by Dave Nesbit
“We need you to understand that you have these abilities but right now you're still learning how to use them.” Dr. Ng said. “We need you to work with us to understand how to use them so you don’t damage yourself or others.”
I knew that if gave them a hard time something really bad would likely happen. Somewhere along the line in the hospital I heard one of the staff tell me Hamilton wasn't some guy from Health and Human Services, but worked for the Justice Department. Call it a mild dose of paranoia, but I had a feeling that if I rattled his cage too hard he could make my day really difficult.
Or worse yet, tell my folks where they could find the porn stashed on my computer.
“Okay what do you want me to do, or not do; as the case may be?”
“First, promise you're not going flying like that till we have you at school.” Hamilton’s tone made it clear that it wasn’t a request.
I sighed. Dammit, that had been so fun. I had a feeling there would be people camping out my front yard in black SUVs till I left for this school. “Okay, deal.”
“Second.” Dr. Ng said. “Show us how you did it. The basics of it. Please.”
I grinned. “Come outside.”
Chapter 8
Now for once in my life I couldn't wait for school to start. I had my bags packed in advance; a collection of jeans, t-shirts, jackets and other casual wear. I wasn’t surprised that my parents were cool with this whole thing. Truth be told, they had no idea how to react to me. A few weeks prior, I was the boy they knew. Average kid with all the average ups and downs. Yesterday, I had lifted my mom’s car with my mind to see if I could do it.
I knew they loved me, but I had turned into someone they didn't really understand. All of this was so sudden that none of us really knew how to adjust to it. As a result, there was an edge to our interactions lately that told me they were more than a little afraid on a basic level.
With a little sadness, a sense of expectation and a notion of mental relief on all our parts I was driven down south. Well, down to Illinois. A little north of Chicago, to what had at one time been a base for the Army Corp of Engineers.
All the buildings looked to be designed for maximum utility and were overbuilt to ensure they could take a lot of punishment.
Which, considering the group of people who would be living here, made it an excellent choice.
Part of me started making mental bets on how much collateral damage would take place here during the year. Then I wondered how the school administration would react to it.
As we drove in past the gates, I saw a lot of people dressed in sensible suits and ties, with close cropped hair and looking very fit. It would come as no surprise to anyone that the school would have an excess of security personnel. Between who was living here, and what I was being told was a growing demand for the services of “The Touched”, keeping track of us was going to be a full time job for the government boys.
It's amazing, now that I look back on it, that I didn't have the good sense to be worried about that.
Dad parked the car and we got out. I was rolling a large suitcase full of clothes and sundries for the school year behind me. Mom followed along looking artificially cheery as we made our way to a building that looked an awful lot like a gym.
As we came in, I saw that there were tables with numbers over them to help guide us through the signup process. Looking around, I slowly walked to the table marked “one”. Where, after giving my name to a nice lady behind a card table, I was given a host of forms to fill out.
Dad looked the place over as I filled out the paperwork. Occasionally he'd nudge me, and I'd look up to see another young lady he would suggest I talk to when I get the chance. Dad had always been a social natural. The guy could work a room and have everyone eating out of his hand. As a result, my consistent shyness left him puzzled on a nearly genetic level.
Looking around, I was grateful to see that the school wouldn't be a total sausage fest. The ratio of male to female seemed evenly split, or perhaps a bit favored toward female.
Which for me meant I had that many more chances to try out my ability to sound like an idiot when I tried to talk to a member of the opposite sex. Sure I could move a car with magnetic force and fly through the air. Ask me to talk to a good looking girl? All my confidence tended to dry up and blow away like sand on a sidewalk.
Once the paperwork was filled out, we handed it in to a member of the staff behind another card table. She looked me up then handed me a laminated set of passes and paperwork that told me what dorm I would be in.
Across the walls of the gym there were numbers for each of the dorm buildings. Mine was number three, after hugging mom and dad and kissing them goodbye I went to the area and scoped out who I would be sharing my personal space with for the school year.
Walking up to the small crowd of fellow “Touched” I checked them out. At the same time feeling their eyes sizing me up as well.
The first guy I saw was a kid with blond hair down to his shoulders. He was dressed in jeans and a pullover hoody with a skate company name on it. The clothes didn’t do much to conceal his remarkably skinny frame. I walked up to him holding out my hand. “Hi, I'm Ryan.”
He took my hand and shook. “Hey, I'm Shawn.” He replied with a smile.
The next to walk up to me was a guy about my size with darker skin and the sharpest features I'd seen on anyone before. He looked bulky, like his favorite pastime was beating a weight rack into submission. Facially he kind of reminded me of a younger Antonio Banderas. “I'm Ramon.” He said. “What do you do?”
“Um… go to school.” I responded.
Ramon chuckled. “I mean what’s your power, your thing? We're all here because of that right?”
I smiled, getting it now. “Umm, magnetic control.”
“Like you can move stuff using magnetic force?” Shawn asked.
“Yeah and myself. I tried out flying a few weeks ago.”
“Dude that's awesome. I'm trying to figure out a way to make my power do that.” Ramon said.
“What do you do?”
“I can generate and control flames. Scared the shit out of me and my mom when it first happened.”
“I can bet, hope there wasn't any serious injuries.” I said.
“Nah we were in the middle of Grant Park when it happened.” Ramon answered. “When I realized I wasn't burning up I calmed down enough to concentrate and make them go away.”
“Lucky you. Apparently when my powers came on line I managed to short out most of a hospital.”
“Dude that was you?” Shawn looked incredulous. “I was in ER when the power dropped.”
“Uh sorry about that.” It was odd meeting anyone who had seen the consequences of my power going nuts. Thankfully he had a sense of humor about it.
“No problem. it took me about fifteen minutes to fix it all.” He said with a wide grin.
“Hey, what do you do?”
“I make stuff.” He replied, like that phrase explained everything.
“What kind of stuff?” I asked.
“Electronics, motors, robots, computers.” He paused to think. “Ray guns, concussion pistols.”
“Uhhh... okay.”
“It's like I get an idea, and then my mind maps out how to make it work as I do it.”
“That's gotta be cool.” Ramon said as a blond haired girl looked at a piece of paper she was given and walked toward us.
“Yeah I'm working on a set of powered armor in my mind.”
“That’s gonna be pretty awesome.” The girl came closer. Looking back, I had to wonder if maybe our collective gazes made her nervous. If they did, she didn't show it.
She walked right up to me and said “Hi, I'm Rachel. I guess I'm going to be sharing a space with you and few others.” I held out my hand and she shook it in a firm grip. Then she introduced herself to the others.
The next one to come up was a mousy looking girl with dark hair. Her body looked thin to the point of emaciatio
n. Her features didn't seem to fit the shape of her face, and she wore glasses that didn't help matters any. Coming toward us she walked with her head held down. Like if she didn't see us, we couldn't see her.
I looked at her and smiled as she walked into our area. “Hi, I'm Ryan.”
She tilted her head a little; then looked up with the eyes of someone who expected the worst at any moment. I could see and feel her trying to figure out what way I was going to hurt her. When she saw that I had no immediate designs on her harm, she smiled very shyly and said, “Uh, hi, I'm Lynn.”
“Hi Lynn it's nice to meet you.” When I was in grade school I had been bullied constantly and her whole demeanor reminded of how I looked and felt back then. She had this sense of ongoing defeat written all over her. Her smile never wavered or changed. It was something she used to camouflage her pain and vulnerability.
I thought we had our whole crew when we got one last arrival. He was a tall solidly built kid with dirty reddish hair. He was dressed in rumpled combat fatigue pants and wore a t-shirt that might have advertised a band, but looked like it had lost a battle with a bottle of bleach. There were dark spots next to faded grey and white spots on it. He walked up and kind of grunted, “Hi.”
“Hey dude. What’s your name?”
“I'm Jimmy, Jimmy Blake.” I offered my hand which he pointedly ignored, so I shrugged and looked at Shawn who kind of smiled and rolled his eyes.
Ramon walked up and smiled at the guy. “What do you do dude?”
“I'm fast,” was his answer. He acted like that was all the answer we needed, then turned and ran his eyes over Rachel in a manner that was anything but subtle.
‘Every group’s got one.' I thought, then wondered if I was the one at my last school. Remembering my own behavior when I got to high school my freshman year.
‘Most likely.’ I thought and chuckled.
Rachel walked up to Lynn and introduced herself then kind of walked off with her. It was going to be interesting sharing a place with everyone in this group but I looked forward to it.
The houses seemed to be assembled and we were all just milling around. The room was getting a little louder when a man in a dark suit with a Caesar cut walked to the podium at the front of the room.
He had skin whose shade reminded me of a black panther and his dark hair had flecks of grey. There are moments when you can see by body language how a person expects to be treated. And if Lynn was the constant victim, this guy was her polar opposite. He seemed to be built to command.
His build was strong and athletic. Not overtly, like a weightlifter, more like a guy who played free safety on the football team. Fast and powerful, capable of high speed and high energy.
Once at the podium he knocked the mic to make sure it was on and began. “Good morning everyone.” He paused and actually got a few responses of “good morning.” I was one of the folks who did, as it was a thing I remembered from church.
“I am Paul Watson, the administrator of this school. I'm glad to see you all here today, and I am looking forward to being your guide as we all learn more about the new abilities each of you possess. This facility will help you to harness them with the intent of making the world a better place.”
“And convincing you to serve the government.” Jimmy said snidely from behind me.
“Now as you have all noticed we have assigned each of you to housing here on the campus. Each house has a member of the faculty assigned to it. You will direct any issues you may have to them and they will help you to sort them out.” He paused as I saw Hamilton walk up to our table. I was pleasantly unsurprised. Part of me wondered how many other members of our house he had spoken to since this whole mess started.
“Now your faculty member will walk you to your house. You'll have some time to get your things settled, then we will continue your orientation.” Hamilton walked up and smiled. A gesture that surprisingly fit his features very well. It was a look I hadn’t seen much of from him, but then with everything going on he’d likely not had many reasons to.
“Okay follow me.” Then walked us out onto the base proper. We followed him down what was effectively two long city blocks to a large house. It was painted white and looked to be your standard American model circa the 1950's. It was a two story with what looked like a half story attic.
The odd part was that it was part of a row of houses that looked exactly like each other. Thankfully ours was on the corner so the chances of stumbling into the wrong house would likely be difficult.
“Well, here's your new home for the duration.” Hamilton said. Walking us inside, as we all took stock of the place. “I put your names on the bedroom you've been assigned. Drop your stuff off and take a moment to get familiar with it.”
We walked around the place; kind of stumbling as we all tried to find our way through the halls. All while slamming heavy suitcases into doors and walls and trying not to break stuff so soon after arriving.
Finally, I found my room on the second floor between Ramon and Jimmy’s. Across the hall was Shawn and the ladies had gotten the bedrooms on the first floor. My room was, as I expected, kind of small with a bed on one side of the room and a desk taking up the corner on another with a computer on it. The walls were an off-white, and the closet seemed to have enough space for what few things I needed to hang up. There was a dresser opposite the bed and I proceeded to load my t-shirt collection into it.
I had left the door open but Hamilton was kind enough to rap on the door anyway to announce his arrival. “What do you think?”
“It's not as big as my room at home, but at least I don't have to share it.”
“Always a positive.” He replied. “The other plus is that the place has four bathrooms, and each one has its own hot water heater.”
“I could get to like this place.” I said and shut the dresser drawer.
“Good, you'll be here for a while.” He walked away to check on the others and I set out a few more items. After a while, we all congregated in the living room. Then Hamilton walked us over to another building. Which had the smell of cooking coming from it.
Which was a good thing as I was getting hungry, a side effect of being one of “The Touched” was that our metabolisms all ran much faster now. Which meant eating, snacking and the munchies were a lot of what we thought about.
Walking into the cafeteria, I could see lines forming and we joined up, jostling and listening in as the other kids talked. “I'm telling you with my old man’s connections we're gonna own this place.” a voice ahead of me said. Looking at the owner of it, I saw a guy whose face just screamed that he came from good solid WASP stock. Features that could be called fine, with a head of light blond hair, his face had formed lines that made me think that he tended to spend a lot of time sneering. He was talking to a couple of other kids. All of them dressed in clothes that looked like they came from a high-end shop’s “Fall collection”.
I mentally shrugged, grabbed a tray and added a plate full of mash potatoes, green beans, corn and chicken to it. Nothing spectacular but right now all I wanted to do was eat.
Well, maybe a bit more than that. The others from the house had gathered in line; Rachel walked in front of me. I tried, and failed, on a basic level at not making it obvious that I was watching her ass as she walked in front of me.
Being chronically shy, especially around girls, I had done my best to try to figure out how to talk to them. I would start and my brain would lock up. Whole sentences would be reduced to collections of sounds like “um” and “er” and of course we can't forget “derp”.
Walking up to the table I could see Hamilton was there. He opened a large plastic crate. Reaching inside he handed each of us our very own cardboard box. Inside was a small tablet and a case with a pair of glasses inside. Looking both over, I turned on the computer and set the glasses aside. I ate and messed around with it for a bit. Then the computer reset itself to the school logo and I saw two techs wheel in a screen and projector.
A few moments later Mr. Watson walked in and began speaking.
“Welcome, to our first ever class of students here at what we are currently calling 'The Academy'. You lucky few are going to be the ones who help us learn how to teach and work with people with such unique abilities as yours.”
“And given the chance we will make you all into robots.” Jimmy whispered behind me quietly. I gave him a dirty look and turned back to Watson.
“We have assigned each of you a place to live and are trying to craft a curriculum that will help you all to learn the standard subjects you would learn at any school. We also want to help you to develop and control your abilities. Now with that in mind, I would like you all to look at your tablets.”
He used the tablet to guide us through the location of the course halls and other school locations. Then told us all to open up the glasses case.
I took the glasses out and looked them over, having never worn glasses before it felt odd to try them on “These glasses were custom made for us by Cray Computing. You will notice a small switch on the right side. Press it then put them on.”
I did and then put them on again. Getting a bit of a surprise. At the bottom of the lenses I could see little marks and numbers. It took me a moment to realize they were compass notations. “Each of these glasses has been set up to act as a heads up display. During an exercise, we can relay information to you through them. Either by projecting onto the HUD, or by using the headphones built into the glasses.”
He paused for a moment. “Ohh and you can link the tablet to the glasses to use them as a media player.” I got a chuckle out of it. As did most of the room, I'm pretty sure it answered the one big question most of the students would have had about the combination.
“Now then, I suggest you all enjoy lunch and get used to the campus, classes begin tomorrow at nine.” I almost expected to hear him say ‘dismissed’ but he passed on that, and sat down to his lunch.