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  For a few minutes there was no activity, as everyone waited patiently. A slow smile crept over Professor Kep’s face. Then, the spider’s legs began to twitch again, sparking back to life. Tiny hairs grew out of its legs, growing longer and longer, eventually wrapping themselves around the spider’s bristles and thickening into shapes similar to the Xenosite’s original armor. The same happened to its frame, which began to lose the brittleness normally associated with insects as it turned jagged around the top.

  The two bodies continued to mesh together, throbbing violently in some stages. Although everyone had expected it, they could not be ready for what came next. In one hideous movement, the spider lifted up its head and rotated it in a full circle. It now had more eyes than before, and looked like a mixture of its old self and the Xenosite. It lifted its body slowly and wiggled its legs. It continued to morph right in front of them, changing its palette of color from ice blue to a darker midnight blue and black, with a newly gifted exoskeleton wrapped in a peculiar type of organic carapace that resembled the Xenosite’s, but was half made of ice, a unique effect characteristic of neither of its creators. As it finally lifted its entire body, its new size also became evident. It was almost twice as large as any of its former selves. Its legs continued to grow disproportionally longer, lifting its body to new heights.

  “And what we have now, of course, is no longer a Xenosite, nor an Arachnid. The proper term, is…?”

  “Xenoarachnid” replied a few students simultaneously. Professor Kep had been particularly persistent in having all of them memorize the proper names and taxonomy of all the creatures they studied. Red regretted that the answer did not come to him as easily as it did for the others, but memorizing facts was never his forte.

  “An infected creature grows in size, strength, intelligence, and can potentially gain new abilities — although it loses its capacity to evolve into further of its original stages. Although it was thought for decades that an infected creature was purely Xenosite in brain function, new research suggests that some form of its host’s conscience still remains. Regardless, you can trust that all infected creatures are, for the most part, Xenosite in nature,” Kep added.

  He walked around the front of the room to let his words sink in, welcoming the long pause that followed as everyone stared at the new Xenoarachnid that was now intent on studying its container. Unlike the Crystal Sleet Spider, which hunted for an escape animalistically, this new creature studied its surroundings patiently. Its mannerisms seemed far more shrewd and bold. Red had the odd feeling that it knew it was being watched. Not in the way that a critter can tell if you’re staring at it, but in the way that a person would understand the entire context of this situation — that it was being examined in a classroom of humans at a school dedicated to training people how to fight its kind.

  “You’re finally beginning to understand what what you’re up against,” the professor chided as he looked around at all the horrified faces. “I feel guilty for having to crush your naivety, but you have to know what’s out there. You have to be prepared. The Xenosite are beautiful vehicles of destruction, their invasions have turned extermination into a science. I was there when Carnaega was invaded, right there on the field. At first, electric elementalists were celebrated for their efficiency in combat. There was no greater pleasure than watching a squad of us incinerate thousands of Xenosite in organized attacks. Then a month into the invasion, they began consuming every critter on the planet that was resistant to electricity. They began learning, they began growing. Two months into the invasion, we began seeing legions of new strains that could walk right through a thunderstorm without being phased.”

  “Can humans be infected?” Magnus asked, interrupting Kep’s speech.

  “No sentient creature has ever been successfully infected. Not humans, not elves, not dragons. Killed, yes, but never infected. Experiments have been done on humans…umm…death row prisoners of course,” the Professor added with a sheepish look, “where the process of infection, even by a Xenosite that should be powerful enough to infect a human host, has always resulted in the death of either both subjects, or of only the human. This is all anecdotal of course. It has not yet happened, but we do not know for certain if it is or isn’t possible. Either sentience creates neurological complications that makes it impossible for sentient creatures to be infected, or it is simply a matter of time before its difficulties are eliminated. We are seeing more powerful, and more intelligent Xenosites every year.”

  “Can this spider now infect another creature?” someone else asked.

  “I’m glad you asked that,” the professor responded.

  “It depends on the gender of the host. If it’s female, then yes. Essentially, any type of Xenosite requires eggs to infest a host. Note, that it cannot reproduce, it can only infect a new creature. Of course, this has certain restrictions. After acquiring a host, it must wait weeks before it can re-engage the process of infection. Longer depending on the size and power of its host, and of its target. A Xenosite cannot infect a host significantly above its own strength, it will die in the process, and thus, it will never try to. Instead, it will either kill its target, or bring it back to its hive, alive. But essentially, this does mean that Xenosites can continue the process of infection to more and more powerful creatures, indefinitely. This Xenoarachnid, much more powerful than the original Xenosite, can now infect hosts that its previous form could not, and combine the talents of its previous host with its new one.”

  Everyone gave a terrified shiver at the thought. An overhead tune signaled the end of class. But rather than rushing out as everyone normally did, the class took its time, ready to absorb any more information. Professor Kep, in turn, was thrilled at the unusual level of attentiveness. Although the class was fond of him, they were generally bored enough to stampede out of the room at the end of every lecture. “Good luck on your field test everyone!” he yelled over the shuffle.

  “Thanks Professor, will you be there?” Red asked.

  “Indeed, I will be with all the other professors, helping to monitor the desert as you all continue.” Kep replied. “Remember, everyone!” he continued, now addressing the class, “to review everything we discussed regarding creatures of the desert! Chapter 122 of our compendium.”

  “Professor,” someone else inquired from the door.

  “Yes, Dor?”

  “What if the host is male?” The class immediately silenced itself, listening intently once again.

  “Then we have a much, much more problematic situation. If the host is male, the creature cannot infect another one. Instead, its immediate priority becomes to return to a queen, the only confirmed sentient species of Xenosite. Queens are able to mate with any infected creature, and, given the proper nutrients and resources, give birth to hundreds, thousands, if not tens of thousands of similar ones,” The Professor said. “It is crucial that you understand that this is the primary and sole imperative of the hive mind. To consume, to grow, to evolve towards perfection.”

  Red gave an unconscious shudder as he walked out of class. The hallways were empty, making their enormous width much more noticeable. Most of the students besides seniors had already returned home. Those who didn’t were still out of class and spent their time in their quads or exploring Echidna. Academy sessions were separated by a break that started at the solstice. Avalonia enjoyed a perpetual daytime for most of the year because of its two stars. The planet only had seven nights, all of which occurred consecutively during the period known as solstice. It was the only time when both stars set, engulfing the planet in total darkness for a week. For seniors, it was a time of dread; their field test spanned all seven nights of solstice. The one-time performance evaluation occurred immediately prior to graduation, and determined a student’s placement after academy.

  Magnus soon caught up to him, and they walked in the type of silence amiable to close friends, a quiet that did not beg to be filled. Red took to staring at his feet as they went, stu
dying the tiny wings on his shoes that were designed to grant speed. They were functional, but tattered like the rest of his gear, scraped together using manuals and secondary materials. As he mulled over everything Professor Kep had said, it occurred to him that he was walking aimlessly.

  “We’re going to the library,” Magnus interjected, as if he had read his mind. “West Library, so we have a long walk ahead of us. Everything else is going to be too crowded.”

  “Is everyone going to be there?” Red asked, referring to the other three members of their team. He hadn’t seen them since their last training session three days ago, and suddenly realized how much he would miss them after Academy was over. He had grown accustomed to their presence through the years, it was something to always look forward to. We may still end up in each other’s presence he thought hopefully.

  “Yup, a thorough review of our plan for tomorrow. We have to go over creatures we might hit, everything peculiar about desert terrain, and a painful number of field test details that are probably going to bore you to death.”

  Red nodded with a smile. He returned to staring at the floor and after a long moment, thought of the professor’s last statement. The possibility of coming face to face with a Xenosite had never felt so real to him until then. “Hey, what do you think of the possibility of communicating with a Xenosite? Do you think its possible? Queens are supposed to be sentient, do you think we could share our thoughts with them?”

  “I don’t,” Magnus laughed. “I try my hardest not to think about any of that. Anyways, best not to busy your mind with these things before tomorrow, you want a clear head. Remember you’re aiming higher than the rest of us.”

  “Well, you want to get in too,” Red replied. Magnus didn’t bother responding and instead took out his microAI to check something, leaving Red to drift back into thinking about the lecture. The existence of sentient Xenosites was already confirmed. He tried to imagine them, queens, how they would think, how they would act, whether it would be possible to communicate with them. They would be totally alien to him, he couldn’t fathom how different their minds would work. Would they dream and will as humans do? he thought to himself.

  And then there was the possibility of human infection. If such a thing ever occurred, it would result in a more powerful and smarter version of themselves. An objectively superior, more evolved form. Judging by how humans treated their own unequals, the invasion suddenly made an absurd sort of sense to him. But the idea of such creatures was still disturbing. He imagined them, humanoid and sentient, wielding weapons and powers just as people do. Controlling the elements, bending physics and nature, engineering tools of destruction, and systematically colonizing the universe under their singular hive mentality.

  He shuddered at the thought. Remembering what Magnus had said, he shut down his train of thinking, but not before glimpsing at how that path would end for humans — that imaginary omnicide that lurked underneath the outcome of the invasion. And not just for humans, but for all sentient things. He imagined how gemini must feel about it, but gathered that they would probably just project their sorrows away, and that would be that. But elves, they were more in tune with nature than even humans. They had to be aware of what was happening. Still, besides very few joint efforts, it was every species for themselves.

  “Yes, but I’m not as obsessed about it as you are,” Magnus finally said, replying to Red’s previous statement after finishing a message on his microAI. He snapped it shut and slipped it around his wrist, but took it out an instant later after another message came in. “I’m okay with just graduating Academy. To be honest, I’m not even sure if I want to fight afterwards; not after seeing that,” he added, referring to the demonstration they had just witnessed in class. “Can’t say I’d mind living my life out quietly in Areopa. You could too you know, as my guest. It wouldn’t be so bad.”

  “Yup, wouldn’t that be the life, fiddling with rich foods on a cloud all day.” Red laughed. For a moment he agreed, it wouldn’t be so bad, living his life out in a city floating in the skies of Avalonia, but knew that he’d feel unfulfilled for the rest of his life. He had come to Crest for a reason, and he had to make sure not to forget it.

  “It’s not so bad,” Magnus replied, thumping his stomach as if he was imagining being there right now. Red laughed at the gesture and nodded sarcastically. “But anyways, I think you know what you want. It’s not going to be easy you know. You’re going to have to work harder than you ever have before, and it won’t end at just qualifying either. You have to go to Areopa to actually compete in the qualifiers. I’ve seen the talent there, it’s mind blowing. Can’t say I’d mind going though, I haven’t been back home in forever.”

  “You’re right,” Red nodded as he clenched his fists. He had to qualify, he had to perform as best as he could in his field test. No, even better than that. It was the reason he had worked so hard to come to Crest in the first place, what he had been working for all his life. The thought of failing never occurred to him, but maybe that was a good thing. “WEAPON,” Red whispered.

  “WEAPON," Magnus nodded.

  Chapter 2: Beyond the Colored Veil

  Red and Magnus waited for the rest of their team in front of the West Library, passing time by admiring the dome architecture of the entire section and the unending rows of books, materials, and items that clung to glass shelves high above them. The edges of the shelves were lined with rails, used by lifts that carried people around the various collections. From afar, the lifts looked as though they were suspended in mid-air, floating around ceremoniously to take people to their destinations. The quantity of materials to read or study in the West Library alone was staggering, but only represented a fifth of the Academy’s total collection. The real attraction here were the terminals — massive training rooms equipped with imaging devices that allowed teams to simulate arenas, terrains, and even engagements with different hostiles to prepare for various scenarios.

  The outside benches were littered with clusters of seniors who were cramming in as much information as they could about the Alloy Desert, the barren and metallic sahara that surrounded Echidna City and that would host their field test. The peculiarities of the desert stretched from magnetic tornadoes that shred apart objects caught inside their radius, to plants that grew large enough to resemble entire oases, and survived the desert by digesting creatures that fell asleep amidst their noxious aromas. Not everyone made it out of their field test alive, at least three to five students were reported missing or killed in action every year. While aptitude in combat and high physical endurance granted a team a good degree of flexibility, meticulous preparation was the true key to survivability.

  “What are you staring at?” Red asked, noticing how fixed Magnus’s eyes were on the roof as they paced back and forth. But the question wasn’t open for long; soon enough, he too noticed the rainbow on the round arch. The rain had stopped momentarily. Its left overs now collected around the middle to form a brilliant prism of colors that melted back and forth through each other as they walked up and down, creating a mesmerizing illusion. The effect gave the glass dome a dream-like quality, as if another world existed beyond the ceiling of the one they inhabited.

  “Wish I had time to come here more often,” Red lamented. “Hate reading school stuff, but to be able to learn anything you wish…” He stretched his hands upwards and gestured towards the thousands of books above them, imagining what it would be like to spend a lifetime freely exploring all of their contents. He never enjoyed research the way it was presented at academy, but learning by free will was an entirely different experience to him.

  “You should see the elvish library in Areopa, it stretches out to infinity. Makes this place look dainty, if you can imagine that,” Magnus replied. “They say its bigger than the city itself,” he added wondrously.

  “I thought you’re not allowed in?” Red asked. He’d never been to Areopa but had heard enough about its treasures and customs from Magnus. It was consid
ered the global capital of their planet, Avalonia. Areopa was a colossal kingdom composed of five teracities — two human, two elvish, and one felion — that were all built high above the clouds. On a clear enough day, the entirety of their solar system was visible from any point in the kingdom. Red’s real interest in Areopa lay in the fact that it hosted the qualifiers for WEAPON. Not much was known about MegaCORP’s secretive project, beyond that it was an elite and experimental army, equally feared and praised throughout all seventeen planets. It was a group that all young combatants obsessed to be in. It was one of the few inter-species collectives, consisting of humans, elves, gemini, narzoas, and factions from several other races.

  “You’re not, but you can get a close enough look from the outside,” Magnus replied. And I know of a few people that have been permitted to enter; they make exceptions. But not even the elves are allowed to go too deep. There’s a myth about a demon of sorts that haunts the aisles. I don’t think anyone’s been far enough to confirm for centuries. Elf superstition if you—” his sentence was cut off by the scene ahead of them. Butz was approaching, trying to get his familiar, Linx, off his head. The Aeyz Cat was balanced perfectly on top, jumping to avoid Butz’s attempts at taking him down, and then landing back without the slightest hint of effort. Red and Magnus couldn’t manage to hold in their humor and burst out laughing.

  Butz Silo was a short and scrawny falconer with sub-par combat skills, but a talented strategist whose sarcasm and presence were always loved. Butz was originally classified as a techie, a class that specializes in using weaponized mech suits for combat, but like Red, resented his classification and opted instead to train a familiar — the path to becoming a falconer. He had made a reputation for himself early on at Academy by offering to do written assignments in exchange for coin, an endeavor that paid handsomely and afforded him the opportunity to pursue a pricey classification. Training a familiar required a tiny fortune, with expenditures ranging from food and medical care to armor and combat provisions.