The portal had become part of everyday life.
Six months ago, nobody could have imagined saying that. Back then, every movement around the doorway had caused panic. Every change in radiation had triggered alarms. Every unusual reading had sent soldiers running.
Now, the portal stood open as it always had. And people worked around it. Inside one of OPESTM's training facilities, two Normal Super Soldiers named Abhay and Haruto were fighting.
Abhay threw a punch. Haruto raised his arm. The impact made the air crack. Haruto's body didn't move. Instead, his skin seemed to become heavier. Abhay stepped backward.
-Again.
Abhay nodded. He charged. This time, Haruto lowered his stance. His body suddenly became heavier. The floor beneath his feet cracked. The punch struck him directly in the chest. He didn't move.
-You're still losing your balance.
Abhay looked down at the cracked floor.
-I know.
-Then stop doing it.
Abhay sighed.
-You're very helpful, Haruto.
Haruto smiled.
-That's why they pay me.
Abhay laughed. Across the training area, Mpho watched them. He folded his arms.
-Your ability is useful.
Haruto looked toward him.
-Thank you.
-Your control isn't.
Haruto's smile disappeared.
-There it is.
Mpho walked toward them.
-Density isn't strength. If you increase it too quickly, you become an anchor instead of a fighter.
Haruto nodded.
-Understood.
Mpho turned away.
-Again.
Haruto groaned. Mpho smiled.
The world was preparing for war. But training still had to happen. Mpho's own training session ended an hour later. A heavy metal block slammed into his chest. He didn't move. The impact travelled through his body.
Mpho took a breath. Then punched the block. The stored force exploded outward. The machine behind it shook violently. One of the technicians looked at the readings.
-That's higher than yesterday.
Mpho wiped his forehead.
-How much?
The technician told him. Mpho smiled.
-Let's give it another try.
The technician looked at him.
-You want another?
-Did I say anything otherwise?
The machine was activated. The block accelerated toward him. Mpho stood still. The impact came. His body absorbed it. He stepped backward once. Then twice. But he remained standing.
He clenched his fist. For a moment, the air around his arm seemed to tremble. Then he released the force. The machine's warning lights flashed. Mpho looked at it.
-Did you charge with too much power?
The technician stared at the damaged equipment.
-I think so.
Mpho sighed.
-Then we'll have to fix it again.
Elsewhere, Nesar didn't train like everyone else. He stood alone inside an empty chamber. A metal sphere floated several metres above the ground. Nesar raised one hand. The sphere suddenly dropped.
Not just downward.
Straight down with such force that the reinforced floor beneath it cracked. Nesar lowered his hand. The sphere rose again. He increased the gravitational pressure around it. The metal began to deform.
Nesar smiled. Then the door opened. Jafor walked inside.
-You broke another one>
Nesar looked at him.
-It was already weak.
-That is the fifth one.
-Then they should build stronger ones.
Jafor shook his head.
-You're impossible.
Nesar smiled.
-You came here to complain?
-No.
Jafor handed him a tablet.
-This is our training schedule.
Nesar glanced at it.
-Too long.
-You haven't even read it.
-I don't need to.
Jafor stared at him. Nesar handed the tablet back.
-I don't need any schedule.
Jafor sighed.
-That's exactly the problem.
Andrzej preferred smaller rooms. Less noise, less space and more control. A training drone fired at him. Andrzej moved sideways. The projectile passed where his body had been.
The drone fired again. This time, Andrzej extended his hand. The distance between himself and the projectile seemed to stretch. The projectile slowed. Not because it had lost speed. Because the space between them had changed. Andrzej stepped around it.
The projectile finally reached him. He touched it. The space around his hand distorted. The projectile suddenly shot sideways and buried itself in the wall. The door opened.
Desmond stood outside.
-You're still doing that?
Andrzej looked at him.
-You're still asking questions you already know the answer to?
Desmond smiled.
-I missed you too.
Andrzej shook his head. Desmond entered the room. For a moment, neither said anything. They had known each other for years. Long before the portal. Long before MJC. Long before Earth knew that the universe was much larger than it had imagined.
Desmond looked at the damaged wall.
-You know, eventually they'll stop giving you rooms.
-And then?
-You'll have to train outside.
Andrzej smiled.
-I have no problem with that.
Jordan was somewhere much farther away. He had spent months moving between OPESTM facilities.
He had survived the first encounter with the Five Leaves. He had seen Mason die. He had seen what happened to Barmuda Island. He had never forgotten it. But he hadn't stopped working. Jordan stood inside an empty hangar.
Three targets appeared. He closed his eyes. The targets moved. He opened them. His body disappeared. A second later, all three targets had been struck.
Jordan returned to his original position. The technician stared at the results.
-You didn't even look at the third one.
-I didn't need to.
Jordan's ability had always been difficult to explain. He could sense movement before it fully happened. Not the future.
Not exactly.
But his perception reacted to changes in motion so quickly that, to everyone else, it looked almost like prediction. He could read trajectories. React before attacks completed. And move through a battlefield with an awareness that few other soldiers possessed. The technician checked the numbers again.
-Your reaction time improved.
Jordan looked toward the empty hangar.
-It needs to.
Emilia was training outside. She stood alone in the middle of the field. A row of targets surrounded her. She raised one hand. The targets suddenly stopped moving. Then they began moving in reverse.
One flew backward. Another spun around. A third crashed into the ground. Emilia lowered her hand. She had control over momentum.
She could alter the direction and force of moving objects, turning an incoming attack against its source or stopping something that should have been impossible to stop.
She looked at the damaged targets.
-Again.
The technician hesitated.
-You've already completed the test.
-I said again.
The machine restarted. Emilia smiled.
Six months had changed everyone. Some people became quieter. Some became harder. Some simply became better at pretending nothing had changed. Emilia had chosen the last option.
Sally sat in front of a communication terminal. She removed her headset.
-Again?
The officer beside her nodded.
-Again.
Sally sighed. She put the headset back on.
-Yes, this is OPESTM.
The room was loud. Hundreds of conversations happened around her. Yet Sally heard all of them.
Every voice. Every alarm. Every movement. Her ability allowed her to manipulate sound. She could amplify it. Suppress it. Separate one voice from hundreds. Turn a focused sound wave into a weapon.
For now, she mostly used it to work.
-Yes, I understand.
She paused.
-No, we don't have any new information.
Another pause.
-No.
She looked at the portal monitoring screen.
-Nothing has come through.
She ended the call. Then quietly said:
-Not yet.
David walked through the main command center. He stopped beside Jafor.
-Anything unusual?
Jafor shook his head.
-No.
David looked at the screens.
-Training?
-Running.
-Military readiness?
-At maximum.
-Portal?
Jafor looked toward the main display.
-Still open.
David nodded. That answer had become almost meaningless. Still open. Still empty.
Still waiting.
De Nemo walked through the corridor. Several soldiers noticed him. They immediately straightened. He ignored the reaction. One of the soldiers stepped forward.
-Sir.
De Nemo stopped.
-What?
The soldier hesitated.
-I wanted to ask you something.
-Go ahead.
-Do you think they'll come?
De Nemo looked at him.
-Yes.
The soldier swallowed.
-When do you think they will come, Sir?
-Does it matter?
The soldier looked disappointed. De Nemo continued walking. After a few steps, he stopped.
-What's your name?
-Sigurd, sir.
De Nemo nodded.
-Train harder, Sigurd.
-Yes, sir.
De Nemo walked away. Elias watched him disappear down the corridor. Then he looked at the training field. And went back to work.
Later that afternoon, Paul found Veronica outside the facility.
She was sitting on a bench. She looked up.
-You're late.
Paul sat beside her. He looked at her. Paul shook his head.
-Maybe I am always late.
She handed him a drink. He took it.
-This is terrible.
-You say that every time.
-Cause it is terrible.
-Then why did you drink it?
Paul looked at the cup. Then at her.
-Probably because I love it.
Veronica laughed. For a while, they simply sat there. No commanders, no soldiers, no portal, no MJC. Just two people sitting beside each other.
Paul looked across the facility. Everyone was busy. Soldiers trained. Vehicles moved. Officers shouted instructions. Somewhere nearby, Mpho was probably yelling at someone.
Paul smiled.
-They're getting used to this.
Veronica followed his gaze.
-To what?
-Being afraid.
She thought about it.
-Maybe.
Paul looked at her.
-You?
She shrugged.
-I don't think I'm afraid anymore.
Paul raised an eyebrow.
-That's dangerous.
She smiled.
-Why?
-Because you might start thinking you're invincible.
They sat quietly again. After a while, Veronica spoke.
-If all this ended...
Paul looked at her. She didn't continue immediately.
-What?
She shook her head.
-Nothing.
Paul waited. She smiled.
-Nothing.
He smiled back. Neither of them asked what the other had been thinking. They didn't need to.
Night came. The monitoring room changed shifts. A technician sat down. The previous operator stood.
-Anything?
-Nothing.
The new operator looked toward the portal. It was still there For six months, Earth had waited. Soldiers had trained. Governments had prepared. Super Soldiers had sharpened their abilities.
People had gone to work. People had gone home. People had laughed. People had argued. People had fallen in love. People had continued living.
Jordan was still preparing. Emilia was still training. Desmond was still working. Mpho was still pushing soldiers beyond their limits. Nesar was still confident. Jafor was still buried in work. Andrzej was still perfecting his control. Sally was still listening to a world that never stopped making noise. De Nemo was still wearing his uniform.
Paul and Veronica were still finding reasons to stay beside each other. And somewhere inside all of that ordinary life...
the portal remained open. Waiting. No one knew how long the silence would last. But for now...
there was still silence.
-To be continued…..