Mach: The Super Hero

2.4 Eleanor & Miracle

His father had warned him to be ready for a whole new experience and still, even that soon into the new school, he didn’t feel he was all that ready. Michael saw a lot of people just mingling outside his auditorium, and right there, he saw the flying girl hovering over a group as well as someone showing off his manipulation of water by shaping a ball in the middle of the air. Out of a water bottle.

Every single girl and boy in that huge and mounting crowd had a power of some kind. Michael saw a glow in the distance, and once he focused on it, he was able to make out how someone’s skin was radiating. It was bright that it reminded him of a car’s headlight turned on its most potent setting.

It was dazzling to an almost fantastical level.

Every single one, Michael thought, trying to contain his mounting excitement.

Every single one…

Michael easily got lost in the wonder of it all. Just the flying girl, for example, was asked to do a flip. She responded by explaining she couldn’t fly upside down, yet, and just that got Michael going. Looking closely, he could see that she wasn’t manipulating air, to create wind. She was moving her limbs a lot, so it was probably not telekinesis. He wondered if it was something to do with gravity.

He wondered if he could just walk up and ask, but distracted himself by looking at someone who was leaning against the wall, some feet beside the auditorium doors, and staring at his hand. The guy was turning it into some kind of animal claw, and then morphing it back. He seemed to be experiment and Michael got lost trying to find out what animal that claw belong to.

Before he knew it, Michael was in the middle of sizeable crowd, and the doors to the auditorium had just opened.

Michael led by the flow of bodies to go inside the third row from the front, and sit down on the eight seat. By the time he reached his seat, Tafari was nowhere to be seen. He had completely lost him.

The auditorium was utterly packed, but the girl next to him was thankfully friendly. He had hardly finished settling down when she spoke up.

“Hey!”

Michael looked at her but hesitated for a second, just so he could make sure that she was talking to him. For several reasons. Mainly because his peripheral vision had tagged her as a cute red-head with a really smart air about her, so he didn’t expect to be addressed at all.

Taking a good look, though, he was immediately taken in by her focused and curious green eyes. They were quick to disarm him. Her orange hair was combed simply, grown long enough to brush her shoulders, cut at the front to leave a slight bang over her pale forehead. Her one-piece dress had an open collar which showed enough of her neckline that he had to make a conscious decision not to look.

“Hey,” Michael said, performing a little wave of the hand, “I’m Michael.”

“Eleanor,” she said with a happy nod.

Eleanor was quick to gesture back at the girl next to her. “This is Miracle,” she introduced, proudly.

Miracle leaned a bit forward to see who Eleanor was talking to, and offered Michael a small hand-wave. She was sporting pinkish skin under a head of curly blonde hair, perusing him with blue eyes that seemed more tranquil than energetic. Not to say lazy.

For some reason, even though they were inside, she was wearing a cap on her head. “Hi, I’m Miracle,” she said comically.

Michael chuckled, figuring that was a good way to react. “Alright, where are you two from?”

“We’re both from Michigan,” Eleanor answered, “you?”

“Virginia,” said Michael.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Michael,” Eleanor said.

“Very much likewise,” he said, not lying in the slightest.

Something in how he said it made them giggle, which, in turn, made him do a double take.

Wait, what was that?!

Not wanting to lose the momentum their good sense of humor had provided, Michael pulled his bag up onto the table and continued talking.

“So uhh…this place is looking fun,” he said, hoping it helped.

Eleanor smiled wide and nodded. “It’s huge, right?! And not even done yet.”

“I know!” Michael excitedly agreed, happy his topic had been considered favorable. “I mean, I was a bit turned off at the entrance.”

“The soldiers, right?” Eleanor asked, again in agreement.

“Yeah, exactly, just super lame,” he joked by accident, but it made them giggle again -- especially Eleanor -- so he went with it. “I mean, you know what I mean. But it’s pretty cool in here.”

“So far, so far," Miracle said thoughtfully. “So what’s your power?” Eleanor asked.

“Speed,” Michael answered. “Super speed! What’s yours?”

“Miracle can clone herself,” Eleanor said, pointing back at her.

Miracle was finishing a yawn so they had to wait a second for her to chime in on that. “Yeah. Though I dunno how to control it much… I don’t know how to make them, really, and so far, the only way to make them disappear is… if they die?”

“Whoah.” Michael winced, imagining what that might be like. “Harsh.”

Eleanor frowned as well. “Yeah, especially because she absorbs them back. Like, along with all their experiences?”

“Oh man, so you have to do it with, like, sleeping pills,” Michael said.

Miracle’s face opened in realization. Her eyes slowly and thoughtfully turned up while humming a mixture of interest and regret. “I had not thought of that. That’s pretty dang smart. Thanks, Michael.”

“Uhh, hey, no problem.” Michael was surprised she hadn’t thought of it, “but you never get confused about who’s the original?”

Miracle sighed with relief, and waved her hand to emphasize it. “Oh no, we’re all pretty clear on that."

“Ouf, yeah, that’s gotta be important. What about you, Eleanor?” Michael asked.

“You can call me Ellie, Eleanor’s pretty long.”

“You can call me Mac,” Michael said with a big grin.

“Why not Mike?”

“Mike’s for kids,” Michael seriously stated, with the speed of one who had answered as such many times. It made her giggle again, but he was too curious now to let it rest. “But yours?”

“Oh… Uhm, well, this,” Eleanor said, stretching her right arm up. Her fingers and arm stretched even further until her hand was about the size of a frying pan and each finger as sizeable as a long wooden spoon. “Elasticity!”

“Oh whoah, that is so cool!” Michael said, gaping in his inability to hide his enthusiasm, which he didn’t really try to.

Eleanor raised an eyebrow and calmly brought her limb back to normal form. “You don’t think it’s gross?”

“Gross? Why’d it be gross?!” Michael was then completely facing the two, his back turned to the rest of the row. “Is it dangerous, though? How do your bones do that?”

“Well, that’s what I’m hoping to find out,” Eleanor said. "The bones have changed into something else, that much I could figure out. It’s the organs that confuse me since they’re pretty much the same.”

“Oh, so you can’t like, thin yourself too much?” Michael asked.

“More like at all,” Eleanor admitted, frowning down at herself. “Far as I know, this might be just a limb thing. Maybe neck?”

“Man,” Michael simply said, almost losing himself in thought. He quickly gathered himself. “Still cool, though! And can be pretty handy, I bet. Do you even get up anymore to like, grab a snack or change the channel?”

“OH! Oh!” Miracle excitedly called, pointing at Michael with a sudden burst of energy. “That’s exactly what I told you, Ellie! See?”

Eleanor caught her laughter with her hand and Michael saw a chance to take a c***k at Miracle as well. “Well, the same thing would be true for you, right?” Michael asked, teasing her.

Miracle shook her head and took a disappointed breath. “Ahh... wouldn't that be nice? But just ‘cause they know I’m the original doesn’t mean they’re my servants. I’m nobody’s slave, Mac, not even my own!"

“She means to say they’re as lazy as she is," Eleanor butted in, amused. "They’re not about to run errands on her behalf."

Michael laughed. “That’s pretty funny,” he admitted.

Miracle sighed down at her lap. “Not for me.”

It was at that point that the lights to the auditorium went out. A few seconds later, their attention was called to the front by some kind of video projection. It started by showing a video presentation of the school, which began by showing a welcoming message, voiced by a surprisingly heavy and deep male voice.

“Welcome to the United States’ Northeast High, the next step in education.”

It showed a title for the school, the subtitle, and then a smooth animation carried it over to a black man who looked to be in his late forties, and looking healthy as healthy can be. The man was looking stern, with his hands behind his back like a soldier. He had his head shaved from top to bottom, a very rugged jaw and a thin line for lips.

This was a grown up with whom children could not be friends.

Behind him was a picture of the school grounds, likely from a week beforehand, with a computer-generated banner holding the school’s name and logo, which was too abstract to comprehend and yet, somehow, clearly contained the initials N.E.

“My name is Benjamin Hargrave, principal of Northeast High for the Empowered.”

The empowered? Not disaparalia? Michael thought, with surprising delight. That was a great term.

The principal’s voice was deep and low-toned. “I want to welcome all of you to the school and quickly go over the changes that you will experience in curriculum, as well as what this fine institution will be able to offer you during your stay, should you take full advantage of the many services it can offer.”

Behind the man, a list of universities and colleges showed up, and they were so numerous that it was quite impossible to read any of the names.

That could just be gibberish, Michael thought, chuckling to himself.

“Our new curriculum has been legitimized by all these institutions of education, which amounts to pretty much all of them. Both domestic and foreign. They recognize our potential to perfectly prepare our students according to an elite level of education. Additionally, we have courses meant to prepare you to directly penetrate the job market should you not wish to procure academic levels beyond that of high-school. These are based on models tested to be successful in countries like Finland, which are internationally acknowledged in the domain of education.”

It all sounded more like a sales pitch than anything else, but at the same time, it was convincing Michael that school life was about to become a whole different beast.

It was the kind of speech and information that was usually directed at parents. It was definitely a different experience to be sold on his own education, instead of simply being marched into it.

“Unfortunately, we need to wait until the end of the year for these changes to come into effect,” he said, showing no emotion as the list faded out, and a date faded in. “The last semester of this year will continue on a standard federal curriculum, and finish it for the year.”

The image changed again. The principal was now in his office, sitting at his desk. The hard desk, made of dark wood and containing two generic black computer screens, made the Principal look even less approachable.

“All of you have developed abilities whose source and nature are beyond our current understanding. As is their potential.” The man paused there, facing the camera. “For that reason, it is imperative for you all to be mature and understanding when it comes to the strict rules that are to be observed while you are students of this school.”

The principal brought his hands from below the desk, and joined them on top of it, leaning in a few inches.

“Rule number one,” he said, and a graphic appeared on top of the picture to spell out the rule. "Absolutely no fights.”

Some people snickered during his dramatic pause, but they all stopped when the man looked straight at the camera, straight at all of them.

“No fights,” he said again, as the graphic dissolved. “Outside of the punishments that will ensue, you should know that we are in the process of developing ways through which all of you, should you wish it, can compete against each other using your abilities. In a safe way. Anyone who gets into a fight will be prohibited from participating, at the very least. No exceptions. No leeway. More on this next year.”

“Wow, they’re really scared of us, huh?” a voice mocked behind Michael, but he ignored it.

It didn’t sound to him like the principal was afraid of them, not in the slightest.

What's that about competitions though? Already sounds fun, Michael thought, but left it at that, too curious about what was being said to get lost in thought.

The man carried on, maintaining that look of seriousness that could not be challenged. “Now, it is extremely important for all of you to be in control of two things. Yourselves, and your abilities. For that reason, every student is required to be analyzed by four of our staff of psychologists. We will also be employing a variety of instructors whose function is to help you better understand and better control your abilities. You will be required to attend your consultations with one of them. These will be obligatory for as long as either your instructors or your psychologists deem necessary. You will be allowed to seek a different opinion outside of our staff, and it will hold the same value so long as it comes from someone accordingly and verifiably certified.”

That seemed fair to Michael. Though the four psychologists were a bit of an overkill, he supposed getting four different qualified opinions was one way to make sure that they were mentally healthy.

Still. Michael was looking at a brand new mega school building, dozens of teachers, instructors, psychologists, and the soldiers, as well. There was probably a lot more to the staff, and to the school equipment, too.

In his old school, replacing the computers with new ones had been a dramatic battle that lasted weeks. Now, just the support staff equaled in number the crucial staff of his old school. The gate alone was probably more expensive than his old cafeteria. Michael wondered about the cost of it all.

More importantly, he wondered about the why.