Just as Mel anticipated, Mar is BMI compatible and both were enrolled into the FMS for the next term. Mar did manage to range his skill to average. Which was his aim despite Mel fiercely whispering her protests during the test.

Because this skill is very rare the town made enrollment in a mnemonics School mandatory for those children tested compatible. Although mandatory it had the benefit that schooling for Mel and Mar is free in the most prestigious School in the country.

Time flies and a couple of months after his birthday it is already enrollment day. Both arrive early and only a few students are around. Probably because of that Mel manages to draw the attention of the few students around.

Mel is what can be described as deep water. Straight flowing, waist long blond hair, young womanly proportions and charming warm facial features contrasted with a graveyard like calm, bright intelligent eyes and single minded determination. Despite her somewhat sheltered looks, to overcome obstacles in the pursuit of her goals she can be merciless. This calm aggression would make her the perfect bodyguard, the best soldier or outstanding secret agent. She certainly is not suited for a sheltered existence. Just like an angel.

Since she moved in with Mar, she also made great strides in dealing with her past trauma which was in large parts thanks to their shared meditation. Over the last weeks Mel recovered her confidence again. Mar is glad he is on her good side -- or maybe not?

Her armour is still flawless putting out a freezing aura keeping him at arm's length. But his 'gift' tells him about the pain in her chest replacing the normally azure blue picture in her mind with a violent storm. The only hint is a barely visible tear of anger collecting in the corner of her eye.

"I am sorry, but I still cannot accept this!", she says.

The early morning sun is gently bathing the auditorium at First Mnemonics School or FMS. Dignified and modern the glass facade of the tallest building in town stretches sky bound like a disco ball reflecting the sun in all colours of the rainbow. The immatriculation ceremony is only two hours away and the first eager and excited freshmen mingle around awaiting the start of term with happy anticipation. The exception to the rule is standing before the auditorium where the ceremony will take place.

"This is just not acceptable!".

A small tremor in her body loosens that lonely tear and with the help of gravity it runs down her white cheek leaving a glinting line.

"I am really fine just to be a regular student. After all, this schools is meant to hide me rather than to make me stand out.", he says.

Both are in school regulation uniforms with a girl's elegant dress of the specialist course and boy's stylish suit of the generalists course. Their attire's design is identical yet Mel keeps sending angry looks towards Mar's black tie that appears to be the source of her frustration. Unlike her's it does not feature the school's four leave clover, the emblem of the FMS.

He feels her anger like the singeing heat of licking flames rising up his spine which makes him worry. Hesitantly he reaches out and very gently wipes away the tear with his palm. He places his hand on her shoulder brushing off her long blond hair. Her armour cracks under the touch of his hand as she lightly shudders looking shamefully to the side.

"You are so much more than that ....".

Being assigned to the significantly less prestigious "Gen" course is for Mar insignificant compared to his concern for Mel's emotional state. In general every generation has only a tiny amount of individuals compatible with a BMI ( brain machine interface ). To engage every able child irrespective of their skill this school projects the image of equal opportunity for all students. Based on the student's aptitude they are assigned different types of BMI. The elite group use a device integrated into the brain whereas the regular students use a device controlled by implants into muscles or skin.

Violating this openness and equality ethos, the students of the two courses refer to each other as "Spec" and "Gen". Even being the elite of society the students artificially divide themselves into first class and second class students.

After another painful glance at the tie her gaze darts towards the unfortunate device somewhere in the building and her index finger stabs the air violently. Subject of her scorn is the inhuman automatic scoring system used to dispassionately grades all the student candidates.

"You know that your results are wrong. Your test results should be well above everyone else in this school. You should be the first year student representative, not me! Compared to you I should be a 'Gen' with my ability and you should be a 'Spec', not the other way round", she yells.

"All of these high scores are just numbers on a paper. Students should be treated as equals. It really is not bad to be one of the masses. After all this is what I enrolled for."

With impatience her gaze swings back straight at him and her hands clapping into fists onto her chest.

"You are wrong! There was no need to score that low. Even the top 20 is a safe range.".

Mar takes hold of Mel's clenched hands and lifts them to his chest. He gently pats her head. Mel feels the soothing warmth of his hands.

"To be honest, I do not mind the way this plays out.".

She knows he does not lie to her and he does not care much for the place. He truly is not interested in the welcome ceremony nor the other traditions of this school. He doesn't like crowds in the first place. Certainly he would dread the merciless spotlight she is being pushed into today and going forward.

She also knows this better than anyone. But she just cannot get herself to accept the degrading significance of the plain tie. It is only because of his abilities that she is alive today. Ever since he revived her after she died she devoted her life, every day, every hour and down to every single breath to him and only him. Undeterred by her family, friends and even by Mar himself her life's purpose is Mar. And because of that it is unjustifiable to her that he isn't in her place.

"I really, really don't mind ..", he says.

Resigning with a hard swallow and a throat sound stifling her anger she places her head on his chest. He can feel her sizable forward facing female features. But her mood prevents him from avoiding them. With a sigh he endures the uncomfortable stares this draws.

"Nrrrr. How can you be so calm about this? You have the sharpest mind and unbelievable strength. I cannot even begin to describe how little I deserve to be in a place that is rightfully yours. Your abilities are above anyone anywhere and with the help of your 'gift' …".

"Mel! No one can know. That cannot happen, it mustn't be allowed to happen. You know that too, don't you?".

She flinches hearing his unusually sharp voice and shuts her mouth with her hands. In her frustration she almost gave away a secret. He knows it is inevitable that some of his disposition will become known eventually. Before applying to the FMS they agreed to keep all of the troublesome truth hidden for as long as possible but accepted the risk of exposure. They both know that his 'gift' will not be a secret forever and for this reason Mar has several backup identities ready on a moment's notice to leave their life and start new somewhere else.

"Of course.", she says. "Sorry for getting angry.".

"Don't be sorry. I know you care for me and I do very much care about you. But it is time now for your appearance", he reminded her. He let her hands go and she nods as she hesitantly stepped away.

Her cheeks turn a deeper red and her eye's shine.

"You care for me … ", she whispers lowering her head biting her lip in cute happiness.

He nods. This young man's task this morning is to escort his friend who had become the reluctant freshmen representative to the final rehearsal of her speech for the matriculation ceremony.

"This still feels wrong though".

Completely out of character she puffs her cheeks up in a spoiled fashion.

"Why?", he asks.

She is shaking her head side to side. He can smell a sense of apprehension as if Mel was a little bit embarrassed.

"After the ceremony, let me take you to a place I read about on the FMS community portal yesterday", she says in a low voice. "As a way of compensating for taking your place."

Mar's face lightens up because of the simple fact that Mel seems to drop her resistance about her duties today.

"What kind of place?"

"It's called bush hill and … hum … unh … it is a place that appears to have a wonderful view".

"Is that so?", Mar asks.

It is obvious to anyone reading the colour of her slightly redder cheeks that there is an ulterior motive. But Mar easily resists the urge to just reach into her mind to grasp her true answer. Other than noble thoughts of privacy and respect doing so will have other repercussions. Unlike emotions that are are patches of activity in the brain and easy to read, the concrete thoughts are something completely different. The words she muttered so quietly are after all only the end result of thousands of brain signals compared against each other, discarded, disturbed, suppressed and distilled in an instant from all parts of the mind. To find the unspoken thoughts, he cannot just read 'that' thought. For Mar reading someone's mind is not like taking a sip from a glass of water and savouring it. Connecting to someone's brain is just that, it means instantly opening the firehose of activity of Mel's brain and forcing it under full pressure directly into his own brain.

Mel's mind is considerably more focussed, quiet and disciplined than the average person. Her calmness is the very thing that made Mar reach out for. Indeed the two often spend time together on her mind sky. For him getting to know the obviously harmless and probably girly thoughts do not justify the effort of being drowned in Mel's brain traffic at this time. In any event, he trusts Mel without hesitation and reservation.

"Okay, I will be waiting for you after the ceremony", he says.

With a deep breath her armour is restored, her posture is upright and confident. She nods to him and makes her way inside. On the stairs she stops and turns around.

"Please watch me, 'Mar'.

"Of course I will and I'll catch up with you afterwards".

With some relief he watched her disappear in the modern glass entrance.

Watching her from behind he allowed himself to admire her incredible grace and beauty, her strides confident as her arms are swinging lightly, her long blonde hair free flowing without a single kink. The only thing she leaves behind is a gentle hint of perfume and a slightly empty feeling in his chest.

Any normal boy would confess his love on the spot. But for him Mel was much more precious than just as a girl.

"You should get out of here for a while", the mechanical voice interrupts his depressing thoughts.

# # #

He can feel her presence is quickly replaced with a dull painful pressure on his temples that makes up his mind for him.

"I really need to get out of here. At least for a little while.".

Even without any special abilities he can read the mood around him loud and clear and, unfortunately, overhear offhand remarks.

Just as Mel left he noticed two metal golems walking past him followed by a few upper class students. Clearly the golems are remote controlled by the two girls following behind them. As the girls walk past him they openly glared at his tie.

"Look, a freshman 'Gen'. He is very early. Quite enthusiastic, I'd say.", says one.

"Haha, he is just a 'Gen'. No matter the amount of enthusiasm this won't change. It's really just a bit pathetic he doesn't get that.", says the other one.

I can do without hearing stuff like this. He walks away leaving all the noise behind his back. After a few minutes he left the people murmur far behind. He stops near some rusty and abandoned practice buildings. There he puts on his head phones and turns into the sun. These noise cancelling head phones are useless to keep out the noise of his "gift" but they help his focus. When he is pushed to explain he shrugs it off as the world is much noisier and more polluted to me than to anyone else.

Through his closed eyes he is listening to the sun's constant low level hum and taking in her slightly spicy smell that soothes his senses. He lets his thoughts drift gently and peacefully on the circumference of reality. The billion year old sun has hummed like this before his first breath and that it will likely do so until he takes his last breath and then for billions of years afterwards. This colossal scale always grounds him knowing that his brief blip of existence is almost insignificant and pondering too long about the small stuff is just wasted time.

All students accepted into the FMS show promise in Mnemonics. Being accepted means that at least on some basic level a student can be integrated into a machine using a BMI.

Mar knows that his first year grade decides on the type of implant and with that the type of work he is able and allowed to do. The remaining years are there to train him with his personal BMI. Usually, it takes students 10 years to completely master the BMI. However, there is no real limit on how long the training takes. Due to the dangers of the technology only students with a minimal standard of skill can graduate. Students that fail the adoption process will have their BMI forcefully removed before being expelled. This is to ensure that only capable operator are working in this field. And only in one of nine Mnemonics high schools can he get the certification to get it installed.

Truth be told Mel is right. He does not need a BMI. He can manipulate nature using his own means. In itself Mnemonics promises miraculous benefits comparable to his 'gift'. So what better way to perform miracles than under the smoke screen of a widely accepted disciplin.

"You seem to have a visitor", his mechanical voice alerts him.

As the cool morning breeze gently moves his hair he felt a consciousness gradually intruding on his peace and quiet. By reflex his mind closed itself already but he can still feel the impact of a girl's mental domain as she walks up from behind. Her aura reveals experience and strength found in people of importance. He can also smell a strong air of irritation and stress that itches his nose like pepper.

"Aeeacchoo!." He sneezes.

"Bless you.", she says. "Are you a new student? It's almost time for the ceremony.".

His headphones are intentionally large to discourage anyone from approaching. However, with people of this aura they rarely work. Indeed, he can now feel a pregnant silence of focus on him. Reluctantly he lets go of the soothing hum and takes the headphones off.

"Hua - tsk - mmmmm"

With some indistinct noises the girl stretches herself out and steps past him as if to gobble up all the sunlight for herself and he assumes that this is his queue to leave. To keep a low profile he decides to turn around but he didn't just want to give up his space so he couldn't help himself asking.

"Pardon? Did you say something ?".

Looking at her from behind, he notices the sophisticated BMI terminal at her lovely nape immediately which told him that she is a Spec with a high grade direct BMI, probably 3rd year student from her age. He can feel a slight electrical tickling coming from it. Since his perception extends to the smallest of electron movements he can see patterns of light spilling out from the implant. Almost at the speed of a lava lamp, he can see the pattern change. The lights invite him to touch the swirls. With some willpower he breaks his glance and only then he notices that she looks over her shoulder and fishes for him with her eyes.

The girl smoothes her hair hiding the BMI then turns around and asks "Learning headphones ?"

From behind she seems well proportioned and good looking. She wears the perfectly fitted school uniform and accessorised it just with a sun hat. As she turns around her face does not disappoint. The posture and mannerism indicate a young lady of breed and status. The wind tugs gently on her hat and she holds it down with her hand.

"Oops, my apologies.", she smiles at him.

She poked him in the face by accident with the hat as she step closer to admire Mar's high grade, expensive headphones. The irritating itch is no longer eye wateringly strong.

"It is quite rare to see those this early in the term."

"Yes.".

He inspected them as if they were new to avoid eye contact.

The short answer intensifies the smell again. He wished she would respect his personal space better.

"I have difficulty maintaining concentration and this helps to focus".

"Uh, I see.".

She seem to restrain her irritation as suddenly he can finally smell her lovely sweet odour.

"My name is Sabine Beltom, I am the chair woman in the student school council. Are you meeting your mate here?"

Mar was astounded as he expected the student council to be at the rehearsal.

"Mar Konwick, class 1". "Are you not involved with today's ceremony, chair woman ? Wait -- my mate ?".

Her eyes goldfish bulge in surprise and her well rehearsed decorum and restraint shatters for an instant. Mar thought she would want to scream like a teenager with a fan complex meeting the object of her desire. Fortunately, her hands clasp her mouth shut muffling a whimper of excitement.

"You are that Mar Konwick ? I am so very pleased to meet you.". Looking up into his eyes she seems to be thinking how someone like him could produce such work. "You may not know this but you have been quite the hot topic among the teachers. With an all time high scores you are heading the country's league table. I even got hold of your essay to read. And I can see that you earned them with a level of sophistication I cannot hope to match even at the top of my game."

Mar felt she was about to say "shame about your neurological compatibility score" but no further word was uttered.

"What did you mean when you asked waiting for my mate ?". He interrupted her before she got the chance.

"You know, your girlfriend or .... This is, after all a popular make out spot with a fantastic view over the lights of Tol and the lake at night."

She hesitantly elaborates first and then continues with confidence. To Mar, Sabine appears to be no stranger to this place and probably has been here before. It strikes him odd though that she is here alone at the moment.

"Chair woman, are you at all involved in today's ceremony?".

Mar wants to distract her from reaching the wrong conclusion.

"Of course.', she smiled.

"Then shall we return to the auditorium?"

"Ah yes, let's return. This is probably best to avoid creating the wrong impression.", she approves.

After a searching look towards Mar she appeared to be disappointed. She pouts a bit and then sets off with a kick steps and with her landing she regained her decorum. As if they are lifelong acquaintances she hooks her hand into his elbow and starts walking. Mar is vaguely aware that walking like this is a very efficient way to create the 'wrong' impression anyway.

Whatever she set out to find here seem to be forgotten or meaningless to her now as he watched the spring in her step. He can feel her excellent mood and she is shamelessly broadcasting how lucky she feels to walk next to him. Not that Sabine had any inkling of Mar's 'gift'. Although even if she did, she obviously does not mind being so transparent.

# # #