Altered Cosmos

Chapter 16; Tron College

It’s been 2 days since Levi passed the entrance exam and arrived at the college grounds. Throughout the time, he brushed up on his Tron studies, caught up on his series and also got used to the new environment.

Besides MJ, Felix and Vivian, Levi never made an effort to meet others and converse, yet people always glance his way once they see his white hair.

On the next day, however, the campus announced the commencement of classes and the students were each given 5 identical uniforms which must be worn to classes. 

It’s 7:36am and Levi stares himself in the mirror. He glances between his corporate black shoes and matching his long black pants.

Then looks at his just over knee-length white jacket with slick blue designs on the buttons, collar, back and sleeves with a jet black shirt beneath and the campus logo on the left breast pocket.

He sighs as he adjusts his long sleeves and grabs his back-pack just as a loud bell sound rings through the room.

“Breakfast.” He mumbled as he walked out of his room and headed straight into the hallway which was partially filled with other students in identical uniforms with female uniform being a long white dress and the same jacket which was as high as their waist.

As Levi moves with some people, he feels those same stares again but shrugs it off as he approaches the large entrance on the other side of the elevator which lead up to a dining hall.

Several tables spread out as far as the room goes with a little stage at the other end and beautiful chandeliers illuminating the room.

Levi smiles a little at the beautiful interior design before noticing a happy group of friends at a table. He sighs happily and walks over to a quiet vacant table. 

“I wish my friends were here.” He grumbled as he drops his bag to the bench and sits, his mind travelling back to his friends on his home island.

“Yo.” Levi turns to see Felix approaching with a single book in his hand and his white bandana wrapped around his left sleeve with his jacket opened up to reveal his black shirt.

He slides into the bench and gives Levi a fist-bump. “You really need to meet people. This whole sitting alone thing is weird.”

Levi laughs as he rolls his eyes. “I’m more of lone wolf than a people person. Besides, in my hometown, I was basically everyone’s friend.” He shrugs and glances at another group of friends a table away. “It’s nice being unknown for once.”

“Hmph…unknown.” Felix grumbled sarcastically and Levi raises a brow at him just as the table surface opens, bringing out a platform of different food and beverages. “Finally.” Felix said with a hungry grin as he grabs a plate while Levi picks up a bottle of water.

Just then, the students gasped as the door beside the stage opens revealing an elderly grey-haired woman followed by three guards in Index security attire.

As she steps onto the stage, the lights in the room dims leaving only the stage light pointed to her. A small spherical object hovers in front of her mouth as she clears her throat.

“Good morning, S and A class, students. I hope your stay here has been favourable.” Her voice had a strong British accent and Levi whispers to Felix.

“Who’s that again?”

Felix takes another bite from his food before answering with eyes on the lady. “That’s Mrs Norman. She’s the head of the Southern Index Headquarters and our Chancellor. We had to write a report on her years ago in the academy.”

Levi nods and turns back to the lady as she continues. “In case you weren’t aware, all students here are among the elite…the best among the first years.” She takes a pause, eyes moving between students.

“This means that as much as attention and pride goes, you all have the best of it…”

Some of the students grinned and laughed with pride until Mrs Norman suddenly claps her hands, a wave of chills runs up their spines and silences the room instantly. 

“But this also means that you will go on the most brutal of missions. Missions that will have dire consequences on not just you but humanity as well." She pauses.

"I have confidence that there are those among you have the potential to turn this war against the Web around but for the rest of these three years of training, I want all of you to keep in mind that this training, what you’ll learn, is real.”

Mrs Norman turns to one of the guards and nods as she steps aside just as a hologram materializes on the stage. 

Levi’s eyes slowly widen when he recognises the navy blue expensive suit with a small Index medallion on the collar, a golden watch on his wrist, blonde hair and familiar smile.

He also had bright butter yellow eyes staring at the students.

“Good day to all of you, young soldiers.” The man said with a bold American accent and hands behind his back.

“For those of you that don’t know me. My name is Maxwell Griffon. I’m the current chairman of the Index. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” He said with a little bow while trons stared at him in shock with some completely astonished.

“I only have a word of encouragement for all of you.”

He lets out a weary sigh and began to slowly stroll on the stage. 

“I know most of you got are here because you think it’s better than the settlements. You had to abandon, no…you were pulled away from your families, passions, dreams…to fight a battle that doesn’t seem to end. To be part of this ridiculous squabble.”

He stops for a moment, letting the words and emotions sink into the audience before turning to them with a determined stare. 

“But I guarantee you that this mission is worth the cause. The Genesis wasn’t the beginning of the world’s destruction; it was the beginning of a new age. I completely and personally agree that our leaders’ actions in the past were wrong but right now, the ones who are wrong are the web."

"‘They’ are the agents seeking to destroy the world, to eradicate humanity with their technology influence…but we have a countermeasure, the perfect ‘Anti-Web’…” 

He points to the audience dramatically with a smile on his face. “Since you’re all here instead of living in the settlements, it means you’re ready to fight and luckily, you all possess the power that will destroy this evil.” He raises his hands to them with an encouraging expression on his face.

“We are finally close to eradicating this evil…closer than we’ve ever been… But without abled trons like you, our victory will only remain a long dream. So for you… for your family… for every human including those who died as a result of this evil…”

He clenches his fists tightly as tension suddenly fills the room. “Let’s work together and show these beasts of metal that we’re a race that overcomes all.” 

The trons suddenly shoot up with a rapturous applause and even Levi clenches his fist with a smile on his face. “That’s an insane speech.” Felix chuckled and Levi turns to him.

“But it fires you up, doesn’t it?” Felix locked eyes with Levi and plants a wide grin on his face.

“Do you have to ask?” Felix mumbled as he opens a palm, fire sparking on his skin.

“So from all of us in the Index Organization…” They both turned to Mr Griffon who stands beside Mrs Norman before both bowing in respect. “We look forward to working with you.”

Another set of applause fills the room and Mr Griffon nods before fading away, leaving only Mrs Norman on the stage.

“Thank you for your time and I hope your first training today goes well.” She said with a respectful nod before walking away, her guards following as the lights in the room regains their shine as the trons continue to applaud her.  

Almost 30 minutes later, Levi and Felix were on their way to the classroom. As they move, Levi glances at some of the students moving with them, including MJ who was talking with Vivian and some other girls.

He also saw some of the unique trons he encountered in the entrance exams.

But his focus shifts back as they stepped through the door into a cool professional classroom with twenty student benches on one end and the teacher’s table on the other end.

Some students were already seated and relaxed in the room but as Levi takes a seat in the middle section, several stares fixed on him. 

“Well, aren’t you Mr Popular?” Felix chuckled as he took the seat beside Levi while Levi lets out a sigh.

As more students filled the room, Levi took his time to get a look at his classmates which included the tron that beat his speed in the entrance exams and the Asian girl who rattled the Energy output test.

He then realises that on the far side of the class was another female student speaking to a blonde guy who looks exactly like Vivian yet felt completely different. After what seems to be like a minute of staring…

“That’s my little twin sister.” Levi was startled a little as Vivian appears behind him with a smile with arms folded.

Levi takes a calming breath before turning to Vivian to speak. “I didn’t know you had a twin, Viv.” Levi mumbled and Vivian shrugs with a cheeky smile.

“You never asked. Though my little sis isn’t really all that social so…” Before Levi could speak, another voice cuts into the conversation.

“Just because you came 2 minutes earlier, doesn’t make you my older sister.” Levi then turns around to find Vivian’s identical twin standing behind him with arms folded as well.

She was slightly smaller compared to Vivian but she had the exact same skin tone, face and red hair with the only real distinguishing factor being her silver-coloured bushy tail and silver coloured eyes.

She also had a colder and serious expression compared to Vivian’s cheerful charisma. 

Vivian chuckles as she turns to Levi. “Levi, this is my sister, Veronica.”

Veronica turns her beast-like eyes to Levi, her expression boring into his mind before she nods at him. “It’s nice to meet you, Levi.”

“Same.” Levi sighed with an awkward rub to his neck and before any else could get a say in… a certain figure in stripes and spectacles walks through the door, getting the attention of the entire class. 

“Alright, settle down.” The man was dark-skinned in complexion with a skinny body figure and thick black afro-hair. His slick beard and thick accent indicated that he was from the West African regions.

He stops behind the table and waits patiently as all the 20 trons in the room settled into their seats. Levi’s brows crease in concern when he notices that something was off about the man but the thought fades away when he speaks again. 

“Hey guys. My name is Jerry Kojo and I’m the homeroom teacher of this year’s S class. In other words, …” He trails off as he straightens up with hands crossed behind his back. “We’re going to see each other so much, you’ll get sick of it.”

He chuckles a little with closed eyes before suddenly going silent…… the sudden silence created a confused tension in the class but before anyone could act, Jerry opened his eyes, instantaneously releasing a powerful wave of honey orange energy that completely fills the room.

“Damn.” Levi grunted as the energy release sent a terrible chill up his spine with the pressure almost choking…but the more he stares at Jerry, the more he finds something still off about him.

He then widens his eyes when he realised what was wrong.

<It’s coming from somewhere else…Where?> His eyes dart around the room for a few seconds before swinging his head back.......his blue eyes glaring at the closet at the back of the class.

Jerry suddenly smiles as his energy drops to normal and nearly the entire class catches their breath in relief. “Forgive me for that.”

“Was that some kind of test?” A student panting hard asked and Jerry smiles warmly as he answers.

“Yes.” He then walked over from the back of the table to stand before the class. “And unfortunately…” His expression suddenly turns serious as he adjusts his glasses.

“Out of all 20 of you……. only 6 trons passed.” Some of the class gasps or retorts in shock while others just stare with focus in their eyes. 

A hand raises up and Jerry nods at the boy to speak. “What was the aim and criteria of success of this test?”

Levi raised a brow at the British blonde with a sophisticated and also calm look in his eyes which burned with emerald green energy.

“As you all know, you’re currently in the S class, the best of the best. Meaning among the thousands of applicants this year, all 20 of you were considered to be the elite, the prodigies.”

Some trons cheered with pride but Jerry quiets them down as he continues. “But those were just based on your talents…… your experience however is incredibly primitive. Especially since ‘14’ of you couldn’t see through my little trick.”

“What do you mean?” A large tron asked with anger in his voice and Jerry places his hands in his pockets with an emotionless voice.

“I mean…” The entire class jerked their attention to the back of the class where the large closet behind was opened and a familiar figure stands with hands in his pockets. “You couldn’t tell what was real…” 

“Or fake…” The students looked between the two identical figures in shock…their figures, physique, voice completely the same.

The first Jerry then releases an amount of energy before fading away, leaving only a metallic robotic figure standing in front of them.

The real Jerry then walks forward with a smile on his face before stopping beside the robot, while facing the still stunned class.

“S class, meet A-69. He’s one of my servants.” Jerry said as the robot waves to them in silence. Jerry then glances at the puppet and with flicker of light from his eyes, the puppet responds and walks over to the side of the class. 

“As you know, some Mastrons are capable of controlling other bionic lifeforms and use them in combat by establishing a link to them.” Jerry walks forward again with his orange coloured eyes roaming between students.

“By channelling my energy into A-69, I can control it like an extension of myself which means…” He trails off as he stops with his back to the class before continuing.

“I can infuse my energy into the drone to make seem like it’s my real body and luckily…” Jerry turns around with a cold yet charismatic smile on his face.

“A-69 is a shape-shifting android which makes it even easier to deceive my opponents and inexperienced trons like you.”

“How the hell are we supposed to tell the difference?” A female student asked and Jerry adjusts his glasses as he responds.

“The flaw to my technique is the fact that even though the connection to my servants seem wireless, there is actually a tiny stream of energy that connects my mind to the servants like an invisible puppet string.”

Jerry sighs as he stuffs a hand in his pocket and gestures with his other hand.

“And even though I’ve trained myself to make this line as thin and undetectable as possible, there are still some talented trons or drals who have the skills to get a whiff of it.”

Levi recalls the weird feeling he got and how he felt a strange invisible line of energy stretching out from the closet when the fake Jerry displayed the energy earlier. 

“How exactly is this supposed to help us? I mean, some of us are better fighters than sensors.” The tron that had the best speed asked and Jerry sighs before responding.

“This is the technique holons use to control drals without being detected themselves but it’s also how other trons lure their opponents into traps. For example, …” He suddenly jabs a finger at all of them with a fierce look in his eyes.

“If I decided to drop a bomb on everyone in this room a moment ago, only 6 of you would have been able to act ‘before’ it detonates.” The atmosphere in the room suddenly tenses with Levi gulping a little as Jerry puts his hand down.

“You may be brilliant in your specific ways but as far as military ranking is concerned, you’re all as powerful as a B class Pro-agent at best.”

A few more nervous murmurs fill the air and Jerry adjusts his glasses again. “This class is on a whole other level than the one at the academy. Here, it’s do or die…And my job is to ensure you don’t choose the latter.”

“And I thought my class was tough.” Felix mumbled and Levi glances at him before turning back to Jerry as he began to stroll through the class.

“First question…” He said with a finger pointed up. “What exactly makes us different from normal humans?” 

After a brief moment of silence, a hand rises up and Jerry nods at the shy-looking young Asian lady. “Photron energy.”

Jerry snaps his fingers at her with a smile. “Yes. Ever since Genesis, every human was affected by the powerful wave but only a select few had a change in their genetic make-up…an extra chromosome pair…”

He taps on his Index band and flings out a hologram screen in the middle of the class which displayed the DNA structure. “The Tronic Chromosome.”

He zooms in on a small structure which suddenly appears and distorts the DNA molecule slightly. 

“Before manifestation, the chromosome is almost completely undetectable but once it does manifest…”

He slowly zooms out, revealing other DNA molecules changing as well until the image zooms out completely, revealing a spherical orb with multi-coloured energy oozing out from it.

“It creates the Tron core which lies somewhere within the heart and produces the energy that gives us our powers. And as you know, there are four categories of trons.” Jerry closes the hologram and turns back to the class with a hand in his pocket. 

“It is also very important to be able to know what category other trons are, as well as learn to conceal yours. This however mostly apply to Elementrons and Mastrons since the physical influence on the user is greater compared to others. Like our lightning friend here.”

He said with a hand gestured to Levi who rubs his head nervously once eyes shifted into his direction. “These little details are extremely crucial in battle.”

A hand shoots up and Jerry nods at the scrawny guy. “Excuse me sir, but you make it sound like we’re going to be fighting other trons. I thought our mission was just to destroy the Web.”

Jerry chuckles a little at the question and walks to the front of the class. “That’s right, this information wasn’t disclosed to the public.” He stops behind his table with his hands on the table.

“It is considered classified info and some of you may have already known. So I’ll just say it…” He pauses for a moment, glancing at the curious students before continuing. 

“It’s true that there are some trons that are rogues or criminals of the Index. Especially those that escape the ‘mundane’ life of Tron settlements and it is still our duty to stop them. But the trons I’m talking about… are those registered in the Spider Web’s system.”

A couple of gasps and shocked expressions filled the room while a few tense slightly. Levi furrows his brow when he remembered Goro saying that, months ago. 

“How long have the Index known?” A student asked and Jerry sighs as he straightens up.

“Since the beginning of the war against the Web. ‘They’ were the reason we were able to learn how to connect trons in the first place. Think of an anonymous tron as an isolated smartphone…it can function on its own but it’s only when it’s connected to the internet can the device achieve greater functions.”

Jerry takes a slight pause…

“Just like the phone, an anonymous Tron can only do so much…but once they’re connected, they are able to explore the full potential of their abilities. The only difference between our registration and the Web’s…”

He closes his eyes and folds his arms with a sigh. 

“Our registration merely monitors your movement and communication……but theirs completely limits a Tron’s free-will, turning them into emotionless killing machines.”

He adjusts his glasses with a finger before looking up to the class. “And these trons won’t give a damn if there were tasked to destroy any of you.”

The tension in the room thickens and Jerry grins when he sees the shock/determination in their eyes. “But that’s why we’re here. For the rest of your three years of training, we’ll mould you into Web crushing monsters.”

The air suddenly grows chilly as Jerry suddenly puts on a dark expression before speaking again.

“That being said… it’s also important to note that in the future any one of you could be put in a position in which the only way to survive is to completely destroy the enemy. Which means…”

“Killing.” Veronica said and Jerry nods at her.

Levi raises his hand and Jerry nods at him. “Do we have to do it?”

“Of course not.” Jerry said and Felix notices Levi visibly relax. “If there is a means other than murder, then I highly suggest you take it. Besides, a dead enemy can’t provide important information about the web.”

Some of the other students relaxed as well just as Jerry’s sudden change of tone grabs their attention. “But as you all know by now; life doesn’t always go as planned.”

The students who relaxed visibly stiffened and Jerry shrugs at them. “I’m just preparing your mind for the worst. As a pro, you’ll eventually be put in some difficult situations so it’s important you get ready now or else that hesitation could get you killed."

"Trust me. Many of my comrades are dead now because of it.” 

As the students murmured, Felix notices Levi who holds a strange frustrated look on his face with his fists clenched tightly.

After letting the message sink in, Jerry then continues to teach the class a lot of different things about the Index and Web.