"Alright class today we will be learning about local maximums and fundamental theorems" said Ms. Braxton. "By drawing an approximation we can easily find the slope of the following lines". "For example looking at the line y= 3x+7 what would the local maximum be? Let's see…. Axel! Your answer?"
Axel came to barely breaking consciousness to answer the question.
"Ummmm... 7?" He said, guessing.
"7?" "The local maximum couldn't possibly be 7 that's the y intercept! Lance if you please."
Lance said nothing but wrote the numbers 0 and 4 on a sheet of paper and held them up to the class. Axel didn't even bother looking in his direction fearful of the hateful eyes Lance had for him.
"Axel!" Mr. McQue yelled "Do you fall asleep in all of your classes?"
Axel regained consciousness stretching his eyes towards the clock...
12:30
He had somehow made it to the second to last block. Unfortunately he had to make it 15 minutes more through his academically worst class….. Advanced chemistry.
"I'm not going to even bother wasting my time calling on you! I hope in your next dream, the fleas of a thousand camels come to feast the inside of your armpits!" Mr. McQue chimed.
"Class dismissed" Mr. McQue ordered.
"Oh great…. time for gym..." Axel thought made his way out of the class. "If I see Pb Im totally gonna kick his-"
Axel stopped briefly remembering his brothers words.
"I know you just got your powers and all but you have to stay out of trouble.""If you get into a fight now you can get expelled from school or worse… seriously injured" Vincent said
"If I add in the fact that 6 isnt a fighter… this could be a dangerous situation" Axel thought
"6 we've gotta move now!" Axel said taking off towards the lockeroom.
6 seeing him take off in a frantic skip caught up to Axel on his way.
"Why are you in such a rush?" 6 asked as he ran alongside Axel.
"Because!" Axel alarmed "If we don't get there now we're going to run into Pb!! And I think we both know what happens if we run into him!"
"Yeh… it's much more likely he'd be running into us… repeatedly…" 6 said
"Agreed, now let's pick up the pace!" Axel said, taking the lead.
"Wait" 6 said, stopping Axel, "Why are we going to gym in the first place?"
Axel stopped in his tracks. He had never considered skipping class before.
"We can't just…. skip class?" Axel said skeptically.
"Well why not? What's the worst that's going to happen? We go to detention? The one place Pb hates going to? What's so bad about that?"
Axel was mind blown at the knowledge 6 had armed him with. He was right, what bad would happen from him skipping a gym class? Certainly nothing worse than he had experienced already.
"Well what about after detention? Pb is just going to wait outside for us…"
"Hmmm" 6 said thinking "Well how long do you think he'll wait?" 6 said smiling.
Axel looked back at 6 beaming, he was starting to grow fond of 6's way of thinking.
"You know what? I think this friendship has been the decision I've ever made!" He said chuckling.
"Yeah, me too!" 6 agreed, "Now let's skip gym so we can keep the friendship alive a little longer!" He said laughing.
6 led Axel away from the gymnasium and directed him up a flight of stairs towards the top levels of the school.
"Where are we going?" Axel asked.
"We're going to the top of the school! That's where!" 6 said grinning.
They continued to the top of the staircase until they had reached door labeled roof access. 6 cautiously looked around the area before he slowly opened the door, crossing his fingers on the way in.
The rooftop opened up into a large area with a bright white floor reflecting the full radiance of the sun. As they made their way through the rooftop, they found it covered with cigarettes, and empty tins of Chap Stick. It was clear they were not the first to discover the getaway. On one side of the roof large fans and generators on the hummed as they supplied the school with power. While on the other side, huge air filters covered half of the roof in a dark shade.
In an attempt to block out the light reflecting roof, Axel and 6 took shelter in the shade of one of the air filters. They were only 4 stories in the air but from this height they towered over the practice field looking down on the rest of the students as they slowly entered the field.
"You know this is where I first saw you" 6 said looking down. "You were walking on that pathway there" he said pointing to the walkway behind the bleachers."
Axel flashed back to the time he had been certain someone was staring him down.
"Yeh I figured that was you! Why did you stare at me like that for the whole day! It was kind of creepy man!" Axel laughed.
"Well it's because I couldn't believe my eyes! Your ether emissions made absolutely no sense! I wanted to figure you out... I wanted to help you!"
"But why…. Why did you want to help me…?"
"I saw it when you were talking to Reggie… that pendant of your mother… That's all you have left of her right?"
Axel took out his golden pendant. He ran his fingers over its smooth gold edges captivated by its lulling presence. No matter how many times he drew it out, it always seemed to emanate some kind of soothing aura.
"Yeh" he said "I never really got a chance to say goodbye either…" Axel said in a depressed tone.
"I'm the same" 6 said. "My mother died when I was very little, although I can't remember how it happened "and I don't have anything left from her… I can't even remember what she looked like really…" 6 said sadly.
"Well, what about your father?" Axel said trying to cheer him up.
"He… died too at roughly the same time… I remember their bodies lying next to mine… I just can't seem to remember any more of what happened."
"I see" Axel said. Remembering Lance's words "You think your predicament is bad? Have you taken a look at the badlands? There are people fighting to stay alive every day!"
"I may never come to remember my past, and there are also things in my past I do remember that I don't want to… But... I'm here now and I want to create new memories, I want to create a new history for myself through the present!" he said smiling.
"How can you be so positive through all this?" Axel asked.
"Honestly I wasn't very positive. I was scarred by my past… and I didn't have much hope. But then I saw you there" 619 said pointing to the bleachers.
"I saw you get treated just like I did… I saw your lack of strength, your lack of support and I decided then and there that I wouldn't let another person go through that alone! That I wouldn't let anyone else go through what I had to!"
"Thanks 6", Axel said as his eyes watered "That means a lot to me."
Axel had become so used to being alone he didn't know how to react to kindness. Through some kind of mysterious dream sequence, he had emerged into a reality where he was no longer alone.
"No problem Ax!" 6 said, "I can't explain it… but you have…. Well a light inside of you. It's the same reason Reggie picked up your necklace, and the reason Lance confronted you. You may be down but as long as that light is in you, you will always draw people toward you. I think there will come a time when your light will lead us all."
"You are never alone my son, the light of the father shines bright in you that is your true power".
"Hehe", Axel chuckled, "I'm probably going to have to make it through a gym class or too first" He said looking down at the field.
Down below they could see the students lining up for attendance. A few moments after assembling the students started to look around as Mr. Bené scratched his head reading his electronic clipboard.
"Hahaha" Axel laughed, "He has no idea where we are!"
"Oh? Are you fond of the gym teacher?" 6 asked.
"He always loses track of things Haha I bet he's like where is that kid! Haha-"
"You little rascals!!!!" Came a voice from behind them.
Ms. Bené appeared behind them. She was ripe with ire as she slammed the end of a wooden ruler into the palm of her hand.
"You really think that you were going to get away with this!" She screamed
Axel's jaw dropped in terror, how was she able to find them out so quickly!
Ms. Bené looked at Axel, and then at 6. She slowly placed the pack of cigarettes she had taken out back into her purse. She then took out her tablet and spoke into it.
"Oh Honey!" She cried. "You won't believe who I've caught up here on the roof!"
"WHHAHAHHAAATATATATATT" They heard from the other side of the school.
In an instant a shadow appeared above their head slowly getting larger.
A huge monster with large black wings and considerably long brown talons, fell from the sky aiming at its two small prey. Axel slowly withdrew as 6 continued to look up at the strange creature.
"Uhhh 6!" Axel said shaking.
"What?" 6 said seemingly unfazed.
"RUN!!!!!"
Jumping out of the way the boys crashed into the ground on either side of the creature lying on the ground cowering in fear.
Standing before them was a huge fuming, feathered Mr. Bené jumping up and down at Axel and 6. His lips had grown sharp like a beak and he was making inaudible bird sounds that filled the entire school. After having a fit for a few moments he composed himself into his gym teacher form before ripping into the students.
"WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING UP HERE!" He screamed, surely the whole school had heard that one.
"You boys tried to skip gym class? At a combat academy!" "You two are a special kind of stupid!!!" he said crossing his arms.
Axel and 6 continued to sit on the ground contemplating if standing up or staying grounded was more disrespectful.
"Oh? So you guys don't like PE huh? OHH you're in for a surprise then!" "I'm going to give you two exactly what you want!" He said scoffing.
"Today you'll be getting much more than detention." He said grimly. "For the next two weeks you will run a minimum of 1000 kilometers every class! That is in addition to the rest of the daily training!
Axel and 6 held their head down in shame as Mr. Bené continued on.
"On top of that I have had a lot of requests from the librarian lately! Following your detention... you will spend 2 hours assisting the librarian with tasks such as reading old books, dusting them, and mopping floors!"
Axel and 6 exchanged shocked looks of devastation. It would be midnight before they got out of school now.
"Well…. "Mr. Bené said looking around, "What are you waiting for? "Start running those laps!"
"Yes Mr. Bené sir!" They answered, and returned to the field to run their laps.
"Ahhhhh" Axel groaned as detention finished.
After finishing their extended PE and detention, Axel and 619 were so out of fuel they could barely get out of their seats.
"Alrighty boys", Mr. Bené said triumphantly, "It's time for your second detention!"
He led the two teenagers out of the back entrance of the school. They headed towards a descending staircase that appeared out of the pavement, similar to the entrance of a subway. At the end of the descended stairs were two large doors that said, S.C.S Library scribbled across the top.
Axel stared at the doors suspiciously." Why is the library in such an wierd place?" he thought.
Few had ever been to the school's library . In the year 2230 there was little need for such a centralized form of physical books. The majority of homework, books, and education were on a decentralized blockchain, a chain of internet servers where information was shared and distributed. There were few, like Axel with his fake physics book, that held on to the physical books of the past that had died along with the previous era. As the two boys stared at the entrance in suspicion, they dreaded the assignments they would receive once inside of its walls.