“So the legend goes that in the infancy of Gaea, the fledgling planet was set to task by her own mother, to create a race worthy not just of her splendour but of her most precious gifts. In her youthful ignorance however, the natal world birthed a series of missteps. To salvage her efforts and speed along her progress, such failures were purged not just from the planet-mother's surface but from the very annals of her recorded time. Removed from existence and even from memory, such a fate was worse than death for those that she had deemed abominations. But with each failure, and the erasure of each of man's abominable precursors, Gaea matured and closed in on her vision of perfection.”

It'd been three months since the category-four cataclysm had wreaked its havoc on the small island province of Merricent and the event, which almost claimed the lives of some fifty students at the nation's most prestigious academy, had since passed without much fanfare. Thanks to the quick thinking of the now esteemed Professor Xess McLeod, the decisive action of his two students, Roun and Nikolai, and the valour of the elite members of the royal Disaster Response Team; there had been no casualties. In fact, most the unlucky few that had been injured in the event had for the most part made full recoveries, leaving the only lasting effects of the entire ordeal to be felt by the most unlikely of its victims.

In a small apartment just a few miles from Neo Brighton, the island's capital city, one of these unlikely victims was concluding the final exercise in months of rehabilitation. This young man sat on the floor of his darkened bedroom, of which the windows and doors had been sealed, to create an environment of complete isolation. Its thick walls blocked more than just light and sound, also shielding its solitary occupant from the constant buzz of the channels of zeta energy that permeated that atmosphere and the streams of information that were transmitted through it. As a result, the only distractions present were those provided by the assorted electronic devices scattered throughout. Faint luminescence of artificially generated light, corralled into three-dimensional displays, cast gentle glows on the sparsely furnished room. In its far corner, green light from a holographic clock bounced off a small untidy bed, which was nestled between the only windows in the room. An adjacent corner housed a built-in closet, while the other served as a terminal for his personal computer. The corner opposite his bed, housed a small cabinet atop which his personal effects were stored and in the centre of it all there was a plush rug on which the young man sat in deep meditation.

Such was his routine for hours each day since the event – since his energized body was scattered to the winds by the zeta data pulse from a neutrality cannon. While this was not the first time that he had been forcefully reverted from his energized form, his encounter with the DRT was by far the worse. Previous reversions bore penalties that had lasted anywhere from a few hours to a few days, but his run-in with the odd anti-channeler weapon had been affecting Roun’s ability to tap into his unique gifts for months on end.

Initially, the youngster had hoped that the lingering effects of this trauma would fade on their own, but he was not so fortunate. Instead they persisted; forcing him was to seek professional assistance for the condition. The result was therapy, months of it, which spanned the entirety of his summer vacation. This particular exercise marked its conclusion and Roun could only hope that his efforts these past months would be rewarded. After all, the new semester was starting on that very day.

In light of this fact, he decided to put his abilities to one last test; hoping that he was indeed ready to begin the final leg of a four year journey. This decision brought with it an illumination of the room that drowned out the faint glows from the holographic displays of his various gadgets. Instead, the subtle blues and greens of these three-dimensional images were replaced by a single, uniformly-brilliant golden light. Just as it had before, his aesis leaked from his body and swirled around him; at first uncontrolled and almost violently before adopting a more uniform and ordered spiralling pattern. What started as an energetic maelstrom slowly shaped itself into a dome encapsulating the young man, the epicentre of the energetic phenomenon. As the base of the dome rounded itself to complete a sphere, the force from his energy projection pushed his body into the air, lifting him a metre off his comfortable rug before the structure was complete. Roun opened his eyes as the construct stabilised, shifting the flow of energy in the spherical field from one direction to another before he had energetic streams rotating through the sphere along multiple different courses and at different speeds.

“So far so good…” He thought to himself before commencing the final test.

Once again he closed his eyes and focused his thoughts, consciously commanding the energy to return to its source. He felt the familiar tingling as it coursed into his abdomen, dissolving his physical matter on contact and converting it into the aesis energy that he manipulated so freely. He could feel his body struggling to dissipate, the aesis energy attempting to join the ambient free-flow of zeta energy that encircled the planet. He could also feel his own energy now attempting to sentence him to the same fate that he had suffered at the hands of the DRT – and the same fate that he had suffered over and over again during his therapy.

‘Not this time’ he thought.

His focus sharpened, and with it his control over the energy that he wielded. Slowly, his energized form manifested, bracketed by the mysterious force that facilitated his own channeling. What was once a body of flesh and bone now existed as almost massless particles of aesis. A smirk broke across his face as he stretched his body out, still hovering feet off the ground before he began to traverse the room in this form. Movement was once again effortless; requiring no locomotion as he merely willed himself in any direction he pleased. Motion and channeling were once again one and the same, and with it he could travel to almost any point nigh instantaneously – provided he focused.

“Roun!”

But that was the thing about focus, it was not always the easiest to maintain.

Roun’s body involuntarily rematerialize at the sound of the voice, throwing him from his controlled motion and onto the metallic floor near his closet. An audible thump tore his senses away from the ever present pool of energy that surrounded him and pushed them to the specific voice that had called out to him. It was female. ‘Strange’ he thought; considering the fact that he lived with his older brother a no one else.

“Roun Itami, if you make me late for school on the first day I swear to God—” this thought quickly disappeared however, now replaced by a faint smile as he recognised the familiar voice.

“Hey, relax.” He replied, scrambling to his feet and beginning to disrobe. “Gimme… like two minutes.”

In seconds he stripped down to nothing at all, before rushing over to the closet in the back of his room and searching through his underwear drawer for the most important garment in his vast wardrobe. It took a few seconds, but he eventually found the piece of clothing that he was looking for. With haste, he jumped into the legs of the green and black garment, pulling them up to just a few inches beneath his crotch before unfolding the top of the garment and pulling it up his torso. Next, he slipped his arms into the extremely short sleeves before resting his thumb on the small adhesive strip at the base of the long split that had allowed his body to fill the suit. Much like a zipper, he ran his hands upwards along the strip, fastening the two sides of the suit together to close it. Once sealed, it activated and emitted faint glows along the green trimmings that ran over it like circuitry. This signalled a surge of zeta as the underwear activated its basic functions, immediately going about the task of cooling Roun down and tracking his biometrics.

Over this suit, he slipped on a long pair of grey pants and a bland t-shirt. Next he grabbed his bag and rushed through the door of his room before racing through the hallway and towards the front door.

“Late as usual…” Tyler shook her head as she watched him slide to a stop and stick his feet into a pair of sporty sneakers.

A quick spin came next as Roun grabbed his jacket, before turning to Tyler and announcing that he was ready.

“Well it’s about time.” She shook her head, watching as the young man put on his jacket before the previously dull ensemble of clothes came to life.

The various shades of grey slowly darkened to back before their trimmings were then saturated by golds and greens.

“You should really scowl less… you’re going to get wrinkles.” He replied somewhat dismissively, but she just rolled her eyes at the statement. “Where’s Kai, by the way?”

“Your brother?” She questioned rhetorically. “You two are the worst.” She then added with a scoff. “He just left. I assume was heading off to work when I pulled up, but he just let me in and left.” She explained.

“Ah great.” Roun scoffed. “I guess that means he took the car.”

Tyler just nodded.

“Well, it was his car last I checked.” She smirked, drawing a scoff in retort from Roun. “No worries though, my car’s out of the shop finally…” She smiled, opening the door to reveal it idling in the driveway of the apartment building.

“Sweet.” Roun smirked, as he turned and made his way out the door. “Shotgu—”

His statement was cut short as he caught the glimpse of wild red hair in the front seat of Tyler’s car. She just giggled in response.

“Yeah, shotgun got called about fifteen minutes ago.” She informed him. “Nicola’s starting T.A. today, so she’s also getting a ride with us.”

“Oh right, I forgot all about that.” Roun noted as he tapped his head. “Finally, I’ve got someboyd to impart my vast knowledge of on. She’ll be running this place in a semester once I’m done with her.”

Tyler giggled at the statement as they both approached her car. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out her phone and connected to the vehicle, causing its doors to unlock and click open just slightly. Next, she grabbed the driver side door and pulled it upwards, allowing herself to slink into the seat behind the wheel. Roun soon followed, making his way into the back seat, though far less gracefully. As he plopped into his seat, the vehicle rocked slightly from side to side, automatically recalibrating the ratios of its various vertical thrusters to maintain its previously stationary position; that which it maintained just inches from the ground.

This particular vehicle was an Archel model MX, produced by the Elixir Corporation some ten years prior as a concept vehicle. While it was far from the first hover-car concept of the times, it was certainly the first that made the idea a commercial success. While its predecessors struggled to live up to the expectations that centuries of science fiction had ingrained into the population, the MX delivered on all fronts.

The vehicle boasted a zeta engine that put those in military exo-suits to shame, providing the vehicle with the energy outputs required to do everything that one would expect of a 24th Century hover-car. Its powerful engine fuelled six independently operating jets, responsible for keeping the vehicle aloft and balanced, as well as eight separate ‘vernier’ thrusters that allowed it to turn and pivot. Two main jets at the back of the vehicle provided forward thrust and two smaller complimentary jets provided counter thrust for braking and reversing. The resulting maximum output was almost twenty-five times that which was required to propel a conventional four-wheeled model, but with the vehicle being powered by free-floating – and perhaps more importantly – actually free energy, such efficiencies were not just unnecessary but completely undesired.

In fact, with Tyler’s MX being the tenth yearly model produced, the idea of efficiency in consumer products had long become a thing of the past. Giving up the ability to travel in three dimensions with minimal requirements for infrastructure or suitable terrain, for the sake of saving energy seemed unintelligent at best, and frankly archaic at worst. It was simply a sign of the times. The 24th Century was an age of excess, and as such the definition of ‘practicality’ was being rewritten on a daily basis.

This trend was whole-heartedly embraced by the younger generation. Everything from their undergarments to disposable newspapers ran on this free-flowing energy and technological innovation had shifted in purpose from attempting to solve life’s problems to simply providing novel experiences.

Nicola was toying with one such experience at that very moment.

“So Roun—” She opened, spinning in her seat to look at her older sister’s best friend. “—I’m trying to figure out what I should wear.”

As she spoke, her outfit shimmered, shifting through a variety of colours and patterns that she was perusing while she made up her mind. Her garments, like Roun’s and her sister’s, were tied into their expansion suits, the zeta-powered underwear that formed the basis of all the outfits of their time. Each article of clothing, whether a simple pants, shirt, jacket, socks, shoes or even gloves enhanced and expanded the basic functions of the undergarment. Some of these functions were extremely practical, such as personal cooling systems to regulate body temperatures on the hot days that Merricent was known for. But others were completely extraneous, like the z-ink that ran over every visible section of Nicola’s long pants and jacket; allowing her to change the appearance of the garment at any point and for any reason.

“I keep telling her that dynamic is the way to go.” Tyler offered her opinion, catching a displeased side-glance from Nicola, which highlighted the fact that her older sister’s opinion was neither solicited nor appreciated.

Roun just smirked at the exchange.

“Well you know me; I’m a creature of habit.” He offered up his opinion. “Black and gold is my thing – and personally I like red on you, it brings out your eyes.” He added, causing Nicola to blush slightly.

“Thank you.” She replied with a smile, as she turned around and settled on a primarily red pattern with black and gold trim.

Tyler just shook her head.

“Why do you even encourage this little gremlin?” She remarked.

“Am I sensing a hint of jealousy Tyler?” Roun countered with a devious smirk, while Tyler just feigned vomiting at the ridiculously assertion. Roun's amusement was quite evident as he turned his attention back to Nicola. “I’m sending you some more designs Nicky, I’ve got tonnes for my own gear and most of them look just as good on women as they do on men I’d say.”

“Thanks.” Nicola laughed as she pulled the small, transparent, slate-like phone out of her pocket and tapped it to bring up a holographic display of the information that was being sent to her. “Okay, these are a lot of designs.”

“Yeah…” Roun chuckled lightly. “I may or may not have had way too much free-time on my hands this summer.”

Nicola laughed lightly in reply.

“No kidding; Tyler told me about your accident. How’re you holding up?” She inquired.

“Eh, not quite back to a hundred percent, but pretty close for the most part I’d think. Hopefully that’ll be enough to keep me competitive this semester” was Roun’s reply.

“Yeah, hopefully all goes well.” Nicola nodded. “You guys are going to be competing with the likes of Xavier Stryke and Jayce Falco for ‘placements’ now, so you’ve really gotta bring your A-games.”

“Oh boy, here we go again.” Tyler sighed heavily.

“What’s going on?” Roun inquired curiously.

“She’s been going on about those two about about two weeks now.” Tyler scoffed before turning her attention to Nicola. “What’s your obsession with them anyway?” She chastised with visible disdain.

“Jayce Falco fan-girl maybe?” Roun jested, while Tyler shot him a nasty side-glance of her own. “What, I hear girls go for that whole dark-broody thing.” He shrugged.

“Not a chance.” She dismissed. “But since they got their scholarships, both of those guys have probably been in the news more times than any other channeler our age.”

“Tabloids and news aren’t actually the same thing Nicola…” Tyler attempted to correct her.

“The year before he originally transferred to Titan, they say Xavier Strike laid waste to an entire building in a sparring match with one of the top picks for the Lehomik Army—” Nicola went on, completely ignoring her sister. “—and they say Jayce Falco beat a guy so badly in his qualification exam for a Demai Army spot, that the guy hasn’t been able to channel since.”

Roun just laughed loudly.

“That’s impossible.” He shook his head, dismissing the last story as completely preposterous. “I’m pretty sure the longest documented case of someone not being able to channel is like two weeks, and even that was super rare. I got hit by a ZDP for crying out loud and after 10 days my abilities came back – I mean – they were shit, but they were there.”

“Well if I was you, I’d assume that this Jayce Falco guy was worse than a ZPD and watch my back.” Nicola suggested. “Because from all the reports I’ve read, both of these guys defy convention with their abilities. In fact, if I was either of you, I’d stay in their good graces or stay the heck away from them completely.” She added.

“Yeah, that’s definitely not going to be possible.” Roun shook his head. “Stryke and I go way back and frankly – the guy’s a dick. We’ve pretty much hated each other since we were ten.”

“—and seeing as how we’re all in the same program and fighting for the same placements, avoiding them is also pretty impossible.” Tyler added.

“Well then, it’s a good thing you’re not competing for a spot in any of the combat divisions, sis.” Nicola stated as she pat Tyler on the shoulder. “Roun – it was nice knowing you.”

Nicola’s comment caused the small group to laugh lightly as they pulled into the campus of Titan Academy.