Prodigy Game Fanon Wiki

Please remember to follow the guidelines!

READ MORE

Prodigy Game Fanon Wiki
Advertisement

WARNING: Threat, censored swear words

Part One - Gemini[]

Chapter 1: Profit[]

“Now listen to me. Time is money, and money is life. If you aren’t spending every minute, every second strategizing about ways to maximize profit, then what are you doing with your life?”

“Now, Mr. Sterling - you are starting to creep me out.”

“You have no, NO idea what opportunities you are missing out on.”

“I’m sure that missing out on this opportunity will do me better.”

————

Chet Sterling stormed out of the room, teeth clenched and fists contorted into an unnatural shape as he screamed through his teeth. “That was the fifth time I’ve been turned down! Gosh, why do I even bother validating the opinions of those who don’t wear suits? They simply do not, do not understand how I’ll be the one to revolutionize the digital entertainment market! Just they wait - just they wait!”

Furiously clicking on the elevator button, he, with a huff, entered the elevator and started to descend for about a few seconds until a sickening creak sounded, and the elevator stopped. Once again furiously clicking, Chet seethed in pure rage. “Oh come on it’s stuck!” Resigned, he learned against the elevator wall and started to swear furiously under his breath.

He definitely had issues. Namely, a superiority complex.

————

Hours had passed since that fateful incident in the elevator and Chet Sterling was safe at home in his cozy home office, clacking away at his desktop computer as he sent out what could be assumed was the hundredth email that encouraged shareholders to support him and his efforts. Thankfully, the shareholders this time were but amatuers, merely dipping their toes in the subject. Should they not ask any questions, he should be good to go.

Life wasn’t always like this. Chet Sterling was once at the top of the world, manipulating the entire population into pretty much worshipping him. You couldn’t walk down a street without hearing his name, let alone see one of his (kinda ugly) NFTs on a billboard.

Still, some people idolize him but he’s pretty much fallen out of fashion, barely scraping by by the minimal profit he makes. But tomorrow, that could change.

The shareholder meeting was scheduled for tomorrow. How could it go wrong?

Chapter 2: Constellations[]

Gemini Sterling was, quite possibly, the least popular kid in school. It didn’t help that her estranged father was an egotistical maniac who only cared about himself and liked to brainwash people. Her mom, even though she was an amazing person, died of cancer a few years back. Death always takes the good ones early. That very argument, 2 years ago, still rang fresh in her head.

“Why is it that you only care about yourself?! You’re a - a freaking narcissist who only cares about yourself! You literally don not care what it takes as long as you end up profiting!”

“Listen here, you insolent little -”

“Money isn’t life! There’s much more valuable things out there for you to enjoy! That’s what my mom says! And I’d genuinely rather be dead than live with you, because at least I’ll be with Mom!”

“Very well. You’ve paved your road, and you have to walk down that path. You have 2 hours to pack.”

Since then, she’d shed her past behind and lived with her best - and only - friend’s house after weeks of living on the streets. Gemini was completely capable of cooking her own meals and cleaning (more than once her best friend, Jaden Carter had suggested that she brought her own meals to school). It was a safe haven, away from the constant misery that she had experienced for months on end.

For the first time since her mom died, Gemini was happy.

————

The autumn term had started. Jaden and Gemini ambled up the stairs towards the entrance as other kids hung out at the door. People were texting, chatting, doodling, playing football, and doing all sorts of activities.

A boy, carrying an intensely heavy backpack hat appeared to be bulging, nearly bursting at the seams with the amount of books and papers contained within, hurried up the stairs as two giant, bulky seniors approached him. Papers literally flying out of his arms, the boy reached for the doors before - a sudden movement, a blinding pain, and he found himself face-planted on the ground, books and papers sprawled out in a gigantic mess.

The seniors burst out in a fit of laughter: Gemini noticed that one of them had his leg outstretched. “Okay, that is just plain uncool.”

The senior turned around. “Oh yeah? and what are you gonna do about i-” he sneered before both of them were kicked in the balls with full force.

“Don’t intimidate me,” Gemini spat as she walked past the two seniors who were now flat on the ground, faces contorted into an expression of unimaginable pain. She knelt down and carefully handled some papers and gave it to the boy who was now stuffing his books into his bags.

“Thanks man - I mean girl,” the kid huffed. “Those two pieces of sh-”

“Please don’t swear in front of me.”

“Those two absolute morons have been picking on me ever since I came here last year. Say, you look new. Did you just join?”

“No, I’ve been here for five years.”

“Wait, so who are you?”

“I’m Gemini.”

“Last name?”

“I don’t want to mention it.”

“Please?”

“Fine. It’s Gemini Sterling. You don’t need to know more-” But she was promptly interrupted by an excited squeal of “OMG! You’re Chet Sterling’s daughter? How come you’re not the most popular girl in school?”

“Because he’s a freaking egotistical maniac who only cares about making money and doesn’t care about anyone else. He disowned me two years ago. I’ve lived with my best friend ever since.”

“Oh. Sorry if I was being insensitive, definitely knew he had that side. The name’s Milo. Milo Booker. Nice to meet you - oh shoot it’s nearly time for homeroom. I’m in Room D8 with Mr McKenna, and you’re with-?” “My new homeroom teacher Mrs Smith in A4. What a generic name. See you around. Hey, Jaden! What homeroom are you in for this year?”

“I’m - also with Mr McKenna in D8. Well, there’s always History and Science.”

“Great, the two most boring subjects.”

“I’ll sit with you at lunch!”

“Thanks.”

This was the start of a brand new school year. How bad could it be?

Chapter 3: Shareholder Meeting[]

“Greetings, shareholders.”

6 young, aspiring shareholders walked into the room and sat down with their heads in their hands, eagerly awaiting the bright Chet Sterling to enter the room.

A ceiling tile fell from the ceiling to reveal a computer that gracefully floated onto the table with a parachute. Chet’s lively yet lifeless face appeared on the computer screen, flickering and glitching as the screen buffered.

“Now let us begin the -”

“One question please,” one of the shareholders - a woman in bright white clothes and a scarf - asked. “Wasn’t your biggest reveal ever, this said ‘breakthrough in digital entertainment and art’ as you call it - wasn’t supposed to come out a week ago?”

“That isn’t important. What’s important is that-”

“What?”

“I’ve simply lost my audience over the years, but with this I’ll be able to win them ba-”

“And why have you lost your audience? A man who was at the top of the world is now at rock bottom. May I ask why? Perhaps you were too busy flaunting your wealth and status to notice that other things were more important?”

“You sound just like my estranged daughter.”

“She must have left for a reason, right?”

“Have you only chosen to join this meeting to merely taunt me?”

“Listen to him. He sounds like an angered god from Percy Jackson.”

“You insolent little piece of -” Chet took a deep breath through the computer screen. “You are asking too many questions.”

“After all, we sank a lot of money into this and we’ve not had any sign of any progress. You were once at the top of the world. Surely you must have something to show for us.”

“You are asking way too many questions. You probably know too much for your own good.”

“Oh yeah? Like how you tricked hundreds of people into idolizing you and your lousy work? It’s true. We came here simply to see how much you’ve fallen off. And besides - ”

They know too much, Chet thought. They cannot leave this place knowing this information.

“You all know too much. Even for amateurs like you. You must be… shall we say… disposed of. Poison gas is soon going to enter the room. No, this isn’t the harmless invisible gas that soft weaklings use instead. This is real poison gas. I must make sure no one escapes with knowledge of my success.”

“So you tricked us?!”

“Not really. It’s more of a last resort.”

The woman in the scarf frantically rushed to the door. “I WANT OUT! I WANT OUT -” she desperately shrieked as the doors locked, knowing her fate was sealed.

Soon the room erupted into hysteria, people scrambling around, banging on the doors which had been manually locked, as a thick green gas filled the room, choking the desperate shareholders, clamping on their lungs. The first collapsed, as did the second. Soon, they slumped to the floor, the light leaving their eyes.

“I-I l-looked up to y-you as a k-kid - ” the last one gasped as the deadly gas filled the wretched man’s lungs, and he moved no more, dead at the hands of the entrepreneur.

Another successful operation.

Chapter 4: Friends of the History Department[]

Mr McKenna was, quite simply, probably the coolest teacher ever.

That was saying something considering he taught History, the most boring subject.

As Jaden and Milo walked in, they were greeted with a door reading “Friends of the History Department”. Alongside it were framed stock images of famous people - Zara Grey, founder of fishing camp Camp Guillermo and notable feminist; Chad Erningway, famous athlete; some anonymous dude who went by the alias ‘Whamikaze’, dunno about that - and at the very bottom, Chet Sterling.

“Alriight, kids! My name is Mr. Parker McKenna, but you can just call me Mr. McKenna. I’m the head of the history department and your form tutor of 9M. We are going to have an immaculate year, starting now.”

“Oh, great. The dude’s gonna make us do an icebreaker even after years of us knowing each other! What is the point in doing this anyway? We do this every freaking year, there is absolutely no point in any of th-” a kid in the back quipped loudly.

“With all due respect, kindly shut up.” Mr. McKenna made a hand expression that could be described as a cross between ‘stfu’ and ‘I am superior to you in every way’, so that the students knew that this teacher was both cool and not to be messed with.

“Jeez. Someone spilt this dude’s tea.” the kid huffed as he stared down at his desk, visibly regretting his choices.

“As a matter of fact, I prefer coffee. So if you plan on making it through the year, you’ll need to set your act straight. Or you can brew me a nice cup of civet coffee, which is arguably harder to do. Now, I’ll be handing out timetables…”

Jaden and Milo looked at each other. Their glance said it all: this teacher was the coolest teacher ever.


Gemini trudged into A4 as Mrs. Smith started attendance. “Reader, George… here. Scott, Randy… here. Sterling, Gemini… absent.”

“I’m here Ms. Smith, I’m here please don’t mark me as absent!”

Mrs. Smith gently smirked and erased part of her attendance sheet, marking Gemini as late. “Tardiness is a trait I do not expect in my students, and from a Sterling of all people.”

Gemini seethed at the mention. “Can you please not mention his name? Lots of people say that, and it’s just annoying. Please,” she forced a really fake smile.

“Being a Sterling is nothing to be ashamed of. Look at Trent Sterling, founder of Macrosoft. Austin Sterling, notable supporter of charity - ” Gemini raised an eyebrow in skepticism. Charity was the last thing she would have associated with her family. “And, of course, Chet Sterling. Wonderful person, shame the head of History put him in last place in the Friends of the History Department chart.”

“Do not mention my f- (cough) -father in front of me!” Gemini yelled. “He is no wonderful soul. He’s an egotistical narcissist who manipulates people for his own gain. I know the truth!”

As soon as the words exited her mouth, she realized what she had done. Every person in the room was staring at her. Man, why do I keep doing this whenever he’s mentioned?!

“That is no way to address your teacher. Classes haven’t even begun and you’ve earned yourself a detention, with a demerit to boot. Now sit down.”

Defeated, Gemini slumped to her seat.

“I will now be handing out timetables. Any volunt-” Mrs. Smith began, before a hand shot up in the air. “Ooh! Oooh! I volunteer! I volunteer!” a nasally voice, two desks away from Gemini, piped up. He was small for his grade, with a pair of glasses and a nice crop of acne across his face. “Ah, yes, Randy. What an angel, always volunteering. I remember teaching him last year, he’s the perfect role model. Some of you could take a page out of his book.”

Gemini looked away. All she could think was, this year is going to freaking suck.

Chapter 5: Camp Guillermo[]

Zara Grey was a busy woman, running a giant fishing camp and her bait-and-tackle shop in said camp. Always willing to reach out a helping hand to those who needed it, she was a beloved member of the community and also number 1 on the Friends of the History Department chart.

Chet Sterling appeared at her door. He was probably the only person that Zara disliked, though she tended not to show it. She listened to all of his boring schemes, wasted so much time attending worthless seminars where Chet kept yapping on and on about his stranglehold on the market and his plans to expand his empire. Oftentimes she would play games in another window as Chet rambled. But she didn’t have the heart to say what she really thought about her. After all, Chet was in a bad state - his only audience were peppy, teenage girls who only cared about clothes, makeup, and face masks - and needed as much support as he could in this trying time. She couldn’t discourage him.

“Ah, my dear Zara. Come to see the show?” Chet Sterling held his hands together as he approached the fisherwoman. “My last shareholder meeting was just dandy. Absolutely nothing went wrong. In fact, I-”

Zara interrupted him with a smirk. “It didn’t seem to go so well.”

Chet, suddenly visibly flustered, tried to hide his embarrassment. “W-what do you mean?”

“You made the mistake of leaving one of your many phones here in my office, the last time we met. You also made the mistake of recording your entire meeting. I see you resorted to disposing of them once the shareholders caught onto your schemes? Tsk, tsk. Hopefully you didn’t kill them.”

“You know what they say, ‘womp womp’.”

“Really, Chet. You’re focusing too much on your current career to notice anything else. Have you ever thought about lateral expansions?”

“Lateral expansions? Why would I need to expand laterally when I’ve already risen, vertically, to the top? Your childish logic never ceases to amuse me.”

“People are using AI to generate NFTs that sell, and look, better than anything you’ve made. Perhaps invest in artificial intelligence? Or maybe try selling gigantic fish. An aspidochelone goes for about 10 million dollars each. A jormungadr goes for about 40 million more. Hmm? How about we chat as we catch some fish? I’ve been too busy running my shop and listening to your seminars, so we can use this time to catch up on lost time… and lost catches.”

Chet grinned eagerly. “Now you’re talking.” He pulled out a stick of dynamite, lit it, and threw it into the water.

“WAIT WAIT WAIT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING - ” Zara screamed as the dynamite exploded, surrounding the couple in a world of gray smoke.

When the dust cleared, Chet Sterling stood proud with about 5 aspidochelones dead in the water.

“You’re right. This is an easy way to make some cash. Maybe if there was a way to do this on a higher, industrial scale…” Chet smirked.

Zara laughed. “I know just the dude. Come over to Mystic Pond really quickly…”

Chapter 6: Recess, Break, Free Time[]

Milo and Jaden were in the park, chattering away to each other. Jaden and Milo had just attended science class and English with the annoying, quippy teacher’s pet and the edgy punk.

“Mr. McKenna’s probably my favorite teacher ever. He’s so unique and his classes are never boring! This’ll be such a great year.”

Milo and Jaden strolled through the park, their animated conversation filling the air with youthful energy. Fresh from their science class and English period, they couldn't help but share their impressions of the contrasting characters they encountered.

"Can you believe that annoying, quippy teacher's pet in our science class?" Jaden exclaimed, a hint of exasperation in her voice. "Every time he raises his hand, it's like he's trying to prove he's the smartest person in the room. He’s all ‘ooh, teach! pick me, pick me pick me! i’m soooo smart!’. Let’s see him make any friends."

Milo chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he's definitely something else. Always eager to impress the teacher with his encyclopedic knowledge. And that edgy punk in our form? He's got this rebellious aura that screams 'I’m better than you,' which for one he isn’t. But you know what they say, womp womp."

Jaden laughed, recalling the punk's nonchalant attitude. "Oh yeah, he's a real character. I wonder what he's all about.”

Before they knew it, a fifth-year ran up to them. "Hey, did you guys hear? There's a fight happening between Gemini Sterling and Marilyn Linforth in five minutes!"

Milo and Jaden exchanged surprised glances. “Gemini’s gotten into a fight? It’s only the first day of school!”

The kid squealed in glee. “Marilyn’s entire clique is joining in!”

Milo exclaimed, “That’s literally 5 against one!... we’re in. Well at least I am, right, Jaden?”

Jaden smirked at Milo. “I’m with you. Now let’s find that sucker.”


Gemini sheepishly left the classroom for recess, when a clique of about five taller, visibly more fashionable girls stopped her, clad in pink designer clothes and glittery handbags screaming ‘I’m rich babyyy’.

“Alright. Like, how dare you disrespect the, like, greatest artist of all time! Chet Sterling, is, like, the best ever!” one of the girls snidely quipped, looking quite about to swoon. “OMG, you are sooo right, Marilyn,” another one laughed.

“Okay, you’re probably trying to get on my nerves. I don’t need another detention, so sayonara.”

“Like, not so fast!” the girl named Marilyn grabbed onto Gemini’s collar, as the latter was briskly trying to walk away. “In this school, you don’t just say lies and get away with it. You’re Chet’s daughter! You’re meant to practically worship him!”

“Do you want me to pound your freaking head in? Because I don’t. Double detention is bad enough.”

“And excuses, and excuses, and a bleh bleh bleh bleh bleh. Listen, you’re never gonna be as popular as us! You’ll never be cute, cool, or popular! Good luck finding any friends, much less a boyfriend!”

“I… really never planned on doing so.”

“Like, ew.”

By this time, a large crowd had gathered around the scene of the argument, eagerly waiting for a fight. As Marilyn uttered those two words, the entire crowd gasped, and with good reason. Gemini simply had no plans to date, but Marilyn had different assumptions. Don’t make fun of gender, kids.

Is that all the legalese covered with?

“Alright, you wanna go?” Gemini yelled, balling up her fists, before Marilyn punched Gemini into the ground.

The ringing pounded in Gemini’s head, as she shakily rose up. The crowd was ‘ooh’ing and ‘aah’ing, though no one seemed to step up.

Everyone in Marilyn’s posse readied for another blow. Steadying themselves, they approached, before -

Marilyn’s expression turned to one of shock, before she fell on the floor like Gemini had moments earlier.

Milo Booker stood behind her, smirking from ear to ear, a pencil case in his hand.

Marilyn steadily got up and swiftly turned around, her expression going from shock to disgust. “You?!” she pointed at Milo Booker. “Like, how dare you slap me. You do not slap a woman!”

“In the same way you don’t find a woman disgusting purely because of her gender,” Jaden laughed.

“You don’t have a say in this, Jaden. I’m clearly more popular than you. I could easily beat you up.”

“Milo’s way less popular than you and he managed to strike you down with just a pencil case.”

Milo perked up at the sound of his name. “Oh, what? Hey! But also thanks! Alright here we go.”

And the second punch was thrown, when Marilyn grabbed one of her followers and used the poor woman as a meat shield, who took Milo’s punch in the rib. Finally breaking an expression of fear, Marilyn’s posse quickly gathered together and shivered as Gemini, Milo, and Jaden practically threw themselves on top of them.

In the end, Marilyn got a bruised lip and more bruises on her arms. Her posse didn’t have it easy either.

Gemini Sterling, Milo Booker, and Jaden Carter all sat detention that evening. But it was worth it. (The detention monitor gave them a high-five.)

Chapter 7: Sequence Break[]

“Well I say, that was a roaring success. You made one new friend today! That’s a new record. ‘cept for me, of course.” Jaden and Gemini returned home and headed up towards their bedroom. Gemini climbed up onto the top bunk, before flipping open her homework. “Man. Today was a great day. Made a new friend and beat up ‘bout 8 people who were being jerks in general. Doesn’t get much better than this.”

“Yeah. Well, we are at the bottom of senior school. I remember Year 8, when we had Sunday trips every month. Remember that skate park?”

“When Theo completely wiped out with his scooter on a rail? Classic! He probably left the school from embarrassment. Kinda stupid, if you ask me. Mr. McKenna gave me a short written essay. Always good.”

“Like, Mr. McKenna’s the best! His classroom literally feels like walking into, like, a time machine. I hear on April Fool’s, he’ll decorate it to look like a casino.”

“An interesting history teacher? That’s quite rare.”

“It is. That’s why he’s so good.”

“Wonder what Milo’s doing now. Everyone seems to be congratulating us for comin’ out on top against Marilyn. Wonder if his family’s doing the same. We might go to his house next week…”

————

“That was brilliant. I don’t condone you endangering yourself but that was absolutely brilliant. Mom won’t be too angry though. Anyways run along, Milo. Apparently I’m expecting a visitor in about half an hour. Chet Sterling’s about to visit, Zara Grey told me.” Samuel Booker seethed. “We never got along in school. Don’t expect he’d be happy to see me now. Don’t know why he would want to visit me after all these years, but - ”

“So you hate him too,” Milo laughed.

“Yes. Always rambling about being the best man in the world, yadda yadda yadda, yap yap yap.”

“His daughter’s my newest friend.”

Samuel spat his coffee - a nice, strong black espresso - right on the window. “WHA-”

“She’s actually a pretty nice person. Shares none of Sterling’s beliefs -”

“How did that twit get a wife? He has half the looks of me and none of the personality! He’s never mentioned anything about it, online or in person! As the kids in your generation would say, he has L ri-”

“She was disowned two years ago. Also, we’re having her and her best friend over next week, hopefully.”

“Cool.”

Milo’s older brother, Kaden, rushed down the stairs. “What’s this about getting into a fight? Did you win, Milo?”

“You bet I did.”

“Amazing.”

And then Kaden and Milo did an intricate handshake. Both brothers raised their arms, cupped their hands, and shook their hands violently, yelling “Good times!”

Good times were sure to come… right?

Chapter 8: Min-Maxer[]

Chet sat in the back seat of Zara’s motorcycle, visibly feeling quite constrained in his seat. “You’re telling me there are actual cars with just two wheels and no roof?!” Chet exclaimed in confusion.

“Yeah there are! They’re called motorcycles! Never heard of one?” Zara laughed.

“Well this is some quaint alien technology. I’m willing to say it’d go for quite a lot of money!”

“I bought it for thirty bucks!”

“The fu-”

“No swearing!”

“The thing is, how?! How did you buy this… thing that looks absolutely disgusting yet is so beautifully efficient with thirty dollars!”

“What’s that? You’re starting to miss your golden limo with 20 wheels and a sunroof?”

“How do you know I sold it?!”

“Again, you left your phone in my office after one of your countless seminars.”

“Blast.”

“Quiet now, it’s time to really start driving!” Zara piped up, before stepping on the gas pedal and speeding through the lane, pretending to reload a shotgun like something straight out of Terminator. “Look Chet, no hands- WOAH!” Zara’s elated scream turned into a yell of shock as she nearly clipped a mailbox.

“Get off my lawn you youngster hooligans!” the old man, who owned the property, shook a fist at the speeding motorcycle.

“Chet’s thirty-five and I’m forty-two!” Zara retorted.

A few minutes passed before a roadman blasting music on his boombox arrived on the street. “Oi wot the living heck are you doing around here you twits?!” the roadman yelled, chasing after Zara.

“You talkin’ to me or yourself?”

“I own these ends around here blood! Now gerroff or -” the roadman screamed before he was promptly bashed on the head with a harpoon. Zara returned the harpoon to her backpack before taking the boombox.

“Now this is music,” Zara laughed as the boombox blared: Fight like a brave, don’t be a slave / no one can tell ya, you’ve gotta be afra-ai-aid…

“The Red Hot Chili Peppers are, quite frankly, absolute rubbish.”

“I have half the mind to throw you off the motorcycle.”

“You don’t have a mind at all, or you’d be playing Taylor Swift or Nicki Minaj.”

“You’re right!” and Chet was thrusted off the motorcycle - nah I’m joking.

A good half hour later Chet and Zara arrived at the household of the Bookers. Zara rang the doorbell, being greeted by the one and only Samuel Booker, world’s greatest father. (A better one than Chet, anyways.)

“Oh, hey Zara! Didn’t expect to see you, I did see your message. Well, if you were meaning to get a reaction out of me, it totally wo-” Samuel laughed as he sipped his coffee.

Chet exited the motorcycle. “Now, Mr. Booker. There are some things related to business and fishing that I would like to discuss with you.”

Samuel’s expression, almost instantly, switched from one of delight to one of disgust, like a light switch. “What’s that toe-eyed cabbage-brained fish-eyed gormless minger doing in my front yard?!”

“Immediately resorting to meaningless insults, I see. I can also see our little rivalry in senior school has left quite the impression on you.”

“You get off my property this instant you muppeted shoehorn.”

Milo rushed in. “Oh hey Chet! I’m friends with your daughter, by the way.”

“What daughter?” Chet raised an eyebrow.

“Gemini?”

“Oh, yeah, her. She kind of sort of left me about two years ago. But that’s all in the past. I am here to discuss a different medium of profiting - through automated fishing.”

Samuel smirked. “Now you’re talking business,” he laughed before ushering Chet and Zara towards a gallery. “This machine was borrowed from Zara. You can wheel it around and set it near a lake, equip a bait to it, and occasionally it’ll catch some insanely rare fish. I have a stuffed Issrakr head in my office. I also have a model Pliosaur, if you’d like to see it.”

Gears were churning in Chet’s brain. “Yes, yes, but to attract fish you must need a bait, you see. What would you suggest using?”

Swap out ‘fish’ with ‘audience’ and ‘bait’ with ‘incentive’ and Chet was starting to conceive a disgusting, brilliant idea.

“Now, there’s a bait I quite like using. It’s a custom one that you can’t get at Zara’s shop, a combination of the Lucky and Golden Baits. I call it the Eyeball Bait, ‘cuz it only has eyes on the good fish! Pair them together and you essentially make every fish within a 100-meter radius simp for you, whether it’s high-quality, rare, or chroma. Sometimes, when the lake is busy, people rush to see this bait as well. Might need to examine it further.”

“Hmm. Yes. I should examine it further… perchance. Indeed,” Chet posited as Zara and Samuel, the old friends, continued on a tangent.

“Ya comin’ with us to see some of Sam’s idle fishing equipment?” Zara beckoned for Chet to come with her.

Chet thought - or pretended to think - for a moment. “Actually, I think I’ll stay here.”

Zara and Samuel promptly disappeared into the back door, heading to the boathouse that led to the lake known as Mystic Pond.

————

Chet pulled out Zara’s cloning device and carefully targeted it at the Eyeball Bait. It really did look like someone just stuck a metal prong through an eyeball. Unsettling.

A copy of the Eyeball Bait materialized in front of Chet, landing right in his hand. Perfect. Zara and Samuel would be none the wiser as to what had occurred. This peculiar Eyeball Bait would be experimented on and analysed under extreme care. If it really were to have audience-attracting properties… surely Chet could do some tinkering with it. He could grow back his audience. He could profit off these unsuspecting souls! He could relive his lavish life of luxury! All was falling into place.

It was go time.

Chapter 9: Robots Are Her Next of Kin[]

About a week had passed since Gemini and Marilyn’s legendary fight, and how three people fought off an entire gang. The legend of Milo Booker striking down the snooty and fearsome Marilyn Linforth with but a pencil case led Milo’s popularity to skyrocket. Activities had been announced since then - the usual choices, like rowing, robotics, set design, drama, tech theater, but there were weirder choices. Embroidery?, LEGO building-?, cookery…?! Perhaps Gemini would pass on some of these. There were surely some ideas she had in mind.

Robotics club had started, and most of the kids in there had no idea where to start. Meanwhile, Gemini had brought over a toolbox and circuitry kit she’d bought two days before, knowing she’d completely smash the other kids in terms of quality. Hammers? Check. Circuits? Check. Random jumbled stuff that you’re too afraid to throw away? Check, check, check, and check.

One of the kids had gotten to work building a miniature wooden robot that would play the guitar, thinking he’d get top marks whilst looking at the other duds whose creations looked like jumbled pieces of scrap metal that you could pass for WALL-E. Even the girl sitting at the far end looked like she was having trouble, hammering away at sheets of metal and welding together circuitry.

Gemini was hammering away at sheets of metal and welding together circuity like it was nothing. How the living flip she was able to do that, I have no idea. She was just a robotics wiz. Might be something her mom passed down to her. And finally, the piece de resistance, the motherboard to put it all together, and the head.

And the robot was finally assembled, as Gemini wiped her hands. But it struggled to stay balanced for long, and toppled over on its side before slowly rolling off the side of the table…

Gemini noticed just in time and made a d i v e for the robot, before it smashed into dozens of tiny little pieces and all her work was undone.

The floor only made a dent in the robot, instead of blowing it to smithereens.

Gemini closed her eyes, trying to make deep breaths as she controlled her tears before someone tapped on her shoulder… but no one was there. Everyone else was turning in their submissions to the teacher, Mr. Smart.

Instead, the flying (and slightly dented) miniature robot floated right above Gemini’s shoulder, humming joyfully as it did loop-de-loops in the air and buzzed cheerfully.

Gemini’s shocked expression shifted to a grin as the robot hummed again. “Alright… what should I call you?”

The robot continued to buzz.

“There’s all sorts of good names I could come up with… maybe I could go with something-bot actually nope, that’s way too generic…”

The robot buzzed as they tapped Gemini’s shoulder and pointed to the teacher.

“Oh yeah! The submission! The other kids are handing in their stuff!”

The robot hummed and buzzed even more.

“Alright, you little buzzy thing, hide behind my back. I’ll want this to be a surprise… I’ll call you Buzzy for now in fact. Ya like it?”

The robot nodded.

Meanwhile, there were only two kids left showcasing their creations to the teacher. A young Year 6 girl had come up with a Lego Rock-em-Sock-em toy that worked a bit like those funky pencils I had in primary school. A Year 10 boy had made a wooden miniature robot that strummed a guitar, which would have been fine and all if he hadn’t picked the song “Special Secret Song Inside” to be broadcasted to Year 5s and 6s. He got a demerit. A Year 8 girl had made an automatic drum kit, and set it up to play an impressive 2-beat.

Finally, it was Gemini’s turn.

Buzzy flew out from behind Gemini’s back, and hummed cheerfully as it did loop-de-loops in the air, before playing a jazz lick. As it levitated in the air, it glanced around at its surroundings like a curious octopus studying its tank, before noticing that the teacher had a schedule that he hadn’t filled out yet. Quick as a flash, Buzzy pushed Mr. Smart aside and clacked away, finishing the schedule for him - and correctly, at that. Gemini stared in wonder.

The kid with the guitar robot sulked as Buzzy arrived to cheer him up, before swiftly being attacked and dodging a punch to the head. Identifying the kid as a predator that, if action would not be taken, would cause harm ot itself, Buzzy grabbed onto his fist, then slammed him into the ground. Everyone cheered.

Buzzy returned to its rightful owner as everyone clapped, including Mr. Smart, before buzzing cheerfully once again and hiding in Gemini’s backpack.

Chapter 10: The Uplifted Money-Maker’s Party Plan[]

“Back to Sterling Enterprises!” Chet laughed a crazed, maniacal laugh of pure greed as he made plans to show his trusted board of directors, each head of a Big Company. If a company was Big, it meant that they had a stranglehold on the market that, without obscene amounts of luck, no competitor could ever claim for themselves. The twelve directors of their Big Company - Big Food, Big Shopping, Big Banking, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, Big Entertainment, Big Technology, Big Travel, Big Commerce, Big AI, and Big Space. All were very rich, successful, and influential. All were very, very greedy.

“In my hand, I have a specimen that could possibly change our future forever. It can make people support us, it can bait the public into forming an audience. We’ll be mere entrepreneurs no more, but influencers! They’ll only have eyes on the good stuff, the high-quality selections!”

“They’ll only have eyes on us.”

“And it starts with one.”

He held up the Eyeball Bait.

“If we find some way to magnify this power but not overload it, and replicate it, we can set up stations all across Xeter and make our audience come to us. Now, Big Tech, Commerce, and AI -” Chet had never bothered to learn his board’s real names, as they’d never bothered to share it - “This is where you come in. You use machines and robots to mass-produce AR headsets that people will put on. Big Entertainment, you and me, we will create hype and excitement for the return of Chet Sterling, the one and only. We will all achieve great heights! And they will all love me- uh, IT! They will all love it! And we shall have our second coming.”

The directors of Big Company stood, awestruck at Chet’s beautiful speech.

“Any questions?”

Big Entertainment raised her hand.

“Yes?”

“It’s like the Red Hot Chili Peppers album, Return of the Dream Canteen. We are the Dream Canteens that returned!”

Everyone sighed and cringed at the terrible analogy.

“Should’ve left on a high note. But I think this calls for a musical number,” Chet mused.

And Hillel Slovak’s iconic lead to the hit 1987 single Fight Like a Brave started.

Chet started to unbutton his blazer. When you’re dancing in a blazer, it always looks infinitely better unbuttoned. And a one, and a two, and a one-two-three-four-

All you slingers and fiends, hide behind your rocks
Well quit sharing the lies, we ain’t here to box
This is no showdown, might as well give up now
You see it doesn’t matter if you’re smart or low brow
You could be from high street or from a park bench
You could be a politician or a beggar in a dress!
So if you’re lookin’ to be right, and you’re lookin’ to unite
Well put your hands together, make a fist and fight!
Not to your death, and not to your grave
It’s for profit and progress, let’s fight like a brave!

Chet threw down his blazer, revealing his white shirt and navy blue tie swinging in the wind. The directors of Big Company followed suit in sync, as they sang along to the chorus as backing vocals.

Fight like a brave! Don’t be a slave
No one can tell you, you’ve got to be afraid
Fight like a brave! No need to rave
No one can tell you, you’ve got to be a slave (to the music that is)

Chet pulled up a megaphone.

“I am here to tell you about the uplifted money-maker’s partying plan!
A plan based off a band, a land created by a plan.
There should be no slaves in the land of lands…
‘cause the rebel with a mission’s starting a band!”

So you’re running and you’re running and you’re running afraid
You say you ran across the planet but you couldn’t get away
The guilt in your brain, was drivin’ you insane,
You were looking for a day in a life that never came!
So don’t get me started, you’ve gotta take a breather
I’ve been to Heaven and Hell, the room you’ve just gotta read her
It’s one of a kind, convention of the mind,
(DID I FORGET TO TELL YOU THAT IT ONLY COSTS A DIME)
Come as you like, but don’t leave any time
Bottom line you know it doesn’t have to rhyme!

And soon Big Company was belting into another round of “Fight Like a Brave”. This kept their morales up and distracted them as Chet walked towards the window and glanced at the bustling city of Xeter. Imagining the entire land under his thumb, he couldn’t help but glaze into a euphoric gaze.

Chapter 11: Gemini Takes On Wily River[]

Mr McKenna was a man of many, many talents.

For one, making history interesting; running a quite rambunctious bodacious form; hosting touch rugby with the development lags; and, coolest of all, rowing. The only problem was that the boathouse where Tuesday rowing took place was about 30 minutes away from the actual school, down by Camp Guillermo.

Once Mr McKenna had wrangled all the rowing people - Gemini, Milo, Randy Scott (the teacher’s pet), George Reader, Jaden, and a few other kids - Cameron, Kaden, and Rex. They aren’t that important to the story, as we’ve already established quite a lot of characters.

“So Camp Guillermo is half an hour away from school. How will we get there? Car? Minibus? Train?” Gemini smiled as the rowing squad ambled along the path to the gate

With a twinkle in his eye, Mr McKenna grinned. “We run.”

Gemini smiled, before faltering. “Wha-wait wait wait, WHAT?!

Mr McKenna handed everyone high-visibility vests. “Put on your hi-vis vests, children! We’re going running! Under no circumstance go in front of me! Here we go!”

And they were off. Eight teenagers and a grown man, looking like complete fools as they raced down the road towards the camp. Obviously, some kids were not prepared for such hard, intensive labour. The teacher’s pet made it about 3 minutes before lactic acid started to be produced and he started wheezing painfully. “Don’t stop, Randy! I had a student once who also never seemed to be able to run that far but he still pushed through it!... yeah it was Aiden. Or Whamikaze, or whatever you call him nowadays, bottom line don’t give up!” (This is not a name reveal. My name is not Aiden.)

A painstaking 26 minutes later, Mr McKenna had arrived at Camp Guillermo with several panting kids. Milo, however, seemed to be completely unaffected by the long run. He seemed to be much more different than he was 3 weeks ago, being the clumsy, bullied kid. Gemini and Jaden high-fived, as they drank some water. Before long, a familiar face appeared.

Zara Grey, top friend of the History Department, greeted everyone. “Another year of rowing, I see, Preston? Glad to see more people here than last year.”

“Cheers, Zara.”

Zara looked at Milo and Gemini. “Hey, Milo! Did Samuel mention my visit yesterday? Gemini will be glad to hear she’s not the only one who has beef with Chet.” She winked at Gemini, who surprisingly grinned and gave Zara a fist-bump.

Gemini had been doing rowing for about a year prior to these events, and was, safe to say, a professional. However, she’d never gone rowing in a river before - just one of those ponds that would cover your boat in weeds, moss, and algae, and more disgusting stuff. So being in a river was a pleasant surprise for Gemini.

Zara and her crew of graduates - Tom Johnson, Patrick Griffin, and Jessica Blinston-Jones - set up life jackets for everybody, and took the canoes onto the water. Surprisingly, Mr. McKenna was nowhere to be seen, and was later found running laps around the boathouse.

Jaden and Milo got into the same canoe, while Gemini was stuck with Randy Scott. Thankfully, Tom volunteered to go with Randy, giving Gemini some breathing space. It was just like before, only with less algae. Here we go.

————

Buzzy flittered around Gemini’s canoe as she went down Wily River, the friendly wooded structures of Camp Guillermo coalescing into a tiny point as the currents took the rowing squad down, down across the river. Their end goal was about 2 km away, where Patrick Griffin had drove a minibus to collect the kids. There were a heck ton of fish in the lake, as well as crocodiles. People were warned not to fish during rowing sessions.

However, there must have either been an abundance of fish in the river that day, or buffoons on the river. As the rowing squad made their way down the river, the scenery of Camp Guillermo transformed into a distant point, blending with the lush greenery. The currents guided them steadily towards their destination, where Patrick Griffin awaited with the minibus to transport the kids back from their rowing session.

Perhaps word had spread among the aquatic creatures that the rowing squad was passing through, attracting a swarm of fish to the area. Some kids were carrying fish bait in their backpacks, and the energetic fish sensing f o o d came to the scene, knocking he baits into the river.

Despite the distractions caused by the fish, Buzzy the robot diligently accompanied Gemini and the rest of the squad, ensuring their safety and keeping a vigilant eye out for any potential encounters with crocodiles or other hazards. With Buzzy's assistance and the rowers' determination, they pressed on, enjoying the unique experience and challenges presented by the river's unexpected inhabitants.

Yeah no. That would be too easy. A bunch of fish came up and immediately bugged Gemini, Randy, and other kids for more food. Of course, having none, the kids pressed on. Wrong decision. A great giant monster, the Jormungandr, lurked through the waters underneath (as one does): poising the perfect time to strike. Zara Grey believed in conserving the species, but everyone was more focused on catching it for sport, near to extinction. This one was properly pissed off.

And with a tail flick, the Jormungandr launched Gemini into the air and onto its back. Its massive form launched Gemini high into the air, sending her hurtling toward its scaly back. The rowers watched in shock and disbelief as Gemini landed precariously on the creature's immense frame, perfectly on its back, contemplating the situation.

“Okay, why do I always get into the loony situations?!”

“You ask me!”

The air was filled with a mix of fear and awe as everyone realized the gravity of the situation. Gemini, clinging to the Jormungandr's back, somehow excelled in maintaining her balance. The rowing squad sprang into action, desperately trying to come up with a plan to rescue their fellow rower from the clutches of the mighty creature. As the Jormungandr followed them, Gemini decided to sit down, open a bag of chips, and chow down as Randy and the assistants properly panicked.

“Why are you so mad? We just want to *chomp* row peacefully along the river. Kindly let me down.” Yes. Gemini is completely unfazed by situations like these.

Suddenly, everyone’s phones went off, including Gemini’s. The vibration caused her to lose her balance, and she toppled into the river, bringing the Jormungandr down with it. A rush and a push and Gemini resurfaced, with a harpoon in her hand. The Jormungandr was properly knocked out, tongue sticking out. Gemini, sopping wet, returned to her kayak and continued rowing. Like a boss.

On the minibus ride home, everyone was checking their phones to see what on earth had happened. Patrick didn’t have a phone, and Gemini’s was broken to water damage.

“Goodness gracious! These billboards are seriously distracting me! I should start a petition to get rid of them,” Patrick seethed, prompting Gemini to look out the window.

“Hey…”

Chet Sterling’s face was all over the sky. #CHETSTERLINGRETURNS was the face of surfaces all around Xeter: billboards and advertisements everywhere. You couldn’t look away from it: you couldn’t avoid it if you wanted to. He definitely wanted #ALLEYESONHIM and promised a #BRANDNEWTECHNOLOGY that was the future of NFTs. #THANKSFORYOUREYEBALLS, the giant words read.

Gemini stared. This couldn’t truly be happening. She thought that Chet was gone for good… but now, after 2 and a half years, he was finally bouncing back.

Time is money, and money is life.

And life was going to take a dark, dark turn.

Part Two - Resurgence[]

Chapter 12: #ChetSterlingReturns[]

Life would not be the greatest.

The blaring lights, neon signs, intrusive advertisements blasting in all three hundred and sixty directions could not stop getting on poor Gemini’s nerves, almost as if she could not escape it: for she couldn’t. Everywhere she went, #CHETSTERLINGRETURNS would follow her.

And that awful tune.

“Fight Like a Brave” and “Good Time Boys” most likely would never be etched away from Gemini’s brain.

Now you may not know the exact reason why Our bank commands attention From the mountains in the sky Making more than time, more than money can buy I say! stop and take a listen To the monster's child

And to top it all off, Marilyn Linforth’s gusto and ego had resurfaced since Milo Booker bludgeoned her with a pencil case. If anything, she was worse than before, all glistering and sparkling in Sterling merchandise just to get on Gemini’s nerves. What an awful person.

Buzzy still flittered around, the loyal robot, helping Gemini put back her papers each time she was tripped, and wiping her clothes when she was pushed in the mud. They were never programmed to do that. Perhaps they were developing a moral compass?

Either way, profits were rolling in more than ever before. Mugs, handbags, T-shirts, you name it!

And Chet was enjoying every second of it.

(He was oblivious to the bullying of his daughter, but he really wouldn’t have cared less. Water under the bridge.)

“Now this is progress!” he motioned to Big Company, who were now singing Good Time Boys. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were now their main go-to source for uplifting music for advertisements.

Good, good time boys / Make me feel good / Give you good times / Yeah yeah yeah

I said, now this is progress!”

Good, good time boys / Make me feel good / Give you good times / Yeah yeah yeah

“I SAID -”

Drunken with the power, they’re drunken like the others / Drunken with the power they’re drunken like the others

Sterling walked over to the plug connected to the sonic speakers. Instantly, the music died down and the voices of the good time boys came to an immediate halt.

“I SAID - now this is progress!”

Big Entertainment sulked. “You ruined our jamming montage! It was going to end right as the final note struck! You ruined it! Anyways yes lots of money rolling in very good.”

“Not only perchance, but precisely. You see, phase 1 of my plan could not have been more successful. The hype is real. Now we develop the All Eyes on Me stations. We’ve already had lots of generous donations from a very wealthy Marilyn Linforth. No idea who she could be.”

“Says here she likes bullying your daughter,” Big AI questioned.

“Water under the bridge.”

(See? I told you!)

“I have formulated plans to make these stations. Each contain 600 VR headsets - Big Tech and Big Space, with your expertise in making robots, we could fully automate this process and have it done in, say, a month and a half. Then we load each of them up - 12 of them, so 72k -”

“SEVENTY TWO THOUSAND?!” a collective scream from pretty much everyone in the room commenced.

Then silence.

“Two words: automated production has that not gotten into your heads yet by now?”

“That was 12 words.”

Big AI smirked. "Very well, twelve words. The point is, with our combined resources and expertise, we can achieve the production of seventy-two thousand VR headsets in a relatively short amount of time. The automation process will streamline the production and ensure efficiency."

Big Tech scratched their chin, contemplating the proposal. "It's an ambitious plan, but if we pool our resources and optimize our manufacturing capabilities, it might just be feasible."

Big Space nodded in agreement. "Indeed. We have advanced robotics and assembly systems that can be adapted to produce the VR headsets. With the right coordination, we can expedite the process."

The room buzzed with a mixture of excitement and skepticism. The prospect of such a massive undertaking was daunting, but the potential rewards were equally enticing.

Big Entertainment, still sulking over the ruined jamming montage, finally spoke up. "Fine, let's do it. But remember, we need to maintain the quality of the VR headsets. We can't afford any compromises."

Chet Sterling grinned. “I have just the idea where to begin. The Winter Prom commences in a few weeks. We just need to make sure that Emily Caldon is absent in order for our very generous sponsor to be prom queen… yes. This is only phase one.”

This was what he was talking about. Everything was coming together perfectly.

Chapter 13: Prom-onitions on the Dance Floor[]

Winter break was approaching, and the Winter Prom was about to begin. Two proms were held a year, one in winter and the other in summer. Gemini had, while not decided on a date, had picked out a nice T-shirt and shorts, nothing too fancy. Everyone was going in such fancy and random outfits. She could get behind pristine and formal tuxedos, but wearing balloons and gemstones on your clothes was certainly too much.

Jaden was going in a dark fashion style, wearing all black. It didn’t fit her style at all, but she liked it and so Gemini went along with it. That’s what friends are for. Meanwhile, Milo was going in an outfit that looked like he worked in government, looking as formal as possible while trying to inconvenience everyone who asked him for help. It was genuinely hilarious. Ever since the Camp Guillermo rowing trip, they’d started hanging out more.

Mr. McKenna dressed up in a tuxedo (blazer unbuttoned, tie free to flap around in the wind) and organised the snack table for all the boys who couldn’t find a girlfriend in time. There were chips, crisps, nachos, popcorn, and a variety of sweet treats like cookies and candies. He also had a history pamphlet in store to bore the members as a punishment for having no girls.

Posters, flyers, and all sorts of whatnot were plastered on the walls. The prom would commence in a week. Gemini had nothing to worry about. She didn’t need a date: all she needed was some good dance moves and the old Red Hot Chili Peppers - as long as it wasn’t Fight Like a Brave or Good Time Boys.

Soon, the prom queen would be announced. It was only a matter of time.

————

“So, what’s your problems?” Gemini heckled the clearly frustrated kids who did not manage to get a girlfriend in time, angrily staring at the couples dancing. “I recommend the Cheez Doodles. They’re amazing.” Catching note of one of the kids’ raised eyebrows, she immediately retorted: “I am not flirting with you. I am merely waiting for the music to switch to something good before dancing.”

Mr. McKenna glanced towards Gemini. “Oh hey, Gemini! Are you just waiting for the perfect music to start? Me too. You can’t breakdance to slow, romantic music. Oh hey, prom queen’s gonna be announced.”

Gemini turned her attention to the front of the room where the prom queen announcement was about to take place. The crowd hushed in anticipation as the principal took the stage, holding an envelope in her hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the principal announced, "it is now time to reveal the Winter Prom Queen for this year! I do apologise for all the slow music. After this announcement, we’ll have some more energetic, heavy soundtracks to fit your style!"

The room quited down.

Gemini silently threw a chip into her mouth as she passed Mr. McKenna a note about Chinese food being superior before nearly choking on a Cheez Doodle.

“Now, as Emily Caldon is not present, your queen as forfeit is Marilyn Linforth.”

“WHAT?!”

As Marilyn made her way to the stage with a triumphant smile, the entire crowd burst into cheers and screams of “Speech! Speech!” as Gemini, Milo, and Jaden stared with an expression like -_- . Marilyn was undeniably popular and had a knack for effortlessly fitting into the social hierarchy. She was always surrounded by a group of friends, and her wardrobe was the envy of many, as could be seen by her floral dress and formal attire. A golden tiara was placed on her head.

“Hello, all! I am very honoured to be prom queen for this year. Hopefully I dressed for the occasion? Of course I did. Now, we can spare the incredibly long speech and get on with dancing! Now, it is customary that the prom queen chooses a partner to dance with. Traditionally a prom king, but that custom was done away with about 5 years ago.”

Gemini gulped. That was true, so there was a tiny chance that she would have the misfortune of having to dance with the person who tormented her for weeks on end. A posse of popular kids were screaming for Marilyn’s approval to dance with her, which did catch Marilyn’s attention. Gemini sighed.

“After careful consideration, I have chosen a partner… pause for effect…”

Gemini crushed on a Cheez Doodle, as Mr McKenna wrote some notes.

“Gemini Sterling. The girl standing by the snack table, heckling the kids unable to get girls.”

Like a light switch, Gemini’s faced switched from one of relief to pure, unbridled shock and disgust as she was forcefully pulled to the stage. “Hey hey HEY PERSONAL SPACE -” she screamed as Marilyn grabbed her arm and pulled her onstage.

Gemini winced. “Could we have a word from a sponsor?”

“A sponsor? What perfect timing.”

The door opened, and a voice Gemini knew all too well boomed.

Chet Sterling walked through the door. “Look at you all. Hopeless romantics and fools, erratically waving your limbs around in a mad attempt to find what one calls ‘love’. Now, I believe we have some business to attend you. I trust you all know of my return?”

“...no. Wait, actually I think you’ve mentioned it once… or twice… a minute… days and days on end, billboards flashing across the entire city.” Gemini retorted.

“How very rude of you.”

“Speak for yourself.”

Mr McKenna left the snack table he was supervising to examine the situation. “I assume that there is a bit of a quarrel going on that has not yet been dissolved.”

“And who might you be?”

“McKenna. Preston McKenna. I was an intern here during your time at school. Now I am Head of History. Some people do indeed fail upwards! You simply fail.”

“Well, I - how very dare you. May I suggest you stop talking so much? I have some advertising to do that may or may not involve augmented reality, fishing baits, and good time boys. So it would be in the best of your interests to leave.”

“Ah, the intangible usages of the word ‘may’. You can use it in a lot of ways. May is the season of preparation for exams! Maybe some people will not pass the summer examination! You may be quiet.”

The entire crowd gasped, before cheering. No. This was not going to plan! Something must be done about this. This… Mr McKenna must be disposed of. Chet’s mind flittered back to the shareholder meeting. By now it had been two months since then…

“So I kindly suggest you can find some other, more convenient time to shamelessly advertise.”

Chet growled. He had expected some sort of retaliation from Gemini, but this teacher was definitely getting on his nerves. He whistled for the members of Big Company to enter. Big Travel gave Chet a baseball bat and a pistol. “Use them if any… violence is required.”

This prompted Gemini, Jaden, and Milo to shield their favourite teacher. “Hey hey HEY, there’s no need to use any weapons! He’s really cool, and good at roasting. You could take a leaf out of his book!... oh yeah, you are likely too shallow to know how to read.”

“If you want to play baseball, why don’t you find a school in the States to terrorise? You probably don’t know what the States are…” Mr McKenna quipped.

“Once my plan has been completed, everyone here shall be reading and chanting my name.”

“You mentioned augmented reality?” Mr McKenna questioned. “What are you going to do, brainwash all these kids? Sure, most people here adore you - MOST - but this is going a little bit too far, don’t you say?”

Jaden and Milo stared at each other. If Mr McKenna of all people was showing even the tiniest waver of concern, something must be going wrong.

“I’m not going to let you. There’s a reason you are at the bottom of the list of the Friends of the History Department. Because, if this is the extreme lengths you are going to go to to achieve some fame and glory, that’s where you belong. The bottom.”

Chet’s face contorted into one of pure, unbridled rage. And with a scream, he fired his pistol in front of everybody.

The Head of the History Department crumpled to the ground clutching his stomach like a marionette with its strings cut. Preston McKenna, a puddle of blood streaming from his arm. Losing blood fast, he managed to utter: “Go ahead. I’m not afraid of death, it’s like 80% of what I teach. But you will never succeed. And that’s something I rarely say.”

A few more shots were fired, and Mr McKenna lay sprawled on the ground, slumped against the stage, now truly lifeless. “You should understand that I do not show sympathy. My heartstrings can’t be played with like a fiddle… but as for my future customers that you so noblely defend, I’m not too sure about.”

Gemini, now desperately shaking her dead teacher’s body, one of the few who had made school enjoyable for her, stood up.

“You were always a monster.”

Chet turned around. “Hmm?”

“You haven’t changed in the slightest. How could you just kill him? This - this isn’t moral, or ethical, or right! You -”

“DON’T LECTURE ME ABOUT MORALS, OR ETHICS, OR ANY OF THAT RAG. IF YOU LET THE EYES OF ‘INNOCENT BYSTANDERS’ OR THE ARBITRARY BARRIERS THAT ARE MORALS AND ETHICS DRAG YOU BACK, YOU WILL NEVER MAKE IT IN LIFE. No wonder you turned out to be such a failure.”

“I’m worth twelve of you!” Gemini retorted.

“Be that as it may for now. But eventually I will get on top. All that will be left for you to do is walk away and taste the pain.

Chapter 14: Taste the Pain[]

The taste of pain following their beloved teachers’ death in the school hung for a long time, to be observed by Chet Sterling from afar. It was a new day in the city of Xeter, and Sterling Enterprises and Big Company alike were busy at developing the newfound possibilities of the Eyeball Bait. Chet Sterling was gazing out the window, a behaviour he most frequently performed. Most men’s guilty consciences would try and tempt themselves into feeling regret or remorse for their actions.

Chet was not most men.

Much was troubling him that day, though. Not because of the death of Preston McKenna, but because of other matters. He should not have done such atrocities in public, he should have saved it for a more private moment like a parents’ evening or something. Chet assuaged what was left of his conscience with promises that sacrifices had to be made for the greater good, that when he built up his reputation all would be forgiven and forgotten.

Another trip had to be made to Camp Guillermo.

Zara Grey was not so cheerful about Chet’s arrival that day.

“Well, good day, Zara! I see your camp is still successful?”

“Yes, although we have lost one customer since we met.”

“Ah dear. Well, if you require a loan after such a devastating loss, I am always open. My vast wealth is more than sufficient for you to borrow or take anything, but -”

“I shall see to it that the Sterling line is hereby banned from Camp Guillermo forever… wait Gemini’s your daughter, I forgot. Be that as it may. You are no longer welcome here. I know what you did to Preston, Chet.”

“Oh yeaaaahhhhhh,” Chet winced. “Preston would come here for rowing - I should not have returned.”

“I have that last part done and dusted! You are no longer permitted to return.”

“Well shoot.”

And Chet was thrown out of the camp, turning his heels and leaving briskly.

“I will not be forgiving you after what you’ve done!” Zara screamed, sniffling slightly.

Well, that left Camp Guillermo out of the question.

————

Samuel Booker visited Zara later that day, bringing over a magnet fishing rope and some magnets. “Hey, Zara. Heard you had a feud with Chet?”

“Yeah. I genuinely don’t think I can look at him the same way anymore.”

“Reasonable. Will rowing still commence?”

“I guess it has to. Milo and Jaden wanted to visit you, check on how you were doing. Gemini refused to leave the school even after the Winter Prom was cancelled and school was let out.”

“Sure. Come over to Mystic Pond.”

And Zara got up and left, following Samuel.

————

Milo was indeed doing his level best to put on a cheery look, the look of unkempt horror not yet gone from his face. “Yeah, we’re all trying to deal with it. We all are. Gemini’s still by Mr McKenna’s body, so you won’t be seeing any of her. I can show you some of my fishing memorabilia if it fancies you, I’ve just caught a Lusca and a Kathzilla on Sunday, it’s gigantic - ”

“Dad still has a bunch of baits down by the basement. He remembers every bait he uses, every tool he uses, just invested in some magnet fishing rope and caught a heck ton of skeleton keys, goodness knows what they’re for. Oh hey, Jaden!” Jaden appeared in the stairwell.

Samuel forced a grin. “Hey, Jaden. Now, I haven’t shown you the Eyeball Bait yet. Made it myself over Halloween, let’s not go into the details as to how I made it because yes it is a real eyeball. Now - wait - ”

His grin faded. “This Eyeball Bait is new. I’ve never used this one before. But - last time you were here - with Chet - the Eyeball Bait had been used a considerable amount of times - but only I know how to make it. He wouldn’t possibly go all the way to Crypt Keeper’s Pond and down a Prismatic Delight, he’d ruin his suit and it would take too long - but how?!”

He rushed towards the CCTV area where the cameras were located, scrolling through footage from weeks ago. And there it was, Chet pulling out his little cloner gun and duplicating the Eyeball Bait, before replacing it and running off. So that explained it.

“Chet Sterling has the Eyeball Bait. Which attracts people to it. All the billboards… the #THANKSFORYOUREYEBALLS hashtag - his speculation of his grand return - it all fits. Chet Sterling has the Eyeball Bait. This is not good!” Samuel gasped. “We are in hot water.”

Two miles away, in the city square, the first All Eyes on Me station had opened with about 12 VR headsets stored within, serving as a Beta Test. Chet Sterling looked out the window for about the thousandth time, grinning to himself. The Eyeball Bait had gone to good use. Now, Phase One would commence. And those who opposed him would crumble at his feet.

Chapter 15: Catch My Death[]

Paintballing was beginning. Everyone’s face was shaped exactly like Marilyn’s, stone cold and impersonal. The guns fired out blood and eyeballs, and whenever someone was splattered they would don the face of Chet Sterling himself, laughing gormlessly at the feeble Gemini. The surroundings collapsed. Preston McKenna’s dead body lay in front of her, still and eyes laced with the stars he could not see. The sky grew red… a giant singular eyeball, judging and examining, descended from the skies…

Whew. Just a bad dream, Gemini woke up, sweating profusely. It had taken all four of Zara, Samuel, Jaden, and Milo to pry Gemini away from her teacher’s corpse, and she ate dinner alone that day, oblivious to the future events that transpired in the town square before sleeping. It was just a bad dream. But she had a funny feeling that her dream was not just a dream, but a premonition, a bad omen of some sort. Her mind was in a really bad place, though, so she shrugged it off and slept.

The day after the Winter Prom, Gemini couldn’t help but notice some people were absent. Randy, the teachers pet; about 9 people in Marilyn’s posse, basically ¾ of it (though, much to Gem’s chagrin, Marilyn was present); Rex and Cameron, usually inseparable best friends who were present at rowing. Moments later during break, they all returned with paper bags, likely containing the same thing. “Can’t wait to put it on,” “This should be really fun,” “Absolutely amazing,” were the murmurs from most of the kids with plastic bags. Marilyn walked over.

“So, you got the headsets from Town Square?”

“Absolutely.”

“Let’s put it on.”

The crowd put it on before being thrusted deep into a world of information, flashy billboards, advertisements, propaganda, the face of Chet Sterling splattered upon almost every surface. Marilyn was the first one of take it off. “Dang. It actually works. Not gonna lie I did have some doubts in Sterling’s work.”

Worry filled in Gemini’s stomach. Whatever this headset was about, it was already showing its effects on those who wear it…

That day, there were quite a lot of free periods. Teachers who had left temporarily to find themselves after the loss of Mr McKenna, janitors who did not want to clean up all the blood, et cetera. Unfortunately, Mrs Smith stayed, seemingly indifferent to what happened the day before.

Gemini pondered her options, realizing that Mrs. Smith might not be the ally she needed in this situation. They never got on well. Jaden and Milo approached Gemini, who was silently munching on a sandwich as more and more people showed up with headsets, even teachers who had expressed their disdain and disapproval of Chet Sterling. Everyone saw him commit murder yesterday. Why was everyone suddenly practically worshipping him?

“Well, winter break is approaching. I think what we need to do is discover the source of this headset and what’s behind it. Essentially, breaking and entering. It’s not as bad as murder,” Gemini defensively raised her arms at the suggestion. Jaden and Milo chuckled before continuing with their plan.

"I agree," Jaden said. "We need to find out what’s behind this and stop them. We can't let this town fall under their control."

Milo nodded in agreement. "I can use my tech skills I inherited from Dad to track the source of the headsets. If we can locate the central hub or what’s within them, and the purpose of these headsets, we might be able to put an end to this."

Gemini felt a glimmer of hope. With Jaden and Milo by her side, she knew they had a chance to uncover the truth and save their town from Chet Sterling's influence. "Let's do it," she said determinedly. "We can't let fear hold us back. We'll gather the evidence we need and expose the ones responsible.”

“Right on.”

And together, they formulated a plan. A plan, to discover the purpose of the headsets, what they do, how they work, and to break into Sterling Enterprises.

And it started with one.

Gemini, acting sickly sweet, walked up to Marilyn before asking:

“Where did you buy those headsets? I’d actually like some.”

Chapter 16: Product May Produce Mind-Boggling Effects[]

Instantly, Marilyn knew something fishy was going on.

“...why are you suddenly asking for that?”

Gemini gulped. She had to think of something fast, or she’d be rumbled and her plan would go to waste.

“...computer club. We have to make a presentation about AR and VR and I figured using Chet *cough* Sterling’s tech to get a good mark would simply up the irony factor.”

“Since when have you cared about grades?”

“Of course I care about grades! Just -”

“By the town square, beside the Fountain of Cashy the Great. You’ll find a stand. Sterling’s been notified (Gemini winced) that his stuff’s doing well, and has opened up about 20 more stations and a bunch of shops. You can’t miss it,” Marilyn laughed.

Gemini returned to Milo and Jaden and told them everything. Soon started the long slog till winter break, which lasted three days.

Here went.

————

Gemini instructed Jaden and Milo with the plan. Milo had told Gemini of the powers of the Eyeball Bait, so that she understood the risks: now, Milo and Jaden would blindfold themselves as to not be affected by the bait. Gemini would guide them over to the headset and purchase one, and place a fistful of chocolate coins to fool the system.

Winter break was finally here. First thing, Gemini and Jaden met up at Mystic Pond, which was closest to the town square, for a briefing. The blindfolds were readied, as well as some earmuffs just incase there were blaring advertisements.

The few arrived at the Fountain of Cashy, a strange fountain of a cat in a suit. She was said to be the first mayor of Xeter - a cat of all people! - and knew how to manage finances extremely well. The All Eyes on Me station stood, tall and proud, a few meters away from it.

Milo and Jaden, blindfolded, gripped onto Gemini’s shoulders in full trust she wouldn’t troll them into walking into a wall. The Eyeball Bait requires whatever it is manipulating to be in sight of its victims: thus, as Milo and Jaden were blindfolded, it had no effect on them. Poor Gemini, though, had no eye protection.

With a scream, Gemini collapsed to the ground, the Eyeball Bait taking effect of her. Wincing, she managed to utter: “G-guys - what’s going on - this isn’t normal - why do I have the urge to -”

And without another word, her arms fell slack and she slowly ambled over to the stand, periodically groaning as she tried to resist the urge to buy, trying in futility to shut her eyes, block out the effect of Sterling’s manipulation from her mind.

Milo lifted up his blindfold, noticing Gemini several meters away. “Gem! Are you okay? Why are you all the way over there?!”

“I should have packed a blindfold for myself - *groan* I don’t know why but - this Eyeball Bait - it’s messing with my brain - ” and without another word she turned back and started running towards the stand like so many unwilling customers had done before.

Milo and Jaden ran towards Gemini, holding her back as Gemini breathed heavily. “What got into you, Gemini?! Like - why are you acting like this way?!”

Gemini breathed heavily, and collapsed, trying to look away - this seemed to break the effect on Gemini, but only barely - before Milo removed his blindfold completely, before being completely boshed by the effects of the Eyeball Bait. “If Sterling used Dad’s Eyeball Bait, he must have amplified it s-somehow! Gemini, do you still have the chocolate coins?”

Gemini was now eating one of the chocolate coins, leaving only six left. “When in doubt, I follow the philosophy of Remus Lupin. ‘Eat: you’ll feel better.’”

“That is a beautiful point. Now give me the rest of the coins. If I’m going to buy this thing I’m going to need the coins on hand because I haven’t any money on me. Sterling will likely think that his customers are just too easy to puppet for his sensors to detect fake metal. And the wrappers are aluminium, which is a metal. So - ”

Gemini muttered: “No - no. I don’t want to - it’s horrible - I don’t want anyone to feel it - ”

Milo now screamed: “GIVE ME THE GOSH DARN CHOCOLATE COINS SO I CAN FOOL YOUR SHALLOW PRAT OF A FATHER AND HAVE A SINGLE CHANCE AT DEFEATING HIM WITH YOU!”

Gemini sighed. “That is a beautiful point. Give me your blindfold.”

Milo laughed. “With pleasure.”

Soon, Milo was the one on the ground, breathing heavily, panting as he struggled against the Eyeball Bait’s effects. “Y-yeah this was a mistake - oh sheesh yeah nope this was a big mistake” and he collapsed. Gemini tok the coins and breathed heavily. “I don’t think we can do this. I feel that - wait - ”

“The Eyeball Bait only attracts rare, valuable fish. Perhaps we’re not rich enough, we don’t have enough money to just dump our entire wealth for Sterling. Marilyn and her preppy posse have oodles of cash, and they’re cute, cool, and popular. Cameron and Rex spend like lots of money on Brawl Stars (Author’s note: yes that’s a thing in Xeter), they pretty much P2W it. The teacher’s pet dude might have private tutors. But we’re not valuable enough, so we aren’t attracted to it.”

“Wow. You just called us poor in the smartest way possible. But how do we - ?” Jaden asked.

“Hmm. Wait here. Try and tend to Milo, give him some water, I’ll find a way!”

————

Gemini rushed all the way back to Jaden’s house, where Buzzy was kept. The chocolate coins were close to melting, so she ate them (haha) and grabbed a few more. “Okay, Buzzy. I need you to come with me. Go to the Town Square and place these coins in the All Eyes on Me stations. The, get Milo one of the headsets. Any will work.”

Buzzy hummed and did a loop-de-loop, before grabbing the coins and flying off, Gemini following it. It took about a ten-minute run, mainly because Gem was using her scooter. Which she had. Also it had three wheels and a fully functioning brake that fell off 2 years ago.

Milo, who had now came to, muttered something about his head before grinning. “Hey, Buzzy! Gem? Why is he here?” “I’m assuming the effects don’t work on robots, since robots - don’t exactly have brains for the Eyeball Bait to boggle.” Buzzy, slightly offended. slapped Gem in the face and hummed angrily.

Buzzy picked up the chocolate coins and flew over to the All Eyes on Me station, before slotting in a few chocolate coins - a headset popped out, and a trumpet fanfare played. Brilliant.

So this was what everyone was buying. Surely it couldn’t be that bad if everyone wanted it, right?

Gemini unboxed it and put it on, wary of anything that might happen.

The new school term was beginning. Each surface was plastered with the face of Chet Sterling’s, with his grade-A smile and his formal suit. The billboards, the augmented advertisements, the screens all showed videos of Chet, articles, headlines, media, everything - and behind the soulless screens, the man she hated most of all, laughing gormlessly at the feeble Gemini. The surroundings collapsed. Her mind couldn’t take in all this - the bright colours, the flashing lights, his face besmeared upon all the screens that were both there and not there, the pro-Sterling propaganda blaring through her cranium -

And Gemini wasn’t sure if she was imagining this or not, but the giant red eyeball she saw in her dream descended from the skies, glaring at her, examining her, judging her - and faint, concerned yells echoed in the back of her mind, growing increasingly panicked - she was being shaken forcefully, distressed yelled at, worriedly hummed at, laughed at, screamed at, yelled at, joked at, cried at -

And all turned black.

Each sound drowned out one by one, from the laughing to the screaming, the humming to the yelling, the joking, the blaring advertisements, the crying.

And the crying stopped.

It was like they knew that tears could never put out flames, no matter how hard you cried.

And finally, all sound drowned out, and silence ensued.

Chapter 17: Breaking and Entering[]

sterling

/ˈstəːlɪŋ/ (noun)

  1. British money. "prices in sterling are shown"
  2. short for sterling silver. "a sterling spoon"

  (adjective)

  1. (of a person or their work or qualities) excellent or valuable. "this organization does sterling work for youngsters"

————

Gemini, who was lying unconscious on a bed in Mystic Pond, was oblivious to the discussion that ensued. Jaden and Milo were worriedly chewing over the effects of the Eyeball Bait and what Sterling was trying to do.

“If even Gemini managed to be defeated by Sterling’s handiwork, those who adore him must be, like, completely in a trance. He’ll manipulate everyone into worshipping him, and those who dislike him will be beaten down.” Jaden sighed. “I wonder if Gemini’s doing okay. It’s been half an hour. Buzzy still has the chocolate coins, he saved one.”

Almost as if on cue, Gemini got up, rubbing her head. Grumbling, she rubbed her eyes before asking: “Did someone mention chocolate coins?”

Jaden and Milo laughed as Buzzy flew over and tossed one at Gemini, who slowly bit into it as she asked: “So what’s the plan now?”

“We figured out what Sterling’s planning to do,” Jaden divulged. “He’ll use the Eyeball Bait to attract willing customers, if people don’t support him they are disposed of. Then they’re plunged into a world of propaganda. Buzzy helped us project what it would look like for the wearer.”

Gemini smiled. “Good job, Buzzy. Also, thanks.”

Jaden smiled back, before it faded away. “Essentially, Sterling wants to be a god among men. We’ve no idea who he’s in league with, but we suspect he’s not doing this alone. After all, he’s far too stupid to come up with a plan this good.”

Gemini smiled. “Good one.”

Milo grinned. “Now we break into Sterling Enterprises with a bunch of dynamite and harpoons, and bludgeon him till he’s unrecognisable.”

Gemini gulped. “I feel like that violates some sort of convention.”

That was when Milo sagged his shoulders, before speaking again. “Either way, we will be breaking in. If you’re okay with it, of cour-”

“I don’t care if it violates any conventions! He’s Chet Sterling, of all people. If it takes shooting him until he’s unrecognisable to stop him, I’ll do it.” Gemini laughed, before hi-fiving both Jaden and Milo. “In there, we can find out the truth. The AI database, Sterling’s motives, possibly quite a lot of money that we can incinerate in front of Sterling’s face as torture - we can do this. Also, Sterling Enterprises is quite easy to spot. Trouble is, it’s quite far away from here.”

Buzzy hummed and flew outside to fetch Gemini’s scooter.

“Oh yeah, we have the scooter. But it can only fit one person - ”

Buzzy flew into the basement of Mystic Pond, before clanking noises were heard. Half an hour later, Buzzy flew back up with a triple tandem scooter. How on earth it did that, I have no idea. So Gemini, Jaden, and Milo each got on, packed some supplies (Gemini packed a water bottle, snacks, and a toolbox; Jaden packed some alcohol spray and spray paint; Milo brought a fishing bow, harpoons, and dynamite.)

“Perhaps the dynamite is overkill?”

“If we need to blow people up, I will.”

“Cool.”

And they each sped towards Sterling Enterprises.

————

“Profits are rolling in, Mr. Sterling.”

Chet nodded. “Why, I would expect it to. The effects of the Eyeball Bait are strong, but the will of some people are stronger. That’s why some people have developed - adverse - effects to it. It is sad to see the few people who oppose me writhe in mental pain.”

“How do you know who purchases your stuff?”

“I don’t. But I know surely some people would test it out.”

“Do you feel no guilt or regret?”

“Guilt? Regret? Showing any signs of those display your weakness. You can’t progress if you feel bad about every little thing you do,” Chet retorted, before mocking an innocent child’s voice.

“Oh no! You murdered the poor, innocent little ant!”

He then switched back.

“Class. Rank. Quite beautiful things, are they not? Without them, I cannot display my authority, my superiority over them. One could call it hubris. I call it pride in what you do.”

“Do you believe anyone wil try and steal your secret?” Big AI asked.

“Absolutely not. Soon, the All Eyes on Me stations will be everywhere, and I will be worshipped. In fact? Disable all security. I shall see to it that everyone will either worship me, or be crushed underfoot.”

“...you sure?”

“Oh, absolutely. Besides, it’s a huge pain when I’m just trying to get about my day, as it is for my employees. Disable all security.”

“...yes.”

And Big AI left.

Chet Sterling got up and left for his private office, passing by the now-locked office in which the shareholders had discussed matters with him many months ago. Possessing the key to the office, Sterling peeked inside. The shareholders’ bodies had not been recovered; the bodies were still lying, spread-eagled inside. Sterling remembered what had happened there.

Soon the room erupted into hysteria, people scrambling around, bashing on the doors which had been manually locked, as a thick green noxious gas filled the room, choking the desperate shareholders, clamping on their lungs - The first collapsed, as did the second. Soon, they slumped to the floor, the light leaving their eyes.

“I-I l-looked up to y-you as a k-kid - ” the last one gasped as the deadly gas filled the wretched man’s lungs, and he moved no more, dead at the hands of the entrepreneur.

Another successful operation.

The very same man who had survived up until the last moment before finally succumbing lay sprawled, strewn across the floor, a look of regret and disappointment forever etched on his face. he was a man who had looked up to him, idolised him, yet he died at the hands of the man he adored. Sterling felt an unfamiliar feeling - was it guilt? regret? something more? - and tried to stomach it. He was not feeling guilty. He was not regretful. Regret displayed weakness. He was not weak.

Sterling locked the door and briskly walked off; one could have sworn that if they were there at the time, they could see tears welling in his eyes.

————

Sterling was in his office, contemplating. His office was, surprisingly, not strewn with money and oodles of cash; but instead, pictures of himself, but significantly younger, a mere idealist who had nothing to show but dreams. It was almost as if to remind himself where he started, at the bottom: a past Sterling must have placed it there to ensure he wouldn’t get in too over his head. But it was far too late. Chet Sterling now thought of himself as a god, a living legend among men. His hubris had landed himself in such hot water, and now many people hated him. Sterling assuaged his conscience with empty words. “The masses adore me. A couple of people who don’t support me won’t be a problem. I’ll crush them in myhand. Especially Gemini and her friends. Especially them.”

Chet Sterling sighed. Could he be showing signs that he was human? Could he? No. He was above all individuals, his stranglehold on everything far too great to be surpassed. No man or woman could ever dethrone him, not until he died.

Not until he died…

Chet shook off the thought. No man could be immortal, not even him. His best hope was having such an influence on others, that his name would live on past his death.

He returned to his office to meet some unsatisfying news.

“Sir - most of your profits turned out to be chocolate.”

Sterling’s still expression turned to one of shock. “My - my willing customers have been deceiving me?!”

“Well, one of the purchases was chocolate. It was delicious! Anyways, yes. Gemini Sterling bought your headset. Who would’ve guessed?”

The colour in Sterling’s face drained.

“Gemini?! She must be onto something- “ Sterling worriedly muttered. “I take everything back. Double security. Triple it, I don’t care. In fact, quadruple it. If she - and her friends - are planning to take me down - I must make sure that they fail. No matter what.”

Big AI and Big Technology looked at each other. Sterling had never been this worried or dubious before, never this doubtful or wavering. Something bad must be going on.

Sterling got up and left the office, before an alarm blared.

“GOODNESS WHAT WAS THAT”

A few dozen floors below, Milo had blown up the front door with a stick of dynamite.

“Milo?! Why?! Now you’ve sounded an alarm!”

“Relax. There isn’t any more security for the time being, so it’s only a matter of time before security redoubles. When a fire alarm sounds, all doors unlock, don’t they? So now, we huddle into a back door and take the elevator to whichever floor suits us. Hopefully they’re dumb and label everything on their elevator buttons.”

As employees rushed out the front door, the kids and Buzzy huddled into the back.

“Here goes.”

Chapter 18: Shiawase[]

“So they blew up the front door.”

“Yes.”

“The tech prodigy who hates me, the artist and rebel, and the son of Samuel Booker. And a robot.”

“...Yes.”

“They blew up the front door.”

“Yes.”

Big AI was now backed up against a wall, frightened. But he needn’t be, as Sterling was now frightened with him. “So they’re onto us. They want us taken down. They want - they -”

“No.”

Sterling’s face contorted into one of rage-fueled determination.

“I will not let them!”

He pushed Big AI, Big Tech, Big Travel, Big Entertainment, and an intern aside as he rushed back to his office, making sure not to walk past the shareholders’ desecrated corpses. As soon as he was back in the mainstream, his glory was being taken away from him. He would not let it happen!

Sterling rushed into an elevator, pressing all the buttons at once, making sure not to leave any one out.

And up he went.

At the very top of Sterling Enterprises housed Shiawase Labs, a branch of Sterling Enterprises, where top secret technology was being developed. Incredibly dangerous, unpredictable, and powerful.

Explosive peanut butter- no. Idle fishing - no. Charged levels - no.

Aha. Nanobot manipulation.

Chet Sterling bashed open the unlocked door, to the fright of many innocent workers there.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. This has been in development, away from the media and prying eyes, for quite some time. I must control the nanobots.”

The workers knew of his wrath, and were smart enough to allow him to pass.

Sterling raised his hand to the writhing mass of nanobots, which recognised him as their puppet master, making their way up his body and into his blackened heart. Sterling fell to the ground in a scream of pain as red light emanated from him - before he rose up from the dust, hands outstretched. His hand turned into a nanobot claw, slicing through the air and clean through a table.

“Brilliant. Absolutely smashing. This will do well in my endeavours.”

Thinking of Gemini, his mind suddenly spasmed to Zara. The one person who seemed to care for him while he was away from the mainstream, who turned out merely to be pretending. Somehow, the thought of her fueled him with more rage than the thought of Gemini. Perhaps he should deal with her first. Take away one more person ikkle Gemini held dear.

He left Shiawase Labs in the wake of quite a lot of smashed tables, and one could swear that that moment, something had broken inside him. His conscience was destroyed, his morality in smithereens. None could defeat him. None.

————

“Would you look at that. All the buttons are labelled.”

“How convenient.”

A cheerful hum.

“Correct.”

“So - I assume we go to the database?”

“Apparently so.”

Suddenly, a red alarm blared within the elevator, startling Gemini, Milo, Jaden, and Buzzy. The robot let out a high-pitched hum, almost like a shriek, and hid inside Gemini’s backpack. It didn’t like loud noise.

The elevator shuddered to a halt, before the doors opened, in the wake of about 500 of Sterling’s employees.

Milo lifted up a finger, very matter-of-fact style. “I - *ahem* - according to my calculations,” he said in a nasally voice before returning to normal, “we are in deep, deep, sh-”

“No swearing.”

“Right. Forgot.”

Milo grabbed a stick of dynamite and threw it into the crowd, before a deafening explosion rang out across the crowd. Screams ensued. Fod went flying everywhere, furniture, cutlery, silverware. Milo grabbed Jaden’s hand, who grabbed Gemini: Buzzy flew after Gem, before diving across the room, out of the blast radius. The four sprinted towards a stairwell on the other side.

“Fire in the ho-” Milo pumped his fist.

“Please don’t.”

Silence.

“Water on the hill?” Milo shrugged.

No one was amused, and Buzzy slapped Milo lightly on the cheek.

After that, they went towards the database, the screaming and shouting and tumult and chaos still ensuing.

————

Chet Sterling heard a deafening boom, shrugging it off as an experiment gone wrong. He was essentially Doctor Octopus at this point with his cool nanobot powers and could become him if he wanted to, but that would be unoriginal. He would try it out in a different time, for he had a revenge plan to carry out. Zara Grey would pay the ultimate price for shunning him. No one disgraces Chet Sterling, and certainly not the one person who pretended to care during the dark times when he was irrelevant.

Gemini could wait. After all, he had all the time in the world to dispose of her. Zara was kind to him… he would spare her, yes. But she must pay for disdaining him, putting him down. Camp Guillermo, razed, up in flames, burnt to the ground. It was a beautiful thought, yes. It had to be done.

It shall be done.

And Chet Sterling would see to it himself.

Chapter 19: Magpies on Fire[]

“So these are the servers that Sterling uses to host the servers. I have a feeling he’s not alone in this operation -“ Milo scanned the region. “Honestly, by now security should have quadrupled. I wonder where Chet is.”

“Look over here. All the advertisements and propaganda are completely custom-made - so, I am assuming if we can transform it into a bunch of custom-made stuff that humiliates Chet Sterling! His reputation would be tarnished. Completely!” Gemini laughed. “Why don’t we go and explore?”

————

Chet Sterling sauntered over to Camp Guillermo, who was immediately noticed by Zara Grey.

“What did I say? You’ve been banned from Camp Guillermo forever. You will not ever be welcome back, and - GUH!” Zara was thrown to the ground by a robotic tentacle protruding from Sterling’s back. Guess he was going the Doctor Octopus style after all.

“You shunned me right on the verge of regaining my status, my class, my glory. I’ll never forgive you. Now, for a taster, why don’t you feel what it’s like to have everything you cherish ripped away before your very eyes?” Chet laughed a cold gormless laugh.

Some part of him felt he was distracted. Why not face off against Gemini now? She was, as the venerable Dolores Jane Umbridge would say, ‘Undesirable No. 1’. Gem had to be dealt with, quickly and easily.

Ah well. He was already here. Why go back?

Nanobots exploded out of his wrist, forming chains around Zara Grey, before Chet exploded into the sky and generated a metal claw, piercing through the interior of a cabin. The waters of the fishing lake rose up to his will, and as Chet Sterling waved his hand, it washed away the trees, structures, cabins, everything, before escaping through the sky and turning into a torrent that doused all in molten ice.

Zara was thrashing, desperate to be free of her chains at this point. Her pride and joy was being destroyed before her very eyes, crumbling in front of the one who saw through to its creation. Tears streamed down the fisherwoman’s face, but tears can’t put out flames, no matter how hard one tried. It couldn’t. And that was the undeniable fact.

A long metal arm retracted from Sterling’s left hand and picked up a stick of dynamite. Using his cloner gun, it became two, four, eight, sixteen -

…and hellfire rained upon the remains of Camp Guillermo. A force field was generated around the cursing Zara Grey, translucent enough so she could see the destruction of her own fabrication. And when it was all said and done, the fishing camp was doused in fire and flame, surrounding Zara, leaving a circle just enough so that the two could talk to each other without fear of burning alive.

“Don’t you see? This is what happens to those who shun me, to those who reject me. Everything they care about will be ripped from before their very eyes. Do not test me, Zara Grey. You only pretended to care. Besides, you know what happened to the shareholders.”

Zara Grey said nothing. She would not give him the satisfaction, to see her begging and grovelling for mercy.

“I will spare you for the time being. I repeat, do not test me, Zara Grey. If only you see your eyes, girl. Tears streaming down your face, eyes shining with the light that shall be engulfed in darkness.”

Zara looked around at the ruins of her pride and joy.

Chet Sterling left with one final sentence:

“Remember. I am a god. Do not forget that.”

And he left, binding Zara Grey to the ground, to stare at the remains of Camp Guillermo.

————

“Of course we need a password. Curses. We don’t have the resources nor technology… nor money… to create or buy a password cracker. Guess we may need to return here another day.” Gemini mused. “We need a way to get here instantaneously.”

Of course, the answer to that was through fishing. As Samuel Booker could not currently visit Crypt Keeper’s Pond, it was reasonable for him to let the kids borrow it. Buzzy relayed this and flew back to Mystic Pond: the trip took five hot minutes.

As Buzzy was flying, a loud boom shook the earth. “OH MY GOODNESS WHAT WAS THAT” screamed Gemini, who startled the other two. (For your information, Buzzy went down the stairwell to the battered cafeteria and flew out the window.) “I don’t know, maybe there was an experiment gone wrong? There are certainly laboratories here, we saw it on the label.”

“Let’s go to the cafeteria. We can see what’s going on, also I’m starving and like, everyone’s already dead!” Jaden replied. “Well, first we wait for Buzzy.”

A while later, Buzzy returned. A video of what had transpired played as Buzzy placed down the teleporter and teleported back to Mystic Pond and returned to prove it worked.

Samuel: “You’re Gemini’s robot, right?”

Buzzy: (affirmative hum) (nods)

Buzzy: (sign language) (Could we borrow a spare teleporter? Gemini needs it. It’s to stop Chet Sterling.)

Samuel: “Gotchu. I’m expecting a visit from Zara Grey, but she’s running late. Besides, anything to stop Chet Sterling. Never got along with him. Hear he’s planned something big, and it’s already in action - have you seen the headsets?”

Buzzy: (nods) (sign language) (Wait you understand sign language?)

Samuel: “Master of all trades, jack of none.”

Buzzy: (entertained hum)

Buzzy: (takes teleporter and flies)

(second boom ensues)

Samuel: “Hold on, what was th-”

Gemini nodded. “So the explosion wasn’t from here. It must be from outside! Maybe some delinquents are messing around and exploded something? Let’s go check.”

The foursome rushed down to the cafeteria, before gasping in horror. Camp Guillermo lay in flames, with Zara Grey in chains and Chet Sterling - flying?! And with metal appendages protruding from his back that made him look rather like Doctor Octopus, only with claws and all sorts of stuff?! Yeah, no one was sure what had happened but Chet Sterling looked quite freaky like this. Who knows what happened.

Gemini, Milo, and Jaden ran back up with Buzzy following them, and jumped into the teleporter.

————

“Where’s your dad, Milo?”

“I - I don’t know. I thought he was right here at Mystic Pond.”

But Samuel was not at Mystic Pond.

Rushing to check Zara’s location, Samuel flicked open his flip phone and stopped - Camp Guillermo? Why would she still be there? Didn’t she receive the invitation over for tea-

Oh.

That’s why.

Zara Grey, distraught, stood watching the flames rage around the ruins of the fishing camp as Samuel approached. “What happened?!” Samuel gasped.

“It was him. Chet Sterling. He did this.”

“But - why?!”

“I shunned him for murdering Preston McKenna and banned him for all eternity. Perhaps this is how he plans to repay me.”

“Why are you in chains?!”

“To make sure that I couldn’t look away from - from - ”

Zara could speak no more: she was trying her level best to keep calm.

Samuel stared at Sterling Enterprises. “He always had this side in him. But as much as I hated him, I knew there was still some morality inside of him.”

“Perhaps it broke.”

“Perhaps. And if we’re correct - we are pretty much doomed.”

Several animals were trying to escape the raging blaze: two magpies on fire shot up into the sky, a trail of red hot plasma streaming forth.

Sterling returned to his office, continuing to upgrade security. The database, as far as he knew, had not been breached. There was no security footage at the time, and the doors were unlocked, so someone could have easily barged in. The database locked: it could no longer be accessed from the outside. After that, he removed all other abilities to access Shiawase Labs. Only mashing elevator buttons could get you there, as well as a teleporter in Sterling’s office.

Something had broken in Chet Sterling that day.

And it would propel him to new heights.

He was a god.

None would forget it.

Part Three - Orion[]

Chapter 20: This Sunset Sleeps[]

“Time is money, and money is life. If you aren’t spending every minute, every second strategising about ways to maximise profit, then what are you doing with your life?”

“Wasn’t your biggest reveal ever, this said ‘breakthrough in digital entertainment and art’ as you call it - wasn’t supposed to come out a week ago?”

“In this school, you don’t just tell lies and get away with it. You’re Chet’s daughter! You’re meant to practically worship him!”

“Good, good time boys, make me feel good, give, me good times, yeah yeah yeah!”

“Go ahead. I’m not afraid of death, it’s like 80% of what I teach. But you will never succeed. And that’s something I rarely say.”

“IF YOU LET THE EYES OF ‘INNOCENT BYSTANDERS’ OR THE ARBITRARY BARRIERS THAT ARE MORALS AND ETHICS DRAG YOU BACK, YOU WILL NEVER MAKE IT IN LIFE.”

“All that will be left for you to do is walk away and taste the pain.”

“I am a god.”

“Do not forget that.”

Echoes of “I am a god. Do not forget that.” reverberated through Gemini’s brain as she tossed and turned and thrashed, before waking up. It was about 5am.

Still in her PJs, Gemini got up and made herself a nice chicken and mayonnaise sandwich. It was the least she could do to ease the voices in her head. How much had transpired since the school year started? She remembered finding Samuel and Zara, in the midst of the ruins of Camp Guillermo. Chet Sterling had returned, Mr. McKenna had died, Camp Guillermo had been destroyed. She’d seen Zara Grey disappear in a flash of blue light, she’d seen Preston McKenna being shot dead, she’d seen her mother Grace Whitman pass on her deathbed.

Logging onto her computer, she started listening to some Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was, at this point, the only form of solace she had left. Rowing, history classes, fishing, it had all been taken away from her. And one person was responsible.

If anything, Chet’s actions only fueled Gemini’s rage and determination to destroy him and everything he built up. They had an easy entrance to Sterling’s database, and with Milo’s technical expertise and Buzzy, surely they could easily stop him. But it had to be huge. Every man, woman, child had to know of his atrocities.

Pretty much everybody had a Sterling Headset at this point, even the mayor and government: it seemed even authority could not prevent you from falling victim to the Eyeball Bait. Profits - spendable, not edible - were rolling in - but Chet Sterling wasn’t focused on that. People were behaving erratically - looking around at pretty much everything in sight, and Gemini knew exactly why. On each surface, a Chet Sterling advertisement or pro-Big Company propaganda would be plastered.

Gemini rarely had sleep anymore. In fact, she’d moved rooms away from Jaden so as to not wake her up during the middle of the night after her nightmares. It was the least she could do - as well as turning on music to calm her nerves.

She assuaged her conscience with empty words. They had easy access into and out of Sterling Enterprises, and she still had her friends. If she ever lost them to Sterling - and even Samuel and Zara - she wouldn’t know what to do.

The sun rose, and Gemini admired the view.

————

“Rise and shine, Xeter.”

Chet Sterling’s voice boomed over the dawning city through speakers strategically placed around the sprawling city.

“Slow down the rivers of time in your mind, and immerse yourself into an augmented world where your wildest dreams can come true. Because when Chet Sterling promises, he delivers.”

“This is the grand return you have been waiting for. The wonder you never knew is merely sleeping. So wake up and boot up the headset. Remember, this is my world. You just live in it.”

“I am a god. Do not forget this.”

“How do I turn this o-”

And the bustling city of Xeter woke up.

“I’m telling you, he’s gone full trucker. Mad with power. No idea how he got the nanobots, or the speakers, or - anything! I was awake at like 5am, and he started yapping an hour later. We haven’t seen Zara OR Samuel since two days ago. It isn’t even a school day and everyone wakes up at six! Oh look, people with headsets.”

Jaden and Milo shared concerned looks at Gemini. Milo had moved his stuff over to Jaden’s temporarily until Samuel returned.

“All Samuel told us to do was go back home, as drones whizzed overhead. Then Zara disappears into blue light! Who knows where she went? I surely have zero idea! Did they kidnap her? Is she dead like the others? Or is it just the very simple explanation of the Limited Time Portals event being active, and she simply ran off to Snowy Mountains to catch Issrakrs and use Thyrm as therapy?”

Jaden sighed. “Gemini - I think you’re being obsessive over this.”

Milo added: “How do you know about Thyrm?”

Gem ignored the question. “So what if I’m being obsessive? You’d be eager to stop Chet Sterling (‘We are.’ - Jaden and Milo) if because of him, someone you care about dies, a place you hold dear is destroyed, everyone you know is being brainwashed, and you get these freaking horrible dreams! Yes, I am being obsessive. But ever since Mr. M-McKenna, I have not been able to get a decent night of sleep without staying up late and listening to music. It’s how I was in such good shape the day of the break-in.”

Jaden and Milo smiled. Milo tried to reassure Gemini: “Don’t worry. We’re in this together, and he’s hurt all of us. We can do this.”

“I don’t know how much longer that will help, but… thanks.”

For the first time that morning, Gemini smiled.

————

Samuel Booker had made the classic mistake of keeping his phone on him. That way, Milo could easily see where he was - though the idea had not come to him yet. Samuel faintly heard Chet Sterling mentioning ‘fetching Zara’ - for what? Interrogations? Twisted, cruel experiments? Perhaps even another murder? He’d lost his wife already to divorce, and death five years later. He wouldn’t lose Zara too.

Samuel slept in a hotel that night - all his money from catching Chroma Jormungandrs helped tons. The next day, he set off for Sterling Enterprises.

“Rise and shine, Xeter.”

Chet Sterling’s voice blared through the waning hours of dusk as Samuel ran behind the sun, coat unbuttoned and tie flapping through the wind.

“Slow down the rivers of time in your mind… The wonder you never knew is merely sleeping. Remember, this is my world. You just live in it. I am a god. Do not forget this.”

Samuel blocked Chet’s horrible motivational messages out of his head. He wouldn’t turn to his side. Never! He shut his eyes as the leaves rustled in the wind, bopping him in the face like playful children, with their innocence not in shambles. After several minutes, he made it to Sterling Enterprises.

“Alright. Milo managed to do this, and so did Gemini and Jaden. If they can do it…”

He lit a stick of dynamite.

“...so can I.”

And he fired.

Chapter 21: Eyes Wide Shut[]

The explosion rocked the room, sending a shockwave through the lobby. The alarms blared again, and panicked screams of “Not again!” “Help!” “They’re back!” “Run!”

But Gemini, Milo, and Jaden were not there. Instead, they saw a middle-aged man in a coat, with a harpoon slung over his back and dynamite in his hand.

Samuel rushed towards the lobby. “Where are you keeping Zara Grey?”

The lobby dude, frightened, managed to peep: “Y-you c-can ask Mr. S-Sterling - his o-office is clearly l-l-labelled on the elevator - ”

Following this, Samuel dashed towards the elevator. As security guards rushed towards the trespasser, they were slashed down by the harpoon-brandishing father, hellbent on rescuing his friend. Who knows what horrors were being unleashed deep within the bowels of Sterling Enterprises?

Zara, whose chains were now unbound, was thrusted into a chair in Shiawase Labs. Chet Sterling now rebound the chains and secured her to the chair, before grinning a gormless grin. “You will tell me what Gemini is planning.”

“She isn’t planning anything. At least, not that I know of.”

“Who is with her?”

“You’re not dragging her friends down with Gemini!”

“Tsk tsk, Zara. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.”

And he used his nanobot powers to lift Zara up into the sky, strangling her, the fisherwoman was turning purple in the face - before she was released: no, not from mercy, but as Chet had ran out of energy. Using nanobots for torture took a toll on Chet’s energy. A key, a photo, a USB drive clattered to the ground as Chet sent a nanobot drone to take it to his office.

Zara seethed. “I never knew you’d go to such lengths. You make me sick!”

Chet smiled. “We’ll see about that.”

And he forced a headset on Zara Grey, before she collapsed with a terrible scream. Chet knew exactly what she was experiencing on the other end: a sight so unimaginable, her greatest fears and worries come to haunt her. Zara was back in high school, in the sick bay with a broken arm after defending Chet from a bully - Zara was at Deepwater Sanctuary, and a Charybdis was doing its level best to kill her - Zara was in the Winter Prom, and Mr. McKenna was being shot dead - Zara was at the raging, burning camp - she thrashed and sobbed, but no one camp to help her.

Chet grabbed her and the headset was plucked off Zara, who breathed a sigh of relief and pain, her eyes wide yet shut, as though she was trying to block out the images from her mind, and yet she couldn’t look away.

“Dry your tears. Tears don’t put out flames. I wonder how many times I’ve said that. Actually, it’s the first time I’ve said it, and it won’t be the last. Tears don’t put out flames. Action does. And the flame right now is Gemini Sterling. She must be done away with.”

“Lay a finger on her and I’ll- ”

“And you’ll what? Bash a harpoon at me? Throw a stick of dynamite at me? Sic a Chroma Jormungandr on me? Oooh, I’m mortified, petrified! Quivering in my boots! But in the end, it’s those who oppose me who will.”

“I defended you in your lowest moments, I stood up for you when people didn’t understand your greatness! But this is what your greatness amounted to. Death and destruction.”

“Funny you should bring up death.”

And the two disappeared in a wisp of blue light.

The two apparated into a meeting room, filled with desecrated corpses. Panicked expressions on their faces, Sterling was painfully reminded once more of that fateful incident.

“Observe. This is what happened to those who opposed me, who shunned me, who rejected me. They asked too many questions, they humiliated me. This is what had become of them.”

Zara was mortified.

“You - you did this - ”

Chet’s expression was unwavering.

“You - you were always capable of murder - ”

“Normally I’d be killing you on the spot. But you did show me mercy and support in the low times. I shall spare you. You must be brainwashed.”

The room darkened, and they were back in Shiawase Labs. The original Eyeball Bait was held to Zara’s head, as Chet began to recite the usual:

“I am a god. Never forget it.”

Zara had to resist. She couldn’t, wouldn’t fall under his grasp.

“I am a god. Never forget it.”

Zara couldn’t bear it anymore. She could feel her memories drifting away…

“I am a god. Never forget it.”

Zara stifled a yawn, still fighting the inevitable urge to sleep.

“I am a god. Never forget it.”

Zara gave one last, forlorn look at Chet.

“You’re - n-no god. You’re just a monster.”

And she fell unconscious.

————

“Dad’s in Sterling Enterprises. What’s he doing there? Busting into Sterling’s private quarters is our job!” Milo, astounded, exclaimed. “Chet must have done something bad to piss him off. Actually that would be a stretch. Dad hated Chet always. I remember seeing his face on the CCTV footage. ‘What’s that toe-eyed cabbage-brained gormless minger doing on my property?’” He imitated his dad’s voice. “Look, he’s making his way up. Did you see Zara disappear?”

“Couldn’t have seen it clearer,” Gemini replied grimly.

Jaden darkly added: “Perhaps it’s time to return to Sterling Enterprises. Samuel must be looking for Zara. We have to make sure he isn’t hurt or killed.”

Normally Milo would have gasped, but he said nothing. Perhaps they were desensitised to death at this point. The tandem scooter was foolishly left at Sterling Enterprises, so they had to run.

Samuel bashed open a door with a harpoon. “Tell me the whereabouts of Chet Sterling.”

The employees froze. “We genuinely have no idea! He’s been retreating somewhere secret for days now, search h-his office or something! I don’t know!”

Samuel smirked. A sensible man would throw a stick of dynamite in there and be done with. Thankfully, Samuel was no monster. He spared them and walked to the elevator.

Room after room, door after door, Samuel could get no information. All he got was ‘check the office’ ‘I don’t know’ ‘please don’t kill me’ and ‘leave us be!’ Corridor, corridor, room, room, room, room, nothing could be extracted. But then he saw a locked door: Shareholder Meeting Room. Were those faint screams he could hear? He bashed open the door.

Oh dear good god.

Bodies.

Bodies strewn over the floor, frightened expressions on their faces. This had taken place months ago - the bodies were still in good condition, but rotting would surely begin within the season. It was disgusting. There were cameras - surely Samuel could hack it? He viewed the footage - there was Sterling, releasing the poison gas into the room. Mass hysteria. The collapsing of innocent men and women.

It was disgusting.

Security guards noticed the middle-aged combatant in the prohibited area and forcefully dragged him out by the shoulders. “You get out of there! Poking in places you shouldn’t! You’re coming with us to the elevator.”

Sam thrusted his body against the weakest one, tumbling into the elevator, before he was promptly grabbed by a guard. Body pressing against all the buttons, a rumbling noise was heard, and soon a change in velocity, a change in acceleration, jerk, jounce, crackle - Samuel took out a stick of dynamite as he was being strangled, before it exploded.

As the elevator reached Shiawase Labs, the door exploded and Chet Sterling was bombarded with the full force of Samuel Booker, noticing Chet just in time and grabbing him, blood streaming from his arm. Samuel ripped off Chet’s tie and tied it around his bleeding arm, as the injured guards passed out. Readying a punch, Samuel’s fist was promptly crushed by a metallic pincer: he screamed in agony as he was thrown to the ground.

“What have you done with Zara Grey?!”

“She knew too much.”

The shareholders knew too much… and they died. Surely Zara couldn’t be - surely she wouldn’t –

“But she has changed for the better. She showed me kindness in the lowest of times… as such she has been brainwashed.”

So she was gone. At least somehow.

“You couldn’t have done it.”

“I think you’ll find I can, will, and have.”

“You - you - ”

Samuel readied into a frenzied scream, as he punched Chet square in the chest: and in a moment of weakness, some of the nanobots rushed to repair the damage, before being attracted to whoever this new being was - it was clearly stronger than whom they inhabited. It surely was. Purple light ensued, before Samuel felt a burning sensation in his hand - it travelled up to his arm; his chest; his heart. Samuel floated in the air, screaming in pain as Chet grabbed ahold of him, grabbing his head, before the two were knocked apart.

Chet now stared in horror, and soon rage. “No. Y-you have control of the nanobots.” He formed a metal tentacle, a claw, a sword, a machine gun. “Well, so do I.”

“That means we’re square.”

Samuel materialised a harpoon gun from his hand.

“Step aside.”

A few nanobots shoved Chet to the side, before a gentle hand picked up Zara. “Alright, Zara. You’re okay now.” He touched her head unexplainably - and a blue cube was extracted.

“Oh, damn you, Samuel. You’ve just taken away all her memories of me brainwashing her. I guess I’ll have to kill her after all.”

“DON’T!” Samuel grabbed Chet and bound him in chains: one arm free, Chet rolled over to Samuel and grabbed ahold of him. The nanobots left Samuel’s body, and returned to their rightful owner: Chet then bound Samuel in fire and chains, before turning to Zara.

“Goodbye, old friend.”

————

“Shiawase Labs? What’s that?” Jaden asked. They’d already been through several rooms: frightened employees ducked out of sight as they followed Samuel’s footprints. All the elevator buttons were mashed: they travelled up and up to the apex of Sterling Enterprises: the three were shot out as Chet Sterling aimed at Zara. There was a tinge of sorrow in his gaze, quickly converted to determination. The nanobots materialised into a pistol: he readied the trigger.

As Chet prepared to fire, he looked away. The coward couldn’t look at the person he was shooting. But in looking away, he noticed the triad of Year 9s.

“And just what in tarnation are you doing?!” Milo yelled.

Chet winced. “I am doing what needs to be done.”

Jaden and Gemini said in unison: “Don’t you dare.”

Jaden spoke first: “You don’t realise that she was the one who - ”

“Yes. She did. I am grateful for it. But she knows too much, and must be done away with. I tried to spare her, show her mercy. But mercy is for the weak.”

Gemini said nothing. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of singing his greatest hits. Murder, manipulation, being a monster in general. But her eyes drifted to his hand - and his finger, slowly twitching as it slowly pressed down. She lunged.

He fired, but not before Gemini lunged at him: misfiring, he shot the ceiling and shattered the adjacent window, detonating the explosive peanut butter and killing everyone in the room. The force knocked Samuel, Milo, and Jaden to the floor, as Gemini, Zara, and Chet surged towards the wall, shattering the concrete. Chet materialised a pair of wings that flapped as he soared on downwards - but they dematerialised in the strong descent: Gemini, slowly blacking out from the force of the wall’s destruction, spun into a freefall as she plummeted 480 meters towards the ground.

Everything slipped away, before darkness.

Chapter 22: Freefall[]

Samuel got up and stood by the crack, watching Chet spiral down and down. Normally, he would have tried to find an immediate way to rescue Gemini and Zara, but something, too, had broken in Samuel. He stood, watching Chet struggle as he plunged, and looked away, plotting a way to save Gemini and Zara from imminent death. Milo looked for something to help - Gemini couldn’t die like this. All she had done, she’d done to destroy Chet sterling - not kill him, but destroy his reputation. If she perished before she’d achieved such - the consequences were too ghastly to discuss.

Chet struggled and tried in futility to stay airborne. His nanobots slowly turned into a forcefield, shielding him from harm - but it was slowly breaking apart, cracking at the seams, regenerating and crumbling endlessly. All he had to do was hope his forcefield was fully intact when he hit the ground - and this wasn’t a very likely chance. He focused harder.

Flat on her back in a lonely sprawl, Gemini drifted into a state between light and dark, consciousness and blankness. Funny how the price was paid, for rising up against the powerful, standing up against the oppressors.

Zara was not awake yet. Gemini frantically tried to propel herself through the descent to reach Zara - Zara was still breathing, she surely would not be dead. But if nothing was done both would.

Samuel looked around. There was a teleporter - who knows where it lead. He picked it up, before rushing to the gaping hole, wheeling over an idle fisher, attaching a harpoon on a rope to it, grabbed the neck of the tip, and prepared to jump.

“Dad! What are you doing?!”

“I’m not losing Zara or Gem. Don’t come after me.”

“Wait!”

And the father jumped.

————

It was exhilarating, the wind rushing against you. Samuel slid against the smooth glass walls as he readied his aim. He grabbed a stick of dynamite, looked carefully as to not injure the two he sought to save - and detonated it.

Gemini, awoken by the deafening boom, noticed Samuel.

“Samuel! Wha - what are you - ”

“Get ready. I’m throwing you a teleporter - I assume you know how it works? Grab it, and jump in. Take Zara with you.”

Chet noticed Samuel and recognised the teleporter. The one that led straight to his office. And now Gemini was going to enter it. He would not let her.

“No!” Chet snarled, before jumping towards Gemini.

Samuel thought back to his glory days of playing ultimate frisbee with Zara, Preston, and the other Year 10s - readied his aim, flicked his wrist, and threw, before the rope reached its maximum pull length and snapped. He gripped onto the windowsill.

“Good luck, Gem.”

And he thrusted himself through the window, rolling and finding himself in an employee area.

At the same time, Gemini, one arm linked with Zara’s, was attempting to swim towards the teleporter. Where did it lead? Surely somewhere Chet did not want them to go. At the bottom, many individuals had arrived to witness the skirmish - some even took their headsets off to get a better view. Gemini reached out for the teleporter, Chet close behind: his arm grabbed Gemini’s collar.

“Insolent fool. Don’t you realise where that’ll go?!”

“I genuinely have no idea.”

Chet found his hand being slapped away, before Gemini allowed Zara to fall back: the teleporter would reach them after all, the angle was perfect. Gemini then slapped Chet in the face, sending him flying back - and then she and Zara travelled into the unknown.

Chet tumbled back, forming a crater in a nearby building, bones unfortunately completely fine due to the nanobot reinforcements. The teleporter, now empty, smashed against the wall: the link had been cut. Sterling could no longer freely move between Shiawase Labs at any time. Worse, the truth dawned on him: Gemini was in his office.

Gemini and Zara tumbled through, Zara finally being jolted awake.

“Guh - where am I?”

Gemini hugged Zara as hard as she could, knocking all the air out of the fisherwoman. She was fine after all - not dead. Samuel had mentioned Chet brainwashing her - that was fine too.

“Okay, hi Gemini. I believe times have not been the best for you?”

“Oh, not in the slightest. Come, let’s find Samuel and Jaden and Milo.”

Moments later, they appeared to the onlooking Jaden and Milo. Milo sent a message to Samuel, before heading home.

A few dozen yards away, Chet was brushing off himself. Clever, clever Gemini, to force such an undesirable look onto Chet in front of the public! Clever, clever Gemini, to making him look the villain before everyone. Clever, clever Gemini, to force herself to move one step closer to destroying Chet’s newly-regained reputation. He wouldn’t be forgotten or hated by the masses, he wouldn’t!

Returning to his office, he breathed a sigh of relief. The teleporter may have been broken, but neither Gemini nor Zara had poked around too much. All was well.

Would it be for long?

Chapter 23: Dark Necessities[]

Marilyn was at home, discussing future plans with some of her friends, who had connections to Chet Sterling. Following the skirmish at Shiawase Labs, Gemini and her cronies had complete knowledge of the top secret plans. They’d used the explosive peanut butter and idle fishing to their advantage, but thankfully charged levelling was still under wraps.

Gemini had decided to take the day off, after so much trauma in the consecutive three days: no one really blamed her. She’d been going through quite a lot, much more than she was prepared to. Sterling was safe… for the moment. Repairs had been issued, and all damages had been taken care of. Zara Grey was sitting in the basement, sipping on a cup of black civet coffee in memoriam, as she discussed ideas for rebuilding the camp with Samuel Booker.

Staring into the ceiling, Gemini thought of how different her life could have been, had she followed in her dad’s footsteps. Shaking off the thought with a shudder, she turned on the radio. Dark Necessities was playing, Jaden’s favourite song. She had a Josh Klinghoffer standee in her room, which Gemini never really managed to figure out why. She sighed, before drifting into calm.

Marilyn had arranged a meetup with Chet Sterling for 3:00 PM. It was scheduled for that day. Nothing would possibly go wrong. Marilyn was a very wealthy donor, she was cute, cool, and popular, and worshipped Sterling. She’d managed to turn many people to Chet’s side - most of the rowing kids, Jacob the house captain (after much reluctance), all of the football team, all had succumbed to Chet’s rule. Well, Jacob gave his headset to Randy Scott. We have a whole other story for Jacob (don’t worry, he’s a good guy).

The hours came and went, and three arrived. Marilyn booked herself into Sterling Enterprises, and met in a meeting room (without any vents to release poison gas from, seeing as Marilyn was such a valuable asset and would not be killed. Also, child murder was a big no-no.)

“I assume you were in a bit of a jiffy yesterday?” Marilyn laughed.

Chet was silent.

“...I am taking that to mean yes.”

Chet stood up. “You were always valuable to us, Marilyn. Your parents have always been avid supporters of me, and you have turned many to our side.” With the birds, he shared the lonely view with Marilyn. “Gemini and her little gang do not know of what beauties Shiawase Labs have to behold… but they have used it to their advantage unknowingly. Those who have opposed me have gone mad over the power of the Eyeball Bait. Samuel Booker, though long since been an enemy of mine, has helped my cause very well with his generous donation, the good Samaritan.”

“His son whacked me with a pencil case. It was his greatest moment. It most definitely wasn’t mine.”

“To hold grudges is not a curse. It is a blessing. It drives you, fills you with purpose to defeat those you hate… arh, I’m rambling. Phase One is complete, the Sterling Headsets are now in mass production and 98% of the population owns one. I trust some of them were reluctant? Poor Jacob. Wasn’t Gemini heckling him at the Winter Prom?”

Marilyn laughed. “Your so-proclaimed ‘motivational messages’ have been very useful. I am getting quite sick of Fight Like a Brave. Perhaps widen your RHCP tastes? Perhaps Dark Necessities?”

“Perchance. Security will now also be tripled. Our servers have been completely locked down: only I can access it, and remotely. If anyone manages to get into the database, something will certainly be breached: a wall, a ceiling, something. So we lower the database and fill the room with poison gas. It’s foolproof. It’s not like anyone can teleport in and out of a room.”

“Precisely! Anyways, I was considering becoming a censor.”

“A sensor?”

“No, a censor. Essentially, I choose what goes into the media and what does not. It’s simple. Pro-Sterling in, anti-Sterling out. It’s foolproof.”

“Interesting. Anyways, I need to record some more motivational messages. Talk to you later.”

Two hours later, Xeter was alerted with Sterling’s brilliant voice.

“Before you rest your weary head to bed tonight, ask yourself the question: have you shown your necessary dedication to the one you praise and support? Have you reminded yourself of my influence, my presence in every alleyway and street?”

“The answer to that?”

“You could have done more.”

“Good night.”

————

That night, Gemini stayed awake. Samuel had also taken the day off, which meant Jaden and Milo would take the liberty of discussing plans, which would be disclosed the following day. As she shared the lonely view with the birds, she felt a familiar feeling. Isolation. Solitude. She was far too tired, both mentally and physically, to do anything.

Trudging over to her backpack, she carefully took out Buzzy, who flittered awake and angrily hummed, as if to say WHY DID YOU WAKE ME UP GRAHHH. Gemini chuckled. Buzzy rested itself in Gem’s lap, before playing a John Frusciante solo quietly, humming along to the rhythm, instilling a weird sense of calm in Gemini she hadn’t felt since rowing, in fact since Milo dominated Marilyn with a pencil case. Perhaps the next day, she would return to what was left of Camp Guillermo and pay homage to it.

Managing to finally catch some Zs, Gemini rested her head and slept, for what seemed like the first time in centuries.

Gemini woke up early the following day. Ignoring Sterling’s motivational messages, she travelled to the ruins of Camp Guillermo, reminiscing on the glory days when she conquered a Chroma Jormungandr and ran for a kilometer straight to camp and back. Buzzy trailing behind, the two sat behind the sun and remembered.

Buzzy noticed a charred cabin still standing, and searched inside for supplies: a metal pan and matches were found, as well as some firewood. Lighting a fire, Buzzy activated waterproof mode and dived into the water, grabbing a flailing bass from the lake and a salmon from the river. A horrific scene ensued, as Gemini looked away, resisting laughter as Buzzy emanated gleeful laughing hums as the fish was gutted and cooked. Horrific.

As the sun rose, Gemini had a nice breakfast away from the hustle and bustle of Xeter, in the company of her creation.

Calm.

Chapter 24: Metal Angels[]

Chet Sterling stood atop the roof of the newly repaired Sterling Enterprises. All he could hear was what he wanted to hear, and since the skirmish at Shiawase Labs, no incidents had happened. His reach was extending beyond Xeter: his influence stretched to different planets, from the hidden depths of Sypso to the suburbs of Synryn (you know it today as Chethither because the fools renamed their planet in honour of Chet, the innocent idiots).

Few remained free from Sterling’s totalitarian grasp. Marilyn had become Chet’s right-hand woman, and in a purple haze of makeup and incredibly strong perfume she had gotten to work censoring all media that contained any defamation against Chet Sterling. Surely the government coud stop them? They fled the city like cowards, sensing the fall of Xeter, and left for Prodigia.

Most survivors had been held in Sterling Enterprises and brainwashed - and now that Samuel had lost possession of the nanobots, Chet was the sole possessor of its dark power: none would be able to extract memories from Sterling’s victims. There were those who fled - there were those who hid from Chet’s iron fist.

We now introduce yet another character! Unless you’re my English teacher, then he should be quite familiar to you.

A figure in a hoodie trudged down the streets, having fled from his house once his parents had become controlled by the Eyeball Bait, before he succumbed to the same fate. Posters in the dark alleyway advertised recruitments for opposers of Chet Sterling, organised by Gemini, Jaden, and Milo: Gem had returned to learn of Jaden and Milo’s plan to gain more followers. He took the poster and hid it in his hoodie pocket. Gemini had heckled him at the fateful Winter Prom: his best friend had wept when he discovered that history and rowing were no more. Poor Cam… he was too weak to resist Chet Sterling’s influence, or whatever he was using to bait innocent citizens.

Taking off his hood, he let the sunlight shine on his face for the first time in two days, brown hair flowing in the morning air. Victim of pigeon attacks, slayer of telemarketers, Jacob Doswell felt a mixture of worry and calm, but also hope that things could change.

————

Samuel was fishing in the backyard pond. He wasn’t sure why, but he had picked the perfect spot to build a house: a pond teeming with all sorts of exotic fish. It definitely lived up to its name, Mystic Pond. Taking his mind off things, he turned on the boombox. Dark Necessities played, as Samuel calmed down. He and Chet alone knew what it was like to possess the nanobots. Having so much energy within you was quite exhilarating, but one wrong move and it was over. You were simultaneously both supremely powerful and immensely vulnerable at the same time.

Gemini, Jaden, and Milo discussed plans for their Resistance group, throwing around names and strategies. Eventually ‘OrionTech’ stuck: they wanted to throw a constellation reference in there in honour of Gemini, and the ‘Tech’ part was because of Buzzy’s existence. Rejected names included ‘The Turtleheads’, ‘The Sensitives’, and ‘Black Fish Ferris Wheel’ (I’d be surprised if you understood the reference): no one really liked them. Posters had been printed and placed in areas around Xeter, really shady areas where whoever was Sterling’s censor wouldn’t dare enter. No one had reached out to them yet, but that was about to change.

The three kids and Buzzy went out to put up more posters, noticing some fighting in a nearby street. A classmate from school was fending off some large and bulky security agents from Sterling Enterprises. It reminded Gemini of the seniors who had tripped over Milo the day they met - balling her fists, she ran up to one of them and grabbed their arm, forcefully. “Alright, get off him! What did he ever do to you?”

“We have been given explicit orders to censor all anti-Chet Sterling media. Actually, you kind of look like the kid in the poster this dude’s holding. Who are - ”

“Yes, I’m Gemini Sterling. Now that that’s taken care of, I am going to proceed to - ”

And she kicked him in the balls with full force: with a groan of agony, the kid was released, poster still in hand. Gemini motioned to Jaden and Milo, who went to grab the second agent, while Buzzy, taking initiative, flew up and slapped the dude in the face. The kid looked back, smiling, before looking at Gemini.

“Weren’t you heckling me at the Winter Prom?”

“We save you from getting beaten up, or whatever they wanted to do with you, and you remember me as the girl who heckled you at the Winter Prom. Think I recognise you, too.”

“Yes, I was the kid who got brutally mauled by pigeons at the park. Jacob Doswell, nice to re-introduce you.”

One of the guards was now calling for backup from Sterling Enterprises, that Gemini had been sighted and her friends were with her before the walkie-talkie was smacked out of his hand. A few seconds later, an airship arrived with five guards: this posed quite the challenge for the three kids, as they struggled to fend off against seven giant, bulky armed guards. Buzzy relentlessly swiped and slapped and punched at the guards, but it only annoyed them. Jacob seethed. These dudes he’d been hiding from had been terrorising him since the Winter Prom, and now they were attacking a few kids!

Milo attempted to use a harpoon to bash his attacker’s head in, but the guard simply fired a pistol and broke it in two. Jacob grabbed the metal tip and dove straight into the agent’s back: a howl of pain ensued, and Jacob pilfered the pistol, before shooting the agent d e a d. The remaining six agents ran hurriedly, two of which were gunned down by the vengeful teenager. Something had snapped in him since he was just the kid standing by the snack table without a date, chewing on Cheez Doodles.

Milo stared at the body as Jacob blew away the pistol smoke. “Dang. You really killed him.”

“I really don’t care. If you’ve been living on the streets, you’ll know that you need to do what it takes to survive. Felt bad for you because I knew that Sterling hated you, and wanted an excuse to finally use a firearm. Dad didn’t let me near one for weeks after the telemarketer incident.”

“What telemarketer inci - ah, never mind.”

Breathing heavily, Jacob continued to pace. “So you’re the kids Sterling’s after? I say you should probably hide. I can help you, but these, th-these people - they are completely insane. People are censoring anything that opposes him - people are being dragged away and brainwashed. It’s far too dangerous. So hopefully you know what you’re doing. And we can’t do anything about this online, because the internet can and will be tracked. You’re good people. I don’t want you brainwashed or dead.”

Gemini smiled. “So you’re in?”

“Well, I guess I kind of am - ”

“We got our first new member! Welcome to the team.”

“Hey hey hey, we can’t just go around crooning about this team you have of yours. People could hear, people could notice. Do you have a meeting grounds or something?”

“We do. Come with us…”

But they failed to notice a figure in the corner, watching the scene unfold and ensue, in her designer clothes, recording the entire thing.

Gemini should have related with Jacob more than ever. Both had lost parents to Chet Sterling’s beliefs, and both were working against them. Both had had their claims to fame (Gemini for her rowing skills and Jacob for his viral pigeon maul), and both opposed Chet Sterling. The four walked back to Mystic Pond.

“Hey Dad! We got a new member for our group!” Milo crooned to Samuel, who was making roast pork shoulder. Jacob waved. “So this is Mystic Pond? I could get used to this.”

“Jaden and Gemini don’t sleep here regularly, so you can have their bedroom!” Milo joked. (Jaden and Gemini obviously objected.) Jacob considered, but replied with: “Do you have a sewing machine and a carpentry table?”

“Well, yeah, but we haven’t used them in a long time. They’re in the basement, just be careful of all of Dad’s fishing stuff!” Milo added, before escalating to a yell as Jacob ran to the basement. Lots of clanking was heard, and about 5 minutes later, Jacob returned.

“What were you doing down the- ”

“Do you have any soft material? Like cotton or wool?”

“Pretty sure we have some from the attic. You can - wait, what are you doing - ”

Jacob rushed to the attic, carrying the entire thing down into the basement. After discussing plans and fishing for a few hours, Jacob returned from the basement. “I built my own bed! This basically means that for the time being, I’ll be sleeping in the basement until everything blows over. All my stuff’s in my backpack.”

He paused. “I forgot how nice it was to actually have a house. Used to take everything for granted.”

“Want to fish with us? I’ll let you use the dynamite.”

“Sure.”

OrionTech was bound to grow, but for now, it was simply just three friends bonding with a newcomer. The four fished until sunset (Jacob especially loved the dynamite).

————

Marilyn Linforth had been strolling down the streets before she saw the posters in the alleyway where the security guard had been shot by Jacob. On further examination, she entered the alleyway and grabbed a poster. OrionTech, she mouthed to herself. “So this is what Gemini has been up to since… Mr. Sterling will be glad to know of such pressing news.” She pocketed the poster and left.

The stars gleamed in the light of dusk, illuminating the roads and the paths. Marilyn strolled off towards her house, as the city of Xeter fell to sleep…

Starlight irradiated the night sky. Chapter 25: The Fifth Column In the basement, shielded from any harm, Jacob gazed up into the ceiling. It was hard to believe that mere hours ago, he had been a runaway delinquent on the streets, hiding away from the forces that controlled his hometown. Now, he was part of the force resisting. The good old days when he was simply a Year 10, revising for pre-mock exams… (Yes, Jacob is older than Gemini, Jaden, and Milo by 1 year).

More classmates had mysteriously disappeared off the face of the earth, only to come back as completely different people. It was genuinely frightening. Peoples’ brains were rotting, falling apart at the seams, and all people could do was sit back and watch. Something had to be done soon.

Marilyn checked into Sterling Enterprises, travelling up to the meeting room where Sterling was, poster in hand. The elevator buzzed and whizzed up to the 91st floor, where Chet Sterling was eagerly waiting. Dark Necessities was playing.

“Since we last met I have broadened my music tastes! How do you like this? Anyways, tell me why you have summoned yourself.”

“I do believe Gemini is plotting something.”

And Marilyn thrust the poster onto the table, the light blaring directly onto it. Sterling stared: the well-oiled gears in his brain were turning. Marilyn also showed the recording: Chet now knew why some of his agents had failed to return.

Some of them were dead.

“They’re starting a little gang against me. How cute. I expect not a single person has bothered to join. As far as I know, all supporters have been brainwashed, save for these three pests. They continue to elude me. However… this is concerning to an extent. If there are any people that I have not turned to my will that see this…”

Marilyn smiled.

“For the first time, I will be giving you homework. It is plain and simple: see where this… OrionTech thing is based. It’s most likely at Mystic Pond, where Samuel lives. It has been a place of interest in past moments… it is also where I found the Eyeball Bait.”

“You want me to locate the residential region of the father of the kid who slapped me with a pencil case.”

“Precisely.”

“I’m in! Thing is, I only know who lives there. I have no idea where it is.”

Sterling scowled, before handing Marilyn a piece of parchment. “This is a map. Use it well.”

“Thank you, Mr Sterling!”

The girl ran off, poster in hand.

————

Gemini and Jaden were on a walk, trying to find anyone who they’d attracted to join OrionTech. They’d formulated a plan: Milo and Buzzy would go through the teleporter to hack the database: now that security had tripled, it was likely that it could only be accessed remotely. All that was light work, no reaction for Buzzy. Meanwhile, Jaden and Jacob would attract people with the Eyeball Bait, which would still work on the Sterling Headsets once Milo and Buzzy did their thing. Jacob volunteered to fight the dudes Sterling was working with, and father and daughter would face off in a final duel - Jacob had also volunteered to tutor Gemini on how to use firearms. He had lots of experience with such matters.

Marilyn was also walking down the street by the alleyway where OrionTech had met Jacob, foolishly with the poster in hand concealed within the map.

“Wow, Marilyn can read? Never knew.”

“Hold on, what’s that in her hand?”

“YO IS THAT OUR POS-” Gemini took a double take before Jaden clapped her hands over her mouth, to be thrust aside by Gemini to check the alleyway. All of the posters were missing: the censor seemed to have done their thing.

“Marilyn’s the censor. Marilyn’s the censor. Marilyn’s the censo- ” Gemini hyperventilated, before seething. “No wonder so much stuff has beene disappearing lately. Her tastes are so shallow they would drown in the baby area at a swimming pool. Let’s follow her.”

Tailing her for a few minutes, they arrived close to Mystic Pond. “Hold on - does she know where we - ”

“This is bad. So if Marilyn’s the censor, Chet would have told her - but he doesn’t know where we - hold on. It would be reasonable to suspect he suspects Mystic Pond of being our base of operations,” Gemini told Jaden out of earshot.

Jaden scowled. “I’ll text Jacob and Milo.”

> Jadinsky05 - MILO MARILYN MIGHT BE COMING > MilosPerHour - wait wha why > gemini - MARILYN’S THE CENSOR > MilosPerHour - WTH > gemini - I THINK CHET THINKS WE’RE > MilosPerHour - ?


> gemini - shoot i forgor > gemini - chet controls the internet > Jadinsky05 - OK JUST GRAB UR STUFF > Jadinsky05 - WE’LL DEAL WITH IT

> Two previous messages were deleted.

Milo, receiving the text, turned to Jacob. “Marilyn’s the censor. She’s coming over.”

“Don’t tell me that bi- ”

“Rule one of OrionTech, no swearing.”

“-tch Year 9 is working for Chet Sterling. No way. I just built that bed, it’s gonna be such a pain to move it. Fine, let’s go. We can hide in the basement, I’m pretty sure we can just lock the door or something. I have a shovel, and also I found some boards. There’s a back door out the basement (“Like I didn’t know about that,” Milo muttered), we can hide there. If Marilyn busts her way in, I’ll just give her the old one-two!”

“Alright. Gotta tell Dad.”

> MilosPerHour - Hey dad > Samuel Booker - Yo > MilosPerHour - we know who the censor is > MilosPerHour - its marilyn > Samuel Booker - oh jeez > MilosPerHour - and shes coming RN

> MilosPerHour - prepare harpoon gun if needed > MilosPerHour - jacob and i have everything in the basement > MilosPerHour - basement locked > Samuel Booker - gotchu

Jacob locked the door and boarded it, then slotted the shovel through the hinges.

> JaclopeD - heya > JaclopeD - everythings secure > gemini - alright here goes

Gemini nodded to Jaden. Everything should be secure now, and Samuel had everything ready. The pork shoulder could wait.

“We meet again, Marilyn.”

Marilyn turned around. “Why are you following me?!”

“You were the censor this whole time. No wonder, seeing as your tastes are so shallow they would drown in a bathtub. You were the censor. You work for Chet Sterling. You were our useful idiot.”

“As in?”

“We managed to figure out quite a lot on what Sterling was planning. At the cost of my mental health and many hours of sleep. But it’s worth it. I see you know about our little clique.”

Jaden smirked. “Why the long face? You afraid that our little, insignificant posse will one day outshine your little gang of Cute, Cool, and Populars? Yeah, no shot.”

Marilyn growled. “You don’t just spread lies and get away with it.”

“You said that last time and look where it got you. Dominated, spread-eagled on the floor, smashed down with just a pencil case,” Gemini laughed.

“Oh, you take that back right now!

“What can I say? What will you do, set me lines? Well sorry, Marilyn Jane Umbridge, but it doesn’t work like that anymore. How about - ”

Marilyn threw a punch.

Unlike last time, Gemini dodged.

“You’ve begotten rusty, Marilyn. Shame I don’t have my pencil case on me, though I’m pretty sure my feet will have the same result.”

Jaden nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up.”

Gemini smirked, before sweeping Marilyn in the legs with full force. With a yelp, Marilyn fell to her knees. The poster clattered. “We’ll take that.” As Marilyn clawed at Gemini, Jaden grabbed her by the collar and thrust her against the wall, forming a crack in the bricks.

> Jadinsky05 - we’re gonna lure marilyn over > Jadinsky05 - hav harpoon gun on hand samuel > Samuel Booker - alright!

The two ran back to Mystic Pond, Marilyn chasing after them: Gemini flicked open her phone and opened an app that she’d made two days ago, pressing a button: sitting in Gemini’s room in Mystic Pond, Buzzy flickered open. Using GPS connected to Gemini’s phone, it flew open from the door, tirelessly tracking Gemini’s location until it arrived to Marilyn, grabbing on her collar. “Go! I’ll buy us time! It’s on sale. In bulk.”

Buzzy saluted and gave an affirmatory nod, before spinning Marilyn right round and into a fire hydrant, spraying all her best makeup everywhere and messing with her designer clothes, getting mud on the thing. Interestingly, no one was around to see this. It was a bank holiday.

“Alright. Listen there you little piece of junk!”

Buzzy made a relieved sigh as in “I was expecting you to swear. Good job.

At this time, Gemini and Jaden had made it into Mystic Pond, locking it up: a window was left open so Buzzy could enter. Buzzy received the signal, slapping Marilyn into the ground and flying back.

“Okay, everything is locked and loaded, literally. I found a shotgun (Milo: “Hey, that’s Dad’s!”) and a heck ton of weapons, everything should be fine. Now we just sit everything out. Say, are those teleporters there?”

“We shouldn’t mess with those:”

“Sure.”

Up on the main floor, Marilyn had politely knocked on the door and invited herself in, to be denied hospitality by Samuel Booker. Even if he had no knowledge of her plans, she still attacked Gemini and Jaden. That was a huge no-no.

“Hello, sir! I assume you are Mr- ”, Marilyn started through clenched teeth, ignoring the bruises that had appeared on her arms.

“Go away.” He locked the door and shut it, barricading it with a harpoon. Samuel had definitely seen some horrible stuff. Shrugging, Marilyn pretended to walk away.

> Samuel Booker - She’s gone, you can come back now. > Samuel Booker - Or don’t, you can leave thru the back door maybe. > Jadinsky05 - k > gemini - gotchu > JaclopeD - alright. can i borrow the teleporter > Samuel Booker - sure

Jacob picked up the freaking teleporter and ushered everyone out the back door, the other kids in tow. Buzzy, who had since flown back to the team, joined as Marilyn slowly turned around to the back to see if she could sneak in through a window somehow.

As luck would have it, they met at the back.

Buzzy whimpered: not of fright, but of surprise. Marilyn coldly snickered: this was just the perfect scenario. An entry into Mystic Pond, and all her enemies in one place. Jacob growled. “Not you again! I thought they took care of you!”

“I sweeped her in the legs,” Gemini quipped.

“Good one. As for you…”

Marilyn chuckled. “Why don’t you run along and play with your chemistry set back home? Oh, right. You don’t really have one right now. Only one person to thank for that.”

This comment hit Jacob harder than a freight train. The happy memories of a more innocent, more carefree self flooded back: Jacob winced. He had to focus. He couldn’t let Marilyn distract him. Time was slowly dilating… he shut his eyes, even if it was only for a fraction of a second.

“This is a brand-new chemistry set. Use it well, don’t break it! Hopefully you do Science in uni,” Mom laughed. “Everyone wishes you a happy 10th birthday, Jacob.”

The feeling was great. I’d always loved Chemistry classes and did well in Science, so this ended up being my favourite gift of all time. It was like having a younger sister or brother, and I had cherished it dearly until that day at Marilyn’s 10th. I was 12, and had only been invited by Cam, who was invited by Rex, who was invited by Jo. That was when I learned Marilyn was nothing but a conceited and self-indulgent jerk.

I’d tried to see the good in her, but then she saw my chemistry set. “Now, what’s this? A little toy that you have? Shame to see it break.”

“D-don’t break it! Whatever you do, don’t touch it. I-it was my birthd - ”

“Say, how about we use this as our piñata considering we don’t have one right now? The case is quite thick, should shatter upon impact - ”

“NO! Don’t do that! You are not going to - ”

“My parents aren’t around. Don’t you always do things you shouldn’t when yours aren’t?”

“P-please. It’s really important to me. I’ve had it since I was - ”

“And excuses and excuses and a bleh bleh bleh bleh.” She ripped it open, practically destroying the plastic insides, spilling calcium hydroxide and water everywhere, before shoving a bunch of candy and trinkets aside. I reached out, but Rex grabbed me before I got violent. The beakers, test tubes, flasks fell to the floor, shattering. I watched in pure horror as she called out to everyone else: one of her friends blindfolded herself, before swinging a bat into the case. Everything fell into pieces. Candy rained over the floor.

I screamed, before throwing one of the beakers at her. She dodged, and the beaker knocked over a priceless vase, shattering like my beloved chemistry set.

Now Marilyn was upset. “You know how expensive that vase was?!”

“N-no! I-I’m really sorry, just - ”

“I WILL be telling my parents. Let’s see you try and attack me again.”

Rex tried to grab me and force me to do deep breaths, but her little posse grabbed onto me and shoved me out the door.

I never set foot there again.

Jacob opened his eyes, gasping. Only a few seconds has passed. “Only one person to thank for that.” It was that incident that kept him from defending Gemini when she was being attacked by Marilyn. He wouldn’t back down now.

“Alright now listen here you little shi-”

“Jacob! Stop! You can’t beat her up! Well mildly injure or maim sure, but just - ” Jaden reached out.

“-t, I backed down last time. I’m not backing down again.”

“She’s got ties, relationships, resources, who knows what will happen if you - ”

“You? You quiet.

He picked up the teleporter. It was strangely light - almost as light as that beaker from his chemistry set. Knowing where Marilyn would dodge, he faked a throw.

Marilyn swerved to the side, laughing, before Jacob grabbed onto her and shoved the teleporter in her face. He had no idea where it led, but he hoped it was far away.

“I WILL be telling Chet Sterling about what happened to you. Let’s see you try and attack us again.”

“I despise you so much, with every fiber of my bei- ARGH MMMPPHHH -” and with a scream of defeat, Marilyn vanished into thin air. The teleporter clattered to the floor. Jacob breathed heavily. He had gotten revenge. It was enough for now.

————

With Marilyn gone, there was no one to censor media. More and more people found the OrionTech posters, and slowly members rolled in…

Chapter 26: Stars, Strays, and Ashtrays[]

“And just what do you mean by ‘Marilyn is all the way in the Snowy Mountains’?!”

“It means that she is all the way in the Snowy Mountains,” Big AI replied.

“Unbelievable. All my subjects fail me sooner or later. Do I have to everything myself?!” Sterling seethed. No Marilyn meant no censor. No censor meant people were free to post defaming media about him any time. Especially that OrionTech clique.

He slammed his table. “That odious girl Gemini. I knew she’d never to stray her path, but now she must suffer. Oh, perhaps she’s suffered enough! I say no. Wouldn’t it be satisfying, to see her become the thing she swore to destroy? She would be horrified at the thought of becoming like the others: a mere husk, built to support me and me only. She’d rather die than become so, and to that offer I simply cannot refuse. It’s brilliant.”

“It might be inhumane. It might be unethical. But morals and ethics only hinder you. I’m sick of all the libel, sick of all the lies. People say I’m running and running away from my problems, that I’ve ran across the planet but failed to get away. Well, this is a call. I’m not going to ba - ”

The room was empty. Big AI had most definitely left of fright.

“-ck down… I’ve been talking to a mirror the whole time, my own supporters are scared of me. But I do have the nanobots. And so long as no one is strong enough, no one can take them from me… Samuel was strong, but not enough. The nanobots rejected him in favour of me. The nations rejected their old ways in favour of me.”

He reclined. “Well, things can only get better.”

————

Gemini was having a calm morning, passing by the grave of Mr. McKenna and paying respects before going back to Camp Guillermo, hopefully being able to rebuild it alongside Zara. She had recovered over her camp’s destruction, and was looking forward to rebuilding it. Meanwhile, Jaden and Milo were going off on their B plot, recruiting members.

They went into an alleyway, putting up more posters, before subsequently being dragged up by a grappling hook. A girl in purple hissed at them, “What the bloody hell are you doing around these ends? Putting up posters of all things? Do you want to get brainwashed?”

“For the record, we’re recruiting people who don’t. Why do you smell like you’re on fire?”

“That might be because I am. Notice the flamethrower strapped to my back.”

“...not concerning in the slightest. Take it you’re against that bloke Chet Sterling?” the flamethrower girl laughed. “Used to be a huge supporter of him. Liked him quite a lot, even in the dark times. Then word got out about his scandals and stuff… then the Winter Prom… and then he burned down a camp. Fight fire with fire, I say!” she flicked her lighter: her expression of glee was hidden by the mask that covered her face.

“And who are you?” Jaden called out as the girl jumped between walls onto the rooftop, scouting for any movement. “You got anyone on your side too?”

“Name’s Amathine. Went to Prodigia for a student exchange program slash field trip, enjoyed it quite a lot and stayed there for boarding school, befriended this crazed guitar-playing imbecile, he lets me call him that, then came over here for university.” The girl named Amathine climbed onto the roof. “Turns out the college southeast from here has a club where you learn how to shoot. It was brilliant, I joined immediately among music club and robotics club.”

“Is it okay if I call you Amy? Amathine sounds hard to pronounce.”

“...how do you know what my friends called me - ”

“Ooh.”

“Sometimes I think about Alexa, Jacob, and Alvin back at my old school. It was nice.”

Milo perked up. “How do you know Jacob Doswell?”

Amathine glanced at Milo. “Never heard of the kid. Say, do you know how to scale an alleyway?”

Milo winced. “Yes. I know the slow and painful way. Should I follow you?”

“I could come down. There aren’t any more guards patrolling the streets - probably too scared to do so. You’ve made quite a name for yourselves among the survivors. What plan do you have on stopping them?”

“We’ll share it with everyone once we have enough members. Say, do you have any friends you could turn to our side?”

Amathine flashed to a wistful memory of her first day in Prodigia, seemingly ages ago. One of the kids there had been playing their guitar and broke their arm falling in a bush, while the other laughed before rushing to help him: granted, it was quite a funny scenario.

“Boy, do I ever. They’re going to be great…”

————

Gemini and Zara were busy rebuilding some of the cabins. “I remember some of the older cabins that were like 12 years old had been rotting at this point, and the communal showers were filthy too. I’d always been planning to renovate everything.”

“Guess you have the chance now.”

Zara chuckled, before betting back to placing down foundations for the wooden cabins. “Most of the fish died. They weren’t built to withstand such high temperatures, so hopefully we’ll see some more species come in from Wily River. The salmon were always popular.”

“Say, when are Samuel and Jacob coming over?” Gemini replied as she hammered down the poles for the entrance to Camp Guillermo. She’d ordered a bulletin board that would arrive later that day, to be used for important announcements: meanwhile, Zara had ordered some furniture from the nearby department store. The two stopped for a sandwich break.

> MilosPerHour - yo gem

> MilosPerHour - think we got a new member. how’s jacob

> Jadinsky05 - oriontech is really coming on strong

> gemini - so we can say it online now?

> Jadinsky05 - chet can’t be bothered to sift through every web page himself. that’s why he takes it on others to do it, like marilyn

> gemini - surely some algorithm will detect it?

> MilosPerHour - yyyyeah we shut them down lmfao >:D

> gemini - phew

> Jadinsky05 - alright! her name’s amathine btw

Gemini shut her phone and smiled. So far, besides the charred black dirt and lack of lush greenery, everything was looking promising. Besides, burnt dirt was looser and new grass seeds could grow in it. Things were looking up.

Samuel and Jacob arrived with some construction tools and furniture. “Hi Zara! Got some furniture here, I’d say we could rebuild this camp within 5 months, give or take. Wonder where Jaden and Milo are.”

“Hi Samuel!” Gemini waved. “We got a new member for OrionTech. This means we will need much more room. Do you give us permission to make your basement bigger?”

“Let me guess, with galvanised steel bars you borrowed from your aunt and eco-friendly wood veneers.”

“No idea who my aunt is. We could order some from the department store.”

“Sure. Let me check on them quickly,” Samuel replied as the four continued rebuilding. “Jacob only came here to drop things off. Also, Gemini? You’re free to go. I have some galvanised steel bars I borrowed from my aunt in the attic and also some wood veneers. Just don’t destroy too much stuff.”

Gemini and Jacob thanked the two, texted Jaden and Milo, and took one last look at Camp Guillermo before setting off.

————

Amathine pushed a door open, to reveal five people, all older than her. They looked distinctly different from the people over on Xeter. One of them had a guitar - that would most likely be the incompetent imbecile that Amathine had told them about - and the rest were chilling. This was a room they’d fashioned out of an empty garden shed.

“Heya, Tanner! Hi, Rohan, hi Ashley, hi Evergreen, hi Grace. This is Team GREAT!” Amathine ushered everyone in. The room was lit by a single electric light, flickering. Rohan, Ashley, Evergreen and Grace were busy playing a game of poker while Tanner was serenading everyone with a beautiful John Frusciante guitar solo.

“The heck you mean by crazed guitar-playing imbecile? This dude has skills! You - ” Milo started, incredulous, before being interrupted by Tanner, the guitar lord. He was playing the Wet Sand solo.

“Hey, Amathine! How’s things been going since - ooh, new visitors! I take it your names are, wait what are your names?”

“Jaden.” “Milo.” “Good to meet you,” the two said simultaneously.

“Good to meet you too. Now Amathine here said something about joining forces with you? I know you have quite a large headquarters. Quite big for a basement anyways.”

“...it fits four people. Not ten. But Gemini and Jacob are making the basement bigger. How do you know about our basement?”

“Amathine has been scouting. She’s quite good at climbing and scaling walls. Dunno if that’s an Arcadia thing or - ”

Rohan called from the poker table. “Hey, Tanner! We could get to know them better and not bloody bombard them with 55 questions and 0 answers as soon as they step foot in the institution.”

Tanner sagged. “Oh well. Say, anyone up for blackjack? Where are the blackjack tables?”

Ashley and Evergreen looked at each other, while Grace laughed. “He loves gambling. We all do. Takes our mind off things. Takes our mind off pressing matters when we don’t want our heads to be muddled up by all sorts of odd and ick.”

Amathine chuckled. “Ever since winter break, most of us ended up buying those headsets. They can’t take them off, almost as if they’re physically attracted to it. What we need to know is what it looks like on the inside, but we don’t have that yet.”

Jaden and Milo looked at each other. They grimaced. They remembered what had happened in the Town Square…

“It’s ugly. Just telling you.”

> MilosPerHour - yo so like six ppl are joining oriontech

> gemini - yo WHAT

> gemini - NICEEE but also

> gemini - not enough space :( so we’re renovating

> Jadinsky05 - cool cool

> JaclopeD - this is nice

> JaclopeD - should accommodate about 12 ppl max

> MilosPerHour - nice

Back at Mystic Pond, there were really some galvanised steel bars in the attic. Gemini chuckled. “How big would this be anyways?”

“Three times the current size, shape of an L, which is also what Chet Sterling will have to take once we’re through.”

Gemini stifled a laugh. That was a true and uncompared roast.

“So we should set up the foundations?”

It is quite a wonder how two children are able to renovate an entire basement and a fishing camp without external help. But I suppose that the people in Xeter are just built different. Plus, most houses were extremely customisable and cheap. Anyways, all they had to do was tear things down and rebuild things in their place. In less than six hours, give or take, everything was complete. Jacob dusted his hands off.

“You know, I take back what I said at the Winter Prom. You’re kinda cool.”

Jacob smiled. “At least we’re one step closer to saving them all.”

Could they save them all in time? Time would tell, but the lingering of dread was slowly snuffed out by hope and pride. Soon, more would be turned to their side. The Sterling Headset and Eyeball Bait would continue to be studied, and more and more survivors that had flown under Sterling’s radar would be found. But perhaps they should pause on the recruiting now. They only had two vacancies left.

Ah well…

————

Blue blinding light. That’s all she saw.

A sensation of tumbling through a long tunnel as the temperatures dropped and dropped started as Marilyn was hyperthrusted through the teleporter. The last she saw what that imbecile Jacob’s sneering face as she fell and fell, landing back-first in the Snowy Mountains on the island north of her home city. Where was this again? She had no idea, but as the name suggested, it was completely frigid. Every rock, tree, bush looked the same to her, and was that a bloody wolf she saw running in the distance?!

Breathing heavily, she tried to console herself. She would find a way back, she would return to Sterling. She’d ask for forgiveness and extract her vengeance on those who wronged her. That pompous fool Gemini, the hopeless ideal Jaden, the all-knowing prat Milo, and most importantly Jacob Doswell. Jacob Doswell would pay for his vile crimes.

But first she had to find a way off. The teleporter wasn’t with her. Surely someone could help? She got up and started walking through the snow.

This would last for a while.

Chapter 27: Suspended Fourths[]

As previously mentioned, people in Xeter are simply built different. As a result, the basement, now headquarters of OrionTech, was complete. 6 bunk beds, 1 television, a meeting area, and some really nice decoration and acoustics. Things were looking up. Well, for now at least. Who knew what more weird and worrying events would unfold?

Jaden and Milo were still on their B plot with Amathine and Team GREAT, discussing a bunch of stories of times before they arrived here. From the old times back on Arcadia, to the previous years in Xeter, the two groups ended up bonding quite a lot. They were also lacking in numbers, the both of them, and were quite willing to join forces with each other. Tanner was practicing a suspended fourth: it was one of the only chords he never got right. He always wanted to be able to set the mood, for when something ominous was uttered or something scary was about to happen. Plink. Plonk. Strummm. “Hey! I did it! Lemme do that agai - ” Ploink. “Drat.”

It was such a long time since they’d made a new friend as they waited on the cold winter to end. Perhaps this was the opportunity both factions needed.

> gemini - WE DID IT

> JaclopeD - WE FINISHED THE BASEMENT YEAAAHHHHHH

> gemini - only took us FIVE HOURS

> JaclopeD - NEVER AGAIN

> gemini - AGREED

“Oop, looks like they finished the basement. Wanna come over?”

“Sure!”

When they arrived, all Team GREAT could think was Wow. This place is massive.

Amathine was the first to come to terms with how to articulate words and language in the form of speech. “Th- this is amazing. It’s perfect.”

The warm lights lit the wooden ceiling and walls, as the wooden tables complemented the minimalistic design. All of Samuel’s fishing memorabilia was off to one side in a proud display, from the Magnet Fishing Rope to the Fishing Bow, to the Lusca and the elusive Ahuitzol. Pliosaurs and Parrotfish, Giant Squids and exotic dishes, all viewable. Gemini took liberty of that.

Gemini walked up to Team GREAT. “So you lot are joining the team? Our ranks are increasing like rabbits.”

Ashley was the first to welcome. “You’re Gemini, I take it? Good to meet you. I should introduce you to the team, as vice captain after Tanner.” Tanner waved. “Tanner’s basically the president, but he’s also a lunatic and innocent beyond man’s comprehension. He’s a precious, pure cinnamon roll. Then we have Grace, who likes doing coding and stuff. Think she’d get along with Milo.”

Milo shook hands with Grace, and they soon entered a deep conversation about hacking. It was brilliant.

“Evergreen keeps to herself, usually. She also likes botany and plants in general,” Ashley continued as Evergreen smiled. “And finally, Amathine. We met her during a tour many years ago… told Jaden and Milo about all that happened. It was really nice.”

Gemini grinned. Soon, the rest would get accustomed to their new headquarters.

————

Tanner kept playing really complicated chords. He was now trying to master the Snow ((Hey Oh)) riff and failing, groaning in frustration each time his guitar and fingers failed him. No one could blame him. Snow ((Hey Oh)) was really difficult. Amathine and Gemini were giving him lessons with Samuel. Meanwhile, Evergreen was busying herself with watering some plants. She quite liked aloe vera and was intrigued by its healing properties. Jacob was talking to Ashley and looked at Milo, Buzzy, and Grace fiddling with a program. All of them were at ease.

Chet Sterling was busying himself with war plans against OrionTech. Should he do away with them like the others, brainwashed and forgotten? Should he just kill them outright? His weapons sat collecting dust, itching to be used once more. Sterling sighed. He missed having Marilyn around. She was at the very least good company.

Perhaps he had to call a new business meeting, courtesy of the uplifted money-maker’s party plan.

Big Food, Big Shopping, Big Banking, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, Big Entertainment, Big Technology, Big Travel, Big Commerce, Big AI, and Big Space all arrived at the scene, Big AI at Sterling’s right hand and Big Technology at his left. “I assume you know of OrionTech. Let me tell you: do not underestimate them. They will stop at nothing to do away with us. We must dispose of them. It is imperative.”

“Surely we have everyone under control at this point. How on earth - ” Big Entertainment began, before being silenced by Chet Sterling.

“People keep hiding under our radar! Everything we have stood for - progress, profit, wealth, greed, the driving force of mankind - they wish to take it all away and form a new age.”

“But they’re just kids,” Big AI motioned. “Surely they couldn’t do much?”

“They’re just kids,” Sterling mocked as he stood up and paced. “You should know by now never to underestimate the power of children with strong wills and strong minds. They can achieve much. We must prevent this.”

The people perked up, though rather unenthusiastically.

“Those of you may think, ooh! Sterling, you have nothing to fret about! You can contain the nanobots, you have power beyond even a god’s wildest dreams! You are simply being melodramatic, all you need to do is brea- but when your reputation is being threatened, you do not breathe. You focus.”

“You seriously quoted King Magnifico of all the Disney villains?” Big Entertainment quipped.

“Who the bloody hell is that? There. You see, distractions are all around us. So, we take care of them. As Big AI, my trusted assistant, has so eard, we plan on expanding our empire so vast that wherever they go, they cannot escape us. This is where I bring in lateral expansions.”

The term reminded Chet of his first visit in Camp Guillermo of the academic year. It was slightly tender and painful, but he let it play out.

“You made the mistake of leaving one of your many phones here in my office, the last time we met. You also made the mistake of recording your entire meeting. I see you resorted to disposing of them once the shareholders caught onto your schemes? Tsk, tsk. Hopefully you didn’t kill them.”

“You know what they say, ‘womp womp’.”

“Really, Chet. You’re focusing too much on your current career to notice anything else. Have you ever thought about lateral expansions?”

“Lateral expansions? Why would I need to expand laterally when I’ve already risen, vertically, to the top? Your childish logic never ceases to amuse me.”

“There was once a time when I believed such was foolish, that I’d already risen, vertically, to the top. Such logic was childish. I have grown since then… my - our faces shall be everywhere. If it takes a toll in our profits, know that it shall be made up for in due time. Acquire every business you can in the name of your Big Company. Keep them from even thinking about gaining more resources, because any and all profits go to us directly. Gemini would never want to buy something if she knew her money would go to me… now I shall commence with buying some larger, inferior competitors. Now follow my lead.”

The members of Big Company opened their emails, as Chet left to pace. Apart from the select few, almost everyone was following his lead. Soon, he could do away with the ‘almost’.

Such a pitiful and hateful word, Chet thought. He left to gaze at what was his.

Chapter 28: Fortune Faded[]

Tanner was now doing the Scar Tissue (roll credits!) solo, specifically the 3rd and final one while Evergreen was being introduced to Zara Grey by Jaden and Milo. Zara was about 5% complete with the renovation of Camp Guillermo. Gemini decided to rest at home, tinkering with Buzzy to see what she could do with it: Grace came over to help. Eventually, they added a bunch of weapons to cute little precious pure cinammon roll Buzzy so that it could fend for itself against Sterling Enterprises. In its back was a rocket launcher, with tiny little pistols loaded into its arms, and side-mounted stun grenade launchers. It was really handy.

Chet Sterling was currently in the process of acquiring every business in Xeter. It was quite easy to do, considering that everyone was practically worshipping him - though many times Chet had felt tinges of doubt. Was this the way to go? Surely it was. What if it wasn’t? What if he was thwarted again? Ah well. Several deals had already been made with famous business owners, mainly those specialising in the trade of artificial intelligence and, strangely, music. Perhaps he wanted to limit OrionTech’s choices of motivational music? Or maybe he wanted rightful ownership of the entire discography of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. That would pose a bit of a challenge for Tanner, who was still hard at work perfecting his chords.

Right now, everyone was training. The plan that had been chosen was as follows:

  • OrionTech was currently divided into two groups: the Quartet of the Stars (Gemini, Jaden, Milo, Jacob) and Team GREAT (Grace, Rohan, Evergreen, Ashley, Tanner, Amathine).
  • Milo and Buzzy would use the teleporter to breach the walls of the database to hijack the Sterling headsets, removing all the propaganda and replacing it with other messages and images.
  • Jacob and Team GREAT hold the employees of Sterling Enterprises under siege with the weapons at their disposal. Kill if necessary.
  • The rest reconvene at the roof where they corner Chet Sterling. Samuel and Zara join the fighting and use their fishing gear as weapons.
  • In an act of cruel irony, Chet Sterling is subdued by the Eyeball Bait in front of a large audience, attracted by said Eyeball Bait. The masses turn against him and his reputation is tarnished.
  • As for Marilyn, as far as everyone knew, she was on some faraway island in the northeast or southwest. No one had to worry about her.

Everything was perfect. The plan was flawless. What could possibly go wrong?

Tanner’s main motive for learning so many chords was because he could be used as a distraction. Before Team GREAT and Amathine, he’d always been the kid who was pushed around and unimportant: it had been many years since then, but the feeling of inferiority longed to stay in his gut. He may be the leader now, but Tanner still saw himself as quite expendable. Amathine’s comments stung the first time round: they hit closer to home than they should have. He eventually warmed up to Amathine’s quips, though.

He strummed a Barred B Major chord. As far as he knew, and though no one else did, he was the diversion. The expendable one. The bait. If any of his allies were in a pickle, he could easily bust out the good old John Frusciante and bring them to their knees, or at the very least drag them away from his friends. Tanner strummed another suspended fourth. Plus, wasn’t there some sort of healing spell he could do with music or something? He had to look into it. Tanner played the first Black Summer solo.

Evergreen was planning to be a medic. She was currently busying herself with the healing properties of different plants: her discoveries were as follows.

  • Roses healed moderate damage and took a minor time to recharge.
  • Dahlias healed very little, but took less time to recharge. Each Dahlia had three petals.
  • Hibisci healed quite a lot, and had a long cooldown.
  • Leaves healed constantly and could be transferred to allies.
  • Shells, strangely, had a unique effect, almost like a shield. It would deteriorate upon the user taking damage and recharge slowly.
  • Starfishes were weird too. They healed more if you sustained heavy damage. Evergreen did not anticipate the usages of non-plant relics.
  • Roots gave you armor - if the damage taken is less than that of the armor, then it would be nullified.
  • Basils increased the power of other healing plants, and even that of Shells and Starfishes. It was wacky. Who knew being a medic would lead you down such a large rabbit hole?
  • Cotton absorbed damage and deteriorated as you took damage.

Evergreen placed all of her devices in a small pouch, as well as some basic first aid supplies: gauze, bandages, plasters, saline solution, tape, scissors, gloves, tweezers, and the good old ice pack. No one was dying on her watch.

Ashley was actually quite well-versed in magic! It was like not many had seen before, as magic was an oddity in Xeter. It was not commonplace, more of a Prodigian thing. The citizens of Xeter did away with magic long ago, deeming it as too complicated and bulky. If only they could see it now. Ashley brought forth a rainstorm at her will, electrocuted a tree with the lazy flick of a wand, summoned an eruption from the depths of the earth. Gemini sat behind and watched.

“You’re telling me our forefathers did away something as cool as this?!”

“Well, that was long ago. Magic wasn’t as good then. Not many people are on board with the change, but in my opinion, magic is better now than it was then. I remember the early days of magic during my life. It was always satisfying to see your foe pulled into the astral orb you summoned, then divided by zero and collapsing. It was nice.”

Gemini smiled. “When I was a kid, I was taught that magic was an unnecessary art. I never realised it was this powerful.”

“It was true at the time. Took a long time for all the authorities to get everything perfected. Here, let me show you something,” Ashley beckoned Gemini over to her section of the room.

In Ashley’s bag was a photo of many kids within it. Their attire was distinctly foreign, and they held wands and relics and bric-a-brac in hand. “Who are they?”

“These are our old friends, from before we came here. Amathine came over as part of a foreign student exchange program, and we served as their tour guides. We introduced Amathine and company to our friends at the Academy. That there’s Nova and Fuchsia. They’re best friends, completely inseparable. There’s Crios, the greatest wizard you could find in Lamplight Town. Cameron’s essentially his shadow, always - ”

“Wait, they have a Cameron too?”

“Yeah, more than one person can have the same name. Think, there’s probably someone out there who’s also called Milo or Samuel or Zara or even Downing or Doswell. Now, there’s Gale. He’s the head of the Academy, taught us all this. It’s really nostalgic. I loved it.”

Gemini smiled. “Prodigia sounds like a really nice place.”

Ashley smiled. “In an alternate universe we probably wouldn’t be so lucky. Imagine Prodigia, filled with war and fighting and people pulling strings behind the scenes and huge elemental thingies going around ruining peoples’ days. (Author’s Note - This is a jab at ROTW.) We’re luckier than you think… at least we were.”

Gemini pulled out a smoky spatula. “What’s this? Like, I know it’s a spatula, but wha - ”

Ashley reached out. “Wait, don’t touch it!”

But it was too late. Gemini forced her hand back: it was singed, but barely. “Why do you carry all these things? Also, is that also a wand?”

“Yes. Allow me to demonstrate.” And embers fell from the sky, before being doused away with a torrent. “See? Cool. Wanna go inside now?”

“Honestly? I’d like to stay here. You seem cool.”

The two continued chatting about Team GREAT’s old life back on Prodigia as people continued training.

————

A nagging feeling in the back of Chet’s mind screamed, Never underestimate the power of many strong-willed children working together. Besides, OrionTech had grown in numbers. What if they defeated him? You could never be too sure you could win…

Chet had acquired almost every business in the land, but it wasn’t enough. Sure, it was a lose-lose situation for OrionTech, but was it enough? This eternal feeling of self-doubt nagged in Chet’s soul, and had been for weeks at this point.

Big AI and Big Entertainment were with him at the time. “You okay?”

“There is this… chronic feeling of dread and fear that has been constantly clawing at me for days on end. No matter what I do, it’s never enough. I have the nanobots, I have the Eyeball Bait. Why should I be worried? But I am. It’s just - ”

“Those kids keep finding ways to thwart me. Call me paranoid, but it’s true. It’s the truth, and I must hide it. I must twist the truth to fit my needs. Come.”

He got up, before teleporting to the repaired Shiawase Labs. Walking past the charged levels and explosive peanut butter, Chet reached the far end. In it, a single USB hovering childishly above a pedestal. Some said it contained Chet’s secret to success, others said it contained cat videos because he was secretly broke. Neither assumptions were correct.

Beside the pedestal was… something. A device that slotted into Chet’s wrist with an interface and a USB slot. The symbols of the elements were engraved on it: Earth, Ice, Storm, Fire, Water, Astral, Shadow, Physical.

Big AI looked concerned. “This - this interferes with the ancient, discarded art of magic. Are you sure you want to - ”

Chet Sterling laughed heartily. “Not yet. In due time. This will rend the heavens and the earths, but it will all be worth it in the end.”

“Worth it? For what? For you to sit back and count your bills as the world burns around you?” Big AI dared to exclaim, to be met with a chilling silence.

“You dare question me?” Chet Sterling retorted.

Big AI was silent.

“Magic was an uncertain art. With this, I shall be able to master it. But in time. Not yet. I brought you here because I entrusted you with this knowledge. If you see anything strange… think back to this moment.”

The USB fluttered happily. Within it contained lines and lines of code that could rewrite reality, bring magic to a realm that existed without. (It actually contained the entire source code to Prodigy Math Game, but we’ll pretend we don’t know that.)

“I was waiting on a war since I was young. Come. We must destroy the stars."

Chapter 29: Waiting on a War[]

The endgame was about to begin. Evergreen was in her section, mixing together different plants to make healing salves and ointments while Buzzy was with Jaden, practicing its weapon usage (of which had been swapped out with dummy rockets and fake weapons for safety reasons). Every day was spent training for the ultimate attack on Sterling Enterprises: the plan was laid out, and everything was perfect. Chet Sterling was completely and utterly oblivious to whatever horrors were brewing in Mystic Pond.

Supplies were gathered from what they could: some of the teleporters leading to all sorts of locations, from Wily River to Vertigo Beach to Crypt Keeper’s Pond to the Ice Caves and beyond; medical equipment; snacks and Chinese food; a double-barrel shotgun, courtesy of Jacob Doswell.

It was the night before the siege. Everyone called it a night and drifted into deep sleep. Everything should go to plan: if it didn’t, there was still a backup. Hopefully things didn’t come to that.

————

Evergreen was back home, in Prodigia. The majestic aura of Astral and Shadow co-existing filled the brightly lit hall, students running around. Yes, she remembered this. She was back in the Academy Greenhouse, with Florian and the other Earth Tower students, working on tending for different plants and discerning the difference between beneficial flora and harmful specimens. The vines gripped onto the infrastructure, serving as its natural foundations as the wooden ones rotted away: fireflies fluttered into and out of the scene.

“Now, tomorrow, we’ll be having some foreign exchange students coming over from Arcadia. Listen to me while you all pack away: first, don’t forget to do your homework. Second, be sure to treat the new kids nicely. You could be the difference between whether they choose to stay here or not!” Florian had told everyone before they left, as Team GREAT set off for recess in Lamplight Town. The scene shifted.

Now Evergreen was in Lamplight Town with Tanner, Rohan, Grace, and Ashley. Rohan smirked as he looked around. “You suppose the new students will like this? I hear Arcadia’s really nice, maybe they wouldn’t like this place.” They walked around the docks: Sir Vey was, as usual, jabbering about surveys and handing out pizzas to anyone he met. There was a poster: Vine Library finally opens today after five years of construction.

“You think that sign’s real? Don’t follow me, I’m going to check out History District.”

“What would you want to check that old dank alleyway for? Nothing’s happened there for decades!” Rohan replied, to be interrupted by Tanner performing the I Could Have Lied solo. “Oh Tanner, quit it now. You’re improving, but there’s a place and time for everything.”

Tanner drooped. “Fine.”

“See you at the Twilight Wheel!”

Evergreen dashed off.

The Vine Library stood proud, with brambly vines and branches entwined upon every brick and surface it could sense. Corresponding to even the slightest fluctuation in wind and temperature, the leafy windows fanned open and close.

It was beautiful. Evergreen gingerly pushed open the door, revealing a vast stock of scrolls and books alongside assorted herbs and salves and all sorts of magical plants: the wondrous collection of mystical flora stood in a golden haze of yellow light. These were all herbs that Evergreen had studied, from basil to thyme, aloe vera to silverwood. Yet in the far end hosted a stockpile of otherworldly vegetation - curiosity willed Evergreen to come forward.

The golden light drifted towards Evergreen.

The scene dissipated.

————

Amathine was back in Arcadia with Alexa. She recognised this place. It was the fields overlooking the falls of Arcadia, whereupon the other side of the bank stood proud Blossom Hill Academy. As Amathine stood in the fields taking in the familiarity of the surroundings, a sense of calmness washed over her. The gentle sound of the falls in the distance mixed with the rustling of the leaves created a soothing melody that whispered of peace and tranquility. It seemed so long ago now… she had grown so much since then.

“Excited for the trip to Prodigia?” Alexa asked.

“Yeah!” Amathine replied, though with a hint of falseness as though she knew what would happen. It was a brilliant experience, but knowledge of the event took away the wonder and mystery of it.

“I suppose it’ll be a one-off thing. We’ll all be back here as if it didn’t happen, so I figure we should make the most of it.”

Oh, Alexa. If only you knew.

The serenity of the cherry blossom petals rushing over them created a sense of longing and nostalgia. She couldn’t go back now, not when her friends depended on her so. Amathine smiled and took in the surroundings while she could, knowing that it would be a long time before she saw it again.

She turned to look at Alexa. “If it all ended tomorrow, what would you do?”

Alexa smiled. “I’d spend the last remaining hours with those close to me. Don’t let them fade away in the final moments. It would be a nice way to go. Cheesy, but sweet.”

Amathine choked back a tear. “I miss you, you know.”

“I’m literally just part of your brain. It’s not me.”

Amathine sighed. “I know. I always wanted to go home, but my friends here are counting on me.”

“If it all ends tomorrow, then make sure they have your backs as you go out.”

Amathine and Alexa locked eyes. “I’ll come home one day. For now, I need to make sure that everything will turn out perfectly.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

The two closed their eyes as the world was destroyed in brilliant blaze of cherry blossom petals.

The scene dissipated.

————

Gemini was at the Winter Prom. No, she thought. Not again. This scene had tormented her for far too long. However, as it played out, nothing tragic happened. Emily Caldon was Prom Queen as planned, and she asked Jacob Doswell to dance, which gave Jacob a nice laugh. It felt less personal now that she’d gotten to know Jacob for sure. As the Foo Fighters blared (that’s right, not the Chili Peppers) - specifically Love Dies Young from Medicine at Midnight - she turned, before being frightened out of her wits by the face of her old history teacher, Preston McKenna.

“Y-you - it can’t be. You’re dead.”

“This is the sad and bitter truth. No way to sugarcoat it.”

“But - ”

“I’m deeply sorry that I left you hanging like that. It was my choice to sacrifice myself.”

There were about a thousand ugly things that Gemini wanted to scream at her former teacher, all of which could have gotten her expelled. However, she said none of it. She ran up and tackled him in a hug.

“You sacrificed yourself for nothing, though. Chet Sterling still took control of the city.”

“And you’re working to stop it.”

“That’s true.”

The negative thoughts ceased to exist. Gemini wanted to say she missed him, but that didn’t really cut it. In the following weeks after the Winter Prom, she’d kept herself motivated almost solely by thinking of avenging him. He was the sole person who made school enjoyable for her, and he was taken away too quick. The injustices didn’t cease.

Eventually she stumbled upon the words that fit.

“Your death hurt us all a lot. We’re working to make it worth it.”

“Then I have nothing more to say, other than that I’m proud of you and everyone you’re working with. It was an honour to teach you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to.”

And he disappeared.

Normally, Gemini would have cried out and broken down in ugly sobbing, begging for him to stay for one more minute. There was nothing of the sort. It may have been a dream, but she knew Mr McKenna was proud of her. She could live with the guilt.

The scene dissipated, until all that was left was Gemini and the Foo Fighters.

————

Tanner still couldn’t get the Snow ((Hey Oh)) riff correct. Even in his dreams, reality bound his fingers from achieving such a feat. Insane from unachieved expectations and self-doubt, Tanner sank deeper into despair as he continued to struggle with mastering the intricate guitar riff he had set out to conquer that fateful day two years ago… his fingers faltered, unable to perfectly capture the elusive rhythm and melody that was just out of his reach. The weight of his own self-imposed expectations became a heavy burden, crushing his confidence and fueling a growing sense of frustration.

The feeling wouldn’t leave as much as he wanted it to. Voices rang from all around.

Ashley’s. “Why did we ever appoint you as leader?”
Gemini’s. “You could have done more. Instead you chose to sell.”
Jacob’s. “Look at the mess we’re in because of you!”
Rohan’s. “You wasted all your time on this.”
Marilyn’s. “Hah! Don’t you know by now you’re pathetic? You’ll never succeed.

Chet’s. “Just give up, foolish mortal. You’ll never overcome us.”


Amathine’s. “I was right when I called you an incompetent imbecile. It was a joke then, but I found out too late it was true.”

The words stung Tanner’s poor brain and tore at his ruined heart with each syllable. He’d come to accept that the things that he tried were in his life were futile, would only bring him pain. He’d tried to mask it to his fullest potential. Why, oh why wouldn’t the voices go?!

The pent-up rage in his battered soul shook him to his core, and he strangled his prized guitar by the fretboard, smashing it into splinters before breaking down into ugly sobs, alone.

The tears fell to the floor as Tanner stood where he failed. The voices still wouldn’t go.

The scene dissipated into a flurry of fear, rage, doubt, and grief.

Chapter 30: Making a Fire[]

Gemini had definitely seen some very strange things in her time, but she had never seen plants that didn’t remotely look like plants. They were more like little pinkish orbs, orbiting around Evergreen. The leaves, basil sprigs, roots, all those were quite recognisable, but how was one supposed to distinguish a dahlia from a rose if they were just three pink orbs and one pink orb respectively?!

Evergreen looked up. “I’ve been exploring. Found these bubble things that boost you forward, as well as this - ” She held up some powder that was floating in the air. It vibrated and pulsated.

“Cool. Hold on, is that coca - ”

“I don’t know what it is, but it makes you faster. Anyways, the day of the siege is today. How do you feel?”

“I feel ready. We’ve done pretty much everything we could. Tanner’s still practicing his solos and chords, but he’s already mastered everything except for the Snow ((Hey Oh)) riff. It should be fine.” She went to Samuel’s area to pick up some gear, and pocketed a new Eyeball Bait.

It wasn’t fine from Tanner’s point of view. Mind racing from worry and anxiety, he tried to console himself with deep breaths. It seemed he only became more panicked the closer he got to a deadline: his fingers scrambled across the fretboard, desperately trying to find their way to their notes. Milo and Grace, alongside Buzzy, would stay behind to teleport into the database and hack. Evergreen would tag along as a medic, healing anyone who was injured. Gemini and Jaden would be their classic, amazing selves. Jacob and Amathine would bust in with their cool weapons. If only it came as easy for him.

Tanner breathed. This was not what his mindset was supposed to be like. He would do fine. He would get up and meet up with everyone, before setting off to either Sterling’s doom or theirs.

Gemini, Jaden, Jacob, Amathine, Ashley, Evergreen, and Rohan were waiting by the door. “You ready?”

Tanner inhaled. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Milo and Grace approached. “We’re all behind you. Good luck.”

Buzzy flew over and gave a salute, humming excitedly.

“Let’s go.”

To the twelve saviours, this was a call. To magic or mechanism, the oppressors must fall. To open the nation’s eyes from the endless sleep, To save Xeter from its greed and deceit.

————

Chet Sterling’s alarms sounded, blaring in his ears. “What did I tell them? This was bound to happen.” Then he whispered to himself, “Use it as a last resort only.” He knew the dangers of magic and how powerful it could be. He mustn’t use it if he didn’t need to. The nanobots would suffice.

Milo and Grace teleported into the database. No wall or ceiling or floor was breached, so nothing happened. They set off to work.

Jacob and Team GREAT raced in with their weapons: harpoon guns, dynamite, fishing hooks: different fishing gear of all sorts. The employees weren’t stupid. They knew the might of a harpoon gun. They stood down. Gemini and Jaden entered.

“This is it, Jaden.”

“Everything we’ve been building up to? You bet.”

The group joined in.

Evergreen held up her hands, a soft green glow emanating from them. "Alright everyone, stay close. I'll try to keep us all strong." She moved through the group, the soothing energy radiating from her palms. Tanner took a deep breath, his fingers gripping his guitar, before joining the others, steeling his nerves. No point in being anxious or nervous now. The day had arrived.

Meanwhile, Milo and Grace jumped into the teleporter, Buzzy in tow. Milo and Grace's fingers flew across the database's interface. "We're in! Now to shut down their security systems..." Grace muttered, her brow furrowed in concentration. An interface popped up: all doors unlocked.

Buzzy whirred and beeped excitedly, darting between the group members. He seemed to sense the gravity of the situation.

Jacob and the others moved forward cautiously, their specialized fishing gear at the ready. "Stay alert, everyone. Who knows what kind of defenses they have," Jacob cautioned.

Gemini and Jaden exchanged a determined glance. "This is it. Time to put an end to Sterling's tyranny once and for all," Jaden said. “We’ve come so far. We can’t stop now.”

Gemini said nothing but smiled warmly. “Let’s go.”

Armed guards were assigned to the cafeteria, aiming their weapons at OrionTech - only for them to be instantly flung away by the harpoons, firing and detonating in mid-air. Bombs discharged and violently exploded in a display of pinkish-red shrapnel, deflected into the crowd - reminding Amathine of the showers of cherry blossom petals. She felt all the more determined to continue - and slid under the tables, like a football would nutmeg between a player’s legs, before shooting some of the guards point-blank. All that practice in the school club did her well. None of them had any qualms about murder - well, except maybe for Tanner and Evergreen.

The desperate survivors made a mad dash for the exit, trampling over each other in the process: one of them made it to the stairwell but ended up tripping and falling 22 storeys to their death by cranium implosion. A few storeys above, Milo and Grace had successfully disabled all security.

Chet Sterling was simply chilling with his fams in Big Company, trying to ignore the din of the alarms in false hope that his own minions could take care of OrionTech without divine interference (as in him), before the rooms below shook with a shockwave so violent that it physically knocked them off their chairs. This could only mean one thing. They were advancing. He rushed to the cameras. There they were, that smug little Gemini, the little escape artist Jacob and the foolish idealist Jaden. But where was the son of Samuel Booker?

He was furiously mashing keys in the database. Folders and folders, programs upon programs, lines of code upon each other - and there it was. The propaganda in the consoles were all there in neat scripts. “So now we delete everything…?”

Grace had a slightly better idea. “...no. We can trick them into taking them off. Perhaps some scary images?”

Milo shuddered. “Yeah… maybe not that extreme.”

Grace sulked. “Fine.” She plugged in some less scary images telling the user to turn off the headset and take it off for the first time in weeks. All around the world, people saw friendly white text in cyan boxes - “Take off the headset. Open your shut eyes. It’s been too long.”

Milo sighed.

There was a terrible din.

There was a beautiful silence.

A sense of tranquil and peace radiated through the city of Xeter after so long, after many weeks and sixteen chapters. The battle was over. Now for the war.

Chet Sterling teleported to his office. Everything was okay there - other than the missing teleporter during the Skirmish of Shiawase Labs, nothing was out of place. Neither was Shiawase Labs - he reminded himself not to rush to get the magic USB - and then he went to the database.

“Everything’s in order here… and here… and - ” Chet started before being pummeled to the ground by Buzzy, who sensed Sterling’s arrival.

“YO HOW THE HECK DID YOU - I mean, how are you in here?” Chet Sterling asked calmly, nanobot tendrils flickering from his back gingerly as he hesitated to strangle the very life from their lungs like he did the shareholders. “You should be dissolved in acid right now.”

“You’re too late, Sterling. We’ve disabled the headsets. The masses are free of your control. Samuel and Zara are on the way. Gemini and the rest of the dudes have everything covered for us.”

“What you don’t know is that this place is due to be filled with concentrated flouroantimonic acid. Enjoy your lasting moments being burned alive.”

“We have a teleporter.”

Chet Sterling picked it up lazily with a nanobot tendril and snapped it. “What teleporter? Now, as I said, enjoy your la - ” Milo tackled him to the groundand started punching his face repeatedly, shoving him through the wall.

“That was actually (groan) quite foolish of you. If any surface of the database is breached, it fills with fluoroantimonic acid. Now that the database has been robbed of its power, it can go. But the Eyeball Bait still prevails. Now, I have things to do. See you. I wish you the best fortune!”

He teleported away, leaving a gaping hole and a platform slowly opening. The database was lifted by a metal claw and disappeared, as hydrochloric acid bubbled up. It seemed that Sterling was bluffing about the fluoroantimonic acid, but hydrochloric acid was still deadly. Buzzy pried the hole open and the duo rushed through with everything they had, as hydrochloric acid burned through the wall and formed hydrogen gas, billowing through the stairwell.

Gemini was approaching Shiawase Labs, where Chet was headed, along with Amathine, Tanner, Evergreen, and Ashley. Samuel and Zara had recently arrived to help Milo, Grace, and Rohan. The five rushed up the stairs, checking in on the database - with Milo and Grace coming over, pools of hydrochloric acid billowing after them.

“What on earth - ” Gemini noted, before Milo and Grace cut them off. They rushed up to Shiawase Labs as Buzzy made a detour to Sterling’s office, which was empty: it reconvened back to the group. There he was, hurtling towards the far corridor - a single room lay there. The USB fluttered happily, waiting to be inserted: the wrist device was slotted on.

Ashley skidded to a halt. Those symbols… she recognised them. Earth, Ice, Storm, Fire, Water. And a device like that allowed you to gain the properties of whatever was within said USB - like a black hole that disregarded the no hair theorem.

“Yo, wait a minute. We could talk about this?”

“What do you mean? We have him cornered!”

“No, no, no. Sterling, you have to think about this.”

Gemini thought her exclamation was directed at she herself - but Chet threw his head back and laughed. “I have thought over this already. You were foolish to think magic was something not to be tampered with. If I cannot have control over the world through peace and happiness, then let it be a dictatorship!” He cackled with glee before inserting the USB.

“Hold on. This isn’t - ARGH!” Chet screamed in pain as he crumpled to the ground in agony, blood trickling from his wrist. He spasmed as he flexed his back backwards, gasping for air as lightning flashed, torrents were unleashed, fire and flame was unleashed. Chet Sterling turned back to face them, flames radiating from his green eyes turned red. Evergreen shielded Tanner’s eyes, the latter of whom was struggling to look properly. The precious, pure cinnamon roll must stay a precious, pure cinnamon roll.

Everyone was teleported to the roof as Ion Cannons shook the concrete, even Jacob and Rohan and Samuel and Zara. Gemini readied herself. “Even if we don’t stop you, there’s something I brought with me.”

She picks up Samuel’s Eyeball Bait copy, alongside some Magnet Baits. “With this, we can attract everyone here like you did. They’ll see you and see the monster you made yourself. Your reputation will be tarnished. They’re free of your grasp.”

Chet smirked, before shadow travelled through his nanobot tendrils and grabbed her by the leg, whilst creating a Torrent and Volcannon simultaneously, the synergy forming choking steam. Tanner couldn’t bear to see this. He couldn’t. He was meant to help, and all he ever did was just stand back, run, and goggle at the fights. He had to do something.

“G-guys? I… I have a crazy idea, but it might work.”

He plucked out his guitar and strummed the first few seconds of the Turn it Again solo, startling Sterling and releasing Gemini from his chokehold. Gemini massaged her ankle, shakily getting up. The shadow had drained her energy somehow. She growled.

Chet grabbed him by the neck, choking out a sob from Tanner as he struggled to play the Scar Tissue solo. Gemini reached out to him, knowing exactly what was going on: he was going to distract Sterling while he struggled. This was a self-sacrifice. None of their consciences could let them stand by as fight as Tanner asphyxiated. Evergreen called out to him.

Chet turned his attention to the crowd, trying to grab Tanner and free him, before unleashing waves of fire that licked the roof and spread down the building, ripping it - and Shiawase Labs with it - off its foundations. Tanner gasped, his now purple fingers striving to reach the fretboard. He played the Wet Sand solo, its beautiful chords piercing the eardrums of those around. Chet screamed and materialised a knife, driving it deep into Tanner’s stomach, blood gushing from the wound. Amathine sobbed, before screaming and pushing Chet Sterling to the ground, choking him to no avail. Tanner took deep breaths as blood flowed plentifully from his stomach, his fingers moving to the correct positions. Sobbing from pain, anguish, agony, and self-doubt, he played the Snow ((Hey Oh)) riff. Correctly.

Even he couldn’t believe it. He had mastered it after so long, it consuming his life for so long. Through the pain, he focused on the music and the music alone - before Chet Sterling grabbed him again and stabbed him multiple times in the chest and stomach, before smashing his precious guitar into splinters. Tanner let out an agonised scream, all his pent-up sorrow escaping him for once. The weight was off his shoulder.s He played the Snow ((Hey Oh)) riff perfectly. He was at peace. Yet why did he feel so cold?

Amathine rushed to Tanner, who was now spitting blood, his splintered guitar pressed to his stomach, before being blocked off by Chet Sterling. Amathine sobbed and rushed to his side, along with Evergreen, who pulled out a Yggdrasil leaf that was instantly turned into a Dark Mark by Sterling’s shadow magic. She applied an ointment that soothed the pain as Rohan, Grace, and Ashley approached. Jaden and Milo suffered the same fate as Gemini, being blocked off by Sterling. Amathine caressed Tanner’s gaunt and bloody face.

“That was so, so foolish of you,” Amathine sobbed as she hugged Tanner’s limp but still life-filled body, ignoring the blood soaking her clothes, as everyone else huddled close. “Why?”

“I w-wanted to help… I couldn’t just stand there idly by,” Tanner choked.

Amathine continued crying. “You know you didn’t have to do that. But… you finally did it.”

“Was I competent in the end…?”

“You were greater than all of us. You didn’t know it, but you’re… you were always amazing. You were the unsung hero from Prodigia.”

“That was all I had to hear,” Tanner sighed with a smile as he drew his final breath, echoing his last chords as his life force was dragged into the depths of the afterlife.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Chet Sterling had currently opened a huge portal of Astral, Shadow, and Physical co-existing together, leading to the very depths of an underworld of his own horrors. Gemini was slowly losing consciousness as she struggled against the Astral flowing through her veins, interfering with her mind and weakening the natural Mechanical affinity she possessed. She slowly drifted and wavered out of sleep as she struggled against her bonds, slipping slowly into the portal. Jaden and Milo were bound tightly, watching Chet enjoy Gemini’s twisted torture. But Jacob, first to look up, noticed the portal in time. It was nothing good. He fired a shot, unfazing Chet but forcing him to dodge, before leaping towards Gemini. She’d saved him from Chet Sterling before. He had to repay the favour.

Yet the Astral, Shadow, and Physical magic was sucking his life-force in. Jacob couldn’t leave.

“I should warn you, there is a way to escape once you’ve entered. But getting there is nigh-impossible. Dare you try? Or will you leave Gemini to her fate?”

Jacob grabbed Gemini’s hand, using his pistol to grab onto the edge. Gemini awoke, her strength sapped. She knew this could be the end, and yet she resisted the inevitable. Her leg felt it was being pulled out of her socket, face white with effort. Amathine had noticed and yelled for the others, but they couldn’t get there in time.

“Everyone! Try and hold him off for (groan) as long as possible. We’ll find a way!”

Even Jacob didn’t feel certain about that. Gemini gazed up at the sky - perhaps the last glimpse of the sky she’d ever see.

Amathine wavered. “We - we will. We mourn later.”

Jacob smiled, before looking at the last view of Xeter. “I’ve got your backs, you know.”

Chet smiled at them, a cold gormless smile…

…and Jacob Doswell and Gemini Sterling collapsed into the iridescent abyss.

Part Four - Astralith[]

To my avid readers,
Sorry about that cliffhanger at the end.
Love you guys.

Chapter 31: Dark Matter[]

The light shattered as darkness enveloped her.

Gemini flickered into consciousness, blinking hard as she tumbled into void, null, and nothingness. Cold seared against her skin as she glanced around. Chet Sterling was gone, and yet he was still up there in the plane where all she knew resided, free to wreak havoc. Jaden and Milo were at his mercy. Amathine, Evergreen, Grace, Rohan, Ashley, they were at his mercy. And as for Tanner…

She choked back a sob. She’d failed. The entire siege had failed. Tanner had sacrificed his own life for nothing. Sweet, bumbling, brave, innocent, noble Tanner, dead.

A nagging voice at the back of her mind said, You achieved something. You helped free Xeter from the Sterling Headsets.

But now she’d resigned them to an even worse fate. Ruled by Sterling’s iron fist, with no freedom, no hope, no chance at ever rising up against the oppressors. This was a fool’s errand and she knew it all too well. There were two types of evil, they said: bad people who do bad, and good people who stand by as the bad people do bad. She was the third type of evil. Those who tried to help but left things in a worse state than when they started.

Jacob tumbled through the light, struggling towards Gemini before grabbing her on the shoulder, jolting her back to reality. Gasping for air, she glanced towards Jacob. “H-hey,” she weakly forced out as gravity took its toll on the two.

“Just so you know, I might forgive you for that comment at the Winter Prom,” he joked.

“Don’t talk to me about the Winter Prom.”

Jacob sighed. “If anything, I still have my pistol. And you - still have the Eyeball Bait, which leaves attracting large crowds to the fight out of the question.”

Gemini groaned. She’d heard legends of portals that opened up wormholes to new realms, but she never believed in them… but the truth hit them as hard as a bullet. This was uncharted territory for any citizen of Xeter. She took a few seconds to register this before slamming face-first into solid jagged glass.

Glancing around again, the sky was jade green. Emerald clouds swirled around, as crystal golems and wyrms, glowing and emanating radiant light of many colours. Green for Earth, cyan for Ice, yellow for Storm, red for Fire, blue for Water. Spirits in the mist choked Jacob and Gemini, sucking the hope from them and forming misery. This was torture even beyond Chet Sterling would normally wish to perform… but now the madman was relentless. He’d stop at nothing to gain control, power, anything to make himself above all others. They knew it, all of them.

Blood red light radiated from the jade green sky, in the shape of a pentagram. Dark creatures fell from them - insect-like, yet rotten and weathered. Beetles with their maws ripped off, exposing their mandibles - wasps with jagged teeth and blood trickling from their jaws - centipedes with chunks of their segmented bodies completely missing.

The other plane had arrived to consume the two idealists.

————

Amathine, with Tanner’s body slumped over her back, grimaced as she processed everything that had occurred. Tanner, the first person she met on her trip to Prodigia, was dead. Jacob Doswell and Gemini Sterling had been sucked into some sort of pocket universe. Chet Sterling was stronger than ever, harnessing both technology and magic, the two elements formerly opposing each other going hand in hand together.

She’d known OrionTech for so little time, yet she’d become so attached to them. Evergreen was panting, having mended everyone elses’ injuries and failed to save Tanner. Their spirits were low.

A low, gargle-like, almost choking sound came from near Chet. Oh, god. She’d forgotten about Jaden and Milo. Gently kissing Tanner’s forehead and silently apologising to him, she readied herself before she noticed Samuel Booker getting up.

“Ah, Booker. My old, dear friend, I should say. Acquaintance? Acquaintance is more appropriate,” Sterling laughed. Milo was convulsing as the shadow magic worked its way through his body, unlike a seizure victim or Ford Prefect upon hearing Vogon poetry - shaking violently, his composure now turning into frantic desperation. Jaden Carter’s weary face depicted her state, slowly running out of energy as she slowed down until all that was left of her was her breathing and her heartbeat. “Your little son here won’t be alive for long. There’s no point in fighting me, unless you want ikkle Milo to die and you suffer the same fate as Gemini and Jacob. So? What’s your choice?”

“You won’t have a choice. Release them!” Samuel screamed as he reached in his backpack. Chet thought, Great. He’s going to pull out a harpoon gun or a stick of dynamite or something. Doesn’t he know by now it won’t work? Poor idiot. What he didn’t notice was Amathine inching behind him,

Samuel Booker pulled out a machine gun.

Chet Sterling’s expression briefly faltered, before returning to its gormless state. “How quaint. Very well. Release them I shall,” he smiled before proceeding to drop Jaden Carter and Milo off the edge - at least that’s what he tried to do before Amathine tackled him from the back, slicing open a vein with Sterling’s own dagger and forcing both Shadow tendrils onto the wound - creating a searing pain that could’ve split Chet’s head open. Nanobots crawled over to repair the wound, which it did within seconds - but it only infuriated Sterling more. Jaden and Milo were released, Milo shaking Jaden frantically until she awoke.

Amathine smiled, motioning for everyone to go before Chet recovered, disappearing herself along with them. All she could do now was plan and pray that Gemini and Jacob were okay.

————

The teleporter was still falling, the last of the hydrochloric acid spilling from it, before it shattered on the ground, breaking into five. The scourges continued to snap and claw, while funny figures ran around wildly, objects like poker chips and playing cards spinning around them wildly, screaming stuff like “Hey, you should try gambling it’s fun!”, “Thirty-seventh time’s the charm!” and “Where are the blackjack tables?”

Gemini stood up, sharply turning towards the point whence the teleporter came, before a searing pain exploded in her ankle. It was very clearly broken, and she collapsed once again, blood spilling into the glass and fueling the devil insects. The jagged glass made it hurt to walk, even through her thick padded trainers - but she hobbled over to the pieces and grabbed them, stuffing them inside her backpack when she was promptly impaled by a devil wasp’s tooth. “Two days ago life seemed to be going so well,” she complained as she slashed at the wasp, its essence flowing into her backpack. “Wait wha - ”

The teleporter shimmered, glowing slightly. Gemini checked inside: it was slowly repairing.

“...”

“Just kill everything in sight?”

“Kill everything in sight.”

Jacob loaded his pistol while Gemini looked in her backpack. Nothing. Great. She could always try fisticuffs, Gemini thought before she punched a devil wasp in the teeth, dislodging them instantly. She winced in pain as the broken glass in her ankle ground against the bone with each step, the backpack feeling immensely heavy, weighed down by the shards of the broken teleporter. She knew they had to get out of this chaos quickly before the scourges overpowered them. The thoughts were slowly messing with her head too, filling her mind with intrusive thoughts. “You won’t be able to save them all.” “There is no escape.”

Jacob's pistol barked as he took aim at the swarming devil wasps, managing to take a few down. "We need to find some cover and regroup," he shouted to Gemini. "That teleporter might be our only way out of this hell, but we can't fix it out in the open like this."

Gemini scanned their surroundings, looking for any defensible position. Her eyes settled on an abandoned storefront a few blocks away, its windows boarded up but the entrance still clear. "There!" she yelled, pointing. "We can hole up in that shop and try to put the teleporter back together."

Gritting her teeth against the agony in her ankle, Gemini set off at a limping run, Jacob covering their retreat with well-aimed shots. As they reached the shop, Gemini flung the door open and they ducked inside, slamming it shut behind them, gnashing teeth and blood clawing behind them.

"Alright, let's see what we're working with," Gemini said, carefully unzipping the backpack. The shattered remains of the teleporter gleamed dully in the dim light. "This is going to take some doing, but I think we can get this thing functional again if we have the time."

Jacob nodded, already moving to barricade the door. "Then let's get to work. Those things out there aren't going to wait for us."

Gemini rolled up her sleeves, wincing as the movement sent a fresh jolt of pain through her ankle. "Right. No time to waste." Wildly looking around, she found some sticks and gauze, forming a splint around her ankle. She’d done this in Year 8 the year before on someone else, but she never thought she’d need to do it on herself. It was more than painful, to say the least, but it had subsided from “PLEASE HAVE MERCY END IT ALL FOR ME” levels of pain to “urgh i want to cut off my leg) levels. Gemini carefully laid out the pieces of the broken teleporter on the dusty floor of the abandoned store. The shattered housing crackled with residual energy, and the delicate components inside were mangled and warped. Apparently this place was a workhouse, or might have been before… a soldering iron hung on the wall. More buildings, ruined and dilapidated, stood high and proud even in their destroyed state outside.

"This is going to be a challenge," she muttered, running a hand through her tangled hair. "The power core is still mostly intact, but the guidance and stabilization systems are a mess." She glanced over at Jacob, who was barricading the entrance with whatever furniture and debris he could find. "How's it looking out there?"

Jacob paused to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Not good. Those things are relentless. I don't know how long these barricades will hold."

Gemini nodded grimly. "Then we'd better work fast. Hand me that soldering iron, would you?"

As Jacob retrieved the tool, Gemini began the delicate process of reconnecting the damaged circuits and rewiring the teleporter's intricate systems. Her fingers flew with practiced precision, pausing only briefly to wince as the movement tugged at her injured ankle.

"This isn't going to be a perfect fix," she muttered, more to herself than to Jacob. "But if I can at least get the power and stabilization back online, we might just have a chance of making it out of this mess in one piece. Apparently the power flows from the life force around it… there’s plenty of life in Xeter but here, it’s completely - void. The only source of life is these bloody devil bugs."

The sounds of the scourges battering at the barricade outside grew more frantic and urgent. Gemini could feel the sweat beading on her forehead as she worked, the stakes rising with every passing moment.

"Come on, come on..." she hissed through gritted teeth. "Just a little more..."

The roof was promptly ripped open by a crystal golem, its amethyst jaw revealing a dusty and parched tongue of jade, a roar of deafening volume almost rupturing the two’s eardrums. Gemini grabbed a glue gun, firing several shots while aiming straight up as Jacob continued boarding up the doors, the wasps and beetles and spiders and centipedes crawled in. Thank goodness none of them had insectophobia, because the scourges were swarming the two, nipping at all exposed skin - which, judging by Gemini’s ripped trousers and Jacob’s tattered shirt, wasn’t so hard to do. The ground softened into quicksand, and the floor caved in as Gemini and Jacob, along with the suffocating insects, slowly sinked into. The golem clawed at them as it shot out vines, caused cabbages to grow out of the ground, choked everything in sight with vines. Gemini grabbed Jacob’s hand and pulled him closer, grabbing his pistol and firing at the golem as she winced, her bones slowly crushing into fragments as the vines squeezed tighter and tighter. Sterling certainly wished them to die in this pocket dimension hell.

Gemini, somehow, forced out a smile towards Jacob, who smiled back.

How futile, a voice boomed.

Such brilliant, such beautiful sacrifices for Sterling. The idealist and the escape artist shall do. Their blood, their life force shall fuel his return, and all shall cower before him. The grand Chet Sterling, shunned by all.

Jacob focused all his energy. He wouldn’t die here, not now. Even as they sank, the vines loosened their grip even slightly. The two locked eyes.

“If this is the end, I’ll see you on the other side.”

The two hugged tightly as all was enveloped in red, as the golem howled in rage as it sank into the earth.

Chapter 32: The Sky is a Neighbourhood[]

Chet Sterling readied a Darkpourtal as Amathine hid behind a wall. Employees were running around, clearly confused at what was happening as Sterling pushed them aside with a burst of wind summoned from a lazy flick of his hand. Tanner’s body still slumped over her back, blood speckling his beige shirt, Amathine punched one of the guards in the crotch before grabbing his rocket launcher, firing it at Sterling - two heartbeats too late. Shadow licked across the tarmac and concrete as it burned Amathine’s body through her shoes and clothes. Rohan grabbed a gun and fired, before Sterling claimed the firearm for himself with a Kidnap and singed his face with fire and flame.

Rohan tried to get up, his limbs useless and singed. A flash grenade was summoned out of thin air, unpinned and thrown at the crowd, blinding the kids in radiant light. “Perhaps it’s time to switch to something else,” he laughed before snapping his fingers. The Shadow magic turned to Astral, before Sterling zapped Rohan with the Ray of the Ancient. Terrible screaming ensued as Rohan writhed and seethed as light bathed his body, reducing him to a charred husk - still alive, thankfully. He steadied himself and charged right into the fray, firing Physical spells from his wand. “It’s convenient to have this on me at all times, even if I don’t use it much. Now - ” he gritted as he fired a Tremor at Chet Sterling, the first spell that remotely dealt a dent in his indestructible armour.

Samuel got up, dazed and confused with anger and hatred, the ringing in his ears not yet subsided. “Surprised you haven’t called on your minions yet, coward.”

“You call me a coward? This is barely an even fight,” Chet sneered, knowing the irony full well in what he was saying. “Eight on one. You know what? Perhaps it’s time to call upon my little sidekicks.” The nanobots formed a teleporter, where all members of Big Company were summoned, falling flat on their faces and forming a pile. The roof of Sterling Enterprises was now practically an island, airborne in the sky, crumpling inwards to form a large warship, mounted with cannons made from desks and chairs, powered by Chet Sterling himself. The words STERLING ENTERPRISES were patterned on the side of the “hull”, and Sterling cackled before surrounding the edges with astral flame. As the monstrous airship constructed itself around them, Amathine's eyes widened in horror. "Okay what the heck - ROHAN GET BACK!" she cried, grabbing Rohan's arm and trying to pull him towards cover.

Rohan winced, his body still reeling from the devastating Ray of the Ancient spell, but he knew Amathine was right. "We need to regroup and come up with a plan," he grunted, stumbling alongside her. "That thing looks impenetrable."

Samuel clenched his fists, his gaze locked on the towering Sterling Enterprises warship. "We can't just run," he growled. "That - he - he has to pay for what he's done."

"Samuel, you're in no condition to fight," Amathine pleaded. “We can continue. We have to avenge Jacob and Gemini.”

Chet Sterling let out a sinister laugh, his voice booming from the warship's speakers. "Stall all you want, fools. You can't escape the might of Sterling Enterprises! I can throw you off the ship with just one swipe of a hand,” he grinned before sailing the makeshift ship out of the city, bending the ground beneath to his will and forming a new roof over Sterling Enterprises.

"You fools really thought you could escape me?" Sterling sneered, his voice booming through the ship's speakers. "This ship is my domain, and you're all just pawns in my game."

Amathine gritted her teeth, her grip tightening on the rocket launcher she had snatched earlier. Normally she’d be saying how it was funny because it rhymed, but there was no time for niceties now. "We're not going down without a fight, Sterling."

"Oh, but you are," he replied, a malicious grin spreading across his face. "You see, this ship is powered by my own personal magic. As long as I'm in control, it's impenetrable."

Rohan's mind raced, searching for a way to turn the tables. "Then we'll just have to take you out of the equation."

Sterling let out a booming laugh. "Good luck with that. My power is beyond your comprehension." With a flick of his wrist, he summoned a swarm of his nanobots, their metallic forms swarming towards the group.

Amathine opened fire with the rocket launcher, but the projectiles were easily swatted away by Sterling's Astral magic. Rohan unleashed a barrage of Physical spells, but they seemed to have little effect on the ship's sturdy hull. Samuel and Zara sent upon a rain of dynamite, not unlike the one that once destroyed Camp Guillermo.

Rohan's brow furrowed as he tried to find a weak spot, a way to disrupt Sterling's control. "There has to be a way to break his connection to this ship," he muttered to himself.

The group found themselves pushed back, their attacks failing to make a dent. The situation seemed hopeless, but they refused to give up. They had to find a way to stop Sterling and his monstrous airship before it was too late.

“There resides a power source for all the mechanical energy within the nanobots, deep within the roasting core of Voidshade Grove. To reach it is almost impossible, but that’s what I’m all abou - damn it why do I say my plans out loud?! Okay, off with you,” Chet seethed as he swiped at the air. A gust of wind blew OrionTech off the side of the hull.

Amathine’s heart dropped as she watched her friends and teammates - Rohan, Samuel, Zara, Evergreen, Grace, Ashley, even the small robot Buzzy, desperately gripping onto the edge - all get swept off the airship by Chet Sterling's powerful storm magic. And then, to her utter horror, she felt the same force grip her, pulling her towards the edge.

"No, no!" she cried out, desperately trying to hold on, to find something, anything, to anchor herself. But it was no use. With a scream, Amathine was swept off the airship, plummeting towards the dark expanse below like those who went before.

Chet Sterling let out a booming, mocking laugh, his eyes glinting with malicious triumph. "You fools thought you could stop me?" he taunted. "This power is mine, and no one can take it from me!"

Her mind raced as she fell, the wind whipping past her. She had failed Jacob Doswell’s last request. Her friends were gone, and now she was hurtling towards what seemed like certain death. All their efforts, all their sacrifices, had been for nothing.

But what if it didn’t have to be? She barely remembered a spell, a healing spell from her days at the Academy, that could help multiple people at once. Amathine readied a Rejuvenate and an All-Out Attack at the same time, energy coursing through her veins.

Time seemed to slow as Amathine hurtled towards the ground, her fingers closing into a fist as she prepared to make. And in that moment, she knew that this was her last, desperate gambit. If she failed, all would be lost. But if she succeeded...

Amathine braced herself, steeling his resolve. Whatever happened next, she would give it her all. For Gemini Sterling, who she’d known for such little time yet grown so much respect for. For Jacob Doswell, an outsider in a world that opposed him. For Xeter, this beautiful planet that had so much to offer, so much that was being hidden away. For the chance to put an end to Chet Sterling's reign of terror.

Light blue lightning flashed from her and bounced to Evergreen, to Rohan, to Grace, to Samuel, to Zara, to Ashley, to Buzzy. A blue flash radiated the crater that was formed from the healing shield, as Chet Sterling looked down below.

Big AI approached. “What was the reason you called us here?”

“I simply needed to prove a point.”

“... that was it.”

“Yes.”

“... words cannot express how utterly annoyed I am at you right now.”

“Wonder where Marilyn’s at.”

“Not the time.”

“Whatever.”

Sterling’s concrete warship sailed through the sky. The endgame had begun, and soon it would cease. For every winner, there must be a loser. For every victor, there must be a victim. And Chet Sterling would make sure the victim would not be him.

Chapter 33: Long Road to Ruin[]

The blinding red light enveloped Gemini and Jacob, and for a moment, the darkness squirmed in entropy, both everywhere and nowhere at once. All they could perceive was an overwhelming intensity - but as their eyes adjusted, a new vision began to take shape.

The ground around them seemed to have transformed, the treacherous quicksand now a solid, unyielding surface. The vines and the crystal golem had vanished, replaced by an eerie, otherworldly landscape. The devil scourges still remained, as did some other strange crystal monsters, but the dark pentagram in the sky was now several gears churning.

Gemini and Jacob cautiously released their embrace, taking in their strange new surroundings. The sky above was a deep, unsettling crimson, and the air held a palpable sense of unease.

"Where are we?" Gemini whispered, her voice laced with apprehension.

The gears in the sky released several nanobots - a pistol, a revolver, a crossbow, a tendril, a cannon was formed from the robotic conglomerates in the atmosphere. They were symbols both knew too well.

Jacob brow furrowed, his mind racing. "That must be the source of… magic? for Chet Sterling. That’s gotta be how the nanobots work."

She turned to Jacob, her expression grim. "We have to find a way to shut it down. If we can remove his nanobots from the equation, it might give us a chance to turn the tide against him. Besides, Team GREAT’s the experts on magic, they could help us against his last line of defense."

Jacob nodded, his own determination mirroring Gemini's. "Then let's not waste any time. The others are counting on us, and we can't afford to fail."

A booming voice rose from the sky. “You really can’t afford much, so best accept your fate while you can.”

The ground cracked as Chet Sterling rose from the ground, drawing energy directly from the gears in the sky that were now rotating more vigorously and white aura was flowing into his palm.

“How on earth are you here? Shouldn’t you be back on Xeter?” Jacob demanded, as Gemini grabbed his arm, whispering “yo how is he here get back get back” and tugging Jacob back as Jacob approached, challenging Sterling with two revolvers.

“I can be in two places at once with this pocket dimension. Me, right now, I’m just cooling off in my brand new warship, the S.S. Shiawase. I do believe I’ve sent your little friends off on a wild goose chase into Voidshade Grove?”

Spirits materialised from the ground, battered, bruised, and very much dead yet reanimated in Chet’s most futile attempt at feigning life. They stood limp, looking at Chet Sterling with a newfound curiosity, awaiting orders.

Kill.

Taking a few seconds to process this information - who was he? why did he look so cool? why is he flying? what does “kill” mean? should i do it? what does it mean to kill? is it bad or good? - the spirits made up their minds and flew straight at Gemini and Jacob, throwing them into the jagged glass. Jacob reached for his pistol and shot one of them clean through the stomach, as the spirit crumpled into dust. Breathing heavily, Jacob suddenly doubled over in agony as cold spread through his veins, his very organs feeling like they were being ripped apart.

Release your curses upon these wretched heathens,” Sterling commanded.

As the spirits dissolved, the wisps within them flew into Jacob.

“The spirits contain the curses of the last thing your victims felt before you condemned them to their fate. Ah, this would be Marilyn Linforth. Wonder how she’s doing up north.”

Jacob said nothing. He physically couldn’t. His tongue felt like it was stuck in the middle of a block of ice, the burning freeze searing his skin. Jacob had felt no remorse when he’d shoved Marilyn through that teleporter - if anything, he felt satisfaction in having wreaked vengeance on Marilyn. Now he truly felt the agony that Marilyn had felt as she was transported halfway across the world. And all this pain for a mere chemistry set?

Gemini knelt to his side, shaking him as he coughed and spluttered. She was tired, tired of fatigue and tired of loss. She had to return the favour to Jacob, whom had probably saved their lives back in the alleyway with the guards. She had to pay him back.

Chet Sterling swerved as another spirit lunged straight for Gemini’s neck. Voices fluttered in the air: whose punishment shall she get? whom shall be cursed by? what does the girl deserve?

Gemini fumbled, holding the spirit off as it clawed, nipping at exposed skin. She could barely make out Jacob calling out her name, stumbling around as more spirits surrounded him, and Chet Sterling, that wicked bastard watching it all. She reached for Jacob’s hand and grabbed a piece of jagged glass from the ground, ignoring the searing pain as it cut her hand. Her blood watered the ground, drip by drip, as she slashed.

The spirit at her throat dissolved, but it gave her no breathing room as her chest exploded in pain as her heart was penetrated by the bursting heat of several bullets, piercing through her ribs. She cried out, both in pain and grief. This was unmistakably the death of Preston McKenna. She’d witnessed it firsthand, but she never dared to think about how it felt. How her old teacher was able to continue fighting on as he rapidly lost blood, as the life drained from him, was beyond her. Gemini’s throat constricted. All she could muster out was this.

“You - you did this to him. Not m-me - ” she forced out as she fell to her knees coughing. There was no wound - the pain had all been virtual, imagined, but it was very much real.

“You brought this on him by defying me. Well, none shall defy me any longer. I shall ensure that Xeter prospers under my rule as I see fit… so long as I receive the required sacrifice.” Chet Sterling's laughter boomed overhead, the gears in the sky churning faster. "Relish in your agony, fools, and yield! This is the power I wield - the power to make you suffer as I see fit!"

Gemini’s eyes rolled up in her head as the burning scorched through her arteries, carbonising the very atoms holding her together. Some selfish, cowardly part of her in the back of her mind said, yes, yielding sound like quite a good option right about now.

Jacob clenched his jaw as he let out a guttural cry and slashed wildly. So the fool chooses to attack after he knows his fate, and sees the girl suffer hers? So you two choose to curse yourselves in order, one after the other?

Jacob’s face exploded in fire as he grabbed at it. This was the fate of Robin Yew, the telemarketer who worked for Sterling before he rose to power, in the moments when he failed. Jacob had killed him on his weekend off after pre-mocks - shot in the face, point-blank. At least for Robin it had been short - his end did not last long, and he couldn’t register the pain. Jacob Doswell doubled over in torturous pain, screaming as he landed onto the jagged glass, only adding to his pain as they pierced his monstrous, vile flesh. Blood was on his hands. Blood was on the hands of both of them. It was the undeniable truth. What were they supposed to be, other than monsters who took lives with their own hands? Gemini was barely stirring as her expression continued to contort in pain, the spirits relishing in her agony.

Jacob Doswell gasped for air. “I - I’m sorry.”

He apologises? He regrets his crimes against those who Sterling favours? Does he truly? Or is he simply trying to save his own skin? The irony.

“No - no. I’m sorry, Gemini. I wasn’t - wasn’t able to save you all in time. I hope they forgive me.”

The spirits scattered as the gears continued to pulsate, energy bounding and leaping from its nexus into the ground, ignorant to the atrocity beneath. Chet Sterling scoffed and left the scene.

Jacob Doswell collapsed beside Gemini Sterling, their broken forms scattered in the dust.

Chapter 34: Voidshade Grove[]

Amathine shakily got up from the crater she’d made from sheer willpower alone. It spanned metres wide, and all her friends lay sprawled across the floor. She looked around at her fallen friends, a deep sense of worry etching across her features. She knew they needed to get to whatever Voidshade Grove was quickly, but the task ahead seemed daunting after the toll the battle had taken.

Steeling her resolve, Amathine moved to each of her companions, checking on their conditions. Some were unconscious, others nursing serious wounds. She would need to work quickly to stabilize them before they could make the journey.

"Hang on, guys," she said, her voice low but determined. "We'll get to Voidshade Grove. But first, I have - to help you guys." Amathine took a deep breath. She’d never assumed a position of leadership or authority before, but now everyone counted on her. She walked to Evergreen’s body and picked up her satchel. Amathine wasn’t the medic here - but right now, the medic was down. The medic required a medic.

Amathine quickly rifled through Evergreen's satchel, her hands trembling slightly as she searched for the necessary supplies. She knew time was of the essence, and she needed to act swiftly to stabilize her injured companions. Prior to this moment, she’d always enjoyed trailing behind Team GREAT - the word itself made her think irresistibly of Tanner. She’d lost his body when Sterling had shoved them all aside off the ship. He’d done so much, and deserved a proper burial. If Sterling didn’t honour that… the thought simply motivated her to keep helping.

Locating a variety of potent healing salves and elixirs, Amathine began moving from one friend to the next, carefully applying the restorative treatments. She worked with a focused intensity, her brow furrowed in concentration as she tended to the worst of the wounds. Rohan had a serious burn on his… well everywhere, tended to with great care gingerly as Amathine uttered soothing words and applied a burn ointment. Evergreen had a pretty bad cut on her arm, taken care of with some gauze and a healing spell. As for everyone else, there hadn’t been much harm done.

Voidshade Grove… what was that? It surely didn’t sound like a place in Xeter, yet it had to be important. If Chet Sterling mentioned it and immediately regretted doing so, it had to be important. If only she knew where it was… Amathine didn’t know much Xeter culture or geography offhand. The only piece of Xeter culture she knew offhand was the ending solo of Wet Sand.

Slowly, but surely, everyone stirred. Evergreen was the first, followed by Jaden and Milo. Steadying themselves, they discussed plans.

“Chet Sterling mentioned something called Voidshade Grove. Does anyone from here know what it is?”

Samuel was first to reply. “It’s a forest. It resides on an island quite far from here to the north, near the Snowy Mountains and Ice Caves. I could take you all there, but someone used my only teleporter and broke it behind my back yard. It was always a mystery.”

The words hung in the air for a long time, especially with Jaden and Milo.

“Hold on,” Jaden interrupted. “When Jacob joined, Marilyn and him had a standoff. Jacob grabbed a teleporter and shoved it into Marilyn’s face, breaking it and sending her somewhere far away. It looked like it sent you somewhere snowy and stuff. You don’t say - ” She faltered, knowing the wrath Marilyn would wreak on OrionTech if they met again.

“So that’s what happened. Jacob happened. Bless him.”

“So we take a boat?”

“We take a boat.”

Zara got up and dusted herself off. “Haven’t really done much in quite some time, but ever since rowing was cancelled the boats have just been sitting in the new boathouse. Why don’t you say we break them out?”

Milo and Samuel exchanged glances and smiled. Camp Guillermo wasn’t completely rebuilt yet, but both of them were eager to revisit their old safe haven. There was a chance to save everyone after all.

————

“Camp Guillermo hasn’t been completely finished yet, but I guess we can use the boats for once. Here, this was Patrick’s old minibus before Chet Sterling happened. I miss him,” Zara sighed as she unloaded the boats from the boathouse and unloaded them into the cargo area on the minibus. Samuel took the driver wheel as Milo took shotgun. Amathine sat in the front next to Evergreen, still shaken from everything. Rohan, Grace, and Ashley consoled each other as they sat near the back.

The minibus sped off towards north of Camp Guillermo.


When it reached the shoreline, Samuel parked the minibus and unloaded the boats. He set them onto the glistering shoreline, overlooking the northern coast, before motioning everyone to get on. There were about 4 or 5 boats in total - enough for Zara and Samuel; Amathine and Evergreen; Milo and Grace, Ashley and Rohan.

Each group entered a boat and started rowing. The thrill of finally being on the water again was drowned out by worry and dread as they approached the frigid shoreline of the Northern Coves. Each boat was set onto the snow, as well as some warm clothes and coats for everyone to wear. Samuel’s map in hand, they donned their insulating apparel ventured off in search of Voidshade Grove.

————

Voidshade Grove wasn’t that hard to find.

The orange and purple glow piercing the freaking sky and forming several gears, churning away and spitting out horrific, devilish insects from the sky, did help somewhat. Nanobot tendrils erupted from the gears as the primal source of Mechanical energy shivered and pulsated in the frigid cold.

So did the figure in the trees and the campfire.


Marilyn Linforth grabbed her makeshift spear, made out of a large branch and a sharpened rock fastened together by a piece of rope, and pointed it in Rohan’s face, mistaking him for Jacob Doswell - barely avoiding stabbing him in the face before she noticed.

Milo and Jaden exchanged glances. “Not this dude again.”

Marilyn’s voice was low and hostile, her breathing heavy. “I thought he valued me.”


“Yo what - ” Jaden started.

Marilyn’s voice now rose into a scream, of pure anguish and hatred. “I thought he cared about me. I thought he genuinely cared about what I had done to help him. But he left me here to suffer without a second thought!”

Ashley unsheathed her wand. “This girl seems dangerous,” she muttered.

“No kidding, Sherlock.”

Marilyn sheathed her spear in her backpack, her designer clothes tattered and covered in mud, splattered with the blood of any fish unlucky enough to cross her and of the devil insects that attacked her. “Of course, I have you to thank for showing me the truth.”

Milo smiled. “You’re welcome,” he laughed, which surprised even himself. This was the girl who had needlessly bullied him, Jaden, and Gemini. This was the girl who had tried to turn them into the enemy. Why was he conversing with her, and with such mirth and little animosity?

Marilyn flashed them a cold, murderous smile. “On the other hand, I think I might just kill you instead.” She charged, as Milo deflected a stab from her spear with a harpoon. A large clanging noise ensued, and Marilyn’s spear fell into the snow with Milo’s harpoon.

Wiping off the dried blood from her tattered clothes, Marilyn grabbed a spear and charged, aiming at Milo’s chest. Why she didn’t attack anyone else? Well, Milo was the one who humiliated her in front of the whole school. He had to go first.

Milo was now defenseless. The spearpoint was five centimetres from his heart - four -

“WE KNOW A WAY OUT OF HERE!” he yelled in desperation.

Silence.

“No kidding, Sherlock. How else could you have come here?”

“We could have teleported?”

“Yeah, right. I’ll let everyone else live. You and Jaden die.”

“Don’t bring Jaden into this!”

“Oh, no. All three - two? Where’s Gemini? That little twit should be here with you. Has she gone on her own? Or is she dead? Preferably the latter. All three of you brought me into this. Now you will pay the price - ” Marilyn seethed as Ashley zapped her with a Starbit. Starbits were quite weak - but for some reason it took a huge toll on Marilyn’s energy. It sapped her strength, destroyed her spear, even extinguished the campfire. Marilyn fell to the ground.

“I said, we know a way out of here. But first you have to help us.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because we can always leave you here to die. Really, you have nothing left to lose.”

Marilyn stopped to consider this for a moment. “Killing you all would be nice but… GAH!” she screamed in frustration. “You drive a hard bargain. Deal.”

Milo and Marilyn shook on it. Marilyn was definitely not happy about doing so.

“Fine. I can teach you how to kill those devil insects. Just need rope,” she muttered before picking up her spear, split in two. Tearing some long grass from the ground, she twisted it together into rope and tied the pieces together.

Amathine watched with a mix of relief and concern as Marilyn reluctantly agreed to help them. She knew they needed all the assistance they could get to navigate the perils of Voidshade Grove, but she was wary of Marilyn's motives and temperament. She followed along with everyone else.

A rotting, blood-red beetle with its teeth falling out snapped at Marilyn. By this point Marilyn had solidified herself as an enemy of these weird dudes, and for good reason. The spearpoint went straight down the beetle’s throat. The beetle turned over, gagging, its essence spilling into the ground.

“Those blasted gears keep spawning more and more of these blasted insects. But there’s one good thing about them. They’ve led me to something that can help, at least.”

The beacon in the sky continued pulsating as mechanical energy beamed and pulsed from the nanobot tendrils.

Chapter 35: As the Tides are True[]

Chet Sterling sailed onward in the S.S. Shiawase, the concrete warship drifting slowly to Voidshade Grove. No doubt OrionTech would be going there, after what his tongue had let slip. The nexus to his source of mechanical energy was within arm’s reach for them, and soon all he would have left was magic. Team GREAT were the experts on magic. He had to stop them.

Big AI approached. “You kinda zoned out for like half an hour. What happened?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Very well.”

The S.S. Shiawase sailed onwards as Chet Sterling paced around on the stern, playing and fiddling around with testing different forms of magic against each other. Fire and water together made steam, earth and water made mud, storm and ice made water. It was quite interesting, and Chet’s behaviour could almost be likened to that of an incredibly curious and intrigued child. Cabbages and vines sprouted from Chet Sterling’s hand. If someone met him for the first time now, they wouldn’t think much of him other than a posh-looking wizard who was just experimenting with spells.

Oh, how naive they would be.

The ship was just crossing the shore and would be reaching Voidshade Grove within half an hour. Then it would a race towards the nexus of his nanobot magic - and the nexus holding the other plane together. He had to see to it that Gemini and Jacob were trapped in their eternal torture. Why should their friends free the two for them?

Chet Sterling walked to the back of the ship and tried to summon a gust of wind. There didn’t seem to be a basic spell for it that could be accessed - but for some reason, he knew the words to one. The wrist device gave him access to all magic, but some didn’t seem to need incantations, like Ion Cannon or Unlimited Power. Chet concentrated.

“Ventus imperium.”

The gust of wind propelled the ship from behind. Why he didn’t aim it at the sail, he didn’t really know. But he was sure it would’ve worked a bit less than aiming it backward. After all, forces act against opposite forces, or something.

Big AI approached him. “Awaiting orders for what we do next?”

“Send a bunch of squads to search and scour the entirety of Voidshade Grove. Make sure they return with news. News of Marilyn Linforth will not count as news. News of OrionTech, though, will. Haven’t thought of Marilyn in a long time. Ah, well. She failed me. She is… disposable.”

“She served you and trusted you.”

“What did I say about that ragtag nonsense about trust and loyalty?”

“Don’t mention it?”

“Precisely. The same can be said about much of you. Excluding you, of course, and a few others, most of Big Company are, safe to say, bumbling fools! Look at the head of Big Food, always yakking on about vegan alternatives for meat and stuff. Doesn’t he know all the additives inside those things can cause deadly diseases? And Big Medicine, always going on about helping others for your own gain. Charity, support, trust. All useless morals. If you’ll excuse me, I must retire to my cabin.”

“You mean your office.”

“My office is my cabin.”

“This is not a real boat. This is a flying office with a concrete shell.”

“Keep denying.”

He retired to his office in the hull, continuing to experiment with random spells. It seemed that basic spells didn’t need incantations and more advanced ones did. Spells like Volcannon, Downpourtal, Dark Balm, et cetera - they came naturally, but there was a whole spectrum of other spells, waiting to be explored.

Chet Sterling was intrigued. What if he wanted to make a spell that could summon a familiar? That would work in case his troops were uncooperative in locating what remained of OrionTech.

Somehow, the words came to him naturally.

Societas spirituum, venite ad me!

Nanobots flowed from his chest to his wrist, and a figure jumped out. The technological mass writhed and crumbled in on itself until it resembled something barely human, it’s glowing eyes filled with curiosity. Such a strapping young fellow. “Societas spirituum, redire ad me!

The familiar squealed as it condensed into a ball of energy and flew into Sterling’s arm. “Interesting. This… could prove… useful… in my endeavours,” he mused as he continued playing with spells as nanobots writhed from his arms.

During this time, Big Company were discussing their plans to find the rest of OrionTech. They’d send drones from the sky with heat-seeking sensors to find any sign of life - the problem was distinguishing betweenthe native animals that lived there and the humans. Big AI got to work developing a program that enabled distinction of human outlines. Human troops were called to be dispatched at the earliest moments as well, surrounding the island.

“We’re all here because Chet Sterling couldn’t keep his loose freaking tongue together,” Big Pharma complained. “He blabbed, and now we’re paying the price. He’d better pay us well after this,” he continued sulking. “People expect me to be like Big Medicine because we’re the same, ooo! But no. I sell the things he makes. He makes the medicine, I prescribe it. He cooks the drugs, I deal them. Simple.”

Big AI laughed at the drug joke as she continued tinkering. The drones lifted into the air as Voidshade Grove came into view, the S.S. Shiawase arriving and gently landing on the shore. “Alright. I am setting the drones to be dispatched, and I am also calling - ” she started as Chet Sterling existed, floating and bouncing a fireball between each hand.

Spiritus fidéles, ter ad me venite!” Chet Sterling boomed, before he doubled over and collapsed as several nanobot spirits grew from his back, regenerating constantly, their wide eyes curious as they searched around. Many gasped.

“Don’t worry, I just figured out how to create these cool nanobot dude thingies! They’re super high-tech and magic.” He realised he was sounding like an excited teenager. “I - I mean, with these, we shall finally destroy OrionTech once and for all. Hopefully. I just need some extra ingredients, that Voidshade Grove shall provide us with. The eyeball of the Issrakr, which ensures that a weapon never misses its mark. The glands of a Vampire Squid. Actually why don’t I just get them now?”

He raised his hand and a giant Issrakr and a small Vampire Squid erupted from the depths. They promptly exploded, with the eyeball and glands being left of each respective fish. Chet combined them with the spirits, dividing a piece equally among the three.

“Go after OrionTech in the Voidshade Grove. You came from my blood, and you shall know who they are. As the tides are true, you will not miss your mark unless you fall by someone marked by me as my equal. Do not fail me.”

The sentries saluted before diving in the icy water and leaving, swimming for the snowkissed shore. Chet Sterling flicked his hand as a staircase materialised and an anchor dropped, the glowing-hot concrete dripping into the shore. He could always use Chill Out to cool it down, but that was no fun. He wanted to discover more types of magic, unknown to those native to it.

Frigidium amplexus!” He casted as the scalding, dripping concrete cooled before their eyes. Everyone exited the ship as it anchored and arrived on the shore. As the party disembarked and made their way towards the Voidshade Grove, one could almost feel the crackle of anticipation in the air. Chet Sterling was a force to be reckoned with, and it was clear that he had only begun to unveil the depths of his magical prowess. The stage was set for a confrontation that would surely test the limits of his abilities and determination.

————

The sentries ran rampant through the island, tearing down trees and uprooting ferns. Deer, wolves, all animals alike fled at the slightest notice of the wake of their destruction. Faint rumbling echoed through the grove as Marilyn led OrionTech through the woods, towards the beacon. “I always knew this was here, but I never really knew what it did. If this is the thing that gave Chet Sterling all his power… he betrayed me and left me to rot without a second thought. I’ll help you destroy it.”

The beacon gave way to a smaller set of gears pulsating and rotating, in perfect unison and harmony, a controlled chaos. More devil insects rained down, though this time they were just the red, battered centipedes that roamed around, minding their own business - it was almost like the realm above had stopped fighting against whatever it had to overtake. The nanobot tendrils slowed down, too - and the great gears in the sky almost looked like a portal to another realm. Whatever it was, it was dangerous.

There was no time to formulate a plan before the echoes grew louder and the nanobot sentries arrived. Marilyn unsheathed her spear, sure it was one of the devil scourges - but horror dawned on her face as she realised this was no insect. This had to be Chet Sterling’s work, here to hinder her once more. Grabbing a harpoon from Samuel, who flinched before readying a stick of dynamite, while Zara Grey unsheathed - a pirate sword?! Since when did she have a freaking pirate sword?! - she stabbed one of the sentinels with a harpoon. Instantly, it crumbled into ash, before reforming, swiping at the ground and igniting it with flame. Jaden and Milo ducked before sweeping it in the legs and pummelling it with punches respectively, before they were sent flying back.

They knew one thing. Chet Sterling was approaching. Eventually they would need to fight one more time.

Chapter 36: Breathe (In the Air)[]

Is there anybody out there?

Gemini floated in the endless void. Chet Sterling was gone - chances were, he was going after Amathine, Milo and Jaden, Samuel and Zara, all her friends. The thought shook her to her core, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t scream, she couldn’t even cry. She did not have the strength required.

Now she was falling, as memories played out before her - her mother’s death, her final argument with Chet, Gemini running away. Gemini’s fight with Marilyn, the #ChetSterlingReturns campaign, the Winter Prom. The burning of Camp Guillermo, the skirmish at Shiawase Labs, Tanner’s last sacrifice. Every traumatic moment this entire year so far was replaying, like a mind movie that was begging to be watched.

She was so, so, tired of this dream. She desperately wanted to wake, but she wanted to give up too. She wanted so many things, but she knew that she might never receive. This was the path she made herself, and she had to continue it.

Gemini's eyes blinked open, adjusting to the unfamiliar surroundings. The endless void she had been adrift in had given way to a long, winding hallway - a dream, it seemed, pulled from the depths of her subconscious.

The weight of the memories that had played out before her still hung heavy. The loss, the trauma, the constant struggle against Chet Sterling's machinations - it had taken an immense toll. In this liminal space between consciousness and slumber, Gemini felt utterly drained, her spirit worn down by the relentless torture she had endured.

Yet, even in this dream-state, she sensed a glimmer of resolve stirring within her - but even that seemed to fade as quickly as it started.

Gemini took a steadying but uncertain breath and began to move forward, her steps tentative at first, but gradually gaining confidence as she traversed the long, twisting corridor. The dreamscape seemed to shift and morph around her, the walls warping and the floor rippling, as if the very fabric of this imagined realm was alive and responding to her presence.

This was not the end. It couldn't be. Somewhere, beyond the confines of this dream, her friends needed her. And Gemini would not abandon them, not when they had come so far, fought so hard. She had to find a way to break free of this liminal state and return to the waking world, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead. She had to. This was no longer a choice. She had to. She was forcing it on herself.

She continued.

————

Jacob's eyes fluttered open, the familiar surroundings of the waking world fading away. Instead, he found himself in a surreal and unsettling dreamscape - a vast, empty expanse that seemed to stretch on endlessly in every direction.

Disoriented and disconcerted, Jacob took a moment to gather his bearings. The last thing he remembered was the battle at Shiawase Labs, the desperate struggle against Chet Sterling's minions. And now, here he was, adrift in this strange, superliminal space, his body seemingly frozen in a catatonic state.

Jacob tried to move, to call out, but his efforts were met with only silence and stillness. It was as if he was trapped, his physical form unresponsive to his commands. Panic began to well up within him, a rising tidal wave of fear and uncertainty. It gripped in his stomach, threatening to overtake him.

Forcing himself to take a deep breath, Jacob fought to maintain his composure. This was a dream, he realized. His mind, overwhelmed by the trauma and turmoil of the recent events, had retreated inward, seeking refuge in this surreal, disconnected realm.

As he surveyed the endless, featureless expanse that surrounded him, Jacob couldn't help but feel a deep sense of isolation. Where were his friends, his allies? Had they, too, been pulled into this dreamscape, lost in their own subconscious struggles?

The thought sent a shiver down his spine. He couldn't be the only one trapped here - Amathine, Ashley, Milo, Jaden, they had to be somewhere, lost in their own personal labyrinths of the mind. But then he remembered, no one else was dragged into the other plane other than Gemini. Milo and Jaden were securely in Chet Sterling’s choking grasp, and everyone else was on the far side. All he could see after that as the light faded was the roof crumpling in on itself. That was a bit of a relief.

Gemini, he remembered. Surely she had to be here somewhere. But the endless void told him otherwise.

You can control lucid dreams! He remembered. Jacob always found it really trippy to control his dreams, and right now he knew he was dreaming. He moved his hand. Nothing. Clearly, it had to sink in - or he couldn’t control it.

Flickers of memories played out in front of him. His murder of Robin Yew, the telemarketer who tried to ruin his post-exam weekend - the Winter Prom, Marilyn Linforth’s final sendoff. All these painful memories haunted him.

He looked around, to find a mirror. A mirror, reflecting the monster Jacob had become. Blood on his hands, doing nothing but things for his own ambition.

This isn’t true, he reminded himself. I was only trying to help my friends.

But is that completely the case? Or was the reason you helped them driven by vengeance and selfish ambition?

Jacob growled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his signature revolver, shooting at the mirror about twenty times, reloading in the process. None of that was true. Whoever was speaking to him was simply trying to get in his head. It was completely and utterly made up.

Even as the glass shards punctured his skin, and even as the searing pain ricocheted throughout his arms, Jacob didn’t flinch or even wince. All he did was keep shooting until the mirror was nothing but a hollow frame and a pile of glass dust.

Breathing in the air, Jacob knelt down and tried to concentrate. The terrain shifted around him as an old hallway appeared. As Jacob concentrated, the shadows crept in. A long tendril of darkness threatened to grasp Jacob’s neck - thank goodness there was a little fold in the carpet that Jacob tripped on, prompting him to shoot once more - which was when he noticed the shadows closing in. Okay, DEFINITELY a dream. Jacob gripped his revolver harder before running down the corridor as fast as he could.

As the darkness threatened to engulf him, Jacob's grip tightened around the familiar weight of his revolver. This is my dream, he reminded himself, I have the power here. Channeling his focus, he willed the shadows to recede, pushing them back with each successive gunshot.

The hallway shifted and morphed, the walls warping and the floor rippling, as if the very fabric of the dreamscape was responding to Jacob's will. Gemini, he thought again, his mind racing. She has to be around somewhere. I have to find her. He liked to think he could pull through everything himself, but Gemini had held everyone together during the hardest times. Besides, this was Gemini’s battle as well. Damn it, now he sounded like he had a crush on the girl. No time to rephrase, he was too busy firing random shots and reloading.

The hallways continued to morph and distort around him, the shadows lurking just beyond the edges of his vision. Jacob gripped his revolver tightly, ready to fend off any threats that dared to emerge. But nothing emerged but the eerie of the

Despite his best efforts, he couldn't seem to pinpoint Gemini's exact location. The dreamscape was playing tricks on him, the path twisting and turning in ways that defied logic.

Jacob paused, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. Think, Jacob. You've got to focus. He closed his eyes, trying to tune out the unsettling sounds and sensations around him. Instead, he focused inward, searching for any flicker of connection to Gemini.

As he concentrated, a faint impression began to take shape in his mind - a feeling, a pulse, something that resonated with the deep bond he shared with his friend. Jacob's eyes snapped open, a renewed determination coursing through him. She had to be close. If anyone could free the both of them, it was her.

First thing I do when this is all over, I’m taking a hot shower.

Jacob sighed as he kept running.

————

Gemini found herself in a cave overlooking the night sky. The moon was out, along with the stars and shadows. The hallway dissolved into a mote of green light, as though it was never there. The stars were beautiful that night, but it didn’t help her wake. Specks of light floated peacefully throughout the night air - Gemini felt a strange sense of calm.

Voices whispered in the air, reaching out towards Gemini. She felt a shiver run down her spine as the whispers in the air grew louder, their beckoning tone stirring a sense of unease within her.

Gripping the edge of the cave entrance, she steeled her nerves and turned to face the inky darkness within. The shadows seemed to beckon her, drawing her deeper into the unknown.

This is my dream, Gemini reminded herself, determination filling her voice. I won't let the darkness control me.

With a deep breath, she stepped forward, her footsteps echoing in the cavernous space. The whispers grew ever louder, a cacophony of voices that seemed to surround her from all sides.

Gemini's eyes narrowed as she scanned the darkness, searching for the source of the unsettling sounds. She could feel the shadows pressing in, as if they were a tangible force trying to envelop her.

Raising her hand, Gemini willed a small orb of light to materialize, its warm glow casting flickering shadows against the cave walls. The whispers faltered, as if recoiling from the light.

That's right, Gemini thought, a hint of triumph in her voice. I'm not afraid of you. This is my dream, and I won't let you take it from me.

Steeling her resolve, she pressed deeper into the cave, her light leading the way as she searched for any sign of Jacob Doswell or an exit. The whispers still lingered, but Gemini refused to let them deter her. She had to find her friend, no matter what stood in her way.

I seriously need a hot shower after this, she thought.

Pacing forward through the cave, the voices growed stronger. Gemini’s resolve continued to keep her from listening. What she didn’t notice was that the shadows, like with Jacob, were pursuing her. A single claw of darkness stretched out and grabbed her by the ankle, pulling her in. The darkness threatened to consume her. Not again, she angrily cursed in her head before blacking out and collapsing into null and void, leaving just behind the orb of faint flickering light. Even now, it was starting to fade.

————

Jacob raced through the never-ending hallway, firing endless shots as fragments of void and darkness shattered through the room, squeezing his eyes shut. Echoes of faint thunder and what was once before faded into the midnight.

Flickering light echoed in the distance, yet as Jacob ran it seemed to move just as quickly away from him. Jacob refused to be deterred by the treacherous landscape, his only goal to reach the flickering light that signaled where Gemini had fallen. She’d helped him ever since they crossed paths on that street, and now it’s was up to her to pull him out of this twisted dreamscape - or him to pull her out. Jacob had already lost many friends to Chet Sterling. He wasn't about to abandon her to the darkness.

With single-minded focus, Jacob pushed onward, determined to find and free the two of them from the void's grip. Their lives - and the fate of their shared dream - depended on him reaching her in time.

The light continued to glow faintly, dimmer and dimmer. It seemed like Jacob could never reach it in time. He ran and ran, but the light continued to die - he was running out of time. There was only one option left - make a jump for it.


Jacob Doswell leaped towards the light… before falling flat on his face. The darkness swirled around him, grabbing him by the hair and arms before he floated off the ground and into the void.

The light slowed, before following Jacob Doswell in.

Chapter 37: Through the Mist[]

Jacob was snapped back to reality when he was violently thrust into the place where he had begun, the shards of glass floating around in the air, like petals gliding slowly down. One of the shards flew gently in front of Jacob - reflecting the unconscious Gemini, sprawled behind Jacob.

Oh god, he thought. Don’t let her be dead. Don’t let her be dead.

Jacob recalled to a first aid activity that he attended during Year 8. Danger, response, airways, breathing, circulation. He ran over to Gemini, careful not to tread on the glass shards precariously lining the floor. Danger - the glass shards posed a danger of perforation and cuts. Gingergly, he sweeped them away with his shoes. Response - he needed a surefire way to make sure that Gemini could respond. There was a pressure point between your ribs and your collarbone that could wake someone up - but that was for last results.

“Okay. One, two, one, two. Is this thing on? Can you hear me?”

No response. Figures. She was at least breathing a bit weakly, without any gasping or discolouration of skin. He held her wrist and checked for a pulse - normal. Phew. She was alive, feebly stirring - but her breathing was shallow and she looked in pain, almost hovering between life and death.

Jacob took several deep breaths - before grabbing onto her subclavius, where the collarbone pressure point was.

Like a charm, Gemini jostled to a wake, glancing around frantically, as the terrain shifted and swirled back to the red, hellish dimension where they had collapsed. Somehow, Jacob was lying beside her instead of standing over her, like he’d just awoken as well. He rose with a jolt.

Gemini rubbed her eyes, coughing vigorously, looking around. Pain resurfaced, making every joint agonising to move - no doubt a lingering effect of the curses brought upon them by the spirits. Her glances became increasingly frantic, like instinct was telling her she’d be mauled upon sight or be ambushed by some pain spirits.

“W-where are we? Is everything - ”

“Chill! Everything’s fine, everything’s fine. Apart from the fact we’re still trapped here, but everything will be fine. We’re okay.”

She continued breathing heavily, before steadying her breath and rubbing her eyes.

“...thanks. Okay what on earth happened to your arms?!” Gemini sighed before yelling out of shock. Jacob didn’t notice that his arms were riddled with glass shards, perhaps from the fall where he’d found Gemini unconscious.

“It’s fine. No biggie,” Jacob shrugged as he plucked out the shards and dusted himself off, helping Gemini up. “Yes biggie! You’re literally bleeding from both arms!” Gemini protested, but Jacob brushed it off again as he bandaged himself with scraps from his shirt.

“Now to find a way out of here. I just hope everyone’s doing well on the other side.”

Suddenly, blue blinding light flashed, emanating everything within the other place. Something monumental was happening on the other side. Gemini grabbed Jacob, shielding her eyes as she trudged towards the source. She could see the faint outline of the gears in the sky slowly breaking apart…

————

Chet Sterling flew above the trees as Big AI scouted the woods. The sentinels uprooted trees, slaughtered any animals that were caught in the crossfire. Marilyn steadied her stance, motioning towards Amathine to get back to safety. One sentinel studied Marilyn before attacking. Spears and swords clanged against each other, before it changed to metal banging against gunfire. Marilyn grabbed a sword from the ground and used it to deflect every single bullet. Since when was she able to use a sword like that?

Milo faltered. “Since when were you able to use a sword like that?!”

“I don’t spend all my time on my wardrobe, dipshi- OW!” She fell to the ground, before turning back and seeing the face of her old boss, his fists clenched and mouth in an infuriating smirk.

“Marilyn Linforth. Shoot. I did not think about this. Well, Marilyn has been marked as my equal - ” Chet Sterling worriedly started before Big AI protested, her face flushed. “You mean this child who hasn’t even graduated yet is more important than us?!”

“Was more important than you.”

“I can work with that.”

Marilyn smiled grimly. “Polite of you to show up.” She gritted her teeth as she pushed herself up, the memories with Chet weighing heavily on her. This was not the face of the man who had supported her endeavour’s in aiding him. This was the face of the man who had abandoned her in her attempt to help him.

Marilyn glared up at Chet, her body still recovering from the blow that had felled her. "So, the fundraiser returns," Chet sneered. "I have to say, I'm surprised to see you fighting alongside these... children."

“Working with you was a mistake. A mistake! I should never have sided with you in the first place. You saw me as nothing but a tool, a money spinner!”

Chet smiled. “Such a foolish decision to doubt me. Oh, I see my old friends Samuel and Zara are here. How’s the camp doing?” He mocked, before glancing around and noticing the sentinels continuing to poise themselves. “Ah, yes. Your duties must be postponed. Only attack when I tell you to. This is a special circumstance. Now, as I was saying - ”

Marilyn screamed and grabbed Zara’s pirate sword, before swiping at Chet Sterling - barely missing his chest, nicking his arm. The cut wasn’t deep, but blood started trickling from his forearm.

Chet Sterling grinned coldly. “Treason.”

A deep fissure started to appear in the ground, right beneath Marilyn’s feet. She stepped back, but Chet Sterling made a motion to the sentinels to strike again. Clawing at the ground, one of the sentinels raced towards the crack in the ground and pried it open as another grabbed her by the ankle, claws digging into her flesh. Yelping in pain as agony welled around her ankle, Marilyn slowly felt her grip on the sword handle loosen as she was dragged ever slowly.

The third sentinel kicked the sword as far away from Marilyn as possible, clattering by Milo and Jaden’s feet. Samuel and Zara had their weapons ready, while Grace was configuring Buzzy to shoot rocket-propelled grenades instead of bottle rockets.

Chet Sterling approached. “So ends the queen of Sycamore Academy.”

(Why I waited until now to reveal the school everyone went to, I have no idea.)

Meanwhile, Big AI and Big Technology had squared off against Amathine and Rohan. Flames blazed and spells fired, as fire licked the snowspeckled grass, melting the frozen water into molten ice (a fancy term for they melted the living daylights out of the bloody snow). Samuel and Zara were up against Big Pharma, Big Banking, and Big Food, while Milo, Jaden, Buzzy, and Grace were fighting the two other sentinels as Marilyn struggled. In vain, she tried to reach towards the sword: as expected, she failed. She was just too far. There was just one option left.

She turned back on the sentinel that was bound to her and started to strangle it.

They can only be destroyed by one I have marked as my equal.

Her grip tightened as the sentinel grasped for air. Marilyn's grip tightened around the sentinel's neck, her knuckles turning white as she poured every ounce of her strength into the stranglehold - the nanobot creatire thrashed and clawed at her arm, writhing and flailing, but she refused to let go, her eyes narrowed in fierce determination.

Jaden and Milo caught sight of the struggle out of the corner of their eyes, their own battles momentarily forgotten.

Milo stepped backwards to parry an attack from one of the sentinels, before he felt a sharp pain in his calf. Zara’s weird pirate sword was on the ground, covered in tiny pinpricks of his blood. He looked towards Marilyn, about two meters from him, strangling the first sentinel. He looked back towards the sword. Milo knew what to do.

He picked up the sword and threw it to Marilyn.

The sword blunt landed on her head, knocking her out.

Milo sighed, before motioning to Jaden that he needed to help Marilyn. Why he was doing so, he didn’t know. The ground shuddered beneath their feet as the fissure continued to widen, the ominous crack snaking its way across the battlefield. Amathine and Rohan redoubled their efforts against Big AI and Big Technology, trying to keep the focus away from Marilyn's predicament.

About five seconds later, Marilyn came to. Zara’s sword was beside her, and her arm was still firmly around the nanobot sentinel’s neck. She looked up - Chet Sterling was still in front of her, but his expression was significantly more pained. Her face became steely and determined, and she squeezed her elbow harder upon the sentinel’s next.

“What are you doing?! Get your bloody arm off of my - ”

SNAP.

Pain surged through Chet Sterling’s neck as the sentinel’s head rolled back and fell deep into the fissure.

They can only be destroyed by one I have marked as my equal.

Suddenly, Chet Sterling wished he hadn’t made that rule. But it could not be revoked. He simply had to pray that the other two could hold off against Marilyn - to no avail. The other two were knocked back from Jaden over to where Marilyn had now climbed out of the fissure, hands stained with sweat and legs splattered with blood.

With all his rage directed at Marilyn, Chet Sterling started to attack. Unfortunately, for some stupid reason that could not be explained by him, the sentinels directed their focus on Marilyn as well. It was most likely to further the plot, or maybe the sentinels felt a need to protect their maker, and as far as they knew it was Chet Sterling.

Out of his peripheral, Chet noticed the other two sentinels pushing Jaden and Milo to the ground, before running over to Marilyn - who, just in time, noticed the sword that Milo had thrown over to her, and grabbed it, staving it right in the torso of the sentinels where someone’s heart would be.

Chet Sterling doubled over in pain, collapsing as his hand wrenched over his heart, screaming in pain. Marilyn, drenched in sweat and blood, her energy spent. Milo and Jaden had just gotten up, and all of Big Company was now just gawking at Chet Sterling, like sheep. Marilyn looked over to Milo, Jaden, Amathine, and everyone.

“You see the light? Just keep running towards the light. That’s where you’ll find it. Jaden, Milo - I trust you.”

Jaden and Milo faltered, before nodding reassuringly (was there a hint of teariness and sorrow in their eyes?) and leading Team GREAT and OrionTech off.

Marilyn turned back towards Chet Sterling, her old boss, now overcome with fury and rage. Vines wrapped around Marilyn’s feet, wrenching Zara’s pirate sword from her hand.

“As I said rather prematurely, so ends the queen of Sycamore Academy.”

Chet Sterling opened his palm.

Mille fissurae terra!

Giant cracks opened in the ground, as Chet Sterling forced his fingers to spread out, widening the crevice. An eerie deep purple glow emanated from within, sucking all the light away from the moonlit skies. Marilyn’s eyes filled with hatred and regret - not for choosing to help OrionTech against Chet Sterling, but for choosing to help Chet Sterling in the first place, and for shunning Gemini, Jaden, and Milo at the start of the year. She was a dead woman walking. How her friends and family would react… she chose not to think about that. Marilyn could only hope Gemini succeeded.

Gemini, she thought as she looked into Chet Sterling’s eyes.

Marilyn tried to take a deep breath - but the moment didn’t last long.

Chet Sterling clenched his fist, crushing Marilyn’s throat and neck, before releasing the vines and allowing her limp form to fall into the crevice, her sunken eyes that could not see pointing at the light in the distance.

Chapter 38: Fall Into The Light[]

Milo ran.

He dodged shattered trees, leapt over the corpses of the animals caught in Chet Sterling’s horrific crossfire, dodged explosions and traps that had been primed possibly the previous hour, or months ago. The earth was shook all night long, and yet here came the sun, beginning to rise. Milo knew he should stop, change directions, lead OrionTech to the shore and call it a failure. But he couldn’t stop himself. There were friends on the other side, and friends behind him, following him. He had to run. There was no going back on this decision… only going forward.

Suddenly - the light, that Marilyn had described. It was hard to see her as an enemy anymore, even though she’d only helped them for a few hours. Her sacrifice would not go in vain. Gemini and Jacob had to be freed. It was almost as Marilyn was simply one more death for the collection, the collection of reasons to defeat Sterling.

A collection of nanobots writhed and pulsed, almost to the beat of music - but the only music playing right now was the sound of the crickets chirping, the blackbirds flying into the light of a dark black night. Up above were the gears, like holes cut in the sky. Somewhere within, Gemini and Jacob were there.

Jaden detected a flicker of recognition in Ashley’s eyes. It was almost as though this reminded her of something. Hints of the Mechanical element was within this unsuspecting globule of robotic mass - something that she had not seen or heard from since its mysterious disappearance six years ago. As the oldest student who ever attended the Academy, she was the only one who had heard of the Mech element. Since Mech was merged with Storm, and Storm was weak against Earth…

“I think I recognise this. If this is what powers Sterling’s nanobots, let me see what I can - ” Ashley started before interrupting herself by firing a copius amount of Earth spells: Leaf Vortexes, Nature’s Furies, Green Gusts, all spells foreign to anyone except her friends.

Nothing.

“Well, I tried. Panic time!” Ashley quipped before the rumbling of trees shook, and a vivid purple glow stirred the sky. Big AI was first to rush to the battlefield, head drenched with sweat. “You could at least run with us to - ”

Chet Sterling, who had now donned terrifying metal insect-like wings, flew over towards the nanobot nexus. “No. For me to do that, I would need to stoop down to your level. That would not be advisable.”

"We have to do something," Milo said urgently, his eyes scanning the swirling mass of nanobots. "If this is what's powering Sterling's forces, we need to find a way to disrupt it."

Ashley's brow was furrowed in concentration. "I've never seen anything quite like this before. The Mech element within these nanobots is unlike anything I've encountered. My Earth spells had no effect."

Amathine unsheathed her wand and a dagger she carried and slashed at the globule in a fit of rage. This was the source of Chet Sterling’s power, what had caused so much death and destruction. She still remembered Tanner’s dying words. Blue light overpowered the purple - surely this was good? - so Amathine kept slashing, until her dagger blade broke, so she pointed her wand at the mechanical glob, face contorted in pent-up pain and anger, and fired everything she had at it - bursts of light illuminated the gates of dawn.

“What do you actually think you’re doing?” Chet Sterling lowered, preparing a blast of fire towards Amathine’s general direction. This was a huge mistake. Before Chet Sterling could even fire, Amathine lunged at him, fury in her eyes, and stabbed him, jolly, with the fragment of her blade.


A nanobot shield instantly plopped up and shielded Chet Sterling from the blast.

“Who do you think I am? Tanner Silverwood?” He mocked Amathine’s crude efforts at even daring to assault him with disdain, almost ironic pity and mirth.

“Dude!” Amathine yelled.


“Uncool. :(”

Buzzy, who had simply been witnessing most of the fighting, decided to kick into action. Reassuring Grace, who had defended it until now from the worst of the fighting, he decided to look for Gemini and Jacob itself. But first, he had to make a distraction…

Big Food, Big Space, Big Travel, and Big Pharma had arrived by now, followed by Big Shopping, Big Banking, Big Medicine, Big Entertainment, Big Technology, and, Big Commerce. The latter hadn’t even had time to register the scene of the battlefield before Buzzy swooped in and fired its custom-made missiles at the gang. To its dismay, no one died. Buzzy rolled its eyes.

Thankfully, most of them had sustained quite incredible injuries, bar the four who were originally there. Big Medicine was planked on the floor, seething. Big AI rushed towards everyone.

“Mr Sterling! Everyone’s hurt! You gonna help?”

“I’m in the middle of something,” he replied as he dodged a lightning bolt, almost in a mocking tone.

Big AI grabbed some stuff from Big Medicine and Big Pharma’s pack - if only Evergreen worked for Chet Sterling, she thought - and rushed over to everyone, trying to tend to their injuries. Little did she know, Buzzy was hovering right behind her.

Buzzy signed a bunch of stuff with its short little nubby arms, that could be roughly translated to something between ‘you do realise you’re about to die?’, ‘disgrace to the AI community”, and ‘who was stupid enough to hire you?’

This band of managers had directly helped Chet Sterling in his ambitions and never backed down in the face of atrocity. They had to die. Thankfully, most of them were unconcious.

Something - something that Gemini had never programmed Buzzy to do, nor was it in Buzzy’s code - snapped inside of Buzzy. These people were the direct fundraisers for all the bloodshed that had happened. They had to pay for what they did.

Big Medicine managed to splutter. “B-behind you! Look out - ”

Buzzy sighed, before firing another round of rockets. The blast shook the dawn, as trees were flattened and leaves caught fire. Big AI tackled Big Pharma and Space out of the way, while Big Travel was tackled to the floor. Buzzy grabbed Big Travel and shot it repeatedly without any mercy, its digital eyes burning with rage. Could you believe that this robot was the very same robot who, at one time, simply fluttered around and acted as emotional support?

The bodies of dead entrepreneurs were sprawled on the ground, like the shareholders that Chet Sterling had mercilessly slaughtered. Big AI, Big Pharma, and Big Space groaned as they tried to push themselves and rise up from the dust - but none of them found the strength. Everyone they worked with was dead. All dead, all dead. Would any of them have known that they were sailing to their deaths, mere hours ago? Big AI sobbed in despair. She had to help Chet Sterling, but she couldn’t.

Big Space was pulled up by Buzzy and was flung, miles into the air as he screamed bloody murder, until he became a mere twinkle in the sky like the stars that dimly shone as the sun overpowered everything. Floating down, Buzzy gracefully did a pirouette… before turning its focus on Big Pharma.

Big Pharma trembled. “Just get it over with. I’m already dea - ”

A gunshot echoed, unable to be heard over the commotion of Chet Sterling fighting OrionTech. Big Pharma was on the ground, spread-eagled with his arms splayed. Buzzy dusted off its hand nubs.

Big AI’s voice was filled with despair. “What have you done?! How… why… you - ”

Buzzy hummed, which, if Gemini were here, could be translated to ‘You are an insult to the name of artificial intelligence.’

Buzzy flew at Big AI’s throat, lifting her up so her feet barely hovered off the ground, nubs at her neck. Its screen flickering between an image of rage and determination, Buzzy squeezed its nubby arms as tight as the solenoids could allow - Big AI was being strangled by the subject she had tried to hard to study and conquer.

Its arms searching for the correct pressure point, Buzzy continued to restrain as Big AI struggled. It was almost pathetic, how Big AI writhed and squirmed, trying to free herself as Buzzy moved its arms frantically, looking for the right pressure point. Big AI continued to squirm - it grabbed Buzzy’s arms twisting, trying to pry it off her neck and / or snap it in two, so that she could have even the slightest chance of escape. Her throat was slowly constricting, her airways being blocked off. Darkness closed in on the corner of her eyes - she was slowly blacking out - now, she hoped that the robot could just finish the job quickly, get it over with. The pain was too much to endure…

Buzzy squeezed even harder, starting to fracture the spinal cord. What had started out as a mere distraction turned to a desire to kill and maim. Agony shot through Big AI’s neck, as the segments split and discs bulged. She squirmed and shook and writhed and tried to flee, until she twisted her neck at just the wrong place -


SNAP.


Her eyes rolled up in her head, and Big AI fell to the floor, limbs limp. The regime of Big Company had ended.

Chet Sterling looked back. “What was that noise - oh, all my friends are dead.”

“Water under the bridge,” Sterling turned back before being singed by a fire spell. Milo pushed Chet Sterling aside, before grabbing Jaden’s and Amathine’s hands and thrusting them away from Sterling’s blast. Zara tossed some dynamite while Samuel slashed at the floor, wrenching some of Big Company’s weapons from their ruined corpses and firing multiple shots. The nanobot nexus continued to pulse, but now to the beat of the clashing of weapons and rapid-fire gunshots.

Chet Sterling placed his palms onto the ground as he raised the earth and the roots, knocking everyone off their feet. The trees uprooted, the birds flew frantically. Lava flowed plentifully from the core of the earth and hardened as it cooled into igneous rock. Everyone was launched several meters away from the epicentre, as Chet Sterling rose higher and higher before stopping, gazing at what was his - before launching a fire beam that melted the topsoil. Evergreen inched away from the beam, pushing Amathine away, though it was too late for her - the fire grazed her leg, burning the area around her ankle to a crisp. Wincing, she pulled out her wand and a burn ointment. Lightning flashed in the distance, as nanobot claws ripped the ground to bits.

Evergreen readied a healing spell as she absorbed some dahlia petals and grabbed a yellow talisman, before bracing - a mechanical arrow was fired in her direction, piercing through her hand, though no blood came out, nor was there any sign of pain. The wound healed quickly, the skin healing itself - while the nanobots in her palm continued to pulse. Willing it into the shape of a large metal rod, she struck Chet Sterling to the ground. The nanobots returned to the nexus in the center, as Evergreen fired another healing spell.

Amathine willed roots to rise from the ground with an Earth spell, specifically Sneaking Vine. The roots and vines grasped the nanobots, quelling its pulsing.

Grace summoned icicles from the remnants of the night sky at Chet Sterling, the Frozen Fracture splitting the ground and crawling, sneaking up onto the nexus and chilling the nanobots.

Rohan dodged a fire blast, concentrating it into a Molten Crash that amplified the new rising sun, the heat radiating through the air and condensing around the nexus.

Ashley summoned the power of the sky through her wand to harness the electricity within the clouds - coaleascing into a single Electrified Boom that crackled across the nanobot nexus.

Samuel just tossed a kraken tentacle onto Chet Sterling, and Zara splashed a bucket of water on it, dousing and drenching Chet Sterling in the process. To their bewilderment, the tentacle collapsed in on itself, effervescing and bubbling. Wow.

Milo and Jaden glanced at each other, knowing that the dawn had nearly passed, that morning was near to come. Their time with Team GREAT had helped them learn about magic and what it was - but the stars were fading. These were the waning hours. But they weren’t native to where Team GREAT had come from, and such unimaginable feats like this simply weren’t in their blood. Would this last spell work against Chet Sterling? And why on earth were all the spells redirecting towards the weird pulsing nanobot blob?

Amathine stepped up to prepare a Falling Star Smash, harnessing it into her hands and containing the energy into one uncontainable orb of energy. Chet Sterling was clearly drained, even if temporarily. The strain on her face was visible, and she could clearly see that Milo and Jaden were willing to take her burden. Gingerly, she cupped her ands and allowed the astral energy to flow into their hands.

Milo and Jaden glanced at each other and nodded. Swirling the energy in their palms, they allowed it to fall into the light and aimed it at Chet Sterling, who was already breaking free from the vines that bound him.

They aimed and fired.


The astral energy flowed into the nanobot nexus, completing the combination.

“OH MY GOODNESS WHY DO WE KEEP MISSING ALL OUR SHOTS GRAHHHH” Milo and Jaden screamed in unison as the sun loomed overhead, the starlight having completely passed.

Earth, to tether life to the world and restore being. Ice, to provide energy to a soul and allow it to thrive. Storm, to create consciousness and a sense of feeling and self. Fire, to awaken the soul and provide light and sight. Water, to form blood, the mark that represented humanity.

And lastly, Astral energy, to connect a spirit with a soul and a body.

Chet Sterling winced as he gathered all the energy within him to harness the nanobots with the sheer power of the All-Out Attack, which he’d saved until now - when everyone was at their weakest, yet when they had so much hope shared between them. This final blow would be devastating.

Yet there was a searing pain in his pain and wrist, like the pain of gaining the ability to use magic. The nanobot nexus was shivering instead of pulsating, as though it was in fear instead of jamming to the beat. The gears in the sky cracked as Chet Sterling collapsed towards the ground.

The elements, combined together, empowered the darkness within the nexus. Blue blinding light emanated from within, as the elements in tandem rose, shattering the morning sky and splitting the gears in the stratosphere…

————

Gemini and Jacob approached the light. It was warm to the touch, and had a comforting glow that was almost inviting. Surely this couldn’t be their way out - ? Surely. But really, neither Gemini nor Jacob had anything to lose. The gears in the sky were splitting, fragmenting into multiple pieces. Once this realm disappeared, then they would go with it.

Symbols appeared in the sky, like runes. Earth, ice, storm, fire, water, astral, healing. The magic flowed from the light into Gemini and Jacob’s chests, almost like fueling them and rejuvenating them to keep them fighting. The spirits of pain hobbled over, looking significantly less powerful, staring in terror at the light that blinded them on sight, yet they couldn’t look away. The light faded slowly, as visions of the holy place they called home appeared. The realm shattered as illusions of pieces of Voidshade Grove and the other plane merged together - they could see OrionTech fighting back, Chet Sterling collapsing, being wrapped around in vines and fainting -

- and the gears split in two and Chet Sterling fell from the sky onto the sharp, jagged black glass. Pain filled his eyes as he prepared a nanobot assault at Gemini and Jacob.

“Curses! I swear to god, if I end up failing, there will be no future chance for a perfect future with one system. I have to be in charge. That’s where I belong. Above everyone else! Now give up and let me out!”

Gemini’s expression was steely. “I could consider it, but after all the atrocities you’ve committed to set yourself so close to the path of loss, death, and failure… I think I could help you reach the end of that road.”

Chet Sterling did nothing but sob as he fired a nanobot tendril from his hand, trying to choke the life out of Gemini like he’d done Marilyn. Jacob noticed this in time, his senses acting on impulse - and pushed Gemini out of the way, taking the force of the chokehold himself. At least that’s what he thought would happen.

Sterling shifted over to where Gemini fell, grasping onto her neck and squeezing harder, the mechanical gears working their way into flesh and blood. Yet there was no visible injury or signs of pain. How?

Gemini took a deep breath, before the elements flowed into her and she grabbed onto the tendril, snapping it clean in half. Instead of repairing itself this time, though, it oozed out blood-like black oil plentifully. Chet Sterling gasped as he desperately tried to stop the oozing - even grabbing one of the glass shards to slice off his trouser legs to make a tourniquet - but it was too late. The nanobots drifted into dust as it travelled up his arms and into his back and chest, as the sources of the elements were dispelled from his soul, visualised by arcane glowing that surrounded his body. Chet Sterling gave one last sob of regret before he vanished from the other plane.

It was over. It was finally over at last.

The blue light now shone powerfully, but still the other plane fell. The land around them crumbled into atoms, giving away to a dark blue sky, dotted with stars and constellations, and were those foreboding eyes in the distance? Chet Sterling had constructed this realm with forbidden magic, and now he could no longer control it. The other realm crumbled before their eyes, as the blue light continued to pulse and glow like a beacon.

“Do you think we should take this chance?” Gemini motioned to Jacob, worry visible in her eyes.

“...”

“Life is all about taking chances. We can do it,” Jacob replied, a reassuring smile on his face.

“I trust you.”

And with this, Gemini tackled Jacob with a giant hug, tears welling in her eyes. Jacob faltered - this had literally never happened to him before in his life. It was a first-time experience for him. No one had ever shown this much gratitude for him, not even his closest of friends and relatives.

Gemini released him after a few seconds, a look of appreciation and thanks in her eyes. “Well… I guess it’s time to take a leap of faith.”

The blue blinding light continued to glow, consuming the other plane. Gemini and Jacob closed their eyes as they fell into the light, their souls being retethered to their bodies, restoring life and consciousness. Gemini and Jacob hovered in the air as the restoration was carried out, until -

Plop.

Gemini and Jacob landed in front of OrionTech, piled on top of each other, facefirst in the ground. Groaning, both of them got up, observing their surroundings - it felt good to be back where they came from, even though this place seemed different.

“W-where - how - is everything okay?” Gemini rolled to the side, picking herself up and dusting herself off, glancing around before helping Jacob up. As expected, pretty much everyone was dumbfounded.

“There’s too much stuff to explain, and too little time. Quick,” Milo replied. Chet Sterling got up, aiming a nanobot tendril, before looking at Gemini and Jacob, alive and whole, free from the other plane. This could not be - he’d intended their punishment to be eternal, so that he could wipe them out of the way and focus on their inferior allies. If they managed to escape their fate of a long and painful death - they would have a short and painful death instead.

Everyone turned back to look at Chet Sterling in the mud, his suit tattered and mud-stained. His face visibly in rage, he stood still to prepare a fire blast. He charged -

Nothing. Just a sad little sound, like “beeeeyewww”. Chet Sterling had fumbled his attack. Obviously he tried again - nothing. He tried to summon a pistol, maybe a nanobot sword - nothing. Glancing frantically over at the nanobot nexus, the look of despair on his face was clear and apparent as he saw that it had been reduced to nothing but dust motes in the air. The overload of all the elements had disintegrated the nexus, and with it, his ability to use magic, which was tied to the nanobots.

The dust that the nanobot nexus had been reduced to flowed into Gemini’s palm. She let it spill into the ground, never to be seen again. Out of sight and mind.

Chet Sterling stared at Gemini, wide-eyed, before collapsing on his knees and staring at his hands. He had been defeated at the hands of his - and this was the first time considering her as this for a long, long time - his daughter.

Gemini simply stared at Chet Sterling, his broken and disgraced form beneath him.

“Well, I’m taking a hot shower for the first time in about three days, or however long I was stuck in that place. You can either build yourself a new boat or swim back home, or wallow here in your own grief and regret. You brought this upon yourself.”

Though she was definitely very, VERY shaken and traumatised on the inside, she preferred not to show it. She cooly walked away, smiling at Jacob, Milo, and Jaden before motioning everyone to leave. Zara was about to catch up, right behind Grace, who was nuzzling Buzzy, before she stopped. Samuel was still looking at Chet Sterling.

“Samuel? Everything okay?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll catch up.”

Zara smiled before heading off, as Samuel stayed behind.

“Why have you stayed behind, old friend? To gloat in my face, when I was struck down at the verge of victory? You made me sick, you monster.”

“You were the monster. I’m simply a pragmatist. I have nothing more to say: after all, I’d simply be repeating what Gemini said to you. In case you don’t mind, I would like to have the Eyeball Bait back.”

Reaching into his breast pocket, Chet Sterling trembled as he fetched out the Eyeball Bait - the original one, now so damaged that even though it was completely intact, it no longer was as powerful as it was in its prime. Samuel carefully plucked it from Chet Sterling’s hand and placed it in his pocket.

“I’d like to offer you condolences, but we are past that.”

And Samuel left with the others, leaving Chet Sterling alone, with nothing but him, the remains of his colleagues, the sky, and his many regrets.

Chapter 39: The Show Must Go On[]

Gemini took one last look at the shoreline, knowing she’d never ever want to set foot here again. On the walk back, she’d seen the bodies of humans and animals alike, and the uprooted trees that were charred and singed. Conservation and restoration projects would go on here for years to come, she was sure of that, without ever knowing what had ever happened here. One last look, and then nothing more. She turned back and sat down in the boat, letting Samuel and Zara take the oars. Everyone had to catch Gemini and Jacob up on what had happened since. Perhaps the hardest things to accept were that Tanner Silverwood and Marilyn Linforth were dead.

“So - so it’s true? Tanner and Marilyn are dead?”

“Yes. Both of them.”

“I could vaguely see Tanner out the corner of my eye as I fell, when we were on Sterling Enterprises. But - what did Marilyn do? Was she on Sterling’s side? Did you kill her, or did she die of her own accord?”

“Well, when Jacob sent her to Voidshade Grove, she ended up hating Chet Sterling for not giving a second thought about her. She helped us take down Big Company… she lived as a villain, but died as a hero.”

Gemini was visibly shook by this fact. Jacob tried to comfort her by patting her on the back, but by now all the traumatic experiences that had happened had taken effect. She was the one who’d taken the full force, the largest helping of all the grief that Chet Sterling had brought upon Xeter.

But at least it was over.

She had that to bring her hope.

So what could she say?


“If you don’t see me within the week again, I’m probably catching up on lost sleep and slash or having a hot shower. I think we all deserve one.”

This got the entire team laughing. For a moment, the could forget their worries and relax as the sun shined overhead.

————

Once everyone disembarked by the coast of Xeter, where Zara had parked her student’s minibus. No one really talked much through the trip as there really wasn’t much to say, and everyone was as tired as a sloth after a morning run. Winter break had all but ended at this point, and school was about to start. Everyone would probably think as though nothing had ever happened, and it was up to Gemini, Milo, Jaden, and Jacob to complete this facade. Slowly, the dull hours ticked away as everyone was dropped off at Camp Guillermo: soon, everyone would have to pack their bags and get ready to return to school. The spring term was largely uneventful: the main things to be looking forward to were the swimming gala and the Spring Prom… which should hopefully not be as traumatic as the Winter Prom.

During the remaining days of their Winter Break, Gemini, Jaden, and Milo continued to hang out at Mystic Pond, taking a well-deserved break to magnet fish - something neither had tried before. Gemini managed to fish out a rusty old bike.

Gemini let out a long, weary sigh as she looked out over the calm waters of Mystic Pond. The events of the past few weeks had taken a heavy toll on her, both physically and emotionally. She was grateful to be back home, surrounded by her closest friends, as they all tried to recapture a sense of normalcy.

"I can't believe it's finally over," Gemini said, her voice tinged with a mixture of relief and lingering sadness. "Tanner and Marilyn... it's still so hard to accept that they're gone."

Jaden reached over and gave Gemini's hand a gentle squeeze. "I know, Gem. Tanner was precious, too pure for this world, and Marilyn was complicated… but in the end, they did the right thing. We have to honor their memory by moving forward."

Milo nodded in agreement, his eyes reflecting the weight of all they had been through. "Yeah, and we can't let their sacrifices be in vain. We must focus on the future, on healing ourselves and others."

“Wow, you guys have really gotten wiser over the months.”

“What can I say? That was truly a harrowing experience, I sure hope nothing like that ever happens again. Oop, our timetables and calendar just came out.”

Milo shared the files with Jaden and Gemini.

"So, what do you guys have planned for the rest of break?" Gemini asked, desperate to change the subject, if only for a little while.

“What rest of break? School starts in three days. If this cheers you up, there’s going to be a swimming gala ~ ” Jaden added a smug undertone to that sentence, knowing Gemini would probably either crush the competition or get crushed by the competition, one or the other. “Also, there’s a Spring Prom.”

Beat.

“...What?”

“There’s a Spring Prom, at the end of the month. And some of our friends in Team GREAT have their friends coming over next school year for a trip spanning the autumn term and winter break. Do you think we should plan outfits and dates?”

Milo groaned dramatically. "Not another prom! Can't we just have a nice, relaxing term for once?"

Gemini couldn't help but laugh at her friends' antics. "Come on, Milo. It'll be fun! And who knows, maybe this one won't end in disaster…"

As the three friends continued to banter and plan for the upcoming events, Gemini felt a sense of relief wash over her. The trauma of the past few weeks would never truly leave them, but in the company of her loved ones, she knew that they could find the strength to move forward and rebuild their lives.

"You know, the more I think about it, a Spring Prom doesn't sound too bad," Jaden mused, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Maybe we can convince Gem to actually dance this time."

Gemini groaned in mock exasperation, "Ugh, fine. But only if you two promise not to make me the center of attention, jeez. Might even find someone to dance with…?"

As the friends continued to plan and banter, Gemini couldn't help but feel a sense of hope for the future. While the memories of the past few weeks would never fully fade away from her mind, she knew that with a little help from her friends, she had the strength to move forward and embrace the upcoming challenges in her life.

————

Jacob checked his childhood bedroom dresser in a long time, where the pieces of his old chemistry set was, laying in pieces, broken beyond repair. It had been quite some time since he’d bought it, and since it had been destroyed at Marilyn’s party. It was still hard to imagine that she was dead - that news had come across as the most shocking when he had escaped with Gemini from the other plane. Jacob still had pictures of him with OrionTech - him, Gemini, Milo, and Jaden hanging out.

Jacob let out a heavy sigh as he ran his fingers over the broken shards of his old chemistry set. The memories it evoked were bittersweet – a reminder of simpler times, before the chaos and tragedy that had unfolded. A destroyed toy had seemed like the end of the world for him… he had experienced nothing then. He was naive. Innocent.

He carefully picked up the pieces, a melancholic expression on his face. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" he murmured to himself, a hint of nostalgia in his voice, a smile forming on his lips.

Jacob's gaze drifted to the framed photo on his dresser – a snapshot of him, Gemini, Milo, and Jaden during their OrionTech days. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he recalled those carefree moments when all they had to worry about was Chet Sterling making headsets, before the weight of the world had descended upon them.

"Things were so much easier back then," he mused aloud, setting the broken chemistry set aside. He traced the edges of the photo frame, his fingers lingering on the faces of his closest friends. At least it was over.

Team GREAT were doing fine, though it was difficult to move on without Tanner. They were trying to push through to the best of their ability - and no, they would not be replacing Tanner. Team GREAT had considered renaming themselves to RAGE Against the Machine, though that would be dishonouring Tanner’s legacy. In the end, they managed to live through the pain.

He should really see Cameron again. But while he was there, he might as well pay a visit.


Jacob passed by the local cemetery, where several names were laid in a row. Eleanor Rigby, Frederick Mercury, Ronald Scott, several names that he didn’t know. Three names in particular he recognised.

Rest in Peace, Preston McKenna

In memory of Tanner Silverwood

RIP, Marilyn Linforth

Paying respects, Jacob placed a broken guitar on Tanner’s grave and a shard of his own chemistry set on Marilyn’s, before laying his finest fountain pen on Preston McKenna’s. Many respects had already been paid - perhaps OrionTech had beat Jacob to honouring the fallen. Looking up, though, there was another grave just three rows ahead that bore a name he remembered.

Rest in Peace, Grace Sterling (nee Whitman)

So this was Gemini’s mother? He wondered how she’d react if she knew how strong and brave Gemini had been directly in the face of adversary and threat, possibly the biggest threat she’d known. Gemini was truly a wonderful person. He placed some flowers on Grace Whitman’s grave, before looking into the sky. His heart did a silent o7.

Chapter 40: The Past Recedes[]

And so another term came and went. Everything major that happened was listed below:

  • Preston McKenna’s role was filled in by his nephew Patrick McKenna, who retained Preston’s charm and wit while still making History interesting. He got on quite well with Gemini, Milo, and Jaden.
  • Gemini won second place in the school swimming gala, making it onto the school newsletter.
  • Marilyn’s posse ended up bettering themselves, joining school clubs and focusing less on money. Some of them ended up on the school yearbook team, and used their fashion sense to prepare a really chic design for the yearbook.
  • Milo and Jaden starred together in the Year 9 play, a murder mystery comedy.
  • There was an awesome trip to the zoo.

Eventually, mock tests came and went as well. All that was left for the students to experience was the Spring Prom. Jaden and Milo joked about going on a date as Gemini stood by, exasperated.

“Listen, you don’t need to joke about things like this.”

“I mean, we’re about do embarrass ourselves in front of the whole school, might as well make it an occasion of mirth. Milo’s cool!”

“...you’re dancing together?”

“Yeah! Wanna dance with us? We can do the handshake we made at the zoo, with the fist bumps and the back kicks!”

“... I might have to pass,” Gemini replied sheepishly. “Do you want to go out together?” She added, as a joke.

Jaden and Milo instantly blushed, staring at each other.

“The thought literally never crossed our mind until you mentioned it,” Jaden and Milo replied.

“It’s genius. We should do it,” Milo added with some signature flair. “Is the tie off? What if my blazer’s wrinkled?”

Jaden grabbed Milo’s tie and folded it around a dozen times. “Now your tie’s off.”

“Screw you,” Milo elbowed Jaden playfully, much to the sound of laughter. Jaden was in completely black, while Milo was in a dapper suit and tie. Gemini was in a simple dress, woven in red like her natural hair.

“I can’t dance by myself! I’m much better off by the snack table like last time. The snacks were delicious. You go in first, I’m just gonna use the washroom quickly.” Gemini waved as Jaden and Milo walked off into the dance floor, hand in hand.

Washing her face, Gemini looked in the mirror. No blemishes, no marks, no way that anything could possibly go wrong this turn round. Maybe her dress could get stained or the snacks could run out, but nothing disastrous. Only tolerable disasters could happen this time round.

She unzipped her backpack, a fully charged Buzzy fluttering out. Humming gleefully, it spun in the air, excited to see Gemini again after days of charging. “Right, Buzzy. Let’s go.”

Jacob stood by the entrance, waiting for his friends to come by. He was dressed casually, not really prepared for anything too bad, though he had been waiting for some time. He saw Gemini in the corridor walking by, waving gently.

“Waiting for your friend?” Gemini struck a conversation.

“Yeah. Cameron and Rex are still - oh, they can’t make it today. They have… a football game. Great. I really needed someone to dance with actually…”

Gemini smiled. “You can join me in the snack corner. That’s where I hung out. You can meet Patrick McKenna, Preston’s nephew. He’s the new intern for Head of History, and he’s doing really well.”

“I prepared a lot of dance moves, though. I would’ve stolen the dance floor!”

“Your jokes always make me laugh. I could steal the dance floor if I tried.”

“How about we do it together?” Jacob suggested, before realising what he had just done.

“...sure! Together.”

Gemini and Jacob looked at each other. There was no doubt that all the severely messed-up things that they had been forced through together had shaped them, for better or for worse. But in the moment, they had to leave all that behind.

“...together. You’re going to - ”

Gemini held Jacob’s hand gently. “So I guess… we’re a thing? I mean, I did kind of get attached to you… while we were in the other plane - ”

Jacob simply smiled and took her by the hand. “The dancing’s just for tonight. After that, everything will be okay. I can promise that.”

Gemini smiled, before giving Jacob a gentle hug. Not a forceful one, like in Voidshade Grove before they were freed, but a gentle one that simply spoke volumes on many levels. It’s quite amazing how many emotions and meanings one can convey in a single action.

Gemini and Jacob entered the dance floor upon Jaden and Milo dancing together, clearly facing off against Patrick McKenna, the intern Head of History. He was certainly doing quite well, as the crowd cleared as Gemini and Jacob entered the room, closing behind them like a hallway. Jaden and Milo turned around before stopping in their tracks, not moving as they took everything in.

The energy in the dance hall was electric as Gemini and Jacob joined their friends on the disco floor. Jaden and Milo beamed with pride, their dancing momentarily forgotten as they took in the sight of the new couple. Friends old and new, come together.

“You - you two -?” Jaden smiled, bewildered, tears welling in her eyes. “Boy, am I proud.”

Milo smiled. “Knew you could do it in the end! Samuel and Zara are chaperoning. Samuel? Zara?”

Samuel and Zara waded through the crowd, to notice Gemini and Jacob holding hands. Samuel and Zara were clearly bewildered as well.

Samuel spoke first. “Wow. Gemini Sterling. All grown up and on the dance floor.”

Zara smiled in return. “Never thought I’d see the day. We’re all proud.”

Milo smiled. “Let’s see what you have against us now!”

Jacob looked at Gemini. “Can’t believe that when we first met, you were just heckling me at the snack table. Well, no time for the past. It’s time to look on to the future.”

Gemini turned back to face Jacob, Milo, and Jaden. “Okay. I’m ready when you are.”

Jacob smiled back, as the music turned louder and no more speech could be heard over the sonic booming speakers and screams. The lights dimmed and shone, ebbing and flowing as the music changed from jazz to synth to pop to rock. Gemini, Jacob, Jaden, and Milo lost themselves in the rhythm, their movements flowing together in perfect sync. In that moment, it felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from their shoulders. They were simply friends, more than friends in fact, escaping the weight of the past few months in the matter of a few simple hours. Perhaps the past could be left behind, and this was proof that they could all move on.

Yes, atrocities had happened, and unimaginable horrors had been witnessed. But the ability to move on past that was an invaluable ability - and an ability that OrionTech all shared. Gemini, Jacob, Milo, and Jaden forgot their worries, even if for a moment, as the music continued to play.

Time is memory, and memories create life.

And if you’re not forming memories for years to come and enjoy, what are you doing with your life?

Epilogue[]

Chet Sterling sailed homeward towards Xeter, knowing that he would become the laughingstock of the entire nation. He deserved it for all the atrocities he’d done, and all he could do now was work to redeem himself. Never again would he have the opportunity to take control of Xeter ever again.

A spirit from the stars watched over everything, surveying the lands as she plotted. She’d already raised an army, but it surely would not be enough. A cult of a dozen people could not convince anyone… but with someone of such power, they would surely be useful as a puppet. Stardust flowed down from the afternoon sky as Chet Sterling rowed, collapsing into an illusion, a spirit that was intangible, though very much real.

Chet Sterling was aghast. “Who - who are you? What do you want with me, a broken man with nothing left to offer?”

The fairy turned back to face Sterling.

“An injustice happened to me not unlike yours, millenia ago. It is my time to seek revenge.”

“What are you?!” Chet Sterling backed against the seat of his boat.

“I must return to my prison. But in due time, we shall meet again.”

“My name is Astrea.”

Astrea.

————

Whami closed his computer, getting ready for bed. Paddy and Katie were already chatting in their dorm room, arguing over the perfect smoothie. There was a first time for everything… and Whami had finished his first ever book. Not just a short story, but a book. He’d started them before, but they never came to fruition. But at last, he had a finished product.

All that there was left to do was look on to the future.

Time is memory, and memories create life.

And if you’re not forming memories for years to come and enjoy, what are you doing with your life?

Dec 3rd, 2023 - Aug 23rd, 2024

The End

Read Book 2 here: Passport to Prodigia

Content by Whamikaze
Books
Scar Tissue series
Stargazers | Scar Tissue | Passport to Prodigia

Archived
The Evolving World | Passport to Prodigia (old) | Soft-Serve Chaos | Academy Atrocities
[v · t · e · ?]
Fanfictions
Comedic Fanfictions
Finished Comedic Fanfictions: Prodigy Comedies: Quadruple Trouble  •  The Ancient Breaks the Fourth Wall  •  Theodore and Friends 2: Flora is Frustrated
Unfinished Comedic Fanfictions: Amber's Wrath  •  Annoying Jack in the Ice Tower  •  Prodigy Comedies  •  Prodigy Comedies: Fairy Flu Pt. 2  •  Prodigy Comedies: Master Says  •  Prodigy Impossible! (The Prodigy based game show!)  •  Prodigy Laughs  •  Puppet Master Finds The Last Gem  •  Soft-Serve Chaos
Drama Fanfictions
Finished Drama Fanfictions: Dark Scars  •  Fates Intertwined  •  Fates Intertwined: Extras  •  The Astral Amulet  •  The Lost, The Forgotten  •  The Lost, The Forgotten: Extras
Unfinished Drama Fanfictions: Amber Falling Star  •  Balance and Imbalance  •  Clashing Swords  •  Faith Waterfall's Tale  •  Moments of Eternity  •  The Sad Ghost
Mystery Fanfictions
Finished Mystery Fanfictions: Academy Assignment
Unfinished Mystery Fanfictions: Jane the Detective  •  The Mysterious Scepter
Romance Fanfictions
Finished Romance Fanfictions: Fluttery Love
Unfinished Romance Fanfictions: I Won't Let Go
Thriller Fanfictions
Finished Thriller Fanfictions: Dargon's Bane  •  Dark and Light  •  Eques Astra  •  Evan (Eve's Evil Brother)  •  Fairies Don't Cry~  •  Fight for Honor  •  Forged by Obsidian
Unfinished Thriller Fanfictions: Airwalkers: The True Story of the Smartest Kid in the Academy  •  Brooke Riverrunner 1: The Elemental Clash  •  Celesteate and the Existence Eraser  •  Cynicism  •  Prodigy Ending  •  Prodigy Island (Book Adaptation)
Tragic Fanfictions
Finished Tragic Fanfictions: War of Shadows
Unfinished Tragic Fanfictions: A Shattered Heart of Glass  •  Adventures of Charlie  •  Corruption
Battles Fanfictions
Finished Battles Fanfictions: Jackson vs The Shadowdragon  •  Jackson vs The Shadowdragon (Rematch)  •  Prodigy Final Boss Fight Idea  •  The Test
Unfinished Battles Fanfictions: None yet.
Adventure Fanfictions
Finished Adventure Fanfictions: Kevin Dragonhunter's Adventures  •  Prodigy 2 Return of Magic  •  Scar Tissue  •  The Adventures of Kylie Snapdragon & Ansat Lightningheart  •  The Legend of the All-Out Attack  •  The Life and Legend of an Embershed  •  The Warden Horses: A Myth of Time  •  The Warden Horses: A Myth of Time - Extras
Unfinished Adventure Fanfictions: A Day in the Coliseum  •  A Prodigy Flame  •  A Shadow's New Life  •  Academy's Past  •  Adventures of Ansat and Ben  •  Astral vs Shadow  •  Celeste Cloudglider: the Tale of a Wizard  •  Curse of Gelufirn  •  Marley's (Totally Cool) Diary  •  Passport to Prodigia  •  Prodigy: the Chosen Ones  •  Prodigy's Last Wizard  •  The Puppet Master's Origin Story
Fanfictions of Unknown Genre
Finished Ungenred Fanfictions: Down Memory Lane  •  Dragonborn  •  Elemental Balance  •  First Day  •  Last Day  •  Prodigia's Past
Unfinished Ungenred Fanfictions: A History of Prodigia  •  A Prodigy’s Journey  •  A Prodigy’s Journey/Part 1  •  A Study in Philosophy  •  Always Me: Book 1  •  Amethyst Skies  •  Ansat and Ben: Beginnings  •  Darkness of Terror  •  Deceit  •  Emma and the Last Mermaid  •  Fallen Prodigies  •  Fizzy  •  Fly Away Falcon  •  Frozen Realm  •  Gems of Power  •  Hero I  •  Isabella Icecraver: The Tale of a New Wizard  •  Jax Legendshard: Future Spy  •  Journey to 100  •  Kado Makes a Cake  •  Kendra Lightningfire and the Stone of Silver  •  Kevin's Adventures Part 2: Infinite's Wrath  •  Kevin's Adventures Part 3: Shadowy Terror  •  Knight's Honor  •  Memno-Thaza  •  My Prodigy FANON Story  •  Mystylian Skies  •  New Day  •  Onyx Stone  •  People of the Clouds  •  Prodigy Movie Adaptation  •  Prodigy: Elements Rising  •  Rival Rumble  •  Scally Grove  •  Selena Starjewel  •  Smart-Alecky  •  Starter Pets Ultimate Battle  •  Stuck in Ice  •  The Book of Genesis  •  The Chosen One  •  The Last Dragon Mage  •  The Legendary Secrets of the Light  •  The Legends of Prodigy: Book 1  •  The Misadventures of Burnewt  •  The Order's Revenge  •  The Past of Redtide, Frost, Scorblaze  •  The Puppet Master's Arrival  •  The Return of Mary-Sue  •  The Story of Prodraxis  •  The Story of the Mythical Epics  •  The Taken  •  The Wonderful Diary of Aidan Goldenmask  •  Torn Between Planes  •  Wizard Breaks Last Puppet Master Seal  •  Zorra ~ The Tale of a Wizard
Fanfictions Subject to be Deleted
Fanfictions With No Major Author Edits in 1-2 Years: Forgotten  •  Island Lost  •  Springwood  •  Story of the Mysts  •  The Devil's Dare  •  The Devil’s Dare concept  •  The Many Misadventures of Culix and Worly the Wonderful  •  The Story of the Wardens  •  The War for Prodigy
Fanfictions With No Major Author Edits in 2+ Years: None.
Advertisement