The decrepit infrastructure looked marginally different as the roads gradually became more organised moving forward on an unfamiliar path. Gone were the animals running about in the sprawling emerald green beyond. Instead, a lifeless grey wall, blocking their view from the scenery, became the scene they had to register. The transition of the bumpy road into a smooth surface felt so congruent it made everyone sit up straight in anticipation of what came next.

  The confusion and bizarreness of the journey could have become a topic of discussion. But, the Drazen Empire’s threat continued to haunt their subconscious mind like a bad nightmare. The complex computation of adding another thread to their brain’s processing ability would prove too much for them to handle so they chose to look straight ahead, hoping someone comes up with a fantasy that would distract them from this reality they secretly desired a sweet escape from.

  “I have a couple of questions for you all.” A multitude of complex emotions swelled up in Neptune’s heart as he tried to sound as neutral as he could. "What do you all think about the New Atlantis Project?"

  "..."

  Even with everyone turning their heads at him, nobody said anything. The words of the Swan’s top dog had become forgotten. It was futile to expect an appropriate response capable of appeasing the fire that had fueled the adrenaline in his soul since that day.

  "Forget about that, I'm sorry."

  What are we fighting for?

  He thought they did not register his question, so he tried again with something simpler for their puny brain cells to compute.

  “...If the world ends tomorrow, what is the last thing you would want to do?”

  That extremely random question elicited a response from the pea brains when they started looking at one another. Maybe he had underestimated their collective cognitive abilities after all.

  Perhaps simpletons could think to a certain degree.

  The perpetual silence ended with Indy’s meek voice.

  “I-I would cook for you all one last time.”

  “Same here! I would join in, too!” Julia smiled at her friend before seeking further affirmation from her friends.

  Mandy read the cue and punched her fists to the ceiling. “Me too!”

  “Count me in!”Roxanne seconded.

  “Man, you girls have no originality–”

  “Shut up, Bronston,” Bray glared at Bronston menacingly.

  “Come on, what gives?” Bronston pointed the middle finger at Bray.

  “I would have a threesome.”

  “Oh, wh–”

  “““What!?!?!?!””” The girls exclaimed in shock as they shockingly turned to where the confident voice came from.

  And to no one’s surprise, it came from Carmelo who winked at his female batchmates.

  “Why not? I’ve yet to experience it! Since the world is ending, I should go out with a bang.” Carmelo mimicked a handgun, firing a shot with his right hand.

  “Go to hell, Carmelo. You disloyal asshole.” Roxanne spat at Carmelo, her face visibly disgusted by his verbal offer.

  “Whatever…That’s what I’ll do. Also, don’t come policing my little brother. Didn’t you tell me not to take this so seriously?” Carmelo waved his index finger at Roxanne playfully.

  “Shut. Up.”

  “You started it first, Rox.”

  “Don’t call me that publicly!”

  “You are so predictably easy to tease, Rox.”

  Roxanne gave Carmelo the middle finger before resuming her conversation with Indy. Carmelo then switched his attention to the man who asked such a cryptic question. “How about you, Neptune?“

  “...”

  No response.

  “Hey, Neptune. I’m talking to you.”

  Neptune felt someone shove the sides of his shoulders roughly. Unknown to everyone, including himself, his mind had become filled with thoughts from elsewhere.

  “What’s up?”

  “Carmelo asked you a question,” Bronston eyed Neptune curiously, “Something wrong with you, smarty ass?”

  “If something is bothering you, do let us know!” Tasha gave Neptune a thumbs up, which Neptune returned in kind by turning toward where she was seated, with a fake smile to boot.

  …But he knew otherwise.

  Mustering the willpower to address lesser beings on his mental list, he decided to give these idiots another chance at redeeming themselves.

  “No matter what happens,” Neptune turned to face his friends on the bus sitting behind him, “Promise me you will live life without regrets.”

  “...Huh? What’s wrong with you today?”

  Folding his arms, Finn declared. “Neptune is drunk, Bron.”

  “Drunk? It’s daytime, dude.”

  “Oh, you’re right, Bray” Laughing nervously, Finn brushed it off. “It’s still morning. My bad.”

  What could I expect…

  Accepting the hopelessness of those he unwillingly surrounded himself with since surrendering his livelihood for eternal servitude, he tilted his head upwards. There was only one last living thing in the skies that this barricade didn’t block his vision from. Somehow or rather, they seemed to possess more intelligence than those blessed with a pre-frontal cortex.

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “The birds…just look at them,” Neptune pointed at the birds flying in the skies, “They will survive...”

  …Unlike you all.

  Since the Singularity War's end, none of these birds changed their migratory patterns. This environment must have fulfilled their biological imperatives–until now. With unseen gifts of nature bestowed upon this species of birds, they had finally begun their move.

  “Yeah, the birds. They look great.” Bronston eyed Neptune curiously, trying to piece together what Neptune was implying. “Why do you care so much about the birds?”

  “Yeah, Neptune, why the birds?” Bray asked.

  “Yes, they do. Yes, they do…” Neptune responded without thinking. His mind was preoccupied with speculating on the site of their next slaughterhouse.

  This bus journey to the lecture theatre seemed longer than usual. The bus driver would go straight from this cross junction, instead, it took another route elsewhere. The new environment they found themselves in as the bus sojourned had given away the next phase of their slave sentence.

  “I guess there’s no need to find out what’s next, huh?”

  Never once had they gone underground or known there were planes deep under the surface as the dark tunnel illuminated with the luminescent lights engulfed their irises.

  Carmelo’s brows furrowed and he started speaking nervously. “Ya’ll remember that lecture? Prof once told us about these tunnels. But shit, it is scary.”

  “I do, but I don’t remember it being this dark,” Mandy recalled past lectures on how these tunnels connected inaccessible places underground.

  “Never knew the Federation had something this cool,” Bronston quipped, desperately attempting to sound wittier than he ever could be. “I wonder if this is some new program in our program.”

  “It is,” Neptune answered resoundingly. “We are–” He closed his eyes to reaffirm his theories. “–going to one of their camps.”

  “Camps?” Bronston raised his eyebrows. “You mean those camps?”

  Roxanne punched the bus’s seat. “No freaking way, are we going for a tour?”

  “Sounds about right. We haven’t had a tour in ages.” Mandy smelled an opportunity to scare her batchmates. “Perhaps they’re sending us on a tour before we all get massacred?”

  “Damn, that’s dark coming from you, Mandy.” Bronston teased.

  Proud of her statement, Mandy gave a wide grin. “You didn’t know I had it in me, Bron?”

  Neptune noticed the road signs in the tunnel, learning they were heading to Ravens Camp, one of the camps littered around North Atlantea. It stood on a giant piece of land only accessible through underground tunnels for security reasons. This massive camp was more than a camp-like accommodation facility; it featured state-of-the-art recreation facilities and manufacturing warehouses. There were rumours it had an energy plant. Not that anyone would ever get to see them in person unless–

  Eventually, they arrived at the camp’s entrance and Neptune spotted someone waiting for them to disembark from the bus. The emergence from the dark tunnel into the light temporarily blinded everyone.

  “Someone is waiting for us.” He called out to his batchmates as he noticed a staff member wearing a shirt with the camp’s logo, presumably their escort from Ravens Camp.

  “Neptune, I think you need a doctor, bro. You’re acting strange.” Dom gave his batchmates a concerned look. “Guys, we should start counting the number of times Neptune goes all weirdo on us. What you fellas think?”

  “Good idea. Our boy Neptune needs to see the doctor. He’s gone loco.” Bronston agreed.

  Ignoring the idiots, Neptune continued his analysis of the staff member, noticing him carrying something unusual.

  “That’s odd.”

  Tablets doubled as personal devices during the North’s regime. With the Smart Grid shut down, no publicly available network exists for the device to connect unless the rumours were true.

  “Good day, citizens of the United Atlantea Federation! How was the bus ride? ”

  The abrupt loud voice startled the youths, causing them to turn their attention toward the staff member dressed in a uniform with the camp's crest after they disembarked from the bus.

  “I asked, how was the bus ride?”

  His question was answered with resounding silence.

  “I’ll take that as a splendid ride!” The staff member tapped his tablet’s screen furiously. “Allow me to continue. Let me introduce myself. My name is Sergeant Manuel Osha. I’m not a big fan of ranks, so please call me Manuel. From this day on, I will be one of the many trainers you’ll see! Welcome to Ravens Camp!”

  “...Another weirdo like Neptune.” Carmelo teased.

  “I heard that.”

  Shocked at Neptune eavesdropping, Carmelo wagged his finger at him. “You weren’t supposed to!”

  “You’re right, Carmelo. This Manuel guy is a weirdo like our boy.” Finn glanced at Carmelo upon witnessing the camp trainer give a goofy smile.

  “Don’t talk too loud, bro. He might catch you.” Carmelo whispered.

  “Ok, ok. Point taken.”

  Clapping his hand, Manuel summoned the attention of the youths.

  “Before I continue with today’s program, let me inform you that I’ll address your questions later inside the camp. Can I get an ‘OK’?”

  “OK…?”

  “Perfetto! Batch 123 of the United Atlantea Federation’s General Education Program, assemble yourselves in a straight line, I would like to take your attendance.”

  Seemingly pleased with Batch 123, Manuel clapped his hands once. “Di nuovo perfetto! Let me proceed!” Whipping out his tablet, he began walking while tilting his head.

  Batch 123 had assembled themselves into a neat line, akin to the way factory workers in the past used to line up to clock into the work day. Several beep sounds became audible as Manuel went down the line.

  “Put your right arm forward,” Manuel commanded Neptune, who placed his arm forward without question. “OK, perfect. Let’s see here…”

  Was there a glitch?

  “Hmm. Let me try again.”

  Manuel stared at the tablet as though he did not expect this result.

  “Why is it not working…What the heck? Wait, it can't be…”

  Tilting his head, Neptune imagined the system had some bug. “Is there a problem, trainer?”

  Manuel narrowed his eyes in suspicion at Neptune. “You must be–”

  “CAW! CAW!”

  Coincidentally, the ravens occupying the top of the entrance’s gates started croaking. This haunting visage of Manuel’s shocked face, with the raven's voice in the background, sent chills down Neptune’s spine.

  “Name please.”

  “Surname is Smith. Neptune Smith.”

  “I’ll deal with you later.” Manuel gave a quick one-liner and skipped past him to resume processing Batch 123’s entrance into Ravens Camp.

  After a short while, Manuel retraced the queue, returning to the front as he stomped his boots. “Thank you, fellow citizens, for your cooperation! That is all. Batch 123, kindly proceed with entering the gates of Ravens Camp! I will deal with all of you shortly.”

  In an orderly fashion, Batch 123 marched into Ravens Camp, not knowing what the future holds for them. Before Neptune could enter the camp’s ground, he felt someone grip his shoulders firmly.

  “You!"

  “Me?” Neptune turned his head to face Manuel, whose eyes carried heavy intent, shadowed by his cap.

  “Yes, you. You’re coming with me.”

  Unsure why the system had singled him. Neptune stepped out of line, knowing the importance of following orders in this unknown setting.

  “You’ll be ok, bro?” Bray, who stood behind Neptune, questioned him nervously. His eyes carried a look of immediate concern.

  “Yes, don’t worry about me.”

  What else could he say? What could this ignoramus do to aid him?

  He deliberated over the option of not following orders over a split second. He also thought about making a beeline–but to where? Only a fool would run for it without accounting for their mediocre options.

  Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

  Looking around, he knew one undisputed universal fact: the United Atlantea Federation had lied to its citizens…again.