December 4, 2558, C.E.

Tethys - Thunder Bay

“Sam Knudsen and Timothy Li, please report to building 2A. Sam Knudsen and Timothy Li, please report to building 2A.” The public-address system woke them up. They both looked up at the clock in a dazed state. “Oh crap, it’s eleven. We may have missed our chance.” Tim said quietly.

Tim got down from his bed and placed his hand on the door. “A guard is waiting for us, but just one.” Sam nodded readily to resist capture and run toward Mr. Mustang’s office.

When the door opened two guards were standing there one said, “Resistance is useless,” as if someone had programmed it to do so.

The fact that there were two dumbfounded Tim. It caught them both by surprise they were both corralled easily and the guards started walking them down the hallway.

“Shit, we’ve lost,” Tim said

“Maybe not as much as you think. Gwen is safe.” An unknown human female voice said.

The trip down the stairs passed in silence. As they exited the building the tower loomed high above them. Tim was noticing that only three people were walking together not four. Mr. Mustang had trained him in seeing the auras of people and how to read their feelings. He had, though training, become naturally empathetic to every other human around. Yet one of the guards with him was not human.

They walked around the tower from south to north and building 1A stood in-front of them. Suddenly one of the guards tore off toward building 3A.

The other tall guard took off their helmet. Long flowing black hair spilled out of the helmet. “Come on, we don’t have time to lose, that is the distraction we need.”

The three of them quickly raced into building 1A. “Who are you?” Tim asked. She motioned him on. “No, wait. I need to know if we can trust you.”

“My name is Ylena. I work for the Venusian government. You both know this place is a lie. I am your best hope to escape.” She motioned them on. They both sprinted after her.

As they ran past Mr. Mustang’s office they opened the door and went in for a moment. Ylena grabbed a letter addressed to each of them was there and a card with a chip in it. They tore back out of the office. The building was empty. Tim did not see any reason they should still run. He slowed down slightly.

“It won’t be long before the security cameras come back on, we need to at least get to the garage.” Ylena urged.

Sam subconsciously sensed Tim’s concern. “Garage? Where are we what is this place?”

“All will become clear when you read those letters, but first we have to escape to a safe place.” They continued running down the hallway to a large door both the students had seen before but had never seen though. Ylena quickly inserted the card and the two doors swung open to another large, downward sloped hallway.

The hallway was gleaming white and had a light but neither of the boys could figure out where the light came from. “How?”

Ylena, slightly out of breath, explained while they continued sprinting, “The walls themselves are coated with a paint that feeds a bio-luminescent microorganism creature that eats the paint and excretes a new layer of metal.”

The hallway seemed to arc underground. They were constantly turning the same direction and constantly headed a downhill slope. After 10 minutes of running Sam and Tim’s eyes grew wide and they staggered. The hallway opened into a large parking lot. It was 10 stories tall and stretched as far as the eye could see. But it was no ordinary parking lot. There were space ships.

They came in all colors: pink, green, blue, yellow, red, but the most two common were black and white. They came in all shapes: squares, ovals, circles, mixes, matches. They looked mass-produced, there was a great deal of repetition either in shape or color. However, there was one that stood alone. Painted in a brilliant rainbow fading from color to color and shaped like a Lima bean, it was where Ylena ran toward, and the boys ran after her.

She ran up to the ship and placed her hand on the side. After a moment of holding it there, the middle of the ship started vanishing. It reconstructed itself as a set of stairs and Ylena motioned the two boys up them.

As she came up the wall reformed behind her, somehow the ship knew only the three were coming aboard now. She sprinted off down a hallway, Tim followed curiously. They traveled up to the bridge where she pressed a button. “Xavix, I have them.”

The response came over the full ship intercom. It was a voice everyone recognized instantly. “Okay, Edith prepare for departure. Ylena, I am going to re-enable the cameras and be on my way to the ship. Sam, Tim, Read the notes.”

Five minutes later the ship was idling and Mr. Mustang was climbing aboard. Three people were staring at him as the ship sealed up behind him. Two jaws hit the floor. Xavix planned it all, and he was ready. “Edith, take us home.”

The ship powered up and lifted off the ground as guards ran into the area.