Newton stood still for a moment, breathing hard.
His arms were still trembling from the climb. Sweat rolled down the side of his face and dropped onto the stone floor. Around him the courtyard had turned into a scene of chaos.
Students screamed.
Some lay on the ground clutching broken limbs. Others rolled on the floor groaning in pain. A boy nearby tried to stand but collapsed again immediately, his leg twisted at an unnatural angle.
Newton swallowed.
The sound of metal footsteps approached.
Robots moved in and out of the courtyard with cold efficiency. Their silver bodies reflected the evening light as they lifted injured students onto stretchers.
One robot passed directly in front of Newton.
On the stretcher lay Andy.
Newton's eyes widened.
Andy's face was pale. His body shook violently as he screamed, his voice cracking with pain.
"My leg! My leg!"
One of the robots held his broken limb steady while the other pushed the stretcher toward the clinic doors.
Newton felt a knot tighten in his chest.
"My friends," he thought.
His eyes began searching the courtyard frantically.
He scanned the floor first.
Then the walls.
Students were still climbing down, some carefully, others desperately trying to reach the ground before the timer ended.
Newton spotted Stella first.
She was halfway down the wall.
Her movements were careful, almost mechanical. One hand lowered slowly, gripping the surface. Then the other followed.
Her face was tight with concentration.
A few meters away Samuel was descending as well, though less gracefully. His elbow scraped against the wall as he moved.
Newton stepped closer to the wall.
"Come on," he whispered under his breath.
Stella dropped the final few feet and landed on the ground with a soft thud.
Almost at the same moment Samuel fell the last distance beside her, stumbling slightly as his feet touched the floor.
They both immediately looked at their blue screens.
Stella's eyes widened.
TIME REMAINING: FIVE SECONDS.
For half a second she stared at the number.
Then she jumped.
Her hands shot into the air.
"Yes!"
Her shout rang across the courtyard.
Newton ran toward her without thinking.
He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a quick hug.
"We did it," he said, breathless.
Stella laughed, still panting from the climb.
"Yeah."
Samuel limped over toward them, rubbing his elbow.
The skin around it had turned red and swollen, but he was grinning widely.
"At some point," Samuel said, pointing at Newton, "I had to copy you."
Newton blinked.
Samuel shook his head in amazement.
"You are a genius man."
Newton opened his mouth to respond but Stella spoke first.
"Same here," she said.
She brushed some dust off her hands and looked at Newton with sharp curiosity.
"I knew you were going to solve it," she continued. "So I just looked up to you and copied your move."
Newton smiled.
But he said nothing.
He did not tell them the truth.
He did not tell them he had copied the technique from Maxwell.
The self-acclaimed king.
The irony made his smile twitch slightly.
Before anyone could say more, the blue screen flashed again.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION.
All three of them looked up immediately.
TASK COMPLETED.
YOU HAVE RECEIVED TWO CPD POINT.
TOTAL CPD: THREE.
Newton exhaled slowly.
Three.
The number glowed faintly in front of him.
He knew exactly what it meant.
He needed fifteen CPD points to proceed to level two.
Three down.
Thirteen more to go.
The realization settled into his mind like a quiet fire.
"I'll get there," he murmured under his breath.
Around them the courtyard continued buzzing with activity. Robots carried more injured students away. Some survivors sat on the ground catching their breath, staring at their screens with exhausted relief.
Night gradually spread across the academy.
Eventually Newton, Stella, and Samuel began walking back toward the dormitory.
Their steps were slower now.
The adrenaline had faded.
Fatigue settled into their bones.
By the time they reached the hallway leading to their rooms, the academy had grown strangely quiet.
Most students were already inside.
Newton opened the door to his room.
Samuel and Brandom followed him in.
They barely spoke.
The day had drained them.
Meanwhile, in another room down the corridor, Brian sat on the edge of his bed.
His elbows rested on his knees.
Theo stood near the window staring out into the darkness.
Neither of them had spoken for several minutes.
Both had failed the wall climb.
Neither had reached the roof.
Neither had earned the CPD points.
Yet that failure was not what weighed on their minds.
Brian finally broke the silence.
"Are you still going to remain loyal to him?"
Theo turned slowly.
He didn't need to ask who Brian meant.
"Maxwell," Theo said quietly.
Brian rubbed his chin, thinking.
"If he regains control," Brian replied slowly, "why not?"
He leaned back against the wall.
"But if he doesn't…" he continued.
Brian shrugged.
"Why should I remain loyal to him?"
Theo's eyebrows furrowed.
His gaze sharpened.
"Why can't we support Stella and the rest of the students we came with?"
Brian lifted his head and sat up straighter.
His expression hardened.
"Use your head," he said calmly. "Not your heart."
Theo remained silent.
Brian leaned forward slightly.
"Stella wants freedom for all."
His fingers tapped lightly against his knee.
"And freedom means equality."
Theo frowned.
"And when there is equality," Brian continued slowly, "there is no king."
He paused.
"No king means no hierarchy."
His eyes locked onto Theo's.
"And no hierarchy means no respect."
The words hung heavily in the room.
Brian held his gaze.
"And you know something else."
He leaned even closer.
"You and I are not built for that kind of world."
Theo stared at him for several seconds.
Then he nodded slowly.
The logic was uncomfortable.
But he understood it.
Outside their room the academy slowly drifted into sleep.
Lights dimmed across the corridors.
Doors closed one after another.
Exhausted students collapsed onto their beds.
But not everyone slept.
Inside his room Maxwell sat alone.
His back rested against the wall.
His eyes remained open.
The faint blue glow of the system screen reflected in them.
Hours passed.
He never moved.
His mind replayed the scene from the restaurant again and again.
Stella standing before him.
Students leaving his side.
The shock on their faces.
The humiliation.
His jaw tightened.
His fingers curled slowly into fists.
"That girl…" he muttered quietly.
"She is a pain in my ass."
The words came out cold.
He leaned forward slightly.
The darkness around him seemed to thicken.
"I need to kill her."
His eyes hardened.
"That way," he whispered, almost to himself, "others will fear."
A slow smile crept across his face.
"And bend their knees."