[POV — Youpi]
Mmmmh... I forgot how good it feels to sleep on a train.
The soft mattress I'd stolen from the staff cabin, a gamer headset clamped over my ears, and a half-empty bag of chips lying on my chest. Perfect.
Pretty sure I hadn't moved since then... what, two days? Three? Who's counting.
I only woke up to eat, clear dungeons on GalaxyFrontline Online, and dive straight back into some well-earned sleep.
But this time… this time, something REALLY annoying woke me up.
The kind of BOOM that makes you think your alarm clock just exploded. Only, this wasn't a dream.
I sat up slowly, hair a mess, eyes glued shut. The train car's ceiling had literally just blown to bits.
A wave of heat slapped my face, and burning metal shards zipped past my ear — like, two inches off.
My bags.
My laptop.
My console.
— "...Fuck."
— "Fuck, FUCK, oh shit...FUUUUUCK!"
Half my stuff was going up in flames. My setup! My orthopedic pillow! My ultra-rare manga collection! I even had a collector's mug in there! Who the hell—WHO DARES?!
And then, just to top it off, this wave of sticky, corrupted energy burst out around me.
Seconds later, the other students in my car started screaming. But not normal screams. Nah.
Growls. Gurgles. Like their bodies forgot how to be human.
I turned my head, still sitting in my half-melted bed, and saw their shapes starting to morph.
Limbs growing the wrong way, like glitched-out video game textures.
— "…Are you guys serious right now?"
I sighed, eyes half-open, as the whole car tilted and dropped, plunging into the sea — with me still in it.
Groans and snarls echoed around me. These mutants were trying to pounce, brainless, like sacks of crap with teeth.
— "Tch… you bastards fried my PC."
I got up, still half shirtless, floating in mid-air as the train car crumbled below me.
A glowing blue sphere appeared between my fingers. Time to fix these bugs.
— "DELETE."
Like I was rewriting the source code of reality and just hit delete. The pixels around me started breaking down.
Once the noise died down, I floated down to a half-melted platform still spewing smoke.
The train up ahead was still going — far ahead. Guess they ditched me with the rest of the trash.
No way I'm walking.
I snapped my fingers. A massive flying cushion popped into existence, fluffy as hell, with little armored cats printed on it.
I flopped down on it, arms crossed. The cushion zoomed down the rails at full speed toward the rest of the train.
— You're gonna pay for this," I growled. "I swear... ALL of you are gonna pay."
---
[POV — Johanna]
I jolted awake, cold sweat dripping down my face. I was still half-asleep, but I knew one thing :
Something had exploded. But that wasn't the real shock.
It was the knife pressed to my throat.
And the trembling — but determined — hand of my usually-silent roommate hovering above me.
— "Don't move," she whispered. Her normally dull eyes were wild.
— "What... are you doing ?" I mumbled, still dazed.
She darted a glance toward the cabin door, then back to me.
— "I'm sorry."
I blinked. My throat burned — not from the blade, but from the adrenaline.
Infiltrators ? On our convoy ?
What the hell is this...
She gritted her teeth. Her wrist was shaking.
— "You've lost your mind or something? You wanna get us all killed?"
— "I'm trying to survive," she spat. "You and I both know this system's rotten to the core. The bombs are the signal. They're wiping out the elites. You gotta pick a side."
Through the roaring of the train, I suddenly heard Dante's voice — shouting orders, trying to organize the students and… nobles ?
He sounded like a general. Even half-asleep, I knew what that meant :
There was more than one bomb.
And if that was true...
I grabbed her wrist in one sharp move, twisted the blade away, and rolled clumsily off the bed. She didn't even resist. Like she'd been waiting for someone to stop her.
— "Forgive me, mother Malenia[1]."
She turned and slammed her fist into our other roommate's neck — knocking her out cold.
---
[POV — Ginny]
The wind was whipping my face as I flew through the sky at high speed. From up here, the chaos looked... almost beautiful.
And then, far off, something strange.
A guy. Lying on... a flying cushion ?
What the fuck ?
I squinted. A boy ? Messy hair, bored expression — like he hadn't seen sunlight in decades.
But as I flew closer… I felt it.
Didn't have time to speak. Not even say hello.
Something pierced straight through my gut from behind. My breath caught. A spray of blood burst from my mouth. I hung in the air.
— "...Hhkk…!"
My eyes locked with the boy's for an instant.
He wasn't smiling anymore. He was staring at me like I was his mortal enemy.
Behind me... a cyborg. Blade-arm, glowing red lens in his left eye.
He ripped the blade from my body. I dropped into the sea.
"How… with all my sharpened senses… how didn't I sense him coming, this pathetic human…?"
[1] The goddess of the war of the new church.