Chapter 8

New Day, New Hairdo, Same Old Life

Okay, so I’m a coward at heart. I admit it, after twelve different times of living life one way, I chocked at my first chance of freedom. I was lost without any true destination to go. There was one bright spot, even now thinking about her brings a smile to my lips. I inadvertently realize, after the fact, that I am biting at my lower lip for more tastes of cherry syrup. I almost thought I would be turned off forever by the taste of cherry flavored waffle burgers, given my violent reaction to them in court. Though that was an involuntary reflex caused by a particularly powerful dream of a Precognitive who was awakening.

I also realize that for Mel I would easily stomach any discomfort, if only to be in her presence. Still the first thing I did was look at my wrist communicator after getting it back from the court.

No new messages.

Seeing the notification caused a pit to form in my stomach. Still, I knew she was probably busy on her own. Realistically it had only been a few hours. During those few hours my whole world had been turned upside down. I had gone to a rigged court procedure and won, well technically I won. I lost from the perspective of not being strong armed into the military, that said I never particularly minded the military. Now that I look like the freakishly powerful monster that I am, I realize this is probably the safest place for me. At least until I get used to my own appearance.

There were others who also had the markings of magic on them that I met throughout my military career. Most were from opposing sectors, like the Endar, or Dwenvar, but there were also a few elite humans as well. Almost all had an intimidating aura about them. Well to most people anyways, to me I just treated them like normal people, especially on my fourth loop on. By that point in time, I was more than capable enough to take on any enhanced warrior or operative. I believe the soldiers used to have a designation for such an operative, an elite.

I guess I too now have an easy distinction marker that also notes me as an elite as well. Then another thought hits me with the fact that I have not one, but two markers, so does that make me a double elite? Or a new category entirely? What is the next category above elite, I wonder?

I am dressed and ready for the first formation of the day, PT at 0400 hours. Again, this whole process is exceptionally fast, and sometimes I am amazed by the speed the military can move when it wants something to happen. In this case that something to happen is me getting into the services. My appearance of course does not go unnoticed, as I am noticed by every other officer candidate who comes out to the morning practice field. All of them have the look of being recently awoken from their slumber. I am sort of jealous, as I didn’t get a chance to sleep. Fortunately, my body and mind, well my mind at least is prepared for such experiences. I just liberally use cleanse, which wipes away the excessive buildup of chemicals that cause drowsiness and fatigue.

“What’s with the freak?” Chet Lowel says.

He is one of those guys who thinks only the people he is talking to can hear his trash talking. He is also the type to be all bark and no sustenance to back up his big mouth. I just stare at him and give a half scoff of derision. He looks at me, and visibly comes to a halt as his body freezes in place. I give a sneer and a shake of my head.

“I think he heard you.” Reyes says, he is one of those kids who tries to get along with everyone. I think he becomes a supply officer of some kind.

“Of course, he can hear you. Your voice carries on the morning air.” Jessica says. And with her voice my heart clenches and I feel a tightness of breath. I look away quickly and let my military training take over. This is good, as it lets me go dead inside, so I only focus on moving.

Within minutes a gaggle of people are around. Still doesn’t keep people from being rude.

“Isn’t that the convict we saw last night?” A few others ask. I know who they are, but their names escape me now. Well, I could remember, but that would mean lowering my defenses and trying to remember a time when she was in my life. A time when she was my everything.

Chatter, chatter, chatter.

The students are all just gathered around talking and congregating into groups like we are back in public schools. Then again, to them this is their first real day of military life. As for me I am just standing around waiting. Then I feel it, a presence behind me. Something slow and subtly getting closer. Someone is using an obfuscation ability. There are a few schools of magic that allow for the effect of the hiding of one’s features. But this is not a field of magic, this is a form of mind magic that mentally fights with you to forget their presence. Clearly it is effective to most, but to me it is like loudly buzzing gnats in my ear.

I look back, and make eye contact with the instructor, letting him know I see him. He pauses for a second, but then continues when I don’t say anything.

The closer he gets the more grating the sensation his power is on my mind. Imagine a course wash rag being dragged violently across you mind, trying to dislodge the worst of food stains. That is what his power feels like to me.

GRR!

“Stop that!” I shout, as I raise and stomp my foot. What I didn’t realize at the time was since I was effectively being attacked by psychic energy, my mind decided to defend back with psychic energy of its own. In this case, my mind used my overly enhanced Telekinesis ability to create a shock wave of force that flowed from me and stopped an inch away from the instructor. While the strength of my power might not have touched the instructor, the force of blast and rumble along the ground caused enough wind and dirt to rise and knock the instructor over.

Suddenly all the chattering stops as all eyes are on me, the newly visible instructor, and the straight line of force that my Telekinesis tore into the ground, stopping an inch before the instructor.

Now that he is visible and the ringing attack on my mind is over, I let out a breath. Then turn forward in the direction that we are supposed to face for our morning workouts.

There is a hush, as everyone looks at the downed instructor who I can now feel getting to his feet. The instructor is calling forth a well of energy to form in his body.

I hold up a finger straight up and while not even turning to the instructor I say. “I wouldn’t do that Drill Instructor.”

With that he pauses for a moment. I know who this instructor is, he is a hot head who gets kicked out a few months in for having an affair with a cadet.

“You just assaulted a Drill Instructor.” The instructor says, coming over aggressively at me.

As for me, I just stand casually. “Drill instructor, you were not assaulted as you were not actually touched by my power. You felt the aftereffects of my power which clearly stopped an inch before you. However, I was well within my rights to defend myself as you were trying to use a constant and pervasive mind control power to try to subdue a student who was aware of your presence and intentions with using said power.” I state coldly, quoting the student handbook nearly verbatim.

The instructor pauses for a second as he no doubt tries to understand what I’ve just said. For those that are unaware of the classifications of powers and spells. There are indirect influencing spells and direct mind influencing powers. An indirect influencing power would be the ability to cast an illusion around oneself. Thus, when others looking at you, they see folded light designed to appear as something other than the original item. This is most often done in trying to hide a particular object or person from view. In such cases, the intent is not to mess with a person’s mind, but their perception of an area. This form of power is referred to as an indirect power, you are indirectly affecting the senses and experiences of another. This has been termed as applying excessive amounts of makeup for contouring purposes. While maybe questionable, it is not an infringement on one’s mind.

That said, there is also the direct influencing of a mind, which is what a mind specialist does when they try to use obfuscation. Effectively their mind sends out a signal to all other minds in the vicinity saying don’t look at me. This is directly influencing the mind and reactions of others and borders on the taboo subject of Mind Control, which is excessively restricted and each wielder of such a power is documented and tracked regularly. Mind Control, like what Graves tried to use on me in the park, is a different power entirely than what the Psychic Ability Obfuscation does, they are all classified as part of the same spectrum. Thus, the general ruling is that cadre, or a fancy term for the drill instructors, are allowed to use their powers for practical purposes. But once a student identifies them and their use of the power, they are to stop immediately.

In this case, my locking eyes with the drill instructor who was using the mind influencing power Obfuscation should have been enough to stop the lesson. His persistence in carrying out the lesson anyways, meant that he had gone too far and even as a student I would then be able to defend myself accordingly.

“You think I abused my powers!” The Drill Instructor shouts, drawing everyone’s attention. Me I just turn my head from parade rest and lock eyes with the man. He visibly gulps as our eyes connect. I can see his face light up, as the glow from my eyes casts a dark purple hue on his pale complexion.

“That is enough Drill Instructor O’Brien.” The head Drill Instructor shouts, her voice cracking like a bolt of lightning on the crisp morning air.

“This cadet used excessive force.” The Drill Instructor says.

I shake my head, but then take on the form of true parade rest. Eyes locked forward, hands behind the back, feet shoulder length apart. Years of training, have it so this stance is as natural as breathing.

“On the contrary, Drill Instructor O’Brien. You were the one who was using excessive force. The student was correct in even quoting the exact rules he was following. This is a good lesson for all of you.” The lead DI says to the gaggle of students. “Allow me to introduce myself. While you are here at this military institution, I will be the one final vote that determines your military careers. My name is General Sharma, but while you are here you will refer to me as either Lead Drill instructor, or Lead DI.” She paused as she let that statement settle in. Once she was certain everyone understood she continued.

“If you are threatened or are being attacked, as a student, or soldier, you are more than capable of defending yourself, within reason. The force shown by Cadet Goldman here is an excellent example of precisely measured force. Look at the indentation in the ground. This was made by the work of Telekinesis but with a power and precision that notes both expert control and restraint. Going so far as to stop an inch away from the Drill Instructor, letting him know that he did not appreciate his mind being forcefully messed with. You will learn in time that there are many different classifications of spells and powers. I think this is as good of a time as any to point out that you should never try to take advantage of the position you are in. This is a very small community and word travels quickly amongst our ranks. If you are noted as being a hothead, then your gaining units will be aware of this fact. If you show expert control and restraint, that too will also be noted.” The lead DI paused, as she looked me over with an appreciative glance.

“I would also like to take the time to point out that nature often has a way of marking the most dangerous and deadly of species with bright colorful markings. This is a preemptive warning for any would be adversaries that such prey might be harder to take down than originally intended. Mr. Goldman here is no exception, in fact one could say he is likely the rule made incarnate.”

At that I turn to look at the lead DI, who gives a faint smile. Apparently, she had wanted to get that exact reaction out of me from her impromptu speech. She is a Seer of some kind, like Mave from the diner, all except far more powerful. That or maybe more blatant with her use of her Seer abilities.

After that we spend the entire morning learning how not to mess up a formation, then after a long time we finally get to exercise. By the time we are finally able to run, I am nearly burning with anticipation. I am not the fastest in our class, not yet at least. I only have a fifteen in Agility, making me about the fifth fastest of all the class. Four boys and one girl are faster than me. Of course, that one girl would be Jessica.

In fact, that was what we first bonded over, running. From there I took up multiple different hobbies all to woo her. I even took up the violin because it was her favorite instrument. It didn’t help that the violin also helps build up Dexterity quickly and efficiently. Since I learned that tidbit, I have been using the violin as a steady way to improve my Attributes. Thirty-three years, that is how long I’ve been practicing the violin for. Quite an impressive amount of time, all things considered.

Fortunately getting a violin is relatively easy. I just need to sign up for the auxiliary band and they will assign an instrument based on how well I perform. I can also play the cello, and piano with some amazing ease. Still my first love is the violin, mainly because I don’t have to be stationary while playing. I am making plans of what extra curriculum classes I will attend, when we are all dismissed from formation.

“Cadet Goldman, a word.” The lead DI calls out.

With that everyone begins to speak to each other in hushed tones. No one stays to catch my response or reaction. I am already the outsider, which is fine with me. This should make the whole process easier.

“In an effort to avoid a future conflict. I suggest you check your communicator. You might find that some enhancements are interfering with your personal life.” The Lead DI said.

I look at her confused for a moment, then look to my communicator and see that there are faint scratch marks where the access panel is.

I look from the communicator to the lead DI a question on my face, but I don’t quite know how to express it.

Fortunately for me the Lead DI is more intelligent than she appears, and that is saying something.

“I have a feeling that you having a purpose to be grounded to would be worthwhile for all of our sakes.” She warns.

Hearing that, I nod.

“If there is ever anything that you need, be sure to come to me. I am a friend.” She speaks. While I am not much in the way of trusting a DI of any kind. I do find myself oddly compelled to trust her.

Nodding I reply, “yes lead DI.”

She smiles at the acknowledgment. “Dismissed. While you don’t have much time before classes, I do feel that this issue.” She says gesturing with her eyes to my communicator. “Would be more than worth the effort of fixing now.”

With that she promptly turns around and walks away.

Now I have been through enough lives to know that when a Seer tells you to do something, you do it, no questions asked. When a Seer tells me that my communicator has been tampered with, I take that to heart. I run back to my room, and quickly go about fixing my communicator. The screws and panels slide off easily with my Telekinesis. Then inside a quick look around shows that they have a data siphoner on, but it is an older model that looks to be interfering with getting any communications at all. I take out the piece with Telekinesis, before crushing it with the same mental hand.

Pop.

The electrical processor breaks into a cloud of dust. I give the communicator one last look and find nothing else. Once I am relatively certain the communicator is free of electronic surveillance devices, I put everything back into place. The whole process took a matter of minutes. Then once I get everything back into place, I turn it on and am instantly inundated with the best news I’ve received all day.

You have (3) new messages.

Smiling I open them and feel a tension that had been tightening in my chest instantly unravel.

The first message is a holo-vid of Mel.

“Hi. I know this is sudden and you likely won’t have a moment to hear this now. But Mave was insistent that I send a message immediately.” With that she visibly wipes a curl of hair over her ear, a clear sign she is nervous. I smile at the gesture as she continues. “But um. Yeah. I had a really great time with you and would like to do it again. Call me.”

The next message.

“So, I just turned in the ticket. I’m a billionaire! So now that we are equals, would you officially go on a date with me?”

The third message.

“Holly shit! I just saw your trial. It went viral. I am so proud of you. Look I realize you are likely exceedingly busy, but please don’t forget me, okay?”

She asks. Hearing those messages, my heart sings and I am nearly crying with joy as I call her back.

She picks up on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Hey Mel. Sorry I just got your messages. They, I… I can’t say how much they mean to me.” I finally manage to say. “Also, I would love to go out on a date with a smoking hot billionaires.”

By this point the connection stabilizes as we can both see each other in our own personal holo-vids.

“So, what happened? After the trial, or maybe during the trial?”

I sigh. “It was all a set up to get me to join the military. I am officially a military officer, a good thing I pawned that ticket off to a beautiful sucker who would forever be indebted to me.” I state.

She laughs, a warm sound that makes me feel like I can fly if I just let her emotion fill me.

We spend the rest of the time chatting about minor things. Then I realize I need to change and get to class. I offer to let her watch me shower, but she blushes at the thought.

“No, you really should get going to class. I don’t want you to get into trouble. Well, more trouble. Do you even know how to avoid trouble?” She asks.

I pause and think about her question. “I don’t believe I do. Are you trouble? If so, I think I might be right up your alley.”

I know the line is super cheesy, even to me. But it worked. She just laughed and we made plans to speak again later. Or send video messages if we couldn’t reach the other person.

With that my life finally felt like it was on track. Then I went to my first class of the day and realized I might have been off in my assessment at how good things were going.