They arrived at the home base dome sixteen hours later, exhausted but satisfied with their performance. Expecting to have placed near the bottom, they were surprised to find they had ranked 18th out of 124 teams. The realisation was even more shocking when they learned that most teams hadn’t even completed the round due to poor team dynamics. Despite their solid placement, they had been docked points for losing two party members, bringing their overall ranking down to 32nd place.

  Chris immediately tried to track down Max and Zeph, but the only response he received was an automated message stating they had been recalled to their faction dorms and would return in two days for the third round. While not unheard of, it was unusual. Most teams spent the time between rounds bonding and strategising in the competitor dorms. The separation didn’t sit well with him.

  He stood near the scoreboard, scanning the gathered competitors, his mind running through possibilities. Were Max and Zeph being briefed separately? Had their factions pulled them for a debrief? Or was something else going on?

  His train of thought came to an abrupt halt when his eyes landed on someone he hadn’t expected to see.

  His mother.

  Chris felt his chest tighten as a flood of emotions surged through him. Relief, confusion, anger the lot, it all crashed down at once. Without thinking, he ran to her, words spilling out before he could stop them.

  "Mum! Where have you been? I thought you were dead! The military wouldn’t tell me anything! They said a terrorist had taken you.. I”

  Lisa pulled him into a tight embrace, cutting him off.

  For a moment, Chris just held onto her, letting out everything he had been holding in for weeks. The worry, the frustration, the fear it all melted in that hug.

  After a long moment, Lisa pulled back slightly, offering him a reassuring smile. Then she turned her gaze toward Null.

  "Hey, kiddo," she greeted Null casually, as if they were old friends.

  Null gave her a small nod, his synthetic voice chiming through his communicator. "Lisa."

  Jania grinned, offering a lazy salute. "Hey, Boss Lady." She had met Lisa multiple times during her training, mainly for data collection.

  Chris froze, confusion overtaking his relief.

  Wait. What?

  He looked between his mother and his teammates, his brain struggling to process what he had just witnessed. His mother knew them? And they knew her?

  Chris stared at his mother, his patience wearing thin. "Someone had better start explaining. Right now."

  Lisa met his gaze with the steady calm of someone who had seen more than her fair share of chaos. "I will," she assured him, "but not here, and not now."

  Chris clenched his jaw but didn’t push. If there was one thing he knew about his mother, it was that she always had a reason.

  She lowered her voice and gestured for them to follow her to a quieter section of the dome. "You’ve drawn too much attention to yourselves," she continued. "Or rather, Null has. The plan was for your team’s stream to remain restricted, but there was a… glitch. The entire thing was broadcast live, and now, some very powerful people are interested in you."

  Null tilted his head slightly, a gesture that Chris had come to recognise as deep thought. "It wasn’t a glitch," his synthetic voice finally chimed in. "Zero did it."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Chris added yet another question to his growing list. Who is zero?

  Lisa sighed. "I thought as much."

  Chris barely had time to process that before she continued. "Max and Zeph have already been taken in for debriefing by their superiors. Their factions want answers."

  Chris frowned. "And why haven’t Jania or I been approached?"

  Null answered without hesitation. "The Martians learned their lesson. They’re keeping their distance."

  Chris’s confusion deepened. "What lesson?"

  Null’s voice was calm, almost casual. "Last time they pushed too hard, I took their orbital ship and told them to back off."

  Silence fell.

  Chris and Jania exchanged a sharp glance, both registering what he had just said at the same time.

  Jania was the first to break the silence. "Wait. What?"

  Chris felt his stomach drop. His mind scrambled to make sense of it. The orbital station attack. The mysterious figure who had destroyed it in a single show of force. The one who had kidnapped his mother.

  His breath caught as he stared at Null.

  "You," he said slowly. "You’re the terrorist?"

  Lisa stepped in before the conversation could spiral further. "Not here," she said firmly. "Too many ears."

  She motioned for them to follow. "I’ve booked a private room for us."

  Chris and Jania exchanged looks but didn’t argue. Lisa led them through the competition facility, past the common areas where cadets were already discussing the results of the survival challenge. The room they entered was one usually reserved for high-ranking officials scouting for promising recruits. It was quiet, isolated.

  But the moment they stepped inside, the entire scene changed. The stark meeting room melted away, replaced by the interior of a ship. The walls gleamed with unfamiliar alloys, the air had a crisp sterility to it, and the window no longer showed a cityscape—it showed the vast, endless black of space.

  Lisa sighed, rubbing her temple. "Null, did you do this?"

  "Yes," he answered simply. "It’s more secure here."

  Lisa huffed. "And now Chris and Jania know too much."

  Chris barely heard the argument. His attention was locked onto the details of the ship around him. His tactical mind was already at work, taking in the smooth, curved architecture, the seamless integration of technology, and the absence of any markings that might indicate human origin. This wasn’t a Martian, Lunar, or Earth-made vessel.

  Jania, on the other hand, was fixated on the view beyond the window. The red curve of Mars stretched beneath them, vast and endless. She pressed a hand to the glass.

  "I’ve never been to orbit before," she said, her voice softer than usual. "Seeing Mars from above… it’s a dream come true."

  A drone glided toward them. The voice that emerged from it was deep and steady, carrying an air of authority.

  "Welcome aboard the Voidecho," Zero’s voice greeted them. "We are currently hidden in low orbit above Mars. No signals in or out, no unwanted guests listening in. You are safe here."

  Chris’s head snapped toward Lisa, who didn’t react, as if this was all completely normal. He turned to Null, about to demand an explanation, but stopped short.

  Null wasn’t alone.

  Beside him stood another figure, a shimmering, translucent form that pulsed faintly with energy. It had no solid features, more of a glowing silhouette than a true body, but its presence was undeniable.

  Chris blinked. "Who—what—is that?"

  Jania, however, barely hesitated. She eyed the being for a long moment. "So, this is what you look like Infy? You are even smaller than the little man"

  Infy turned toward her, the glow of his form shifting slightly. Chris looked between them, confused. "Wait? How do you know its name?"

  Jania shrugged. "Because I can hear him."

  Chris frowned. He had heard nothing.

  Lisa finally sighed, rubbing her temple. "Jania and I have latent psychic abilities. It's why we can hear Null and Infy. You can’t”

  Chris stiffened. That was news to him.

  Zero’s voice returned through the drone. "Null has requested my assistance in preparing you all for the next phase of the competition. However, I will only proceed with your full consent."

  Jania raised a brow. "And what exactly does ‘assistance’ mean?"

  "For you, Jania," Zero said, "I can offer a solution to the damage inflicted upon you by the super soldier program. Your body has been forced into imbalance, a flaw in the process that should have been corrected. I can fix it."

  Jania stiffened, she had spent years struggling against the physical shortcomings her enhancements had caused. The shirt had helped a bit but the imbalanced muscle growth, nerve strain, and constant discomfort. So this is the permanent fix they were talking about.

  Chris took a step forward. "And what about me?"

  "You," Zero said, "carry the required genetic markers for psychic potential, inherited from your mother. However, those abilities were never activated. I can change that."

  He glanced at Lisa, searching for any sign of protest, but she only watched him quietly, waiting for him to decide.

  Chris didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure what he wanted yet. Don’t deals like this normally have a cost?

  “What is the Cost? “ asked Chris