Minseok held his coat tighter as he tracked upwards, gripping the slippery rocks at the sides and praying to the heavens that these Lances he bought from Shakhs yesterday would do their job. He stomped hard on his heels to make sure the claws remain activated under his feet.

Breathing heavily, he approached the huge metal gate just at the top of these giant rocks, they call ‘Damsels’. In his time, damsels were weak and pretty, not huge and ferocious, but he wasn’t going to argue with the Akhmids on the way they named their stuff.

He tapped the sole button that was on the small gate at left entrance of the huge grey steel.

"Identify yourself."
"X for Xezhton. M for Mizareth. Station: North Dormitory, #0010." He shouted above the wind blowing.
A little Siqhua crawled out of the button hole and crawled up his moisture prevention coat. Minseok hated this bit. It sunk one of its claws into his skin, drawing a small amount of blood.
"Identity accepted. Welcome home, XM."

Minseok wasn’t very tempted to say the feeling was mutual.

Walking into his lobby, he bent down to deactivate the gripping claws of his Lances. He thinks these were really worth the 50 Mawah that they were worth.

He took off his coat and dumped it into the giant holes at the entrance of their great hall. He hopes the laundry elves won’t mix his clothes up with XingMen this time. Their intials and dormitory code were dangerously close. Minseok already begged for Kris to send him to another wing, he could do more than defrost ice on these mountains during winter and cool their system during summer. But his application was still ‘under consideration’ according to Kris.

"Tough trek?" His dorm leader, Joonmyun placed an arm around him as he walked into the north wing.

"No. Rough weather." He breathed. The storm was getting heavier with each monsoon season. Everyone knows the Dark Ones were to blame - but no Akhmids were going to wage a war on their territory.

"What was your mission this time round?" Sehun quipped above his lunch, on dining table in their hall. It seems they were having Slug soup today. Minseok could never get used to their food even though he had been here for almost a year. He frowned at the murky green broth.

"Gathering energy for the celebration decorations." Sehun grinned. "Oh yeah. You’re the weird one that always has to step outside to nature to gather energy. Get a plug installed next time!"

Minseok pushed him aside to make himself a seat. “I don’t need unncessary holes in my body like you guys. I gain energy just fine.”

Joonmyun sat down next to him. “Sehun is right though Xiumin, nature is dying out - there’s only so much energy left there. You need to download them from our system if that day comes.” Minseok just shook his head.

"If that day comes… I’ll… nevermind. What’s for lunch?"

"Slug! It’s a real treat!"

"Ugh…"

Minseok dried himself at the drying counter beside his shower room. It was always a weird experience to him - he remembers always reaching out for a towel once he was done cleaning himself. But apparently cloth was a burden, extra waste - since when did that happen? How did the course of time change everything so dramatically?

He put on a thin wife beater and laid down on his suspended air bed to rest. He saw that the rest of his roommates were already sleeping, suspended air beds were floating around randomly, rocking them into a deep sleep. He too got in himself and shut the container tight, he doesn’t want anyone’s snoring to disturb him in his sleep.

His bed automatcially floated upwards, giving him a brilliant view of the starry night sky. The sky had never looked so vast in his time. It was filled with aeroplanes, all striving to reach their destination. The view was always blocked by skyscrapers, high-rised buildings, and the city was always so well-lit that he had to go into the woods to get a view of it. But who knew they would all be gone come Year 8102?

Minseok wriggled his fingers and felt for his necklace. It was a snow shaped one that his father gave him for his birthday. It was the only thing that kept his memory of the year 3000 alive, and he had someone waiting for him to come back home - if it was even possible at all.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

Minseok opened his container and popped his head out. “Sehun?”

"Tell me a story about the past, Xiumin." Xiumin sighed and rested his head on his inflated cushion. But he kept his container open.

"A bed time story again, Sehun? I thought you just had your Akhmidian ceremony half a year ago."

"Year? Is that the ancient language Xiumin-eoh?" Sehun half-climbed out of his container, shifting his weight to follow Minseok’s bed.

Minseok nodded and closed his eyes. “mmhmm. It means yok in your language.” He forgets that he used back the words in his old language sometimes. 5000 years of difference did vast changes to what used to be their Akhmidian language.

"Tell me about your people again Xiumi-eoh!" Sehun half giggled excitedly. Minseok smiled. No matter how many mission he had under his belt, Sehun was still the baby of their troop.

"Well, the year was 3000." he could hear Sehun positionig his bed close to his. "There were only homosapiens that ruled the planet. We were divided into Akmad, Xezikh, Mezar, Olaf."

"Now it’s Akhmid, Xezhton, Mizareth, Orks!" Sehun interrupted. Minseok chuckled. "I’m actually glad to find that only a few syllabus changed, really. Sehun really giggled at this. This was always his favourite part.

"I lived in what we called a home. Everyone lived with their family and had a house, where they stayed together."
"As a unit?"
"Something like that."
"I went to a school. It was a place that taught us different languages and skills."
"That must be really hard."
Minseok chuckled. “Yes, it was. But I used to be really good at it.”
"But why would you really need to know anymore than what your powers allow you to do?"
Minseok paused, “We didn’t the Great Wars in my time. Nobody really used their powers except for everyday chores and minial purposes.”

Sehun gasped. “What? That must be so weird! How do you not use your powers? Were there no Dark Ones for you to kill?”
"Well, according to Zhang Prof., Dark Ones were only summoned very recently - Year 6235."

"But what would that kind of life be like? With no Dark Ones." Sehun whispered into the darkness.
The star shone very brightly that night. Minseok noted. He stared at the brightest one. If astronomy still holds true in this period. That was the Northern star.

"Perfect."