The New Age [IC]

[Atrum Daemon]

Florida summers. Possibly the hottest days the inhabitants this southernmost area in the North American continent experience. That particular day, the sun beat down upon the campus of what was once a university in central Florida. The campus flagpole flew the standard of the United Empire: a tri-colored shield overlain by a black cross. The campus was a sprawling mass of beautiful stone and brick architecture. Large, green trees sprouted from the ground. Under some of these, a few students lounged. Some doing work and some just wasting time until their next class. Such was life at the Imperial Academy.

Leaning against the wall in a shaded alcove was a male of about eighteen. His black Academy uniform perfectly blended with the shadows. One foot was propped against the wall and his arms were crossed in front of his chest. A thin cloud of smoke escaped his nostrils. The source was the glowing cigarette stuck between his lips.

Dropping the cigarette to the ground, Atrum ground it to nothing beneath the heel of his shoe. Pushing himself from the wall, Atrum stretched his arms above his head before sliding his hands into his pockets and walking off down the covered walkway. His attention was caught by a familiar whistle coming from behind him. Turning, Atrum saw a familiar length of auburn hair turn a corner at the end of the walkway. Smiling lightly, Atrum followed the figure around the corner and saw the same length of hair vanish into the main building of the school. Atrum quickly jogged to the door and opened it in time to see the figure head up a flight of stairs that led to the roof.

Atrum pushed open the roof access door and stepped onto the academy roof, his eyes scanning the area for the person he had been following. As the door swung shut, Atrum heard the same whistle behind him as he had in the walkway. Turning around, he saw the source of the sound was a very attractive girl standing against the wall by the door with a light smile on her face. She licked her lips lightly before stepping forward until she was about nose to nose with Atrum. “Afternoon, Allison,” Atrum said.

Allison grabbed the front of Atrum’s shirt and pulled him into a kiss before pushing him onto his back and straddling his waist. “You’ve been way too busy,” Allison told Atrum after pulling back from the kiss. “I haven’t been seeing nearly as much of you as I’d like.”

“Well we’re alone up here,” Atrum pointed out with a grin.

Down in the student council building, which like the rest of the school had a Victorian-era design, a young woman with dark brown hair looked at the grandfather clock sitting against a wall. “Where the hell are those two?” Elizabeth “Liz” Brookfield, daughter of the man who built and owned the academy, asked.

“They’ll be here,” assured Jurgen Wolfe, a young man of Russian descent. He and Liz were the only two in the building. “I mean he has been pretty busy. So those two haven’t seen each other for a while.”

“You’ve got a point,” Liz sighed. “Still, they better get here soon. We do have stuff to get done today.”

***

At the top floor of a pearl white sky scraper office building, two men stood before a large window that made up the wall opposite the oak door to the office. “Is everything set?” the man on the right asked.

“All is in readiness,” the other replied. “Our informant is in place within the academy and will feed us information as she finds it.”

“And you are sure this girl is reliable?”

“Yes. She may not seem like it, but her loyalty to us in unwavering.”

“Good. Now, she is aware of the dangers at the academy, yes? Aware of who she should be most wary of?”

“She was informed. Whether or not she took is seriously is a whole other matter.”

“Right. And what of the project?”

“Everything is on schedule.”

“Beautiful.”

***

Atrum and Allison lay together on the roof of the academy, their clothes discarded in a pile near their naked bodies. Allison was pressed against Atrum’s side, one arm draped across his chest while Atrum was still on his back with one arm around Allison while his free hand crushed out the cigarette he had been smoking. “Moments like these make me wish these days would never end,” Allison said as her fingers traced a few of the runic tattoos that covered Atrum’s torso.

“I know what you mean,” Atrum nodded. “But…change is something we can’t avoid.”

“Yea,” Allison sighed, “we need change to survive, I know.”

***

Liz sighed heavily and looked at the clock again. “Where the fuck are they?” she asked angrily.

As her question hung in the air, she and Jurgen heard two pairs of footsteps coming down the hall accompanied by the angry voices of Atrum and Allison. “Oh, come the fuck on, Allison!” Atrum said, irritation evident in his voice.

“No!” Allison shouted back, opening the door to the student council’s main room while still facing Atrum. “Just fuck you, Daemon! Okay? Fuck! You!”

“Yea, you already did that,” he said with a spiteful grin.

Allison pulled her hand back and punched him hard in the face, causing a loud crack that indicated she just broke his nose. She stormed inside, slamming the door behind her as she wiped the blood off her hand with a small towel. Liz and Jurgen stared at her and she gave them a glare that clearly said she did not want to talk about what just happened or why it happened. “Wonder what happened,” Jurgen whispered so only Liz could hear.

“Best not to ask,” Liz said, eyeing Allison as she sat down at her computer and started typing while muttering angrily under her breath about what an asshole Atrum could be.

Liz slowly approached the girl, coming to a stop beside her desk as she typed away. Liz noticed how she was glaring at the monitor and shook her head lightly before returning to the oval table in the middle of the room. She shook her blonde head at Jurgen, who nodded understandingly in return. The two had learned not to get involved when a dispute arose between their two friends since they knew Atrum and Allison were perfectly capable of sorting it out on their own.

[Totenglaut]

Florida heat. It was just lovely. Adrienne Burman wasn't used to such stifling weather. In fact she almost wished she wasn't at this school. She almost wished she had been sent to a N-Zone instead. She almost wished she had stayed in URN. Almost.

Her head was bowed creating a barrier out of her hair. She hoped to fade into the crowd. Though few might know it, it would be hard with her particular human-taser ability. She doodled absently in her notebook letting her pencil decide what to draw.

She didn't neccessarily have talent. Her lines were too clean, too neat the smaller features much too straight and the bigger features much to rounded. But the sketch was recognizable as she. Perhaps this was really the way the girl saw herself. Too big eyes, too small mouth, to straight of limbs and certainly no curves. But it was a crude representation, most would agree that she was prettier than she thought.

She sat back just listening to the sounds around the school. Someone whistled once...no, twice. There was a buzz of conversation that drifted in and out past Adrienne. "...sitting over there he's so...." "...can't believe all the new people..." "...there she is" None of it mattered to Adrienne.

None of the people talking could claim to know an Adrienne Burman. In fact she doubted anyone noticed her sitting under the tree with her knees drawn up to her chest clutching her notebook. She didn't want to know any of them. Even more Adrienne was afraid to get up and move into the crowd.

What if smeone brushed her? What if she ran headlong into someone? What if her Electrokinesis had grown stronger? What if? What if? Questions circled round and round inside her head. She hadn't wanted this. Especially the kind of destructive power that she had. She'd never actually killed anyone but she'd knocked many out.

Adrienne stayed there under the tree frozen with sudden horrible thoughts. She didn't want to be responsible for another's death. Electricity could kill, right? And Adrienne was an Electrokinetic, that meant she could kill. If she could kill then it didn't matter who.

She drew her knees closer to her chest with a whimper. She hadn't meant to go down this road but now she couldn't stop herself. Terrible things raced through her mind and Adrienne simply went silent her dark eyes watching people come and go all the while thinking: What if I kill that person because I can't turn it off?

[Lacey]

Kaylee watched the clouds float in the sky, her head resting on the trunk of the tree she was in. Of course, she was obviously too old to be climbing trees, but that didn’t stop her when she wanted to get a good view of something. Sitting up, straight as a pin, she brushed some hair out of her face. In times like these, she was glad that she’d run. Of course, she’d probably die because of it, but that was something she refused to think about anymore. That was too depressing to think about often and still remain sane.

“Their really busy today, aren’t they?” Kaylee was looking at the academy, shaking her head. Her fingers twitched, barely satisfying the ever-present urge to move around. I do wonder if I’m the only Newtype to have malfunctions like my own. Sighing loudly, she shook her head and started down the trees. It wasn’t exactly safe to be in one place for so long.

The knowledge that she was going to have to run for the rest of her existence was obvious. She never wanted to go back to that place. Many people had called her out on her weakness, never believing for one second that she was smart because of the defect. If she’d had the guts to fight them, the insults would have stopped but that was too easy.

“People are annoying.”

Her mind searched for a situation. She could always go to the Vatican State or the URN, but she trusted them as much as she trusted the Empire. Not at all. Even less than that, if you really got down to it.

Following orders without question, getting rid of enemies you might have liked if you didn’t have to kill…it’s so horrible. How can the little ants do it? Was I just a flea in a hive of bees? Was I really the only one to hate it that much?

Questions that would probably remain unanswered floated through her head. Wiping some sweat from her forehead, she cursed the Florida heat. It always seemed thicker when it was this hot. Harder to move from one place to the next.

Flipping down from the last branch, she quickly made her legs denser so they could take the thirteen foot fall without jarring her bones. They reverted back to their original density as she started walking away.

[Earl Greyfox]

"WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" yelled a tall dark haired female into the depths of the apartment. "AND IT'S OUR FIRST DAY!"

"STUFOO!" yelled a male British voice. "Just go on without me! I'll catch up, Auright?!"

"Fine, fine," grumbled Lisa Williams, heading out the door and closing it behind her. Her whole demeanor changed once she was on the street. The tall and somewhat awkward looking girl pulled her uniform jacket close to herself and kind of shuffled while she ran, like she was more used to wearing skirts than pants.

"OI!" called a loud voice.

Lisa turned to see a girl even taller than her waving her over to where she was standing with an overly tall orange haired fellow. Lisa shook her head emphatically and pointed dramatically to her wrist as if to a watch to indicate she was late, and then took off running again.

"What's her hurry?" asked the taller, bustier girl to her companion.

"I dunno. Isn't today their first day on STUCO?" replied the boy with a heavy British accent.

Lisa ran in the door of the student council building. "S-s-sorry I'm late!" she stammered.