Assembling themselves on the bleachers, the students of S.C.S patiently awaited their Shifter combat instructor Mr. Bené to begin his daily affirmations. As he awkwardly approached the center of the field, it seemed almost as if every step was an internal battle to maintain his composure. With a grin that was so wide it nearly wrapped around his ears, it was clear he was trying to hide news of some groundbreaking development.
He was a middle aged man who wasn't particularly fit looking but in no way seemed unhealthy. In addition to this avuncular attitude, he had an old fashioned view of respect, and would sentence students to laps around the field for not addressing him correctly, or for interrupting him during his consistently long, exaggerated speeches.
"Alright class you know what day it is right!?" Mr. Bené exclaimed.
"It's the first of the month Sir", answered the class militantly.
"That's right my little soldiers and you know what that means!" said Mr. Bené eagerly.
"Examination day Sir"
"Right again!"
"It's another mark on the calendar, another line on the spreadsheet, today it's time for monthly examinations! But today we have a special guest from S.P.A HQ!" He said twirling his fingers.
With the mention of SPA HQ the students began to swivel in excitement, stomping their feet on the bleachers.
"SPA HQ? Here?"(Student)
"What no one told me about this!"(Student)
"Hehe Interesting" (Lance)
"That's Right!" Mr. Bené said with a twinkle in his eye "The director of science and engineering, as well as lead researcher at the G.A.T.E.S institute of psychiatric development and rehabilitation, ladies and gents would you please give a welcoming hand to one of the highest ranked members of the SPA "Henriette O'Brian!" he enthusiastically announced.
In a burst of great alacrity he spun around pointing to a spot on the field where no one was standing.
Spinning around looking back at the students and then back to the spot which he was pointing at he continued to look back and forth seemingly confused by the situation.
After a few moments of stillness, an awkward silence washed over the students.
"Huh?" Mr. Bené said, stupefied. "He was just here on this field I assure you" Mr. Bené said anxiously looking around.
As students started to gossip amongst themselves Reggie stood up on the bleachers and examined the spot Mr. Bené had pointed to closely.
"Hmm" He hummed, rubbing his chin as he analyzed the empty space.
"AHA!" Reggie proclaimed pointing a finger at Mr. Bené. "This is a test isn't it?"
"What?" said Mr. Bené, flailing his arms in the air.
"Nice try Mr. J you can't fool me! I can see him standing right there!"
Mr. Bené stood shrugging his shoulders at Reggie, unsure if he was making a joke or trying to pull some kind of stunt.
"What are you talking about? There's nobody there!" grumbled Mr. Bené
"Nice try!" said Reggie pompously "This invisibility trick isn't goanna work on me!"
Gasps of awe and angulation were cast through the crowd of students. They had forgotten the powers of an S.P.A agent, especially one as high ranked as O'Brian. It was very well possible the man was standing in front of them and they hadn't even noticed!
"Wow Reggie you're pretty cool to see that! I had no idea!" one student said.
"Really?" said Mr. Bené, "I mean uhhh of coarse hahahah" he laughed nervously "I could see him all along of course I was just testing you kids that's all!"
Even Lance who was sitting alone on the other side of the bleachers seemed to give his approval. He pressed his lips together while nodding his head making a face that said, "Hmm maybe I underestimated this guy."
"What are you kidding me?" said PB getting agitated by the attention Reggie was gathering, "Anyone who was paying attention could see that!" he bickered. Crossing his arms and facing away from Reggie, he tried to seem disinterested while Reggie continued his showboating below.
"Anyone could see what exactly?" said a voice from above the crowd.
A man holding a digital notebook stood up from the back of the bleachers. He looked like a scientist who had left his lab in the middle of an experiment, still wearing his lab coat, gloves and safety glasses. He was devilishly slim and had violet hair that matched his dark indigo eyes that paced left and right scanning everyone on the field, processing and evaluating their potential. On the lab coat he was wearing, the name "O'Brian" appeared in bright yellow print.
Nearly half of the students on the bleachers rolled over and fell out of their seats out of sheer embarrassment. Reggie recovering from cognitive dissonance, face palmed himself with his large metal hand causing a large "smack" sound to echo throughout the field. Meanwhile in the middle of the field, Mr. Bené was scratching his head laughing softly to himself.
Lance who was usually well composed, face planted himself into the book he was holding. Even he had believed that nitwit for a moment. At this point, everyone was either burning with embellishment or dying of laughter. Everyone that is, except for Axel.
While everyone was grumbling over the scene below, a white haired boy on the other side of the bleachers was beaming at Axel with a brazen stair. As the stare intensified, his eyes began to shine with a ghastly blue flame that burned feverously as he thoroughly examined Axel without batting an eye. As the stare progressed Axel began to feel the sting of radiation hitting his head and neck again.
As alarming as the situation was, Axel was neither cowering in fear nor hit with confusion. Instead he felt a different feeling, a déjà vu feeling, as if he had met this boy somewhere before.
"So" said another voice from directly above Lance. "This group of aspiring Shifters couldn't even notice I was in their presence?" he said arrogantly.
"Impossible" thought Lance as he anxiously tried to keep his composure. "Not only has my attention been evaded twice, but somehow someone was able to get directly behind me without me even noticing?"
He sprang out of his chair and looked up catching the edge of a white lab coat.
It was O'Brian?
"Impossible!" remarked the crowd as they all turned to the left where the man had previously stood. Once again O'Brian appeared at the top of the bleachers.
"What was going on" thought Lance?
O'Brian then pointed a finger toward the far end of the field, and by the time everyone's eyes had reached the field he was already there.
Murmurs of shock and amazement proliferated among the students. Lance, trying to figure out the puzzle, quickly looked behind him and then at the spot where O'Brian had first emerged at the top of the bleachers seeing no one in either spot.
"Was he that fast?" "There's no way!" thought Lance.
Lance had never seen O'Brian in two places at one time but he was sure he had never seen him move when he heard the voice behind him.
"So this is what awaits me at the top ranks of S.P.A," Thought Lance. "And this guy, he's nowhere near his level is he!" he said slamming his hand into the bleachers.
"If I can't even follow this guy's moves, I won't be able to track him either!"
"Consider this a free lesson from the S.P.A Academy" O'Brian said grinning.
Extending out his hands he began to draw tiny blue bolts of electricity down his arms. As he paced back and forth he turned the electricity into a small blue ball of electrical current that he juggled in his hands.
The students looked on in amazement, taken aback by O'Brian's display of power.
"The Shifter Protection Agency is the law of the state, filled with only the most elite of Shifters that are able to survive its exams."
"In the world of the S.P.A there are people who can kill someone" he began, throwing the ball into the air.
In an instant he appeared high in the sky catching the ball.
"Head home", O'Brian cast the ball into the top of the bleachers, reappearing and catching it again, with lightning speed.
"And finish dinner before you even realize they were there!" By the time he had finished his sentence he was back in the same spot. He had traveled the full length of the field and back amidst a 3 sentence conversation.
"There are times where your eyes may be too slow to track an opponent and you may need to use other means of tracking them down."
In that instant the white haired boy disappeared from sight.
A burst of applause came out from the students in their reverie for O'Brian's performance.
"Thank you" He said nodding his head.
"Now let's see if you can redeem yourselves" O'Brian began. "I am not here alone. There is another person I have brought with me. Can you find him or is that too beyond your capabilities?"
Each one of the students began energetically searching for the other person in the Where's Waldo paradigm O'Brian had created. Reggie, thinking one step ahead realized O'Brian never stated what the person looked like and started inspecting his classmates carefully. Lance taking in a breath, let out a sigh staring at O'Brian steadily.
"Your white haired friend couldn't have gone far" thought Lance as he stared into O'Brian's eyes.
O'Brian did nothing except stand with the most resolute stillness. Not even a blink or small facial feature changed in his firm stance.
After a few moments of intense staring Lance noticed something peculiar. "Why is this guy standing so still? And better yet why is he standing at such a weird position? Also was his Lab coat open like that the whole time?"
O'Brian wasn't standing at the center of the field nor at the left or the right. As all of the students were on the right side of the bleachers, O'Brian was positioned at the back left of the field.
As Lance continued watching O'Brian, Jeff stood up as if he had come up with a plan.
"Let's get a better view Pb" he said in a cocky tone.
Signaling for Pb to throw him into the sky Jeff put one foot on PBs hand as Pb crouched down to support his weight. Using all of his strength PB flung Jeff into the air.
"And Up we"-
WHAM! Only 4ft off of the ground Jeff had collided with an invisible barrier flattening him like a pancake as he fell to the ground.
"Now I get it!" said Reggie intently. "So this was the invisible reading I was picking up earlier".
"Sorry" O'Brian said grinning, "But to solve this, one doesn't have to leave their seat to figure it out."
After seeing the whole scene unfold Lance stood up smugly smirking at O'Brian.
"I've found your little friend" He proclaimed to the crowd. Whispers and giggles could be heard amongst the girls as Lance stood up on the bleachers. They blushed red in infatuation as the wind blew in his vibrant green hair.
"Oh? So then tell me, where is he?" O'Brian said playfully as he adjusted his spectacles.
"He's directly behind you!" Lance announced pointing at O'Brian. "From this distance it is impossible for anyone to see behind you. That's why you purposely have been standing at that exact angle with your lab coat open instead of in the center of the field. I bet he's there!"
O'Brian took a step to the side revealing the whitehaired kid that had previously occupied the bleachers.
"Correct" said O'Brian impressed.
"Now how did you know?" O'Brian asked
"It was technically the only place he could be!" shouted a boy's voice from the dugout.
Lance's eyes darted in the direction of his compatriot but couldn't see him.
"You constantly had us bouncing around looking wherever you pointed. The last place we would look is right behind you! You had just finished saying we cannot trust our eyes so naturally he would be somewhere non visible!" he continued
"Oh then how do you know he wasn't disguised as one of your classmates?"
"If that was the case, when would he have assimilated among us? We know for a fact that you and your friend arrived at the same time, and for those paying attention he was visible until your last sentence. This is a small class of 25 students, the chances of him sneaking into a crowd like that without being noticed instantly is unreasonably low, at least give us some respect!." The boy finished
Lance stood up from his seat trying to get a view of the boy but from his position on the bleachers he couldn't see him. Wearing a puzzled expression he made his way down the bleachers.
"But to be honest the main thing that caught my eye was your movement. The whole time we were searching you didn't make a move to walk around or talk to Mr. Bené. You didn't even stretch or look at your notebook the entire time." the boy added.
"That's the first thing I noticed as well", declared Lance, "And to further that point, although you were perfectly still your companion wasn't. I saw about a centimeter or so of movement behind your lab coat, he must have been trembling the whole time."
"Bravo! Bravo bois!" O'Brian said cheerfully.
"I'm sure you two will make great agents, please give me your names!" O'Brian said reaching forward with his hands
"Lance Nozuka" said Lance confidently.
Silence came from the other side of the bleachers.
"Well boy what is your name come out and show yourself" O'Brian yelled impatiently.
"Sorry" the boy said, "I'm not used to anyone saying I did something right".
Lance's expression changed from confusion to bewilderment, as he saw a boy wearing a hooded sweater approach the field.
My name is "Axel" the boy said.
A rush of confusion washed over the crowd? How had the schools biggest loser impressed an S.P.A agent?
A flood of ire came over Lance. "Axel? That loser had done it? Impossible!?" he said running down the bleacher steps.
"This everyone, is my friend from the G.A.T.E.S Facility his name is 619" O'Brian said pointing to the child.
The white haired boy now acknowledged by the crowd of students hid his face under the bangs of his hair. His hair wasn't long but the front side was long enough to cover most of his facial expression. As he stood facing the crowd Axel could see that he was shaking.
It was now that Axel knew why he had such a deja vu feeling. The shaking, the uneasiness and the staring, they were all traits he himself had. Even though he had never met the boy he knew what was going through his head.
"All these people staring at me, judging me, I'm not good enough", Axel thought "That's what he's thinking right now"
"619 and I go back quite a ways. His name is 619 because of a barcode planted on his neck, how did it get there? Your guess is as good as mine. He is another product of the inexorable environment known as the badlands. As for his real name, no one really knows, he has no identification and doesn't remember it, like so many of the lost children in this world."
"For those who couldn't find him in his hiding place fear not! All is not lost! You represent the percentage of the S.P.A agents that usually pass the exam but never make it pass the first ranks. You are only able to perceive what is visible or in front of you. You lack the capabilities to anticipate the unknown."
"Believing in the possibility of me being invisible was a reasonable case, but your problem solving cannot stop there. In order to become a high ranked official you have to be several steps in front of your opponent, and anticipate not only the things he does, but also what he is capable of doing! Neither of which can always be easily displayed. When dealing with groups of enemies things become even more complicated, you will need to anticipate not only their individual strengths, but also their group potential. A single oversight can turn into a gross underestimation proving fatal in the right setting."
"As for those of you who did not notice him at all. You represent the agents that have been killed in battle. Had I given him the order to kill, all of you who failed to notice would be dead at his feet at this very moment."
And then there was silence. Nothing but the cool summer breeze could be heard, as a wave of anxiety passed over the students. The supreme awesomeness of O'Brian's power made them tremble for what else lied beyond their school walls. What If 619 was here to kill? Would they really all be killed by one boy?
"One must always be on the lookout for an enemy especially at the times when one doesn't expect one to be there" O'Brian said vigilantly.
"A fly on the wall could be a predator in disguise, a faint smell could be the signal for a great explosion, a delicious donut could be a deadly poison, and every object you encounter should be viewed with the utmost skepticism if you truly want to survive."
O'Brian raised both hands showing his palms to the students. In one hand he created a playful little blue ball of electricity rolling around in his hand. In the other a vicious red current darting around in all directions.
"In this world of magnificence, both beauty and chaos are in the eye of the beholder". "However, while not seeing the former could cause a heart to break", he said crushing the blue ball.
As he did it broke into little blue sparks beautifully illuminating the field like a firework before dying out.
"Not seeing the latter '' he said raising up his other hand. As he raised his hand the red electricity grew vigorously and pulsed rapidly.
"Could cause a heart to stop".
As he crushed the red sphere, the lightning spread all over the field striking the skies and the bleachers surrounding the students with viscous velocity. As the large red bolts the size of giant spears hit their targets the stadium was filled with a booming sound of thunder causing the students to cover their faces. After the lightning had subsided, the students opened their eyes, catching vague opaque outlines of the invisible barrier that had protected them from the deadly electric attack.
"That's right children", O'Brian said coldly, "As agents of S.P.A a bad oversight could lead to the deaths of many more than just your own. So, if you failed to see this boy, I suggest you stop admiring the beauty of the world and start paying attention to the chaos it presents.
"Heh" Lance thought, looking at Axel. He still hadn't gotten over Axels display of competence
"So...You're telling me…."
"If you stop admiring the beauty in a painting, and begin to peer outside the frame, only then can you come to realize your house is on fire! If you truly want to be an agent of the S.P.A your senses must be intact and your house must be in such order that even the smallest spark of chaos will not escape your notice."
As O'Brian finished speaking, the reality of the threat that existed outside the school grounds began to manifest in the young students minds. This was the first time for many that they had been tested and confronted on such a large scale. All the books and training seemed useless in the presence of O'Brian's omniscient eyes, and perplexing exercises.
"A job well done to the depressing boy in the sweatshirt and the arrogant looking one with the green hair." "I think you two would make fine agents! I'm hesitant not to make you agents already."
The group of students all stared viscously at Axel with jealousy and contempt. Axel's stomach began to turn again as he felt the pressure of all his peers eyeing him down with hostility. Further up on the bleachers he could see Pb's vibrant expression complemented with blotches of dark lead appearing on his face.