Getting comfortable

Ch 8 (E)

The door to the classroom swung open, causing the instructor to look at the late student. The teacher was a muscular man, his well-defined jawline pronouncing his sharp sideburns.

"Looks like we got a slacker on the first day" the teacher seemed snarky "minus 10 points. who's your battle buddy?" he asked looking at Lucas's roughed-up face.

Lucas scanned the room, finding Allison in the middle row next to an empty seat. Her face was white with fear.

Checking his seating chart, he said "Allison, doesn't look good to lose your battle buddy on the first day now does it?"

"No Sir." She mumbled.

"What was that?"

"N-No Sir!" she said with force.

"that's more like it, pronounce yourself next time" pointing to the seat "take a seat…" checking his chart once again "Lucas". Softening up when he read Lucas's description.

"Class just started so you didn't miss anything important. I'll repeat it once again for those who are dense enough to have already forgotten."

Lucas walked up the stairs sitting in his seat next to Allison.

"You will hereby refer to me as Captain brill, A little about me is that I was deployed during the most recent 'battle of the ancients' and have served a total of ten years in the advanced humanoid military. Two of those being a teacher at this establishment" the entire class nodded in affirmation. A couple of them gasping at the mention of the battle.

"Now, into something I haven't discussed yet, our curriculum is broken into three parts. The first is classroom study, such as tardigrade research, the true history of the war, and super-power sciences." Brill said sliding over the class blackboard to reveal dates of tests and such.

In Lucas's old school these subjects were hardly covered, if at all. It was going to be a relief from the monotonous math classes and biology.

Many aspects of the history classes they received in the past were whitewashed, tailored perfectly for their small minds. Being able to hear the truth would open the eyes of many.

"From the desk to the battlefield, all of you are expected to be the best of the best. This is why we implemented a point system for each student. Simple yet effective, if you have negative points at the end of the quarter you are sent to work the most boring desk job we can muster" Brill said with a threatening tone. Each student here had been the top student so being sidelined was the ultimate punishment.

"The next two portions of our teachings will be during combat exercises and finally… live battlefield operations." Brill knew his responsibility as a captain to train these, for lack of better words, Children into elite spoilers.

'Half of these recruits look like they're fresh out of daycare, God damnit. I truly have my work cut out for me this year' Brill thought, feeling burdened by the responsibility to keep these 'children' alive for the next two years.

Lucas could already see a tired expression on his teacher's face as Lucas's eyes explored the classroom.

Posters of formations line the walls along with pictures of disassembled military weapons. The teacher's desk even displayed a vintage 1911 pistol inside a glass case.

"Today we will lightly cover our first unit of tardigrade history if you haven't already heard it," brill said. Collectively the entire class shook their head in bewilderment.

"Wow, they really teach you nothing these days, do they? Well, I will just skim the surface today" he said pulling down a chart.

"Well why don't we get start here then," he said, double taping the blackboard turning it into a screen.

What showed up on the screen was a freakishly long worm-like organism, the small creature didn't appear to have a mouth but instead, numerous small holes lined its body.

it was creepy, to say the least.

"This is a Radigrade, the likely reason that you haven't been shown this until now is probably due to a few contributing factors that- I won't get into" brill stated still clearly distraught about the fact they had never even seen one before.

"Regardless of ability each and every one of you currently houses a Radigrades inside of you, either living or dead," he said pausing.

"Later, when we start our Radigrades sciences you will become more familiar with the life cycles of these creatures as well as how your individual abilities are formed" brill switched the slide away from the microscopic view of the organism and showed the solar system.

"This is what we currently know about the origin of the Radigrades. The exact year is unknown but around twenty years ago Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Kuleshov was the first human to skim the clouds of Saturn and collect samples for study." The picture changed to a large spacecraft orbiting the gas giant.

'Are these Radigrades -alien organisms?' Lucas thought in bewilderment.

"During the six-month trip back nothing noteworthy happened. The problem arose when he returned to earth" the picture changed once again to a close-up image of a small metal tube.

"While conducting scientific research on the collected substance it was found that small amounts of trace organic material were detected"

The lights in the room turned dim as the screen started to play a video.

"Security footage of the incident was distributed hours after it happened- No one believed it of course"

The student soon found out why one of the researchers looking into a microscope suddenly sneezed…

...blowing up the entire room.

The scene played in slow motion as a wave of pressure flew across the room.

Most of the students cringed at the Gory scene of mutilated people, some missing limbs others just blown into a mist.

The video abruptly ended when the building started to collapse.

"Ground zero. The first known super was able to create a blast big enough to level the entire building. All known evidence of his body was vaporized after discharge."

'Wow- that's what it's like to have true power.' Lucas has seen some 'superheroes' on tv and most of them needed an instance of life or death to exude such a feat. But this man- he had done it so effortlessly, albeit killing himself in the process.

Lucas's eyes became fuzzy as he thought about his abilities and the harm they had caused. The dreams still plagued his mind years after the event.

To tell the truth, last night had been one of the rare occurrences when he had a pleasant dream. Hopefully, it wasn't the last.

------

The lecture continued for a few more hours, every student diligently taking notes on their school ids. One of the many useful features.

Clapping his hands brill said, "11 o'clock already. Lunch break, you all should know where the canteen is. We will reconvene in field 4 for your combat assessment in about an hour." brill sat down on his desk pulling out a sandwich and munching down.

Lucas and Allison left the classroom. Allison led the way, making sure Lucas was behind her every few seconds.

"What happened earlier this morning, I could have sworn you were behind me… but then you just vanished. And what up with the sudden bruise?" She was walking side by side with him at this point. Her voice showed concern, all of Lucas's problems would inevitably become hers too.

Although he felt shame about what happened he wasn't going to withhold the information from her.

"I got kneed in the gut and unceremoniously landed on my face," Lucas said rubbing his still sore stomach and lightly bruised head.

Allison's face reflected surprise "Did you see who it did?" she asked anxiously.

"No… they blended into the crowd as I fell onto the ground." He looked at the floor in embarrassment "I'm used to it, don't get too caught up on it"

Allison grabbed Lucas's hand, looking him in the face "I am truly sorry I wasn't there to help. After all, the instructor said we're each other's responsibility." She let go of him and said, "Tell me if it happens again, ill report it to Mr. Brill, He'll know what to do!" she looked smitten with admiration for the teacher.

'All he did was explain the origin of tardigrades, it's not like he cured cancer' Lucas thought as they continued down the hall.

Allison remained as close to Lucas as when she was being his crutch. She stuck to him like glue, determined to never lose points again from separation.

The duo looked like a passionate mom escorting her son through a field trip.

Lucas had to admit the decisions leading up to this point were the worse he had made in years...

'You have got to be kidding me, if I didn't already have a target on my back I 100% do now'

"Thanks, Allison for the help," he said through closed teeth, oozing sarcasm.

"Of course, Battle buddy, Hehe" Allison covered her mouth as she laughed.

Lucas on the outside was stoic, his sharp face was content. On the inside, he was a train wreck.

Lucas knew having the most attractive girl at the school attached to his arm didn't bode well for his 'fresh start' plan.

Metal lined the walls of the canteen, fluorescent ceiling lights lit up the long cafeteria tables full of rowdy students talking about their first day.

Both Lucas and Allison received meals from old-looking lunch ladies as they walked through the bulkhead.

Most tables in the middle were packed accommodating the soon-to-be popular kids, some people from the table tracked them with their eyes.

Allison guided them over to a corner table, sitting down.

"You need to give me a little personal space!" Lucas strained as he was struggling to breathe currently pushed between the table and the wall.

"Ooops, Sorry about that" Allison finally let him rest from the overbearing protection.

The food they had received was a mess of meat and vegetables drenched in brown sauce, on the side they had gotten an excruciatingly dry piece of bread along with butter and a drink.

"You need to tell me a little more about yourself, I was waiting the entire ride for a chance to ask some questions. Now that we are kind of forced to be together…" Allison asked in a pleading tone, all resemblance of the fierce protector gone.

Taking in a deep breath Lucas decided to disclose some of his life to her. It always pained him to think about his past but… Talking about it was going to be even harder.

"I can tell your struggling; you don't have to tell me now. I can wait" Allison said apologetically, noticing the uncomfortable scrunch in Lucas's facial expressions.

"no, your- your right." Lucas said flatly. His thought process revolved around the necessary team trust needed between the two.

'Am I seriously about to tell someone I genuinely met a day ago… what I've done' Lucas thought that if anyone was going to be empathetic it would be Allison.

"Have you ever…" Lucas said in a low tone, stopping mid-sentence to think about backing out.

"Go on… I'm not going anywhere anytime soon" Allison said reassuringly.

"Have you ever, killed someone?"