Paragon

Chapter 11:

It was the afternoon after our midterm tests, and nearly everyone was outside participating in a field day. I was in our dorm, reading a book on a type of fighting known as Silat. The door opened and I shoved the book under my pillow, as it was technically illegal.

I realized that it was Leela and took it back out.

"Expecting a fight?" She asked.

"You can never be too careful." I replied.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Shane. It was in that new stack of books he smuggled in last week. Cost me 30 dollars."

"Neat." She took it from me. "Looks like some dangerous stuff. I like it. Say, do you know where Mahlika is?"

"Probably outside. Or she went with Nikara to Logan's office."

"Beats me why everyone likes that councilor. He's crazy, if you ask me."

I shrugged. "Seems harmless enough."

There was a buzzing sound and I jumped. After a moment I realized that it was coming from Nikara's laptop.

"Who's calling?" Leela asked as I ran over to it.

"My brother." I replied, pressing accept call. "Falcom."

As soon as the camera turned on I noticed that he looked more exhausted than I'd ever seen him. He also wore a lab coat instead of a white Prime Order uniform.

"Hey." He said. "I know you have midterms today, but I need to talk to you."

"We're done." I replied. "What is it?"

He caught sight of Leela.

"Hi." He said.

"Hello there." She replied. "I'm Leela."

"Hi, Leela. Do you want to get coffee sometime?"

I rolled my eyes at him.

"That's sweet of you." Leela said. "I'll hit you up if I ever decide to switch teams." She nodded toward the door. "Gonna go find Mahlika. Later, Falcom."

"Bye." He replied awkwardly as she left. When she closed the door Falcom raised an eyebrow. "Are you two...?"

"No." I replied. "What did you want to talk about?"

He looked around his room nervously. "I didn't want to bother you, but I didn't know who else to tell."

"What about Malcom?"

He grimaced. "We haven't been on the best of terms lately. Besides, he's busy with Rory."

"Who?"

"Aurora Pierce. Everyone calls her Rory. She's his girlfriend, and my boss."

"Hold on, slow down." I said, pulling up a chair. "Why do I know that name? Also, isn't Gamma your boss?"

He shook his head. "Not anymore. I'm an intern at Master Kontrol's main Lab."

I stared at him. "You what?"

"Listen, Master Kontrol isn't that bad. Besides, I only joined them because they offered to pay for my school. I'm getting a degree in bioengineering and in mechanical engineering."

"Oh. Congrats. Please don't destroy the world."

He smiled. "I'll try."

"So who's this Rory person?"