First week – he really had thought that university and his first year as a registrar would be the last time he would have to feel like this. Nerves, anxiety, and a shit tonne of ‘what the hell am I doing here?’ settled into Theo’s gut like a bad spicy burrito. He was sitting with a cup of tea in his exercise gear, rapidly tapping his foot against the coffee table. A knock at the door was followed by Patrick.

  “Did you sleep?” Patrick asked him as he shut the door behind him.

  “A bit. Some. Not much.” Theo was only half conscious of answering, his eyes glazed as he sipped at his tea.

  “Hmm, I see,” said Patrick. “I brought you something to eat. Here.” He threw a paper bag at Theo that contained a toasted sandwich. Patrick sat in the chair opposite, Theo barely conscious of the man’s gaze following him as he opened the bag and looked in.

  “I don’t know if I can, my guts feel like they are about to hula hoop out my ass.” Theo gingerly took a small bite.

  Patrick laughed. “As descriptive as ever. First week nerves, it's normal. In fact, you have done remarkably well adapting to all the new information over the past week. Give it another week and see where you are at then.”

  “Acknowledge, normalise, anticipate, reassure. Textbook, Pat, textbook.” Theo sighed. “There is nothing normal about any of this.” He took a big bite out of his toasty and sighed with satisfaction. He had been so nervous that he hadn’t even thought to eat. As the food hit his stomach, the roiling tempest began to settle.

  “Did you put drugs in this?” he asked Pat.

  “Only honey mustard mayo. Now, you really should hurry up and shower. It's almost eight, and I’m to help orientate you to your new area before you head to your first group class. Most of the other students arrived over the past few days, not having needed to go through testing like you.”

  “Transfer kid, I remember,” Theo groaned while stuffing his face. He stood up from the chair, making his way towards his room and the shower. “What’s on for today?”

  “First, to your new home for the next year, then classes begin. Check your phone, the schedule should be there.”

  * * *

  Patrick had left him after they had done a rapid tour of level six and Theo had dropped his mostly non-existent personal belongings at his new room. The room was similar to the living area he had been in on level five but without any of the homely touches. It was a simple open plan studio with attached kitchenette that opened into the living area. There was a separate bathroom and meditation room that had doors opposite the entrance. The wardrobe had been stocked with comfortable but plain training gear and a pile of other necessities.

  Given the time, he had foregone further exploration of the living level, and had made his way to floor seven which was allocated for physical training. His phone had been programmed to give him access to any of the levels from six through to ten. Out of curiosity, he had tried one of the deeper levels, but the access had been denied. He presumed the deeper you went, the further into the training program you were.

  The schedule he had scanned had the first half of the day allocated to body and weapons training, which was then followed by aetheric studies in the afternoon. Those classes were split into seven groups to match the recruit's specific energy resonances and had been staggered to allow them to attend more than one class. Tuesday and Wednesday covered the core subjects, with Thursday and Friday for electives. Theo noted that Basics ran almost every day, but then figured that was probably a good thing for him.

  He finally arrived at the entrance to the gym, most of the trip lost in an anxious rumination about what he would find there. He stood partially paralysed outside the door, trying to listen for any sound that may escape from the other side. Mostly, he just breathed to try and settle his nerves. Time to pull the Band-Aid off, he thought, and palmed the door release.

  As soon as the door hissed, a wave of sound rolled over him, and he stepped into the vast open area of the gym. It was twice the size of the one on level four. To his right, a variety of bikes, treadmills, and other cardio machines were arrayed in lines moving in from the wall. Beyond that, there was an empty square with padded matting, which was followed by a closed off area that had a massage table and other equipment that were more medical in nature. To his left, there was a comfortably appointed sitting area, with drinks and food services.

  Following the pathway in front of him, the source of the sounds emerged and a group of around one hundred young adults sweated and groaned through the commands of Instructor Allen.

  “You’re late, princess, get warmed up and then join the group,” Allen said with malicious humour, his statement prompting every head in the room to turn and get a look at the new kid. Theo sighed, heading back towards the treadmills, followed in turn by a surge in chatter.

  “If you’ve got breath to flap those lips, then you’ve clearly not been working hard enough.” Allan’s gruff voice cut through the murmur, replaced by ready groans. “On your backs pissants, I wanna see elbows to knees for the next count of thirty!”

  Theo sat on the bike for the next five minutes, listening to the grunts and groans that projected from the main training area. He really was not looking forward to trying to integrate into the main group but forced himself off the bike and back towards Allen’s domineering voice.

  “Blake, pull in that core, you look like a birthing cow …. Jasmine, widen your stance.” Aside from Allen’s critiques, there were several assistant instructors moving through the main group. Theo surreptitiously moved into the back row. A petite brunette shuffled slightly to give him room, throwing him a smirk as she did so.

  “Welcome back, princess. Boxing one oh one, we have ten more minutes of warmups, and then it will be pairs for the next forty.” He quickly found the flow of the class, and as it came time to select partners, the girl next to him happily paired up.

  “I’m Beth,” she said as they moved back to accommodate the quickly spacing pairs.

  “Theo. Thanks for pairing up.” He looked around briefly, but thankfully most were focused on getting ready for the next round of torture.

  “No prob, figured this way I will get ahead of the gossip. Noob news from the source and all that.” It was clear that Beth had a naturally outgoing personality, but as she took her first swing at the pads Theo was holding, he could not help but gasp.

  “Fuck girl, maybe hold off on the Nutrigrain, you hit like a truck.” Theo’s hands had gone numb. Beth giggled.

  “I hit body two just before classes started, check out these guns!” Beth pulled a pose, but then bolted in for another left right combination. “Can’t get caught slacking off,” she whispered. “Ol’ Muscleini over there has eyes like a hawk.”

  “I’ve noticed,” Theo said. “What’s body two mean?”

  “Serious? Man, you really are a noob.” Beth shook her head. “Are you in Basics?” Seeing his nod, she continued. “That’s good, you’ll learn more about it there. The first Gate is the Body Gate and there are nine tiers. The science nerds call them substrata, but that’s a mouthful. Tier two is when you have infused your muscles with aether, which is why I hit harder.” She smirked at him. “Which block you living in?”

  “Umm, C block, room 6.” Theo’s arms by now were thrumming as Beth continued to attack the pads.

  “Sweet! I’m in D, so just down the hall.” Beth smiled at him, which Theo appreciated, but he was too busy shaking out his arms as Allen called for the switch.

  “How old are you? You seem older than most of us, but that’s not unusual for an insensate I suppose. Oooh, sorry, that probably sounds rude, but that’s what we call people from the norm world. Those that can’t sense aether.” Beth barely noticed as Theo opened and closed his mouth in quick procession. She also did not seem to notice as he punched the pads she was holding.

  “Do you like boys, girls, or in-between? I usually have a pretty good ‘dar, but I can't pick it with you.” Again, Theo’s mouth had started to open, but he gave up on trying to answer as Beth ploughed on without pause. “Oh, what classes are you in? I’m Hydra, so I have a few hours after lunch before my classes start, we can hang out if you’re free?”

  “Woah, girl,” Theo panted. He was shocked that she still had breath. “I have Basics straight after lunch.”

  “Oh … of course,” Beth said. “Once you start body refining, your strength will rocket, don’t worry. Just wait ‘til you feel it, it's awesome!” She grinned as she took a swipe at Theo with the pad. “Let me see if I can guess your aether class. Hmm, definitely not Titan with your body, too weedy, and you’re too calm for Cerberus. Could be Hydra like me? Hmm no, I’d feel it if you were. Maybe Thunderbird, you’ve probably got the speed, though you don’t look like a nerd. Phoenix also has the reflexes. Phoenix maybe?”

  Theo just stared at her mutely for a moment.

  “Did I get it? Come on, don’t hold out on me!” Allen had called for another switch, and Theo took advantage of the changeover to have a quick drink and to catch his breath.

  “Uhuh, yep, Phoenix,” Theo finally responded, enjoying how much his delay had clearly irritated Beth.

  “I knew it! Yes!” Beth bounced around. By this time some of the others around them were clearly listening in, though trying to look like they were not.

  “And Dragon.” Beth stopped moving momentarily, which was a shock.

  “Dual resonance? For an insensate? That’s crazy! There aren’t many with dual resonances.” Her voice had dropped to a whisper, which was a good thing, as Theo was becoming more self-conscious. He did not really have a chance to interrupt Beth as her punches come in rapid fire. Not that it stopped her of course.

  “Maybe keep that on the down low for now,” she said, prompting a groan from Theo. He was acutely aware of the glances being thrown their way.

  “Ooh, sorry, too hard? I keep forgetting. Anyway, Phoenix should be great, there are some lovely families with radiant bloodlines, Dragon not so much.” Beth frowned. “See that guy down the front, to the left? Long dark hair, tanned, looks like a model. His name is Dylan.” She angled slightly so Theo could look towards the front while she continued to pummel into him. He noticed whom she was describing quickly, he was shirtless with a large dragon tattoo across his chest. “He’s from the Lazar family, they are seriously old school. Expect him to be a dick. Most bloodline families are like that.”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Shirt off already, definitely a dick,” Theo observed. Beth chuckled.

  “Not that it’s a bad view though, am I right?” She winked at Theo. Theo ignored that one.

  “What about your family?” Theo asked. Beth beamed at him.

  “No bloodline, too much intermarriage. Mum always said marry for love not blood, which sounds gross, but I get it. I’m glad actually, those heritage families are way too strict. Mum was Hydra, so that’s where I get it from. Dad left when I was young, never really got to know him. Mum doesn’t talk about him much.” She paused momentarily. In the meantime, Allen had called out for cool downs and stretching, and the pair continued chatting as they did so.

  “Enough about me. How did they find you anyway?” Thankfully, Beth’s voice had lowered now that the thump of boxing had disappeared. Theo opened his mouth. “Wait … there was that raid a week or so ago. Don’t tell me you were there?” Beth’s eyes were wide open. She was almost panting by the time she realised she had hit jackpot for gossip.

  “I don’t really want to talk about it,” Theo said, trying to forestall the interrogation.

  “What? Come on, no one tells us about the Tagma, but that’s what we are all training for right? We should know what goes on! My mum works with the medics, so she doesn’t often get much info, not that she would tell me anything anyway.”

  “The Tagma?” Theo asked.

  “Tagma Aimatos, or just Tagma.” Beth spoke like she was explaining rain to a pre-schooler, her voice too loud for the now quieter gym. “Depends on who you ask. Blood and Death magic, it’s nasty. We’ve been told stories about them since we were kids. They are the bad guys that we have been fighting since, like, forever.” The people closer to them paused their stretches to look over. Theo glared at Beth.

  “I told you; I don’t want to talk about it,” Theo whispered to her, pushing down on the knot of grief in his chest. “One of my friends died that night.”

  “Oh… oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Beth looked heartbroken. “Look, I understand. I won’t push. When you want, I can tell you what I know about the Tagma, and if you need someone to talk to, just let me know.”

  Theo looked at her, his gaze softening. “I will, just not now. It’s still a bit too raw and it’s taking me a while to get my head around everything.” He groaned as he tried to stretch out his hamstrings. “And now I’m physically torturing myself for what, to build magic muscles? To fight evil blood wizards? It’s just a bit much.”

  “I get it. This is all new for you. Everyone else here has grown up in this world. But … I won’t be the only one that can put the pieces together, just so you know.”

  “Great.” Theo sighed. By this time, the crowd had started to disperse, but not without some obvious curiosity from most of them.

  Theo was thankful that Beth’s presence seemed to be preventing any of them from intruding. He was just starting to stand, when he was unexpectedly knocked back to the ground. As he lifted his head, he saw a trio of guys making their way past. The guy that had clipped him was whispering softly to his friends, their chuckles malicious as they glanced his way.

  “Dick,” Theo muttered.

  “He’s such an asshole,” Beth agreed, as she grabbed Theo’s arm to help pull him back up. “That one is Jason, he’s in Hydra with me unfortunately. You might need to keep an eye on him, he’s a right pr…” She fell silent as the glistening muscles of Dylan entered their field of view, slowly making his way past. He glanced their way, his face impassive. When he was finally beyond ear shot, Beth sighed. Theo looked at her quizzically.

  “What? It’s a nice view. The lady has needs.” Theo laughed.

  “Think about it! There are over a hundred young adults that have voluntarily signed up for three years of isolated, gruelling, physically intense training in a top-secret paramilitary facility.” Theo couldn’t help but groan, though Beth continued uninterrupted. “Practically every single one of them are in top physical health! That’s sweat and muscles for days! If that doesn’t lather your lady bits, I don’t know what will.” Beth laughed as she headed towards the exit. “Come on, let's get showered and then head to lunch. I’m starving!”

  * * *

  Theo was just making his way out of his room post shower when the door opposite also opened. A tall red head in leggings, crop top and an open training jacket in the utilitarian blue grey stepped out of the room, pulling her door shut.

  “Hi,” he called out to her with a wave.

  She turned towards him silently. Her hair was a deep auburn with natural blond highlights, hanging loose in a light wave, framing her face before gently kissing her shoulders. Her face was slightly too long for a classic beauty, but there was something regal about her. She had paler brows, fair skin, and deep sea-green eyes. She looked him up and down, and without a word, walked off down the hallway.

  “Well, if I don’t just feel like the scum that got scraped off her shoe,” Theo scoffed softly to himself. He looked at his watch and pulled up the level map to remind himself of the way to the food hall. Just after he turned the corner into the main hall, Beth’s voice called out to him.

  “Hey, Theo! Good timing.” Beth’s walk as she came down the hall seemed more like a skip, but only in an energetic sense. She practically oozed extrovert, which was surprisingly anodyne for the cold shoulder he had just been given.

  “Hey, Beth,” he called back, smiling.

  “Did you just have the pleasure of meeting Vanessa?” Beth asked with a grimace. The person in question had just disappeared from the end of the hall. “Bitch, right? Don’t worry about her, she’s an ice queen, but rarely bites.”

  “You are a wealth of information Beth. I have a feeling that meeting you was the universe looking out for me.” Theo laughed.

  “I know right! Though my mum says I talk too much, but that’s only because she is hardly ever around. Anyway, I’ll introduce you to some people at lunch and give you the lay of the land. Foods good too, by the way.”

  “Good, because I’m starving. I’ve never worked out this much in my life.” Theo groaned.

  “I can tell … oops that sounded worse than it was meant to. I mean, you are naturally slimmer. Most of the guys here are full on jocks with muscles out the wazoo. You should see the Titan group, man they look like sacks stuffed with rocks.”

  Beth chatted aimlessly as they made their way towards the food court. It felt very much like being back at university and staying on residence, though Theo again thanked his good luck that he had met Beth in their first training session. She was effortlessly engaging and helped break down some of the barriers that he had been unconsciously raising.

  They paused just before entering the meals area, which gave Theo some time to look around. The space was a large rectangle that was divided into three main areas. Hallways came in from all sides of the room, entrances to each of the residential halls. Along the shorter back wall split in the middle by another hall entrance, was a servery, with both bain-marie style eating as well as the option to order specifically catered meals. There was even a kitchen area to the side for people to cook, though Theo noticed that no one seemed to be taking advantage of that option.

  The back half of the room, closest to the kitchen area, was filled with café style tables. In the area in front of the tables there were comfortable couches partitioned by screens and potted plants. There were pool tables and other activities for distraction mixed in amongst the first half of the room. The feel was very much of an adult version of the school cafeteria. Beth’s voice soon interrupted his inspection.

  “Right, so. It’s a bit high school, but cliques will naturally form everywhere. We’ve had less than a week here, but most of these guys know of each other from outside the Institute,” Beth said. She adroitly pointed to the far right of the meals area.

  “See where Dylan is over there? They are the elites, old blood families, though most of them are just sycophants for the three royals. That’s Dylan, Jason, and Gloria.” It was obvious to Theo which three Beth was talking about. Dylan sat at the end of one of the longer tables mostly ignoring those around him, while Jason sat on the table itself lording over a group of people as he told some story. Gloria sat at an adjacent table, reading a book. There was a bunch of other young women around her.

  “On the left closest to us are the nerds. Mostly, they are all just tech heads and research buffs. Most of them are in Thunderbird, but there are a few from outside that Division as well. My guess is they are looking to get into the R&D group after graduation. You’ll see they mostly miss the physical classes, which Allen spits a dummy about, but most of their families are long standing R&D anyway, so they can get away with it.”

  By now they were halfway through the room, and Beth had started to greet many of their peers warmly as they passed. She waved to a group to their left that sat closer to the projection windows, and she mimicked joining them after getting food.

  “That’s our crew over there,” Beth continued as they passed the group of three. “We’re kinda outcasts because we don’t fit nicely into any of the boxes, which really pisses off those that benefit from the hierarchy.” Beth’s cynicism was clearly overlayed with pleasure at the prospect of disrupting the status quo. Despite this, Beth seemed to get along with most of the students she greeted as they made their way past.

  “I’ll introduce you to the others when we get to the table, but just be aware that joining our group will not help you to be accepted. In all honesty, it probably won’t make any difference really, seeing as though you’re a norm.”

  Food now in hand, they headed back to the table Beth’s friends had occupied, pulling up one of the two-seater tables to add space. Theo had been conscious that the eyes of most in the room had followed them as they made their way through, a mix of curiosity, peppered with some light antipathy.

  “Hey guys, this is Theo. He’s the newcomer,” Beth said. He sat down and smiled nervously at the others, who thankfully all welcomed him warmly. Beth continued the introductions.

  “That brute over there is Max, he’s in Titan.” Beth pointed towards a monster of a man who towered over the others. He shook Theo’s hand with a quick “hey mate” before getting back to his food. Theo surreptitiously flexed his fingers under the table.

  “Next to him is Carrie, she’s like you, she has a dual resonance but in Siren and Thunderbird.” That earned Beth a curious look, and a quick hello for Theo. Theo smiled at the blonde with a quick nod. She was a classic beach beauty. Tanned, blue eyed, but her gaze was piercing as she smiled back in welcome.

  “And, finally, last, and certainly least, we have Master Perry Gallagher the Second. He is from a Cerberus bloodline family, but for some reason he has decided to slum it with us rejects.” Beth grinned as she introduced Perry, then without any apparent shame, poked her tongue out at the freckled and bespectacled blonde.

  “Hey mate, welcome. Ignore the wench,” Perry said with a wave for Theo. His eyes sparkled with mischief, and Theo couldn’t help but be reminded of Jimmy despite there being no physical resemblance. Like Theo, Perry was slimmer, though he was likely edging six feet when he stood.

  “Theo will be in Basics with you after lunch, Perry. The poor thing could barely hold the pads by the end of class this morning.” Beth laughed as she disclosed Theo’s weakness with a not too tender elbow to the ribs.

  “You actually went to class with that meathead?” Perry scoffed.

  “Not everyone can rely upon family influence to sidestep Marbeck like you, mate,” Max retorted in Theo’s defence.

  “And not everyone can crush a rock with their hands like you, buddy. Lucky they put you in the second-year physical classes, no one could hold the pads for you otherwise.” Perry joked back. He turned to Theo. “Max here has already hit body four, which means he is about two steps ahead of the curve. He’ll slow down when we get to the heart and mind gates though, his natural advantages are clearly in the physical realm.” He winked at Max. Theo didn’t know what to say to that so changed the topic to something else.

  “So what electives is everyone taking?” Theo asked the table. “Obviously I’m doing Basics, but I’m doing the herbalism class as well.”

  “I’ll be with you in that one mate,” Max said around a mouthful.

  “I’m doing Aetheric Medicine and An Ethical Consideration of Aether in Insensate Health.” Beth jumped in quickly. “Poor Carrie got told off for trying to enrol in too many classes.” She smirked.

  “What? It’s stupid that they limit you to a max of three electives. There were too many that sounded interesting.”

  “Nerd,” Beth whispered loudly. Theo stifled a grin at the thump that came from under the table.

  “How do they arrange the classes for the core subjects? It would be nice if I knew some people. Nothing worse than being the new kid on the block,” Theo said.

  “Oh, you’ll be in my classes,” Beth said. “It’s arranged based on living block, with A and B block together, C and D together and E and F together. They’ll start from second week though; they like to ease us into the classes.”

  “Good luck buddy, might want to pack some ear buds,” Perry said with a smirk,

  “Shut it, turd,” Beth growled. “At least we won't have you bringing down the average.”

  “I’ve got Carrie in my group. You don’t stand a chance,” Perry retorted.

  “We’ll all be leaving you in the dust if you don’t pull your finger out at some point, Perry. It’s all well and good sticking it to your dad, but you’re the one that’s going to end up being dropped from the program if you don’t show any progress,” Carrie said.

  “True, true.” Perry sighed melodramatically. “Wouldn’t that just be an absolute wrench in dear daddy’s plans for my future?” His declaration was punctuated with a malicious smile, which resulted in groans from the rest of the table. It wasn’t hard to figure out that Perry’s family gripes had already become a common discussion point for the group.

  “My family think I died just over a week ago,” Theo said. Dead silence greeted the statement, and all eyes had turned to Theo. As the silence grew uncomfortable, Max laughed, and slapped Theo on the shoulder.

  “Talk about a fuckin’ buzz kill mate. That’s one way to shut him up. Well played.” The rest of the table erupted in laughter, though Beth had turned to Theo with a compassionate look. Theo shook his head with some embarrassment, focused on pushing back down on that ball of emotion.