upstart students, it's not right at all to make fun of people on their special day.

This process of calling people up happened 50 or more times until.

"Mister Marcus Debecross, please come up." The head stated neutrally.

"Walking in the military footsteps of your pa, I'm proud." His father put his hand on Marcus's shoulder, he nodded, proceeding to stand up, slowly making his way to the stage, Linus grinned at him on his way past, and he shot his friend a sneaky middle finger.

He took the steps up onto the grand stage, overlooking the auditorium filled with people, a tinge of nervousness in him as he approached the head of the academy, Arianna. 

"Congratulations." She said with a small grin. 

"Thank you so much." Marcus nodded in acknowledgement, being handed the certificate, he'd walk up to the podium, full of anticipation, but also a similar amount of worry for how everyone would react.

What he was about to say wasn't anything to scoff at.

"I just want to thank my parents for supporting me through this long and winding road, in the two years I've been here, and everything I've done and will do, I still have them being the ones who raised me to have the characteristics required to get through this hard-fought and prestigious academy." 

"Nonetheless, I've always had an interest in exploring the cosmos, and the far hanging jewels above us, which is why for my branch decision..." He trailed off for a second, wrapping his fingers around the wooden podium.

"I've decided to become a Spacer." His words rang out and echoed in the encompassing auditorium.

There was no applause that followed, just pure silence and open jaws, everyone was speechless. 

He looked towards his parents, his father's face a scowl, tears welled up in his mother's eyes.