Kai got a little nervous, since yesterday he had entered an aeromobile, a super-chopper and now he was about to enter a warp train, all for the first time. His life was changing. A door pulled open in the warp train and smoke poured out. Kai got into the train slowly and as he entered, he was met with hundreds of eyes looking at him.
They were all teenagers of his age. Recruits who wanted to become alien hunters just like him. The only difference was that they were real elites, they all came from rich families and wore rich clothes. But Kai was still in his rags.
"Eww, I can't believe they let a beggar into the STARLITE recruits," Kai heard a girl whisper. Kai knew they were judging him but he tried his best not to care. He couldn't recognize anyone at first, but at the far end of the train, he saw the glaring eyes of Ake Randi who was furious that Kai was joining them in STARLITE.
"Take a seat boy," Colonel Skai ordered as he walked into the warp train. Kai took the vacant seat that was right next to a boy with snow-white hair. The boy didn't seem at all bothered with Kai, he even gave him a friendly smile.
"Now you all listen!" Colonel Skai's voice boomed into the air. He was a very imposing man, radiating a commanding presence in front of all the recruits. He looked almost 7 feet tall with broad shoulders and a solid physique. The Colonel had fought in a lot of wars for Technova and defeated over seventy gormockers. No one dared try him.
"You are no longer the normal citizens of Technova starting from today! You are recruits and you will act as such. I will not entertain any disrespect, any lack of discipline, or any misbehavior from my recruits. This is STARLITE and every one of you is being trained to become an alien hunter registered under STARS! You are going to train your powers to defend this country because this country depends on you! Now lock in your seatbelts!"
Everyone obeyed immediately. Kai found it a little hard to put his on as he fumbled with the mechanics.
"First time?" the white-haired boy beside him asked.
"Uh... yes," Kai replied, awaiting the insult he expected from elites like him.
"Don't worry," the boy smiled. "It was difficult in my first time as well. Just press down on the red button hard enough and click the loose switch on the belt."
Kai obeyed his instructions and it worked.
"There you go, nice and easy!" the boy cheered.
"Thanks," Kai said as he relaxed and waited for the journey. But the white-haired boy continued to look at him.
"My name is Frode," the boy said. "Frode Sigurd."
Kai eyed him suspiciously for a second, wondering if he could trust him. He hated all elites, but there was something about this one. "My name is Kai," he simply replied.
"Kai. Cool name."
"Alright, lessen the noise!" Colonel Skai demanded. "The warp train is about to start and the jump hole will expand in a few seconds for us to teleport to the STARLITE Academy. It's going to be a fast jump but it will not feel good. If it's your first time in a warp train, hold your breath and clench your stomach, it will stop you from throwing up. You will feel dizzy as you start to jump and your body will be weak. But everything will be fine once we arrive. I hope you all are ready. Your old lives are over! Today, your training to be an alien hunter begins!"
As soon as the warp train stopped, everyone hurried out of the warp train almost at the same time. Kai and the entire 150 recruits stared at the magnificent place in awe. Then they all turned to the disturbing sound of a boy vomiting. The boy looked very nerdy, his glasses had fallen to the ground and he just kept vomiting while he clutched his stomach.
"Poor kid," Frode said to Kai. "He didn't hold his breath and clench his stomach like the colonel said."
Kai didn't say anything in reply. He returned his focus to the spectacle before him that was the STARLITE Academy.
"Welcome to Technov, recruits! The military state of the nation of Technova." Colonel Skai announced. "Till the time you become an alien hunter, you will spend every day in the walls and fences of this building. This is the STARLITE academy."
The recruits were all amazed by the place. The towers were so tall, made of crystal and alloy. There was a gigantic holo table, alive with real-time data and tactical holograms up in the sky with communication lines that linked STARLITE to distant military outposts. It created a web of connectivity that spanned the far reaches of the nation of Technova.
Kai was so amazed, and so was everyone else.
"We're certainly living in the days of technological advancements, aren't we?" Frode asked, shaking his head. "What a sight."
Kai still didn't reply, he only raised his brow at the strange white-haired boy and wanted to walk away.
"I know why you're being cold and quiet," Frode quickly said, catching up to him. "You think that because we're all elites, we all hate you and you hate us too. So you have this lone wolf, quiet guy thing going on. But it's not going to work."
Kai finally stopped to reply. "Why not?"
"Because they're one hundred and forty-nine other recruits here," Frode replied. "You need friends to make it in this place."
For a second, Kai considered that he might be right but then he realized that Frode was just some random guy and had just as much experience as him in this academy. "How would you know?" he asked Frode.
"Well— "
"Gather around, you flimsy recruits!" Colonel Skai ordered. "Form a line and walk through the calculus gate. Place your thumb on the scanner so you will be identified and given your STARLITE Identification Card. Once all one hundred and fifty of you have been identified, you will start being ranked according to your power levels."
Kai's face fell in disappointment. Power levels. He remembered how low his own was, but he couldn't let it ruin his dreams of being an alien hunter. Not now that he was so close.