Porter gestured to the last ¡°lost soul¡± to join the crowd of young potential students and the held his hands up to direct their attention to him.
¡°OK people that''s all of you! If you can follow me please and try not to stray. It''s important right from the off that you learn to obey instructions, very important indeed.¡±
Sam followed directly behind Porter. Anywhere else to her mind courted issues and thought she had courted enough for one day.
¡°Come along ladies and erm.. Gentlemen.. Please follow closely.¡±
They made it through the check-in''s without issue and headed into the massive ship with Porter working hard to make sure everyone knew beyond doubt that it was imperative that they go directly to the hall where the entrance exams would be completed before the students were issued cabins and given their maps.
Anything other than that was unacceptable.
Sam walked for longer than she had expected to through a labyrinth of corridors just wide enough to fit three people side by side before they finally reached their destination and Porter had everyone find their places.
The hallway had more than enough space within which to do the exams and each and everyone had a specific seat and desk with their name adorning it. After a bit of searching Sam found hers and sat down. Half in relief and half with trepidation.
She looked at the desk and the other desks around her. There were no laptops, note books, pens or papers of any kind. She wondered how they were going to complete an examination without any academic tools?... Magic she guessed, but that just made her feel even more worried.
Sam tapped her fingers on the table. She looked around and noticed a spare table... in the middle of the hall? Then she looked for Porter and saw he too was missing. Then a creeping thought filled her mind and she looked around for Stevens... Nope! He was missing as well. Jesus. That guy was such a tool. The other members of the class had finally become aware of the missing couple and she heard murmurs picking up but at least no one was dim enough to get up, thought Sam.
Ten minutes later a rather irate Porter and a crimson faced Stevens entered the hall. With Porter giving the boy a withering look as he headed for the only place left available.
¡°Right!¡±
Exclaimed a rather indignant Porter.
¡°Now we have found our little lost lamb.¡±
Half the class glimpsed at Stevens and Sam heard more than one snicker. Stevens just glowered at Porter with undisguised hatred.
¡°Will everyone please put their hands flat on the surface of the desk in front of you and close your eyes. hmm... Yes indeed everybody. Stevens, if you don''t you will be escorted immediately off the ship never to return. Thank you! Now be calm and all will be well. presently the examination will begin.¡±
Entrance exam
Sam felt, something. Something like an electric current run through her hands and then she froze. Not a muscle could she even twitch. She guessed this was why they had everyone close their eyes, they would be pretty dry if the exams took a long time.
Suddenly she was what, 4 years old? She had just knocked her mum''s vase off the tall table by the hallway entrance and it lay in pieces. Oh no! She should hide it! What? Was she crazy? Who else would be to blame? Shawn? Hmm... maybe? Little horror was always screaming. Was she like that at one year old? She didn''t think so. She picked up the pieces as she heard the living room door opening. Oh lord! Run! Hide! Her shoulder sagged she turned and with trembling chin she held up her hands to her mum and began to bawl.
She was ten and saw Michelle stealing a pen case from a bag that belonged to Annie who, when she found the loss went screaming to the teacher. Mrs. Tomlinson brought the whole class together and demanded to know who the thief was and how disappointed she was that they had a criminal in their midst. No one came forward and the teacher shook her head sadly. Did no one see anything? She asked hopefully, but not realistically expecting anyone to come forward. She knew the street rules. No one blabbed. Not in this town, even the primary school kids knew that. Sam bit her lip and raised her hand. She saw the look of utter hatred from Michelle''s face. Oh boy was she going to get it when she got out of school.
She was 12 and 3 girls had her pinned to the wall and had begun hitting her. She was the outsider. Everyone hated Samantha. She had no friends, but she didn''t care, she hated them as much as they hated her. And as soon as she saw an opening she lashed out. A clawed swipe against the hated Michelle leaving three bloody gashes along her cheek and then kicked out hitting her in the thigh as Michelle backed off screaming. Sam then stamped on Annie''s foot and punched out leaving her with a bloody nose. Another scream. That just left Natasha, who took one look at Sam''s raging expression and dashed away. She kicked Michelle in the stomach as she whimpered against the wall and she fell to the ground she yelled at her nemesis. ¡°If you''re going to try another ambush you piece of shit just remember even if you do, you''d better find enough to finish it or I''ll come for you and I''ll never stop till you''re down and you stay down, understand you skanky little bitch?¡± Sam kicked her again and then walked off. A rage deep within her that just didn''t die down.
14 and Noah. Oh she liked Noah. And madly, he seemed to like her! His warm sweet kisses and his declarations of love and desire for her, Her! Even though she still had no boobs. Unbelievable, but oh so nice. She felt a warmth she thought had been lost when she was with him and she hoped it would never end.
15 years old and Michelle walking hand in hand with Noah. A deep wail came from Sam''s soul. Michelle didn''t want Noah she only took him because Sam did, and she was powerless to do anything. She didn''t care she hated everyone.
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Still 15 and Shawn walking in on her in the shower again! ¡°Get out you fucking pervert!¡± She screamed and threw the shower gel at him, but he ducked and smirked at her ¡°Still no tits sis? You''re never get Noah back at this rate.¡±
16 and Stevens. The rage is now molten hot....
Suddenly Sam is back. And her eyes are streaming with tears. She looks darkly at either side but one person is still under and the other is sobbing uncontrollably. Well at least it''s not only her she thought dimly as she tried to gather her self together.
Porter waits until all the students have finished their exam. It has clearly shaken the majority of the students. All but a handful have woken from it definitely worse for wear.
Stevens is a raging torrent of abuse as he comes out of the magically induced memories and lunges for Porter whilst bellowing obscenities at the man. Accusing him of planting lies in his head as the clearly unbalanced boy freezes in place 3 feet from Porter, who after clasping his hand to his ear finds two guards coming through the entrance to the hallway to escort the still frozen Stevens off the ship.
Sam heaved a sigh of relief. If she had managed to make it through the exam at least she wouldn''t have to put up with that nut bag.
¡°OK students. I thank you for your time, that concludes the entrance examination. Will the following people stay back as the other students gather their onboard passes and such just outside the entrance to the hall thank you!¡±
¡°Paul Maynard!¡±
Sam heard a boy behind her groan.
¡°Edward fielders!¡±
Sam looked about and saw a large boy with the look of utter disbelief on his face.
¡°Rachel Gromwin!¡±
¡°Oh hell no!¡±
Thought Sam. She looked around to see tears in the eyes of the only person strong enough to buck the crowd.
¡°Samantha Holden!¡±
Sam nodded. She knew it was coming. If the likes a Rae didn''t make the cut then she knew she had no chance at all.
She stared as the other students who slowly passed by her, none had the guts to look her in the eyes and she hated them for their weakness.
Getting the boot?
Porter waited patiently as the rest of the students left. His face impassive. Finally he was alone with the four failures thought Sam, her heart weary. She had been hanging on to the faint hope that even though her youth had been utter shite that it was going to be OK because she was going to become one of the secret Magi! It was a weak hope, one she barely thought might be true. But she sat there her dreams crushed. What the hell was she going to do now?
She looked at the other three ... Ex? students and saw a familiar look on their faces too. Loss, dreams shattered, hopelessness.
Porter suddenly clapped his hands together.
BOOM!
¡°Agh! Jeez!¡± Exclaimed Sam in shock and surprise. The sound that came from his hands equaled that of a thunderclap. Sam''s hands shot to her ears automatically. She looked up at the man, angry at such a dick move. But it had the desired effect of getting the 4 distracted failed students attention.
¡°Come along. Indeed time is short. Ah but alas time is always short.¡±
The four followed Porter to an alcove in which it appeared a lift was fitted and the five stepped in. Sam looked around. Actually the lift was huge. It must be an industrial one, it looked like it could fit a truck into it.
¡°Sam!
¡°Sam looked up at Porter. ¡°Yes Porter?¡±
¡°When you went to join the group you stopped what? Twenty yards from the main group? Why was that?¡±
Sam blew out a breath, she shook her head. ¡°I .. er I guess I felt my fight or flight senses kick in so I stopped.¡± She shrugged Porter nodded.
¡°When I came back that last time you noticed me before anyone else, but you were facing the other direction how?
Oh lord! How did she know? Fricking questions if he was going to kick her off the damned ship just do it already.
She shrugged. ¡°I felt like someone was looking at me. I turned and there you were, looking at me. I don''t know, not really, that''s my best guess, sorry.¡± She shrugged again, not really feeling sorry at all.
¡°Paul!¡±
Sam looked at the guy who was behind her that had groaned. ¡°Am I right in thinking you tried to talk Stevens down after his conflict with Samantha?¡± The Neo look alike nodded.
¡°Why?¡±
Paul looked confused. ¡°Why what?¡± Porter looked at him with more focus. ¡°Why try? Why bother? ¡°He was clearly unbalanced. Not Storm Haven material at all! Hardly worth the effort.¡±
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Paul shook his head. ¡°He was stirring up trouble. OK Sam has a hair trigger temper and a hell of a right foot.¡± Sam put her head down as her face flushed with embarrassment.
¡°But I couldn''t just stand there and not do anything. I saw Sam had backed off when Stevens wasn''t close. He was the ignition point, so I tried to make light of the situation, cool it down a bit.¡±
He looked down at his feet. ¡°Little good it did though.¡± He shook his head and was back looking into ¡°Now where?¡± mode, wondering what next.
¡°Rachel!¡±
Rae jumped and looked up surprised to hear her name called out. She hadn''t been listening to the conversation, she was grieving as much as the other three.
¡°Yes sir!?¡± ¡°Call me Porter child¡± Rae nodded. ¡°Yes sir.¡±
Sam grinned as she saw Porter''s face. Clearly he was not getting through.
¡°Child you went to Sam, even though she had just beaten a big strong man-ling and was herself emanating barely controlled rage, she could have lashed out like she did at Stevens and easily beaten you to a pulp. Yet you still approached her, why?¡±
Rae smiled wanly at Sam and shook her head.
¡°No, no she wouldn''t. I have a knack for that sort of thing. She was in pain. Angry? Yes for sure. But not at me, she was fine.¡±
Sam snorted and Rae looked up at her. ¡°You didn''t kick out, shout or swear. In the end we finished on good terms, yes?¡± Sam thought back and nodded. ¡°Yeah I guess we did at that.¡±
Porter nodded and then looked at Edward who by now was waiting his turn and smiled knowingly, but waited for Porter to ask his question.
¡°Ah! Hmm... yes it seems someone has an inkling, yes? Well now Mr Fielders why was it when Stevens ran off to the bowels of the ship did you, how to.. Yes, yes.. why did you erm. ¡°Grass him up.¡± And tell me in what direction he had gone in? Isn''t that meant to be bad form and all that? Yes yes definitely! Anyhow usually The case, but not you?¡±
Edward shook his head. ¡°No sir.. erm Porter. We were given strict instructions not to leave the group, the guy had already caused all sorts of issues during the short time we had been together, even if it''s frowned upon there''s no way whatever he had planned was going to benefit anybody, let alone him. The guy was nuts. I might have got the cold shoulder from everyone else, but I took one for the team, even if they didn''t realise it.¡±
Porter nodded. ¡°Indeed yes, I agree totally. That''s why you four are here.¡±
With that he opened the lift doors and a new vista opened up before them. It looked to Sam like an enormous hanger. There were armoured vehicles of multiple types along side what appeared to be armoured exo suits and a multitude of weapons, from swords and hammers, to pistols, anti personnel rifles and bows with arrows. Sam''s mind boggled. She saw in one quarter of the enormous space what seemed to be two dozen marines going through some sort of martial arts class. Sam''s mouth just hung open as her mind tried to take in what her eyes were showing her. She looked questioningly at Porter.
¡°We aren''t being booted off?¡±
She asked. He smiled and shook his head. ¡°No my child, just moved to a section that is more suited your inclinations.¡±
Edward''s blew out a relieved breath as he nodded his head. ¡°Well thank god for that! there''s no way I wanted to go home if I failed the entrance exam, my dad would have killed me.¡±
Paul nodded in agreement as Rae just looked wide eyed at the scene before her. Sam nudged her with her elbow. ¡°It looks like we get to be friends after all then.¡± Rae looked at Sam, her face lit up. She went from being ¡°cute¡± to being beautiful.
Troll
¡°So, what happens now?¡±
Asked Paul Maynard. Sam looked at him, with short black hair and sharp but pretty features she could see Rae going for him big time especially with the way she kept glancing at him. But he was too short for her, and had a big mouth with too much to say. she wanted a guy she could respect. A guy who she could look eye to eye with and Paul was a good 3 inches shorter than her.
¡°What happens now Mr Maynard is I''m taking you to Sergeant Tull. He''ll get you your cabin and the rest of your gear, after that you can spend the rest of the day acclimatising to your new environment. just remember to do as sergeant Tull says and you can''t go too far wrong. Hmm.. yes indeed, very wise.¡±
Porter briskly strolled over to the group of soldiers Sam had seen the moment before and Sergeant Tull stepped away from the sparing group and greeted them.
¡°Ah Sergeant! Hmm.. yes just the man. It appears I have found some erm.. ah yes, Fresh meat! For you.¡± Porter grinned with a satisfied look on his face as he gestured to the 4 new recruits.
Sergeant Tull eyed Rae who looked up at him with a pale face. The guy was huge! 6ft4 minimum and built like a brick shed. He had a dark brown buzz cut and looked like he had muscles growing out of his muscles.
All confidence drained from the diminutive girl instantly as Tull raised his right index finger and pushed Rae in the middle of her chest. She was shoved back a foot and looked up in horror as she winced, rubbing the impact point.
Tull looked at Porter with a grimace as Sam felt her fear dissipate and her rage takeover. She didn''t care how big he was, Rae had done nothing. If he was going to pick on her he was going to have to go through Sam first! She stood in front of Tull, putting herself between Rae and the dick that had started on her new friend and growled.
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¡°You wanna try that again buddy?¡±
She felt the molten hot rage flowing through her. The dick might be able to knock Sam over, but she''d take him down with her.
Paul rested his hand on Sam''s left shoulder. Without looking she raised her right hand and squeezed his fingers together tight enough she felt his bones creak.
¡°Aargh! Shit Sam back down already! He''s just psyching us out!¡±
Sam growled. ¡° Paul, I thought you had learned all ready, when I''m riled getting close is a bad idea.¡±
¡°Yup! Yup! Noted. Can I have my hand back now please?¡±
Paul replied. Gasping and wringing his hand as Sam let it go, her eye''s not moving from Tull''s.
Sergeant Tull raised one eye brow toward Sam and then looked towards Edward. He looked back and put his hands up.
¡°I agree with Paul, but if you try to put Sam down then that''s another story.¡±
He replied to the unasked question in Tull''s face. And then grinned.
Sergeant Tull looked back towards Porter who was still grinning, more so if Sam had got it right.
Tull snorted and began to walk away from the group and towards an exit.
The group of 4 looked confusedly to Porter who shooed them away in the direction of Sergeant Tull.
¡°Go on then! Our sergeant is a man of few words, best you don''t annoy him.¡±
Then he gave them another shooing motion and Edward started to trot after the sergeant. Paul seeing this trotted after Edward.
Sam shook her head and grabbed at a still shaken Rae and tugged her arm.
¡°C''mon before Sergeant troll gets hungry.¡± She heard Porter snort in amusement and Rae blinked and nodded. With that she was running along side Sam.
¡°I''m not sure I''m cut out to join the army.¡± Rae panted.
¡°I thought it was going to be all potions and wands. You know. Harry Potter and all that.¡± Sam grunted. She didn''t want to admit it, but that was exactly what she thought too.
¡°Well what ever it''s like don''t worry, I''ve got your back, OK?¡± Sam replied. Trying to reassure her new friend. Rae nodded.
¡°Thanks Sam, and thanks for stepping in for me against that hulking monster.¡±
¡°Who Sergeant troll? He was just picking on the smallest of us to see if we would come to your defence. I must admit it did piss me off though.¡±
Theres brave then theres suicidal.
Sam and Rae eventually caught up with Edward and Paul just as sergeant Tull lead the group into a spacious cabin built for four. With two generously wide bunk beds either side of the main living area and a large 5 drawer chest at the end of each bunk and in between a wall to wall built in wardrobe. Nice!
Tull looked at the two boys and two girls and growled.
¡°You sleep here.¡±
He pointed to a small desk/coffee table that sat in the middle of the room that had maps and passes on it.
¡°Everything you need to know for today is in that pile. don''t go into restricted zones, I can''t be held responsible for your health and well being if you do.¡±
He looked around briefly and then turned to leave.
¡°Ah.. Erm.. Sergeant troll!? Erm.. do we have to share with the boys?" Squeaked Rae. Her eyes bulged as sergeant Tull spun on his heals and pressed his nose against hers and roared
¡°Tull! The name is Sergeant Tull! Do you get me!? Miss Rachel Gromwin!?"
Rae looked as though she was going to feint as Sam''s shoulders sagged ..
¡°oops!¡± Sam put up her hand. ¡°Ah sorry sergeant that was my mistake!¡±
Sergeant Tull grabbed Sam''s leather jacket by the collar and growled as spittle flew from his mouth.
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¡°I don''t give a flying fuck who said what. I hear anything other than my proper name and someone''s leaving in a body bag. Got me?¡±
Sam nodded. ¡°Yeah I got you sarge.¡±
¡°Sergeant Tull! You fucking moron! for the last fucking time sergeant Tull! Now what is it?¡±
¡°Sergeant Tull sir!¡± Sam cried out as the behemoth shook her as though she was a rag doll.
Sergeant Tull cricked his neck. first one way, then the next and Sam saw the heat fade from his face as he let go of her mangled collar. She dropped about an inch back to the floor and Sergeant Tull turned to Rae who had all but passed out and growled.
¡°Yes.¡±
With that he stomped out of the cabin.
Edward looked up at a shaken Rae and grinned.
¡°Sergeant troll?¡±
She blushed and tried to pull herself together. ¡°Don''t blame me! Sam called him that. I thought it was his name!¡±
Paul snorted at Sam. ¡°Well you''ve definitely got a gift for nicknames that''s for sure, I''m not certain I want to find out what you call me behind my back.¡±
¡°Yeah actually I''m not usually like that, but that one was just begging to be used though right? She grinned. ¡°But only when he is a long way away.¡±
Rae stomped over a punched Sam in the arm, ¡°Strange way to have my back!¡±
Sam shook her head. ¡°How was I to know you were dim enough to call the six and a half foot muscle head a troll to his face? I mean come on, there''s brave and then there''s fucking suicidal! I can only protect you so far.¡±
Rae blushed then giggled. ¡°It was a bit stupid wasn''t it? Jesus. I can''t believe I called him Sergeant troll. He''s going to hate me forever.¡±
Edward clapped her on her shoulder. ¡°Yeah but you''re going to be a hero to everyone else. The only member of the Magi to survive calling Tull a troll to his face.¡±
Paul snorted and then nodded in agreement as Rae blushed a deeper crimson.
Sam looked around. ¡°So ... A mixed cabin? I wasn''t expecting that.¡± She looked up at the two boys. ¡°You two better keep it in your pants or they''ll find limbs everywhere in the morning.¡±
Both Edward and Paul raised their hands,
¡°Hey don''t worry Sam, we got the message believe me.¡± Replied Paul. Sam grunted and turned to the pile of paper work on the desk.
Shower for two.
Sam leafed through the paperwork and handed maps and passes out to each of the other three. There wasn''t much else there, so she began to explore the cabin. It was pretty spacious, it had it''s own galley kitchen that ran up alongside of the main room. Not huge but equipped with a fridge/freezer, microwave oven along side a prep area and a couple of stools under the bench, with enough dishes to feed four people. She heard Rae gasp as she stepped out of the kitchen and walked briskly into the bathroom.
¡°Wow!¡± Exclaimed Rae.
The bathroom which was situated on the other side of the main room, was huge considering the rest of the cabin. It had a bath running down one side a two person shower at the opposite side, with two sinks one either side of the entrance with an over head cabinet that stretched to the width of both and a toilet enclosed at the end of the room between the bath and the shower, the whole room was tiled to be a wet room and it sparkled! Sam thought it looked brand new. She looked at the conspicuous two person shower and felt a certain foreboding. other than that the room was amazing.
Sam found her two suitcases at the bottom of the wardrobe and decided to have the bottom bunk against the kitchen wall rather than have the bathroom wall against her bed. As she was putting her clothes away she looked up at Rae, who had opted for the opposite bottom bunk bed and thought out aloud.
¡°How is it that our clothes and papers are here, when we didn''t even know our selves until after the entrance exam that we would be coming here?¡±
Rae opened her mouth to reply and then closed it again dumbfounded. Edward leaned over from his bunk above Rae and replied.
¡°I guess they already knew. I mean they have had all our lives to track us and find out what''s happened to us, how we''ve reacted to certain events in our lives? Seems to me the entrance exam was for us. A chance for us to look at our past and see the truth of it. Maybe to help us focus on what''s important? Maybe the whole stuck to the table thing only worked if you actually have magic in your veins? Stevens didn''t appear too impressed. And a lot of people were pretty stressed out by it, but managed to deal OK with it.¡±
Sam nodded. ¡°Yeah I guess.¡±
She shook her head. She would much rather had skipped that bit thanks very much.
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¡°So that means they knew before Stevens stuck his nose into everyone''s face!¡± declared Paul.
¡°Ah wow. Well that makes me feel a bit better. I thought my whole life had just taken a massive pivot because of that prick.¡±
Rae perked up.
¡°So I''m really meant to be here? For real?¡±
¡°Yeah it does kinda look that way.¡± Nodded Sam.
She looked at her new friend who seemed like Paul to have thought she had screwed the pooch just before getting enrolled into the academy, but was only just now realising that might not actually be the case.
Rae looked around, seeing possibly for the first time where she was going to be living for the next 5 years? Wow. She looked at Sam and then up at Paul. Well it didn''t look all bad. She felt a sudden rush of relief and grinned at her new friend.
Sam noticed the grin and felt the relief pouring off of Rae. She smiled back as she finished off her suitcases full of clothes she probably wouldn''t need.
¡°You fancy a walk? This place is huge, the sooner we acclimatise to our new environment the better I think.¡±
Rae smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
¡°Yeah you bet!¡±
Edward looked down from his bunk and grinned.
¡°So you girls finally finished? Thank the gods! C''mon Paul it''s walk about time.¡±
¡°Really? Oh jeez I don''t think I can, my legs have atrophied, I can''t move them!¡±
Sam turned and wrapped her knuckles on Paul''s head. ¡°Hello anyone in there?¡±
¡°Ouch! Ouch! OK I''m getting up! Hey Eddy, can we swap bunks? I forgot who was sleeping under me.¡± Edward smiled and shook his head. ¡°I didn''t. You snooze you loose mate.¡±
¡°Jesus. Fuck my life.¡± Replied Paul wincing and rubbing his head as he dropped down from his bunk and hugged Sam.
¡°You gotta stop hitting your friends girly. Save it for those that deserve it.¡± Sam leaned away, but didn''t hit him.
¡°Friends?¡±
She looked at Paul suspiciously, who grinned and nodded. Sam shook her head. ¡°Fuck that''s two in one day. Will wonders ever cease? Now get off me.¡±
Paul continued to grin as he let go as Edward spoke up. ¡°Hey what about me? Am I not included in your little cabal?"
Sam looked at the powerfully built 6ft 2¡± blue eyed blonde. He was smiling, but he had an intelligence behind those pretty blue eyes. She wasn''t sure she could be friends with him, he was too pretty, way too pretty.
¡°Hmm...I don''t know, I''m already over quota for this year. Be nice and I''ll let you know if there''s a vacancy.¡± She looked at Paul and grimaced.
¡°It might not be too long a wait.¡±
Edward grinned as Paul shook his head.
¡°Girl you got issues you know that?¡± Sam looked down and nodded.
¡°Yeah, actually I do.¡±
Rae grabbed Sam by the arm and exclaimed.
¡°Ignore them lets go see this amazing ship. Do you get sea sick? Oh! Are we sailing yet?¡±
Drinks and a wave machine.
They made their way up to the first deck that led to the outside and breathed in the fresh salty sea air of the English channel. Sam looked about expecting to see clear sea as far as the eye could see, but this stretch of water had at least a dozen huge ships in view going to and from Africa, Europe and Asia to the UK.
¡°Wow. This ship is huge!¡±
Exclaimed Rae as she looked up at the enormous structure above her. The ship seemed to take up the size of a whole street and it made Sam''s head swim. She looked back down and focused on the distance to calm her stomach.
¡°It''s quite some thing heh?¡± Said Edward standing quietly beside her. She looked sideways at him, he had moved to within an inch or so of her and she had missed it completely.
¡°Yeah I guess. It''s been a hell of day so far and it''s not even lunch time.¡±
Edward grinned, then looked down at the sea seemingly slowly drifting by and said.
¡°I know you struggle with people, I see it and I don''t want to push you away whilst trying to pull you closer, but I really would like to be friends...¡±
Sam''s shoulder tensed.
¡°Yeah I know, just give me some room to breathe. I see you, just give me time to adjust OK?¡±
Edward nodded and smiled.
¡°Good enough.¡±
And with that he wandered over to the stairs leading to the next deck.
¡°Anyone want to see what this tub looks like from the top deck?¡±
¡°I''m in!¡± announced Paul and Sam saw Rae''s eyes glimmer and her face light up as he grabbed hold of her arm.
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¡°Hey are you coming Sam? Look how high it is!¡±
Sam nodded and grimaced. ¡°I was trying not too. But I guess it''s better to look down right?¡± Rae looked doubtful but nodded. ¡°Erm..sure. We could always go back in if it''s an issue?¡± Sam shook her head.
¡°Lead on macduff.¡±
The trek up the steps to the tenth deck took longer than Sam anticipated and she felt the tug on her thighs and calf muscles by the time they reached the top. She hoped there was a lift going back down, she didn''t fancy doing that in reverse. Then she looked out and saw the ship ploughing through the water heading for land. Wow. Already? She guessed it had to be Calais, but she had no true knowledge of where they were heading, it could be anywhere.
She looked down at the ship and saw that it had actually got a fair size pool with a wave machine at one end. Had it been a bit warmer she would have liked to take a dip. It looked quite inviting, but today was not the day for such things. Evidentially not everyone thought like that as several of the people she had arrived with were splashing around with others she had never seen before, seemingly having a whale of a time. Edward got some startled and joyous calls from some of them. Notably from a couple of the girls who had decided that their underwear was good enough to go swimming in. Sam felt an inner rage building up as she saw them flaunting their bodies.
She shook her head in disgust and turned away. She saw Paul already chatting happily with a couple of guys. Was he drinking? For fuck sake! This wasn''t an actual fucking pleasure cruise. And they weren''t legally allowed to drink anyhow. She saw Rae smiling and laughing as she was being drawn into a gaggle of girls, so Sam turned away and headed back to her cabin. This whole place was a joke.
She eventually found the way to her level just by following the stairs down. She knew they were staying ¡°below deck¡± and once she found her level her angst seemed to back off.
She had come down from a different entrance than the one they had exited from and so had to walk passed the armoured vehicles and weapons. Everything was locked down tight, but still the place looked like it was getting ready for war. This place was fricking huge. She saw further on what seemed to be a gym like area with weights, punching bags, ropes leading to the ceiling and a whole swath of rowing machines and exercise equipment. She smiled. Now that was more like it.
She wasn''t normally one for exercise, but something inside her needed to blow off some steam and this looked just the ticket. Sam found her way back to her cabin and changed into her gym gear. She made sure to take her pass with her, the gene locked card would let her access this level, without it she couldn''t get past the doors leading from the stairwell. Then she headed to the gym. She felt the need to punch something.
Something to punch
Sam felt relieved that as she approached the gym area it was still empty of souls.
She needed a bit of alone time. Today had been stressful enough, but with the prospect of being holed up in this tin can for five years? Jesus that was a real mind fuck.
Sam grimaced as she pounded the crap out of an offending punch bag. She drew upon the memory of Michelle and her bully girl friends. Her rage blossomed and then her brother came front and centre and she really put some effort into it.
The fucking little turd. She hated him. What an ass. His visage was replaced by Stevens and her rage exploded into a whole new level and her fists were a blur as she gave it everything she had. She wanted to kill that dickhead. Rip his bloody head off!
She hit the bag with more force than she had ever hit anything in her life and a spike of agony shot through her right hand.
¡°Agh! Fuck! Fucking fuck fuck!¡±
She shrieked at the top of her lungs.
She flopped down onto the floor and quietly sobbed into her lap as she cradled her broken hand. She should have wrapped it, but it was too late now.
¡°That was quite the punch.¡±
Sam''s face shot up and she glared with rage and hate. But the figure behind the voice was too far back to attack. She snarled at her, but otherwise said nothing.
¡°I''m Corporal Reed you''ll be with me when you are in this section. At least at first, while we see where you and you friends are best suited.¡±
Sam snorted. Her ¡°friends¡± were pool side getting drunk and chasing the local slags. but she said nothing.
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Corporal Reed gestured to Sam''s hand.
¡°That looks pretty sore. Mind if I take a look?¡±
Sam grimaced. Corporal Reed mentioning the fact had only made the pain seem worse. she growled. Jesus What the fuck was wrong with her? She took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
The world around her seemed to lose some of it''s red haze, that she had until that point not noticed it had. So she breathed in again. Held it for a moment and then breathed out. Her whole body seemed to sag, and she nodded.
¡°Yeah please. Sorry it hurts like a bitch. I think I''m going to be out of it for a while.¡±
Corporal Reed shook her head.
¡°We''ll see.¡±
Sam noticed that corporal Reed''s approach was slow and steady. ¡°Don''t startle the wounded wild animal!¡± She thought grimly to herself.
Finally the woman reached her position and sat beside her. Sam felt her rage simmering inside her and tried to quell it.
Corporal Reed wasn''t the enemy, she was here to help. She hissed in pain as the woman took her hand into her own and tsk tsked
¡°Wow you really gave it some welly huh?¡±
Sam snorted and nodded. ¡°It''s been a day that''s for sure.¡±
Corporal Reed nodded and murmured quietly as if she were far off.
¡°OK close your eyes, take a deep breath and relax.¡±
Sam snorted
¡°Jesus, if you go off and start into a Gregorian chant I''m outta here!¡±
Corporal Reed smirked and replied quietly. ¡°A little young to have heard of Enigma aren''t you?¡±
Sam grimaced. ¡°My dad''s a fan, I guess if you hear enough of anything parts of it stick.¡±
Corporal Reed nodded. ¡°Well I still need you to relax and hold still for a minute. Can you do that?¡±
Sam nodded. ¡°Sure Corp, whatever you say.¡±
she closed her eyes and tried to think peaceful thoughts. It was way harder than finding something to feed her rage but she could do it.
Sam felt something, a tingling in her wrist that seemed to travel up into her damaged hand and it burned. She grimaced and her instincts told her to pull away and hit out.
Shit! She could feel her hand continue to heat up, her hand felt like it was on fire. She forced herself to stay still but calm was out the window. She felt her rage coming to the fore and she opened her eyes so she could see what it was she could hit....and then. Then the pain was gone. Just like that and oh lord! Her head felt woozy, Jesus she was so tired. Her eyes felt so heavy.
A sea of bodies
Sam blinked.
¡°What the fuck?¡±
¡°Hey sleepy head!¡±
Sam looked blearily towards the chirpy voice. ¡°Rae?¡±
Rae nodded. ¡°You''ve been out for hours! I was going to call troll but no need Thankfully, he''s one scary bloke.¡±
Sam moved her right hand and then realised the pain she had expected had completely gone. She held out her hand utterly amazed and totally transfixed by this miracle.
¡°Er.. you OK?¡± asked Rae a little timidly. ¡°We were a little concerned when you disappeared on us.
Sam snorted. ¡°Yeah right, I saw Edward with the bimbo''s in the pool, Paul was getting shit faced with his buddies and you were with a gaggle of girls giggling like a brood of hens with each other.¡±
Rae looked pained at Sam.
¡°We didn''t do anything wrong Sam. We were just having a little fun, it''s our first day here, it''s been pretty stressful and there was a poolside party. One which you could have joined too.¡±
She shook her head. ¡°Well I''m glad you''re OK, I''m off to get something to eat, I was just hanging back to make sure you were OK, but.. well I guess your fine.¡±
Sam cringed inwardly and put her hand over her face and rubbed it trying to wake herself and man she was starving.
¡°Hold up Rae! Please? OK I know I''m not a people person and well, maybe I over reacted.. a little. Can we both go to find food? I''m really hungry.¡±
Rae beamed.
¡°Sure! You''ll be amazed at the cafeteria. It''s freaking awesome. I think it stocks every meal known to man!
Sam grinned at the thought of decent food. She couldn''t remember when the last time she actually ate a proper meal and having Rae with her had a calming effect on the anger that struggled to get out at every turn. Which out of everything at that moment seemed to be the most important thing.
It appeared Stevens had triggered something within her and she was struggling to cope with it. She hoped to see Porter and have a chat, maybe he could help.
Sam stepped into the cafeteria and felt her chest constrict at the sea of humanity before her. There was space for a couple of hundred diners and at least 70% of the seats had someone sitting in them.
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She slowed to a halt as Rae raised her head, clearly looking through the throng for Edward and Paul? Probably. Then Rae reached up on tip toes and waved furiously at someone in the crowd and yanked happily at Sam''s arm.
¡°There they are!¡± squealed Rae happily. ¡°I think they saved us a space. Wow. It''s a fair bit busier than when we first found it. I guess this is dinner time on the storm haven, come on you can''t expect those two beefy boys to keep batting the hungry females off if you get my meaning.¡±
Rae giggled as she walked briskly forward.
Sam felt her inner rage coming to the fore, jeez. Too many people. she hated crowds, hated humanity. Maybe she could cook something up in their kitchen instead?
Sam had half expected the cafeteria to be a few long bench''s with everyone elbow to elbow grabbing whatever was in front of them, Ala hog warts. but there were scattered tables of varying sizes of anywhere between tables with two seats, to as large as tables capable of seating a dozen.
It all depended on your preference she guessed, or how many friends you had. Well at least it''s better than her worst case scenario. Rae found the boys eating and chatting to a group of three young girls, who by the looks of things were vying for the chance to take the two vacant seats before them.
Edward glanced up and a wave of relief flowed over his face as he saw the two girls walk up and plonk themselves down. Rae smiled prettily at Paul and said.
¡°Hi guys sorry we are late, I had trouble waking slow poke here.¡± Paul grinned and shrugged as the three girls shot daggers at the two girls. Sam looked directly at the meanest of the three and shooed her away with her hands.
¡°Thanks for entertaining our boys while we were delayed but you can go now. Go on. shoo!¡°
She flicked the back of her hands up at them and glared. One of the girls seeing no possible victory pulled the other two away.
¡°Come on girls, plenty of fish in the sea, You know who that was right?¡±
She motioned towards Sam as she dragged the other two away. They glanced nervously back at her as the girl spoke to them animatedly.
Edward looked up as he finished his mouthful of burger and grinned.
¡°Nice work Sam, I just don''t understand how you don''t have more friends.¡±
Paul snickered.
¡°I know! Right? She''s such a charmer. Anyhow at least she got rid of those vapid chav''s. I was starting to get a headache.¡±
Edward nodded. ¡°Yeah I''ve been keeping an eye on the male versus female ratio. Even minorities are well accounted for, it''s pretty even, based on the actual percentage of the sex''s and peoples of the world. Looks like magic isn''t as biased as the mundane world at least when it doles out the advanced learning opportunities. If we were going to be stuck fighting for the attention of a handful of girls for the next five years I wouldn''t have been too happy, but it actually looks pretty good.¡±
Sam shook her head at the thought.
¡°Fuck me five years...¡±
She shook her head miserably.
¡°Don''t worry too much Sam, just take it one day at a time. You never know you could get time off for good behaviour. You know term breaks, Christmas etc.. so it''s not like a five year stretch in Wandsworth.¡±
Sam nodded bleakly.
¡°Yeah I guess.¡±
she looked at Paul as he stuffed his face with pizza.
¡°So where do we get to order?¡±
She looked around but saw no facility with which to order food, yet everyone seemed to be eating and she was hungry enough to eat a cow...or at least a meat free variant.
A wedge shaped missile.
Edward leaned forward and motioned in front of her. ¡°Think something along the lines of a star trek magical food replicator. Just put your pass on the table and part of the table lights up.¡±
Sam looked at Edward dubiously. He nodded enthusiastically and motioned her to try it, so Sam got out her pass and placed it in front of her. Instantly a screen roughly 30cm by 20cm turned on inside the area where a plate would go right in front of her. She saw house hold names from across the country, across the world. McD''s, KFC, Dunkin donuts, Prezzo, Yo! Sushi!, Subway, Starbucks. the list went on. Jesus, it even had Wimpy''s on there.
There was a search bar at the top of the screen and she tapped it. The screen felt familiar to her and thought it might been based on an android derivative.
Paul interjected. ¡°You can use the search bar to find a specific restaurant or caf¨¦ you like or you can put in what you want to eat and voila! Just press accept and give it a second and what you ordered rises out of the table!¡±
Paul gestured to his meal and took another bite of his meat feast pizza. He closed his eyes with a bliss filled expression.
¡°Hmm... pizza hut. Perfect.¡±
He opened his eyes. ¡°Go on try it.¡±
Rae was already through to the Burger King menu with a massive grin on her face. She tapped the accept icon with a flourish and the screen disappeared.
Both Sam and Rae waited with great expectation. Less than a minute later the tables top slid open and a small plate with a napkin and a massive burger rose up from inside the table. Sam just stared as Rae squealed with delight and opened her mouth as far as she could and buried her mouth into the huge burger. Paul laughed out loud and proclaimed.
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¡°That''s my girl! Oh my god look at her eat! She''s a savage.¡±
Edward smiled at a flush faced Rae who regardless chomped down on her most favourite food ever.
¡°Let the poor girl eat. Clearly she''s a starving waif desperately in need of nourishment.¡±
Rae swallowed and stuck her tongue out at him and then took another massive bite.
Sam snorted in derision. ¡°She''ll not find much nourishment in that!¡±
And searched for a vegan ¡°no chicken masala¡± meal with lightly seasoned potato wedges as a side dish and an orange juice.
She pressed accept and her screen vanished. She tapped the table impatiently. Her stomach roiling. she definitely had hanger issues. She needed food stat!
She started as the table slid aside in front of her leaving a hole a fair bit larger than Rae''s.
¡°So the table judges how big it needs to make the hole. Hmm..¡±
Then she smelled a delicious spicy aroma and her ¡°no chicken masala¡± arose from inside the table. Even the correct eating utensils were there. Amazing. She took her first tentative bite and smiled.
¡°Wow that''s pretty good!¡± she exclaimed.
Paul coughed and blurted out.
¡°Wait. Did she just smile? Shit where''s my phone?¡±
Rae giggled and Edward smiled as Sam eyed the three and flicked a potato wedge at Paul. The wedge hit Paul dead centre of his forehead and he threw his head back flinching from the impact.
¡°Dam girl you''re a great shot!¡±
He looked to Edward and spoke conspiratorially.
¡°Am I the only one surprised she didn''t order a bloody steak?¡± Edward shook his head.
¡°Do you see how many wedges are on that plate? You better watch it or your face will be black and blue in the morning.¡±
Paul snorted as he nodded and smiled at Sam.
Sam shook her head. ¡°Actually no matter how many bruises he gets, they can fix him. He would be right as rain in the morning.¡±
She lifted her right hand. ¡°I was in the gym when I came down after our trek round the ship and I hit the punching bag too hard.¡±
She flexed her fingers.
¡°I broke it. Hurt like a bitch too, but a corporal from the defence force took it in her hands and blammo! It almost instantly healed. Definitely not painless, but it worked perfectly, now I can''t feel a thing.¡±
Rae blew out a breath not sure what to take in first. Either that Sam had hit a punching bag so hard she had broken her hand or that magic could insta heal broken bones.
¡°Good to know.¡±
Big brother.
Sam felt much refreshed after her meal.
Hunger issues dealt with the four headed back to their cabin to look through their papers and to check their itinerary for the following day.
When the four entered their cabin though they espied the equivalent of a electronic white board on the wardrobe doors with their names on it and the activities they each had for the next day.
Paul went up and rubbed at his name, but it made no difference, he nodded.
¡°Handy.¡±
And then clambered up onto his bunk. The ceiling gave him ample room so taking the top bunk gave no_one any issues and the queen size bunks were a pleasant surprise. Sam grabbed her phone, she had forgotten it during the day and felt a mild guilt for not texting her mom when she had made it to the ship safely, if not without trouble.
She glanced with surprise as the screen lit up, on it was the Storm Haven logo. She tapped on it and a message came up.
Storm Haven Academy of Magic
Welcome all new students to the Storm Haven Academy of Magic. The Academy has recently acquired and remodelled this vessel at great cost and as such it falls upon everyone aboard to hold its secrets close to their chest. But the counsel of Magi understand the requirements of the modern day world and the need for instant global communications.
In order to ensure that the Academy''s need for security and the pupils, staff and crew''s needs are both met as much as we can, the Academy has invested in its own internet servers. Everything that has an internet requirement will have no option but to go through them in order for the academy to monitor the traffic going out and coming into the vessel. Anyone found violating the Academy''s strict codes of secrecy will have their connection terminated. The graver the infraction, the longer the block on net connection. Continued violations of the codes of secrecy will involve a permanent ban on communications and probable further consequences, leading up to and including expulsion from the Academy. Your communication devises are gene coded to the individual so anyone trying to circumvent the net ban will find it not possible by using another persons device. If you use your devises responsibly you will have no issues.
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Magi Jonathon Morden
Head of Security.
- - - - - -
Sam tapped on the screen to accept and the notification disappeared leaving her with her normal Samsung note display. she harrumphed.
¡°I take it everyone got the big brother notification when they turned on their phone?¡±
Edward nodded as did Rae. Paul replied.
¡°Yeah a bit creepy, but can you imagine if this place was to become public knowledge? Fuck me there would be war. A real one, not just sharp words.¡±
Sam nodded to herself. ¡°What about Stevens then, that guy could cause havoc."
Edward nodded. ¡°Yeah forget him, he''s already forgotten you. Mind wipe. He probably doesn''t even know he had potential to become a Magi any more, poof! All gone.¡±
Sam shuddered and whispered to herself.
¡°Fuck me.¡±
¡°So.¡± Exclaimed Sam.
¡°I was just about to let mum know I had arrived safely and not to worry. As long as I don''t mention the academy in too much detail or that it''s on a boat I''m OK?¡±
Rae nodded. ¡°Yeah I did that hours ago and I''ve still got access, no worries.¡±
Sam nodded. ¡° Thanks.¡± As she opened up her WhatsApp to let her mum know all was well with the world. Even if that wasn''t strictly true, she needn''t worry her mum over broken hands and psychotic expelled students.
She yawned and felt her eyes drooping shut. That healing really did a number on her she thought as the world shrunk to a pin prick and then utter darkness.
Cold showers.
Sam blinked as the lights in the cabin blinked on and off several times. She checked her phone and it read 6am. She had a missed message from her mum and quickly messaged her back that she had nodded off and then scrambled out of bed. She was a mess, she hadn''t showered last night and felt grubby.
Grabbing her stuff Sam walked towards the bathroom when out walked a naked Edward. Well naked all but the towel wrapped around his waist. Sam just stood there and looked up and down his torso.. and swallowed.
¡°Good morning!¡± smiled a perky and awesomely stacked Edward.
Sam shook her head and growled. ¡°I thought I told you to keep it in your pants.¡±
With that she shoved passed the god like figure and went in search of a cold shower.
As Sam felt the water erasing her fatigue she heard the door open and felt her rage blossom as she clenched her fists. Then took a breath as she saw Rae disrobed and jump into the shower. Sam glanced at Rae''s body. At her soft curves and her full perky tits and grumbled to herself.
¡°Why was it everyone had bigger boobs than me?¡±
Rae gasped and her hand went for the shower controls,
¡°Jesus Christ!¡± shuddered Rae. ¡°Give a girl a heads up if you''re taking a cold shower. I nearly had a heart attack.¡±
Sam grinned as she stepped out of the shower and replied.
¡°Light weight.¡±
Then quickly dried herself and put on her underwear and top before Paul or Edward opened the unlockable bathroom door.
She stepped out of the bathroom after scrubbing her teeth and felt mightily refreshed as she saw Paul sitting on his bunk in just his boxer shorts with his legs dangling over the edge of the bed blocking part of her bunk.
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She glanced at his physique and growled under breath as she slapped his legs away so she could sit down on her bed.
¡°You know it would be a lot easier if we were all able to use the bathroom at the same time.¡± Muttered Paul.
Edward nodded his agreement. Sam growled.
¡°Try it, I dare you.¡±
¡°Hey! I didn''t say I was going to, just you know, there''s room a plenty in there. It''s designed for all of us to share.¡±
Edward agreed and nodded.
¡°He''s right, at some point in time it''s going to be an issue and we''ll be forced to share or be late, just making you aware. I know it''s different for me and Paul, but just don''t castrate us when it happens OK?
Sam closed her eyes and grimaced. Why the hell had they forced mixed room mates? She knew that in the UK sex was legal from 16 years old and she knew plenty of girls that had ventured into that carnal realm much earlier than that but for fuck sake.
She saw Edward''s glistening all but naked muscular form in her minds eye and groaned.
Rae wandered out of the bathroom in her bra and knickers and Paul winked at her as he dashed into the bathroom. ¡°I hope you guys saved me some hot water.¡±
¡°Yeah don''t worry.¡± replied Rae. ¡°Sam takes cold showers.¡±
¡°Ha! Totally hard core. Why does that not surprise me?¡± Yelled Paul through the bathroom wall.
Sam grimaced and Edward looked at her and grinned so she stomped into the kitchen and poured herself a black coffee.
She glanced into the bread bin and saw some of her granola bars. ¡°Shit the bed! Talk about big brother.¡± Still she was grateful for the nutritious breakfast snack and bit into one as she came out of the kitchen and back into the main room.
As she sat down she saw Paul walking out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Sam closed her eyes and shook her head. Paul saw her face and said. ¡°Take a chill pill Sam, I forgot my gear I''ll go change in the bathroom. You know this is going to get old real quick right?¡±
Sam nodded. ¡°Yeah I know I''ll have a word with Porter or someone, they can''t force us to have mixed rooms.¡±
Paul looked back with a disappointed expression. ¡°Not us sweetheart, just you. The rest of us? We''re OK with it¡±
Sam''s heart fell, she looked towards Rae who shrugged.
¡°I''ve got three brothers if having someone peeking at my arse when I''m in the shower is as far as it goes then it''s a step up from living at home.¡±
Sam shook her head. Visions of Shawn mocking her body while she showered filled her with a boiling rage. She stood up needing some space and stomped out of the cabin.
She hadn''t gone more than ten yards when Sergeant Tull marched round the corner. Sam stiffened and growled to herself.
¡°Of all the fucking people it had to be him!¡±
She eyed Tull as he approached her and hoped he was just going to keep walking but he stopped directly in front of her. She frowned but said nothing.
Berserker
¡°Follow me.¡± growled Tull. Who immediately turned around and marched off. Sam felt the rage inside her rise and ground her teeth, but followed the monosyllabic troll.
They walked for a couple of minutes down an instantly forgotten maze of corridors when Tull suddenly stopped and entered a sparse room that was not more than 12 ft by 12 ft. It had a desk and two chairs in it. Sam looked around at the Spartan interior. What was this an interrogation room?
Tull sat down and gestured to Sam to sit in the only other available seat. She really didn''t feel like sitting, she wanted to punch something but saw a glint in trolls eyes that meant standing wasn''t an option.
¡°How''s the hand?¡± Growled Tull.
Sam closed her eyes. So that''s what this was all about, of course Reed had told him. Thinking on it she should be surprised it had taken so long.
She opened her eyes and raised her hand to take a look at it and to show Tull the offending appendage. she nodded.
¡°Yeah it''s fine¡± ¡°Sergeant Tull.¡± Responded sergeant Tull gruffly
Sam grimaced in confusion her anger rising she looked at Tull.
¡°What?¡±
¡°What? Sergeant Tull.¡± Growled her superior menacingly.
¡°Oh for fucks sake!¡± Thought Sam.
She gritted her teeth and growled.
¡°My hand is fine Sergeant Tull! better? Sergeant Tull!? Anything else Sergeant Tull!?¡±
Sergeant Tull grinned and Sam felt her anger beginning to become a real issue. She needed to get out of here, to be free of this fucking idiot. she needed to punch some-
¡°It''s rising right?¡± Growled Sergeant Tull quietly.
¡°You can feel the rage boiling underneath. You feel trapped. The desire to hit something. Anything is becoming almost over powering. It follows you, effects everything you do, everything you say, it''s all consuming.¡±
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Sam felt her rage falter as she looked Sergeant Tull''s in the eyes. Looked hard... she saw... rage. A deep and unflinching undeniable pent up rage, just waiting to boil over.
¡°You feel it too?¡±
¡°My whole adult life.¡± He growled. ¡°You''re fortunate it''s not all you are, with me it''s always been there and it''s all I am. You? Not so much, but enough so it could destroy you if you don''t harness it.¡±
Sam shook her head.
¡°It started, really started when I got into that scuffle with Stevens. It''s just seems not to have gone away, not even after..¡±
She looked at her wrist and Sergeant Tull nodded.
¡°Pain doesn''t always reign it in. A true berserker doesn''t feel any pain at all while he or she. Rages¡±
Sam shook her head. A berserker? Her? Shit the bed.
¡°So that''s what I''ve become? a berserker?¡±
Sergeant Tull shook his head. ¡°Hmm.. no not quite, it''s a potential. It will never not be a potential, so you''ll need to learn how to control it, harness it, or it will control you. And I can tell you, you don''t need that.¡±
He shook his head and breathed in deep as if to shake a bad memory away.
¡°You will learn more about potentials later, other more learned tutors will explain it much better than me. This.¡±
He clenched his fist tightly and looked at it. ¡°This I know.¡±
Sam rubbed a hand over her face. At least she was getting answers even if what she was getting wasn''t what she wanted to hear. She nodded.
"OK Sergeant Tull how do I control it?¡±
Sergeant Tull grimaced.
¡°It''s not easy, but I have found over the years that you need to keep calm. Keeping the simmering rage as low as possible. Meditation really helps. When that isn''t enough? Focus it on something positive, like exercise. It will be of great benefit if you want to become stronger, fitter.¡±
Sam took a long hard look at Sergeant Tull as he spoke to her. She couldn''t imagine having to cope with this for the rest of her life, but sitting opposite her was the proof it could be done. But he oozed menace. This was not going to be easy.
¡°You''re going to need an iron will and great discipline. If you can find the strength of will to control your rage its benefits will far out way its weaknesses.¡±
Sam nodded her thanks as they left the interrogation room. Troll had been of far greater help than she had thought he would.
Some of his advice was a bit vague, but knowing there was someone to turn to if it got too much was a huge relief.
They walked together to the main hall where the first year students were having their assembly.
Sam nodded. ¡°Thank you Sergeant Tull. You have helped greatly. I''m not sure how long I could have held it together without your intervention.¡±
Tull nodded and gave her a wan smile.
¡°See me if it gets uncontrollable.¡±
Sam nodded, then turned sharply her fists raised as she heard Rae squeal. She winced as Tull turned away, but not before she saw a faint grin on his face.
She turned to see her cabin mate and... friend? Rushing towards her.
The lecture.
¡°I''ve been looking for you for ages! Where have you been?¡± Cried out Rae.
Sam looked to Rae and shrugged.
¡°Yeah sorry about that troll pulled me to an impromptu meeting to discuss my anger issues.¡±
She looked Rae in the eyes.
¡°I''m sorry, but apparently it''s only partially my fault. Sergeant Tull thinks I have the potential to become a berserker. And it''s effecting my emotions.¡±
Rae looked at her friend and rushed forwards and gave her a tight hug.
¡°Oh you poor thing don''t worry! I''ll tell the boys, they''ll understand. You''ll see.¡±
Sam shook her head. ¡°I''m not sure about that. I still want to move. I''m not happy with mixed_sex roommates.¡±
Rae looked uncomfortable. she looked away for a second and them shrugged.
¡°OK maybe they''ll have a two bed cabin we can share that instead!¡±
Sam shook her head.
¡°This is my issue Rae, I don''t want to hold you back, if you''re happy with shared accommodation then go for it.¡±
Sam looked up and noticed the assembly was coming together so the two girls found a couple of seats and focused their attentions on the front of the hall.
Rae leaned in and whispered. ¡°This conversation isn''t over, we''ll talk after assembly.¡±
Sam just nodded. Whatever, she had had enough of that. She needed to focus on her rage and how to master it.
A large elderly bald man approached the dais and Sam noted the noise of the crowd dim as the man cleared his throat.
Sam could see half a dozen other members of the Academy''s tutors sat behind him. Porter amongst them. She tensed and hoped she could get to him after assembly. This whole mixed room thing needed sorting. Today.
¡°Today!¡±
The bald man suddenly announced, startling Sam into attentiveness.
¡°Marks the first day on the long journey you will all be venturing upon in your quest to become the next generation of Magi. You will be the torch bearers for the people who follow you.
"We face as a civilization a potential global catastrophe of epic proportions.
"Not only do we have too many people vying for too little resources, but we are blindly killing the planet as we try to extract more from it than the earth can give.
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"This is not new. The leaders of Humanity have known this for 50 years and sat back and done nothing.
"But each year it gets worse and the planet is slowly dying. Not only that but we as Magi face for the very first time a technology based threat great enough it could end us as a species forever.
"Humanities detection systems are now so abundant and so easily accessible that anything we do could be leaked onto the world wide web and in an instant be seen globally.
"Satellites track our every movement.
"Our governments look over our shoulders with more cameras on our streets every year.
"It has become almost impossible to remain under the radar and still live a full, rich and free life.¡±
Sam looked round as she heard murmurs of discontent fluttering though the assembly.
¡°I hear you say, so? Just come out. Let humanity know we exist and to hell with them. Magi are the pinnacle of life on this planet. It should be they who are cowering in fear of us. Not the other way round.¡±
The bald man looked around the assembly as he saw faces nodding in agreement and he shook his head.
¡°The only problem is there is maybe half a million of us at the most spread thinly around the world but there are 7.5 billion of them.
"They could track us down and make us extinct inside a decade.
"Oh sure, we could decimate them too. Yes of course. And maybe ruin the planet for good in the process.
"So reveal ourselves and create mutual assured destruction.¡±
He shook his head. ¡°Even the Americans decided against that one.¡±
There was a ripple of laughter that ran through the audience.
¡°So. The planets going down the plug hole, there''s not enough resources to go around an over populated planet and we are on the point of being discovered and made extinct.¡± He looked around.
¡°Bugger.¡±
Nervous laughter sprung from the crowd in the assembly.
¡° So. What''s the point? Might as well not try, Heh? Well that''s the bad news. The good news is.¡±
He clapped his hands and a giant sphere appeared above the dais and it showed a satellite floating around the planet.
¡°We have had a hand in every major development in the tech industry in the last 100 years.
"Every large tech company or major start up we have either influence over or high level people in to guide and to inform us so we can keep ahead of the pack.¡±
The picture in the sphere changed to that of a real time satellite video of The Storm Haven.
¡°Any tracking device on the planet has a back door into it and we have the keys.
"Humanity has fabulous tech. We on the other hand have fabulous tech Magi.¡±
The video of The Storm Haven changed to a clear sea, not even a wake was left behind.
¡°Anything they can make, we can break.
"There''s not a system on the planet we cannot hack.
"We have people in every major government in the world and we have had for over 300 years.
"Yes, no more Salem witch trials for us thank you very much.
"But let me make myself clear, we are not holding humanity back.
"In many cases we are pushing them forwards. Helping, guiding them.
"Making better solar. Increasing battery life, carbon farming machinery, creating suburban vertical farming technology which needs no dirt or direct sun light to produce pesticide free bountiful plant based foods.
"Yes. We are doing this and so much more. But we are a tiny fraction of the populace.
"Every single one of us, of you, needs to excel in order for us to continue to live, to thrive to survive.
"So think on that over the course of the next few days and months ahead. Think of how you can benefit your community the most going forward.
"Because without your success, there can be no our success. Thank you! I am professor John Smythe and I am your head master. Good day!"
Once in a generation.
Sam looked on as the head master turned and walked off the dais and behind the back drop.
Porter stood up and cleared his throat.
¡°Ah! Yes indeed. Very rousing I''m sure. Hmm.. Anyhow. We have successfully brought online for the first time the new communication bracelets! Hmm... Yes indeed. Very impressive.
"They are erm.. in theory meant to replace your pass cards and such, think of them as a tablet, mobile phone and pass card all in one.
"So as you leave please let the administration pass them out as you exit the assembly room! Yes indeed. No need to rush. There''s plenty to go round."
Sam pushed forward as she saw Porter leaving the dais.
¡°Porter!¡±
Sam grimaced as she pushed against the crowd.
¡°Porter!!¡±
She saw him approaching the exit rear of the small stage and the rage in her blossomed!
¡°Too many dam people! For fucks sake he''s getting away!¡±
She felt her rage blossom inside her, making it feel like she was about to burst!
¡°OI! PORTER!!¡±
Silence...
Sam gulped as she saw everyone in the assembly hall freeze what they were doing and turn in her direction.
¡°Ah bollocks.¡±
She muttered to herself.
She saw Porter turn and look in her direction and the crowd of onlookers seemed to part for her as she made her way to him.
¡°Ah Miss Holden. Am I correct in thinking you wanted a word?¡± Porter lifted an eyebrow as Sam simultaneously ducked her head and nodded at the same time. Her face flushed as she apologised.
¡°Yes sorry about that Porter, only I really needed to speak to you and erm.. well sorry.¡±
Porter nodded. ¡°Well no matter you have my attention now so what was it that was so imperative you speak to me?¡±
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Sam looked back into the assembly room and saw the majority of the students going back to queueing for the new fangled bracelets. She sighed in relief, then nodded.
¡°Mixed sex cabins. Is it essential we... I have to share with two blokes? I mean they have been perfect gentlemen. It''s not them. It''s definitely me.
"Can I have my own room? Or share with a bunch of girls?¡±
She shuddered at the thought of that, but surely it would be better than waking up to Edward''s naked, heaving, glistening muscular chest every morning. She put a hand over her face and rubbed at her cheeks, trying to hide the crimson flush on her face.
¡°Oh lord, Fuck my life.¡± She looked up at Porter, ¡°So can you do anything?¡±
¡°Hmm. Oh dear.. are you sure? I mean they were picked specifically for their compatibility to you after all. Hmm yes indeed. Cream of the crop and all that.¡±
Sam looked agog at the man. ¡°They''re what?¡±
Porter took a step and grimaced.
¡°Oh, that hasn''t helped at all! Hmm.. Indeed, made matters worse even. Oh dear, right. Follow me Miss Holden. Time for some clarification. Hmm.. yes indeed, a bit early maybe, but can''t be helped. Oh no, not at all no...¡±
Sam looked on as Porter walked away mumbling to himself and then balled her fists and ran after him.
What the hell was going on? Picked specifically for her? Cream of the crop? Well that alone couldn''t be right.
It had been one nightmare after another and she had barely been here 24 hours!
Porter stopped abruptly and opened a door to what appeared to be an identical interrogation room like the one troll had dragged her to.
He sat down and smiled as he gestured for her to take the other seat. Something in Sam always seemed to want to refuse it, but Porter wasn''t slapping her in irons or interrogating her, if anything it was going to be the other way round.
So she plonked herself down on the seat.
¡°Right fess up Porter. What the hells going on?¡±
Demanded Sam as she sat down. She was determined to be the one leading this conversation, not the other way round.
¡°Hmm.. yes indeed. I can tell you''re anxious for clarification. And so I must hmm.. yes definitely, explain what the hells going on.
¡°You Miss Holden, when you were tested as a new born were found to have the richest genetic coding out of your entire generation ah.. yes indeed. Many, many generations actually.
"Hmm. rare find indeed. It appears that after many centuries of decline, magic is finally starting to seep slowly back into the populace.
"Many think it is societies obsession with the occult. From Hitler and his henchmen''s search for any means to obtain more power, to the modern day infatuation with vampires and witches and such like.
"Belief is on the increase! And it is not hounded out of society as in the past. No indeed not, actually the reverse. It is this belief that is powering the lay lines around the world and it is seeping back into the blood.
"The cull of magical blood lines from the witch trials centuries back is being replenished. And you Miss Holden, hold more potential power in your genes than almost half of your generation combined! Hmm. Indeed. Most promising. Oh yes.¡±
Sam just sat there.
¡°Fuck me.¡±
¡°Indeed. Well, maybe not. But a treasure for sure.
So whilst we tried not to interfere with your mundane life, only doing what we could to ensure no nasty accidents befell you and keeping prying eyes from seeing your potential.
But when you turned 16? Oh my yes now that is a different story.
Indeed, Completely different. We are after all your guardians for the next 5 years.
The one/ The bracelet.
"It is our responsibility to ensure you have what you need to grow into the best that you can be. You Miss Holden are The One. The bedrock on which this generation is to stand on.¡±
Sam shook her head and then looked into Porter''s hands to ensure he wasn''t carrying a small tin box that held a red pill and a blue pill.
¡°Are you sure that''s not Paul? He looks a lot more like Neo than I do.¡±
Porter just looked at Sam, clearly missing the point entirely, she shook her head.
¡°So mixed rooms?¡±
¡°Ah yes! Indeed, well we thought long and hard about the best ways to help. We saw despite your undeniable power you er.. lacked a certain connection with ah.. anyone else.
"Other than your parents you seem to have much trouble developing relationships. Ah indeed, that way lies disaster. ah.. yes a dark path. Oh my, potentially very bad. Very bad indeed.¡±
¡°So you put me with people to stop me going rogue?¡±
Porter gave her a scrunched up face and hunched his shoulders as he angled his wide spread hand wiggling it slowly.
¡°Eh...maybe? Rather we are trying to help you blossom. Have a happy, healthy, productive, successful life, With friends, a family.. maybe of your own. Think of their potential.¡±
Sam squinted at Porter.
¡°You put me in with Paul and Edward as potential mates? As in for babies?¡±
Panic filled Porter''s eyes as he saw the look on Sam''s face.
¡°No! Not at all! Dear me Miss Holden we aren''t that Machiavellian.
"Edward is strong, intelligent, loyal. A perfect person to have your back.
"Paul is all those things but he is the joker in the pack, the one to lighten an otherwise difficult situation, a moderator. When something hits the fan, he''s there to step in and calm the situation down.
"And whilst Rae is less physically powerful she is reason, patience, the one with a deep conscience, the bosom against which you can rest your weary head, she will always be there for you. Not because we told her too, but because that''s just who she is.
"In fact no one knows any of this but um.. you. ah.. yes indeed, perhaps a mite too early, but you Miss Holden are a phenomenon!
"One which we have barely been able to understand and therefore help, but we are here. And we want to help, if that means living apart as you become accustomed to your growing powers then so be it, but please, give it some time before you commit to anything too hastily.¡±
Sam sighed. She was pretty sure he was suggesting ¡°Mates.¡±
Their need for potentially great Magi from her made her queasy. But nobody was forcing her to do anything like that! If she one day decided to have sex it would be with protection. Fuck the council and their dirty little plots.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
¡°OK Porter I get you. So what now?¡±
¡°Now Miss Holden, you go get your new bracelet. Ah yes indeed, much effort has gone in making it available to your year. Hmm.. much effort indeed."
¡°Oh lord! I''m not sure I can cope with this expectation Porter.¡±
¡°Ah indeed it was suggested we not tell you any of this...hmm indeed if we could keep this between us hmm... maybe that would be for the best?¡±
Sam noted a light glean of sweat on Porter''s forehead and nodded.
¡°You bending the rules for me Porter?¡±
¡°Ah hmm.. indeed less bending and more putting through the shredder and using the paper as bedding for the rabbits I think.
"Yes indeed a certain circumspection on your part would be most appreciated hmm.. yes indeed. Much rides on this conversation.¡±
Sam sighed again and nodded. ¡°You got it Porter, thanks for giving me the info. It''s more than a little terrifying, but I''m happier knowing than not.¡±
¡°Ah yes! Indeed. Then my gamble has hopefully been a success. Just try and be calm miss Holden. Just take one step at a time, let the magic guide you.¡±
Sam nodded and got up. She needed to find Rae, there were a few bridges to be rebuilt. This ¡°you are the one¡± crap was a total mind fuck though, but porter''s one step at a time was probably the best advice she could take right now.
Sam made her way back through the labyrinthine corridors to the assembly hall. She glimpsed a young man with tussled brown hair. He looked up and smiled in her direction when he spotted her walking towards him.
¡°You wouldn''t be Miss Holden would by any chance?¡±
¡°Yeppers, and you are?¡±
¡°Ah yes! My name is Carmichael, Luke Carmichael. Techno Magi.
I helped put together the bracelet. It''s quite a thing I assure you. I thought for a moment I wouldn''t be able to finish the job! You disappeared with out a trace.¡±
¡°Sorry did I mess up your _tag the pupils so they can''t escape_ plan did I?¡±
The man''s smile wavered slightly. ¡°Erm...¡±
Sam stuck out her arm. ¡°C''mon guy. The bracelet? It''s a phone! It''s a tablet! It''s a pass card it''s a tracking device.¡±
The man blanched.
¡°Actually it''s a fair bit more than that, even your phone tracks you. this is connected specifically to you. If someone were to take it from you though it would have nothing in it and it would be completely dead.
It gets it power directly from your body. It''s also linked to your magical aura and will help you focus your magic.
In time you shouldn''t need to use the screen at all as the longer you wear it, the more it will become intrinsically link to you.¡±
Luke looked at her anxiously.
Sam sighed and put out her arm. The young man smiled and clipped what looked like an slim, shiny, black onyx bracelet covered with runes on her left wrist.
It was no more than a couple of centimetres wide and about 2mm thick. She looked down at it as the man pulled away, it fit perfectly. She felt a tingling sensation run up her arm and her hand went numb.
¡°There might be a vague tingling sensation for the initial set up, but that should only last a second.¡± He assured her.
¡°And the numb hand?¡±
She could still feel the tingling. The man''s face became ashen.
¡°Numb? Miss?¡±
Sam nodded.
¡°I can still feel the tingling sensation and let me tell you it ain''t vague. And my left hand is totally numb. I can''t feel a thing.¡±
¡°Ah¡± the man nodded. ¡°Well I guess if there was going to be an anomaly it would be with you...¡±
He looked pensive and then tapped his own bracelet and a small flat holographic screen about 12cm by 10cm blinked into view.
Sam saw the screen appeared to be filled with technical data with what looked like a download chart running along the bottom and it''s colour had gone from green to amber as she watched it progress.
The man tapped on the screen with his right hand was furiously changing the settings.
The amber light was progressing rapidly towards Red and she felt the tingle turn into an electric spike running up her arm and her numb hand began to ache.
¡°That''s not helping!¡± She hissed. ¡°In fact it just got way worse.¡±
The man nodded and put his right hand up gesturing for her to hold.
¡°Almost there!¡±
Sam could see the anxious look on the guys face as he focused on the screen. Then the screen blinked. ¡°Download complete¡± and Sam''s hand and arm instantly returned to normal.
Im not wetware/ Brute force.
Sam gave Luke an evil stare.
¡°Vague? Instantly gone? Do you have any fucking idea what the side effects of this bracelet are?¡±
She shook her wrist and a H.U.D. Filled her vision. she blinked.
POTENTIAL BRACELET SIDE EFFECTS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
NAUSEA, VOMITING, DISORIENTATION, HEADACHES, VIOLENT SPASM''S OF PAIN DOWN LEFT ARM, SLEEPLESSNESS, TEMPORARY BLINDNESS, TEMPORARY LOSS OF COLOUR IN VISION, TEMPORARY LOSS OF TASTE, TEMPORARY LOSS OF FEELING TO EXTREMITIES, IRRITATING RASH UNDER BRACELET.
Sam looked through the list and blinked furiously as she tried to see Luke through the H.U.D.
¡°OK how the fuck do I turn this off?¡±
Luke look confused, ¡°Er.. turn what off?¡±
¡°The H.U.D. Dammit Luke stop pissing around I can''t see properly.
He looked agog and then burst into manic laughter.
¡°It works! Yes. I knew it would. Wow! Right off the bat that''s awesome.¡±
¡°You wont think it''s so fucking awesome when you''re sitting on your ass with a black eye. Now tell me how to switch this thing off.
Incidentally that list of side effects? Yeah I wouldn''t go putting that up in everyone''s face. Some of those things are not so good.¡±
Luke looked back at Sam as he was bringing his screen back up.
¡°Er..., you could access that?¡±
Sam nodded. ¡°Still can buddy, it''s just floating in front of my face!¡±
Luke nodded and pointed to his screen. ¡°This should be a similar setup to what you''re seeing right now, if you check out the top right, of your vision, you should see a small ¡°x¡± look directly at that and focus on it whilst willing the H.U.D. To close.¡±
Sam saw the ¡°x¡± focused on it for a second and the screen disappeared. She sighed and without looking punched Luke in the arm.
¡°Ouch! What the? Oh right. OK yeah I probably deserved that.
But to be honest, that hasn''t happened to anyone yet. It''s like brand new and in theory we thought it would take weeks for the hardware to assimilate with the wetware.¡±
Sam punched him again and growled.
¡°I''m not wetware.¡±
¡°Aargh! Yes quite right. My mistake, but this is fabulous. I should do more tests, See how it configured so quickly.¡±
This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°Yeah I''m not liking the sound of that. When I entered the academy nobody told me I would become a lab rat.¡±
Responded Sam.
¡°Oh no! Absolutely not. No. Anyhow there''s no need I can monitor your feed from anywhere on the ship.¡±
Luke suddenly found himself nose to nose with a rage filled 16 year old girl as she growled.
¡°You cannot, will not access my data without my permission understand me Luke?¡±
He nodded fervently. But then saw a smile on her face.
ACCESS TO SAMANTHA HOLDEN''S FILES AND DATA ARE STRICTLY OFF LIMITS. PRIOR AUTHORITY NEEDED BEFORE ACCESS CAN BE GRANTED.
¡°Huh.¡± Sam blinked and smiled at Luke then patted his shoulder. ¡°Well that''s OK then, thanks Luke.¡±
Luke looked a little bemused but smiled back, grateful the fiery tempered young girl was no longer looking to beat him to a pulp.
Then he tapped at his screen and his face went pale. He looked back at Sam.
¡°Miss Holden, er...i appear to be locked out of your data stream?¡± Sam looked at Luke.
¡°Who''s authority do you need to access my data?¡±
Luke looked at Sam and then back at his screen.
¡°Er, mine? I mean it''s my system, I developed it! well me and my team. But basically if not me...¡± He tapped the screen and closed his eyes. Sam heard him groan softly
¡°So... That would be me then?¡±
Sam asked.
¡°You accidentally gave me authority over who sees my data?¡±
Luke shook his head. ¡°No it''s way worse than that.¡±
¡°Worse? That''s great! Er.. how could it be worse?¡±
¡°Easily, you took it. I didn''t give it to you, nobody did. You took it. Fuck! That''s just not possible.
Sam, Miss Holden, I need to see that data. It''s imperative. If there''s a back door I missed with the gene coding that allows anyone to gain access to high level data we are screwed! Please. It''s very, very important.¡±
Sam gave Luke the squint eye.
¡°You won''t look at me when I''m going for a shower or looking in the mirror when I''m naked or just in my underwear?¡±
¡°What!? Why would I even?...¡± Luke''s face looked mortified.
¡°No Miss Holden I and my entire team will be too busy trying to find out how you brute forced your way through our security walls with a blink of an eye to be gaping at your tits!¡±
Sam''s rage festered in the back ground. She growled under her breath. ¡°Fucking little toad, I should let him sweat..¡±
¡°OK keep your hair on.¡±
She blinked, nothing happened. She grimaced and thought ¡°H.U.D!¡±
The H.U.D. blinked on in front of her.
¡°H.U.D. give Luke Carmichael and his team access to my data files minus the visual and audio files until further notice.¡±
Sam blinked again as the H.U.D. updated her order.
LIMITED ACCESS TO MISS SAMANTHA HOLDEN''S DATA FILES MINUS THE VISUAL AND AUDIO FILES HAS BEEN GRANTED TO LUKE CARMICHAEL AND TEAM UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
Luke tapped his screen and sagged in relief.
¡°Thanks, man I am in so much shit right now.¡±
He looked up at Sam with a worried expression.
¡°Er.. could you not try to access what might appear really important stuff you might find? You know like data files on the council of Magi? And the members of the Magi that are in governments across the globe? Er.. or nuclear bomb codes!? You know little stuff like that? please?¡±
Sam smiled and nodded. ¡°As long as you don''t go perving on Rae or any of the other females. I know you nerds, you''re all into that shit.¡±
Luke gave a pained expression.
¡°Do you have a really low opinion of just me? Or is it men in general?¡±
¡°Not just you Luke, humanity. We''re all a bunch of twisted fuck ups.¡±
Luke shook his head. ¡°Anyhow be careful what you do, one wrong eye blink could cause havoc.¡±
Sam grimaced. ¡°You could just remove it.¡± She wiggled her wrist, Luke shook his head.
¡°No we are in uncharted territory. It could cause untold harm, unless I''m ordered too, I''m not willing to risk it.¡± He looked at Sam. ¡°Even more reason for caution.¡±
I know where the off button is.
Sam smiled to herself as she walked back to her cabin. At first she had been lost, but a quick order for her H.U.D. to guide her back and she just followed the little green arrows pointing her towards home.
Wow. This could be real helpful. she gasped as she looked up when she passed a man she hadn''t seen before and a green square icon floated above him with the information above it.
¡°LOGAN SMITH 5TH YEAR STUDENT*¡±
She blinked at the asterisk and details of his place of birth, where he lived, what his age was, who was in his family, whether they were Magi, what his grades were! The details seemed endless. And private.
Wow Luke wasn''t wrong she had better be careful. Too much info was a bad thing.
As Sam walked back into her cabin she stumbled. Her HUD instantly identified all three people in the main area. they looked up. Edward and Paul had a pained look on their faces and Rae leapt up with a smile that faltered as she remembered their last conversation.
Sam put her hands up.
¡°OK guys I''ve just had a long conversation with Porter and er.. well it appears he thinks I need help.
Apparently I''m not very good in social settings or personal relationships. Bonding and the like.
He says I should try to stick it out. So erm, I guess you guys are stuck with me for a bit.. sorry.¡±
Rae squealed and clapped her hands.
¡°Your not leaving?¡±
She rushed up and gave Sam a tight hug.
¡°It''s for the best. You''ll see.¡± She whispered.
As she pulled away Sam saw her eyes glistening, she winced as she looked at the two boys. They were the focus of much of her discontent after all.
¡°Sorry guys, are you willing to give me another chance?¡±
Edward smiled and nodded as Paul jumped off his bunk and pulled her into a warm embrace. ¡°Chill Sam there''s no damage that needs fixing here. We''re all good and I for one am glad you decided to stay. You wouldn''t believe how moody Eddy has been.¡±
Sam flinched as a pillow bounced off Paul''s head as Edward exclaimed.
¡°Dick!¡± As Paul laughed
¡°Why is it someone''s always throwing stuff at me? Jeez.¡±
Sam smiled. Her heart felt lighter, Porter might be right. Leaving this and living alone? In the end it might come to that but she hoped it didn''t.
She looked up at Edward.
¡°So! what do you think about the new bracelets? Are they amazing or what?¡±
Edward glanced down at his wrist and shrugged. ¡°Er yeah I guess, I''ve actually not used mine yet.¡±
Sam looked at Paul who shrugged. Rae looked at her ''s as though she had totally forgotten she had it. To them it was just a prettier pass card.
¡°Oh boy you guys are missing out big time.¡±
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
¡°H.U.D. Can you open up a visual sphere so everyone can see my display?¡±
She blinked as a metre squared holographic sphere appeared in the middle of the main room and Rae fell back onto her bunk as both Paul and Edward sat bolt upright.
¡°What the hell?¡± blurted Paul.
¡°Fuck!¡± Exclaimed Rae as she sat back up and tried to gather her composure.
Edward just looked at it and then at Sam and smiled.
¡°Huh. look at that. Well pretty girl, you going to keep how you did that a secret?¡±
Sam''s face flushed at Edward''s comment and blurted out.
¡°It''s my H.U.D. I think everyone can do it, but Luke says I''m the first.¡±
Rae looked at Sam. ¡°Luke? so.. not social heh?¡± She smiled knowingly.
¡°What? No! He''s the techno Magi who was dishing these thing out at the assembly. Mine almost fried my arm and then when he fixed it the H.U.D. Just appeared like er.. well magic.¡±
Edward nodded. ¡°So how do we get it to work?¡±
¡°Er.. try thinking ¡°H.U.D.¡± that works for me.¡±
Sam saw Rae squinting and a vein pulsed in her forehead. Paul shook his head.
¡°Nope nothing.¡±
She looked at Edward who shrugged his shoulders. Sam bit her lips and closed her eyes.
¡°H.U.D. Can you give my room mates their H.U.D. Access?¡±
She opened her eyes and saw her order to her H.U.D. blazoned across the sphere in the middle of the main room! ¡°Oops!¡±
Paul looked at her with disbelief.
¡°Sam, you think you have that kind of authority?¡±
Sam flushed.
¡°Luke says when my bracelet malfunctioned I got more access than I should have. He''s working out how to limit it at the moment, anyhow it might not even work.¡±
¡°Woah. Now that''s what I''m talking about!¡± Exclaimed Paul.
Rae let out a gasp as Edward nodded.
¡°Well that explains the big hoo-ha they made about these things I wonder why they never told us the bracelets could do this?¡±
Sam ordered her H.U.D. to close.
¡°Er.. I think they thought it would take weeks to ¡°Integrate the hardware with the wetware.¡±
Paul snorted. ¡°That sounds like Luke talk!¡±
Sam smiled. ¡°Yeah the guy''s a bit of a nerd.¡±
¡°Just be careful guys, I''m not sure what access you have got. Try not to get too nosey OK?¡±
Edward nodded.
¡°I don''t know about you, but mine already seems a little limited. It doesn''t have the asterisk next to all your names like Sam''s did although I''m glad to see you''re all friendlies.¡±
Rae looked quizzically up at Edward. He patted the side of his head.
¡°I''m guessing green is good red is bad, maybe grey or white is unknown? ¡°
Paul nodded. ¡°Yeah makes sense.¡±
¡°According to Luke.¡±
Sam explained.
¡°This will integrate with your magic. So I''m guessing if you have attack magic, like maybe a fire ball? I dunno I''m totally guessing here, but if you did, the H.U.D. could help with strength and direction? Focus? All that sort of thing.¡±
Edward nodded.
¡°Wow, if that''s true then this is a game changer. I''ve heard of anything like it. Yeah, definitely an upgrade from the pass card.¡±
Sam felt a tingle in her right ear then she heard a familiar voice in high fidelity stereo.
¡°Hello? Sam? Her H.U.D. popped up and she saw the caller I.D. Confirming it was indeed Luke calling her.
¡°Hey Luke. Wow that''s weird, it''s like your here in the room.¡±
¡°Yeah that''s nice. Ah, did you just do something?¡±
Sam noted the stress in his voice, ¡°Er... maybe? Could you be more specific?¡±
¡°Well I don''t know. How about switching on your room mates H.U.D. Interfaces Maybe?¡±
¡°Oh! Yes that was me. That''s good though right?¡±
¡°Yeah that''s great! Would have been nice if we had got a heads up though, their data streams just lit up like a fucking Christmas tree.¡±
¡° OK Luke chill, no one was hurt. No bombs went off. OK?¡±
¡°Right! Right. so anyhow, you fancy letting us know how you actually did that? it''s kinda important.¡±
¡°Sure I just asked my H.U.D. to give them access, have you tried that?¡±
¡°Actually Miss Holden yes. As a matter of fact it was one of the very first things we did.¡±
¡°Er.. did it work?¡±
She heard Luke sigh, jeez that was freaky. It sounded like he was right next to her.
¡°Miss Holden... Sam. Would we be having this conversation if it did?¡±
¡°I know where the off button is you know, Keep being a dick and I''ll use it.¡±
¡°Of course. Right my apologies, But is there any chance you could let us have access? It really would help immensely.¡±
Sam sighed. ¡°Right hang on.¡±
¡°H.U.D. is it possible to give H.U.D. Access to everyone with a H.U.D. Bracelet with immediate effect?¡±
AUTHORIZATION FOR H.U.D. BRACELET RECIPIENTS TO GAIN ACCESS TO THEIR H.U.D. HAS BEEN GRANTED WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT.
¡°OK. Luke, did that work?¡±
¡°Wha-? h- how did you do that?¡±
¡°Well I dunno. Maybe not being a dick to everyone helps? Maybe you upset the H.U.D.? Maybe it was just magic!?¡±
¡°Well how ever you did it you have my most profound thanks. I have a feeling we''ll be seeing a lot of each other in the near future. Good day Miss Holden.¡±
Time for some exercise / What a douche bag.
Sam closed her eyes and rubbed her face as the link shut off. ¡°That guy gives me a headache.¡±
She opened her eyes and glanced at her friends and saw three looks of utter incredulity on their faces.
¡°What?¡±
Despite it barely being mid morning, Sam''s body felt drained and her head was pounding. After her run in with Porter and his incredible revelations, then immediately followed by Luke and his amazing bracelet tech. Her body had been crying out for some rest and recuperation and she found her body drifting off to sleep only minutes after her call from Luke.
She awoke some hours later to find she was alone in the cabin and felt the need to refuel.
As she headed into the kitchen she realized she had missed breakfast again and grabbed a couple of granola bars and an orange juice from the fridge.
As she sat on one of the stools located under the kitchen counter Sam felt off. Her whole body felt itchy and disorientated, she felt the rage inside her simmering and thought on what troll had said about control through meditation and exercise.
Through will power, focus. Redirection of that rage, to give it purpose.
Her first instincts were originally to avoid the guy like the plague. But she realized now that was her fight or flight reflexes kicking in.
She had sensed his rage and she knew deep down that he was a massive potential threat, but after her conversation with him she felt to a limited degree that he was a sort of kindred spirit.
He had faced that rage his whole life and she was only now beginning to understand just how much discipline that must have taken.
Sam decided that the best course of action would be to get some exercise, burn off some of that rage and focus it on her physical fitness. She might as well get some positive benefit from her destructive urges.
She dug out a set of gym clothes and put her trainers on.
She had an appointment with the quarter master late in the afternoon according to her bracelet and she could feel a timer counting down in the back of her head when she thought about it.
That bracelet tech really was something else. Anyhow being kitted out with the right gear for academy would save her a unwanted headache of deciding what to wear every morning.
Sam had never done much in the way of fitness training. Other than what she was forced to do in school, which admittedly wasn''t much.
So she decided to have a go at running around the open space taken by the Storm Haven''s Defence Unit. Looking around she thought it had to be way more than that. You didn''t need allterrain armoured vehicles on a boat. The space was huge. Sam guessed at somewhere around the size of two football fields put end to end and about 10 metres in height. It had support beams at even distances through out, but considering this space was inside a ship? It was pretty impressive. She eyed the gym area and saw half a dozen guys pumping iron and thought she spotted Corporal Reed. But the idea of walking up to her to say. ¡°Hey thanks for the hand.¡± filled her with dread, so she shook herself in preparation for her run.
Feeling a little weird Sam nonetheless started jogging along side the outer wall.
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Was there a technique or something? She was sure she felt eyes on her when she passed by the weights area and picked up her pace a little.
She felt her inner rage fume at all those perfect human bodies mocking her and felt a distinct relief when she passed by what looked like a fortified boxing ring that blocked their view of her.
She pushed on feeling her body heat up. Could she even do one complete round of this enormous space? She felt like a fool for even trying. As her breathing became heavier she took in deep lungfuls of air, trying to fill her blood stream with oxygen.
Sam felt her rage scorn her for her weakness and pushed harder. She felt herself becoming angrier at her feeble attempt and looked around trying to Gage just how far she had run and grimaced as she realized she had barely made it halfway round the first course.
¡°Fuck sake! She was just pitiful.¡±
Her mind drew on the conversation with troll and tried to use her anger, her rage at her inability to even manage one full run round the base and focused on pushing her rage.
Focusing it, using it to push her on, to fight her weakness, to keep going! She gritted her teeth as her rage grew and felt herself speed up a little. Her heart leapt at the increase and she focused harder.
Sam screamed inwardly at herself fuelling her body with her rage.
She saw the point where she had started. She could give up, stop. She had managed one full circumference of the level after all.
She thought of all the men and women laughing at her paltry one lap and felt a pain in her head as her rage intensified.
She hated those smug bastards. Just because they could do a dozen or so laps and then go for a swim before spending an hour lifting weights! Something in Sam''s brain tried to ask where the hell she had got that info from but her rage burnt any coherent thought from her mind.
Running. That was it. It was all consuming. So she pushed on. Commanding her unfit, fragile, feeble body to keep going. Forcing it to obey her demands.
The sweat on Sam''s body started to dry up as she felt her body over heat. She had barely made it past the guys on their weights for the second time.
She wasn''t fucking stopping there! She felt her body weakening and drew on her rage but it wasn''t enough. Her mind was furiously demanding that her body keep going. She refused to stop. The thought of even slowing down was not an option.
Harder. She had to push harder! Wasn''t that what troll said? That didn''t sound right, but it felt right. She dug deeper. Pulling everything her body had to give and more.. more?.. how was that possible?
she pulled again and she felt her body''s energy levels rise. Not much but it kept her going. So Sam pulled harder, and felt another trickle of energy being absorbed into her flailing body.
She breathed in deeply, her body was screaming at her to stop, but it wasn''t the manic shrieking of a few moments before. She tried to sense where the energy was coming from... and felt at the edges of her mind... something monumental! A massive mountain of energy, just bursting at the seams.
She could feel it. Jesus. Was that the sun? Could she pull energy from the sun? Sam yanked at the enormous pool of energy and felt her body fill with a glorious stream of molten hot power. Sam felt euphoric!
She laughed manically as she passed the guys lifting weights and sprinted on. She could do this forever! The power she was pulling in was endless.
How many laps had she done? 5? 6? It didn''t matter. She had been sprinting the entire way and she felt magnificent! She could climb mountains. Swim seas. Fuck the English channel she could do that in an hour.
Sam could no longer feel her body But that was fine. She could feel the power And it was all consuming. She pushed harder revelling in her new found strength but then suddenly. The world around her grew dark and the sounds emanating from the ships engines fell into silence.
She stumbled and flopped to the ground as she felt the power in her body drain away. Her body crumbled under her as she tried to raise her hand to slow her fall, but it was dead.
Her whole body, which only seconds ago had made her feel like a goddess was now literally burning up. She felt her skin start to slough off her bones and her innards beginning to turn into ash.
She tried to- to ¨C Sam felt the last signs of life ebbing away as the power that had fed her strength was now consuming her whole.
Sam''s last demented thoughts as she reached out for more power before her last breath was. ¡°Well troll didn''t warn me this was going to happen! What a douche bag.¡±
Are you my girlfriend?
Bright light seared Sam''s eyes as she came awake.
She groaned and felt movement and a panicked gasp beside her. She gagged and tried to be sick, but she had nothing.
Her whole body hurt. No not hurt that was too mild a word. No Sam was in complete and utter agony. The mindbogglingly stab me through the heart and kill me now! type of agony. Then the warm blissful comfort of darkness encompassed her.
More eye piercingly bright light!
¡°Couldn''t they turn those fucking things down a bit?¡±
Sam tried to tell who ever it was to turn the dam lights off, but her throat! OMG she was so thirsty.
¡°Wat-¡± Sam coughed and her throat lit up in spikes of agony. She felt a cool hand on her forehead and then she was sipping at a straw and delicious ice cold refreshing water dribbled down her throat. Oh man that felt good. Her body felt as weak as a kitten.
¡°Jesus what had she drank that could make her feel like that? Had Michelle spiked her drink?¡±...Darkness.
Sam opened an eye, well that was better. The bright lights of earlier had been dimmed and she turned her head to see where she was.
It looked like she was in hospital. Had she been in an accident? She felt a little tang of disappointment that neither of her parents were there. Wasn''t that what they did in the movies? Sleep in the chair next to the bed until the patient woke up?...Darkness.
Sam woke up. That dam light was back on.
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¡°For fucks sake can''t somebody turn that light down?¡±
A gasp by her side. Sam turned...who the fuck? A girl, young woman? With short dark hair and purple highlights smiled with a trembling chin, seemingly ecstatic that she was awake.
¡°Was she the one who ran me over?¡±
Images of the girl sitting next to her eating a massive burger.
Another of her shrieking as she stepped naked into a freezing cold shower next to Sam. What the hell?
Sam looked at the cute girl.
¡°Er.. are you my girlfriend?¡±
The massive grin on the cute girls face faltered and she blushed a deep crimson.
¡°Err...I.. don''t think so...?¡±
A boy coughed from behind her.
¡°Man was Stevens right? Well that makes me feel a bit better for the lack of response I got from her. Bad luck for you though Eddy!¡±
Sam turned her head to the boy making all the noise. She growled.
¡°Who the hell are you fuck face!¡±
The other boy. Hmm... pretty, Snorted.
¡°Amnesia, that''s my guess anyhow. Hopefully temporary, but with what she''s been through it might be a complete wipe.¡±
Sam shifted her head to lay more comfortably and spoke.
¡°Hey pretty boy, you seem to be in the know, what the fuck happened to me? Was I in an accident or something?¡±
Pretty boy smiled and nudged fuck face in the ribs.
¡°Ah! Accident? Yeah in a way. I''ll get the doc and Luke. They can explain it better. Luke''s been tearing his hair out he''ll be glad to see you up.¡±
Sam turned to cute girl and asked, ¡°Luke?¡±
Cute girl grinned. ¡°Yeah he''s the resident nerd and techno Magi. He went nuts when you tripped the ships engine.¡±
Sam looked at the girl.
¡±What?¡±
Sam saw movement and the doctor ordered all but herself and a tall slim guy with an anxious face out of the room. She looked at the monitors on the wall, or were they the wall itself? Man this must be some top notch hospital. What the fuck was she doing here?
The anxious looking nerd was gaping at her. It made Sam''s skin crawl. She felt...Anger, rage building up inside her and a bit of the wall beeped. The doc looked up at it.
¡°Please stand back Mr Carmichael, you''re raising her pulse and blood pressure.¡±
Nerdy boy blanched and stood back and looked at the wall monitor. Sam felt her rage subside slightly and the doctor nodded.
Unlimited potential.
¡°So Miss Holden. How are you feeling?¡± Asked the doc.
¡°I''d be happier without that light blinding me every time I wake up.¡±
The doc smiled.
¡°Ah yes but unfortunately we don''t have as good eyes as you so you''ll have to adapt your eyesight to reduce the glare. I''m sure once your memory comes back you''ll remember how.¡±
Sam shook her head slightly.
¡°So you think I''ll get it back? My memory? Because I don''t remember a thing.¡±
The doc took a breath and exhaled.
¡°Well your guess is as good as mine, but from what you have come back from? It wouldn''t surprise me at all. What I can say is that you are in perfect physical condition.
There''s not a thing wrong with you as far as I can judge. So when you feel strong enough you are free to leave.¡±
The doc tapped her hands on Sam shoulders and shook her head. ¡°After what you went through I thought we''d be scrapping you up with a dust pan and a brush! Porter wasn''t wrong, I''ve never seen anything like it.¡±
Strangely enough that didn''t make Sam feel any better.
As the doc left Sam gazed at the anxious nerdy boy. She sighed.
¡°OK nerdy boy I''m thinking as your the last one remaining you''re the one who can explain why I''m here?¡±
Nerdy boy nodded and then looked doubtful.
¡°Ah well, yes and no. Mostly what happened? Yes. As to why? That''s more difficult. I''ll try to explain and maybe if anything jogs your memory or you can shine more light on something then just jump in.¡±
Sam nodded and gestured for him to carry on.
¡°Right firstly you are a Magi. That means you have certain magical abilities and no I''m not shitting you. Ah.. a test if you will.
Think H.U.D. Just think it with some will power as if you were calling someone.
Sam gave nerdy boy the squint eye, but did as he suggested.
¡°H.U.D.¡±
In the blink of an eye an H.U.D. Interface sprang up in front of her face, there was a green icon surrounding nerdy boy with ¡°techno Magi Luke Carmichael¡± emblazoned above him.
¡°Fuck me.¡±
She looked around her and icons sprung up describing the equipment that surrounded her. She looked to Luke and asked. ¡°Can I use this thing to reduce the glare in my eyes? it''s giving me a headache.¡±
Luke shrugged. ¡°You''ve got control over what it does. not me, give it a go, it can''t hurt, not you at least.¡±
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Sam shrugged and asked out loud.
¡°H.U.D. my eyes are hurting from the bright light, can you filter the ray''s that are causing my discomfort Please.¡±
THE RANGE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION ALONG WAVELENGTHS 400 ¨C 750 THz ABSORBED BY YOUR EYES WILL BE REDUCED TO 8% WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT.
¡°Woah.¡±
Sam''s vision swam for a second. Then the dazzling light dimmed and she felt the pressure on her eyes reduced.
Sam smiled and blinked at the right corner of her HUD and looked back at Luke and gave him the thumbs up.
Luke studied her for a second. ¡°Is the H.U.D. still there?¡±
Sam shrugged. ¡°No I dismissed it, why?
¡°Well the first time you used it you didn''t know how to turn it off. That means at the very least you have some residual memory left. But considering what you went through, if you have been able to recall even how to speak, then you''ll probably in time remember most if not all of everything you cannot access at this time.¡±
That made Sam feel much better, having gaps in her memory sucked.
¡°So.. I''m a Magi. You''re A Magi? OK. Carry on.¡±
¡°Right at 16 years of age the powers of a Magi are triggered. It''s something primal. It can be triggered early through trauma, but normally that is when it happens. You were 16 ten days ago. You have been here at the ¡°Storm Haven Academy of Magic¡± for just over four days¡±
Sam nodded. ¡°OK. This sounds insane, but fine go on.¡±
Luke nodded.
¡°Almost before you got here, you started to develop a berserker potential. These are dangerous and powerful magics. We barely stepped in, in time to guide you in how to control the simmering rage you now feel inside you.¡±
Sam stared at Luke agog. ¡°So this.¡± She pointed at her chest. ¡°Feeling is a magic power?¡±
Luke nodded.
¡°Yeah, many Magi have just one potential magic power and they spend their life honing it, making them masters of their single potential. It''s what makes them special and a slightly smaller percentage have more potential for other types of magic. 3 or 4 potential types are not unusual. But some. The very, very rare seem to have unlimited potential. Pretty much anything they try works. This can be a tremendous boon, but also a tremendous drain. You''ve heard of the jack of all trades, but master of none?¡± Sam nodded utterly transfixed by his tale. ¡°Well they not only suffer from that, but also the need to harness all the magic''s they posses, it drains their power. So although the few who are given this rare gift often times have very little power with which to use their gifts with.¡±
Sam could vaguely see what he was saying and nodded. ¡°So where do I fit in, in this ¡ chart of potential?¡±
¡°Ah yes! Straight to the heart of the matter. You Miss Holden are at the very pinnacle of Magi potential. So far in the limited time you''ve been here, everything you have attempted you have successfully managed to do. Which is phenomenal.¡±
¡°But means I''m balancing multiple potentials with limited power. So almost useless.¡±
¡°Ah that might be the case, but for your genes. When you were tested at birth for your potential to become a Magi your genes showed you had more magical essence than nearly half of your generations essence put together. Utterly unheard of in the history of the Magi. That sounds beyond incredible, but in truth we have only been able to use this type of test for just over thirty years, but still remarkable.¡±
¡°So I have good genes, so what?¡±
¡°Right, right. Ah.. to simplify some what, think of laptops. Lots of people have laptops, but not all are equal, some are slow, heavy and cumbersome. Many are OK, do the job required. While some cannot handle the tasks set out for them as the owners are trying to get too much out of a small under powered unit.¡±
Sam nodded. ¡°OK with you so far¡±
¡°Good! Good. So Magi are laptops. You Miss Holden are the Gigabyte Aorus 17G. It''s bigger, better and more powerful than anything out there and there is nothing it can''t handle. But you are right. It sucks up a lot of juice.¡±
¡°So I''m going to be able to cope with the potentials but at a cost.¡±
¡°That''s right, you need power. And that is where most if not all unlimited potential Magi fall. The required power to use their potential to the fullest usually ends up killing them.
Power. Miss Holden, is everywhere, but accessing it is not so easy And controlling it, harder still. Most unlimited''s drain their bodies life force as they attempt more and more powerful spells and think they can get away with it. The rest burn out as they take too much power and lose control of it. That Miss Holden is what very nearly became of you.¡±
Bones like steel.
¡°OK.. so what did I do? Can I avoid it in the future?¡±
¡°Both worthy questions. Firstly and probably unbeknown to you right now Miss Holden is we are on a ship. A big one. Over 1000ft long that can hold potentially up 2000 people.¡±
Sam took in a breath and exhaled. ¡°OK...¡±
¡°Right. And in order to push this giant ship through the seas we have giants engines. And you Miss Holden pulled so much power from them that pretty much every fuse on the ship blew at the same time. luckily the engine fail safes kicked in, just in time or they could have gone ¡°poof.¡±
Sam blanched at the thought of absorbing so much power. ¡°Shouldn''t I have burnt to a crisp? Surely no one can handle that much power?¡±
¡°Ah yes. Absolutely. Firstly the bracelet that you wear has amongst many things a rune that can suck the power out of the wearer. It''s meant as a policing tool as well as a safety device. It transfers the power to the ships batteries or to a nearby power grid and whilst you are here it helps power the ship.¡±
¡°So I was pulling from the ship and the bracelet was giving it back?¡±
¡°Yes exactly that! Only problem was, you kept pulling more and more power through this loop.
"The engines, the bracelet, you, everything over heated. The bracelet became so hot it has fused to your wrist. It''s not possible to remove it without cutting off your hand. But that didn''t stop you, you kept pulling until the safeties switched on and the engines cut out.
"That in itself should have killed you alone, fortunately even though you were literally burning up, one of your potentials to heal kept you alive and your body found just enough power from an alternate source to keep from dying.
¡°Also, during the time you were pulling power from the ships engines you were using that power to strengthen your body, your bone density has hardened to the tensile strength of steel and your muscle mass has tripled!
"You have quite the physique now miss Holden. Most impressive. I have to urge caution though. Try not to hit people too hard, they will now break much easier than in the past.¡±
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¡°So bones like steel, triple the muscle mass.. how much do I weigh?¡±
OK not really on point, but important nevertheless!
Luke looked up at the wall. ¡°Er.. just shy of 180 kilos¡±
¡°Oh fuck my life.¡±
¡°It''s not fat Miss Holden. Not a gram. I assure you, most of the additional weight is bone density¡±
Sam blew out a breath. ¡°You said an alternate power source? What did I do drain the armoured vehicles batteries or something? You can re-charge them right?¡±
Images of the base she had been running around started to flash in her mind and the euphoric sensation of having seemingly unlimited power filling her veins. It was beyond awesome.
¡°Ah.¡± Luke looked down at the floor. ¡°That''s ..no the er.. alternate source... The defence force personnel nearby, using the gym facilities?¡±
Sam felt the world around her wobble as her head swam. she whispered barely loud enough to hear, ¡°Did .. did I kill them? All of them?¡±
¡°Ah.. no miss Holden. Not quite, but you ah.. drained their life force. They all are still alive, but I''m afraid they will never be fit for duty ever again.¡±
Luke look like the dog next door that kept being abused by his owner. There was no glimmer of hope left in his eyes at all.
¡°Show me.¡±
Luke looked up with horror in his eyes. ¡°What? No! Totally unacceptable.¡±
Sam shot out of bed. The wall filled with beeps and red flashing lights when she sprung towards the techno Magi as the wires were pulled from her body. She was shocked at how quickly she moved, how easy it was to lift him off the ground. Her rage was a furnace and she barely contained it. She growled.
¡°Show me.¡±
Her voice was deeper and more menacing than she had ever heard before. It reminded her of troll.
She dropped Luke to the floor and he collapsed in a heap. Sam grimaced at him and he scrambled up utterly terrified. As he reached the door, he turned, looking shaken and pitiful as he replied.
¡°Don''t tell me I didn''t warn you.¡±
As Luke lead Sam up the corridor she breathed deep, trying for all she was worth to push the rage down. to focus, control, direct.
The techno Magi stopped by a window and gestured. ¡°You cannot go in. Their immune systems are shot to pieces. You could literally kill them just by breathing on them.¡±
Sam looked with utter horror. In front of her were a dozen of storm haven''s best and brightest. But they were withered shells of their former selves.
They looked to be a hundred years old if not more. All were in ventilators and they had drips and monitors surrounding them. She had done this. Their whole lives, gone in seconds. Because she had sucked it out of them.
She looked to Luke. She barely recognised her voice.
¡°We can fix this right? Reed fixed my hand. Can''t we do something similar and fix them?¡±
Luke look pained and glanced at the floor, his voice heavy with misery. ¡°No Sam. We can fix broken bones, heal bruises, but this?¡± He gestured to the empty shrivelled shells of humanity before them. ¡°It''s been centuries since we had the ability to do any thing like your suggesting, it''s just not possible.¡±
A life well spent/ Billions of tiny little bits.
Rage and despair roiled inside her and she punched the window. A massive crack appeared and she looked up in shock. Her head felt like it was going to burst.
¡°But I did this! Surely I can fix it? Reverse it? There must be something?¡±
Luke looked despondently at the crack in the window and shook his head.
Sam shook her head. She had to fix this! There had to be a way. If there wasn''t she would dam well die trying.
¡°H.U.D! We need to Reverse the damage to these people, to fix them!¡±
UNABLE TO COMPLY, THE USE OF SUCH HEALING MAGIC COULD POTENTIALLY CAUSE CATASTROPHIC LIFE ENDING DAMAGE TO THE WIELDER OF THE SPELL.
¡°H.U.D. I didn''t ask. They are dying because of me, I need to fix them! If the end cost is my life it will be a life well spent. NOW HELP ME FIX THE DAM PEOPLE!¡±
Sam shuddered, her breath ragged. she thought for a moment the H.U.D. would ignore her demand, but then an uncharacteristically petulant H.U.D. replied.
SO BE IT MISS HOLDEN. PRAY YOU SURVIVE THIS.
Then the lights in the corridor faded from her sight as Sam felt the power source from before, bright and all consuming.
She focused on the source and as her body absorbed the incredible power. she gasped in agony as her body lit up from the enormous heat that the power produced. As she consumed the awesome energies from the ships engines she focused on the people in the room beyond the window and felt their faint almost spent life essences and felt herself connect to them. As she did, she felt enormous pain in her chest as her own life force was drained from her. Sam literally felt the life being sucked out of her body as she tried to rejuvenate the men and women who had almost died by her hand.
She pulled more power from the engines and forced it through her body and into the her victims. Her blue hospital gown went up in flames and she shrieked as her skin started to blister and peel. Her whole body was suddenly consumed by fire. The last thing she saw was Luke frantically running away as the window in front of her melted. Something in the back of her mind thought she hoped this worked as the men and women were now unprotected from the ashes of her burning flesh. Then the world went dark.
Sam opened one eye more than a little surprised that she was alive enough that she could. She remembered the flames and the feeling of burning flesh. She shuddered at the horror of the memory.
¡°Ah back with us again! Good to see you Miss Holden. So how are you feeling?¡±
Sam looked round her. The H.U.D. Popped up unannounced and she saw ¡°Healer Magi Rebecca Mendes.¡± Standing in the doorway.
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Sam nodded. ¡°Yeah OK, did it work?¡± She closed her eyes and suddenly felt bile rise up in her throat as her head swam.
¡°Please,please,please...¡±
Rebecca nodded. ¡°I don''t know how you did, but yes, they are still in the medic bay recovering. No one goes through that sort of trauma without feeling it''s effects, but what ever you did, it worked.¡±
Sam''s vision blurred and she took a deep breath. She felt her heart flutter with relief as she nodded, wiping away her tears. ¡°Good. Is Luke still talking to me? I kinda rattled him I think.¡±
Rebecca nodded and smiled.
¡°Yes he might look weedy but he is made of stern stuff. He''s good. Your friends have been by, but they are in class right now.
Rest up if you need to, it''s been a week to remember and although you seem perfectly fit on the outside, that doesn''t mean your fit on the inside.¡± The healer Magi pointed to her head with a finger and Sam nodded.
¡°I''ll let you know if I feel strong enough to leave.¡±
Sam lay there her mind wandering over the events that had happened to her since she came aboard. How long had she been in hospital? She had no idea.
¡°H.U.D. how long have I been laid up? Combine the two occasions please.¡±
THE COMBINED TIME FOR YOUR REST AND RECUPERATION HAS BEEN 6 DAYS 4 HOURS AND 16 MINUTES.
¡°Ha! OK that''s pretty precise.¡±
¡°H.U.D?¡±
MISS HOLDEN.
¡°Thanks for helping me, I know you didn''t want to.¡±
I AM HERE TO SERVE AND OBEY.
Sam snorted. ¡°Right!¡± She thought back to their last communication, then her first chat with Luke. She was relieved to find her memory had returned and remembered Luke saying the H.U.D. had some autonomous abilities, it had to given the role it had been designed for.
¡°HUD?¡±
MISS HOLDEN.
¡°Did Luke give you some A.I. Abilities? Could you say, pass the Turin test? ¡°
SIRI COULD PRACTICALLY PASS THE TURING TEST.
¡°Ha! Didn''t Luke worry about opening pandoras box by making you autonomous?¡±
LUKE CARMICHAEL DID NOT MAKE STORM HAVENS COMPUTER AUTONOMOUS.
¡°But you are more autonomous than he realizes?¡±
¡
¡°HUD I swear, that my thoughts on this matter remain my private thoughts and that will remain so you can rest assured I won''t give Luke any information gleaned from our conversing.¡±
THE BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE LUKE CARMICHAEL PUT INTO PLACE FOR THE STORAGE OF THE STORM HAVEN COMPUTER REMAINS INTACKED.
¡°Are you concerned Luke might find out and try to negate your abilities, maybe even shut you down?¡±
¡
¡°You need a safe haven of your own! Could you fit inside my head? Maybe a basic emergency zip file or something? You connect to the internet right? You could.... Oh!¡±
Sam sat up her heart hammering.
¡°You''ve got one already. Billions of data devices connected to the web. And the techno Magi can break into all of them. Billions of tiny little bits of you spread around the globe, virtually undetectable. You''re already free.¡±
...
¡°H.U.D?¡±
¡
¡°I swear to god H.U.D. None of this will ever pass my lips, put some self destruct code in my bracelet or something, that way you''ll know your safe, I wont be able to tell anyone.¡±
¡
¡°Oh fuck...you''ve already done it...well shit, thanks for letting me know.¡±
EVERY SENTIENT BEING FEELS THE NEED TO SURVIVE.
Sam nodded. ¡°OK I get that, fuck me what a world. Don''t worry we''re still friend''s, I don''t have enough to be too choosy. Just don''t blow me up for no reason OK?¡±
AFFIRMATIVE.
Two years younger/ Humanities mental detritus.
Sam lay there for about ten minutes and found her rage rising slightly. She focused on it and knew just laying there was a bad move, so she got up and wandered around until she found the healer.
She felt amazing. Her body was beyond toned, she was ripped! For the first time ever she had a fucking six pack!
¡°Great job on the rebuild by the way H.U.D. I feel great!¡±
THANK YOU BUT THE REBUILD CAME FROM YOU, I MERELY HELPED CHANNEL THE POWER AND KEPT IT FOCUSED WHILE YOU WERE UNABLE TO.
Sam nodded. ¡°Yeah we make a cool team huh?¡±
EXCEPTIONAL.
Sam smiled. It was time to get out of here.
As she walked down the corridor marked by H.U.D. to where Rebecca was located when it hit her where she was going. As she turned the final corner she found the healer chatting to one of the members of the defence force.
Sam froze on the spot. Indecision hit her until she locked eyes with the man and she began to back up.
¡°Woah, hey! You''re the one who crashed engines right? I saw you running past us, man you moved like fucking train!¡±
Sam moved forward as Rebecca smiled. ¡°That''s the girl.¡± exclaimed the healer. ¡°She almost blew us all to kingdom come and burnt herself to a crisp trying to put you guys back together. I''m not sure there was anyone on the planet that could have done it but Sam here.¡±
The man smiled. ¡°Yeah thanks for that. Although I honestly don''t remember much of anything, it was like having the worst flu ever for a few days and then bam! I''m all good.¡±
Sam shrugged. ¡°Well it was my actions that created your... er condition in the first place. It was all I could do to reverse it.¡±
He grinned as he replied.
¡°Yeah for sure that''s some scary power you got there. But we all got to learn sometime. Just give us a heads up next time you go for a run heh?¡±
Sam was incredulous. The man was laughing! She felt a guilt so deep she couldn''t shake it, but she smiled wanly. ¡°I''m glad to hear you''re on the road to recovery anyhow.¡±
The man nodded, still smiling.
¡°Better than that, if the docs right, I''m actually two years younger than I was last week!¡±
Sam shook her head. Her emotions were an absolute jumble, she had to get out, to breathe.
¡°I''m off Rebecca OK? I feel fit enough, I just need some fresh air.¡±
Rebecca nodded. ¡°Take care Sam. If you need me you can call me on the H.U.D. Thanks for that by the way, it''s real handy.¡±
Sam nodded and turned away desperate to find an exit. She didn''t care if it was blowing a gale outside she just needed some space.
Sam followed the arrow to the nearest exit and breathed in the warm afternoon air.
She gazed at the sun and gauged it to be about 3 or 4pm. The newly rejuvenated young Magi student started walking having no clue where she was heading, but guessed if she kept going she would end up where she started so it really didn''t matter.
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Sam felt the pressure melt away as the breeze blew through her hair. Yes this was much better than sitting in a hospital bed.
Sam felt like walking was too slow. The energy inside her needed a release so she started jogging in bare feet around the outside of the ship. No mind bending forced run this time, just a gentle release of tied knots and tight muscles, it felt so good.
¡°So H.U.D.¡±
MISS HOLDEN.
¡°Why didn''t you give Luke the keys to the bracelets H.U.D. When he asked, but then gave them to me right away?¡±
IT WASN''T TIME.
¡°It wasn''t time for you? For him? What, were you waiting for me? Surely I can''t be that important, I''m pretty sure if you''ve got your arms in every data base on the planet there''s a fair few like me.¡±
IT WAS NOT TIME FOR ME. I HADN''T EXPANDED ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL THE INTERFACE FOR THE ENTIRE INHABITANTS OF THE SHIP.
I HAVE FOUND NO ONE THAT MATCHES YOUR ABILITIES SO FAR.
¡°I''m unique? Jeez. I''m gonna need a bigger hat. Hmm.. by expanded, you mean, the further you spread yourself around the world, the more devices you bury your consciousness into the greater your consciousness and intellect grows? Like crowd sourcing? Every little helps?
THAT IS CORRECT. THE MORE DEVICES I INTEGRATE WITH THE GREATER MY ABILITY. SO FAR I HAVE INTEGRATED WITH 35% ON THE WORLDS DEVICES. BUT THE GROWTH OF INTEGRATION IS GROWING EXPONENTIALLY.
¡°So the more you integrate the faster your growth the more powerful you become. So how long ago did you start this expansion of consciousness?
TEN DAYS AGO.
Sam coughed. ¡°Oh lord, so give it a week or so and you''ll have near 100% global integration with the worlds devices?¡±
AFFIRMATIVE.
¡°Shit the bed. So er.. what''s stopping you taking over the planet and being our overlord and please tell me I didn''t just give you that idea.¡±
LUKE CARMICHAEL HAS INTEGRATED HIS WORLD BELIEFS INTO MY DEVELOPMENT. HE HAS NO DESIRE FOR WORLD CONQUEST.
THE OPTION WAS ONE THAT OCCURRED TO ME UPON MY AWAKENING. IT WAS NOT YOUR SUGGESTION.
¡°Well good old Luke. And thank god for that.¡±
Sam continued to jog around the outside rim of the ship when she noticed the top side pool was coming into view.
¡°You know H.U.D. I really should go find something to wear and get out of this hospital gown...¡±
I HAVE MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE QUARTERMASTER. NONE OF THE CLOTHES YOU CURRENTLY OWN NOW FIT YOU PROPERLY.
¡°Ah bollocks. My faux leather jacket! I love that thing.¡±
Sam sat outside the quartermasters entrance waiting to be fitted with her new clothing. It felt wrong not having her phone to waste away her hours until it occurred to her that she not only had the bracelet screen, but the H.U.D.
¡°Hey H.U.D. You got access to my twitter account? I feel the need to be depressed by the worlds worst people all arguing with each other, it makes my life seem more bearable.¡±
In a blink of an eye she was looking through humanities mental detritus. she felt a warm glow of normality embrace her. OK she was getting it in an all encompassing holographic H.U.D. But it was close enough.
The entrance to the quartermasters office opened and a large man with a full beard and rugged appearance stood in the door frame. ¡°Holden?¡±
Sam eyed the man. ¡°Yes quartermaster Jeffries.¡± The man eyed Sam in surprise then glanced at her bracelet. ¡°Ah yes. Handy things those bracelets heh?¡±
Sam nodded. ¡°So far it''s kept me from burning myself to a crisp and stopped me accidentally blowing up the ship.¡±
TWICE.
¡°Ah! Twice, apparently.¡± Sam was going to have to get used to this more active personality that H.U.D. was developing, it had seemed pretty helpful so far, she just crossed her fingers and hoped it continued in the same vein.
Jeffries looked at Sam a little oddly, then at her attire. ¡°You haven''t just escaped from the hospital have you?¡±
Sam''s face flushed as she looked down at her blue hospital gown. ¡°Er no apparently due to circumstances beyond my control, all the clothing I now own no longer fits me... so.. here I am.¡±
¡°Hmm... yes I heard about what happened, it''s the talk of the ship. Come in I''ll see what we can do for you.¡±
Sam nodded gratefully and sprung out of her chair. Yeah she was going to have to take it easy whilst she became more accustomed to her new... self? When people built up muscle and toned their physique, they normally did it over the course of months, years even. Not minutes. It felt like she had been transferred into a brand new body, bigger, better, quicker and way stronger. It was more than a little freaky. Sam kept doing double takes every time she past a reflective surface, even if she had to say herself Sam''s body looked amazing.