Reunion

In the banquet hall of the 5 star hotel, The Floral Palace, a grand celebration was taking place. It was school reunion of the entire graduating batch of 2018 from First High School.

A sven and handsome looking person was calmly toasting all his fellow students. He was the one who hosted this lavish meet up, the richest, most powerful and also the most attractive student of the batch - Gary Newmann.

He was the young scion of Newmann Industries, a large defense manufacturing industrial giant which was listed among the most profitable companies in the world.

"Today, I'd like to raise a toast to everyone - for memories of high school and future success!" Gary smiled as he raised a glass of wine in appreciation of his friends.

After the toast, the various people are split off and gathered into smaller groups. However, one lonesome person sat alone at the bar. His ordinary clothes seemed to have lost color from frequent wear and wash, his face looked sickly and he was avoided by other students like the plague.

Back in high school, he was one of the cool kids. He excelled at sports and he was academically very bright. In fact legends of the clash between himself and silkpants Gary was a common theme of the gossip during those times.

Unfortunately, this man who went by the name of Will Faraday, fell into hard times. His parents were suddenly detained for spying and the technology firm the Faraday family controlled underwent a hostile take over. The sudden change from rich to poor had turned Will from the popular guy to one of the pariahs.

It didn't help that just before the high school finals, he actually fell terribly ill. Due to the machinations of fate, he failed to give the exam. Soon after all news about him had disappeared.

Today, Will had suddenly appeared at the reunion, a complete shadow of his past self. When people saw that Gary welcomed him with a mocking and winning smile, the others immediately understood who they had to avoid talking to.

"Will! I have been hearing stories about your desperate life as a vagabond. Who would've thought you would end up like this? Fate truly plays a funny game." Gary loudly spoke ensuring no one could not hear him.

Many people shook their head. They used to once admire Will, now they saw this sickly looking poor man and their illusions were broken.

"I guess this is what it means to grow up." Someone thought to themself.

Will nodded to Gary. "Indeed, times have changed." He didn't speak any further, just quietly sitting at the bar, seemingly waiting for someone.

At that moment, three people entered the party. They were the shining stars of today. All three had been admitted to the Galactic Warriors Academy, an elite university for training the best and brightest warriors of the human race.

This was the world of genetically modified humans. Warriors were the elites with the perfect physical constitution and malleable genes that could completely help them transcend human limits and become beyond human.

These three people were Ro, Maya and John. Today, they held the highest status among all the people present! The three calmly walked in in fashionable outfits. They looked extremely ethereal and their body gave out an oppressing feeling.

Anyone who saw them could estimate that they had already had some genetic treatments and could possibly already have superseded the limits of humans.

Gary ignored Will and rushed to greet these three superstars. "Ro, Maya and John! It's a pleasure to have you guys here."

The three politely nodded and soon they were surrounded by many people. At that instant Maya turned a gaze towards a solitary figure with a lonely back sitting at the bar.

She remembered the past where she blindly followed wherever this person had led her to and how she always looked up to him. Today, he was a nobody and their lives couldn't even intersect in the future.

Maya was once bethrowed to Will when they were kids. However, once his family's background collapsed and she got into the warriors academy, her family did not hesitate to annul the agreement and cut all ties.

She sighed and walked towards the solitary figure, before sitting beside him. Will turned to see that it was Maya, nodded and returned to observing his own drink.

"I didn't expect you to end up like this." Maya eventually said when she saw that Will didn't speak to her.

"You and I are destined to go separate ways. I have now transcended human limits, become an elite warrior student while you are destined to remain an ordinary person for the rest of your life." Maya said as she breathed out a turbid breath, as if saying all this was cleaning away the impurities within her body.

"You taught me how to fight. This favor has been heavily weighing on me and affecting my training. I want you to take this back as a token of gratitude." Maya said as she handed Will a sealed bottle which contained some high density energy pills.

Back in school, Maya's family couldn't afford energy pills to supplement their daughter's nutrition and Will would give her his own supplies.

Will saw Maya's actions now and the pupils of his eyes formed deep ripples as he looked at the relief in Maya's eyes as she 'returned' these pills. Even though these pills were of a much higher quality than what Will gave her, when she saw Will's rippling eyes, she suddenly had a feeling like she lost a part of herself.

Will eventually nodded and took the bottle of pills. "Very well, now you no longer owe me anything. We are simply passing strangers as you just explained."

All the eyes were now on the duo that had just been talking. The atmosphere had turned uncomfortably thick. Will quietly and slowly stood up amd walked out of the party under the silent gaze of all other students.

Gary couldn't let such an opportunity pass. "Oh, Will you are leaving so early?"

Will nodded. "I shall take my leave. I am not feeling too well today." After that he left. The solitary back imprinted in the minds of everyone.

Even though everyone avoided him, even though his once big rival mocked him and even though his own ex fiancé made such a terrible excuse to completely cut ties and not owe him anything, Will quietly observed everything calmly like a person detached from reality. He did not display any mental weakness as he quietly left.

The others saw his departing figure had threw short gazes towards Maya, who seemed to be stuck in place. Whatever others thought about her hypocrisy and shamelessness tonight, they kept it to themselves. She was now an elite of the human race.

Will walked out of the building and hailed a cab home. His home, was a small room in a poor residential district. He had been quiet and detached today, but his eyes were clear. His heart thumped very hard as a terrifying pain radiated across his entire body.

In the residential district, Will walked up to his neighbor's apartment. It was the home of middle aged couple with a son who was hoping to become a warrior.

"Young man, what's the matter?" The father asked when he saw Will at the door.

"Isn't your son training to become a warrior? I just obtained this High quality energy pills for free. They will be useful for his training." Will said with a gentle smile.

"Son, how can we take such a precious thing? Doesn't it cost more than five thousand coins for an energy pill?" The middle aged man was stunned.

"Sir, you helped me a lot, even giving me this house on rent for a cheaper rate. This will help your son become a warrior and take you out of this district. Do not reject it." Will handed the bottle of energy pills to the neighbor and then returned to his apartment.

Inside his apartment, Will closed his eyes trying to sense the flow of energy within.

What did it mean to become a warrior? It was a complicated topic with many competing viewpoints. However, there was a general consensus about two things. To become a warrior was to absorb and control the energy of the cosmos. To this end genetic enhancements helped one improve this talent.

As a kid, everyone learns to try and absorb this energy and control it. However, right now Will was sensing the energy he had absorbed since he was a child dissipating slowly and surely since the past few years.

He was like a balloon with a hole pinched into it. Will opened his eyes and sighed. "All the energy I absorbed in my life has dissipated away. Is this really my fate?"

For the past two years, Will had been desperately scrambling searching for all kinds of genetic experts and doctors for a solution to his illness. His urgency was predicated on the fact that once he lost all his energy, he would even begin to lose his vitality as was happening right now.

"The human body absorbs the energy of the cosmos through an intrinsic characteristic called the Life Wheel. In your case, your life wheel seems to have broken. There is no known cure for this and unfortunately, your life span will be shortened tremendously." An extremely famous geneticist told him after prolonged testing.

Will sighed, but his eyes were steady. He wasn't willing. He really wasn't willing to die in this manner. Fate had truly dealt him a disastrous hand, but he was willing to go against fate.

Will thought about his parents. He didn't know what to make out of the accusations against them. They used to be celebrated warriors of the human race, yet suddenly they had turned into traitors.

He looked at the photograph of himself with his parents pinned to the larger collage of photographs on the pin board. Without much though, Will touched the faces of his parents in that photograph, his thoughts slightly chaotic.

However, the moment he touched the photograph, he found something wrong. His hand went right into the image! Shocked, Will rapidly pulled his hand back! He stared at the pin board for a while, before his heart rate began speeding up from excitement.

"Was this the secret that my parents hid? Mom, Dad, just what did you do?" Will thought wildly as he put out his hand once again towards the picture and saw with stunned disbelief as the hand phased right into the photograph.

Through his touch, he found that within the photograph was a very small space, that barely just held what seemed to be a small box. Will carefully pulled out the box from the photograph.

It was a box made of extremely dark blood red colored wood. He was sure from the texture that it was wood and there was no hint of a varnish on it, but the blood red color of the wood was terrorizing. The box had extremely intricate carvings in a script that seemed extremely ancient.

The box seemed to be sealed from all sides and there was no sign of any openings. Will shook the box, but it didn't seem like there was anything inside. He placed the box on the table in front of him and copied down the script onto a piece of paper, then using his terminal to try to reverse search the image.

After an instant, the AI quickly delivered the reply.

"This script is an as yet undeciphered script known as the cuneiform script that was used by the Sumerian Civilization, one of humanity's first formal civilizations evolving from an era of hunting and gathering nomadic lifestyles, on the home planet Earth. The exact historical details about the civilization and its history have been lost during the galactic dark age." The AI explained its findings.

Will looked at the box with immense curiosity. Just what was this blood red box for? Why did his parents hide it in this photograph? He was confused. This object was clearly an ancient artifact from the beginning of human civilization.

Will carefully ran his fingers along the box, trying to find a hidden latch or contraption that would open it. He suspected that may be the Sumerian Language imprinted on this box could provide clues, but he had no way to decipher it.

As he rank his fingers through the cuneiform script, a sharp incision pierced his index finger, causing it to bleed. The blood smeared onto the blood red wood box and was greedily absorbed by the wood.

Suddenly, the box began glowing scarlet as the cuneiform scripts began rearranging themselves, floating around the box like magic spells. The scripts then formed a strip of text that covered the entire box. Will just watched the mysterious box act up with a dumbfounded expression.

Suddenly, a blood colored ray of light struck Will's forehead and the box disappeared. However, Will felt like a hammer struck his skull and he fell unconscious.