CHAPTER 13

 

General Loeb sat in the same room the metahumans had been given their instructions in. He stood as soon as they entered, his eyes instantly darted to the metallic box that Jasmine held in her hands. The General paused for a split second, slightly tilting his head and frowning.

 

“Congratulations, you passed your test. I will also have your written exams corrected by this evening.”

 

“What would have happened if we failed the test?” Agnes wondered as she put her weapons back on the table. “Or any of the tests, actually?”

 

“Well, I suppose I could tell you now.” He answered, taking the box from Jasmine. “Nothing.”

 

“What do you mean nothing?” The girl asked, faltering.

 

“You would still leave by tomorrow. The tests were simply a way to test your capabilities and quick thinking. Plus, there is not enough time to delay any longer, Marshal Gessner needs you now.”

 

“So we’re free for the rest of the day?” Franz inquired as he stretched. “That’d be awesome.”

 

“Yes, take the rest of the day off.” He replied.

 

Agnes and Franz cheered, but Jasmine felt a sense of irritation that she hadn’t been able to shake since the fight. She sighed as the trio left, making their way to the cafeteria to get lunch. The place was completely empty because of how early it was. Eleven was too early for any employees to be on their lunch breaks, but the food was still beginning to be prepared.

 

“Sit down, Jasmine, I’ll get you something. Anything you want in particular?” Agnes queried.

 

“I dunno. What do they have today?” The girl asked. She laid her head down on the cafeteria table.

 

“Well, you sound morose. I’ll get you the same as me then, sound good to you?”

 

“Yeah, sure.”

 

Agnes rolled her eyes. “It was just one fight. Cheer up!” She reprimanded as she left.

 

Jasmine pouted her lips, ignoring her friend’s advice. She felt at the cold table, tracing shapes with her nails and fingertips. She knew it was just one fight, and sure, losing made her angry at herself, but what Kaleb had said had somewhat resonated with her. How was she— how were they supposed to stand up to the MSA if she couldn’t beat a single guy?

 

Granted, Kaleb was a soldier and a competent one at that. She hadn’t underestimated him at all, and she’d gone at him with everything she had. Jasmine pondered to herself, trying to go over the fight one more time in her head before she caught herself. The girl’s eyes widened as she finally realized what had gone wrong. She had overestimated herself.

 

Getting back to standing up to the MSA, well, Jasmine knew she’d die fighting any of them right now, but maybe a well-placed bullet would do the trick against one of them. Even then, she couldn’t understand. What in the world was the Marshal thinking? She’d have to find out when she met him— if he even allowed her to speak to him.

 

Franz made it back to their table first. Jasmine looked at his tray full of pasta and meatballs as her mouth watered. She had thrown up her breakfast after all.

 

“Want some?” He asked with a grin. He lifted his fork toward her after grabbing a meatball.

“Sure, I appreciate it.” She said, smiling. It was a good meatball— better than most things they served here.

 

“Agnes is taking a while, huh. She told me about how much of a badass you were during the test, you were cool.”

 

“I lost.” Jasmine asserted, swallowing her food.

 

“Well, Kaleb has like, years of experience. He enlisted during the civil war, right? You just started— and plus, you’re still growing up! You’re fucking amazing, be proud of yourself.”

 

The girl didn’t answer after that, but Agnes arrived with their food soon after, saving Jasmine from the awkward silence.

 

“Here’s your chicken. I grabbed you some rice and tomatoes too, gotta stay healthy.” Agnes beamed.

 

“Then where are your tomatoes?” Franz asked in an accusatory tone.

 

“Don’t judge me, you know I hate veggies. Proteins all I need, baby!” She said as she bit on a mouthful of chicken.

 

“The fact that you don’t eat vegetables, but you still have perfect skin kind of frustrates me.” Jasmine said. “You and your good genes…”

 

“You know you love me! I’ll share some skin secrets with you when we’re in Adelind.”

 

“Oh right, speaking of, it’s going to be my first time there. Should I visit anything?” Franz asked.

 

“Will we even be allowed to do that?” Jasmine inquired. “Seems to me like it’ll be more of the same.”

 

“I mean, we were treated pretty well here,” Franz stated. “if you ignore the being forced to fight an internationally renowned terrorist org.”

 

“So, like the main reason, we’re here?” Agnes retorted. “And Allfather, please stop doing that fork thing, it stresses me out.”

 

Franz stopped spinning the fork in his hands and grabbed another bite of food.

 

“But yes, it’ll basically be my first time too. I mean, I went there a few times before the wars started, but I barely remember it. I was like, six. I know Jasmine’s a local, though.”

 

“I was born there, yes. I mean, I don’t really remember it pre-Patriotic War, but apparently, it was huge for tourism. I mean, there are the cruises in the lake, there’s the royal museum and palace, there are a bunch of awesome restaurants— much better than… this.” She said as she gestured toward their food. “But I didn’t really get to experience much of it. I mean, the start of the war wasn’t that bad, from what I remember. We didn’t get affected much, aside from the rising prices, I guess. But then… he went crazy, and you know what happened next. The registry, coalition landings, the camps, the civil war, and then being on the run because I was scared that they’d put me back.”

 

Her two friends nodded, their faces grim.

“He was always crazy, he just never had an excuse to act on it.” Agnes said.

 

The metahumans finished their food as a small trickle of employees were making their way into the cafeteria. They made their way to the common room, expecting Veronica to be there, however, she was nowhere to be seen. The group thought nothing of it and decided to hang out instead, thinking she’d probably show up at some point. Veronica had always been somewhat absent during their stay. The girl often got different training because of her abilities, and she liked to keep to herself in most situations.

 

“Franz… Franz!” Agnes shrieked, kicking the man in the shoulder. He was sitting on the couch, watching a ROM-COM on the television, and she was lying down.

 

“I already said no. Leave me alone, you addict.” Franz hissed, slapping away her feet. “No one wants to gamble with you.”

 

“You guys suck, and this show’s boring. I mean, I haven’t watched many movies, but a guy and a girl can just be friends. This ‘will they won’t they’ shit sucks anyway, we all know they’ll end up together.”

 

“It’s not about the ending, it’s about the journey. Plus, it’s cute.” Franz said with a smile. “What do you think, Jasmine?”

 

The girl looked up from her fantasy book. She was sitting at the table and was hoping not to get into their argument.

 

“I don’t know, I haven’t watched many movies.”

 

“No one here has! Come on, don’t be boring.” Agnes pleaded.

 

“Fine, then I agree with Franz since you’re being annoying.” The girl retorted with a slight exclamation.

 

Agnes pouted. “I miss when you were shy and nice to me.”

 

“She got you good, though.” Franz said, chuckling. “Now shush, this is my favorite part.”

 

“Wait, you’re telling me you’ve already seen this? You have a problem, what’s the point in watching the same movie twice, dude?”

 

“They pass it every Friday, and I like it. And you play the same shitty blackjack game hundreds of times, so your point is null and void.” He answered, slightly irritated.

“So your favorite part is when they fight over a stupid misunderstanding? They should just call each other and explain…” Agnes sighed.

 

“You can’t expect humans to make the perfect movie one hundred percent of the time, Agnes. Plus, they’re both doing stupid things because they’re angry— you’ll see, it has a good ending.”

 

“You don’t say.” She scoffed sarcastically.

 

“I hope we can watch TV in Adelind. I have to say, these two months have been amazing. The city’s going to be full of racists…”

 

“You say that, but I’ve seen the way some of these scientists looked at me. They’re probably too scared to say anything.” Agnes said mockingly. “But we’re used to it anyway, this was just… a nice break. A vacation?”

 

“Adelind’s not that bad compared to some other places. I mean, it’s a big city, so it’s pretty tolerant.” Jasmine stated, not looking up from her book. “But then again, jerks exist everywhere.”

 

“I hope you’re right. Back in my hometown, everybody knew each other, so it got pretty bad. Broken windows, assaults, and whatnot.” Agnes said.

 

“Yeah, that definitely wasn’t the case in Adelind. Think lower salaries, social isolation, talking behind your back, things like that. But to be honest, I don’t know how much the propaganda affected everyone, so I can’t be sure.”

 

“We’ll see. I mean, we’re going to be working for the Marshal, so maybe we’ll have some respect.” She hoped.

 

“Let’s just hope for the best.”

 

---

 

“And how does it make you feel? Leaving?” Doctor Biermann asked as he sat in his chair, clipboard and pen in hand.

 

“I feel some sort of tingle— excitement, yes. I am excited.” The metahuman said, sitting opposite to him.

 

Today was the metahumans’ last day, and so Biermann had decided this would be Veronica’s previous meeting with him. If he had really wanted, he could have sneaked one in tomorrow morning, but there wasn’t much point. These impromptu therapy meetings that he had organized were not going anywhere, and the results had been inconclusive for his research.

 

“And as I recall, it is the coming conflict that excites you, yes?” The Doctor paused, waiting for her response. She nodded. “Alright, and what about meeting Marshal Gessner?”

 

“I do not expect much from him.” She answered in a monotone voice.

“Really? He is the one that freed your k— metahumans.” He stammered.

 

“That is correct, and I believe that was a sound decision, but I still do not expect anything. I do not care for his game of politics, all I want is a challenge.”

 

Biermann shuddered, feeling goosebumps. “I see. And I assume you don’t care for the country either, then?”

 

“No. It may be a desirable outcome to all of this—” The girl said before she noticed the Doctor’s reaction. “but do not worry, I will keep my end of the deal.”

 

Biermann nodded. “Let’s go back to last week’s topic— your parents. Have you decided to write them letters? We can always arrange a phone.”

 

“My parents do not use phones, but no, I will not send them letters. Perhaps I will change my mind at a later date.”

 

“Not even one letter? I couldn’t imagine my kids caring that little about me.”

 

“Do you have kids, Doctor? That is new information.” Veronica said, tilting her head.

 

“No, I don’t, it was more of a theoretical thing.”

 

“My apologies. I imagined that you would have one.” The girl stated, looking at his ring finger.

 

“Well, I am married— I have a husband. We’ve never wanted to adopt though, I have too much work.”

 

Veronica paused.

 

“I believe we are similar, Doctor Biermann.” She commented.

 

“What do you mean by that?” He asked, frowning.

 

“Do not take offense, Doctor, it is one of the reasons I have the utmost respect for you.” She said. “It appears we have both put our priorities at the forefront of our lives to an unhealthy level.”

 

“I… don’t really understand.”

 

“Think of it this way, Doctor. Have you seen your husband in the past two and a half months?”

 

“I have not, but I call him every— every—”

 

Doctor Biermann was at a loss for words. He had forgotten to call for days! Or was it weeks? He had been making so much progress in his invisibility research, and the government had been on his back so much that he had completely forgotten.

 

“I— We call.” He continued.

 

“But is that enough? If you truly loved him, you would have seen him.”

 

“I can’t, I— my work here is too important. The government expects a lot out of me.”

 

“Yes, but you could have gone home for the weekend. You could have taken a few days off to visit back, and things would have run smoothly here. The other scientists do it.”

 

“I couldn’t. You don’t know how it is to have so much— so many responsibilities.”

 

“If that helps you sleep at night, Doctor. Trust me, it is a good thing. I believe you will achieve great heights if you keep going.”

 

“I think we’re done for today, Veronica.” He said, faking a smile. “Thank you for coming.”

 

The woman got up and made her way out of his office, but as she turned, Biermann thought he noticed something. He felt a chill.

A slight grin.

 

His eyes widened as she opened the door and left the room. He quickly scribbled notes on his clipboard and spent the remaining few hours working. Doctor Biermann looked at the clock and saw six pm. His office hours were over, but he decided to work a little bit more. Just an hour or two would do.

 

Just an hour or two…

 

Eventually, at three in the morning, he was finished. Biermann could barely keep his eyes open as he took out his cell phone and unlocked it. One, eight, two, eight— Ortwin’s birth year. The screen’s bright blue glare made him squint, but nevertheless, he made his way to his phone application.

 

Twenty-six missed calls, twenty-one messages.

 

The Doctor buried his face in his palms and decided to sleep on his desk.