All Chapters of MICHAEL SULLIVAN: NEW DYNASTY : Chapter 151
- Chapter 160
177 chapters
XVIII
The Evaluation Hall was massive, designed to hold the entire student body of Star Academy. Stadium seating rose up in curved tiers around a central stage where Professor Kane and the evaluation committee sat behind a long table. The Beacon's rankings were projected on enormous screens all around the room, numbers constantly shifting and updating as students entered and found their seats.Carter walked in and the noise level dropped. Just for a second. Then it rose again, louder than before. Laughter rippled through the crowd. Whispers spread like wildfire. Phones came out everywhere, hundreds of them, all pointed at him.He found a seat in the back corner, as far from the stage as possible. Sebastian sat next to him without being asked, his jaw set tight. He glared at anyone who looked their way too long or pointed their phone in Carter's direction.The Unity Collective was in the front row, all sitting together. Amaya glanced back over her shoulder, caught Carter's eye, and waved. Ac
XIV
Carter woke to sterile white walls and the smell of antiseptic. His head was pounding but the pain was distant, muffled by medication. An IV was in his arm, taped down with medical gauze. The room was small and private. A hospital room.Dr. Mora sat in a chair beside his bed, watching him with those cold eyes. She looked exactly the same as always. Professional. Detached. Like Carter was a specimen to observe rather than a person."You're awake," she said. Not a question, just an observation. "Good. We need to talk."Carter tried to sit up. His body protested, muscles weak and uncoordinated, but he managed it. The IV pulled slightly and sent a sharp sting through his arm. "Where's Reginald?""He wanted to come personally but academy policy forbids family visits during active sessions unless there's a medical emergency requiring parental consent. I'm here as the Grace family's personal physician, which the academy permits." She stood and walked to the window. "Your Protocol crashed. Co
XX
Carter woke in the medical center alone. The antiseptic smell was still there but Dr. Mora was gone. On the small table beside his bed sat discharge papers and a handwritten note on expensive stationery."Three months. Don't waste them."Carter folded the note and shoved it in his pocket. His body still ached but the medication had worn off enough that he could think clearly. The IV was out, leaving just a small bandage on his arm.The Protocol booted up. Not the glitchy, stuttering version from before. This was smooth, responsive, like it had been rebuilt from the ground up. A notification appeared immediately.SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETE. ALL FUNCTIONS RESTORED. POWER POINT SELECTION PENDING.The four options appeared in his vision, each one with detailed descriptions he hadn't seen before.NEURO SURGE: Enhanced cognitive processing and tactical analysis. Allows rapid evaluation of complex social situations and identification of optimal strategies. Duration: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 2 hours.
XXI
Carter woke at seven AM to Tyler doing pullups on the bunk frame. The entire structure shook with each rep. Nobody else seemed bothered. This was apparently normal.The bathroom situation was exactly as bad as he'd feared. One toilet, one sink, one shower. Eight people. A schedule was taped to the wall but someone had drawn over it with marker.Carter waited twenty minutes for his turn. When he finally got in, the shower had weak pressure and the temperature swung between freezing and scalding every thirty seconds. He was in and out in under two minutes.When he came back, Omar was awake, dressed, sitting on his bed with that same book. Military strategy, Carter could see now. Sun Tzu's Art of War."Morning," Omar said without looking up.Carter nodded."You’ve got class in an hour. Kane’s the lecturer, and you know how he gets. Don’t be late; he enjoys humiliating people he already dislikes," Omar said."Thanks," Carter said in a dry tone. "There's a breakfast hall downstairs. Food
XXII
Carter woke the next morning to chaos. Not in his room but outside. Shouting. Running. The sound of hundreds of students all reacting to something at once.It was six AM. Way too early for this much noise.Tyler was already at the window. "Holy shit. Someone hit The Beacon."Demo sat up in his bunk. "What?""The Beacon. Someone vandalized it. There's paint everywhere."The whole room rushed to the window except Kevin, who was still asleep in his gaming chair with his headphones on.Carter looked out. Even from here, blocks away, he could see The Beacon. The massive fifty foot LED tower that displayed real time rankings for every student. It was the heart of the academy. The physical manifestation of everything Star Academy stood for.And someone had covered it in graffiti.The Protocol activated automatically, pulling in social media feeds, analyzing the situation.CAMPUS WIDE INCIDENT. SECURITY BREACH. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO PROTECTED STRUCTURE.Demo was already getting dressed. "We
XXIII
Carter woke at five thirty AM. The room was quiet for once. Most of his roommates were actually asleep. Even Tyler wasn't exercising yet.He got dressed silently and slipped out. The Bronze dorm hallways were empty, dark. The building felt different without the usual chaos of students everywhere.The gym was in the basement level. Old equipment, worn mats, weights that didn't match. This was where Bronze students came when they couldn't afford the better facilities.Carter pushed open the door. The lights were already on. Someone was waiting.A girl sat on a weight bench, laptop open beside her, surrounded by electronics Carter didn't recognize. She looked up when he entered.Asian features, maybe nineteen or twenty. Dark circles under her eyes like she hadn't slept properly in weeks. Messy hair pulled into a ponytail. She wore a hoodie with circuit board patterns and ripped jeans.The Protocol identified her immediately.ISLA CHEN. REP: 1,800. CLASS: BRONZE. CONTENT FOCUS: TECH REVIE
XXIV
Carter spent the next day preparing. Or trying to prepare. The problem was he had no idea how to apologize sincerely when he didn't fully understand what he'd done wrong in the first place.He'd rejected Felix's help. That was clear. But the emotions behind it, the fear and distrust that made him lash out, those were harder to explain without revealing too much about Amaya's betrayal and his own paranoia.The Protocol offered scripted responses, phrases designed for maximum emotional impact. Carter ignored them. If he was going to do this, it had to be genuine. Felix would see through a performance.That morning's Bronze class was Economics of Influence taught by Professor Reeves, a tired looking woman in her fifties who seemed genuinely interested in helping Bronze students succeed. It was a dramatic contrast to Kane."Social capital," she explained, writing on an actual whiteboard instead of using fancy tech, "is the currency of Star Academy. Your relationships, your reputation, you
XXV
The sound of fists hammering against the door jolted Carter awake at five AM. The whole room groaned."Grace, get up," Isla called through the door. "We're filming in twenty minutes."Demo threw a shoe at the door and said, "Some of us are trying to sleep.""Some of us are trying to survive," Isla shot back through the door. "Owen, now."Carter dragged himself out of bed. Tyler was already awake doing pushups. Omar was reading by the dim light from the window. Everyone else was still trying to sleep.He got dressed and stumbled out. Isla was in the hallway with professional camera equipment that must have cost more than Carter's entire life."Where did you get that?" Carter asked."Bought it back when I was Silver and had money," Isla said. "Never gave it up even after I fell." She checked settings on the camera. "Felix is meeting us at the Bronze cafeteria. We're filming your morning routine. Authentic documentation of Bronze life."They headed downstairs. Felix was already there, al
XXVI
Carter woke to Demo shaking his shoulder urgently.“Grace. Wake up. Something happened,” Demo said, still gripping his arm.Carter sat up, blinking against the early light. “What?” he asked.“Security swept Bronze dorms last night,” Demo said. “They were looking for evidence about the Beacon vandalism. Took some students’ computers, phones, equipment.”Carter pushed off the blanket and sat straighter. “Did they take anything from our room?” he asked.“No,” Demo said, stepping back. “But they took Isla Chen’s entire setup. Cameras, laptop, hard drives. Everything.”Carter’s stomach turned. All their footage, the entire day of filming, was gone. He reached for his phone and called Isla.She answered on the first ring. “They took everything,” Isla said. “Every piece of equipment I owned. They said it was part of their investigation into the vandalism.”“But we weren’t involved in that,” Carter said.“They don’t care,” Isla said. “They’re using it as an excuse to shut down anyone creating
XXVII
Carter sat on the cold bathroom floor, his back pressed against the tiled wall. The stall door was locked and his phone was clutched in his sweaty hands. He had been hiding here for twenty minutes, working up the nerve to make this call.The bathroom was empty. Most Bronze students were at lunch or in class. Carter had skipped both. He needed to hear Elena's voice. Needed to know that Eli was okay. Needed some reminder that there was a world outside this academy where people actually gave a damn about him.He stared at Elena's contact for a long moment before finally pressing call.The phone rang once. Twice. Three times.Carter's stomach twisted. What if she didn't answer? What if something had happened?Then the line clicked. "Carter?" Elena's voice was thick and raw, like she had been crying for hours.Carter sat up straighter. "El? What's wrong? Are you okay? Is Eli okay?"There was a pause. Then Elena let out a sound that was half sob, half laugh. "You finally called. I've been t