Kade was brought into another room, with the rest of his now dwindling class. A smaller classroom with about forty white desks spread out in rows. Kade and Sky quickly got seats next to each other.
Out of the over 200 that entered, only 34 remained. Kade had kept fighting for a spot on the top five ranks. Kaito had cemented himself as Number One, being the best in every subject of training. Sky had moved up too, she was now in the low twenties about to break into the teens.
Sky and Kade had grown older, and have stayed together through all of their training. They hung out every night and talked to each other every chance they got. Kade still cared for Sky more than anything, and he felt like that would never change. And Sky has cared for Kade if not equally but much more.
Keller walked in, looking a bit older. He stood at attention in front of the class, the leaderboard rankings hidden behind him on the wall.
"You have all reached the age of sixteen," Keller started. "Congratulations on getting this far in. I know you've lost a lot of good friends on the way, but this class has by far the most Initiates to reach age sixteen ever. In my class, we had just three. Those other two died in the first week of real combat, while I am here today to teach new Meka Pilots. And another congratulations... on passing Phase Two."
The class quickly looked around at each other. Sky and Kade shared a glance, while secretly holding hands under their desk.
"Now begins Phase Three," Keller said dramatically. "It's not eight years long like the rest of your training. Instead it's a one day trial. You each take turns, running through a course designed to emulate the fatigue and quick thinking of combat. You will have three tasks. First is a fighting task. You will have to fight a realistic enemy without taking fatal damage to you or your Meka. Two, you must run, and find your way to the graduation ceremony room. A room where you never have been close to. Once you enter the graduation room, your time will end. And you will find your final rankings and graduate."
Kaito raised his hand, and Keller pointed to him. "Sir you said three tasks. But only explained two."
"Good job," Keller nodded. "While you are doing your third tasks, you will randomly get asked a question. If you get the question right, you will get bonus points. If you get it wrong, you will receive a shock to emulate a hit in combat, and lose points. Rest up, the trials begin first thing tomorrow. An Orderly will retrieve you so you can start your tests. Good luck Initiates." Keller nodded his head, then walked out of the room.
The class quickly erupted into chatter as soon as Keller left.
"Kade," Sky said nervously. "That means... tomorrow could be the last day we see each other."
"I know..." Kade said. "Are you coming over tonight?"
"Of course," Sky nodded. "I have something to show you."
Later that night, Sky took longer than usual to get to Kade's room. Then he heard their knock and quickly replied. Sky came in quickly and hugged him tightly. They embraced for what felt like an hour, but must have only been seconds to Kade.
"What did you want to show me?" Kade asked, as they still embraced each other.
"Oh right!" Sky said and pulled away. Instantly they both felt like they lost a part of themselves. She went to his door and opened it. "It's out here." She said with a smirk.
Sky gripped his hand, and led Kade through turns and turns of hallways. So much running he thought Sky my dropped dead from exhaustion. But Kade was fine, years of stamina training has prepared him for intense long runs. So there wasn't even a bead of sweat on his brow.
Sky rounded a corner, but quickly stopped and rounded back and hid behind the corner. "There's and orderly..." she whispered.
Kade appeared around her, and saw an orderly standing in the hallway reading something on a small tablet. Kade's shoe squeaked, and the guard looked down the hallway towards them. Kade quickly ducked behind the corner before he was spotted. But the Orderly had started to walk in their direction. "He's coming," Kade whispered.
"Shoot..." Sky said.
"Wait," Kade said. He shot across the hallway to the opposite wall, and quickly entered a code in the keypad he saw when he was eight. Luckily it was the same code, and the door opened. Kade quickly pulled Sky into the dark room, and closed the door right when the Orderly entered the crossroad of halls.
Both silently panting in the dark room, listing to the Orderly feet walk past their room, and disappear down the hall. At the same time, they both let out a sigh of relief, and started to laugh quietly to each other.
Their laughter died when they realized they were holding each other. Their eyes met, Kade began to get lost in her blue eyes, he watched the black circles in her eyes dilate, almost taking up her entire iris. His heart began to beat hard in his chest, he feared Sky could hear the thudding booms inside of his ribcage.
Sky smiled, she looked like she was about to lean in and meet his slightly parted lips. But instead, she pulled back and turned away retreating into the dark blue hued room.
He watched her retreat, a panging in his chest pulsed through his body. Only to be stopped with a forceful tare away of his eyes off of her back. It was then, he noticed what was in the room with them.
A large curved white desk stood in the center of the room. A blank white smooth surface on top of the desk, with a single pulsing white circle on the glassy surface. Instinctively, Kade pressed his pointer finger into the pulsing ring.
A quite chime rang out, Sky turned around quickly to see what it was. The console woke up, in a wave motion, soft white light streaked across the glass surface, leaving behind spaced out small, squared boxes. Each containing a single letter, none containing the same letter.
The wall in front of Kade, pulsed white, and a single empty box appeared, with two words in front of it. 'Unit Number'.
Kade looked at the console before him, and tapped B—L—U—888. Sky's SN appeared on the wall, in the empty box as he typed it.
"Hey, don't put my SN first!" Sky said in a hushed anger, and quickly moved to his side to see what would happen.
An empty white bar appeared on the wall, and soon began to fill with orange. Once it filled completely, Sky was staring back at him from the wall.
A picture of her when she was eight faced him. Kade's heart pulsed with nostalgia seeing the person he loved the most back when they first met. The picture changed to the most recent picture, the one they had to take yesterday. Her sixteen year old face was now looking back at the both of them.
"This is weird..." Sky said.
Kade clicked on a rectangle box that said 'Enter'. A file opened, and showed more information about Sky on the wall.
Serial Number: BLU-888
Genetic material (Nationality): American
Genetic Material (Race): Caucasian
Height: 5'8
Sex: Female
Hair Color material: Blue
Build: Slim, Petite
Mentality: Stable/ Strong
Personality: Nice/ Sweet/ Daring/ Bold/ Brave
Relationships:
BLK-001: Seems very fond of .(keep and Eye on, see how it plays out. Ordered by Father)*Update: Unit regularly sneaks out of her room to visit BLK-001's room. Request intervention (DENIED) *Update: They seem closer than usual. Maybe entered in a relationship? *Update: They have entered a romantic relationship
Doctor Taver: Get's along with.
"This is really creepy..." Sky said breathlessly. "They knew about me sneaking over to your place the whole time... They really do watch over us at all times. I thought Kaito was messing with me...
"You talk to Kaito?" Kade asked, keeping his eyes on the wall.
"Sometimes our groups have joint training, and he can't help but to screw with me because I'm with you," Sky said, her eyes equally drawn to the wall. "Do, you."
Kade hit the 'Escape' square in hopes of backing him out. It worked, and he was back into the empty screen with the empty Unit Number bar. Kade typed in his own SN, and it was on his face without the orange bar.
"That was quick," Sky commented.
"Maybe... because I'm the only BLK," Kade guessed. "It might have taken longer for you, since there's a lot more BLU than BLK."
"That makes sense," Sky said. "What box makes it go?" Sky's finger trailed over the console. Kade pointed to the 'Enter' box and she mashed her finger into it with a soft thud. Kade gave her a look, Sky smiled cutely.
Kade's file opened.
*UNIT HAS BEEN MARKED BY FATHER* WATCH CAREFULLY!
Serial Number: BLK-001
Genetic material (Nationality): UNKNOWN *Update: Sill UNKNOWN after sixteenth birthday checkup.
Genetic Material (Race): UNKNOWN *Update: Pale white skin. Maybe European? *Update: Not European. *Update: No single signature matching all known human DNA strands. *Update: Still UNKNOWN. Request further testing? (DENIED)
Height: 5'8 *Update: 6'0
Sex: Male
Hair Color material: Black *Update: Still don't know why. Request deeper testing? (DENIED)
Build: Slim, fit, athletic
Mentality: UNKNOWN *Update: Unit is quiet often. *Update: Brave, doesn't hesitate to act and take on a challenge. *Update: Not quick to anger, and can think without emotion.
Personality: UNKNOWN *Update: IQ off the charts. *Update: Possible Eidetic memory, further testing? (APPROVED) *Update: Unit does have Eidetic Memory. *Update: Units ability to use critical thinking, situational awareness, and quick decision making skills are off the charts.
Relationships:
BLU-888: Friendly. Regularly receives unsanctioned visits to Units room. Intervein? (DENIED) Separate Units? (DENIED) *Update: They have formed a romance. Intervein? (DENIED) *DO NOT SEPARATE UNITS BLU-888 and BLK-001. BY FATHERS COMMAND*
Doctor Ann: Very close. Intervein? (DENIED)
RED-199: Rival. Intervein? (DENIED. Push their rivalry to see how they react)
Orderly, Tyler: Abusive. (ORDERLY TERMINATED)
*NO MORE ABUSE TO UNIT OR YOU WILL BE TERMINATED*
"What the heck..." Sky said. "Your thing is filled with updates... they've been watching you non stop. Do you really think they don't know what you are?"
"I..." Kade said stunned. He had never known what he is. Even the people who created him didn't know. A hollow feeling started to eat at his stomach. His mouth froze open, he couldn't find any word in his brain to say at this moment.
He felt Sky's hand slip into his by his side. "It's ok Kade," she said softly, and pulled his eyes away from the wall. "What ever you are, I don't care. All I care about is Kade, BLK-001, or whatever name you want. That's who I care about. Got it?"
Kade nodded. Sky smiled and patted his cheek.
"Good boy," she winked. "Now close this thing and I still have to show you the thing I know, and you don't."
Kade pressed 'Escape' a few times until he was back to the first screen. Then he pressed the same pulsing ring he did in the first place, and everything shut off with another wave of light. The room returned to the night hue of dark blue lights.
They were back into the hall, Sky took a second to get her bearings straight. Kade thought she was amazing, being able to tell where exactly everything is even though it's all identical white halls. Her hand clasped his, then she ran, dragging him behind her.
They rounded the corner, ran down another identical hall with no doors whatsoever. They rounded another corner, then another quickly after. Sky blew through an intersection, but stopped on her heels. Causing Kade to run into her back. They collided and fell to the ground in a hushed laughter.
Sky got to her feet first, helped him up then they turned at the intersection they blew through. Sky looked at the walls, as if she could see through them. Into the unknown rooms behind each of the pale white walls. Suddenly she stopped, pressed her palm to the wall, and a door opened up.
Sky turned back to Kade and smiled, "Come on."
She entered first, Kade right after her. As soon as he entered, his nose was filled with the intense fumes of chlorine. He rounded a corner, the floor turned into a texture stone, and a large Olympic sized pool stretched out in front of the couple. The room was dark, the only light came from the lights under the pools surface, making the water glowed a bright vibrant blue. Almost exactly like Sky's eyes, Kade thought.
"Woah..." Kade said. Looking at the large water source.
He neared to the edge of the pool, knelt down and dipped his hand in. The water was cool, and nice. A perfect temperature. Lines stretch out on the pools floor, painted in lanes for races. He swished his hand in the water, watched it slosh and ripple throughout the rest of the pool.
"This is so cool—"
A pastey blur shot over him, and splashed into the water. A wave of water rising up and nearly soaking him. He fell to his back and looked into the water. Sky's eyes were just poking out of the water, her Blue-Hair wet and matted to her skull. Crinkles at the corners of her eyes and nose showed she was smiling under the water. Then Kade noticed something else.
He couldn't see the line where her skin and clothes met. Instead there were just two white parts on her whole body, and from their positions. Only one thing came to Kade's mind. He slowly turned his head, and saw in a crumpled pile where standard issue Initiate clothes. Sky had striped to her underwear and jumped over him, into the pool.
He turned back to her, her full head now raised above the water, her skin silky wet and glistening. "Come in."
"I—I don't know how..." Kade said, his breath caught in the back of his throat. Thinking about what was under the water.
"It's ok, I'll hold onto you," Sky said, then quickly sank under the water and came back up.
"O-K..." Kade's voice cracked.
He got to his feet and peeled the near completely soaked clothes off and laid them out on a chair to dry. Goosebumps ran along his skin, the heat of Sky's gaze warming his back.
Kade took a deep breath, then slowly blew it out silently. Then he turned, and ran. He jumped high and far, splashing into the cool water below. He sank like a rock, down and down until his butt hit the bottom of the pool.
His eyes burned as he kept them open, watching a female figure quickly swimming down to him. Wrap her arms around him, and kick off the floor. The shot up to the surface, panting hard, gasping for air.
Between shouts of anger, Sky swam them to a shallower part of the pool where his feet could touch. Once she made sure he had his footing, she hit him and dunked him under the water again. She then pulled him back up and let him get air.
"What is wrong with you?!" She shouted in a hushed tone.
"What?" Kade asked with a smile. "I knew you'd save me."
"What if I couldn't?!" Sky said angerly.
"I knew you would though," Kade said. Then reached out to hug her. She swatted his hands away, then growled and hugged him instead. He felt her feet kicking the water, while his were touching. He couldn't help but chuckle at the height difference he rarely noticed.
"What?!" Sky said angerly.
"Sorry," Kade smiled. "I was just thinking about our height difference. I never really thought about it before."
"It's not like I'm tiny or something," Sky said.
"It's cute," Kade said.
Sky stammered, stared at him, the blushed deeply. "I hate when you do that."
"What? Compliment you?"
She nodded, "Yeah."
"Sorry," Kade smiled, holding her up in the water. "Can't help it, you're just so cute."
Sky pouted, then splashed his face.
They held each other in the water, silence fell over them. Not from lack of conversation, but just from pure joy of being together. They didn't need to speak, but they could feel how much they loved one another. Sky tucked her chin into his shoulder, hugging him tighter than ever before. Kade knew why she was doing it, and hated the reason entirely.
Tomorrow could be the last day they ever see each other.
"You think we'll be ok?" Kade asked. "If we don't get the same District?"
"I hope so," Sky said softly.
"Sky..." Kade said. A lump forming in his throat, trying to stop the next words. "If... if you find someone else... it's... it's ok—"
"Shut up," Sky said, peeling herself off him. Her blue eyes caught in a brewing angry rainstorm. The tears welling up at the brims of her eyelids. She opened her mouth, then shut it tightly back together. Then... she slapped him.
Kade's cheek stung from her slap, he wasn't surprised by the slap.
"Shut up," Sky growled with her teeth clenched, a tear breaking loose from the brims of her eye and rolled down her cheek. Kade reached up, and wiped it from her cheek. Sky leaned into his touch, placing her cheek into his palm. Her hand rose from the water and kept his hand firmly to her face. "There will never be anyone as good as you... don't even dare say otherwise."
"Sorry," Kade said, his thumb gently rubbing the top of her cheek. Sky nodded, then hugged him again.
She squeezed him tighter, his chin nestled against the top of her scalp. Her ear catching the quick beating of Kade's heart. Her hands firmly tucked in the small of his back, squeezing him as tight as she could.
They fell into a silence again. This time, no words could come to mind between them, that wouldn't lead to both of them crying. So they just held each other in the center of the pool. Kade's feet planted on the bottom of the pool, holding both of them up. Sky's hair smelled of chlorine under Kade's nose, but he didn't mind if the smell would be forever burnt into the nose. Forever and always, the smell of chlorine would bring him back to this moment.
Sky lifted her head up, cheeks tomato red, an uneasiness in her eyes. She leaned in and kissed him. Every worry they had melted away in an instant. Kade's mind going blank from the tender, wet kiss from Sky. The heat began to rise in the pool.
Their hands began to explore curves and knots. Tugging and pulling free of constrictions. They joined together for the first time, and quite possibly the last time.
They held hands walking down the halls, both faces burning bright red, and their hearts beating out of their chests. No words were spoken as their semi wet shoes squeaked in the empty halls. A bundle of dripping clothes tucked in Sky's hand, a weird but nice freeness. Kade in a similar situation, wet balled up clothing in his free hand as they silently walked.
They reached Sky's hallway, and her door. She pressed her palm out the door and entered a code. It slid open, and her room appeared behind her. It was a mess, art supplies scattered around, and very good drawings of what Kade thought to be...himself. Sky blushed and blocked the view into her room.
"I love you..." Sky said. Kade's heart nearly flipped in his chest. "Though... I don't really know what it means. But from Grey and Ryan from your book. I think it means, that only someone you consider important, and care deeply about more than anything. If that's what love is.... then... it's you."
"I don't know what it means either," Kade said. "But when I think about what love is... all I see is you."
They blushed hard, and looked away from each other nervously.
Then Sky hugged him tightly again. "Thank you for talking to me that first day," Kade said.
"Thank you for being you," Sky said. They kissed for a long time, before they reluctantly pulled away and started to back into her room. "Maybe one day we can be together without the looking threat of human annihilation over our heads.
Kade chuckled holding back the tears, "I'll end this invasion so we can be together."
Sky chuckled, "I'll be waiting lover boy—" the door closed splitting them apart.
A damn burst behind Kade's eyes, tears started to pour out. Nothing he could do to stop them worked. He shuffled along the empty halls, crying softly, trying not to make any noise. It was late at night, early morning. Orderlies must be getting up soon to set up for the trials.
Kade turned a corner and came face to face with a man in a wheel chair. He was older, had graying hair at his temples, brown hair around the rest of his head. Wrinkles bunched together at the corners of the smiling mans mouth. A white sweater and pants on, and a motorized wheelchair. A scruffy beard, with a built in grey goatee.
"Hello Kade," the man said. "I see you finally ended your date with young Sky. Please, let's talk in your room." The man nodded at the wall, motioning for Kade to enter the code.
Kade wiped his face, pressed his palm to the wall and entered the code. The door slid open, and the wheelchair whirled into Kade's room. Kade entered, and quickly tossed his wet underwear into the dirty clothes spot.
"Please sit my son," the man said, nodding to the bed. Kade sat and faced the wheelchaired man. "You are extraordinary, the most interesting Initiate I've ever see so far in the Meka Program. I've been watching you from the beginning, taking a keen interest in your growth. So of course, I had to introduce myself on your last night here. I knew you were out with your girlfriend, so I waited until you returned. My name is—"
"—Father," Kade finished. The man smiled.
"You are as smart as Ann says. Yes, I am Father. The Creator of the Phoenix Foundation and inventor of the Meka and their Pilots," he said. "It's a few hours till the trial starts, so I'll be quick so you can get some rest. As of now, you are Ranked Fourth in the top five. I had hoped for One, but hey. After graduating you will get to choose which District you will get to go to. But... I want to see you in a high danger zone. So, I want you to choose District 5."
"Why?" Kade asked.
"Because you are new, and I want to know if you are the Pilot to bring an end to this invasion," Father smiled.
"How about a deal?" Kade asked. The man smiled and nodded. "If I can reach Rank One. I will choose this District 5. If you put Sky into the safest district there is."
"That would be District 7. Hasn't had an attack in eight years," Father said. "You care about this girl deeply, don't you?"
"I do, and that's why you will be putting her in the safest district there is," Kade said. The man chuckled.
"Alright, you have a deal. You reach Rank One, and choose District 5. Sky will be chosen to District 7," the man reached a hold hand out. Kade took it and shook the hand.