Marcus awoke in a cold sweat. His breathing was heavy and laborious, that same translucent blue liquid that was injected into him at the start of the simulation was now streaking down his face in the form of tears.
Marcus had sworn he was dead, he instinctively reached for his neck where he had been decapitated, half expecting his neck to be gone entirely.
But his neck was fine, with the exception of being slightly sore near the injection sites.
The pod he was in slowly began to crack open with a hissing sound, revealing that not only was he still inside the pod, but he was still inside the virtual lab itself.
It seemed that most of the other cadets had just exited their simulations as well. Most of them looked just as traumatized as Marcus, with that same frightened expression and translucent blue tears.
Marcus slowly breathed a sigh of relief as he slowly leaned back in his seat. His breathing began to slow as he realized that the death he had experienced mere moments earlier, was fake.
"You seem stressed." A calm and familiar voice called out to Marcus. Looking up to see who it was he noticed that it was the scientist who helped him in his simulation earlier.
Marcus chuckled nervously as he reached for his abdomen. "Yeah… I uhm, I need some water." He stammered as he slowly tried to rise up.
His body felt intense phantom pains in the areas where he had been pierced, causing him to howl in pain and collapse back into his seat.
His body was trembling with fear and anxiety and the phantom pain alongside his sore muscles did little to help.
The scientist watched Marcus with a curious gaze. "Water huh?" She said softly, "I'll get that soon enough, but for now I need you to take it a–"
The scientist was interrupted by the sounds of an angry scream coming from the neighboring pod.
"I'll kill that bastard!" A familiar voice shouted in anger, "I'll fucking kill her!" The voice was extremely familiar and rageful; it was the voice of Felix.
The scientist dealing with Marcus immediately shifted over towards Felix's pod.
His pod opened with that same hiss Marcus's pod opened with. Inside was Felix, seething with rage and anger. His hands were gripping tightly on the armrests of the seat within his pod.
"Calm down!" The scientist exclaimed as slowly took a step away from Felix's pod, "It was just a simulation."
"A simulation?!" Felix shouted angrily as widened his blood-red eyes, "How–" Felix paused for a moment as his face contorted into an expression of deep thought.
Eventually, he sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "I'm sorry ma'am." He said softly as he closed his eyes, "I just… it felt so real." He said softly between breaths.
The scientist nodded as she stepped closer to Felix. "Are you alright?" She asked.
"I'm fine." Felix said with a huff as he slumped down into his seat, he reached a hand up to his face to wipe away the blue tears that were streaking down his cheeks, "I've just been reminded of something I wish I hadn't is all."
The scientist nodded. "I see, if you want, counseling is available to you, but be warned, it will disqualify you from the exams."
Felix shook his head. "I don't need it." He said with a stern voice as he slowly rose from his pod.
"Woah, hey, you're in no position to walk."
Felix smirked as he pushed past the scientist with a gentle push. "It's fine, I just need to lie down for a bit."
"But–"
As Felix walked past the scientist, he turned to look at Marcus, who was still trembling inside his pod.
He winked at him, "I'll see you in the dorms, bro."
With those words, Felix walked out of the virtual lab with slow yet determined steps.
Marcus was in disbelief at how fast Felix had switched back to his normal demeanor. His usual smile radiated brightly.
Though Marcus understood that he was just in a simulation, his body still felt the pain, yet Felix was literally just walking it off.
Marcus attempted to understand what happened with Felix when he was interrupted by the sound of another cadet screaming as their pod opened.
Marcus' heart dropped from the sound as the blood-curdling scream, echoed loudly throughout the room, causing Marcus to quickly turn his head in the direction it came from.
It was a young woman no older than 18, she was clenching her chest with a tight grip. Her face was scrunched and contorted with fear and translucent blue tears.
The scientist was helping Marcus and Felix ran towards the girl with zero hesitation, leaving Marcus alone within his pod.
Marcus sighed as he attempted to rise once more.
He couldn't sit in his pod anymore, if not for the sake of being outdone by Felix, then it was definitely to avoid listening to the screaming of cadets awaking from their simulations.
He reached a hand for either side of the pod and tightly gripped them. He took a deep breath as he slowly pulled himself out of his pod. It was laboring and intense as the phantom pain came in short continuous bursts, causing Marcus's body to tremble in pain.
When he finally stood to his feet, Marcus released the sides of the pod to stand on his feet. His legs felt as if they were jelly, but he was standing nonetheless.
In his new position of standing, Marcus was able to get a better look around the room. It was a scene of controlled chaos, as most of the cadets had already awoken.
Some were still in their pods attempting to calm down or talk with an assistant. Others were like Felix, slowly making their way to the exit.
There were a few cadets who were in less stable shape, such as vomiting, urinating or just straight up collapsing on the floor in panic.
There were medical personnel rushing around the room attending to the more serious cases, their footsteps masked by the sound of screams, cries, and shouts.
Marcus took a deep breath as he turned his attention towards the exit. He knew that it was the only escape from this hellish nightmare of a situation.
He began his walk towards the exit with slow, painful steps, each one felt like a monumental task and just as painful as the last.
As he neared the exit, Marcus noticed Lieutenant Natsuki and Lance standing by the exit, each with a tablet in their hands.
Lance noticed Marcus walking towards them and smirked. "Maybe you are more than just a bag of hot air," Lance said with a chuckle as he reached out his tablet toward Marcus.
Marcus raised an eyebrow at the actions of Lance. "What's that for sir?" Marcus asked as he finally reached the duo of Lieutenants.
"Electronic signature, we need your thumbprint," Lance answered.
"It's so we can say you passed the second half of today's tests, if you don't sign it then you'll be disqualified," Natsuki added.
Marcus nodded as he slowly reached out his trembling hand. "Ok, where do I put my thumb exactly?"
"Bottom bezel, see that sensor at the bottom?" Lance replied with the point of his finger.
Marcus nodded as he placed his thumb on the sensor, after a second of silence, the screen of the tablet illuminated with a picture of Marcus and a list of data on him.
"Signature logged." Reported the tablet.
Lance nodded as he stepped back from the exit, "Be safe cadet, I'll see you tomorrow." Lance said as Marcus exited the room.
As he exited, he was greeted with a familiar sight.
Fellow cadet, Sang-hee.
She was struggling to walk down the stairs, her left hand tightly gripping the side rail as she slowly walked down the stairs with short labored breaths.
She looked to be struggling badly and could collapse at any moment.
Marcus had a conflicted feeling rise within him, he wanted to help her, but he also knew sang-hee wasn't going to accept his help, their shared time in the auditorium told him that much.
Not to mention Marcus wasn't in the greatest shape himself.
In the end, Marcus decided he'd rather just leave her to her own devices, as it would save them both the trouble.
With his remaining strength, Marcus began to descend the stairs. His footsteps quickly alerted Sang-hee, who looked back at him with a curious expression.
When she realized it was Marcus, her expression turned conflicted.
She lowered her gaze to the floor and bit her bottom lip.
She then sighed heavily as she turned back around to continue her journey down the stairs.
As both parties walked down the stairs in silence, Marcus began to think about tomorrow's testing.
He knew it would be just as bad as today had been, but with any luck, Luna's core would heal him up tonight.
Marcus sighed as he thought about Luna.
Though he hated to admit it, he'd love to have her with him right now.
He'd say something stupid and Luna would respond in kind with something sassy or sarcastic.
Why'd she have to betray his trust?
Marcus felt that it wasn't fair, not in the slightest.
"Shit." Sang-hee hissed, grabbing her stomach, she groaned in pain as she stopped descending down the steps.
Marcus glanced at Sang-hee with a curious side-eye. He watched her struggle, her groan of pain echoed through the stairwell.
Marcus began to reconsider his decision to leave her alone. Despite her rough exterior, she was still in pain and she was still a fellow cadet.
With a sigh, Marcus cast aside his pride and attempted to help Sang-hee once more.
"Sang-hee," Marcus called out as he picked up his speed to catch up with her. Each step he took was like its own hell, moving faster and stepping down harder didn't make it any easier. "You want some help?"
Sang-hee glanced at Marcus with a frown. "Boss I don't need your-"
Sang-hee was cut off by herself groaning in pain, she gripped the rail tightly as she slowly dropped down to one knee. Her breathing had grown heavier and her face had scrunched up.
Marcus huffed a breath of frustration as he lowered himself slightly by bending his knees. "Just let me help you," Marcus whispered frustratedly.
Sang-hee turned her head away from Marcus, "go away." She said in a pained voice as she slowly attempted to rise up.
Marcus couldn't believe how stubborn Sang-Hee was being. She clearly needed help, yet she denied him.
Was she scared of him or something?
Suddenly Marcus heard footsteps coming down the stairs, they were slow and carefully placed.
Looking behind himself Marcus noticed that another cadet was making his way down the stairs with a contemptuous expression.
Marcus remembered him as one of the cadets from Group E.
An idea suddenly came in Marcus's mind, if Sang-hee didn't want his help, then maybe she'd want help from someone else.
"Hey–" Marcus attempted to call out of the cadet, but he was cut off by Sang-hee tightly grabbing his arm.
"Don't." She whispered angrily.
Marcus looked down to see Sang-hee staring up at him with a determined, yet pained expression. It was clear that either this girl was too prideful or too stubborn to admit she needed help.
It was at this point Marcus understood that asking her was not an option as she'd just say no, no matter how much she needed it.
So Marcus wasn't going to ask anymore.
"Fine," Marcus said angrily as he removed Sang-hee's hand from his arm.
He then lowered himself further as he placed her arm around his shoulder, he wrapped his arm around Sang-hee's waist, placing his hand on her abdomen.
Sang-hee's expression went from anger to confusion.
"On three," Marcus said softly as he prepared to stand up.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sang-hee hissed, "Get the fuck off me before I rip your head straight from your fucking shoulders."
Marcus rolled his eyes. "A threat like that means nothing when you can't even stand."
"Tch, I don't need you," Sang-hee mumbled.
Marcus ignored her as he began to count.
"1…"
"2…"
"3." With a gentle tug, Marcus stood up slowly. He allowed Sang-hee to put the majority of her weight onto himself, she gripped his shoulder tightly as she winced softly in pain.
"Damn girl, what's with the kung fu grip?"
Sang-hee glared at Marcus with narrow eyes and a frown. "Shut up and walk." She said coldly, before turning her attention back towards the stairs.
Marcus sighed as he began to walk Sang-hee down the stairs.