The central tower of Khyber City looked even bigger up close. Myelin could tilt his head as far back as he could and still not see the top. The building was wide too; large cruisers left milk bubble hangars on various floors top to bottom. He could imagine as the day passes it makes a giant sundial out of the city.
In the midst of titanic buildings and bustling city life stood the BU campus. It was a park of trees, lawns, and empty space in between. The campus had a more regal and historic design: pillars held up entrances, everything spread across wide lawns, no building was larger than 3 stories tall, and exteriors made of cement and brick. It was getting dark, but Myelin could tell it would be a beautiful sight in the daylight.
In front of the widest building of them all, a plump man gripped a mic in front of a large crowd. He had a wooden sword strung across his back, a red satchel and all.
"Dambe, can you believe that guy is a bastion?" chuckled Myelin.
"Pfft!" said Dambe. "Looks like we're gonna have to listen to him, though." He pointed to the large crowd of kids their age. The friends stood at the back, tilting to their toes to get a better view.
"Welcome!" he said. He's as loud as he is large. "I'll be introducing you all today to your new world—the work of the bastions!" Cheers erupted. "I am Mentor Copias!" The man counted his fingers. "Hold on... no that can't be right... Ah! Yes, let me start you off with this!" Myelin and Dambe looked at each other, cringing at the prospect of him being their mentor.
"Bastions serve to protect, that will always be our number one priority. To shield others from the harshness of this system. You didn't pick an easy career, I'll tell you. But for that, you are braver than most!" beckoned Copias. More cheers.
"Lots of struggle, effort, and triumph await you all. And for that, you deserve to feast!" The crowd went nuts. Even Myelin found himself grinning. "This will be a feast like no other. When you enter the cafeteria, you'll provide a saliva sample for a food specifically tied to your DNA!" said Copias. The crowd murmured about. He wants my spit?
"Dambe, what does he mean by dee and aye?" asked Myelin, wondering where his brain powers were at.
"Not dee and aye—D.N.A. It's the molecules in the center of our cells that make us unique. Everyone has their own DNA which is a mix of their parents, and it's what gives us our traits," said Dambe. OK 'makes us unique' that sounded like the important part.
"Your saliva sample will give us your DNA so that we can conjure you a meal perfected to your heritage. It'll also serve as a great icebreaker to make friends! When the meal is over, we'll get a few speeches from the serious people. For now, go on and enjoy the food!" Copias waved everyone to go inside.
The doors swung open on their own, and the students funneled in. The old exterior was practically a lie about what to expect inside. The floor was matte black, ceiling lights faded into different hues, and a holographic orchestra played atop a platform. The line for food kept the front doors open. At the end, Myelin could see people spitting into a vial. A crew of robot chefs were blocked off in a kitchen, only visible through a small slit where people would hand their saliva samples.
The air got cooler as Dambe and Myelin were the last ones keeping the door propped up. The kids moved fast though, happily sitting their plates down with steaming fresh food. However, when they were just about halfway to their share, it became evident that all the seats were filling up at lightspeed.
"Y'know, if this meal is specially curated to our tastes, I know what I'm gonna get," said Dambe, rubbing his hands together.
"Yeah, I got a good idea too," said Myelin, licking his lips. Roasted greenjelly—it's been way too long since I tasted you.
From a rack bolted into the wall, Myelin took out a vial. He awkwardly spit into it, not sure if there was any way to do it without feeling weird. They moved further down to the opening in the wall. A frail robot zipped in front of him, then stood silently.
"I'm guessing you're looking for this?" said Myelin, slowly handing the vial so as to not get his arm accidentally snipped off by a chef robot on his first day of school.
It wasn't long before a plate was thrown on the counter with his name on it. There was one problem though: this dish was most definitely not a greenjelly. There was no glow, no slime, and no crisp to it. Instead, a mountain of white slivers with chunks of dull brown meat in it. Under his name read the words "Pulao with lamb." Myelin scrunched his face. Eh? What is this? Some kind of glitch? He didn't want to hold up the line, so he took his plate and waited on his friend.
The way Dambe was jittering with excitement, Myelin knew at least he got what he expected.
"Ay, Dambe, what'd they give ya?" he asked.
"Some soup and fufu, nothing too special. It's just been too long since I've had some," Dambe said, taking a good whiff. "It smells so much like home... almost too much like it!"
Myelin stared into Dambe's dish: one bowl clearly held the orange frothy soup, and another a rubbery white mound. "Food outside the moon sure is confusing," murmured Myelin.
And so began the search for a place to sit. Everyone was so occupied in their own worlds, making new groups and connections without them.
"Psst, Dambe," said Myelin, "you happen to know any of these guys?"
"Some of 'em, yeah, but their tables are all full," said Dambe.
In the corner of his eye, Myelin caught a nearly empty table. There was nobody there except one girl—but to describe her as just one girl didn't do her justice. She had a brooding look on her face as if she could kill half the room with her eyes closed. She wore a scarf over her hair and had a dish eerily similar to his; one key difference was that the label on hers spelt it out as 'polu.' Myelin thought he had recognized her face from somewhere before, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Dambe stopped in his tracks. "...Myelin, we should pull up a chair or maybe we could eat on the floor, that's not too bad either," he said with gritted teeth.
"C'mon, no need to be so freaked out man. You said it yourself, you get scared way too easily," said Myelin, pushing Dambe forward with him. She can't be that scary.
The boys set their plates down at the table. Myelin mustered up some courage and let out an enthusiastic "Hey!" Meanwhile Dambe stammered over his words. Neither of them knew what to expect from her, and from the look around the room, nobody else did either.
Bang!
She clasped both her hands on the table's edge, and towered over them. Myelin hadn't noticed until then, but the girl had the arms of a bodybuilder. She's gonna kill us. Just when Myelin expected her to tear their heads off, she smiled.
"Heya! I'm so excited to meet some new friends, you got no idea!" she yelled. "You fellas got names?"
Myelin couldn't help but laugh. "Myelin, and this is Dambe," he said. Dambe was still stammering.
"Ooo, those are some interesting names. I'm Noor... hey ain't your plate awfully similar to mine?" asked Noor, pointing to Myelin's pulao.
Myelin threw his hands in confusion. "Beats me, I've never had this before in my life," he said.
"We must be from close areas on Mercury, can't be too close though I don't really look like you," said Noor. She was probably right; Myelin was a good deal darker and his eyes weren't the same as hers. Mercury, home in my DNA and in my dreams, but I don't know a thing about it.
"I can only speak for the moon, myself. Neo York's a craphole but it's the craphole I know like the back of my hand," said Myelin.
Noor rolled her eyes. "I've lived in Khyber City longer than anything, but it can't hurt you to understand your roots!" she said.
Dambe finally got a hold of himself. "Then we got a table of Mercurians," he said, looking around the room with a quick glance. "Might be the only ones, in fact. I say we all stick together."
"Yeah come to think of it, Martians are awfully pasty, especially 'round here," said Myelin. The only person like them he could recall was Mentor Twine.
"You're not wrong, but that's all the more reason we should stick together," said Dambe.
Noor lifted up her glass of water. "I can't see anyone in the room stopping us... well more like nobody's stopping me, but here's to friendship!" said Noor.
Myelin and Dambe smirked at one another. It seemed the two of them found another who could match their energy. They raised their cups and clanged them together.
The hologram's orchestra continued their symphony. Rotating across the room were posters promoting the school. "Join Bastion University to make a difference!" read one, with a character handing a flower to a kid on what looked like Mercury. Another poster had the movie star Valor, fighting his villain, captioned "This could be you!" Myelin read each and every one of them, lost in how epic the future seemed. With all the war and terror he dreamt about on Mercury, he wanted to be the one to spread flowers around to kids like him. And what could be cooler than being the powerful hero who saves everyone?
"Y'know my older brother's a bastion. He recently went to the moon for some mission I don't know about, but he's stronger than anyone I've ever seen," said Noor. "I could give y'all a few tips I learned from him."
The dots connected in Myelin's mind, and yet he couldn't bring himself to say anything. Her brother was most definitely the red-clad man who died under the caves.
"I learned a good bit about using my soul energy back home. Myelin is new to this stuff though, right?" Dambe said, nudging Myelin.
Myelin stumbled over his words, eventually coming to a mumbling "yes."
"Well for starters you boys need to learn to use your words, yeesh," said Noor. "But I'll run through all this stuff when we get to training. We get to choose our teams—I'm so excited, it's gonna be so much fun!"
Fun... right. Myelin recalled the dying blaze of red that surrounded her brother. He had always enjoyed a street fight or two with the mobbers, not to mention the idea of adventuring and getting strong like Valor seemed awesome. Yet, Myelin already had the fun drained out of him. He shook his head and took a sip of water. Whatever, I'll worry about it later.
Myelin stared at his food. It was too foreign to just dig in. He didn't trust the food like that yet.
"Guys, what're these white things in my food," he said, pointing to the white grains that made up his food. "I think these brown chunks are... lamb meat." Myelin opened a search tab on his neurattachment to look up pictures of lamb. Four-legged white fuzz balls, OK. "Is this stuff the shavings of its, uh, wool I think is what it's called."
Noor and Dambe dropped out of their seats laughing.
"You don't know what rice is?" shouted Noor, making a scene for the whole room to watch.
"Rice? Oh no, don't tell me that's supposed to be a cousin of lice or something or I'm gonna be sick," said Myelin, covering his mouth.
Dambe pulled himself up to his seat. "Rice, it's a grain. Comes from a plant. What the heck did they feed you on the moon?" said Dambe.
"Roasted greenjelly!" chimed Myelin. Just as Noor pulled herself she fell back down in more laughter.
"You ate alien meat? Haha!" Noor guffawed.
"Alright, I get it, I'll just shut up and eat my food then," said Myelin, driving his fork down into his plate. He took a good forkful with rice spilling over, lifted it up to his mouth and bit. Not bad.
Atop the stage, the symphony silenced and the holograms disappeared. There, a crew of mentors stood. Myelin spotted Twine, Copias, and even the swordmaster. A virtual podium appeared, and an old man stood behind it. He had the classic wispy white hair, but no beard. He dressed professionally in a suit and tie like he was the CEO of this school.
"Good evening all!" said the man. He didn't have to speak loudly as the neurattachment digitized it to sound right in front of each person. "As many of you may know, I am the head of The Martian Council, Cain, and part of my duty is to steer the future of our bastions."
"Now then, I hope you all have enjoyed your meals. We spent an awful lot of effort to perfect our little introductory ceremony to celebrate you," said the councilman. Myelin could've sworn he was looking at him dead in the eye. "Many of you have traveled far and wide to get here. And that is not without good reason. Being a bastion will require those who are a cut above the rest, braver than most, and can work with others to make the world a better place."
Circling above his podium, was a singular panel depicting the landscape of Mercury. Slowly, the panel spun faster, lower, and wider, until the entire field of view was encompassed by the picture. It's just like how I dreamt of it. The picture was no longer a picture; instead the entire cafeteria was made to look like the rocky gray surface of Mercury. Myelin couldn't help but fixate on the small details all around his supposed home planet. For one thing, the city they were placed in was much bigger. The all-encompassing dome had more of a hexagonal pattern to it, with mosses lying on its many slopes. People just like the ones in his village walked to and fro about the city with their heads tilted to their feet; the buildings came in plenty, yet not one looked trustworthy. Fires could be heard crackling in the distance.
"Some places need our help more than ever, such places where the silence means the worst is yet to come," said Cain, looking at a building off into the distance.
What came next was a mixture of yelling in languages Myelin didn't understand, the ruthless noise of saps firing, and ultimately a massive explosion right at the building in Cain's view. It crumbled under its soft foundation, choking the air with dust. When it all cleared, what was left in view were men in their black padded armor holding men, women, and children at the ends of their saps as hostages.
"Situations like these cannot be stopped..." said Cain.
One child couldn't take the pressure anymore. He screamed and ran for it. No! What the hell is wrong with you, kid? The paddings on the criminal shuffled as he raised his arms to fire, fingering the trigger.
"...not without a hero."
It was then with a blinding flash of gold, the entire line of armored men fell like dominoes. Dambe audibly gasped. Valor.
The hero himself was on the front lines, sweeping away the terror with his fist as his broom. The loud noises stopped, and the dust settled. The city became visible again, only much more vibrant than Myelin had noticed before. The one child who ran, stood alone in the clearing of it all. With the sun shining behind him, Valor descended to the ground, an arm outstretched with a flower in hand and a smile on his face.
"This is what it means to be a hero, and what it means to be a bastion."
The world around them fizzled out in a pixelated fuzz. Jarringly, Myelin wound up back in the glossy dining hall.
"Being a bastion is a tough job, meant only for those with the strength to overcome."
The councilman pointed to his side. "As you can see, there are only three mentors on stage. I request that after today, all of you find yourself a group of 3 members you can work with. Unfortunately, not all of you will become bastions, that is the whole truth. We take recruits multiple times a year, only plucking the best of the best out of each batch. Often enough, we take in zero recruits, so the chances are that none of you will make it. Dinner shall be dismissed, rest easy tonight. Come back tomorrow morning, 10 am sharp. Your worth shall be tested. I wish none of you any luck, my only wish is that the best put in the effort to make it through. Godspeed." Cain walked off the stage, the mentors following along and the holographic podium shut off.
Myelin, Dambe, and Noor all sat back in their seats as murmurs turned to kids running about to find groups with space for themselves.
"Are you guys any strong? I can handle the test myself, but I'm just wondering how much I gotta tug you guys along," asked Noor.
"Me? I'm the last person you gotta worry about," said Myelin, crossed armed. "I enjoy my fair share of fighting blockheads."
They turned to face Dambe who was in the middle of engorging himself in his food.
Dambe gulped. "I've had... some training, yeah," he said.
Noor stood up. "Ah, I'm just itching to take this test. It's been a while since I've gotten to flex my strength," she said, stretching her arms.
"You got any idea what's on this test?" asked Myelin, tugging at his arm wondering why he looked famished in comparison.
"Nope, they switch it up every year. I'm sure we'll pass... as long as 'what is rice' isn't a question," said Noor.
"Pass it is," said Myelin, scraping up the last bits of his food.
A group of three came by to them, high strung in their stride like they already ruled the school when they haven't even been accepted yet. A blonde-haired guy and girl, pouted and gave cold looks around the room. Their third member was a kid with red hair and a cheery smile. They all dressed in super stylish baggy clothes lined with LED lighting.
"You think they'll pass?" nasally asked the blonde guy.
"Those three? Bet they struggled passing the front door!" said the blonde girl.
"They seem really nice and strong, I wanna be their friends!" said the red-haired one, waving while his group looked as if they wanted to kill him.
"Eh, seems like you guys got some teamwork to work on," said Noor, smiling back at the redhead. "Just don't feel bad when we pass and you guys get kicked out the front door."
"Word of mouth says that we might be having a little competition to get in, so don't feel bad when we crush your dreams!" said the blonde one, bending over for emphasis.
"Word of mouth? More like your granddaddy Cain said so, thanks for the info, we'll make sure you guys don't even get to take a step!" said Noor.
"I feel like we're all gonna have a good time!" chimed the redhead.
"I'm game with that. You fancy lookin' pricks are just gonna get your disco lights punched out!" said Myelin, sticking his tongue out.
"Well—" began the blonde guy before Dambe stood up.
"You said their grandad is Cain—you don't mean like the councilman Cain, right? Please tell me you don't mean the councilman."
"Yeah, he's our granddad. Scared yet kid?" said the blonde guy. He was a few inches taller than Dambe, but he tried to act like it was a few feet difference. C'mon Dambe don't get scared out of this one.
Dambe cowered a few steps back before looking at him with a look of confidence as frail as a vase in an earthquake. "Nah, I—I'll, uh, ask for his autograph after we beat you guys." muttered Dambe.
Myelin and Noor slapped Dambe on the back. "Atta boy, you tell 'em!" said Noor.
"Whatever, save it for when you lose tomorrow, you Mercurians," said the blonde guy, pointing to Dambe, pronouncing the last part like a snake.
The annoying three walked away, slamming the doors as loud as they could.
"Bye guys!" shouted the red-haired one. I don't know if he's nice or plain stupid.
"Those idiots were the councilman's kids?" said Myelin in disbelief.
"Yup. The blonde ones are twins: Lizzy and Jace. The redhead's the younger sibling: Arcti. They went to the same prep academy as me, hated them more than anything," said Noor, shaking her head.
"A bastion prep academy? You must really want this whole jig," said Myelin.
"Yeah, my whole life I found myself chasing after my brother. I come from a family of bastions, y'know. We've been doing this for who knows how long? But, I'm gonna be the strongest, that's what I'm training for," said Noor, flexing her biceps. "Those politician's kids want to be rich and famous like their pops, and what better way than to be a hero just the same."
"Being the strongest, that sounds like a fun thing to do but that's not my goal," said Myelin.
"And what is?" said Noor, raising her brow.
"My brother... The Governor of my city kidnapped him and planted some kind of alien in us. My brother sent me here and stayed back to fight."
Noor's eyes opened, and her broad posture softened. Shoot! Did I say too much?
"So you're the demon of the mind? And you're trying to get your brother back?" asked Noor, playing it off. Myelin didn't feel like correcting the 'demon of the mind' part.
"Not only that, no. Revenge... that's what I want too. That Governor killed people, innocent people with futures ahead of them. He's gonna pay, once I become a bastion I'm gonna be the one to make him pay!" said Myelin, realizing his voice was getting too loud he quieted down. "But along the way and after all that, being the strongest doesn't sound all that bad."
Noor turned to Dambe. "You're awfully quiet about your backstory. C'mon say somethin," she said.
Dambe shrugged. "Vengeance isn't really my thing, maybe another day but not today. Helping others sounds nice though, I might go with that. I don't really know where I'm going, but I do know I wanna get away from all the bad things. Maybe if I'm stronger, life'll be easier, who knows?" he said. A simple mantra, respectable too.
"Ah, so no backstory then, fine. We'll crack it outta ya eventually," said Noor. "Anywho, it's about time I head out."
"Shoot! I don't have a place to sleep," said Myelin.
"Don't worry about that, I got a place to stay at the Khyber Continental, you'll chill at my place," said Dambe.
"That's not too far off from my place, c'mon I'll show you two a shortcut," said Noor.
"Lead the way, Mentor Noor," said Myelin in a mocking tone.
And so they went off, away from the soft campus and back to the hard city. The blue sun had already disappeared below the horizon.
"This'll take us through the block to the other side. Cuts like 10 minutes outta my walk," said Noor, turning into an empty alleyway between the dimly lit bioluminescent buildings.
"You sure this is safe?" said Dambe, spinning around for 360 degree vision.
"We're gonna be bastions. If you wanna be any good at the job then it shouldn't matter what's safe and what's not," she replied.
Myelin was ready to crash. Last time I really slept was on the ship... I can hardly call that rest though. He trudged along with his new friends through the alley. After this would be the first full day in his new life. He'll take the test, become stronger, and find out where his brother is. There's also the issue of the mind demon inside of me. It's a big deal to everyone except me and I need to find out why. That's tomorrow's problem though.
A door slammed open and a man flew out onto the other building wall. The guy looked like some measly bandit, but the impact he left on the wall cracked the concrete. Someone extremely powerful must've been in there.
"Guys, stay on guard!" shouted Noor, drawing out a sword with a steep bend in the blade. Myelin and Dambe brought theirs out as well.
Myelin tiptoed to the building door, still ajar. As he peered in, a voice said, "I'm over here."
Standing atop a windowsill a few floors higher up was a pale kid donning a white thobe, glowing a light cyan. "Don't stand in my way, and we won't have to fight. More importantly, I won't have to kill any of you... especially you Dambe," he spoke his name with clear murderous intent.
Myelin stood in front of his friend. "Why don't you come down and fight like a man?" growled Myelin.
In a blink of an eye, the windowsill was empty. Myelin felt the touch of dry wood in front of his neck. "Oh, believe me, mind demon, I'd love to kill you, if God willed it of course," he said, "but I'm much too busy with my own ordeals." How did he...