The grounds were much larger than Daniel had imagined.
From outside, it looked like another of the complexes the A.E.E. had occupied and adapted over the past few weeks.
Inside, it was something else.
Corridors.
Access controls.
Staff coming and going.
Screens suspended above corridors that seemed to go on for ever.
And people.
A lot of people.
Daniel stopped just beyond the main checkpoint.
Above their heads, seven symbols filled an enormous screen.
AE-01 — AERIS
AU-02 — AUREL
SE-03 — SERPENTIA
IG-04 — IGNIS
NE-05 — NEREA
SY-06 — SYLVAR
VO-07 — VOLTRIS
Lina stood beside him.
“They've gone all out.”
Daniel looked up.
“A month ago, they didn't know what was happening.”
“They still don't.”
Daniel looked at her.
Lina smiled.
“But they've got signs.”
“That always helps.”
A voice came from the loudspeakers.
“Attendees with confirmed orientation appointments must proceed only to the sector corresponding to their affinity. House assignment is determined by the pattern recorded during evaluation. Participation in their training and service programmes remains voluntary.”
The crowd began to divide.
Daniel watched hundreds of people take different paths.
They weren't choosing a House.
Whatever had awakened inside them had already decided that.
What they could still choose was what to do with it.
One of the screens changed.
AE-01 — AERIS
An arrow pointed down the corridor to the left.
Lina raised her papers.
“My turn.”
Daniel looked down the vast corridor.
“Well, then.”
“Well, then what?”
“Time to learn how to mess up people's hair professionally.”
Lina gave him a small tap on the arm.
Daniel winced.
She immediately drew her hand back.
“Sorry.”
“I'm fine.”
Lina looked at him.
Daniel raised a hand.
“This time I mean it.”
She didn't seem convinced.
“Lina!”
They both turned.
Nair was making his way through the crowd.
“I knew I'd find you round here.”
Lina pointed at the Aeris symbol.
“There weren't many options.”
Nair looked at Daniel.
“And you?”
Daniel held up his papers.
Instead of a House code, there were only a few words.
GENERAL ORIENTATION
“Sightseeing.”
Nair laughed.
Lina didn't.
“Dani...”
“Go.”
“But...”
“Lina.”
She fell silent.
Daniel nodded towards Aeris.
“It's yours.”
Lina looked down the corridor.
Then back at him.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
She took two steps.
Came back.
Hugged him quickly.
“Don't do anything stupid.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
“I'm going to an orientation session.”
“You never know with you.”
She stepped away.
Nair raised a hand.
“I'll try to keep her from flying off.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey.”
Lina pushed him towards the corridor.
Daniel smiled as he watched them go.
Among the people heading towards the same sector, he spotted a young woman.
Arisha.
She was carrying AE-01 papers.
Aeris.
She didn't know Daniel.
Daniel didn't know her either.
She passed him without stopping.
Daniel looked down at his own sheet.
PATHWAYS FOR THOSE WITH NO RECOGNISED AFFINITY
Below it was an arrow.
He followed it.
The Aeris hall was almost full.
Lina and Nair found seats among dozens of rows.
Arisha was a little further forward.
A woman waited in the centre of the hall.
Dark jacket.
The Aeris symbol on her chest.
She didn't look military.
She wasn't wearing a lab coat either.
She waited until the last conversations died away.
“If you're here, the A.E.E. has identified the same general pattern in all of you.”
She looked at the stands.
“That doesn't mean you know how to use it.”
Some people smiled.
“It doesn't mean you're all the same, either.”
The woman raised a hand.
A current of air swept through the hall.
Hundreds of sheets lifted a few centimetres.
Lina instinctively held hers down.
There was no need.
Not a single sheet flew away.
The current turned.
Divided.
Changed direction.
And the sheets settled almost exactly where they had been.
Silence.
The woman lowered her hand.
“Wind isn't about pushing harder.”
The screen behind her lit up.
HOUSE AERIS
INITIAL TRAINING
“If that's what you've come to learn...”
The woman looked at them all.
“We'll start by teaching you to forget it.”
Lina looked at Nair.
He had stopped smiling.
Arisha hadn't taken her eyes off the centre either.
In other sectors of the complex, the first orientation sessions had already begun.
IG-04 — IGNIS
Ander watched his House’s supervisor from behind a safety line.
“Control before power,” the man said. “Always.”
Ander slowly uncrossed his arms.
NE-05 — NEREA
In front of Armando, a mass of water rose inside a transparent structure.
It divided.
Joined again.
“We're not here to find out how much you can move.”
Armando remembered some bottles.
A street.
Darian.
Daniel.
“We're here to find out how much you can control.”
Armando looked up.
Daniel kept walking.
RESEARCH
HEALTHCARE
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
LOGISTICS
COMMUNICATIONS
ANALYSIS
There were no House symbols in those corridors.
There were doctors.
Technicians.
Administrative staff.
Researchers.
Operators.
People moving too fast to stop.
Daniel followed the arrows.
Until he found:
RESPONSE AND RESCUE
And below it:
OPERATIONAL SUPPORT
He went in.
He had expected a room with a few chairs.
He found another hall.
There were around forty people.
None wore a House emblem.
Daniel chose a seat.
A woman from the A.E.E. stood in front of the group.
“Good morning.”
The conversations died away.
“If you're here, you've requested information about routes into operational service with the Agency.”
The screen lit up.
OPERATIONAL SUPPORT UNIT
Three letters appeared below.
U.A.O.
“Before we continue, I want to make one thing clear.”
The woman looked round the room.
“This is not an eighth House.”
Daniel raised his head slightly.
“You won't receive an affinity by being here. Nor will you be competing with those who have one.”
The screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
A response team.
Two people displayed affinity identification.
Others did not.
“Field operations need more than Ether capability.”
Another image.
An evacuation.
“They need coordination.”
Another.
An injured person receiving treatment.
“First aid.”
Another.
Staff speaking over the radio as a group left a building.
“Communications.”
Another.
An A.E.E. vehicle leaving a cordoned area.
“Extraction.”
The woman stepped away from the screen.
“There will be situations where an Awakened person can do something you can't.”
A pause.
“And there will be situations where you have to do something they can't.”
Daniel remained still.
“The U.A.O. doesn't exist to prove that someone without an affinity is worth as much as someone who has one.”
The screen went black.
“It exists because an operation needs everyone to know what to do.”
Daniel looked down at his hands.
That phrase stayed there.
Know what to do.
Clara beneath the rubble.
The animal.
Flora.
Lina.
Armando.
Darian.
Daniel had always arrived.
That had never been the problem.
The problem started afterwards.
The door opened.
Three people came in late.
Daniel barely looked at them.
Until one of them stopped.
So did he.
It took him a moment to recognise her.
A street.
A phone snatched away.
A group gathered round.
Armando.
Darian.
That word.
Inert.
It was her.
The girl recognised him at almost the same moment.
Neither said anything.
“You can sit down,” the woman in charge told them.
The girl looked for a seat.
There was only one free chair in that row.
To Daniel's right.
She came over.
“Is this taken?”
“No.”
She sat down.
The presentation continued.
A few minutes passed.
“You're Daniel.”
Daniel turned his head.
“Yes.”
“From that day.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Daniel hesitated.
“Are you all right?”
She looked ahead.
“Yes.”
A moment.
“I am now.”
Daniel nodded.
He asked nothing more.
The girl fiddled with the corner of her papers.
“After that day, the worst part wasn't being called Inert.”
Daniel looked at her.
It took her a few seconds to continue.
“It was starting to believe they were right.”
Daniel stayed silent.
“When all that happened...”
She looked down at her hands.
“I couldn't do anything.”
“It wasn't your fault.”
“I know.”
There was no anger in her reply.
Only certainty.
“But that doesn't mean I want to feel like that again.”
Daniel understood perfectly.
The girl discreetly pointed to the U.A.O. screen.
“If something ever happens again...”
A pause.
“I want to know what to do.”
Daniel looked ahead again.
The same phrase.
Again.
She watched him.
“And you?”
Daniel took a moment.
“More or less the same.”
The girl held out her hand.
“Melisa.”
Daniel shook it.
“Daniel.”
Melisa raised an eyebrow.
“I knew that already.”
Daniel went still.
She frowned.
“What?”
A small smile appeared on Daniel's face.
“Nothing.”
The next area was behind reinforced glass.
Two technicians waited beside a table.
There was a case on it.
The woman in charge of the U.A.O. stopped.
“Before we move on to the practical part, there's something you need to know about.”
One of the technicians opened the case.
Only partway.
Daniel could make out a dark structure inside.
Nothing more.
Except for a small mineral component built into it.
He recognised it.
Fragments.
The Fall.
“Some of the materials recovered after the Fall retain properties of interaction with Ether even after processing.”
The screen showed:
A.R.E. PROGRAMME
ETHER RESONANCE ARMAMENT
The atmosphere changed.
Several people tried to get a better look inside the case.
So did Daniel.
“Is that a weapon?” someone asked.
The woman looked at the technician.
He closed the case.
CLACK.
“It's something you aren't authorised to use yet.”
The screen changed.
COMPATIBILITY
TRAINING
AUTHORISATION
“A.R.E. technology remains restricted to personnel with specific training and compatibility. Not everyone responds in the same way to the materials used to manufacture it.”
Daniel looked at the closed case.
“If anyone has come here thinking they'll get one for joining the U.A.O., they can forget that idea.”
Some expressions changed.
“First you'll learn to keep someone alive without one.”
The woman pointed to the next door.
“Let's go.”
The group began to walk.
Melisa came alongside Daniel.
“You were trying to see it.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I was listening.”
Melisa looked at him.
“Of course.”
Daniel shook his head.
Kept walking.
And, before going through the door, looked back at the case once more.
There was no Ether in the next room.
No fragments.
No weapons.
There was a stretcher.
A dummy.
A first aid kit.
Several doors.
Markings on the floor.
And a stopwatch.
Daniel looked at the set-up.
“This looks less fun.”
“Were you expecting to shoot things today?” Melisa asked.
“No.”
“Of course.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I'm starting to dislike you.”
“We've been talking for ten minutes.”
“You've been quick.”
An instructor stood in front of the group.
“This is not an entry test.”
Some shoulders relaxed.
“Today.”
They tensed again.
“Selection will include medical, physical and psychological assessment, first aid, incident protocols, evacuation, coordination and work under pressure.”
He walked over to the dummy.
“We're not looking for heroes.”
Daniel stopped smiling.
“We're looking for people who know what to do.”
Again.
Those words.
The instructor pointed at Daniel.
“You.”
Daniel looked behind him.
“Yes. You.”
“Perfect.”
He stepped forward.
“Unconscious casualty. You don't know the situation. Act.”
Daniel looked at the dummy.
Went in.
“Dead.”
Daniel stopped.
“What?”
The instructor pointed to a red marking by his feet.
“You haven't checked the surroundings.”
Daniel looked down.
“You've entered an unsafe area.”
The instructor pointed at the dummy.
“Now I have two casualties.”
Some people looked at Daniel.
Daniel clenched his jaw.
“Again.”
The instructor raised an eyebrow.
“Go ahead.”
Daniel went back.
Breathed.
Looked at the surroundings.
Checked.
Went in.
Approached the dummy.
Assessed.
“Dead.”
Daniel closed his eyes for a second.
“What now?”
“You haven't reported your entry. No one knows where you are.”
Daniel nodded.
“Again.”
Third attempt.
He checked the surroundings.
Reported.
Went in.
Assessed.
Called for support.
The instructor watched him.
“Better.”
Daniel waited.
“Is that all?”
“Were you expecting applause?”
“A little.”
Nothing.
“You can step back.”
Daniel rejoined the group.
He hadn't stood out.
He hadn't been quick.
He hadn't done anything particularly well.
He had needed three attempts to complete a basic exercise.
Melisa stood beside him.
“That went well.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I died twice.”
“But the third time...”
The instructor pointed at Melisa.
“You.”
She stopped smiling.
Daniel folded his arms.
“Good luck.”
Melisa went in.
A minute later:
“Dead.”
Daniel lowered his head to hide his smile.
Melisa pointed at him from the set-up.
“Don't you dare.”
“I haven't said anything.”
“You're thinking it.”
“A little.”
“Again,” Melisa said.
The instructor looked at her.
Daniel stopped smiling.
She went back to the start.
And tried again.
By the end of the day, Daniel was tired.
More than he'd expected.
And it hadn't even been training.
They had done basic exercises.
Some people had done better.
One woman had completed almost everything first time.
Another boy had recorded better times.
Melisa had made different mistakes from his.
Daniel hadn't been the best at anything.
Strangely...
that didn't bother him.
For the first time since the numbers had appeared, being below someone didn't mean a machine had decided where his limits lay.
It meant he had something to learn.
And that could change.
The doors to the different sectors began to open.
The complex filled up again.
Aeris.
Ignis.
Nerea.
People talking about what they'd seen.
What they'd been told.
What they wanted to do.
Daniel took out his phone.
He had a message.
LINA: Where are you?
He replied.
DANIEL: Alive.
The answer came almost immediately.
LINA: THAT WASN'T THE QUESTION.
Daniel smiled.
DANIEL: North exit.
He put his phone away.
“Are you coming back?”
Melisa was a few metres away.
She was holding the U.A.O. papers.
Daniel looked at his own.
“We still have to pass the tests.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Daniel looked up.
Melisa waited.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“So am I.”
There was no hug.
No promises.
Nothing more.
Melisa raised a hand in farewell.
“See you, Daniel.”
“See you.”
She disappeared into the crowd.
Daniel continued towards the exit.
He didn't see Clara.
He didn't know she had also been in that enormous complex.
In another sector.
Among hundreds of people.
Their paths had yet to cross.
A side door opened.
Daniel stopped.
Four people came out.
Two wore affinity identification.
AERIS.
NEREA.
The other two had no House symbol.
They wore dark uniforms.
On one of their shoulders, he could read:
U.A.O.
One carried medical supplies.
The other was speaking over the radio.
All four walked together.
Daniel watched them.
No one was in front.
No one behind.
They didn't look like Awakened people accompanied by helpers.
They looked like a team.
Daniel looked down at his papers.
OPERATIONAL SUPPORT UNIT
Below it:
APPLICATION TO ENTER THE SELECTION PROCESS
Daniel opened the form on his phone.
Read the conditions.
Medical assessment.
Physical assessment.
First aid.
Protocols.
Coordination.
Training.
Nothing guaranteed he would get through it.
Daniel reached the end.
Two options.
CANCEL
CONFIRM
He went still.
For weeks, he had been waiting for something else.
A correction.
An error.
A second test that said the first was wrong.
A machine that finally found something.
He saw it again.
RESERVE: 0
FLOW: 0
CONTROL: 0
SYNCHRONY: 0
Four numbers.
They had weighed too heavily.
Daniel remembered the ground.
Darian.
His body refusing to get up.
Lina's voice.
Who protects you?
Armando.
I saw someone who kept getting up even though everyone expected him to stay on the ground.
And finally that phrase.
We're not looking for heroes.
We're looking for people who know what to do.
Daniel looked at CONFIRM.
Tapped it.
The screen loaded.
One second.
Two.
APPLICATION REGISTERED
A new line appeared below.
CANDIDATE — U.A.O.
Daniel kept looking at the screen.
It wasn't an affinity.
It wasn't a House.
His results were still the same.
0.
0.
0.
0.
For weeks, he had looked at those numbers, waiting for them to change.
This time, he didn't need them to.
He put his phone away.
In the distance, Lina appeared, searching for him in the crowd.
Daniel began to walk towards her.
He was still starting from zero.
The difference was that now...
he had started.
END OF EPISODE 13
END OF ARC II — ZERO