OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Quinn, Elijah, and Junior joined Aria in a second, peering into the case.

Inside were rows of small devices, each the size of a coin, with small buttons on the sides. They, with one exception, reacted similarly to her, thinking that they had hit the jackpot.

Getting closer, Junior squinted his eyes at the tiny labels beneath each device and asked: "What are those?"

Elijah, the 'exception,' shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno. They might just be data storage. Back then, people used these to keep information

on physical devices, not just on the network or inside their own bodies like we do."

Aria reached for the handle of the display case, but it wouldn't budge.

She tried again, pulling harder, but it was locked.

"Guess we're not getting in there."

Junior laughed.

"Not without breaking it open, at least."

Quinn looked at Elijah.

"You think the Academy will allow that?"

He nodded.

"You're not thinking right. It doesn't matter what the Academy wants, they told us to do as we like, so we can break this no problem."

"Then let's do it—"

Elijah clutched Junior's shoulder, interrupting him.

"The Academy doesn't care, but that doesn't mean that the AI manager of this place doesn't. It might send its droids after us if we're not careful."

"Ah..."

Defeated, Junior stepped back and began searching the other sections of the shop.

The others went their own way, exploring every nook and cranny, their footsteps echoing on the tiled floor.

They packed things like Personal Drones, Home Automation Systems, and even what appeared to be Holo Gaming Consoles.

Aria found herself drawn to a section near the back of the store, where larger, bulkier items were stored.

One of the items caught her eye-an eighty-inch rectangular vessel as thin as the nails on her fingers, with cracked black glass on its front, held within the frame.

The vessel was covered in dust, and the glass had a spiderweb of fractures running across it, certainly not a credit maker, but there was something about it that made her want to investigate further.

"What do you think this was used for?"

She asked, her voice quiet as she ran her fingers along the edge of the screen.

"I think this's a Television Screen. It'll probably connect to that computer device. I heard about it from the professor."

Elijah joined her, leaning in to get a better look.

He didn't need to define who that "professor" was as they all knew that it was Emir.

"It's too big to carry. Besides it's broken, it might've been worth it otherwise."

Aria sighed in disappointment and continued to browse this section.

"Yeah... It would've been interesting to see how it worked at least."

Elijah nodded at her, then turned his attention back to the rest of the cohort.

Looking around, he found Junior standing before rows of tools and equipment hanging from racks, all rusted and brittle.

He picked up a small, handheld device that looked like it could be some kind of power tool, but when he pressed the trigger, nothing happened.

The battery was long dead.

Throwing it away, he kept moving and picked up what was next to it.

It was another small, handheld device that looked like a scanner of some kind.

The label read, {Multi-Spectrum Analyzer.}

He pressed a button on the side, and to his surprise, the screen flickered to life, displaying a series of reads.

Junior quickly turned it off and placed it in his rucksack, continuing his search for anything that might get them credits.

Aria and him were like kids in a candy store. They picked up item after item, marveling at the strange gadgets and devices they found, then quickly shoving them in their rucksacks.

Elijah watched over them, while doing the same, though he was more cautious, carefully inspecting each item before deciding whether to take it or not.

Meanwhile, throughout all of that, Quinn went back to the entrance and stayed, keeping an eye on the hallway.

She didn't want to get too caught up in exploration.

Her mind was focused on the test. On making sure that she stood out from the rest. On guaranteeing that she would no longer be the last ranked student.

But as they took longer and longer, her curiosity bested her.

She proceeded to check out one of the small-screen projectors near her.

Quinn activated it by pressing a button on its side, and a flickering image appeared where the device pointed.

It showed a family-parents and two children-laughing together as they sat around a table, enjoying what seemed to be a meal.

The image was grainy, the colors faded with age, but the warmth of the moment was still there, she could see it... feel it.

She watched the scene for a very long moment, a pang of emotion tugging at her.

Envy was burning within her.

A more pure type of envy, quite unlike Arthur's.

Why could they live normally but she couldn't? ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

What had she done to lose her life?

This was a glimpse of something she could never have... It wasn't-

"Quinn."

Elijah cut off her somber thoughts, and she shook her head, calming her emotions.

"What is it?"

At her question, he pointed at his rucksack and stepped outside the shop.

"Let's keep it moving."

Quinn nodded, turned off the projector, and set it back on the table.

They left the shop, stepping back into the dimly lit passageway.

The vibrations from below had increased even more, but again, they didn't pay it any mind, or

at least they tried not to.

But just as they passed a neighboring shop, a sudden presence appeared, making them all

freeze in place.

A man stood before them as if materializing out of thin air.

He was tall and imposing, wearing a white cloak that had a familiar insignia on the chest,

right above where his second heart would be.

Elijah had realized it at once.

While there were a few inconsistencies, like his hair not being white, it was obvious where

this man had come from.

Templar.

"Guys... prepare yourselves. This'll be the hardest fight of our lives."