Chapter 11 - Registration Hell

So... I've been thinking about Soverign Stones, (and before anyone panics, I'm not dropping it) and I feel like I tried to push the story too much. I'm going to refactor the story a little, putting 2-3 chapters of slice of life in before the current chapter 2 would probably make it flow better. I'll make a plan tonight and maybe work on it tomorrow.

I frowned and wiggled the uncomfortable, thick metal watch strap back and forth. “Does it have to be this tight?” 

“Yes, we can’t risk the device slipping off your wrist,” the short man in front of me scowled. “You’re only allowed to remove the monitoring device in your residence, at night, before bed. Any other time is forbidden. If you’re discovered walking around without your monitoring device, at any time, you’ll immediately be escorted to a holding area until security investigates. Multi infractions may result in you being assigned an escort, or even long term incarceration. Do you understand?”

“I got it,” I said as the intake officer squinted through his glasses and checked something off on the clipboard in his hands. He reminded me of a mole, a very grumpy mole.

Pretty much as soon as I stepped into the admin office I’d been whisked away to a small private office with an intake officer, who had slapped some sort of digital watch on my wrist and immediately started shouting information at me. Between the tiny, uncomfortable room, and the man’s no nonsense attitude I felt more like I was being brought into a prison instead of a school. Well, I guess it was a little bit of both.

“While in standby mode the monitoring device will display one of three colors. Green means the area is clear, yellow means the Instability in the area is unusually high, and red means possible Rift in process. I recommend checking the color regularly. If the display goes red, you’re to attempt to leave the area immediately, and not engage any outsiders, unless directed by a teacher.”

“Is that all?” I grumbled. 

“No, it’s also linked to the school servers, so you can access your schedule at any time. If you receive an alert, follow the directions provided immediately,” the man continued without looking up.

“Right,” I sighed. “I can handle that.”

The little man checked one last box, then signed whatever sheet he was looking at with an exaggerated gesture before flipping the page.

“Now that we’re done with the required warnings, and instructions for the monitoring device, I have a couple quick questions. What is your power?”

“I don’t have any powers,” I replied cautiously.

He looked up at me and raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“I don’t! The only thing I do is make kids so uncomfortable they want anything to do with me,” I said defensively.

“That’s completely normal for any Empowered person. Children are more sensitive to Instability than adults, and instinctively try to flee from any source of Instability,” the man declared.

“Yeah, well, I don’t give off Instability. So explain that,” I growled. 

“Young lady, all Empowered people give off Instability, there’s no point in lying to me about it,” the man scoffed.

“I’m not… you know what, if you’re not going to do even the most basic review of my file before meeting me, why should I indulge your ignorance. Next question,”

Mr Mole scowed. “I’ll just put powers undescovered on your file. If you do know your power, or discover what it is at a later time, you are expected to report it to the faculty immediately. Although you are allowed to use your powers casually, you are responsible for any and all damage caused by using them. Using them against any other human, no matter the reason, carries stiff penalties, up to and including permanent incarceration.” 

“Anything else?” I huffed. 

“New students are expected to report to class on Monday morning, you’ll be free until then. Here is the key to your dorm room, the family units are on the south side of the campus, in the A.F. Murphy building. If you can’t find it, press the black button on the side of your monitoring device and ask for directions.”

I glanced down at the small device. I had originally thought it was nothing more than a fancy looking fugitive tracking device, but the more he told me about it, the more it actually sounded more like a fancy smartwatch.

Snatching the key out of the man’s outstretched hand I stood there, staring at him for a good thirty seconds while he finished the paperwork.

“Sign here to acknowledge that all points are covered, and all the submitted answers are correct,” Moley declared, passing me the clipboard. Even though I couldn’t wait to leave, I still carefully reviewed the paperwork before signing. I had a feeling that ignorantly signing something here was about one of the worst things I could do.

“Very well, you may now return to the lobby and rejoin your party. Welcome to the Empowered Education Institute,” the man declared.

I just immediately turned on my heel and left the room, eager to leave both the man and the room behind. 

As soon as I yanked open the door, I was met by a face full of red fur. 

“Tam Tam, I found you!” Hairy declared excitedly.

I barely managed to keep from jumping in surprise, instead I casually closed the door behind me and glanced up and down the hallway to check for other people.

“How did you get here?” I whispered. “Weren’t you with the moving truck?”

“We were, but Angelica sensed you were in this building when we passed by, so I rushed over to surprise you,” the oversized highland cow explained. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”

“You jumped from a moving truck?” I asked suspiciously.

“It wasn’t moving that fast, and it didn’t hurt at all!” Hairy declared happily. “Angelica and Thaddius said they’d wait for you at the new place.”

“Yeah, of course they would, because that’s the smart thing to do,” I grumbled. “Come on, I need to meet mom and the agents back in the lobby, and I really don’t want someone to see me and ask questions about why I’m talking to thin air.”

“I’m neither thin, nor air. I’m a strong independent bull,” Hairy declared as I walked by him.

“Come on!” I hissed back at him.

Strolling back down the hallway I passed a boy who couldn’t be more than ten, who was twirling a pen, without using his fingers. It floated a couple inches above his hand, as he casually chatted with the agent, laughing.

I shook my head, the kid was probably too young to understand that his little parlor trick came with a serious downside. He’d spend the rest of his life isolated from most of the population because at any time reality could rip open and spit out horrors beyond his worst imagination. Just because he could spin a pen.

As I stepped back into the lobby my mother waved from the little waiting area. “Tammy, what’s the matter? You look a little stressed.”

“Well, the interviewer was kind of an asshole, which was bad enough,” I grumbled, “but I just passed some kid who was using his powers to do tricks. It just kind of drove home where we are, and how much danger we’re in here.” 

“Relax. Although Rifts are a constant threat around here, they’re not as common as you would think. Besides, every single building both on campus and in town have panic rooms for regular people to hide in,” agent Mac declared. “They’re keyed to unlock to all civilian ids, and select student monitors, like yours.” 

“Civilian Ids?” my mother asked.

“One of these,” agent Seymour called as she returned from the reception desk, flaunting a much smaller and more stylish version of my smart monitor. She passed a small box out to Mac and my mother before continuing. “It’s a simpler version of the device Tamera has. No location monitoring, but it’ll warn you when the area is unsafe. Make sure you read the full manual when you get home.”

“Why do you two need them?” I asked suspiciously.

“Because we’re sticking around, at least for a little while. There’s a small BEI office in town, and your situation is unique enough that the upper brass want us to keep an eye on you,” agent Seymour smirked.

“Wonderful,” I muttered. 

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Hairy’s eyes narrow. He stepped right up to the box in my mom’s hands, looked at it from different angles, smelled it, and even licked it. My eye twitched, but I managed to keep from yelling at him right then and there. That would have to wait until we found a private place to talk.

“Well, that went a lot smoother than I expected. Usually it takes them close to an hour to process people,” Mac muttered.

Seymour elbowed him in the ribs, then turned towards my mother and I and smiled. “Now that everything’s squared away, how about we go visit your home for the next year? I promise, you probably won’t be disappointed.”

My mother and I both stared at the woman for a couple seconds.

“What?” agent Seymour asked, confused.

“You really need to work on your sales technique,” my mother snorted. It had been awhile since I’d seen her so snarky. I definitely got it from her side of the family.

“Fine,” I finally sighed, “let’s go see this place.”