Res Novae Academy's Reforms

Levina Folais

This part of the story begins during study bihour, the same night as the previous chapter.
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Levina Folais sat in the corner of the cafeteria, the other Reforms were at the table with her. She leaned over to watch Aeson sketch a clean outline of their eight-grade project. Kesler, too, was in their group, but they had agreed he could do the actual coding part on his own, so he took the time to finish other assignments. Tess and Morana drafted their own project on the other side of the table. Another batchmate of theirs, Barry, sat with them doing his own work.

Levina eyed Barry, wondering when he would go away. Since they got back from the RCP, Barry had been taking every chance to join them, presumably to figure out why Tess stopped hanging out with him.

My sources tell me Tess and Barry used to be something of a ship in seventh grade. Levina had nothing against Barry, and she believed he and Tess could have made it to happily ever after. If anything, Levina had respect for Barry, enough to not want him to unknowingly date a robot. That's why as often as he attempted to join them, the Reforms tried to push him away, but he's a boomerang.

A bell came over the speakers, the end of study bihour.

The Reforms hurried to grab their phones from in front of the front office. As the other dormers crowded around the phone box, the Reforms hurried up the stairs to the fourth floor.

They walked into the guidance office, where Ma'am July was sitting at her desk. ARIZANA stood beside her. Ma'am July smiled. They showed her their scars: Levina and Morana on their foreheads, Kesler on his limbs, and Aeson on his palms, lining his fingers.

Ma'am July dropped her smile and stood up. She opened her drawer and used some controls from within it. Five metal beams lowered from the ceiling. A pentagonal platform descended, with a corner on each beam.

Ma'am July, the four kids, and ARIZANA boarded.

They arrived in a room with white-tiled walls and no windows. All around them, screens, lab tables, gadgets, and a round lifeboat lined with seats inside. In one side of the room, there were four chairs. In front of the four chairs, with a powerpoint, were Agent April Agonium, Agent March Litacio, and Agent August Piaculum.

"Exadvorsus," nodded Agent Agonium. Ma'am July Exadvorsus nodded back.

The Reforms each took a seat, ARIZANA stood by. Ma'am June Exadvorsus, also known as Agent Exadvorsusa, arrived through the back door of the room. Agent Agonium greeted her like he did her sister. He looked at the Reforms, they imitated the greeting.

The powerpoint showed a style familiar to both myself and the Reforms, Ma'am June's signature style. Where there would usually by two-paragraph word problems or pictures of specimens and such was a map of the city with a pin on Res Novae and another pin far west.

"You're on reconnaissance tonight," said Agent Exadvorsus. "And we have treat for you tonight. We have a mission on the other side of the area, so you'll be going unsupervised."

Levina, leaning in her chair, made a Y-hand and shook it, as though to say 'cool.' Not that she knew the implications of being unsupervised.

"If no one has anything more to say, I think it's time to get dressed," said Agent Piaculum. "Go on, Team Z."

They headed to the other side of the room, where black dressing screens. A dressing screen is those tall foldy things people get dressed behind in old movies, but the ones above the Res Novae guidance office looked a bit more modern. Behind the each dressing screen was a black trunk with a tab sticking out the bottom. Levina pulled the tab, revealing a cather like that on a printer, but bigger. Out came a copy
of the uniform for the public school downtown. For the girls, that meant a purple plaid skirt and- like most schools in the country- a white blouse, differing from Res Novae's black plaid skirt and grey blouse.

After getting dressed, they got in the round lifeboat, each taking a seat. ARIZANA pulled a wire from the floor of the boat and held on to it with one hand. A glass dome rose up... clear looking from the inside, pitch black looking from the outside. A round hope opened on the ceiling and the boat float high into the sky.

Levina looked out the window. She remembered Sedimentary telling her how the first human flight was in the late 18th century. Three or four hundred years ago seeing clouds that close would have been as realistic as Barry and Tess ending up together.

Levina turned to the team. She leaned down, her arms crossed on her legs. Morana faced down with a faraway look. Aeson faced Kesler, refusing to look at ARIZANA, as the two of them laughed about teachers and classmates. Reconnaissance was Team Z's most common mission type, had them about twice weekly, so there was no need to discuss anything. As Levina looked her teammates up and down, she wondered if they could ever be good, genuine friends.

The lifeboat landed. They alighted in an empty space between two buildings, where no windows could see them. They alighted. The lifeboat deflated and turned into a small disk. ARIZANA opened a panel on its arm and put it in.

They walked onto the sidewalk, sticking together, to investigate.

For the country, I guess, Levina told herself.