Always sunny

by Cockatrice   

With little to look forward to in life, Ray decides to sign up for a research program and university scholarship that will change his life.

March

Ray was fidgeting with the slider of his jacket’s zipper. He looked down the empty hall. One hour after class started, the building was largely empty, especially in the administration section of the university. He was here to apply for a scholarship but the nature of the scholarship made him nervous and the fact that he was all alone made it somehow worse, as if he was the only person in the world who would even consider such an offer.

Finally, the door opened to reveal a man. “Raymond Dawson?”

Ray nodded and got up.

The man smiled and shook Ray’s hand. “Glad to finally meet you in person.” He gestured for Ray to come inside. “Please, have a seat.”

The inside looked like an office. In front of the desk was a single chair, likely for Ray, while at the side of the desk there was another chair, with a woman sitting on it. When Ray approached, she got up to shake his hand and introduce herself. “Ms Beck.”

The man closed the door and sat down behind the desk to join Ray and Ms Beck. “Thank you for coming. I’m Carlos Morales, vice principal of Solberg University and supervisor of the Daedalus Project. We briefly talked via mail.” He gestured to the woman next to him. “And this is Melissa Beck. She is the project’s counselor.”

Ray didn’t know what to say, so he just nodded.

“Before we go into details,” Mr Morales continued, “I would like to ask you how much you already know about the Daedalus Project.”

“Well,” Ray began, “it’s like a science experiment, I guess? Increases physical and mental abilities, but… People turn into inanimate objects after some time.”

“Yes, that’s about the gist of it. But it’s less of a science experiment and more of a long term research project.” Mr Morales pulled out a folder, presenting the different files inside one by one. “We have found a solution to, as you said, increase the physical and mental abilities of the person undergoing the treatment.”

He pointed at a paper that displayed multiple people with a before and after image for each. The image before the procedure showed a regular man, usually on the thin or chubby side while the image after the procedure showed an athletic-looking man in peak body condition with a wide neck, broad chest, and strong legs and arms, someone who wouldn’t at all look out of place on a man’s health magazine cover. Next to the images were scores of various cognitive or mental tests the people took. The scores after the procedure were always near perfect, while the scores before were often all over the place.

“The discovery of this solution was more or less an accident, meaning there are, unfortunately, plenty of gaps in our knowledge,” Mr Morales continued, his voice suddenly more somber than before. “This project has two main purposes. One is to study the process in more detail, testing your physical and mental abilities. For that reason, part of your curriculum will be dictated by the project and may change depending on certain events, such as sports competitions. Most do not allow participants of the Daedalus Project to join, but we are in negotiations with several of them. That will make up roughly half of your subjects. The other half you can choose freely.”

Ray looked up at Mr Morales. “And the second purpose?”

“The second is to find ways to, well, get rid of the side effects.”

“To turn people into superhumans?” Ray asked while looking at the bodies of the men after the procedure.

Mr Morales took a sharp breath. “Well, yes. The solution puts the person into peak condition, which also means that certain health defects are being cured. Imagine a world where people can be at their best, physically and mentally, through a simple injection. That is what we are researching.”

“Would it be available to everyone?”

“The solution is surprisingly cheap to produce. If it was up to me, I’d be giving it out for free.” There was again the somber tone in Mr Morales’ voice. “But first we’ll have to… iron out the kinks, so to speak.”

“I see.”

“Speaking of which,” Mr Morales continued, pointing at a timeline. “About the side effects. There will be one injection at the start of the first year. This injection will trigger the physical and mental transformation. We do have an antidote to stop the decay, but we cannot give it right away.”

“Decay?”

“That is what the process of turning into an object is called,” Mr Morales clarified. “The agent that starts the process begins to decay after a few weeks or months. This decay then leads to the inanimate transformation. The antidote stabilizes this agent, which is why it stops the decay without reverting the physical and mental changes. Unfortunately, it takes almost exactly 48 months for the agent to metabolize into a state to accept the antidote, which is why the scholarship is four years.”

“Is it possible, then, to avoid turning into an object?”

“Theoretically, yes.”

“We have had 58 students joining the project and whose scholarships have already concluded,” Ms Beck chimed in. “Out of those, only three managed to receive the antidote.”

“So, about one in twenty,” Mr Morales added.

“The chance is too low to gamble on it,” Ms Beck said. “When you make a decision, treat the decay as a foregone conclusion. Otherwise, there is a very high chance of regret.”

Ray nodded and thought for a moment. “What kind of objects do the people turn into?”

Mr Morales turned around to pull a ring binder from a shelf and opened it. Inside were pages with photos of both men smiling at the camera as well as an object for each face, side by side. Each entry had a name, a start date and a date labeled ‘PTO Admission’.

“There’s a lot of variety, and we haven’t yet had the same transformation happen twice,” Mr Morales explained as he began flipping through the book. “Even if it was the same object, details such as color or style were different. In general, all objects were somewhere between the size of a shoe or medium-sized furniture, such as a pool table. None of the transformations so far were into objects containing electronics. Weapons, such as guns or blades have also been absent. Other than that, it seems like everything’s fair game. Transformations can either be into a single item or into a set, such as multiple pieces of clothing.”

Suddenly a face appeared in the book that didn’t have an object next to it. Ray pointed at it. “What about that one?”

“That’s Terry.” Mr Morales paused for a second, looking at the image. “He was the first to receive the antidote.”

A shiver ran down Ray’s back. He knew that all these people in the book were now objects, but seeing Terry and imagining him still being around out there brought the fact of all these other people being items lying around on a shelf or in a locker, closer to reality.

“Are there any natural objects? A rock?” Ray asked.

“No. Everything so far has been a manufactured item.”

Ray looked at a guy turned into a shoe. “I don’t recognize these brands.”

“Neither do we,” Mr Morales had to admit. “None of the brands we have encountered exist and we have not yet had any brands repeat.”

“Where do they come from then?”

Mr Morales shrugged. “As I said, discovering the solution was an accident. Learning more about it is also part of the Daedalus Project.”

“What does PTO mean?”

“Person Turned Object. That is our term for people who have fully decayed. The PTO admission date is when they have completed their decay and have been officially pronounced object.”

“Can they still talk?”

“Yes, although not without help,” Mr Morales explained. “We have a special facility on-site that allows them to communicate. We do have regular check-ups, once every six months, but outside of those appointments they are virtually indistinguishable from a non-human object to an outside observer.”

There was a short silence as Ray let the information sink in.

“Any other questions regarding the decay?” Mr Morales asked.

Ray shook his head. “No.”

“Then there is one more thing.” Mr Morales folded his hands together. “The decay is the most well-known side effect, but there is a second one as well, one that happens together with the initial changes.”

“Oh?”

Mr Morales took a deep breath. “Every participant had their sexual orientation changed to men.”

Ray paused. “I would be turning gay?”

Mr Morales nodded.

“... Why?”

“As I said before, these are the types of questions this project hopes to answer eventually.”

Ray felt strange. He hadn’t made a decision yet, but so far he felt like he might have signed up. This new detail however made him reconsider. He didn’t know whether it was the fact that it was a new piece of information he couldn’t emotionally prepare for, or the fact that a change to his sexuality would be a fundamental change to him as a person.

But then again, was it? Would he be someone else, just because he enjoyed looking at another gender?

Ms Beck pulled him out of his thoughts. “May I ask you a question?”

“Yes.”

“You already knew about the decay. Why are you interested in joining the project?”

Ray swallowed and started fidgeting again. “I… Life’s not been very… I feel like I can’t get anywhere. Bad grades. No friends.” He looked to the side. “I have nothing to lose and I would like to be someone at least for a while.”

“I see.” Ms Beck’s voice was warm and understanding. “We know this is a lot to take in. You do not have to make a decision right now. Sleep it over. Talk to your parents. Do some soul-searching. I don’t want to make the scholarship look unattractive.” She looked over to Mr Morales. “But we understand that this is the end of the line for our participants, at least until the process can be reversed, if it can ever be. You have some time to look into alternative solutions to the challenges you face.” “She smiled. “And if you decide that this is still your best shot, you can come back to us.”

“How many spots do you have?”

“We don’t have a hard limit,” Mr Morales answered. “Currently we have 11 spots left among the dorms we have set aside for the Daedalus Project, but we can always make room.”

“Until when do I have to decide?”

“You have time until the new semester starts, which is on the 5th of August, so you have more than two months.”

“I see.” Ray realized this would give him plenty of time to think it over.

“Any further questions?”

Ray thought for a moment and then shook his head.

“Then thank you for your time today.” Mr Morales stood up and shook Ray’s hand. “I will send you some more information material via mail to help you decide. And uhm… Maybe I’ll hear back from you.”

“Yeah…”

August

“And with that, I wish everyone a great start into the new semester!” Ms Fairfield, the head principal of Solberg University, finished her speech.

Ray was seated in the main assembly hall, an auditorium large enough to provide room for at least a few hundred people, enough for all the students of the university and the teachers. Apparently this was a recurring thing. At the beginning of each semester, the principal would give an overview over what happened in the last six months and about upcoming events and changes in the next six.

Ray felt a little bit out of place, like he didn’t belong. He wasn’t university material and the only reason he was here was to serve as a guinea pig for their research project.

He looked around him at the other guys who also joined the project. They were all seated together and he counted 10, including himself. Everyone was pretty much the same age as far as Ray could tell, somewhere between 19 to early twenties.

As Ms Fairfield walked off stage and most students began getting up, Mr Morales quickly grabbed the mic. “As always, I would like the members of the Daedalus Project to remain seated. Everyone else, have a nice day.”

As the other students trickled out one by one, Ray felt his nervousness increasing. By remaining seated, people knew he was going to be one of those guys, not a proper student. Now there was no blending in with the crowd. He didn’t look up, but he imagined their eyes on him.

Eventually, the hall almost emptied, except for a handful of people, a bit more than two dozen. Apart from some of the staff, all of them were men, and all of those except for the freshmen looked like they spent every free minute at the gym.

The other guys next to him looked at each other. Now they knew who was part of the project for sure.

“Now, there is not much to say about the last six months,” Mr Morales continued, now flanked by three more members of the staff. Ray recognized Ms Beck, but there were two more men he didn’t know. “We are making steady progress, but of course, the finish line is still a ways off. Now, as it is the new start of the year, we have a few new faces.” He gestured towards the back row where Ray and the others sat. “Welcome to the Daedalus Project.”

Suddenly everyone turned around to face the ten young men. The facial expressions ranged from welcoming smiles to curiosity. Ray felt put on the spot and was glad when everyone turned around again as Mr Morales continued.

“Okay, let’s introduce the people you’ll be working with.” He gestured one by one to each of the others next to him. “You already know Ms Beck, who will be your counselor. You will have regular checkups with her, so we know how you’re doing.”

“If you need any help, no matter what it is,” Ms Beck chimed in. “You can always come to me.”

“Then next we have Mr Lou, who is head of research. You will have one regular class with him where you go over the latest findings of the Daedalus Project. Mr Lou will also take monthly blood samples to monitor the agent’s progress in your body.”

Mr Lou nodded to the audience.

Finally, Mr Morales turned to the last person. “And this is Mr McCarthy. He is your physical trainer, preparing you for the various sports competitions.”

“You can call me coach,” Mr McCarthy said.

“And that’s pretty much everyone you need to know,” Mr Morales finished. “You will naturally have various teachers for your regular classes, but they are not part of the Daedalus Project. Any questions?”

Silence.

“Then let’s move on to your fellow students. Each of you will share a dorm with a junior or sophomore, who we hope will become your guide to life in the Daedalus Project. Additionally, you will have a mentor for your first weeks.” Mr Morales motioned to three people in the front row. “If you would be so kind?”

The three men stood up and joined the vice principal on the stage. One of them was dressed in baseball catcher gear, complete with pads, helmet and even glove; pants and button-up shirt awkwardly worn above the armor.

“These are our remaining seniors: Liam, Austin and Shawn.” Mr Morales turned to address Ray and the other new guys again. “Each of you will be assigned one mentor, who will introduce you to the campus and be your guide for the first few days.” He turned to the seniors again. “You guys take it from here?” The men nodded and Mr Morales turned to the freshmen. “Today your mentors will show you around and answer any questions you have. You will even have the opportunity to talk to one of our students who has already completed his decay. Then you have a night to sleep on it and tomorrow you will receive your injections. Any further questions?”

Again, silence.

“Then let me officially welcome you to Solberg University and the Daedalus Project.”

With that, Mr Morales and the rest of the staff left the stage. Most of the juniors and sophomores began to get up too.

The senior dressed in baseball gear approached the mic with a paper in hand. “Hey, I’m Liam and I’m the mentor for Pablo, Fabian, Julio, and Christopher. Please come to me, thanks.”

Four of the freshmen stood up and made their way to join Liam.

Then the next senior spoke into the mic. “Hi, I’m Austin and my assigned freshmen are Victor, Yeong, and Kenneth.”

More of the freshmen stood up. Now only Ray and two others remained.

Then it was the third senior’s turn. “I’m Shawn. Umm, Raymond, Marc, and Gavin, please come to me.”

Raymond got up and walked to his assigned senior together with the other two.

“Nervous?” Shawn asked the three freshmen.

Nobody said anything, but the three nodded. Ray looked up at the muscled frame of Shawn. Was he taller too? Would the solution grow them in size as well?

“I think we all were,” Shawn laughed. “Anyway, ready for your first day on campus?”

Ray made eye contact with the others. Nobody looked excited, but he could see the relief in their eyes, the same relief he felt right now: At least he wasn’t in this alone.

“So, first thing we’ll go to the dorms, so you can drop off your stuff there,” Shawn said as the ten freshmen and their mentors walked. “After that we’ll split up. Liam, you wanted to go to the main building first?”

“Sure.”

Shawn looked at the remaining senior. “Austin?”

“Doesn’t make a difference. Dormitory?”

“All right then.” Shawn turned to Ray and the other two in his group. “That means we’ll cover the outside first, check out the lake. Then we’ll rotate. And at the end we’ll all meet back here at the dorms.”

“And after that,” Liam began. “You’re going to meet one of the post seniors.”

“Post seniors?” One of the freshmen asked. “You mean, someone who made it?”

“Made it?” Liam looked at the freshman. “Christopher, right?”

“Chris, please.”

“Chris, don’t go into this project hoping you’ll be the one. That’s the wrong mindset. There hasn’t been a single student who received the antidote since we started here as freshmen. Everyone here went through the decay and has earned our respect. Everyone here ‘made it’.”

“I was told the chances are 1 in 20,” another freshman spoke up. Yeong, if Ray remembered correctly.

“Technically they are,” Austin said. “But over the course of the whole project. The first version of the agent was more volatile. The chances of the decay not triggering until the person receives the antidote was much higher, around 1 in 7, but on the other hand for those who did decay, it started within weeks after the injection.”

“Wait, they made it worse?” Yeong seemed angry. “Instead of giving people a chance to receive the antidote they took it away from everyone?”

“It’s a trade-off,” Shawn explained. “The ultimate goal is for everyone to receive the antidote. For that purpose they are trying to stabilize the agent, make it last long enough so the decay doesn’t happen. The increased stability comes at a reduced lifetime.”

“Current strategy is to stabilize the agent until the point of decay becomes predictable,” Liam added. “Then, once the agent is fully stable, they will work on extending its lifetime.”

“So we’re just fodder for the meat grinder,” Yeong continued.

“No,” Liam countered. “You’re willing participants who know the risks.”

“Then why did they lie about the odds?”

“I assume it wasn’t intentional,” Shawn said. “Mr Morales is very open about the project and actively refused testing on prisoners, although the government has offered.”

“Yikes,” Chris said.

“Yikes indeed,” Shawn shrugged. “We’re all here voluntarily and not because we got pressured into it or blackmailed with the promise of freedom. Mr Morales and Ms Beck are very much on our side here. I assume they didn’t think what they said got interpreted in that way.”

There was a short silence.

“Liam?” Marc asked. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Why are you wearing baseball armor under your clothes?”

Liam let out an amused sigh. “I’m not wearing armor. I’m becoming it.” He pulled up his shirt to reveal the front padding on his torso. “I’m turning into catcher gear.” He gestured over his entire body. “Pads, shoes, helmet.” He waved. “Glove.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. As far as decay goes, this isn’t the worst.” Liam thought for a moment. “Except for the helmet. Nights are a pain.”

“And here we are,” Shawn interrupted as the group entered the dormitory building. A big glass facade let light into the interior. The upper floor did not extend all the way to the front side of the building, leaving a two storied empty space filled with seating areas between the dorms and the facade, like a lobby of sorts. The walkways on the second floor made the entire area almost look like a vacation resort. “Dorms are on the second floor. Ground floor is all lounge, lobby, showers and stuff.”

The group made its way up the stairs to the second floor. “All right, let’s meet here again in ten minutes.” Shawn and the other mentors pulled out some cards. “These are your keycards for the dorms.”

The mentors passed down the keycards to every freshman. Ray received #102 and walked to his room.

When he opened the door he found a guy lying on one of the beds, seemingly waiting. “Hey there.” He jumped up from the bed, his muscular frame towering over Ray. He extended a hand. “You my new roomie?”

“Yeah.” Ray shook his hand. “I’m Ray.”

“I’m Nickolas. Call me Nick.” He let himself fall back down onto his bed with a relaxed sigh.

“What year are you?”

“Junior.”

Ray knelt down in front of the closet to unpack his stuff. “You don’t have class?”

“Not today,” Nick replied. “Mondays are always Daedalus classes with Mr Lou, but we skip them on the first day of each year because the mentors are busy with the freshmen.”

Ray stuffed his clothes into an empty drawer. “Ahh.”

“Man, you brought a lot of clothes.”

“Just two weeks’ worth.”

“I mean…” Nick began. “You’re gonna throw most of that out in a couple days anyway.”

Ray turned around. “Why?” Then he saw Nick’s tall, muscled frame and realized. “Oh… yeah.”

“Don’t worry, bro,” Nick laughed. “We all made that mistake.”

Ray didn’t say anything.

“So,” Nick smirked. “Already pumped?”

It took Ray a few seconds to reply. “I don’t know, to be honest.”

“Worried about the whole decay thing?”

“That too, I guess?”

“What else is there?”

Ray shrugged. The part about turning into an object seemed so distant and abstract, but a change to his sexuality? He didn’t know how to breach that topic without making it awkward. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

Ray paused and looked at Nick. “Why did you choose to join the project?”

Nick smiled with a squint. He expected that answer, it seemed. “Why did any of us?” He shrugged. “No perspective, no future, nothing to look forward to. I figured I get to have the body of my dreams for a few months and then I’m back to where I started, just in a different shape.”

Ray returned his attention to the closet.

“You?” Nick asked.

“Same, really.”

“See? It’s pretty much the reason for most of us.”

Ray turned to face Nick. “Any regrets?”

“Nope.”

“How many of your friends have already…”

“Decayed? Four from my freshman group. My mentor. My first roommate. Several of the others.”

“Does it get easier with time?”

“Easier?” Nick leaned back. “You need to stop thinking about it in that way. Accept it as something that happens, as something you signed up for. We’ve started to throw parties whenever someone starts to decay, like it’s some form of accomplishment.” He looked Ray in the eyes. “Ask yourself: Did you sign up because you wanted to become a superhuman or did you sign up because you wanted to escape your shitty life?”

“And this is what we call the Beyond,” the janitor explained as he led the freshmen and their mentors into the basement of the main campus building.

They found themselves now in a somewhat wide hallway. Near the entry on the left was a double steel door with a keypad next to it to enter a code. On the right side was a single door, also with a keypad. Further in, towards the end of the hall was a big glass window on the right, as well as a third double door right next to the window.

“This is where people who have gone through their decay are stored,” the janitor continued. “And this is also where we can talk to them.”

“Stored?” Ray asked.

The janitor pointed to the double door on the left. “That’s the vault. With some exceptions, everyone who completes their decay moves in there.”

Yeong furrowed his brow, looking at the heavy steel doors. “Looks like a prison.”

“It’s not a prison,” the janitor countered. “Before we had this security, some of the students got stolen.”

“Did they get them back?” Gavin’s face was pale.

“Oh yes, don’t worry. Luckily it was just done as a prank, so they were quickly returned,” the janitor said. “But… the kidnapped students didn’t think it was funny and the incidents made us implement proper security as a result.”

“I know it looks bad,” Shawn chimed in. “But it’s for your own good…” He thought for a moment. “As authoritarian as that sounds. And you may have the option to be placed in a more public area if you’re too big to be stolen, or being sent to your family.”

“I can let you in, if you want,” the janitor offered.

“Sure,” Shawn agreed.

The janitor swiped his keycard through the lock and opened the doors, letting the group inside. “There you go. This is the vault.”

While the mentors walked inside as if they had been there several times, the freshmen all formed a clump at the entrance, hesitant to enter.

Ray looked around. It wasn’t like he imagined. He expected a dark ugly place with concrete and metal shelves everywhere, like a storage tends to look like, but instead it was well-lit with warm light. The walls had proper wallpaper and there was even a carpet on the floor. If it weren’t for the lack of furniture this might have looked like a hallway of someone’s home.

Although, technically speaking, there was furniture: Racks and shelves filled the room. Each one had different objects on display. Ray looked at a speedo next to him in more detail. He couldn’t see any hint that it used to be human. Anatomically speaking it was a piece of swimwear and virtually indistinguishable from a non-human object. However, a card, like a student ID card, was attached to it via a plastic string. Ray couldn’t make out what most of the card said from his vantage point, but a big bold text on the bottom spelled ‘Person Turned Object DO NOT REMOVE’.

“Didn’t you say they can talk?” Kenneth asked.

“Not without help,” Shawn replied. “We have to use the communications room on the other side for that.”

“But…” Pablo spoke up. “Can they hear us?”

“They have touch, sight and hearing,” Shawn explained. “But no smell and taste. And no vertigo either. So yeah, they can pretty much see and hear you.”

By now most freshmen had entered the vault proper. Ray only saw Gavin and Yeong standing at the entrance.

He returned his attention back to the items on the shelves. It was difficult to imagine these were people, but Ray forced himself. His eyes fell onto a football. The name tag identified it as a student called Connor.

This was going to be his future, wasn’t it? First spend a couple months as a beefed up jock and then…

His hand absentmindedly reached out to touch the football on display.

“No touching,” Came the janitor’s voice.

Ray recoiled his hand as if he had burned himself on a stove. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t-”

“No harm done,” the janitor continued. “Just remember, don’t touch a PTO unless you’ve got explicit consent.”

“Truth be told, Connor probably wouldn’t even mind,” Shawn told Ray. “We often use him for practice, but yeah, what he said.”

The janitor let the students look around for one more minute before he spoke up again. “So, ready to actually talk to one of them?”

Shawn looked around at everyone. “I think so, yeah.”

“Then let’s go.” The janitor waited until everyone was outside and then closed the door again.

While the mentors guided the freshmen to the window at the end of the hallway, the janitor entered the small room opposite of the vault.

On the other side of the window was a featureless room with a concrete pedestal in the middle and a skateboard resting on top of it. On the right side of the room was another window to the small room with the janitor. From what Ray could tell it had technical equipment in it like servers and control panels. On the other side of the room, on the left, was a garage-like gate, no doubt connecting to the double door next to the window. That was likely how one entered the room. Ray noticed a radiation hazard sign right above the double door.

“So this skateboard right there?” Shawn pointed into the room. “This is Hunter, one of the guys who started together with us.”

“Why is he in a special room?” Ray wanted to know.

“PTOs cannot really talk like humans do,” Shawn explained. “Instead they send out something similar to brain waves. Unfortunately, in order to pick up these brain waves, they need to be surrounded by a special type of radiation that’s harmful to living matter.”

“Deadly radiation?” Yeong blurted out. “How does one even discover something like that?”

“Research?” Shawn shrugged. “We can detect the brain waves just fine with regular equipment, but in order to isolate it from the background noise, you need to increase the amplitude by applying a same frequency—”

“It’s ready.” The voice of the janitor coming from the loudspeakers interrupted Shawn’s explanation. A light lit up above the window.

“I’m sure you’ll cover it in Mr Lou’s classes.” Shawn turned to the window. “Hey Hunter.”

A voice different from the janitor’s sounded from the loudspeakers. “Hey. Those the new guys?” To Ray’s surprise, it didn’t sound robotic or monotonous at all, more like a person speaking into a microphone.

“Yup, we got ten this time.”

“Nice.”

“So, Hunter,” Shawn continued. “How’s life?”

“Ah, you know, the usual. Sitting on a shelf, twiddling thumbs, uh metaphorically speaking of course, and waiting until something happens, heh.”

Shawn leaned against the window and looked at the freshmen. “You make it sound so boring.”

“Yeah well, it’s not the most exciting life, I guess, but you know, it’s not the worst either.” There was a short pause. “Oh! Forgot to mention that PTOs experience boredom a little bit differently. You can kinda zone out, I guess? You’re not getting bored out of your mind sitting here, don’t worry.”

“Wow, what a relief…” Ray heard Yeong say to himself. If either Hunter or one of the mentors heard him, they didn’t show it.

“Yeah, that’s what I was getting at,” Shawn continued. “Don’t wanna scare our freshmen, do we?”

“Guess not!”

Ray could swear he heard something like amusement in Hunter’s voice. It definitely wasn’t like a simple text-to-speech program.

“All right then.” Shawn looked at the freshmen one by one. “If you have any questions for Hunter, ask them now. This whole setup is pretty expensive so usually a PTO is only brought here once each semester for checkup.”

Fabian raised his hand and Shawn nodded for him to ask his question. “What does it feel like…” Fabian gestured with his hands. “Being an object?”

“Well, as I said, it’s largely uneventful,” Hunter replied. “There’s not much to say. It’s pretty mundane all things considered. You just sit on a shelf. That’s it. And occasionally, someone takes you out for a skating sesh.”

“And what is it like to, uh, change?” Fabian dug deeper.

Ray saw Liam, who stood a bit to the side look up into the distance upon hearing the question. “Decay.” He murmured his correction.

“Real talk? You go through a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, heh,” Hunter explained, seemingly not having heard Liam’s comment. “Denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance. It’s different for everyone though, but it’s going to be a journey.”

“Do you have any advice?” Shawn asked. Ray couldn’t tell from his tone whether he was asking for the freshmen or himself.

“Aim for acceptance.” Hunter’s voice produced a laugh. “But seriously, when it happens you can’t change it. You can yell at the clouds as much as you want, but ultimately the faster you work through your emotions the more you get out of your remaining time as a human.”

Nobody said anything.

“That was quite the bomb, wasn’t it?”

“They need to hear it though,” Shawn commented.

Marc was next to ask a question. “Why did you choose to stay here?”

“As opposed to?” Hunter sounded confused.

Marc looked at Shawn. “Well, Shawn said that people also have the choice to go to their family.”

“Those are exceptions,” Shawn took over. “The faculty wants PTOs to stay on-site for research purposes. Occasionally an agreement can be made to send them to their family, either temporarily or permanently, but it doesn’t happen a lot.”

“And, to be honest, I kinda prefer being here,” Hunter added. “Got all my bros here and we all went through the same shit. Feel like my family would be taking this much differently.”

In the resulting silence, Ray raised his hand. “I have a question.”

Shawn nodded for him to go ahead.

Ray looked at Hunter while he chose his words carefully. “Are you happy with your decision?”

There was no answer at first and Roy was worried that there was a technical issue, but then Hunter’s voice sounded from the loudspeakers. “Honestly, I don’t know. It’s hard to say. Happy… Is anyone happy? I don’t regret my choice if that’s what you mean. Can’t turn back time. Acceptance also means that you have to accept your past decisions, be they mistakes or not.” Another short silence. “I made friends here. I was happy with my body for the first time in my life. I would be inclined to say for these things alone it was worth it.”

There was a moment of silence as the words sunk in.

“Any… other questions?” Shawn asked into the round.

Nobody said anything.

“Then, thanks, Hunter.”

“No problem!” Hunter replied. “See you around.”

“We will.” Shawn pulled out his phone, presumably checking the time. “All right, how about lunch?”

“Sounds good,” Austin confirmed.

“Mind if I join you guys later?” Liam asked. “I wanted to talk to Hunter.”

“Sure thing.” Shawn turned to the freshmen. “Everyone else, let’s go.”

“Okay, who’s up for a round of pool?” Shawn asked as the group entered the lounge.

“Does that mean the tour is over?” Gavin asked.

“Well, kinda, I guess.”

“I would like to leave then.” Gavin half turned around. “Explore the area a bit.”

“You can do that afterwards,” Shawn offered. “Come on, I wanna take your mind off things for a bit, get to know you.”

Gavin rolled his eyes but walked back towards the group.

“Last stop for today, I promise.” Shawn pulled out the triangle rack for the pool table. “Okay, we’re three teams, each mentor and their assigned freshmen. And we’ll play three games, each team combination once.” He looked at the other seniors. “Who’s first?”

Liam waved him off. “You two can go first.”

“All right.” Shawn finished preparing the table and grabbed a billiard cue. “Austin, your team can begin.”

“Let’s go in reverse alphabetical order.” Austin thought for a moment. “That means the first turn is Yeong.”

Yeong went and did the break shot without sinking any balls.

“We’ll go in alphabetical order.” Shawn nodded to Gavin. “You’re up.”

Gavin did not sink a ball either. It took two more turns until Marc sank a solid ball.

“May I ask a question?” Kenneth spoke up when it was his turn.

Shawn leaned on his cue. “Sure, that’s why we’re here.”

“Why did you guys sign up?”

“Well… It’s the same refrain over and over again, isn’t it?” Shawn said. “No perspective. No friends. No love life.” He shrugged. “I was a loser.”

“Same,” Liam added.

“Now we’re still losers at heart,” Austin commented. “But with muscles.”

Shawn shot his fellow senior a look. “Austin.”

“I’m just kidding.”

“It’s the story for most.” Shawn looked around the group. “Hands up, for whom is this not the reason why they signed up?”

Ray scanned the group. Most of his fellow freshmen looked away, uncomfortable with themselves.

Marc raised his hand.

Shawn nodded towards him. “What’s your reason?”

Marc swallowed. “Myotonic dystrophy.” When there was no reaction, he continued. “It’s a genetic disease that causes muscle atrophy. Starts in your twenties.” His nails idly scratched over the cue stick. “Morales said the solution should cure it.”

“Shit, man,” was all Shawn could say. “Sorry dude.”

Marc just shrugged. “It’s fine. If this project didn’t exist, I’d have to live with it for the rest of my life. This way I’m getting a cure regardless of whether I get the antidote or not.”

“I guess the decision was easy for you then,” Austin mused. “You win either way.”

“You can put it that way, yeah.”

“Wow,” Shawn shook his head. “Wanted to take your mind off things and we went deeper down the rabbit hole.” He looked around the freshmen. “Don’t worry though. It’s just the first few days like this. Things’ll look brighter once you get to enjoy your new bodies.”

By now it was Shawn’s turn. “Oh, by the way, there’s one thing I forgot to tell you.” He took his shot and knocked on the pool table afterwards. “Say hello to Isaiah.”

There was no reaction in the first few seconds. The freshmen were processing what Shawn was alluding to.

When the penny finally dropped, Victor, who was standing close to the table, almost dropped his cue as he was stepping back in shock.

“That’s a person?!” Yeong asked.

Shawn pulled out the little card from the table’s ball compartment where he hid it at the beginning. “A PTO, yes.”

“He was a junior when we joined,” Liam added. “Went through the decay in the same year.”

Ray furrowed his brow. “I thought we’re not supposed to touch them without their consent.”

“When they’re in the vault, yes,” Shawn explained. “But if a PTO wants to be placed in a public area, then they automatically consent to being used.” He shrugged. “Otherwise, what’s the point?”

“Isaiah specifically wanted to be placed here so that people could play with him,” Liam clarified. “In fact, we didn’t have a pool table before him and he liked the idea of adding something new to the lounge.”

“Did you keep us here only so we can meet Isaiah?” Gavin asked.

“Guilty,” Shawn admitted. “But yes, I wanted you to meet a PTO outside of the vault or the communication chamber. Not all of us can be put in a public area, but if you’re a big enough object so you won’t get stolen, then you may consider this as an alternative.”

“What about vandalism?” Julio asked.

“It’s a concern.” Liam pointed at a surveillance camera in the corner of the room. “But all of our public PTOs are being monitored.”

Shawn let the freshmen process the new information before he continued. “Yeong, I think it’s your turn again.”

“What’s with the weird ass bars in there anyway?” Ray asked as he exited the bathroom.

Ray let himself fall onto his bed. Today was pretty exhausting, physically and mentally. They walked nearly the entire day and were bombarded with tough philosophical questions non-stop. Now it was evening and both he and his roommate were hanging out in their dorm.

“Can’t even put towels on it because they’re angled,” Ray continued.

“Accessibility,” Nick replied without looking up from the book he was reading.

“Mmh?”

Nick put the book down. “Our dorms are part of the wing for students with impaired mobility.” He gestured with his free hand. “Because, you know, you might need it depending on what object you turn into.” He moved his book back up in front of his face. “Means our dorms are more spacious though. Pretty sick if you ask me.”

Ray looked around. It was true. The room was larger than he would have expected from a dorm. “Why is it not on the ground floor though? Stairs aren’t very accessibility friendly.”

“The ground floor is all public area. Guess they wanted to give the students with disabilities as much privacy as everyone else. Also, there’s an elevator in the back.”

“Mmh.” Ray’s eyes fell onto the book in Nick’s hand. “What are you reading?”

Nick moved the book aside to look at Ray. “Quantum chromodynamics.”

“What’s that?”

“Do you know what quarks and gluons are?”

Ray had heard the words before, but didn’t really know what they were. “Not really.”

“Mmh…” Nick thought for a moment. “The strong nuclear force?”

“No…”

“Well… I don’t think I can explain it easily then.” He moved the book back in front of his face. “It’s like seven layers deep into theoretical physics.”

“Wow, is it for class?”

“Not really. It’s part of my theoretical physics class, but we’re not going to go into it until the last semester.”

“Why are you reading it then?”

“Idle curiosity?” Nick shrugged. “I’m reading forward a bit. I guess I’m curious and I’m not sure if I’ll even see the last semester or if I decay before that.”

“Mmh.”

Ray lay down on his bed and pulled out his phone. In the last weeks he started to check out his dating app more frequently. Maybe it was his subconscious trying desperately to find a reason not to get the injection. Maybe if he could get a girlfriend he would be happy and he wouldn’t need any of this.

He began swiping through the women he was being matched with. Half of them he swiped away because he wasn’t interested. The other half he felt too intimidated to message.

But every shot not taken is a shot missed, right? Ray decided to be brave and messaged the first woman he thought had a nice profile.

‘Hey.’

He waited for a couple seconds for a reply. Then a message appeared.

‘You have been blocked.’

Ray’s heart dropped as he stared at the message. After some seconds the phone display went dark.

Maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise, he thought as he started into his own reflection. Who would want to be with such a loser?

He looked over to Nick’s muscled body, the book on theoretical physics in his hand. How could he ever compete with someone like that naturally? The Daedalus Project was his only choice.

“Nick?” Ray began. “May I ask you a question?”

Nick lowered his book with a shocked expression. “Another one?!” His face softened. “Just kidding, bro, go ahead.”

“Uh…” Ray put his phone away. “What’s it like, being gay?”

Nick looked to the side, seemingly amused. Eventually he returned his gaze to Ray. “Wanna hear something funny?”

“Sure?”

“It’s the thing that’s on every freshman’s mind, even more than the decay. I was no different.” His face went serious. “Until your first friends start to decay. Then you think back and wonder why you ever thought being gay was such a big deal.”

Nick put the book away and folded his arms behind his head, the smirk returning to his face. “Besides, dating guys is so much easier and gay sex so much hotter.”

“Very well.” Mr Lou looked up from his notebook as he stood in the doorway. “Everyone here?”

Ray looked around. He and the other freshman had their appointment to get the injection early in the morning so that they could attend classes afterwards. They were waiting in front of the on-site infirmary.

“All right,” Mr Lou continued after he went through the list. “Just so you know, you still have the chance to back out. There is no shame in walking away now. Once you get your injection, it’s too late.”

Everyone looked at each other.

“Then-” He moved aside to free the way into the room where the injection was going to take place. “Step inside and take a seat.”

Ray and the others slowly got up and did as they were told. Mr Lou closed the door behind them and two other nurses were getting to work on the first two freshmen.

“Before you receive your injection, we will take a blood sample,” Mr Lou continued. “We will continue to take regular blood samples to monitor the progress of the agent and to analyze potential changes to your body chemistry from the solution. In the first month, please be here on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Afterwards you just need to be here on the first Tuesday of each month.”

The nurses quickly took blood samples from each student and labeled the vials as Mr Lou continued talking.

“The changes, both physical and mental, will be slow and gradual. It will take about three to four weeks to complete. A little bit of sleeplessness during that time is normal. Your brain is basically going into hyperdrive. If it becomes too much you can ask Ms Beck for sedatives.

“The same is true for your muscles. As they are experiencing growth spurts, they will stimulate easily. You will develop restless muscle syndrome unless you relieve that stimulation by tiring them out.”

“How do we do that?” Chris asked.

“Physical exercise.”

“Oh…”

“Don’t worry though,” Mr Lou continued. “You will not require as much working out as a person who had not received the injection. You can get by with as little as 3 hours per week, but our other students have reported that working out more will ease the symptoms. Plus, it will help with the sleeplessness too. I’m sure your roommates will help you getting used to the gym and its equipment. Unlike the sleeplessness from the mental changes, however, the overstimulation of your muscles will remain permanently.”

By now the nurses were done with the blood samples and were preparing injection kits instead.

“Very well.” Mr Lou looked around. “Who wants to go first?”

Ray pulled at the sleeve of his shirt. It was early August so he was wearing a T-shirt and he wanted to make sure nobody saw the band-aid from the injection while he was waiting for class to start.

His first lecture after the injection was mathematics, a basic course to refresh the relevant topics from school for further studies. When it was time to pick his classes in March, he had no idea where he wanted to go, but he always liked building things, so he figured an engineering degree could be interesting. The school had helped him pick the right subjects.

“Excuse me.” A woman appeared next to him. “Is this the basic mathematics course?”

Ray turned to her. He was sitting near the exit. The auditorium was intimidating and none of the other students from the Daedalus Project were here, so he simply plopped down on the first seat without having to walk through the entire room and be seen. Ironically, this made him the first person she could reach.

“Yeah, uh, module 12,” he nearly stammered.

“Oh, good.” She pointed to the space next to Ray. “Is this seat taken?”

“No.” Ray shook his head and watched her sit down next to him. She wasn’t a supermodel, but he found her easy to look at and she had a nice voice.

She pulled out her writing utensils. “Did you also start yesterday?”

Technically Ray started with classes today, but he figured she didn’t need to know the details. “Yeah.”

“I’m Selena, by the way.”

“Raymond.” He was caught off guard and stumbled to correct himself. “Uh, Ray.”

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead!” Nick pulled up the blinds to let the morning sun shine directly into Ray’s face.

Ray grimaced and pressed his face into the pillow. He had spent most of the night tossing and turning in bed, his mind swirling around everything and nothing at all.

And what little time he had for sleep had now been interrupted by his roommate.

“Hey!” Nick shook Ray’s shoulder. “You need to get up or you’re late for class.”

“I don’t have class this morning,” Ray mumbled into his pillow.

“You’re aware you left your schedule out, right?”

“Oh god, just leave me alone.” Ray pulled up the pillow to cover his ears too.

“No skipping class on the first day, bro!”

“Second.”

When there was no immediate reaction, Ray believed Nick had given up, only for his blanket to be yanked away moments later. He squinted towards his bed’s foot end and saw Nick rolling up the blanket and dropping it on the bed, an exaggerated stern look on his face.

Ray groaned and buried his face in the pillow again.

“You know,” Nick began. “We all went through this, so I know exactly how you feel.” He bent over Ray’s body to yank the pillow out of Ray’s weak grasp. “But skipping class is not an option.”

Ray curled up and brought his arms over his face to block out the sun. “I hate you.”

“I know,” Nick chuckled. “And after class you’ll hate me even more.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll take you to the gym. Don’t be late.”

“Urgh.”

“Anyway.” Nick moved towards the door to the bathroom. “When I’m done getting ready, I expect to find you in a vertical position. Otherwise there’ll be a bucket of cold water with your name on it.” He opened the door. “Oh, and I took a picture of your schedule, so don’t try that on me again.”

Ray decided to sit up and lean against the wall. Lying down would just make him fall asleep again and he was worried that Nick was serious about the cold water.

So he just sat there, waiting for Nick to finish, squinting against the morning sun.

Life was pain.

Ray trudged into his first class for this day, technical writing. It was part of his major, intended to teach how to structure and write different kinds of documents. As a potential future engineer, describing his designs would be part of Ray’s job. Still, it was broad enough that he expected to see some of the others from his group.

It seemed like the students weren’t all freshmen. In fact, Ray saw some of the juniors from the Daedalus project walking around. Having few dependencies with other classes, this course was used as a gapfiller, placed in students’ schedules whenever there was room, independent of year.

Ray was about to sit himself down somewhere in a corner like he did with all classes so far, when he saw Marc and Victor sitting a little distance away.

“Hey.” Ray sat down next to Victor.

There was mumbled acknowledgement from the others and Ray could tell they were just as fatigued as he was.

A little while later, Yeong joined them, sitting down next to Ray. “Morning.”

“Hey,” the others returned.

“You guys slept at all?”

Marc looked up and sighed. “Barely.”

“‘Little bit’ of sleeplessness, my ass,” Yeong echoed Mr Lou’s words.

Ray let his gaze wander across the students. He wondered if those who were talking to the Daedalus juniors knew about the program.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when Liam sat down in the row before them, the seat appearing one size too small for his muscular frame. He turned around to face the freshmen, his right arm with the catcher’s mitt leaning on the backrest. “Wow, you guys look terrible.”

“Gee, thanks,” was Yeong’s answer.

Liam laughed. “Sorry guys, but yeah, first few days after the injection are rough.”

“Any advice?” Marc wanted to know.

“Push through it.” Liam shrugged. “Go to bed early to get as much sleep as you can. Should be more manageable after the first week.”

A girl approached the senior. “Hey Liam?”

“Hey.”

“You were in Mr Hill’s class yesterday, right?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“I wasn’t there because I had an appointment.” The girl sat down. “Mind if we go through the subject matter some time?”

“Yeah, sure, no problem. Do you have time today after class?”

“Yes! Thanks, Liam.” She turned around and looked up at the freshmen. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

“Nah,” Liam nodded to Ray and the others. “Was just talking to our new guys.”

The girl looked at the freshmen, the gears in her head turning. “Daedalus?”

Ray gulped.

“Yup,” Liam confirmed.

“Ah.” With that the girl turned back around. “Yeah, it was either missing Psychology or Communication Science for the appointment and I didn’t want to miss Psychology.”

“Probably wise.”

Ray tuned out of the conversation the two seniors had. The older years might be used to seeing students decay, but what about the younger years, freshmen not part of Daedalus? How would they even react when they’d learn of it?

He was interrupted from his thoughts when Pablo appeared and sat down next to Yeong.

“Morning.” Pablo’s face and voice showed the same exhaustion as the other freshmen. “Did you guys get any sleep?”

Ray was trying hard to concentrate, but it was difficult to focus on the pages due to equal parts fatigue and guilt.

Guilt, because he was sitting in the library after class, rather than going to his dorm to join Nick.

Ray wasn’t ready for the gym yet. His body was not in shape and he didn’t want anyone to judge him. Not to mention that he was too tired to work out anyway. Truth be told, the only reason why he was in the library was because he was hiding from Nick, trying to get an alibi for why he didn’t come. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here either.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he fished it out to check who it was.

It was a message from Nick. They had exchanged numbers on the first day. Ray wouldn’t have thought it’d backfire on him this quickly.

Nick: Where are you?

Ray thought for a moment, wondering how honest he should be, before he typed his response.

Ray: Busy. Cant today

He looked at the screen for a few seconds to see if Nick replied. Strangely he didn’t feel relief when Nick’s ‘last online’ began counting up again.

Nick didn’t even leave a quip.

Ray felt bad, but what was he supposed to do? The gym was not for him, especially not today, not as he was. He promised himself to join Nick as soon as the solution started working its magic with Ray’s body.

And so he continued trying to study, and failing miserably in the process.

“And this is the locker room.” Mr McCarthy stopped in front of a door. He pointed to several neatly folded pieces of cloth with a football helmet on each lying on a nearby bench. “Pick your size, but don’t worry if it doesn’t fit perfectly. You’ll outgrow them soon anyway.”

Today Ray and the others had their first sports class with McCarthy, american football. Despite their different majors, all ten freshmen were assigned to this class as the university had been working with football associations in the past years and finally got the clearance to send their Daedalus students to official competitions.

McCarthy had explained to them that they would be playing with and against other students, who are not part of Daedalus, in part because there weren’t that many students who had joined the project but also to have the direct comparison in terms of performance.

“Mr McCarthy?” Fabian spoke up as the freshmen were grabbing their gear.

“Coach,” McCarthy corrected him. “Please, call me coach.”

“Umm, coach, we’re not—” Fabian swallowed. “We’re not going to play, like, proper today, right?”

Coach had to laugh. “Don’t worry, guys. We’ll take it slow today, get to know the team and lay down the groundwork.” With that he began to walk off. “Be on the field in ten minutes.”

Ray and the others opened the door only to find the room already occupied. Around a dozen jocks were in various stages of changing into their football outfits, each turning to face the newcomers.

The nearest jock approached the group. “Hey there, you’re the Daedalus guys, right?”

“Uh huh,” Kenneth confirmed.

“Well, nice to meet ya. I’m Emmanuel, but everyone here calls me Emu.”

“Are you… First years?” Ray asked. The way Emu talked and the other men in the room acted did not seem like someone who started only three days ago.

“What?” Emu seemed surprised. “Nah. Sophomores.”

“Shit, we’re getting matched against second years?!” Yeong exclaimed. “You’ll destroy us.”

“Eh, only a little.” Emu leaned against a locker and pinched two fingers, smirking. “You’ll survive.”

The jock was playfully pushed aside when another man entered the frame. “Nobody’s getting destroyed today.” The man crossed his arms and looked at his fellow athlete. “Except maybe for Emu’s pride.”

“Hey!”

“Don’t mind him.” The man turned to the freshmen. “He likes to think he’s an Emu, but he’s really just a silly goose.”

“Help, I’m being bullied!” Emu mock-lamented.

“I’m Diego by the way.” The man shrugged. “Normally I’m the team’s captain, but I think today we’ll do things a bit differently.”

“Meaning what?” Kenneth asked.

“Well, you clearly are not in the proper form today for a real game, nor do I assume you’ve got the practice.” Diego thought for a moment as he eyed the freshmen. “Who of you even knows the rules?”

Ray saw only three of the others slowly raise their hands: Chris, Marc and Kenneth.

“See?” Diego continued. “Gotta teach you how the game works first.”

“Besides,” Another jock behind Diego began. “You’re ten and a team is eleven players, so we’ll need to mix ‘n match sooner or later anyway.”

“Abe’s right. And don’t worry about us being Sophomores.” Diego went back to his locker. “You’ll probably end up outperforming us by the end of the year.”

Ray returned his attention back to his gear, holding up the jersey to get a good look. Then he began stepping out of his clothes to put on his football uniform.

“Oh, and before you get any ideas.” Emu put on his own jersey. “Most of us are straight.”

“Uh, so are we,” Chris retorted.

“Yeah, but not for long, as I understand it,” Emu smirked.

“Emu,” Diego disapproved.

But Emu continued regardless. “Well, you’re in luck. I’m sure Nathan will be all over y—”

He was cut off by one of his fellow jocks pushing his hand against Emu’s chest, making Emu bump into the locker behind him.

The jock’s ears were beet-red, indicating that this was most likely Nathan himself. He looked at Emu with a face that read ‘What the fuck was that?’ while Emu’s face replied with a genuine ‘What did I do wrong?’

Nathan went back to his locker, while Emu looked around confused until he made eye contact with Diego, who shook his head.

Ray didn’t go to the library today. Not only was yesterday completely unproductive, but he had also received a text from Nick early in the day, asking if he’d come along. Nick was out of class one hour earlier than Ray, so he wanted to know if he should wait. Naturally, Ray declined.

“Hey,” Ray said as he entered the room, tossing his bag into the corner.

Nick was sitting on his bed, the book of theoretical physics in front of his face. It was late enough that he must have already returned from his gym session. He waited a few seconds before he replied. “Hey.”

Ray let himself fall on his bed. He looked at Nick for a few moments. “Are you mad?”

“Mad?” Nick didn’t move the book. “Mad at what?”

“You know what…”

A shrug was Nick’s only visible movement. “It’s you who has to live with it.”

Several painful seconds passed.

“You know,” Nick continued, the book firmly in place. “My offer still stands. Just say the word.”

Ray briefly mulled over the words, but decided to turn around, facing the wall.

Sleep took hold of him within moments.

Though it wouldn’t last long.

It was a good thing that Ray had fallen asleep as quickly as he did. The next morning he had to get up extra early to get a blood sample taken for Mr Lou. The missing hour was noticeable throughout the day.

Ray took his tray and made his way through the crowded cafeteria to eat his lunch.

He heard Shawn call out to him on his right. “Ray, over here.”

He turned to see his mentor and Nick sitting together at an otherwise empty table, already done with their lunch by the looks of their tray.

Shawn waved to get his attention. “Come join us.”

Ray considered for a moment not to accept the invitation. He really wanted to avoid the awkward situation with Nick, but somehow just walking off seemed even worse.

He took a breath and walked over, sitting down next to Shawn.

“We were just talking about you,” Shawn began.

Ray froze for a moment. This was not sounding promising.

“Only good things.” Nick looked over to Ray, his face not unfriendly, yet guarded.

Ray looked down at his plate of food.

“Hey um,” Nick turned to Shawn and pointed behind him. “If you don’t mind, I’ll…”

“Yeah sure, go ahead,” Shawn agreed. “I’ll join you later.”

Nick grabbed his tray, but before he got up, he looked at his roommate. “What about you? Will I see you later?”

Ray didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.

“All right.” A hint of disappointment rang in Nick’s voice.

Once Nick was out of earshot, Shawn spoke up. “He told me about, well, the current situation.” He paused for a second. “Wanna tell me why you don’t wanna go to the gym with him?”

“Do I need a reason?”

“Normally you don’t, but…” He noticed the freshman tapping his foot. “What’s with your leg?”

Ray forced the fidgeting to stop. It had started early this day and only gotten worse in the following hours.

“I dunno, nervousness?” He lied.

“Did Mr Lou not tell you about the side effects of the solution?”

“He did.”

“Then you know that’s restless muscle syndrome.”

There was no answer from Ray as he poked in his food.

“And then you also know that physical activity helps relieve the symptoms,” Shawn added.

“I hate the gym.”

“Have you been there yet?”

“I just hate it in general,” Ray explained. “People will look at me and judge me and—”

“Nobody does that,” Shawn cut him off.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Ray countered. “You’re a jock. Everyone envies you.”

“That wasn’t always the case. We started out just like you.”

Ray let his fork slip out of his hand as he supported his head with both arms.

“Ray,” Shawn put a hand on the freshman’s shoulder. “We’ve all been there.” He thought for a moment. “Nick is genuinely trying to help you and he thinks he’s doing something wrong because you refuse his help.”

“So I should just go with him to make him feel better?”

“I didn’t mean to guilt trip you,” Shawn clarified. “But the symptoms will get worse and we know how to help.” He thought for a moment. “If you don’t want to go with Nick, you can also ask someone else. All of us are happy to help.”

Ray took a deep breath. Nick didn’t do anything wrong. There was nobody else Ray would rather go to the gym with. “No, I… I think I’ll talk to him.”

“Always remember that you’re not alone in this.” Shawn took his tray. “And that you’re not the first to tackle these problems.”

Ray woke from his after class snooze. Nick had just come in, an hour after Ray’s class ended.

Now that he was awake, Ray felt the restlessness in his muscles return in full force. “Hey.”

Nick sat down on his bed and pulled out his phone, presumably checking messages. “Hey.”

Neither said anything for a long while. Eventually, Nick got up to pack his bag for the gym.

Ray sat up on his bed. “Nick?”

“Mh hm?”

“I changed my mind,” Ray hesitated. “Can you take me to the gym?”

A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of Nick’s mouth. He turned his head and put a hand to his ear. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Ray rolled his eyes. His roommate really could have made this easier, but maybe Nick deserved it. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I was just so scared, guess still am, but…” His foot began tapping again. “I talked to Shawn and, yeah, I guess he’s right. I’m sorry for standing you up the last few days.”

“Err, I was just hoping to hear a ‘please’.” Nick seemed genuinely surprised. “But I’ll also take an elaborate apology.”

Oh.

“Why scared, anyway?” Nick asked.

Ray didn’t want to go into detail. Maybe Shawn was right afterall. “I just don’t know if the gym is for me.”

“Mmh mmh.” Nick thought for a moment. “I mean, you could also find a different activity that suits you more.” He nodded at Ray’s fidgeting leg. “But we need to get that thing calmed down first.”

Ray didn’t say anything.

“Well, then.” Nick hoisted his bag on his bed. “Pack your stuff, we’re going now.”

“Now?”

“Now.”

The weekend was a strange mix of sleepless nights, late mornings, working out and dozing off in bed. Nick’s training regime for Ray focused on light but thorough training, not enough to warrant a resting day while hitting every affected muscle group.

Ray hated to admit it, but both Nick and Shawn were right. He didn’t feel that out of place in the gym, especially as he saw the other freshmen training with their roommates and mentors as well.

And yes, the training did actually help. While he still didn’t get as much sleep as he would have liked, the nights were now a lot more manageable and the muscles almost never acted up.

Nick even trusted Ray enough to leave him alone this morning, not that he had much choice. It was Monday and the only class the Daedalus students had was Mr Lou’s with the rest of the day being a dedicated study day. At any rate, since the different years would have it at different times, Nick would not be there to wake up Ray.

But he didn’t have to. Ray’s class was in the afternoon. He was already awake for a few hours by the time it started.

Ray and the others found themselves in a small lab, dedicated exclusively to Daedalus. Instead of rows of chairs, the room was furnished with counters and lab equipment.

“Welcome.” Mr Lou stood in front of the students. “How was your first week?”

“Exhausting,” came Chris’ answer from the back. It elicited a little chuckle from the others. At least symptoms weren’t as bad anymore, so the freshmen could take it with a bit of humor.

“I assume most of you still experience some restlessness.” Mr Lou looked around the group. “Anyone feel like the symptoms still aren’t getting better?”

Nobody said anything.

“Well, that’s good.” He leaned on the counter behind him. “So this is the Daedalus class, as you already know. It has one main purpose and that is to, well, do research into the Daedalus technology. Effectively this means that you, and the other Daedalus students, are my lab assistants.”

“So we do your dirty work?” Yeong commented.

Mr Lou smiled. “As I said, you’re my lab assistants, yes.”

Most of the group chuckled.

“No, but seriously,” Mr Lou continued. “At the beginning the project wasn’t big enough to warrant an entire research team, but it still produced a lot of busywork. Analyzing samples, documenting findings, creating new variations of the agent. So back when we started, we enlisted the students themselves to help out with all that stuff.” Mr Lou shrugged. “And, well, it’s worked well enough that it’s become tradition.”

Pablo raised his hand and Mr Lou nodded towards him.

“Isn’t it counterproductive that we do the research when we are directly affected? Like, wouldn’t that make us biased?”

“Not necessarily,” Mr Lou explained. “Self experiments are completely valid in science, but you’re not entirely wrong. We make sure to keep biases to a minimum. For example, you will not analyze your own blood samples. In fact you won’t know whose samples are whose.”

Victor raised his hand next. “Will we get graded in this class?”

“Very good question,” Mr Lou replied. “The answer is no. You will get points for attendance -the class is mandatory for you after all- but there will be no tests or exams.”

A wave of relief went through the freshmen.

“Any other questions?” Mr Lou looked around the group, before he continued. “Then how about we start with a little history lesson.” He leaned further on the counter to be comfortable. “I cannot tell you where and how the agent was discovered. That information is classified and not even I am in the know. In fact, I was not even on the project back then. The head researcher at the time was Mr Morales.”

“The vice principal?” Chris asked.

“Yes. As far as I know, he was given the agent and instructions on how to make more of it from a classified source, hoping he would find a way to make it usable. You see, back then the agent was highly volatile. When muscles and the brain don’t grow evenly, then you have a big problem. So the solution had to be tested and refined—on rats.

“Eventually a benign version of the agent was developed. It would greatly improve the rat’s physique and mental abilities. Unlike the previous solutions, the new version did not cause malignant growths. For the first time, the rat did not die. After some weeks the changes plateaued and no more growth spurts could be detected. The experiment was a success. He injected two more rats with the solution to make sure, before he moved on to his first human subject.”

A dramatic pause.

“Unfortunately, one week before he would conclude the experiment and send out the research paper, something happened with the first rat.”

Mr Lou walked over to a small cage with bedding and odd objects inside, a men’s dress shoe, a tennis ball and a metal spoon. He reached into the cage to pet the shoe with his finger.

A shiver ran down Ray’s spine. He had seen the cage when he walked in but thought nothing of it. Now he realized what those objects were. Three rats. Three items. They were living beings, transformed into inanimate objects, just like the students in the vault.

Mr Lou let the freshmen play out the scenario that followed after the rats had started to turn in their heads before he continued. “For reasons I will not get into, Mr Morales stepped down as head researcher and I was brought into the project in his stead. He still oversees Project Daedalus, but only for administrative purposes. He has no involvement in the research itself.”

Pablo raised his hand again. “How long ago was this?”

“Nine years.”

Pablo nodded to the cage. “Do you know if they’re still alive?”

“Of course.”

“How?” Yeong asked.

“The same way we know our students are still alive: We put them in the communications room.” He smiled. “Instead of a human voice you hear chitters and squeaks.”

Ray noticed Pablo’s eyes widening, being hit by a realization that escaped the other students.

Mr Lou nodded, seemingly knowing what made Pablo ask his question in the first place. “And yeah, you are right, rats normally live only for two to three years.”

The room was silent for a few seconds.

“What?!” Gavin exclaimed in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Mr Lou remained calm, as if he already knew what Gavin meant. This might not have been the first time for him. “Tell you what?”

“That… PTOs don’t age.”

“There are multiple reasons,” Mr Lou began. “But the biggest is that we simply do not know if that is the case. Do PTOs stop aging or do they simply age more slowly?” He paused for a moment. “Consider this as well: The rats have turned into human-made objects. What if their natural life span has adjusted to match that of a human, which would mean that for humans there would be no change?”

“You could have still told us,” Gavin insisted.

“The problem is that immortality is a very strong incentive for many people and we do not want to advertise it to the outside world. Especially as we do not even know if it is true. Consider someone joining on the premise that he will live forever, but has to give up his human body, only to later learn that he will die around the same time he would have if he had kept his body.” He looked around the group. “All of you joined for other reasons. Immortality for you isn’t an incentive that may lead to devastating disappointment. It’s more of an unknown bonus.”

Gavin lowered his voice, almost as if he was talking to himself. “Why would anyone want that?”

Mr Lou seemed genuinely surprised for a moment by that comment, but decided to ignore it. “Where was I?... Right,” he continued. “When Mr Morales stepped down and I became the head researcher the Daedalus project, as you know it, was formed. It was deemed inhumane to subject an animal that does not understand its fate of being an inanimate object and so Mr Morales and I decided to move to willing human participants.”

“So, killing animals is less inhumane than turning them inanimate?” Yeong objected.

Mr Lou simply shrugged. “The ethics of animal testing is certainly a valid topic of debate and one that’s been discussed since forever in the science community, but the way I see it, research into this technology is worth it to unlock its full potential and risking the lives of rats is preferable to risking the lives of people. On the flipside, if no lives are being risked, then humans are better able to deal with the decay than an animal that does not understand what is happening.

“Besides,” he continued “The agent can only receive the antidote once the body has metabolized it into a different state, but rats have a different metabolism and body chemistry than humans. Even if we continued with rats, the findings would be mostly useless for human application.”

Mr Lou let the students mull over what he just said, before he walked back to his previous spot. “Now, if you could do me one favor, the circumstances that led to Mr Morales stepping down are deeply personal to him, so please keep that in mind if you ever talk to him about it.”

He paused for a moment.

“Well, now you know about how Daedalus started.” Mr Lou rubbed his hands together. “Let’s move on to the next topic: The molecular structure of the agent.”

Ray briefly scanned the room before he sat down for the basic math course. He was checking if Selena had already arrived. Ray made sure to be early today, so that she wouldn’t already have picked a seat.

If Ray had to be honest, he would have to admit that he was looking forward to seeing her again. She was nice and although they talked little during their last class, he enjoyed her company.

But then he remembered that he had already received the injection. His body would change and with it his mind.

Although, was it his mind that would change? Is attraction a part of someone’s mind? Personality? Just a part of who he was?

Suddenly it dawned on Ray that he had no clue what sexuality even was. Was it part of someone’s identity? But Ray would have never identified himself as straight, except for clarification. He wondered how much being straight was really a part of him as opposed to just a fact, just an attribute of his being.

And he wondered if it’d be the same once he turned gay. Would he start acting differently? He thought of his roommate and the mentors. None of them seemed gay to him, not in the sense that you look at them and can tell immediately.

And who’s to say that he would turn gay, anyway? Just because it happened with all other Daedalus students did not mean it would always happen. Just as there are a few gay men in a largely straight population, it could be that there might be the odd straight Daedalus student post-injection.

He bit his lips.

What were the odds that he was the lucky one?

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice. “Good morning.”

Ray looked up to see Selena smile as she was walking past him.

Walking past him.

“Hey,” Was all Ray managed as he watched Selena walk down the rows of seats to join a group of other students.

Yeah, figures.

“What are you having?” Ray nodded over to Marc.

“A banh mi.” Marc investigated the food he was holding. “It’s like a sub of sorts.”

“Is it good?”

“It tastes very… fresh?” Marc was trying to think of a good word. “Light? I like it.”

This evening there was a small food truck festival going on at the campus. Apparently it was a regular thing. At the beginning of each year the school would invite food trucks over to the premises and hand out coupons to the freshmen. Nick had said it was intended as a freshman event, get the new students out and mingle with each other.

Naturally, Nick had dragged Ray out here, despite Ray’s protests. At first he was a little lost among all the strangers after Nick had left to get food for himself, but then he spotted some of his freshman group, Marc and some others standing at a table, and decided to join them.

“You’re not getting anything?” Marc looked at the coupon in Ray’s hand.

“A bit later, maybe,” Ray half-lied. Truth be told, the main reason why he didn’t go get any food right now was because he didn’t want to worm his way through the crowds, stand in line for a few minutes and then finally order while people were waiting behind him. Plus, the amount of options felt a little overwhelming. He had only one coupon after all.

“Oh my god, guys, you gotta try the Espetada.” Chris joined the table, nibbling at a skewer with meat. “They’re absolutely delicious.”

“It’s a pretty nice selection of food, I have to say,” Kenneth agreed before shoving another dumpling in his mouth.

“Anyone know where the others are?” Yeong asked.

Marc looked at him. “The others?”

“Daedalus. You know, the upper years.”

“They’re around.” Marc prepared to take another bite. “I’ve seen Liam earlier.”

Ray looked around the group. They were eight, all the Daedalus freshmen except for Gavin and Fabian. Not too surprising given how reclusive both of them were. He wondered if their roommates tried getting them out and failed or if they didn’t care as much as Nick had.

“So,” Ray began. “What are your roommates like?”

“Boring,” Yeong blurted out.

“Qadir?” Kenneth asked. “He seemed like a nice guy.”

“Like I said,” Yeong deadpanned. “Boring.”

“If you want someone with an edge,” Victor chimed in. “You can have mine. Guy’s a handful.”

“A handful, eh?” Yeong smirked. “Looks like the solution works faster for some.”

“Fuck you, you know what I meant.”

“No need to overreact,” Yeong lowered his voice. “It was just a joke.”

Ray realized Yeong hadn’t meant to start a fight and Victor must have noticed too, as he dropped it and returned his attention to his food.

Ray looked at Victor. “Who’s your roomie?”

“Drew.” Victor took a bite.

“Harrison’s all right,” Kenneth chimed in. “A bit quiet but we get along.”

“Same with Zvi,” Pablo added.

Kenneth nodded to Ray. “What about yours?”

“Nick?” Ray shrugged. “He’s cool.”

“Yeah, you got a good one from what I can tell,” Marc said. “Dude was worried about you the first couple days.”

“Oh my god,” Ray wanted to disappear. “Did he tell you about the gym thing?”

“I mean,” Marc gestured. “What was he supposed to tell us when you weren’t tagging along with him?”

Crap, Ray forgot that the other freshmen actually were in the gym during that time and had met Nick.

Before his embarrassment could grow, Shawn and Liam appeared, together with two Daedalus sophomores. Ray couldn’t recall their names right now, but as far as he knew they were each respective senior’s roommate, apparently carrying over from the previous year, when they were freshmen.

“How’s it going?” Shawn asked. “Enjoying yourselves?”

A murmur of agreement came from the group.

The coupon in Ray’s hand caught Shawn’s attention. “You should really get something.” He smiled. “Before they close up.”

Ray looked at the food trucks. There were still queues in front of them. No wonder, given the size of the school.

However, Ray figured that Shawn and Marc had a point. The lines were unlikely to thin out soon and the food trucks might eventually run out of food one by one. It wouldn’t be the first time Ray delayed until he missed out on something.

Ray nodded and made his way to the nearest truck.

“Fuck me silly, would you look at that?!” Emu exclaimed as he walked towards Fabian, the nearest of the freshmen he could reach. He investigated the freshman’s body. “You guys been hitting the gym?”

Fabian drew his arms closer, uncomfortable with being approached and examined.

Kenneth shucked his own shirt. “Pretty sure it’s the agent doing most of the work.”

“We’ve also been hitting the gym though,” Chris added.

“Yeah, but no way you grow that much in just a week from exercise alone,” Diego chimed in. “Kenneth is right.”

Ray looked at himself and the rest of the freshmen. He hadn’t noticed because he saw himself and others on a daily basis and so the differences were more gradual, but if he recalled what he looked like a week ago, yeah, his arms were definitely a bit more toned, not on the level of a bodybuilder, more going in the direction of a swimmer, muscles visible under the skin but not dominating the silhouette.

Emu walked back to his locker. “Shit guys, you think it’s too late to sign up for a shot?” He was clearly joking.

“By all means,” Abe replied. “go ahead.”

“Are you really fine with me overshadowing you even more?”

“I’m fine with you turning into a shoe and never hearing from you again,” Abe laughed.

Another jock chimed in. “Leave it to Emu to turn into a rubber chicken or something similarly annoying.”

Laughter broke out among the jocks, while the Daedalus students froze and stared at the other team. The reality of what would happen to each of them in the future had just been brought back to front of mind.

Diego looked over to the freshmen and understood. “Guys.” He signaled for his team to stop.

“Thank you for coming.” Ms Beck sat down across from Ray in a small seating area inside her office. She poured some tea into a mug in front of her. “Would you like some?”

Ray shook his head.

He had received an appointment a few days ago. Ms Beck wanted to meet each of the freshmen two weeks after the injection to see how they had settled in. Afterwards they would see her on a two weeks basis, or, of course, whenever circumstances called for it.

Ms Beck lifted up the mug and held it with both hands. “How have your first two weeks been?”

“Exhausting, for the most part.” Ray smiled. “But it’s much better now.”

“I heard your roommate had some trouble getting you to work out.”

Ray took a deep breath. Did everyone in the school know at this point? “Yeah, but we sorted it out.”

She blew on her tea. “May I ask why you didn’t want to go?”

Ray rolled his eyes.

“I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Ms Beck quickly added. “Just trying to get a sense of our students and where their minds are at, but we can also talk about something else.”

Ray felt she deserved an answer. “I just thought I didn’t belong there, like I didn’t have a body fit for the gym.” He shrugged. “But as I said, it’s fine now. I got over it.”

“That’s good to hear. You’re getting along with Nick then?”

“Oh yeah, he’s a great guy.”

Ms Beck smiled. “And the other Daedalus students?”

“They’re very welcoming.” Ray thought for a moment. “They make me feel normal.”

Ms Beck only smiled.

“The rest of the school too, actually,” Ray added. “The professors, the other students outside the project. So far, everyone has been surprisingly… unfazed by the whole Daedalus thing.”

“Well, people are used to it by now. Apart from the freshmen, everyone has witnessed at least one year alongside Daedalus students already.”

“Mmh.”

“What about the other freshmen from your group?” Ms Beck wanted to know. “Getting along?”

“For the most part.” Ray shrugged. “Some of them don’t seem to want to be part of it though.”

“It may be less about wanting and more about not being able.”

“What do you mean?”

“Most of you come from a bad place,” Ms Beck explained. “Many of the Daedalus students come here with baggage, unhealthy coping and defense mechanisms. Keeping others at arm’s length may simply be a survival tactic for some.”

“So what am I supposed to do?”

“Nothing is expected from you, of course.” Ms Beck set down her mug and smiled. “But life hasn’t been kind to many of you. A little bit of kindness can go a long way to help someone open up.”

Ray slowly nodded.

“Are you done in there soon?” Nick asked through the door.

Ray didn’t react, instead continuing to investigate his body in the mirror post shower. Watching his muscles moving under his skin was mesmerizing. He never had a body like that and he wasn’t even on Nick’s level yet. It felt unreal, like a dream.

Suddenly the door swung open. “Are you checking yourself out in the mirror?” Nick asked with a smirk.

“Dude, don’t barge in like that.” Nick never locked the door when he showered, so Ray had done the same. It would have felt like he didn’t trust Nick as much as his roommate trusted Ray. Luckily, Ray had already wrapped a towel around his waist.

“Other people wanna shower too, Narcissus.”

“Narcissus?”

“You know,” Nick was leaning in the door frame. “The guy who fell in love with his own reflection.”

“Pff, don’t tell me you didn’t check yourself out in the first weeks.”

“Fine, I won’t tell you.”

“Liar,” Ray scoffed.

“You can’t prove anything.” Nick entered the bathroom. “Now shoo, I need a shower.”

Ray left the bathroom to Nick and lay down in bed. It was late and although he wasn’t as tired as last week, he still felt the toll of the injection. Still, he wanted to look at some of the stuff from his classes. Lately he felt his ability to concentrate and retain knowledge had increased, no doubt due to the agent changing his body. It was subtle, but noticeable for someone like Ray who had never done particularly well in school.

After ten minutes, Nick exited the bathroom and began getting dressed again.

Before Ray could say anything, there was a knock on the door.

Nick went to open it, apparently expecting whoever was on the other side, then walked back to continue getting dressed.

“Yo Nick,” Drew stepped into the room. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” Nick put on a tank top, perfectly outlining his muscles. “I’m set.”

“Let’s go. The others are waiting.”

Ray was curious. “Where are you going?”

“Clubbing,” Nick replied.

Drew looked at Ray and smirked. “You wanna come along?”

“Uhh—” Ray began but was cut off by Nick.

“It’s a gay club.”

“Oh.”

“I mean, you can come along,” Nick offered. “But I doubt it’s for you yet.” When there was no reply from Ray, he added. “Maybe join us next month?”

Ray decided not to commit to anything just yet. The idea still weirded him out. “Mmh.”

“Well, cya,” Nick winked. “There’s food in the fridge and don’t stay up too late.”

Ray sat down in his usual place again for the basic math course. He didn’t know whether he should look forward to it. His body was now more like that of a jock now. People would likely notice him. On the one hand, he expected to no longer be ignored, but on the other hand, it would mean more attention on him, which he didn’t want.

He took a deep breath and tried to act natural.

One by one, more students filed in, few of them glancing his way, but nobody talking to him.

For some reason, seeing the actual reaction did not help resolving his mixed feelings from before. If anything it made it worse. Why did people ignore him? Wasn’t he supposed to be popular now? And those who did look at him, what were they thinking? Did they know he was part of Daedalus? Were they judging him for joining it?

Selena’s voice interrupted his whirlwind of thoughts. “Good morning.” She stopped to take a closer look at Ray. “What happened to you?”

Ray blushed. He still didn’t feel comfortable telling Selena about the Daedalus project. He had no idea how she would react, so he avoided the truth without lying. “I hit the gym.”

“Seems to have done wonders for you.” She waited a few awkward seconds. “Well, see you around.”

And with that, she walked off to join her friends further into the hall.

Slowly but surely, the whirlwind in Ray’s head picked up steam again.

The trill of a whistle made everyone stop and catch their breath, including Ray.

“Well played, everyone, well played,” Mr McCarthy shouted across the football field to the Daedalus freshmen and Diego’s team. “I’ll give you a few minutes, then we’ll huddle up.”

Ray saw some of the others take off their helmets and did the same.

Mr McCarthy walked through the group, dispensing feedback. “Fabian, when you have the ball, don’t hesitate. Rush for the goal line.”

“But what if I get stopped?”

“You need to trust your mates to keep the enemy off you,” McCarthy explained. “It’s a team effort. Everyone needs to play their role as best as they can. Every moment you delay gives the enemy the opportunity to regroup.”

“Yeong,” McCarthy continued. “Focus on the ball. You don’t achieve anything from blocking someone who isn’t near the ball. Your goal is to finish the game, not stall it.”

Yeong seemed too out of breath to answer.

Diego jogged over to Ray and some of the others.

“Hey Marc.” The sophomore put a hand on the freshman’s shoulder. “Excellent work on that pass. Tight spiral, and you led your receiver well. Good job.”

“Thanks.”

“Ray,” Diego continued. “Nice tackle. Keep it up.”

Ray couldn’t help but glance over to Pablo, who he took the ball from earlier, but Pablo didn’t seem to pay attention to what Diego was saying, too busy catching his breath.

The players continued recovering from the exercise before they gathered around Mr McCarthy.

“All right,” he began. “You still have some things to learn, but I think we’re at a point where we can form proper teams.” He turned to Diego. “That means three of your guys will move to the Daedalus team.”

“We’re not gonna do a proper mix?”

McCarthy shook his head. “We want to see a direct comparison in terms of performance.”

“Mmh.” Diego did not make it clear whether he disliked the reason or if he agreed.

“You don’t need to decide now.” McCarthy looked to the others. “As for you, freshmen, you’ll have to elect a captain. Any volunteers?”

Kenneth raised his hand and so did Chris.

McCarthy thought for a moment. “Chris, I’ll be honest, I don’t see you in a captain’s position.”

“Why not?”

Instead of an answer, McCarthy gave him an examining look. “Tell you what, convince me in the coming months and we can have this talk again next year.”

Chris looked to the side, grinding his teeth.

“Anyone else?” McCarthy asked.

Pablo raised his voice. “What about Marc?”

McCarthy looked at Marc. “You up for it?”

Marc seemed surprised. “Uh, sure.”

“All right then,” McCarthy motioned the two to come stand in front of the group. “Votes for Kenneth?”

Four arms shot up.

“And for Marc?”

Ray raised his arm, together with Pablo and Marc.

McCarthy looked around the group, seemingly amused by those who didn’t vote. “Well, it’s close, but looks like Kenneth, you are now your team’s captain.” He turned to Marc. “And you’re the vice captain.”

Both students nodded.

“Diego, you will select three of your team to join the Daedalus students.”

“All right.” Diego turned to his team to pick players, when McCarthy interrupted him.

“Don’t do it now. Kenneth, until next week you will make a plan with your positions for offense and defensive play and then talk with Diego so he can decide who to send over.”

“Got it.”

“Well then,” McCarthy continued. “That’s all for today.”

Ray felt uncomfortable, like he didn’t belong. His muscles had grown and he was still the unpopular kid in the last row. He looked like a jock and yet felt like a sham on the field.

His life was currently an amalgamation of mutually exclusive concepts.

As he was nearing his dorm, he saw Nick standing in front of it talking to Bryce, who was one of the few students in the wing who weren’t part of Daedalus. He and Nick were both majoring in physics and started in the same year, so they shared plenty of classes together.

Seeing Bryce in his wheelchair added another layer of mismatch to Ray’s reality. Bryce was the kind of student this wing was made for, instead of the jocks who were currently outnumbering them, jocks who were at their peak health or would soon be, in a week or so. It wasn’t that Ray thought it was wrong that he and the others coinhabited the same dorms as students with physical disabilities, but the juxtaposition, among all the others, gave him the kind of vertigo where close and far came in alternating pulses.

He passed Nick and stepped into his dorm. Tossing his bag into a corner, he sat down on his bed.

Maybe the reason why he felt this way was the agent. His restlessness was largely gone, though he still had trouble falling asleep at night, which often cost him an hour or two. Maybe he just needed to relax.

And so Ray closed his eyes to do just that.

A few minutes later Nick entered the dorm, apparently done with Bryce. “You okay?”

Ray took a breath and opened his eyes. “Yeah, just a bit overwhelmed.”

“Dizziness and racing thoughts?”

Ray nodded.

“Shouldn’t last more than a few days.” Nick went to the table by the window and laid out some papers. He and Bryce must have exchanged notes from a shared class. “Your brain’s getting rewired.”

“Shit, really?”

“Mmh mmh,” Nick confirmed.

Ray knew that the solution enhanced mental abilities, but he never put together how the agent would accomplish that. “Will I still be me afterwards?”

Nick looked up. “Depends.”

“On what?”

“Which flavor of philosophy you subscribe to,” Nick smiled.

“Huh?”

“You know about the Ship of Theseus?” After receiving only a questioning glance from Ray, Nick continued. “It’s a thought experiment. Imagine you have a wooden ship. You take one piece of wood out and replace it with a new one. Is it still the same ship?”

“I guess so.”

“You do it again.” Nick paused for a moment. “Still the same ship?”

“Yeah?”

“Now you do it again and again and again. Piece by piece you replace every single part with a new one. Is it the same ship as the one at the beginning or a new ship?”

Ray mulled over the question but found no answer.

“It’s not exactly the same because our neurons aren’t replaced, but how the neurons are connected is more important than the neurons themselves anyway, so I guess it’s still relevant.”

Nick’s eyes lingered on Ray. “You need new clothes soon.”

Ray looked down on himself. His muscles were pulling his shirt tight and it slipped above his waistband increasingly often recently. Ray pulled it down again.

Now he realized the other reason why he felt uncomfortable the whole day, aside from the dizziness. He was starting to grow out of his clothes.

“You can have some of mine in the meantime.” Nick returned his attention to his papers. “Doesn’t make sense to buy any now because you’ll keep growing, but in two weeks we should go shopping.”

“We?”

Nick looked up. “I mean, unless you wanna go alone. I was merely offering.”

“It’s weird going shopping with a guy.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “You think so?”

“You don’t think people will find it weird seeing two guys shopping for clothes?”

“I don’t care.” Nick returned his attention to his papers.

“You don’t care what other people think?”

“Should I?”

Ray opened his mouth to answer but Nick’s question gave him pause. He mulled it over. Should he?

It was Tuesday morning again, and Ray stepped into the lecture hall for the basic math course.

He stopped, looking at the seat that he had occupied every time so far. He had been trying to hide, to disappear in the last row.

He was worried about what the other students would think if they found out about him being part of Daedalus. He still wondered that, in fact. Ray had learned that the professors and the higher years were cool with it, but this class was entirely freshmen.

Nick’s words rang in his head.

Should he care what others thought of him?

He glanced over to the middle of the lecture hall. Maybe he didn’t need to hide.

Ray walked over to a couple empty seats further into the hall and sat down, not right next to anyone else, but also not at the farthest possible distance from the nearest student.

Ray brought out his notes and writing utensils as more and more students filed in, the seats around him filling up.

A man sat down next to him. He didn’t say anything at first, but then he turned to Ray as if investigating his neighbor. “Are you new? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“Uh, no, I’ve—” Ray considered what to tell him and decided to keep it vague. “I’ve been around.”

“What are you studying?”

“Engineering.”

The other student’s eyes widened, apparently impressed by Ray’s major.

“You?” Ray asked.

The guy looked to the side and made a face as if it’s not as interesting. “Economics.” Then he looked at Ray again. “I’m Zoran by the way.”

“Ray.”

“Good morning!” Nick pulled up the blinds to let the sunshine in, like he did nearly every day.

“Morning,” Ray grumbled. The sleeplessness had more or less subsided. Nights were now spent sleeping rather than tossing and turning.

Still, Ray wasn’t a morning person, and so his reaction wasn’t as enthusiastic as that of Nick.

Nick made his way to the bathroom. “I trust you get up by yourself now?”

“Mmh mmh,” Ray confirmed.

“Good.” Nick stopped before opening the bathroom door. “Gym after class?”

“Mmh mmh.”

Ray heard the bathroom door close and decided to sit up to prevent himself from falling asleep again.

He kept his eyes closed. He bargained that sitting up allowed him some form of compensation for his tiredness.

Ray could tell that the initial transformation induced by the agent had more or less finished. His body was jacked and Nick had said that there should be no more mental side effects. Ray had even grown a little, the bones stretching, just a tiny bit each, but quickly accumulating several inches. He was thankful it hadn’t hurt nearly as much as it should have. There was only a little aching here and there, that he hadn’t even realized was related to his bones. In fact, he could still feel it. After all, there was one more week to go.

He also started to feel the positive effects the solution had on his mind more clearly. Concentrating in class and recalling information came much easier to him than it ever had. For the first time in his life, school felt manageable.

And his classmates had started talking to him too. It had only been two days, but no longer hiding from the other students helped Ray find new friends in multiple classes.

As he was waiting for Nick to finish, he opened his eyes, squinting against the morning sun, and smiled.

Life was good.

“All right guys.” Diego raised his voice to get everyone’s attention. “Gather around.”

Ray and the others had just entered the locker room and put down their bags, ready to change into their gear. Diego moved over to position himself next to Kenneth causing the other students from his team to assemble on the Daedalus side of the room.

“As you’ve heard last week, we’ll be forming two teams with 13 players each,” Diego continued. “The Daedalus students will be all in one team, so three of us will move over.” He motioned towards his own teammates. “Henry, Ichi and Nathan, you’ll go.”

While Henry and Ichi nodded, Nathan furrowed his brow.

“Why me?” He asked.

“These guys are pretty new to football.” Diego gestured at the freshmen. “They’re still experimenting with their positions. They’ll need good all-rounders, people who are flexible and quick to adapt to changing circumstances. And I think you three are my best men for that.”

Nathan looked away, thinking about what Diego had said.

Diego waited for a few moments. “Do you not want to?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Then it’s decided.” He looked at the Daedalus students. “Good luck on the field.”

Diego and the other students moved back to their places to continue changing, filling the room with their usual banter.

Suddenly, the background noise was cut by a loud yelp. The room fell silent in an instant. Everyone turned to the source of the sound.

There stood Victor, shirtless, staring at a small black thing sitting between his now muscular pecs. His mouth was agape in shock and his arms raised to the side, frozen as if to not disturb what was sitting on his chest.

Ray couldn’t quite make out what he saw. Was it an insect? He took a step forward.

No.

A zipper pull.

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