The recruits were resting to have a chance at passing the next test. Kale and Ian were at the back while Ming was far away.
While he didn't regret his decision to help them, their lack of gratitude affected his will.
Miss Cayenne was still in the room, taking notes on her tablet, when her eyes stopped at Kale.
'He gave up his advantageous position to help others. Interesting.' A light smile spread on her lips.
"It's time for the next test." Her words broke the light chatter that was already spreading amongst the recruits.
She tapped a button and a dense green gas filled the room.
The recruits tried to hold their breath, but they slowly inhaled it one by one and tried to fight the drowsiness that came with it.
The room in Kale's eyes began to rotate and shift unnaturally. He tried to take a step but the ground before him vanished.
The feeling of freefall hit him although he was still in the same room.
The space twisted on itself and pulsed. With each pulse, the room around him changed.
The ceiling slowly became transparent to reveal darkened orange-red skies that had pillars of smoke billowing into the air.
The walls just vanished and showed streets and buildings.
The floor turned into tarred roads. Looking at all these, Kale was back in his hometown.
But that couldn't be possible, it was destroyed.
A low clicking drew his attention and when he turned around, he saw an orange cricket the size of a toddler.
The "cricket" had a human face embedded into its exoskeleton. Its eyes were glowing an odd green color. A color similar to the gas.
'Gas? Which gas?' Kale thought to himself. There was no gas. Why would there be gas?
Another pulse went through the world and it shifted once more. Now, he and his family were in an open field with vibrantly colored grass.
"You okay, Lil champ?" His dad called out to him.
Kale shook his head and put the strange feeling in the back of his head.
"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about the semester's exams." Kale chuckled.
"Don't worry, you'll do great. Oh, that reminds me, how's Axel?"
Placing his finger under his chin, Kale had to think.
"He's a Researcher." He replied.
His younger sister, Lucy stared at him with an incredulous look.
"Did you just say that he's a researcher? If that's how you wrote your exams then you have all reason to be worried." Lucy remarked with a smirk.
"Did I say he's a researcher? My bad. I don't know where that came from." Kale shook his head, the strange feeling was resurfacing.
"Why don't you stare at the grass? I always find that nature calms me." His mom waved her hand.
Kale sat beside his mom and stared at the jacket around her shoulder. 'Dad's Lucky jacket.'
As he stared at it, everything shifted and turned back into the morgue with his dad lying on the table, dead.
His breath got caught and the scene shifted once more.
Now, everywhere was covered with smoke once more, but this time, a familiar pitch black, oily-skinned humanoid creature was facing him.
'Wait, how's it familiar?' This single thought shattered the familiarity in an instant.
Fear started to permeate his body as the creature stared him down with hunger glinting in its eyes.
It lunged at him and he screamed.
His head flung up and he immediately took note of his surroundings. The desks, the doors, and the paint. He was in school.
The other people in his class stared at him and started laughing, some took pictures.
'Man. That was a sick nightmare.' Kale shook his head and focused on what the teacher was saying.
Time passed until the day was over. Kale met up with Kale and started walking home.
"Bro, I had this crazy nightmare," Kale spoke.
Axel stared at him and adjusted his glasses.
"Tell me the details." His voice was a bit odd.
"Wait, when did you get glasses?" Kale gave Axel a side glance.
The latter hesitated for a moment, "Which glasses?"
Looking at his best friend, Kale didn't see any glasses again.
A panic attack slowly descended on him.
"Are you okay?" Axel tried to touch Kale but the latter avoided his touch.
"I'm still in the nightmare, aren't I?"
Axel tilted his head in confusion and worry. "Sis something happen? Stay here, I'll call someone."
Kale didn't bother listening. "This isn't real! This isn't real!!! THIS ISN'T REAL!!!!"
Axel, in the distance, paused, then turned around. His eyes were pitch black.
The world around him shattered like broken glass and Kale was thrown back into the room.
He immediately shuffled against the wall and started crying. He couldn't tell what was real again.
"You spent only thirty minutes there. Impressive." Miss Cayenne openly remarked.
Kale looked around and saw that almost everyone was asleep, with most twitching or crying.
Then he looked at Miss Cayenne who heartlessly noted the data she was receiving. The military was cruel.
Spending the remaining time he had, Kale collected his thoughts and controlled his emotions.
Hours had to pass before everyone else woke up.
Looking at Ian and Ming, Kale could tell that they had gone through a lot. Their expressions were enough of a giveaway.
Ming had red eyes and tears stained her face, while Ian's body shook, and his forearms were covered in scratches.
"Rest well. The final test will be in an hour. You've all done well… so far."