Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (3 page)

It was midnight in the training
center. Jason sneaked out of the room after Lucis and Erikon fell asleep. He
ran across dormitory area and headed to the library. It was dark and deadly
quiet. Jason checked surrounding carefully and only saw several robots sweeping
the floor. Soon he got to the library and climbed into the ventilation system
through a vent on the ceiling. After running thirty minutes in the shaft and
climbing up two floors, he crawled into Glycan’s library through a vent on the
wall.

Starlight
passed through huge windows on one side of the library and showered half of the
room in silver. On the other side where it was dark, there were more than
thirty small cubicles. Jason rushed into one cubicle and sat down in front of
the table. Then he inserted the crystal his father gave him into the slot on
the table. A beam of light shot through the crystal and casted a halo on
Jason’s forehead.

“Search for
dark energy.” Jason whispered in Glycanese.

Within
seconds, words and images popped up directly in his brain.

“Dark
energy had three categories based on its source. 1: from decomposition of dark
matter. 2: from the decay of dark elements. 3: from interaction between dark
elements and antimatter.”

“Explain
dark matter.”

“Dark
matter were made from dark elements. There are two categories. 1: Dark matter
formed by light dark elements. 2: Dark matter formed by heavy dark elements.”

“This
will take forever.” Jason sighed and shook his head. He continued the search
with dark elements and lost the track of time. He didn’t stop until he had the
unbearable headache. He leaned back against the chair. Just at this moment, he
heard someone sobbing. At first, Jason thought it was his illusion, because he
doubted anyone would came to Glycan library this late. But when he listened
more carefully, he was certain that someone else was in the library. Jason
slightly opened the door. He peeked outside and saw a girl sitting in the
distant corner. Her wavy blonde hair reached the middle of her back, shining
and glowing. Even though it was dark, Jason could tell it was a Glycan because
of the unique texture of their hair. Glycan’s hair was thin but very tough.
They had to use high energy laser to cut hair.

Jason
slowly exited the cubicle and headed towards the vent. While running, he
couldn’t help but turn back to check the girl. Right at this moment, he hit a
table and slumped on the ground. The noise alerted the girl. She quickly turned
around, stood up and dashed to Jason. As she was closing to Jason, her Glycan
uniform transforming into an armor suit. Jason got on his feet swiftly. The
girl stopped about two meters away from Jason. Because of her helmet, Jason
could only see her eyes. They were like autumn sky. 

“A
second species. How did you get here?” The Glycan girl shouted angrily.

“You
don’t need to remind me I am a second species.” Jason said easily as he glanced
back at the vent.

“Answer
the question!” The Glycan girl said firmly.

“Well,
you see, behind you.” Jason said as he darted to the vent. But he didn’t fool
her. She caught up with him, reaching out to grab his shoulder. Jason heard her
coming behind him. He quickly turned around throwing a punch at her.

“Bam!”
Jason’s right fist hit the chest armor.

The girl
backed off a little bit and swiftly regained her balance. She returned a kick
aiming at Jason’s chest. Jason leaned back and dodged the kick. His right fist
hurt like hell. The armor was very hard.

“Look! I
don’t want to hurt you.” Jason said slowly as he fondled his right fist.

“Who is
hurting right now?” The girl said as she pointed at Jason’s fist, her armor
glowing in yellow.

“You ask
for it.” Jason shouted as he dashed at her. He dodged her punches and caught
her on the waist. The girl hammered his back with her fists, but Jason didn’t
let it go. He kept pushing her backwards and they both fell over. Jason was on
the top, holding her arms and pressing them against the girl.

“Clank.”
A dagger busted out of her right fist. It almost cut into Jason’s face.

“That
was close.” Jason said angrily.

The girl
pushed the dagger towards Jason’s neck, its blade shining in red. Jason held
off the dagger. Slowly, he overpowered the girl and directed the dagger to the
girl’s neck. The girl turned her head away as the blade was getting closer and
closer.

“Are we
done?” Jason asked just before the blade touched the neck armor.

The girl
stared at Jason furiously without uttering a sound.

“OK,
taste your own blade.” Jason said as he pushed the blade further. The tip of
the blade cut into the neck armor, striking out sparks.

“Yes.
Yes. We are done.” The girl yelled desperately.

“What?”
Jason asked with a grin.

“We are
done.” The girl shouted in a begging tone as her helmet disappeared.

Now
Jason was able to see her clearly. She had a heart-shaped face with soft lips
and crystal blue eyes on silk like white skin. Jason couldn’t take his eyes off
her. Then he smelled the aroma from her body. It was rich and strong. He felt
like laying in a garden filled with blooming flowers.

“Get off
me! You second species!” The girl yelled.

“I told
you. You don’t need to remind me of that! Remember who is in control here.”
Jason pushed the dagger closer, touching the armor again.

The girl
stayed still and didn’t say another word. Jason gazed at her face and noticed
the dried tracks of tears. He recalled she was crying earlier.

“If I
let you go, you don’t say a word about what happened here.” Jason said in a
hard voice.

“We will
see.” The girl didn’t give in.

Jason
knew he would be dead if what happened tonight went public. He wasn’t the first
one sneaking around. Two trainees from second class species were killed because
of trespassing before. That aside, fighting with a Glycan would surely make him
famous in the most unwanted way. As Jason was thinking repercussions, he
noticed the necklace the girl was wearing. He quickly restrained her two arms.
The girl was frightened and struggled to free herself. However, Jason held her
nice and tight. All of a sudden, he grasped the necklace and then pulled it off
her neck.

“No! No!
Please give it to me.” The girl begged.

Jason
stood up leisurely with the necklace in hand.

“Please
give it to me. Please.”

“We will
see. If you say anything, you will never get it back.” Jason said casually as
he put the necklace into his pocket. Then he ran to the vent.

“You...”
The girl shouted as she struggled on her feet. Jason disappeared into the vent.

“What took you this long?”
Erikon said as Jason joined them in the morning class.

“Are you
alright?” Lucis asked.

“I am
fine. Just a little sleepy. You know, try to get more sleep after you guys got
up.” Jason said tiredly as he sat down. When he got back to the dorm, it was
almost morning. He only slept two hours.

“Tell
you what, the exam is coming.” Lucis said seriously.

“Oh,
man, why you bring this up?” Erikon sighed.

Jason
was about to ask something but he stopped as the teacher, a Dolanz named
Sistyen, walked into the room. Sistyen looked around at the class. There were
five study groups in the room and each group had seven students.

“Attention.”
Sistyen said loudly.

Hearing
this, every student stood on their feet and saluted Sistyen.

“Sit.
Last time we finished the chapter, First Universe War (UWI). Today we will
start a new chapter, Second Universe War (UWII). Please put on your neuro
projector.” Sistyen said slowly.

In the
training center, every trainee had a watch which functioned as communicator and
information projector. The watch came with a sticker on its back. When trainees
attached the sticker on the forehead, they could read information directly in
the brain. Teachers like Sistyen really liked this information delivery system.
Because even if some trainees didn’t like the contents, they still saw it in
the brain unless they removed the sticker.

“Let’s
get started.” Sistyen said as he pressed the controller and sent the class
material to everyone.

“The
Second Universe War (UWII) happened 121 years ago and raged 37 years. The war
resulted in the loss of 21 billion lives which included the extinction of three
intelligent species, destructions of 32 planets and unmeasurable property
damages. All known species were involved in UWII. At the early stage of the
war…”

Jason
was tired. He couldn’t go on anymore. He felt like his brain was going to
explode if he continue to have information poured into his brain. While peeking
at Sistyen, he covered his forehead with one hand and removed the sticker. Then
he took out the necklace from his chest pocket. It had a dark blue crystal in
the middle of the yellow color shining chain. The crystal had flat surfaces and
sharp edges. Given its color, it must come from a very old Glycan.

“What is
this?” Jason asked himself as he gazed at the crystal. He was so focused on it
that he didn’t notice Sistyen had been standing next to him for several
seconds.

“Got
you.” Sistyen shouted as he grabbed the necklace.

Caught
off guard, Jason was shocked.

“Come to
my office after class.” Sistyen said coldly as he headed to the front of the
room.

Jason
let out a quiet sigh.

After 40
minutes, class was over.

“Jason,
we need to talk about the paper.” Sayilin shouted to Jason.

“Sorry,
man, I need to go to Sistyen’s office.” Jason said and shrugged his shoulder.

“I saw
that. Man, you just don’t follow the rule, do you?” Sayilin said ironically.

“See you
later.” Jason said hastily as he headed out.

On the
way to Systyen’s office, Jason was pondering how to explain his possession of
the necklace. Soon he arrived at the door of Systyen’s office which was on the
second floor of the academic training complex. Jason took a deep breath and
then pressed the doorbell button. He knew Sistyen could see him from the other
side.

“Swoosh.”
The door slid open.

Jason
walked in and saw Sistyen sitting in a chair and holding the necklace.

“Jason
Marton.” Sistyen said with a straight face.

“Yes,
sir.” Jason said as he saluted him.

“Where
did you get this?” Sistyen asked as he played with the necklace.

“It was
from a friend.”

“You
have a Glycan friend?”

“Yea,
but not really a very close one.” Jason said easily.

“What is
the name of your friend?”

“That is
private.”

“Huh, do
you even know what this is?” Sistyen said in a disdainful voice.

“It is a
necklace.” Jason replied calmly.

“All
right. Whatever. You want it the hard way. That is fine with me. Originally, I
planned to give it back to you. But you are not telling me the truth. I will
keep it until you change your mind. Dismiss.” Sistyen said coldly and motioned
Jason to leave.

Jason
left the room. He wasn’t really worried about it, even though he kind of felt
bad for the Glycan girl.

Later Jason joined the study
group to discuss what he got from Glycan’s library. The other six members were
very impressed. Titainein even questioned whether he had a Glycan friend. Jason
joked about the source and others just let it be. At the end of the meeting,
they decided that Jason should get more materials for the paper.

At
night, Jason sneaked out and headed to Glycan’s library as usual. But this time,
he smelled a familiar aroma just before he entered the library through the
vent. While he was thinking about it, he noticed a shadow in front of the vent.
All of a sudden, he recalled that the aroma was from the girl. Jason smiled
quietly as he slowly took off his uniform. Then he threw the uniform out of the
shaft and sprinted out of the vent. The girl hit the uniform and Jason just
missed it.

“Nice
try.” Jason said happily as he stood up on his feet.

“Give me
the necklace.” The girl said decisively.

“You
want to do this again? Really?” Jason giggled.

“Give it
to me.” The girl said as she flashed the dagger.

“Come
and get it.” Jason said in a hard voice.

The girl
thrust the dagger at Jason’s chest. Jason shifted to the right and caught her
arm. As he was pulling the arm, he extended his foot to kick her belly. To
dodge the kick, the girl lost her balance. Jason threw her forward, but the
girl didn’t fall over. She stumbled several steps, turned around and swung the
dagger to Jason’s head. Jason stepped back and knocked on the edge of a table.
The girl darted to him, thrusting the dagger at his head. Jason hauled out a
chair and threw it to the girl as he ran forward.

“Clack.”
The girl slashed the chair in half. But the distance between her and Jason was
too close for her to take another swipe. Sliding on the floor, Jason seized the
girl’s feet, his legs clasping them like pliers. He pulled his leg, dragged the
girl on the floor and twisted her feet, making her face the floor. Then Jason
jumped on her back, holding her arms on each side of her body. The girl kicked
the floor with her feet, but Jason was too heavy for her. Now the girl was
completely trapped, her front armors pressing hard against the floor.

“Do we
need to do this every time?” Jason asked easily.

“Let me
go.” The girl yelled. Even though Jason didn’t hear her clearly, he could tell
what she wanted. He got up and freed her hands. The girl turned around slowly
and sat up.

“You
want to try again?” Jason asked coldly.

The girl
didn’t say anything, her armor transforming back to clothes. She was wearing a
white suit, accompanied by white shoes. There was a Glycan family badge on her
right chest.

Jason
remembered reading something about Glycan family badge. He knew every Glycan
had one and the one the girl was wearing had the flame like decoration.

“So you
are from family G. What’s your name?” Jason said kindly.

“Please
give back the necklace.” The girl said, her voice shaking.

“Tell me
your name, please.”

“Gloria.”

“Gloria,
nice to meet you.” Jason said nicely.

“Please
give it back to me. I won’t say anything.” Gloria said.

“I don’t
have it with me right now.” Jason sighed. He really hoped a beautiful girl like
her would like him. But given what they had gone through, it would never
happen.

They
fell into silence for several seconds.

“I
promise you I will give it back to you. Please trust me!. Now if you excuse me,
I need to check some information for my homework.” Jason said firmly. He went
to a small cubicle and started working. Jason knew the girl was standing
outside, so he kept the door open.

“That
crystal you have can only give you very limited access.” Gloria said as she
stood behind Jason.

“Is that
right?” Jason asked as he turned around.

“All
Glycans can generate crystals in their bodies. Some crystals take much longer
to form, which make them more valuable. Yours are the lowest level.” Gloria
said.

“OK.
Then next time I will ask my Glycan friend to give me some better ones.” Jason
said ironically.

“That won’t
work. Even if that Glycan gave you his best crystal, you still have the limited
access.” Gloria explained.

“What is
your point?” Jason asked impatiently.

“Nothing.”

“If you
can’t help, you are wasting my time. And please don’t say stuff like that, nobody
likes it.” Jason said unhappily.

“I am
not trying to make you like me.” Gloria said in a hard voice.

“That is
fine. I am not going to like you anyway. You know what? I can tell nobody likes
you.”

“Really?
Amazing! How do you know that?” Gloria asked in a provocative tone.

“At
least I know you don’t have any friend. If you do, I won’t win this time.”
Jason said calmly. Gloria gave Jason an angry stare and stormed off.

“I
shouldn’t say that.” Jason sighed.