Calista was in a strangely good mood the next morning. She didn’t even think about everyone ignoring her upon arriving at her first Monday class. She was extra concentrated on her work, not giving a bug about her Rep Level and instead focusing on her Experience Level. She spent every Break period in the Studitorium, intensely concentrated on memorizing disciplines, weaponry, and armory. She was determined not to sound like an empty file when she started training with Harrison. She was reassured further when her UI showed pop-ups like:

  +3 Intelligence

  +4 Intelligence

  -2 Weakness

  On Tuesday, when Teamwork period came around, Calista was extra excited to see Harrison there. The coaches let students pick their teams that day, and everyone was doubly surprised when Harrison picked Calista. The other students on his team simply gawked at him, too confused to even ask why he’d decided on the worst student in class who glitched him up the first day. Lílitha was more annoyed than surprised, but didn’t contest him.

  The game they played was a classic round of Capture the Flag. Knowing Calista’s clumsiness, she was assigned as the defense. Her partner was a bit quicker to freeze those trying to reach the flag, but Calista managed to not completely humiliate herself. Throughout the rest of the week, Harrison picked her whenever students were allowed to, giving her more chances to show her strengths in fitting roles on the team. There were a few times when she slipped up, but he would give her tips and advice that helped greatly.

  After Dinner every day, when classes were over, Calista would head to the gymnasium to practice. She endured the constant beep of the CD-Sim pointing out her errors, losing patience a few times, but she did her best to improve her balance and technique. Some disciplines like karate were doable, while others like judo were practically impossible. Her strength wasn’t nearly high enough for those.

  Her family sent her a brief message every day, which reassured her that they were safe, but she missed talking to them. She felt empty sending them a recorded scan telling them she was Harrison’s student. She’d wanted to see Katelyn’s reaction in real time, imagining her jumping up and down squealing. She knew, though, that it was safer this way until SECURE gave them the all-clear to go back on the Hub.

  Saturday finally came along, and Calista’s leg bounced anxiously through each Theory class until Dinner period came. She was in a study capsule in the Studitorium, reviewing Versus History— her least favorite class. Remembering dates and events from decades ago was not her thing.

  The current module talked about how ERMMs became part of the Games, previously used exclusively by Emitonians as intelligence-enhancement fields. Apparently, the Emitonians didn’t appreciate their invention being called ERMM, preferring their language: jalheinmecthsithak. Whatever that meant, Calista couldn’t pronounce it, which made her appreciate the rebranding.

  The AIDA faintly alerted the students that Dinner Period was over. Calista’s UI showed:

  Task Acquired: Attend Kappa Guild Training in Training Center— 4 XP

  Her schedule also showed:

  8:00 PM: PC-GTK10 Kappa Guild Training— Kappa Training Room 10GT-P, Training Center— SC #10 Smith, Harrison

  With an excited squeal, she left the capsule and happily trotted from the Hall of Affairs to the Training Center. She was beyond relieved that she’d made her decision. She would’ve regretted it if she said no.

  She was so excited that she’d forgotten about the big crowd of Guild students that would be waiting outside the doors, making her screech to a halt. It was 7:55 PM, so the SCs hadn’t opened the rooms just yet.

  A few heads turned, noticing her. Calista swallowed and leaned against the Kappa door, trying to look as casual and confident as they were, but she only got more anxious. It was happening again. She was worrying about them again. They were looking at her, and talking about her, and saying things about her…

  Weakness Risk: Social Standing

  *Disregard invalid opinions*

  “Just relax, Calista,” Lindsay told her. “You’ve been working hard. You deserve to be here.”

  +3 Rel-P (Lindsay)

  Belinda Adenifi peeked at her from within the crowd and gave her a smile, waving. That made Calista feel just a bit better.

  +3 Rel-P (Belinda)

  She noticed a lot of students that weren’t wearing Guild patches like everyone else. Were the other coaches having new students join, too? They all were many Levels ahead of her, their Rep Level impressive, considering they’d started classes barely a month ago.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  She impatiently bounced her leg. She should’ve waited; Harrison always went to his Guild room after everyone was sealed in for training.

  The Student Coaches finally arrived at 7:58. A couple of them noticed Calista standing at Harrison’s door, their eyes giving her a once-over. Disaris Okione nudged Reilly and jerked his chin at her with a smirk, probably thinking she was being a wannabe.

  Calista was surprised to see Harrison talking to Catherine at the back of the group. The violet-skinned blonde said “Good luck”, glancing at Calista before turning to her door and greeting her students. She stood in front of her door and a blue light shone over her, followed by the AIDA saying, “Welcome, Catherine Graham.” She turned to an Earthian girl next to her and pointed at the floor, indicating where to stand.

  The girl did so and the light scanned her, as well. “Welcome, Beatrice Bustamante. Congratulations on your acceptance to Guild Iota.” The white-patch-wearing students all cheered and clapped for the shy Earthian girl. The door then phased into a transparent state, letting her enter the room.

  Harrison smiled, approaching Calista. “Figured I’d show up on time for you. I knew you would,” he said.

  +5 Rel-P

  “A lot of new people here, huh?” Calista anxiously looked at the other Guilds, watching the SCs scan themselves, then scan their new members. Cheers and applause erupted every few seconds from different groups.

  “You get to join in on the welcome,” Harrison said. He stood in front of the door to be scanned. “Welcome, Harrison Smith,” the AIDA greeted. The announcement caught the remaining students’ attention, bringing tens of eyes onto them. The scanning paused.

  Calista looked away, trying not to feel anxious. For a moment, she felt like the whole world was watching this moment through hidden micro-cameras. There were cameras around campus, but for security, not broadcasting, as Lindsay constantly reminded her.

  The eyes were enough, though. Everyone was watching her, and she knew this was the next source of gossip for the academy.

  “Stand right here,” Harrison said, pointing at a spot six feet away from the orange door. Calista obeyed and a light shone over her, as well.

  “Welcome, Calista Medley. Congratulations on your acceptance to Guild Kappa.”

  Task Complete— +4 XP

  Murmurs rippled across the crowd. Calista caught Disaris Okione staring, his mouth dropped open in shock, which quickly changed to mockery and spite. She looked away before he could catch her eye.

  “Come on.” Harrison waved Calista over and they entered the room, shutting out the prying eyes. The blue-and-red surroundings turned into an orange-and-white theme. The gym had high ceilings and beams of orange and white light running along the corners. There were a few blue CDSim mats and a separate room for mini-games, locked behind a shadowed glass wall. The center was wide open with a large, circular combat mat, probably for members to fight each other.

  “Well, congratulations, Calista Medley. You’re my first student.” Harrison ejected his Pet, which instantly scanned her.

  Achievement Unlocked: Kappa Guild Member

  +20 Intelligence

  Intelligence Level Up: Lvl 8

  -10 RP

  +Kappa Guild Armor

  +Kappa Guild Patches

  +Orange Uniform Color

  Orange Guild patches appeared in a soft flash on her blue bodysuit sleeves. She turned her arms to see them. Surrounding a ‘K’ were:

  Kappa- Harrison Smith

  Calista Medley, Guild 10

  “Welcome to the Kappa Guild,” Harrison’s Pet said, his voice deep and smooth. On the side was ‘Jupiter’ written in blue— probably his name. Calista felt an excited chill run down her spine. She wasn’t usually a fan of orange, finding the color too strong, but in this case, she was proud.

  Status Unlocked: Hated— -155 RP

  +Rumors VIII (MAX)

  +Pranks XIX

  +Dysfunction XIX

  +Insults VIII (MAX)

  That dampened the moment significantly, but Calista tried not to show it. She knew what she was getting into. She couldn’t let that ruin her moment.

  “I never thought I’d see anyone wear one of those again.” Harrison tapped one of the patches on her arm.

  +10 Rel-P

  Approaching Soft Friend Status

  “You have a new uniform color, too,” he continued. “Although, most wait until finals week to wear them. For our practical exam, we fight each other in the arena, like a mini-tournament for Fistborn. It’s a bit more intense for Guild members.”

  Calista’s stomach flipped. “That sounds scary.”

  He shrugged. “Scary but fun.” His tone turned sterner as he crossed his arms. “You have a lot to work on. I’m not going easy on you. You need to adapt your body, especially with the conditions you have. You need to work around them and push through your limits. Can you do that?”

  Calista stared into his blues. She expected herself to feel insecure, but she instead felt a rising strength within her core. She firmly nodded.

  +5 Rel-P

  Achieved: Soft Friend Status

  +Interactions II

  +Association II

  +Meeting I

  “Then let’s get to work.” He went to the sleeping AIDA screen against the wall. “Could you have your Pet plug into this slot?” he asked, pointing at the platform rising from the floor, which had a circular slot at the top.

  Calista tapped Lindsay on her belt and she flew to the slot, retracting her wings and fitting perfectly. ‘CALISTA MEDLEY’ appeared on the screen before fading into a full-body freeze shot of her— the one she took before her pressure exam. Calista cringed; her face was terribly pale and her smile looked like a horror story.

  Beside the freeze shot, which rotated slowly, were her stats.