When Reality Hits

[Morning Briefing – Project Earth Academy Dome]

A thunderous chime rang through the main dome — hundreds of cadets stood at attention beneath the glimmering lights of the high-tech ceiling. Holograms pulsed above their heads, displaying scrolling text and instructor commands.

Then came the announcement — direct and cold:

“Today, all first-year candidates will be sent on supervised real-world simulations. Each team will face a randomized threat scenario. Success will move you forward. Failure returns you to training.”

A ripple of tension passed through the room.

Team assignments flickered on digital panels — and once again, Zeno found himself paired with Calen, Lana, Mira, and Darian.

Coincidence?

He doubted it.

[Transition – Simulation Field: Outskirts of the City]

A hover-shuttle cut across the skyline and descended into an abandoned stretch of Earth City — a forgotten zone where buildings stood cracked and power lines drooped like dead veins. The wind moaned through the ruins. The ground was layered in ash and silence.

They stepped out, boots hitting the crumbling pavement.

Above, a small camera drone hovered silently — blinking red.

Their mission flashed on-screen:

Objective: Evacuate any civilians. Neutralize active threats. Time limit: 45 minutes.

No instructors. No support. Only eyes watching from afar.

[The Calm Before the Storm]

They swept through the empty street in formation.

Mira checked windows with sharp sweeps of water. Darian scanned seismic readings. Calen muttered jokes under his breath to calm his nerves. Lana lit her fingertips to check for heat signatures.

Zeno trailed behind, silent. But his skin itched. A pulse ran through his bones — not from Earth, but from Nemesis.

Something’s coming...

He pushed the feeling down.

Inside an old grocery store, they found a frightened family huddled beneath shattered shelves. Mira immediately stepped forward, calming them with a wave of cool mist. Darian motioned the exit route.

Then...

The lights blinked.

The air grew thin.

A sound — like clicking teeth — echoed overhead.

[Sudden Attack – Drainer Ambush]

They fell from the sky like shadows.

Drainers.

Insectoid horrors, with twitching tendrils and long, segmented bodies. They latched onto power poles and walls, sucking the energy from every source — including people.

The city dimmed.

Sparks exploded from wires.

And an electrical pulse cracked through the air, dropping some cadets to their knees.

Zeno barely stood, hands shaking. The civilians convulsed in place — frozen by invisible drain tendrils. Their energy was being siphoned, their very life fading.

“Engage!” Lana shouted, hurling fireballs skyward.

Calen sent bolts of lightning upward, but his blasts flickered, warped by the Drainers' interference.

“Too much static!” Calen yelled. “They’re absorbing the field!”

Mira called out, “Cover me!” and summoned a dense fog across the street, shielding the group from visual contact. Darian raised a jagged stone wall around the civilians, shielding them completely.

Zeno exhaled. His eyes narrowed.

He didn’t strike wildly.

He aimed.

A concentrated burst of air pressure launched upward, hitting one Drainer between its twitching eyes. Another gust swept the second to the ground, where Lana blasted it clean.

Mira caught it — that surgical precision again. It wasn’t flashy.

But it was terrifyingly efficient.

[Surprise Twist – The Evolved Drainer]

Then, the air changed.

Something heavier landed behind them — with a wet crunch.

An Evolved Drainer crawled into view. Its skin glowed faint red, warped by a pulsing core of corrupted Nemesis crystal embedded in its chest. Tendrils pulsed not just with power, but with emotion.

Fear. Hallucination. Paralysis.

The team staggered.

Lana screamed — seeing fire where there was none.

Calen fell to one knee — voices whispering in his head.

Mira gasped — the ground rippling like waves.

Darian froze — staring into a vision only he could see.

And Zeno…

“Zenoro…”

“Come home…”

The whisper came from inside. From Nemesis. His vision cracked — his past bleeding through.

But he clenched his fists and shattered the illusion.

A flicker of his soul manipulation sparked from within — invisible, but powerful — just enough to break the psychic link.

“Airwave disruption,” he lied calmly. “Snapped you all out. Let’s move.”

[Final Coordination – United Strike]

Zeno called the shots.

“Mira — trap it.”

“On it,” she said, forming a rising sphere of water that wrapped the beast.

“Lana — boil it.”

“Gladly,” she grinned, fire dancing into the sphere, bubbling the water violently.

“Darian — hit center mass.”

Spears of concrete ripped from the earth and struck the beast's sides, pinning it in.

“Calen — now!”

Lightning surged through the water sphere — a living cage of destruction.

The beast shrieked, but didn’t fall.

Zeno stepped forward. Silent.

He gathered the wind into a spiral inside his palm — precise, invisible.

Then with a small, almost unimpressive punch, he struck the air in front of the monster.

A hole formed in its chest — imploded from the inside.

The monster collapsed. Twitching. Dead.

[Aftermath – Mission Complete]

The civilians stood unharmed.

The city remained intact.

A final scan from the hovering drone lit up green.

“Threat neutralized. Mission success.”

The team sat back, breathing hard — the closest they'd ever felt to something real.

But far above… they were being watched.

[Rooftop – Hidden Observer]

A cloaked figure crouched on a high rooftop, completely motionless.

Red sensor eyes glowed beneath the hood.

It tilted its head, scanning Zeno through layers of stone and static.

A Nemesis scout.

It vanished in silence.

[Final Scene – Project Earth HQ]

Inside the observation chamber, Colton Briggs stood over the holoscreen, watching slow-motion footage of Zeno’s final move.

“That one… Zeno Carter. His movement doesn’t match any known Earth-style technique.”

Another veteran leaned forward, scanning the data.

“Let’s invite them to the Hero Trials.”

Colton crossed his arms. His voice low, calculating.

“Let’s see what secrets these kids are hiding.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

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