Myelin, Noor, and Dambe strutted down the street. Through all the tension, nerves, hurdles, and odds, the trio had pulled through. They won the day. Not only had they all made the top fifty, but they made up three of the top ten contestants. Today wasn't about swallowing their pride, it was about engulfing it down their stomachs.
Myelin stood outside the restaurant Noor had funneled him and Dambe to. "B-B-Q. Noor what is this and why does it sound like a poisonous chemical?"
"B-B-Q means they serve lots of meat which is good for building muscles. Proteins and stuff ya know!" beamed Noor.
Dambe groaned. "I got teamed with the two dumbest kids in Khyber City."
"And the strongest kid in Khyber City, let's not forget," corrected Noor.
The three of them were taken to a small round table; in the middle was a grill and a pit of fire beneath it inside the table. Myelin kept moving his hand over and away from the grill, feeling the warmth until he got enough weird stares from around the room. Even when he stuffed his hands all the way into the pockets of his shalwar clothes, the stares never stopped.
"So... what's with all the special stuff you guys did at the test?" asked Myelin.
"Special stuff?" said Noor. "You mean our soul abilities?"
"Yeah. Soul abilities, Soul energy, all that stuff. Whatever it is that let him fall hella fast and you do that snap thing."
"Well, basically this is how it works," said Noor, chopping her hand into her palm. "Every bastion has soul energy, and with soul energy you can... do... things... like the soul abilities!"
"Soul abilities, huh, like Dambe's high jump and your... flashy thing."
"Exactly!"
"So how do they work?" asked Myelin.
"No clue."
"Sounds like the two dumbest kids need an explanation, don't sweat it I got the crash course," said Dambe, leaning low into his chair.
Noor rolled her eyes. "Go ahead, genius."
"We all got soul energy right? A soul ability is just our energy being strong enough to have a strange effect. And everyone's ability is special to them, because it comes from the soul," said Dambe.
"So how does soul energy work?" asked Myelin.
"Well that's quite simple," said Dambe, who then paused as his face grew red. "I don't know."
"You're just all questions aren't ya? Ask a mentor that after tomorrow. Right now, focus on eating big to get big," said Noor, flexing for the whole room to see.
"Alright, alright put the artillery back and let's order some food. What's on the menu?" said Myelin.
A digital copy appeared in his hands formulated by his neurattachment. He sifted through platter after platter. The menu had nearly every single meat known in the solar system, everything from the lean cut of a quadragon hide to the legs of a free range chicken. Myelin's heart skipped a beat, his tongue dripped with saliva into his barren mouth. Ohhh, they might have it. He skimmed through the menu, his eyes darted around faster and faster. No way, no way, no way. He swiped his finger in the air until he saw it. Myelin roared.
Kicking his feet and swinging his seat back and forth, he wasn't planning on giving a single thought to the already judgy ambience of the restaurant. "Look, look, look, look, look," said Myelin on loop, pointing at his menu. He was salivating at just the name. Greenjelly.
Noor slapped Myelin on the back. "You found your alien meat!"
"Why don't you try some?" Myelin said with a smirk.
Noor responded with fake barfing noises and covered her mouth with her hand.
"What, are you too weak to handle it?" said Myelin.
"That test isn't over yet, Myelin. I don't want Noor barfing all over the room this time around," said Dambe.
"Did I barf last time?" said Noor. Her legs bounced off her chair up and down. A nervous sweat trickled down her forehead.
"No, but we can't afford to have you pass out on every test," said Dambe.
"I did not pass out! It was... more like I blanked out for a couple seconds."
"Yeah totally, for sure. If a couple seconds means a few hours you're spot on!" said Myelin.
Noor puffed and crossed her arms. She took her hand and poked at the air for a few clicks. "Hmph, I'll eat how I want."
"It's your choice but I'm right with ya," said Myelin, poking the digital menu hovering around him to order up a serving of greenjelly.
Dambe shrugged. "Might as well I guess."
After 15 minutes of waiting, a table-shaped robot rolled in with 3 dishes of the slimy, glowing, thin green slices of meat and some sauces. They took the bowls off its top and it whirred away.
Myelin peered into his bowl. "Ew, it's raw!"
Noor groaned.
"Oh like you're any smarter, Noor," said Dambe. "Look I'll explain—it's a barbecue restaurant. That menu was just a selection of meats. Now, see that metal pot caving into the middle of our table? Y'know the one hanging over the literal fire burning in front of our feet? That pot is hot. Put the meat on there for a few minutes, and it'll cook."
"So we gotta make it ourselves," said Myelin. "Agh, what's even the point of this place if I'm doing all the damn work for them?"
"The 'point' is the experience, Myelin. Learn to enjoy the journey, don't just run through life, you gotta stop to smell the roses every once in a while," said Dambe.
"You're quite the artsy type aren't ya?" Noor pointed at Dambe.
"Well what can I say, I am quite the connoisseur as you can tell from my expertise in the fineness of life."
"Yeah, plus you just look soft. It's like you belong in an art school or something more... delicate than Bastion U."
"Nothing's tougher than a Mercurian's soul, you'll see," Dambe replied, leaning back into his chair.
Myelin tossed a piece of greenjelly onto the grill. The ensuing pops and hisses made him nervous. Poking at it with a long pronged fork, the frying oils roared back. He glanced at each of his friends. "Care to join?"
Two more pieces of greenjelly went into the crucible with the first, creating an orchestra of sizzling. People stopped to stare, and why of course they did; three kids, dressed in a scarf, shalwar, and a thobe, each one carrying a sword, and an unworldly appetite as they made their way through the menu.
The sun was setting over the Khyber City island; buildings began to glow once again, the horizon was a darkening shade of blue, yet the hustle and traffic of the city didn't even appear to slow down a bit. Myelin, Dambe, and Noor turned a few corners, crossed a few streets, and narrowly avoided a few cars while jaywalking—BERT, screamed quite the vulgar alert for an AI system. The group made their way on the brick paths splitting the campus' green lawn.
Myelin spun himself into a 360 while walking, making for quite the dizzying light show as he took in the beauty of the city. The buildings shone their colors only to be interrupted by moss and foliage. Looking closer at the concrete structures around him, it became clearer that the plants were filling what were probably cracks in the foundation of the city.
"Dambe, the city and all the buildings around... they're all in pretty bad shape aren't they?"
Noor interjected. "Hey, why are you asking him and not me? I'm smart I know stuff—"
"It all comes back around to that little friend haunting you," said Dambe, "that 'demon of the mind' guy, the aliens invading the solar system, and humanity being only left but a little over a hundred years to patch everything up right after we booted the aliens out."
You were a real trouble maker weren't ya bud? Myelin heard no response. "I've got a lot to learn, man."
"That's what you've got us here for, dummy. Don't sweat it, I'll carry the three of us. Easy as that," said Noor, motioning for everyone to hurry along to the building.
The boys let out a puff of air and a chuckle.
"Right," said Dambe, "as easy as that."
They entered the campus' dining hall, where they last passed their tests. Now was the time for the second part. The final part standing between them and bastionhood. The doors swung shut behind them, green arrows lit up on the floor pointing the direction through the hallway.
"Pleasure to see you little jaywalking rascals again," said BERT.
"Oh, uh, sorry it was a mistake y'know I'm just new to the city. I didn't know any rules, they had to chase after me, yeah no big deal really. Uh, and yes I'm very sorry yes, I am very so sorry," stammered Myelin.
"Right," said Bert, humming low on the intercom so that nobody else could hear. "Just hurry up and follow the arrows. Between you and me, Myelin, as much as you annoy me I want to see you bring your brother home. Now go."
Myelin nodded and smiled. Looks like robot-kind has redeemed itself a little today. "Y'all heard him, let's get moving!"
The group sprinted along the arrows out the cafeteria, bursting through doors and entering hallway after hallway. They squeezed themselves shoulder to shoulder, nudging into one another for the hell of it as they whizzed by.
They sprinted past the last arrow, only noticing once the ground underneath their feet no longer gave them any directions. Noor led the way, awkwardly backtracking and wiping the sweat off her forehead. "Well, looks like it's right about that way," she said, pointing to what looked like the entrances of a school gym.
"What's it gonna be? A game of kickball?" said Myelin, peering through the door windows.
"Come on, no more joking around, get serious," said Noor, holding the door open. "Ladies first, of course."
The room was large, empty stadium seats circled around. The floor was made of wood so polished every step they took squealed. It was an indoor basketball court, but each hoop was folding back up onto the ceiling—clearly not for use today.
At the center of the room stood Mentor Twine, arms crossed and quite visibly annoyed that she had to be here. "Let's just get this over with," she grumbled.
"My name is Mentor Twine, I am a teacher here at Bastion U, blah blah blah, I don't think any of us really care about this stuff," said Mentor Twine, being obvious about the digital notecards she was scrolling through on her neurattachment. "Listen. I don't plan on taking any students this year. So I don't plan on giving you a passable test. Contrary to what some of you really want. It doesn't matter to me. What does matter is doing my job as a bastion. Not to mention not one of you impressed me." She grabbed the leather hilt of the wooden sword on her back.
"Hey lady! I don't know what the hell you're talking about but if you don't give us our test I'll kick your ass!" shouted Myelin.
Mentor Twine broke into a smile made up of pity and amusement. "Fine then, you really want your way into this school?" She pulled out her sword, and broke into a blinding glow of maroon light. "Go ahead and try."