Absolute Power (Book 1): Origins (25 page)

“I don't think she'll be entertaining at all,” Koji mumbled.

Again the class worked hard not to laugh.  Misses Poole continued to go over the syllabus.

Koji leaned over and said into Eve's ear, “I talked to Doctor Schreier, and he said it was cool if I watched, but that you'd have to stop by sometime.”

Eve wanted to respond, but was more afraid of Misses Poole than being rude to Koji.

It didn't seem to matter to Koji as he went on, “I should have guessed you were a math whiz too.  Here, let me see your schedule, maybe we have other classes together.”

He was reaching out when Misses Poole slammed her hand on the desk.

“Mister Kojima, if I have to ask you again to be quiet, we are going to have a problem,” she shouted.

“Sorry,” Koji said sincerely.  “I'll just zone out in a videogame and you won't notice me.”

“Did you not hear my three rules?”  Misses Poole asked rhetorically.

Koji answered anyway, “No, I was late.”

The rest of math class went the same way.  Koji's minor slip ups were treated as major affronts by Misses Poole.  At the same time, Misses Poole's simple requests were lost in Koji's memory.  Watching Koji be berated for an hour, and Misses Poole being disrespected stressed Eve out.  For the first time, she understood why the other kids looked so relieved to hear the end bell ring.

Eve walked with Koji as they scrambled to leave.  “Why do you cause problems for yourself?” She asked him.

“What do you mean?”  Koji pretended not to know what she was talking about.

“Misses Poole is here to help you, but you treat her poorly,” Eve said.

“I didn't ask for her help,” Koji told her.  “I don't even want to be at The One, but they forced me to.”

“I understand,” Eve said.  “There are things I did not want to do.  However, there are worse places to be than this and the people here have good intentions.”

“Maybe,” Koji reluctantly agreed.  “I can't help thinking things should be better.”

They had stopped in front of Eve’s next class.

A slender woman came out and said, “Class is about to begin.”  She had a delicate bone structure and glasses two sizes too big.  “Where are you supposed to be, Koji?”

“Science,” Koji replied.  “See you later Eve.”

“Eve Levitas?  I'm Miss Branch.  I believe we have class,” the woman said.

“I apologize,” Eve bowed.

“Come inside and let me introduce you to everyone,” Miss Branch said.  She put a gentle hand on Eve's back and led her in.  The other students were strangely silent.  Not afraid, like in math, but there was something different.  Eve couldn't place it.  “Class this is Eve Levitas.  She's new this year, so please help her if you can,” Miss Branch said in an over-enunciated voice.

“Welcome,” the class said at once in a barrage of accents and poor English.

“Will you be teaching me languages?”  Eve guessed.

“I teach many languages,” Miss Branch answered politely.  “In this class I teach casual English.”

“My English is proficient,” Eve said confused.

“Yes.  Don't worry about it,” Miss Branch told her.  “If you know this already, we can transfer you to another class.”

Eve bowed then sat.

“I want to begin this year with slang,” Miss Branch said to the class.  “Then next month we'll take what we learned and use it in conversation.”  She turned and wrote on the board:  Yo, wuz up.

Eve changed her mind about her English aptitude.

The week was slowly coming to an end.  On Wednesday, Eve found it difficult to wake up for morning exercise.  She convinced herself that using her powers to get there was good practice, and slept late.  Danni didn't argue with her logic.  After exercise, she and Scott had lunch together.  He preferred to walk, so they made the thirty-minute trek back and forth to the Testing Field.  Even though Eve had memorized the manual Sergeant Beach had given them, she still didn't pass the test.  Before history, she stopped Koji to make sure he had done his assignment.  Mister Thorne forgot to collect them, but since Koji had done the work, he decided to remind Thorne.  Thursday, Doctor Richter taught about how Super-Human powers were measured.  He brought in some equipment and soon the class turned into more of a competition.  Then before math, Eve steadied herself and walked in somberly.  She spent half of the class learning and the other devising ways to keep Koji out of trouble.  By the end she was exhausted, so she quietly sat through Miss Branch’s lesson on the usage of 'like.'

Friday finally came, and Eve read her schedule.  The previous class titles made sense, but these she couldn't figure out.

“What are these?” She asked Danni.

Danni was listening to music and pulled off her headphones.  She snatched the paper from Eve.

“Lame is what it is,” Danni said.  “Fridays and Saturdays are always lame.  Procedure is a bunch of boring drills and crap.  Like last year we learned, stop drop and roll.”

It was going over Eve's head.

“Just follow me,” Danni told her.  “I have the same class.”  She looked down at the paper.  “Focus is all about practicing to use your powers.  I have to sit and meditate till my legs fall asleep.  And your last one is TA.  Like you help one of the teachers with whatever they need.  You have Jess, here in the Residence.  Which is also lame and a total setup.  You guys are probably gonna gossip the entire time.”

Danni handed the paper back.  Eve looked at it, and tried to decipher what Danni had said.

When it came time for class, Eve followed Danni out of the Residence.  Just outside there was a group of kids standing on the parade ground.  The two girls stopped at the edge of the crowd and waited until Danni saw someone she knew and wandered off.  A little bit later Master Sergeant Lewis showed up, and the class quieted down.

“Eve,” Sara said as she tapped her shoulder.

“It's good to see you,” Eve said, happy again to have a friend in the class.

“Attention,” Master Sergeant Lewis shouted.  The kids immediately stopped what they were doing.  “In Procedure this year you will be learning life-saving techniques.  I hope that you will be able to use these techniques if the need arises in the future.  Today we will begin with CPR.  Teams of two, grab a dummy and spread out.”

“Come on,” Sara said taking Eve's hand.  “We'll be partners.”  They ran up front to a shelf of dummies that were only a head and torso.

Lewis continued his instruction, “These are not toys, do not fool around.  Lay the dummy on the ground face up.”  He waited while the kids got in position.  “CPR requires the life saver to put his or her mouth on the victim’s mouth, and place both hands on their chest.”  The children began to giggle nervously.  “It is not like kissing,” Lewis said to a pair near him.  One of the girls turned bright red and tried to hide.  Lewis continued, “Follow my directions exactly.  Failure to perform this correctly in real life may kill the victim.”  His words settled down most of the students.

Sara and Eve took turns pretending to perform CPR.  Master Sergeant Lewis walked from group to group giving directions and correcting technique.  He examined every single student, and when he was done, he dismissed the class.

The two girls sat on the ground for a few minutes talking afterwards.

“What do you have next?”  Sara asked.

“Focus,” Eve answered.

“Oh, that class meets out here,” Sara said.  “Who's your teacher?”

“Saga,” Eve replied.  “I asked Danni what the class taught, but her explanation was difficult to understand.”

Sara stood up and brushed off her clothes.  “Uhmm... Procedure is like, to teach you group stuff.  What to do in certain situations and how to work in a team.  Focus is like that but just about you.  You learn how to control your powers, or use them in different ways.”

Eve nodded her understanding but looked doubtful.

“You might think that someone who doesn't have your powers can't teach you about them,” Sara said, “but they taught me a lot of stuff when I was little.”

“Then I will make sure to listen,” Eve said.

The two girls waved goodbye, and Eve was left sitting on the ground.  A few minutes before class was scheduled to begin, kids started arriving.  Shruti showed up walking alongside a man that Eve assumed was Mister Saga.  He was wearing loose fitting clothes that reminded Eve of a picture she'd seen of monks.  The man seemed to float along the ground rather than walk.  Eve wondered if it was connected to his powers.

Shruti looked suddenly over at Eve, having heard her thoughts in the crowd.  She waved happily.  Then she continued with the man until he stopped and faced the class.

“Good morning, students,” he said.  His voice sounded soft, but he was clear enough to be heard over the noise of the children.  “I hope you have had time to rest before we begin.”

“Yes, sir,” some of the kids replied.

“Excellent,” Saga smiled.  “It looks like I have ten eager minds this semester.  I will work with each one of you on an individual basis.  All I ask is that you try, and anything you can't do I will help you with.”

Shruti handed him some folders, and he rifled through them.  She asked Saga something, and he looked up at Eve, then at Shruti and nodded.  With his permission, Shruti walked over to Eve.

“Isn't this awesome,” Shruti's eyes were alight. “It's almost like I'm a full cadet.  This is my advisory.  They placed me with Saga because I'm so advanced.”

“Mister Saga doesn't mind that you're talking with me?” Eve asked.  She was watching him speak with one of the other students.

“No,” Shruti replied.  “He likes to talk to every student, so we have some time.”  She looked over at Saga who waved her back over.  “Never mind, duty calls.  Gotta help Jimmy.”  She went over to where Saga stood next to a boy.  He gave Shruti some instructions then came over to talk to Eve.

“Of Levitas Comes the Eve of Terminus, it is a pleasure to meet you finally,” Saga bowed.

Eve returned the bow and said, “I was not aware that I was well-known, but the honor of this meeting is mine.  Please call me, Eve.”

Saga's smile broadened.  “Well, you've caught the eye of Colonel Porter, which makes you noteworthy,” he explained.  “The last person who managed this much interest was Robert Day.”

“Oh,” Eve said.  It was not a response she was used to giving, but hearing Robert's name caught her off guard.  She hadn't seen or heard from him since he’d moved off base.  Eve also found it curious that Colonel Porter had such an interest in her.  He'd only spoken to her those first few days.

“But that is neither here nor there,” Saga said sensing her discomfort.  “Today we will try something new.  I'd like you to open a portal, like you have done many times, except bigger.”

“Yes, sir,” Eve accepted his instruction.

“Much bigger,” Saga added, knowing she didn't quite understand.

“I will need more shadows,” Eve told him.

“There,” Saga pointed to the motor pool building.  “It's shaded, and I think that truck would make an excellent subject.”

“Pardon me, sir,” Eve was sure that he didn't know how her powers worked.  “The task would be much simpler if it were darker or the subject smaller.”

“Try,” Saga gently urged her.  “If you fail then we will explore why?”

Eve was about to tell him she knew why it wouldn't work, but he bowed ending the discussion.  He left her to work on the task, speaking with the next student in line.  She would like to do what Saga had asked, although she knew it wouldn't be possible.  Under most circumstances, Eve could open a portal large enough for two people.  A portal the size of the truck was something that she hadn't tried, nor thought she would need to perform. There was also a slight fear that if she failed the vehicle would be damaged.

Eve was still staring at the truck when Shruti came back.  “He just wants you to try,” she said.

“I will fail,” Eve told her.  It didn't seem to matter to them that it wouldn't work, or that it was a waste of time and energy.

“That’s not the point,” Shruti said.  “Think of this as a test to see if you'll even try.  Not if you can actually do it.”  What Shruti knew was that Saga believed that in order to learn, one must question everything.  Eve thought she knew everything about her powers, which may or may not be true.  If she wasn't even willing to try to push her limits, then she’d never know.  In fact, part of Eve's training in focus was to learn how to push the boundaries in all aspects of her life.  At least that’s what it said in her folder.

Eve grumbled and took a seat to try and move the truck.  It was ironic to Shruti, because Eve was good at taking orders and following directions.  So good that she had to be ordered to break her preconceived notions and do things on her own accord.

For the rest of the class time, Shruti watched Eve struggle with the task.  She was hoping to figure out a way to get Eve to try to be the best she could be.

Shruti had the rest of her day free, so at the end of lunch she joined Eve in the Residence.  They found Jess in her office talking to one of her kids.