The formalities in the hospital were handled faster than I had anticipated, normally, paperwork and bureaucracies have a habit of dragging things to the point of nausea but here, we were done within half an hour. Isleen and I were mostly just along for the ride, apparently protocol let Powered make their own decisions, regardless of age. Likely for the cases when a Powered was staying under their masked name, for example, if I was treated as Metis, what age would I be assigned and who would be my guardian? So, they simply assumed that anyone who was acting as a Powered was responsible to handle their own affairs.

Before leaving, I promised Doctor Stevens to discuss possible advancements for the clinic with Technica, making him smile happily. When I got curious and asked about his seemingly exaggerated reaction, he explained that the hospital was the best in the world for a reason, mainly because the hurdles for advanced treatments, created by Powered, were lower here than anywhere else. Where in most countries the testing schedule for a new treatment was a multi-year affair, sometimes taking a decade or more, the schedule could be greatly reduced in the Guild-Hospital. The scientist within me rebelled against that, knowing that the testing schedules were like that for a reason, not just to pad the pharma-companies bottom-line, but to make sure that there were little to no unforeseen side-effects to a given treatment. Obviously, even such rigorous testing was not a guarantee but there would never be one-hundred percent safety, that was just how reality worked.

But another part realised that, if the choice was between dying now, or taking a gamble on a new treatment, the new treatment would look quite appealing. Normal hospitals could not risk such procedures due to liability-issues, but here, on Accord Island, where the Guild made their own rules, that was not the issue.

After leaving the hospital, I had a decision to make. I was still in my Metis-stealth suit, complete with mask, but introducing Sophia to Accord Island was something I wanted to do as Diana, out of costume. Unless Isleen suddenly decided to vanish, she would see me without the mask, I considered for a moment, before making a snap-decision.

“It seems your contact is not here yet. I need to check up on a few things, will you be fine to wait here for Miss Hunt?” I asked the other two, hoping that Sophia would get the hint. It was giving Isleen plausible deniability and if Sophia trusted Isleen, I should be able to trust her that far. Sophia looked surprised for a second, before nodding.

“Yes, we will be fine here. Do you have an idea how long Diana will take?” she asked, playing along.

“Oh, she should be here within the next ten minutes, I sent a message when you started out-processing in the hospital. It is just that the process was faster than anticipated.” I completed our little skit, just in case someone was watching.

The next step was to go into one of the many hidden entrances to Technica’s lair, quickly shedding my costume one I was in, going so far to change pants and shoes, just in case someone had been watching. Once I was wearing normal clothes, I went to another exit, leaving the lair and approaching Sophia and Isleen from a different direction.

“Hi, I am Diana Hunt, I was told to meet a Sophia Collins here.” I ‘introduced’ myself to the two of them. Sophia simply went with the greeting, giving my hand a friendly shake while introducing the two of them.

“Yes, Hi, I’m Sophia Collins and this is Glenna, she’s the adult influence in my life.” she said with a laugh before pulling me closer to whisper into my ear.

“I hope you won’t try to keep a distance, I want my friend back.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

My only answer to her whisper was a tiny nod, while giving her hand a soft squeeze.

“Welcome to Accord Island, the biggest center of higher learning since Atlantis was sunk under the sea.” I gave the two a light bow, causing Sophia to grin.

Isleen, or rather, Glenna, simply looked at the two of us with an expression of amusement, and I had no doubt that she knew that Diana Hunt and Metis were the same person. Not just because the glove on my left hand had not changed, or because of the similar physique, but because she was an empath and I doubted that my emotional makeup changed very much when I put on the mask.

“Now, I was asked to show you around the Island, show you the dorm, things like that. Let us get to it.” With that, I presented my arm to Sophia, again, playing up a stereotype, but that was fine with me. Sophia hooked herself in and I gestured to Glenna to walk with us, before starting to play tour-guide.

“The first stop on our grand tour of Accord Island is the transportation-system. There are almost no cars on the Island and it is simply not designed with cars in mind. Instead, the tram-system is highly automated, running twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, mostly a ten-minute frequency. Thanks to that, you can get from any point on the Island to every other point in a short time and with minimal inconvenience.” Sophia giggled a little at my slightly over-exaggerated manners.

We continued onto the next tram and I made sure to show Sophia how the ‘wheel and spokes’-system worked, allowing her to make full use of the trams. Next, I had Galatea quickly look up where her school was, adding that to the tour, before we headed back towards our dorm-cluster.

At the station, Glenna surprised me, when she wished us farewell.

“I need to get going, I want to catch the evening’s flight. Sophia, I’m glad that you are alright now.” she gave Sophia a hug, before turning to me.

“Diana, was it? Please, take care of Sophia for me.” she closed in, giving me a hug as well. It was a little, or rather, a lot, awkward, but when she whispered in my ear that she hoped things worked out between Sophia and me, I understood why she had done it.

“I am sure she will be just fine. I wish you safe and pleasant travels.” I answered, giving her a light squeeze. She seemed genuinely worried about Sophia, so reassuring her was no stretch for me.

Sophia and I watched her getting back onto another tram, this one headed towards the main-station, so she could get to the airport. Part of me wondered why she had made her exit as fast as she had, but I doubted that I could understand. Maybe it was simply because Sophia was now out of the hospital and seemed to be fine on her own, or because she was in my hands.

“My stuff should have been sent here, let’s take a look. Where’s the post-office?” Sophia asked, her eyes slightly misty after Glenna’s sudden exit, but her smile seemed genuinely happy.

Galatea supplied me with the information, and on the way, I told Sophia about the location of my local workshop, making her laugh a little.

“So, even with that other location, you have something local?” she asked, grinning. I was glad that she did not mention Technica’s lair by name, only alluding to it and explained that the other location was something I had only been recently allowed into. In addition, the workshop was something for just me, a sanctuary, if you will, even if that part of it was greatly diminished after I had been attacked and almost killed there.

I also showed her a few of the local food-places and, most important of all, the good coffee-shops, causing more laughter.

Just before we got to the coffee-shop, she asked with a grin, “And what do you do for fun?”

That question threw me for a loop, because I had no answer. I had gone dancing with a couple of friends, once, and told her about that, making her only grin more and promise me that we would find something fun to do, for both of us.

“You know, it truly is a shame, you’ve been on this wonderful island for months and had fun once? I want you to promise me, at least two evenings a week, we go out and have fun.” she told me, looking quite serious.

“As long as you do not want to go dancing or drinking two nights a week, I am fine with that. We could explore the wooded parts of the island, maybe we can find some nice spots to relax.” I allowed, remembering the enjoyable times we had in the picnic-area near the river back home. At that point, Galatea joined in, speaking softly so that only the two of us could hear.

“Sophia, I am glad that you are back with us.” speaking a sentiment that I could only agree to.