『"Welcome to the Machine..."』
The sensation was exactly as awful as Amara remembered, like her consciousness was scattered across infinite space, and then mercifully, it was over.
She materialized in open air, no longer in the Institute's underground corridors. She stumbled slightly, and Ethan's hand steadied her elbow.
"Give it a second," he murmured. "The disorientation gets easier to deal with the more you do it."
He was right. The nausea passed quickly, and the world stopped spinning.
As soon as she felt alright, the first thing Amara noticed was the cold.
There was the drop in temperature, a sharp, biting cold that she instantly felt through her uniform. The second thing was the snow. Actual snow, falling in thick, lazy flakes from a grey sky.
"Where the hell are we?" Hiro's breath came out in visible puffs.
Ethan gestured to the structure ahead. "The Machine. The French Alps, specifically."
"France?!" Sophia stared at the snow. "We're in fucking France?"
"Institute has facilities on every continent," Ethan said casually, like international teleportation was no big deal. "This one's been here since the sixteen-hundreds."
Amara lifted her hand instinctively, watching snowflakes land on her skin and melt from her body heat as cold breaths escaped her mouth.
Before them stood an immense structure that made "mansion" feel inadequate. Estate? No. Those words didn't quite capture it.
It was a château.
French architecture on a scale that suggested obscene wealth and historical significance. Snow clung to every surface—the peaked roof, the stone ledges, the elaborate stairways and balustrades.
Windows glowed with warm light from within, dozens of them, implying the building was far larger than it appeared from the outside.
They walked through the courtyard, following paths cleared through fresh snow. Lamps cast soft halos onto the ground, making the whole scene look like something from a painting.
Other newly recruited Awakeners moved toward the building in small groups, each wearing uniforms with different insignias representing their respective branches.
Some looked as confused and cold as Amara felt. Others moved with confidence, like they were used to all of it.
"How many new recruits are there?" Amara asked.
"Couple hundred across all branches," Ethan said. "The Machine runs intake twice a year."
"There better be a heater, or from the look of things, a fireplace in this goddamn castle!" Hiro said, rubbing his arms vigorously as his breath misted in the cold.
"It is a bit chilly," Amara admitted, crossing her arms over her chest and rubbing them. A 'bit' was generous. She could feel her fingers going numb.
Ethan walked over without a word and draped one of his jackets around her shoulders and she immediately felt warmer. The material held his body heat, and it smelled faintly of expensive cologne.
He planned for this. Thinking back, she realized this was his reason for wearing two jackets in the first place.
"Thanks," she said softly, meeting his eyes.
He just smiled and kept walking.
They moved together toward the building's main entrance, a massive set of doors that looked like they belonged in a Roman church. Their first few classes would be together before they'd branch off to do their own thing.
Halfway across the courtyard two figures peeled away from the crowd and approached them.
A girl and a guy. The girl had striking blonde hair with pink faded tips, and amber eyes that was immediately fixed on their group with calculating hostility.
The guy was tall, with neatly maintained dreadlocks pulled back from his face. His brown eyes were relaxed, almost friendly, a stark contrast to his companion.
Their uniforms were basically the same as theirs, except that it bore a different insignia. Not a sun, but a stylized storm cloud.
The Storm Branch.
"Generic mean girl incoming," Sophia muttered under her breath.
"I think we're all mature enough to be way past that," Amara said, hoping she was right.
She was immediately proven wrong.
The guy's eyes swept over the four of them before stopping at Ethan. Then his expression brightened. "Been a while, man."
They dapped up with the ease of people who knew each other.
"Andre," Ethan acknowledged with a nod.
As for the girl, she stepped closer. She seemed like the kind of person who smiled to your face while twisting the knife, and Amara immediately disliked everything about the vibe she put off.
"So the prodigal son returns." The sweetness in her voice was clearly for show.
"I heard you picked up a few charity cases while slumming it in your little—" she made exaggerated air quotes with manicured fingers,"—"normal life experiment." How's that working out? Find yourself yet? Or did you just find..." Her amber eyes swept dismissively over the group. "...this?"
If that was her attempt to strike a nerve, she failed, because Ethan's expression didn't change, and with a perfectly polite tone, he said, "I see nothing much has changed with you, Naomi. If you'll excuse us, we're heading inside."
"Yeah, go crawl back to whatever hole you came from, Nay-OH-mee," Sophia added, pronouncing her name with the exaggeration usually reserved for talking to toddlers.
Naomi's face tightened, her perfect features twisting into something ugly. "I'm sorry, did someone who's been Awakened for all of five minutes just talk to me?" Sparks danced along her fingertips. "Maybe it's time for a proper orientation."
Amara, Raj, and Hiro instinctively moved closer to Sophia, forming a protective cluster without discussing it.
Other students had stopped to watch, forming a loose circle around the confrontation. Some looked shocked, while others pulled out their devices, already recording.
Great. Their first day, and they were about to go viral in the Institute.
What is wrong with people?
Amara noticed some of the watchers wore Storm Branch insignias. They were smirking, like this was exactly what they'd expected. Apparently branch rivalry was a thing here.
"Adorable. The strays are forming a pack." Naomi let out a laugh that stopped and started, then said, "Like a bunch of Level ones are going to make a difference."
"Excuse you." Amara stepped forward, raising an eyebrow. This girl was really starting to piss her off. "Listen, we just got here. We don't want any—"
Naomi's smile widened. "Oh, but I want."
The air pressure changed and Amara felt her hair stand on end. The storm clouds swirled, darkening impossibly fast, and thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Naomi—" Andre started, his relaxed demeanor vanishing. "Don't—"
Too late.
Without warning, lightning dropped from the sky. The psycho actually summoned down a bolt of lightning on them!
KRA-BOOM!
It struck with a deafening sound.