Winners:
[X][hypotension] Option two. You've always thought about visiting more planets and seeing everything you could, and with this you can do that. You're not entirely comfortable with the idea of something changing you, shaping you that much, but it's a small price to pay for the freedom it'll give you.
[X][innertech] Heck yes. You've wanted to upgrade your stuff for at least a year, you just couldn't afford it, and now they're offering to just give you something like this? Besides, you've always been at least curious about AI, how systems grow and learn, and what better way to see that than up close and personal, watching it in action?
Your first impulse is to just say "yes". To both. It just sounds so cool.
But this is like, Big Stuff. And you don't… you don't want to mess this up and be terrible and prove to everybody that you can't do anything on your own and and…
Rrrrgh. Okay. What would Mom and Dad say?
"Let's do this."
…Right. Your mom's even worse than you are.
Okay so what would Dad say?
"Ask questions. Be sure you know what you're getting into."
Yeah, alright. You can do that.
"Can I ask some questions?" you ask.
Dr. Faren pauses whatever she's doing and swivels around to look at you, rolling her chair closer. "Sure! What're you wondering?"
You blink, and realize you hadn't actually thought of anything to ask, and scramble to come up with something that doesn't sound stupid. Something like… "How many people get the innertech?"
The doctor wobbles her hand a little. "About sixty percent of an incoming class, give or take five percent. There's a number of reasons, such as not having innertech already and wanting it, having a system that may interfere with their talent, or just wanting to get the best they can.
"We ask again after a semester, and there's usually a good fifteen to thirty percent that accepts then after seeing the benefit and for the potential help with a problematic Talent."
Up to ninety percent. So, so a lot. Wow.
Dr. Faren crosses her legs. "There's not much in the way of issues with it, either. I've only known of a handful of people ever wanting remove or downgrade it after getting it in the twelve years I've been working here. I don't remember the specific reasons why, though, sorry."
"Does, does it feel… weird?" Your first innertech installation was really strange to get used to, but they said that was just because it was the first time.
She looks thoughtful for a moment before replying. "It's… unnerving at first. Disquieting. Things don't work the same as they used to, and they aren't meshed perfectly well with your neurology yet. It takes anywhere from nine to twelve months for complete integration, which is at least ten times longer than any other innertech I've studied, but it's because of how the system studies and continually refines itself until it can't any more. It's usable without feeling unnatural within two weeks, at the longest, and things just become smoother and easier beyond that.
"The biggest complaint…" she laughs. "The biggest complaint was when the first version was introduced twenty-five years ago, the year before I came here, which was that it made things 'too easy'. People felt it was an unfair advantage between those who had it and those who didn't, especially in classes that had a practical component as part of the grade.
"Most people aren't really prepared for the long adjustment period. People who are used to having their innertech work perfectly can get pretty frustrated when things don't work the way they should at first."
Yeah you'd probably be in that group, considering how much you use yours.
What else, you knew that something had seemed odd when she'd first told you about it… Oh, right!
"…How is it better for stronger Talents?" That doesn't make any sense to you. Shouldn't it all be the same?
"Do you know what the T levels actually mean? Empirically?" she asks.
"It's how powerful you are, right?" you answer hesitantly.
"Broadly, yes. Specifically, it's a safety system, with each level indicating the maximum amount of energy you can both channel and naturally generate. As a side effect, it's also an approximation of how much you passively… leak within you that goes nowhere.
"Now, this system is inherently designed to work with Talents. That's the whole point, and in theory its ability to learn and become more advanced is limited only by your ability to support it. Instead of using caloric energy like normal innertech, this runs off your Talent itself and that already-more-abundant background psychokinetic energy you're doing nothing with."
Oh. "And the higher level you are, the more that's available for it to use!" you conclude.
She smiles. "Exactly. It's the exact opposite principle as the Generators, drawing on what you're creating instead of you drawing on it."
Wow. That's… wow. You have to stop for a moment and just admire sheer elegance of that: a system designed to learn and grow to work specifically with your Talent, powered by your Talent itself.
That's so cool.
"So the best theory we have is that it's just an available power limitation: you can have greater complexity because there's more energy to use. However, there's been speculation that being saturated and using that exotic internal psychokinetic energy in a growing system actually… changes it somehow and that a greater amount means it's exposed to more and that's what makes it advanced."
She shrugs. "Either way from the outside the result is that the more background energy, the more advanced it becomes. It's actually been the subject of quite a few studies, but we can't know for sure because observation only tells us that it's more complex, not how it got to be that way or why it is."
Huh. …Your brain's kinda starting to hurt after all that.
But at least you know you want the innertech, now. No question.
You've kinda wanted to upgrade yours for at least a year, anyways, and they're offering to just… give you this. Your system as it is now isn't anything more than basic, and, honestly, it'd really be nice to have something better. Well, more like the best, from what Dr. Faren's been saying.
And you've always been at little curious about artificial intelligence. The idea that systems can grow and learn is pretty cool, and you can't imagine doing much better than to see that happen yourself.
So, innertech decided. Now… now for the EE augmentation.
After a second to file all that information away, you collect yourself, focusing on trying to think about what kind questions your Dad would ask again.
"So, uh, about the other nanotech… Does, does getting this mean I can't ever get anything else?"
You're not sure how you would feel about that. You know there's some pretty crazy stuff out there that can be really helpful in certain situations and emergencies. Making it so none of that's possible…
"No, nothing like that. Surgeries and any alterations to your body from a macro scale would be more difficult, if just because you'd be harder to get in to," she says. "Anything that works on a micro- or nano- scale and functions on already-present tissues should work fine if adjusted properly to compensate beforehand. Any that work while you're still developing, like this, would only be as effective as long as you were developing."
Okay, that's really good to know. You're really glad you asked that.
What else… What else…
…You have to wonder if it's like innertech. The way that every so often there's newer improved versions released. Actually different hardware, not… not just structural reconfiguration when you're upgrading the software.
"Is there going to be a better version? Should… should I wait for that?"
You really don't want to get something that's gonna be old in a year, especially if it's doing permanent changes to you.
Dr. Faren shakes her head. "There's been talk of a second, much-improved version for years. It's supposedly been going through clinical trials for the past two, but I haven't heard anything beyond that. Part of the reason for it was to be able to make the same changes to fully developed adults, instead of just late-teens who were exiting high school and wanted to get in on exploration. If it passed clinical trials, it could take anywhere between two and five years for it to become available. Since it would work on both developing and already-fully-developed tissues equally, you'd be able to move from one to the other without any problems, no matter how long you decided to wait to do so."
Hrm. So newer version that you'd be able to take as an adult, maybe.
And then you have a sudden, horrifying thought. "Is this going to change how I look? Am I going to look weird or something?" you ask, your voice climbing.
Your imagination runs wild. Rough, hard skin? Does it make you super-muscular and gross looking? Would you end up flat!?
She gives a small smile and shakes her head. "No, no, nothing like that. Your skeleton doesn't end up any different in outward appearance. Your muscles would be harder and more easily defined, but with us women our subcutaneous fat tends to smooth those things out pretty quickly. You'll weigh more, for sure, with the muscle density increase, and will need a larger amount of calories, protein, and calcium, but it shouldn't cause any abnormal changes. If you see anything like that, come tell me immediately," she tells you seriously.
You nod, chewing on your lip.
"Anything else?" she asks.
"U-uh…" you try to think, but can't come up with anything, so you shake your head.
"Alright, well, I'll be here when you finish thinking." And with that, she wheels away back to the desk, leaving you once more staring at the ceiling and thinking.
Okay. So, that was helpful.
You've decided on the innertech. But the extreme-environment thing…
Your first impulse is to say yes. Because duh. You've always kind of wanted to visit different planets, but that was nothing more than a dream. Now that you're Talented, that's not just dream but a serious possibility. The only problem is that this is the only way you ever could do that, even if you end up not going to tons of other planets.
But, whispers the rational part of your mind, there's no need to rush. You can see what the rest of the school is like before making any life-altering decisions.
Because… this isn't some removable innertech. Not some additions that can be undone at any time. This would change you, your body, your organs, your cells. Irreversibly.
But would that be so bad?
You wouldn't look much different, if at all. Your body as it is right now is just not good enough. Just… just look at you! Not even five minutes on a new planet and you're already incapacitated. It's pathetic!
You've always wanted see everything you could, and as you are now? That's just… not happening.
You're still not entirely comfortable with the idea of something changing you, shaping you that much —even with all of Dr. Faren's answers— but it's a small price to pay for the freedom it'll give you.
It wasn't like waiting a couple days would hurt, though, would it?
You're practically stuck between saying yes, and saying wait when you take a deep breath and let it out.
You really should wait. There's no downside to waiting, but you really don't think that there's anything that you'll find that'll change your mind. And is it really worth stressing out about it for two days and wasting time on when you're going to be trying to get used to school?
If you don't do it now, will you just keep putting it off?
No. You're going in circles. Better to get this over with, so you don't have it looming over your head and making you stay up at night thinking about it.
…You really need your sleep.
Maybe you should have gone with your first impulse after all, but you feel like the questions ended up helping a little.
One last breath, and let it out.
"Okay."
Dr. Faren turns around to look at you. "Okay?"
You nod, resolutely. "Okay."
"To what?"
"Both. The environment stuff and the innertech," you say, even as you try to keep a grip on your nerves.
She gives a small smile that widens into a grin. "Alright, then. You excited?"
You try to give a confident smile, but you aren't sure if it came out like that.
She stands up and walks over to you. "We need to move into the other room for this, then. I'm going to put you back on the stretcher to get you over there, okay?" You nod, and it's only with her warning that you're able to stay still as the sheet and you lift up again to move over to the stretcher.
After that, she walks over to your left, out of your vision, and you hear a door open before you're moving towards her, guided so that you can go through the door she's holding open.
The room beyond is like an exam room, except a bit fancier with a couple of imaging things over on the walls and a number of directional lights, with one on an articulating arm.
Once you're inside the room, she moves you onto the examination table before flipping on a few lights.
"Let me just get everything together, alright?"
"…Okay," you agree.
She leaves the room and you hear her walk through the other room, another door opening and closing. A minute or so where you can't hear anything, and then there are footsteps coming back. She's carrying a tray of various things you can't see very well, her hands now covered by bright purple gloves.
"Have you ever had anything administered by dermal absorption before?" she asks.
"No?"
"It's pretty simple. You put your arm in this" —here a metal canister you hadn't noticed before floats to in front of her— "and you wait four hours and let the nanites in the matrix do their thing. Easy, right?" The canister floats over to settle down on the counter across the room.
It sounds easy enough.
"The innertech, on the other hand…" Some kind of black and metal brace comes into sight and ohmygodwhatisthat. There's a series of tiny ampules that run down it like spines, each of them with a small glob of silver in them, the topmost one entirely full. "I understand it's a little intimidating. Don't worry, you won't feel a thing. That's the whole point. How did you get your current system done? Was it sublingual? …Ah, below the tongue?"
"I-it was just a tablet that dissolved…" you tell her.
You were expecting something like that again. Not, not… this.
She nods. "It's a simple way to get stuff into the bloodstream and to your brain if you're not worried about it circulating around and not all ending up there. Unfortunately, that's not good enough here. This acts fast, and it has to all be in place to activate, and letting it disperse around your body first doesn't do that."
That… kind of makes sense?
"So are you ready? We're going to do the innertech first, because it puts you through at least a single sleep cycle where I can monitor it as part of the calibration, and you don't need to be awake for the other one to be absorbed."
You want to whimper, but nod instead.
Her expression softens. "Hey. Thousands of us Talented get this. It's really not that bad. Trust me, okay? It was a lot worse when they first started offering this. They did it by single-site spinal tap, with needles as long your hand. This? This is easy stuff compared to that. I wish they had something like this back then for me."
You're really not sure if that makes you feel better or worse.
"Now let's get you ready. Can you turn on your side so you're facing away from me?"
Deep breath, and you slowly roll over, giving you a fantastic view of the light-green wall.
"Perfect. I'm going to sterilize your neck, okay?"
"…alright," you acknowledge, and the feeling of something cool and wet wipes down the back of your neck, drying quickly and feeling even colder, before moving to the sides as well.
"It'll be about eight hours before you get very basic functionality back. After that it'll gradually continue improving and adjusting—that's the whole point," she tells you.
Okay, you can handle that. Eight hours without your innertech. Eight hours being like you were before you were nine.
…This is not going to be fun.
"I'm going to put it on now, alright? Can you tilt your head forward into your chest as far as possible?"
You nod wordlessly and do what she asked, staring down at your legs.
Something smooth and cool touches the back of your neck, and then wraps around, spreading out to grip your shoulders under your shirt. There's a series of faint clicks down your throat.
"Deep breath."
You breathe.
A cool numbness spreads out over your neck from behind, and you try to ignore the feeling, focusing on the time that your current innertech is showing to you in your vision.
And then without any warning it disappears.
Apprentice v18
> Are you sure you want to replace the current installation? (y/N)
Yes.
Confirmed. Install-level access granted to new system. Using existing sensory interfaces.
Hyperion platform (HW r14, SW v6.7.2) starting...
Resonant energy field found, tuning... done.
Detecting existing installation... Verschal-compliant system found.
Importing existing data... done.
Constructing latticework... done.
Adaptive learning system initialized.
Refinement system started.
Stage 0 neural integration in-progress.
Calibration sequence loaded.
Installation complete. Dissolving pre-existing structures.
And then there's nothing. No time, no notifications, no network, no nothing.
It was like before you'd ever had your innertech.
It was the thing around your neck popping apart and then getting gently removed that brought you back to reality.
"See, easy, right?" Dr. Faren asks.
You nod, and then yawn.
"It's already hitting you, then. Don't fight it, just let yourself fall asleep. I'll get you absorbing the other stuff while you're asleep."
You yawn again, even as your eyes are closing…
You wake up, and the first thing you notice is you're on your back once more, and your right arm feels like it's in something weird. You turn to look at it …and yep, your arm is in something weird. It's stuck in the tube, which contains a bright blue gel solid enough not to slip out of the opening even with the canister on its side.
The door opens, and you tilt your head to look over at it.
Dr. Faren steps through the doorway, closing it behind her.
"The room notified me that you'd woken up. You were asleep for almost four hours after the innertech got you started. It seemed like you needed it, so I decided to not wake you up when all you'd have to do is wait for the second installation to finish." She looked at the canister of gel. "You're pretty much done with that too, if it's that blue, so we can get you out of it."
…What did the color have to do with anything?
She doesn't say anything else, though, instead just gently removing your arm from the gel-filled canister and taking it over to the room's disposal system. The gel didn't stick to your arm or leave any residue behind at all, from what you can tell.
"You should be safe to move about now, if you take it slowly and carefully. I've got the wheelchair I want you to use for the next week or so, both to prevent fatigue and any accidents that are… more likely than not for the next few days since you've never experienced any change in gravity like this. Your reflexes and movements are going to be off and feel very strange, so it's best to just avoid creating any situations where that may cause you to come back here any sooner than you need to."
You nod. "Okay. …Thanks."
She smiles softly. "It's my job. …The other thing I should mention is that you will need to exercise and alter your diet, like I said earlier. Either take one of the physical fitness electives, or make it a priority to regularly visit the exercise room. However, don't do anything that'll force you to keep up with other people at this point. You need to take things at your own pace with something that'll give you more individual freedom. That means no team sports, okay? You wouldn't be able to play for three or four months, which wouldn't be very fun and defeats the purpose of taking it in the first place."
That's… annoying, but you suppose you had to deal with it.
"Now, it's only just after six-thirty in the evening localtime, so I'd suggest going to your dining hall and eating at least a little with everyone else. They'll be able to tell you what happened at the orientation while you were here. I expect you'll get a chance to meet with your advisor tomorrow since you couldn't today, even though tomorrow's Sunday. Do you have any questions for me?"
"Um." You try to think, but nothing comes to mind, so you shake your head.
She smiles reassuringly. "Are you ready to try sitting up and moving to the wheelchair after a bit, then?"
You nod, and she steps closer to the bed/exam table you're on. When she touches something on the side, it begins to lever your top half up slowly. When you're at thirty degrees, she stops. "Doing alright?"
"…Yeah." A little tingling in your fingers, but nothing terrible.
"Tell me when you're ready to keep going."
A few breaths, thirty seconds or so waiting as the tingling fades away, and then, "Alright."
The bed goes up some more, and then stops, and you repeat the process twice until you're finally sitting up properly, at which point she lifts you up telekinetically and places you in the wheelchair next to the bed that you hadn't even noticed. Your bag's already hanging from a hook on the back, too.
"It's got a motor in it to get you where you want if you get tired, but I'd suggest you try to push yourself around as long as you feel you can exert yourself without overdoing it," she says, moving around behind you and pushing you towards the door, it opening on its own for you—her telekinesis again, you'd guess. "I'll take you to your dining hall if you want, though. I'm going that direction anyways."
"…Yes, please," you say softly.
This is so… embarrassing. Humbling? Being disabled like this is something you've never experienced and it's incredibly frustrating.
You really don't like it, and only the fact that you've done everything you could at this point —to the extent of reinforcing your body using nanotech— eases that feeling.
"I suppose I should welcome you to the Academy, since you had to miss the basic orientation the rest of the kids from your shift got. I'm not exactly the person to ask for a guided tour or anything, though," she says, pushing you out of the clinic's door and back into the hallway you remember from your time on the stretcher. "Although I suppose I can take you along the mildly-scenic route."
With that, she turns right at the junction and pushes you down the hallway and then follows it left as it turns.
And then there's a window on your right.
The sight outside… it's both so similar and so different from what you're used to.
It's… open, is the first thing you think. Grass and trees and space. Nearly your entirely life had been in New York City, and the closest you'd get to something like this there was the various parks, but here it just kept going, to the point you could see the horizon.
Everything else, though… the fluffy white clouds, the blue sky, the way the trees' leaves rustle, it's all so similar. Someone could tell you that you're on Earth, and you wouldn't even know they were lying except for the gravity.
Haeld is a super-Earth, seven times the mass and nearly six times the surface area, with only sixty-one percent of that covered by the oceans. It was planets like this that helped save Earth post-Collapse.
"We got lucky," Dr. Farren comments behind you, drawing you out of your thoughts. "Or unlucky, depending on your view, I suppose. Pre-terraforming, the environment was right on the edge of being too inhospitable. Nothing more complex than self-replicating molecules were able to develop. Not even unique or novel ones, either. Post-terraforming, well, you can see the results. One of the greatest success stories of the early Colonization period. Biggest differences are the twenty-eight hour days, the half-years and seasons, and the gravity."
"It's… so pretty," you say softly, placing your hand against the window as if you could reach out and touch it all.
"Mhm," she agrees, slowly starting to push you again, you letting your hand fall away. "You'll have more than enough chance to go out as much as you want. Some of the teachers even like to take classes outside when it's particularly nice out, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of them do that in the next few of weeks."
That would be really nice.
"Do you have any general questions? I imagine your RA and/or orientation lead could answer them better than I could, but I might be able to give you something," she offers.
You think. "What's… what's the nicest place on campus?"
"The garden," she answers without hesitation. "Some people might tell you the west quad because of the trees and grassy hills to lie on, but I consider the garden to be the nicest place we have. It's arguably the most diverse and beautiful garden on Haeld, thanks to the Talented who put their efforts into it."
You'll… definitely have to make that something to go see, then, if it's such a big deal. Then again, you get the feeling that a lot of stuff around here is going to be a big deal.
"And here we are," she says, drawing up to a set of open double doors. You can hear the sounds of chatter and motion inside. "I think I'll let you take it from here. I'm not so old that I can't remember what this can be like. Your RAs should collect you after dinner, although you'll probably have to ask one of them who yours is since you didn't meet them earlier. But I'm sure you can figure it out."
Dr. Faren gives you a small smile. "Oh, and I'll send you some patterns for the sorts of tight leggings you should wear starting tomorrow, okay?"
You nod.
"Well then, it was nice meeting you, though I hope we won't be seeing each other again too soon?"
You laugh weakly. "…Yeah."
"Goodbye then."
"Bye." You wave as she walks away.
Hoookay.
Deep breath, Amy.
There's small controls on the arm for the chair's motor, but you ignore those right now. Dr Faren said you should try moving yourself, so that's what you're going to do.
Hands on the wheels —moving around still feels weird— and push. …Less effort than you expected, really, though you assume that was the whole point of the chair. Moving yourself into the doorway gives you a look at the inside of the "dining hall". It's not like the cafeterias at your old school, there's a multitude of different sizes of tables, all spaced out, and you think you even see it tier down towards the back, where the wall is huge panes of glass looking out onto the campus. The number of people in it, however, immediately reminds you of your schools back in New York.
Nobody seems to really notice you entering, or if they do they just don't pay you any mind, which you are very grateful for.
"Amy!" You blink, and turn to look at the voice that called out your name. May's quickly walking towards you from some place over to the right, waving, before she comes to a stop in front of you. "May… May I help you? …You could sit with us, too."
Us? "Who's… us?" you ask.
"Oh. Some of the other Earthers and I."
You feel a slight weight on your chest decrease at the idea of not having to find a random table to sit at right now. "Yeah, that'd… that'd be nice, thanks."
"Here." May gets behind you and starts pushing your chair towards one of the small alcove areas off to the side of the cafeteria. "Let's get your food first. Do you want the fresh food or the fab?"
"Fresh," you answer. You've never really liked fabfood, and even if it's supposed to be completely identical, it just… isn't. May angles you towards the left, and when you get to the alcove it's more an entrance into an entirely separate area with multiple serving stations that have different items available.
This is way nicer than anything you had back in New York.
You point out the first thing that looks good to May, and head over, get a tray, and get served. She stays mostly quiet throughout the process, and once you've got both food and a glass of milk —Dr. Faren's demand of more calcium had echoed in your head while looking at the drink selection— May pushes you out of the food area back into the actual dining space, and then towards where she came from. "So um. How are you… you know, doing?"
You fidget, tapping at the tray on your lap. "I'm… okay." Mostly.
It's hard talking to someone behind you, whose face you can't see.
"That's good?" You hear the question, but don't know what to say.
You can see the table May's pushing you towards now, though. It's one of the larger rectangular ones, and you immediately recognize the white-haired girl from the transport, along with the blonde girl sitting two seats away a second later.
Oh god.
You should've figured that May was talking about people from the same 'port, but you didn't even think about that.
And then they all —including the other two girls who're there who you don't recognize— turn to look at you, and your face flushes.
…You'd kind of like to melt right now, thank you.
Unfortunately, there's no melting, and May doesn't even seem to notice your feelings, instead just pushing you up so that you're at the end of the table between one of the unknown girls (the brunette) and the white-haired girl.
"Um, Amber, can I switch seats with you?" May asks.
The brunette nods and slides into the empty seat next to her, swapping her tray with the one she'd just gotten in front of. Seating now arranged, May moves from behind you to sit in the free space left behind.
It doesn't look like everyone's too far through their meals. In fact, it almost looks like they'd just started. "This is Amy."
The blonde blinks, and then a look of recognition comes into her eyes and she snaps her fingers. "The fainting girl!"
Auuuuuuuuuugh.
Your face must be as red as a tomato, and you're unable to meet anyone's eyes.
"Stop that!" May hisses, and then turns to you. "Sorry, she's a little… rough. Besides, that wasn't Amy's fault. I-it was mine."
"Sorry, princess." Princess? "I'm not tryin' to offend, though. My name's Ava-Grace. Most people just call me Grace."
"Not that you have any," May mutters.
"Aw, don't be like that. I was just trying to be friendly."
"I'm Angharad," the white-haired girl to your left interjects with an accent you can't place. "I don't have a nickname, really."
"Don't worry, we'll find you one!" Grace comments from next to her.
"Amber," the brunette girl whose seat May had taken contributes. "But you probably already got that."
"Ying Yue," the last girl, on Amber's right, adds in, completing the introductions. "Just Yue is fine."
"She came over on the East-Asian transport that arrived a few minutes before us," May tells you.
"So what's with the wheelchair?" Grace asks.
May just lets her face fall into her hand while Angharad sighs and your blush renews itself.
Taking a breath, you center yourself. "I have hypotension. Low blood pressure," you say, preempting Grace's next question judging by her open mouth, which closes. "Like, really low. A-and I didn't find out I was Talented until only a week ago, so I didn't get a chance to do any environmental preparation or anything. So I um, faint really easily."
"Ah. That sucks," Grace says bluntly.
"Yeah," Amber agrees. "Is there anything you can do? Is the wheelchair permanent?"
You shake your hand. "It's only for a week or so," you say, starting to eat before your food gets cold. "And I, um, already got something to help with it too…"
May frowns. "Like what?"
"Extreme-environment adaptation nanotech," you say, looking around for reactions.
May and Angharad don't show any reaction, while Amber looks like she swallowed something sour. Yue looks interested, while Grace is visibly excited.
"Oh man, you got the double-e-mods already? That's so cool. I wish I could get some of that now," Grace says excitedly. Amber looks at her as though she's completely alien, while May rolls her eyes.
"Yeah, it won't help for a couple months, though, so I'm like this for now," you tell them. "So um, where are you all from? I'm from the City. …New York City," you clarify, realizing that that's not a definite location anymore in an environment with so many people from different places.
"Northern Europe," Angharad offers, and you blink as the accent suddenly places itself.
"You're from the British Isles?" you ask in English, and her eyes widen before she nods. Though you wonder why she came through on the New York transport instead of Berlin, then.
Still, that's pretty cool. At least you know someone you can keep speaking English with.
"West-Coast North America," May says.
"The South. North America," Amber states, clipped.
"Taojiang, Asia," Yue gives.
"All you guys are boring. Geez. Well, I'll give a bit more for you all," Grace says. "Me and my da and Rob, my older brother, run one of the energy farms out on the edge of Deadlands. Right up there in the middle."
You barely hold in your wince. That's… that could not have been a fun environment to grow up in, yet she somehow seems like the most outgoing person here.
"What are your Talents?" Yue asks.
"Me? I've got this energy-wave-thing that goes out, y'know? Fried a bunch of the solar panels and blew some of them away on accident. Da was not happy about that," Grace tells everybody, laughing. "Though he got over it when we figured out what it meant."
Amber taps her finger on the table. "Telekinesis. Not particularly special," she says with a frown. She seems to do that a lot. "Only T-5."
Only T-5? That was… There were people out there who would give away body parts to have access to a T-5 telekinetic.
"Sensory access. Limited number and range, right now," May says, repeating what you'd heard from her before. "T-11 at best. For now," she ends, and she makes it sound like a promise more than anything.
"I am… cryokinetic," Yue says. "T-3."
You swallow, your eyes wide, and you're pretty sure everyone else at the table is staring at her. That… Elementals with high ratings like that are practically forces of natures, calling storms, controlling hurricanes, ending wildfires. And you have one at your table. And she's only going to get stronger, here.
"Damn, girl," Grace says, and you can't help but echo her sentiment. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."
Yue coughs. "Yes. Well." She turns to look at the white-haired girl on your left. "Angharad?"
"Tactile telekinesis. Combat-oriented. I… don't know my rating. I've not been pushed yet," she says.
The table turns to look at you, and you shrink, your fork in your mouth with a piece of chicken. You remove the fork, chew, and swallow. "I… I don't know. I only found out a week ago, and it was because my doctor saw something in my diagnostics."
Grace grins at you. "Don't worry, I'm sure you've got something really cool. Can't have anything else with crowd like this."
You wish you shared her enthusiasm and optimism, but you're not sure. What if you just turn out to be some weak, dumb Talent?
No.
No thinking like that. Any Talent is valued and useful, no matter what it is. That's why you're here.
"How many people do you think are from Earth, here?" Angharad asks.
Amber shrugs, while May looks thoughtful. "Supposedly the largest percentage, but less than a third? Earth is still the most populous world, with Mars, Haeld, Tiryn, Fengxi, Ganymede, Venus, and the rest of the Outworlds following. In a class of fifteen hundred… less than four hundred, would be my guess."
Grace whistles. "Four hundred's still a darn big number. There weren't even four hundred living in the closest town to us."
You have a sneaking suspicion that was because it was the Deadlands, but you don't say anything.
Dinner progresses from there, mostly involving Grace telling stories about working on the energy farm, though Yue offers her own descriptions of natural old-style rice farms around her area.
After fifty minutes or so (not that you can say exactly with your innertech unavailable), having finished eating and put your tray back, a large group of older teens —over forty— enters the dining area. At some signal, a boy steps forward and claps. Noise in the hall immediately starts quieting down as attention is drawn to him.
"Yes! Hi! Can we have your attention please?" The murmurs quiet down almost completely, and then there's silence, or as close as you can get with a group of fifteen hundred teenagers. "Thank you! My name is Marcus, and I'll be the head RA coordinator for you all this year!"
You're kind of impressed by how well he's projecting his voice to reach the whole room.
"Behind me are your RAs! You've probably already met some of us at your orientations because we were in charge of that as well! Now! You all should have gotten a card with a number on it! My friends and I are going to spread ourselves out in the room, and each of us will be holding a sign with a number on it that matches your own!"
Even as he's speaking, they start moving, carrying small bags with a plastic stick poking out.
"Please make your way calmly to your group. Once you're all gathered, your RAs will take you to a space and you'll have your first floor meeting," he tells you. "RAs, can you please hold up your signs?"
The signs go up, numbers on large circles at the ends of the sticks you saw. There's rustling as people get out the cards they were apparently given and look at them. May looks over at you after checking her own. "Do you know your number?"
You shake your head. "Dr. Faren said they probably all have the lists and can tell me where to go."
May nods. "I can take you to ask, if you'd like."
You bite your lip, but nod. You probably shouldn't be relying on May this much for moving, but then again you'll have more than enough time to be independent and push yourself around later.
Around you people are standing up, already moving towards the sign-holders.
"I guess I'll see you all later, then?" Grace says. "Tomorrow?"
Angharad nods. "This was nice. I wouldn't mind eating together again." There're varying sounds of agreement from the rest of you.
Grace grins. "It's a plan then. Catch you all later."
With that, your small group begins dispersing, everyone going off in their own directions except for May, who moves behind you and pulls you away from the table, turning and then pushing towards the closest RA, who's towards the side of the room twenty feet away.
There's already nine or ten girls there, milling around, and you stop in the midst of them.
"Um, excuse me?" you say, drawing the RA's attention. She turns to you, and you can see that she's even got a name tag on.
"Yes? Are you in this group?" she asks.
You shake your head. "I missed orientation and didn't get my number. Can you tell me what it is?"
She smiles. "Sure, what's your name?"
"Amara Bailey," you respond.
Her eyes flicker for a moment, looking at something you can't see. "You're in… sixteen, with Neha."
"Thanks!" you tell her, May pulling you back from the growing collection and starting to push you towards the ramp down to the third terrace, where sixteen's nearer the other side of the hall.
"You… should probably go to your own group so you're not late," you say. "I can do this."
May hesitates, but then replies, stopping you. "…Okay. I'll… see you then?" she asks, coming around on your right so you can see her.
You give her a smile. "Yeah! …Thanks for helping me."
She gives you a guilty look and turns away. "It was my fault in the first place."
You shrug, still smiling. It's not like you wouldn't have had the same thing happen without her, even if it was later. "Nope! Still thanks."
She nods, and then gives you that same small wave as in the infirmary, before walking away to the right.
Deep breath.
Pushing yourself there isn't terribly difficult, though navigating through the tables gets a little tricky. Still, you manage it with no major incidents, and count that as an accomplishment.
The girl holding the sign up turns to you when you finally get there. She's coffee-toned, with warm brown eyes and hair, and wearing a name tag with both the phonetic Common characters that spell out her name, as well as below it a flowing script with a horizontal line running through it near the top. Her native language, maybe? You know that some places on other planets Common is considered a second language, usually for cultural reasons. It seems weird to you. Common is meant to be… common.
"Hello, are you with us?" she asks you.
"Yep," you reply, nodding. "Looks like it."
"What's your name?"
"Amara Bailey," you tell her.
She nods. "Thank you."
The groups seem to be organized based on gender from what you can tell, now that they've all clumped up. Neha's eyes run over all of you that are around her, and she seems satisfied because she lowers her sign, resting it on her shoulder.
"It seems we have everyone, good." She glances at the doors on the lowest level —you didn't even see them earlier— where other groups are already exiting. "Let's wait a few minutes before we leave. In the meantime, I'll introduce myself.
"My name is Neha, and I'm from Bhum, Tiryn. I am bilingual, and my first language was Hindi." …So similar to you with Old English, then. "I'm nineteen, and I go to the university here, studying psychology because of my Talent. I am an empath, meaning that I know, and to a very small degree experience, the emotions of people around me. Empathy is one of the most common abilities for Talented, even if the specifics vary, so it is very likely you will meet others with it, maybe even in this group."
Neha glanced down at the doors, which were now free. "Perfect. Let's go."
She leads you to side of the room and down the slope, until you're on the lowest level and heading towards the doors that lead outside. She holds the door open while you all go outside, and you go through last so you don't get in anybody else's way.
Outside is… just as amazing as you thought it would be from looking with Dr. Faren. Everything is so alive, trees and green grass and hundreds of tiny other little things. The yard is open, with buildings at the sides, paths leading to them but somehow not cutting into the sheer openness and feeling of nature the space gives off.
There are groups sitting in circles in the shade of the trees, though they're only a handful compared to the number you saw before.
"Do you need any help?"
You look back at Neha, who's let go of the door and followed behind you.
You swallow, and decide to answer honestly. "It depends on how far we're going."
She points right across the open yard to a large tree that's (thankfully) next to the sidewalk. And then she points to the right, at the second building there. "That's the dorm."
"I'll be fine, then," you tell her, and she nods, walking forward to the front of the group and leading you all down the walkway to the tree she'd pointed out. Once there, she moves next to the tree and sits down against it, facing out towards the grass, motioning for the others to follow.
They do so, and Neha gives you a look that you figure is telling you it's fine to stay where you are, which is right next to her anyways.
"Okay. So, I have already introduced myself, let's pick up from there. Please tell us your name, where you are from, something you feel is notable about yourself, and a little bit about you. If you want to share your Talent as your thing, you may, but do not feel pressured to. Also when I say a 'little bit' I mean a little. I'm sure you don't want to be sitting out here for the next two hours." There's a small amount of laughter at that. "Let's start… on my right, going around."
You blink; that means you're first.
And suddenly everybody's attention is on you.
Eergh
"U-um. I'm Amy Bailey. I'm from New York City, Earth. …I'm an only child. I didn't know I was Talented until a week ago, and I have really low blood pressure and didn't really have any time to prepare, so I'm stuck with this for the next two weeks." You motion at the wheelchair.
Neha nods, and turns to look at the girl to your right, everybody's attention shifting to match.
You let out your breath. That wasn't so bad.
"I am Verity Seward and I'm from Durham, Haeld…"
Everything sort of blurs together beyond that. Too many names, too many details. What you do pick up is you're from all over the place, and you haven't even heard of half of the cities before. Some shared their talents, and but not many, maybe only five, and you don't even remember the specifics of those.
Neha's clap draws your focus back to reality, "Alright, thank you all. As you know, the floors in the dorms here are separated by gender, and your roommates have been selected based on the questionnaire you filled out when you accepted the offer to come here. It's generally preferred to have the door open if you're in the dorm and don't need privacy. There's a certain degree of trust we give you, please don't abuse that. And for Brahma's sake, try not to date anyone on the same floor. It almost always ends messily. Don't make my job any harder than it needs to be." She looks around the circle at everybody intently and then sighs. "Wake up is at seven, curfew is at nine-thirty, lights out is at eleven.
"Now. Sleeping. Your body is not going to be happy the next few days. You're going from whatever day length-cycle is on your planet to one that's twenty-eight hours long, and the body is not designed for those sorts of changes without fairly comprehensive modifications."
…Like the one you just got.
Well then.
You have to wonder how long it'll take to alter those sorts of brain-things, since the impression you got from Dr. Faren was that it only took so long to work on the other things, like muscle and bone, because it directed growth for those.
"For those of you who've done interplanetary travel before, you'll probably recognize these, or something like them." She hold up a pair of… pills? "These are used to regulate, and over time adjust, your biological clocks. One for day in the morning, one for night before bed. The school provides these via the small fabricators in your rooms keyed to your biometrics.
"Now let me say something because there are people dumb enough to think this: these are not chemicals. This is nanotech. Taking more will not do anything. So getting more from your friend or giving yours to your friend is completely pointless. The two other medications that are universally available through the fabricators are a multivitamin and a calcium supplement. Those are chemical, but taking more than suggested also does not do much. If you have other medical needs, the system will have that on file and be able to create whatever is required.
"You do not have to use these. They are highly recommended, but not required. If you choose not to, you will be miserable and it will impact your focus and cognition, and thus your school performance. There was a girl my freshman year on my floor who decided she didn't need them. She lasted two weeks before she had a mental breakdown. So please use them. Even if you have some ethical, moral, or religious issue with nanotechnology, please make an exception for this. I don't want us to start the year off with an incident like that." She's practically pleading, and you can tell that this is a big deal.
…You're definitely going to ask Dr. Faren how the EE system you got affects any of this.
Neha sighs, and puts the pills away back in the plastic bag. "The next three days are 'free' days. They are to give you time to physically and mentally adjust to a new environment and explore. Whether that requires reading in the library, talking to people, or walking around, that is what this time is for.
"I will be eating breakfast and dinner in your dining hall for anybody who wants to eat together as a group. Maybe it could even be a scheduled event."
She stops, and looks thoughtful. "What else… oh, laundry. The laundry machines are in the basement. They are very simple: dirty clothes go in, clean clothes come out. You should already have clean linens in your rooms, and an alternate set on your bed. You are responsible for them, just like your other laundry. Are there any questions? About anything, not just laundry," she says with an amused smile.
One of the girls, …Stelsa? raises her hand.
"Yes?" Neha asks.
"Can we meet the teachers before school starts?" the girl asks.
"They should be in either their classrooms or offices Tuesday, but I'm not sure about Monday. If there is a specific teacher you wish to meet, the best thing to do would be to message them and ask. …If you're not comfortable doing that, I could message them for you."
Stelsa nods, looking conflicted.
Neha looks around the circle. "Any other questions? If you want to ask me privately, I'm living in the room in the center of the south hallway —which is where all of us are— and my name is on the door. Please don't hesitate to ask me questions or for help, it's what I am here for."
Nobody makes any motions or sound. "Alright. We're in Benson, floor four, on the south end. All of the doors have your names on them, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding your room, although your room number should be on the card you got."
She stands up, and the others take that as their cue to follow her. "I'll be going directly to the floor if you want to follow, otherwise you're free, just be sure to be back before nine-thirty."
For a moment you just sit there, letting everything just sink in. Up until now it's felt sort of unreal, but now reality is really sinking in. It's almost overwhelming. Almost.
But you know you can do this.
What do you want to do? (For your vote to be counted, you must give at least a minimal explanation of why you're choosing to do this)
[X] Go to your room, get settled in, and meet your roommate.
[] There's supposed to be common rooms on every floor, there's bound to be some of your floormates there you can talk to and get to know.
[] Go to the library. You just need some quiet to think about today and destress. There might even be some older students who'd be willing to talk to you?
[] Stay where you are, outside. Enjoy the outdoors and give yourself time to process everything. Maybe even go to the garden.
[] Find another group. There's bound to be other students hanging around nearby you could talk to. (1d4 roll for group's year)
[] Write-in. (Where? Why?)
