Mayne

3. A Temporary Home

                                 Mayne spent 2 days in the hospital, two days of ducking and shielding from danger after danger. She had been isolated from the other survivors and treated like she was as breakable as an antique glass vase. She was alright with this because according to one of her warnings the people responsible were watching the survivors closely. They were looking for something or someone they feared had survived, Mayne couldn't understand the danger completely; she didn't know what they were looking for or why, but she knew they were there. There were a lot of answers that she wished she would get, like who the enemies all were what their plan was and exactly what the facts all were. Sometimes Mayne hated how cryptic her visions were, giving her warnings and rarely giving her answers.

                                 Mayne's days were spent in rehab and physical therapy, the doctors were mostly pleasant. They went out of their way for all the survivors and even integrated some of the technology into the hospital to make them feel comfortable, this was a growing trend. The people that couldn't take in a child or even contribute to any part of the investigation and cleanup were personally forcing the Elite's technology to be integrated into society. The growing opinion was if you argued you were heartless and unpatriotic. Mayne knew she should find this flattering but to her it was an insult; they didn't care about any of it until her parents were dead. Mayne bit back the urge to scream at them that they should have made the effort before the attack not after.

                                  When she was released it was to the care of an orphanage, all that remained of her parents had been located. Their burial would take place when all the investigations were complete, regardless of that it was official, she was alone. Mayne climbed out of the vehicle at the edge of the driveway and looked around at the building, at one time it had been an elaborate Tudor style mansion. It's cream-colored stucco and dark wood timbers stood out against the more modern buildings that surrounded it, the only other difference was the buildings around it went skyward whereas it scrawled across the three acres of land that it was on. The mansion was so big there was maybe three quarters of an acre for gardens and parking the rest of the three acres were the mansion, its five-car garage and driveway.

                                   The Coccole family that owned it donated it for use as an orphanage and low-income housing for one of the neighboring boarding schools in an effort to give more access to top-of-the-line education. Across the road was a vast twenty-two-acre park that was donated to the city at the same time. People had been fighting for months now about being allowed to build on the land, big name companies argue that much land is not needed as green space and could be used for storefronts and skyscrapers but the Coccole family had prepared for that. In the donation papers it stated that the property will only be used for the purpose of which it was donated or the ownership will return to the Coccole family with fines and penalties against the city for attempted breach of contract. All attempts to argue over the land are dismissed immediately by the city.

                                   This orphanage was one of many that had been set up by the city to handle the large number of children that now needed families. Sure a lot of people were eager to help but those that were adopted were the younger children. The older kids like Mayne were either sent to orphanages, care facilities or if they were lucky moved on to join one of the Elite Groups that acted as a police force throughout their nation. The irony of that angered Mayne, keep us safe but we won't keep you safe.

                                      Mayne didn't feel like talking much, she instead just delved into what she knows and just keep her head down. From how she understood it each group consisted of about a dozen members all with varying gifts. If you were one of the high achieving groups you got your own 'Lab'. A Lab was an Elite that had a gift for pattern recognition, tech development and any ability that gave them a quicker thought process. It was their job to make sure your equipment was the best quality and to make sure no fact got missed by the group. They handled research, had a larger say in what missions were taken, and all kept an eye on all Tech updates for bugs and viruses that could damage the security of their equipment. In summary they were the backbone of the strongest Elite groups. Some Elite groups even had more than one.