Chapter 7
YuffieK
(Verified Ninja Princess)
Wednesday was sunny, but it was too cold for me to consider eating outside. Not that it seemed to matter though as Dean, Vicky and Amy were notably absent from the lunchroom. I wondered what was going on as I made my way over to my new friends, maybe they knew something about it.
"Hey everybody. Is Kelly sick today?"
"Nope, she got lucky and was Stalkered out of class." Elena replied. "There's some chatter about her getting hurt last night on PHO, I think that's why Amy left early too, so of course Glory Girl also got to skip to fly her over to the hospital." She pointed a french fry at me. "Doubt you'll get a day off though unless we get a new Ward in town."
I sat down, thoughts whirling about what Elena had said. "What?"
Sarah piped up, "Well, everyone knows the Wards go to school here. Except for Vista of course. So every so often some of the students will get a call from the office to pull them out of class on the premise of Wards stuff. Kelly got picked out as one of Shadow Stalker's body doubles today, so she gets an excused absence."
Heather continued. "Unfortunately the two of us are too tall to pass for her. But, according to the Youth Guard and the school, it works at protecting secret identities."
I pulled out my Arcadia phone, staring at it in confusion. "THAT'S why we have these phones?"
"Pretty clever, don't you think?" Larissa commented.
I shook my head in disbelief. "Pretty STUPID if you ask me. How hard would it be to just have the Wards homeschooled or privately tutored?"
Ted snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "There! See? Someone else realizes it! Why would the school spend so much on giving every student a fancy smartphone with unlimited data plans and run that fancy Tinkertech Faraday cage around the building if it wasn't part of some diabolical government conspiracy to spy on our youth!"
I paled a little. "Uh... I didn't say..."
Ted grinned, "I know, that's actually from one of Leet's PHO tinfoil rants. It IS pretty stupid of them to go to all this trouble..." he waved his hand around, "When, as you so eloquently put it, private tutoring's a lot easier." he finished before going back to his burger.
"The Youth Guard says it's to 'promote healthy social development for young people with powers'." Elena said.
Ted snorted. "Riiight, and they've probably never been to the Bay either. Vista's, what, thirteen? She had to face down Hookwolf, ALONE, a few months back. You can't tell me she doesn't have nightmares about that."
"I hadn't heard about that. I guess that would mess with your head pretty badly." I said. I knew Sophia was psychotic, and she had twisted Emma into something horrible. Dad said powers changed your thinking, made you do crazy stuff. Would I start doing that? I shuddered.
"Sorry about that. I guess I kinda killed the mood there. But, I can't complain too much, I've already had three days off this year as Aegis, despite the fact it's ridiculous that I could be him."
I blinked. Ted was pale enough that he might burst into flames if he went outside for too long. "That... requires an explanation."
Larissa smiled. "Oh, let me tell it! Please!" Ted nodded.
"You know what Aegis' powers are, right Taylor?"
"Alexandria package. Flying Brute."
"But he's not bulletproof like Glory Girl. He heals fast and has a shitload of hit points. Don't know if that means he's a zombie." She pulled out her phone excitedly. "Lemme show you my greatest hits album of him."
"Woah! Not here, 'Liss." Ted turned to me sotto voce. "It's not for the squeamish, or if you've just eaten."
"Party pooper. Anyway, thing is Aegis can adapt around getting hurt. Stab him in the chest, liver takes over for his heart. Put him in a choke hold and he starts breathing through his skin. Cut out his eyes, he can see through his fingers."
I grimaced as I contemplated just what that photo album on Larissa's phone looked like, but motioned her to continue.
"I'll bet he's got a Changer power that doesn't get advertised. After all, a suntan is a natural adaptation against UV radiation exposure."
"So... Aegis being Hispanic is a disguise?"
"Yup! He can probably change his eye color too. Aegis could be any race and nobody could tell. It also explains his hysterical strength, like when you hear about an old lady lifting a car off their grandkid. He's actually tearing his arms off while doing it, but just adapts and heals around the damage."
That... actually made sense. It also meant I'd need to double check my suspicions on whether Carlos was a Ward or not. Still... "Ok, so where does the flight come from?"
She pfffted and shrugged. "No clue. Powers are bullshit. For all I know Aegis figured out how to throw himself at the ground and miss."
"Hey everybody. Is Kelly sick today?"
"Nope, she got lucky and was Stalkered out of class." Elena replied. "There's some chatter about her getting hurt last night on PHO, I think that's why Amy left early too, so of course Glory Girl also got to skip to fly her over to the hospital." She pointed a french fry at me. "Doubt you'll get a day off though unless we get a new Ward in town."
I sat down, thoughts whirling about what Elena had said. "What?"
Sarah piped up, "Well, everyone knows the Wards go to school here. Except for Vista of course. So every so often some of the students will get a call from the office to pull them out of class on the premise of Wards stuff. Kelly got picked out as one of Shadow Stalker's body doubles today, so she gets an excused absence."
Heather continued. "Unfortunately the two of us are too tall to pass for her. But, according to the Youth Guard and the school, it works at protecting secret identities."
I pulled out my Arcadia phone, staring at it in confusion. "THAT'S why we have these phones?"
"Pretty clever, don't you think?" Larissa commented.
I shook my head in disbelief. "Pretty STUPID if you ask me. How hard would it be to just have the Wards homeschooled or privately tutored?"
Ted snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "There! See? Someone else realizes it! Why would the school spend so much on giving every student a fancy smartphone with unlimited data plans and run that fancy Tinkertech Faraday cage around the building if it wasn't part of some diabolical government conspiracy to spy on our youth!"
I paled a little. "Uh... I didn't say..."
Ted grinned, "I know, that's actually from one of Leet's PHO tinfoil rants. It IS pretty stupid of them to go to all this trouble..." he waved his hand around, "When, as you so eloquently put it, private tutoring's a lot easier." he finished before going back to his burger.
"The Youth Guard says it's to 'promote healthy social development for young people with powers'." Elena said.
Ted snorted. "Riiight, and they've probably never been to the Bay either. Vista's, what, thirteen? She had to face down Hookwolf, ALONE, a few months back. You can't tell me she doesn't have nightmares about that."
"I hadn't heard about that. I guess that would mess with your head pretty badly." I said. I knew Sophia was psychotic, and she had twisted Emma into something horrible. Dad said powers changed your thinking, made you do crazy stuff. Would I start doing that? I shuddered.
"Sorry about that. I guess I kinda killed the mood there. But, I can't complain too much, I've already had three days off this year as Aegis, despite the fact it's ridiculous that I could be him."
I blinked. Ted was pale enough that he might burst into flames if he went outside for too long. "That... requires an explanation."
Larissa smiled. "Oh, let me tell it! Please!" Ted nodded.
"You know what Aegis' powers are, right Taylor?"
"Alexandria package. Flying Brute."
"But he's not bulletproof like Glory Girl. He heals fast and has a shitload of hit points. Don't know if that means he's a zombie." She pulled out her phone excitedly. "Lemme show you my greatest hits album of him."
"Woah! Not here, 'Liss." Ted turned to me sotto voce. "It's not for the squeamish, or if you've just eaten."
"Party pooper. Anyway, thing is Aegis can adapt around getting hurt. Stab him in the chest, liver takes over for his heart. Put him in a choke hold and he starts breathing through his skin. Cut out his eyes, he can see through his fingers."
I grimaced as I contemplated just what that photo album on Larissa's phone looked like, but motioned her to continue.
"I'll bet he's got a Changer power that doesn't get advertised. After all, a suntan is a natural adaptation against UV radiation exposure."
"So... Aegis being Hispanic is a disguise?"
"Yup! He can probably change his eye color too. Aegis could be any race and nobody could tell. It also explains his hysterical strength, like when you hear about an old lady lifting a car off their grandkid. He's actually tearing his arms off while doing it, but just adapts and heals around the damage."
That... actually made sense. It also meant I'd need to double check my suspicions on whether Carlos was a Ward or not. Still... "Ok, so where does the flight come from?"
She pfffted and shrugged. "No clue. Powers are bullshit. For all I know Aegis figured out how to throw himself at the ground and miss."
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