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Eva, the red-headed girl to her right snickered, but didn’t glance down. Instead she remained rigid and kept her eyes focused straight ahead. Taking one last gulp of air Jia stood up, pushed her shoulders back, and stared forward. Not far off they could hear the sergeant, Tey, calling off names, in that familiar dour manner that one would associate with the sour natured Tau’Miirs. Fascinated by the monotone sullenness that permeated every facet of the sergeant’s personality, Jia listened as Tey made her way routinely through the list.
“Kaymen, Scike!…. Moore, Lia!…. Murrano, Eva!…. Hildebrad,” there was a pause, “Jia!”
Jia flinched inwardly at the name she now used, but showed no outward reaction. She stood facing the equally expressionless Tey. Mentally, Jia could feel the sergeant’s scrutiny picking her apart, noting the untucked shirt, unlaced boots, unkempt hair- the overall disheveled appearance. It took all the self control she possessed to keep her face schooled under the oppressive glare forced on her, but after a moment or two, Tey moved on. Jia slowly let out the breath she had been holding, allowing herself a very slight sigh of relief. Once morning roll was over, Jia sauntered over to the archway and waited for her companions. Almost immediately she spotted them slowly making their way towards her, pushing through the mass of cadets heading towards the mess hall. Suddenly Sohkeeya was at her side, grinning and panting, “Made a new friend I see.”
Jia grimaced, but before she could reply Fis bounded into view and then disappeared again as he wove in and out of the congested entryway. He broke away from the crowd and approached them, eyes gleaming with an unnatural, but ever-present sense of mischief. He raised an eyebrow in question at her disheveled appearance, but for once kept his mouth shut.
Jia sighed and yawned, “Let’s go get breakfast.” Shaking her head clear and yawning one more time she threw herself at the throng of students filing past. Still smiling, her friends jumped in after her.
Why fight it? It’s inevitable. Fate always is. You know the choices and you know the chosen, the rest is irrelevant. Why fight it? Destiny is inevitable.
Jia ignored the familiar voice in her mind and kept walking. Ignoring it and running and hiding from it just as she had for the past four years. Everyone had secrets, but hers was unusual, a secret unto itself, which made sense if she thought about it. After all in Andrian, her native land, Jia meant “unforeseen,” “the wildcard,” or “luck.” She didn’t have to obey prophesies or destiny; that was her own way of living up to her name, or so she reasoned. She had traveled all over Feycar, over each of the twelve continents, seemingly without a care in the world. Only Jia was a little worried. The voice called to her more often then usual lately, invading her rest, and when she did manage to sleep she had strange dreams… of the past she tried so hard to leave behind… and of the future which now seemed so uncertain.
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Pre-occupied with her thoughts, Jia walked into the mess hall and sat down at her usual table, but didn’t notice she was being spoken to until Sohkeeya waved her hand in front of Jia’s eyes.
“Can you hear me?”
Jia slapped Sohkeeya’s hand away, “Stop it! I was just thinking about something.”
A knowing glance flashed between Fis and Sohkeeya. “You’ve been having those dreams again! Tell us about it.”
Startled, she glanced up sharply at them, but then remembered that she herself had told them both a little about her dreams. Jia regretted it now, but she consoled herself by calling it a moment of weakness, human error. Of course it would never happen again… she couldn’t afford to let it. “No, it’s nothing. I just haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
“Jia, since when have you ever slept well?”
“I appreciate your concern, but I don’t want to talk about it!” Jia said unclenching her teeth with effort. She wasn’t in the mood for this argument and her patience was beginning to wear thin. Then again she had never been known to possess much in way of patience.
“How surprising.” Sohkeeya said.
Jia was tempted to take the bait, to lash out with pent up frustration and let out all her secrets and woes. She could do it too, throw them all in Sohkeeya’s face and watch her friend crumble under her stinging words, but she didn’t. Instead she swallowed the scathing retort at the tip of her tongue, stood, and left them there staring at her back as she walked away. “I think that went well,” she thought with a wry smile as she headed towards the V.R. deck.
The virtual reality deck was a room similar to the observatory with it’s white, curved walls, rotating panels, and case-sensitive inner chamber. The only difference between the two was the purpose of each and of course the domed glass ceiling the observatory required for its astrologers. Despite the likenesses, Jia always felt uneasy in the V.R. room, compared to the other it felt constrictive and almost unnatural.
“Ah, Hildebrad, just the student I was looking for.”
Surprised, Jia turned to face Professor Liln. Wiry, restrained Liln, with the cold, calculating eyes. She was one of the few people who could evoke visible, emotional reactions from Jia with mere words. Jia detested the woman and always had the urge to fidget when in her company. Instead she nodded slightly to the professor, and asked just a touch incredulously, “You wanted to see me?”
Liln laughed dryly and said, “You sound surprised. You should know you’re one of my best students yet, unexpectedly bright for one of your character.”
Jia smiled to hide the snarl. “That’s more credit than I deserve.”
“Modesty doesn’t suit you, dear. Come there’s something I’d like to show you. If there is anyone who can appreciate it, that person would be you, Hildebrad.”
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