-Chapter 3-

Arrival

By the time Jared had got to the train platform it was 8:55, now only 35 minutes until his test. The platform itself was filled with students, all waiting to get to their respective classes and all dreading the tests that were ahead of them. Sheets of paper were being scanned vigorously, phone screens were being scrolled through at a dizzying pace, all in an effort for some last minute studying. This was what the whole school had looked like the past week, every student trying their hardest to fight against the endless onslaught of final tests, assignments, and projects. Jared squeezed through the crowd of people until he found a spot with enough standing room, he quickly glanced at a wall mounted screen which displayed the arrival and departure times of each cart, Engineering still has 5 minutes Jared thought. He quickly joined in with the others, withdrawing his own paper that he had written the night before. The paper was a jumbled mess, even with the lines that separated each section, if anyone besides Jared had tried to use the paper, they would be left dumbfounded for several minutes. Jared, however, had devised a system within his head on how to read it, which took more time to develop than the paper itself; he quickly began to pore over the paper to keep the information fresh in his mind.

Before he knew it, the train pulled into the station. Calling it a train was generous as it was simply three small carts linked together by a flimsy piece of coupling. Each cart could only hold about 10 people and did not move very quickly at all.

"Station three is departing for Engineering." a monotone female voice called out.

Jared quickly gathered his things and made his way to the second cart, just managing to squeeze himself in. He was not able to find himself a seat, but Jared preferred to stand as it meant a quick exit once the train arrived into the station. After a few seconds of stillness, the car lurched forward with a heavy "cachunk!" and the train began a slow build up of speed. The campus of the college Jared went to was spread out, having three distinct sections: downtown, engineering, and health science, each requiring a train ride to get between quickly. Jared lived on the downtown campus but most of his classes were on the engineering campus, which required many rides between each, it quickly became tiring.

While the train was plugging along the tracks toward the Engineering campus, Jared decided that instead of studying, he'd partake in an activity he thoroughly enjoyed, people watching. Looking between each individual in the train car, Jared enjoyed imagining what they were like. He saw a female student who was wearing a gray pantsuit, her blonde hair tightly tied in a ponytail behind her head; Probably giving a business presentation. But then why is she going to Engineering? Oh, maybe she's actually returning from the presentation, I wonder what it was about. Across from her was a male student, he was listening to music while glancing solemnly out the window behind him, he had several pencils poking out of his pocket as well as a piece of paper in his hands; Might be heading to the same test as me, doesn't look too prepared though, there's barely anything on the paper, maybe he's that confident? No, he doesn't look too happy so he's probably already accepted he won't do well on this test. Jared suddenly pulled the paper out of his pocket and started studying it, he didn't want to end up like that student.

After several minutes, the train began to slow as it pulled into the station.

"Now arriving at Engineering, please depart the cart carefully." the monotone voice chimed in the cart.

Jared was able to exit quickly thanks to standing and hurriedly made his way out of the train platform. As he was walking he glanced down at his watch, 9:15, only 15 minutes till the test. Jared had made the walk to the classroom many times over the year and knew, from the station, it was about a 10 minute walk. He slowed down his pace and reassured himself he would make it on time. He walked along a sidewalk that was surrounded by many different buildings, each housing their own department: Mineral resources, Agricultural sciences, Advanced engineering resources, and many more. Each building had wildly different architecture, making it clear that they were constructed over many years. Some were sleek, office type buildings with many windows, and some were brick and mortar buildings, there were more of the latter showing the college's age. Jared hadn't been in half of these buildings which left him wondering what the inside of them looked like. He always thought about the labs in each building more than anything, what kind of equipment the students got to use and what the general work consisted of, he always enjoyed more hands-on labs than anything.

Finally, Jared had reached the building his classroom was in, this was one of the older, brick ones. As soon as he entered, he was greeted by a large atrium which at the moment was filled with students. On each side were gray brick walls, decorated with banners and posters, each showing wildly different versions of college life, while in front of him was a large wall made entirely of glass which gave a view to the rest of the campus which housed many more buildings with students darting between each one. Jared always admired the view when he walked in, especially on days where the sky was crystal blue, like it was today. Jared checked the time, 9:26, he had made it a little later than expected. Jared made his way through the others, all of whom were waiting for the testing room doors to open, to the back of the room, where the giant portal to the outside world waited. He felt he had studied enough, he wanted to take in the view, one last time before he was done working in this building for good.

Jared's gaze was immediately drawn to the sterling blue sky, as not a cloud dared to cross its imposing yet sublime form. 9:27. Looking down from the endless blue, he saw a myriad of students all making their way to various testing locations, all determined in their own right, either to pass the test they were taking or to get the day over with.. 9:28. The noise that emanated from the crowd behind Jared slowly began to fade, as more and more prepared for the assessment that awaited them. 9:29. Jared closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the air creep down his throat and filling his lungs; he exhaled, letting the anxiousness he felt within depart with the air. He was ready, for whatever the world had for him. 9:30.

Jared opened his eyes and heard a booming crash above him, he quickly looked at the once clear sky to see a ginormous round, black, disk blocking the sun. Suddenly more started to appear, each accompanied by its own equally deafening sound. After several seconds, there appeared to be thousands covering the sky. The room was deadly quiet as the sounds rang from above, everyone, including Jared, did not know how to process what was happening. One more second past as one of the objects had appeared above the building they occupied and a bright, emerald cone of light descended from it and encompassed the building. The building slowly started to come apart brick by brick and lazily floated upwards to the large object, and the students went along with them. Everyone knew what was happening now as they felt themselves being lifted upward, it was clear, they were being abducted.