1 Chapter 1.1 - Vivienne

September 23rd 23XX,

05:59

The day had come.

The sound of Vivienne's alarm clock echoed against the somber grey walls of her bedroom. The high-pitched whines blared three times, and then were quickly replaced by a jazzy radio tune from her favourite playlist. The edge of the duvet caught against her fingernails as she stretched and opened her eyes, blinking slowly to let her pupils adjust to the yellow automated lights reflecting off onto the plain white walls and ceiling. Her brother had set up the SMART system of the apartment so that the bulbs turned on promptly at 5:59 a.m., a whole minute before her alarm rang out.

It was early. Vivienne gave herself a minute to breathe in the artificially cycled and sterilized air, and then she sat up in preparation for the day. Although the dawn-lights were on, the curtains were drawn over the glass window and the early hour meant that the sun had barely risen above the horizon of skyscrapers and hover-street lanes. The morning exercises that her mother had drilled into her head took 35 minutes to complete, though she added an extra 3 minutes of mountain-climbing steps for a confidence boost. She was going to need it after all.

With a light sweat cooling on my brow, she picked up her towel and headed for the bathroom. The carpet beneath her feet was devoid of dust and dirt, courtesy of the tiny vacuum robot buzzing away in the corner. Electric blue LEDs flashed away on the integrated touchpad, indicating that it was finished with its cleaning sub-routine and was now waiting for future orders or for an unwary speck of grime. Vivienne spared a few seconds to pat it gently, brushing her fingers against the snow-white chassis, before stepping into the shower.

The tropical scent of ylang-ylang and bergamot quickly filled the small space, infusing the steam with their vibrant aroma. Magazines claimed that these scents boosted feminine energy and were once considered aphrodisiacs during the previous millennium when they were used to increase sensuality. Although Vivienne didn't believe one iota of that, the yellow flowers of the Cananga tree had been found to increase positive self-perception and reduce anxiety when absorbed through the skin or via the olfactory system. Therefore, she made sure to wash every inch of herself thoroughly, even tacking on an extra 5 minutes to her strict morning schedule to massage the pads of her fingers deep into her scalp.

Her school uniform hung on her wardrobe door, freshly steam-pressed and ironed for the first day of the winter semester. Although summer had just barely ended, all students of the academy were required to switch their clothes to the long-sleeved shirts as soon as the September term began. The high peter-pan collar wrapped gracefully around her delicate neck, held neatly by the azure blue tie that hung just short of her waist. The pleated black skirt stopped right above her knees, bordered by a broad stripe the same colour as the tie. Finally, Vivienne slipped on her leggings and the academy-regulated flat-soled pumps that every girl was expected to wear. Once she was fully dressed, Vivienne patted the front of her pinafore free of imaginary dust, and then studied herself in the full-length mirror.

A dark-skinned woman stared back from within the glass. Her long black hair was tied up in a strict ponytail and the front strands were held in place with a few scoops of hair-gel and a plain white clip, leaving the tail to flow down her back in absolutely symmetrical tight rings. Silver-grey eyes scanned the picture that she made, ensuring that everything was perfectly in place.

Curls neat? Check.

Uniform clean? Check.

Books and materials packed? Check.

The house was as silent as a tomb when Vivienne stepped out of the bedroom, although that wasn't an uncommon occurrence. It would have been more surprising if someone else had been home with her at all. The motion detector and heat system registered her presence and the wall-mounted flat-screen television flickered on as she walked past the living room, indicating the weather for the day along with a rolling news feed of the most important happenings in the Federation. At the side were a few trashy headlines that always managed to make it through the curated feed. In the kitchen, Vivienne found a blue sticky note glued to one of the cabinets.

Gone to work early. Bought your favourites. Take care.

The handwriting was rushed and sloppy. Despite the dearth of words, some of them were barely legible at all. Honestly, what was even the point of telling me this? She grumbled silently as she crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the trash bin in the corner. The rolled-up ball fell straight into the open mouth, not even grazing the nearby counter or bouncing once. Skipping breakfast isn't a big deal, and lunch is covered as part of my scholarship.

Still, she pulled open the cabinet door and selected two of the Lo-Bars that her older brother had stashed there. The taste of artificial lemon and strawberry burst on her tongue and glued itself to the back of her teeth. Stashing one away for later, Vivienne chewed robotically while her eyes watched the seconds tick by on the television digital clock. The time was now 7:15 a.m. The bus would arrive in a quarter of an hour. Vivienne took another bite of her breakfast and thought about what she was going to do that day.

Today was the first day of her last year at the Andromeda Academy. Today was the day that she would declare her honest intentions to him. The only man who could fulfil her desire the way no one else would dare. The only man that she respected in their whole year – no, in the whole academy. The only man with more than enough power to flatten every other challenger in the running.

Dmitri Kosolov.

Today, you will be mine.

Andromeda Academy, a shining beacon and the pride of the Earth Federation. Although the school itself was relatively new, the land on which it had been built held centuries of history that mapped out humanity's steady exploration of space from the very beginning. Like a baby bird learning to flex its wings and soar, first from their own solar system to the distant galaxies, and then to stars a thousand light years away. Slowly, step-by-step, humanity had forged their way to the stars. Earth had come to learn a great deal about the universe. Almost every major spacefaring innovation could be traced back to those learned scientists that had first discovered Element Q all those years ago.

During the bus ride, Vivienne pulled out her phone. Partly to check her class schedule for the day, but specifically to note what classes she would be sharing with Dmitri. Although the two of them were in different tracks – she was a member of the Pilot Track while he was training to become a ship Captain – there were still core classes that all students were required to pass in order to graduate properly, along with one or two elective courses that were optional.

Vivienne selected a highlighter from the simple scheduling application and colour-coded the compulsory classes: History of First Contact During the 22nd Century, Eastern Federation Law and Ethics, Planetary Wilderness Survival, and Intermediate Military Combat which she was taking alongside Advanced Firearm Training. That gave her at least two chances today, and four this week to speak to the man himself.

Engrossed as she was in her thoughts, she still heard the whispers of her name from behind her back. Even without her well-trained abilities, the people speaking weren't doing a very good job of staying quiet.

"Oh my god. Hey, isn't that Vivienne LeClaire?"

"What? No! Ugh, seeing her this early in the day feels like bad luck. Is it too late to hop off and wait for the second bus?"

"Tell me about it. I wonder what she's doing slumming it with the rest of us."

"Yeah, aren't her parents like, super famous?" Someone responded, and Vivienne forced herself to keep still in case her body decided to flinch all on its own. "What's the Ice Bitch of the academy always doing here anyway?"

"Maybe she just likes rubbing it in our faces," another girl replied, and her voice was carelessly loud, clearly inviting other people to hear their conversation. She was clearly the leader of the small group, with long walnut brown hair tied up into a fancy half-updo. "I mean, look at her. Dressed to the nines in the winter uniform and the pilot badge? Hello, it's still like 27 degrees outside. No one even follows that stupid uniform rule anyway except the golden girl of the school. Honestly, she's such a huge snob."

"Aren't her grades like, super high?" Someone else pointed out nervously.

"So what?" The brunette snapped back. "Grades aren't everything! I'm only like a couple of ranks below her, but you don't see me bragging about my scores and rubbing it in everyone's faces! It's like she thinks she's better than all of us just because her mother works for the Cassiopeia company."

Vivienne kept her eyes on her phone, thumbing through her afternoon shopping list while she idly wondered what track the other girl was enrolled in. Not Pilot, Vivienne would have recognized her after two years of seeing nearly the exact same faces day in and day out. Perhaps Medic? It tended to attract the high achievers and spit them out twice as neurotic and with half the tact. Regardless, the confident way that the other girl spoke of her made Vivienne wonder if the two of them had taken a class together at some point. At this point, Vivienne was no stranger to rumours and insults, but they'd never sounded this strangely personal. Had she offended someone at some point to cause this level of vitriol?

Maybe she's from one of my previous elective courses?

After mulling over the notion for a few seconds, Vivienne finally raised her head and looked straight at the other girl, causing her to flinch in surprise as their eyes inadvertently met from across the row of seats. The whispers went dead silent, and the only sound came from the grind of fine gravel beneath the bus wheels and the whisper of passengers too far away or too absorbed in their own lives to care about the details of someone else's petty personal issues.

The eyes of the surrounding spectators darted between the two as if waiting for something to happen.

Eventually the girl gritted her teeth and snapped, "well? Do you have something to say to me?"

Pushing back a lock of her hair, Vivienne cocked her head to the side and honestly asked, "…who are you?"

The girl reeled back as though she had been shot point-blank, which seemed a tad dramatic to Vivienne. It was an honest question after all, and the logical first step in determining if she knew who her challenger was. Yet as her eyes glanced around the bus at the frowning faces and her ears heard the low, disapproving murmurs travelling through the enclosed space, Vivienne sensed that she had made a misstep.

One of the other girls stepped forward, and Vivienne noted that her uniform was not within regulation. Her skirt was several inches too short, and her hair accessories were pink and purple instead of the mandated blue and/or white examples that were clearly described in the rulebooks. "This is Aveline Byron!" She snapped. "One of the best Navigators of the academy and a complete shoo-in for the USS Oberon!"

Aveline Byron? Ah, it clicked now. Aveline, an A-Class energy student from the Spatial Navigator Track. The two had shared an elective class last semester: Core Energy Mechanics and Management. In fact, if Vivienne was recalling correctly, Aveline's grades had only been second to her own overall. Interesting, and if she was gunning for a Royal-Class line spaceship then she had to be a hard worker at least.

Vivienne nodded with new understanding; recognition audible in her tone. "Yes, I remember you now. Your final essay on biohazard identification and disposal was incredibly insightful, but you missed several obvious points regarding the catalyzation of waste materials due to improper storage of Q-lithium batteries, hence the loss of overall points."

"Th-That's an obvious aspect of waste disposal!" Aveline snarled. "Besides, Q-L batteries don't produce volatile waste material anyway, that's why we use them!"

"That's wrong. Trace amounts of lithium react with the air to produce lithium oxide and hydroxide, which produce dangerous radiation when combined with any leftover Element Q," Vivienne replied dispassionately. "Hence why a total vacuum is necessary during separation and disposal of the components. As someone from the Navigator Track, you ought to at least be aware of this even if you lack awareness of the specific chemical transformations."

Aveline's mouth flapped open and shut, reminding Vivienne of a little baby bird waiting for a worm or fly to land in it. She didn't think that she was smiling, but perhaps some minute twitch of her face incensed Aveline. Her hands drew into tight fists that sparked faintly with biotic energy, and she burst out. "You are such a fucking cheat! How would you know something like that, huh? Get that information from your mommy?"

"Hmph, how unfair."

"I can't believe we have to compete with someone like her."

"And the teachers really judge us for stuff we can't know? Maybe I should talk to my career counselor…"

The bus driver said nothing to quell the rising voices, and the more the whispers continued, the less Vivienne felt like speaking up. How was she supposed to explain that her mother hadn't told her anything like that because her mother worked with mechas in a completely different department of Cassiopeia Inc? Vivienne herself had only learned this by accident after reading the original published article that first proposed the use of specialized vacuum cells to dispose of dead Q-L batteries so that the leftover Element Q could be re-combined and re-used.

In the end, Vivienne kept silent and let them talk. As long as their rumours didn't disrupt her plans with Dmitri, then it didn't matter at all.