Lilit’s mark remained beneath Lee’s bedroom window for three months.
They tried everything.
Lee scrubbed the wooden siding until the paint peeled.
His father replaced the damaged boards.
Hermes burned the symbol with golden fire inside the Elysian Void while Lee traced its shape from memory.
Each time, the eye returned.
Sometimes it appeared as three dark curves surrounding an open pupil.
Other times it existed only through Aether Sight, hidden beneath the surface of the wood like a wound that refused to heal.
It never opened again.
It never spoke.
That somehow made it worse.
By the end of August, Lee had learned to stop looking at it every time he entered his bedroom.
He had not learned to forget it was there.
The final days of summer passed beneath warm skies and constant military aircraft.
Helicopters crossed over Stump Lake several times each day.
Convoys moved along the roads outside Graham, transporting celestial fragments, construction materials, and Anunnaki equipment toward newly secured facilities.
The world had transformed with terrifying speed.
Three days after the global broadcast, the United States announced a formal cooperation agreement with the Anunnaki Celestial High Council.
Within a week, other nations signed similar arrangements.
By the end of the month, Aether education became mandatory in public schools.
Existing high schools, military academies, and unused government facilities were converted into residential training campuses.
Temporary dormitories rose beside football fields.
Gymnasiums became evaluation halls.
Concrete walls and crystalline towers appeared where parking lots had once stood.
Officials called the changes emergency preparedness.
Hermes called them mobilization.
Lee stood in his bedroom and pulled the zipper across his final duffel bag.
The movement felt strangely final.
His school uniforms had already been packed.
His personal belongings filled two bags near the door.
Milo’s conditioning routines, Ajax’s combat lessons, and the Trials of Heracles had changed his body enough that several of his old shirts no longer fit properly.
He had grown stronger during the summer.
Not invincible.
Not even close.
Most of his progress came through repetition.
Milo made him train until his body failed, recover, then begin again.
Ajax corrected the same weaknesses hundreds of times before admitting Lee had improved.
Lee learned to maintain small flames without losing control.
He could extend fire along his sword for several seconds, though Hermes still forbade him from using the divine weapon at full strength.
His shadows had become more precise.
He could form two tendrils reliably, sometimes three if he remained still and focused.
Moving while controlling them remained difficult.
Mimicry had improved least.
Its connections still formed without his permission, especially through touch.
Lee could imitate fragments of movement and instinct, but copied skills faded quickly unless he practiced them himself.
He had not used Harvest again.
Hermes offered him several carefully controlled hunts inside the Void, but none involved living humans or intelligent creatures.
Lee fought corrupted animals and training constructs modeled after low-tier monsters.
He absorbed Aether from defeated creatures.
He did not take their abilities.
Part of him wanted to know what would happen.
A larger part feared how easy the second Harvest might feel.
Buster sat in the middle of Lee’s bed, watching him pack with deep suspicion.
The French bulldog’s ears remained upright as Lee placed a final sweatshirt inside the bag.
“You know what’s happening, don’t you?”
Buster released a miserable snort.
Lee sat beside him.
“You’re staying with Declan’s family.
They have more space, and he can actually understand you now.”
Buster stared at him.
Lee scratched beneath his chin.
“Apparently that isn’t a selling point.”
The dog climbed into Lee’s lap and pressed his broad head against his chest.
Lee looked toward the window.
The afternoon sun filtered through the cedars surrounding the property.
Cherry blossoms no longer drifted across the yard.
The spring flowers had given way to thick green leaves and small fruit forming on the trees.
The wooden fence had been repaired.
The crater had not.
Government crews had visited twice under Special Agent Kane’s supervision.
They removed several fragments but left the largest section buried beneath the ground after Hermes concealed its true energy signature.
Lee had not spoken to Kane since the day the Anunnaki arrived.
The agent occasionally sent short messages.
Do not discuss the alley.
Avoid public displays.
Report direct Anunnaki contact.
Lee never replied.
Kane always seemed to know the messages had been received.
Footsteps approached the bedroom.
Lee’s mother appeared in the doorway.
She wore jeans and a dark green shirt, but her posture still carried the controlled awareness of someone accustomed to dangerous places.
Her black hair had been tied behind her head, revealing a thin scar near her left temple.
“You’re packed?”
“Mostly.”
She looked toward the two duffel bags.
“That is more than mostly.”
“I might add a few things.”
“You always say that before adding an entire third bag.”
Lee smiled.
His mother did not.
Her gaze moved toward the window and the replaced boards beneath it.
“You still seeing anything strange?”
Lee knew what she meant.
His parents did not know about Hermes, the Aether Soul, or Lilit.
They knew someone had entered the house.
They knew the government had investigated the crater.
They knew Lee had awakened enhanced physical abilities after the lightning strike.
That was the version Kane helped make official.
“No,” Lee said.
It was not entirely a lie.
The mark had remained quiet.
His mother stepped into the room.
“I still don’t like this.”
“The academy?”
“All of it.”
She adjusted the shoulder strap of one duffel bag even though it did not need adjusting.
“Three months ago, no one knew Aether existed.
Now the government is ordering children into residential combat programs designed by beings who arrived from space.”
“When you put it like that, it sounds bad.”
“It is bad.”
She sat beside him.
“The military briefings call the Anunnaki strategic partners.
The reports also say we don’t know how their technology works, how many of them are here, or what they ultimately want.”
Lee thought of Zal’thar standing before Lilit’s throne.
“You don’t trust them.”
“I don’t trust anyone who arrives with answers before we fully understand the question.”
Hermes appeared near the dresser.
Invisible to Lee’s mother, he inclined his head approvingly.
Your mother is perceptive.
She’d probably shoot you if she could see you.
Many have tried.
Lee’s mother rested one hand over his.
“Your father and I discussed refusing the residential requirement.”
Lee’s chest tightened.
“Can you?”
“We could try.”
“What happens then?”
“You transfer to a private program, leave the district, or undergo an exemption review.”
“And the government watches us even more closely.”
She did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Lee looked down at Buster.
Going to the academy was dangerous.
Refusing to attend might be worse.
It would separate him from his friends and draw attention to the exact family already connected to one of Graham’s strongest celestial impacts.
“I should go.”
His mother’s grip tightened.
“You don’t have to decide based on what is easiest for us.”
“I’m not.”
Lee met her eyes.
“Everyone with an ability is going to be trained.
Ella, William, Declan, Emerson, and Lilith are already registered.
If I stay here, I’m still part of this.
I’d just know less.”
She searched his face.
“When did you get so practical?”
“Probably after being struck by lightning.”
“That isn’t funny.”
“A little.”
She pulled him into a hug.
For a moment, Lee allowed himself to be fifteen.
No prophecy.
No gods.
No hidden powers.
Just his mother holding him because she was worried about his first day at a new school.
Then another figure filled the doorway.
His father had to lower his head slightly beneath the frame.
Hurshell Woods stood tall and broad-shouldered, his close-cropped blond hair showing traces of gray near the temples.
His blue eyes moved first to the packed bags, then to Lee.
The resemblance to the man from Lee’s vision struck harder than usual.
The same shoulders.
The same scar near his jaw.
The same hands that would one day, perhaps, struggle to lift a weapon beneath the shadow of a cyclops.
Lee looked away.
His father noticed.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Hurshell stepped into the room and placed one hand on Lee’s shoulder.
“You’ve gotten stronger.”
Lee forced a shrug.
“Training program.”
“The summer conditioning course doesn’t explain all of it.”
Lee’s pulse quickened.
His father squeezed his shoulder once, testing the muscle beneath Lee’s shirt.
“You’re moving differently too.”
Hermes watched with interest.
He is trained to observe changes in posture and balance.
I know.
His father had spent most of his adult life in military special operations.
Lee should have realized he could not hide months of combat instruction with oversized shirts and bad excuses.
“I’ve been working out.”
“Who taught you to check exits every time you enter a room?”
Lee froze.
His mother looked toward him.
“You do that?”
“No.”
Both parents stared.
“Sometimes,” Lee corrected.
His father’s expression remained controlled.
“Did Agent Kane teach you?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Lee felt Hermes beside him.
The truth rose into his throat.
He wanted to tell them.
His mother deserved to know about the mark outside her house.
His father deserved to know about the vision.
But telling them meant explaining why Lilit had found Lee and why the Anunnaki might see him as a threat.
It would place them inside the secret.
Perhaps they were already inside it.
A car horn sounded from the driveway.
Ella’s mother had arrived.
Lee released the breath he had been holding.
“I’ll explain when I understand it better.”
His father’s jaw tightened.
“That sounds like something an intelligence officer says before withholding half the report.”
“I wonder where I learned it.”
Hurshell stared at him for several seconds.
Then his expression softened.
“Call every night.”
“I will.”
“If something feels wrong, leave.”
“The academy is surrounded by soldiers.”
“Soldiers do not always make a place safer.”
Lee thought of Camp X-Ray.
He nodded.
His father pulled him into a brief embrace.
“And look after your friends.”
“I will.”
“Let them look after you too.”
That was harder to promise.
Still, Lee nodded again.
Buster realized Lee was leaving when the first duffel bag crossed the bedroom doorway.
The dog jumped from the bed and raced into the hall.
He completed two frantic laps around the upstairs landing, skidded into the wall, then charged downstairs with his claws clicking against the hardwood.
By the time Lee reached the front entrance, Buster had planted himself on top of the second bag.
“You can’t come.”
Buster lowered his body across it.
Lee pulled gently at the handle.
The dog refused to move.
Declan waited near the open front door.
“I can ask him.”
“You think that will help?”
Declan crouched.
“Buster, Lee has to go to school.”
The dog stared at him.
Declan listened.
“He says you already know enough.”
Lee crossed his arms.
“What else?”
Buster snorted.
“He says school smells terrible.”
“He’s never been to this school.”
“He appears confident.”
Lee lifted Buster from the bag.
The dog licked his face, then struggled to climb higher against his chest.
Lee held him for several seconds before handing him to Declan.
“You’ll take care of him?”
Declan scratched behind Buster’s ears.
“He likes me more than he likes you.”
Buster twisted to keep Lee in sight.
“That isn’t what he’s saying.”
“No.
But you’re leaving, so I can lie.”
Lee’s mother placed the second bag into the SUV.
Ella, William, Emerson, Lilith, and Michelle were already inside.
Their belongings had been packed into every available space.
Michelle sat near the rear window.
When Lee approached, she smiled.
Her hair was tied back, and a silver academy identification card hung around her neck.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
Ella leaned between the seats.
“He finally made it.
I thought Buster was going to take him hostage.”
“He tried.”
Buster barked from Declan’s arms.
Lee climbed into the SUV.
His parents stood together near the driveway.
Buster struggled against Declan until Lee’s father took him.
The dog’s ears remained raised as the vehicle began moving.
Lee watched through the rear window.
His family grew smaller between the tall cedars.
His father lifted one hand.
His mother held Buster against her chest while the dog continued staring after the SUV.
Then the trees closed around the driveway.
Stump Lake disappeared.
The drive toward Graham took almost an hour.
The familiar roads no longer looked familiar.
Concrete barriers divided several intersections.
New power lines ran alongside crystalline conduits that glowed faintly beneath the morning sun.
Military convoys passed in the opposite direction.
Above them, a small Anunnaki vessel moved silently through the clouds. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
Its golden hull caught the light.
Everyone inside the SUV watched it.
William leaned toward the window.
“I still can’t get used to those.”
“You shouldn’t,” Lilith said.
He looked back.
“Why not?”
“Because getting used to something doesn’t mean it’s safe.”
Ella’s mother glanced toward Lilith through the mirror.
“That is not helping my anxiety.”
“Sorry.”
Lilith did not sound sorry.
Lee had spoken with his friends nearly every day since the attack in Graham, though most of their summer training occurred separately.
The government assigned each awakened student to a preliminary program based on the abilities detected during mandatory screenings.
Ella attended a regional elemental-control camp, where instructors taught her to create directed gusts and maintain small zones of altered air pressure.
William spent four weeks at a medical research facility learning the limits of his regeneration.
He discovered that healing required enormous amounts of food and rest.
Serious injuries could exhaust him before they closed.
Declan worked with wildlife specialists and search-and-rescue teams.
His communication remained inconsistent.
Animals did not speak like humans, but he could receive emotions, images, and simple intentions.
Emerson trained in a reinforced laboratory.
He could now lift several small objects at once, though heavier attempts still caused headaches and nosebleeds.
Lilith’s training was the most secretive.
She disappeared for five weeks into a government foresight program and returned unwilling to discuss what happened there.
Lee did not trust the silence surrounding it.
Michelle attended the same elemental camp as Ella.
Her affinity combined wind and electricity.
A dangerous pairing.
According to Ella, Michelle had become one of the strongest students in their program.
Lee caught Michelle watching him from across the vehicle.
“What?” he asked.
“You’ve changed.”
His stomach tightened.
“How?”
“You look taller.”
William turned around.
“He does.”
“I grew.”
“You also look like you’ve been training with professional fighters,” Michelle said.
Lee glanced toward Ella.
She gave him an innocent smile.
The others knew about the Void and his divine armor.
Michelle did not.
“Home workouts,” Lee said.
Emerson looked out the window to hide his expression.
Michelle raised an eyebrow.
“That must be an impressive workout video.”
Before Lee could respond, the academy appeared.
The complex covered hundreds of acres outside Graham.
Much of it had once belonged to a large high school, community college, and adjoining athletic fields.
The original brick buildings remained, but new structures had risen between them.
Crystalline towers stood beside concrete dormitories.
Metal walkways connected classroom buildings to enclosed training halls.
Defensive walls surrounded the entire campus, broken by guarded gates and elevated watch posts.
The football field had been replaced by six separate combat arenas.
An Anunnaki ship hovered above the central administration building.
Smaller transport vessels moved between landing platforms along the far edge of the campus.
Ella leaned toward the glass.
“That was not there during orientation.”
Michelle’s smile faded.
“No.”
Hermes appeared in the empty seat beside Lee.
Only Lee could see him.
This is not a school.
Lee watched lines of uniformed students pass through security scanners.
It has classrooms.
So do military academies.
A sign rose above the main entrance.
AETHER INTEGRATION ACADEMY 151
Beneath it, smaller lettering identified the campus as part of the North American Cooperative Defense and Education Network.
Lee stared at the word defense.
His mother had been right.
They were being prepared for war.
Traffic moved slowly through the security checkpoint.
Soldiers searched vehicles while civilian officials confirmed student identities.
Anunnaki observers stood beneath a shaded platform near the entrance.
They were taller than humans and dressed in fitted robes beneath lightweight armor.
Crystalline devices covered their forearms.
Lee forced himself not to stare.
Hermes vanished.
I will remain concealed while you are near them.
Can they sense you?
Not unless I act carelessly.
Comforting.
You have adopted sarcasm as a defense against fear.
You noticed.
When their SUV reached the inspection point, a human guard scanned each identification card.
Then an Anunnaki woman approached.
Her skin carried a faint bronze-gold tone, and her pale eyes reflected light like polished metal.
Three silver rings circled the braids at the side of her head.
She raised a narrow crystalline instrument.
Lee felt the Aether Soul contract.
The instrument passed over Ella.
A green symbol appeared.
William produced a blue symbol.
Declan and Emerson each triggered separate patterns.
When the scanner reached Lilith, its surface flashed silver.
The Anunnaki woman paused.
Her gaze settled on Lilith.
“What is your classification?”
Lilith’s voice remained controlled.
“Precognitive sensitivity.”
“How accurate?”
“I don’t know.”
The woman continued watching her.
Then she moved toward Lee.
Hermes’ presence withdrew deeper into the Aether Soul.
Lee imagined closing doors inside himself.
Shadow.
Fire.
Mimicry.
Harvest.
The Void.
He pushed them down, leaving only the physical enhancement recorded in his government file.
The instrument moved over his chest.
For one second, nothing happened.
Then every symbol on its surface appeared at once.
The Anunnaki woman’s eyes widened.
Lee’s heartbeat stumbled.
The device went dark.
She tapped it twice.
A plain blue symbol appeared.
“Equipment interference,” she said.
The human guard looked over.
“Problem?”
“No.”
Her gaze remained on Lee.
“Minor physical enhancement.”
She stepped away from the vehicle.
The gate opened.
As Ella’s mother drove forward, Lee looked back.
The Anunnaki woman stood at the checkpoint, still watching him.
She lifted one hand to her ear and spoke into a communication device.
She saw something, Lee told Hermes.
Yes.
What?
Not enough.
That did not reassure him.
The intake hall had once been a basketball arena.
The bleachers were gone.
Rows of processing stations covered the polished floor, separated by colored lines and overhead signs.
Thousands of students moved through uniform distribution, medical review, dormitory assignment, and ability registration.
Recorded announcements echoed from the ceiling.
“Students must report unauthorized manifestations immediately.”
“Combat abilities may be used only inside designated training areas.”
“Unregistered artifacts, Aetherium devices, and celestial fragments are prohibited.”
“Failure to disclose a hazardous affinity may result in reassignment or containment.”
Lee looked toward the last word.
Containment.
Emerson had noticed it too.
“They could have said disciplinary action.”
William adjusted the bag over his shoulder.
“Containment sounds more motivating.”
An administrator directed them toward freshman intake.
She wore a navy uniform with silver trim and a badge marked ACADEMY 151 – HUMAN ADMINISTRATION.
“Welcome,” she said.
“You will complete housing assignment, uniform issue, and final evaluation before proceeding to orientation.”
Ella looked around.
“We already completed evaluations during summer training.”
“Those were preliminary.”
The administrator handed each of them a silver band.
“Academy placement requires direct assessment using Anunnaki-calibrated Evaluation Stones.”
Lee stared at the band in his hand.
The material felt cool.
A faint line of blue light activated around its edge.
“What does this do?” he asked.
“Identification, schedule access, health monitoring, emergency tracking, and Aether-output recording.”
Lee looked toward his friends.
Emerson turned the band over.
“Can it be removed?”
“Only with administrative authorization.”
The administrator smiled.
“Please wear it at all times.”
Lee slipped the band over his wrist.
The moment it closed, the Aether Soul pulsed.
The blue line flickered.
Then stabilized.
Hermes’ voice entered his mind.
Do not trust it.
I wasn’t planning to.
Uniform distribution took less than twenty minutes.
The academy issued dark navy trousers, white shirts, black boots, and fitted jackets reinforced with silver-gray panels.
The clothing looked formal but allowed far more movement than ordinary school uniforms.
Lee ran his fingers across one sleeve.
“Aether-infused fabric,” Hermes said.
“Low quality, but durable.”
The girls received the same options rather than being required to wear skirts.
Ella selected trousers immediately.
Michelle did the same.
Lilith stared at the silver academy crest embroidered over the chest.
A winged star surrounded by three descending lines.
“Have you seen that symbol?” Lee asked.
She shook her head.
“No.”
But silver flickered behind her eyes.
She was lying.
Before Lee could question her, instructors ordered the freshman students toward the evaluation hall.
The room had been built beneath one of the crystalline towers.
Circular platforms surrounded a central pit.
Each platform held a clear stone nearly six feet tall, its surface filled with shifting light.
Human and Anunnaki evaluators stood beside them.
A large screen displayed student names, classifications, and assigned tracks.
Lee’s stomach tightened.
“Stay calm,” Hermes said.
You can hide everything?
“I can help redirect the stone toward your physical enhancement.
I cannot guarantee complete concealment.”
You told me you could shield it.
“I had not yet examined Anunnaki evaluation technology.”
That would have been useful information earlier.
“Would you have refused to attend?”
Lee had no answer.
The line moved.
Ella went first among their group.
She placed one hand against the stone.
Green light spiraled around her arm.
Air swept through the chamber, lifting papers from the nearby evaluator’s desk.
The screen displayed:
ELLA MARTINEZ
AFFINITY: AEROKINESIS
CURRENT ASSESSMENT: TIER 2
PROJECTED DEVELOPMENT: TIER 5
PLACEMENT: ADVANCED ELEMENTAL TRACK
Ella stared at the projection.
“Tier Five?”
The evaluator nodded.
“Projected potential, not current capability.
Training, judgment, and practical performance determine advancement.”
William followed.
The stone identified enhanced regeneration, physical reinforcement, and increased metabolic conversion.
CURRENT ASSESSMENT: TIER 2
PROJECTED DEVELOPMENT: TIER 5
PLACEMENT: ENHANCED COMBAT AND MEDICAL SUPPORT
William looked pleased until the evaluator handed him an extensive nutritional schedule.
“You require supervised intake,” she said.
“Your ability may consume muscle tissue if used without sufficient energy.”
His smile vanished.
Declan’s evaluation required longer.
The stone displayed images of wolves, birds, and branching lines of energy.
AFFINITY: FAUNAL RESONANCE
CURRENT ASSESSMENT: TIER 1
PROJECTED DEVELOPMENT: UNDETERMINED
PLACEMENT: RECONNAISSANCE AND BEAST STUDIES
“What does undetermined mean?” Declan asked.
The evaluator looked toward the Anunnaki beside her.
“Your affinity may develop in several directions.
Communication.
Emotional influence.
Shared senses.
Bond enhancement.”
Declan’s expression brightened.
“Can I control animals?”
The Anunnaki evaluator’s face hardened.
“Bonding is not control.
Students who fail to understand the distinction are removed from the program.”
Declan stopped smiling.
Emerson registered telekinesis.
CURRENT ASSESSMENT: TIER 2
PROJECTED DEVELOPMENT: TIER 6
PLACEMENT: ADVANCED PSIONICS
He read the display twice.
“Tier Six.”
The human evaluator adjusted her glasses.
“Projected.”
“I understand the definition.”
“You appear extremely pleased for someone with a current lifting limit of twenty-eight pounds.”
Emerson’s expression became neutral.
Michelle stepped onto the next platform.
She placed her hand against the stone.
Nothing happened.
Then the lights in the evaluation hall dimmed.
Wind circled the platform.
Fine strands of electricity moved across the stone, beginning as faint sparks before growing into blue-white arcs.
Several students stepped back.
The screen flashed:
MICHELLE CARTER
AFFINITY: ATMOSPHERIC MANIPULATION
SUB-AFFINITIES: AEROKINESIS / ELECTROKINESIS
CURRENT ASSESSMENT: TIER 3
PROJECTED DEVELOPMENT: TIER 7
PLACEMENT: ELITE ELEMENTAL PROGRAM
Michelle removed her hand.
The electricity vanished.
“Your affinities are naturally compatible.
With sufficient control, you may influence storm formation.”
Michelle looked unsettled rather than excited.
“How large a storm?”
“That depends upon what you become.”
She stepped down and rejoined the group.
William leaned toward Lee.
“Tier Seven.”
“I heard.”
“She’s terrifying.”
Michelle looked over.
“I can hear you.”
“I said impressive.”
Lilith approached the stone last before Lee.
The moment her fingers touched it, the chamber disappeared.
Not physically.
Lee still felt the floor beneath his feet, but darkness covered his vision.
Thousands of silver threads stretched outward from Lilith.
Each divided into more threads.
Some ended immediately.
Others crossed impossible distances.
At the end of one, Lee saw the academy burning.
At another, Anukar stood beneath a black sun.
At another, William lay dead beside a shattered shield.
At another, Lee wore golden armor stained with blood.
The vision broke.
Every Evaluation Stone in the chamber flashed silver.
Students cried out.
Several collapsed.
The evaluators rushed toward their equipment.
Lilith remained standing with her hand pressed against the stone.
Blood ran from her nose.
The screen attempted to produce a result.
LILITH—
The letters vanished.
New symbols appeared.
AFFINITY: CAUSAL PERCEPTION
CURRENT ASSESSMENT: UNRESOLVED
PROJECTED DEVELOPMENT: RESTRICTED
PLACEMENT: SPECIAL OBSERVATION
The human evaluator immediately pressed a control beneath the platform.
Two security officers entered the chamber.
Ella stepped forward.
“What does restricted mean?”
“Return to your position,” an instructor ordered.
Lilith removed her hand.
The silver light stopped.
The officers approached her.
Lee felt fire stir beneath his skin.
William caught his arm.
“Don’t.”
“They’re taking her.”
“We don’t know that.”
One officer placed a hand near Lilith’s shoulder.
She moved away before he touched her.
“I can walk.”
The Anunnaki evaluator spoke quietly to her.
“You will complete an additional assessment.
Your friends will see you after orientation.”
Lilith looked toward Lee.
Silver flickered behind her eyes.
“Don’t let the stone see you.”
Then the officers escorted her through a side door.
The entire hall had heard her.
Every evaluator turned toward Lee.
His name appeared above the next platform.
LEE WOODS
The Anunnaki woman from the entrance checkpoint stood beside his Evaluation Stone.
She had changed stations.
That was not a coincidence.
“Step forward,” she said.
Lee walked onto the platform.
His friends watched from behind him.
Ella looked worried.
William’s hand remained near Lee’s arm.
Emerson stared at the equipment surrounding the stone.
Michelle’s expression had become unreadable.
Lee placed his hand against the crystal.
Cold spread through his palm.
The Evaluation Stone searched.
He felt it move through his body, following the flow of Aether toward his chest.
Hermes acted.
Golden doors closed around the Elysian Void.
Shadow collapsed into a silent point.
Fire dimmed.
Mimicry folded inward.
The stone pressed harder.
The Aether Soul responded.
A pulse moved through the chamber.
The stone turned black.
Gasps rose from the surrounding platforms.
A thin red eye opened inside the crystal.
Lilit’s laughter whispered through Lee’s mind.
Found you.
Lee tore his hand away.
The stone cleared.
Blue light returned.
The display flickered.
LEE WOODS
AFFINITY: MINOR PHYSICAL ENHANCEMENT
CURRENT ASSESSMENT: TIER 1
PROJECTED DEVELOPMENT: TIER 2
PLACEMENT: STANDARD COMBAT TRACK
Silence followed.
The human evaluator examined the result.
“Equipment malfunction?”
The Anunnaki woman watched Lee.
“No.”
She placed one hand against the stone.
The crystal displayed only the harmless blue reading.
“Tier One,” she said.
Lee stepped down.
His friends gathered around him.
Ella spoke first.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
The lie came too easily.
Emerson looked toward the stone.
“It turned black.”
“Probably interference.”
“Interference does not usually form an eye.”
Michelle studied Lee.
“You saw something.”
Lee glanced toward the side door where Lilith had disappeared.
“Later.”
The Anunnaki evaluator spoke into her wrist device.
Lee caught only a few words.
“Subject confirmed.”
His blood went cold.
Hermes.
“I heard.”
Did we fool them?
“No.”
Lee looked back.
The Anunnaki woman smiled at him.
Not warmly.
Not cruelly.
With recognition.
The freshman dormitories stood along the western side of campus.
Geographic assignments kept most Graham-area students in the same building.
Lee, William, Declan, and Emerson received a four-person room on the third floor.
Ella, Michelle, and Lilith were assigned to the adjacent girls’ wing, though Lilith had not returned from her secondary evaluation.
Sophia Nguyen, another student from their district, received the fourth position in the girls’ room.
The boys’ dorm looked like a cross between a hotel room and military barracks.
Four beds lined the walls.
Each student received a desk, storage cabinet, and narrow closet.
A shared bathroom connected them to the neighboring room.
The windows overlooked the training fields.
Students already practiced below.
Fire crossed one arena.
Stone walls rose in another.
A boy with wings attempted to fly and crashed into a padded barrier.
William dropped onto his bed.
“This is going to be incredible.”
Emerson placed his bags beside the desk.
“We have been separated from our families, tagged with monitoring devices, classified by combat value, and placed inside a fortified institution controlled partly by extraterrestrial beings.”
Declan opened a packet left on his pillow.
“We also get free snacks.”
Emerson stared at him.
Declan held up an energy bar.
“Perspective.”
Lee moved toward the window.
The Anunnaki ship remained above the administration building.
From this angle, he could see lines of golden light moving along its underside.
His wristband vibrated.
A schedule appeared in the air above it.
0600 – PHYSICAL CONDITIONING
0730 – BREAKFAST
0830 – AETHER THEORY
1000 – MATHEMATICS
1140 – WORLD HISTORY
1300 – COMBAT FUNDAMENTALS
1500 – AFFINITY SPECIALIZATION
1800 – DINNER
1930 – SUPERVISED STUDY
2200 – LIGHTS OUT
William read over his shoulder.
“Six in the morning?”
“You regenerate,” Emerson said.
“You’ll survive.”
“That doesn’t make waking up pleasant.”
A knock sounded at the open doorway.
Ella and Michelle stood in the hall.
Lilith was not with them.
“Any update?” Lee asked.
Ella shook her head.
“They said she’s still being evaluated.”
Michelle leaned against the frame.
“Sophia is unpacking.
She seems nice.”
Declan looked past them.
“Where are the dorm supervisors?”
“Every hall has two,” Ella said.
“One human and one Anunnaki.”
Emerson looked toward Lee.
“An efficient surveillance structure.”
Michelle frowned.
“Why do you say everything like we’re prisoners?”
“Because the identification bracelet has no removal mechanism.”
Ella walked toward the window.
“Combat classes start tomorrow.”
A faint breeze stirred the curtains.
“They’re combining normal academics with military instructors and Anunnaki specialists.”
Declan opened another snack.
“My beast-studies instructor has four arms.”
Nobody responded.
“What?
That feels relevant.”
Lee watched students crossing the training fields.
Everyone appeared excited, frightened, or both.
Some displayed abilities openly.
Flames danced across hands.
Objects floated beside their owners.
A girl with green skin walked with a group of ordinary-looking students.
Three months earlier, any one of them would have become an international mystery.
Now they were freshmen arriving for school.
His wristband vibrated again.
The message did not appear on the public display.
A single line formed against the inside of the silver band.
REPORT TO SUBLEVEL SEVEN AT 2300 HOURS.
Lee stared.
The message vanished.
Hermes spoke from within the Aether Soul.
“Do not go.”
They already know something.
“Which is why you should not enter an underground room at their request.”
If I refuse, they’ll know even more.
“Lee,” Ella said.
He looked toward her.
“What?”
“You disappeared again.”
“I’m standing right here.”
“You know what I mean.”
Everyone watched him.
His friends knew enough to recognize when Hermes was speaking.
Michelle did not.
Lee forced his attention back to the room.
“Just tired.”
Michelle looked at him the same way she had during the drive.
She did not believe him.
The door at the end of the hallway opened.
Lilith stepped through.
She walked alone.
Her face looked pale, and a thin silver band now circled her neck in addition to the academy bracelet on her wrist.
Ella rushed toward her.
“What did they do?”
“More tests.”
Lilith touched the band at her throat.
“What is that?” William asked.
“A monitor.”
“Can you remove it?” Emerson asked.
“No.”
Lee felt anger rise.
“What did you see?”
Lilith looked toward Michelle, then Sophia’s open doorway across the hall.
“Not here.”
She moved closer to Lee.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“They know your evaluation was false.”
His pulse quickened.
“How?”
“They asked me what you were hiding.”
“What did you tell them?”
“The truth.”
Ella went still.
Lilith’s silver eyes met Lee’s.
“I told them I didn’t know.”
A door closed farther down the hallway.
An Anunnaki supervisor appeared at the stairwell.
Lilith stepped away.
“Tonight,” she whispered.
“Before eleven.”
Lee looked at his wristband.
The hidden summons had ordered him to report at the same hour.
Outside, the last sunlight faded behind the crystalline towers.
White illumination spread across the training fields, revealing armed guards stationed along the academy walls.
Students gathered in common rooms.
Instructors prepared the next day’s lessons.
Above it all, the Anunnaki vessel remained motionless.
Freshman year had begun.
Lee had planned to hide among thousands of newly awakened students.
Before his first night on campus, someone had already summoned him beneath the academy.
And Lilith had seen what would happen if he went.