I tried to figure out something that I could take pride in, with the added objective that it had to be something not risking large-scale political conflict if revealed, until it was time to head to breakfast with Sophia. Both of us kept well clear of any important topics, merely talking about Sophia’s class-schedule and her attempt to make up the differences in curriculum between her old University and the new one. It did not help that the old one was designed to churn out teachers for the national school-system and their curriculum was tailored to that, whereas the new curriculum focused on the universal aspects of teaching, especially the psychological aspects to deal with children and teenagers.

Far too soon, at least in my opinion, it was time to split up, with me heading to the engineering department of the main campus and Sophia going her own way. I made a mental note to make her some sort of small communicator that we could chat whenever we wanted. Sure, she had a mobile, but what kind of tech-based Powered would I be if I did not make something better than an ordinary mobile? I kept that idea percolating in the back of my mind, trying to come up with something satisfying my need for advanced features without giving off some techno-lovecraftian vibe that told everyone looking at it that it was not some ordinary, off-the-shelf device.

It was a pleasant diversion while spending the first hour and a half of my day hearing a brilliant researcher, but horrible teacher, droning on about legacy power systems. While an important lecture for some of the student-body, I strongly doubted that I would ever work at some company that maintained a national power-grid. A few of the others might, at some point, need to quickly grasp the intricacies of decades old infrastructure, but I was not one of them. The only large power-system I was slightly concerned about was the Guild’s and their maintenance of the Accord-Island power-grid and their fusion-reactor. That distributing a recording of the lecture would most likely get you into hot water due to laws regarding the illegal manufacture and distribution of narcotics was not helping. I sat with Nisha and Mina, watching Nisha doodle on a piece of scrap-paper while Mina tried to take notes, only to turn the page of her printed-out script and realise that what the professor was just reading it out loud.

The lecture afterwards was a lot better, at least for me, it was a fun-filled time, trying to divide an infinite number by another infinite number. Trying being the operative word. It was a lecturer Tanisha would have coined as, ‘This is not math, there’s no numbers in there!’ but it was overall challenging and interesting.

At lunch, we occupied one of the smaller tables, pleasantly chatting about a project for one of our classes, when Galina, Stephan and Alexander, my friends from my Physics-classes, approached. Galina had a wide smile on her face, making me wonder what was going on for her to look like the cat had swallowed the canary.

After a round of greetings, they joined us and we included them in our talk. While they were not engineering students, they had the math-background to understand our project, if they cared to do so. It took just a minute or two of Galina looking at me expectantly that I got a little annoyed with her look and asked what was going on.

“Why, a little birdy told me that you, Diana, were seen gallivanting around with a maiden fair.” she began, hamming up her act like some sort of medieval noblewoman, sharing the latest gossip.

“It would be an insult, and a grave one at that, if you concealed your new entanglements from us, your dear friends.” she paused for a second, before switching to a different tone, now hamming up an accent that would have her cast as villain in some sort of cold-war spy-drama. “Now, spill it! We have ways of making you talk.”

Not one to give up that easily, I looked at my still half-full glass, looking back up to her, “Spill it? Why would I want to spill my drink?” I asked, matching her grin. I knew I was merely dragging things out, but I was having fun doing so.

“Nisha, I think our friend is up to something.” Mina piped up, joining in on the fun and dragging Nisha in to help.

“Now, you shouldn’t interrogate her like that. If she has a sweetheart, that is her business and we would be nothing but supportive of her budding romance.” Alexander tried to come to the rescue, causing the other three to round on him for a second, berating him for butting in.

“A dear friend of mine started at the Klein-Institute and I showed her around yesterday.” I decided that he had meant well and came to the rescue of the knight whose shining armour had lost its luster under the sudden attack of the other girls.

My admission caused them to cease their verbal attack on him and focus back on me. I believe that Stephan warned Alexander under his breath to never do something this stupid again, but I was not be sure.

“A dear friend, she says.” Galina cocked her head, frowning in disbelief.

“Why did she start just now?” Mina asked, slightly confused, while Nisha just measured me with her eyes.

“She was in the hospital, that is why she missed school.” I explained, not quite lying but not telling the truth at the same time. It was something Sophia and I had agreed on.

“Are you sure that she’s just a friend? The birdy that talked to me suggested that you were awfully cozy.” Galina continued her inquisition, making me start to chuckle.

“As I said, she is a dear friend. That is all there is to say about our current relationship. To explain more would be... “ I tried to find the right word, lamely finishing with “...complicated.”

I noticed Nisha looking very curious but when she spoke, it was not to continue the questions.

“Ah, you have an ‘it’s complicated.’ Yes, I’ve heard of those. Hopefully, it will clear up in time and your favour. Now, Alexander, you were awfully fast to jump to Diana’s defense, care to tell me more?” she put Alexander onto the hot-seat, the three of them taking far too much pleasure in making him squirm. Eventually, he was saved by the bell, calling us back to class.

After the lectures of the day were done, I headed towards Technica’s lair, curious what she actually wanted. When I got there, I busied myself with maintenance of the robots I had within her domain, charging my own power-crystals and generally making sure that everything was working as it should. One thing I managed was make a cast for the capsule I wanted to implant into myself, so that Galatea had a hideout if something serious happened, alongside a batch of Nanites, hopefully allowing me to recover from most attacks. I was not quite sure how to get the capsule into me, there was one way that I was rather apprehensive of.

Finally, Technica approached me, waiting until I was looking up from my work-bench.

“There you are. Good.” she looked me up and down for a moment. “What I wanted to talk about was your role in the future. As my apprentice, you will join me when we head out and while technical support for the police is something the Guild does, it is not the most common cause for action, that is reserved for natural and unnatural disasters.” She began to explain, pacing a little.

“While you can be useful in a simple bruiser-role using your armour, at least from what little I have seen of it, or maybe some sort of ranged striker, using your rifle, I don’t think that either is the most suitable role for you. For now, I want you to think about the best way to utilise your abilities or what role you want to fill in the future.” she explained, making me consider something I had ignored.

Sure, when I was wearing my armour, I could keep up with Powered such as Sophia but as far as I was aware, such Powered were rather common, not the most common, but common enough. Similarly, while my rifle allowed me to take down a lot of targets, military snipers were not far behind my capabilities, not to speak of Powered whose Powers were specialised in that regard.

“I will think of it.” I promised Technica, who nodded before starting on another topic.

“Furthermore, I want you to ask Sophia if she is interested in joining you on missions. It would give her some access to training, if she seeks it, and some political protection, if she ever needs it.” she explained, making me frown.

“There is more to that, is it not?” I asked, my gut telling me that something was off.

Technica smiled in response and nodded. “Yes, there is. I want you to have a partner, someone you trust, someone to have your back. Sophia is a good choice for that role, so I hope the two of you will consider it.”