𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩

𝔓𝔯𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢

Exactly a hundred levels of high-grade security, both in-network and in physical concrete and specially designed iron, unbeknownst to curious outside eyes. The building stood innocently enough, rising in front of a rising sun and across from the setting sun. At the times when the sun was setting, the light streaming from the background cast the structure in ominous shadows, adding to its mystery.

Twenty-four-hour around-the-clock security dressed as normal high school students, secretly patrolling across the vast acres of man-made land—seven feet of thick concrete, partially hidden beneath the ground. Thousands of hidden cameras and guards to surveilled the footage every hour of the day. No blind spots, no hidden hiding areas in the shadows, no place of peace from the red blinking eyes.

Not even in the bathrooms.

Each building and floor were connected by a labyrinth of tunnels. They were underground, invisible to all but the ones who knew they existed. The twenty-five-ton steel glass doors could only be opened by biometric recognition software. The only ones who had their fingerprints logged into the system were those of the highest of status and station at this highly secured place. They were those who knew all the secrets, all the connections, all the right things, and all the right people. A hacker's attempt to hack their way into the building's security via these recognition panels would find themselves not only blocked by several hundred layers of code walls created by the brightest of minds but the system would be alerted immediately and a deadly chemical substance would be released into the air.

Outside the hidden walls, the entire premise was surrounded by a gate standing seven feet tall on crash-resistant concrete footings, topped with spikes sharper than knives and pressure senses that alert when pressure is applied to the bars. Any foreign object thrown through the gaps would be disintegrated the second they passed onto the property. Even if something harmful were to pass through, the bulletproof windows would block the object and set off the alarm, triggering the entire premises into lockdown mode. Slamming blocks of concrete and iron fortification would then turn the entire building into the securest cube block in the entire world.

The only people who could actually walk onto the property without silent alarms going off and unseen guns pointed toward their head were those with a special chip embedded into the ID tag resting beneath their collarbone at all times. Guests of the building were required to wear a pin that had to be scanned every hour by anyone with an ID tag. The infrared sensors embedded into the walls detected movement and the slightest change in temperature within restricted areas. Those who were allowed in these restricted areas required an extra chip, password, and finger recognition, all updated monthly.

The entire concrete island rested in the middle of a bustling city on shock-absorbing springs that allowed the concrete landing to withstand and remain operational in the event of a thirty megaton nuclear blast. Past the concrete island, the surrounding area had restricted airspace. Any airships that attempted to cross the barrier would suddenly experience quite unusual and mysterious malfunctions. They weren't serious enough to make them crash and damage the surrounding area, but serious enough to force the pilot to turn back and refrain from continuing down that path.

This fortress was Prodigious Prep, home of the most brilliant minds in the making. As cocky and stuck up as they were smart, these teenagers usually refrained from interacting with the outside, 'lower class' world. They came from a strict upbringing and enjoyed hobbies such as studying, studying, studying, and practicing the piano or violin...or perhaps even the harp. Their heads tended to be much larger than most, filled not only with knowledge but also harsh thoughtful criticism and E.G.O. The students called this 'Every Good Outsmarts' (hardly a creative acronym for such genius minds), them being the only 'good' and the people they outsmarted being every other person on planet earth.

These students were the elite of the elite, strong in body, mind, and heart. They were cold, focused, and on a one-track mind, headed towards one goal, whether it be a scientist, doctor, lawyer, politician, or the presidency. And they always reached their goal. Prodigious Prep didn't tolerate failure and neither did the students.

That was why the ripple that dashed through the still waters at this school were stared at with great contempt and hate.

But what could they do about it?

The power this ripple held over the school was even stronger than the students' bonds to education. It was something to be feared by all things order. It was these genius teenagers' worst nightmare.

It was a tempest.