I looked up to see Chad reeling back. Seizing the moment, I stepped forward and delivered a precise right hook to his cheek, sending him crashing to the floor, unconscious. As I stood up, gasps echoed through the hall. A few students near me flinched back, and to my left, a girl had fainted. I suppressed a grin, this was too much fun.
I turned towards Emma to console her. She lifted her head up and stared at me with her big puppy-dog eyes and tears streaming down her cheeks. She was extremely red, and could hardly maintain eye contact without her eyes darting around, then back to the ground.
I looked around the crowd to gather how people reacted. After doing so, I noticed that the intriguing duo I noticed earlier had attempted to make their way across the hall, but had stopped dead in their tracks upon noticing my punch, maybe I had overdone it just a little. Nonetheless, I decided to turn my head to the right and give them a proper look, and I immediately locked eyes with the smaller one. He posed an interesting aura, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but he definitely seemed like someone to note for later.
I turned back to Emma and kneeled down in front of her, stretching out my hand to pat her head.
"Hey, now, are you alright?" I asked in the most gentle voice I could do, and put on my best worried face, looks like it worked.
"Y-y-yes… Thank you so much, Fredrick… I don't know what I'd do without you." Her voice trembled, but a genuine smile slowly spread across her tear-streaked face. I smiled back, gave her another pat, and stood back up. I stretched out my hand to help her up, she accepted with a weak grip, and I pulled her to her feet. The surrounding crowd started cheering, although some people boo'd us. I reflected on how perfectly my plan had gone.
When I first saw Chad I noticed his vape, many people vape for different reasons, but the most common one is to cope with something. If he were coping with the loss of someone or something close to him, it would be very hard for him to keep himself composed, but his clothes were clean, and his hair was made. With these two things in mind, it was clear he was trying to impress someone, and with an outfit and build like his, definitely straight. I kept that in mind, and I immediately knew Emma was the person I was looking for upon entering the classroom. When I first entered the classroom, she was the only one who didn't look up. This told me she craved attention and was likely full of herself. People who are like this, tend to be social butterflies, combine that with how good she looks, guaranteed to be the most popular girl in school. I made a logical guess that at the very least, Chad had some form of attraction to Emma, can't blame the man either.
Using this knowledge, I had originally planned to hype Chad up and force him to confess feelings for Emma, and then create my strategy around that, but things changed after Chad stormed the classroom. Upon his arrival, Emma immediately noticed him and tensed up, a fight or flight reaction. A reaction like the one Emma gave off typically indicates that something had happened that makes her naturally scared of him. With this newfound information, I induced that Chad had actually professed his feelings to her in the past, and she rejected him, which then turned violent in some way. The specifics were of no concern to me. I was able to devise a new plan.
Emma's social status was crucial. After my multilingual speech, Emma had already warmed up to me, but I needed her as my pawn. I gave her Chad's vape, as I knew that physical items can help symbolize things, which in this case was his plan to change. Emma would then play nice, and appeal to his emotions, which after my entirely fabricated story of us dancing to her tune, Chad would react violently, and then corner and attempt to punch Emma out of rage.
Now, one flaw would be that if Chad and Emma ever decide to converse about this, my lies would be seen through immediately. Luckily I am a triple black belt in karate, Chad will not be remembering anything from the previous hour. Anyway, for the final step of my plan, I would swoop at the last second, after all of Emma's hope had been drained, and save her. Saving her from such a horrifying experience would bind her to me emotionally, ensuring her loyalty.
I did this for one main reason, which coincides with my mission here. The reason being is that I need to take total control of the school. As stated before, I deduced Emma was the school's social butterfly, and had connections to everyone due to her looks and general personality. A person like this was perfect for my plan, she could introduce me to the social ladder and allow me to gain more influence. With this influence, I would then join the student council and other clubs of similar status, and propose to the office a new system we would oversee. This new system is still being worked on by the Arcane Syndicate.
The Arcane Syndicate, the organization I was made in, strives to create a perfect world. A world rid of idiots, criminals, and lazy people. They have been working non-stop for years to obtain the 4 magic items that have been rumored to exist. In order to achieve this, they have started the
The Arcane Syndicate is the organization that I work for. Without talking about it too much, our goal is to create a society where all humans are intelligent and strong, to create a perfect society. To do this, we are actively hunting down the 4 magic items rumored to exist. Luckily for us, normal humans all believe magic is fake, however, I was raised differently. The Arcane Syndicate genetically breeds humans to create perfection, subjecting them to rigorous programs to maximize intelligence and strength. I was one of the few who survived the 26th round. Each round is essentially a combination of 3-12 year olds for about 13 years. Those who cannot keep up are killed. It's harsh, but that's what is necessary for our ideal world.
My parents' identity are unknown to me, I never got to meet them. That is just how the system works, they grab two people from the previous generation they think would make a good child, and force them to breed. After all is said and done, out comes another genetically bred human. I was one of those people. I somehow had vivid memory of what it was like when I was born. There was a weird smell, and everything was blurry. There were a few people that whisked me away the second I came to. People were talking, but I had no idea what about. After that, all I remember is torture.
Every day, I would wake up at 2 in the morning, they would immediately start off with math. By the time I was 5, I knew more about man than top mathematicians. Alongside this, I was a human calculator. There was a particular mathematician that enjoyed the facility we were harbored in. He would often take a particular fancy in me. Something that he would commonly do is take a calculator and punch in something insane, and have me finish the problem in my head before the calculator could put out an answer. After a while, he started to realize that what I was doing was far more impressive than anything he had ever done. His ego wouldn't allow for this, so he put my skills to the test. He asked the head of mathematics in the Arcane Syndicate Learning Unit to impose on us the hardest question they possibly could. They went above and beyond that.
We were presented with a sheet that asked us to compute the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a 10x10 matrix using the power method and Rayleigh quotient. I still had homework to do, which was also on my desk. My mind went to work, solving a system of 4 nonlinear differential equations whilst simultaneously computing the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a 10x10 matrix using the power method and Rayleigh quotient. I took up two pencils, one in each of my hands, and in a matter of seconds I wrote down the answers to both my homework and the problem at the same time. There was a person who was timing us. I looked up towards the man who was standing there with their jaw hanging loose.
"Uh.. Fredrick Stevenson wins the competition with a final time of 3 seconds and 47 milliseconds." The announcer said, fumbling with the watch in his hands. I turned to my left and saw the mathematician bubbling with rage. His entire body was shaking, he slowly turned his head toward me, grinding his teeth together. He snapped the wooden pencil he held in hand and mashed the tablet.
"Fredrick…" he said through his teeth. I turned in his direction and gave him a blank stare.
"What?"
"How… the hell… did you manage to pull that shit off?"
Before I could respond, a cold voice called out from behind us.
"Very impressive."
I turned and saw a large man standing about 6 feet tall, towering in front of the door. He wore dark shades over his eyes, and had brown hair with white tips on the ends of his strands. His hair looked he had just crawled out of bed after a nice shower, very unkempt. His smile was eerie, not reaching his eyes. He was dressed in a purple trench coat with dark red designs engraved into it, and wore black jeans beneath. The headmaster, I guessed. No one else would dress like this.
"What do you want with me?" I asked.
"Well Fredrick, you see, you aren't like the rest." As he said this, he began to close the distance between us. This was an intimidation tactic, intriguing. "You appear to be a special case, and besides, I've meaning to test out this new method."
I looked up into the endless black of his shades. I couldn't see through them, but his aura made the air around me crackle and sent a shiver down my spine.
"What do you mean?"
His smile widened.
"Well, as I'm sure you're currently aware, the Helix Project currently only teaches you book knowledge. No social knowledge, nor does it teach the feeling of love or how to feel your own emotions. How would you like to test a new program where we try these things?"
I gave him a puzzled look. Love? Wasn't that just supposed to be something in fairy tales, a fake emotion? He must've read my expression.
"Young man, the love you've read in novels is real. Very real. You just have never experienced it. You know how humans are made, correct?" A gave a small nod, glancing to the left before returning to the abyss of his gaze. "Well, I will be introducing you to the two people who created you. How does the sound?"
"I don't know."
"I'm sorry?"
"I don't know." I really didn't. I had no idea what would happen if I met them. I had often considered this possibility, but it always ended with me not really doing anything.
"Well then, why don't you find out for yourself."
A loud cheer from the crowd brought me back to the present. I blinked, shaking off the memories and analysis. Emma was still standing there, her hand trembling slightly in mine. I gave her a reassuring smile, squeezing her hand gently.
"Are you ready to go?" I asked, my voice calm and steady.
Emma nodded, her eyes still wide with a mixture of fear and gratitude. As we made our way through the crowd, I felt the weight of their stares. Some were in awe, others in disbelief. But it didn't matter. Everything was falling into place perfectly.
With Emma by my side, the next phase of my plan could begin.
Just then, the two people from earlier decided to approach me.
"Hey, my name is Jeffrey Thompson. Are you new here?" The smaller one introduced himself. I made a slow turn from facing Emma to the pair. I took a moment to get a fix on their intentions, but they seemed not to be plotting anything. I decided to put on a smile, and introduce myself back..
"Hey! My name is Fredrick Stevenson, and yes, I am new here. Who's your friend there?" I stuck out my hand so they could shake it. This would be to enforce relations, these people would be people who I should call my friends now.
"Oh… sorry… My name is T.J. Juckson. You can call me TJ," The man named TJ was extremely nervous. His hand was very shaky and when I shook it I could feel his pulse rapidly beating.
"Nice to meet both of you! It's truly a pleasure. I do hope we can get along nicely," I decided that the TJ person was no threat to me. But Jeffrey, he was a different ordeal. I couldn't get a good read on his emotions, which scared me a little.
"Well, impressive work here. Stopping Chad is no easy feat. What happened?" Jeffrey asked. I decided to respond with something natural.
"Ah, well, I was on my way to the bathroom when I overheard the commotion, so I decided to come here. I saw that poor Emma was in distress, so I had to help her, just in the nick of time, too. What did I tell you, huh?" I turned towards Emma again. "I will always be there to help you, no matter what." I gave her a genuine smile, and she started to turn red. I gave her hand another quick squeeze and turned back to Jeffrey and TJ. "So… would either of you happen to know where this school keeps its trophies and medals?"
I had a plan, but almost immediately the duo seemed to see through me, as they exchanged a puzzled glance.
"Um, I'm not exactly sure," Jeffrey replied cautiously. "But I think they might be in the trophy case near the gymnasium. Why do you ask?"
Maybe not, he did just tell me where the trophy place was. I felt this was the most likely place where they would something like the watch, or at least a clue
"Oh, just curious, you know? I've always had an interest in achievements and recognition."
Jeffrey looked like he wanted to say something, but was cut short by the bell.
"We better get going," TJ said. "We don't want to be late for our next class."
"Indeed so, talk to you guys later." Jeffrey nodded, and we headed off in our separate directions. Something interesting to note was the fact that Jeffrey had lied to me through his teeth. The trophy case was not in fact on the first floor, only something that people who wanted to rob the place for whatever reason would think to be a trophy case. This was strange, and confirmed my suspicion that Jeffrey might be someone I need to deal with before the next stage of my plan.
…
I slowly approached the trophy case. I was pretty empty, with only three trophies on display. Each trophy being for something I've never heard of before. The three categories were "Best Soup", "Best Tennis Rackets", and "Coolest Hamsters". They somehow only got 2nd in all of these, how you proudly put these up was a mystery to me, but they didn't have a lot to be proud of anyway.
I continued to look around the case for any potential clues, since this was likely the only place with actual information besides the library, which I didn't have time for. I gave one final look to my direct left and right, then pressed my head against the glass, and looked down. Jackpot. There was a note, honestly I didn't expect it to be this easy, but I'm not going to complain either. Just to be on the safe side, I did one final check around me to make sure no one was there. Now, of course, I am fully aware that there is someone hiding in the bushes directly behind me, but he doesn't know that I know. The person was actually pretty good at hiding, his frame didn't immediately stick out from the bush, his breathing was quiet, and he didn't move an inch. The only way I was able to notice this person was that their hair wasn't fully covered by the leaves. I am assuming that whoever is the person that wrote the note, is the person who is hiding behind me. Probably someone who is trying to pull a prank on the suspicious new kid. Luckily, I knew what to do. If they say I looked suspicious, pull out the race card. If they mention how I took the note, I will say it looked like litter, and I wanted to clean up the trash. After that, I doubt anyone would have any other thing to accuse me with, but I could mention how they tried to antagonize the new kid, who was also black. Also, the fact they were hiding in a bush instead of being in class wasn't doing them any favors. My excuse for that was that I was lost and stumbled upon the case. No one else heard me ask Jeffrey and TJ about the case besides Emma, who I would tell to not mention that detail. All of that to say, there's not a lot this person can do to win in this situation. That is unless this person has a different goal, but I doubt it. No one in this school would be smarter than a fifth grader, I really needed to shake off this irrational fear of Jeffrey being a threat.
I read the note, well, read is a strong word. The note looks like something a first-grader would write for their first ever sentence. I guessed that it said something along the lines of "You just got pranked" or "This note is what thou seeketh, go beyond all reality". It was one of those two, I couldn't discern which. Anyway, since the person in the bushes hadn't jumped out and screamed "YOU JUST GOT PRANKED, BRO!" at me, I decided that I would walk away to lure them out.
Once I had just gotten out of sight of whoever was sitting in the bush, I walked in place to give the illusion of walking, but I was still right there. I heard the rustle in the bushes, this person fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
"Hey." My voice echoed across the hallway. "I know you're there." The rustling immediately stopped.
"I'm talking to you." I continued, and turned towards the bush and locked eyes with none other than Jeffrey Thompson. Immediately, my own mind began to race. Why was he here? Why, of all people, did it have to be him? No matter, I continued to give him the death stare. Jeffrey remained motionless, petrified in place. He stood like a deer caught in headlights, or he had direct eye contact with Medusa.
"Hey… fancy meeting you here." He finally said something, but it was suspicious. His reaction did alleviate my previous assumptions that he was a hidden genius.
"What are you doing here, Jeffrey?" I started towards him, my eyes narrowing as I drew closer.
Jeffrey hesitated for a few seconds before responding.
"Oh… I uhh… was just trying to pull a prank, you see?" He gestured towards my pocket.
Oh great, I completely overestimated him, he was just a prankster. I decided to tell him to leave stuff like this alone, so that he doesn't get himself caught up in something he shouldn't. I really wouldn't want someone like this to end up in the Arcane Syndicate's business. The poor man had a life to live.
"A likely story, listen man, there are things here that I cannot let you know about for your own safety. Can you just trust me on that?" Jeffrey gave me a weird look before responding.
"Okay, I'm sorry, very sorry. I just thought that playing a prank would be a funny idea." His reaction seemed genuine enough, but at this point, my perception of this man was so messed up, I didn't know what to think anymore.
"No worries, let's return to class now."
"Alright, see ya."
"See you later." I replied as we both turned and went in opposite directions.
…
The final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. I walked outside the school and gave a gaze around. The grounds were occupied by students rushing to catch the bus, other kids waiting for their rides. I leaned against one of the supporting pillars in the main entrance, letting the sun rays graze my skin, and pulled out my phone. I checked for any new messages from the Arcane Syndicate, but found nothing new. Next order of business would be to review the landscape, or probably do more research on the school's history, considering the trophy case didn't offer me any help. Maybe it did, considering I got more insight on that Jeffrey character, or maybe because I'm more confused than I was before. Before I could make a decision, a familiar figure approached me.
"Hey, Fredrick." She said and pulled up next to me, trembling slightly. I put my phone back into my pocket so she doesn't see what I was looking at.
"Hey, Emma. How are you doing?" I replied casually. I wonder, what did she want, though? Shouldn't she off with her clique?
"Umm, I was actually wondering if… maybe you're free this afternoon?" She said as she nervously swayed her body back and forth, idly twiddling her fingers. I was completely dumbfounded. She was asking me out? I didn't think my entire strategy would've worked that well. I held my jaw back from dropping on the floor, taking a breath to calm myself and maintain composure.
"Uhh, yeah, actually I am free. Why're you asking, you want to take up my schedule?" I asked, giving a knowing smirk. Her face flushed a deep red as she recoiled slightly.
"Yeah… would you like to go grab a coffee… maybe?" She choked out, looking down at her feet. I chuckled.
"Of course, I'd love to." I decided that further research could wait. Perhaps now was a good time to develop relationships. Besides, what guy would refuse a date with a girl as hot as Emma? She slowly looked back up, trying to hide the tears that had formed in her eyes. I took her hand, and led her out into the school yard. Several students looked up and gawked as we passed. I heard a few murmurs, and one boy even gave me a nasty stink eye as we passed. Emma was still blushing slightly, but making it along. Once we reached the gates, I turned towards her.
"Oh right, you're new here, so it's my job to show you around."
"Bingo."
"No worries, I know this city better than anyone. Did you know my father was actually the lead architect for the city's infrastructure?"
"Oh wow, I did not in fact know that." I actually didn't, this was very interesting information.
We continued back and forth like this for some time while Emma showed me the way to a local café that she said was very popular among students. Once we arrived, I opened the door for her and took a gaze around the café, noting potential exits and reading certain people. Emma apparently took my glances around as looking at other girls, which made her jealous.
"Something catch your eye?" She said in a mocking sort of tone. It was at this point that I had realized that I had offended her, this both a good and bad thing. The good thing is that I now know just how much she cares for me, the bad thing is I now have to wiggle myself out of this scenario. I decided to just tell her the truth.
"Sorry? Oh, I'm just looking over people, testing my cold reading skills. Been reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes recently. But, I bet I could actually tell what these people are thinking, wanna watch me try?" This seemed to catch her interest. Her ears perked up at my suggestion, and she gave a weary glance where I was looking.
"Alright, fine. What is she thinking?" She sighed and unfolded her arms to point to a woman sitting in a corner by herself. The girl was huddled over a laptop with dark hair that was covering her eyes and was a complete mess. She clearly did not put any time into her makeup either; mascara was all over her face, no blush or lipstick from what I could see. She had an oversized black hoodie as well.
"She's not taking a break-up very well and is trying to find ways to cope." Emma walked over to the girl, exchanged a few words, and came back to where I was standing.
"Wow, you were spot on."
"Yeah, it was quite obvious. The makeup was done poorly, no time put into her hair, oversized clothes, obvious signs of a break-up."
"Wow, you were able to tell all of that, from one look?"
"Yup, I've been studying observation and the powers of logical reasoning."
"That's… really impressive, honestly. Most boys at the school are into something really lame like sports."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah."
"I see then, well then, ready to order?"
"Oh yeah." She said as she remembered why we were here in the first place. "I'm ready."
"Good, because I have no idea what to order." I actually have no clue what half the things on the menu were. There were things that made no sense to me at all, like a unicorn Frappuccino, a matcha avocado smoothie, and a beetroot latte. What did all of that even mean?
"Oh really? I guess it makes sense, most things here are unique to our city."
"That would explain things, say just get me what you like the best."
"Alright!" She said and eagerly began to order.
She got us a rainbow bagel with funfetti cream cheese and hibiscus tea latte. I didn't know what any of that meant, but the food was good. I let her talk about her upbringing, being the oldest of 4 children, and the only girl in the house since her mother died very early on. She had begun to get emotional during the story, so I let her cry on my shoulder. After that, she said she wanted to hear more about my past, to which I responded it was boring and wanted to hear more about hers. I can't let anyone know about my past, it was for her own good. We continued talking for a couple of hours, I told her about how I could tutor if she wanted, she accepted the offer and told me more about how the city and school generally operate. After a bit, I decided to ask a question that had been on my mind.
"Say, Emma, what all do you know about this Jeffrey Thompson character?" She gave me a confused look and scratched her head.
"Uhh, Jeffrey? Not a whole lot to be honest… Why? Did he do something rude earlier? I'll make sure he knows not to mess with you. He always seems to be a troublemaker…"
"No, that's not the case at all. He just seemed interesting, so I was wondering if he was like the school's secret genius or something." Emma laughed at that last part.
"HA! Jeffrey, a genius? Far from it, his grades are average at best, and he never does anything special in his classes. His friend TJ is much more impressive, maintains good grades, and is arguably the strongest person in the world."
"Oh, is that so?" Huh, I saw the TJ guy was quite muscular, never took him for a fighter though, perhaps he was the bigger threat…
"Yeah, but you also seem quite strong yourself, Fredrick."
"Oh yeah, I had a gym back where I lived before moving here."
"Oh, that's so cool! I can show you this town's gym if you want as well."
"That'd be great."
We continued talking like this for another couple hours. Talking about the city, and I gave off little lies to make my past sound boring and normal. Talking with her was a new experience, I was beginning to feel something I had never felt before, maybe it was love? Genuine kindness? Whatever it may be, it felt nice. It was a welcome change to my previous environment.
It had reached 6 o'clock in the afternoon when Emma and I said our goodbyes. I made my way to the apartment complex that I was staying at while I tried to research the school and find the thing.
Once in my room, my phone began to ring.
"Well done, Fredrick." A cold, raspy voice said.
"Thanks, headmaster. My plan to win over the school's social leader worked flawlessly."
"Yes, and collecting the watch in such a rapid and efficient manner, only you could pull off something so impressive."
"The watch? I haven't begun research on that yet…"
Dead silence filled the room. I could feel my pulse accelerate and my heartbeat in my ears.
"Fredrick, someone has the watch."