Sarah laced up her soccer cleats. They were brand new and not broken in at all. Her feet had grown enough she had needed to purchase a new pair. She touched the pink ankle limiter. She could hear the other girls talking in the change room. They were speaking in German and she understood every single word. German was rarely spoken these days except for families who had survived the 1942 Event. There was a concentrated effort to keep the language alive. The majority of Germans who survived were soldiers and civilians who had been moved into captured territories. The Germans of this world were far different then then the one’s Sarah knew. They were the remnants of a lost people. The majority of the survivors were Nazis and the crimes that they had committed were neatly covered up by a massive zone of death that destroyed everything except for buildings. Most of the girls were blonde haired and blue eyed. She didn’t stand apart. Her enchantment had faded enough that she was back to her blonde-haired self. Apparently, hair dye spells weren’t as effective on her. Beyond her almost silver eyes she didn’t stand out much. Sarah wasn’t a fan of the new Germans. They still espoused racial purity. The idea had not died in WW2. Not that it had ever died in her world, but this lot was a whole new level. The whole conversation made her feel ill.

“At least this new one looks pure.”

“Except she’s a freak.”

“You’re just jealous because you’re a PL1 and couldn’t get into the Academy.”

“I wonder if she has any skill whatsoever. I’m tired of getting shackled with losers from the Academy because they don’t have a team and need to be socialized.”

“MacCloud at least it’s not a Jewish name.”

“They wouldn’t send one of those here. I saw a crucifix. She is Catholic.”

“Good, she will fit in nicely. Still not sure if it’s a girl though.”

Sarah walked around the lockers and spoke in German.

“I was MVP for my team last year and I was captain, and we won the state championship. Is that good enough for you? Or should I be wearing a swastika and a black two-finger mustache?”

Sarah shook her head and walked towards the pitch. The four German teenager girls looked at each other eyes a bit wider. Sarah ignored them and walked out onto the pitch. It was a sunny fall day. Still warm. It was different then the campus. Natural. No wall of shadow on the horizon. She breathed in the fresh air. Not that it was terribly fresh they were middle of a city of fifteen million people. She looked up at the flags that flew over the school. The German flag was the black red and gold from her world but in the left top corner was a swastika. She frowned. She wasn’t sure she could manage to stomach this just to play soccer. Dying in 1942 had turned Hitler and the Nazi leadership into martyrs on Earth-Prime. The Germans held them in the kind of regard Americans hold Lincoln. The coach waved her over when she saw Sarah. Sarah ran over. She spoke in heavily accent English.

“You are Sara MacCloud?”

Sarah nodded and responded in German.

“Ma’am, I speak fluent German.”

The coach smiled and nodded and responded in German.

“That is good, my English is not so good.”

Sarah nodded.

“I spoke to your Headmistress and she told me you were an experienced soccer player and that you were skilled. Also, that you were center-forward and captain of your team?”

“Yes ma’am”

“Well, we will see how you do there.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Get warmed up.”

Sarah nodded and started doing her stretches. The rest of the team caught up to her. The practice went as Sarah was used to practices going. The other girls tried to be a bit rough with her. She was big enough to give as good as she got. She was also skilled enough to stand out at the end of the two-hour practice she was already being treated with more respect. Her ability to speak German had gone a long way to ingratiate her to the rest of the team and the coaches. It had also given them the false belief she also shared their beliefs on race and religion. Sarah was pulling her cleats off two of the girls from the team had come around to chat with her while everyone got changed. She knew their names at least, one was Karin, the other was Elke. They, like the rest of the team were fair haired and had light-colored eyes. Elke glanced at Sarah.

“Sara are you going right back home, or do you want to come out with us for supper?”

Sarah glanced down at her holo-tablet it was seven thirty. She technically had an hour before she was required to report to the teleportation circle. She knew she was long past supper at the school and the practice and her medication wearing off had left her feeling starved. She gave a practiced smile.

“I have an hour before I have to report to the teleportation circle. I would love to.”

Once everyone was changed the girls led Sarah to a nearby restaurant. It was small and cozy. Sarah shouldn’t have been shocked but there it was, a full-on Nazi flag hanging from one of the walls. It looked old. The girls were seated right away Elke ordered a beer. She was sixteen. Sarah went with water. Sarah was amazed at how easy it was for her to understand the menu. She ordered sausage and sauerkraut. The others ordered similar items. Sarah felt like she was in one of the old WW2 movies she’d watched. The restaurant looked like it hadn’t changed much since the 1940’s. No TVs, Nazi flag. The only hint they weren’t there was her own holo-tablet wristband and the girls who had their phones nearby.

“Sara, you grew up in the United States?”

Sarah nodded as she sipped her water.

“Well, I moved there when I was six.”

“Must have been difficult with such diversity around you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean all the other races of course.”

Karin nodded.

“How did you stay sane?”

Sarah took a long drink of her water, so she didn’t berate her new ‘friends’. Fighting systemic racism in a place where the biggest racist of all time was considered a national hero was a pointless battle for a fourteen-year-old girl so she did her best to try not to offend the girls.

“It wasn’t that much different from Scotland.”

“Oh yes, all the immigration, I’m so glad we have laws in place.”

“Well, I grew up in a different environment. I am used to dealing with people from diverse backgrounds. It doesn’t bother me as much as it bothers you.”

The girls nodded. Elke took a drink of her beer. Karin smiled.

“I think you will fit in with the team very well. You seem to be very good at Soccer.”

Sarah nodded.

“I like ice hockey better, but that doesn’t start until winter.”

“Oh, you know we have a girl’s hockey team too. Are you going to be playing with us?”

“I think my Headmistress already sent my intent to play that as well.”

Karin smiled broadly.

“Do you have a phone?”

“I do but mostly it seems to be a paper weight after I got this.”

She held up her wrist and pointed at the holo-tablet.

“Oh, what is that? Is that new style handy?”

Sarah couldn’t translate the last word.

“What is a handy?”

Karin held up her phone. Sarah laughed and shook her head.

“I guess actually it sort of is, its like an all in one.”

She tapped it and it brought up a holographic projection and she flipped it so Karin could see it. Both girls stared at it with wide eyes. Elke took a long drink from her beer and put the empty mug down.

“What is that?”

“The company that makes them calls them a holo-tablet.”

She tapped her wrist band and the projection vanished.

“They gave them to all of us Grade 9’s at the academy instead of normal tablets. It works like a video phone and computer. Basically, it’s all in one. I have no idea how it works. I’m friends with one of the people who helped make it, but she can’t explain it in terms I understand.”

“Who makes them? Where can you buy them?”

“I think Holo Inc is the company. They’re based in Munich; I don’t know there was a book with them had a blurb about them I have no idea where I put it.”

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Elke picked up her phone and did a quick search. She found it and her eyes went wide. She showed her phone to Sarah and the price tag was large.

“They just gave them too you?”

Sarah nodded.

“Apparently, they code to your DNA and are useless to anyone else. Really neat but I mean what if you want to sell it and buy a newer model? You know I think there was a code in the book to give out so friends and family can get a discount.”

Elke and Karin both perked up at the word discount. Their conversation was interrupted when the food arrived. The server replaced Elke’s beer without asking. Sarah started eating hers like she was starving. Elke and Karin didn’t pay her eating habits too much mind as they both started eating theirs. Sarah tried to hide her disgust as her eyes randomly hit the Nazi flag. Karin noticed.

“Is your food alright Sara?”

“It’s good.”

“What is bothering you?”

Sarah sighed.

“It’s hard to explain. Homesick I think is the best thing to describe it as.”

Karin nodded. Sarah finished her food off. She glanced up at the flag again. How much could she compromise to play the sports she loved. She desperately wanted to rip it down and yell at everyone that they need to snap out of it. Sarah finished her water and her watch started vibrating.

“Sorry I need to get back to school.”

“Oh, take our numbers. What is yours?”

Sarah typed the numbers into her tablet and provided her contact information.

“It was nice to meet you both see you at practice on Thursday.”

They both waved to Sarah who waved back. Sarah walked to the bar tender and swiped her wrist band to pay. It worked as well as her phone.

“Have a good evening, young lady.”

“You to.”

Sarah walked out into early Autumn evening. Her car was waiting. She got in and the driver started off down the road. She watched the buildings of Munich flash past. She felt the need to move suddenly so she did, and she felt something brush past her neck. She couldn’t see the arm, but she grabbed it and twisted it back towards whomever was sitting beside her. They shimmered into existence with a needle sticking out of their neck. It was a woman who was smaller than her. She saw a gun under the woman’s jacket. Sarah grabbed it and turned the safety off. The driver looked in the back seat his eyes were wide when he saw the pistol in Sarah’s hand. Sarah pointed the gun towards him.

“What is going on?”

“I don’t know anything.”

Sarah’s sixth sense was flaring up she moved to the side and another invisible person, a man this time, shimmered into existence. He had a gun in his hand. She let her body take over. It grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm until the gun fell to the floor of the back seat. She flipped the seat switch to fold it forward with her right foot and slammed the person in the passenger seat into the dashboard with her left foot. When the man who had been invisible sat up, her right hand gripped his neck so hard, he started to gasp. She put the gun to the driver’s head. She felt her fingers and thumb press against the veins in the invisible man’s neck and forced them down.

“MANA headquarters.”

The driver turned the car around the man in the seat in front of her struggled but eventually fell unconscious. Sarah while holding the gun to the driver’s head took the seat belt that the invisible man had not been wearing and looped at round his neck then his wrists and tied it around the head rest. If he struggled he’d end up choking himself out again with the knot she had tied the driver used the distraction to try and grab the gun Sarah hit him in the cheek with it causing him to cry out and spit out blood. She was so pumped with adrenaline she still wasn’t processing exactly what she was doing. The invisible man woke up and immediate started choking himself as he struggled. He knocked himself out again by constricting his airway. Sarah loosened the belt on his neck so he wouldn’t die. The car pulled up the gate and seeing the gun the guards immediately took up defensive stances with their assault rifles pointed at all the occupants and a super who was fire based started to float in front of the car hands glowing with blue flame.

“Put your gun down!”

Sarah threw it out the rear window and put her hands up. The driver tried to peel out back wards Sarah punched him in the side of the head. The car rolled to a stop and the man’s head hit the steering wheel and the horn started blaring. The invisible man vanished but she could hear him start to choak out again as he struggled to get free. He became visible when he went unconscious again. The MANA guards started pulling people out of the car. They called for medical for the woman who had been injected with the mystery substance. They put hand cuffs on everyone, even Sarah.

“Careful the passengers can turn invisible.”

They put more durable limiters on the other three went to put one on Sarah and stopped when the saw she already had one. One pulled out a tablet and scanned it.

“She’s a student from the Academy. She’s been flagged.”

Soon afterwards she found herself being helped up and her handcuffs removed. Another car arrived shortly afterwards. Same make, model and color. Same markings. Sarah rubbed her wrists and looked at the three on the ground. From what she could tell from the conversations going on around her they were all rogue supers who were wanted on numerous terrorism charges. She stood there for about fifteen minutes before someone escorted her inside. It was the fire super that had been hovering in front of the car. She had a holo-tablet on her wrist as well. The woman motioned for Sarah to follow her and they walked past the gate and towards the main transport hub. She had dusky skin and dark hair. If Sarah had to guess she was from India, her accent proved it.

“Sarah, so glad you were able to make it back to us in one piece. I’m Agent Mallick. Could you tell me what happened?”

Sarah noticed the recording light was flashing on the Agent’s wristband.

“I don’t know. I called for a car to pick me up. My holo-tablet buzzed telling me they were arriving, I got in then was attacked by an invisible woman with a needle. Something seemed off and after I struggled with the woman the needle ended up in her neck and I got her gun. Then I knocked out the other invisible person and tied him up and forced the driver to bring me here.”

“We did not receive any pings on your limiter showing power use. You did all that without powers?”

Sarah shrugged.

“I’ve been taking martial arts for a while. And I grew up in the US, guns are part of the culture there. I honestly don’t think any of them was expecting resistance.”

“Impressive, taking down three supers with no powers.”

“Being invisible and stuck in a car really isn’t much of a power.”

Agent Mallick laughed and nodded.

“True. Let’s get you back to the school.”

Sarah swept her wrist band and walked into the transit center. She walked into the appropriate teleport circle and found herself back at the transit center for the Academy and Misha standing there with three other security personal looking like he was getting ready to invade the MANA headquarters. She smiled and waved at him.

“Sarah where have you been?”

“Sorry wrong car picked me up. It’s all good now.”

He pulled his tactical helmet off and motioned for the other to head back out.

“You had us worried.”

“I’m good. Everything is fine.”

“That usually means the exact opposite when my daughter is speaking.”

Sarah gave a small shrug and her best innocent smile. She followed them out to their SUV and they drove her down the road to the school. Sarah kept her mouth shut the whole ride to avoid saying something compromising. When they arrived at the dorm Sarah picked up her bag and got out.

“Thank you, Misha.”

He waved. Sarah walked up the steps and inside. A full five minutes before she had to be back. She trudged up the steps and to her shared room. When she got inside, she was shocked to see an extra face. She blinked because it was like she was looking at younger, and female Misha. The group was sitting in the couches on either side of the relic of a coffee table. They were laughing and giggling. They were so into their conversation they didn’t notice a quiet Sarah walking across the floor. She opened her door and shut it behind her soon realizing that her room had changed. It was the most spacious of the four rooms and had more than enough space for the extra bed and desk. She had assumed it used to hold two people still she was a bit shocked to see the extra furniture and belongings. She was thankful she’d cleaned up her side of the room when avoiding homework, the day before. She threw her bag on her desk and flopped into the bed fully clothed. Her watched buzzed and she groaned. She tapped her wristband and looked up. Shower – 20 mins. She pushed herself up and pulled her clothes off and tossed them into her dirty basket. She pulled her bathrobe on and picked up her towel and shower kit and walked out of the room. It was during a lull in the conversation and they noticed her this time. Young female Misha rushed over and offered her hand.

“Hi, you must be Sarah, I’m Sasha. Your new bunkmate.”

Sarah took it and shook it.

“Welcome to the Academy, you must be Misha’s daughter.”

Sasha blushed and nodded. Sarah motioned to the shared bathroom.

“Need to shower and get cleaned up, have an assignment.”

Sarah waved to the rest of the girls and stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water. She heard footsteps on the tiled floor.

“Sarah that was rude.”

“No, what was rude was them giving me a roommate, without telling me!”

Sarah scrubbed the shampoo into her hair.

“It’s not her fault.”

“I wasn’t trying to be rude I just have a schedule to keep, twenty minutes for shower, an hour for the assignment, then bed.”

“You were way cooler when you didn’t let your holo-tablet rule your life.”

“I was also on my way to getting kicked out.”

“You should have just asked I can do the assignments and you can hand them in. It takes me like ten minutes a night.”

“And that would be like the mega get kicked out of school honor code violation we were warned about.”

“So, are you still pissed at me about the whole not believing you thing?”

Sarah rinsed the shampoo from her hair and sighed.

“No but I’m kind of getting annoyed that my calm, quiet shower time is being interrupted by an obnoxious American girl.”

“Well, you pretty much ignore us all the time now so I figured I could corner you in here alone.”

Sarah sighed and started putting her conditioner in when she finished, she peeked her head out. She had to wait a minute or two anyway. Amee was still there leaning on the tiled wall.

“Amee, I’m sorry, I’m just having some trouble dealing with this whole thing. It’s not you, it is me.”

“I would really like to be friends Sarah. You’re making it hard.”

“Well, let’s start over. I’m Sarah I have ADHD and can sometimes be a mouthy forgetful bitch. I just spent two hours practicing soccer with some girls and a coach that think Hitler was a hero and was reminded that that I’m not in Kansas anymore. Then an invisible wicked witch and her two henchmen tried to drug me and capture me. After I ate dinner in a restaurant that had a full-on Nazi flag hanging from a wall. What’s your name?”

Amee blinked at her.

“Amee, and Jesus are you okay Sarah?”

“Yes. I’m not sure if I want them to keep me here for my own safety and ban me from soccer or if I’d be upset if they did. Nazi youth have this way of making me not love my sport of choice so much.”

Sarah moved back into the shower and started to rinse her hair out.

“They can’t be that bad. Why does the whole Nazi thing bother you so much?”

“You know the only video games I was okay with playing where I was killing things that were human usually involved me vs Nazis. And they’re Nazis. I mean Mein Kampf is right beside the bible in their eyes. They were the same as they were on our Earth only, they died, and no one caught on to their racial purges. It is sickening.”

“You’re fourteen you’re not supposed to care about that stuff. Sarah, you can’t blame them for beliefs that have been being reinforced for three or four generations.”

“You’re right but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Sarah came out of the shower and Amee handed her the towel. Sarah started drying off. Glancing at Amee.

“You aren’t much for privacy, are you?”

Amee shrugged.

“Amee, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have been gotten angry so fast.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Did you keep the facilities people from seeing Sir Gallant?”

“No that would be Maria, turns out she can talk to animals too. Took her about ten minutes to convince him it was time to retreat.”

Sarah smiled and pulled one of her overly big t-shirts on. She started to brush her hair. Amee shook her head.

“How the hell is your hair always so easy to brush?”

Sarah shrugged.

“Always has been.”

“Well, everyone is jealous. Want to talk about how you managed to escape three kidnappers?”

“I have no idea. I just let my body do its thing. I decided the targets and it just went with it. I mean if it was a movie, it would have been bloody amazing. I’m not even sure how I noticed the needle coming my way. She was invisible. I met a really cool super, she could fly and was covered in blue fire.”

“You know it’s alright to not be okay with your body being able to do that to people right?”

“I have no problem with what happened. No one died.”

“If only we were all so lucky.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Amee shook her head.

“No, it wasn’t me who did it, I just have to remember it.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t you?”

“My alien cybernetics came with an Artificial Intelligence. Her primary function was the survival of her host at any cost.”

“Is she gone?”

Amee nodded her face darkening.

“She was your friend?”

“Sort of, it was kind of like having a mother in my head? I donno, she was odd and had no clue how Earth worked but she was kind to me, kept telling me I was amazing. Hard not to like someone like that.”

“I can see how losing that would suck. I could use an ego boosting AI in my brain.”

Amee frowned slightly. Sarah hugged her tightly.

“Now you have me, random, insane and all-around loony roommate and still bestie?”

Amee smiled and hugged her back.