Day's light expands over the sky, reaching farther beyond the bounds of Versepolis city as the cyan supersun continues to climb up, now having ascended above the distant towers of the city.
The sun stands in the sky with its body completely visible and without obstruction, continuing to rise as it radiates more warmth, which descends to the Earths for life to feed off it. Its glow blankets the earth in a bright blue sky, and among that sky are a few white strains of clouds, remnants of the storm before.
Besides the few present clouds and the dew on the fields and forests, the storm seems to be little more than a fading memory, as surely the dampness of the environment would be alleviated over the course of the day.
The storm's impact will certainly be long lasting, for the destruction caused by the storm wouldn't be forgettable, as the storm had tragically ended many stories of many lives.
However, as the black sky is now blue, and the light of a new day blankets the world below, the story of the storm has come to an end as well, and a new story would begin in its place, one that would carry straight from the dreadful ashes left behind by its predecessor.
That story begins over the campus of the Superversal Academy of Tomorrow, as the morning indicated by the blue sky also indicates the beginning of the final examination window for the university's immense population of students.
The campus is already well lit, as the tall dorm buildings illuminate in the light at the front, with the rest of the buildings in the far distance of the expansive campus.
The towering silver dorm buildings stand far from the ground due to their impressive height, as from the top, a view that exceeds the campus bounds are presented. The ground below is hardly detailed from such a distance, as individual people are nearly impossible to detect, as though there was nobody outside even though there were certainly students leaving to begin their day.
The large nexus forest remains near the dorm field, standing in the center of the campus, as it covers a vast amount of the land. Each end of the forest leads to another area of the city, with distant buildings for classes being the most prevalent, composed of different shapes. Some of the buildings are slim and tall, and some are shorter and wider, with others having diverse designs that give each of the buildings a uniqueness.
There are many educational sectors, with each having different buildings, as they're placed along rows that stem off of the nexus forest, with those rows then splitting off farther back to create a more open space for more buildings.
There aren't only lecture halls and other classrooms however, as in the distance from the dorms are also other buildings, with the sizable gym center being not too far from the main hall, which appears nearly miniscule from the top.
The great air hockey stadium is also visible by the gym center, which inhabits its own unique space with its own designated parking lot and path that connects straight to the border of the university. Even from so far the hockey stadium appears significant, for it indeed was, being the main sports center that served as entertainment for both the university's students but also beyond, as the varsity team attracted an audience from outside due to their impressive skill and records.
Beyond the university's buildings are suburban-styled shopping centers connected by a complex series of roads, as there seems to be a town near the school.
While the town is quite vast with there being many of the shopping centers with different areas just for food and others full of different branded or local stores, the only students from the nearby university who were able to enjoy it were upperclassmen, who already had their own pods or were permitted to leave campus.
The freshmen especially usually were never able to experience the towns, as the only few who were could only due to close connections with upperclassmen, and were courageous enough to risk the consequences of being caught since it was technically not allowed for freshmen to leave.
Due to this restriction, very few freshmen ever got the chance to explore the outside towns, as few of them were ever granted the opportunity.
Rohan was among the few who were granted the opportunity, however he was also among the fewer who chose to reject it. His close friends had connections to upperclassmen, especially due to his placement in the varsity air hockey team, and so in the way they were permitted to parties they were also permitted to go on other adventures with them.
He knew that his friends had gone on several trips to different areas of the towns, with him having to reject every time they offered for him to tag along, as he was too concerned with the possibility of being caught. Of course, nobody was ever actually caught, and in fact there was a rumor that even if the security noticed freshmen leaving, they wouldn't attempt to punish them.
Even then, Rohan couldn't take the risk, and so he'd stay back in his dorm room alone while his friends were out able to have fun with the rest of the upperclassmen, waiting until the day they would be upperclassmen themselves and not need to go through the trouble of getting help to leave.
Shuraj had fantasized about having his own shiny luxury sports pod imported from another Earth, and he'd talk about the places he'd drive to if he had one, and he had even mentioned before that he'd let Rohan drive it either to play with it or to drive the group somewhere, to which Rohan would usually jokingly agree while internally panicking about how he'd be able to drive a pod without a proper license, since he never had the time to get one during his grade school years.
Of course however, none of that would happen, as none of the members of the group would ever move to the next class. Thus, that fantasy was nothing more than that: a fantasy that'd never truly occur, a dream that'd never become more than a concept, an idea.
In fact, the group wouldn't even be able to advance from their freshmen year, as the only one who would would also be graduating from the school entirely, thus never becoming an upperclassmen anyways. It was unsure if most of them would even be alive by the time of graduation, and for the best friend, there was a definite yet tragic answer, for he had gone with the storm himself.
Those dreams were fun to converse about, trying to plan the details of what exact brand or model of pod they'd get, and exactly what places they'd go to and when. However, just like the storm, those dreams were nothing more than a memory, one passing but one that wouldn't be easy to forget.
Up in the blue sky above the campus and even its dorm buildings, a blue streak soars from the direction of the supersun in the sky, as though the comet had emerged from within the surface of the sun itself, being beamed down to the human civilization which orbits it.
The streak approaches the campus, gradually descending as it passes the entrance borders. It continues as it seems to move towards one of the dorm buildings, leaving a blue trail which disperses moments after being created. The comet strikes the roof of one of the dorm buildings, vanishing as the trail it leaves behind also vanishes shortly after, ridding all traces of its presence.
The roof of the building is flat and almost entirely empty, with the only obstruction being a cloud of blue smoke left behind from the comet's crash. The blue smoke lifts in the air and dances as it gradually disperses, and as it does, a figure emerges from within the cloud.
The figure steps out of the smoke as the cloud completely vanishes, revealing itself to be Meditat, who dawns his Azure blue suit. His black chainmail cape glides in the winds of the high altitude as he gazes forward through the blue goggles on his white mask. His body's vents, including his emblem and streaks, glow with a soft pulse, as though the energy within him is alive.
Meditat walks towards the edge of the rooftop, his arms by his side as he approaches the side that his dorm is in. He looks up at the blue morning sky, acknowledging that he's still suited far later into the day than what he was used to and comfortable with, for now he is burning time he needs to spend as a scholar, even if for only a couple weeks.
He gets to the edge, where he then steps over and onto the wall, before walking down the building towards the first window with his feet gripping the wall. He notices his window quickly after beginning the walk, and he approaches it from the right side.
He stops once he's beside the window, and he looks down through the aperture to examine the interior of the room. To his relief, the room seems completely empty, as there's no sign of his roommate, and the door is already closed.
It's likely that his brother had already woken up and left for the day, since Meditat too should be outside heading to breakfast, which plays out well for him since that means the room is free to enter.
The window then opens, allowing wind from behind Meditat to enter the room, as he's oriented sideways, staring directly into the far wall of the room as though it's the floor.
Meditat lets out a soft sigh, as while this method of entering his room wasn't new, but instead one he's been using even since the early days of returning from the city, he can't help but be reminded of the uncomfortable nightmare world he had to live in where he was also abnormally oriented.
Staring straight down at the opening into the room, he remembers carefully slipping into the office room, where his fingers were sliced before he could let go of the door's edges. Even though those weren't his real fingers, the excruciating pain he perceived didn't feel fake. Even though he knows the window wouldn't close on him, for Orial wasn't so cruel, the anxiety of entering the room still looms.
Still, knowing that he can't just stand outside all day, Meditat forces himself to step into the hole, and fall into the dorm room below him. His cape follows in a slower glide as he enters the room, his suit lightly boosting itself to enter the room in a way to simulate gravity since he's technically not oriented correctly.
As Meditat enters the room, his body is rotated by intricate boosts that reorient himself backwards. While initially the window was above his head, it soon becomes behind his body, as he is positioned to have the floor of the room be beneath his feet rather than behind him.
He lands on the ground in front of the window, standing up straight inside the dorm room. Now inside the room, he begins walking forward, now walking properly upright as his first instinct is to head towards his bed.
His window closes shut to prevent the morning breeze from continuing to invade the room, silencing the wind and stopping his cape and hood from dancing in the wind.
Without worry about being spotted, Meditat calmly approaches his bed, with now the only sound being that of the passive hum of his suit.
As he approaches his bed, the chest of his suit seems to suddenly begin burning, as the azure armor disintegrates like flaming cloth, leaving only a blue glowing ash that then vanishes moments after. The flames spread over his whole suit, including the cape, disintegrating more of his armor into temporary glowing ash before vanishing in the air.
Besides his helmet, his whole suit disintegrates from the blue flames, revealing his body under, which is exposed in nude after all his clothing was burned up during the battle, including his signature green jacket.
Meditat pulls his helmet off as his hood disintegrates, still intact, however the blue glow of the goggles dims to darkness as it's no longer being powered.
He walks towards the bed, staring at the black goggles of the helmet, as though he was staring at his own reflection. He keeps the helmet close to his face, and takes a deep breath, observing it for a few moments until he gets in front of the bed.
Once he gets to his bed, he watches as the two black goggles suddenly flash blue, as they erupt in blue flames. The flames then begin to quickly spread out to the rest of the white helmet, burning the material into ash. He stares as the helmet in his hands vanishes into temporary ash which then vanishes completely.
With his hands now free as the final remnants of his suit is relinquished, he rolls onto his bed while unclothed, first requiring some moments of rest after the long and restless night. His back lays against the mattress as he stares at the plain ceiling, his tired blue eyes staring while being barely open.
He lets out a soft breath through slightly parted lips, processing all that he had experienced in that one night, for it seemed he didn't have a moment to rest, not until now. Even then, he acknowledges that he has to get up soon since he should technically be eating breakfast right now, and he certainly doesn't have the time to sleep even for a brief nap.
While not being able to sleep would normally not be problematic, it isn't the lack of rest that is an issue, rather he finds himself aching to get a few moments of peace before he'd need to resume work. He doesn't need the sleep to necessarily rejuvenate, rather he just wants some free time.
Yet it doesn't seem like he'd get any of that free time for a while, as today was the first day of his final exams, and he'd need to buckle up for weeks of daily exams where success was an absolute necessity. Especially since he was aiming to graduate all in one year, he'd be taking far more exams than anyone else in the college, with some of those exams intended for seniors when he was only a freshman.
While he isn't necessarily worried about if he had the capability of passing the exams, for he felt relatively confident, he felt more apprehensive about the amount of work he'd have to put in before getting a proper test after the long and tedious case that resulted in the loss of his old friends.
As he lies in bed, he reminds himself of the plan he made, where he would spend the final weeks of college focusing on his exams and thus take some time off of being in the city. While he acknowledges the risk his absence could bring to the potential victims of more attacks, he recognizes that if he's not putting the right concentration into the exams, he may not be able to graduate, thus he'd have to continue attending school while trying to balance this life in the distant city.
Even though he hasn't really spent too much time in the city after deciding to dawn the suit once again, once again retracting back into another break felt odd, especially because he knows that it would leave another gaping void in him. Although this void wouldn't be a new experience, since he had felt it before when he abandoned the mission, he recognizes that this time is different.
This time, he doesn't have people to lean back on like he did the other time. He wouldn't have Erica since he had effectively already broken off from her, as while they're technically together, his pursuit for the exams and their latest confrontation had put them in an awkward position where it'd be difficult to spend time together and find enjoyment out of it.
He also wouldn't be able to go to Mrs. Frieda, one of his professors, like he had done before. He knows full well how busy she is now that exam week has begun, especially because she had one of the classes that are typically used for a great number of exams, even for courses she doesn't teach. She would need to focus on her work, and so she wasn't an option.
Usually, the main option he'd take wouldn't even be either of them anyways, as instead, normally he'd have a great group of five friends who'd be there for him, friends he had learned he could trust even for his own problems. They were friends he made from the first day of school, and friends he had gotten close to over the development of the year.
There was Vrey, the soft spoken yet observant and mindful one. There was Ara, the lighthearted, comedic, and relaxing one. There was Ari, the hardworking, intelligent, and reliable one. There was Sriya, the brotherly, inspiring, and supportive one. Finally, there was Shuraj, the trustworthy, compassionate, and sincere one.
They were friends that would even go as far as to take it upon themselves to make sure he was doing fine, as Shuraj even told him that they were there for him. They were his friends, his only yet adequate friends, they used to feel like the only real option he needed.
But now as he stares at the ceiling, he knows full well that the final option is no longer present. Those five friends are no longer there, in fact it's complicated to even see them as friends, but calling those boys 'enemies' felt wrong as well.
Those friends that he would normally spend his time with, the friends that he'd rely on, were no longer available. Argus, Peitho, Medea, and Cratus had all been captured and transferred to the police department, who could do however they pleased with them, even if that meant execution.
Indra wouldn't get a choice however, as he had already chosen his fate for himself, even if it wasn't the one he wanted. The pain in his eyes when he took his own life couldn't be forgotten, as it wasn't a choice he made out of desire, but rather one he made out of desperation.
As the teenage boy lays in the bed, he breathes softly, his chest slowly rising before descending back down. He would have to spend these final weeks on his own, as he has nobody else to go to, no other companions left.
Of course, it was the right decision to defeat and transfer them to the police, as even the crimes they committed on that night warranted punishment. It was the right choice from a purely logical standpoint, yet there's another part of him that feels somber from knowing what had happened, a part of him that still yearned for the time of bliss he had with them. He hasn't felt such a way before, to know he's right yet to feel wrong regardless, but it's a feeling he knows wouldn't leave him for a while.
The boy lets out a breath, knowing that he had already spent about thirty minutes if not more laying on the bed, processing what had happened and what will need to happen. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, aware that he had likely already passed the breakfast period just from being late and getting the extra rest.
It isn't exactly a pleasant start to begin on an empty stomach, but he knows that he could still do well if he concentrates and tries hard enough, and he could then recover with lunch later. However, if he wanted to even get to that first exam, he'd need to start moving now and end his rest prematurely.
The teenage boy lets out the breath softly, and after it's out, he opens his blue eyes again, this time more widely.
He then gets off of the bed slowly, as though waking up for the first time, and he turns to his closet, knowing that he'd need to get a change of clothes since he doesn't exactly have any on him currently.
He approaches the closet on the other side of the room, and stands in front of it. He looks down to see a holographic screen project from the closet, providing him an inventory screen of different clothes he can choose from.
He stares at the screen as he swipes through it and clicks on different options to build what attire he'd have for the day, selecting one of each type of clothing. He chooses a basic set of pants and a shirt along with other accessories and undergarments.
Once he has nearly enough, he moves to the section with his jackets, as he instinctively searches for his signature green jacket. However, upon traversing to the section, he's immediately reminded why he couldn't do that, as he no longer has the option to wear that. He lets out a soft sigh, knowing that while he could create his suit countless times, his clothing wasn't as easily replaceable in the same way.
He spends a few moments staring at the screen of other options he has, which isn't much given that he never really cared to give himself a great quantity of jackets since he was almost always content with just his one green choice. However, after observing his options, he clicks on one of the options, and then clicks on the holographic screen one more time to confirm his options and begin the build.
The teenage boy steps back as the holographic screen vanishes, and he puts his arms by his side and takes a deep breath. He gulps, mentally bracing himself for the long and no doubt tiring day to come.
A soft hum comes from the closet as a large yet dim beam of light projects out of it, and onto the boy. The beam of light is so large that it nearly covers his entire nude body, only leaving his head exposed.
The beam of light stays consistent on his body as it begins projecting material over his skin, as from the particles hitting his skin, fabrics begin to appear on him, with more forming beside each other as the clothing is built onto him. Blue denim-like fabrics wrap around his legs to give him pants as black cotton-like fabrics spread around his torso and arms to give him a shirt.
In the matter of seconds, his whole body is covered by a layer of clothing, with a black shirt and blue pants. His feet are also covered by gray shoes, which have the capability of being relinquished and resummoned by simple clicking gestures to allow the user to choose where to wear shoes or not, or if he wants to wear the layer of socks as the option in between.
However, the light persists on his body for a few more moments, as it hasn't completed the request. While the lower body remains untouched after being clothed, the light seems to focus on his upper half where his torso and arms are.
On top of the black cotton, more materials begin to start appearing over his body, as blue wool-like material appears over his torso and white leather-like material appears over his arms. The extra layer wraps around his body in a thicker and larger layer than the shirt, as a collar forms around the teenage boy's neck. More layers of fabric appear, specifically over the left side of his chest, as the embroidered patch of a cartoonish blue jay with a confident bold expression revealing its wings with aggression appears on the jacket, along with the titles above and below the icon being 'SUPERVERSAL' and 'AIR HOCKEY.'
The beam of light finally stops projecting, as the closet machine finishes completing its request.
In front of the closet machine stands Rohan, who is now fully clothed, with the blue pants and black shirt visible from the opening made by the unbuttoned jacket over it. Without the signature green jacket, Rohan dons his old team's jersey, as while the season is over, it's the best jacket he has left.
Also, the varsity jacket feels like a form of commemoration of the good friend Rohan once had, the one who had always stuck by his side and trained with him tirelessly to get to the top. Even though he had a dark and monstrous side, Rohan knew that there was still a good man within that orange stone armor, as under Cratus's hide was still the genuine Sriya.
Even if Sriya was long gone, and may not be alive, wearing the jacket gives Rohan the feeling that he isn't completely alone and he still has a piece of his friends left. Even if it's just clothing, at least it's something to hold onto. He wouldn't have even bothered to earn the jacket if it wasn't for the inspiration Sriya gave him, but earning that jacket also meant being able to earn all the great moments with him and the team.
Rohan puts his hand over the embroidered patch and pats it twice before turning around to face the door. He lets out a soft sigh, and approaches his bedside table before collecting his Connect, and bringing it up to his face. He stares at it for a few moments, confirming that it's the real one after he had deployed a replica during that confrontation in the elevator.
He then places it in his ear, and puts his jackets in his pocket. He silently walks down the dorm room and towards the exit door, not having anything left to do but head off to his first exam, the first of many final exams.
The dorm door is dematerialized, opening in his presence to grant him the exit, and he walks through the doorway and into the corridor, leaving the dorm. He continues down the corridor as the dorm door shuts behind him, leaving him to begin the long days ahead of him, days he'd have to endure alone and isolated as though it was the first day of school all over again.