Chapter 190 - 189 - Level K

"There better be a good reason for why you called me here this early in the morning," I grumbled, as I shut the door behind me.

"Come on, don't be like that...in all likelihood, this'll be one of the last times I get to call you to my office like this," Responded Director Silva with a wry, tired-looking smile, dark circles under her eyes. 

She looked pretty worn out and exhausted, having been super busy lately. There's pretty much no chance that she'll be re-elected in the upcoming elections for the X-Warrior Zone, but she was still doing everything she possibly could to ensure a smooth transition. 

"Trying to guilt-trip me is a cheap shot, director. But I guess I can at least say this much, you're a good leader. A really good one," I remarked...I wasn't trying to be nice, I've genuinely been appreciative of the way she's dealt with everything that's happened in the last year or so. 

She's probably gonna go down as a bad leader in the history books, considering the general public opinion of her, but I know exactly how much she's done for the people of the Sanctuary, and so do plenty of others. I respect her immensely...so I won't forget. 

"Oh, uh...that's a bit unexpected, coming from you," She responded with a look of surprise, before giving me a warm smile as she added, "Thank you, Kilzachs."

"Sure, uh, you're welcome...a-anyway, what did you call me in for today?" I asked her, changing the topic. 

"Right, about that...I wanted to talk to you about your powers. Specifically, how much you're willing to reveal to whoever replaces me. I'm sure you understand how important that is...knowing what you're actually capable of makes a big difference when it comes to strategic and tactical planning. For instance, if your power really was just teleportation as most people believe, then I wouldn't have been as comfortable assigning certain missions to you, especially the ones in the South Quadrant," She pointed out. 

"Yeah, don't worry, I've given it some thought. And I've decided that I'll first wait and see what kind of person takes over your position before making a call on whether or not I reveal the true nature of my powers to them. Until then, I'm just not gonna overthink it. So, hey, are you really not gonna be involved at all in the X-Warrior Zone anymore?" I asked her. 

"I'm afraid so...the general public would probably be against my continued involvement in the first place, and besides...after everything that's happened lately, I'm feeling more than a little bit burnt out," She replied with a wry smile. 

"You definitely look it. I guess this also means that Katie and I won't get called in to experiment with our powers, huh?" 

Most of those sessions had been kept off the books, only Director Silva and a few of those that were highly loyal to her knew that they even happened at all. 

"I'm certainly going to miss that, I was so fascinated by all the new discoveries we made. You may still get called in though...also, just so you know, while I've reported the details of Katie's Manifestation Overdrive and Manifestation Surge powers with full accuracy, with her permission of course, I didn't do so with your powers. Specifically, I've reported that your Unleash Anomaly form simply lets you teleport yourself and anything within sight without needing to recite the full activation chant," She informed me. 

"Thanks, I really appreciate it. Oh, by the way, I've noticed that the police force you proposed has been fully implemented now," I remarked, recalling that I'd seen some uniformed men and women patrolling the streets with X-Weapons. 

"Yeah, it's still very new, but hopefully, it'll be in full effect as I've envisioned soon enough. I've spoken about it to the governments of each quadrant, and they've all agree to not allow the new X-Warrior Zone administration to get involved in influencing the police force...I'd rather it be a genuine force of law and order, independent of any governing body. I've managed to helm it with people I trust, so I'm not too worried about corruption...of course, that is still a possibility, so once I'm kicked out of this administration, I'll be taking over the running of the police force," She informed me with a slight smirk. 

Huh? Wait, hold on a sec, does that mean she-...no way, did she create the police force so that she'd continue to have a position of influence and authority after this? If she really got all four governments to agree to let this police force be independent and autonomous, then the X-Warrior Zone administration can't touch her. 

I imagine she must have assured the governments that she would run the force with integrity, and given her track record, they'd be inclined to believe her. There's also the fact that she's the one who proposed and implemented the police force in the first place, so it'd probably run most smoothly under her command. 

Plus there's also the guilt of making her take the fall for incidents that were mostly out of her control, which effectively ruined her career. Taking that into consideration, they'd probably have found it difficult to turn down her request...damn, she really thought this through... 

"I have to hand it to you, you really are impressive, Director Silva...," I grinned, genuinely impressed, before glancing at the time and letting out a reluctant sigh, "Anyway, I need to leave soon, my Level K classes start today, in about half an hour. So if there's nothing else..." 

"Oh, yes, of course...sorry for calling you here so early, it's just that I've got a lot of meetings and paperwork to go through later today, so I couldn't wait till your Academy classes were done for the day. I'll see you around, Kilzachs," She remarked with a smile. 

"Yeah, see you around, director...," I replied, trailing off as I turned around and headed for the door, before pausing as I added with a wry smile..., "And hey, if the police force ever needs some outside assistance...please don't drag me into it unless it's a real emergency, got it?" 

A brief look of surprise appeared on her sleep-deprived face for a moment, before she let out a slight chuckle... 

"Sure, kid...I'll keep that in mind."

...

So, this is my new classroom for the next six months, huh? There's only about a couple of minutes left before the first session is supposed to start, so I'm guessing that most of the others must have already arrived.

I just hope no one's claimed the back left corner seat, I've sat in that spot for the entire past year, I'd really rather not change seats at this point. Hopefully, everyone else feels the same way and stuck with the same spots they were in last year. 

I mean, maybe it's not technically that important, since theory classes are the only sessions in which we're actually in the classroom, with all other sessions, we go to one of the training halls downstairs. 

But even so, even if it's just for two hours a day, none of that matters...sitting in a spot where you're comfortable at makes a huge difference to when you sit somewhere you're not comfortable in. 

Okay, here goes...moment of truth. I pushed the door open and stepped in...to see that I was one of the first ones to arrive. Oh...guess I was worrying over nothing. None of the back row seats on the left side of the room had been claimed yet, sweet! 

I bounded over to the left side of the room and sat down in the corner seat of the back row, looking around. Four others were here already, specifically Taayin, Makoto, Lin and Seila. 

Taayin seemed to be engrossed in a game, his attention fixed on a handheld portable gaming system. He was in the same spot where he usually sat, the middle seat of the back row at the right side of the room. 

Makoto was asleep, snoring loudly...he'd previously been sitting at the middle spot of the front row on the right side of the room, but had moved to the left side, the aisle seat of the front row on that side, where Bytra usually sits. 

Lin seemed to be absent-mindedly tapping away at her I-Watch with a bored look on her face, she'd noticed me and gave me a wave when I entered the class, which I awkwardly reciprocated. She was in her usual seat too, the corner spot in the middle row of the right side. 

And as for Seila, she was in the row in front of mine as usual, but she'd shifted from the aisle seat where she used to sit, to the middle seat in the row, where Mitchell used to sit. She was sleeping quietly, her face buried in her arms on the desk. 

The door then opened and a couple more people walked in, Mitchell and Zoya. The latter headed to her usual spot, the aisle seat in the same row as the one Lin was seated in. Mitchell paused for a moment as he saw that Seila was in his usual spot, before shrugging and taking her old spot. 

One by one, the rest of my classmates began streaming in, Bytra greeting me with a brief glare, and Asshole with a creepily cheerful wave. Bytra picked the middle seat in the front row on the right side, while Asshole sat in the front row corner on the left side. 

Alright, that just leaves...those two. I let out a quiet sigh as I recalled my conversation with my sister...yeah, I really appreciate her doing her best to give me some advice, but, uh, I'm still pretty clueless as to how I'm supposed to approach this situation. 

Right on cue, the door opened and Katie walked in, immediately heading for the seat next to mine, where Suri usually sits. 

"Hey, good morning, Kilzachs," She greeted me in her usual monotone, that familiar blank expression on her face, but her eyes were practically sparkling.

"Yeah, good morning...," I responded, feeling a bit awkward...ever since our date, I can't look at her the same way anymore...

And then, the door opened again...and Suri stepped in. Her gaze landed on the seat next to mine, where Katie was currently seated, a slight frown appearing on her face...uh-oh, I don't like that look, I'm getting a bad feeling about this... 

"Hey, Katie, how's it going?" She remarked with a slightly strained smile as she approached her, "Say, do you mind sitting somewhere else? I know it's a new classroom and all, but I'd still like to sit in the same spot I did last year...is that okay?" 

A brief silence ensued as Katie turned to look at Suri, and in the instant where their eyes met, I could've sworn that I saw some sparks fly. This tension...I, uh, I don't like it. 

"Sorry, but no...I want to sit here. You can sit next to me or in my old seat in front of Kilzachs," Katie replied in her blank tone, except that there was a hint of firmness to it, making it clear that she had no intention of moving. 

"O-ohh, is that so?" Responded Suri as her strained smile grew even more strained, her voice trembling in irritation as she and Katie continued to lock their gazes against each other... 

...this is gonna get really messy, isn't it? 

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