The door slammed shut, leaving silence in its wake. Dust from the corridor swirled in the air, and Mira stood there for a heartbeat, staring at the envelope like it was alive. Then she turned and held it out.
"It's for you," she said quietly.
James frowned, taking it with hesitant fingers. The paper was thick, heavier than it looked. A strange black seal pressed into the flap caught his eye, a triangle etched over a neat, endless grid. Something about it made his chest tighten.
He ripped it open. One card slipped into his hand.
To James Rowe,
You are hereby invited to attend Valancrest Academy. Based on consistent surveillance and demonstrated resilience, you have been selected for candidacy.
Report to Sector 14 transit station by 0700 in seven days. Transportation will be provided. Further instructions to follow.
Valancrest Admissions Division
James read it twice, then a third time, waiting for the words to change.
"What the hell is this supposed to mean?" he muttered.
"It's real," Mira said, before he even finished. "Valancrest. I've heard of them."
James lifted his eyes. "You've heard of them? You're way too calm right now."
"I'm not calm," she said, perching on the edge of the workbench. "It's just… yeah. It's a big deal."
He stared at her. "They've been watching me?"
"They watch everyone who stands out."
"And I stand out?"
She didn't answer right away. Her eyes dropped to her hands.
"You survived Darius's gang. Twice," she said finally. "That's not luck. They notice things like that."
James held the card up between them. "And you knew something like this might happen?"
Mira hesitated, then gave the smallest nod.
"They don't pick just anyone, James. You're stronger than you think."
He let out a sharp breath. "Why do you even care?"
Her gaze lifted to his, steady now."Because you're not going to last out here forever. None of us are. I'm not saying you're weak, but it's only a matter of time before something worse than Darius finds you. And I think…" She bit her lip. "I think you're meant for more than just scraping by."
James leaned against the wall, the letter heavy in his hand."I never asked to be meant for anything."
"No one does," she said softly.
Silence stretched between them. Then Mira added, almost like she hadn't meant to say it:
"Besides… I have an ability too."
James blinked. "You?"
She nodded, nervous but firm."It's not flashy. I can't throw fire or bend steel. But I can… talk to machines. Like they're alive. Like they have a language, and I can hear it."
He gave her a look. "You're serious?"
She reached over and tapped a console on the desk. It lit up instantly, no command entered. Lines of code danced across the screen in a rhythm that looked almost… organic.
"Sometimes they answer before I even ask," she said quietly.
James swallowed. "And you've had this… since when?"
"For as long as I can remember. I used to tell myself it was just instinct, practice. But it's more than that. Circuits, data, electricity. I feel them, like a current."
The hum of the machine filled the space. James studied her face, the way the screen's glow traced the worry lines near her eyes.
"And Valancrest wants people like you too?" he asked at last.
"They want anyone who can survive the world that's coming. Fighters. Thinkers. Technopaths." She looked straight at him. "People like us."
The words unsettled him.
"You said us," he said slowly. "What does that mean?"
Mira slipped off the workbench and walked to the locker in the corner. The one he'd never seen her open. She pressed her palm flat against the lock, and with a soft click, it gave way.
From inside, she pulled out a reinforced case and set it between them. The metal latches snapped open. Nestled in foam was an envelope. Thick paper. The same black emblem.
James's stomach dropped.
"When?" he asked.
"Three days ago," she admitted. "Same courier. Same everything. I didn't know how to tell you."
He stared at her, anger and confusion tangling in his chest."So you were just… what? Going to figure it out on your own?"
"I wanted to tell you," she said quickly. "I just needed time to think."
James raked a hand through his hair."An academy? In the middle of all this? Who the hell are they?"
"A relic," Mira said softly. "Or maybe a prophecy. I've seen that emblem before, buried in old-world data streams. Valancrest isn't just a school. It was built before the collapse, by people who knew it was coming. To preserve knowledge. And people."
"So they're a cult. Or survivalists with too much tech."
"Maybe," she admitted. "Or maybe they're the only ones who actually understand what's happening."
He paced, card clenched in his fist."And you want to just walk into their arms? Sector 14 is a graveyard. It could be a trap."
"It's not Darius," she said firmly. "The tech behind this, monitoring us, encrypting their messages. It's beyond any gang or corp. This is different."
She took a breath, steadied herself."And James… I think we have to go."
He stopped pacing."You're serious."
"I've never been more." She stepped closer, voice rising with conviction."Look at our lives here. We patch walls, pray the filters hold, and call it survival. But for what? To die a little slower? You think Darius was the worst of it? He's nothing compared to what's coming. The world is breaking in ways we don't understand. And maybe Valancrest does."
James wanted to argue, but her words hit something raw inside him.
"And you think this academy is the answer?" he asked.
"What if it's not a cage?" she shot back."What if it's a place where you don't have to hide what you are? Where I don't have to pretend my only skill is fixing scraps? Where your survival isn't just luck. It's something bigger."
She softened."You asked why I care so much. It's because I don't want to watch you burn out here. I want to see what you could be if you weren't just fighting to stay alive."
James's throat tightened. He glanced down at the card. Demonstrated resilience.
"What's your ability, James?" Mira asked quietly.
"I don't have one," he said automatically.
"Yes, you do. They wouldn't have picked you otherwise."
He closed his eyes. The memories came unbidden. Concrete walls. Darius's laughter. The knife glinting in the dark. The fear.And then the strange calm that had followed.The way everything slowed, cracks appearing in the chaos like lines on a map.He hadn't fought them. He'd found the one path through.
When he opened his eyes, his gaze fell on the emblem. The triangle over the grid. Structure over chaos.
Mira saw the look on his face and whispered,"You finally see it."
He didn't answer. He didn't need to.
Their envelopes lay side by side on the workbench. Two doors to the same future.
"0700. Seven days," he said quietly.
Mira nodded."Sector 14. Together?"
James looked at her, at the fear and hope mixed in her eyes.He thought of the dust-choked streets, the gnawing hunger, the constant fear.And for once, he chose something else.
"Together," he said.
Outside, the wind screamed against the walls.But inside, for the first time, the future wasn't empty.
It had a direction.