The Free City

Chapter Six : Learning Curve

I walked into the morning science lab without a clue about what we might be learning there. We did a little chemistry at my old academy, but that was it.

Two long black counters with five stools each were centered in the room. There were floor-to-ceiling cabinets against the walls, but I didn't chance getting in trouble by peeking into them. I sat at a table with Jana, Sam, Damien, and Emily. I wasn't sure about the grumpy girl's presence, since she didn't seem particularly nice or glad to see me and I had just embarrassed myself over maple syrup. But she was Jana's friend so I kept my mouth shut.

Kole, Hank, Zuri, Paula, and Anthony sat at the second table.

I was still the only girl wearing a boys' uniform.

Guess I'm not starting any trends.

"Good morning, class." Mr. Sato swept into the room and took his place at the front next to a huge whiteboard and a small desk.

We all offered the same courtesy while he put his bag on his desk.

"I need everyone to pass their self-evaluations to me," he said. "I'll read them over the lunch break and we can go over them during the lecture if we have time."

There was a susurrus of shuffling papers. Everyone pulled out their essays and passed them to Mr.Sato as he came around to collect them. He shoved them into his bag to read later and I saw Sam wince at the rough treatment. Mr.Sato faced the class again and we all sat up straight to listen.

"Miss Stutton, we just finished a unit on the circuitry and components of the types of army-made bombs you're most likely to see outside the walls while defending the city. The territory surrounding us is currently claimed by General Roland and his men. They tend to use pipe bombs but we've seen landmines. And a new army from the southeast has been sweeping this way for a few months. Our intel reports some differences so we will attempt those devices tomorrow."

My eyebrows were so high I knew they must be in my hairline. Bombs? We were learning about the type of bombs we were going to run into while fighing the cityless? I wanted to shake my head in frustration and disappointment. Carson City Supers would be woefully unprepared if they ever had to face an army. As far as Carson City knew, the cityless people were muddy savages living in animal skin tents and fighting with spears.

"We are moving on from memorization to applied diffusion. Dianna, please take notes and observe your group as they work together. You'll need to get notes from last week during today's study period. I hope you caught up on the lecture notes yesterday afternoon."

Geez. High-pressure curriculum.

Mr. Sato opened a cabinet and pulled out a box. He dropped it roughly on the desk and everyone flinched as if it would explode. The teacher looked up at us with amusement.

"They aren't actually armed," he said. "But they will start making a clicking sound if you fail. If you defuse it properly it should make a little bell sound."

He opened the large box and pulled out four strange and unfamiliar devices. I saw Jana wince as if she recognized them and knew they would be difficult. He put two of the bombs on each table. I pulled out my notebook and studied ours intently.

One had some exposed wire surrounding a set of metallic pipes. There was a digital pad with some buttons on it that I couldn't decipher. A screen with little numbers started counting down from forty minutes after Mr. Sato pressed a few of them.

The second one had no wires. It was round and I wondered how we would disarm it.

"These are some standard bombs that Johnson City SuperCorps members have come across in the past. General Roland uses bombs just like these, so you will encounter them. The army coming from the southeast uses different trigger mechanisms so please review your notes from the previous lessons before tomorrow. You may begin."