I turned to Lumina and Daniel.
"It sounds like you're struggling with the mental projections. If you don't have the explicit knowledge in your mind, it won't know what to do."
Lumina pointed her fork at me.
"Well, shouldn't you be struggling the most? I can't imagine it's easy to visualize a machine gun while looking for materials and running for your life."
"It isn't," I said, leaning back in my chair. "What I learned is that if you picture everything at once, you're setting yourself up for failure. You need to take your time."
I crossed my arms.
"Though I am curious, how does it work? Using cosmic dust with biology?"
Lumina sighed.
"It's like taking a seed and creating a tree in seconds. The simulation gives me stem cells, and I have to use those cells to build with. I can accelerate mitosis, give someone cancer, or bleed them out."
She trailed off.
"It's so exhausting, I genuinely think it's the hardest major. At least in terms of complexity."
I nodded in agreement.
She took another bite of her protein bar, before her eyes widened.
"Oh, and I didn't even tell you about the heat sinks! I have to keep a hand on this little capacitor at all times, otherwise I'll burn the flesh I'm working with."
I tilt my head curiously, before turning my attention towards Daniel. "Do you need a heatsink too?"
His face scrunched up with complex thought. "It really depends. Most of the time I'm given pre-made chemicals. I'd only need a heatsink if I were making something on the fly."
He scratched his cheek. "But if I were making something on the fly, I'd already be dead. You know? The simulation made sure I knew that."
"You mean Double-A?"
"Who's that?"
I blinked.
"You don't know who that is? The little AI in the simulation that teaches you lessons?"
Lumina and Daniel shook their heads. "No, we just get pre-recorded videos. Did you get an AI?"
The silence that followed their question was long.
Maybe they haven't uncovered the hands-on learning modules? If not, I should keep quiet. If they suspect I have some kind of advantage they'll probably turn on me.
I shake my head.
"That sim must be frying my brain, it's probably something dealing with the dynamic environments. I'm misremembering things."
Lumina chuckled. "Good to know I'm not the only one losing my mind. I–"
She was cut off by Erika returning from outside. She was dressed in her black uniform, her expression stern.
"Attention, dogs. I'll be stepping out this afternoon to handle council duties. You'll be on your own. There's 24/7 coverage on the perimeter. Anyone who leaves will be killed."
She looked over at us, smirking.
"So try not to do anything stupid."
She left, locking the door.
Lumina licked her spoon, "well that was ominous as fuck."
I stand up from my desk.
"We should head to our cell, now."
Zero was up the second I was, but Lumina and Daniel looked confused. "What's wrong?"
I didn't bother explaining, already moving to my cell. I could see them, the stragglers. They watched us from the corner of the room. Gaunt eyes and pale skin.
The other "successful" group continued chatting and eating as normal.
They didn't have to be afraid. Not only did their group outnumber the stragglers, but they had two big hitters.
The stragglers wouldn't attempt them even if their lives depended on it. Which in this case, it did.
Lumina locked eyes with one of the stragglers, her eyes widening before she chased after me. Daniel was close behind her. I was the first to enter the cell. Followed by Zero and the duo.
I closed the glass door, locking it.
I stepped back, looking around. The room was bare. Nothing but a few spare rations packs, the bunk beds, and a shelf.
I frowned.
"Help me move the bunk bed against the door."
Zero dropped down, trying to pull it by herself. I glared at Lumina and Daniel. "Move your asses!" I ordered, louder. They jumped into action.
Metal scraped against concrete. We grunted as a collective, the scraping sounded like a siren. We slammed the bunk against the door.
I took a few breaths.
"Zero, top bunk. Wait until I give the order to drop down."
Zero scrambled up the bunk.
"Dee and Lee, hold that end down." They were opposite me, holding the side of the bunk furthest from me.
I stood to the side, unlocking the door.
My plan was simple. Let the stragglers in one by one, take them down. Zero was my insurance in case I lost the advantage.
"Why do you think they'll come after us?" Daniel squeaked. "The other guys have more food!"
"Math. I'd rather take my chances against two women and a wimp, versus powerlifters."
I glared at the shadows stretching down the hall. I tightened my fists. The first face to round the corner was a man with a plastic shiv.
His uniform barely hung on his frail body.
"Hey there…" His voice was hoarse. He tapped the back of his shiv against the glass as his three buddies stepped behind him
I narrowed my eyes.
The man chuckled softly. "Oh don't look at me like that, kid. I'm just a little hungry, you get that, right?" He traced a finger down the glass door. "Just give us your spare rations, and we'll be on our way."
I raised my fists.
Daniel looked at me with confusion.
"If that's all they want, can't we just give it to them? Then they'll go away."
I shook my head, "No. We feed them once and we'll deal with this for the rest of the year."
Daniel swallowed, "but it would be better than fighting."
"Sure, until we run out of food to give. Just shut up and hold the bunk in place. Let me handle this."
The man on the other side of the glass laughed, shrugging his shoulders. "I really tried to be nice, kid. What happens next, is on you."
He pressed a hand on the glass and pushed. When he felt the door give way, just a smidge, he grinned. "You didn't even lock the door?! Oh, this is almost too easy."
He and his cronies pushed hard against the door. It lurched forward, pushing Lumina and Daniel back. A gap opened up, three inches.
Daniel and Lumina pushed back.
The four on the outside pushed harder.
The gap widened to six inches, and a hand shot through the gap.
I rushed forward, grabbing the man's wrist and breaking his arm at the elbow. The man let out a guttural scream, a sound that tore through the tension. He slumped against the glass, his arm bent at an unnatural angle.
The other three stepped back for a moment, shocked. But hunger was a powerful motivator. "Get him! It's just one kid!"
They threw their collective weight against the door. The bunk screeched across the concrete, opening the gap enough to let a person slide through.
It was a woman with matted hair and a rusted iron pipe. She swung wildly, screaming. I raised my forearm, and she smashed the pipe against it.
The pain was immediate, but not overwhelming. I gritted my teeth, snatching the pipe out of her hand and smashing it against her skull.
The woman shrieked, holding her head as blood ran down her chin. I didn't stop. I hit her again, cracking her skull like a nut.
She collapsed to the ground, I raised a foot and smashed her face in. Daniel looked as if he was about to puke.
His grip loosened enough that the other two stragglers could barge in. They blitzed me.
"Zero–"
I didn't even have to finish, she was already dropping down on one of their shoulders. The guy didn't even have time to scream. She wrapped her legs around his neck and twisted.
His head turned with a sickening pop. He collapsed on the ground, zero rolled off him, going after the man with the broken arm.
Leaving me to handle the final straggler.
He was armed with two shiv's, swinging them wildly. I dodged as best I could, but there wasn't a flow to his movements.
He backed me against the wall with his wild swings. As he closed the distance, I ducked low, smashing the pipe against his knees.
The man dropped. I rounded behind him, crashing the pipe against his skull. He slumped forward. I raised my foot and crushed his skull.
I let out a few heavy breaths, looking over to see Zero gouging out the other man's eyes. She laughed, pushing her fingers deeper.
Daniel had fainted.
Lumina was shaken.
And I was tired.