Read Second Class Supers – Page 17
Kya sent Amelia a quick text as she rushed out the door to work.
>I’m on days this week, remember? I will try and call after work.
Kya daydreamed of the Supers she could have all the way to work. She felt so frustrated that Amelia had done what Kya didn’t have the guts to even consider. On top of that, she dreaded seeing Leonard, knowing that he was on his way to being a Super too.
With mixed emotions, Kya arrived at the office. It was a quiet day at work as Mr. Georgetown had gone on vacation, Leonard was nowhere to be seen, and the young woman from the day before was still at the desk beside her and not saying a word. Unfortunately, Elliot was also nowhere to be seen.
Over her lunch, Kya asked a few random workers about Elliot, but no one had seen him since the middle of the previous week. A small pit of concern formed in her stomach as she thought about the old man who had befriended her so easily.
The rest of the afternoon, Kya mindlessly worked through her monotonous tasks, craving her evening shifts for the chance to wear comfortable clothes, listen to music, and just relax.
Just as she was getting ready to leave for the day she received an urgent e-mail from Don Georgetown’s secretary.
All Departments – Effective Immediately:
With the reduction in the Information Technology budget mentioned previously, and the recent restructuring, the Computer Operations department will now only be operational from 6AM until 6PM. The two staff in the department will be assigned mornings or afternoon shifts on a weekly rotation from here on out. Please adjust all of your data needs accordingly.
Kya sighed deeply, her elbows propped on either side of her keyboard, she let her head slump into her hands. “Damn.”
“I’m telling you, K,” Amelia whispered over her salad at Coliseum, her favourite restaurant. “I can feel it,” she leaned forward and stared Kya right in the eyes, “coursing through my veins. Changing me.”
Kya nodded, unsure of what – if anything – to say.
Amelia had texted her seven times throughout the day, insisting that they meet up, and discuss the BMS procedure that Amelia had gone through.
Even though Kya was interested, and maybe even willing to try the Black Market herself, she was still having trouble overcoming her feelings of jealousy and fear. So it was with extreme reluctance that she had come.
Amelia’s eyes blazed with some kind of energy. Kya couldn’t decide if it was passion or mania, but whatever it was it made Kya’s stomach cold. She pushed her sushi around her plate with her chopsticks.
“It’s amazing, K. I can’t wait to hook you up.” Amelia continued. “My powers,” She whispered even quieter as she glanced around and then leaned in closer, “should all manifest within a week.”
Kya glanced around too, and still didn’t speak. Her mind drifted to the images she had seen of Myles after his first Super had manifested, and then each of the subsequent four and a quick flash of the wall where the paparazzi man, Newton Wilson’s, life had ended.
“You have been saving for yours, right, K?”
“Hmm?” Kya raised her eyebrows, and returned to the moment, sitting in the Coliseum restaurant with one of her best friends. “Oh, yeah… I have some cash set aside.” She made a smile cross her face. Myles is a kid. We’re adults. Lia and I will be fine. she told herself. She repeated it inside her mind and tried hard to believe it before taking a deep breath to calm herself.
“Don’t worry, I’m going to wait for you, you know.” Amelia continued, leaning back a bit and taking on a calmer demeanour.
“Wait for me?”
“Yeah. I’m going to wait for your Supers to manifest before I, you know, check out the fourth floor or ride the train. All those fun Super’s privileges. We’re going to do them together.”
Kya smiled genuinely at her friend. “Thanks, Lia.”
They sat and talked losing all track of time while discussing all the ways their lives would soon be better. They pulled up information on various Supers on their phones and weighed the advantages of one Super over another. Kya felt like she used to as a child in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
When Kya got back to the apartment, Sam was sleeping on the couch. She quietly covered him with the throw he had as decoration on his couch, and went into her room. She was relieved that he was asleep because she had no idea to break the news about Amelia’s Supers, and she didn’t know if she could keep it a secret from him.
As the week wore on, Kya started to come to terms with the fact that her overnights were gone. She grieved the loss of that time, as she trudged through the monotony of her job and the politics of the office.
Elliot never showed up, and the more she asked around the less comfortable she felt with his absence. She wished that she had someone else there to talk to about him, but she didn’t like any of her other co-workers.
Having access to all of the data backups, Kya started digging through the available files to see if she could uncover any information on where Elliot had gone and why.
Friday came before Kya even had a chance to realize the week was ending. She barely spoke to anyone and spent her time at home researching Supers to figure out which five to pick. She also checked her bank account frequently to make sure her small sum of savings was still there. The balance of her savings account was in the black, stating $2875.78 was available. She knew that she could do some financial juggling to come up with the rest of the funds needed for the Black Market Supers, and that money was no longer going to be a barrier for her.
>Hey Kya Mattie texted her on Friday night after work.I’d love to hang out soon. I feel like it has been a million years since I saw your face.
>I know Mattie.
Work has been… Weird. No more overnights.
>Oh, hey! That’s awesome!
Welcome back to the real world.
>Not so awesome. You know how much I like people!
>Haha no doubt! I guess there will be a learning curve for you.
But it means you’ll have more evening time for the people who really matter.
>Like you?
>Well yes!
Kya chuckled to herself as she boarded the bus. It really had been way too long since she had last spent time with Mattie. With everything else that had been going on lately, Kya knew she hadn’t been giving nearly enough time to her friend.
>How are you and Rory doing?
>A lot better!
After doing research into Supers and pregnancy I’m so glad we agreed to do Fertility before Supers.
Even if we end up having to live as Normals forever, it’ll be better than the complications that could happen by doing Supers first.
Kya exited the messenger on her phone to throw on some tunes before texting back.
>I didn’t know there could be complications.
>Yeah. It’s scary! If you even do a quick search on the Net it’s shocking what you’ll find.
Kya shrugged and looked out the window on the bus. She’d never seen herself as a potential mother, and it had never seemed relevant to research Supers and pregnancy.
>So… Can we make plans to meet up sometime? Mattie asked.
Before Kya could respond her phone buzzed alerting her to another text message. It was Amelia.
>It went wrong, K.
Kya stared at the message. She didn’t know how to respond. Amelia messaged again.
>I swear!
I think I’m dying!
Or maybe going crazy? This was a mistake!
The bus stopped at Kya’s apartment. She got off and her phone buzzed again. It was Mattea.
>You still there?
>Yeah. Sorry. Amelia started texting me too.
>Okay. Well I’m going to pencil you in for Monday night.
>OK
Kya responded without even thinking. The image of the smashed wall from the news report on Myles Redwood and Newton Wilson flashed through her mind as well as Myles’ scream during the extraction. She walked towards her apartment building.
>Lia, what’s wrong?
>It’s too much.
Help me!
Malcolm's Ramblings 