The hallways of the space station were the same monotonous gray metal, with the only difference being the number of windows and doors on each side. After a while, a smooth ramp brought them higher in the station, though the walls and outside remained constant. There were now doorways more often than previously, each labeled as a dormitory with a number.

It took them less time than he expected to reach their dormitory. Without warning, the soldier stopped in front of a lighter gray door with a shiny metal placard that read Dormitory 205. When the soldier punched the code into the panel to the side, the door hissed open and revealed the interior.

It was a mostly plain, circular room. Several couches and chairs were spread throughout the area, and there was a holoprojector on each side of the room. In the walls across from them were more doors, each labeled in alphabetical order. A small, rectangular light was above each, pulsing red.

“Find the door that bears the first letter of your last name,” the soldier said, standing aside. “Get dressed. You will be escorted to your first training in ten minutes.”

The group split off in every direction. Some looked around the room first, inspecting the furniture and holoprojector, while others moved directly to the doors across from them. Xaleyp hesitated as he stared at the door bearing the T. Was Rach in there? Was she in one of the other dormitories they passed by? Would he ever see her again?

Lina put her hand on his shoulder to get his attention. He looked at her and she was still smiling.

“I’m gonna go get dressed,” she said. “See you back out here?”

Xaleyp nodded. She walked away, turning to give him a wave. He walked to the far right door, and it hissed opened as he reached it. The light above pulsed green for a moment before changing back to red.

Inside were two rows of curved compartments on either side, one on top of the other, with small ladders built into the wall to reach the top ones. Some were open with other kids were busying themselves with the contents of the compartments as he walked by. Each had a name engraved into it in glossy gold lettering. At the far back of the room was a closed door that led to the bathroom.

About halfway down the room, Xaleyp found the compartment with his name, and when he pushed a button at the side, it slid open. Within was a thin mattress as a bed and a footlocker at the end. A blanket was neatly tucked under the sides with a gel pillow at the top.

Xaleyp opened the footlocker and found several sets of gray fatigue top and black pants, undergarments, and two pairs of boots. The clothes were not like what he was used to, but they were comfortable. They almost seemed to be made precisely for him with everything fitting perfectly. The boots even seemed to be formed to the exact shape of his feet.

When he stood after putting the shoes on, most of the room had emptied. There were a few people up and down the compartments finishing tying their boots before stamping out. Xaleyp followed into the main room, where the crowd had regathered. Lina quickly found him and bounced over, smiling all the way. She had her hair tied up into a ponytail now.

“What do you think they’ll have us do here?” she asked.

“No idea.” Xaleyp looked up and saw two soldiers coming towards them. “I think we’re about to find out.”

“Come to attention,” one robot called out, the synthesized voice cutting through the buzz of conversation. It waited until it looked over each of them to ensure it had their attention before it continued speaking. “If you are thirteen years of age or older, you will follow HY-60954 to the armory to begin weapons training.”

The robot on the right pointed to the other. A chirp of acknowledgment sounded from within the second machine.

“If you are younger than thirteen years of age, you will follow me to begin classwork. If any query exists, please ask now.” None of them dared to speak, and the machine continued, “Very well. Disperse.”

He turned as if on a spinning plate and began walking towards the door, followed by the other robot. Hurriedly, the mass of young people began splitting up, trying to follow whichever one they were told. Lina and Xaleyp stayed closed together. The machine that spoke went to the right, following the hallway. It seemed to stretch forever in either direction, with brief intersections when other paths branched off.

After several minutes of walking in silence, the only noise being the clanking of the robot and the stomping of their booted feet, they stopped in front of a door. A label on it read H-217. The soldier keyed a code into the pad at the side, and the door slid open.

Another small hallway greeted them with the ceiling open for several more meters than the outside. A giant white screen took up most of the opposite wall with what looked like a podium in front of it. There were no lights on inside except for one coming from another doorway at the far side. At least, not until a man walked out of the opposite door and they came on.

“Come in, come in,” the man said. His hair was gray and bald on top, leaving just a ring around the edges. Wrinkles ran across his forehead and around his lips. “I promise I don’t bite. Oh, I hope you are all excited for this as I am.”

He beckoned them forward with a wave of his arm. The robot soldier gave the kid closest the door a weak shove towards it, and they slowly filtered in. The room was larger than the outside made it appear. When they entered, the backside rose with a dozen different tiers. It curved around in a semicircle to surround the man at the bottom. Several long tables arced with the tiers. Seats were regularly spaced throughout, and stairs ran up either side of the room.

“Go ahead, have a seat,” the man said when they had all entered the door hissed shut. “I’m sure you’re as excited as I am to get started.”

Hesitantly, they each took a seat, all of them looking around and trying to figure out what was going on. In front of each chair on the table sat a datapad with a stylus next to it and Xaleyp’s stomach churned. Note-taking was not something he looked forward to at school. Behind the man, the white screen shifted, as if the very threads were changing, and it displayed the flag of Hyperia. Black on either side of red, with a Y shape in the center, a triangle positioned in the three corners around the center.

“Now that we have settled in, let’s begin.” He clasped his hands together, rubbing them. A look of pure excitement crossed over his face, like that of a kid getting free rein in a toy store. “My name is Elder Vogus. I am a historian for Hyperia, and they have given me the honor of teaching you all about Hyperia. I’m not sure what kind of learning you have already had, so we shall start at the beginning. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to stop me and ask for further clarification. I strongly encourage each of you to take notes on the lessons, as we will test you periodically.”

Lina leaned over to whisper to Xaleyp, pressing her lips almost against his ear.

“I hope they didn’t take us just to give us a history lesson.” She was still smiling. How did she do it? “That’d be such a waste of time.”

They both giggled quietly, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves. A look from a few of the other kids around them told the pair they failed, but Elder Vogus didn’t seem to notice at the least.

The screen behind him shifted again. This time, it displayed the portrait of a man. Short cut black hair. Thick beard. Scarred nose and striking blue eyes. What they could see of his chest was adorned in medals.

“The Hyperion Empire was formed out of the ashes of the failed Praesidium Union, a loose collective of Terran colonial planets.” As the elder spoke, Xaleyp struggled to keep up with the words tumbling one after the other, like a raging torrent of information. He wrote as fast as he could, but the man was throwing out too many terms for him to follow. Lina had the same look of confusion on her face when he looked over, but she at least seemed to be keeping up better than him, who had only the first couple words written on his datapad. “The Praesidium Union failed to maintain a proper military after declaring their independence from the Terran Empire, leaving themselves open to pirate raids and attacks from outside, until Alan Rezal was elected as president of the Union. From Hyperia, he had grand plans for how to bring prosperity to the Union, just as he did for his planet as a Senator. He promised to restore the military to its proper glory to protect the citizens, reorganizing the Union as the Hyperion Empire.”

As Xaleyp wrote, there was another feeling of agony in his head. He let out a quiet gasp as his vision went black for a moment, replaced by the same memory resurfacing. The pieces were easier to pick out this time than the last, but it didn’t help him make sense of it. Some sort of machine, a serrated arm and syringe dangled over him, and a voice, low but audible.

“When you meet her, you must trust her.”