How To Survive A Calamity

"Alright, Cadet 787... No. I believe it's wrong to call you that anymore now, right?"

In a wide and expansive white chamber that exuded a sterile and controlled aura, a slightly aged voice vibrantly echoed. The chamber was built in the form of an exaggerated cubical shape, with walls, floors and ceilings made of a tempered white alloy like cold reinforced armour or steel emanating a layered chill.

The air was cold and empty without particular scent or smell, and the large, expansive cubical chamber was seemingly bare and empty in such a way that the wall, floor and ceiling all seemed to be one.

It was one of the specialized zones in the Research Faculty of the Academy, here in areas like this, controlled or erratically experiments and examinations were carried out in security and away from unnecessary eyes or attention.

The research faculty of Aegis was immensely wide, so many of such white chambers existed on varying levels.

And in this spotless white world, a familiar figure of a middle aged man with greying hair and neatly groomed mustache could be seen standing some distance off to a side behind what resembled a controller panel of some sorts.

Aging wrinkles folded across Instructor Wells' face, his bright grin eyes stared forward curiously. A pristine white coat was draped over his commonly worn dark uniform, his hands spread forward and leaning slightly over the panel. And right next to him stood his femal assistant.

A small smile pulled at Well's lips as he said again. His voice reverberated greatly in the vast empty white chamber.

"We're ready when you are, Cadet Alexander."

On another far opposite end of the white cubical stood a first year male cadet with full pale white hair, like freshly fallen morning snow, and ghostly blue eyes the shades of sapphires. Alexander's fair, and soft white pale skin seemed to blend almost naturally and easily in near perfect compliment to the sterile white environment.

Nodes and wires were attached to his head, and a special white vest with complex wirings and beeping lights was worn over his academy uniform underneath, closely complimented together by special uniforms boots and arm protectors.

Alexander turned around in place, gripping his long sword next to him, and met the gaze of the middle aged Instructor from behind. He had first of all met the old researcher a couple of weeks ago, just some days before the Practical Field Experience event, which herald the tragic incident that followed later, when he and his group of Trise, Don, Chelsea, Deandra and Victor applied to use the Simulation Chamber for training.

And now, other different circumstances have brought Alexander back across the path of the instructor.

Alexander nodded solemnly before turning back to face forward.

"Yes, Instructor Wells."

Though the large and expansive Experimentation room seemed empty, aside from the presence of the Instructor and his assistant, Alexander knew there were other various eyes watching his every movement and actions at that very moment from beyond the walls.

Alexander, his precise thoughts at the moment a mystery masked behind an unreadable expression, squared his shoulders, lowered his stance and spread his feet slightly apart.

Right in front of him was nothing but the white metal alloy wall spread out like a spotless canvas.

Instructor Wells, with his greying hair, briefly directed his gaze towards the control panels casting various readings interpreted directly from Alexander's vest next to him.

The next moment, his green eyes deepened as an inexplicable emotion of anticipation glimmered in their depths.

"Show it to us, Alexander..."

The Instructor raised his gaze, staring intently at the young male cadet's back ahead.

"The power you've Awakened..."

* * *

I stepped out of the bathroom, my body soaking wet with shimmering beads of warm water rolling down my back, arms, legs and chest with a fluffy white towel draped over my now falling wet hair. My gaze was anything but light.

In the end, i gave up on trying to think too hard about everything and instead decided to take a bath... again.

A tired sigh inevitably drew from my lips. I freshened up, switching into some light, casual and comfy sweat pants, prepared to finally end my day. This time for sure.

I was going to ignore — no — put aside every other matter on my thoughts and go to bed.

...Or at least that's what i told myself.

But the moment i touched my bed, i instantly shot back up and my eyes widened.

"Ah! That's right. I almost forgot about the third reward."

I rubbed my eyebrows.

With everything that had happened, it was easy to forget about my last reward. Thinking that, i waved my hand through the air and summoned a blue transparent interface that only i could see.

Promptly the blue screen flashed before my eyes, flickering ever slightly.

===

•[DING!]

•[Do you wish to collect your third reward?]

->[Yes/No]

===

I made a strange face as i saw this, rubbing my chin.

"Huh, so you did respond this time."

In a way, i was kind of expecting something unusual to happen, like Meta mot responding or ignoring me again this time. I didn't know, today just didn't seem like my day.

I still couldn't properly explain what happened with the Eyes of Discerning suddenly activating like that.

But just as i rubbed my chin, before i could send a mental command to accept the reward, the blue screen hovering before my eyes flickered amd changed suddenly.

A new list of characters and words appeared before me, carrying an unexpected message.

===

•[DING!]

•[Unseen Patronage Detected.]

•[Congratulations, your actions have caught the attention of 'The Architect'. Your deeds and achievements resonate with 'Him'. Consequences evaluated; additional rewards will be allocated.]

===

"What...?"

My eyes widened in shock and confusion as i stared at the strange system notification that appeared, my eye brows folding.

This was...

What was this?

I stared at the system interface before me, baffled and at a loss for words. A subtle chill ran through my body from my core as i read the details of the system prompt again.

'The... Architect...'

My first thought, however, was this was probably another plot by Meta or the system. Some kind of prank maybe, and so i decided to call Meta out.

"What the fu—"

Unfortunately, before i could complete my sentence, a loud chime suddenly went off in my head and my vision wavered. The blue interface dissolved, and flickered, the words and letters rearranging themselves once more into a different prompt.

The last thing i saw was...

...

•[DING!]

•[Begining Soul Branding. Synchronization initiated.]

....

Suddenly, i felt my consciousness pull from inside my mind, it was an all too familiar tug — the peculiar and uncomfortable sensation when i forcefully lost control of my mind and senses.

The interface flickered...

And everything went dark.

* * *

"This is...!"

Alexander stood amidst clouds of billowing smoke ebbing outward around him, the high voice of Instructor Wells from behind just barely reaching his ears as a backdrop amidst the destruction spread around him.

An illusionary and ethereal otherworldly radiance suffused from underneath the young male cadet's skin, glowing softly with a ghostly, yet warm glow. Luminescent white sparks flashed in his ghostly blue eyes and his snow white hair fluttered lightly amidst the wind pressure.

The long sword that Alexander held was glowing white hot, incinerating steam and heat twisting along the full length of the blade. The ground underneath his feet was dented and scorched black across its previously pristine white surface and grooves and cracks spreading outward.

The hot smell of burning iron filled the air, the grey cloud of smoke eerily billowed, spreading outward around Alexander's figure hidden behind their veil.

The ghostly soft radiance suffusion from underneath Alexander's skin slowly dimmed, the glow in his eyes vanishing as he let out a quiet, gentle sigh. The air seemed to shift around him at this point, Alexander's demeanor and presence changing and becoming more relaxed.

Since the experimentation chamber was one big and massive cube with no windows or clear opening, it took a little while longer for the scattering smoke to simmer and disperse.

Alexander peered forward, looking through the veil with his blue eyes, his face masking no clear emotions or thoughts, and steered at the destruction spread before him.

The expansive white wall that stood before him since the beginning was marred by a powerful and devastatingly wide groove at the center, as if a flaming fist, or an asteroid had ruptured into its surface, boiling whatever special metal alloy material the white wall was made of.

It was burnt, melted and scorched to black, small rivers and puddles of melted alloys formed along it's way.

Alexander turned around to face the Instructor and his assistant — who both had problems lifting their jaws up back in place — with a sheepish smile, tossing his boiling sword to the ground. The smoke dispersed, giving way to his figure at the center of the devastation.

"Oops."

He chuckled.