Meng Fu hated his job. Well, that wasn't quite true he thought. What he really hated was the state the school had fallen into. Much of these feelings stemmed from pride, as he himself was a graduate of the Mars Combat University, the very place he now worked as Vice Principal.
Mars University was based in Mars City, built from the first successful Mars colony. This unfortunately in his eyes, meant that the entire city was owned by a private company, and Mars University as an extension
This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for Europa University, which was owned by the same company. Upon being finished, the state-of-the-art station immediately started an internal competition. One which they hadn't lost for thirty years!
The inevitable result was that Mars University lost more and more of their budget while Europa's budget only grew.
It was currently between Semesters, of which Mars U. had two. August to December., and then students had a month break before they returned for February to June. Many teachers didn't spend much time on campus during this time. Unlike a traditional school, combat universities didn't have any grades that needed to be done over breaks.
Currently, there are two faculty in the entire school. He and Principal Abraham. Abraham was on campus because he was Abraham. Fu, however, was here for an important task. Every break he chose students that the university would invite for scholarships. He did this a whole semester ahead, and many they chose still didn't come, instead being poached by Europa.
The low hum of his special Psi processor around his head filled the room. Tens of student records passed through his mind every second, being sorted into four different folders. Denied, acceptable, approach, and the last one he hated, Poached. Europa unfortunately had the benefit of having a Positive Linked Artificial intelligence. While Meng Fu, as a class C Esper specialized in logistical Psionics was impressive, and he could outperform any computer, he was still limited in time. While Espers had long ago rid themselves of the weakness of ordinary bodies, they still needed sleep.
As a result Europa usually got most of the geniuses before he could find them. All activity in his mind ceased as he paused on one Profile. To all looks, it was quite terrible, only made average by the fact the student had a high Psionic Cache Index for being male.
What truly stopped him was the MRI that all students took at the end of every semester, in his mind he enlarged the image, soon taking all the images and compiling them into a full-scale 3D image. There, nestled within the flesh of the brain, was a small nodule that differentiated itself from the rest of the brain.
Most wouldn't think of what this was, only a few doctors overseeing the student would even recognize it. As an Esper, he knew exactly what it was, however.
With urgency, he got up from his desk. One thing that thankfully came about due to the budget cuts was that all the offices of the school's faculty were located in one building, meaning that Fu didn't have to walk far at all to where he was going. He stopped by their printer room before continuing down the same hallway, eventually coming to a door with the words 'Pr. Abraham' in faded letterings
Ignoring proper etiquette in his urgency, he opened the door to the office without announcing himself first. The room was sparse of any decoration, and much of the space not taken up by the required desk and filing cabinet was dedicated to a small gym mat upon which lay a single barbell.
The man sitting at the desk looking like he would rather be anywhere else was bronze-skinned, his black was wild, and its only saving grace was that it was cut short. His blue-piercing eyes looked up at Meng Fu in curiosity.
"Fu, what's the matter?" His deep voice asked calmly.
"I- I need a special exemption, sir!" Fu rushed out the words, feeling the seconds slip away, he swore that if Europa and their demented principal got to this kid first-
"And do what?!" The man stood up agitated, gripping the desk. "You have already spent much of our budget! Will you reduce the training Hall even more?! Perhaps the cafeteria, to prevent our student's well-growing bodies! Fu, Do you not think I won't drag you down to the Training Hall right now and teach you!"
"Sir, if I may-"
"How do you expect our students to be strong if we-" The man's tirade interrupted Meng Fu's words. Getting upset at the man, he shoved the synthetic papers he had printed off earlier into the man's arms.
"Fu, what is-" His words halted as he looked at the first page, which was an MRI picture. The man sat down and quickly read through the papers.
"Twenty? Are you sure it's not a tumor?" The man finally looked up and asked.
"His Index may be low, but his past results show this is a recent mutation. His potential increase was almost ninety percent before and after!"
"Sir, this boy could be it." Fu started, the man's face changed as he gripped the desk once more at his next words. "The generation your teacher theorized."
"My teacher was desperate, and grasping at straws. The psionic parasites grow in power too fast, and there never seemed to be an end to them. The boy could merely have started puberty early, he can wait until next year to join, we might be behind Europe, but we are not short on talented youth." The man's grip grew even tighter on his desk, and Meng Fu knew he was close to his goal, he just had to convince the principal of what he saw.
"I understand your hesitation, sir, Elder King's sacrifice was difficult for us all, but we need this kid before he's poached by Europa." Fu took a deep breath before revealing his last piece of information, which only spawned a few theories rather than any hard facts. "Sir, on the boy's last exam, he scored a perfect score."
"So? Many of our students could do the same."
"He had a history of only marginally succeeding with barely passing in past tests. I believe sir, that the boy has awoken. It may be that he just has perfect recall, however sir, the other option is..."
The Desk finally couldn't take it anymore. the edge broke off under the principal's grip, sending splinterous shards flying. "Telepathy."
Meng Fu nodded solemnly. "I believe so."
"Little Fu... What are you still doing here!" The Principal suddenly shouted. "Invite this student personally! Do you think I won't drag you off for extra training if he goes to Europa?! I don't care if admissions have closed, if they complain, I'll haul them off for training too! If the boy won't come I'll haul him off as well!"
Meng Fu sweated a bit, unsure if the man in front of him would go personally to Earth and drag the boy to Mars. Knowing him, however, Fu assumed he would.
"R-Right away sir!" With that, Meng Fu left swiftly, the door closing shut behind him. Principal Abraham slowly looked back down to the papers on his desk. "Teacher, is what you thought really true?"
"If it is," He continued whispering to himself, tense. His hand clenched violently, crushing the wooden chunk in his hand into splinters.
"I won't let that bitch ruin our future..."