August 17, 402 A.E.Exact Time Unknown

Chris Valence kept his head low and his body close to the ground as he slowly tried to move forward.His head pounded, though he could no longer tell if it was due to his injuries, his exhaustion, or dehydration.He grasped desperately at a canteen on his side, remembering for the fifth time in the last half of an hour that it was now empty.He had finished the last few drops just over an hour ago.Through the heavy clouds of fog that seemed to form everywhere in this damn city, rising up from the debris as dust and then settling in the air to cloud his vision and labor his breathing, he managed torecognize the inscription on the canteen.

“Renee” was very plainly etched into the side of the canteen.Chris couldn’t help but wonder if she was alright; it was so long since he had last seen her.Of course, in this place it was almost impossible to tell time.The sun was always completely blocked out of view of the city by the heavy debris that lingers in the air, casting the city in eternal night.Chris could only guess that it has been about a complete day now.A day since the last time he saw Renee, or anyone else, for that matter.If it was not for his objective, his drive to continue forward, and knowing how many people were counting on him, he might have become overwhelmed with loneliness.

But he had no time to worry about little things such as that.He had to keep going, had to try to survive for just a little longer.That was the most important thing right now.He was so close.

He stopped for a moment to try to catch his bearings on exactly how far he’d gone.He rested his back against what must have once been the wall of some building, but the destruction here was so bad that it was impossible to tell exactly what kind of building it was anymore.He noticed that the closer he got to the center of the city, the worst the destruction.This wall was the sole standing, and as he leaned against it he knew that it wouldn’t take much more than a strong gust of wind to bring it down.

He managed to determine that he must have traveled at least another five miles.Unless he got turned around at some point, it should only be one or two more miles before he reached the center of the city.

As he caught his breath, he could hear them.His pursuers were closing in on him.Perhaps they had already caught up with him and were just trying to surround him.He could hear the noises they made, low grumbles, scratching across pavement, heavy panting.They were close, very close.

Chris held his gun close to his chest and clutched in tightly.Head low and body close to the ground, he continued towards his objective.His single-minded objective had become his only reason to carry on, to continue to struggle to live, to not just give in and succumb to the darkness.

July 10, 402 A.E.11:02 AM

Chris Valence ducked forward and landed behind a low wall barrier that he could use as cover.Gunfire blazed overhead and he dared not peak over the side of the barrier to see how the close his enemies were now.He crawled on his stomach to the end of the barrier.From here he can finally get a glance around the end to see where he was being fired at from.Hot sunlight blaring down on him glared his vision, but he could still make them out.

Two to the right, up in front, slowly progressing towards him, submachine-guns of a model Chris couldn’t identify aimed towards the barrier but not firing.They were going to try to get around him and take him by surprise.They were counting on the element of surprise and not taking any cover, so they could be easily dealt with.Chris still had a few moments left before they reached him.

A little further back, taking cover behind two large pillars who true purpose was merely decorative in this park-turned-battlefield, there were two more.Those two were the ones pelting his barrier with submachine-gun fire, pinning him down.They didn’t pause their assaults for very long, stopping at only brief moments to reload.

Chris was also positive there was a fifth one somewhere.The trajectories his barrier was being hit at suggested another one, probably at an angle that Chris couldn’t see from where he was looking.Chris’s light greenish-blue eyes scanned the area quickly, but were unable to locate the other enemy.

The two progressing on him came around the end of the barrier opposite of where Chris had positioned himself.Chris had dropped to his back, handgun already aimed upwards at where he calculated chest-level for an average man standing fully upright would be.When the first came around the barrier, he was immediately hit in the chest with two rounds.The bullets pierced straight through his chest and out his back, and the man went flying back from the impact.

The second man progressing on Chris, already halfway across the barrier when the first one was shot, had no time to react.He tried to back quickly away from the barrier, but Chris caught him across the upper right side of his chest.Chris heard a soft impact that he knew was the man landing, either dead or at least immobilized, on the other side of the barrier.

In the distance in the opposite direction of his enemies, downhill from where he was, he could hear the sounds of his squad.They most likely are in route to the chopper lift out of here.Chris was certain that given enough time, he could certainly take out all these enemies, even the one he couldn’t see yet.But protocol says that’s an unnecessary risk.According to protocol, he should make regrouping with his squad his top priority.

And right now, protocol was the most important thing to him.

A slight break in the gunfire, the enemies behind the pillars were reloading.He took this chance to make a break down the hill.He kept himself to the left of a large grouping of trees, which turned out to be a fortunate break, as fire from the hidden fifth enemy hit hard against the opposite side of the trees, sending large chunks of bark flying through the air.

He reached the bottom of the hill, well outside the firing range of his enemies were they had been standing.He was not sure if he was being pursued.His squad noticed him and he signaled to them through hand gestures the possibility of pursuers.The squad silently and efficiently took up positions, and sure enough the two enemies previously hidden by pillars opened fire on them, now using trees as cover.A member of the squad wearing a lieutenant’s uniform and badge silently signaled to the squad.Immediately the squad split into two directions.They quickly flanked the pursuers and brought both of them down.

Chris stood slightly behind the activities of the rest of his squad.He laid flat on his stomach in the grass, gun aimed uphill, trying to take in the whole area as his squad flanked his pursuers.Slightly to the right of his squad he finally spotted the hidden fifth enemy.The enemy stood a good distance away from the others and off to an angle to avoid being seen.He was also the only one in full camo, and in this grassy area he could have been easily overlooked.Chris took careful aim at him, most likely as he was taking aim at Chris’s squad.He pulled back the trigger of his handgun once, and in the distance he could see his enemy drop.Taking out an enemy at such a distance with only a handgun was a skill Chris took pride in.

The squad regrouped around the lieutenant and the lieutenant silently directed them, using hand motions, towards where the chopper was supposed to meet them.It was a small clearing not far from here.They all dashed at an incredible speed considering the amount of equipment they were all carrying.As they approached the clearing, Chris got the feeling that he wasn’t out of this yet.

As he felt that, the squad ran into an ambush waiting for them at the clearing.From behind the tall grass they quickly found themselves avoiding gunfire from an unknown number of enemies.Chris dropped flat on his stomach, trying to hide from view behind the tall grass.A few members of his squad did the same, others took a more offensive approach, attempting to flank around the enemies’ positions.Chris crawled forward on his stomach towards where he heard the gunfire coming from.In just a few moments he could barely make out a couple of enemies through the tall grass.He aimed up at them and fired two shots at each.One was hit square in the chest, the other was hit across the right shoulder, causing him to turn around sharply and drop in pain.Chris fired another shot at him before he had time to figure out where he had been shot from.This one went straight through his head and he flopped backwards to the ground.

The fight hadn’t lasted more than 45 seconds before the lieutenant gave the signal for all-clear.The squad has dispatched the enemies without obtaining a single casualty.A chopper buzzing overhead signaled they soon would be out of here.

July 10, 402 A.E.11:28 AM

“Very good work,” a voice boomed overhead from the sky, as if it had been spoken directly from god.

Suddenly the world around Chris began to blur, and Chris found himself being surrounded on all sides by an intense whiteness.It was blinding and intense, and his body felt as if it was traveling forward at intense speeds, despite standing still.Chris remembered how nauseous this whole process had made him the first few times he had been through it.He was used to it now, though.

Eventually the light faded, replaced temporarily by darkness.A light turned on and Chris found himself in a plain white room.The room was large and a perfect square, and Chris stood in its center.The floor, the ceiling, and every wall were plain white.There was nothing else in the room, and the only noticeable thing in the entire room was a small slit in one of the walls that signaled were the door was.

“You preformed very well,” the voice of a woman boomed.Chris had no idea where the speakers in this room were hidden, as every wall seemed completely barren.When the voice spoke, the entire room echoed, making it impossible to determine the sound’s origin.

“You may now progress to the written portion of the exam,” the voice boomed.

In the wall, the door swung open.Chris, whose outfit had only a few seconds ago consisted of body armor and a pack loaded with equipment and was now simple casual wear, took a few steps towards the door before he fully adjusted to the sudden change in weight.He stretched his arms in front of him as he left, greatly satisfied with his own performance.

July 10, 402 A.E.11:45 AM

As Chris began the second part of the STATUS examinations, he realized that once again he was going to have to count on how well he performed in the Virtual Reality simulation exam in order to pass.

After being in training for at least two years, a student at any of the STATUS academies is taken to the headquarters for these examinations.The exams are only held once a year and if a student failed he would be sent back to the academy for another year.If he failed again he would be forced from the academy.There was no third chance.

He had passed the half-hour long Virtual Reality simulation last year with similar ease as he had just done, as a matter of fact; his score had set a new record in the examination’s history.However, when it came to the written exam, Chris had failed so hard that even his record score in the simulation couldn’t balance his score out to a passing grade.

This year, he hoped to beat his own record in the simulation.Though the scenario was randomized and he had no idea what to prepare for, he had done his best to not only impress with his abilities but to stick close to the protocols.No unnecessary heroics, as tempting as it was.He hoped this would push his score past his own record.

But far more important now was his ability to score at least decently on the written examinations.He studied hard this year, but even now he was not so confident in his ability.He was uncontrollably nervous, his palms sweaty, his head pounding, his breathing labored.As hard as he tried, he couldn’t seem to focus on the examination on the desk in front of him.

Chris was by no means unintelligent.As a matter of fact, on the practice exams he scored incredibly high marks.Chris knew the information very well.But Chris didn’t have the confidence taking examinations on paper that he did in the simulations.While in the simulations he felt in his element, in these exams he froze up.As the minutes ticked by, slowly but surely killing the amount of time Chris had left to finish, and thus killing his chances of ever joining STATUS in the process, Chris became filled with a sense of hopelessness.

He wiped the sweat from his palms on his pants and watched the clock nervously.

July 10, 402 A.E.12:30 PM

Special Tactics Against Terrorists Universal Squad.STATUS.

There are few children who do not dream of one day joining their ranks.Being a member of STATUS makes you an elite, one of the best of the best.Even at older ages, soldiers, police officers, even members of other special forces still dream of one day becoming a member of STATUS.There was no other group is the world as prestigious.

But for most, it remained only a dream.The examinations were notoriously difficult.Even the preliminary tests to get into one of STATUS’s academies were beyond the abilities of most.Many who enter one of the academies already have several years of experience either in the military or another special forces.

Chris Valence had no experience.Until he had entered the academy, he got by doing odd jobs.Perhaps some construction work here, a few delivery jobs there, whatever he needed to make enough to live.He didn’t like being in one place for long, he loved to travel and see new places, new people.But all the while he had always had a goal of where he wanted to end up in life.When he was satisfied with his travels, he was going to join STATUS.

Before joining the academy, he trained himself in his spare time.It wasn’t very difficult training, just really enough that his skills didn’t get rusty.With his childhood, Chris already knew well enough how to fight and how to use a variety of weapons.He also worked on sculpting his body to what he believed to be the STATUS build.His body was now very fit and tone, not too muscular because he believed a sleek but firm build suited STATUS more.

As a matter of fact, much of his preparation for STATUS involved his superficial perception of the “STATUS look.” He cut his dark black hair to medium length, far too long to be considered a military haircut because he viewed members of STATUS to be above that kind of restriction, but it needed to be styled and neat, to make him look more fashionable.He made sure his face was always clean cut and blemish free and he spent a remarkable amount of time developing a nice tan.The way he prepared, one might assume he was trying to become a model as opposed to being a soldier.

Now as he sat on the floor, back pressed against the wall, with nothing else to do but wait for the results of the examinations to be posted, he found himself examining his fellow test takers and wondering if his perception of the STATUS look was accurate.Many of them were a lot bigger and more built than he had expected.Very few were as good looking. And of course, there were far more non-humans than he had thought there would be.

While a good number of them were humans from planets controlled by Earth of Beta, there were also a handful of Toren and Kighasts.From his travels, Chris knew these races very well, as they were the two most major races in the known universe next to humans.

The Kighasts live in a solar system with a sun called Kighal, and all their planets are named after their sun in some form or another.They were a tough looking race, standing usually just over seven feet tall with many wolf-like features, including being covered head to toe in short fur and having large, canine teeth.It is said that the first humans to encounter Kighasts had thought they had come to a planet of werewolves and fled in fear.Fortunately, despite their fearsome appearance, the Kighasts were actually among the most peaceful of the races in the universe.They avoided conflict with other races as much as possible and remained neutral in all major disputes.Their race was instead greatly valued intellectualism and technology, and many of the great technological discoveries over the past century have been thanks in whole or in part to them.

As if by some great cosmic balance, the Toren are a race almost exactly opposite of the Kighasts.From the planet Tore, their men usually only grow to be about 4 ½ feet tall on average.Their entire bodies seemed just to be scaled down version of humans as every part of their body shared its proportions to the average human body.The only exception would be their ears, which grow in size faster than the rest of the Toren.These large ears serve a purpose, though, as the Toren have a very acute sense of hearing.Small builds often make the Toren look weak and fragile, but no one would ever mistake them for being weak.The Toren are strong in mind and body and are dangerous fighters.The average Toren would be more than able to easily beat and average human in a fist fight.During the Earth-Beta war a few hundred years ago, when the two empires had failed to realize how tough the Toren were and had tried to use Tore as a battlefield planet, both empires suffered massive casualties at the hands of the primitive native Tore.They retreated and didn’t return until the war was over, this time hoping to make peace.Modern Toren have adapted to the technological advances of modern day and aggressively made themselves one of the dominant races in the universe in a short period of time.Torens are notoriously short-tempered and quick to get into a fight, so it’s a good idea to try to stay on their good side, or out of their way altogether.

Chris snapped back to reality after drifting off in these thoughts.The results for the examinations were about to be posted, and all the students were gathering around.Chris took a deep breath and rose to his feet.

July 10, 402 A.E.12: 40 AM

Overall – Field – 1020

Overall – Written – 780

Final Score: 900’

In plain type these letters were printed at the very bottom of the plain white paper the scores were posted on, an unimportant looking document for the amount of importance its contents held for Chris.Chris’s heart leapt.

Chris let out a loud exclamation of triumph, which gained him more than just a few stares from his fellow students.He knew people were looking at him, but he couldn’t control his excitement.He began to pace the room, shaking his arms in the air in pride.He didn’t care his written score was still below the failing mark.Or that he had missed his own record on the simulation by a mere 10 points.He had passed the exams, and now was one giant leap closer to realizing his dream.

As he calmed down, and realized that those who had passed were now being rounded up and taken away, a sinking feeling hit him as he realized he had not yet joined the ranks of STATUS.

He quickly rushed to join the rest of the group.They were being lined up and led down a long hallway.Chris quickly counted the number of people in the line ahead of him.Including Chris, this line consisted of 32 people.Of the more than 200 students that had taken the exams, these 32 were all that had passed.And now, they were all his competition.

They were about to be interviewed.Chris had already been taught about this process in the academy.One by one they would be evaluated, and then weighed against each other, and by the end of it all only 15 of them would enter into the ranks of STATUS.15.That’s how many students were allowed to join the ranks of STATUS every year.

They reached the end of the hallway.It was remarkably bare.The walls and ceilings were a bland whitish-blue, free of any kind markings or hangings.The worn carpet was a shade of faded red and seemed to be far older than the rest of the hallway.At the very end of the hall was a single door, the only one Chris had seen in the entire hall.It was a plain, unmarked black door.The first student in the line was let through the door.The black door slammed shut hard behind him.

“You know, I really don’t have time for this shit,” Chris heard someone near the front of the line say.

Chris saw a scrawny young man with an incredibly pale complexion leave his spot in line and light a cigarette.He leaned against a wall and smoked, which was against the rules anywhere in the HQ.But of course no one was going to say anything to him about it.Chris recognized the man at once as one of his classmates, Gerald Horner.

“I was already guaranteed a spot on the condition I passed the exams, which I did,” he said between long drags on his cigarette.“So can’t I just skip these kind of pain in the ass formalities and be shown to my room, already?”

An older man in the complete STATUS uniform, one of the uniformed officers who were charged with watching over the students during the process of the exams and interviews, approached Gerald a little nervously.He seemed like he was trying to say something, either about the cigarette or about being in line, but couldn’t find the words.

Through his long, wild, dark black hair that fell just over his eyes Gerald glared at this man.He tossed his cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his foot into the carpeting.

“I’m going to go take a nap in one of the guest rooms,” Gerald said.“I know where they are.Tell them to send someone with my badge and uniform and all that crap once all these formalities are out of the way.”

Gerald started to walk down the hallway in the direction they had come.The officer opened his mouth, like he was going to say something, but no words formed.Gerald was soon out of their site.The officer shook his head and returned to his duties.

Chris couldn’t blame the officer for being unable to stand up to Gerald.All through his training at the academy, Chris had seen the same thing over and over.

Gerald was a member of the Horner family, one of the sons of Alexander H. Horner, President of Horner Corp.Horner Corp. was one of the largest corporations in the known universe.A few hundred years back, their company was the first to develop and then mass manufacture long-distance capable spaceships.During the Earth-Beta War, their company flourished even greater through production of the first battle-ready spaceships available to humans.Since then, their company has always been at the frontier of spaceship technology.Of course, that was just a part of their massive corporate empire now, and you can now find the Horner Corp dabbling in any kind of business that they deem profitable.And a member of the Horner family has always been in charge.

Horner Corp. was also one of the main financial backers of STATUS.STATUS required a lot of funds to keep running, and since it was a program shared by the entire intergalactic community none wanted to take the individual burden of providing more funding than was the bare minimum required, assuming another world should take the responsibility.Thus it depended heavily on steady contributions from corporations like Horner Corp.Horner Corp provided STATUS with ships and the latest in their technology as well as a large amount of financial support.So when one of the sons of Alexander H. Horner joined the academy, it comes as no surprise that he would receive special treatment.After all, Alexander H. Horner held a lot of influence with the people in charge.

Chris didn’t doubt for a second that Gerald was telling the truth when he said that he was guaranteed a spot.That meant that things just got harder for Chris as there were now only 14 spots left available.

Chris store at the black door, which seemed to him to be as unmovable as any wall, with its only purpose being to stand in the way of Chris and his dreams.

July 10, 402 A.E.4:01 PM

Chris had been waiting on this line for hours now.The people in front of him had always remained calm, almost stationary, like they were programmed to do nothing else but stand in this line.But Chris was nervous and fidgety.He paced back and forth and muttered under his breath at being the last in line.

The interviews lasted for unpredictable amounts of time.He had seen some go in for as little as five minutes, and he swore one of them was in there for an entire half of an hour.He couldn’t stop wondering what it was that could vary the amount of time so long, or how long the “perfect” interview, the one that guaranteed his success, would last.

Those who weren’t accepted in the interview could choose to go back to the academy and go through the exams again the next year or had the option to return home and try the exams again in the next year without any further training.Chris didn’t really have a home to return to, so he figured if he wasn’t accepted there would be nowhere for him to go but the academy.

He was next in line now, and had been for the last 10 minutes.He tapped his foot both nervously and impatiently as his mind wondered what kind of questions were going to be asked, or his ability to answer questions he did not expect.He wondered how personal these questions would get, how much about his past they would need to know.

At some point when he was lost in his thoughts the door must have opened because as he looked up he saw the door standing open and the older officer motioning for him to go in.He gathered his courage and took a deep breath, then walked into the darkness that lay behind the black door.

July 10, 402 A.E.4:03 PM

The door slammed shut behind him, leaving him in an almost completely pitch black room, the only light coming from the green light reading “Exit” on the door behind him.His eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, but still he couldn’t see anything.

“Step further in,” a loud, powerful female voice beckoned from an undeterminable location.

Chris obeyed and blindly walked forward into the darkness.He hoped he didn’t embarrass himself by tripping as he walked through such dark that he felt he wouldn’t be able to see his hand if he waved it in front of his face.

“That is far enough,” the same voice commanded, and Chris immediately stopped where he stood.“State your name.”

“Chris Valence,” he replied, trying his best to speak loudly and clearly and not to let any sign of how nervous he was slip into his voice.

There was a pause for a few moments.Chris began to wonder if he had already made a mistake just in stating his name.

“Just Chris, huh?” a male voice, this one a bit softer then the voice that spoke to his before.“Not short for Christopher?”

“A little odd,” said the same male voice.“And you don’t have any experience in the military or even any police force?”

“Yet he managed to pass the exams,” said another male voice before Chris even had a chance to open his mouth to defend himself.“And I believe he holds a record for the tactical exam.”

“Very impressive, especially for someone with no real experience,” the first male voice said.“But I wonder how well it would hold up in real combat.”

Chris began to wonder if he was ever supposed to say anything, as he was being given no time to respond.

“Tell me, Chris,” the second male voice finally spoke directly to him, “What are your goals in STATUS?”

Chris looked puzzled for a second, and then replied, “To become a member of their elite ranks and to fight alongside them.”

“But what is your goal?” the voice asked again.“Do you hope to one day become a lieutenant?A member of one of the S.S.?Or perhaps to set more records and to have your name written into STATUS history?”

Chris paused for a moment, speechless and stumped, then simply replied, “I really didn’t think that far ahead.”

“My dream has always been to join STATUS,” Chris said, “for as long as I can remember.But I guess I never put any thought into rank or any of the S.S.Just joining STATUS would mean I’ve accomplished my dream, my ultimate goal in life.Once I can fight alongside them, as one of them, I will be living my dream every day.”

There was another pause, this one longer than before.Chris again began to wonder if he had made a mistake.He had been entirely truthful, but he wondered if perhaps he should have lied, told them something that they would have been expecting, something that would have impressed them.

“How old are you, again, Chris?” the female voice asked, finally breaking the silence.

That was the closest thing Chris knew to the truth, anyway, though it could be about a year off in either direction.

“Still very young,” the voice replied.“With plenty of time ahead of you. You should join a military or police force for a few years; get some experience under your belt.Even with just two or three years of experience it would greatly affect your abilities, give you a real chance to practically use all these skills you have been training.”

“I will not settle for anything less,” Chris stated, bluntly.“I’ll be honest.If I am not chosen after this interview, I will just go back to the academy and take the exam next year.And I will continue the process over and over, and I don’t care how many times I have to try.STATUS is my dream, and I will not settle for anything else.”

“And why is that your dream,” one of the male voices asked.“What is it that compels this dream of yours?”

This question was personal, one that Chris didn’t really want to answer but saw coming and was prepared for.He had considered his two options, a story of fiction and the truth.He decided he had been truthful thus far and not to stray from that path.He just hoped the truth didn’t hurt his chances.

“I don’t remember much about my childhood,” Chris said, staring straight into the darkness in a futile attempt to make eye-contact with whoever it was he was talking to.“But apparently, I was part of some program on some planet, part of a regiment of children taken from the streets.We were being trained as child soldiers, with the goal in mind that would be elite killing machines by the time we reached adulthood.A long-term plan to overthrow some government or something.Despite my best attempts I have not been able to get any officials to tell me more about it, and many who upright refuse to acknowledge that something like that ever happened at all.”

“It’s really something I’ve put behind me, the past can’t be changed, after all, and it was so long ago.Though admittedly, most of the abilities I have that have in combat probably stem in one way or another to that training.But even though I can’t really remember anything of my time there, there’s one thing that’s always been crystal clear in my memories.”

Chris noticed that his gaze had shifted downwards, as if he was too ashamed of what he was saying to continue to keep his false eye-contact with whoever he was talking to.He picked his head up high now and looked straight forward.

“It was one day, men in STATUS uniforms raided the place.I had never even heard of them before that, but I remember them dropping from the ceilings as if angels descending from above.They were so fast, and everything was over in less than five minutes.They nonviolently subdued us children and escorted us away while dealing with whatever group it was that was training us.They did it all without harming a single child.It was later I learned who they were, STATUS.As I got older I made it my dream to become one of them.Just like the angels who saved me and gave me my life, I want to do the same.”

His story finished, Chris’s gaze returned downward.There was silence again, and Chris, left alone in the quiet and the dark, felt like he might have gotten himself lost in some void that connects him with his past.

“I think that’s all we need,” the female voice spoke.“Thank you very much.You may leave.”

A dim light rose in the room.It was far too dim to make out any features of the room, but the path to the glowing green “Exit” sign behind him suddenly seemed 100 times clearer.Chris paused a moment, wondering if he should say any words of parting, then turned and walked away without saying a word.

July 10, 402 A.E.5:59 PM

They were fed a light dinner that consisted of sandwiches, chips, and soda and were told to wait till six, when the announcement would be made.They were in a small waiting room Chris could only imagine was designed for just this purpose.The lone door in the room was being watched over by the older officer, who diligently watched as the students sat in the uncomfortable chairs and fingered through old magazines, waiting to hear the results.

The time was closing in now and tensions were high.Chris noticed that despite the fact that most of them had been calm and as emotionless as machines just before, many were beginning to show signs of worry and doubt.Some paced the room, others glancing at their watches frequently and nervously.For the first time, Chris didn’t feel so isolated from the rest of the students.

Only one student still didn’t show any of the signs of worry.Chris didn’t recognize him, so he was most likely from a different academy.He leaned back in his chair, legs outstretched on the table in front of him, hands behind his head in a relaxed fashion.His eyes were usually closed, like he was napping, but glancing back at him every now and again Chris could see him open his eyes to glance at a few of the women in the room before closing them again.At first Chris wasn’t sure, but as he repeated the process a few times Chris became positive of it.

It was after Chris became aware of what his fellow student was doing that he actually noticed for himself that one or two of the women in this room were very attractive.Just as attractive as any celebrity or model Chris had ever seen, though that is exactly what Chris was expecting of STATUS.Chris hadn’t paid too much attention to the women these days, only going after one since joining the academy.It was a big difference from how he acted before, when he had made it his goal to learn the flirting rituals and customs of every planet he visited to try and mingle with the local women.He succeeded less than he failed, but it was always the chase Chris had enjoyed, so that didn’t matter.

But Chris felt such ways were underneath someone in STATUS.He dedicated himself to reforming that bad habit, and though it was difficult at first, he had succeeded.An effect of that reforming, however, seemed to be that he would no longer immediately notice an attractive woman, no matter how close they were to him.That upset him a little, cause even though he no longer wanted to flirt with every one of them, he had always thought there was nothing wrong with taking a good look every once in a while.

“Attention, the following students have been chosen to become recruits in the ranks of STATUS,” a voice suddenly boomed overhead.

Everyone in the room was immediately silent as they began to call out the names.

They were going in alphabetical order by last name.Chris’s last name, Valence, would be at the very end, if it was on the list at all.The voice continued to shout out names.

No surprise that Gerald Horner was chosen, despite the fact he wasn’t even interviewed, and wasn’t even waiting in the same room with the rest of them.It seemed unfair, but Chris didn’t have to time worry about it as he counted the number of names in his head.

“Markus Toonk…”

Chris’s heart skipped a beat.Had he really heard his name, or was it his mind playing tricks on him?

“Thank you all for your interest in STATUS,” the voice continued.“Those of you chosen will be escorted to your orientation; those of you not called will be escorted to the shuttles and will be welcome to try again next year.That is all.”

He played what he heard over and over in his head but he still couldn’t believe it.As the students began to file out of the room, Chris could barely find the strength to pick himself from his chair.He had been chosen, and now started the greatest days of his life.

July 10, 402 A.E.5:59 PM

A plain, vanilla folder sat open on a desk in a small conference room.Several people stood around it, examining its contents with some interest.The folder was labeled, “Chris Valence.”

“I really don’t know about this,” one of them said, putting down the documents in his hand.“A very shady background.Associated with god-knows-what project, the files we have here classify so much shit that we wouldn’t be able to tell if it was the god damn YMCA.”

“It wouldn’t be that hard for us to declassify if we worked at it a little,” a woman said.

“But by that time it could be too late,” the first man said.“And besides that project, he’s never stayed in one place for more than a year.It’s all very shady, and makes it very hard to track exactly what he’s been doing all these years.”

“Plus he’s got no experience,” a second man said.“Even if you put his background aside, he’s not the most attractive candidate.”

“Well, I like him,” a third man said.“I think he’s got a great deal of potential, and I think his record in the tactical exam proves that.Put him into real combat once or twice, and we could have a real valuable asset on our hands.”

“He’s got a good point,” the woman said.“We could always accept him now and continue to pursue his background as we go along.”

“I’ll make him my personal project,” the third man said.“I’ll make sure I got eyes on him at all times, so nothing can go wrong.”

The first man looked to the third with a serious expression and said, “He’s your project and yours alone.Anything that happens, it falls directly on your head, and you’re the one who can explain it to Marks, and the Commission, if it is so necessary”

“Jeez, you give this one kid a lot of credit for ability to cause trouble,” the third man chuckled.“Well, looks like we’ve got a decision.”