I slept through the night in the infirmary and awoke in the wee hours of the morning. I had left the room and avoided the problem of my brother and his wounded companion.

I tried to get out of the infirmary quickly and get to the place where my companions were. The lights were out, and I had time to get to my room; however, as they walked down the hallways. The light bulbs came back on.

The cameras focused on me a little. The flashing red button kept pointing at me. At that moment I didn't care anymore, I walked away as if nothing happened, but I saw some lieutenants standing around. When they saw me, they spoke to me.

"What are you doing out of your room cadet?"

"Ah... I was just going to the infirmary."

"Never mind. You and all cadets are to receive a briefing. Come with us, young Nick."

My name was in a pocket of my shirt. I felt a little funny, I wanted to go take a shower, but with those men they wouldn't let me, I couldn't say anything. I just followed them to the airstrip, I didn't know what to say to them, so they wouldn't follow me anymore.

[...]

At seven o'clock in the morning I saw dozens of cadets and pilots with their crew already confirmed. They were not all there on the first day. I felt nervous, I didn't know what they would say to me, but I decided to stop hesitating, thinking so much and just try to listen to what the general in charge was saying.

"Good morning. Yesterday there was a test to measure the new cadets and see how capable they are. We noticed that there was some sort of anomaly with one student. This was reviewed overnight, and it was concluded that he should be promoted to second level cadet. He will have the same duties as the others, only he will be in special training for two weeks to bring him up to the standards and duties that someone a cadet of that rank has.

I didn't like what I heard at all, it was too much pressure, and it would cause me problems with the rest of my classmates, more than I had for standing out earlier in the bomb incident, plus I didn't even have full fingers.

"Well, not to make this historic moment any more dramatic, the cadet who performed well in the tests was Nick Morgan, please come forward and stand at the front for the entire institution to meet him."

It was not very exciting to hear that, I felt a little nervous, I knew that nobody liked me to be promoted as a second level cadet. I felt one of the lieutenants in charge of us speak to me.

"Congratulations. You will be taken to your new mates. Just walk and follow the instructions the general gave you."

Slowly, I walked to where that man who spoke was standing. I saw him very sure of what he was doing and saying.

A lump feeling in my throat had me very sick. I was not used to being the center of attention anywhere. I just hoped they would treat me as their partner, and be more mature.

In front of everyone, I walked down the runway and was taken to a place to be explained how the process I would have to start would be.

[...]

I arrived in a room and a man was sitting, he was writing on a table. He had dozens of papers, and he didn't look very happy when he saw me appear. He was almost bald, he had only a few places with hair and his eyes were black, he also had a scar near his eyes.

"Ah... You're the new guy. The one who answered all the questions right. It's a little complicated what you did, but well, I'm just going to tell you two things. First, you should never have answered that right, I know what the environment is like at every cadet level and no one likes what you did, but you have to learn to live with yourself. That's the way of the world."

Simply put, they were supportive of the way their students were. I felt mocked, but being in front of someone so important, I couldn't say anything to him.

"Well, from now on, the two best second level students will help you. I think you are on their level, and maybe they are going to be the best cadets the academy ever had. They are already coming towards this place."

With my two fingers missing, I no longer had much reason to be happy here. I felt like a fool and thought to take this opportunity to take a ship and get out of this place; however, I saw that the two people who entered were the two ex-boyfriends.

Lucia and Jhon, the guy I was with days ago in the infirmary, entered the room. She looked a little cheerful, maybe because she felt she was in front of someone very important. I was worried about her attitude, my dad was right, she was a crazy fan. I just hoped she wasn't trying to do something to me if she found out who I was.

The other cadet, if he looked at me with some hatred, he looked very angry.

"Well, this is Lucia the second best second level cadet and Jhon the best cadet. They will explain  you the ones you have to do this first week, because the lieutenants are very busy with the new cadets."

"Sir, why are you giving it to us? There are people with better communicative skills, and I detest the new ones. It's too annoying to talk to someone who doesn't know half of what's going on here. It's a waste of time," commented Jhon.

The general became serious and could not stand that comment.

"Who gave you permission to talk? Do you know what's going on out there? Do you know that planets have disappeared? Do you know how much they demand from me to get the best cadets out of this damn country? Shut up and follow your mission, or I'll send you to sleep with the first level! Now the three of you get the hell out of my office and do what I told you!"

I felt a little bad hearing that. That wake-up call was harsh, but just as that man told us we had to get out of that office.

Jhon was furious and with an ugly gesture he spoke.

"You take care of him. Leave me out of this."

He put on a cap from his uniform and walked away from all of us.

Lucia didn't hesitate to respond after seeing what happened.

"Well, Nick, I'll take you up to your room, but we need to go get your uniform. Your old one doesn't need it, you're already a second level cadet."

He was acting like a normal person, not like that day he asked my dad to sign that book for him. I wanted to ask him why he admired him so much because curiosity.

"Tell me why do you admire the hero of the Lalan so much?"

"That... Ah, well it's just that the city where I grew up was one of those affected by the Ungeziefer, there were many children who were born because of those abuses, and you know how they ended up. Well, part of my family died because of those beings and the heroes of Lalan arrived there and killed all those creatures. I have some pictures of that moment and that's why I admire it so much, but that day I saw it." 

I noticed some concern, apparently he got a little scared. I felt a little embarrassed to hear her speak well of my father, it was something quite strange. It was the first time I was talking to someone who had seen him act like a hero, but for me, he was still the person who forced me to be unhappy. However, seeing Lucia's eyes I noticed a bit of anguish and I preferred not to keep asking, so I tried to change the subject.

"Ah... Well, how about now, how is your family?"

"Ah... Them? We went to live somewhere else, I decided to be a pilot and I aspire to be someone important like him. I know I will never achieve what he did, but I will be able to help people."

I noticed he changed the subject, and they sounded like he didn't know what to say to me. So I radically changed the conversation, and we continued chatting about the academy.

"So what about the academy?"

"Ah... It's complicated, most of the people who passed are rich kids. Jhon is too, all his knowledge was because he had to practice on ships and I helped him. You should follow your classmates, but try not to stand out too much, no one likes you going up. Even I worry about it."

His words made me feel a little tense, but he was right. If someone from one moment to the next appeared with knowledge superior to mine, I would be somewhat jealous.

[...]

We arrived at the place that would be my room. Apparently the people who would be my roommates were already there, but there were only 8 people and the place was much better than the one I was in.

It was painted white, and the floor was tiled, plus it had windows.

"In a little while I'll bring you your uniform, since my partner probably tried to damage it, avoid getting in trouble."

Sabrina walked away from this place slowly, somewhat worried, maybe about what might happen to me there. She was right, and They all looked at me with displeased faces, but nevertheless I walked towards where they were; however, one of the cadets did not hesitate to speak to me.

"Did you really solve that test and get that score, or did you cheat?"

"I know how to handle ships, and I know several models."

"Mmmm, I see, new cadet. It's just a warning. Don't try to move up any higher, or you'll be in trouble. Next week there will be a flight test. We'll all be made to fly an actual ship. You know, don't do anything weird."

He was the only one who spoke to me, the rest were silent. Apparently he was the leader of this group.

I walked over to my bed and laid down there, at least here no one would try to hit me or wet my bed. These cadets were normal.