After Sgt. Damascus closed the door, he sat down in his office chair. On the table was an old picture of his family—they were happy and smiling. From the picture quality, it was clear it was taken before the outbreak of the cannibals.
Lt. Ashley Grey stood beside him, arms folded neatly behind her back.
The five students were feeling a little fidgety. They didn't know why, out of three hundred students, they were the only ones called up here.
"You know, you five shouldn't feel all fidgety. I promise I won't bite. So why don't you guys take a seat? Maybe you'll feel better and more comfortable."
Sgt. Damascus noticed their tension and chose to offer them seats.
They looked at each other, wondering if this was one of those times a scary adult tried to make a joke to seem less intimidating.
Five chairs appeared beside them, printed in 3D.
"Well," Sgt. Damascus gestured toward the chairs.
Though they were still new to the academy, things like chairs being printed out of nowhere weren't shocking enough to lose sleep over. They quietly sat down.
"Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you here. It's because you five are the first first-years, in all my time as a sergeant in this military, to ever be graded Level Five," Sgt. Damascus explained.
This was hard to believe. After all, they had seen other students with Level Five and even Level Six grades, so they didn't understand the big fuss.
"Judging by the way you're all looking at me right now, I think it's safe to assume you find that hard to believe," Sgt. Damascus noted.
"Well, you better believe it, because it's all true. You are the first-ever first-years to receive a higher grade than the usual ones. Levels One to Four are common. But Level Fives? That's something we don't see every day," Lt. Ashley Grey added.
"But how is any of that possible? I'm pretty sure that on our way here I saw Level Fives and Sixes," Griffin pointed out.
"Yeah, I second that. Me too," Alexia agreed.
"That's true. There are other Level Fives and higher out there—but don't be fooled. Those are second and third years. It's not like they're still leveling up. They've finished leveling," Sgt. Damascus clarified.
That explanation made them feel a little special—but it still didn't make complete sense. Both Lt. Ashley and Sgt. Damascus had made their point, but it wasn't the satisfying answer they were hoping for.
"We hear you, believe me, we do. But you still haven't really told us why we're here," Mikeal raised the question that had been bothering all of them.
Sgt. Damascus chuckled.
"I like you, kid. You're bold... and quite a mystery. But to answer your question—at first, we thought maybe our grading machine had made a mistake, giving each of you Level Five. We thought it was bogus. But after careful examination, we realized... you earned that grade."
"What do you mean by 'maybe there was a mistake'? Why would there be a glitch in your technology?" Alexia asked, now interested.
"Uh, not exactly a glitch," Lt. Ashley tried to clarify. "But one of you... wasn't supposed to be graded Level Five. In fact, one of you wasn't even supposed to survive that test. But something impossible happened."
Now they were all more confused than ever. They didn't understand what Lt. Ashley meant. Who wasn't supposed to survive? They looked at each other, trying to figure it out themselves.
"You guys don't have to look at each other like that. I could just tell you who wasn't supposed to be here," Sgt. Damascus offered.
"Don't bother. I know who you're talking about," Mikeal cut in, stopping him.
"Mikeal, what are you doing? Let him speak," Hector tried to stop him.
"There's no need. Because the person he's referring to is me. I'm the one who shouldn't be a Level Five. And I shouldn't be alive right now."
Mikeal's expression froze.
Sgt. Damascus leaned forward, facing Mikeal.
"So I guess you can finally explain to us how, on Christ's earth, you managed to survive an attack by over a hundred cannibals who were clearly having their way with you?"
Mikeal's hands clawed deeper into the chair's arms.
"I wish I could. But... I don't even remember how I made it out alive."
Of course, Mikeal was lying through his teeth. He knew exactly how he survived. But how could he explain that—right before enrolling in the academy—he was suddenly gifted with a game-like system that allowed him to do the impossible? Just thinking about it made him feel like he'd sound insane.
"Wait, what are you guys talking about? Didn't he kill them just like the rest of us?" Alexia asked, unsure now.
"Yeah, didn't Mikeal kill the required number before being graded?" Hector backed him up.
Sgt. Damascus suddenly remembered.
"Oh right, I forgot. You guys haven't seen Mikeal's test clip—you've only seen your own."
"Yes! And whenever we tried to watch his, everyone acted all funny and claimed their cards malfunctioned," Celine added.
"Yeah, what's with that? I mean, we've seen almost every clip except his. What makes him so special?" Griffin asked.
"The reason you haven't seen Mikeal's video," Lt. Ashley confessed, "is because we asked the other students not to show it to you."
"But why?" Hector asked, baffled.
Everyone else was getting worked up—except the man of the hour himself. Mikeal was starting to sweat. He remembered everything. Every single detail of what happened during the test. Now, he had his own theories about what was really happening to him. He just hoped his secret wasn't about to be exposed.
Lt. Ashley hesitated, unsure how to explain it all in a way they'd understand.
Sgt. Damascus stepped in.
"No, wait. Instead of trying to explain... how about we just show them?"
"But sir, are you sure about that?" Lt. Ashley wasn't convinced.
Sgt. Damascus sighed.
"Just show them. They all need to know."
"Okay, sir. As per your request," Lt. Ashley said, clearly against the idea.
Against her better judgment, she began tapping her tablet. Moments later, Mikeal's test clip appeared as a holographic projection.
Everyone watched.
It replayed everything that happened: Mikeal fighting to survive... hiding out... running.
But none of that was the reason he passed.
The clip reached the final part—where Mikeal had been slashed in the chest by a cannibal. Many others swarmed him. They lunged. Devoured.
Everyone watching was stunned.
But that wasn't even the shocking part.
After minutes under the pile of cannibals, presumed dead, Mikeal suddenly rose from the horde. He shoved the monsters off of him—sending them flying. He killed many with just his bare hands, ripping throats, slicing faces with nothing but his fingers.
Some cannibals even turned and ran away.
Mikeal chased them.
Cannibals usually had multiple times the speed of a normal human, especially depending on grade. But Mikeal kept up—and slaughtered every last one.
To top it all off, after he was done, he stacked the corpses in a pile, climbed on top of them, and sat down—licking blood off his face.
"What the freak show was that?!" Griffin exclaimed, traumatized.
They were all frozen. Horrified.
Mikeal had never been so embarrassed in his life.
"And he was the only one among the five of you to kill every single cannibal in under five minutes. That's why we placed him last on the list," Sgt. Damascus explained.
Alexia stared, unable to believe what she'd seen her best friend do.
For a split second... it looked like he was a monster, too.
Suddenly, someone knocked and entered the room.
"You called for me, sir?"