CHAPTER 42: CH 42: GOOD LUCK.

"Welcome to either your last day as a Novus or your last day alive."

Aegon looked out to the side to see the teachers clustered at the entrances of the hall. Just standing. Just watching.

"It’s too late for me to give you a crash course on everything you were already supposed to know by now so I’ll give you the basics.

When that timer in the corner of your eye hits zero, you’ll all fall into an involuntary sleep and that’s when your trial begins.

It happens in your mind, yet its outcome is reality shattering.

One. The system mission— once you’re in the trial the system will give you a particular mission you have to overcome in order to escape.

The goal is to not get startled. Get to safety, understand the assignment and then follow through.

Do not waste your time praying for the Gods to save you. Here? You save yourself."

"Thank you, Principal Morwen." Mr Collins stepped forward, hands in his pocket as he approached the centre stage.

"You all saw the jets lined up outside, right? It’s yours. Unfortunately, when you fall asleep your bodies will have so much condensed Aether it’ll be impossible to move you.

You’ll be as heavy a black hole and if you all fail the trial and turn into anomalies then it’d be impossible to kill you all without casualties."

"Jesus, Collins!" Principal Morwen cursed due to his directness. "Don’t you have a less sadistic way of explaining things?"

"Hmmm." He shrugged. "Unfortunately, no I don’t. They already see the timer ticking at the corner of their eyes, so I don’t think hiding things would be the smartest right now."

She sighed, feeling helpless as she moved out of his way and let him continue.

Mr Collins eyes suddenly locked onto Aegon’s. "Some of you already have parents or siblings who’ve been through this before and I’m sorry to say this but their experience can’t help you—"

His tone dropped from detached to cold, "— every trial is different for every person.

The usual speech demands I tell you to try your best and be heroes but at the end of the day, I think you should try your best not to die.

The only personal advice I’ll actually give any of you is simple— write a goodbye letter to your family, now. Save them the heartache."

And with that he was gone. Just a last glance at Cara, his daughter, before leaving the hall.

"Alright, you have 10 minutes to pack your things before the jets take off to secure locations." The principal added before dismissing them.

*

Back in their dorm as they packed a few things into a duffel bag. Eli was actually busy scribbling what looked like a goodbye letter while Quinn just packed.

Aegon stole glances at him, unsure whether to write a letter to his stepmother who wasn’t his stepmother or just leave it be. Eventually, he decided not to, there was no point.

~Knock. Knock. Knock.~

He opened the door to Mr Collins. "Let’s take a walk."

*

The sun outside spilled gently across the horizon, brushing the sky with strokes of gold and soft rose. As if oblivious to everything happening.

"How ready are you?" Mr Collins broke the silence.

"Zero percent." Aegon answered honestly.

"Good." He continued. "Anyone who thinks they’re ready for a trial is wrong, you can only hope that the system goes easy on you."

Aegon laughed in response, having nothing else to say.

"What’s so funny?"

"Nothing. Just, you’re the type of person who’d teach someone how to breathe underwater by holding their head down until they breathe or just stopped kicking."

"Well, that’s... specific."

Principal Morwen’s voice echoed throughout the speakers "Everyone, report to the field. Immediately."

Aegon turned to leave just as Mr Collins grabbed him by the wrist. "Try not to die too quickly." Before letting him go.

All he could do was nod in response as he made his way for the field. Most of the Novuses were already there while the rest were still on their way.

Mirage stood in front of the Jets as he addressed them now. "Ten random Novuses per jet, don’t worry they’re more still on their way but we have to make sure these ones are gone now."

He made his first step forward just as someone locked fingers with his. He turned to see Claire— beaming from ear to ear.

Feeling a chill crawl up his spine he spoke with a stuttering voice. "What are you doing Claire?"

"Come on, baby." She said with all seriousness. "You don’t actually think I’d let you get on that jet alone. Without me." Her face twisted in disgust. "Or with one of those disgusting girls."

’Crazy psychotic bitch.’ He smiled. "Alright, let’s do this together."

They stepped onto the tarmac and then into the seats that lined either side. Soon after followed eight others, most he hadn’t seen before but only one a familiar sight.

Eli. Sat directly opposite him with a smile on his face and his back slumped like it was any other classroom chair.

He finally noticed Aegon, particularly, Claire as she molested his arm like personal space was a fictional word.

He pointed at her before giving Aegon a mischievous smile. Aegon could do nothing but mouth the words, "She’s fucking crazy."

The jet’s engine hummed to life and without ceremony they were now in the sky. Racing to God knows where in nothing but unfiltered silence.

*

After an hour or two of flying the place finally descended into what seemed like a desert. The tarmac dropped as they filed off into the scorching sun.

Nobody spoke. They just stood there, blinking against the heat haze, waiting for someone to tell them this wasn’t real.

Only a single building for miles and miles as the eyes could see, the pilot exited the plane too and guided them into the building.

Iron walls, plain and solid, stood against the sand. No grandeur, no mystery — just a structure built to last. The gate was heavy, the towers functional, and the courtyard inside offered shade from the sun.

The doors flew open as they proceeded inside to a barren hall. Nothing within apart from scattered figures in a suit that seemed all too familiar.

They were clad in a midnight black jumpsuit, blue inlays running along its sides and across her chest.

Aegon raised a brow. It was the same suit the lady who he first saw in this world wore, seems like it was a government official uniform.

Their conversations dialed down as they saw the students, they turned and just continued to stare before someone stepped forward.

A bully man, white hair and a similar moustache, scars that riddled his face and an expression that made children cry. He said, "How long do you all have left?"

He finally glanced back at the timer he’d been trying to avoid for so long.

[00:04:01... 00:04:00... 00:03:59... ]

"About four minutes." Aegon said to the man who nodded in response.

"Get comfortable." Another added. "This is where you’re going to fall asleep."

Yes, it was weird. But when he thought about it logically, it made all the sense in the world. They needed a place where the Novuses would go to sleep and not risk a global disaster if they turned into an anomaly.

They all just sat down as they watched the timer countdown to zero. Tears ran down a fews eyes, others prayed but the inevitability of the situation was suffocating.

So as he felt his eyelids get heavier and heavier, his eyes drowsy and his muscles weakened, he looked at the timer once more.

[ 00:00:03... 00:00:02... 00:00:01... 00:00:00...

Goodluck, Novus.]

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(Nebulas_Juli, Che_Rich, TrollyLolly_, Jared_Adams, Goddess_Azraelle - I see you. Thank you.)