For fifteen minutes, the elevator rose into blackness, its screeching motor occasionally hiccuping for a moment before returning with an even greater scream. Eventually it slowed down, and like in an underground monorail station, the sound of wind howling just outside replaced its metallic ring. As it halted, the room jolted downwards as if sinking into a small pit before being locked into place with a distinctive clang. A minute passed, and the doors to the room opened up. Monitors at the head of the room flickered on, displaying another red message.

"REMAIN SEATED"

From the doors proceeded a disheartening appearance; armored faces and intimidating firearms in the hands of a few dozen soldiers broke the boisterous aura within the room. Loud voices were replaced with hushed whispers, and flailing arms with taught postures. It was clear by the faceless, eyeless, featureless faces of the soldiers standing in line at the base of the elevator, displayed before the seated students as if preparing for a grim performance, that the situation required silence and cooperation.

The soldiers stomped their right feet upon the concrete flooring once and brought themselves into a tight formation, firearms held close to their bodies. From the door, another figure entered, less armored -but still clearly bearing defensive clothing- and without an obscuring helmet upon their face. It was a woman of average height, clad in a dark green military uniform that only further cemented her authority beyond the attentiveness those that preceded her showed. Her hair was long, messy, and her face clearly marred by several scars crossing over one another. Gloves covered her hands -or rather, her hand. As far as the students could tell, only one was gloved, for the other was covered by a cape-like article that hung from her left shoulder.

She walked before the lined soldiers until she found herself at the very center, and they, without word or gesture, loosened their stances. The woman scanned her eyes over the seats, never seeming to meet anyone's gaze in particular, and spoke up with an abruptly booming voice.

"Students of Second Academy," she began, prompting a few individuals to jump in surprise, "I do [i]not[/i] regret to inform you that this is not the educational facility you were expecting. No more than I fail to regret putting a gun into a locked safe when I go to sleep at night. When I enjoy the comfort of being at home when I do it, and that my son is safe from its dangers." She paused for a few seconds, watching as the chatter among the audience began to pick up. Her next words, just as strikingly loud as before, halted their whispers and mutters once again.

"I'll admit it. You're a bit different than a gun. You're autonomous, which makes you even more dangerous. By whatever freaky means, you've procured yourself a rather strange gun and embedded it within yourselves that no one has been able to remove successful... [i]yet[/i]. After all, the supernatural is simply what science has yet to understand." Reaching behind herself, she brought out a small device not unlike a remote control, which she clicked several times apathetically. On the monitors appeared a series of blueprints, detailing the structure of some tremendous building. As she spoke, arrows and circles manifested in tandem, focusing on the points she pointed out.

"This is the Second Academy for Public Dangers, sanctioned by the SHU in 2152, and funded by multiple corporations. It is 600 kilometers long from bow to stern, and houses a student population of 700,000, maintained constantly by both living and non-living staff. Mostly the latter." She gave a long hard look at one girl in particular, clad in a short-billed black cap and a rather warm-looking shoulder cape. She visibly tensed and averted her own eyes.

"It has been tried and tested over, and over, and over..." she continued, "in being capable of dealing with every manner of supernatural abilities you kids can throw at it." She clicked on the remote control and the monitors focused on the outer edge of the Academy. The "walls" appeared stretched further than any internal barriers, filled with an empty black space. "Every outer wall of the Academy is at least two miles thick, filled with lead and whatever other heavy metals we could procure from the asteroid belts." She returned her gaze back to the caped girl and brought her arms to cross behind. "You teleporters better think twice before trying to jump out into the void of space. I can't imagine how many of you are now one with the walls." A smile crossed her scarred face, and she began to pace back and forth. "All exits possess several layers of defense that bar escape for every type of super we've encountered thus far. Work together and you will find that, even then, you will die without a second thought by the machinery that controls it. Our network is managed by a series of external, extremely powerful AI entities that will kill on contact if you attempt to integrate or hack them. Electromagnetics are a powerful thing, but our AI aren't very good at focusing them onto one person... I suggest students keep away from anyone thinking of screwing with the computers," as she paused, she turned to leer into Cormac's eyes briefly, and continued.

"Here at Second Academy, us staff members work extremely hard to maintain a working environment, even when we have dangerous kiddos like you running about. We are paid poorly, and work for a very long time. Our job is simple, and very satisfying at times given the boredom that accompanies the great majority of it. We aim to weed out those of you who would work to undermine the peace your predecessors strived to achieve. Humanity currently enjoys a time of safety despite the presence of villainous supers. We, [i]we[/i] are the ones who have maintained that." The woman stopped in her tracks and lifted her voice even higher.

"So let me be the first to say, that no actions of any questionable nature whatsoever will be tolerated. No matter who you are, or what you are capable of, you do not have power here. Disobey us at your own risk. Live here in obedience, and I can assure you will exit it in one piece, and return back home to help alleviate the opinions mankind still holds against you. Once this elevator has reached its destination, you will be brought to your permanent place of residence for the night. In the morning, your initiation into the Academy will truly begin. I implore you to behave until then," she finished. The woman gave one last glance at the new arrivals before turning away and exiting. The soldiers followed her out, and just as the door hissed closed, the elevator began to move once again.

Instead of moving upwards, however, it moved straight backwards, once more proceeding into the dark beyond.