Exiting Dr. Fletcher's office, Marcus's mind was truly fried.
As he walked through the hallways, he took an inward look at himself and his ambitions. What was he hoping to achieve in this program? Why had he sacrificed his freedom and future? What was it all for?
These questions circulated in his mind endlessly. Continuing down the halls, his world began to collapse down upon him. The harsh white lights that illuminated the hallways seemed to show down upon him like a searchlight. The further he walked the more narrow the hall became, until eventually Marcus felt as if he was being pressed on all sides.
His chest grew tighter, making it harder for him to breathe, his vision grew blurry, the harsh white lights blinding him, making it harder to see.
His footsteps began to grow muffled, blending on with a constant ringing that seemed to be growing louder and louder.
Memories began flooding into Marcus's vision, playing like a movie on repeat.
"Marcus?" A faint voice called out, fading into the abyss of growing self-doubt and fear.
"Marcus?" The voice repeated louder, growing closer with each passing second.
"Marcus!"
Marcus opened his eyes and paused all movements, he looked down towards the direction of the voice.
It was Luna, her small face etched with concern and worry. "Marcus, are you ok?" Luna asked.
Marcus blinked several times, attempting to jumpstart his response. "Y-yeah, I'm fine, how are you?" Marcus stammered.
Luna frowned as she tightened her grip on Marcus's hand. "Why are you lying Marcus, I can sense you losing yourself."
Marcus sighed, averting his gaze from Luna. "I don't know, so much has happened in such a short period, I-I just wanna quit, go back to my video games, watch porn, or just sit in my room wasting away my day, normal teenage shit," Marcus replied honestly.
"Walking into that damn café ruined my life, meeting Elissa was a mistake, she baited me into a program that kills its cadets and fucking lied about it. Sure I guess the truth came out in the end, but look at me, look at what it took for that to happen." Marcus said, gesturing to his disheveled state.
"I-I-I just feel like the only person I can trust in the world, is myself, and I don't mean this in a harsh way Luna, because I care about you deeply, but our relationship only started with your attempt to save yourself at my expense."
Luna looked pained at Marcus's words but remained silent.
"I don't know what to do anymore," Marcus said shakily, tears welling up in his eyes. "I just wanna go home, but I know it's too late, I'll be killed if I try to leave now."
"Marcus," Luna whispered.
"If I hadn't been so stupid, if I just ignored Elissa if I ran away when I had the chance, I could've been home right now." Marcus's tears began rolling down his cheeks as his voice grew hoarse.
"I'm a failure," Marcus whispered to himself between tears. "I'm a coward, a fraud who got caught in a crowd of professionals."
Luna remained silent. It was obvious she didn't know what to do, and Marcus didn't expect her to, she was a victim in this mess just as much as he was
Marcus slumped down to his knees and continued to weep, his stress reaching a point where his mind had shut down, and his tears flowed like river water.
As he wept, the elevator from down the hall rang with a ding, its doors opening, revealing Felix, the officer from earlier, and strangest of all, Sang-hee.
"Marcus!" Felix exclaimed in panic, bursting past the opening elevator doors and towards his weeping friend.
"Bro," Felix called out, grabbing at Marcus' back upon finally reaching him. "Bro, are you ok?" Felix asked in a panic, "What's the matter?"
"I wanna go home." Marcus whispered between cries, "Please just let me go home."
The officer from earlier, approached Marcus with his arms crossed, his expression filled with sympathy. "You know that's not possible anymore." The officer answered.
Just then, almost immediately after the officer spoke, Sang-hee broke into a fit of laughter. "Are you guys serious?" She said loudly, gesturing towards Marcus.
"Aww, the boss wants to go home 'cause officer life is too hard." She said mockingly, faking tears.
"Sang-hee!" The officer said sternly, "That is rude and disgusting behavior, I will not tolerate it."
Sang-hee laughed even harder, "Oh don't freeze your ass off with that glare!" She exclaimed loudly, reaching for a wall to steady herself. "You're all a bunch of pussies, so what some of us are going to die, it is what it is."
"What, is he going to cry every time something doesn't go his way?" Sang-hee hissed, "Man, I can't wait until he's out there saving lives by crying his eyes out and pissing puddles." She cackled sarcastically.
Felix, who had been quietly enduring Sang-Hee's mockery while checking on Marcus, glared at her. "You keep talking, and you'll be on the floor pissing puddles."
Sang-hee rolled her eyes. "You two dumbasses are in the same boat. Two scared bitches masquerading as men, jumping into waters far over your heads, yet you have the nerve to challenge me."
"I'm warning you," Felix said sternly.
"Both of you stand down." The officer commanded.
"Or what Mr. Volkov, you're gonna freeze us to death boss?" Sang-hee hissed. "I can't believe I came all this way to see this sorry ass sight, I'm out."
Sang-hee, threw a hand in the air as she headed back towards the elevator.
"You want to talk shit." Felix said coldly as he rose from his knees, "Then fight me." Felix glared at Sang-hee with balled fists, his eyes narrowed and his expression determined.
Sang-hee glanced back at Felix with a challenging grin. "You really think you stand a chance, boss?"
Her eyes glistened with a sick joy as the grin that played on her lips grew wider. "Then try me."
Felix cracked his knuckles as he rotated his neck. "You will apologize to Marcus, the same way the doctor apologized when he handed you to your mother."
"Neither of you will be doing anything." Officer Volkov commanded, his gentle nature giving way to a boiling frustration. "Sang-hee, I brought you here because I wanted to keep an eye on you, not to pick fights against fellow cadets."
Officer Volkov then turned his glare to Felix, "and I brought you here to find your friend, now that you have him I suggest you leave."
Felix scoffed, "It's you two who should be leaving, I only asked for directions, it was you who tagged along."
Officer Volkov nodded, his expression turning sympathetic. "I suppose you're right." He said with a sigh before turning his attention towards Sang-hee, "Come with me, we have a lot to discuss."
Sang-hee rolled her eyes as she continued towards the elevator. "Whatever, I didn't ask to be dragged here anyway."
Felix watched with a glare as they entered the elevator and descended.
Once they were gone, he turned his attention back towards Marcus. "Come on bro," Felix grunted as he took one of Marcus's arms and pulled it around his shoulder. "Can't have you alone out in the open like this."
Luna, who sat by Marcus's side the entire time consoling him, gave her support to Marcus as well, though due to her small frame, there wasn't much she could do for leverage.
Marcus remained silent, his face hollow and emotionless, with only his red eyes and tear-stained cheeks showing any signs of life.
Felix helped Marcus down the hall and towards the elevator. "Can you hit the call button?" Felix asked Luna, "I don't wanna let him go."
Luna nodded as she reached for the call button. The metallic doors hissed open and a chime played softly.
Felix helped guide Marcus inside, resting him on the back wall of the elevator, Felix kept him steady as Luna pressed the button for the first floor.
As the elevator began its descent, Luna asked Felix a question.
"Why did you come looking for us?" She asked, never turning to look at Felix directly.
"After the orientation, I saw Marcus leaving the auditorium with that Volkov guy, I found it suspicious, but didn't say anything." Felix then sighed as he adjusted his grip on Marcus, "It's when he returned without bro, that my alarm bells started ringing, so I demanded to be taken where Marcus was."
Luna nodded as she gripped Marcus's hand tightly. "So why did that girl come along?" Luna asked.
Felix's expression turned sour. "That guy was talking to her, trying to gauge information about Marcus, she sorta just tagged along."
"I don't like her," Luna commented.
"Agreed," Felix replied.
The elevator doors opened with a soft chime.
The trio stepped out, with Felix supporting Marcus to his feet, and Luna holding his hand. They navigated the hall and corridors of the main building before finally stepping outside, and making their way back towards the dorms.
Inside the dorm, Felix guided Marcus toward the bottom bunk, gently setting him down. Luna sat beside him her expression etched with worry.
"So what happens now?" Luna asked Felix.
Felix crossed his arms, looking upwards as he sighed deeply. "Well, I have to get some sleep, I'm part of the first group to get their surgery done."
"But aren't you scared?" Luna asked, "There's a forty percent chance of you dying."
Felix shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like anyone will be hurt by my death, besides there's a sixty percent chance I get superpowers."
Luna shook her head. "I don't understand either of you, just yesterday you were being hostile towards me and cold to the world, now you're joking about your death and Marcus has had a mental breakdown," Luna said with a deep sigh. "It's exhausting and worrisome."
Felix's expression turned sympathetic as he glanced at Luna. "Yeah… I'm sorry about yesterday, I wasn't in my right headspace, I just had a bad feeling, and the thing with Kira didn't help, I guess I was just looking for someone to put the blame on."
Felix then smiled. "But hey, on the bright side, my intuition was spot on, so there's that."
"Yes, let's all clap that you were right about your fellow cadets possibly dying." Luna said sarcastically, "But, I am surprised, I fully expected Marcus to turn on me, yet he didn't."
Felix nodded. "It's like I said before, when people get overwhelmed they look for a scapegoat, lucky for you Marcus was probably able to focus that anger elsewhere."
"Yeah," Luna replied as she glanced at Marcus, his eyes still vacant of life. "I just hope he gets better."
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
Felix raised an eyebrow as he turned around to face it, "who is it?" He called out.
"Droid unit 776." A robotic voice announced, "I have come to deliver your trainee combat suits, would you like me to leave them at the door?"
Felix breathed a sigh of relief as he approached the door. "No, here I come," Felix answered as he approached the door, opening it to reveal a Cyber-Tech assistant droid standing before a small cart of white combat suits.
In the droid's hands were two suits that were neatly folded, each wrapped in a vacuum-sealed bag.
"Thanks," Felix said, grabbing the suits from the droid. "Is there anything else?"
"That is all." The droid answered, taking a step back and grabbing its cart, the droid walked away.
Felix nodded his head as he closed the door. He then placed the suits on the floor as he made his way back towards the bunk beds. "Marcus still has Kinsley's contact information right?" He commented out of the blue.
Luna raised an eyebrow before hesitantly nodding, "Yes?"
Felix smirked as he climbed to the top bunk, "then give her a call, sometimes all a guy needs is a girl to vent to."
Luna looked offended.
"A girl that's around his age, preferably one he's interested in." Felix corrected himself.
Luna sighed, briefly pausing in thought before reaching into Marcus's pocket to retrieve his phone, she navigated through it until she found her number.
She hesitated briefly before pressing call, the phone rang twice before it was picked up. "Marcus!" Kinsley's voice was filled with urgency and excitement, "Erm, I mean Marcus… what's up?" Kinsley said, her voice losing most of its bass, yet the excitement lingered.
Luna hesitated before answering. "Uhm, hi," Luna said, nervously glancing at Marcus.
"W-who is this?" Kinsley asked, a sense of unease creeping in her voice.
"It's Luna, Marcus's sister."
"Oh!" Kinsley replied in relief, a nervous chuckle escaping her lips, "You sound so mature, but what's up Luna?"
"Marcus is, he's feeling a little homesick right now, his work has gotten to him and he's a little sad right now, I was wondering if you could cheer him up, maybe?"
"Cheer him up?" Kinsley asked, "How?"
Luna nodded. "I'm just going to put the phone to his ear, talk to him." She answered, putting the phone to Marcus's ear.
There was a moment of silence before Kinsley spoke. "Marcus?" She asked hesitantly.
Marcus remained silent, his mind barely registering her voice.
"Marcus, are you there?"
"He's listening, Kinsley." Luna said, "Just talk to him."
"Oh." Kinsley said as she chuckled nervously, "ok, uhm, how have you been Marcus?."
Marcus remained silent.
"I've been fine myself, just got done with training, it's been really exhausting but, it's fun preparing for the season."
Marcus again, remained silent.
Kinsley huffed deeply before whispering something about hyping herself up. "Luna?" She called out.
"I'm here," Luna replied.
"Take the phone off speaker," Kinsley replied.
"O-ok?" Luna answered before hesitatingly obliging.
"Luna?" Kinsley called out once more, but there was no response as Luna couldn't hear her.
Kinsley then took a deep breath before speaking. "Marcus, I was afraid of butterflies until I was ten," Kinsley admitted. "Another time I shaved my head bald because I wanted to look like my father, he was not happy." Kinsley admitted with a chuckle, "I wasn't happy about either, I never knew my head could be so lumpy."
Marcus's eyes narrowed, his expression growing perplexed as a faint smile unknowingly played on his lips.
He was confused by Kinsley's admissions, drawing him out of his isolated mind.
"And have you ever wondered what the inside of a fridge looks like when you close the door?" Kinsley asked. "Well I did, and I had the genius idea to stick my head in the fridge and close the door as fast as possible, I'm sure you could imagine what happened next," Kinsley said with a chuckle.
Marcus himself began to chuckle softly at Kinsley's odd revelations, his mind momentarily distracted from the overwhelming stress he was feeling.
Kinsley, seemingly inspired by Marcus's laughter, continued. "One time, in primary school, there was this professor who looked almost exactly like my favorite cartoon character, and I got convinced that they were the same person by my big brother, so I had the genius idea to confront him in front of the entire class, I screamed at the top of my lungs, 'Mr. Bubble belly, you can't escape me anymore, I know your secret!' My eyes were crossed and my finger was pointed directly at his belly." Kinsley then exhaled a soft laugh, "as it turns out, disrupting the class and insulting your professors isn't too good for the ole behind."
Marcus laughed softly as he grabbed his phone from Luna, bringing it closer to his ear. His breath picked up as his eyes returned to life.
"But you know, as much as those embarrassing things hunt me, there are other things that make me happy too, like meeting Kira and Cora, getting accepted into my dream academy, and most recently, meeting you."
Marcus felt his heart warm as he listened to Kinsley speaking, holding the phone tighter as if it gave him strength.
"Marcus?" Kinsley whispered hesitantly as if she was afraid of breaking something.
"I'm here," Marcus answered, his voice hoarse and weak. "I'm listening."
Kinsley breathed a sigh of relief. "Good." She replied confidently, "Because no matter what's happening, you should never let it hold you down, you have people you can talk to, like Felix, you're sister, and me, if you want to that is…"
Marcus felt his heart skip a beat as his heart warmed, it was like seeing a light at the end of a dark tunnel. "Yes, yes I needed to hear that, I appreciate your words, it meant a lot, I've just, I've been stressed, and things sorta just piled up."
"I get that," Kinsley replied. "I get that a lot actually, but no matter how hard it gets, you have to keep going, otherwise things will never change, you understand?"
"Yeah," Marcus replied. "I do."
"Good." Kinsley said with a chuckle, "So keep your chin up, and I'll see you later Marcus."
"You got it," Marcus replied, a faint smile playing on his lips.