The group arrived the medical facility, lining up with them are hundreds of other recruits, straight up front to end in a line forward and in horizontal mirroring each other, which makes quite neat and well spaced formation.
A particular man was also in this crowd, his name is Jaxon Pyre, just like Eric, he has his own reason to enlist in here. Within all the sea of anxious faces. He seems to be a calm and collected person, as he scanned all of his surrounding, his gaze moves from one to another, searching…for what, he wasn’t sure himself. Maybe just to be cautious or just distracting his mind.
Then he saw her, she was standing near the front of the line, her long blonde beautiful hair, her sapphire blue colored eyes, at first glance, he cloud feel that her gaze give this vulnerable yet determined sight, she is looking straight ahead with occasionally turning around to hear the side of her surrounding. She was small, almost fragile looking, out of all the faces of the people around here. Just like…
Jaxon’s fixated on her, he is frozen, his breathing seems halted for a second. “Annyla?” echoes in his head.
The thought hits him, slammed into his head hitting like a nail in a coffin. His heart beating faster, and harder as if it would crush against his ribs, a frantic beating inside against the silence of his controlled exterior.
“It couldn’t be. It wasn’t… Annyla.. She’s on the moon, not here” the thought flashed into his mind
“It’s not her, Julius. It can’t be.” He talk to himself, but the doubt lingered, just like poison that still left out in his body. He quickly averted his gaze, focusing down on the floor.
Even if it were her… The thought, it still won’t faze out. “No”. Said it to himself in his mind.
“No, You have no right. Not after what you’ve done”.
The memories surged to his mind, the sins he did, the beast he had become and for years, as he remembers, it was sickening, the things he did to her.
“Her smile…the way she used to look at me…like I was the only person in the world…” the memories of his past filled his mind
He quickly squeezed his eyes shut, there was no escape from it, it was a fleeting image of their happier times flashing before him.
“I’ll wait for you, Julius. Always.” Her voice filled with her love and trust echoed in his mind, a painful reminder of what he had once destroyed.
The line moves forward but Jaxon kept his eyes down, his jaw tight and his teeth tighten as he shut. He could feel her presence, and the warmth of her presence radiating back to him through the cold air he felt. He knew, somehow, deep down, the one he just saw was not her. But he even so he couldn’t… he wouldn’t look again.
“If I look…even if it’s not her…the resemblance…It will crush me…I don’t deserve to see her… not after…” The whispers of doubt crept in again, fueling his self loathing.
An hour passed. He stood rigidly to follows the line, emotionless, a statue carved from regret. The echoes in surrounding fall to silence in his mind. The weight of his past pinned down on him, it was suffocating, crushing. He felt that he couldn’t breathe for a moment there.
“Julius…tell me what’s wrong…please…” Her voice, pleading, filled his mind.
“I hurt her… I hurt her so much… I pushed her away…” this echoing thought went on and on.
He open his eyes, and raises his hand then shouting, “Excuse me”.
The officer of in the front of his line heard the shout and turn back, looking at him. “What is it maggot?” shout the officer from the front side of the line.
“Where’s the toilet?” utter Jaxon, his voice was flat.
“On the left back! If you went on shitting, you better get your ass back before the injection phase!” shout the officer back to him.
He was unresponsive and take his steps to go to the said direction, he speeds up his walking speed, as if he needed an escape from something, maybe that something is the crushing weight of her presence and of the memories that will consume him.
Not long after his steps stiff and uneven, like a doll with broken strings. The echoes come back.
“I love you, Julius… even I don’t loath you darling for any of this…” Her words, whispered through with her tears, pierced like an arrow to his heart.
“Stop it! Stop it!” his dismission to keep him on track as he quickened his pace, desperate to escape the torment.
He found the restroom, it’s a grimy cubicle far away in a corner the medical facility, he locked the door behind him and leaned against the cold wall, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
“Safe…I’m safe here…I’m safe…” but even in the solitude, he couldn’t escape the memories.
The image of her face was burned into his mind like a slavery marked that he cannot erased. He convince himself that It couldn’t be her, that the one standing on the line was somebody else, and yet that somebody else, cause him this much pain.
But the guilt ripped his confidence, this what he must face, his own fear, the relentless tormentor. He squeezed his eyes shut ever harder with hope trying to block out the memory of her, of what he’d done. Her screams… her eyes… begging me to stop…
“Julius… please… I beg you…” He remembered the way she would reach for him, her touch gentle despite the pain he inflicted. “Please… tell me what’s wrong love… let me help you…”
And then he saw it clearly. The cramped toilet suddenly turns into the place where he remembers, the event of that that, in their room, He saw himself, his hands wrapped around her slender throat, he watches with his own eyes, by his own hands grab tightly into her delicate skin, as if he wants to crush her. He saw the anything but fear in her eyes, she was sadden, the way she pleaded with him, as her lips curved into a gentle, loving smile he mutter
“I just want to help you my dear, Julius… please let me…help…” the voice split into pieces she gasps out of breath, her tone filled with unwavering affection, even in the face of his brutality, shattered the last vestiges of his control.
The dam inside him broke.
A sob escaped, a choked sound of pure agony. He slid down the wall to the toilet down, his body shaking uncontrollably. Tears streamed down his face and his heart and head feels about to burst into oblivion, he buried his face in his hands as if trying to stop the sounds of his grief.
“Alfred… Annyla… what have I done…” “It wasn’t me… they made me… they told me…” The lies echoed in his head, it was hollowed words. He couldn’t accept the truth, even now it was too late to accept it.
“Annyla…” he mutter while tears still raining down.
Her name was the reason, the sole reason for his conviction, he made a plea for forgiveness that he knew would never be granted, and will never deserved. The memories flooded back, all the pain, the regret, the shame. He saw her face bruised with her torn clothes and tear streaked, heard her cries for mercy, mercy for not to stop the torment but mercy to tell her what is his rage for.
“I’ll tell you anything love… just… please tell me love… why you never speak of anything?” The memory of her desperation twisted the arrow that pierced deep into his heart bleeding him to death, he remembered the way she would try to soothe him, to calm his rage, even as he pushed her away.
“Julius…please…just talk to me…” Her pleas for his connection, for understanding, only fueled his self hatred.
“No…no…no…” He repeated the word over and over. He was a savage, nay a Monster, he had destroyed the one person who had ever loved him with every fiber of her beings and ask nothing but understanding in return.
“I’m sorry…Annyla…I’m so sorry…” He sobbed even harder and the weight of his guilt crushing him even more, he remembered the way she would always look at him, her eyes filled with a love. Now he knows he didn’t deserve it, even as he choked the life out of her.
“I believe in you, Julius… I know you’re still in there… talk to me love”. As he remembered he sobbed yet the air surround him feels like force that pinned him down even further, his body crumble.
The guilt he felt was like a physical weight, it’s crushing him down, suffocating him, drown in it, lost in the darkness of his past. The past he cannot change.
“I’ll find you…I promise…I’ll make it right…somehow…” But even as he made this vow and the whispers of doubt returned to him even louder than ever.
“Too late…it’s too late…you’ve ruined everything…you don’t deserve her love…”
Seconds turns to minutes, the time he spends in this cubicle passed as he curled up tighter, his body shaking uncontrollably, he remembers memories of when he was back there, in the chambers of House Valzvein. The air thick with tension and lies, he was shouting at her, his voice filled with rage, fueled by lies and manipulation, he saw her flinch, her eyes wide with fear her hands trembling, but even then, even as he hurt her, as he torture her, she reached for him, her gentle touch, and her voice soothing.
“Please…Julius…please…”.
He didn’t know how long he stayed there, curled up on floor and lost in his grief. For him a moment there felt like eternity and time ceased to exist and there was only the pain, the regret, and the haunting image of her face, the mark he lefts on her, he should’ve executed if not for her defense to protect someone she loved, his sins would be the reminder for him, and her voice from distant past would be the bell that rings it.
“I just want to help you, Julius… please let me…” Her words echoed in his mind, this is his constant reminder of his failure.
“I have to find her…I have to…I have to atone for my sins…” But even as the thought formed in his mind, slowly a cold voice whispered in the back of his head.
“Too late…it’s too late…”
Half an hour later in the line, Eric notice a man went back to a line, the officer of his line seems shouting to the man but the man seems unresponsive. It seems that it’s the man that went to toilet before, not long after that he hears mumbles from the surrounding people around him, including in his group.
The line in the Med Bay was moving slowly, each recruit stiff with anticipation, there are some that looked nervous, eyes scanning around, while others stood there with a nonchalant, almost bored air. The clatter of boots echoed in the sterile, metallic room as people shuffled forward.
A tall guy with a rough face, he is probably in his mid thirties, cracked his knuckles nervously, his voice low but steady.
”Yo, have you heard what they’re doin’ with that serum? They say it’s supposed to make us survive in space and all of that bullshit… But, man! I ain’t too sure about it.”
A younger recruit standing nearby replied to him.
”Pfft, man, just relax. I mean, you ain’t gotta be some superhero shit to do this job. It’s not like they’re looking for Olympians or somethin’. They just need warm bodies to shove into those spaceships bro. We’re just fodders bro period.”
Another guy, that looked thin and wiry with a scruffy beard anxiously kept checking his watch like the minutes were dragging on forever.
”You think they’re actually gonna give us superpowers or something? I heard it’s like some kinda—”
“Nah, man,” interrupted the rough-faced guy with a laugh. “It ain’t about super strength or nothing, it’s just… For survival. Like, you gotta be able to breathe up there IN SAPCE for god’s sake, not die in the cold environment and all those sciency things they said, that kind of shit. Ain’t no magic serum, just science, tho i wish it was magic serum, i can’t cast spell other than fucking candle fire”
“You saying that now, but if I start gettin’ buff or somethin’… I’m gonna be real confused,” the wiry guy muttered, shaking his head.
“What? You thought this would be like a game or somethin’? I ain’t seen or heard shit about that thing make someone buff or somethin’ like that, if they were that good, it would’ve been sold like candies in black market for sure!” replied the younger recruit.
Meanwhile as they talking Eric still bowing his head down, his gaze focused on the floor, the sound of the surrounding pass through him, he’s almost dazing.
Few recruits on the back muttered loudly to his buddy, “You think they’re gonna turn us into a mindless soldier or something? Like for real? I am worrying to death man”
The guy beside him just shrugged, casually flipping a coin in his hand up and down. “The hell is there to worried about?, I ain’t worried. Whatever they put in me, I’ll sleep through it. I don’t even care, man. Just get me outta here so I can get to work and be done with it, i want my pay and bounce back home.”
Another recruit seems to have his worry taken over him, as his eyes widen, he whispered to the guy next to him, sounding like he was regretting this whole decision.
”H-h-hey man.. What if… What if it goes wrong? You heard the stories, right??? Right??? Some of the guys didn’t make it past the first injection!!. Ain’t no way they’re telling us everything, there’s gotta be some shady shit government conspiracy going on!”
The guy beside him rolled his eyes.
”Dude, c’mon man, you stressing over something that ain’t even happened yet? You signed up for this, just like everybody else. If this ain’t gonna kill you, the next thing on the moon might!” said the guy sarcastically while chuckles
The recruit shuddered, his hand twitching like he wanted to scratch his arm but didn’t dare to.
”DAMN IT, ah shit, well, I ain’t exactly ready to become some mutant or dying early man.”
The older recruit from earlier, still pacing in line, chimed in with a grin of confidence “Look, it’s simple, alright? You get the shot, boom, you survive the ride, boom, and when this is all over? You get paid. Boom! That’s the deal. Ain’t no need to be all dramatic about it.”
A short pause before the young recruit spoke up again, with a dry chuckle.
”I mean, what do we even have to lose? We were already stuck on Earth-1, the shithole planet, man. This is a one-way ticket to better or worse. Either way, we ain’t realistically coming back so the outcome is the same. You either die here or die after or better yet survive”
Hearing the conversations sparks some of the others in line gave awkward laughs, though the tension didn’t really break.
The grizzled soldier at the front of the line gave an impatient grunt, looking over the recruits, clearly done with the chatter.
”Alright, enough talkin’, you maggots. The serum’s comin’ your way soon. It ain’t a miracle cure, but it’ll make sure you don’t croak halfway to your destination. Now shut up, take your dose, and get ready for whatever’s coming next.”
As the recruits move forward, Eric didn’t budge. He just kept staring at the floor, letting the voices swirl around him. The uncertainty, fear, and despair are all floated in the air. This wasn’t a typical military enlistment, and he knew it. The requirement wasn’t about being physically fit or young—anyone could sign up for this, as he remember the requirement he read for the enlistment. The thing was, most of them probably didn’t know what they are walking into. That was the thing with desperate people. Including Eric, they didn’t care about the risks anymore. They just wanted “out”.
Another contrast scene can be seen within the huddled group of women and girls around the crowd. Whispers echoing their shared worries, uncertainty, and fear about what lies ahead. Their voices blend into a low hum of the air, making this despair and doubt tension keep present on the surrounding.
One girl whispers to another, her voice trembling, “I don’t even know why I’m here… I can barely make ends meet. Shouldn’t I have just taken the easy way out? Why even risk my life for a promise that seems like it’ll just swallow screwing me and killing me up?”
The girl beside her shifts uncomfortably, eyes glancing down at the floor, her face etched with regret. “Yeah… I get it. Everyone keeps talking about it like it’s some glorious opportunity, but… I mean, I we could’ve just done something else, you know? I mean, like… Right! There’s adult entertainment, right? Easier money, no risk of death… Why are we even doing this? Agh why i’m such a dumbass”
Another girl, let out her voice mixed with bitterness. “Yeah, maybe we’re all just throwing ourselves into a grinder for nothing. My debt’s stacking up and couldn’t pay it, even if I were not be here I’d still be chased by mafia that I owed money to. I can’t live a live either way in and out of this, the only choice for me is forward and I’ll take whatever scraps I can find.”
In the midst of all the voices, there is a girl stands out, a girl who’s locked into a determined silence, she’s a little younger than the others, maybe 21 or 22, and there’s something different about her, her eyes are sharp, her posture confident, even as the tension fills the air, she doesn’t seem to share the doubts of the others. She hasn’t spoken a word yet, but there’s a fierce air around her.
A girl next to her glances up nervously, then whispers, “She’s different. Look at her, she hasn’t even flinched. Doesn’t seem to be scared either…”
It’s like there an unshakable intensity in her gaze. The others can feel the cold aura that surround her as if she carrying an unspoken promise that she won’t break, no matter the odds.
The whispers fade for a brief moment as the girls all seem to realize something, one by one each of them. They wonder if they were foolish for questioning the path ahead, the path that they clearly choose by themselves, a consequence of their action, a responsibility. What could be worse than being stuck in debt, suffocated by circumstances? Wouldn’t it be easier to just disappear, leave all of this behind, rather than throw themselves into a battlefield? The echo of this thought humming in their minds, they realize despite all of this there’s still this girl with the determination, the one who hasn’t moved or wavered by the circumstances of her own choice.
A voice rises from the group, softer this time, hesitant, but it’s filled with hope. “Maybe she’s the right one to follow…”
Another girl, hesitant, speaks up in a barely audible voice, “I don’t know… perhaps she knows something we don’t or maybe she’s just… Tired of all the pretending game”
The young girl, finally speaks, muttering the words not at anyone but just looking straight up, “You think the world’s going to stop spinning just because we don’t want to fight and take responsibility of our action? You think you can just hide forever or run? If you’re not willing to fight for yourself, no one else will. So stop wasting time thinking about how to escape and you shouldn’t be here and any of that. Because when the time comes, you’ll wish you make a stand for yourself”
Her words hang heavy in the air, the tension lifts up. The others stare at her, feeling unsure, but they can feel the weight of truth in her words. There’s no escaping what’s coming. Like it or not, this is their choice. Some will fall, some will rise, but there’s no turning back now.
All the recruits are now inside of the medical facility, Eric notices that inside building is massive, the celling is beyond reach, with this huge space empty field to fit all the recruits, even though it’s inside a building the light is almost as bright as the sunlight outside, instruction to stop and maintain position was given by officer that each of the group follows. The foremost position of the recruits notice that not far on the front there are some figures, they come in pair with each of them standing beside a bed that attached in some kind of machinery.
Mutters and whispers humming in the crowd of recruits.
“Wait why they need priestess there? What is she supposed to do” a skinny man in not so far group from Eric muttered.
“Eh? Probably for emotional and spiritual support? I mean people get nervous and you heard the rumor right? People could died because of the serum” replied a ill postured man from the back of the skinny man’s.
“What the hell?! They even goes as far as provide priestess to deliver us to our death? This is sickening!” replied the skinny man
“You’re as good as dead if you’re already apply yourself here, face the consequences” said a girl from the skinny man line too on the front
The skinny man looks worried but no further wants to continue the conversation.
Eric, take a glance for a second to see what people are muttering about, he lift his head and lean a bit to the side and look at the front and sees exactly what they’re saying before, Eric position is number 12 in his group line, the distance is not that far to see what is in front of recruit groups. As he focus his sight he sees there are dozens tactical dress medic, equipped with full suit with googles and wearing facemask , not far beside the medics there are what seems to be a priestess wearing a black robe with white laces and their half-up of their faces are blocked by visor.
“Why the priestess even there? And what is with the medic full tactical suit?” Eric muttered in his mind.
Beside them both there’s the bed that attached to some kind of machinery, Eric best guest that it would be the machine to inject the serum and bed indicates that each person need to be lying down in order for the serum to be administered.
Eric also noticed the big screen behind where the medic and priestess are standing, not long after he noticed that, the screen flickered to life, revealing what it seems to be a holographic avatar, stylized like a cartoonish cat girl with blue colored ears twitching rhythmically. The design of the avatar perfectly matched a the height of a girl around eighteen to twenty years old, the body is what people would describe as a fit, with not too slender but not too much muscles and weight, her oversized eyes yellow eyes are giving this glowing like rift-energy, her tail that swished back and forth, and a voice that sounded like honey poured over static.
“Hiiii, recruits! 🎀 I’m Negi-chan, your favorite Vtuber! Here to guide all of you!!” she chirped, her avatar bouncing in a way that to seems like celebration opening of a show. And then rainbow sparks and gas started to come out below the screen to seems like a celebration mark.
“Today’s Negi-chan will guide everyone to finish the medical procedure! Be sure to stays calm and keep your spirit up! And no need worry! The procedure is super safe and super fun! Just lie back, take a deep breath, and let Kaelion Industry’s patented Vita-Serum work its magic!”
Behind her, a CGI animation showed smiling soldiers transforming into glowing, muscular heroes while a jingle played: “From despair to hero’s destiny!, Kaelion’s got your back—yay!”
The scarred man near Eric snorted, his voice dripping with disdain. “The fuck is this shit? They mocking us?”
The wiry woman with the scarred cheek, rolled her eyes. “Kaelion’s always gotta brand everything. Even our deaths.”
The guy with the jagged scar, grinned despite the tension. “Yo, that’s Negi-chan! She’s got 100 million subs on XeonTube. Didn’t know she did corpo ads too.”
One muscular guy from the back was crying and screaming “NEGIII CHANNN!!!! MY IDOLLL!! OHHH MY GOOOD!!!! I WAS NOT ABLE TO ATTEND YOUR IDOL MEET!! BUT NOW I’M GLAD I COME HERE!!! I DON’T CARE IF I’M DYING OR NOT AS LONG AS NEGI CHAN IS HERE!!!“. Everyone seems to be surprised and and some are weird out with his reaction
A wiry recruit near Eric shuddered, his voice trembling. “Why’s her voice sound like that? Like… wrong?”
Negi-chan’s tail glitched for half a second before snapping back to normal. “Everybody must be worried about the rumored side effects yes? Well I’m here to inform everyone that less than 0.01% of recruits experience temporary side effects! So you can rest assure that it would be fine! Because i will be here with all of you! Nyan!” she winks her left eye while making a pose where her hand make peace sign on the top of her right eye.
”💉 But don’t worry! If your body destabilizes, you’ll receive a generous compensation package and free rehab at a Kaelion wellness center! And get paid as sick duty too!” as she continue her lines while resetting her position back to standing normally.
A nerdy recruit near the front of the line piped up, his voice tinged with excitement. “Dude, did you know?? Her fandom started to connecting lore about her and they revealed that she might be actually an AI that made by some genius hacker or something! And her Creator is apparently rumored to be Tier 5 person!”
A cynical woman in the back scoffed, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “Compensation package? Yeah, right sure, like they’ll dump your corpse in a recycler and call it ‘pension’.’”
A young girl, barely out of her teens, panicking, her voice trembling. “She’s… looking at me. Why is she looking at me?”
A annoyed recruit near the front of the line muttered under his breath, his voice low. “Priestesses and anime girls. ‘Real professional’.”
The recruits shuffled forward, the line inching closer to the medics and their ominous machines. The air was thick with tension, the kind that made your skin crawl and your stomach churn.
Negi-chan’s smile stretched too wide, her teeth sharpening briefly into needlepoints. “Remember, guys! 🌟 All of you are the hope that will bring humanity closer to conquer the Unknown! Think of the adventure! Think of the credit bonuses! Now, say ‘nyaa~’ and let’s get started!”
The screen flashed a card that says “Start!”.