Walking down the aisle adjacent to the wall that bordered the Military HQ, Cecilia couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
She remembered how she'd questioned the purpose of the two-meter walls a year and a half ago. Back then, she was sure they wouldn't stop anyone, or anything, determined to scale them. But then again, who in their right mind would even try to infiltrate such a place?
It would've been like sticking your hand in a lion's mouth and hoping it didn't bite.
Only after maturing did she understand. The walls weren't meant to keep people out.
They were symbolic. A quiet reminder of how easy it was to walk into the Stellaris Militarium once you'd made it this far.
Approaching the recruitment center, Cecilia felt a strange twist in her stomach. Déjà vu.
She remembered that night well.
The cold. The silence
.
The night she lost her entire Imperial Trust Fund, inherited after her parents' death.
A charlatan claiming to "see the pathway" to her parents' revival had approached her. His mouth dripping with honeyed words, he promised her a glimpse of the same path, if she gave him access to the account.
Desperate and lonely, she gambled everything.
And lost.
Shaking her head, she brooded over her own naivety.
"Was I really that stupid back then?"
But that failure had led to what she'd call the best decision of her life.
Her sixteen-year-old legs had carried her here, running with desperate gusto, driven by hope.
The military.
The only place that had promised her a path forward when all else seemed closed.
The slogan etched into the recruitment center's facade still rang clear in her mind:
"Hope through Fire. Deliverance, if you endure."
They promised discipline, wealth, and honor to those bold enough to turn away from civil professions and academic comfort and embrace a life of danger, madness, and death.
Cecilia smiled, bitterly.
The drills. The discipline. The killing.
The camaraderie forged in blood and fire.
She missed it.
Damn her, she really missed it.
Even now, the sight of the place stirred something complex in her gut.
Would Vance feel the same way?
Fixing her uniform, she stepped through the open doors.
The lounge inside was surprisingly empty. A reception desk stood at the far end, manned by someone who looked half-asleep.
Before she could take another step, someone moved. The figure got up swiftly and rapidly approached her, squinting at the badge on her uniform to quickly identify the new visitor.
"Good day, Ascendant... Ceci... Cecilia. How may I help?"
Cecilia waved her off with a half-smile. "Where's Tien?"
She glanced around, trying to spot her.
The receptionist fiddled with her thumbs. "She's on the second floor. Do you want me to call her down?"
"No, I'll go myself."
She moved toward the stairwell without waiting.
"Ms. Ascendant, you can't go up there!"
Cecilia just laughed inwardly, her steps up the stairs slow and measured.
Who here could possibly stop her?
Coming to a stop on the second floor, she quickly found a door among several others that held a nameplate.
It read Tien Glacer.
Taking slow, measured steps toward the door, Cecilia took a deep breath before knocking three times.
She waited a few seconds before a mellow voice rang out, its tone one of exhaustion.
"Come inside."
Cecilia slowly opened the door, a weird feeling arising in her stomach.
It had been exactly one and a half years since she last saw Tien, but for some reason, this time felt infinitely longer.
A room of white and brown greeted her as she finally laid eyes on Tien's figure.
Gone were the small traces of youth that once lingered in Tien's amber eyes. Now, they gave off waves of viscassitude
.
Smiling, Cecilia couldn't help but take a deeper look at the room.
It seemed she wasn't the only one who had gone through changes.
But she wasn't here just for Vance. Ares could've done the same job. Truthfully, she just really yearned a moment of respite. A moment away from the desperation, the killing, the pain.
And the thin line of death.
She yearned for the life of the civil class, yet despised most of them for living so easily, so content.
There were, however, exceptions.
"How are you, Ti?" she asked. The rigid military stance melted into one of comfort and bliss as she quickly reciprocated the hug.
"If only this moment could last forever." She couldn't help but muse, tightening the hold.
"Are you planning to kill me, Ceci?" Tien asked with a breathy laugh.
It felt as if her body was wrapped not in arms but in metal beams.
"Sorry, sorry. I just got a little lost in the moment. Can I take a seat? We have so much to talk about. But first, there's this kid called Vance. I was sent to submit his application to Aegis, but I've grown quite fond of him. I was hoping you could get him into one of those scholastic institutes?"
"Sure. Take a seat and let me see his application, background, and so on," Tien replied, sitting down herself.
"Excellent. Now... let me tell you exactly how it all began."
Cecilia sighed inwardly. She had told this exact story at least five times and was growing slightly resentful of Vance. But every piece of information might help. After all, Vance didn't want to join the military.
Shifting her posture, she began her tale with no small amount of exaggeration and flourish
"At least I'm getting better at telling stories. A win is a win!" she let out a small chuckle.
......
"So... I should just take the pill and step inside?" Vance asked, barely hiding a growl of rage.
Here he was. Naked, weak, and terrified. Yet this creepy doctor wanted him to take a pill while he stood in nothing but his underwear.
This entire scene felt like a setup. When he got out of here, he would—
"Yes. And don't thrash about when you enter. It's not a pretty sight watching grown kids behave like babies," Shrill replied half-heartedly.
Smiling bitterly, Vance quickly threw the pill down his throat. No water.
That's right. He was a menace.
Or so he thought, until seconds later, a wave of fatigue assaulted him, forcing him to keel over. He awkwardly stepped into Pod-07, now lowered to allow his entrance.
It began to rise only seconds later, enclosing his figure.
Fighting the fatigue gnawing at his mind, he tried to stay awake—if only to feel the weird fluid wash over his body.
But contrary to his wish, the last thing he felt was a piercing pain where his heart was.
Followed by a sharp breath of trepidation from Shrill as Vance's eyelids fell under the weight of exhaustion.