Location: Wooded Area Behind Evergreen Academy

Time: 9:20 AM, 1/16/2108

Suffice to say, I was not a fan of the uniform.

With the issue of the people coming after me shelved, at least for the time being, there wasn’t a need for Karen Kaldsen, the head of the ARA, to keep watch over me. At first, I thought that meant I’d be released back into the wild.

I was wrong.

That woman used her position and her name to force through my status as a registered augmented. She broke down all of the red flags that propped up during the application process. Unfortunately, her intervention on my behalf managed to turn a routine bureaucratic process into a juicy piece of gossip.

Even after getting nominal permission to exist from the government, my face was still being broadcast throughout the city.

‘Villain girl registers within the city! Are you safe? Find out tonight!’

I was really looking forward to the next big scandal to break. Anything would do, just as long as it distracted the media away from me.

My next problem came when I was informed of something incredibly basic. I had been registered as an augmented, but that also meant I needed to become a citizen of Velstand first. That part in itself wasn’t difficult, legally I was born in this city anyway. The thing is though, it turns out education is mandatory for Velstand citizens. This is especially true for those of us with augmentations.

As a seventeen year old girl I was given notice that, for the first time in my life, I’d need to start attending school.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Karen told me she got me into an elite private school in order for me to be a part of its newly formed Augmented Training Course.

The only upside was that they didn’t seem to mind me wearing a hoodie over my freshly obtained school uniform. Even after my face had been displayed around the city I can’t say I was comfortable showing it off in person.

So, there I was. Hood up, waiting in the woods for my first day of class to start.

Trust me, I was confused as well. Karen told me she had something to do in the area, so she had dropped me off at Evergreen Academy’s main entrance. As I forced myself to walk through it, I saw a notice posted on the gate.

‘All students enrolled in the Augmented Training Course, regardless of grade level, should report to the designated area in the forested area behind the school. Your primary classes and instructors have been notified of your absence.’

My first day of school and they already had me skipping class. Not that I’m upset by that. Based on the reception I was getting from the other augmenteds waiting around with me I didn’t want to imagine how the normal students were going to react.

Like any gathering of students it didn’t take long for cliques and groups to gather together. There were around a dozen other students gathered in groups, with a few stragglers like myself. The largest congregation of students was centered around a girl I recognized as Oakley Oldridge. Another group was being drawn together by an arrogant looking guy I didn’t know. The one thing both groups had in common were the glances they stole at me.

Hana wasn’t making it any better. Every time our eyes met she’d give me an over exaggerated wave. It looked like she wanted to come over to talk, but with so many unfamiliar people around she wasn’t willing to leave Oakley, or even Olivia, alone. And despite her pestering, there was no way I was letting her drag me along into Oakley’s crowd.

“Am I late? Ah, it’s not fair! Oppression! I was being oppressed! The station staff wouldn’t let me off the train! It wasn’t my fault! The damages were an accident!”

A new girl came sprinting through the woods. Even though it looked like she was in a rush, I couldn't help but notice the sandwich in her hand.

She stopped running just in time to slide within half a meter of ramming into me, putting her hand on my shoulder.

“Did I make it? Am I late? I made it right?”

I wanted to pull away, but her eyes drew me in. They started out as a calm brown, but quickly fluctuated into a smokey orange. That process continued, ultimately looking like,

“An explosion?” Their appearance was so curious I couldn’t help asking about them out loud.

“No, that word is prohibited. Did I make it? Yes?”

“Ah, yeah, probably. At least, whoever is in charge of this isn’t here yet.” I was thrown off by her attitude, but I gave her an honest answer.

“Whew, alright! I thought I was going to be late on the first day.” She patted me on the shoulder a few times before taking a step back.

Basking in the afterglow of relief she finished off her sandwich. It didn’t take long for her to pull a bag of chips from her bag.

“Want some?” She held out her freshly opened bag of chips.

“No, I’m good.”

“Haha, nice.” She looked far too pleased considering she was the one who offered them in the first place.

That bombastic girl was drawing too much attention to herself, and that meant drawing too much attention to me.

“I shouldn’t be the one saying this, but are you sure this is alright?”

I wasn’t just trying to get rid of her. Unless she stopped associating with me soon her school life prospects were going to be destroyed.

“Oh yeah, don’t worry about it. My stigma involves burning a crazy amount of calories. If I don’t eat at least this much I’ll be in serious trouble.”

She completely missed what I was getting at.

“Making things go boom takes a lot of energy after all.”

“Making things go boom?”

“Yeah, my augmentation.”

“And why are you describing it like a preschooler?”

“I’ve got to be careful. If I say the world explosion, everything I’ve touched recently will. . . Ah, sorry!”

All of my senses were suddenly assaulted with the explosion of my hoodie.

Smoke blinded my vision.

The smell of burnt fabric filled my nose.

The tingling sensation of a light burn covered my arms.

The pop of a firecracker blocked out all other sounds.

And the taste of a bag of recently exploded salt and vinegar chips was heavy in the air.

“Sorry! Sorry! It was an accident, so it shouldn’t have been that strong. That’s why I have to make sure not to say-”

“I get it, I’m going to have to stop you there.”

Having already become the center of attention and lost the hood that gave me some level of comfort, I wasn’t willing to see what this girl had in store for me next.

“Are you okay? Here, have some water.”

A responsible looking girl from Oakley’s group rushed over to check up on me. I hadn’t met her before, but despite her unfamiliar hair color, the unnecessarily confident look on her face was all too familiar.

I wanted to say I was fine, but after breathing in the smoke from my exploded hoodie I couldn’t stop coughing. Trying to lie about it would just make me look even worse.

“Alright.”

I reached out for the bottle of water in her hand.

Hot.

I dropped it instantly. The bottle was incredibly hot. As it hit the ground the cap flew off, releasing a cloud of steam.

“Um, that water is boiling.”

“Ahaha, you’ll get used to it! Let’s work hard together as classmates!”

I didn’t have any proof, but I was certain I could guess what family she was from.

“Attention! Attention! It’s time to start.”

The person who was seemingly incharge of this operation took her position on a stage she hastily built from ice.

I should have known.

“My name is Karen Kaldsen. I usually work for mid, but for reasons completely out of my control my entire agency has been put on suspension. So in the meantime, I decided to teach this course. Some of you kids have been getting involved with some dangerous stuff, so the government decided it was time to start training you earlier. They told me my help wasn’t necessary, but I didn’t have anything better to do.”

They were definitely trying to get rid of her. I bet the MID was regretting giving the ARA that suspension. At least she’d probably drop this once she got bored.

“And of course, the other members of ara will serve as assistant instructors during our free time. Now! Let’s get started. First we’ll do roll call of names and augmentations, then we’ll immediately get into a fight, I mean, practical exercises.”

I couldn’t find the energy to sigh. How did a woman like that get approved to teach a school program? And the other members? Nora and Alec could probably teach a decent class, but I didn’t want to imagine what Oliver, or god forbid Vier, would put us through.

“Acht: Light Bringer.”

“Here.”

A feminine looking boy with bleach blond hair answered her call. And that name. I was really hoping Hana was going to be the only Number I ran into. Based on her and Vier I couldn’t say I was looking forward to meeting any more of them.

“Allison Albright: Overpower.”

“I’m here, but you know I go by Liten. The school just hasn’t updated their records. Completely abnormal.”

Honestly, I was glad to see Allison there. I wouldn’t go as far as Hana and claim we were immediate friends, but after overcoming death with her it was impossible to admit we didn’t have a connection.

“Blake Bland: Color Creation.”

“Oh, the dark spirit that resides inside me has guided me here.”

He made sure to strike an overly dramatic pose while reciting that ridiculous line with a straight face.

“Cynthia Cyprus: Puppeteer.”

“Um, here.”

A girl with a fashion sense that matched mine hesitantly raised her hand.

“Devesh Darnal: Absorb and Return.”

“Here, here.”

He casually announced himself.

“Emelia Emin: Pain.”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

I once again cursed the fact that my augmentation matched the reputation my face suggested.

“Emily Evret Evans: Explosive Touch.”

“That word is prohibited! But yes, I’m here!”

So Emily was the name of the girl who exploded my hoodie.

“Grant Glaif: Edge.”

“Present and Accounted for.”

He straightened his back with his hands at his sides.

“Hana: Black Lightning.”

“Bored. Present.”

She was wearing colorful socks with smiley faces.

“Henry Henderson: Vampire.”

No response.

Emily leaned over and whispered to me.

“I wonder if he accidentally caused an explo-. . . A big boom on the train.”

“No, almost certainly not.”

“Hey, it happens.”

“To you!”

“Hey, Henry, Henry Henderson? Late on the first day.” Karen was yelling out to her small crowd.

“Wait, wait wait, I’m here.”

The person I assumed was Henry Henderson was jogging our way.

“Sorry, sorry, I work part-time at a bakery in the morning, and business was going well. I couldn’t justify leaving for school with how many customers we were getting.”

“How irresponsible. School should come first.” Grant Glaif wasted no time in starting to critique his fellow student.

“Once school starts paying for my artificial blood, maybe.”

“Understanding. He has a good point.” It seemed Hana found an unexpected ally for a ridiculous reason.

“Whatever. Next is Jacob Jackson: Projection.”

“Yeah, let’s just get on with this already.”

Jackson with the augmentation Projection. I was fairly certain I knew who that aggressive looking guy was. And I was fairly certain my dad killed his.

“Kathrin Kaldsen: Overheated.”

“Present! Looking forward to working with you.”

So they were related after all.

“Kazuko Kamiya: Talisman.”

“Good Morning! I’m happy to be here as a foreign exchange student! Don’t worry, I don’t have any ulterior motives in being here. Totally normal student, that’s me.”

The guy that worked for Kanon. Was he actually supposed to be in high school? I couldn’t get a solid grip on how old he was supposed to be. I couldn’t get a grip on anything about him. I got the feeling that despite what he said, he was still altering everyone’s perception and memory. Either way, his presence was a mixture of suspicious and concerning.

“Nuen: Everlasting Shadow.”

“Of course she’s here. She follows me everywhere after all.”

Acht answered in Nuen’s place.

“Shut up! I’m seriously going to kill him this time! Just because your name comes first, and you’re a few seconds older than me, don’t say I’m following you! I want nothing more than the day to come when we’re not treated as a set.”

A girl whose appearance matched Acht’s, only with long black hair, answered back. Even as she was standing still her shadow seemed to move on its own.

“Yeah, I get it. No killing each other yet.” Karen acted as if she was used to the two of them.

And did I hear a concerning use of the word ‘yet?’

“Nolan Northcut: Gravitation.”

“Hmm?”

He was completely unaware as to why his name was called out. Nolan seemed much more interested in trying to hit on the two girls whose names had not yet been called.

“Oakley Oldridge: Summoning.”

After receiving a tap on the shoulder from Hana, Oakley raised her hand.

“Olivia Oldridge: Soundwave.”

“Yes, superstar future idol Olivia is here!”

Olivia made sure to take a moment to pose for the nonexistent paparazzi.

“That’s everyone. Let’s get ready for live combat!”

As Karen, or perhaps at this point I should say Ms. Kaldsen, continued with an overly enthusiastic speech, I checked the phone she had recently bought me.

There were four messages. The two from Hana and one from Ms. Kaldsen could be ignored for the moment, but the one I received from an unknown number demanded immediate attention.

‘Hey! Sara just typed in random numbers, but Sara knows it will be you. Ready for a date? Even if you say no, it will happen anyway. Sara will make sure to run into you. Don’t worry about planning or times. Bye bye.’

Sure, on the bright side, I’m alive.

On the other, much bigger and much darker side, my identity and location had been exposed to the entire city, I was being forced to use an augmentation I’d rather not have, and I’ve still got an overly attached assassin who thinks I’m her wife. I’m sure my school life will end up being a mess as well.

I suppose it’s my fault for thinking this would turn out differently. Unfortunately, even at the end, this was still an epilogue on defeat.