The sun beat down hard on the Academy's training campus. The heat cracked the earth. The first-year students were gathered in a wide field of packed sand surrounded by metal structures and high walls. In the distance stood an enormous dome of steel and glass.
Thomas was barely listening. Ever since they had arrived, he had not been able to stop looking toward the line of trees at the edge of the campus. Toward the same place where, the night before, he had seen the hooded giant.
Nothing moved there now.
Only wind.
"Good morning."
The woman's voice cut through the murmur of the students.
She was tall, with dark hair tied back in a long ponytail. She wore the black uniform of an instructor and kept her hands clasped behind her back in an almost military posture.
"I am Professor Valery Anderson."
Her voice was clear and firm.
"With me, you will learn Tactics and Strategy."
Thomas was still looking at the trees. Something on his back was still itching.
"In this class you will learn something that most explorers take years to understand," Anderson continued.
She pointed to the metal dome behind her.
"Inside an Impossible City, brute force is rarely enough."
Daniel appeared at Thomas's side and murmured loudly enough for him to hear.
"No one said the professor was going to be a total knockout, huh."
Thomas blinked. Only then did he look ahead and realize that Daniel was not exaggerating. The professor had a presence that was hard to ignore. Several students around them seemed equally attentive.
Anderson kept speaking as if she had heard nothing.
"Today we will begin with something simple."
She pointed toward the enormous dome.
"An Impossible City simulation."
A small murmur ran through the group.
"The simulation you will see today was built from data gathered over one hundred and fifty years of explorations. Information shared among the nations of the world."
She paused.
"Data that you will learn to study in History of the Cities."
Thomas felt Daniel give him a small nudge.
"This is getting good."
"There are thirty of you," Anderson continued. "So you will work in three groups of ten."
She paced slowly in front of the students.
"Over time, humanity has perfected the way it explores and exploits the Impossible Cities."
She raised three fingers.
"Teams are currently organized into three tiers."
She lowered the first finger.
"First tier: Explorers."
She pointed to several older students.
"The physical force of the team. They clear the path. Combat, containment, survival."
She lowered the second finger.
"Second tier: Scientists."
"Experts in fauna, flora, chemistry, biology… and cartography."
She lowered the third finger.
"And the last tier."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"Mine. Tactics and Strategy."
She stopped in front of them.
"Our task is simple to explain and extremely difficult to execute."
She pointed to her temple.
"We gather, in real time, the information obtained by the other tiers in order to design the best possible strategy for exploring the city."
She looked at the group.
"Deciding which path to take, which zones to avoid, and when to retreat before everyone dies."
The silence grew heavier. Thomas felt the heat intensify.
"You still do not have assigned roles."
She crossed her arms.
"So today we will see how you behave instinctively inside an Impossible City."
The professor pointed toward the dome. The huge metal doors began to open slowly. A current of cold air came out from inside.
"Welcome to your first exploration."
Thomas felt the mark on his back burn softly.
And for a moment he had the sensation that something inside the dome was waiting for him.
Meanwhile, not far from there, an emergency meeting had just begun at the Government Palace of Asterion City.
The president entered the conference room in a hurry, followed by his secretary.
"My God…" he muttered as he loosened his tie. "No one can live like this."
He dropped into his seat.
For a few seconds, no one spoke.
The president looked around the table.
Seven people accompanied him.
Officially, he was the most powerful man in the nation, but in that room everyone knew that was not exactly true.
It was one of those secrets everyone knew and no one said aloud.
The real centers of power were no longer in government palaces.
They were in corporations.
Three of those present were the owners of the most influential companies on the planet. The three corporations that had, for decades, controlled the exploration of the Impossible Cities.
The first was Helix Systems, the world leader in technology applied to anomalies.
The second was Novagen, responsible for scientific research inside the cities.
And the third was Aegis Armament, in charge of military security for the expeditions.
Each of them was accompanied by their chief operational representative.
Among them was Dylan Clarck, The Impossible One.
Seated with his arms crossed, he observed the table with a calmness that contrasted with the tension of everyone else.
The seventh person was perhaps the most dangerous of them all.
The owner of the largest media conglomerate in Asterion City, a man who never needed to raise his voice to control a conversation.
"Please… tell me you have answers."
The president wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
"Because I can't keep holding this together in front of the rest of the nations."
No one responded immediately.
At last Mr. Helix spoke.
"We are closer than you think, Mr. President."
His voice was calm, almost patient.
"We only need to hold on a few months longer."
The Aegis representative leaned forward.
"A few months longer?"
He tapped the table softly with his knuckles.
"How many more civilians are we going to lose while we wait?"
"Calm yourself, Mr. Aegis."
The owner of Novagen spoke without lifting her eyes from her martini glass. With one finger she slowly swirled the clear liquid inside.
She was an extremely elegant woman.
"With Mr. Clarck's recent discovery," she said, "I would say we have the treasure chest in our hands."
She smiled faintly.
"Besides, what the eyes don't see, the heart doesn't grieve over. The press takes care of the dirty work."
The president frowned.
"What exactly are you talking about?"
As almost always, he was the last to know.
Helix stood up and began walking slowly behind the chairs as he spoke.
"A few days ago, Mr. Clarck confirmed something we had suspected for a long time."
He stopped.
"Scientist Lych not only made an extraordinary discovery."
He looked around the table.
"He also managed to extract proof from an Impossible City."
The silence grew heavier.
"We are the only nation in the world that knows this," he continued. "For three consecutive generations, the same city has appeared."
The president blinked.
Helix raised three fingers.
"For one hundred and fifty years, the pattern was clear. The one we all know."
"Every twelve years."
"In a random part of the world."
"And always different."
He lowered his hand.
"But the last three times, exactly the same city appeared."
The room went still.
"And the last two…" Helix added, "here."
He looked at the president.
"In Asterion City."
The president wiped his forehead again.
"Yes. And the leaders of the world ask me every day why it appeared here twice."
He sighed.
"I can't keep carrying so many secrets."
"Easy, Mr. President."
Helix returned to his seat.
"A few days ago, Clarck found something inside the city."
Everyone looked at Dylan.
Helix went on.
"A boy with extraordinary abilities."
"A boy who bears a mark on his back… similar to the runes we have recorded inside the city."
He paused.
"A boy…"
He looked at the president.
"Whose last name is Lych."
The owner of Novagen finally lifted her gaze.
"It is obvious," she said calmly, "that the city keeps reappearing because it wants to recover something."
"The incident on the beach confirms it."
She took a small sip of her martini.
"According to the boy's own testimony… those creatures said, 'You are one of us.'"
The Aegis representative frowned.
"That means the boy might not be human."
"It means," Helix corrected him, "that he may be the key."
The president slowly leaned back in his chair.
"The key to what?"
Helix looked directly at him.
"To everything."
"Two months, Mr. President. That is all we ask."
He leaned forward.
"We believe that the missing scientist, Lych, left behind more than theories."
"That boy is the answer."
The president remained silent for a moment.
Two months.
Two more months of lies.
"And if the boy refuses to cooperate?"
He looked at Dylan.
"He could be dangerous."
Then Dylan Clarck stood up.
He did not look hurried.
"Don't worry about that."
He walked slowly toward the end of the table.
"The boy trusts me."
The president studied him carefully.
"Are you sure?"
Dylan held his gaze for a few seconds.
"Enough."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"I'll make sure he shows us the way to the truth."
He paused.
"Whether he wants to find it or not."