Hemopoiesis 1.2
"How is your mood, Mark? I know the last few days have been very hard for you, so please know that it's absolutely normal to be sad. You have been through a lot, and I understand that. Therefore, if you ever need to talk about anything, you can always come to me. Believe me, no matter what, I always have a large supply of cookies and tea."
Even though I said that people here mostly didn't care about the students, there were exceptions. For example, such an exception was the blonde woman sitting in front of me, who worked as a psychologist, and it was clear that this profession was her true calling. Linda possessed a soft and quiet voice, and her green eyes showed that she truly empathized with people like me. A real professional doing a titanic job for, I suspect, pennies. Providing psychological help to orphans, especially children, and even more so those with superpowers, is incredible work. I had barely been here and therefore hadn't managed to interact with the other orphanage kids, but it was obvious that almost everyone here had a screw loose. How many of them had killed their parents like Mark? I suspect too many. Children are unable to control even their own emotions, let alone laser beams from their eyes.
Linda Shu was a kind woman who probably genuinely worried about the fate of a little boy who unknowingly tore his father to pieces and was then abandoned by his mother. I can understand her; the story is indeed sad, but personally, I didn't need this kind of help. However, the show must go on, and I needed to stick to the act so that unnecessary questions wouldn't arise. Moreover, the psychologist was my main source of information about the outside world. Childlike curiosity would cover up all questions about my ignorance of obvious facts.
"I... am okay. I understand that mom and dad... anyway, I'm fine. I'm here now, and nothing can be done."
I slightly lowered my gaze and began to look at the floor. But I didn't even need to see Linda to know what she was feeling.
"Of course, Mark. But you know, tomorrow you will meet your roommate and go to classes. Tell me, do you like studying?"
I slightly raised my head and began to look at the ceiling, pretending to think. I do like studying, but I seriously doubt they'll teach me anything genuinely useful here. Back in my past life, I had already mastered the school and university curriculum, which I still remembered quite well. Because of that, I even had thoughts of playing the card of a little genius who would skip all grades as an external student. After all, there are different superpowers here, right? So I would just have the power of "super-intellect." But I didn't want to reveal this "fact" right away; first, I needed to figure out how everything worked here. Otherwise, they might start conducting all sorts of experiments on me...
"Well... in principle, yes. I like to read. And learning new things is quite interesting..."
While I sat and talked with her, I was simultaneously testing a theory. During tea time, I tried to sense her with my "blood vision". That's what I called the ability that allowed me to know any and everything about this red liquid. And the most wonderful thing was—I was succeeding! I could feel the beating of her heart and even how the blood circulated throughout her entire body. Of course, I didn't even think about somehow influencing its movements, because God knows what that could lead to, but it was a pleasant fact that further expanded the range of my capabilities. I need to know the clear limits of what I am capable of and what I am not, in order to build a development plan.
"Excellent, in that case, I can recommend some very interesting books to you! Even though Professor Brink has written a lot of serious literature, he also has some very good children's books that will help you figure out many questions. Believe me, there is no better expert on the knowledge of abilities in the whole world than him. I'm sure you will like it! There are even pictures with heroes from The Seven and Payback!"
Oh, now that is interesting information. Not about the pictures, of course. I slightly raise my head and look at her with interest. Now I wasn't even pretending, because it was genuinely curious. Linda noticed my reaction and smiled even wider, clearly happy with my response.
"Thank you so much! I promise, I will read them all..."
. . .
After the session with the psychologist and a little tea time, she escorted me to my room. As we walked down the hallway, I had the opportunity to once again examine this place and its inhabitants, who, however, interested me much more than the simple walls. And it must be admitted, the superpowers were impressive. I only saw a couple of orphans, but even that was enough to be truly amazed by the range of their capabilities. For instance, a girl of about thirteen passed right by us, who didn't open doors but simply walked through them as if through a liquid. And over there, another teenager was teleporting every five meters, crossing the long corridor in a few seconds. Linda clearly noticed my reaction and immediately took me by the hand, after which she smiled and leaned down slightly.
"Don't worry, no one will hurt you here. Children just like you live in Red River, and together we are like one big family here."
I don't really react to this phrase in any special way and just keep walking forward. Although I wasn't a professional in child psychology, I highly doubt this place is any better than ordinary orphanages from my past world. And even though truly special children lived here, how well do childish tantrums and teenage rebellion mix with the ability to bend steel with bare hands? Honestly, I have no idea how they control them here at all. What would the local administration do if the teleporter simply jumped outside the building's walls and ran away far and for a long time? Except perhaps call an adult supe to catch him, but that's only a temporary solution. The kid is capable of escaping from anywhere at any time, and nothing will stop him. And that's not even mentioning the cases when teenagers start doing something illegal. A real supervillain could emerge here.
Having escorted me to my room, Linda handed me one of the books she had recommended so highly right before leaving. From the first glance, one could tell it was a children's book, as the cover depicted drawn figures, some of which were in various hero costumes. The only ordinary person among them was an old, gray-haired man surrounded by a whole bunch of different supes of all ages. Just wonderful. But at least it was some kind of literature, so I politely thanked the woman, promising to read it entirely. At least I'll have something to occupy my free time. There are no TVs in the rooms here, only children's fairy tale books and comics, and the screens are located only in the common rooms and the local administration offices. Entering the room and getting undressed, I simply lay down on the bed and began to delve into this piece of work. Well then, I wonder what this Brink writes about supes in there...
. . .
"Please welcome our new student and your future friend! Mark, do you want to introduce yourself?"
At this moment, I was standing in front of a dozen children, examining them all with a light, modest smile. They were looking at me with curiosity, but it was impossible not to notice that their eyes were somehow... faded, perhaps? I hadn't interacted with children very often before, but I had adult acquaintances who used to live in orphanages. And even they didn't look this depressive and suppressed. But here... it seems I need to adjust things in my head and significantly increase the percentage of children who failed to hold back their abilities and "used" them on their parents.
It should also be noted that there were representatives of all races and skin colors here, but the vast majority were white. A typical situation for America, but a strange statistic if you think about it. If all of them are supes, then exactly how are the abilities acquired? I'd bet on some hidden gene awakening under certain circumstances, but how true could such a theory be with such diversity? Although considering that the States is a country of immigrants, where ancestors could be anyone, it's still possible to believe the theory. Besides, I wasn't racist and didn't care who I studied with. The manifestations of their abilities were much more interesting.
In my class, there were only two people whose abilities made them stand out physically. First, there was a girl who had a real tail. Quite strange, of course, but similar mutations could have existed in my past world too. Although, naturally, it was disconcerting how she twitched it, even holding a pencil. But what surprised me even more was a real invisible person. Judging by the pants and blue t-shirt, it was a boy, but it was impossible to determine, because from the outside I only saw clothes floating in the air. A maximally surreal picture, which even made me freeze for a second. Okay, Brink mentioned in his book that the ability of invisibility is relatively common and not worth paying attention to. One of such heroes even has a place in the local Justice League...
Sighing slightly and immediately taking the floor as soon as the teacher stops talking.
"Hello everyone, my name is Mark Ennis, I am six years old, and I love to read. I hope we become friends."
Towards the end of the short speech, I give a slight nod, making my smile a little wider. Except the class basically didn't react to any of this at all, so after a few more phrases, the greeting process was finally over, and I sat down at a desk. In America, they were designed for one person, which seemed quite unusual and even threw me off a bit, but I quickly got used to everything new.
Next, we started a regular math lesson for the little ones. Elementary arithmetic, including the study of basic addition and subtraction. At first, I thought I could handle playing the role of a simple, modest boy, but I still wasn't a professional at this. After just ten minutes, I got bored and did anything but the lessons. Funny enough, I wasn't the only one, and the vast majority of my classmates also couldn't care less. They were drawing something in their notebooks, talking to each other, or simply staring out the window. As for the teacher, although she tried to seem full of enthusiasm, it was clear that she was more concerned with the sheer fact that we weren't all going crazy than with engaging everyone in the lesson. I can understand her; I would be afraid to work with unstable super-mutants, some of whom had already killed. But the problem with the lessons in my case was even worse, because I knew the entire curriculum ten grades ahead and more. Therefore, instead of the lessons, I decided to focus on developing my abilities. For now, I fully focused my attention on improving my sense of blood, since it was too early to develop control, and it would be quite difficult for me to pull off under the current conditions of strict supervision. At the moment, the radius of my "vision" was only a few meters, but I felt that this was far from the limit. If I concentrated long enough, I could delve deeper into using this power and increase the radius by several tens of centimeters. Except in this case, I began to sense other sources of blood around me more poorly. But the best effect was with myself, because I could dive as deeply as possible into the study of my own body, even though I stopped feeling any blood other than my own in the process.
In the breaks between training sessions, I recalled what I had read in the book and pondered the information I had received. Over the past night, I managed to read a significant part of Brink's book. It only had a little over a hundred pages, as it was clearly designed for children. In it, basic information about supes was explained for the little ones. How they are also called "superhumans", which was a very strange phenomenon, as far as I understood. Well, strange for me, a person whose vision wasn't clouded by the local cult of "heroes" who are prayed to here like real gods. In short, superhumans represent a race of mutated people possessing extraordinary abilities and non-human potential. The strangest thing is that cases of their appearance were recorded only in the USA and only with their citizens. Even stranger, Brink didn't give a proper explanation for this phenomenon. Yes, it's a children's book, but I expected a more serious answer than "God loves America very much and therefore sent his angels there." Very funny. I doubt that by the strict covenants of the Bible, even the Papal States could be called holy. I'd sooner believe that supes are an experiment of the American government or even Vought itself, which is unlikely, of course. But even assuming it's true that this is some phenomenon found exclusively in America, then why are there no immigrant supes? The "expert on the supe phenomenon" didn't even mention it. Alright, but even so, it was obviously a bad sign. America was a fairly religious country in my past world too, but if here even children are brainwashed by actual prophets and messiahs walking the earth right among them, what can be said about the adults? The only plus is that I sort of belong to the category of these "living saints". But I'm not sure how strong the faith will be when people see a kid manipulating blood. One must look at things objectively—most people will simply be terrified of my powers. And even though I don't care about their opinions, public condemnation can cause very real problems.
But whatever, another point was revealed in the book. Practically all supes possess, let's say, several powers. One common set for almost everyone, and a second, more unique power. First of all, almost all superhumans are much stronger, more durable, and have more stamina than ordinary people, while they also possess enhanced perception. I hadn't particularly noticed any improvement, but Brink also wrote that powers are like muscles and need to be developed to get better. He even had a whole set of pictures, as if cut out of comic books, showing how different heroes develop different powers. For example, a little guy in a green suit with a shield, as if copying his image from Captain America, lifts a car with one hand. Or a guy in red tights runs faster than lightning, and a girl lifts a cake with the power of her mind.
So, besides the basic set of superpowers, there was also a more individual ability. For me, obviously, it was blood manipulation, but practically any madness was permissible. If the cartoonish pictures in Brink's book didn't deceive me, there were also abilities like shrinking, growing, telepathy(!!!), light or electricity manipulation, and many others. He wrote that thousands of different abilities have been recorded, but so far no one knew whether people could possess the exact same power, or if it was unique to each person. Although there were known cases where the mantle of heroes was passed down from parent to child, who possessed practically the same powers.
I turn my head and look out the window. It was early autumn outside, and considering the weather in New York, it was practically summer. Red River was located rather far from the urban environment, so right now we were surrounded only by a green forest. The window offered a view of large trees and a long garden. Even though this place was good enough to blend into the local life, I feel like I'll get bored of all the restrictions pretty quickly. Come to think of it, Red River is an orphanage, right? And that means I have chances of getting into a normal family, which, of course, also won't give me the necessary level of freedom, but the scope of possibilities will increase significantly. Another thought to ponder over. But only after classes are over and I meet my roommate...