Altered Cosmos

Chapter 15; Welcome Soldiers

About an hour later, Levi was still in his room playing a combat video game when the door to his room flies open and Felix walks into the room. “Dude.” Levi pauses his game and turns to Felix who gives him another shocked look. “I heard you got a perfect 100.”

Levi gives Felix a sceptic/confused expression. “You…heard?” Felix nods as he locks the door. “From who?”

“Everyone’s talking about it. You’re the only one that got a perfect 100.”

A small proud smile forms on Levi’s lips as he takes his hood off. “Dope.” He mumbled as he turns back to the game interface while Felix plops down on his bed. “Where have you been all this time?” Levi asked and Felix crosses his legs with a sigh.

“I was hanging out with a very close friend of mine.”

Levi pauses his game again and gives Felix his full-attention. “How close?” He asked with a smile and Felix chuckles when he understood what Levi meant.

“We’ve been friends since we were kids. We kind of got our powers around the same time but she was in a lower class than me since she’s a year younger.”

“But you repeated a whole year so…”

“She’s now taking the exams with me. A little embarrassing but…” He trails off with a shrug and Levi nods as he turns back to his game. “So…what’s up with you and that chick, huh?”

Levi pauses his game again and turns to Felix with a confused stare. “Chick?”

“You know, average height, brown-hair, light-skin…totally destroyed the strength test?”

“MJ?” Levi lets out a hearty laugh when he understood. “There’s nothing between us. We’re just friends.”

Felix scoffs at Levi and leans into his bed. “That’s how it always starts.”

“You’re crazy.” Levi chuckled as he rolled his eyes and turned back to his game with the thought of it still lingering in his mind before he shakes it off as he meets the final boss.

“I’m beating you this time.” He mumbled as he focused his attention on the game while Felix drifts off into sleep.

Hours later, Levi shakes an extremely sleepy Felix. “Five more minutes.” Felix grumbled as he tossed and turned but Levi continues to shake him until he turns to Levi with a cranky look. “What?”

“The results are out.” The moment Levi said that, the sleep disappears from Felix’s eyes as he shoots up and notices his band beeping with a new notification. He turns and notices Levi’s band beeping as well. “I wanted us to see our scores together.”

“Alright then. On three.” Felix said as he opens his interface and places a finger over the ‘open’ option. He glances at Levi who does the same. “One, two…”

“Three.” They both hit the keys and the message opens to them. Levi quickly scrolls through the details and smiled when he saw that he passed the test.

He continued down and found the class rank assigned to him. “I’m in S class!” He shouted out with a grin on his face before noticing the fallen expression on Felix’s face. “How…did you do?”

Felix remains silent as he slowly stood up and turned to Levi. He suddenly flashes a grin and gives Levi a thumb-up. “S class, baby!”

They share a laugh and fist bump before Felix suddenly throws an arm over Levi. “We need to celebrate.”

“Burgers?”

Felix chuckles as he ushers Levi out of the room. “It’s like you read my mind.” 

The next day, all the trons who passed were taken to the airport to book a flight for the Southern Tron College located in the central part of Africa.

While the guards and agents in charge take care of the paper work, the trons were told to wait in a secluded and large lobby.

“Hey Levi.” Levi and Felix turned to MJ who waves as she approaches them. “Got a sec?”

“Sure.” Levi said as he stands up when he notices a weird smile on Felix’s face. He chuckles as he introduces him. “MJ, this is Felix. Felix, MJ.”

“Nice to finally meet you.” Felix said as he stretches a hand to her which she shakes. “Levi’s told me so much about you.”

As Felix releases her hand, a small smile forms on her face and she turns to Levi. “Really?”

Levi rolls his eyes and pulls MJ away while Felix laughs in the background. “Ignore him.” MJ chuckles and follows Levi as they reach a secluded part of the lobby before turning to each other. “So what’s up?”

MJ says nothing as she opens her interface and dials a number which was answered after a few rings, her band creating a virtual hologram of a familiar hologram figure. “Hi dad.”

Peter chuckles as he turns to MJ. “Hey baby girl.” He then turns to Levi with a hand on his hip. “Hey Einstein. How’ve you been?”

“I’m good.” Levi chuckled and Peter grins at both of them.

“I heard both of you made it to S class.” Levi glances at MJ who flashes him a proud grin before turning back to Peter. “I never had any doubt. Especially since I heard a certain ‘someone’ annihilated the strength test…”

He glances at MJ who rolls her eyes before smiling at Levi. “…and a certain white-haired tron who got second place on the speed test ‘and’ got a perfect score on the Sensory test.”

Levi lets out an embarrassed laugh with a hand behind his head. “Anyway, just called to say congrats to both of you.”

“Thanks dad.” MJ said with a wide smile and he nods at her before turning back to Levi.

“I sent word to your folks back at Asylum Bay.” A smug look plants on Peter’s lips as he continues. “They sounded proud.”

Levi’s face became a mixture of happiness and sadness. “Thanks, Peter.”

Peter shakes his head and places a hand on Levi which partially passes through his shoulder. “It’s okay, Einstein.” Peter places both hands on his hips and chuckles. “Besides…”

He glances back and they both noticed that the trons were being ushered out of the lobby. “You have a flight to catch. I’ll keep my eyes on you guys.” He said with a two fingered salute as his holographic figure fades away.

MJ and Levi shared a quick smile before hurrying over to join the others as they leave the lobby and headed for the planes.

After several hours of waiting and browsing through the internet coupled with an additional hour of driving, Levi stands before the famous Tron College.

The main entrance alone was several metres high with gates wide enough to accept five trailers.

As Levi moves with the other trons into the campus grounds, two large symbols were seen placed side-by-side on the fountain.

The ‘I’ of the Index and the ‘TC’ of the Southern Tron College. Levi smiles and stares in awe at the beautiful display of nature and modern technology that spread as far as the eyes could see.

After some minutes, all new students were escorted to the large 4-storey hostel building.

Once they got there, they were informed that the rank they were assigned from the compiled entrance exams will determine their living quarters for the whole year.

The lowest levels are designed for those in the lowest rank of C class but being in the S class meant Levi was assigned to one of the best rooms on the top floor. 

After several minutes of reception, Levi, Felix and MJ stepped out of the elevator to the beautifully designed interior hallway with several doors spread out on both sides and a large door at the other end.

As they move, MJ stops by a room just some doors away and shrugs. “This is me.”

Levi looks up and sees the number 308 written above. “Have fun.” He chuckled as he and Felix moved ahead while MJ headed into her new room.

Not too far away, Levi stops in front of a maroon-coloured door and stared at the number indicated on it. “317.” He sighed and Felix pats his shoulder with a laugh.

“Even though it was for short time. You were an awesome roommate.” He said and Levi laughs as he gives Felix a fist-bump. “See you later.” Felix said as he moved along with his luggage and Levi turns back to his room door.

As he stared at the door, his mind runs through the thought of how his new roommate will be. He lets out a tired sigh and shrugs. “Let’s do this.”

He reaches for the doorknob…but it wasn’t there. He then places a foot forward but the door doesn’t open like automatic doors do.

“Okay?” He mumbled as he tried to push the door but it doesn’t budge.

Levi places both hands on his hips and looks around the empty hallway to find out that the other doors were exactly the same. He then notices the light beeping of his band and taps it, causing an option to appear in his eyes.

<Dope.> He hits the open button with his mind and the door smoothly slides open. He grins as he picks up his bags and stepped into the room which was already two times bigger than the one he was before. 

The interior design of the room was as advanced and professional as the reception and top-floor hallway. With a matching couch and two arm chairs in the middle surrounding a centre table and facing the wide flat-screen TV on the wall.

He lets out a whistle at the sight of the small yet refined kitchenette at the other end of the room with only one other door in the room.

As he drops his bags, the other door suddenly swings open and a figure steps out.

“I was wondering when I’d meet my new roommate.” Levi stares in shock at the lady approaching him.

She was warm-beige skinned with natural red hair that reached the base of her neck. She had an appealing physical figure with a height and age similar to Levi and her…underwear?

Levi turns away in embarrassment as his hot new roommate was now strutting up to him in nothing but her undergarments.

She suddenly stops short in front of Levi but before he could say anything, she started sniffing him.

<What the hell?> He thought as she slowly circled him, sniffing and eyeing his features. He then understood when he caught the glimpse of a red bushy and long tail behind her hip. <A Mastron?>

“Hmm.” She mumbled as she stops in front of him again with eyes fixed on his face. “Nice scent. I like you.”

“Thanks?”

She lets out a little chuckle and raises a hand to him. “I’m Vivian.”

Levi smiles as he shakes her hand. “Levi.” He then pulls away when his eyes accidently went to her cleavage.

In his mind, he wondered why Vivian seemed so casual with a guy in her underwear while she raises a brow at Levi’s awkward uneasiness.

She then follows his glances to her attire and instead of getting embarrassed, she gives him a mischievous smile. “Oh, I see what’s going on.”

She slowly inches forward and places a finger to his chest. Levi gulps as she slowly traces her finger up his chest, neck and stops just his chin all while maintaining a constant alluring stare at him.

She then began to slowly close the gap and all Levi could do was just watch as she moves closer and closer……before she suddenly pushed him back while letting out a hearty laugh.

“You should see the look on your face.” She chuckled as her laugh escalated a little with a hand on her gut while Levi rubs his neck with an embarrssed expression on his face. 

“You got me.” He sighed with a little smile and Vivian looks up to him with a wide grin.

“You look so cute when you’re nervous. If I didn’t already have a girlfriend, I would have totally asked you out.”

The smile on Levi’s face drains a little. “Girlfriend?” He suddenly jerks back as Vivian points her fingers to his face.

“You got something against homos?” He didn’t know what to fear most, the fact that he’s looking at her vertical slit-like pupils up close with red-glow of her iris or the razor sharp claws inches from his face.

“Religiously speaking, yes.” He mumbled with a slightly calm stare despite the beastly glare in her eyes.

After a tensed silence, she suddenly lets out another laugh and drops her hand. “Relax. I don’t care if you have something against me being gay or not.” Levi lets out a little sigh and Vivian smiles as she places a fist to his chest. “Looking forward to being with you, Levi.”

“Same.” Levi mumbled with a shrug and Vivian chuckles when she notices Levi’s eyes still drifting a few times to her attire. 

She smiles as she turns away and walks towards the couch with her tail whipping from side to side. “Especially since you’re the mystery lightning tron with perfect 100 sensory test.”

Levi stares at her in shock as she plops down on the couch. “You know about that?”

She laughs as she crosses her legs and opens up her interface. “’Everyone’ knows about you, roomie. Plus, the hair’s not that hard to miss.” 

Levi lets out a weary sigh as he unconsciously touches his bright white hair. <This should be…interesting.> He thought as he grabbed his bags and moved across the room to the door she just stepped out of…and luckily this one had a handle…3 to be exact.

<You’ve got to be kidding me.> He thought as he stared at the three coloured handles and Vivian laughs behind him when she notices his conundrum.

“All three handles lead to three separate rooms.”

Levi glances at her before grabbing the green handle and opening it…revealing a beautiful and clean modern bathroom. He closes the door again and grins at Vivian. “How’s that even possible?” 

Vivian focuses on her interface but still responds to his question. “I think it’s got something to do with the new dimensional warping tech the Index is working on but other than that…” She shrugs as Levi places his hand on the red handle. “…beats me.”

Levi opens the door again but this time, the door opens to an average sized bedroom with matching interior designing to the common room, a large closet on one end and a comfortable looking bed on the other.

There were also some clothes haphazardly spread on the bed with two large suitcases beside the bed and an opened luggage just by the closet. “I’m guessing this is your room.”

Vivian inches her head over the couch and groans lazily once she sees the room. “Unpacking is so much work……….”

Levi chuckles as he closes the door and grabs the last door handle. “Maybe you can help me out, ‘roomie’.” She said with a flirty batting of the eyes and Levi laughs as he turns the blue handle. 

“No, thank you.” He chuckled as he steps into the vacant room with his things and closes the door behind him.

Hours later after arranging most of his stuff in his new room, he decides to take a shower and grabs his towel.

He exits his room and was about to turn the bathroom handle when the door suddenly flies open and Veronica steps out of the steamy bathroom wrapped in towels.

She grins at Levi as she closes the door. “Hey, roomie.” She said and Levi gave an awkward wave as she quickly heads into her room, her sweet rosy scent fading away once she closed the door.

Levi stares at the door for a moment before letting out a little sigh. “This is going to take some getting used to.” He chuckled as he opens the bathroom door and steps inside.