Chapter 3
The New Uniform
"Della Robbia!" Jim called out, running his eyes over the class of students sitting before him on the grass next to the track.
"Here!"
Jim glanced down at the clipboard he had in his hands, already calling out "Delmas" even though he already knew the girl to be there.
"Present!"
"Florenceau!" Jim called out, looking back at the students before him.
Odd stared at Sissi for a moment before leaning over to Ulrich beside him and asking, "Is it just me, or is Sissi dressed differently today?"
"You expect me to notice stuff like that?" Ulrich defended, looking at his friend as he kept an ear out for when Jim would get far enough in the alphabet for his last name.
"She is. It's Taiku," Jérémie said, his eyes glued to the girl sitting beyond Ulrich.
Ulrich and Odd turned to look at Jérémie, surprise on both of their faces. "But Sissi's terrible at martial arts. Remember when I tried to teach her Pencak Silat?"
"No, not tai chi, Taiku," Jérémie corrected. "I read about them in one of my computer magazines."
"But that doesn't answer the question," Odd pointed out. "What is it?"
"Stern?" Jim's voice called out, interrupting Jérémie for a moment.
"Here," Ulrich called out, giving Jim a glance before looking back at Jérémie.
"It's this brand of smart clothing," Jérémie explained. "They put electronic sensors directly into the fabric to monitor vital statistics and improve athletic performance. But I thought they were really expensive; only professional athletes could afford them."
"My father has connections," Sissi's voice said, turning the three to the girl.
"Did we ask you?" Ulrich asked, eyeing the girl sitting a few students away from himself.
"No, but if you and your friends seem so curious about what I'm wearing, you'll get to be real familiar with it soon," Sissi said, throwing her pony tail over her shoulder.
"Delmas! You, Grandjean, and Klinger are up for the hundred meter!" Jim barked out.
Sissi got to her feet and walked over with the blonde haired girl following close behind.
"Grandjean!" Jim called out, the goth still sitting on the grass talking to Thomas. She visibly jumped at the harsh call of her last name and scrambled to her feet to join the other two girls standing at the ready on the track. Jim pointed his finger up in the air and made the motion of pulling a trigger as he called out, "Go!"
Ulrich turned back to his friends and admitted, "I don't like the sound of this whole 'electronic sensors in the fabric' thing. It sounds like something that Xana could use to attack us."
"Even with it being able to connect to a computer via Bluetooth, there's not much that he could do," Jérémie defended. "There's no motors and the battery it runs off is a 303/357, one of those small button batteries. The worst he could do is make us mildly uncomfortable during gym class."
"Belpois! Stern! Della Robbia! You're up!" Jim called out, getting their attentions.
The three got to their feet and walked over to the starting lines on the track as Odd admitted, "I'm still not convinced. Let's just hope nothing happens."
"Thanks, Odd," Ulrich said, taking up position at his line. "You just jinxed us."
Jim held the stopwatch in his hand as he motioned in the air, similar as before. He simultaneously clicked the stopwatch and pulled his imaginary gun as he ordered, "Go!"
-.-.-.-
Aélita sat in her tower, reading over information about Earth on the screen she had pulled up. A deep feeling resonated within her, getting her to stop reading as she focused on the pulsation. It beat again, coming from the desert sector, as she exclaimed, "Xana!" As she was about to pull up a connection to Jérémie's computer the pulsation disappeared. Not wanting to give any false warnings, she got to her feet and walked out of the tower to investigate.
-.-.-.-
Odd patted at the ground in front of Kiwi, getting the dog to pat his front two paws at Odd's hands. Kiwi quickly jumped forwards to nip at Odd's hand before jumping back, his tail wagging wildly. A knock came from the door, getting Odd to quickly swipe Kiwi up in his arms. He dashed over to his wardrobe and pulled open the bottom drawer, placing Kiwi inside. "Stay right here, my little diggity dog," Odd ordered, placing a finger over his mouth.
Kiwi curled down in his bed, his tail still wagging from the play, as Odd closed the drawer.
Odd jumped to his feet and pulled open the door to find Jim standing there holding two boxes.
"What's this?" Odd asked as Jim handed him the two boxes.
"The new school athletic uniform," Jim said.
"You're joking," Odd said, glancing down to see his full name printed on the top box.
"No," Jim said, all serious. "When am I ever joking?"
"What about when you told me about you being a Navy SEAL?" Odd asked, eyeing his gym teacher.
"I'd rather not talk about that," Jim said. He took a few steps to reveal a push cart full of boxes, all with different names scrawled on the tops as he added, "Anyways, the uniform is going to be mandatory for gym class from now on. Be sure to tell Stern when you see him."
"Will do, Jimbo."
"I told you not to call me that," Jim said over his shoulder as he moved to the next room.
