The next day, Elya did her best to appear more normal than the day before. Everything went as planned: Aedan didn't even pay attention to her. Her movements were measured, her expressions controlled. She was blending back into the crowd.
Classes passed by, monotonous, mechanical. The same formulas, the same expressionless faces, the same heavy silences. Everything seemed perfectly ordered.
And so the morning passed, in an almost suffocating quiet.
Until lunchtime, when the usual calm was brutally shattered.
A scream tore through the air, followed by panicked cries.
A man had just burst into the central courtyard, wearing a worn black Patrol uniform, but covered in dried blood and dust. His eyes were wild, burning, haunted.
"YOU'RE ALL BEING MANIPULATED!" he shouted. "THE GOVERNMENT STOLE YOUR SOULS!"
The students stepped back, shocked. Some froze, others screamed in fear. The EMOTRACKS were going haywire throughout the building.
"I WAS ONE OF THEM! I KNOW WHAT THEY'RE HIDING! THEY POISONED US WITH SERENEX! THEY…"
A flash of madness crossed his eyes. He pulled a small gray box from his jacket and raised his arms.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I'M DYING SO YOU CAN LIVE!"
He pressed it.
A blinding white light exploded in the center of the courtyard.
Then, the shockwave.
A deep rumble, as if the air itself had collapsed.
The explosion hit them head-on: brutal, violent, shattering.
A wall of heat, followed by a deafening blast.
The ground shook. Windows shattered into sharp rain. A collective scream mingled with the chaos.
Then… nothing.
Just dust, bodies, and silence fractured by scattered moans.
Flames danced in the center of the courtyard, like the final echoes of a forbidden scream.
The air was thick with the smell of blood, scorched metal, and melted flesh.
And in this horror, the EMOTRACK bracelets blinked madly, mechanical witnesses to an emotion no one was supposed to feel.
The blast had shaken the academy. Bodies lay scattered. Some lifeless, others gravely wounded.
In total, eighteen students fell with him.
But even more terrifying: the EMOTRACKS were flashing in every direction. Red. Blue. Orange. An unprecedented emotional alarm.
The Patrol arrived almost instantly, impulse weapons drawn.
"STUDENTS: REMAIN STILL. SHOW NO SIGNS OF AGITATION. CALM IS A VIRTUE."
Drones filled the air, scanning brainwaves and physiological signs. The panic was quickly smothered.
Some students, visibly traumatized, trembled. Others were taken away without a word.
But many of them… stood still, motionless, expressionless. Their eyes slid over the bodies, the flames, the muffled sounds of pain… without reacting. Without a flinch. Without a word. They observed. As if it were only a simulation. Their calm was terrifying.
At this stage, one could say the SERENEX was doing its job.
Elya had to summon all her willpower to hold back the urge to vomit, to keep her face blank. Inside, a storm was raging. But outside, she mimicked perfection.
An hour passed in a heavy silence.
Everyone was gathered back in their respective rooms.
In Elya's classroom, not a word was spoken. Only the regular blinking of the EMOTRACK bracelets betrayed the inner turmoil.
Then, the air vibrated. A giant hologram appeared at the center of the room.
A man with a smooth face, dressed in a pristine white uniform. A perfect voice, too perfect, without emotion or flaw:
"Students. An attempt at destabilization occurred today. A disturbed individual, a former renegade Patrol member, spread dangerous lies, resulting in the deaths of several classmates."
A pause. Then:
"We understand that this event may have… caused certain emotional anomalies. Therefore, an immediate assessment will be conducted to ensure the mental and emotional integrity of each individual."
A second hologram briefly appeared: a complex mental map, where red zones blinked. Then, the man continued:
"Keep in mind that fear is a primitive residue. Order is the only path to peace. Those whose emotional indicators deviate from the norm will be redirected to stabilization centers. For their well-being. And yours."
The hologram disappeared.
Elya felt a cold sweat run down her back. Her EMOTRACK glowed faintly, wavering between green and yellow.
She had managed to control her expression. But for how much longer?
Elya didn't move. She felt the weight of silence pressing down on her shoulders. Every breath seemed too loud, too visible.
In the room, no one spoke. Some students stared at the wall, others kept their eyes closed, as if they had seen nothing. Felt nothing.
But Elya… she felt everything.
The burning breath of the explosion, the fear stuck to her skin, the man's haunted gaze before he pressed the button.
And most of all… his words.
"You're all being manipulated."
They still echoed in her mind like a truth she had always suspected but never dared to name.
A door suddenly opened. Three Patrollers entered, followed by two Technicians. They wore silver helmets and carried medical cases.
"Immediate emotional compliance analysis. Prepare for evaluation."
One by one, the students were called. A probe brushed their temple, a scanner swept their eyes, and a series of data appeared on a tablet. Those whose EMOTRACK flashed red were taken out without a word. No emotion. No screams. Simply… erased from the scene.
When it was Elya's turn, she felt her heart pounding in her chest. But her face remained still. She focused on a neutral, bland memory. The image of a math board—cold, repetitive. Like a mental camouflage.
The probe passed. Nothing seemed to alert the Technicians. A nod, a confirmation beep, and she was sent back to her seat.
She had made it.
But her heart was still racing. She knew it. If this continued… she wouldn't last long.
At the end of the evaluation, the Patrollers left. Several chairs were now empty. The missing students were never mentioned. They were simply… erased. From space. From memory.
Elya silently turned her head slightly toward the back of the room.
Aedan was there, still impassive. Straight, silent, without the slightest hint of disturbance on his face. His EMOTRACK glowed a pure green. Perfectly compliant.
But strangely, he wasn't looking at her like he usually did. His gaze had shifted to her. Just for a moment. Like a hesitation. A tiny pause. Then he looked away.
She no longer knew what to think of him.
Was he simply what he appeared to be: a model student, cold, rational, loyal to the system?
Or something… even more dangerous?
---
When the bell rang to signal the end of the day, she hurried home, avoiding all contact. Once her door was locked, she removed her bracelet and plunged it into a glass of ice water to lower its readings. She collapsed onto her bed, breathless.
She took out the journal. Opened it to a random page.
"Some days, I doubt. Not what I feel. But whether I can still trust anyone. They're everywhere. In schools, in streets, in our homes. Denouncing has become a virtue. Silence, a sign of loyalty. But I want to scream."
She closed the journal, heart pounding.
She wasn't alone anymore.
There had been other voices before her. Maybe there still were.
The man's face exploded in her mind. His words. His gaze. That certainty in his voice.
He was telling the truth.
She was sure of it, and it gave her hope, though she didn't know why.
She took the journal again and held it tightly against her.
"They'll find out you know," she whispered to herself.
The journal trembled against her. It was no longer just a collection of memories. It was a weapon. A seed of truth in a world made of lies.
And now, the countdown had begun.