Destia Jayden February 22nd,20XX

We wrapped up the tour by settling in the first room we’d seen. There was a u-shaped couch in the middle of the bright, futuristically designed room that we all sat in. Aaron dragged an armchair over from the side of the room and slid it into the small space, completing the circle.

Joyce sat in the enclosed chair that Aaron had pulled up and picked up a remote control from a side pocket of the chair. Her long red fingernails wrapped around the black device, much like they had on that day, and pulled up a negative feeling in me I tried my best to dismiss.

She’d said that she would trust me for now, so I should do the same. Or at the very least, I shouldn’t do anything to make her take that trust away.

She pressed onto a large silver button in the middle of the remote and a hologram popped out of the ceiling and showed a three-dimensional screen. It would rotate around the couch to make sure everyone could see the single black-text word it carried.

“Overview.”

She went over the functions of each room we’d visited, but I was honestly too excited to focus on her words. The entire tour had been so overwhelming, and I felt like I’d gone through every emotion available to me.

It had scared me when we’d gone into that hallway. It was dark, and the floor was weirdly uneven in certain places. I’d been so scared that my body had felt like it weighed twice as much as it usually did, and my limbs were more difficult to move.

While I hadn’t had my powers for that long, I’d grown attached to my mobility. It didn’t matter where I was, or how dangerous things were, I’d had confidence I could get out of it. Even at that police station earlier, the only thing restraining me had been those handcuffs, and I knew that if I put enough force behind it, I would have been able to break them off my wrists.

Earlier, though….

My mind returned to the phenomenon of that hallway and tried to figure out what had caused it, but I quickly snapped back to attention. Joyce had been speaking for a while about what plans she had for us, it would be stupid not to pay attention.

My original thoughts that she’d had some ulterior motive behind collecting all of us with powers were only further backed up by how much money she’d spent on this underground building.

From the high technology, to the wide spaces and the multitude of scientists waiting to analyze our every move. It seemed right out of the introductory episode of a dystopian superhero comic.

She brought my attention back to the holographic screen by changing the word displayed from “overview” to “Summary”.

“Aaron and I discussed what to do with you all, but we decided that there wouldn’t be much of a purpose in making a schedule and not having anyone follow it. We’ll tell you what we’ve settled on, but if any of you have any objections or worries, then don’t be afraid to speak up.”

She flipped to the next set of animations and the screen multiplied into four sections, so everyone on the circular screen could see the list it held.

“We’ve divided them into three sections. Your duties as a ‘page’ on Squire. Your duties as a super, and your duties as a student. Please keep your questions until we reach the related section, Kaja. Starting with your duties as a page.”

She effortlessly addressed Kaja’s eager hand and progressed with her prepared speech. Aaron sat beside her and constantly monitored our faces as she listed off what was already on the screen in front of us.

“You must hold at least one planning meeting a fortnight, that’s once every two weeks. The second duty is to record at least one video a week, I won’t stop you if you want to do more than that though. And the third is to attend one social function a month. This won’t apply until April, but keep it in mind. Questions?”

It was less work than I’d expected, and it pleased me we were to take part in deciding the content that we would create. Super-powers aside, I had applied because I’d wanted to learn more about my craft. I hadn’t particularly planned on becoming Page and had focused more on my application for an internship. Being accepted to become a social media presence was burdensome, but as long as I got to do what I wanted, then I would try to make the best of it.

Joyce waited about thirty seconds before moving on to the next section.

“Then, the second section are your duties as an individual with superpowers. I’ll let Aaron explain this since you’ll probably take the advice of another super more seriously.”

There wasn’t a single one of us that wouldn’t take Joyce seriously, but I appreciated the consideration she’d given it.

Aaron wiped the beaded sweat off his forehead and quickly scanned over the words on the screen before regurgitating them back at us.

“Well. We decided you needed to spend at least nine hours with the scientists a week. You’ll all meet them later today and will hopefully see how helpful they can be. I know nine hours a week sounds like a lot, but it’ll amaze you how quickly it flies by! The second duty is at least four hours with a therapist a week. Again, it sounds like a lot, but there will be certain things that you all might not feel comfortable talking to Joyce or me about. They won’t relay any of your information to anyone you don’t want them to, so I hope you’ll take these meetings seriously. And what else was there… ah. You’ll also have to submit progress journals to us once a month. You don’t have to write about anything in particular but just treat it as a formal way to talk to Joyce and me about anything that makes you happy or unhappy.”

An invisible weight lifted off me as I listened to all the duties related to our powers. As dry as they all sounded, none of the ‘duties’ sounded like a process to brainwash child soldiers, as I’d feared. I still couldn’t understand why they had invested so much money and time into this, especially Joyce, who had put in the most of both but didn’t have any super-powers.

“Questions?”

Again they were met with silence, so Joyce moved on to the next section.

“Then, the last section is your duties as a student, All of you, especially Destia, who is in her last year of high school, still have the duty to graduate and get a high school diploma. The first duty is attendance. Except for if you are sick or have express permission from me, not Aaron but me, then you may not miss any days of classes. The second duty is to maintain a seventy-five average. I would prefer if you could keep it at an eighty, but consider a seventy-five as the lowest your grades can go. Questions?”

Archer raised his hand and asked the first question. His voice wobbled as he spoke, but he tried to hide it by talking faster.

“Then what happens if we don’t…. If we can’t complete any of these duties?”

Joyce put on a comically evil grin and raised the remote.

“Then we decided on the perfect punishments for you kids. If you cannot maintain your Squire duties, then I’ll seize your weekends and make you do them while all the others go on a field trip with Aaron! If you fail to upkeep your super duties, then I’ll seize your weekends and make you do them while all the others go on a field trip with Aaron! And finally, and I’m quite proud of this one, if you fail to upkeep your student duties, then I’ll make you sit across from me in my office and make you do them while all the others go out on a field trip with Aaron!”

She finished with a maniacal laugh that Aaron couldn’t help but join in with.

It took me a moment to process her childish threats and their contrast with the dark tone she had used to give them to us.

“Is…. Is that it?”

Tillo couldn’t help but ask in disbelief. Joyce’s face suddenly snapped into an exaggerated thoughtful expression and she tapped a nail on the tip of her nose like a cartoon character.

“What, is that too light of a punishment? Well then, if you fail to upkeep your duties for two weeks in a row, I’ll completely take away your allowances!”

She surveyed our faces and then burst out in laughter, real laughter this time.

“You all should relax! As the adults in your life, it’s our job to discipline you all and to make sure you stay on the right track. At the same time, you are all smart children. I doubt any of you will ever have to undergo these punishments, and even if you do, their goals are to get you back on track, not to torment you.”

Aaron nodded in agreement and made meaningful eye contact with Archer. But since they didn’t choose to explain it to the rest of the group, they left us out of the loop.

Joyce’s phone suddenly beeped, and she fished it out of her pocket and read the message with a smile on her face.

“Well, it looks like the scientists are finally here. They’ve all been beside themselves with excitement, so I hope you’ll forgive them this once. Aaron’s been too accommodating to them, so they’ve run wild. I tried to warn him but he’s just too soft.”

I wondered what she meant by giving us that information right before letting those ‘wild’ scientists meet us, but braced myself. No matter what it was, I would do my best to get through it.