2 - Awake

*Gasp*

Aaron suddenly woke up with a gasp and a jump. As he sat up and looked around, he found himself in a large, brightly lit, white room, surrounded by other people. The whole area was similar to that of a soccer stadium. Some of the people were awake and trying to figure out what was going on, but most remained unconscious.

"Oh..." A boy close in age to Aaron was sat criss-cross a couple meters from him, "你是中国人吗?" (You're Chinese right?) The boy inquired.

Aaron replied in shock, "eh, 是, 可是我的普通话不好." (Yes but my mandarin isn't good.) This was the only sentence Aaron could say fluently in mandarin.

'I'm so pathetic,' he thought, 'I'm Chinese and have been taking mandarin classes in school for over two years, yet that's practically all I can say with confidence!'

"hm, 我的父母...是中国人," (My parents... are Chinese.) Aaron continued in his broken mandarin, "可是...我在美国...生的." (But... I was born... in America.)

"Oh, you're American, I know some English." The boy extended his hand toward Aaron, "My name is Guangxin Wu, 18 years old. You can call me Guang for short."

"Aaron Li, 17 years old." Aaron gladly shook Guangxin's hand. "Do you know where we are?"

"No, I woke up, looked around, and found you." Guangxin replied, "You were the only other Asian I saw near me."

Aaron took another look around. There were lots of people around, of varying appearances, though it was true that Guangxin and him were the only Asians in their corner.

"How did you get here?" Guangxin asked, "I only remember hearing weird noises I could still understand and my body moving on its own to this ally."

"You too then?!" Aaron cried in shock, "I was on my way home when the same thing happened to me. It was like my body brought me to a shop on its own, and that voice too..."

'I only remember up to going up to that door behind the counter' Aaron thought to himself. 'Anything after is blank, but I know there has to be something that happened between that and now... Ah!'

Aaron reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. The time read 7:12 P.M.

'Hm... I get out of school at 3:30 P.M. I should have gotten to that shop at about 4:30 then, so it's been about two and a half hours since. What's more, my phone isn't picking up a signal.'

More people were beginning to wake up with the same startled expressions.

"Guang, let's take a look around the room." Aaron proposed while getting up.

*Bing* Just as he was about to put on his schoolbag, a sound rang through the whole room.

"-Attention everyone!-" A voice speaking in "gibberish" came through a speaker. "-No need to be alarmed. You are all currently aboard the UFSS Kolfi, a starship. All of you here are the only ones of your species with potential to empower your souls. We have taken you with us because an ancient prophesy has ordered that your seven of you will be able to save our universe!-"

Mumbles could be heard when the announcement ended. Aaron and Guangxin looked at one another with doubtful expressions.

"-The reason you can understand what I am saying, despite it sounding like random noises, is because this is the Universal language.-" The speaker went on once more. "-Any organism, so long as it is sentient, is capable of understanding its meaning. As for what sentient means, it is when an organism has a concept of its own being.-"

Aaron began to buy into it. The story was so far fetched that it made sense.

"-From today on, you will all begin to strengthen your souls to become soldiers that will soon protect our universe. Now get into four groups of 25, these groups will be your dorm assignments for the time you stay on the Kolfi. Once arranged into your rooms, you will be ordered into the meeting hall where we will explain what will happen in detail and answer any questions.-"

Guangxin and Aaron exchanged nods and went to one of the groups starting to form. Low mumbles and whispers lingered in the room. Someone began to shout back at the speaker with nothing in return.

Once all four groups were formed, a door opened from one of the walls and four people walked in, each heading to one group. They were all humanoid, but definitely weren't human. The only similarity among them was their uniforms. A flat top cap, with buttoned jackets, tight trousers, and ankle height boots, all colored a deep black.

"I'm Deleni, lieutenant number three under Major Bulfo."

The black clad person who went to Aaron and Guanxin's group promptly introduced herself with a smile and a bow.