Hunter Academy

Alexandre's eyes snapped open.

He realized his jaw was clenched in a teeth-gritted smile. He was sweating profusely, his heart racing. Even though he could sprint for two hours without his heart rising above 100 BPM, his troubling dream had made him feel like he'd just exerted a superhuman effort. As the pilot announced the landing a few moments later, Alexandre's mind still raced. 

Why'd he just had that dream? It was the first time since he'd become free that Alexandre had dreamt of his father and the events leading up to the Great Wave. Many questions flooded his mind, but one stood above all the others: Why now? Was it because his father had just been executed? 

Ten minutes later, when Alexandre was deplaning with the other passengers, the questions still filled his mind. Nonetheless, Alexandre tried to distract himself by observing his surroundings. Unlike his first arrival at Hunter Island, very few people were at the airport, and most of them were military personnel. Only about a hundred passengers had even been present on the plane itself, in fact.

Then Alexandre noticed a detail which had evaded his notice on his first trip: There were an unusually high number of private jets on the airport, with three currently waiting to take off. This confirmed the general wisdom that all Hunters were incredibly wealthy.

Finally, it was Alexandre's turn in line. He presented his passport and the watch which showed his candidate number.

The US military controlled the customs post, and the soldier on duty closely examined the items he'd just received. Then he said, "Candidate 32,332, Alexandre HautVille, qualified candidate in the Hunter Exam. You may pass." 

Alexandre collected his luggage and got onto the ferry that would take him back to the island containing Hunter's Paradise and the academy. He closed his eyes, feeling the cool sea breeze move across his face and ruffle his hair.

This was it, the beginning of a new life. Alexandre had left New York behind after nine years of planning, and now the moment had come for his crusade of vengeance to begin. Once he was a full Hunter, Alexandre would be able to gain access to all those who'd participated in the Genesis Project, no matter where they might be hiding.

He'd show them no mercy, just as they themselves had shown no mercy to the human lives they'd treated as mere guinea pigs.

Alexandre was still deep in thought when the ferry's horn announced arrival at their destination. The candidates disembarked with their luggage—most of them were carrying much more than Alexandre, as it happened. They were clearly more concerned with their new life being comfortable than Alexandre was.

Unlike the previous arrival for the exam, there were no academy or military personnel waiting this time. Alexandre knew where the academy was from his previous espionage mission, so he immediately set off on a walk along the road which would lead through town and toward the academy. Not all the students were aware of where they needed to go and stayed behind for a few minutes to ask for directions. Others seemed hesitant to take the final steps on this journey, hesitant to leave at least some of their American identity behind.

But Alexandre just walked on, ignoring everyone else, as though he were the only man in the world.

***

An hour later, Alexandre arrived at Hunter Academy. It was an imposing sight in the daylight: a huge castle that wouldn't have been out of place in a fairy tale illustration or a high-budget fantasy film. The building was at least ten hectares in area and nearly 400 meters high, a fortress in every sense of the word.

There were many facilities and sub-buildings inside, according to Alexandre's research. The academy building could reportedly house 2,000 people and included an infirmary, guard houses, maintenance garages, numerous classrooms… The list went on and on.

In addition to the soaring concrete walls, a ten-meter high fence snaked around the entire perimeter, and there were periodic watchtowers within the space in between. Several hundred soldiers stood sentry, alert and watching for any sign of danger.

However, these soldiers weren't Hunter Academy faculty—they wore insignias and uniforms designating them as US Marines. The American government clearly wanted to keep an eye on the Hunter Association's activities. Based on the overwhelming resource expenditure of posting hundreds of soldiers all day, the government must be very scared of the Hunters indeed.

"Perhaps not nearly as afraid as they should be," Alexandre said to himself as he approached. "All your guns combined couldn't stop even the pathetic weaklings who were chasing candidates during that final test… but I suppose if it makes you feel better, by all means spend the taxpayers' money keeping your soldiers on watch all day!" 

Alexandre approached one of the gateway openings in the fence and presented himself to the soldier on duty at the checkpoint.

"Candidate 32,332," said the soldier stiffly, "you may enter. Welcome to Hunter Academy."