Destia Jayden February 23rd,20XX

Archer got off the elevator looking shaken, and an unconscious Eva hung off his back like a rag doll. He held her small stuffed whale in his left hand, but his upper arms were tense with exhaustion as he struggled to keep the smaller child on his back.

Kaja reacted first and ran over and try to take Eva off his back, but Archer resisted and stubbornly walked into their shared apartment.

Joyce had suddenly ended the meeting and sent all of us home a few hours ago, but she’d made Archer and Eva stay behind.

It was pretty obvious from the way she and Archer had reacted that Eva had done something, but I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t know if I could ask. We’d only known each other for a few days, so the sense of distance between us was inevitable. But I wished we could get over it sooner rather than later.

While I didn’t particularly need any more friends than I had, it would be better for all of us if we could at least be on positive terms while we all lived together.

Speaking of which, how long would I be able to stay here?

I was already an adult, so I didn’t think that they would expect us to move out once we reached legal age, as most boarding schools did. However, I couldn’t think of any other benchmarks we could hit.

Was it just when we wanted to move out? Or would Joyce eventually kick us out when she decided we were ready to take on the world?

Kaja had chased Archer into his room and Tillo had followed her, so I was the only one left in the hallway. I walked back into my room and got to change. Today would also be the first day I would work with the scientists.

They had told me to dress athletically, but the only things I had were a ratty pair of shorts and an old baggy t-shirt. Joyce had mentioned something about an allowance, but I had paid little attention when she’d given out the details. While I was a bit embarrassed about collecting an allowance from someone only a few years older than I was, and someone that had already done so much for me, I hoped it would come sooner rather than later.

Since we all had to clock 9 hours a week with the scientists, I wanted to make a schedule but I didn’t know how to bring it up.

I didn’t want to come across as a control freak or as a bossy person, but I didn’t see how we could avoid needing a schedule. The scientists were only here for about 12 hours a day, and there were five of us that needed hours with them. Tillo and Kaja had the same powers so they could likely do theirs together, and while Aaron did not need to have exactly nine hours a week with the scientists, he was here often.

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A holographic screen, a sight I’d grown more and more used to as the days passed, suddenly popped up in the middle of my room and smooth audio leaked out of the PA speakers that were installed in all the rooms.

“Destia Jayden to the lab at 2 pm.”

The voice that filtered out was the standard robotic tone that came with most auditory-based technology. It wasn’t that pleasant to listen to, but it was significantly better than the crackling abominations that my schools had subjected us to every morning for about 12 years.

I picked at my faded clothes one more time and slipped on my sneakers. Their soles were thin enough that I could feel the hard surface of the floor pressure my feet, but they were still wearable. They could probably last a few more weeks if I was careful not to use my abilities, or a few more days if I was really careful about using my powers.

Yeah, I needed new shoes.

My footsteps were heavy as I made my way into the elevator and down to the broom closet. Regardless of whether I got an allowance, I still had a bit of money from my part-time job. I’d been planning to use it for my college tuition, but I didn’t even know if I was going.

I was in my last year of high school, although I’d missed about a week of school by now, so I’d applied to a few universities, and had even made it into a few, but I didn’t know how I could balance this whole superhero thing and being a full-time university student.

Although Aaron was currently a university student, and he juggled the superhero thing and his career pretty well. It was super impressive, but I didn’t think I could handle doing all that. I just hoped Joyce wouldn’t expect me to.

A soft beeping sound showed that my handprint had been read and a loud hissing sound made way to the dimly lit hallway. I remembered the heavy feeling I’d felt last time I‘d been there and was reluctant to walk the long hallway on my own, but unlike Tillo and Kaja, or even Archer and Eva, I didn’t have a natural partner.

I squinted my eyes, and they readjusted to the bright fluorescent lights of the community room and tried to remember the way to the lab.

“Ms. Kila?”

The sudden voice startled me and my legs tensed to propel me away, but the name they used calmed me down.

Kila was the nickname Joyce had given me.

Going from the other names, I could assume that she’d gotten the name from the old gods. Namely Kliarga- The god of Impatience. Since I had super speed, I could see why she’d thought it would be suitable for me, shed even used one of the feminine translations of the name to name it more suitable.

I shook myself out of my thoughts and turned back to the voice that had called out to me.

“Yes?”

It was a large and plump man that called out to me. He carried a warm smile on his face and waved for me to follow him.

“We thought you might have some trouble finding your way, follow me.”

“Ah, you’re Nagi, right? What exactly… what are you guys going to do with me?”

It took me a while to remember his name, but he didn’t seem to mind and beamed an even brighter smile at me.

“I’m glad you remember! You don’t have to be so tense! We’re just going to talk today and maybe run a few tests.”