Rank 1 / Eliza Xetkil / Power Score 14.9
Why of all people did it have to be her and what was that score? His score was already way above average and he even saw Nikolai's was just shy of his but this was a whole two and half points on him. The class had been told eight to ten was the average for a lot of first years, so why was hers so goddamn high. He started to imagine what kind of horrible training she must have gone through everyday for the last two years that she was already at that level. Koro shuddered at the thought. He glanced at her again and she still had that stone cold face. Maybe it wasn't so crazy that she scored that high.
Class 105 was split into random groups of 5 for the remainder of the day. Koro breathed a sigh of relief when he did not get paired with Laren, the last thing he needed was to have that prissy looking twit in range to harass him.
His team now consisted of himself, Q'yara a dark skinned girl with sharp features and long white dreads. A rough looking kid with dark hair who seemed to be incessantly coughing named Donovan. The hulking monster Jorum who for some insane reason was a head taller than every other kid in the class and was built like a house. “There's seriously no way he's 12” he thought to himself. Of course to offset Jorum the last member of their group, Beln. Teeny tiny Beln. Koro would have facepalmed if he wasn't trying so hard to be cordial.
Despite his intimidating appearance Koro quickly realized that Jorum was incredibly friendly and overly congenial. Immediately picking up poor Beln and squeezing him.
"AWAUGHH" Beln squeaked out before Jorum set him down. He went to give out more hugs but the others waved him off proffering their hands instead for a shake. Which he gladly took with enthusiasm.
"Ah so many friends to make" he barked out in a too loud voice.
"Alright class, if you've acquainted yourself with your teammates. Let's get started"
Holographics popped up around the groups with a variety of complicated puzzles. “ Let's make this competitive. I have credits for a session at the Mute Center. I'll award these to the team that can finish the fastest.” excited whispers spread through the room. “Thats a huge advantage over your classmates and ill be giving out more of these throughout the year. As a hint to get you all started, the first five puzzles have hidden details about how to complete the final one. Youve got til the end of day, operate as a team and you’ll come out on top. Time starts” he looked down at the tablet and pressed a button. “...Now”
Two hours later and the bell rang through the class.
To say the least, their team didn't win. They were doing so well at first they even managed to be the first to complete the 1st and 2nd puzzles. Then they got completely lost.
It turns out that Jorum wasn't a complete musclehead but Koro and Q’yara had to corral the team constantly. Beln wanted to talk about everyone's personal life and Koro was pretty sure Don had actually passed out with his eyes open for a while.
So by the time they had hit puzzle 3 it was just the 2 of them as Jorum and Beln chatted with Don, who hardly opened his mouth the whole time. They did manage to barely finish the final puzzle before the end of class, but just barely.
Nikolai's team actually won after finishing a whole 30 minutes early. "The winners of our day one challenge are; Horus, Nataly, Nikolai, Meridia, and Sophie." He tapped rapidly then swiped upward on his device. Dings rang out from the winner’s wristbands and a notification light pulsed on them. "You're free to make appointments anytime and the center will honor them. Most first year students see steady growth out of these sessions with a usual 10 percent leg up on their classmates who don't attend them. So don't sit on these there an easy way to climb the ranks and be successful here at the academy"
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mutation Centers are the bleeding edge of biotechnology and medical research in the UN. Our centers assist with Evolutions, Mutations, recovery and development all over Unatees.
Using one's Enki for extended periods can cause shifts to not only their biofields but to the genetic structure that's responsible for someone's abilities. This is how powers grow and evolve into new stages, opening up new opportunities for the users.
The problem that we ran into early on though was that overuse especially common in people trying to force a mutation would cause energy poisoning. Energy poisoning can cause permanent damage to someone's DNA and at best they would lose or have limited use of their ability.
This is where Mutations Centers come in. Our state of the art equipment and professional talented staff help to eliminate those risks so you can grow to your full potential.
Our Academy Centers, located directly on campus for your convenience. Help with student growth, through specialized training to allow you to push yourself farther without risk. Our academy staff is available during school hours as well as several hours before and after. In case of training, events, and emergencies. It's our mission to keep you the future of our beautiful utopia safe as you grow into the leaders of tomorrow.
We offer incentives to students that excel in their studies. Ask your teachers and professors how you can earn credits for growth sessions.
We'll see you soon.
UN MINISTRY OF EVOLUTION
DIVISION OF EDUCATION
Koro finished reading the pamphlet that he grabbed on his way out of class. Flipping it back and forth checking for additional info. It wasn't like he didn't know what they were but it was nice to see they offered student assistance and had a site on campus. He would bleed that resource for everything he could get. Especially if he ever hoped to reach Archeon one day.
Archeon were the highest Evo rank one could achieve. It was so difficult there were only 20 alive today because of the difficulty in getting to that level. None of the danger or challenge was gonna stop Koro from reaching it though. He smiled to himself.
"Archeon Koro"
"It has the perfect ring to it and i'll make a name for myself. No longer stuck under the Omni name. Just like grandfather wanted". He continued to ponder to himself as he headed to the shuttle for District 2.
The school campus was massive, set in the middle of a huge park built on to a several mile long disk in the middle of the city. This was actually the case for most of the cities in the UN. At the edge of the disk at regular intervals ran sixteen different high speed rails that went from the school to each of the districts surrounding the city.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
Koro stepped on to the shuttle with the other students from various grades as well as some of the campus staff. Koro recognized some of the people but the districts weren't necessarily tiny. District 2 housed around 100,000 people and it wasn't even the biggest District in Handis.
The districts were all set up to be self -sufficient mini cities that connected to a central collection of rings that made up the city proper. Each of these rings served a specific function for the city including; Public Services, CraftWorks, Entertainment, FutureWorks, and Government. The Districts sat on disks elevated about 200 feet above the surface and 20 miles from the outer ring of the city. The shuttles run the 60 miles from each district to the Academy at the center of all of it and it could make that trip in around 20 minutes with its five stops at each ring station.
Koro looked for a seat eyeing the left and right side of the shuttle trying to spot an open seat on the bench. He walked a few feet before noticing Eliza from his class sitting down. He had absolutely no interest in interacting with her and so naturally he awkwardly walked past her in a hurry trying not to make eye contact.
He walked straight through into the next compartment of the shuttle, finding it pleasantly empty. At least for now, knowing full well there would be a lot more people getting on at the other stops. The train took off as he was attempting to sit causing him to stumble a bit before plopping down. Looking out the window he watched as the innermost ring came towards him at incredible speed.
Stop after stop he got closer to home as more people gathered on the shuttle. Recognized a few from his neighborhood or nearby areas in his district. Some even greeted him which he would smile and wave at.
He tapped away at a game in his holo display to pass the time and sure enough the PA sounded announcing their arrival at the station in District 2.
He stepped off the platform, taking a breath of fresh air. District 2 was primarily a farming community and had the largest collection of Planters, individuals with plant affinities. In fact his mom Magenta, although everyone called her Maggie, was Block 10's rep for the Planters Association.
Koro walked over to a section of Cruisers magnetically locked in rows. Striding up to one he slapped his wristband to the locking mechanism. With a quick beep and a flash it released the machine. He took it over to the walkway before opening it up. Grabbing it by the handles holding down a trigger on the right hand and flicked it out. The block of folded metal turned into a thin framed sleek bike with the frame turning into ski like panels coming out at the front and back. Sitting down he flipped the switch on the handle shaft. The bike began hovering about a foot off the ground as the grav sleds engaged on the bike. He twisted the throttle back and zipped off towards home.
Block 10 wasn't too far from the station in the middle of the district and after about two minutes Koro could see his neighborhood come into view. Houses in the districts were fairly conformed box like constructions but they always had unique little flairs of personality between the weird colors people would paint them or random additions that would be added down the line. His house was no exception.
His father didn't care much for colors but practicality being an engineer for Handis CraftWorks. So a steel blue was how that went, naturally. His mother being the Planter she is of course only compromised for the sake that she grew her plants freely in gardens around the entire house as well as ivy that crawled up the wall before sprouting blossoms throughout. In addition the house also featured a driveway to the back of the house where a huge shed was constructed with a number of strange mechanical constructions jutting out. His father was a little…eccentric and had a number of side projects at any given time.
A young pig tailed brunette girl sat in the kitchen where the large bay window looked out. Her second oldest brother was finally home from school. She was definitely getting bored and had almost given up sitting there waiting.
Koro pulled his cruiser up to the side door, hopping off and folding the bike back up. Walking inside he barely made it a few feet before a small figure barreled into his stomach.
"Ow, Celia. You couldn't give me a moment to put my stuff down"
The little one looked up at him. Trying to give the saddest puppy eyes she could manage.
"OK ok I get it…I missed you too" she smiled and ran off.
He threw the bike on to a magnetic hook on the wall and threw off the academy coat placing it on an open coat hook along the side hallway from where he came in. As a woman called from down the hallway.
"Koro I'm in the kitchen"
"Coming mom" he yelled back.
A step further and the aroma hit him. Sure enough as he rounded the corner his mother stood in front of a large stewing pot stirring in a whole array of vegetables, meat and herbs.
His parents were in their mid forties and the ever so slight appearance of crows feet on his mothers other wise smooth face sat behind brunette hair identical to his sisters. The pot she was cooking in was huge but that wasn't uncommon because his mother would often cook large quantities like this and share it with the neighborhood. He thought it was weird but their neighbors always seemed genuinely excited to receive the food when his mother would send him out to deliver it. It helped get him out of the shell he would have otherwise hid in.
"It's almost there but it needs a little something else." She muttered to herself as Koro walked into the kitchen.
She turned around to look at a menagerie of growing herbs that grew in hanging strands near the windows. Koro saw her aura change slightly as she lifted her arm pointing it towards the plants. He watched the energy reach out at one of the herbs and it sprung to life. She twisted her fingers with slight arm movements like she was beckoning it. The herb reached out for her until it made it to her, where she pulled off a few leaves with no fight from the plant. "Thank you" she whispered as it retreated back to its place. It almost seemed like it was bowing in appreciation as it retreated. It would be strange if Koro hadn't always noticed how plants of every kind always talked to his mom.
" I need this to stew for another hour or so. So your off the hook until then but then I need you to make deliveries to 21 through 35"
"I figured mom" he chuckled " Just to 35, what about Ms.Gemna in 36."
"Oh sorry dear I thought you knew. She passed last week. Poor thing was 115." she sighed looking somber.
"Oh, I had no idea. Umm that's too bad"
He wasn't attached to her by any means but she was a sweet old lady. She would trade him interesting candies when he would bring her food. Said he reminded her of her great grandson.
"Zeke and your father should be home around then too. So I'll probably have your brother help you too" she attempted to change the subject.
"Much appreciated" as he headed away from the kitchen.
"Wait. wait. wait" hurriedly trying to catch him before he left the room. He stopped, putting on a smile before turning around. "What's up"
"You didn't tell me about your first day"
"Oh ha, not much to tell. It was pretty good though. I…like it there so far most of my classmates seem nice" trying to keep at least a little pep in his voice.
"That's great honey and how did testing go" she tried to pry but he was already running away.
"I'll talk about it with all of you later at dinner. bye. love you" as he ran off up the stairs to his room.
The houses provided by the UN weren't extravagant but at least they respected comfort and a family's need to grow and that meant that Koro never had to share a room.
Even after his sister was born. An extra space was added to the upstairs for her. They shared a wall so he often had to deal with her noisiness but it was never so bad he couldn't stand it.
He crashed on to his bed not even thinking about changing, that would be a problem for later. He flipped over facing the ceiling and popped up a game on his holo.
His sister attempted to ruin his reverie but he simply told her to go away. The sound of a large huff and the stomping of feet could be heard outside his door, but he didn't care. He could have a moment to himself for a busy first day, especially if tomorrow was when physical tests would start. Sighing he went back to his game.
"Worries for tomorrow"