2025-08-31 13:25:47
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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
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
XVII
Carter woke to sunlight burning his eyes. His head was pounding like someone who'd been hit with a sledgehammer. His mouth tasted like chemicals and regret, dry and bitter. He was in his bed, still fully clothed in the same outfit from yesterday. His shoes were still on.How did he get here?He tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. His body felt wrong, heavy and uncoordinated like his limbs were filled with sand. There was something on his face. He could feel it, sticky and strange, dried into his skin. His hair felt crusty and stiff.Carter stumbled out of bed and barely made it to the bathroom. He flipped on the light switch and turned to look in the mirror.His reflection made him freeze.His face was covered in drawings. Crude marker scrawls in thick black lines. Someone had drawn a schlong on his face, along with some insulting words across his forehead. Degrading images that made his stomach turn. The word FAKE was written across his forehead in capital letters. LOSER on
XVI
After the incident and the laughter died down, the group started to relax. The tension that had filled the courtyard during the Unity Drink challenge dissolved into something lighter. Rex pulled out a bluetooth speaker from his backpack and connected his phone. Music started playing, something with a heavy bass line that made the air vibrate. Milo started dancing badly on purpose and making exaggerated moves that had Clara cracking up while filming him.More students drifted over, drawn by the music and the energy. Someone brought out a frisbee and started tossing it around. Juno sat on the edge of the fountain with his laptop, editing footage but bobbing his head to the beat. The whole scene felt weirdly normal, like a regular college hangout instead of the content obsessed pressure cooker that Star Academy usually was.Carter stood off to the side, still feeling the awful taste in his mouth and the heavy weight of the drink sitting in his stomach. He watched the others laugh and jok
XV
Carter arrived at the studio the next afternoon with his stomach churning with anxiety. He had barely slept. Every time he closed his eyes he saw clauses from the contract floating in the darkness. He tried to research initiation rituals at Star Academy using the Protocol's database access. He found almost nothing useful. Just vague mentions on old forum posts, usually deleted within days. References to challenges, pranks, loyalty tests. Nothing concrete. Nothing that told him what to expect.The Unity Collective was waiting for him when he walked in. They were all smiling but there was something different in the air now. A tension that wasn't there yesterday. The studio felt smaller somehow. The ring lights seemed brighter, more invasive."Ready for your big day?" Amaya asked. She was wearing different clothes than usual. More formal. A blazer over her usual casual style."I guess," Carter said. His throat felt dry. "What exactly am I doing?""Three tasks," Juno said and for once he
XIV
The Unity Collective had a small studio space in one of the campus buildings. Nothing fancy, but functional. Ring lights stood on tripods in each corner, cameras mounted on stands, a green screen hung against one wall, and editing equipment cluttered a desk shoved against the window.Clara explained that they pooled their resources to rent it while adjusting a camera angle. "It's expensive but worth it. We can control everything here. Lighting, sound, background. Makes our content look more professional than filming in dorm rooms."They spent the afternoon filming. Each person created content featuring Carter in some way and the atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed. Amaya filmed a cooking video where Carter attempted to help make some complicated pasta dish and failed spectacularly. Flour ended up everywhere. He burned the sauce. The noodles stuck together in a clump. But Amaya laughed the whole time and turned his failures into comedy, making it feel less like humiliation and more li
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