Chapter 2

"WAKE UP!" The voice was like a thunderclap in Saric's ears, startling him out of the half doze he had fallen into.

"Sorry, Mr. Roe."

"No, I suppose it is I who should apologize," Roe said, in a soft, malignant purr, "You must obviously know these simple equations forward and backward, for them to be old enough to bore you to sleep. Let me see if we can't give you something suitably stimulating. And since you are so knowledgeable, let's make this question count for your first test. I wouldn't want to bore you with it."

Roe began writing on the chalkboard, and Saric's eyes widened. The bastard wanted him to factor a fourth degree polynomial. Saric concealed a sneer of contempt for this so-called math teacher, walked up to the blackboard, and calmly proceeded to solve the problem. The task was lengthy, but hardly difficult, so long as one knew what one was doing. Saric's objection to the problem came in that there was no way in hell that particular type of math problem would have been taught in this grade level.

"Very good, Mr. Kelvrosa," Roe said grudgingly, "I suppose that gets you an A on the first test. But you still had the discourtesy to fall asleep in my classroom. One week, detention as punishment!"

Saric walked back towards his seat, slowly growing more and more infuriated with this fool. He was about to say something, but before he had a chance, Elaine started speaking on his behalf. He winced at her choice of words.

"Oh, I see. He reverses your little trap, so you punish him for knowing the subject you claim to teach in more detail than you currently teach it? You self-important, hypocritical, son of a-"

"ENOUGH!" Roe's voice nearly shook the room with its volume, "Ms. Derras, if you feel that strongly about Mr. Kelvrosa, perhaps you should join him. One week, detention!"

School had been in session for a few days, and Saric had already come to loathe Roe. If a more boring way to teach math could be invented, the man would probably invent it. For his part, Roe seemed to sense Saric's disdain, and had attempted, unsuccessfully, to embarrass him. Saric was always the one called upon to explain a new concept or solve a new problem. Saric imagined that would probably stop, now that he had demonstrated his knowledge in an adequate manner, but he was fairly certain Roe would find other ways to make the first hour of the morning unpleasant. These thoughts brought Saric to the end of the lecture hour. Dutifully, he copied down his homework and packed his newly received math book into his backpack. Remembering Elaine's attempt to intervene on his behalf, Saric waited just outside the door, stepping up to speak with her as she left the foul room.

"Thanks, Elaine. I'm sorry you got stuck with detention on my account."

"Not a problem. I wager we'll both be seeing a fair amount of the detention room, though. I'm a rebel, and that idiot seems to have declared a personal vendetta against you."

"Well then, if he's going to make our lives miserable regardless of how we behave, we'll just have to do our best to return the favor."

"Saric, I like that idea quite a bit."

Smiling, the two walked into the history classroom. An elaborate table of events was drawn on the chalkboard. Saric looked closely at it, and saw that it chronicled the first few weeks after the apocalypse. Saric saw Dennis and waved, but he was given no chance to speak with his friend, for class began at that moment.

"Good morning, class. Welcome again to History. Today we'll continue our analysis of the events immediately after the apocalypse itself. To review, the mutation virus moved with an incredible rapidity, such that, before most Americans even turned on the evening news and were made aware of the outbreak, they had already been infected. Nearly the entire globe had been affected before the first week was over. The mutation, as you are aware, does not fully take hold until the infection has run its course. Therefore, it was a few days more before the globe realized just what had happened. Reacting with utmost haste, most countries immediately declared martial law. For the more war-torn, this measure was not sufficient to curb immediate chaos. Most of Arabia and Africa were depopulated before a month had passed, as already warring groups were suddenly given access to potent destructive Gifts. Troops in America were working around the clock to attempt to restore order, and, amazingly, they even succeeded temporarily. The most powerfully Gifted were rounded up by the government and offered incredibly high sums of money to become agents for Uncle Sam. Those who refused were tagged with a radio tracking device, given a lump sum payment to apologize for the invasion of privacy, and allowed to go back to their lives until such time as they became a threat. Other countries adapted the same tactic, to what appeared to be great success. We will discuss just why the group of super-Gifted government agents, which became known as the "Gift Corps", failed in most countries tomorrow. Are there any questions?

Saric raised his hand.

"Yes, Saric?"

"How was it that these highly Gifted individuals were rounded up?" he asked, surprised that Ms. Taggert had already learned his name, "I have a hard time picturing them all going along peacefully, then turning the government down."

"Good question, Saric. Actually, most of the Gifted had already had extensive background checks performed upon them. Those who were felt to be unlikely to cooperate were not given the chance. They were shot with tranquilizer darts, and taken to a government facility while they were unconscious. Needless to say, this method did not win the government any friends."

Another student, whose name Saric could not remember, shot his hand shot up.

"Yes, John?"

"Did the tracking device work on everyone? It would seem to me that most people would be rather offended at having machinery implanted in them."

"Very good, John. We'll get into that subject in more detail tomorrow."

Another student raised her hand.

"Yes, Laurie?"

"Why didn't the government just kill those who didn't agree to follow them?"

"They couldn't have kept it secret, and once word got out, the entire nation would have turned against them, including the people who had signed on as members of the Gift Corps."

Dennis raised his hand, nearly hitting another student with his wing as he did so.

"Yes, Dennis? Please be more careful with your wings."

"Sorry, Ms. Taggert. I'm still getting used to them. At any rate, how were these tracking devices supposed to be useful? Knowing where someone like that was hardly seems conducive to ensuring they didn't cause havoc."

"The government assumed that, by knowing where these individuals were, they could prepare the Gift Corps in the event of a confrontation. To be frank, the government was full of a bunch of arrogant fools, who alternated between believing themselves invincible and believing that people were docile, easily-led sheep. I'd like to answer more questions, but I'm afraid we're out of time for today. Have a good day, class, and I'll see you tomorrow."

Kentaro was waiting for the trio at the door to the history room. Saric noted that he looked rather upset, and went ahead of the others to see if he could be of assistance.

"Hey, Kentaro, what's wrong?"

"That hiretsukan, Roe."

"I'll agree with you that he's a mean bastard, but what did he do?"

"He has given me detention for one week, because I ask too many questions!"

"But Kentaro, you're good at math."

"I was hoping to get him to adequately explain the concepts he claims to teach to those who are less skilled."

"Well, about the only good news I can give you is that you'll have plenty of company in the detention room."

"Oh?"

"Elaine and I both have a week of detention."

"What pathetic excuse did he give for assigning it to you two?"

"I fell asleep in class, so he tried to trip me up with a math trap. When I turned the tables on him by solving his little equation, he retaliated with a week of detention. Elaine got her week for trying to defend me."

"I sorrow for your misfortune."

"These things happen."

"Besides," Elaine interjected, "we'll find a way to make it up to him."

"Please inform me if I can be of assistance."

"Certainly"

Dennis looked slightly uncomfortable. "Any chance I might manage to avoid detention, you think?'

"With Fishman Roe as your teacher? Don't hold your breath," Saric replied.

"Ah well, at least I'll be in good company."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"By the way, I found out a bit more about how my wings work. According to Mr. Conner, I manipulate magnetic fields with them, and that, not my muscles, is what gives me the ability to fly. Unfortunately, until I get the hang of it, I'm still going to be getting very sore in Gift Dev."

"I hope you figure it out soon, then," Saric replied.

The conversation had carried the three to the gym, where they separated to go to their respective lockers. Saric detested the change of uniform, along with the mandatory shower. He was particularly vexed about it because his particular regime did not require any physical activity, and even more annoyed by the fact that he would be required to go through the same procedure again later in the day. The school board had liked Kentaro's idea so much that they had hastily rearranged the schedule to include a mandatory martial arts class for all students immediately prior to community service. 7th graders were given a brief tour of each style presented, and then asked to select a major style to continue learning in 8th grade and beyond. The program was quickly expanding, and Saric suspected some form of martial arts training would soon become mandatory for every citizen in the town. With a shrug and a grimace, he changed clothes.

Cameron seemed to have something new in mind today, as he had posted a sign on the locker doors telling each student not to bother bringing out their training materials. Saric was uncertain whether to greet this new development with cheer or dread, and half hesitantly went out onto the blacktop. He was among the last to arrive, and Cameron began speaking shortly after he joined the group.

"I'd like to congratulate all of you on your improvements with your Gifts over the past few days. In just a short time, many of you have gained incredible skill. Now, the time has come to put that skill to a practical use. Each week, we will have a set of sparring contests between two randomly paired individuals. Your tactics MUST center on your Gift. I realize this may be difficult for those of you who do not have combat oriented Gifts, but the exercise in imagination will do you good, and if you can't come up with anything, we'll discuss ideas after class. Today will be non-graded, although I will give extra credit to the best uses of Gift. In the future, you will be graded based on effort, with a small amount of extra credit awarded the winner of each contest. The object of the contest is to place your opponent in a situation where they have no choice but to yield. Do not, for any reason, cause actual harm to your opponent. The matches will be held one at a time, and I will be monitoring closely, to suppress if need be. Now, unless there are any questions," Cameron paused briefly, and, getting no response, continued, "let the tournament begin! First pairing, Elaine Derras and Sonya Brown. For those of you who do not know, their Gifts are impersonation and rapid bloom. Good luck to the both of you!"

Saric was surprised. Neither Elaine nor Sonya had particularly combat oriented Gifts, and he was uncertain how they planned to fight. Sonya made the first move, reaching inside her pocket and scattering a handful of seeds. Before they hit the ground, they were growing. Within a few seconds, they were full sized thorn bushes. Sonya had scattered them in a circle, and was now protected behind a wall of brambles. Elaine didn't wait for her to take the offensive. Swiftly, she shimmered into the form of a hulking brute of a man, and then she charged the brambles, knocking them down with little apparent effort. This was unsurprising, since they had not managed to get their roots through the hard asphalt, and were thus none too firmly anchored. Sonya scattered another handful of seeds, but even as she did, Elaine shimmered again. Few people recognized the woman she changed into, but apparently, Sonya did. Her second wave of plants stopped growing immediately. Elaine did not give her a chance to recover. Within a few seconds, Sonya found herself gripped gently by the throat. Cameron's whistle ended the contest.

"Victory, Elaine! I'm not sure I understood your last move, Miss Derras. Would you care to explain?"

"I know Sonya. More importantly, I know her family. I took her mother's form for a few seconds. The shock, combined with a natural instinct not to harm one's parents under most circumstances, stopped her dead in her tracks for the few moments necessary to grant me victory."

"VERY creative, Miss Derras. Five points extra credit. Miss Brown, in the future, please try not to freeze when the enemy surprises you."

"Yes, sir," Sonya seemed to still be rather shaken by the events.

A few more rounds cycled by until Saric's turn came up. He was paired off against a girl who conjured winds. Her Gift was not strong enough to knock him off his feet, but he had to admit, the dust storm she stirred up worked remarkably well to obscure his vision. But even as he was clearing the dust from his eyes, he was talking to her.

"You don't really want to fight me, do you? I'd really prefer if we could just be friends. This tournament isn't all that serious, you know. Let's just call a draw to it, before someone gets hurt, accidentally." His words, enhanced by the full strength of his charismatic Gift, slowed her down in indecision. He chose that moment to strike, and soon had her pinned to the ground.

"Victory, Saric! Good job with the distraction speech."

"It was the only way I could think of to put my Gift to combative use."

"You didn't quite earn extra credit, but you did win the match. Well done! I'd like to give you a word of advice, though. You had friends watching this fight. In the future, efforts directed at them might prove more fruitful."

"Sir, using others to fight for me comes too close to Marcon for my comfort."

"I know this may sound harsh, but I don't really care about your comfort, Mister Kelvrosa. What I am interested in is your ability to survive. You should be treating this like a life and death battle with evil incarnate. In the future, I expect you to use your abilities in ANY way that may lend you an advantage. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, as Neistchze said, 'when fighting monsters, one must make sure he himself does not become a monster; for when you gaze into the abyss... The abyss gazes into you.'"

"Neistchze also said 'that which does not kill us, makes us stronger'"

"But what price does that strength demand? I would rather be a dead human than a living fiend."

"And would you sacrifice the entire town, if need be, to preserve your morals? You may be called upon to defend it at some point, Saric," Cameron's voice, surprisingly, was very calm. He seemed to be genuinely interested in discussing the problem, rather than angry with a recalcitrant student.

"Better, sir, to let go of that which I hold dear, rather than destroy it myself. If we sacrifice our humanity in the name of security, then that which we are defending becomes unworthy of defense. It is transformed into blight on the lands that the rest of humanity is better off extinguishing."

"Don't you think that's just a little melodramatic?"

"No sir, no more than your suggestion that my coercion might make the difference in a battle. If war comes to our town, none of our citizens will need me to force them to fight."

"And if the town is divided in Civil War?"

"You seem quite fond of the word if. If we start trying to prepare for every eventuality, we'll spend all our time preparing, only to be taken by surprise when something we never considered comes into the picture. If the town is divided in Civil War, I will be trying to mend the wound by talking to those responsible, not adding more fuel to the fire. If one side is obviously wrong, they are unlikely to have a great number of followers. If, as is more often the case, both sides have their rights and wrongs, I can probably smooth things out with words and Gift."

"Good, next student."

"You're just going to let it drop?"

"I was never arguing for myself, Mister Kelvrosa. I wanted to make certain you knew why you were committing yourself to a particular code before you did so."

"You certainly could have fooled me, particularly at first."

"Saric, I've only known you a few days, but already, I know you well enough to know you wouldn't just back down when I was putting that much effort into being an annoying ass," at this, Cameron laughed. Saric found himself laughing alongside the man.

The matches continued, with some impressive and some not-so impressive demonstrations of Gift. The last match was something of a surprise to Saric.

"Kentaro Ishida and Dennis Klein."

"Come on, Mister Cameron, how can you expect me to compete against HIM? Aside from the fact that Kentaro is a friend of mine, you'll blow your whistle, and before I can so much as blink, his hand will be around my throat!" Dennis protested.

"You have a point, Mister Klein. Realize that in real battle, this would never happen, but since there is no training involved for either of you in the scenario you just described, I will grant you a 5 second lead."

"Thank you, Mister Cameron."

What followed was a very convoluted round that took so long that it actually made the entire class late for lunch. Dennis launched himself into the air and was out of reach by the time Kentaro reached the spot where he had been standing. Kentaro stopped moving completely, and sat down, his eyes never leaving Dennis. Dennis flew up to the top of the school building and perched there. Kentaro stood up and engaged his full speed to climb up the stairs, but the moment he started moving, Dennis was in the air again. Kentaro reached the roof, to find it empty. He sat down again, once more fixing his eyes on Dennis. Dennis promptly flew to the highest tree on campus and sat in one of the upper limbs. Kentaro was after him and climbing the tree in a flash, but once again, he was too late. It kept up like that for quite some time, and finally, Cameron was forced to declare a draw.

"Had this been a real battle, gentlemen, you might have tried throwing things at each other. However, since it was not, I am pleased that you didn't attempt to do so. I will make a note in my files never to pair the two of you up again. All right, ladies and gentlemen," Cameron continued, addressing the rest of the class, "hit the showers!"

A chorus of groans greeted him, but all the students grimly filed back to the locker rooms to get that particular unpleasantness out of the way. Saric grumbled to himself all the while.

Elaine smiled. No one had noticed. She supposed she ought not to be doing this, but she saw the opportunity and just couldn't pass it up. She looked around upon entering the locker room, seeing a cement floor, upon which rested rows upon rows of lockers with benches in between them. The lockers were painted in the schools secondary color, gold. They were gaudy, but better, at least from the perspective of the boys who used them, than the royal purple that was the primary. To her right, she saw a large tiled area taking up about half of the room. The showers. To her left, a large glass window looked in on Cameron's office. At the other end of the room, a closed door led to the gym.

Unsure of what to do at this point, Elaine simply stood in an out of the way spot and enjoyed the scenery. Her eyes automatically sought out the three boys she had come to know in the last few days, since everyone else in the room was a total stranger to her. There was Saric, not overly muscled, but somehow irresistibly sexy. His eyes had a way of grabbing her, and she could no more refuse their pull than she could refuse to breathe. And there was Kentaro, looking like he'd spent his life in a gym. The expression on his face was one of a person who had just awakened in a particularly good mood. Refreshed, happy, and eager to face the world. And Dennis. He seemed so innocent with the water cascading down upon his torso. His eyes were closed, and he had a slight smile on his face. His wings positively gleamed with the water from the shower. Elaine realized that, of the trio, she knew him least. She would have to remedy that, when the opportunity presented itself.

Hoping to escape unnoticed, Elaine worked her way towards the door, still in the guise of a very ordinary looking boy. Her luck, however, had worn out. A very large, very nude boy caught her before she had a chance to escape.

"You know the rules, no leaving without the shower. If everyone else has to, you do, too."

Elaine blushed slightly, but she wasn't overly concerned. It wasn't like she was using her OWN body, so being nude in front of all these boys was really no big deal. Repeating that to herself helped. With some degree of shyness, she stripped and entered the shower.

Being male had never bothered Elaine before, but she had never really NOTICED her assumed masculinity before. Now she was confronted with it. Worse yet, the close proximity of all these genuine males was arousing her, and she found, much to her dismay, just how overtly a man's body responded to that arousal. The teasing that resulted from that arousal was quite lengthy, and Elaine was crimson before the guys relented. Just as she was breathing a sigh of relief, Saric came up to her.

"Sorry about the others. I know how har... difficult it is to be in that particular situation."

"Thanks, Saric."

"No proble... wait a second. I don't know you. I've never seen you, and I am absolutely certain you aren't in Gift Development class this period; so who are you and how do you know my... name. Elaine," he had been speaking in a normal voice, but thankfully, he dropped to a whisper when he identified her. She was still mortally embarrassed. She briefly considered flight, but realized that in the time it would take her to dress, that option would almost certainly be removed from her. Certain she would die of humiliation, she nodded.

"What are you doing in here?" Saric whispered.

"I... came to... err..."

"Never mind, I think I can guess. I should probably be upset, but heaven knows if I had your Gift, I'd be using it in the same manner."

Saric had tried to be discreet, but Dennis and Kentaro had noticed his absence, and had overheard the last few exchanges. Neither one was stupid, and both guessed what was going on with an amazing rapidity. Huddling near the still furiously blushing Elaine, each offered calming words, then, when it seemed she had managed to pull herself together, turned and got dressed. Elaine remained frozen for a moment more, then turned to her own clothing. She had never before been so glad to don it. She was also glad she had decided to wear clothing she could don in the men's locker room without ridicule. Shifting back into her own form, once she found a suitably private area, was one of the best feelings in the world.

Though the four sat together at lunch, by unspoken agreement, they avoided the subject of Elaine's adventure. Searching for a safer topic, they meandered for a while in their conversation, not really saying anything, until Dennis made a suggestion.

"We all have the same classes. Why don't we get together and help each other out? I'm not so confident of my skills in math that I want Roe teaching me."

"That could be useful. You three would be of great assistance to me in my English project. When Mr. James found out I was bilingual, he gave me a yearlong project: an elementary Japanese primer for English speaking students. I desperately need some help from people who do not speak my native tongue."

"English is going to be hell. He assigned me a yearlong project of finding out, and writing a paper on, how exactly my wings work," Dennis added.

"Ouch. I got a report on Charismatic people. Thusfar, all I have is the title, 'Charismatic Leaders Throughout the Ages: Use and Abuse of Influence'. How about you, Elaine?"

"The Rise of Gifts, and their effect upon the world at large, and the medical world in specific."

"At least he sets aside time each day to discuss our projects with him," Saric added.

"And spends the rest of the time assigning us his categorized work," Elaine interjected, shimmering into Mr. James' form and continuing, "'Those of you in category 1, turn to page 224 and begin working on the problems presented there. Those of you in category 2, do the same on page 317. Those of you in category 3 start or continue working on a 5-page essay. Those of you in category 4 start or continue working on a 10-page essay with at least 5 sources. Those of you in category 5, start or continue working on a 15-page essay with at least 10 sources. Those of you above category 5, work either on your 12-week papers or your yearlong papers. Remember, in all essay papers, quality is more important than quantity, and a dearth of the latter will be tolerated if it is balanced by a bountiful supply of the former. As always, I will be coming around to help you in any way that I can."

"Please Elaine, it's bad enough we have to hear it from him, without you reciting it verbatim," Dennis groaned.

"If I had known what awaited those who scored well on that second test, I would have answered every question in grammatically horrendous Japanese," Kentaro added.

"Welcome to the 'above category 5' club," Saric said with a laugh that sounded slightly forced.

"It doesn't help that the four of us are the only ones in the entire class to be placed there. For that matter, why can't he just call us category 6?" Elaine asked.

"Don't ask me. So it's agreed that we should meet on the weekends to deal with these academic problems?" Dennis asked.

"Agreed. But when do we meet, and where?" Saric queried.

"How about your house, Saric?" Dennis suggested.

"It's a bit out of the way. I can run there in a few seconds, and you can fly, but Elaine would have to settle for walking," Kentaro objected.

"I've been thinking about that, actually," Dennis said, an intrigued expression coming over his face, "Elaine, you can take on any human form, complete with all abilities, right?"

"Yes, with the exception of Gift."

"What about if the Gift is a part of the form?"

Elaine looked confused for a moment, then glanced at Dennis, comprehension dawning, "I see what you're saying, Dennis. It might work, but it would probably be very awkward."

"Yes, but think how much time it would save," Dennis responded.

"There is that, though it would deprive me of some of the exercises that help me survive a certain sadistic martial arts instructor, who shall remain nameless, Kentaro."

"If you think I am sadistic, you should have seen the amount of practice I was required to do as a child," Kentaro responded, "and regarding flying, I think it would be a good thing to look into it. In an emergency situation, flight could be quite useful. You saw how Dennis was able to score a draw with me by judicious use of his wings."

"You'll want to have lots of practice, Elaine. The first time I tried it, I got five feet off the ground before promptly crashing into a wall. I suggest large, open fields, like the track here at school," Dennis added.

"Thanks. I'll have to try that. In the meantime, if I am not ready in time, I can always walk to your house, Saric. Where is it?"

"I'd better write down the directions. You'll probably need some help from Dennis if you plan to find it from the air."

"I doubt I'll be up to flying any distance by this weekend, so we can worry about that later. What time, and what day, should we meet?"

"How about Saturday at two?" Saric suggested, "That gives us plenty of time to get things done."

The group agreed, and spent another few minutes in idle conversation before the bell summoned them to their next class. Dennis grimaced, and headed off towards math class. Saric, Elaine and Kentaro greeted science class with a good deal more enthusiasm.

Science class was divided into five seven-week sections. This particular section dealt with anatomy. Saric felt no great thrill for the subject, but it was more interesting than it might otherwise have been, because Mr. Conner seemed to be more interested in abnormal anatomy than in explaining the names of every muscle and bone in the standard human body. The board today announced the topic as Physical Gifts. Saric looked over at Joe, an acquaintance of his who happened to have gills, who had just gone to the front of the room. Saric's arched eyebrow got him an explanation.