Under Lieutenant Anastasia Nicola’s stellar leadership, the evacuation process went smoothly and quickly. With the civilians out of the way, the soldiers had to prepare themselves for a daunting task. But the question was, were they ready for the unexpected?

  “Brothers, we are down to the last group!”

  Ever the hyperfocused individual, Kairo's unrelenting pursuit of mission success kept him on the edge.

  “Don’t stop, keep up the tempo.”

  Years of spending time alone in the wild had wiped out all semblance of emotions he once had, turning him into an icy, cold-blooded being. He had informed the female recruits to continue the escort task from the stadium’s entrance to the public area outside, killing two birds with one stone by ensuring both parties’ safety. All that was left–

  “Good job, everyone! Let’s take a breather!”

  Despite the voice’s low threat level, the battle-hardened instincts of a lone wolf kept Kairos on hyper-vigilance. He swiftly turned to face the person interrupting his plan.

  “Here you go,” Anastasia said, taken aback by Kairos’s feral-like behaviour. " Are you okay?”

  Kairos’s intense eyes softened as he met Anastasia’s light-blue eyes. There was a slight pause when their eyes met where neither spoke. She placed a can of energy drink into his strong hands with a gentle touch.

  “Hey, is everything alright?” She sensed Kairos’s demeanour felt off.

  He could sense someone staring at him intently. But where? This sensation had only gotten stronger ever since.

  “We don’t have time, Ana.”

  “If there’s anything you want to tell me, you know you–”

  “I’m fine.”

  The curt response felt like a cold dagger pressed against her neck.

  “Fine then. I won’t pursue it anymore.”

  “Is something the matter?”

  “It’s regarding your sixth sense. I know.” Clearing her throat loudly, she knew not to breach that subject further. “Your uncle told me to link up with his team in the fields below after we’re done here.”

  “I’m surprised, you know.”

  “...Surprised about what?”

  Happiness, an emotion Kairos feared to show. He had discarded his feelings as a child, for it made him weak. Without knowing, he had transformed into a tortured soul with nothing to live for. No future. No past. No present. Becoming a soldier gave him a reason to live. An artificial purpose he embraced, hoping it would aid him in restoring his birthright.

  That was until he met Anastasia.

  He had imagined that his emotions made him weak until she opened her arms to receive him with all her heart. For once, he had something to look forward to that did not involve violence. When he found out his uncle had given them leeway to proceed with the evacuation, a warm feeling rose from within as he vaguely sensed his uncle’s approval of her.

  “Come on! Don’t leave me in suspense!” Her attempt to remain professional had failed as she began to pinch him on the cheeks.

  “I think my uncle likes you.”

  “What–”

  Turning away from Kairos bashfully, Anastasia flailed her hands nervously.

  “““Ma’am, we’re back!”””

  Like a switch flipping, Anastasia immediately snapped out of her flustered self, returning to her professional self upon hearing her recruits’ triumphant battle cry.

  “Welcome back, Batch 77. We have prepared refreshments to replenish your energy.” Anastasia pointed to the ice box filled with all sorts of drinks.

  “Eeeee, ma’am! We saw that earlier; we also want the same treatment!”

  “Go and die. All of you.”

  The response came swiftly and deadly, like a flash of tempered steel.

  “Sorry, ma’am.”

  Batch 77 silently approached the ice box, retrieving a drink without exchanging glances with their commander.

  “Quick, take it and run. Ma’am’s angry.”

  “Yeah, let’s not poke her.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Stop!” Another group of heavy footsteps began marching with intent toward their designated resting area, prompting Kairos to address the potential hostile elements. He instinctively got into a combat stance, drawing his weapon and swiftly turning it to his side. He was ready to fire at the potential threat that would harm Anastasia and his brothers. No other soldiers should be present, for the loudspeaker had announced all the graduating soldiers had marched onto the fields unless the terrorists had appeared–

  “Freeze right there! I’ll shoot if you carry on!” He threatened mercilessly with his brows furrowing. Like someone landing a sucker punch on him, his expression lightened when he recognised a soldier from the approaching platoon. “Neptune Smith?! What are you doing here?”

  “Thank goodness you’re fine.”

  Neptune was relieved to see his comrade safe from harm. Even better, someone else had finished escorting the civilians and female recruits.

  Now, that’s settled. Let’s all get out of here–

  Like an untamed horse, an irredeemable fool broke his chain of thought.

  “...Ma’am!” Anastasia called out to her superior as both officers saluted one another respectfully. “And you, Recruit Smith!”

  “Ma’am.” Neptune smiled awkwardly at Lieutenant Nicola. He did not want to relive the experience when she caught him slacking off in the research institute.

  “Lieutenant Nicola, it appears you have escorted the civilians out. May I know why?” Brenda inquired as her expression softened to see her subordinate safe from harm.

  “There was a suspected terrorist threat.” Anastasia glanced over at Kairos proudly, gesturing for him to lower his rifle with a wave.

  Kairos nodded, lowering his weapon while maintaining a vigilant stance. “I’ll carry on a lookout over there. ”

  Kairos’s masculine, indifferent response made Anastasia fluster as she tried to redirect her thoughts to wipe the red flush on her naturally pale face.

  “Er-hem,” Brenda cleared her throat to get Anastasia’s attention.

  “Sorry, ma’am. I was just tying up loose ends.”

  “Who gave you permission to carry out the evacuation?”

  “We received the green light from General Temporean–”

  Brenda thought Anastasia was pulling her legs. “You involved a General?!”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “It was your recruit who informed you of the suspected terrorist attack? Mine did, too.”

  “Ma’am, you also have a brilliant recruit under you?” Anastasia’s voice reeked of jealousy. She felt Lieutenant Reynolds, only one rank above her, wanted to one-up her.

  “Of course, Recruit Smith has been diligent with his duties–”

  “Recruit Black is smarter, more handsome, comes from a good–”

  “We don’t have time to waste, ma’am.” Kairos interrupted the catfight between the commanders, not wanting it to escalate in such a dire scenario.

  “Oh–right, thanks for reminding me. Sorry, Kai–Recruit Black.” Anastasia stuttered.

  “You think I didn’t hear that?” Brenda could not let up with the teasing. “I didn’t know you were on a first-name basis with a recruit,” Brenda teased her subordinate, causing her to blush upon hearing it. “Your secret is safe with me. For as long as you know when to use protection–”

  Anastasia gave Brenda an embarrassed look before pouting to interrupt her. “We are going to join the General in the fields. Will you be joining us, ma’am?”

  “...Eh?”

  Brenda didn’t know what to say. She did not expect her subordinate’s courageous response to floor her.

  “Er–what? Erm, my team will head to the entrance and await backup.”

  “Roger. Then we will head to the fields,” Anastasia gestured for Batch 77 to follow her lead.

  She didn’t know what went through the mind of Lieutenant Nicola, who had willingly decided to head into the fields–an outcome of uncertainty about whether they would survive depended on more than a coin flip at this conjecture. The silent sensation of inadequacy crept on her as she acknowledged her ineptness. She gazed upon the lieutenant insignia adorned on her uniform and the olive-green beret entrusted to her, wondering if it was all for show.

  “How could…”

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  Anastasia turned around. “You said something, ma’am?”

  “How could you be so brave?” Brenda felt her oesophagus tighten upon forcing those words out.

  Anastasia smiled, her light-blue eyes sparkling, as she recalled an old memory of her youth in the winter wonderlands. “I’m their commander.” She glanced at her soldiers endearingly, who followed her command since day one. “We, as commanders, must lead by example.”

  The afternoon sun radiated upon Anastasia’s fair skin, basking her in the sun’s vibrant glow like an angel who had descended upon humanity for salvation. As she remembered the pledge she swore upon commissioning, she could not help but flash her pearly whites for a beautiful smile befitting her femininity.

  “Isn’t that the creed we swore when the heavens commissioned us as officers? To lead, to serve and to excel?”

  Brenda couldn’t believe her ears when she heard those words. Her only motivation to serve in the military was because of the scholarship she took to take up advanced education and a steady paycheck. This woman, who was not an infantry officer by training, possessed more guts than anyone else commissioned as an officer months ago. They had mirroring appearances, yet, her heart and soul were far mightier than she had ever imagined. Clenching her light-green beret tightly, Brenda felt she had discredited the infantry’s code.

  “...I see.”

  “Alright, ma’am. We have to go, time’s running out.”

  Batch 77 obeyed their platoon commander’s orders without question. It was as though those under her charge would dive into hell and back with her. That was how strong the bonds they had cultivated over the months had evolved into. Brenda, upon witnessing this scene of undying loyalty, felt shameful. It took a lot of her to pretend it didn’t bother her.

  Kairos turned to face Neptune before joining his trusted comrades. He had some words to say before venturing into the unknown.

  “Neptune.”

  “Kairos, you don’t have to go.”

  “Someone is waiting for me. They won’t leave us alone until I am there.”

  “Who?”

  Neptune saw Kairos staring into blank space, his eyes squinting at an invisible threat only he could sense.

  “There’s no way you’re coming out of this alive!”

  Kairos looked conflicted, his eyes darting toward the ground beneath his feet.

  “...You want to restore your birthright, don’t you?”

  Kairos, who possessed the brutal strength of a wild beast, did not retaliate when Neptune grabbed him by the collar.

  “Say something, please. Don’t you want to reclaim your last name?”

  “Stay you of this.”

  “What?”

  “Only I can handle this.”

  Neptune’s selfish request fell upon his comrade’s deaf ears and for the first time in his life, he slouched his shoulders in defeat.

  “I’ll return. I promise that to you, Neptune Smith. Believe in me.”

  “...That’s an excuse. I know why you’re going in there–”

  “If I don’t deal with that person, none of us will survive.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Not every gift we receive is a blessing. There are some things we have been cursed with since birth. The universe always finds a way to balance itself. There are things we can see and feel that are unexplainable….”

  “Tell me about it after you return. Also, my father–” Neptune felt Kairos’s hands on his shoulders, looking up now to see his torn expression conflicting with his sworn mission. “–It’s about his incomplete work.”

  “I’ll return.” His comrade’s response was resolute.

  “Godspeed.”

  Neptune closed his eyes again, praying silently for Kairos’s safety. After Kairos disappeared alongside Batch 77, he returned to Brenda’s side.

  “Let’s head to the entrance.”

  He noticed her sunken face and clenched jaw.

  “Ma’am?”

  “...Am I a coward?”

  “Let’s go.”

  “But–”

  “We have to go, ma’am.”

  *

  Neptune was pleased with himself to escape the clutches of death. Breathing in the fresh air and enjoying the panic amongst the civilians who wondered what was happening, he eventually located his family amid the chaos. But something was amiss. His mother’s grave expression. Pluto’s guilt-stricken look. He began connecting the dots and that’s when he knew his plan had not gone entirely according to plan.

  “W-what did you just say, Mom?!”

  He had thought his family would be safe from the imminent crisis, but everything that could go wrong went wrong.

  “Recruit Smith, we can launch a search party if that helps?”

  “No…That won’t work.”

  He pointed at the sea of uncertainty, with the public in attendance getting angry about not being able to enter the stadium on this momentous day.

  “By the time we find him, it’ll be too late.”

  With his eyes enlarged to portray his worst fears, Pluto felt his heart beating incredibly quickly. He finally understood the consequences of his selfish actions, wondering if there was anything else he could have said earlier to change this nightmare unfolding.

  “...Big bro, I think Jupiter ran into the stadium to look for you,” Pluto stiffened as he answered, fearing the worst, tears streaming down his cheeks, “I saw him running towards the entrance.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “...Yes, big bro.”

  Neptune knew he had to take a gamble. If he returned to the stadium to find Jupiter, he didn’t know whether his younger brother would end up in the crosshairs of the terrorist attack. It was a 50-50 coin flip he knew he had to take. After all, his motivation for fighting, to serve in the military like a good dog–obeying the orders of his plantation masters–revolved around ensuring his younger brothers did not have to suffer the same fate as him.

  The decision was quick as a gamble with Hades was what he had decided.

  “Ma’am, you stay behind and await backup. In the meantime, try ushering the civilians with the female recruits to groups for better visibility.”

  “Good plan–wait! How about you?”

  “I’ll–”

  Brenda’s worried expression went from bad to worse.

  “Recruit Smith, I have the final say!”

  “Please…”

  Brenda’s composure and confidence had fallen apart completely. The picture-perfect officer's image had fallen apart as she fell to her knees. First her subordinate. Now, her recruit.

  “...I’m sorry–I’m sorry for being useless.”

  Instead of commanding her recruit to think otherwise, her voice sounded almost like she begged him to stay. Not to leave. To remain safe and let it go. Let them all die. She chose herself over the creed she swore to uphold–an dishonorable act for those who had fallen in the infantry profession.

  Brenda’s words fell on deaf ears as he started to walk toward the entrance. He watched his mother dash forward, blocking his path, her arms wide open to prevent her precious son from sacrificing himself.

  “No! I won’t allow you to go! I can’t lose you, too!”

  Neptune couldn’t bear to face his mother, but she needed to know the truth. “Jupiter is in the stadium. I’m going to rescue him.”

  “...Please, don’t–”

  “I’m going off, Mom.”

  The desperate plea did not work.

  “Come back here, Neptune Smith! Come back!”

  The voices went from audible to pure silence as the distance between them grew. Neptune didn’t turn back as his mother dropped to the floor, unable to plead with him to reconsider his decision. With each step he took back into death’s open arms, he knew what he must do. Maybe this scene of him showing his back to his mother was déjà vu of what happened fourteen years prior.

  “Don’t worry. Your big brother is coming to save you.”

  Like a death row inmate walking toward his final destination, he entered the entrance gate without second guessing, imagining it as a giant guillotine about to decapitate his head. With its monochrome colour, the emptiness of an unguarded gate painted a haunting image of his impending journey into hell. As his mind wandered, he felt a firm hand grabbing him from behind, instinctively making him turn his head to acknowledge who it was.

  “Sir?!”

  “I figured something had happened when the communications line suddenly turned off,” Neptune’s mentor had appeared out of nowhere, with a platoon of soldiers behind him. “Someone sent an SOS signal from here.”

  “Sir, it was Dr Boris Pavlov.”

  “You mean the Medical Officer?!”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Ivan feared the worst for his former officer cadet. If Boris sent the signal and was not with his favourite test subject, he must have charged into the fields to provide backup with the Medical Corps.

  “We need to head to the fields in pronto. You guys made a good call rescuing the female recruits,” Ivan looked at the massive crowd outside the stadium, “ I swore I heard gunshots earlier–” His eyes quickly darted toward the fields ahead. “–I never thought this would happen again. We must hurry since medically trained soldiers aren’t suited for combat. Besides…” Ivan squinted his eyes. “...I wonder if they know about the oath.”

  “What oath, sir?”

  “We don’t have time to discuss that. Let’s move out.”

  With a resounding shuffle of their boots, the platoon-sized team behind Ivan got into a standard two-row formation. With every breath of their lungs, they bellowed out loud.

  “““Yes, sir!”””

  Ivan noticed something odd when his mentee also responded to his orders.

  “And what do you think you’re doing?”

  He didn’t know why this young man would want to return to the stadium. This future researcher had every fibre of an innovator within him. The brute strength of a warrior didn’t fit his profile, especially not after the fiasco during the situational test assignment.

  “You don’t have to come with us,” Ivan chastised annoyingly, knowing his young mentee had no flair for combat, let alone heroic acts of courage.

  “Sir, I have to.”

  “What for? There’s nothing in it for you. Besides, your tactical skills are a complete mess.”

  “...Sir,” Neptune paused, contemplating the words he wanted to say before finally deciding to tell the truth. “My younger brother is missing. I suspect he might be stranded in the stadium, lost during the evacuation procedure’s shuffle.”

  “Your little brother…”

  This situation, which was horrible initially, became worse after that revelation.

  “Yes, sir. I tried looking for him around the entrance area but to no avail. Lieutenant Reynolds is assisting with the grouping of civilians–”

  “Stop.”

  “Sir?”

  Upon his mentee calming down, Ivan looked him deep in the eyes. “Look at me. Stop talking for a moment. I need you to digest what I’m about to say. So please, listen closely.” Ivan braced himself before asking the young Smith a question he knew would elicit a response he would not agree to. “...If I told you to stay behind and assist the other officers, would you?”

  “But, sir…That’s my younger brother.”

  “You forgot the biggest lesson I taught you.”

  “It’s my younger brother…”

  “Don’t decide on a whim. Use your logic and assess the scenario to the best of your ability. I’ve always told you not to let your emotions control you. What are you doing now?”

  He also had a younger brother he would protect with his life. But the question was, would he be able to function if the roles swapped? Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind–

  “Fine then.”

  Neptune looked up at his mentor, unsure of his sudden tonality shift.

  “There are certain risks involved,” Ivan admitted the truth regardless of his mentee’s feelings, “He might not be alive. You must acknowledge this fact first over everything else.”

  Neptune’s hands started to tremble in trepidation, for he knew this gamble with Hades could end instantly–his pathetic, miserable life would amount to nothing before it even began. He was going to put everything on the line to save his kin. “...I understand, sir.”

  Ivan shook his head as he noticed his mentee’s hands were empty.

  “Why aren’t you armed?”

  With no pistol or knife, let alone grenades, Neptune looked like a soldier unprepared for the harshness of reality.

  “...Forget it, we don’t have time. I believe you’ll make the right call–” Ivan adjusted his glasses. “–So, don’t disappoint me.”