I follow Kara to her room, and she swipes us in. Her room is the same size as mine, and it's a similar layout. But hers is far more decorated. She has posters of different people with instruments, a shelf full of those vinyl things she was showing me, and an odd device that I can only assume is the record player she said she uses to play them.
"Elaine is absolutely overreacting! An entire week?!" Kara exclaims.
"Protocol is stupid. People would have gotten hurt if we didn't step in." I chime in.
"Huh. Didn't think of that aspect." She replies.
Of course she didn't. I let out a small sigh and sit back against the wall. "I don't know about you. But I'm sneaking out at night." I tell her.
She cackles at me in response, "Yeah, not joining you. Elaine or Sonar is going to catch you in less than a minute."
"Oh, please, you underestimate me. Is Elaine catching me? Elaine. Not happening." I retort.
"You didn't deny the part about Sonar." She says in a sing-songy voice.
"Oh, shut up. He and I have the same power; I can get by him." I say, looking away as I feel a blush creep onto my face.
"Whatever you say, Parker." She chuckles.
Kara walks over to a shelf and grabs a vinyl. She takes it out of the cardboard cover encasing the large disk and puts it into the record player. I watch her drop the needle onto the record as it begins to spin. A calming and warm sound emanates. It's quite rhythmic and smooth.
Kara walks over and lies down on her bed. "So. What's your home life like?" She asks.
"That's random," I reply.
"Just answer it." She says, oddly seriously.
I sigh before beginning, "I'm adopted. My birth family wasn't the kindest to me, so my mom adopted me about three years ago, taking me from them. On my birthday, funnily enough. She's quite the character. But I respect her more than anyone else." Mostly the truth. But it's as much as I can tell her.
"Oh, cool. You're also adopted." Kara says.
"Yeah. What's your story?" I ask her.
"Well. When I was about five, my parents passed away. Ironhide was my uncle, so he took me in. He adopted Bayani about a year before he took me in. I'm a year older than him, by the way. Nine. He's eight." She explains, seeming slightly proud of the fact that she's the elder sibling.
"I'm also nine," I tell her.
"When did you turn nine?" she asks.
"Yesterday," I tell her.
"Hah! I'm older by four months!" She boasts.
I let out a little 'tch' and quickly change the subject, "Anything I need to know about living here?"
"Food here is alright. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner are free for apprentices. Full-time heroes do eat in the cafeteria, but they gotta pay." She begins by further explaining. "Ironhide used to patrol the halls here. Heroes and their families live here, too, when deemed necessary. I think Sonar is gonna take over that role. He's moving into HQ on this floor because of it. The only ones on this floor are: You, me, Bayani, Sonar, Elaine, and Elizabeth. Paragon and Elementalist share a room on the floor right above us."
So a lot of rooms are empty then. The room I saw Paragon exit from earlier today was likely Elizabeth's or Elaine's. And if Mr. Eun-ji is going to be patrolling the halls, that makes sneaking out easier…
As long as I convince Miss Claire to tell him to let me.
"You get your powers back yet?" Kara asks me.
"Nope. Have you?" I ask her in return.
"Nope. According to Sonar's report, when it happened to him, he got them back a few hours after getting hit." She explains.
Great. So it's gonna be a little while.
"D'aw… I just realized. We never ended up buying you new clothes." Kara says with a long, dramatic sigh.
"I don't need them," I tell her.
In response, she sticks her tongue out at me. I roll my eyes in return. "So, you bought a movie?" she says, changing the subject.
"Yeah," I reply.
"Okay, we're watching it tomorrow. Gives us something to do." She says as if it were a fact.
Not that I actually mind it. I was gonna watch it at some point regardless. I don't particularly mind her company either. I stand up, "I'm gonna go to sleep." I tell her
"G'night, Parker. I really warn you against sneaking out." She replies, waving goodbye.
"Not tonight," I tell her as I wave back and walk out.
I walk over to my room and swipe myself in. I then enter and flop down on my bed. I absolutely dread the next week. I can't leave this place normally, and I have "extra training" when I don't even know what the normal amount is? The very thought of it makes me groan.
I reach into my pocket and grab my phone. I go into my contacts and press the one that says "Mom". I wanna talk to Miss Claire, I don't know why, but I sometimes feel a sense of emptiness now that I can't see her every day like I normally do.
I press the button to call her. The phone only rings once before I hear a click, followed by a familiar voice: "Ray! How are you, kiddo?"
Knowing I should probably keep my cover, I reply cautiously, "Hey, Mom. I just wanted to call you like I promised you I would."
"Ah, forgot you're living in HQ now. I allowed it earlier because I thought it'd be a good opportunity for ya. So yeah, calling me 'Mom' is good for cover. How was your first day, kiddo?" She asks.
"I already got in trouble. Not allowed to leave the building, and I have extra training for a week." I tell her with a slight pout.
"Pft! Haha! Already?! How did you manage that?" She asks with a sense of excitement through her laughter.
"The gang with those power-disarming weapons attacked a mall I was in. Kara and I stepped in and fought them. But that broke protocol or something." I explain.
"Kara? Ironhide's niece? You hung out with her? After… Y'know…" She says.
"Obviously, she doesn't know about… that. She knows me as Parker. She's okay. I guess." I explained.
"And hold on, Eun-ji's old gang? Why would they attack a mall?" Miss Claire asks. "Me," I reply.
"That makes sense…" She says contemplatively.
"Alright, kiddo. Make sure Eun-ji knows about this. And stay safe. Do not engage them further. They won't show you the same kindness Ironhide did. You aren't at the level to take them. Remember that you only won because Ironhide held back for most of the fight." She says sternly.
"I know. No need to remind me." I say as I look down a bit, and my voice trails off.
"Get some sleep, kiddo. Goodnight. I love you, my little chameleon." She says with a teasing lilt to her voice.
"Bye," I state plainly.
"Awwww, c'mon. Say it back!" She playfully demands.
It isn't like it feels completely unnatural. But I just don't like putting it into words. I don't understand the aversion myself.
I draw in a deep breath before stammaring out: "I-I love you too… Mom."
I hear some odd exclamation of excitement exit her mouth as she hangs up. I certainly didn't lie to Kara when I described Miss Claire as 'quite the character'.
I put my phone down rather hard on the nightstand and flop down on my bed. I feel the weight of today's events crash down on me completely. My eyes struggle to stay open, but my thoughts are racing, forcing me to remain awake. A new environment, the gang, Mr. Perfect, Kara, Bayani, the top four heroes, and a triple life that triggered this entire thing.
I think I now regret sneaking off and accompanying Mr. Eun-ji on that rooftop mission when he told me no. If I just stayed put, Parker never would've happened.
Parker is more trouble than it is worth. But it is too late to reverse that decision. I suppose I need to make the most of this. Whatever this offers.
After what feels like an eternity, I finally manage to quell my inner thoughts and fall asleep.
The following morning, I wake up and check my phone. I notice that the time is 5:00 AM. I get up and take a shower. As I feel the water beating down on me, I note that the shower here is actually nicer than the one in the lair. I might have to invest in whatever this big, rectangular showerhead is.
After cleaning myself, I get out and dry myself off. I walk out of my bathroom and see Elaine sitting on my bed.
"Excuse you! What are you doing in my room?!" I shout at her as I feel my face go red, and I hold the towel tighter against me.
"My card can swipe me into any room. I was just making sure you knew that breakfast starts in thirty minutes, it's from 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM," She says before standing up and leaving.
Great. Since she has the card that can do that, I can only assume that anyone with a larger role involving the apprentices at this facility has that card. I grumble and finish drying myself off. I throw on some clean clothes. A random pair of sweatpants, a solid blue shirt, socks, and shoes.
I grab my apprentice ID, the blue card with my money on it, and my room card, all before exiting my room and walking down the hallway. I just realized that no one told me where the cafeteria even is.
I make my way to the end of the hall. It's whatever, I'll figure it out. If I go to each floor that I haven't been to, I'll find it eventually. I make it to the end of the hall and walk to the elevator, only to spot Bayani standing next to it. He waves and greets me: "Hey, Parker! Kara already went downstairs and is probably stuffing her face. But I realized that probably no one told you where the cafeteria is. Seeing as Sonar didn't know either, and you both are new."
So Mr. Eun-ji didn't know either? Makes sense, he's probably only ever been to the lobby and floor 50, considering his relationship with the WWSHA. But that's just pure assumptions on my end.
"So you're here to lead me to it?" I ask.
"Yup, come on in." He says as he motions for me to follow him into the elevator.
I enter the elevator right behind him. I watch as he walks in and presses a button that reads: "12". So the cafeteria is on floor twelve. Got it.
Bayani turns around and begins to speak to me, "So, you doing okay?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?" I question.
"I mean, on your first day, you've been: dragged on outings, treated like crap by Elaine for some reason that evades me, attacked by gang members, temporarily lost your powers, and punished for something for breaking a flimsy rule you weren't aware of." He explains, before following up with, "You get your powers back by the way?"
I never actually attempted to use them since then. I attempt to move my aura back into the shape to reactivate Mr. Eun-ji's power. I can do it, it works. After my pause that I took to attempt to do that, I replied: "Yeah, I got them back."
"Good." He states.
"So what did you mean when you said a 'Flimsy rule?" I ask Bayani.
"Well, the rule was only made a few months ago when Kara stepped out of line and attacked a villain when Ironhide specifically told her to stay back. I guess the exact wording of the rule made what happened yesterday fall into it. But honestly, I think you two saved people, so you didn't deserve it. Sonar even argued with Elaine last night and defended you, saying you didn't deserve it." He explains.
"Mr. Eun-ji. Him? He did?" I question.
"Yeah." Bayani chuckles before following up with, "He told her: 'He may be a little asshole, but he's a good kid. I don't know your issue, but you need to lay off of him.' But Elaine just said that she wasn't taking unsolicited advice from him, and the conversation ended there." He explains as the elevator finally reaches the twelfth floor.
Bayani and I step out into the massive cafeteria. I see tables and booths everywhere, and a few areas where you can pick up food with a sign that says: "All you can eat breakfast." There are plates and silverware by the trays with food on them.
"Breakfast and Dinner are buffet style, but there's a menu that you order from during lunch," Bayani says.
I see trays of bacon, eggs, pancakes, something labeled "hashbrowns", waffles, and some other assorted breakfast foods. I take a plate and grab two pieces of bacon, some hash browns, and a pancake. I don't think I've ever had whatever these hash browns are. They look kinda good.
After grabbing my food, I walk around to find a place to sit. I hear a voice ring out, "Parker! Here!" I turn around and see Kara sitting down with four plates full of food. One of them is just stacked with eggs.
I sigh and walk over, sitting across from her. "Morning, Kara."
"Morning, Parker!" She greets me enthusiastically.
"What's with all the food?" I ask
"A girl's gotta eat." She says while she takes the first bite of her food.
Bayani then comes over and takes a seat next to me. He has a small plate of two pancakes and a piece of bacon. Kara then proceeds to utilize her full space on the opposite side of the table, spreading her plates out a bit.
We all began to eat our food, Kara scarfing down hers, Bayani eating at what most would call a "normal" pace, and I found myself prodding at my food and eating it slowly.
We all finish in the order you'd expect. When Kara and Bayani are done waiting for me to finish my meal, they hop up, and Kara runs off, yelling back at me, "Parker! Floor twenty-five!"
The floor where she and I fought? I slowly stand up and stretch. I feel many eyes on my back. I see the other people in the cafeteria all staring at me, most with sharp, disapproving eyes. Is it because I'm new? Are they suspicious of me?
I shake off the looks I'm getting and make my way to the elevator. I enter it by myself and press the button that will take me to floor twenty-five. It feels rather empty compared to the lair elevator rides. I complained about the music, but I miss it. I really am a brat.
As the elevator reaches the floor, I feel it suddenly stop, causing me to stumble a bit. The doors open, and I exit. I see Elaine standing in the middle of the room, and Bayani standing next to her. Kara, on the other hand, is sitting on the side with a bag of popcorn.
Didn't she literally just eat breakfast?
Elaine calls out to me: "Parker! Today you're going to spar with Bayani!"
I nod and walk over, standing on the opposite side of Bayani. He speaks up, "I might not be as strong as Kara, but I'm no slouch either. Don't you dare hold back."
"Wasn't planning on it" I reply.
Bayani gets into a fighting stance, and I return the gesture.
Elaine blows the whistle and yells:
"Start!"