"Mimi, I think it is sooo great that you're back in class. We missed your leadership during this difficult time. Don't worry though, I made sure class 4 didn't fall behind while you dealt with your... personal issues," the young woman said, flipping hair blonde hair back over her shoulder. Her uniform was regulation in every way, and yet she appeared more sophisticated and womanly than every other female student in the room. "We were surprised they kept you in medical so long, you look fine to me. Really, you look great," she said, looking Mimi up and down.
"Thank you Private Sally," Mimi said, as she walked to the front of the class. Sally wasn't exactly her enemy, but Mimi never felt completely comfortable with her either. They had both competed for the Corporal position, and for every other responsibility and promotion they could. Sally was a star student, not like Shin who tried to stay in the background all the time.
It was a little strange to be back in class, in charge, after so long under observation. The worst part was that nothing was wrong with her. Dr. Grey didn't tell her why she was unscathed, or why she didn't let her leave.
"I'll take attendance now, everyone engage your OHUDs please," she said, while toggling hers on. She could see the proximity based checkins populate against her class list. The small green squares showing perfect attendence. "Everyone is here," she said, unconsciously scanning the class for Shin. Except, he wasn't there. 'I keep forgetting, he transferred to the Shimin class right before the attack. I'm still used to him being here,' she thought.
Thinking of Shin made her want to check in on him, but she hadn't dared subvert the OHUD messaging system while under observation. Now she wasn't sure where he was or what he was doing, and it would seem strange if 'someone' from the administration asked him for details. She'd need to think of a way to find out more.
"Here are the morning's announcements," she said, scanning the class representative screen on her display. With the advent of ocular heads up displays being added to everyone, at least in the Northern Empire, it would be easy for the announcements to be shared with the entire class. This was a military academy though, and controlling the flow of information was critical in all levels of a military organization. So Mimi read them out loud as she read them herself for the first time.
"Afternoon weapons training will be on artillery field B. Dormitory inspections will be at the end of the week. Grading battle between Classes 1 and 4 will be in arena 1 of the sports centre after home room. There will be an old earth movie showing in the ampitheatre after dinner every day this week," she read out to the class. 'Wait, what battle!' she practically screamed in her head.
"Ok everyone, prepare for your classes. Private Sally, a word please." Mimi waited at the front of the class for Sally to approach. She definitely had a presence, maybe it was the blonde hair. Mimi knew that after the Super-Apocalypse blonde hair and blue eyes became more rare as Eurasia and North America suffered the most casualties. Also, it was fair to say humanity's racial hang ups seemed petty compared with the Supers, couple that with the urgent need to repopulate, and there was an entire generation of mixed babies being raised right now.
"Yes Mimi," Sally said, her eyelashes down and her eyes up as she tilted her head to look at Mimi. "Corporal Mimi, I mean." Everytime Sally spoke with her, Mimi was a little flustered. 'Is it the eye contact? Or her unbridled confidence?' Mimi wondered.
"I guess I should have been more clear, but this grading battle seems like the kind of thing you should have mentioned, don't you think? It starts in an hour," Mimi said, her voice rising a little towards the end.
"Oh, you didn't know. I just assumed they were keeping you updated on the important things," Sally smiled. Mimi could tell she was enjoying this. "The attack on the Academy affected a lot of schedules, and we are only catching up now. We were told the midterms would be done as class battles to halve the time for the teachers and proctors. If you hadn't been released for class duty today, I would have had to be graded against the Class 1 Corporal, Debbie. Now you can fight her," Sally smiled again.
"What kind of battle are we talking about?" Mimi said. She was a little worried, Class 1 had the cadets with the highest overall potential, Class 4 was pretty close to the bottom. Mimi was confident she could hold her own against almost anyone in the school though, but Debbie was different. She made Mimi seem disorganized and unambitious. It was whispered she had secret guards because her HPA level was so high.
"Armed single combat, matched by class rank. We'll be armoured and armed to show our proficiency with field grade equipment."
"Ok, thank you Sally. You may return to your seat." Mimi sounded calm, but, inside, she was freaking out a little. 'I'm not really ready for this today. Why did it have to be Debbie?' she thought.
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'I don't understand it. How did she have no injuries from that last blast, the sword strike, and the crash landing? Even Private Shin sustained more injuries from catching her,' Dr. Grey thought. She had been wracking her brain for over 2 weeks now, and had run out of tests to run, and excuses to keep Mimi under observation. 'That kind of luck just doesn't exist.'
Dr. Grey tested her for mutations, organic HPA expression, extensive testing for mental abilities like telekinesis, and nothing had come up. It was like the girl had a guardian angel protecting her invisibly.
She looked around her laboratory, seeing all the equipment here devoted to studying the evolving potential of humans. It could be lonely work, but it was amazing to think that 15 years ago she was a surgeon. She saved lives, but it was always reactive. Now she was diving into the genome, and there were wonders there. Wonders beyond even the HPA characteristics the Supers were so concerned about. 'Mimi and Shin, they could be clues to the deeper powers we have locked inside of us'.
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The sword clanged off of Mimi's own katana, but the force of the hit drove her arms down. She jumped back, knowing she was vulnerable to a counter strike. 'Dammit, how is she so strong?' Mimi wondered. She glared at her opponent, Debbie, standing there in her soldier grade armour and gear. The contoured arrangement of polymer plates and high tensile strength fabric looked bulky and awkward on Mimi, but Debbie looked sexy in her white and blue gear. 'How does it fit her so well? It looks more like space age cosplay than battle gear on her,' Mimi thought. Not that she had time to admire Debbie's outfit right now.
Mimi knew she was in trouble when Debbie chose melee weapons for their battle. Mimi practiced several styles of martial arts that used the sword, but Debbie's confidence came off her in waves as she selected a Katana.
Now she was desperately trying not to be skewered by the stronger girl. The great thing about the armour was that it was completely effective against small arms fire and all manner of conventional bladed weapons. It meant they could fight with real weapons and only have some bruises, usually. Mimi realized that she was losing less because of skill, and more from Debbie's brute strength. 'Hard to believe someone with model like proportions can generate that kind of power,' Mimi thought.
She charged in with a horizontal slash at Debbie's throat. Debbie flowed low, underneath the blow with her sword raised. She didn't expect Mimi's knee striking the side of her head though.
'I knew she'd dodge, she is getting ready to deliver a winning blow,' Mimi thought with a grin. 'If I can control the flow of the fight better, I can outthink her.' Mimi had used the momentum of her strike to spin closer to Debbie, ready to strike with her knee or leg. It was risky because she would have been wide open if Debbie had blocked instead.
Mimi pressed her advantage, using a heel strike to knock Debbie off balance, landing on her butt. She pulled her blade back for a fast strike at Debbie's chest, and flew off her feet, hitting the ground hard. 'Did she sweep me from that position?' Mimi thought, but then the sword came down point first onto her chest plate. 'A killing strike. Dammit, I was so close.' The tip of the sword slid through the armour plate with just the slightest resistance, like a poking an apple with a spoon. Mimi's eyes went wide in terror as she saw the blade slide further down and felt it against her breast bone. She could see Debbie's eyes were also wide, as she tried to stop the downward momentum of the strike, but too late at this point.
'Dead by exam,' Mimi thought, and almost laughed.