It was early morning when the air horn went off in the living room. Nate and Yoli slammed their sliding doors open at almost the same time soon thereafter.

  "Sorry Yoli, this is just for Nate. I gave my contact your link info, you’ll hear from him later today. You can go back to sleep." Jarris said apologetically.

  Yoli, without a word, slammed her room door shut.

  "You, however, can get dressed." Jarris threw an extremely lightweight suit that covered Nate from his neck down to his ankles.

  "This is a biometric suit that will connect with the training room. This will give me a full readout on your body while we are training so I can monitor your vitals and such."

  Jarris then threw a pair of shoes to his feet that looked like if Air Jordan made a shoe for the military. They had minimal treads and fantastic ankle support. Jarris then grabbed a box off of the kitchen island.

  "This is an implant custom-made by my old quartermaster. He is a maniacal genius. This won’t harm you and operates on a closed-loop system except those you invite in, such as future teammates. It has the ability to perform the normal functions of a link but you have to turn off the secure settings. This is not a permanent fixture so it can come off any time. Do you have any issue with putting this on?"

  "No, I was thinking of getting one anyway. Will it hurt?" Nate asked.

  "No." said Jarris. "You’ll feel some pressure as it penetrates your spinal cord, but after that it’ll feel like a small cyst on your back."

  "Ok, let’s do it."

  Jarris then opened the box and pulled out a disinfecting wipe and wiped a location on Nate’s upper back.

  "Can you feel that?" Jarris asked.

  "Feel what?"

  "Good!" Replied Jarris as if that was the answer he was looking for.

  Jarris then took out the small rectangular device from the box. It was as thin as any microchip back home and had a Connection symbol on the top of it. Jarris placed the device on Nate’s back and while there was no pain, he did feel the most disgusting sensation of a snake slithering underneath his skin.

  Then his vision flashed white and a loading bar appeared in the middle of his view. Once the loading was complete, several displays started forming in the center of his vision and then moved off to more permanent locations off to the sides of his peripherals. In the bottom left there was a silhouette of his body filled in with a green color..

  In the top right was a transparent circle with a white outline showing two white dots. The placement of the dots coincided with where Jarris was standing and Yoli was sleeping.

  The top left had an arrow pointing to the right, and when Nate mentally clicked on it, it shifted to point down and showed a menu of what seemed to be available actions. There was Scan, Codex, Biometrics, and Log.

  "Ok, your interface should be all loaded up. Any questions?"

  "Just a couple, actually."

  "Too bad, time to run. I’ll meet you at Kalazan’s, I’ll be timing you."

  Jarris took off into a dead sprint out of the apartment allowing the door to slam behind him. Nate scrambled grabbing his link and bolted out the door after him. He was already gone from the hallway by the time he got out the door.

  He rushed into the dining hall of Slop where Gemma attempted to say good morning, but Nate was already past her and in the elevator.

  Nate was breathing heavier and hunched over in the elevator. Nate was thirty-two and was not a vision of athleticism, he was chubby but not obese. He was determined to become his best self and give this training his all so he was pushing himself trying to keep up with Jarris.

  The elevator opened and Nate bolted out of the building and onto the street toward Kalazan’s. He was moving faster than he ever had before. He remembered Kalazan saying his body would transform, maybe that’s what he meant. He hadn’t run in a very long time but he was doing better than he expected.

  The elevator opened, and Dalma was standing behind her desk pointing to the right side instead of the left. "Go through this door, please, Mr. Nathan."

  "Thank you!" Nate shouted as he ran by.

  Now in the training room, Jarris was there holding up his link.

  "Wow, you’re finally here. I was getting ready to go home for the day because I've been sitting around for so long. Looks like we have a lot of work to do."

  Nate chuckled, hunched over, breathing heavily.

  "Take a seat and catch your breath. I want to go over a couple of things before we get started."

  Nate sat down on the floor as instructed and Jarris threw a bottle to him. His leg immediately started cramping from not being used that vigorously for quite some time.

  "Drink. Only sip, ’cause that’s all you get for the whole day."

  Nate took a sip and felt instantly refreshed, his skin tingled and the need to breathe so heavily practically vanished, the strain in his leg slowly melted away as well.

  "You can stretch while I go over this next bit."

  Nate began to stretch, and Jarris began talking. A gigantic white screen dropped down from the ceiling and started populating several words and numbers next to them, including the body display from his implant. There was a list of various fitness and biometric attributes: Commute time, Pushups, Fifty yard sprint, Pullups, grip strength, Squats, Weighted squat, Full body push, Full body pull, Full body lift, and Body fat percentage.

  "These are the main metrics we are going to use to measure your physical progress over the next three months. All of these paint a picture as to how capable you are as a contractor and teammate. Your team will be as weak as its weakest link, and right now, that’s you. It doesn't account for everything of course, but this gets us close. Don't forget, your greatest tool is up here.” Jarris said as he pointed to his head.

  "Today we are going to get a baseline on each of these metrics. You’ll be following a strict diet to lower your body fat and increase your muscle mass. You’ll be taking specialized supplements to enhance your growth in these areas as well.”

  "Each day will be broken up into three segments. The first will be conditioning. Second will be knowledge and practical application to give your body some rest. And last will be combat.”

  "Any questions?"

  Nate shook his head.

  "Good. Let’s get started."

  Nate hopped to his feet and followed Jarris’ instructions and completed each assessment. The board updated live as he completed each item.

  “We are going to push your body to the limit each and every day to get you ready for the next class of the Academy which starts in three months. K took care of your enrollment this morning and listed him and myself as your sponsors.” Jarris said.

  “Sponsors?” Nate asked, out of breath once again.

  “Yeah, every applicant has to have a sponsor that can speak to the capability of the initiate. Every day for the next three months will be more grueling than what you will experience at school, so hopefully you will have a leg up. You must commit now that you will follow this training regimen from now on for the rest of your life. Your teammates’ lives will depend on it. Let's get started with K&P.”

  “K&P?” Nate repeated in the form of a question.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Knowledge and Practical use. I'm gonna need you to take some leaps on these acronyms—it's going to be a thing going forward.”

  “Right.” Nate replied.

  The board changed to the familiar Codex interface he had seen before when he was reading about what affinity to choose. A desk and chair like from his high school days popped up in front of the board, and he took a seat. Jarris stepped up to the board and started his lesson for the day.

  “So, there are four affinities which you kind of learned a little bit about already from your initial readings. Attunement is the process in which your soul undergoes a transformation called resonance and connects to your selected affinity. This happens in stages, and these stages have all kinds of different names. The government and the IC use a numbered category system, athletic leagues use different names that are a little more sports related, and contractors use the more colloquial names for each rank.”

  “Those ranks are Greenie, Rookie, Veteran, Master, and Ascendant, in order of power level. Your body and soul are slowly transforming through this whole process, but you make big leaps when you breach into each new rank. Moving up from rank to rank is done through a resonance event.”

  “Why is the first rank called Greenie?” Nate asked

  “Your first license you get at school is green.”

  “Is it… a license to kill?”

  “I mean… yea I guess, what kind of killing are you going to be doing Nate?” Jarris said with a more stern tone.

  “Oh sorry, it's an earth reference.” Nate said, waving his hands like he was trying to magically wipe away Jarris’ concerned look.

  “Anyway…Resonance events are when your soul and affinity create a pocket dimension within your consciousness and present you with a challenge that you must overcome to advance. If you do not resonate, your soul and body remains in its current state forever. Generally, it's a pretty long time before that happens, but once it does, you can’t advance any further. Contractors and athletes are the only ones who ever really push themselves to pass each event. But they are hard. Each event is truly unique to your life experience, and they get progressively harder with each rank. A common occurrence for the first resonance event is fighting a bully, as an example—a test of overcoming your fear of an oppressor and also testing your capability as an Attuned.”

  “So if I fail my resonance event then I'm stuck?” Nate asked.

  “No, you can try again and again as many times as it takes. When you stop trying is when you stone out." Jarris answered.

  “What rank are you, Kalazan, and Hal?”

  “We are all Master.”

  “How long did it take to get to Master?”

  “About fifteen years…” Jarris replied. “Everyone usually hits Rookie by the end of Contractor School, and to get licensed you have to hit Rookie, so there’s kind of an incentive. Veteran takes a lot longer depending on how hard you work at it. It took the three of us about five years. Master took us another ten or so.”

  “Has anyone reached Ascendant?” Nate asked.

  Jarris laughed. “Yeah, but it’s so rare we have no clue how long it takes. Ascendants are gods among mortals. Those who make it to Master have usually already retired. Ascendants sometimes show up as honored guests at events, but it’s very rare. Even a Master is incredibly rare. K seems to think they are agents of the Gods, doing their bidding where they don’t have time for mortal affairs or pleasure.”

  “You said before that Kalazan was your team’s spiritual leader, what did you mean by that?”

  “K is a member of the Affinity God theology and a die-hard believer in ‘The Thread.’ Essentially, the belief is that each affinity is representative of some cosmic God figure floating in the nothingness of space, doing some kind of something.”

  “Not quite.” Kalazan entered the room, pushing a cart of food toward the pair.

  “J, I was wondering if now was okay for a lunch break? Maybe I can take over this part of the lesson?”

  “Oh yeah, you need three squares, huh? I wasn’t planning on getting into theology, but he asked, so you might as well answer.” Jarris replied.

  “Thank you, J.”

  “Some of what Jarris said is directionally correct, but I'd like to fill in some specifics. Yes, I do believe there are four beings from which the affinities, gems, and powers are derived. These beings oversee the essential functions of the universe.

  “Reaction, the chemical and elemental processes that we interact with in our daily lives. Connection, the link between the Arcane and not. If Reaction governs things like metals, wind, fire, etc., Connection governs magic, or the Arcane, and connects that to non-magical things, like your implant and other equipment. It’s through Connection that we are able to attune. Then there is Life, which governs organics and their growth and processes. And lastly, Void, which governs the celestial bodies, space, and time.”

  “This information has never been truly validated, and we have no way to. The only thing we have to go on are the Vortani.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Well, when the Vortani invaded, we had no idea where or how they appeared. One day we were up to our regular lives, and the next, a planet was reporting a horde of unknown creatures attacking them. There is one, and only one, reported sighting of Vortani initiating an invasion. A brave Leonid scientist took a stealth vessel and traveled to ground zero of the Vortani invasion. There, he found what we believe to be a rip in the fabric of space-time. The scientist stayed for years, monitoring and analyzing the tear.

  “One day, a being appeared, enveloped in shadow and outlined in a godly glow and closed the tear. It was at that moment that the tide turned in the great conflict, and we eventually won. We insinuate that the Vortani came from a different universe or plane of existence. From there, we speculate if that being was a god watching out for us. Maybe an Ascendant that finally found that origin point and closed it. We don't know for sure.”

  “And all of that is why you believe our meeting wasn’t a chance?”

  “Precisely. How could it be? You are one of the first new human Void users in centuries. So far, you are the only Void user in your Contractor class. You are going to help so many people with your abilities. I saved that gem knowing Earth was going to be invited to The Union. I work off of referrals. I don’t take randoms off the street. When Jarris reached out after so many years, I was happy to see my old friend, but curious. When I received the Void gem that wasn’t linked to some family trust or lineage agreement, I grew more curious. When The Union announced Earth was going to be invited, I knew the Thread was at work. When you arrived and said that Hal sent you and your sister, I knew it was one of you. And when we talked, and I could sense that you were afraid but eager, I knew it was you that the gem was meant for.”

  “And that, kid, is why K is our spiritual leader, and therapist.” Jarris interjected, placing a hand on Kalazan’s shoulder.

  Kalazan smiled. “Yes…well, I’ll leave you to it, J.”

  “Alright, break over. Time for combat training.”

  Jarris lead Nate away from the classroom type setting to the open training room floor and put Nate through a few exercises to examine what his abilities could do. Warp Step was self-explanatory and straightforward. What Jarris helped Nate understand, though, is that he lives in a four-dimensional universe, and popping up behind someone isn’t always going to work. This meant he could warp to a spot in the air and drop down on enemies. Jarris had him try that over a hundred times: warp on top, punch, warp in the air at an angle, punch. Every little variation, every angle. He then had him practice combos. Launch the enemy in the air with a punch, then warp above them and kick or punch down, sending them into the ground. Then he had to do it side to side, alternating which side he started from. Then Nate had to do it faster and faster. Nate was more exhausted after this portion of the day than the conditioning from the morning.

  “Alright, that's enough for today." Jarris said. “Let’s take a look at your progress.” Nate and Jarris walked to the screen that displayed his status, Nate noticed he had lost two pounds from all the sweating. He took the last swig of the drink Jarris gave him at the beginning of the day, which re-energized his whole body.

  “We’ve got a lot of work to do. You did really well in combat training, though. If you keep that up, you'll hit Rookie before you finish up school. Let’s head back to Slop and get you showered for your shift.”

  After a short run, shower, and getting dressed for work, Nate went to see if Yoli was home. He knocked on her door, but she didn’t answer. He hadn’t talked to her all day and was feeling sad and regretful, given the last time they talked was a fight. He wanted to tell her all the stuff he’d learned, but was worried she wouldn’t care because he was still going to become a contractor.

  “Let’s go, kid, or H will kick your ass.” Jarris said, coming out of the apartment. Nate followed silently down the stairs to the dining hall. The place was packed as usual. As Jarris started to walk through the hall to the bar, people got quiet and started murmuring, staring at him as he walked by. Pretty soon, the whole hall fell noticeably quiet.

  Nate reached the bar and turned to Gemma. “Uh, Gemma, why did it just get so quiet?”

  “Dad and Uncle J are kind of famous. They were around for a really long time and did some pretty crazy things. They also fought in the arena a lot. Dad is always here, so they’re used to seeing him. But Uncle J is, well, Uncle J, and he doesn’t get out much.”

  “I get out just fine, GG.”

  “Yeah, where no one can see you.” she replied quickly.

  Jarris chuckled, burying his face into a drink at the bar.

  “Hey, you’re on kegs tonight. Uncle J said so. Jackie will show you what to do.” Gemma said to Nate as she pointed behind her to the kitchen with her thumb.

  Nate nodded and headed into the back. The kitchen looked like any other commercial kitchen he’d been in before. Jack noticed Nate and came over to his side.

  “Uncle J says you’re going to be on kegs for a while, that’s in this back room here.” Jack led him to a back room where every inch of the wall space was covered by a neat array of kegs and pipes. “This is the keg room. You can see when one is getting low by this indicator here. Let it bottom out and then quickly replace it in case someone is in the middle of a pour. When you go to replace one, just close the valve, take the old one off, put the new one on, open the valve, and press this button. It’ll tap it and fill the line. Storage is right through this door here. All of them are labeled. Let me or Gem know if you have an issue. Looks like this one is ready." Jack said, pointing to a blinking red indicator light on the wall next to a steel keg labeled “Maran Light Ale.". Nate turned to ask Jack a question but he was already gone.

  Nate felt the stress coming on but was determined to earn his keep. He put his head down and marched into the storage hall confidently, but was immediately overwhelmed. The room was as long as the dining hall was and was filled with hundreds of steel kegs. Luckily, everything was alphabetized so he quickly found the keg he needed, heaved it onto his shoulder, and replaced the old one with the new. A light started blinking on another keg, so Nate went back and repeated the same process. Nate could quickly see why Jarris demanded Nate be on keg duty. This was a serious workout. Nate started to hear a muffled, amplified voice through the walls, it was Hal taking the stage with his band. They started playing, which signaled to Nate that he had several hours to go based on his first night here a couple of days ago. Nate sighed again, realizing he was in for a hard few hours of work. He thought of the generosity of all these new people that entered his life recently and was motivated again. He settled in and got to work.