A loud alarm suddenly blared through the room, waking them all. Then, a woman's voice followed:
"All students except the top five students from each year must report to the cafeteria, then to their homeroom class!"
Riven was the first one up, followed by Jordan, Harkel, then Joey. Each of them put on their black uniform with bronze stripes going down the shirt and pants. As they left, they all took a mental note of the number:
#458
They headed toward something that resembled an elevator.
"So this place is just a hotel then?" Harkel said as they entered.
Joey just shrugged.
"I guess so," he said, pressing the number one.
But instead of moving, a white light flashed once again.
"Oh come on, not ag-" Before he could finish his sentence, they were teleported.
"Ain't no way. I'm getting real sick of these white teleport things."
They walked into the cafeteria, which buzzed with hundreds of students. The squad made their way to a short line and grabbed identical plates-every plate had the same food and the same amount. All four of them took one and moved toward a surprisingly empty table.
As they sat down, Harkel immediately started digging in, while the others began to pray.
Seeing this, Harkel stopped and joined the prayer. Once Joey was finished, Harkel and Riven resumed eating without hesitation.
After everyone finished eating, they remained at the same table.
"So why didn't we want to go back to our dorm?" Jordan asked.
"Because I thought about it more," Joey whispered back. "It's most likely our rooms have hidden cameras and microphones. I'm guessing since it was late last night, no one was listening-otherwise, someone would've come after what we said."
"Hey," Riven said, "I might have a way to fix that."
As he spoke, the system appeared for all of them. They watched as Riven opened the party tab and accessed a new skill: [Connection.
There, they saw:
[Connection]
• [System Sight] - Activated
• [EXP Share] - Activated
• [Telepathic Link] - Inactive
[Would you like to activate Telepathic Link?]
[Yes / Nol]
[Yes]
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"Can you hear me?" Riven said in his mind.
Everyone nodded.
'Okay, let's get back to it. I was hoping the cafeteria noise would mask our voices, but this is way better, Joey thought.
They stood up together. Some students in the cafeteria stared at them-eyes filled with annoyance or maybe envy. Then another bell rang, signaling it was time to head to class.
Back in the elevator-like contraption, they hit the same number. As the white glow beamed in their faces, the silence between them wasn't truly silent.
'The reason I wanted to talk now-and so soon
—is because of what Harkel said. And how it relates to Project Mimicry, Riven thought, as they walked, trying to keep their faces straight.
'How in the world can they afford to teleport us this casually, and so many times?' he continued.
'Even with 10% funding from all Wallborn houses, this would drain them in hours. Since both schools seem equally equipped, that must mean Null Gate Academy-the one that trains those who can't evolve-has similar tech too.'
Back in their room, Riven jumped high to land on his bed and laid there, looking at the ceiling.
Harkel sat on the floor, spinning a pencil inside a small airball. Jordan grabbed some paper and created a small ink-dog to play with. Joey lay on his bed, pretending to write something in a book.
'So you think Project Mimicry doesn't just copy people, but can also maintain their abilities even when the person isn't around-or even alive?' Riven asked silently.
Joey replied simply:
'Yeah.'
'We should stop focusing on things we can't change-and instead think about what we can do, Harkel added.
'He's right. So, Joey-did you get a good idea of what your ability really is?' Jordan asked.
'It's embarrassing... but you guys probably would've found out at some point anyway!
'As you probably guessed, I'm a Forced Evolver.
Not a Natural. My father died, leaving my mom and me in debt. One day, the debt collectors came...'
A young boy with tears in his hazel eyes was watching from inside a closet-the same one his mother had hidden him in. She had told him to keep his mouth shut.
The boy was Joey.
He could hear things being broken, slammed to the ground. A man's voice barked about money. When Joey's mother replied that she didn't have it, he heard a smack-then another, and another. The sounds of violence echoed through the walls.
When the man and his group finally left, Joey ran out. He found his mother on the ground, bloodied and barely conscious.
This was the moment that triggered his Forced Evolution.
In his mind, he wanted to heal her-but deep inside, his soul cried for something more.
He didn't just want her wounds to go away.
He wanted to go back.
Back to when they were a happy family.
Back to before the debt.
Back to when Dad was still alive.
Joey collapsed over his mother's body, sobbing, clutching her arm tightly. A silver light glowed from his hands. Before his eyes, her bruises began to fade. Her cuts sealed. Her limbs reset.
The woman stirred, then slowly stood upright
-restored.
"Mom!!" Joey cried, throwing his arms around her.
She hugged him tightly and let out a soft chuckle.
"You healed me," she said gently.
"You've Force-Evolved."
Everyone stopped what they were doing when they heard Joey's story in their minds.
Harkel was the first to speak telepathically.
"I'm sorry that happened to you, man."
"It's okay," Joey responded. "What we should focus on is Jordan getting a new evolution or Riven claiming that other quest."
Everyone could tell Joey wanted to move on—so they did.
"Hey Joey, after this we'll look in the shop tab to see about those items," riven said.
Joey nodded in response.
Riven then opened the system screen. Everyone could tell—because they could now see it too. He went to hit "Claim" on his quest, but something popped up:
[System: Error – Wren Fallow must be in the party.]
"What? Why?" Riven questioned.
The system then showed the already completed quest:
[Questlines are connected. Since you needed Wren Fallow in your party in the previous quest, you will need her again to complete the current one.]
"What now?" Riven asked, annoyed.
"We invite her back," Joey said plainly.
"Everything's been shady, we all know that. The fact that rare abilities are showing up in multiple people, the fact that almost nobody knows what our principal even looks like—and who knows what might change on a whim. We need to stay prepared and ready."
His words literally rung in their heads. And even more than that, they felt something deeper—that his experience with his mother and his struggles were pushing him harder than he liked to admit.
"Okay," Riven said, "but I'm turning off the link and her being able to see the system. We don't want her asking too many questions, now do we?"
Everyone agreed. Riven turned off the telepathic link and the shared eyesight effect. After that, he found Wren in the previous "Invite People" category and re-invited her.
The problem was… even without the system link, she could still see the colorful HUDs—and their names—at the top left of her vision.
Riven quickly claimed the reward, trying to make it a fast process.
[System: You have reached the top 3. Congratulations—you're the first loser. As a reward to help you reach first next time, you will receive 3× your current EXP max.]
Riven's EXP pool was 125/300.
⸻
Level up
Level up
50/500 on the EXP bar.
⸻
But it wasn't just Riven leveling up. He could see everyone's level rising thanks to the EXP share from the party system:
• Riven Harlow (Level 6)
• Jordan Harlow (Level 8)
• Joey Cross (Level 5)
• Wren Fallow (Level 7)
• Harkel Voss (Level 5)
Everyone gained at least one level.
After it seemed like that was the only reward, Riven was about to remove Wren from the party… until:
[The system senses that you might need more improvements.]
+1000 System Points
Riven blinked, confused. He mentally clicked on the "Explain More" button.
[System Points are the currency used to purchase items from the Weapons Tab. You can exchange units for System Points if desired.]
Curious, Riven opened the Shop Tab, completely forgetting about removing Wren.
⸻
Meanwhile, in her dorm, Wren was confused. She rubbed her eyes, but the HUD wouldn't go away. She could still see the four boys' names and levels—including her own. When she noticed her level rising, she felt a strange new strength building inside her, just like the time she was talking to Tessa.
Walking out of her room, she saw four glowing trails in the air: one black, one orange, one blue, and one golden. She followed them, realizing they all led to the same place.
⸻
Back with the group, Riven saw potions, weapons, and armor. He turned on the Telepathic Link skill and the System Share again so that everyone could see the shop.
Jordan was about to tell him to remove Wren again, but he too got caught up in browsing.
Of the items, one category drew everyone's attention more than the others: Potions.
Even though they could see Riven's system, each of them could control their own interface as well.
As they scrolled through, they spoke in their minds so the others could hear.
"Two-times stamina potion," Jordan said.
"Two-times EXP potion," Harkel added.
"A healing potion," Joey noted.
"An Awakening Potion," Riven said.
He immediately read the context:
[Awakening Potion – Cost: 1000 System Points.
This potion helps a person awaken, even without being fully aware of their abilities.
Note: This potion instantly unlocks Awakening One. Multiple consumptions are required for Awakening Two and above.]
"Woah. This is amazing!" Riven yelled in his head.
"You're telling us," Harkel replied.
Then a new voice rang out telepathically—a feminine voice none of the boys had.
"What the heck are you guys talking about? And what is this thing in front of my face?"
They all froze. They knew that voice.
"Wren," they all thought.
"Yeah—Wren,"
But this time, the voice didn't come from inside their heads.
It came from outside their door