Divulgence (Song of Sophangence Book 2)

by E. I. McAllistair

  “Well I’ll be damn… These thangs are kinda waterproof…”

  Looking for a price and not finding one, Dan sought assistance from Hobb.

  “Hobb, how much these cards?”

  “The pack in which you are holding is $6.95 Mr. Bedacholli. The cards in this section range from $4.50 to $26.99.”

  “How much would it be for all of ‘em in dis section.”

  “With current inventory, your total would amount to $942.66.”

  “Aww shit I cain’t afford all these.”

  “If I may ask, what is the purpose of purchasing such a volume of these items?”

  “Well I can use ‘em for my powers. I guess I will jest have to get a couple and be careful with ‘em.”

  “Actually, as you intend to use these items for the purpose of your abilities, such expenditures are covered by the school. As you are the only student who would fit such a specific criterium, I was remiss in properly advising you. Apologies.”

  “Wait, you mean they free?”

  “Negative. They do still come at a cost, however in this case, the cost would be charged to the school rather than your account. Please inform me of which of these items best suit you, as I can request they be ordered in bulk specifically for your use.”

  “Well hot damn! I’ma go get a bag and take all these with me. I hope ain’t nobody tryin’ to play poker tonight!”

  Skipping excitedly to a terminal with bags, he grabbed two, filling them both with the playing cards in the section. When he recognized how heavy the bags were, he decided to try something that he had been working on. Formulating a pack of cards into a nearly human sized stick figure, he was able to carry both the bags of cards with ease, while practicing his control over the cards.

  He had never been one to make what Anaar called constructs, but he was rapidly becoming to see why he was so fond of talking about them. If he had never subconsciously made the two constructs during his combat final in his anger, he would have never thought to explore the possibility. Now he was rather excited to see what new things he could do with cards, and what type of constructs he could reasonably make. Though his stick man was very simple, he found the lions he had made during the final were nigh impossible to replicate.

  Walking from the elevator with a card puppet carrying two heavy bags, he drew quite a number of stares, but he could not care less. He was so elated with the discoveries he was making, nothing could bring him down. In the end, he was unable to replicate the lions he had made, or anything quite so complex for that matter, nor could he make paper waterproof, but with the playing cards, it was the next best thing. They were also marginally more difficult to control, so much like the weightlifting class he had taken that trimester, he was simply increasing the weight he could lift over time.

  Maggie was extremely supportive of his new discovery, likely because for him it was akin to a new weapon which she seemed to be very obsessive over lately. When asked how he planned to carry them around, he found himself lacking in that foresight, thankful for someone to remind him of something so simple. The next day he went to Larry who had been the one to requisition his custom holsters for his paper, requesting holsters for the cards as well. Though he warned Dan he was running out of room to put holsters, he did promise to look into getting something made for him right away. With weeks before their next round of classes, Dan had plenty of time for his new holsters to arrive, and he happily set to making a schedule to begin training with his new tools.

  33

  It was almost time to say goodbye to the Senior class, and as a result everyone was excited for the additional two days the entire school had off. Even though the classes were quite segregated, there were many Seniors who had Freshmen mentees, or had cultivated relationships through extracurricular activities over their many years. These extra two days made for an extremely long weekend that afforded one final hurrah before their time came to depart. After the Seniors left, the school would be far quieter as there would only be three classes instead of four on campus for quite some time since new students only came to the school every other year.

  Stefani in particular was affected by the seniors leaving, as she attributed much of her vast growth over the year to the tough love and nurturing of Ripp. From what she could tell, no other person in her class had as close a relationship with their mentor as she did, except perhaps Anaar, but that was a completely different situation. Trying to figure out how to best spend the little time she had left with the amazing woman she had come to rely on so much, Stefani thought that taking her on a vacation would be a fantastic idea.

  With how much she had learned from Ripp, she liked to think she had a positive influence on Ripp as well. Stefani had noticed that Ripp smiled much more than she used to, and she spent much less of her time obsessing over her own strength. This may have been in part due to the fact the energy was instead channeled into Stefani, but regardless it still had the effect of making her much more approachable.

  Thinking it would be no fun if it were just the two of them, Stefani thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to get all of her friends together for the trip so they could have a good time. She remembered how much fun everyone seemed to have at Anaar’s rather lavish birthday party, held at none other than the Headmistress’ home. If she were going to top that, the vacation would need to be something spectacular, as it was Ripp’s going away present.

  Searching for something that would be exciting and fun, yet not full of people made for much of a larger chore than Stefani had imagined. There were a number of places that would no doubt be perfect, but the busy tourist season would be more grating on Ripp than relaxing, which would defeat the purpose. Having decided on an adventure that included beaches, since she was upset she had not had an opportunity to wear a bikini in over a year, she continued her search, narrowing down island destinations.

  After yet more extensive research, she found one of the first places she wanted to go would also fit the criteria she had put forth. Each resort in the Maldives had their own island, which meant that not only would there be no tourists other than themselves due to the group’s large size, but they would have an entire island to themselves. This was perfect since there was no way Ripp could possibly say no under these conditions.

  “Absolutely not. Why would I go prancing off to some island with you when I could be training?”

  Not at all happy that her foolproof plan was already unravelling, Stefani watched as Ripp sipped her sickly green beverage defiantly. “That is the point! Sophia you will be leaving soon! Leaving! How many times do I have to stress that! We must do something fun to cap our time together. I also want to thank you for all that you have done to help me.”

  “If you want to thank me, then you can get your ass into some workout gear and train with me. That little trick you have learned that makes you move and hit like some superhuman is good practice to work against. If I can start learning how to counter that, it will make everyone else seem like they are moving in slow motion.”

  “No! No more training! Haven’t you done enough? Aren’t you tired? Why can’t you just take a break to enjoy yourself?”

  “Training is how I enjoy myself.”

  “That is just silly!”

  “Stef, what have I been telling you about our place as women since day one?”

  Sighing while she rolled her eyes, “That we have to be ten times better than men just to get the same recognition.”

  “Damn right. At least you listened to something in these past months. I don’t plan on going the route of my mom. She has done amazing things, but maybe it is the fact she is a Medic she isn’t as esteemed as my Dad. Still, I find myself in a similar situation. Nobody picks the Transporter first when putting together a combat op. We are the support staff to move people around. Not only do I have to overcome that, I have to overcome the prejudice of being a woman and being seen as weak. I don’t have time to waste.”

  “But I promise you this won’t be a waste
! You pretended you didn’t like it, but you had fun at Anaar’s birthday party! I want to do something similar. We would have everyone together, all having fun, food, and camaraderie. I even found a place where you won’t be forced to deal with other people.”

  “Stef, it is peak vacation time. Wherever we go there will be people that we have to suffer, hence the reason why I would rather not deal with it.”

  “Not true! This is actually the wet season in Maldives, and there are less tourists. Plus, we would get our own island so it would just be us!”

  “You want who knows how many people to spend tons of money to sit on a plane for hours, just to have maybe a day or two in the rain, and then fly back? Do you not know how vacations work?”

  “I’m going to pay for all the accommodations, but I was thinking you could just portal us to the island.”

  So shocked by this statement, Ripp put down her drink and simply stared blankly at Stefani. “All of this is just to get me to shuttle you and your friends to an island getaway?”

  “No! This really is about you most importantly, but just everyone cutting loose! We work so hard, with barely any breaks that come up in between. We could all use a little rest and relaxation.”

  “Once again this sounds like you want to do this, but you figured I’d be more willing to play taxi for everyone if it was supposedly for me.”

  “Why do you have to be so difficult?!” With tears beginning to well up in her eyes, “Don’t you realize our time is coming to an end? I just want something memorable to finish it off with.”

  Sighing heavily, “Even if I did do this, which I’m not saying I am, why would I want to spend my last few days being reminded that I’m third best? I can only assume you are inviting Anaar, who will then bring Phavian.”

  “You act as if they aren’t your friends! Real friends accept their losses against each other graciously and move forward together to get stronger. I don’t get mad when Anaar or Maggie beat me, I simply know that I will need to work that much harder so when we face off again, I stand a better chance at winning. With events like the school rankings, it is just that much clearer we are nothing but pawns to pit against one another, rather than friends who are here to support each other. I know you don’t hate them, so don’t act like that would prevent you from going.”

  “You know how much I hate all your lovey dovey crap, but I guess I can let loose this one time…”

  Jumping up from the table, she scurries over to hug Ripp, which only gets her a pop on the head. “Thank you so much! I know you are going to have fun! The resort assured me they could accommodate up to thirty people comfortably-”

  Holding up her hand, “Wait. Did you already book this before asking me?”

  “Well I didn’t want to lose out on one of the good resorts!”

  “I can’t believe you. What if I had said no?”

  “I was confident in my skills of persuasion! Don’t be like that, just focus on the fun we are going to have! With you taking us, we will get that much more time to relax!”

  “Where exactly is this again?”

  “Maldives is this string of tiny islands…”

  Pulling it up on a map, Ripp nearly chokes. “What makes you think I can get us there?!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It is in the middle of the Indian Ocean!”

  “Technically I think it is more in the middle of the Laccadive Sea…”

  “No. Have you looked at a map? That is the Indian Ocean. I can’t jump that far! I’d be happy if I could make it from the east coast across the Atlantic!”

  “I barely understand my own powers, so I can’t begin to understand yours too. What if we did it in a series of stops? Like having layovers?”

  “I guess that would work, but I would need to plan the route out in advance, and I would need coordinates. There are no guarantees that my abilities can take us that far at one time so it might take a lot of stops.”

  “I wonder if I can give you a boost.”

  “A boost?”

  “Yeah! Since I can give people abilities that they normally wouldn’t have, why shouldn’t I be able to just make what they do have stronger?”

  “That sounds like a risk Stef. You don’t even know if it is going to work.”

  “We can try it! You can make a portal as far away as you think you can, then I can try to boost your powers to see if it works.”

  “Either way, if we take short jumps, we can get there. The boosting of my powers is a different thing altogether. As much as it pains me, nobody would be better at testing something out with people’s powers than Meathead so I guess we can ask for his help in the experiment. He seems to be obsessed with portals anyway. He is about as bad as the old guy from Exploration.”

  “Great! Well I am going to get to inviting people! This is going to be the best trip ever!”

  With Ripp finally on board with the vacation plan, Stefani sets about inviting all their friends, making sure to ask Ripp if there was anyone she had not already planned on inviting that she would like to extend an invitation to. When Ripp declined, she continued contacting everyone. There was not a single person who was anything but completely excited about the prospect of the trip except for Anaar. Instead of being excited he seemed to be more concerned.

  “Stefani, Maldives in in the Indian Ocean. By the time we get there, it will be time to come back.”

  “Don’t worry! Sophia is going to take us!”

  “Is Ripp there with you?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “Ripp, I know you are good, damn good at that, but as a window user, isn’t a jump like that a bit far? Are you sure you can do it? I am not doubting you personally, but you said yourself windows tend to have the shortest range.”

  Cutting her eyes at Stefani, “Well at least someone get it. If you weren’t so damn smart, I’d think you were underestimating me. You are right though, I couldn’t make that trip in one jump. I’d need to do multiple jumps.”

  “Have you plotted out a course?”

  “No. Our princess here seems to think people’s powers have no limits and didn’t take that into consideration before inviting tons of people on a vacation using me as a private jet.”

  “If you’d like, I can help with plotting the course.”

  “That would be good. Stef has some crazy idea that we would need your expertise on anyway.”

  “Crazy idea?”

  Jumping in before Ripp can resume talking, “Ok, so Anaar I had this bonkers idea. If I can give people super strength, or speed, or heal them, who not boost the powers they already have?!”

  “You mean like Maggie?”

  “What does Maggie have to do with it?”

  “I hypothesize that she could do something similar, just to a much greater degree. Nevermind that though. Do you really think you can do it?”

  “There is no harm in trying right?”

  “Absolutely not. I’d be quite interested in this experiment.”

  “I told you he was like the creepy old guy from Exploration.”

  “If this works, Gramps might actually die. I would have to ease him into the information. I’ll tell you what, you guys are at The Rack it looks like? I’ll come down and we can test this out.”

  “Once a meathead, always a meathead. Where are you?”

  “I’m in Central Tech’s main lab.”

  “Yeah, I don’t actually know where that is. Why don’t we meet you in front of Central Tech in five minutes?”

  “That works. I just need to finish something up. You don’t have to go through the trouble though, it isn’t like Central Tech is far from The Rack.”

  “Just be ready in five.”

  Looking into the camera, Stefani gives a little squeal of excitement with a thumbs ups before disconnecting the video call. In exactly four minutes and thirty seconds, Ripp opens a portal to Central Technology, motioning for Stefani to enter through. Waiting out front they find Anaar, seemingly unsurprised they manag
ed to somehow arrive in exactly five minutes.

  “I’m guessing you have a reference point for your powers? Like somewhere that you are comfortable testing the extent of your abilities?”

  Looking at him suspiciously, “Yes… How do you know that?”

  “Well it makes sense. It is kinda like having a wall that tracks your growth when you are a kid. If you know that from a certain point, you can go only so far, you can better track your growth as you get stronger.”

  “That’s creepily well explained, but accurate nonetheless. Let’s go then.”

  Opening a portal, the trio step through, finding themselves somewhere Anaar and Stefani do not recognize, but Ripp clearly does.

  “Where are we?”

  “We are outside Seattle.”

  Anaar quickly making sense of the situation, “How far have you been able to get?”

  “Detroit.”

  “When is the last time you checked?”

  “Couple months ago.”

  “Well let’s see how you fare now. Lots has happened in a few months.”

  Checking some coordinates Ripp tries with some apparent effort, but is unable to open a portal.

  “Well, it looks like Michigan is still roughly my limit. I tried to do Cleveland which is just across the lake, and it is too much.”

  “Let me try.” Pulling out her flute, Stefani begins to play a tune. After about a minute, she gives a nod for Ripp to try again.

  Trying again Ripp opens the portal with no difficulty, much to her surprise. Checking more coordinates, she opens yet another portal, this time albeit with a bit more strain. When she closes it, she puts her fists in the air, the look of triumph evident.

  “Where was that portal?”

  Clearly excited, “London!”