How a Mind Can be Influenced

Chapter 2

"Identifications please." the one testing me asks Alula and I, holding his hand out.

I pull out my wallet, handing over my card. Out of the corner of my eye I see Alula shakily hand hers over to her tester. They read them over and scan them, not handing them back as quick as they did the others.

"Both of you are Class One Stormers?" Alula's tester asks.

"Yes sir, is there a problem?" I reply in our place.

"No, just unusual to find you at a regular school without training," he smiles, letting us retake our seats.

Alula is shaking as we sit down, our secret out to the class. Not everyone understands what it means, but those with abilities do. They stare wide eyed at us, but some have pity in their eyes knowing we'll be given dangerous jobs.

Robin and Sage don't say anything as we retake our seats across from them. The rest of the class period they stay quiet too. I simply guess to myself they are shocked to learn that we aren't what they thought we were. But they do wait, like always, after class so we can all walk out together for our free period.

Once we are outside the building though, Robin shoves me against the nearby wall. He looks pissed and I'm remembering all the things he's said about "freaks" like me.

"What the hell Kasper?! You're one of them?!" he yells in my face.

"Robin, let go of him!" Sage pulls him off, Alula gluing herself to my side.

"Sage, they're Aberrs! They aren't human!" he argues.

"They're our friends, and your attitude is probably the reason they never told us!" she counters.

"What does it matter?! Whether we're friends or not, they should have told us they are like this. People like them are the reason we are forced to do those stupid tests, the reason we even need to worry about being killed at school!" Robin yells.

"Enough Robin! None of that is their fault, and we don't even know why we were being tested. It's not like those running things will tell more than necessary, especially to high school students." Sage defends us.

He scoffs and storms off, leaving the three of us behind. Sage apologizes and runs after her childhood friend, calling out his name until she reaches him. I stand against the wall, fixing my vest and tie.

"He's never going to talk to us again, is he?" Alula asks sadly.

"No, probably not right now." I agree.

We decide to leave and head home, thankful we live in the same complex. Needless to say, our parents were pissed about the testing and exposure of our abilities. That night, the whole house has a darker feel to it, my younger sister worried that her brother will be sent away. As I lay down, I take out the test results I was given last year when I tested:

"Stormers are a rare type of user, specializing in creating weather changes to use as a defensive or offensive mechanism. They can create fog barriers to confuse enemies and limit their attacks by sight as a defensive form. For offense, Stormers can create powerful storms like tornadoes or hail storms to wound and drive back an enemy.

More often than not, Stormers receive high class rankings. One is the highest with Five being the lowest. Classes are based on spell potency, ability in combat settings, and casting ability. Class Ones are often put on the front lines on special op teams, sometimes leading these teams."

****

Weeks pass, and those of us who were positive were given a new uniform. It is made up of different colors with a patch badge over our heart where the school logo usually is. I personally despise the new clothing. While it is easier to move in and more breathable, it also plants a giant sign on me saying "Look here! I have abilities!"; Alula feels the same way, often pulling her backpack strap over the new logo. It makes people cast looks at us, and I hear whispers more often than when the testing first happened.

We've been given some information on why they chose our school as a candidate for testing students. Somehow, they got ahold of the records of who was enrolled and lined it up to the registry of Evokers. Turns out, there's a good size of us here, once hiding in the comfort of not having to disclose our identifications like in public school. I think they said around 20% of the students were Evokers or of lineage. So, they decided to test new scanner technology and train us to join the Guard. They gave us a choice to either train and join, or train but have to attend some other university of their choice as a reserve. Only in certain cases will they release us.

But, just as they have information on who is here and who is actually registered, a rebel force also does. Those training us say the chance of us being attacked is low, but with our proximity to the city's border where the rebel force has their headquarters, there is a chance. Taking us out would hurt the Guard's prospects, since a lot of us are higher classes who had been hiding from having to always disclose exactly who we were. So, we have to train constantly and wear our uniforms everyday.

Though, not that it matters to people whether we have any choice or say in the situation we got dragged into. Robin has been avoiding us since the day we were tested, even switching tables in our shared class. When practice started up again, he barely so much as glanced at me. Our first game of the season is today, and he still won't talk to me even though he plays center field and I play right field.

"So, today's the first game and a home game too. Are you excited?" Alula asks as we walk to class.

"I suppose. It's going to be difficult when my center won't talk to me," I sigh, "Are you coming to watch?"

"I have training until 4, but I'll go right after! They're making me spar against a Controller today, though it's not like we get to choose our partner. So once I'm done beating my head in, I'll head over. The game starts at 3:30 right?"

Training is tiring, but I'm happy that she is going to try to make it to the games still. Often, we have to spar against others of similar class and type, but if a similar type isn't available it'll be against an opposite. As Stormers, our emotions can easily influence our abilities. The natural enemy of a Stormer is a Controller, or someone who can control others around them. The use of a low level mind spell can be hard to fight for a Stormer, especially if they have other stress affecting their focus.

"Kas, did you hear me?" Alula asks, pulling me from thought.

"Huh?" I reply confused.

"I asked if your game was at 3:30."

"Yeah, it is."

She smiles at my answer, writing it down in her calendar. My parents can't make it today with the first game being in the middle of the week. Alula always goes though, no matter if I'm playing or not. Most of the time people think she's my girlfriend, until they see her kissing her girlfriend.

After an uneventful and boring class, we head out so I can walk Alula to training before heading to warm ups. As we walk to the gym, we hear Sage yelling at us from behind. We stop and let her catch up, noticing Robin with her.

"You guys leave so fast," Sage gasps.

"Sorry, I have training and Kas has his game today." Alula chuckles.

"You better not mess up, my parents are coming for once. I don't need you making us look bad out there," Robin tells me.

"Be nice," Sage softly backhands him, "I'll be there too today. Are you going Alula?"

"Yeah. I'm heading over right after training." She smiles brightly.

"We can sit together then!" Sage cheers.

"Don't be late," Robin says, walking away.

Sage sighs bye to us and jogs after him, probably scolding him. Alula and I look at each other, shocked he actually talked to us, but it was just him telling me to not make any errors today. Though it can be considered an improvement to the past months.