The simulation ended three minutes after we got out.
I didn't know exactly what happened inside after we left. I only knew that when the arena door opened and the medical team went in, Damar and the other two students were found unconscious in the middle of the simulation forest. The forest was slowly turning back into walls.
They survived. Their wounds were real. Their blood was real.
I was standing at the edge of the arena. My arm was still wrapped in bandages from the staff. The wound from the creature's claw still hurt. Not as much as my head. My head had been throbbing since I saw that room.
The room had twelve chairs.
* Eleven statues.
* One empty chair.
Maya's name was on one of the chairs.
Maya was sitting beside me on a bench. Her small body was hunched. She was gripping her silver bracelet tightly. Her face was still pale. Paler than when she used Null in the arena.
"Kael."
That was Aldo's voice from behind me. I turned around. He was standing beside me. His pale blue eyes were looking at my arm.
"You're hurt."
I said, "It's nothing."
He didn't answer. His eyes shifted to Maya. Then to the arena door. The door was now closed by the staff.
"The simulation sensors were tampered with," he said quietly. His voice was for me. "The difficulty level was increased three times above the entrance exam standard."
"Who did it?"
Aldo sighed. His thin hands gripped the edge of his robe. "I don't know." He said, "I checked the recordings. No one has entered the control room since morning. It was as if the system changed on its own."
I looked at him. "Do you believe that?"
Aldo didn't answer. His eyes spoke. He didn't believe it. He had no explanation either.
"Take care of yourself," he said finally. "Take care of Maya."
Then he walked away.
Maya didn't attend the registration closing ceremony.
After the simulation she was taken to the infirmary. I wasn't allowed inside. A nurse said she needed rest.
I stood in the hallway. I was staring at the door. Lina arrived a minute later. She was holding two packs of food.
"How is she?" Lina asked.
I said, "I don't know. They won't let me in."
Lina nodded. She sat on the bench beside me. She placed the food on her lap. We were quiet for a while.
"My team only faced projections," Lina said finally. "Those grey creatures weren't in our arena."
I turned to her.
"Our team's sensors weren't tampered with," Lina continued. "Only your teams."
I felt cold run down my spine.
"That means," I said quietly, "someone targeted us."
Lina bit her lip. Her warm hand reached for mine.
"Or targeted Maya," she said. "Target what you're both carrying."
Five days passed.
Maya didn't appear at training. I saw her name on the attendance list. There was always a note: leave.
I asked Aldo. He just shook his head. "She needs time."
I asked Bayu. He looked at me for a moment with his yellow eyes. Then he said, "Sometimes wounds you can't see take time to heal."
I didn't understand what he meant. I didn't ask further.
Every afternoon after training ended I walked to the infirmary. I didn't go in. I just stood in the hallway. I stared at the door.
On day one the door was closed.
Day two closed.
Day three: half-open. I saw Maya sitting on the edge of her bed. Her back was to the door. Her silver bracelet was open on the side table. I saw the scar on her wrist. It was spiralling. The same as the scar on my hand. Smaller. Smoother.
I didn't go in. I. Left.
Day four: Maya was standing at the door when I arrived.
"You came again," she said. It wasn't a question.
I nodded.
She looked at me for a moment. Her eyes were dark. Not like Linas' eyes. Not like Bayus burning eyes. Her eyes were like a deep sea – hard to see what lay at the bottom.
"Why?" she asked.
I said, "I don't know."
That was honest. I didn't know why I kept coming. Maybe because she was the other person who had seen the same room I saw. Maybe because she was also carrying something she didn't understand. Maybe because she cried when she touched me. I didn't know why.
"Tomorrow I'm returning to training," Maya said. "You don't need to come."
She closed the door.
On day five Maya didn't appear at training.
I asked the instructors. They said Maya had been cleared to return. She had chosen not to train that day.
I looked for her in the cafeteria. She wasn't there.
I looked for her in the library. She wasn't there.
I looked for her in the backyard garden. She wasn't there.
I was about to give up when I saw a shadow under the banyan tree at the far end of the grounds. Maya was sitting there. Her back was against the sprawling roots. Her knees were pulled to her chest. Her silver bracelet was back on her wrist. It was covering the scar.
I walked closer. I sat beside her. I didn't speak.
Maya didn't look at me. Her eyes were fixed on the sky between the leaves.
"I never asked why you came every day," she said finally.
"You don't need to ask."
"I know why." Her voice was quiet. "Because you saw that room too. Because I'm the one who wasn't afraid of you after seeing what you carry."
I didn't answer.
"But that's not a reason," Maya continued. "You don't know me. I don't know you… You came every day. Like you were afraid I'd disappear if you didn't."
I turned. Maya was still looking at the sky.
"I wasn't afraid you'd disappear," I said. "I just... didn't know where to go."
Maya laughed softly. It was a sound audible.
"Honest," she said. "That's good."
There was silence again. The wind moved through the leaves.
"I didn't know where to go either," Maya said. "Since I left home, I've just been moving. No destination. Just running."
She turned. Her eyes were dark. Deep in that darkness for the first time I saw something else. Not fear. Not wariness. Something fragile.
"My father is the leader of Ouroboros," she said.
I didn't move.
"I didn't agree with him. That's why I left." She gripped her silver bracelet. ". I didn't know where to go either. Until Aldo found me. Until he said there was someone with the scar at this academy."
She looked at my hand. At the Ouroboros scar spiralling there.
"I came here to see if it was true. If you really existed. If you really carried the thing."
"Now?"
Maya looked at me for a long moment. Then she smiled. It was a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Now I don't know who to trust."