Augmentum

We made our way into the Hansen building which was basically a large cafeteria with an attached kitchen. Lots of people were coming in with us, including students and faculty. I had recently decided that eating lunch made sense for me, even though I would be returning to my room to the same time as when I left. Otherwise, I would be hungry before my other school served lunch, since my days when I’m at the academy were going to be 5 hours longer.

Gailen Forrest, the school Headmaster, and Ivy Jackon, his assistant were there, smiling at us when we entered the cafeteria. There were quite a number of people already there and coming in, but the noise level was quieter than I was expecting, probably because of their presence. We did have quite a few people watching us, though. Since we were the new class, they asked our group to sit at a table together, so they could sit and visit with us. Once we found a couple of empty tables together, we all sat down. After introducing himself again and welcoming us, Mr. Forrest invited Ivy to explain how the cafeteria worked.

Rather than going through a lunch line to pick up already prepared dishes, it was set up more like a restaurant but with longer tables. Instead of waiters, we used our personal agent interfaces to view what food was available for the day and to make our orders. When each of our orders were ready, our agent would inform us and then it would be ported to the table in front of us. There was also a chilled salad bar and dessert bar at one end of the cafeteria. Ivy told us to feel free to choose items from either at any time, without needing to order.

I took some time looking over the menu on my interface for a few minutes. The others were busy also. It looked like today was Brazilian day, other than some ubiquitous American items. Once people finished ordering, the conversations around the table started picking up. I was only half paying attention, though, because I was still trying to decide. Besides the native dishes from Earth, there were some from “off-world”. For these, there was the name, description, and what the dish was similar to, if any. I decided to stick with something fairly normal for me, for my first lunch, so I got up and went to the salad bar.

Even at the salad bar there were a few items I didn’t recognize. What was Kek’pin Pardo? It looked like moist, brownish-red tree leaves. The sign said it was from Norams’ti.

“Hi.” A tall girl walked up next to me. “Are you with the new class? I’m Cass, Cassidy Peters.” She reached out her hand, so I shook it.

“Yes, today is our first day. I’m Keyva Leota. Do you know what this is? Is it any good?” I was pointing at the Kek’pin Pardo.

“Yes, you eat it like lettuce, but it comes from a bush. It’s really tasty and supposed to be much better for you than our iceberg lettuce… vitamins or minerals or something. Brown means it’s ripe. They say the farmers have to protect their orchards with force fields, or the insects will completely strip the bushes once the leaves start turning.”

“Hmm.” I picked up one of the leaves with the tongs and tried it. “You’re right. It is good, thank you!” It tasted like it already had some kind of dressing, though it was a bit tougher than our lettuce. I decided to load up my plate with some, adding a few of my favorite toppings.

She smiled and put some on her plate also. “So, what do you think so far?”

“I’m a little overwhelmed, to be honest. There is so much to learn. I had no idea this place existed a week ago. And now here I am enrolled.”

“I guess that would be overwhelming if you are so new. This is my third year here. Not to brag, but I am actually a second generation Augmentum.” That kind of sounds like bragging to me, but maybe that’s just the way she is. “My dad went to Azure when he was younger, though the campus wasn’t here then. It was in Texas, where we are from. They had to move when the surrounding town grew too big. I think people were getting too nosy.

“My dad works in security and gets to travel a lot. He protects important people, but he isn’t allowed to tell me much. I’m going to be a teacher here someday, so I'm tutoring this year.”

I had been standing there for a while, and kids at my table were waving me over. “That's really interesting. Sorry, I guess I need to go. My class is calling me over. It was nice to meet you.”

“Let me know if you need any help,” she said, and waved as I left.

Wow, she was… talkative, but she seemed nice.

When I got back and sat down, Ivy said, “Keyva, I see you met Cassidy Peters. We were just asking everyone how their first day had been so far. We just want to make sure you are fitting in, and answer any questions you have.”

“Um… fine, I guess.” Everyone was looking at me, so I got a little self conscious. I still needed to work on my hang-ups. So, after a pause, I got up a little more courage and said, “Actually, I’m really liking things so far, but there sure is a lot to learn.”

“That is true. But don’t let yourself get too worried. There will be plenty of time to study and practice. So, do you have any other questions we can answer?”

“I don’t think so. I’m just glad to be here.” Everyone smiled at that. Soon afterward the conversations wound down, so I could finally eat my lunch.

Our next class was Physical Activities in the Sorensen building. It was mostly a big gymnasium, but with a lot more equipment and a bunch of what looked like props. There were two teachers: Raz’k for the boys and Rin’ya for the girls. Both of them were Anaxian, which was what we called the people from Anax’il. They were shorter, stockier and more muscular than what I considered normal for an adult from Earth, sort of like mythological dwarves. Both had long hair done in a braided ponytail. Raz’k’s beard was quite impressive, though Rin’ya definitely did not have any evidence of a beard, as some stories claimed female dwarves had.

Rin’ya said that many of the activities in later years were coed, and a few of them this year. But the physical differences between genders were significant enough that the classes were usually separated for the first year.

Since this was our first class, they started by giving us a tour of the building, including the track and field outside. The building was much larger than a normal gymnasium, and the grounds outside were large as well. They said that we would use the equipment as needed, depending on the class activity. They said we should plan to have lots of fun, but to expect to work hard.

Then we split up. Rin’ya took us to the girls locker room, while the boys went the other direction. She told us about our need for gym clothes to work out in and get sweaty. We all smiled at that. She showed us the neat stacks of gym clothes in the locker room for everyone to use. There were also showers which we could use at the end of class. Next to the stack of clothes was a large laundry basket where we were to put our dirty gym clothes to be laundered.

Then she asked us all to get changed into our gym clothes, and to meet back in the gym when we were ready. I saw that the lockers had combinations, or could be padlocked, so I set a combination on mine. After I got changed, I went back out with the other girls.

For the rest of class, they wanted to see what we were each starting from. Before today, we each had the opportunity to select augments, though some had and some had not. They had each of us do various tests, exercises, and activities while they took notes. They also said that if we added any physical augments in the future, to let the teacher know at the beginning of the next class so we could be retested.

We ended up running around the track a bunch of times, until we were too tired to run. Most of the boys were faster than the girls at first, but two of the girls, Binda and Carli, passed by all of them halfway around the track, and continued to dominate for the rest of the run.

“How did you two run so fast?” Kevlin asked, after he had caught his breath. He had been the fastest of the boys.

“What do you mean? We were just jogging,” Binda said with a smirk. “Why were you guys so slow?”

“Come on,” Kevlin said. “Did you put all of your physical points into agility? I didn't know we could do that.”

“Actually, only two,” Carli said, and laughed. “I was already the fastest of the girls at my school in 1000 meters. One point for stamina helps also.”

“Are you planning to be a runner in the future?” Aislin asked.

“I don’t know,” Carli said. “I just love running. It helps in many physical careers.”

“I’m going to be either an athletic or personal trainer,” Binda said. “My mother works at a gym, so my brother and I hang out there a lot.”

“All right,” Rin’ya said. “Time for our next activity.” They spent the remainder of class testing our arm and leg strength and flexibility.

By the end, we were all gasping for air on the grass field. I was so sweaty and sore, and never wanted to move again. I groaned when I remembered that I still had a full school day back at Green Lake. When I got to the shower, I decided to take my time and use extra hot water, since time wasn’t an issue for my last class of the day at Azure Academy.

Maybe I should ask about taking a nap somewhere, before I return home, especially on days when I'm so tired, like today?

They had told us to port to and from the school only using the portals in the Peterson building, unless there was a serious emergency. Walking there from the gym, I thought about my first day. I had been worried at the beginning, but it seemed like this was going to be a lot of fun. The kids and teachers here didn’t bother me like they had back home. Maybe they just didn’t know me yet? I determined to try harder to try to fit in better. In fact, I hadn’t noticed much of my OCD quirks here, but that could just be because it was so new.

After porting back to my bedroom, I had to reorient myself. The sun had moved back to its morning position in the sky. I looked at my cell phone, and noticed that the time still said 1:37 pm. But it soon changed to 6:49 am as I was watching. I guess it didn’t take very long for it to notice that the time was wrong and correct it. I still had my backpack so I ran downstairs and got in the car with mom, for our morning drive to school.

Maybe I shouldn’t have decided to continue school at Green Lake?

When we arrived, Mom was ahead of me going in, because I was taking my time walking from the school parking lot. When I opened the door, I thought I heard a noise so I glanced behind me. I didn’t see anything, but I stopped and looked around. That’s when I noticed the motorcycle across the street. I knew that bike and the person sitting on it.

It was my brother, Jace.

Jace had moved out of the house last year and gotten his own apartment. He worked at Big Jim’s Auto as a mechanic. Henny needed his room when she had the baby.

He was just sitting there on his motorcycle, looking down at his phone. It was far enough away that I wasn’t sure, but I thought I could hear his engine still running. What was he doing here, this early in the morning? He was never an early riser, at least I had never noticed.

Oh well, not my problem.

Just before I turned around to enter the school, I saw two boys coming down the street on skateboards. They were both kids that went to my school, but a year ahead of me. Instead of riding into the school parking lot, however, they stopped next to Jace. After a few words were exchanged, the boys handed something to Jace, a small bag. Jace looked inside for a second, then reached into his leather jacket.

“Good morning, Keyva.” It was my geometry teacher, Mrs. Lambert.

“Oh, good morning,” I replied and held the door open for her.

When I looked back, Jace was gone, and the boys were riding their boards across the parking lot.