August 16th, 2030, 12:18 am

The gray rain spins in the howling wind over the ocean. The window to the balcony is smashed all over the floor, and the railing has crumbled into the sea. I recognize this room in the Castle, even through the darkness. Torn notes swirl throughout the Emperor's study in a tornado, and my soaked t-shirt sticks to my chest. My bones are cold.

Something feels wrong. This isn't my world. A feeling of turmoil floods over me. I can sense the tension in this dimension I have found myself in.

In this new state, however, I feel... strong. Unnaturally so. The situation I am in doesn't scare me in this form. This is nothing like when I was on the run from the Imperial Guard. I feel distant, yet... here.

A strange conundrum.

A dark mass stands in the light of the storm through the window. I can tell by its shape that it is, in fact, human. Or is it? The evil rush that hit me moments ago tells me to stand back and allow this unknown figure to introduce itself. Appearance and true colors are two different things.

"And there he is. Slater Tross, in the flesh, once again. I thought I'd seen the last of you." I hear metal sliding against metal. The dark mass grows at the hand.

"Who even are you?" I ask, trying to back up.

"Don't play dumb. After all you've done, all the chances you've been given, I should have never let you live past last week."

"I don't know what I did."

"Let me refresh your memory, then." The extension on the shadow jolts forward, and the storm dies into silence. As I fall to my knees, the M glows teal on the figure towering over me.

My newfound strength disappears and I lay in bed, staring at the mattress above my head. The only radiance in the bunk room comes from the hallway, seeping in from under the closed door. Snores erupt from throughout the space, all around me. I must be the only one who is awake.

I roll onto my side and look at the red numbers gleaming from the alarm clock. It's just past midnight, and I have a long night ahead of me. This is the second time I have woken up tonight already. I don't know what it is that is keeping me from falling asleep. Last night I slept like a rock because I just moved into a new room and everyone was quiet. There is no noise tonight, too, but something is prying my eyes open and keeping my blood running quickly.

This is the third weird dream I've had since I've been here. Someone, a shadowy person, speaks to me or threatens me. All three of them have had something to do with the Medo. None of the voices were the same, but they were all men with taunting or intimidating words, something like "you shouldn't be here" or "I should have killed you." And right before I wake up, they always do.

I don't know what the world has in store for me. For now, I'm stuck trying to conform to the Imperial Guard system like I never thought I would have to. But then, there's the Medo, who I know is out there, watching me. Rodney Roarke knows where I am, and I don't know if he approves. Needless to say, I never want to encounter him ever again. I don't know the extent of his capabilities, and I don't think I want to.

The first two dreams I had was Tuesday night, the day I met CJ. The initial half of the night was spent in Hopewell, the capital of Sever, in the dead of night. I was running with some black mists under the orange streetlights as a snow drifted onto my nose from the dark sky above. We were laughing until the lights ceased to exist in the night, and the void enveloped us. I can still hear their accented cries for help as their lives were cut short, right before mine was.

Later that same night, I had a second dream, with a setting in somewhere far warmer. A summer dusk in the capital port city of Sabul. I watched the sunset over the southern ocean's horizon on the beach with more obscurities by my side. Then, many became one, and he sat right next to me, telling me that I was overstepping my bounds. I told him that I didn't know what he meant, so he murdered me under the torch lights.

I didn't tell CJ about my dreams because they just seemed so weird. I didn't think he would believe me or think they weren't as strange as they really were. I don't plan on telling Hal about this one that I just had, either. He seems like he would also be accepting to the same degree as CJ, but I just don't know if I could. I would just be reminded of this dumb mark on my arm.

What are the odds that I am chosen to wear the mark of the Medo on my arm and be given the OLC by the Imperial Guard? It doesn't happen to two separate people, no; both events happen to me, a random seventeen-year-old kid that never had many significant things happen to him in his whole life up until this point. Within months of each other, too.

What makes me so appealing to Roarke and the Colonel that they have to go out of their way to keep me alive and a functioning member of society? Like I said, I have nothing huge to contribute to this city. I played first base for my school's baseball team. My grades were pretty decent, I took some classes above a junior year level. But none of that makes me more special than someone like Hal, or Craig Larsson, or anyone else in this group.

It must be my striking good looks.

Yeah, right.

My ears pick up on some rustling on a bed near me. I guess I'm not the only one who is awake. It sounds as if they are shuffling out of place to get moving. Maybe he has to go to the bathroom or something. I guess I should try going back to sleep.

I feel a gentle pressure on my shoulder and my body tenses up. Whoever you are, dude, stop touching me. Hopefully, you're just sleep-walking and you don't know what you're doing. I'm not the one you want, I'm just a kid trying to sleep. Before my judgment can continue further, I hear his voice whisper down to me.

"Slater, are you awake? Slater?"

I can't see him through the absence of light, but now I know that he's not up for nothing. "CJ? Yeah, I'm up." I bend my body to sit upright. "What are you doing in here? You can't be out past lights-out."

"I know," he murmurs. "But I need to talk to you. Let's go to the mess hall."

I fold my bed sheet to the bottom corner and twist my hips to hop off onto the tile floor. All the cold air in the room meets my legs, but I try to ignore it the best I can. My bare feet do not do well against the tiles, though, as they make their way to the tiny echo of light from under the door.

CJ opens the bedroom door and pokes his head into the hallway. All that extra brightness hurts my eyes for a split second. After looking both ways, he steps out and takes a right, toward the cafeteria. His bedroom is down the other way, and that's where everyone else is too. Hopefully, nobody heard him leave earlier. That could get us in trouble.

The light from the corridor dies down once we reach the mess hall. Our first few tracks into the room are in pure darkness, but soon, the lights shine over us. It must be some kind of motion sensor. Either that or someone is watching us. If someone catches us out here, out of our rooms past lights-out, we could be punished. Apparently, that rule came about when someone from Class 7 snuck out with his buddies to go out to the backyard and smoke pot. I shouldn't have to include the ending to that one.

CJ grabs a seat near the window, looking out to what is visible from the city. It's two or three dots that seem so far away. For some, distance is only a physical measure. To me, the city is only reachable by stretching out my arm as far as I can, wishing I could touch that urban shore once again.

"How's your new group?" CJ questions, still staring out to the backyard.

I shrug, placing myself beside him. "It's okay, I guess. I met your friend Hal, he's pretty cool."

His lips rise for a second, but his eyes drop. "Yeah, he and I are close. He's gonna be the next Sergeant, I can just tell. He knows what he's doing around here, lucky him."

I glance at him as he doesn't move. "Are you doing okay? Why did you need to talk?"

He places his elbows on the table behind him and stretches his back. "You know, Slater, you're pretty lucky, getting moved out our room. You might think it sucks, but I envy you. You don't have to deal with Luke anymore."

Oh no. "What happened?"

CJ pivots his body toward me and extends his right arm to reveal a giant white patch glued right below his elbow. There is a red stain in a familiar letter. I look down at my left arm, where the same letter sits, with violet, exaggerated skin. My face heats up, and I refuse to look up at him.

"He said he put it on the right arm so we can hold hands and our "marks" can be close." CJ's fingernails dig under the tape holding the bandage over his arm.

My fingers trace over my own mark. I clench my jaw and shake my head. "CJ, I'm so sorry he did this to you. Him and I got into a fight last night, and I thought he would leave you alone because I wasn't there. That was really uncalled for, and I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you."

His hand presses over the bandage, and he looks back out to the world. "It's not your fault, Slater."

"He wouldn't have done this if it wasn't for me."

"Maybe," he sighs. "But that wasn't what made him do this. Your fight had something to do with it, but I initiated all this."

"What do you mean?"

He hides his bottom lip in his mouth before speaking. "We went out to combat this morning and Corporal Porter randomly paired us together. I don't even know if it was "random." Anyway, I had to spar with Luke for the day, and I kicked his ass easily. He may have still been recovering from your fight, and I asked him if he was. He didn't seem like himself; he seemed nice and not a complete asshole. He told me he was still trying to rest.

"At lunch, Luke came up to me and told me to go to the bathroom with him. He said one of the twins smuggled weed in and they were gonna smoke it while everyone was in here. God, I was so stupid to believe him." CJ throws his face into his hands. He continues to explain in a muffled voice. "I followed him to the bathroom, and it was just us and the twins."

His hands hover over his knees now. He doesn't move his eyes. "We get there and Rich stands at the door while Don grabs me. I don't know if you know this, but Don is actually pretty strong. I tried to get away, but he held me back. At that point, I knew I had been set up. Luke picked up a huge, sharp piece of glass from the floor and waves it in front of my face before pulling my arm and cutting me. He didn't really stab me, it didn't go that deep, but it did hurt."

I watch as he massages his right arm, directly below the bandage. "CJ, did you tell anyone? That's nothing you can stay quiet about."

He sighs, gazing at his feet. "I couldn't. Luke threatened to "do worse" if he found out I told on him. He took me out to the mess hall and went up to Sergeant Lee and said that he found me doing this to myself. And you know what? Lee fucking believed him. I got sent to the infirmary and missed out on class today. A psychologist had to come in and talk to me and ask me how I was feeling and all that shit. All for nothing."

I have never hated anyone as much as hate Luke Bradley now. He stops at no one or nothing to satisfy himself and bring misery to others. It doesn't help that everyone else around here is so much of a fucking idiot to believe him even though he's done all this shit. At first, I thought the conflict was only between him and I, but he's started to spread his wings. What does he want with CJ?

He wants me. And anyone who ever associated with me.

"CJ, you need to tell someone. Tell Lee what really happened, he'll have to believe you. There's no way he could believe everything Luke says after what happened last night."

"I already tried, Slater. The first thing he asked was, "did Slater put you up to this." All I said was that Luke cut me, and I didn't do it myself. He's not going to believe me because I was friends with you and he thinks you're out to get Luke."

"I'm out to get Luke? If it was up to me, I would never be in the same room as him. He's the one out to get me." Some real Imperial Guard credibility right there, if what CJ says is true. Who does Sergeant Lee think he is, degrading a recruit and making me out to be an enemy? And since when is Luke the "good guy?" It's disgusting.

"Slater, can I be honest with you?" CJ folds his body over his legs, with his hands on his knees. The twilight beyond the glass captivates him.

"Of course." Wow, I never thought anyone here would be this close to me, or that they would confide in me. I never thought I would see CJ again, either, but I guess here we are. He has stood up for me more than once; hearing him out is the least I could do.

"I act all tough because I know I'm going to make it into immediate duty. And some of that toughness is real, I can say that. But a lot of it is just me trying to seem big around the others. So people don't mess with me. I have a lot of friends back home, but making friends here is much harder than making friends at school." He exhales, closing his eyes. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm not as strong as I seem. I was tough around you because I hate seeing people get bullied. But I can't stand up for myself."

I was wondering that as he said it. He told Luke to buzz off when we were eating dinner for the first time, but now he can't get Luke to leave him alone. He's too afraid to even speak up or do something for himself because... well, I don't know why. CJ is strong, he just doesn't know how to take care of himself.

"CJ, you've taught me to stand up for myself. I saw how you handled Luke the first time we met, and I wanted to have that kind of power. I might never get to that point, but you made me want to stop getting kicked around. You are strong and you care about others, but you have to learn to love yourself sometimes. You are the most important person in your life." I place my hand on his shoulder, just as he did when he woke me up.

"Thanks, Slater, but I don't know what to do now. Luke is still going to torture me, and Lee still won't listen to me. I'm stuck with him and the twins for the next week, and I'm honestly scared."

"I'll talk to Sergeant Lee myself if I have to. I'll make him listen to me if he won't listen to you." I know Sergeant Lee would never hear me out, especially if he won't bend an ear to CJ for merely being friends with me. But I need to try, for CJ.

He rubs his neck sheepishly. That's when I get a great idea. "Slater, I don't know-"

"You know what?" I snap my fingers as the thought crosses my path and comes to light. "Sergeant Lee was mentored by the Colonel, just like Hal was. If I tell Hal about what happened, I could get him to talk to Lee for you. He'd have to listen to him."

"Or maybe, you could do something for yourself for once."

CJ and I spring to our feet in an instant and spin toward the corridor where the voice came from. I freeze as Sergeant Lee himself stands in the opening into the mess hall. His arms are crossed over his chest, though he doesn't seem so tough without his typical formal clothing. He wears the common white t-shirt with black slacks that barely touch his toes. His sandy hair is in straggles in every direction.

"What are you boys doing out of your room? You know it's against the rules, don't you?" Lee steps forward, staring right at me, and not CJ.

"Just talking, Sergeant. I had something I needed to get off my chest, and I wanted to talk to Slater." CJ's response cannot be any more respectful or innocent.

Lee, however, does not take it that way. "Or maybe you two are plotting to ruin some other recruit's time?"

"No, Sergeant, I promise you-"

"You know what, Sergeant?" I break into CJ's statement. "We aren't trying to ruin another recruit's ranking but I know someone who is. It's you. CJ was attacked by Luke and the twins today, and you didn't believe him. Something is telling me that you didn't trust him because of his friendship with me. If that's true, I have to admit, that's pretty low. I might not be the most deserving of one's forgiveness but my friends nor I don't deserve to be disrespected like this."

Lee's face is about a foot from mine now. He's a few inches shorter than me, which makes this altercation maybe a little more comical. He has a young face, like one that hasn't spent a year wallowing in the Imperial Guard's stress bucket. His stare burns right through me, and his nostrils flare just a little.

"Let me let you in on a little secret, Tross." Lee reaches into his pocket and reveals a chain. He lets it dangle in front of my face. "Otto Meier. His family fled here from a small village in the mountains of the Meadowlands when he was two years old. His sister was murdered in cold blood and he vowed to find her killer, so he joined the Imperial Guard. He never found out who killed his sister, because he, too, was killed." Lee catches the tags in mid-air and sneers. "Otto was my best friend. And your last victim."

I can't even look at Sergeant Lee in the face at this point. I have no words to respond to that, I feel so bad. If there was one murder I remember, it was that one. How he cried for help; cried for me to stop hitting him with my baseball bat. That kill was not the shadowy ego of myself. That one was real.

"I'm sorry, Sergeant. I don't know what to say."

"No apology is going to bring Otto back. Say nothing at all. Maybe if you want some respect, you should do something that would make me respect you. I don't give away my trust to the hungry and needy. Maybe if you turn out around here and make it into the immediate duty I may start to forgive you." The Sergeant turns away and glides back to the hallway to the bunk rooms.

"And one more thing, Tross; just because Hal and I both worked with Colonel MacTavish doesn't automatically makes us pals. I know he's friends with you, too. The Colonel is dead to me for giving you that second chance, anyway. Now, both of you, go to bed, or I'll write you up."

I guess from this point on, it's Slater and his friends versus the world and everyone in it. How it's always been, and how it always will be.