Tears, a sign of deep emotion that can only be expressed through a visual outpouring. Four sets of eyes gleamed brightly in the dim lighting of a roadside motel room. Of those sets of eyes there was one set that shimmered brighter than all the rest.

"No! I won't let you go!" cried out a blue haired woman who looked many years younger than her thirty-four years of age. "You're too young to be on your own like this..."

"Now honey, we discussed this. Scott is a growing boy and he needs to follow his—" began a man with bright red hair. He looked a little older than his thirty-six years of age.

The crying woman snapped her head toward her husband and levelled a hateful glare. "Finish that sentence and I'll cut it off!"

Scott's father winced then coughed once. "Yes, dear."

A young girl sighed loudly then looked to Scott. She had the flaming red hair of her father and the same tendency to look a little older than her actual age. In truth, she was a bit over-developed for her fifteen years of age, a factor that also proved to be one of several reasons why her father looked older than his years. Chasing off the overly amorous teenage boys had become a full-time job. "Dad, are the sports channels really that important?"

The patriarch of the family looked to his little girl. "Now, sweety. You know the only enjoyment daddy gets in life is watching sports. If mommy cuts off my sports package, I'll become dead inside."

"Damn your overpriced sports package!" railed the matriarch. "My precious little baby is going off to live with a bunch of slutty teenage girls!"

Scott cried heavily as well, not so much from the pain of leaving his family but from the fact that he had not come alone. Two armed guards had come as well, and they had to do their best not to laugh at the domestic scene.

"Now, honey... How can you possibly know that they are slutty?" asked the older man.

Scott's mother snorted then frowned at her husband. "A few years ago I was that age!"

"A few, huh?" asked her husband with a grin.

"And don't you forget it!" she said, her fingers curling into a fist.

He laughed warmly then reached out to his crying wife. "You remind me nightly my beautiful girl."

"Oh, Curtis..." said Scott's mother. Her eyes began to shimmer for another reason as she smiled sweetly at her husband.

"Dana..." whispered the red-haired man, softly. He slipped his arms around his lovely while and drew her close.

"Oh no..." muttered Scott's little sister. "This again?"

"No kidding, Mandy," muttered Scott. Their parents went at it almost every few minutes. It was survivable when they were at home, but in the close confines of a motel room the younger members of the family had been forced to wander the streets to avoid being scarred for life.

"My name's Amanda..." said the girl with a slight frown.

Scott reached over and patted her on the head. "Whatever you say, Mandy."

She snorted then looked down without trying to stop the head pats. "Jerk."

"Ah, come here," said Scott before wrapping his sister in a warm hug.

She hugged him in kind then sighed a little. "You're really going to leave me with these two?"

"Remember when you broke my toy snake?" he asked her lightly.

"Uh... not really?" she asked, confused.

Scott snorted slightly then said, "We were little kids at the time. Dad bought us those little wooden snake toys that were made with links?"

"Wait.... I think, maybe I remember those," she said.

His voice hardened a little. "You broke yours then got mad at me when I was still playing with mine, so you stomped on it when I went to get a cookie."

"No way..." she said while trying to deny it.

"Be that as it may..." began Scott lightly, before he hugged her tight and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Payback's a bitch little sister."

Amanda pulled back and pushed him away. "You ass!"

The sounds of middle-aged people groping each other hotly intensified as the parents of the heart-warming duo fell backwards onto the closest bed. "Oh my busty darling," moaned Curtis before rolling his wife over and taking charge of her body.

"Curti—Ahn!" cried his beautiful wife as her husband tore open her shirt like a man possessed.

"No! That's the one I sleep on!" shouted Amanda, before she threw her hands up to block the view.

"Better get some air freshener or something," said Scott lightly, before heading toward the closet to pick up his pre-packed clothes and toiletries. He picked up his stuff then headed toward the door. Saying goodbye to his parents would be pointless after they had started in on each other. He would write them a letter or something, later.

"Don't leave me here, like this!" cried Amanda as she reached out to her brother for aid and support.

Scott hissed at her and then mouthed the word, "Payback," before he left the room and headed for the black car that would transport him to his new home.

"Nooo!" wailed Amanda as Scott walked out the door. "You'll pay for this, you jerk!"

"Bill me!" he called back over his shoulder with a friendly grin.

"I'll really get you for this! Really" she wailed to him.

"Gotta find me first!" he called back while loading stuff into the trunk of the car.

"I have skills! I'll find you!" she cried, just before Scott took a seat inside his government sponsored transportation.

"Tell mom and dad I look forward to meeting our new little brother or sister!" called Scott before he rolled his window up.

Amanda froze up briefly then glanced at the open motel room door. She then snapped her head back toward the car and began to shout random things, some of which were not particularly lady-like. Scott smiled happily after the car pulled away. "That went better than expected."

Time passed quickly after he returned to the testing center. The teary-eyed parents managed to stop groping each other long enough to go to the testing center so that they could fill out the paperwork that they should have done previously. A sad mother said goodbye to her precious little man, and Scott soon found himself on a bus headed for a remedial training center in the mountains.

The Appalachian Remedial Training Center was a place for processing paperwork and for necessary medical procedures to be performed. It would also allow new students to acclimate to the general nature of their coming school lives. The training staff would use the training center as a way to determine whether or not the new student candidates would be able to adapt prior to actually traveling to the man-made island used as a base for the academy.

Scott currently sat in a small room with twenty-six other people. Three of those people were trainers, and the others were the accepted students from the south-eastern region of America for the current quarter. He looked around and noticed that there were only two other boys in the group.

"Alright, potential students. We need to go over a few ground rules before your remedial training begins," said a green haired woman who stood next to Alice.

The green haired woman surveyed the room then spoke again. "First, there will be no fighting allowed during your time here. Save that for class."

A few half-hearted laughs echoed through the room. Everyone was nervous since this was the real thing. They were going to the famed International Dungeon Exploration Academy. It was a dangerous sort of education. The academy operated under its own special laws, and a few students died every year.

"Second, there are both male and female students this time. Do not fraternize. Save that for class as well," said the trainer. That brought another, heartier, laugh from the gathered teens.

"Third, do not do anything stupid while you train. We do have a master healer on staff, but if you get your skull smashed in it will take an extreme effort to save you," she said.

After she allowed her words to sink in for a moment she said, "Healing during your remedial training is free. However, if you manage to complete the training and make it to IDEA, you will be responsible for your own medical costs."

She saw the confusion on the faces of the gathered teens and asked. "Any questions?"

A red haired girl raised her hand. "Yes, ma'am. I thought that the government was covering costs?"

"Ah, yes. Standard tuition plus room and board for one semester. The government also covers normal medical costs," answered the staff member.

She took a breath then continued, "They will also pay special costs from your purchase of beginner combat equipment, and they may pay for the medical attention brought about due to your own stupidity," said the trainer.

She then clarified further. "If you take injury during training, and it is within tolerance due to the difficulty of the situation and not due to pure stupidity, there is no problem. The government will pay for that. If you decide to fight in the street like an idiot, or engage in training above your grade and need medical treatment as a result, you'll have to foot the doctor bill yourself."

One of the male students spoke up. "Is it true that we'll have to cover costs after the first semester by selling items we farm from the dungeon programs?"

"Yes, to an extent." answered the trainer.

She then chose to clarify further so that the students would understand what they were facing. "The government will continue to pay for room, board, and basic tuition if you maintain a ninety-percent grade average."

The trainer looked around the room for a brief moment then inclined her head. "If you fail to maintain that grade-point average, all costs will be yours to pay. Failure to pay will result in expulsion. You will then be court-martialed for dereliction of duty and face up to twenty years in federal prison unless extenuating circumstances can be proven, or you chose to sign a ten year military contract."

Possible prison time was not something the students wanted to be reminded about. The room came alive with random babble. They were going to a school dedicated to training normal students to be superhuman fighters for the sake of their country and the world at large. The fact that federal prison awaited for those who failed was disheartening.

A few more questions were asked, mostly pertaining to reasons for expulsion. As it turned out, expulsion was difficult to achieve. Nothing short of failure to pay tuition costs, equipment misappropriation, or blatant rape and murder would count. Students were encouraged to settle disputes among themselves outside of the last two types of settlement.

One girl raised her hand then stood up to ask a question after she was recognized. "Ma'am, I've been wondering... Why run a school like this? Wouldn't it have been better just to train everyone on an army base?"

The green haired trainer smiled at the girl. "Originally that was what every country did. However, after a few years passed and a few soldiers who left the service entered the private security market it became known that unrestrained growth allowed for much faster development."

"Unrestrained growth?" asked the girl.

"Yes. Regimented military style training produced decent soldiers with solid potential. However, those soldiers were nowhere near as talented as those who were allowed to train freely in directions that appealed to their personal taste and interest. Suddenly there were people who could easily handle a Class-D dungeon on their own when an entire squad of regular enhanced soldiers would have difficulty," replied the trainer.

She took a breath then continued, "There are lesser versions of the ID-Drive that are available for commercial use. They don't work very well, and it is more of a novelty item for civilians since most people can't use the lesser devices to upgrade stats."

A few of the students had owned such devices and used them for training and familiarization even if they did not allow for development. They were currently being developed as entertainment devices by game companies.

"However..." began the trainer once more, "Trained professionals who continued to explore real-life dungeons as private security forces ended up continuing to grow and evolve. The dangers of the dungeons continued to help them become stronger."

The green haired woman lifted her finger then made a circular gesture. "Further, those lesser devices could be used to allow them to develop at will up to a point since those soldiers already had both a decent level of resonance, and a great deal of training in their proper use."

"I see..." said the girl, though it was uncertain if she truly understood the reasoning mentioned.

Alice stepped forward to speak then. "Look at it this way. The training you will have to undergo is basically a trick of the mind. The ID-Drives are helping you to unlock your potential. If you act according to your own instinct and follow your own interests, it will unlock far more of your potential and at a faster rate."

The pink haired trainer nodded to the students then smiled. "This is due to your resonance scores. Those who don't have your level of resonance can undergo regular training with the military and still become solid dungeon exploration teams."

Several students raised their hand. Many questions had come to mind. The pink haired trainer ignored them and continued. "However, they just don't develop as quickly or with as many wild and varied special talents. You'll be able to develop skills in four years that most will never develop in over a decade, if ever."

Scott decided to speak up about something that had been nagging at him since he had been accepted to IDEA. He raised his hand. Alice nodded to him and he stood up. "We could do that back home... I've been wondering, is this all really just so the world governments can show off their best and brightest or something?"

Alice laughed a little then made a finger gun gesture in his direction. "Bang. He got it."

That caused a bit of a stir among the students in the room. Alice quieted everyone down. "You are all emissaries of the American people. There are about two hundred American students currently at IDEA. They are your comrades in a sea full of highly competitive students."

One of the girls raised her hand, and Alice gestured for her to speak. The girl asked, "Why are there so few American students at the academy if we send a few hundred per year."

Students began to babble once more. It was an honest question. The stir died down eventually. Over twenty sets of eyes stared at Alice. She nodded her head once then continued. "I won't sugar coat things for you."

She took a breath then openly stared at her students. "You are embroiled in a serious situation."

Several students became slightly pale as Alice continued to explain the situation. "The representative students from other countries are not your enemies, many of them may become your dear friends and rivals over time. We are dedicated to conquering the interdimensional dungeons that pop up and cause widespread panic..."

Alice left her words to hang on the air for a moment before she continued. "But... Let me be clear on this. School spirit and the concept of international friendship won't stop some of them from killing you, or at least beating you within an inch of your life."

"How can anyone allow that?" asked one of the girls. She was seated near the front and had hair as white as fresh snow.

Alice shook her head at the girl. "Politics, of course. The Impossible Devices, the ID-Drive specifically, can turn an ordinary person into a superhuman fighter in only a short time when those involved have your level of resonance. The country with the most powerful super humans wins. Don't mistake the nature of this school for anything other than what it truly is."

"What is it?" asked the girl curiously.

Alice leaned forward and spoke in an authoritative tone. "It is a battleground where the next great arms race is occurring. The weapons that are being produced are the students, and to the country with the most powerful students goes the spoils. Your very existence completely changes the nature of warfare. At some point in the future it could lead to national boundaries being redrawn all across the globe."

This admission led to many other questions. It was revealed that most countries had difficulty keeping students at the academy due to the rigorous nature of the training and the toll that it took on the students. Many from the American camp opted to just serve ten years in the army before their first semester ended. Something similar happened with the students from most countries.

The trainers did their best to explain or answer the inquiries of the new students, but as time passed the question and answer session was forced to a close. There was more that needed to be done that night.

"Now then, we don't have much time left for tonight. You will need to get plenty of rest before your ID-Drive fitting tomorrow. Before we call this briefing to a close, we wanted to show you something." The green haired trainer brought out a gold tiara with a flashing crystalline gem on the front. Every student in the room knew what she held in her hands. It was an ID-Drive, often simple called an ID.

"This is a full-immersion Impossible Device Drive. Only a little over twenty-three thousand of them exist in the world. Five thousand of them are slated for use at IDEA. Each of you will receive one and it will become your personal responsibility. They can only be used for one person and will form a psychic link with that user," she said.

The white haired girl raised her hand again. After she was acknowledged, she asked "Is it true that the ID is powered by magic but works like a computer?"

"Yes, though technically speaking it is classed as a psionic device. That is why it was codenamed the Impossible Device Drive. The original was discovered as a loot drop on the fifth level of the Class-A Sci-Fi Dungeon that appeared in Queensland Australia about sixteen years ago."

Alice smiled at the girl then looked to the rest of the room. "Since that time many impossible devices have been discovered in similar dungeons. Items that range from psionically powered railguns to giant robots that defied the laws of physics in both size and power source have been discovered."

"Is it true that one of those giant robots uses the emotional state of the pilot to fuel combat capacity?" asked the white haired girl.

"Yes. That is true," said the trainer.

Alice took a breath once more, then spoke up to reiterate a point that she made earlier. "That only serves to prove what I said about how the balance of political power could shift."

She glanced over to her green haired counterpart and the woman nodded in response. She began to speak. "Twenty years ago Australia was a moderately successful country. Now they are one of the greatest world super powers due to their thriving psycho-tech industry. Any country with a class A or better dungeon within its borders will either be crushed by that dungeon, or they wi;; acquire extremely powerful and useful items that exist outside the laws of physics as we know them."

Another student asked, "How did people get stronger before the ID?"

"Good question," said Alice. She looked at several of the students then nodded. "Before the ID, soldiers went into the dungeons in large numbers. Millions of brave men, women, and unfortunate civilians died in those first few years. Over time the survivors managed to find powerful items and acquire special skills. They could not directly increase their statistical values at the time, but the equipment did that for them."

"So, that was how people got down to the fifth floor of the dungeon in Australia?" asked a boy sitting next to Scott. His name was Jerry Farmer, they had talked a little on the bus ride. He had been discovered in Florida and like Scott, he had spent much of his childhood training for this day. Though, his parents had been able to afford full-time tutors.

"It was a long bloody war. Thousands of soldiers died just to make it to the fifth floor. That dungeon still has not been completely subdued. An occupation force remains there at all times to kill off random spawns on a given floor, while exploration teams continue to hammer away at the floors beyond."

That was not as shocking to hear as one might think. There were several well-known dungeons across the world that had never been subdued completely. Most of them were ranked B or higher.

"What kind of monsters were in that dungeon?" asked Jerry.

Alice tapped on the desk for a moment and a holographic display appeared before the gathered students. On the display a sleek black creature that looked like a cross between a crab and a panther appeared. Scott and a few others immediately saw a slight resemblance to a certain movie alien. The thing even had a tail with a bladed barb and it was known to have acidic blood.

"The monsters that appear in dungeons are often strangely similar to creatures found in our pop-culture and from world mythology. This one was clearly patterned after a monster from the classic science fiction movie, Alien." She looked at the gathered students. "Thankfully they don't impregnate you through the mouth and then have their larva burst out of your chest."

Everyone in the room did immediately seem thankful for that. The full-grown version of that thing was bad enough. Alice continued. "In truth, that was the weakest and most common monster in that dungeon. There are other monsters there as well."

Alice brought up an image of another monster, one that looked almost like a normal person. "There are also humanoids who look like normal people in every way, but act like bizarre caricatures of real human beings. Those were actually more dangerous than the other monster as the humanoids tend to use weapons like beam sabers or Gatling guns that fire depleted uranium rounds complemented by their extreme physicality. And –."

"Is it really worth it? All those lives, I mean?" asked a pink haired student, cutting off Alice's explanation mid-sentence.

Alice glanced at her for a moment and the girl gazed back. Pink hair versus pink hair, the student was the first to blink.

Alice said, "A Class C dungeon appeared near Bakersfield today."

The tidbit of information caught the full attention of the class. "Before the National Guard arrived over three million dollars in property damage was accrued, and more than six hundred people died due to the rampaging wind elementals that were released."

She looked around the room to make certain that she still had the attention of the students. "The last that I heard on the matter, one of the enhanced units of the guard was chasing a rogue elemental down Route 58. The elemental was racking up major damage and had killed several dozen people."

The pink haired trainer took a breath then said with finality. "Yes, it is worth any loss of life to subdue a dungeon. If we don't, they will destroy us all within a few years."

The other students became agitated. Some became outright fearful after hearing that. Scott chose to focus his thoughts on the ID-Drive. It was a virtual reality simulator that could aid an individual in developing their mind, body, and spirit.

Using the impossible device drive inner powers could be unlocked, and supernatural weapons could be brought into the world. It was the one tool that humanity possessed that allowed them to truly fight back against the invading dungeons. It was his chosen path to greatness, and the best hope humanity had for its survival. He could not wait to get started.