The school's headmaster was alone in her cavernous office, clicking through a bunch of spreadsheets on her computer.
Future Girl floated quietly in midair outside one of the three long vertical windows to Kahror's office, watching the woman at work. Even at this time of night, around 11 p.m., Ms. Kahror looked stunning. She wore a smart black skirt that showed off her athletic curves. Her long brown hair didn't have a hair out of place, and her shiny black boots were to die for.
It was only about a minute before Ms. Kahror noticed someone watching her. She shot a glance at Future Girl.
In mid-air, Future Girl had her arms folded, her knees together, and her toes pointed straight down. She made it a point to have a stern frown and intense glare in her eyes. Although Future Girl originally programmed her superhero self to appear cute and friendly, she wanted Ms. Kahror to know that, on this night, she was serious.
Ms. Kahror reached into her desk and pulled out a remote control. Instead of pointing it at some television, she aimed it at the window and pressed a button. The window slid open.
Future Girl tried to stifle thoughts like "Remote control window? Isn't that a bit much?" and instead floated silently into the room. She hovered just over the floor, but did not land.
Ms. Kahror didn't seem intimidated. She smiled.
"Future Girl. So nice to finally meet you."
Future Girl remained quiet, holding her glare right at Kahror's light blue eyes.
"Thank you for all you've done," Kahror said. "In the short time you've been here, you have averted many accidental disasters and saved a lot of lives."
"There shouldn't be disasters at a school," Future Girl said. "Lives shouldn't be in danger."
"This is true, partially."
"Partially?"
"My students have to push boundaries in order to break new ground," Kahror said. "If they were playing it safe, they wouldn't be on the cutting edge. Campus security is here to ensure that they have the freedom to create whatever they want without getting permanently injured."
"Permanently? They shouldn't be injured at all."
"You're no mere vigilante. You're one of my students, aren't you?"
Future Girl said nothing.
"You can change your appearance in way I cannot detect."
Future Girl remained silent, maintaining her best tough-girl pose.
"I'm not mad at you," Kahror said. "And you won't get in trouble. Quite the opposite. Alongside Mirai's many accomplishments, this is now known as the school with its own superhero. Enrolment applications have skyrocketed since you've been here, because so many children admire you."
"I'm not your spokesmodel," Amy said. "I have a mission."
Ms. Kahror stood and walked around the desk. "As an educator, it's my mission to help you fulfil yours."
She sat on the edge of her desk, now only a few feet from Future Girl. "I can help you. The faculty has access to technology the students do not. You could have that same access, to aid in your mission, of course."
"I don't want your technology."
"I suppose not. Your abilities. The defiance of gravity, strength far beyond what your mass allows, changing your appearance. We could learn so much from you."
She took a step closer. With Future Girl still hovering, they were eye to eye.
"I'm especially fascinated with your healing powers. Injured students walk away from your touch feeling healthier than they've ever felt. Just think of all the disease you could cure."
Future Girl already knew her healing power had limits, restricting it to healing simple cuts and bruises and, with some effort, a fractured bone or two. Attempts to cure colds and flus never worked. She chose not to reveal this to Ms. Kahror.
"We could work together," Kahror said. "We could share our resources, our knowledge. All for the greater good, of course. For a better tomorrow."
Future Girl's heart beat just a little faster at the sound of those last four words, but she fought to ignore it. Instead, she focused her tough girl gaze at Ms. Kahror.
"How about it?" Kahror said. "Can we work together?"
Future Girl thought for a moment, and then said, "At what point in your sales pitch do you tell me to use my powers, and my intellect, for profit?"
Kahror smiled and nodded. She walked to her desk and sat. "It's true. I encourage my students to think profit first, idealism second. Most graduates with a science degree will not find work in their chosen fields. The business of science is cold and cutthroat. You all have to prepare for it now."
Future Girl said nothing, keeping her arms crossed.
"Here's what you need to understand," Kahror said. "It's not an either/or situation. It's not science makes money or science helps people. You can help people and make a living."
Future Girl hovered down onto the floor and let gravity take hold of her again. "In my future, there is an entirely different economy, where saving lives and ending suffering takes precedent over six-figure incomes and two-story houses. Conversely, I have seen another future, where greed and self-interest led to cities burning, skies blackening, and craters full of dead corpses, all while the wealthy live in their drug-induced stupors in gleaming skytop penthouses, unaware that their bubble of comfort is about to collapse in on them. This is the future of no kindness, no generosity, no understanding. This is the future I fight to prevent every day. I see you and I hear your words, and I see the nightmare future of fire and death is the one you're working to create. Why don't you drop the pretense for once and just admit it?"
Kahror relaxed in her chair, not fazed by Future Girl's outburst. "Every student thinks her principal is evil. And I'm not principal, I'm your headmaster, which sounds even scarier. In a few years, you'll look back and see I'm helping all of you."
"I don't look back. I look forward."
"This conversation of ours is going in circles." Kahror clicked the remote control on her desk, closing the window Future Girl had flown through. "Now I will just take what I need. Too bad. I really was looking forward to meeting you."
Future Girl felt a burning sensation in her lungs.
"As I suspected," Kahror said, leaning into her chair and kicking her feet up on the desk. "Even you need oxygen to live."
Future Girl fell forward, able to inhale but not exhale. With each inward breath, her chest burned harder and she grew more and more disoriented.
"Isn't air fascinating?" Kahror said. "It's all around us and inside us at the same time, and we barely notice it. But, add one or two new elements and the air becomes a weapon. And yet, it's still just simple air."
Collapsing to the floor, Future Girl struggled to breathe. She tried to fly, but her body did not respond. She then tried to punch downward through the floor, but she could barely move.
"Manipulation of oxygen is a fairly new development of ours, designed for those rare individuals whose physical attributes are beyond that of what the laws of physics allow."
Future Girl fell forward again, flat on her chest. She could barely register the sight of Ms. Kahror's awesome black boots walking toward her.
"You're probably wondering how the air can incapacitate you but leave me unharmed. It's because I'm not what you'd consider human. I am better than that."
Future Girl's eyelids closed, and she didn't have the strength to openthem again.
# # # #
Next: Access to technology.