Guardians of Anteverum City

Chapter Three: The Operations Agency

 September 29, 2024

“1:37,” the clock read, torturing the students in Professor Brenner’s academics class. Today’s subject matter, particle physics, was lackluster and complex. The few nerd-type students who actually enjoyed physics were geeking out in the front row of the class and showing off their comprehension of atoms and such. 1:39. I caught Eliza dozing off next to me. A whole 21 more minutes until class was over and then my freedom-filled weekend would begin. My cell phone’s vibrations in my pocket interrupted my drifting thoughts. Seeing that it was group message from Ottie to her and Faye made me smile. I have only known Faye for about a month how yet it felt like we had already become so close. After a mere two days of moving in with us, Faye began to open up, and living together became really fun. Most of the opening up was thanks to Ottie, who I am declaring the friendliest person in the school.

I put my phone away and glanced at the clock. 1:52, eight minutes left. I clearly was not paying attention and neglected to notice the Professor calling on me to answer the question.

“Do I have to repeat myself a third time, Miss Edmonds?” asked Professor Brenner, her patience expiring. I froze, realizing that I had been caught. I was about to turn myself in when Seira, who sat in front of me, placed her hand on her neck. “Define hadronization,” was written sloppily across the back of her hand. I shot upright and stammered,

“Sorry Professor, hadronization is the process in which hadrons form out of quarks and gluons after undergoing a high-energy collision in which the quarks and gluons were originally created.” The classroom was silent, partly because no one, other than the aforementioned students up front, understood the information I just relayed and partly because it was obvious that I was not paying attention to the lesson. The teacher too was puzzled by the accurate response I gave to the question she thought blew past me. Luckily, I knew the definition because I read the lessons ahead of time. The lecture continued after the brief pause. If it weren’t for Seira, I would probably have gotten a detention. Why would she help me? Regardless, I should thank her.

I leaned forward and whispered a quick thanks when the professor’s back was turned and Seira gave me a thumbs up. I found the situation weird all together.

The rest of the afternoon went by slowly and finally, I left class to meet my friends by the school’s main gate. I saw Ottie talking to Faye animatedly, as usual, and almost laughed until I realized both of them wore serious expressions.

  “What’s going on guys?” I asked as I met up with them.

  “We just witnessed a crime,” Faye squeaked. She looked terrified.  

  “That’s why we should do something!” Ottie said argumentatively. It seemed as if the two of them were quarreling over whether to intervene or not. The two girls continued to bicker, Ottie animatedly and Faye quietly, until I interrupted.

  “Stop it! What exactly happened?” I questioned.

  “Someone stole a power core from the Grand Hall. I tried to catch them but Faye stopped me,” Ottie grumbled. Power cores were important components of educational institutions in Anteverum City. Each one contained intense amounts of condensed energy, enough to create a major explosion.

  “We have to go get it back,” I said.

  “No! We should contact the Operations Agency. The Sanctions officers will take care of it!” Faye sputtered. I smiled and put my hand on Faye’s shoulder. She clearly wasn’t like Ottie and I in that we liked to be proactive in such situations.

  “We can take care of it before Sanctions even gets there. Call Operations and tell them we’re intercepting the criminals. They can meet us there,” I said calmly. I turned to Ottie and nodded. We joined hands and jetted past Faye, who was left standing at the gates awestruck.