Zack

  Zack’s morning was off to a jagged start. Between the lack of sleep and the early hour, his patience was wearing as thin as the digital veil over his face. He leaned heavily against the cold railing overlooking Nova Square, watching the early-morning tide of pedestrians weave through the plaza below.

  Despite the early hour, the square was already alive. Shops framed it on all sides, each one competing for attention with holographic mascots and shimmering product projections floating above their entrances. Zack found himself staring, half-intimidated, at a towering advertisement of an agent with impossible muscles, clad in spiked black armor. Even as a hologram, it felt imposing.

  The smell of street food drifted through the air, rich and tempting. His stomach growled in response, a sharp reminder that he’d skipped breakfast to be here.

  He checked the time and groaned. Classes started in ten minutes.

  His wristphone buzzed. A translucent map pulsed into his vision, marking a target just a few meters to his left. Zack straightened and turned.

  A man in a long, weathered beige overcoat was walking briskly toward him. His head was obscured by a flickering shroud of black digital circles that distorted his features into anonymity.

  Instinctively, Zack brushed his fingers protectively along the collar at his neck, confirming his own face-scrambler was active.

  “Greetings,” Zack said, his voice coming out warped and metallic

  “I don’t have much time,” the dealer replied, his voice equally distorted. “Let’s keep this quick.”

  “Me neither,” Zack countered. “Give me the card, let me verify the data, take your payment, and we both walk out. Sounds simple?”

  The man fished a slim, transparent card from his coat pocket. Zack took it, squinting at the microscopic gold filaments etched into its body before slotting it into his wristband.

  A folder burst open on his screen, revealing a cascade of documents, message logs, and audio recordings. He ran everything through his verification software.

  One by one, the Mekkan Army signatures validated.

  Zack gave a satisfied nod and looked up. “Alright. We agreed on ten thousand Meks. Where do you want it?”

  “My cousin’s account. I sent you the number.”

  Zack tapped through the transfer sequence, and a moment later, a Transfer Success notification flashed.

  “Payment’s through. Pleasure doing business,” Zack said, flashing a cocky grin before remembering it couldn’t be seen.

  He turned to leave, but a distorted chuckle—sounding like a grinding engine— stopped him cold.

  “Actually, kid, I just realized ten thousand Meks isn't enough for intel like this,” the man said, stepping closer until their digital veils almost overlapped. “Especially when the bounty on a Rebel is worth so much more.”

  “Oh, you—”

  Zack couldn’t even finish before two pairs of hands grabbed him from behind. One locked his arms from behind while another pressed a heavy shoulder against his throat.

  He struggled, twisting his torso and wiggling his hand until it hovered over a tiny button on the back of his thigh. He pressed it.

  A violent surge of electricity erupted from the tiny device. The attackers shrieked as blue sparks arced through their bodies, sending them collapsing to the pavement.

  “You will regret this,” Zack hissed at the dealer before bolting.

  “Catch him, you fools!” the dealer screamed behind him. The two muscular men scrambled up and sprinted after him.

  Zack didn’t look back. He vaulted up a dustbin and launched himself onto the roof of a nearby shop.

  Wind rushed past his ears as he ran. Ahead, a low wall separated him from another rooftop, and beyond that, a hyperloop tunnel curved dangerously close to the edge—his way out.

  He climbed up the wall, his fingers gripping the ledge and his feet propelling him upward. It was harder without his combat suit, and he wobbled once before finally managing to pry himself up.

  He turned back and saw the men close behind. They were surprisingly fast for their size.

  For a moment, Zack hesitated. The distance between the edge of the roof and the hyperloop was wider than he’d anticipated. But it was his only way out.

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  He backed up a few steps, then sprinted, building as much momentum as possible. At the edge, he launched himself forward.

  For a terrifying second, he was airborne above the city.

  Then, his hands slammed against the curved, transparent body of the hyperloop tube. He hugged the surface, sliding slightly before finding his grip.

  Beneath the glass, he could see cars gliding by, the passengers oblivious to the teenager clinging above them. Looking back at the rooftop, he saw his pursuers staring up, their faces twisted in fury. They definitely weren’t getting paid.

  Zack steadied himself and carefully moved along the tunnel, following its descent until it dropped him back to street level among the pedestrians.

  With a sigh, he stared at the time.

  He was very late.

  ?==========?

  The bright walls of the corridor seemed to pulse around him. The adrenaline had worn off, leaving exhaustion in its place. He initiated another adrenaline shot through his wristphone, but the boost felt weak. He hadn’t eaten since yesterday, and his body was beginning to protest.

  Classrooms lined the corridor, murmurs leaking from behind closed doors. Everyone was already inside.

  He jumped when a holographic dog in a janitor’s uniform shimmered into existence in front of him.

  “Remember to keep your surroundings clean!” it chirped cheerfully.

  “Shut up,” Zack muttered, swiping a hand through the pixels of the projection.

  He stopped outside his classroom and peered in. The room was designed like an amphitheater with more than a hundred pairs of eyes, all fixed on the front. Mr. Jefkins stood there, a projection of the Earth spinning in his palm as he lectured about the Keukan Wars.

  The professor paused mid-sentence and looked directly at Zack. So much for his spy skills.

  “Just when I thought you couldn’t be any later,” he said dryly.

  Zack walked in slowly. He saw his group in the back – Ava, Rory, Kelly, and the others. They were looking at him with wide, anxious eyes, trying to gauge if he was okay. He gave them a slight nod before facing the professor.

  “Will you mark me present or not?” he asked, his own words sounding distant, as if they weren’t his.

  Jefkins scowled. “There are five minutes left in the class. Why did you even bother?”

  “Well, if you aren’t going to mark me, I have no interest in your ramblings.” Zack turned on his heel and walked out.

  When the class ended, his group hurried out to find him waiting in the corridor.

  “So?” Ava asked. Today she’d gone fully plum, her jacket and boots matching her signature purple hair.

  “Got the data,” Zack said quietly. “But the dealer tried to cash in my bounty. Spent the morning dodging thugs.”

  “Bling start to the day,” Rory muttered.

  Zack glanced around the group. “Where’s Judy?”

  Ava suppressed a grin. “Said she had work to do. Didn’t say what.”

  “I’ll find her later,” Zack replied.

  Back in their next class, a middle-aged lady with a permanent scowl walked in and dimmed the lights without any greetings.

  The room dissolved into a projection of the solar system. Mekka, Kingston, and other planets rotated in an artificial orbit, surrounded by flooding numbers that made Zack’s head spin.

  Zack tried to focus, but a sharp ping sounded in his ear. He checked his phone and found a message from Judy.

  Judy: You free?

  Zack: In class.

  Judy: Need your help.

  He hesitated for a second, then replied: Fine.

  He turned off his phone and stood up.

  “Yes?” the lecturer asked sharply.

  “Too boring for me,” Zack replied, his distant voice taking over again.

  He walked out of the room, catching only the disappointed shake of her head before the door slid shut.

  He headed down the corridor and waited for a cluster of teachers to disappear before swiping his wristband at the Server Room. The scanner blinked green—something Judy had taken care of long ago.

  Inside, the room was a cavern of humming towers and blinking LEDs. A massive screen floated in the center of the dark room. Judy stood in front of it, her fingers flying across a terminal window. The dim light from the screen illuminated the sides of her face and hot pink hair that barely reached her neck.

  “Hey, Zack,” she said without turning. “How was the deal?”

  “Messy,” he replied. “The dealer tried to claim my bounty. But I escaped with the data.”

  “So just some unplanned cardio.”

  “Something like that.” Zack stepped closer, watching her type command after command. The entire terminal was red with messages. “What are you doing?”

  Judy finally turned to face him, her pink eyelids catching the dim light. For a moment, Zack found himself staring. Her skin looked softer in the glow of the screen.

  He quickly looked away.

  “Just going through the new students' database,” Judy replied casually.

  “Why exactly?”

  “To find myself a boyfriend.”

  Zack’s body tensed instantly. “Uh… really?”

  He immediately felt like kicking himself for losing his cool. She’d clearly seen through him.

  “Just kidding,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I’m looking for potential recruits. It’s been a month since the school year started, and admissions closed today.”

  “Oh. Right.” Zack nodded slowly. Then he remembered. “Wait, you said you needed my help.”

  “I did.” Judy turned back to the screen, watching a progress bar crawl slowly forward. “Analyzing this many records takes forever. I needed some company while it runs.”

  Zack blinked. “The hell, Judy? I skipped class for this.”

  She glanced at him with an amused smile.

  “Since when did you care about classes?”

  He almost said I want to. “I’m already short on attendance,” he muttered instead.

  “Already?” Judy laughed. “If only you knew someone who was literally hacking into the school database right now.”

  He watched as Judy opened his student profile on the floating screen and casually edited the attendance records.

  “Can you also increase my grade on the last quiz?” he asked. “I failed.”

  Judy sighed dramatically but opened the grade sheet anyway. With a quick tap, the F flipped into a C.

  “Thanks,” he replied.

  A silence spread over the room as Judy perched herself on a desk. Zack watched her, wondering if he should say something more, but Judy’s focus was suddenly pulled back to the console.

  “Found any matches?” Zack asked.

  “Only three so far,” Judy said. As if on cue, another name appeared on the terminal, highlighted in green. “Oh, look at that. A near-perfect match.”

  Zack leaned in to read the file. A photo of a boy with brown skin and ruffled black hair appeared on the screen.

  “Drew Jufferly,” Zack read carefully.

  He gave a small, thoughtful smile.

  “I’ll be sure to pay him a visit.”