A soft chiming sound echoed throughout the ship - it was 6:00 AM. Riyushi and Spark had also woken up. I noticed they got freshened up and ready pretty quickly.
I realized it was because of the viva exam. There was no certainty about who would be called when, so they were preparing early. I also got ready, putting on a shirt and pants. There was no fixed dress code here - you could wear whatever you liked.
We had a light breakfast sitting in our room. Later at the university, we would have to eat together in the cafeteria, but for now, everyone just ate what they wanted. Then, we headed towards the hall room.
I tried to carefully observe everyone's personalities. Riyushi was a very calm and polite guy. He loved collecting information about both known and unknown topics. His IQ was above 130. To understand him better, I scanned him. Blood group A+, high eyesight power, which is why he wore thick round glasses.
He walked beside me slowly, explaining different things along the way.
---
"You know, Eash, this ship itself is part of the university. Later it will return to its place and settle down," said Riyushi excitedly.
"Ohh," I replied.
He was speaking with great enthusiasm - it felt like he had finally found a patient listener after a long time.
On the other hand, Spark couldn't stay still for a moment. He kept touching things, explaining what materials they were made of - whether we listened or not.
Another thing I noticed: he always had a mischievous smile on his face, and he was full of naughty ideas. I found out he was even planning to trip a fat boy walking by.
Just then, someone called out,
"Hey, Spark!"
We saw two girls walking towards us. Spark shouted back with equal excitement,
"Hey, Liliyan!"
On my screen, it showed:
> Name: Liliyan Sekaris
Age: 15 years, 2 months, 29 days
Height: 5 feet 2 inches
Ability: Chemistry Magician
She was a neat girl wearing thin-framed glasses, had almost shoulder-length black hair, and an earring on her left ear. I suddenly noticed - Spark also had a similar earring in his left ear! What's going on?
The girl smiled softly. Spark continued:
"How's it going, Liliyan? Oh, she is my classmate - Liliyan Sekaris. We used to study at the same school in Los Angeles."
Showing us he said,
"And these are my roommates."
"Hello, I'm Liliyan. And this is my roommate, Yuri Shinohara," she said.
> Name: Yuri Shinohara
Age: 16 years, 0 months, 2 days
Height: 5 feet 3 inches
Ability: The Queen of History
"Hi. Nice to meet you! I'm from Japan," Yuri said.
We all introduced ourselves one by one. Yuri didn't say much, just smiled a little. She was holding a file in her hand. Her Pink hair was longer than her shoulders, no glasses - so her blue eyes were clearly visible.
Well... even though I could read everyone's thoughts, I don't want to mention it. It felt very awkward. So, instead, I said casually,
"So Yuri, was PSTU your most valuable birthday gift?"
Everyone looked at me in surprise, even Yuri. She smiled and said,
"Of course."
When Riyushi gave me a questioning look, I explained:
"Want to know how I figured it out?
The last page of your file is your birth certificate. Also, this aircraft passed over Japan two days ago - meaning, you came here exactly on your birthday."
"Yeah, right you are!" she laughed.
Liliyan said:
"Wow, nice deduction!"
Wait... did I just make a mistake? I could feel that some boys were getting jealous of me.
I said:
"Alright Spark, you guys carry on talking, I'll be right back."
And I quietly slipped away. The place was really interesting. Roaming around alone felt fun. Past the hall room, on the right side, was a giant shopping mall.
It had everything you could imagine! Students were wandering around, buying things freely using their AI watches. We all received these AI watches when we arrived - they could manage anything we needed.

At the café, I saw groups of students chatting together. On the left side, there was a huge common room. Every indoor game you could think of was available there.
It became clear - this ship was a major part of the university itself.
---
In the common room, it felt like there were too many students. I found an empty desk-sofa near a window and sat down. It automatically adjusted itself to fit my sitting style. A robot came and placed a juice glass on the table. I noticed a chessboard set on the desk too.
You can't really play chess alone, but I set it up and stared outside the window. We were flying above the clouds - sometimes through them - everything below looked so tiny, like a map.
I glanced at my watch, and a robotic hologram said:
"How can I help you, sir?"
"Has the viva exam started?"
"No sir, not yet. Once it starts, your roll number will be announced through your watch."
"Oh, thank you," I replied.
At that moment, Riyushi, Liliyan, and Yuri entered the common room.
When they noticed me, they came over. I asked,
"Where's Spark?"
"He went for the viva. Oh, by the way, can you play chess?" Riyushi said.
Yuri sat across from me right away. I said:
"Wanna give it a try?"
"Why not?" she smiled.

Riyushi and Liliyan sat on the nearby sofas, watching us.
___
"Checkmate!"
I said calmly. The girl played pretty well. If she tried harder, she could really improve.
"Hey Yuri, you actually play very well. But see, here's a small mistake you made..." I said, setting the pieces up again and showing her the subtle mistake.
"If you hadn't captured my queen with RxC5, then with my knight, I couldn't have trapped you into a checkmate. Plus, my other rook was already on the F-file ready for support...."
Just then, Spark entered the common room. Riyushi asked:
"What's up? It's only been 18 minutes - you're back already?"
"Well, when I went to the office room, nobody was there. When I came back, you guys weren't at the hall room either, so I started looking around and ended up here," Spark said, laughing a little . He felt awkward, I can sense.
I looked at him carefully:
"Are you sure you heard your roll number being called?"
"I think so," Spark replied.
I looked around at the others and asked:
"Did any of you hear his roll number being called?"
Everyone paused, thinking and looking at each other. Liliyan said:
"Honestly, we didn't notice. We were talking, and then suddenly he said his roll was called."
I realized Spark was feeling a little confused. To lighten the mood, I said:
"Let's play another match, Yuri. What do you say?"
Just then, everyone's watches buzzed with an announcement:
> "Dear Students, your respective Viva Examinations start from now on. It will end tomorrow after 48 hours. Best of luck to you all!"
Everyone looked at their watches. The noisy common room went completely silent. Everyone was nervously waiting - wondering whose roll would be called first.
Then we heard:
"Ms. Yuri Shinohara, roll no. C/17, please come to Principal's office room. Professor Mr. Silias Helhed is waiting to take your Viva Examination."
We all looked at Yuri.
I said:
"Wow, congrats Yuri. Best of luck!"
Liliyan cheered, " You can slay it, Girl!!! "
And then, Yuri walked off toward the office room on the second floor.
Be continued...