Absolute Power (Book 1): Origins (24 page)

Beach took it and said, “One objective is to retrieve a list of names.  This is a hard drive.  The names could be encrypted.  The hard drive could only be usable on that computer.  Another objective is to remain undetected.  How long do you think it will be until someone notices this is missing?”

Unlike Scott, Eve kept quiet.  She knew a rhetorical lecture when she heard one.

“As of now, you both have a failing grade for this class,” Beach said.  Scott wanted to protest, but she shot him a look.  “When you can successfully complete this test, then you will receive a passing grade.  Read this,” she handed them a small book entitled: Manual for the Dyson 345 Home Security System.  “You're dismissed.”

Quickly and efficiently Sergeant Beach turned off the computers and closed up the tailgate.  Rachael came running from the house with a smile on her face.  Scott sneered at her, but that only gave her more pleasure.  Then without offering to give Scott and Eve a ride, Beach drove off.  Scott swore and kicked at the dirt.  As he started to walk off, he saw Eve wasn't with him.  She was standing and looking at the house confused.

“What's up?” Scott asked.

“Are we going to get kicked out for failing?”  Eve asked.

“What? No.  Forget about her, she's a hard ass,” Scott said.  “She's just trying to use psychology to get us to work harder.  If we pass the test, we pass the class, and we have all year to do it.  Besides, think on the bright side, we have the rest of the hour free.”

“It is a test within a test then,” Eve said, “to see if we can learn how to solve the puzzle.”

“Yeah, sure,” Scott said he waved Eve on to start walking.  “What class do you have next?”

“History,” Eve replied.

“With Thorne?”  Scott asked, and Eve nodded.  “Easy.  He'll make you do something lame, and talk about how important history is blah, blah, blah.”

“Thank you for your help with the classes,” Eve said.

“Don't worry about it,” Scott told her.  “We're all in the same boat.  This is the first year they're teaching us the important stuff.  Last year was all kickball and pottery.”

“Then we are all taking these classes for the first time?”  Eve questioned.

“Basically,” Scott answered.

Since Eve knew where the Education Annex was, all she had to do was find her class.  The number listed on her schedule, EA6, led her to room six.  A little sign next to the door said: 6 Thorne History.  The classroom was covered in maps and lined with shelves.  Eve could hardly recognize any of the artifacts in the room.  The other kids were busy talking amongst themselves.  She wasn't sure what to do, so pretended to be interested in an odd looking helmet.  Koji came into the room, and Eve perked up, happy to see a familiar face.

He headed to her and said, “I wish you were human, that way I wouldn't feel stupid for being in this class.”

“I don't understand,” Eve responded.

“This is the class for all the kids who failed last year,” he told her.

“Do they think I failed?”  Eve asked worried.

“Nah, everyone knows you're smart,” Koji answered.  “But you don't know jack about our history.”

Eve nodded in understanding.

“Come on,” Koji waved her to a seat.  “Thorne doesn't have assigned seating, so we can take any desk.”  Koji tossed his backpack on the ground and sat toward the back of the room.  “Sit next to me so I can cheat off you.”

She took a seat away from the window and tried to get comfortable in the plastic chair.  Eve watched the other kids and did her best to mimic them.  Just before class was about to start they all found seats and pulled out paper and pens.  The terrible realization that she had come to class unprepared hit Eve.  She spun in her chair and saw that all the children had writing material.

“Don't look so nervous,” Koji said from his videogame.

“I didn't bring any supplies,” Eve told him.

Koji paused his game and stared at her.  It took him a moment to process what she had meant.  Then casually he reached into his backpack and pulled out a notebook and pen.

He set them on Eve's desk and said, “Have mine.”

“I can't do that,” Eve was near panic.

“We get them for free, besides I prefer using my laptop,” he reassured her by pulling out the slim black computer.

“Thank you,” Eve bowed.

“No problem,” Koji replied and went back to his game.

Mister Thorne walked into the room in a wrinkled sports coat and jeans.  He struggled with the stack of books in his arms, which he dropped onto his desk.  Eve had imagined that he would be an old noble-looking gentleman.  So she was surprised to find he was quite the opposite.  He was young and maybe in his late twenties; Mister Thorne was a mess of distraction.  Whenever he moved, it seemed as if he had forgotten what he had intended to do mid-stride.   Then a second later it hit him, and he continued on.

“Uh, what class is this?” Thorne asked.

“History,” said a boy on the other side of the room, making the other kids snicker.

“Yes, very funny, Ronny,” Thorne ignored the laughter.  “I meant what class number, what am I teaching you?”

“History for dummies,” Koji spoke without looking away from his game.

“Ah, Koji Kojima,” Mister Thorne said.  “The boy with two names.  If I had seen you, then I might have guessed.”  He spotted Eve and said, “You must me Miss Levitas.  I'm Mister Thorne if you haven't figured that out already.  I'm excited to have you in my class, and I hope to have a chance to learn about your people.”

“Yes, sir,” Eve nodded.

“Right, they told me about that...,” Thorne's mind wandered.  “Yes, yes, well I have a lot of things to do, and neither the time nor energy to manage you kids.  So, seeing how it's the first day and we never get anything done...”  Some of the kids were beginning to get excited.  “Oh, wait,” Thorne remembered something, “I did have an assignment.”  He rummaged through a binder.  “That I'm going to email you.  And you should have it done by next class.  Okay.  Time to go.”

Thorne grabbed the books that he had dumped on the desk and bumbled out the door.  Eve wasn't sure what had happened.

“He's always like that,” Koji explained.  He was stuffing his laptop back into his bag.  “Most teachers let us go early the first couple of days, but Thorne does it a lot.” Koji picked up his bag to leave.

“May I work with you on our assignment?” Eve asked.

“Uh, well,” Koji looked embarrassed.  “I'm not sure when I'm going to get around to it.  I mean he might not even collect them on Wednesday.”

“You aren't going to do the assignment?” Eve questioned.  “But if you are bad at history, why not try harder?”

“There are more interesting things to learn about, like computers and robots,” Koji replied.  “The teachers think I'm dumb, but I'm just bored.”

“I don't think you’re dumb,” Eve said.

Koji blushed a little and tried to keep talking.  “Yeah, well, I like to go into R&D and watch them work.  A lot of it is over my head, but I've learned some advanced stuff.”

“If that is your path, perhaps you should speak to Sergeant Schreier,” Eve offered.

“You mean department head Doctor Schreier?  As in, the cyborg?” Koji was taken aback by the suggestion.  “I don't think he wants to talk to a cadet.”

“Sergeant Schreier is a friend of mine,” Eve explained.  “If he knew you were my friend, I believe he would allow it.”

“Seriously?” Koji was in shock.  “Thank you.  You're the best friend I've ever had.”

“And thank you for the notebook and pen,” Eve said.

Koji bounced out the door with a grin on his face.  Eve grabbed her new notebook and headed to her room to check her email for the assignment.

In the morning, the alarm clock went off as usual.  Except this time, Eve didn't have to wake up for another hour because all her classes were in the Annex today.  She stayed wrapped in her blankets while Danni got up to shut off the alarm.

“I know you're awake, Levitas,” Danni grumbled.  “You lucky little... I have to do this every day.”

Ten minutes later Danni had gone to the Testing Field.  About thirty minutes after that, Eve got up.  Danni had been nice enough to lend her a satchel.  Eve filled the bag with her school supplies, put the strap over her shoulder and went downstairs to have breakfast.

The first class on her Tuesday schedule was science.  After a quick breakfast, Eve made her way to the Annex.  She was starting to get the hang of things, and found the class easily.  Doctor Richter's classroom was a lot like Mister Thorne’s.  Instead of maps, he had charts and in place of artifacts, there were experiments in glass cases.  Doctor Richter was already sitting at his desk.  He was busy reading something and ignored the commotion of the kids.

More confident today, Eve asked a kid, “Is there assigned seating?”  Something that Koji had mentioned yesterday.

“Nope,” the kid answered, “but you gotta write out a name tag, or the Doc won’t remember you.”  He pointed to a stack of stickers and markers.

While Eve wrote her name on the tag, she looked around to see if there was anyone she knew.  A couple faces were familiar, but none of her friends were in the class.  The bell rang, and Eve took a seat.  Doctor Richter closed his book and stood up.

“Quiet now, everyone, find a seat,” he said forcefully.  Richter waited until the ruckus had died down, then continued, “I am Doctor Richter.  I have three doctorates: physics, chemistry and math.  From that, you can deduce that we will not be learning biology in this class.

“The first thing you must know about science is that it is a logical and realistic field.  There is no guessing in this class.  Either you know the answer or you don't know, and if you don't know you will learn it.  This is science, all questions must be answered, and all knowledge is freely given.  If you don't understand something, and don't ask, then that is your fault.  In this class, I will teach you things that you can take with you for the rest of your life.

“So considering where and who we are, I think the first thing we should learn about is energy.”  At that, Doctor Richter reached behind his desk and hefted up a large bucket.  Then without warning he tossed the contents into the center of the room.  Hundreds of colorful rubber balls went flying at the class.  The kids were screaming and laughing as the balls bounced in every direction.  “Energy is always there,” Richter said.  “It can never be destroyed, only converted, diverted or absorbed.”  He had to raise his voice over the noise in the room.  “We in this classroom have more energy in us then most humans.  Some of you can expel that energy, and some of you can convert it.  I will teach you about yourselves and your abilities.”

Eve was trying her hardest to pay attention to Doctor Richter, but she became caught up in the laughter.  Then when class was over she found herself walking along with the other kids.  They were all talking about how fun the science class was going to be, and Eve had to agree.

After her experience with Doctor Richter’s class, Eve was looking forward to the rest of the day.  She used her schedule to find her way to Misses Poole's math class.  Walking into the classroom, Eve was immediately stopped by a middle-aged woman.  She assumed it was Misses Poole.

“Are you in advanced math eight?” The woman asked.

“Advanced math?”  Eve was surprised.

“What is your name?” Misses Poole asked, flipping through papers on a clipboard.

“Eve,” Eve said meekly.

“Your last name,” Misses Poole sounded annoyed.

“Levitas.”

“Okay,” Misses Poole said after finding her name.  “The seating arrangement is in alphabetical order; your name is on the desk.”

There were only a few other kids in the class, and they were all watching.  Eve saw Rachael sitting in the front row.  She shook her head at Eve and turned to face forward.  All the excitement she had built up in science class shattered.  Eve found her seat toward the back of the room and kept quiet.  Misses Poole handled the rest of the students in much the same way.  Finally, the bell rang, and she went to the front of the classroom.

“I have three rules,” Misses Poole said to the class.  “Listen, learn and obey.  Follow these rules.”  She grabbed a stack of papers and handed them to Rachael.  “Please pass these out,” she told her.  “This is the syllabus for advanced math.  We have a lot to...”  Koji walked into the room with his face buried in a videogame.  “Excuse me,” Misses Poole snapped which got Koji's attention.  He stopped in his tracks.  “You're late.”  Koji didn't make a move or respond.  “What is your name, young man?”

“Koji Kojima,” he answered.

Misses Poole looked down at her clipboard and found his name.  “Yes, very well.  You're seated next to Miss Levitas.”

“Yes, mein commandant,” Koji said under his breath.  The boy closest to him struggled not to laugh.  Koji worked his way between the desks and took his seat.  “Neighbors again,” Koji said to her.

“Mister Kojima, when you're done entertaining the class I'd like to begin,” Misses Poole said sternly.