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Stella found herself walking back to the dorm after supper. She turned at the intersection and walked down a long, dark tunnel without an end in sight. Her pacing accelerated, this setting was awfully familiar. It was as if she had been transported back into the tumultuous future, only this time the blood-painted walls kept growing larger and larger. Her breathing shortened, a metallic note began to emerge out of the stuffy air as the enormous walls closed in on our assassin. She was not ready to go back, she needed more time. Stella cried as she kept herself running without a direction, her legs didn't stop until she came across a familiar figure.

"J-Hope, I'm so glad you're here. I-I..."

The tall, slender boy turned his head without moving another extra muscle, the buoyant face from her recollection sank in, slowly, until there was nothing left but a lost expression masked over his decayed skin and bone.

"So much...blood." The boy wheezed. "And look, it's on your hands now."

Stella looked south, just to find a thick, dark liquid dripped down slowly from her trembling hands.

"This is not on...me. I-I didn't do any of this."

"Our deaths are on you now." He walked into the dimmed light, followed by figures of the deceased, they all bore an expressionless look on their pale, battered faces. "Kill him, before he kills us."

"I need more time. I need more time!" Stella covered her ears in a pointless attempt to keep their voices out.

"Wake up if you need more time for your exam." Suddenly, a strong, foreign force appeared out of thin air and pulled her away from the hall filled with ancient ghosts. Her lashes flickered, Stella opened her eyes and relished in the soothing sight of Petra getting dressed. Her roommate gave her another nudge to make sure that she was alive. "How cliche of you to wake up from a nightmare, screaming and all."

"What time is it?" Not wanting to leave the bed, Stella rolled around the comfort of her duvet under the guise of a reality check.

"It's 10:30 in the morning. Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"Shit." Stella groaned as her body resurrected itself and moved toward the ensuite bathroom. "I have less than 10 hours to spend on the stupid robot."

Our assassin washed her face and brushed her teeth under the speed of light, she then ran out of the room, nearly on the verge of forgetting her shoes. Good thing she didn't put on her pajama yesterday so changing didn't seem to be an issue, no one would be able to notice, thought Stella as she shuffled out of the room.

"Hey, hey, at least change your clothes, will you? Stella? Stella!" Petra rushed to the door and yelled at the disappearing girl.

"What's the point? It's a fucking uniform!" Our protagonist's voice echoed through the sunlit hall as she hurried away. Petra cackled at the other girl's attitude, she then went back in, making preparations to head out herself.

Stella had managed to perfect her 'sphere of fear' before the tumultuous supper that happened last night. The little creation was an intricate morphable device, disguised under the ruse of a personal grooming assistance. The machine operated by receiving instructions from a series of clapping patterns, and since the students were not allowed to participate in the evaluation process, Stella felt the need to design a manual booklet that could potentially prevent the department idiots from hurting themselves.

She took a corner spot inside Nautilus, a cafe and a known studying landmark within the BioMarine department, down at the very floor of the campus's lake. The buildings were half-submerged, the lower part a dream came true for all the sea freaks, another brilliant case in which form triumphed function. Still, there was something about being near a large waterbody that reminded Stella of space, allowing her to focus, maybe it was the weightless environment or the idea of being submerged in a vast, unexplored surrounding. She leaned against yet another glass dome in the Academy and cleaned up the sketches on her tablet. The clock struck twelve and Stella felt an urge to move before the end of lunchtime. Our assassin was keen to avoid familiar faces, her recurring nightmares seemed to enjoy feeding on them.

Stella hurried through the department's tube-like corridors, chasing away idle fishes that had been people-watching for quite a while now. Her mind wandered off, wondering how long humanity could last inside these kinds of glass bowls, neath the water or above in space alike, considering how quickly marine lives perished within confined tanks.

"Don't run. You are scaring the fishes." Stella's arm was pulled back by a towering figure, her new, frail body jerked back. She was tired of glaring at taller people in this timeline, but Jin really got what it took to keep the scowl machine running. The 1204 Veloria Prima royal had been cultivating his brand image as the 'Prince of Nature', and this was but the perfect occasion to demonstrate his love for all living things. "Let's not frighten our little friends here."

The crowd surrounded the two gazed in awe. The prince's warmish aura was a sight to be seen, even for the fishes, they now flocked toward the submerged corridor filled with drooling admirers. Pathokinesis, Stella went over her memories to pick up Jin's file, his ability to manipulate the emotion of living beings had remained a secret up until the Second GonAie War. It was a rare mutation among the Velorian royals, a genetic ability that had allowed crown forebearers to form deep connections with their planet, in turn, perpetuating the reign of his family over the lands. 

Stella looked at the groupie of fishes and people alike, even with this knowledge, his image still resembled that of a God walking among peasants. Must be the advanced empathy working, she tried to move away from the area of effect.

"Indeed Your Highness. But thy fine handeth mustn't toucheth a lowly commoner!" Unable to make a snarky comment under the prince's spell, she decided to weird him out instead. "Alloweth my departure and I shalt power walketh out of thy sight."

Jin was taken aback by the language and the curtsy, he loosened his grip and Stella quickly slipped through the crowd of devotees.

"Hey, Jungkook." The prince turned toward a well-built, young man. "Do people still speak like this on Earth?"

"Apparently so, Your-Highness." Jungkook's eyes curved as he teased his prince.

"You know I hate it when people call me that." Jin smile at Jungkook before taking a final, quizzical look toward the direction of the weirdo that got away.

---

Petra too had a long day at the Extraterrestial Biology Department. Their exam demanded its registrants to discover a simulated planet and accumulate its data, all while being chased by a bunch of alien kinkajous. After keying the room's password, she leaned her weight on the heavy, wooden door. Yet instead of the usual smooth entrance, the opening was now jammed by what looked like a pale pair of legs.

"Shit." Petra slid through the narrow gap and used the tip of her shoe to nudge this seemingly 'dead body'. Its dark hair spilled all over the floor, its bodice improperly clothed, on top of all, its abdomen was twisted in an inhuman shape; the composition had orchestrated the most horrifying sight possible for the faint-hearted. If it wasn't for the muffled snores coming out of its mouth, Petra would have already shat herself. "At least clean yourself up before sleeping, woman."

She turned the light on and the ground monster frantically searched for a hole to hide in. Petra dragged her roommate by the collar and threw her into the bathroom. "You've got 20 minutes to shower or I will go in and give you a full body scrub, just the way my pet Ganjui likes it back in Orisis."

Petra had once mentioned that Ganjuis were the equivalent of elephants living on her planet. Stella shuddered at the thought of being scrubbed all over with a long, coarse broom. She stepped out of the bathroom 19 minutes later, refreshed. Dark strands of hair still attached to her rosy cheeks, yet without the grease, they now complimented her lethargic face. Petra wrapped her head with a small towel and helped the smaller girl dry herself. "Feel better?"

"Much better." Stella let her roommate take care of the wet hair. The warmth emanating from Petra's fingers began to creep through her scalp. Alarmed, she pulled herself away. "H-how was your exam?"

"Exhausting. Practical ones are absurd!" Petra took a pack of sandwiches out of her bag and threw it towards Stella. "It took me less than 2 days to finish all the papers, but the whole week to clear off the rest."

"You know that these tests give us priorities when it comes to choosing our fields of study. Take all the papers available if you strive for a glorified desk job on Earth." Stella fell back to her bed. "But there is no space for papers out there. Away from Earth, everything becomes harsh, and real."

"Aye, Captain! How we all love to suffer." Petra raised her thick eyebrows at the dampened state of her roommate's pillowcase. "So what's for tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Sandwiches?" She pointed at the bread pack lying on top of her chest.

"I'm serious." Petra chuckled at her silliness. "What test are you taking?"

"Survival."

Stella let out a deep sigh as she covered her face.

"Ahh, if it isn't the sickest test our Academy has to offer. I still don't get what went on in your head signing up for that subject, you do know the assessment is a literal bloodbath right?"

"Yes. One with fewer competitors. It's easier to be in the top 3 when you're fighting against 30 or so nut heads." This also happened to be one of the assessments in which our assassin could finally put her skills to use. "The winning team also receives an extra 25 points regardless of survival duration. Not bad at all."

"Not bad at all?" Petra bit her fingers. "A guy almost died last year falling off an Archaeopteris. The Medical Department has a lot to say about this part of the E3."

"Go wash up Petra, you stink." Now it was Stella's turn to harass the other girl with her toes. "Stop worrying! I'll survive, no climbing the Archaeopteris trees, I promise."

"Alright, alright, rest early. You have a long day ahead." Petra moved towards the door and switch off the light. She took a good look at her roommate before entering the shower.

The gullible grin on Stella's face dimmed as the light went out. She wrestled with outlined strategies and elaborated plans before her brain finally gave in. Our girl soon fell into the darkness's warm embrace, floating off toward a dreamless night.

---

At the very beginning of the 28th century, planet Earth had been taken by an alien warrior race known as GonAie. They shared the human genome, yet were slightly mutated to survive in harsh environments. The few visible differences between the average GonAien and a shredded human specimen were a ridge in their skull and their ultra-violet eyes, providing the kind a larger optical window, among all the other enhanced predatory traits they already possessed. 

"Fourteen years ago, we believed that with the development of an advanced space diplomatic system, peace would follow. The First GonAie War is a living proof that we were wrong."

Stella's weary eyes followed the sturdy men who had been walking back and forth the Academy's ariel vehicle ever since they got on board. The sound of heavy boots knocking on the floor somehow added the much-needed weight to his speech. "And when I said living, I meant it. The war still rages on until we manage to exterminate any hidden threats caused by these terrorists."

Donny Steele, Stella remembered his name from the list of key figures in the First War, he was also known as the facilitator for one of the most ruthless Survival settings in the Academy's history. In short, the man was a walking chunk of aggressive male energy, Stella couldn't help but feel her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

"Do we really have to resort to...genocide?" A fresh face from the crowd of stressed-out registrants raised her voice. "Their planet has already been destroyed, their people exiled, how much of a threat can they pose to us in this state?"

"And I suppose our little Miss Universe over her is Earthean?" As if fueled by all the rage of war itself, the large man growled. "Spend a day in space and you'd know that the GonAies were nowhere near extinct. Even with what remains of their force, these maggots still manage to pirate, terrorize and leech on to whatever they see fit. You kids wouldn't last more than 3 seconds in their presence, not in this state."

"In 5 minutes, we will kick you off this plane, one-person-after-another. The arena is an artificial forest fully controlled by the Academy, it is advisable that you kids work with one another after landing. Team B, look at the tracking device attached to your left shoulder."

Stella looked over to find that the name tag on her sleeve had just started blinking, the aircraft's cabin was instantly filled with the glowing hue of violet.

"Your mission is to remove as many of these from Team A and C as possible within 36 hours, registrants without their name tag attached are to be eliminated. 5 points will be awarded to each tag obtained from the opponents. You win by eliminating all members from the other teams. Stay out of the warring zone and you will be eliminated. Cheat and you will be eliminated. Injure your peers and you will be sent to Conduct and Discipline. Questions?"

"Y-yes Sir." A hesitant voice rose from the dark corner of the vehicle. "We all know that the winning team members are to receive 25 points regardless of survival ranking. What if there are still survivors from all the teams by the end of the assessment?"

"That never happened before." Steele chuckled. His tests had been designed to recruit the unbreakable, soldiers who wouldn't falter at the sight of violence, warmongers who were willing to hunt for the very last of a dying species. "But in such a case, nobody gets bonus points. This test will reveal if you are the predator or the prey. So hunt if you must, for the sake of everyone in this room."

Stella didn't manage to process any of that information, her focus was drawn to the corner of the room, from which the soft-spoken voice had emerged. It was a familiar sound she couldn't imagine ever hearing again in this timeline. Her head turned around and her breathing felt labored. At the end of the room stood a boy whose presence itself was enough to petrify our assassin. Stella had seen the spitting image of this face on the man who saved her from a lifetime of scavenging, on the man who taught her how to kill, on one of the hooded figures sitting front row in the blood sacrifice, sending her consciousness back in time.

Her eyes moved to his left shoulder, in the dark, the glowing name tag lit up his face and bathed the boy's features in a harrowing hue. He looked ghastly but not as bad as this future disciple, for her focus had been engulfed by the 3 haunting words embroidered to his uniform.

Park.Ji.Min