It was morning.
A young handsome boy with dark brown hair hugged his mother, careful not to hurt her as she was pregnant.
His mother kissed his forehead, tears flowing down her cheeks as she looked into his eyes with worry but the boy gave her a reassuring smile which was very convincing.
After all, his appearance portrayed an image of confidence and surety, a solid figure to be trusted.
It was a wonder what clothes could do in the grand scheme of things.
"Be careful out there Damien, just like you always are. Train hard and stay safe," Ava Walker said to her son amidst tears.
He looked quite the little man now, all looking prim and proper in his academy uniform which was black and burgundy with a golden trim.
How fast Damien had grown!
All too soon, he was now an awakened on his way to one of the most prestigious awakened academies on earth.
Ava Walker felt intense pride and worry concerning her son.
She knew that by becoming an awakened, her son had unknowingly chosen a path which would heavily change him and expose him to extreme dangers.
Hopefully, he would be able to keep his confidence amidst such turmoil.
It was due to what she and her husband had seen that was why they decided not to undergo awakening.
Though they wouldn't be able to lead lavish lives, at least they wouldn't be in danger.
Awakened humans were constantly fighting.
If it was not among themselves, then it was against aliens.
Awakened humans were always treading the thin line between life and death.
If she had her way, she would have preferred it if her son did not awaken but she had chosen to respect Damien's decision.
She had long observed how his eyes lit up whenever he watched anything related to awakened and knew that it was only a matter of time before he too joined the ranks of those daredevils and constantly put himself in danger.
It was inevitable that their son would choose to awaken.
Besides, the government would have ensured that he awakened.
With the insane talent which Damien had shown of late and the powers he wielded, how could the government leave him alone?
They would never.
Unlike her time that to awaken was not totally compulsory, it was different in these times.
The government urgently needed millions of awakened humans to fight on earth's behalf.
To fight against what?
Those purple aliens who called themselves Voronoi.
And not only them but also other alien races.
Humanity had been the underdogs in this vast galaxy for close to a century.
Sooner rather than later, humanity would strive to be at the pinnacle.
When had humans ever settled for less?
Humanity was a race of survivors!
Very soon, earth's century of peace would be over and the planet would be embroiled in a bitter inter-galactic war.
How did Ava know this?
She could feel it deep within her.
She could feel it in her bones.
The government had become more frantic.
Terrorists like the Dusk Organization were becoming more overt and daring, even bold enough to attack a convoy of newly awakened students to kidnap them.
Something was stirring…
And it was her son's generation that would experience the brunt of whatever was going to come.
Sooner or later…
The only thing Ava Walker hoped and prayed earnestly for,
Was that her son returned to them safely.
That the scars and the guilt which would come from shedding the blood of aliens and even humans wouldn't be unbearable for him.
That she and her husband and Damien's unborn sister would also be alive to welcome him and comfort him when he returned.
For Ava knew, the path of the awakened was built with blood, sweat and tears.
And that was the path Damien had chosen.
If he truly wanted to take this journey of power,
Then, he would shed blood, tears and sweat.
The world, this galaxy and even the universe had always been a cold cruel place.
Was her son ready for that?
Would he live long enough to come back safely?
Would his scars and guilt wear him down to the point that he changed completely and became different?
All these worries plagued Ava Walker.
As if sensing something wrong, Damien looked at his mom.
Already, his psychic powers made him sense the fear, hope and worry his mother was holding deep inside.
It was to be expected.
Every good mother would worry when their child reached this point in life.
Damien wiped his mother's tears and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I'll be back. I promise," Damien said solemnly.
His mother nodded and a smile crept to her face amidst the tears.
Damien turned to his father, Paul Walker.
He too had the same worry his mom felt deep within but he had hidden it under a façade of calmness.
Damien walked up to him and hugged him.
His father embraced him too and patted his back.
When Damien withdrew from the hug, he and his father shook hands, looking each other in the eye with a firm smile.
When it came to things like this, his father was more controlled.
He and his father had a tacit understanding.
No words needed to be spoken.
"Here Damien, have this," Ava Walker said, pushing a small black briefcase into the hand of Damien.
"I prepared your favorite food. Perhaps you can eat during the journey or when you get there," she added.
"Yes mum," Damien said with a smile.
Damien's comm rang.
He frowned and looked at it.
He had received a message that his father had sent him 150,000 credits!
Damien looked up in shock and his father gave him a smile.
"Isn't that your savings?" Damien blurted out in shock.
"Only a part of it. Resources aren't cheap you know," Damien's father joked.
"But-" Damien started speaking but his father cut him off.
Paul Walker held up his hand and said,
"Look Damien. You need it. Your mother and I have agreed on this. You don't need to bother yourself. It's our decision."
Damien looked at him for a few seconds and nodded.
His parents were really sacrificing for him.
The money was a huge chunk of their life savings!
Damien's parents weren't awakened.
For reasons best known to them, they had chosen not to.
Damien's father was a ship technician, a profession that was well known by the nickname for those engaged in it; grease monkeys.
He helped in the repairs of maintenance of ships.
Even though awakening and changed how humans battle, the use of spaceships and star fleets had boomed.
Most ships were durable enough to withstand attacks of many awakened, even to the Transcendent realm or Ascended realm!
Also, robots and AI programs hadn't taken over the job market as people had feared long ago when they were first introduced.
It took a single hacker or even an awakened well versed in hacking and coding to heavily screw up any setup which mainly relied on artificial intelligence or bots.
Perhaps DAUN was the only exception as whatever artificial intelligence software that operated it was even levels above true sentient consciousness!
Thus, people who had chosen not to awaken or had awoken useless powers could still work and earn some credits.
That was why Paul and Ava walker weren't totally poor without much of any work to do.
Currently, he was on leave due to his wife who was pregnant.
Damien's mom on the other hand worked on one of these spaceships.
She served as a cleaning bot operator.
She directed bots to clean the decks of the ship and any other mess which was around in her part of the ship which she was responsible for.
Due to her pregnancy, she was also on leave.
Both of their yearly earnings combined reached 30,000 credits.
They were also not big spenders.
This meant that if they saved 10,000 credits yearly, it would take fifteen years to save 150,000 credits!
Yet, they had selflessly given it to him.
"Your mother and I are adults Damien. We can take care of ourselves. Now shoo, get going," his father said.
"Alright Dad. Thank you," Damien said.
His father nodded and Damien walked out the door.
Damien's parents silently watched him leave and continued standing at the door for a long time even though they knew he was already gone.
"Do you think he will be alright?" Ava asked her husband worriedly.
A soft smile stretched on Paul Walker's lips as he caressed the hair of his wife.
"Damien is a careful lad… I know he will," he murmured softly.