March City: Land of the Gifted [Book 1 | Fantasy/Sci-fi | Complete]

Chapter 1: A Series of Mysterious Events

"Another explosion was reported in Area Five today at ten thirty a.m.., with one death and five injured. The Peacekeepers have sectioned the area off after the Medics took the casualties off-site. The cause is yet to be confirmed but there is strong suspicion it is linked to the series of unexplained explosions that have been happening in the recent months. Further investigation is under way."

"There's still no new findings?" Ari slurped on her cereal, crossing her legs and dangling her ankle in front of her pod chair. "Seems like everything is blowing up nowadays. You reckon they'll catch them soon, Mina? Mina!"

She swivelled round to see her sister still poring over her notes.

"Mina!"

"Huh?" Mina looked up with startled brown eyes that were slightly crossed. "What?"

"In other news, the first grade grand exams are taking place today in Area Three..."

With a sigh, Ari shook her head and waved at the projection of the young news reporter. It switched off with a blink.

"Sorry, I was re-reading my stuff..."

"Never mind." It's only natural Mina would be stressed over her exams; she only had two hours left to study, after all. "I shouldn't be distracting you. What part are you on?"

"It's okay." The girl hurriedly covered the notes she was poring over as Ari leant on her pod chair and it zoomed her across the glossy polished floor to the other side of the kitchen. Ari tilted her head, one light brown eyebrow raised. "I don't want you helping me with every little thing. I need to pass this exam on my own."

"It's fine if you don't do that great, you know. We've got enough credit to last until my next test. Or maybe the one after that."

"That's not it. I want to do well."

"It's just credits. You don't need to get so stressed over it. It's not like either of us will need to work for extra."

"You don't understand, Ari." Mina's voice was tight. She ran both hands through her hair, rumpling it even more. "You always do so well without studying. I really want this."

Ari rolled her eyes and shrugged. She would never understand, Mina was right.

"Maybe if the exam centre explodes, you'll get an extra few days to study," she said, idly flicking through Mina's painstakingly tidy notes. Mina swatted her away. With a grin, Ari spun on her pod, tilting her head back and letting the breeze roll through her hair. "Why do you even use written notes any more anyway? The school uploads all the lesson presentations and you can just annotate them. This is a waste of time."

"Don't say horrible things."

At that moment, Ari's phone bleeped from the hall. Mina settled into her work again, muttering to herself and scrutinising the complex diagrams. Ari scooted out of the room, reached over, and tapped the screen of her phone, bringing up a three-dimensional hologram of a sixteen-year-old girl with flaming red hair and a disgruntled face: Fris. Ari sat up straight.

"There you are!" The annoyance in Fris's voice was perfectly conveyed, as though she was right next to Ari. "Did you forget your phone again?"

"It was—"

"Never mind." The explanation was waived by an impatient hand with pearly nails. "Remember we have extra teaching today? I know you're Miss Straight-As but attendance is mandatory."

"Oh." It had, in fact, completely slipped Ari's mind. When did she get the notice again? Tuesday? Wednesday? "Right. I'm on my way."

"You'd better be, 'cos I can't delay that video any longer without seriously annoying Hine! He's breathing down my neck as we speak..."