Chapter 3 - Going Home

Evelon: RY 2034

"Another day of solitude." A certain child remarked as they walked home from school. Their school was the same as any other that you could find in our world. The only difference is that some of the subjects were different, such as P.E having a sub-class known as System Enhancement Class and there being a System Studies Class that could be taken on as an optional subject.

Being a systemless student at a school full of pupils with systems lead Archie to be cast as the black sheep in the flock. He put his right hand to his face, touching the bandage that was placed upon his right cheek. He had recently suffered a severe burn to the side of his face when one of his regular bullies, who used a fire-based system, spewed fire at him. It was almost like a flamethrower had been activated on him.

Archie sighed as he reached his house, sliding his schoolbag off his back as he opened the door. "I'm home!" He announced, trying to avoid the many traps his siblings kept leaving for him around the house. His eldest sister, an eighteen year old girl named Lauren, had a system known as 'The Trapper System'. It allowed her to set various pitfalls and traps around the house with impressive ease. However, if you knew what to look for, they were incredibly easy to avoid. If an area was slightly translucent, you knew that area was trapped. Archie jumped over it, making sure to avoid those pitfalls. As he began to walk upstairs towards his room, he heard light footsteps at the top of the stairway.

"Hey, Archie! Think fast!" His kid brother, the eleven year old known as Patryk, yelled out to him, the sound of flying plastic whizzing past his ears. Patryk had a system known as "The Plastic Manipulation System". This allowed him to manipulate things that were made of at least 70% plastic. This essentially gave him control of their gravity, their properties, and their weight. This does mean that he could manipulate the Kardashians into doing what he wants.

"Patryk, I told you not to go flinging plastic at me! I already suffer enough of this shit in school!" Archie yelled, holding onto the banister of the stairs with his right hand so he wouldn't fall down. All Patryk did was laugh and run away, satisfied with the look on his brother's face. His mother and father were both at home, but they said nothing, as they had long since come to accept that no matter what they did, it wouldn't stop their offspring bullying the one that had no powers.

Archie walked to his room, opening the door and entering with a sigh, noticing an ethereal creature sitting on his bed, almost as if it was waiting for him. "Jess, stop playing around. You don't need to use your Spectator System whenever I enter my own room." Archie told his slightly older sister while leaning up the door to his room. She disabled the main ability of her system, having a joking pout on. "Aww, you're no fun, you know that?" Jess, with that surprisingly being her actual name, complained. "Well, you're the only person who treats me like a decent person in this family, so I would hope we could talk like equals. Plus, it's not like I can stop you activating your abilities." Archie replied.

Jess' system was known as "The Spectator System". It allowed her to become a near-undetectable creature, and she couldn't be touched by anything that she didn't want interacting with her. The only way to see her was to see her ethereal form with the naked eye. She made no sound, left no scent, and couldn't be picked up at all on cameras while her abilities were active. She also gained an increase in general agility, so it was a great system designed for espionage and spying on people. "Well, even though that's true, I feel pity for you since you don't have a system." Jess admitted.

"Honestly, I've been getting on just fine without my system. I can see how they'd be useful, but they're not necessary for everyday life." Archie remarked. Archie walked over to his bed and grabbed something out from under his bed. It was an old box that he had found on the side of the road one day, and in it he had found a great tool in order to help him get by in his day-to-day life. He took a pocket knife out from his right pocket and placed it into the box under his bed. He had made a deal with the principal of the school so that he could bring it in, as he had showcased the point of what would happen to him if he couldn't protect himself.

"I still don't see why you need to bring such a weapon into school, Archie." Jess commented. "After all, would the others not just destroy it?" Hearing this made Archie sigh as he pulled out the box, took the pocket knife out, and held it up to Jess' neck, the tip of the blade resting on her neck. "Simply doing this is enough to keep them away. After all, if I push it in any further, I could kill them. They won't attack me because they know the second I get hit I will push the blade into their necks instinctively. After all, if this is enough to scare them, then I don't need some lousy system." Archie explained, watching beads of sweat roll down his sister's face. "I get your point, I get your point." She told him, staring down at the blade, completely forgetting that she had an ability specifically designed to get out of situations like these.

"Glad you understand." Archie sighed, pulling the knife away and placing it back in his box. He slid the box underneath his bed, walking over towards the door of his room. "I'm going to go to library. If either of our parents ask where I am, just tell them I'm there. I want to go rent out some books." Archie told his sister before closing the door on her. He walked down the stairs, avoiding the many deathtraps that his sister Lauren had laid out for him as he descended the stairs. He had a small smile upon his face as he left, his fingers crossed in hopes that he didn't encounter anything bad, specifically any of the people from his class, on his way.