That night, after finishing his shift at the restaurant, Grey headed straight for a cafe at the end of the strip. He'd arranged to meet Marco and Lana there after getting out of the military's headquarters earlier. "Ching-clung," the door chime sounded as Grey walked in, his eyes sweeping the cafe. He spotted Marco and Lana in a far booth, sitting with a third girl who looked about their age.
Grey walked over. The girl turned out to be a waitress who was off the clock but still in uniform—pretty, with black hair, a tan complexion, and glasses. She was holding the same tablet as the others: a plain black case with a winged pyramid logo. Marco and Lana looked up as Grey approached.
"Hey Grey, pull up a chair," Marco said, standing.
"Will do. (He looked at the waitress) Who is she?" Grey asked, gesturing to the girl.
"She's one of us, too. We just met her at the base," Lana explained.
"Oh, got it," Grey replied, taking a seat next to Marco.
"Hi, my name is Kiara. You're Grey?" Kiara asked.
"That's me. Nice to meet you, Kiara," Grey answered.
After sitting, Grey took his tablet out of his backpack and put it on the table. Kiara got up, ordered drinks at the counter, and then returned to sit next to Lana. Grey powered up his tablet. Icons appeared for chat, a satellite map, email, missions, military intelligence, and the academy schedule.
"Sniff… no YouTube or Instagram," Gizelle griped in Grey's head.
"Obviously not," Grey shot back in his head.
Grey tapped the military intelligence icon. A personnel-only news report detailed that the two massive phenomena—the light dome over the Pacific and the black dome over the Bermuda Triangle—were expanding by about one to three centimeters every single day. The report also noted that Shifters and Cherubs were spreading more rapidly into Neo Zhou and the surrounding cities, despite the massive jungle walls meant to protect them.
"So the tree lines aren't stopping those two monsters anymore," Grey muttered.
"Hey, why are you talking to yourself?" Lana asked.
"Oh, sorry, I was reading the military news," Grey replied.
"Looks like we're all going to be in the same class and platoon," Marco commented.
"Yeah, I was surprised, I thought I was the only weirdo here," Kiara replied.
"Hopefully," Grey said.
"So, Grey, you can turn into a girl and then back into a guy, right? Man, I wish I hadn't been stuck in the holding room and missed seeing that," Kiara said.
"Something like that," Grey answered curtly.
"How old are you, Grey? If they're both sixteen," Kiara asked.
"I just turned seventeen," Grey replied.
"Oh… then I'm the oldest one here," Kiara said.
"Huh… you're eighteen? Don't you usually go straight in as a soldier without academy training?" Grey questioned.
"The Special Unit is different, Grey. I got a briefing. The Special Unit has no age limit and is always required to stay at the academy because the academy is the Special Unit's secret base. We'll be living in the dorms there," Lana explained.
"Oh… is that right?" Grey asked.
"Yeah, this black tablet is proof that we're Special Unit," Marco said, holding up his tablet.
"Hmm… why wasn't I told any of this?" Grey muttered, confused.
"Beats me, but the Marshal saw your test, right?" Marco asked.
"Yeah, but he didn't say anything about it, and General Russel and Miyuki stayed quiet too," Grey replied.
"It's all classified. We shouldn't be talking about the Special Unit out in public like this, because the Special Unit shouldn't even exist… people like us shouldn't exist," Kiara pointed out.
"Oh, got it," Grey replied.
Everyone went silent again as a waiter delivered coffee. Kiara started chatting with the waiter, while Grey looked at his tablet and noticed some tiny etching on the casing.
"Don't trust anyone, including the military, except fellow Special Unit members."
"Hmm… so that's the deal," Grey mused in his head.
"Big Brother," Gizelle called.
"What's up?" Grey asked.
"I just got a vision of the future. Aside from Kiara, Lana, Marco, and one more guy named Seong Ho who we'll meet in class—we'll all be on the same team—we're the only ones who survive. Why? In three years, a massive war breaks out, and it all starts with the military," Gizelle revealed.
"What? Are you serious?" Grey asked.
"Yeah, I'm dead serious. That's why I've been quiet this whole time," Gizelle answered.
"Okay… I believe you. So the Shifters and Cherubs are eventually gonna start a huge war and wipe out humanity because they infiltrated the military," Grey guessed.
"Wrong, Big Brother. The war that breaks out in three years has nothing to do with the black or white domes, Shifters, or Cherubs… the war is among humans and starts in the military. So, Big Brother, other than the four of us here and that kid Seong Ho later—since we'll all be on one team—trust no one and don't get close to anyone, understand? If I could kill myself and kill you, I'd choose that path because what I saw is terrifying," Gizelle shot back.
"Hey… don't go talking about killing anyone. We're working on building trust and fixing our relationship, remember? We'll get through this together," Grey yelled in his head.
"Yeah… sorry, Big Brother. But don't tell them about this until the time is right, because honestly, even if only we survive, it doesn't matter to me as long as I'm with you," Gizelle urged.
"I understand," Grey replied.
Grey looked back at the tiny text on his tablet, his body starting to prickle with dread because what Gizelle had just said seemed to be confirmed by that single, etched sentence. Suddenly, a hand waved in front of Grey's face, making him jump slightly. He snapped his head up to see Marco staring at him, and turned to find Lana and Kiara watching him too.
"Why are you zoning out, Grey?" Marco asked.
"Oh… sorry, it's nothing," Grey replied.
"So why did you guys join the military? For me, I want revenge for my parents being killed by a Shifter and my little brother being swallowed by a Cherub. I hate those two things," Lana asked, sharing her motive.
"Hmm… for me, it's because I can't stand sitting around when I know I have the power to fight back," Marco answered.
"I actually didn't want to be a soldier… but… I was afraid of being arrested… when I was nearly assaulted by some thugs… I accidentally summoned some kind of mythical animal that ate them all, and the Marshal just happened to be driving by late at night. He gave me an offer, and I couldn't possibly turn it down," Kiara explained.
"Oh, you know Marshal Abraham?" Grey asked.
"Yeah, he's the one who brought me to the base… that's why he was there today," Kiara answered.
"What about you, Grey?" Marco asked.
"Um… what do you call it… I want to get to the front line… and live in peace," Grey answered, stumbling over his words.
"Huh… you mean you plan on ending all this by attacking the Domes?" Marco asked, shocked.
"Something like that," Grey replied simply.
"Wow… awesome, I'll definitely support you," Lana said excitedly.
"Incredible… I'll be with you on that, too, since I don't really have any other choice," Kiara added.
"Thanks. That's why we have to fight to raise our level and increase our abilities," Grey finished.
Marco, Lana, and Kiara instantly went silent, staring at Grey with quizzical looks that made him thoroughly awkward.
"Raise our what?" Lana asked, confused.
"What are you talking about, bro?" Marco asked.
"Can you explain what you mean by raising your level?" Kiara asked, bewildered.
"Huh… you guys don't have this?" Grey asked.
"Bwuuuung," Grey opened his Status Screen and motioned to it for his friends to see, but they just stared at him with looks that screamed, "Are you out of your mind?"
"I don't see anything, bro," Marco said.
"Same. (She turned to Kiara) You see anything?" Lana asked.
"Nope. Nothing there but Grey's face," Kiara replied.
"Huh… have none of you ever read a light novel, manga, or watched an anime about The System, or played an online game like that?" Grey asked.
Their faces grew even more confused. The three looked at each other, said nothing, and then turned back to Grey with looks of pity, as if to say, "Poor guy, he's either stressed or hallucinating."
"Big Brother… that only exists in our world. Remember this world only made it to the year 2000? Everything you just mentioned doesn't exist on this Earth, you remembered, right?" Gizelle screamed in his head.
"Oh, shit… you're totally right," Grey cursed in his head.
"They can't see the System screen either. That means we're an anomaly on top of an anomaly, Big Brother. Don't ever mention that again. Just like the tablet says, we can't trust anyone but ourselves," Gizelle shot back.
"Yeah… yeah… I get it, sorry," Grey replied.