The Free City

Chapter Four : Study Period

During the independent study period, Sam and Jana went with me to the library to help me catch up in class. As soon as I walked into the two-story sanctuary of books, I knew it would be my favorite place in the school.

The librarian, Mrs. Hornbill, was a wrinkly-faced old woman with a warbling voice but kind eyes and she greeted us with a smile. I followed my two tutors to a table and we pulled out our notebooks.

"Thanks for the help, guys," I said.

"No problem," Jana shrugged. "I want to get started on my self-eval anyway."

"Me too," Sam agreed. "It's better to just get it done early."

"Speaking of sleeping, I'm so jealous you get your own dorm, Dianna," Jana said wistfully. She opened her notebook to the proper page and gave it to me to read and copy. "You won't have to hear anyone being annoying through the walls. I swear Damien gets up at midnight every night to cook a snack in the kitchen as loud as he can."

Damien. Electrokinetic. Never engage. The thought was shoved forward from my mind palace, as if I could ever forget it.

"I'm sorry I got my own room," I said. "My old academy said it was a requirement for my attendance here."

And by old academy, I mean the Carson City prison. My old academy would have preferred if I stayed in my cell.

I would have thought it was cruel of my old principal and teachers to advocate so fiercely for my continued incarceration, but then his face flashed in my memory. The Carson Academy hadn't been unjustified in demanding that I stay in prison. I knew that.

"That's nice of them," Sam said while he pulled out a clean sheet of writing paper. "They must really take their students seriously if they want you to have your own privileged space even at another school."

"Why did you transfer, anyway?" Jana asked. "It usually has to be a good reason for a Super to change cities."

"Too cold up there," I said quickly. "It's really high elevation and it snows a lot. I heard it was warmer here. And Carson City didn't really need me."

Sam tilted his head at me. His narrowed eyes said he saw through my weak explanation, but Jana hummed in earnest agreement.

"I hate the snow." Jana shivered as if cold. "I'm glad we get such nice weather here."

"It attracts the city-less, though," Sam pointed out. "The villages are always dealing with territory disputes and it's hard to transport goods in and out of southern cities reliably. Too many raids. I bet a cold environment like the one around Carson City doesn't support a lot of city-less people in the area."

"That's true," I said. "Is that why we are learning so much about them? Because Johnson City deals with them often?" I tapped Jana's extensive notes in frustration. "It's more complicated than I thought it would be."

"They are kind of a big deal around here," Jana said seriously. "We get attempted incursions sometimes. There are even city-less Supers. They can be a real threat. And the different tribes of villages have different rules and they are all always fighting."

"When a tribe gets enough territory, they make armies and the leaders call themselves king or general," Sam said to my wide-eyed astonishment. "They claim that we're inside their territory and we need to pay tithe. As if we ever would. They want to control us, and take our resources."

"But... what happens when the army comes to the city?" I asked, imagining a horde of angry city-less people surrounding the wall.

"Our city militia helps our SuperCorps deal with any threats," Sam said. "Armies have gotten pretty close to breaking the wall a few times in our history, but no major battles have happened here in six decades."