The city of Eryndra Prime stretched beneath the academy's glass spires, its skyline split by lightning towers and transport rails.
From above, it looked like progress.
From within, it smelled like control.
The Summons
At dawn, two enforcers arrived at Dorm 4B.
They wore black Hero Division coats—faceless, efficient.
"Cadet Xander Valois," one said. "By order of the Hero Council, you are to report to Chamber Nine for disciplinary review."
Mira tried to step in front of him. "You can't just—"
The enforcer's visor flared red. "Civilian interference in Council orders is grounds for—"
Renn grabbed her shoulder. "Let him go, Mira. We'll find out what's happening."
Xander nodded once. "It's fine."
He didn't believe it, but he needed to know why this was happening.
As the doors sealed behind him, he heard Mira whisper,
"Don't let them turn you into what they want."
Chamber Nine
The elevator descended deep beneath the academy, past the training floors and into the Administrative Core — a place students were never meant to see.
The walls pulsed faintly with resonance circuitry, glowing like veins.
When the doors opened, the air was cold.
Six figures sat at a long table, faces hidden behind the symbol of the Hero Council — a circular crest divided by elemental sigils.
At the head sat Director Varrin Sol, silver-haired, sharp-eyed, and calm as ice.
"Cadet Valois," Varrin began, "you displayed extraordinary instability during a sanctioned duel. You jeopardized the safety of the academy, and yet… you also displayed a power the Council has not witnessed in decades."
Xander met his gaze. "You mean the dual resonance."
"I mean uncontrolled mutation," Varrin corrected. "Tell me — did you feel your resonance change?"
"I stopped it before it did."
"No, you survived before it did," Varrin said quietly. "There's a difference."
The Revelation
Holograms lit up behind the Council — resonance scans, biological readouts, and his file labeled SUBJECT 1179 — PROJECT ASCENDANT.
Xander's pulse quickened.
"I didn't volunteer for this."
"You didn't need to," said another Councilor. "You were born into it."
They showed him an old image — a baby in an incubator surrounded by energy monitors.
Name: Xander Valois
Experiment Type: Dual-Elemental Stabilization, Phase Zero.
Xander's voice cracked. "You're saying I was… made?"
Varrin's expression softened slightly. "Not made. Chosen. A prototype of harmony. But the Council deemed the program unstable. Every other subject died."
He clenched his fists. "Then why am I still here?"
"Because you're proof that our vision works," Varrin said. "And because we're not finished."
The lights dimmed. A containment circle rose from the floor, etched with elemental runes.
"You will undergo Protocol Ascendant. The test will measure your control threshold. If you succeed, you'll be reinstated as a candidate for the Hero Division."
"And if I fail?"
"Then you'll be repurposed."
The Test
Restraints clamped around his wrists. Energy conduits locked into his arms.
The floor symbols glowed, flooding the chamber with water and lightning resonance.
A mechanical voice echoed:
"Protocol Ascendant initializing. Subject synchronization: 47%."
Pain tore through him. His vision blurred.
Water surged around his body, lightning weaving through it — unstable, chaotic, alive.
Xander screamed, trying to focus — remembering Serin's words: teach them to share a vessel.
But the elements wanted war.
His reflection flickered in the containment glass — eyes glowing blue and gold, symbols burning faintly across his skin.
A whisper threaded through his mind, the same one from the network.
"They can't contain you."
"Break the circuit."
He gritted his teeth and pulled against the restraints. Lightning cracked, water surged — the chamber's lights exploded.
Monitors burst, alarms screamed.
Councilors shouted over the chaos.
"Shut it down!"
"It's feeding back through the network!"
Then—silence.
The restraints dissolved into steam.
Xander stood at the center of the wrecked chamber, breathing hard, energy fading slowly.
The containment glass was shattered.
The runes on the floor had gone dark.
Varrin stared at him in disbelief.
"You shouldn't have survived that."
Xander's voice was hoarse. "Guess your data was wrong."
Minutes later, the chamber was sealed off.
Council members argued behind closed doors.
Serin found him waiting in the hall, eyes wide.
"They said you passed," she whispered. "But you weren't supposed to."
Xander frowned. "What does that mean?"
She hesitated. "It means the Council can't decide whether to fear you or use you."
Before he could answer, an announcement echoed through the corridor:
"All cadets: mandatory assembly at 1800 hours. The Hero Council will address the Academy."
Serin's expression darkened. "They're making a statement."
Xander looked at the sealed doors of Chamber Nine.
"Then so will I."
Meanwhile — Mira and Renn
Back in the dorm, Mira slammed her datapad on the table.
"Renn, look at this. I cracked the file from earlier."
Lines of hidden text scrolled across the screen.
PROJECT ASCENDANT: GOAL — INTEGRATE HUMAN DNA WITH PURE ELEMENTAL CORE.
OUTCOME: 1 SURVIVOR. SUBJECT 1179. ACTIVE.
Renn's hands tightened. "They're turning heroes into weapons."
Mira whispered, "No… they already did."