Divulgence (Song of Sophangence Book 2)

by E. I. McAllistair

  “Okay everyone! Right this way! We will be doing much of our tour from a shuttle due to the heat and…” Looking over at the incapacitated man on the ground, the tour guide is taken aback, his mouth falling open with shock. “Are you already getting into fights?!” Grumbling to himself, “Why did I get stuck with the rowdy group…”

  Calling over medical attention for the unconscious man before him, the guide leaves him in the care of another staff member nearby as he gathers the five other students, none of whom would offer any information about why one of them was already hurt. Carrying on, the guide loads everyone onto the shuttle and begins the route he had planned before finding one of his charges injured.

  Moving from place to place, the guide proved to be a wealth of information, so much that most of the students found themselves overloaded only twenty minutes into the tour. From what they understood, the tour was to last three whole hours, with that only visiting the most pertinent of places on campus. The group found themselves lucky they had arrived so early, since it would have been a much more difficult day if they were required to participate in this tour, and go through the various things required to complete their check-in.

  For Peter, he found the tour most droll, as he was more aware of the information than some of the current students at the school. Nevertheless, he participated and remained engaged, as that was something he had wealth of practice with. Extremely intelligent, Peter had much of the information in the world at his fingertips. He learned very quickly that it did not pay to make people seem less than due to his knowledge, so he often played along as if what he was learning was new information.

  In a world where he had so many rare traits, first being Air attuned, the second rarest in the world, then being a dwarf, something that even his status as an Air Affinity did not shield him from, then being a Quintessence, he found it comforting to revel in the mundane. By noon, the tour had finally completed, leaving them at Central Technology to finally be fitted for their Vizers. Something about the scarcity of information surrounding such an impressive feat of technology concerned him, but he did not let that information becoming known to his group.

  Thanks to the incident with the man whose name anyone failed to get, the group had already formed a bond that made them all fast friends. Even though they had exchanged cell phone numbers earlier, once they had all been fitted for their Vizers, they waited for one another so they could properly update their contacts as they played around with the new device, and interacted with the school’s AI that could almost be considered their mascot.

  Taking the lead, Peter suggested they make their way to the Cafeteria for lunch, since it had already been so long since they had arrived. Agreeing that they had all night to unpack their things and get settled in, they retreated to the Cafeteria where they were amazed at the offerings. Most of them were in disbelief that such a place was called the “Cafeteria.” They found even the simplest of foods to be of a much greater quality than they had ever experienced. As they go to know each other, they all expressed how convenient it was that they would not need to rush to their rooms to claim their space, since Sophangence did not do roommates. For those who had older siblings who had been to college, they only knew of the horror stories they had head of the first day Freshman experience. Outside of the initial incident, they could not have found things to be more different.

  Peter found this group quite to his liking, as they were quick to get over his appearance, and simply see him as another person, but more importantly an equal. He had grown up not overly wealthy, but by no means poor, which relegated him to more people around his status. In this group, though he was alone the only Air attuned, there was still one of each affinity represented. He had heard Sophangence was a place that strived to put down the gaps and disparities between the different affinities, but never had he expected his introduction to the school would embody that. He was not sure how things would play out for them in the future, but for now he was content to know he may have already found friends on campus.

  Departing from one another, the group made their way to their rooms for the first time. Though they had been brought by their buildings during the tour, and even given full explanations of their differences, they had yet to see exactly how they were living. Over their meal, they had discussed the separation of their living arrangements, some of them finding it to be hypocritical to the doctrine. Peter was the first to advocate for the separation, simply by virtue of what it allowed in terms of comfort. Since no one else had any experience as a Synestate, they could not understand just how difficult it could be having senses that were more acute, thus causing discomfort. Given such a profound insight, no one had anything they could say in rebuttal.

  As he walked up to the building of the sky dominating tower, the door gave a soft chime, allowing him entry, something that was all thanks to the new lavender accessory he wore on his wrist. He was impressed they had one to fit the size of his wrist, as most watches and bracelets simply dangled from his arm, threatening to be lost at any moment. The interface of the Vizer was quite intuitive, with pertinent information such as his building and room number right on the home screen for the first few days to assist with the new environment.

  Stepping off the elevator, he made his way to his door, it similarly chiming and opening, to find his things very carefully placed in the living room area when he entered. With such a full service experience, completely furnished room, concierge transport of his belongings, and buildings created for the comfort and protection of their residents, it was clear why no one ever complained about the long school years, or arduous curriculum. Many people would find the school quite luxurious even if they came from more affluent backgrounds.

  The first thing he did was call his family to let them know he was finally through all the checking in processes, and that he had already made friends. This made his parents particularly happy as they were quite protective of their two younger children, since they understood the life of growing up with Dwarfism. Though it was odd for them at first, their eldest child, a girl, was born without the trait, and though she was still short, she was far taller than her family, and looked much different. Once they said their goodbyes to him, he set forth with unpacking his things.

  Something that he thought was impressive, even though it was trivial, was the fact students had access to a storage facility in their building. Most people came with a number of bags, which once emptied would only take up space. Even though there was ample space in their rooms, the school had taken measures to give students a place to store a small number of things, usually luggage from their initial entry into the school, so they could utilize their rooms to their full potential. Because he had so many items, Peter had decided to wait until the next day to take his bags to the storage unit.

  As the day wound down, he looked over his potential classes, and wondered if he should make an effort to meet his neighbors. Something else fairly unique to the school, though the classes tended to be separate in most other aspects, there were no attempts to have Freshman only housing or any class housing for that matter. Most people stayed in the same room they first inhabited all six years of their stay at Sophangence. Something about that made Peter feel much more comfortable thinking about this new place as home. Not needing to worry about moving for many years was something that appealed greatly to him, especially considering his size.

  Holding off on randomly knocking on the doors adjacent to his, he found since he ate lunch so late in the day, he did not need to make the journey to eat dinner. He also did not want to go alone. Even though it was getting close to the time for dinner to stop being served he decided that if any of his new friends asked to grab dinner, he would take them up on the offer. When nothing came from them, he sent out a group message wishing them an easy move-in and a good night. Even though he had come from an hour behind, he found himself exhausted from the day, going through his bedtime routine and turning in. With orientation being the next day, he wondered what n
ew people he would get the opportunity to meet in this grand new adventure of his.

  36

  Campus had been a bustle of confusion and activity in the past weeks. Somehow, no one knew they would be getting a new incoming class until just a couple of days before they arrived. Though no one was confused about new students, what did confuse them was how they would fit into campus. Though the Seniors had officially left weeks prior, the odd staggering of the school year between the classes left the Freshmen and Juniors, who had for the first time this year started at exactly the same time, only just beginning their final trimester of the year.

  Everyone knew that every other year there was an odd period where there were only three classes of students due to the departure of the Seniors. What they did not understand was why suddenly the trend of Freshmen only being admitted every two years was changed. What this created was now a situation where there were technically two Freshman classes. The administration had been extremely tight lipped about how everything would play out, simply ensuring everyone their lives would not be adversely affected in any way.

  Though Codi had been spending quite a bit of time with Pryshka, she personally could not be happier that there were fresh subjects for her to sample. Since she and Pryshka had already talked it out, coming to the mutual agreement neither of them wanted anything serious at the current time, there were no restrictions on seeing other people. It had only been three days since the new class had arrived, and Codi had already ‘sampled’ two of them. Considering herself lucky she knew there was always Pryshka who was available to cleanse her palette of something less than desirable, the hunt for new students continued.

  In typical form, she went through the process of sending the satisfied and practically intoxicated girl or girls, home in the morning. Perhaps it was because they were friends and had so many mutual friends, Pryshka was the only person she had never kicked out of her bed, and one of only a handful she had invited back. With the hungering naked girl still clinging to her, begging for more, Codi cursed herself for being the absolute best at what she did.

  Though she was known to zap people violently with little provocation or cause, there were other uses for her abilities that she had perfected in the bedroom. No one could stimulate pleasure centers like she could, and she knew it. It was perhaps this reason that even women who had always thought of themselves as being exclusively into men, in their curiosity found themselves in between her sheets. As such she never had any shortage of supply to satiate her appetite.

  Finally getting the clamoring girl out of her bed and on her way back home, she began preparing for her own day. Though she did not have any classes on Sunday, she still did her best to awake at a decent time in order to be productive. Her friendly though annoying rivalry with Anaar made it very important that she not only excelled in her studies, but she was proactive in learning things outside the scope of them just so that she could contend with him.

  Though she would not admit it to him, she was extremely jealous that he had a much busier schedule and life than she had, and still somehow managed to retain perfect scores in all of his classes. Given his insane connections across campus, she had begun to wonder if he did not have something more insidious at work to keep such an impressive feat going.

  According to Phavian, he had begun going on missions by himself, which did not make him happy, but he understood they would not always be paired together. He still apparently dedicated at least three days out of the week to each of the two department heads he worked for. He was a lead in the band that Stefani had created, which was preparing for their first concert in just over a month, meaning he had to practice music. He even still found time to continue his martial arts training, while helping his friends with their own abilities. With such a full schedule she was positive he just did not sleep. Even that was debunked as he and Phavian almost always spent the night together, and she knew how much that buffoon slept.

  With all that Anaar did, he still made time for his friends, and never seemed taxed with his obligations. He also never appeared to be concerned with the numerous people vying for supremacy with him. Even Codi herself wondered how he would happily offer to help her, or team up on their group projects when she had made clear she intended to take him down. He always just shrugged it off and continued in that almost sickeningly selfless manner of his to be of assistance to others.

  So engrossed in her own thoughts, she looked in the mirror and realized she hated her makeup. Though it was not bad, she felt it was far from her best. Since she had time, she decided to take it all off and do it again, this time not being so absentminded. Once she had perfected her look, she styled her hair, which she had recently added some subtle amethyst highlights to compliment the already dazzling blue gelled pixie cut. Looking at herself in the mirror she wondered if the highlights were enough of a change for her, and decided she would try out new looks on herself while she was in Simulacrum training.

  Checking her phone before she left, it showed there were no new messages or missed calls, which was a welcome relief for her. Apparently, news had been circulating around the evil wealthy circles that JaMarkus Schrodes had all but been completely disowned by his family. Considering they all had reputations of being extremely nasty, vindictive, and full of obscene vices, she could not see how any of his misbehavior on campus would have caused such a drastic change in his status within his family. Regardless, whatever idiocy had gotten him disowned, it had only done her the supreme favor of pulling her mother’s nauseating plans for elevation away from her. With him fallen from grace, she no longer had to deal with the prodding messages about her progress. According to Yoshifumi, he had also been experiencing a period of rest, and possibly maybe even happiness, which made her efforts at Sophangence much easier.

  Setting out from her room, the first thing she did was head to The Rack for one of her rejuvenating smoothies. The day after any of her fanciful nights, she found herself in a state of calm, but also drained. The smoothies, chocked full of nutrients and antioxidants, while also being quite tasty, always seemed to help with perking her back up so that she could get back into her life as she usually did. As she sat sipping her smoothie, looking over some of her studies on her Vizer, she received an extremely urgent message that was usually only saved for extreme circumstances. The alert was summoning her to the Headmistress’ office immediately, something she had never even heard of.

  She had never been like most people, who saw Ixnes Sastre as a goddess, or at least a demi-goddess, which caused them to swoon and buckle at her very mention. She did however admire and appreciate a woman of her status and beauty, who seemed to be at the top of the world with the most minimalistic departures from her ideals.

  So many people, especially those that were as long lived as she, had given up on virtue, and turned fully to greed and self-indulgence. There was something to be said for someone who could have it all, while still looking back to extend a hand to the many that were suffering and in need. It was even said she lost on average 2 trillion dollars a year just by being the Headmistress of Sophangence, rather than focusing on her own business ventures.

  Taking the summons to heart, especially given the severity of the medium by which they came, Codi immediately sprang from her seat to find out why she of all people would be needed by the Headmistress. When she arrived at the Administration Complex, she realized that she had never been to the Headmistress’ office. This seemed silly now considering just last month she had been at the Headmistress’ home, but she asked at the desk for directions nonetheless. Upon entering the waiting area outside the office, she was surprised to find Anaar sitting there as well, no doubt waiting for the Headmistress.

  She had not seen much of him outside of their class since he had been on missions so frequently, which led her to wonder if she would finally be getting in on all the action that both he and Phavian seemed to have the market cornered on. As she fantasized what it would be like to go on missions, she had a pang of regret
for her selfishness. Missions could be dangerous, especially the ones that paid well. She in no way had need for the money, which is the only reason most people would risk their lives for such dangers. Even though the glory of it seemed appealing, she realized that wishing to take money from those who needed it, given her abundance was inconsiderate.

  Even if Anaar had a strange relationship with the Headmistress, akin to an adopted mother and son, it did not give an explanation for why exactly he was here waiting for her as well. In that frustratingly uncanny manner of his, even without looking in her direction, he greets her as she approaches.

  “I can only presume you were summoned as well?”

  “Yeah, do you know what this is about?”

  Shrugging, “Haven’t the faintest idea. If I had to pose a conjecture through, it is definitely official school business.”

  Sitting down next to him in the plush chair of the waiting room, “What makes you say that?”

  “If it was something personal, she would have just called me and told me if it were urgent, or waited until tonight when I saw her if it wasn’t.”

  “What is up with that by the way? What business could you have to see the Headmistress so often?”

  Turning his head to look at the still closed door, “Training.”

  Finding that she was not going to get anything more from him she grumbles to herself, “No fucking shit, that wasn’t a very good answer.”

  They sit in silence for the next few minutes, Codi going through every possibility of what could have caused her to be in this situation and Anaar seemingly aloof to life itself. She began to wonder how someone so accomplished could be so unconcerned about everything. He was not cocky, but there was a definite confidence in his own capabilities. Most people would be exhibiting some sort of panic or confusion when faced with such a position, but instead he simply sat there, still as a statue, the picture of calm. No longer able to stay quiet, Codi strikes up another conversation, one that likely would not end in such a manner that it was clear he was avoiding the topic.