Code Combination - C. Davenport

𝟹𝟷. ɪᴍᴘᴇʀғᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

Joe, a mischievous smirk appearing on her lips, put down her tablet and nodded. "That's exactly why you weren't told." Seeing as the group didn't catch on, she continued, "As I said... We're not testing the students but their progress. Therefore, we're really testing-"

Chase gasped and exclaimed, "Us!" His eyes wide, he looked at his siblings, who also let out indignant gasps. "And you're telling us now?!"

"What, how could you!" Bree yelled next, lightly slapping Joe's arm. The redhead didn't lose her grin, shrugging innocently.

Adam, who in the last few seconds had experienced more than a dozen emotions all at once, unable to pick one, finally came to his senses and grabbed Joe by her shoulders. "You're firing us?!"

This caused Joe to frown and splutter quick denials, "No, why, no? Wha-" She stopped herself from entertaining that thought and stepped back to address them all. "Look, we're not doing this to compare you or to shame you or whatever you might come up with. It's to see how you and the students are doing, to see if we can help any of you somehow. Additionally, we've got to report to the president and because of that, there needs to be some actual results."

"Wait," Bree held up her hand to interrupt, "the president wants to see results?"

Realizing her questionable wording, Joe backtracked. "Legally, he has to have an eye on us. But it's just to ensure there won't be a bionic apocalypse and that we're actually teaching them to control their powers here."

The siblings exchanged skeptical glances, which Joe took note of and tried to distract from as fast as possible.

"Back to the test situation. Your students will be put into groups and compete against each other in different tasks we provide you with. Because it'll be only Donald and I overlooking it, we'll have to go 2 teams at once."

"How's that supposed to work?" Chase questioned.

"Oh, you won't believe what a hassle it was to form the groups. We had to, of course, consider mentor and rank, so there were a few possibilities how to divide the students." Joe went on a theoretical rant for what must have been at least 10 minutes. The only one remotely interested was Chase, who, by the end of the rant, was the sole recipient of Joe's directed speech. Nonetheless, neither Adam nor Bree had the heart to interrupt her when she seemed so passionate about the topic.

Bree put a hand to her elbow, intercepting her wild gesture mid-explanation. "Sorry, you kinda lost me. How is this supposed to look now?"

Joe's eyes went wide as she recognized her mistake and she mumbled rushed apologies, grabbing her tablet from where she put it down. "So, it's gonna be Adam vs. Chase, Adam vs. Bree, and Bree vs. Chase. Each of your groups will be tested both theoretically and practically, to make sure that we filter unfortunate slip-ups from lacking knowledge or execution." Pausing, she looked up to understanding nods. "Great, that'd be everything I'm allowed to say. I'm sure you'll all do brilliantly. Donald will post the times and groups sometime later today."

Adam put his hand up, causing her to giggle, but she pulled herself together and gestured for him to speak. "What happens to the ones who fail?"

"No one's gonna fail, Add," she assured with a shake of the head. "You can't possibly fail. The competition setting is only for the students to take this seriously and give it their all. If something's not up to standard, we'll tell you to improve it, that's it."

"Yet the president wants to see results," Bree stated.

Joe sighed, regretting that she told them this part. "Yes, but he won't understand anything we'll give him. So don't worry." Her phone buzzed and with one look, she deemed it important, making her pick up her bag. "I need to go, set some things up, call Donald and all that. See you!"