Mom, I'm Bulletproof

Chapter 3.3: School of the Future

The next day, Friday, Marci had no classes, but she did have an extracurricular activity, giving tours of the academy to eighth-graders and their families.

"Mirai Academy truly is the high school of the future," she said, leading a pair of nervous prospective students and their wealthy parents.

"Here," she continued, "students with exceptional brilliance in science and mathematics are given freedom to make their own curricula. They develop projects that are already the first steps toward careers that will craft a better tomorrow."

Marci halted on those last three words. Although they were part of the P.R. speech she and her fellow student tour guides had memorized and spoken dozens of times, the words "a better tomorrow" stood out. She thought of Future Girl healing the girl with the flip-flops.

Marci recovered and continued the tour. She reminded them how the school was located at the southwestern border of California's Redwoods National Park, where students could enjoy hiking and camping on weekends. She walked the group past the biology building, the mathematics building, the engineering building, the computer labs, the humanities building, and the advanced studies building, which the students nicknamed the "theory building." All of these, plus the administration building, circled the school green, a large rectangle of grass and benches in the center of campus. Moving farther out from the center was the school cafeteria, the girls' and boys' dorms, the gym and baseball field, and facilities used by the custodial staff and the security officers.

"Any questions?" Marci asked at the end of the tour, in front of the academy's large main gate.

"Do you know Future Girl?" an eighth grade girl asked.

Marci smiled. "As a matter of fact, I met her the other day. She helped me, and she was really nice."

"Is this school dangerous?" a parent asked.

Marci instinctively recited the P.R. speak. "Students at Mirai deal with experimental, cutting-edge technology every day, as opposed to the technologically backwards equipment in today's under-funded public schools. It's true that being on the cutting edge sometimes means unpredictable results. I assure you that safety is..."

"If the school is safe, why does it have all these security guards?" the parent asked.

Marci kept her smile and continued to recite pre-approved P.R. material, emphasizing how security was merely there as a preventative measure, but she couldn't help but think, that's a good question.

* * * *

Later that night, as Marci walked to her room after dinner, she heard glass breaking. She saw colored lights shooting out of a widow on the top floor of the engineering building. She heard screams coming from inside. Another student's experiment had obviously gone wrong.

Within seconds, Future Girl showed up, blasting through the air. Marci stood motionless as she watched Future Girl fly into the building. After a few seconds, the lasers stopped. Future Girl then flew back out and blasted off into the night sky.

When she heard the woot-woot-woot sirens of the arriving security officers, Marci realized she hadn't moved at all while Future Girl was present.

* * * *

Marci wanted to tell her roommate Amber about seeing Future Girl again, but Amber was too busy memorizing binary numbers for an upcoming test. Marci contained her excitement for breakfast in the cafeteria with Liz and Wendell the next morning.

"The laser was out of control and blasting everywhere. Future Girl flew in and out of there in seconds, and she stopped it without breaking a sweat."

"Yeah, I know," Liz said. "I heard about it."

"That's cool how you're caught up on current events," Wendell said.

Marci ignored him and continued. "The thing is, when Future Girl was there, I couldn't move. It's like I was frozen to the spot."

"That's understandable," Liz said. "You were watching someone fly. That's mesmerizing."

"Yeah," Wendell said. "Mesmerizing."

Marci frowned. "I guess so."

* * * *

After breakfast, Marci returned to the dorm. Her roommate was in the shower. Marci picked up the phone, dialed the administration building, and asked for Miss Kahror.

Kahror was quick to answer. "Yes?"

"Miss Kahror, it's Marci Cobb and... and... and I think I'm FutureGirl."

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Next: Mind over matter.