Roughly two months later and the mentorship begun. The schedules were not followed like it was initially planned since they agreed to have three days of school works which were scheduled every Mondays to Wednesdays and another three days for their training which were plotted from every Thursdays to Saturdays so the Sundays as some kind of their day off.
"Good morning!" Calcipher greeted the students. "Let's do a roll call first. Let's see if I already memorized your names and faces."
"Calcipher, they're only a total of ten of them. It's not that hard." Zythandra commented as she fix her things from a table nearby.
"I'm not that good with that kind of stuff you know."
"Whatever. Just do your thing. I'll head to my class now."
The class did a roll call and as everyone expected, Calcipher is still not able to pinpoint names to faces until now but he's determined to practice so they let them be with that matter. There were a total of twenty Anomalies who lives in the mansion not including the Professor. These twenty Anomalies were divided into two classes to have the learning phases be much efficient. Once Calcipher and Zythandra are finished with their initial classes, they'll switch to teach the other students on the other class. Training sessions runs differently as all of the students are being taught at the same time.
Among the first ten students are Tobi, Anastasia, Thandiwe, Glass, Medusa and the others who are at their 18s-19s age bracket while the other class has the 16s-17s age bracket which where Blast, Swift, The Banshee Sisters, Eden and the remaining Anomalies. Their mentors slightly adjust the level of learning for each bracket to somehow get the teaching and learning experience be ideal and appropriate. The fact that the Anomalies are around their teen years is somehow convenient with this teaching approach.
Surprisingly, Thandiwe(Beast) excels in their science course especially when it comes with biology while Anastasia is very good at mathematics. Glass and Medusa are not running too far behind with their performance unlike Tobi who's having a hard time. He may keep up with the first few discussion but his brain will eventually give up.
"What's wrong with us today, Liu? Haven't you eaten your breakfast?" Calcipher asked after he noticed that Tobi can't keep up with the discussion. "You seem a little off today."
"I just need a few more minutes to digest all of these, sir. That's all." Tobi responded.
"Not again." Thandiwe commented discreetly.
"Hush." Anastasia reacted.
"Would you like me to discuss our topic again real quick?" Calcipher made a follow up question.
"No. I'm fine now. Please proceed." Tobi denied respectfully but the truth be was just shaken by Thandiwe's menacing glare as if he's telling him to keep up.
"Very well then. Now, I want you to group yourselves into to making five members each. We'll have a little presentation about Flora and Fauna." Calcipher stated.
The mentorship continues. Anastasia, Thandiwe, Glass, Medusa and Tobi formed the first group and the topic that was aside to them was Fauna. Thandiwe was appointed to be the leader of the group for this exercise due to the fact that he has the obvious advantage due to his Anomaly. He utilized his Anomaly in their presentation. He transforms parts of his body from one animal to another like a gorilla, bat, lion etc. Everyone was in awe including Calcipher.
The time with Calcipher finally came to an end, at least for the day. Meaning, he needs to switch classes with Zythandra. She specializes with Language, Literature, Arts, History and everything in between. Tobi was excited about it not because their mentor is one beautiful lady but with a scary looking glare but he's actually great at Language and Literature. He thought that this is probably his comeback from the challenges he had from Calcipher's subjects.
"Hey, you're on fire with Miss Zythandra's subjects today." Medusa complemented Tobi.
"He likes her." Glass commented.
"No I don't. I just happened to be good at this." Tobi responded.
"Excuse me, Liu and company. Do you mind sharing your small talk to the entire class?" Zythandra asked as she caught them talking while she's still discussing their topic for the day.
"Sorry, miss." The three of them responded.
Zythandra conducted a debate exercise for the class for today's event. Like what happened to Calcipher's class, the students grouped their selves into two. This time, Tobi was teamed up with the other half of the class. He's with the levitating guy, rubber limbs and some other classmates that he hasn't made any significant association with like the one they call Twice. Twice can make a copy of herself but she can't make more than one and whenever she creates this copy, it constantly uses her stamina. The other member of the group is the one they call Gigas because he's Anomaly can make parts of his body like his arm, hands, legs and feet three to five times bigger than their original size and their physical attributes multiplies as well alongside it like his strength and speed but he can only manifest it for a very short period of time.
Their topic is to whether the fact that Anomalies exist should be officially disclosed to the public or not. All of them wishes to defend the 'No' part since it will be very easy to stand for given the fact of what's happening on the outside world. No Anomaly incidents has been reported from the past few months or nothing has made public but when there is, all hell brake lose. The military is immediately involved and a 'witch hunt' is being done without any hesitation. There's already roughly a dozen Anomalies that was reported being taken by the military to who knows what they'll do to them. Unluckily, Anomalies needs to be hidden from the public was given to Anastasia's team. So, making it public was given to Tobi's team.
Both teams were given thirty minutes each to brainstorm and list down their points. It was agreed that Tobi will represent their team while on the other hand, the other team's fifth member will represent them who is also one of the students' who Tobi didn't made any significant contact with who they call Mimic. Mimic can change his voice to someone else's voice with so much ease but not just that. He can also copy his target's tone, mannerisms, accents, volume etc. All he needs to do is to at least hear the original owner of the voice once and he can mimic it whenever he likes.
Mimic started the debate in Calcipher's voice discussing the obvious cons about the Anomaly being served to the public eyes. He probably uses his Anomaly to intimidate his opponent. But, Tobi wasn't fazed as he instantaneously countered Mimic's first point with his. All through out the debate, Mimic focuses on the dangers that may and will happen, as pointed out by their group, once the Anomalies blows up in the public. Dangers for both Anomalies and non-Anomalies. On the other hand, even though it's not feasible at this time due to the current circumstances, Tobi's team defended the fact that Anomalies and non-Anomalies may work together constantly so they can coexist without the fear or hate from both parties. But in the end, it's how they deliver their thoughts and arguments to win Zythandra's perfect score and surprisingly, Tobi's team got Zythandra's stamp of approval because even though their vision is too farfetched at this time, it's a crucial decision that needs to be dealt with in the near future.
"It's impressive that both teams used their brains to come up with numerous valid arguments in this exercise. " Zythandra complimented her students with a tiny sarcasm but everyone seems to be used to it already. "But I must say, one team stands out and that is Liu's team."
The day's classes are done and everyone's back in their normal mansion life. Having everyone live in one roof is very challenging but everyone was able to make some order eventually. Some of them are assigned to cleaning, some are to washing the dishes, some are tending to the garden etc. The two mentors, also living in the mansion, went to the professor's office to talk about the mentorship probably. If they don't have any appointment with the professor or dealing with their lesson plans, they're mostly seen doing their thing. Zythandra is in the training area doing some personal training herself and Calcipher doing some of his research in his self made lab somewhere in the mansion.
Suddenly, at the not so busy hour of the day, the professor called onto Tobi via Anastasia. Tobi suddenly heard Anastasia telling him to go to the professor's office. Tobi asked why but she didn't tell. She just insisted the professor asked for him. Even though Tobi is positive that he didn't do anything that may anger the professor, he's still getting nervous. He then immediately went to the professor's office.
Tobi knocked on the door as he arrives at the office. He heard Anastasia said that it's open making it obvious that she's inside. Tobi did entered and he saw not just Anastasia and the professor. Thandiwe, Glass, Medusa and their mentors are there as well wearing a somewhat flabbergasted expressions as if something bad happened or about to happen. The professor stood up from his chair turned on the huge monitor close to him which seemed that the professor will show something to the group.
"What's all these?" Tobi asked while the professor sets up the monitor.
"Tell me your thoughts after watching this clip that I'll show you." The professor said.
"Do you guys know what's the clip about?" Tobi asked his colleagues.
"Unfortunately, yes." Medusa responded.
"What about it?" Tobi asked.
"Just see for yourself." Medusa said.
"I trusted that you're more than capable enough to fully understand our complete situation. That's why I asked you to be here as well." The professor mentioned.
"Remember we told you before that there are other forces that needs to be stopped, yes? They finally made their move." Anastasia stated.
"Whatever you see or hear, just keep a calm mind. Here it goes." The professor said and played the clip.
A silhouette of someone sitting in a desk was initially seen in the video. There are no distinguishable features on the persons physique but it's obvious that it's a woman. She started with a simple greeting but her voice is masked to have a deep tone. At the background it appears that it's a research facility of some kind. People in lab coats are seen walking by but their faces are too blurry to be seen. The woman with the deep voice started muttering something about the Anomalies.
"Professor Trevor Lachlan Montgomery. You don't know anything about me but I do know a few things about you. I know that you're an Anomaly and I know what you can do. I've been tracking you down for quite a while now and finally I was able to catch a good trail of you." The mysterious woman states.
"It's for the professor. What does it have to do with me?" Tobi commented.
"Keep your mouth shut or I'll do it for you." Thandiwe said making Tobi quiet.
"Unfortunately, we haven't pinpointed your exact location yet but I'm not too much in a rush because I know I'll eventually get my hands on to what I want. Oh, I'm sorry. It's so rude of me not to introduce myself. Just address me as Eve. Very chic, right? Me and my team wants to have the entire humanity evolve by giving everyone Anomalies of their own but of course in an appropriate price. We know that the original Anomaly gene, or as what we call A-gene, is only compatible to those who are in their adolescent years so we're trying to figure out how can we innovate it to other age brackets." The woman continues to explain.
"But, we're not on the best part yet. What we really want is your Anomaly, professor. Why you ask? Because I believe that I deserve to have that Anomaly given my line of work so I'll do whatever it takes to get a hold of the Anomaly that suits me best. Also, I recently found out a rare Anomaly in your possession. The Anomalous Perk: Nullification. I got my eyes on that too so if you don't want anyone's blood to spill, you can surrender what I want or we'll storm and destroy wherever you are hiding." The woman said.
"Oh, before I end this, I should probably tell you that I have a record of some of the Anomalies that you're harboring. Some of which are the following:
1. Anomalous Perk: Glass Manipulation
2. Anomalous Perk: Hair Manipulation
3. Anomalous Perk: Partial Body Alteration
4. Anomalous Perk: Telepathy
5. Anomalous Perk: Explosion
I have a few more here but I guess that's enough for you to consider just surrender your Anomaly and the nullification Anomaly. It would really help me do great things! Actually I don't care much about the other Anomalies so I'll probably dispose them. Welcome to the hunt!" The woman said as she laugh menacingly then the clip abruptly ends.
"What in the world!?" Tobi reacted.
"What should we do professor?" Anastasia asked in fear.
"It's clear that whoever that is, she's declaring a war." Glass commented. "There's nothing better to do but to be prepared to fight."
"We don't know that yet. They're probably doing a prank on us for all we know." Medusa said.
"Don't be naïve. It's obvious that they are seriously considering to kill us all to get what they want." Thandiwe stated.
"Calm down, kids. I let you see this because I know that you're the ones who can keep a clear mind about it." The professor said.
"Don't let the professor down. Collect yourselves and think something that may help you through this instead of you whining like babies or acting like barbarians who always wants bloodshed." Zythandra commented.
"Yeah, what she said." Calcipher agreed.
"I just noticed something but I can be wrong." Anastasia said.
"What is it?" The professor asked.
"I find it odd that she knows so much about us even though most of our information are being kept here inside the mansion only." Anastasia explained.
"Are you saying that there's a mole?" Thandiwe asked.
"There's a mole? Who might that be?" Medusa reacted.
"Whoever it is, punishment awaits." Glass said having an obvious anger in his tone.
"That's what I initially think. There's an enemy amongst us." Anastasia clarified.
"If what you say is true child, who do you think it might be?" The professor asked.
"I'm not sure. Even before this message, I'm sure that I tapped into everyone's mind and I'm certain that no one's corrupted." Anastasia explains.
"That's odd indeed." The professor responded.
"Should we show this clip to everyone and interrogate them all to know who the mole is?" Glass suggested.
"No. That may cause a problem. The rest of us may suspect everyone else which may lead to chaos." Anastasia rejected the suggestion.
"I agree with Pandora. Some of us doesn't know all of our comrades that much so doubt may easily stir up amongst us." Medusa backed up Anastasia's point.
"So how would we know who the mole is?" Tobi asked.
"How do we know you're not the mole?" Thandiwe thrown the question Tobi.
"Excuse me? I have nothing to do with this. As you've heard, I'm also targeted by whoever that is so it's obvious that I'm not the mole." Tobi responded slightly offended.
"He has a point, child." The professor said.
"Alright, alright. I'm just trying to see if he'll blow his cover." The responded.
"Do you notice anyone acting weird lately that they may potentially be keeping something from you?" Calcipher asked.
"Most of us here are weird so that's out of the question. As per the secretive part, I haven't actually notice anything off recently." Glass responded.
"What I find odd recently is that two non-Anomalies came barging in to the mansion and few days later, we have received a declaration of war from an unknown opponent." Thandiwe commented.
"Are you suggesting that we're the moles, tattoos?" Zythandra angrily said.
"I know we look young but we're in our late 20s already so we deserve to be respected here." Calcipher commented.
"He's right, Thandiwe. Respect your mentors." The professor said.
"No offense. I just voiced out my thoughts. My bad." Thandiwe responded.
"So if Tobi and our mentors are not the moles, then who is?" Medusa asked.
"That's what we need to figure out? Anyone else you can think that may be our possible leaker?" Anastasia asked the group.
"I remember something odd happened way back the Inoue's household burnt down." Glass stated.
"What is it?" The professor asked.
"The mole may not living with us. Remember Tobi said that this Rafael dude ran away after he realized Tobi and his sister turned out to be Anomalies, me and Thandiwe saw a silhouette of a person right after we finished off those dark figures that night. We saw someone ran away into the woods and vanished to the darkness. I think it's that Rafael dude." Glass explained.
"I remember but we're not sure who might that be." Thandiwe said.
"How can you be certain? He only knew that Eden and I are Anomalies. He doesn't know where the mansion is and the Anomalies who are living here." Tobi said.
"He might've been keeping watch since his disappearance. It's been roughly two months since it happened so he has a lot of time to do the spying part." Glass said.
"Why won't we also consider the artist? The one you said who once lived here?" Tobi said referring to the one that has the Anomalous Perk: Adaptive Muscle Memory.
"Fiona Goodchild. Why suspect her?" Thandiwe asked.
"I know you don't have a constant contact with her. How do you know that's she's still in our side? She might've contacted by the enemies while she's out there." Tobi pointed out.
"No. She wouldn't do that." Anastasia responded.
"We had history. She wouldn't just throw them away." Medusa commented.
"Come to think of it. He actually has a point." Glass surprisingly agreed to Tobi.
"Glass!? How dare you doubt Kitty like that?" Medusa reacted obviously upset with what she heard.
"Reaper made a good point though." Calcipher responded.
"Anyone else who might be the mole?" Anastasia raised a question.
"Are we seriously suspecting Kitty!? Not you too Pandora." Medusa responded.
"I know this hurts. I don't think she is the mole too myself but we need to consider all possible situations here." Anastasia explained.
Their huddle went on. Several other things were taken into consideration. From who are other possible moles to their possible motivations and their goal. Glass suggested that the new comers may be the mole like Blast, Tobi and even Eden. The mentors weren't even safe with the accusations since Thandiwe went back at them as well. But due to the lack of evidence and strong arguments, they were taken off as the mole/s. They went back to the fact that Fiona may be the one they're looking for but she was also removed from the selection. Finally, they agreed that their primary suspect is Rafael Inoue. This is due to the fact that he loathes the Anomaly from his personal experience and he hasn't surfaced since the fire incident at their house so a lot of things might have happened to him including being contacted by an unknown force. Even though Tobi's against it, he can't deny the fact that it's very possible.
"So what do we do now?" Tobi asked.
"Nothing." The professor answered in a serious tone. There's no hint of fear was heard from his statement.
"Really, professor? That's our best plan? Do nothing?" Glass reacted in displease.
"If you and the rest of us are being targeted, we should fight back!" Thandiwe commented.
"We should listen to the professor. He probably has a plan." Anastasia said.
"Do you really have one, professor?" Medusa asked.
"Yes but I need to discuss things with Zythandra and Calcipher first. What I want you all to do is to keep your composures and be a good role model to your fellow Anomalies. We'll keep you notified once we come up with something. Also, I want this discussion be left here and don't talk about it outside. Am I clear?" The professor explained.
"Yes, professor." All responded.
"Dismissed. Zythandra and Calcipher, stay put. The rest, you may go." The professor said and the rest of them went off and went straight to the living area to have a discussion of their own even though they were instructed to not do so.
"So, do you think that we should really do something about it? I mean, you know, we're the eldest here so we should keep the others safe and out of harms way." Medusa pointed out.
"Really, M? The professor just told us to do nothing about it yet." Anastasia said.
"I know but isn't our responsibility to take care of ourselves?" Medusa responded.
"I agree with her. We shouldn't rely on our mentors too much. Well, it's clear that they're great with what they do but we shouldn't just sit here and have the adults have all the fun. You know what I'm saying?" Glass explained.
"No need to say a word, Beast. I know you want to join them but I'll stick with what the professor wants us to do." Anastasia said as Thandiwe's about to say something. "Reaper, a little help here." She asked Tobi's reinforcement.
"You know what, I really think we should follow what was told us as well." Tobi agreed with Anastasia.
"Finally! Someone who can understand the situation. Thank you." Anastasia reacted.
"I just think it's bigger than us at this point so we'll probably can't do anything about it yet. As from what the mysterious woman said from the clip, it's obvious that she's not alone so she probably has the military's aid or if worse comes to worst, she has her own group of Anomalies as well. We will never win. If that's the case, are we certain that we can fight them using our own Anomalies? I think not." Tobi explained. "I for one couldn't fully control my Anomaly yet and it's obvious that it's not for combat so I'll die right away if we happened to be up against the military or something else."
"That's a great point, Reaper." Anastasia commended.
"Also, Beast and Glass couldn't even beat a sweat against our mentors the last time we check and they're not even serious at the time so how do we expect to win with a fight against an actual enemy?" Tobi added.
"No need to rub it in. You're hurting their feelings." Medusa commented.
"Let's not go back to that. So what do you suggest we do, Mr. Smarty-pants?" Glass asked.
"I suggest to hone our Anomalies more. Train ourselves to be more able to maximize the potential of our Anomalies? Then hopefully, we'll hear a word with the professor and our mentors of what we'll do next." Tobi responded.
"Fine. You have a point." Glass agreed.
"What if, we continue the search for Sprite's mother and her brother while we're doing all our studying and training to make ourselves more occupied and not talk about this hunt?" Thandiwe suggested.
"That's a great idea. We should probably do that." Anastasia agreed.
"But how though?" Medusa asked.
"I'm suggesting if we can look into the Academy. We may have some kind of a lead there about Raf." Tobi suggested.
"How will we do that? We're not enrolled to the Academy anymore." Thandiwe said.
"Yeah. If you can remember, the professor made it appear like you and Beast transferred to a different school so anyone you knew wouldn't get suspicious of the situation. That's also why we got Zythandra and Calcipher as our mentors to continue our studies.
"Didn't the professor do the same thing with that guy Rafael is it? Also for Sprite?" Medusa asked.
"The professor said it's not a wise choice to openly announce that he's taking Sprite in his custody since firstly, he's not a relative and secondly, people may see it negatively towards Sprite and the professor due to the fact that the brother and the mother are missing." Anastasia explained.
"So on a different note, the professor made it look like the whole family is missing. As for Reaper here, he decided to transfer to a different school due to trauma and for Beast, it was announced that he had an immediate family matter to attend to back at Gallant Africa so that's why he has to leave." Glass further explained.
"I see." Medusa responded.
"Going back, I actually want to dig more deeper to gathering intel in the Academy because I do think that it's one of the best grounds to scout for some important information." Anastasia said.
"If we can't be there as students, how would we gather these intel?" Thandiwe asked.
"Right. Even though you two can't just easily go in the Academy anymore, that doesn't apply to me." Anastasia said with confidence.
"I think I know where you are going with this." Tobi commented as he remembered that she was not a student in the Academy but some kind of a part-timer as a medical assistant.
"I'm still part of the medical team in the Academy as an assistant. I may not be the resident medical assistant anymore since we started this mentorship but, I can still come and go as I please or if I'm needed." Anastasia pointed. "The professor is still a doctor signed to the Academy so that's much easier for us." She added.
"That's perfect. You're going to be in charge with the Academy then." Tobi said in excitement.
"Glass and I can patrol where they were living and the surrounding area. We may find something useful there as well about him and the mother." Thandiwe suggested.
"Reaper and Medusa, you two can drop by to the places where Rafael and Mrs. Inoue used to visit like their favorite Mall, park or anything with the likes." Anastasia said.
"Leave that to me. I know a lot of places." Tobi confirmed.
"Should we do this as soon as we can? I really feel like we should. I hate to see Sprite hurting that much. It's reminding me of my younger self." Medusa commented.
"Don't be too dramatic, Medusa. You might burst in tears for all we know." Glass teased her.
"Oh, shut up you." Medusa responded.
The group continued to throw suggestions, feedbacks, remarks etc. at each other to solidify their roles on their search of Eden's missing relatives. Thandiwe and Glass pointed out that they shouldn't be too stealth upon doing their scouting the former Inoue residence to not attract any unwanted attention. The both of them should act normal. This same goes with Tobi and Medusa as they need to act as close friends or lovers if they needed to just for them to stay out of anyone else's suspicious minds. Anastasia on other hand, has to be careful as well since the enemy may have connections lingering in the shadows of the Academy. Few minutes later, the others join them.
"Hey, kids!" Glass greeted Swift, Blast the Banshee sisters and Eden.
"Cut that out. You don't get to call us kids just because you're older than us of a year or two." Swift responded slightly aggravated.
"Fine, fine." Glass responded.
"What are you talking about before we got here? It seemed rather important." Blast asked.
"Yeah, what is it?" The Banshee sisters asked with their common shy tone.
"Let's just say, we're working on a search and rescue operation." Anastasia responded.
"Cool!" Swift reacted. "Can I join? I can be very useful."
"True. But, we have the members we need for now. We will definitely ask for your help as soon as we need someone with your Anomaly." Anastasia explained.
"Does it something to with the disappearance of the Inoues? Are you going to go look for them?" Blast asked.
"What's with all the questions, Blast? But just to keep you from blabbering, yes. We're going to find them." Thandiwe responded.
"Fine. Just curious. No need to yell at me." Blast said.
"Really? You'll going to do that?" Eden commented as she gets teary.
"Yes, we will. Don't worry. We'll do our best to get your mom and your rascal of a brother back." Tobi comforted Eden.
"You must all keep this a secret. The professor mustn't know that we've initiate a task without his authorization." Anastasia told the new comers.
"Why? Is it that bad?" Swift asked.
"Let us help if it's dangerous." The Banshee sisters commented in unison.
"No and no. It's not bad and while we appreciate your willingness to help, we already got ourselves covered. Also, the professor is becoming very weary of any of us having a significant amount of contact to the outside world these day due to the concerns with the military and some other things so for him not worry so much, we're asking you to keep this to ourselves. Can I count on you with that?" Anastasia explained still thinking about the threat that is being posed by the mysterious clip from earlier.
"Be careful then. I know I can't quite use my Anomaly that effectively but I'm here if you need help." Eden said.
"Yeah, just here as your backup." Swift added. "Oh, it got me thinking should we make up a name for this team. I bet that it'll be so cool."
"Don't push it, speedster." Glass responded opposing the idea.
"Okay, okay. Just saying." Swift added.
"The professor is coming. Everyone act normal." Medusa said as the professor approaches the living area.
"What's the commotion about?" The professor.
"Oh, they're planning to look for.." Blast unintentionally muttered but he was subdued by Swift in time before spilling the tea as Swift instinctively bumped the chair where Blast was sitting making him fall to the ground and interrupt what he's about to say.
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to get the professor a glass of water." Swift was quick to make a story as he helps Blast to get up.
"Look for what?" The professor was quick to catch up.
"Look for. Look for Sprite's missing necklace. She said she lost it after a few days after she got here." Medusa was also quick in making up a story.
"Oh, that's too bad. Would you like my help with that? I'm a good searcher you know." The professor volunteered.
"No. We got this. No need to spend your time finding things. We can definitely handle it ourselves." Anastasia denied.
"I'll leave you all to it then. Good luck. I hope you find it real soon." The professor said and left for the kitchen.
"Really, Blast? You almost got us caught there." Glass said in frustration.
"I'm sorry. I was just carried away." Blast responded.
"I think we've discussed this enough." Medusa commented.
"Yeah, everyone involved seemed to know what to do now." Tobi agreed.
"That includes you guys keeping your mouths shut." Thandiwe added as he pertains to Blast, Swift, the Banshee sisters and Eden.
"You can count on me with that." Swift reassured Thandiwe.
"That's nice. Now, dismiss." Anastasia said and the entire group went on with their chores as if nothing was discussed but surely, their action plan will take roll once they're certain that their mentors and the professor are unsuspecting.