Lessons

"Jamil Neate" enunciated the instructor, scanning the record of a cadet placed on her desk.

"Why, that's the boy I met in the training room three years ago." said Lucille Lilliant, the instructor.

Putting down the record, she looked out of the window next to her. A group of cadets from Grade Two were learning to control the mobile suits; she smiled as she saw some mobile suits loosing their balance. Surely, these cadets were new to the practice, but they were already well trained in their special task force. All Grade One cadets must pass the tests concerning the controls of the G-bits prototype and the 'spying' test before they could be promoted to Grade two. All the 'certified' newtypes must undergo all the training and pass the tests in Grade one. They could spend at most two years in this grade. If they failed to pass the test, they would be assigned to other departments of the military force. Usually, people would spend four years to complete the training, which consisted of three grades. After completion, only the topmost 10% cadets would have the chance to be chosen for further training as experts in different fields. Newtypes usually were trained into linguists, secret agents, pilots of mobile suits and strategists. If the quality of the cadets was not good enough, there would be no further training for anyone.

This year, only three cadets were chosen among the top fifteen. Jamil Neate was among one of the chosen ones, though not having the highest mark. He passed all the tests in three years' time, sooner than most of the cadets. In the report, the remarks of him was 'a determined young man, with exceptional sense of speed and balance. Strong sense of responsibility to himself and the Federation.' With these comments, he was assigned to have further training in piloting mobile suits and the massive, state-of-art G bit system. Lucille Lilliant closed her clear blue eyes and thought of the boy who gave out a boyish, joyful shout a few years ago. The boy has become a determined youth at last. She was happy because this meant that the Federation would be a little bit stronger than before and the ideas of peace and a united Earth could be spread. This was the reason why she stayed in the Federation as a Newtype soldier. Just this moment, the intercom was linked and she was told to attend a briefing section about the next training schedule.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Three years has also passed for Enrica, who quietly grew up to be a six year-old in Montreal. She could speak fluent French in North American accent, in addition to Italian and English, which were the native languages of her parents. Ever since the family moved to Montreal, Enrica's parent took the pain to hide their daughter's genius. They repeatedly told her to behave like other children in school. Punishments would be given if she 'misbehaved in the public' as told by Edward, her father. Verona became less worried in these years as they adapted to the life in Montreal: Verona as a research professor in a university and Edward as a staff in the Observatory. Every morning, they would bring Enrica to school and she would be brought home by Aunt Gloria, a roommate of Verona back in the university days.

Although Enrica received normal education at school, her education was no way ordinary. She was half the way to high school geography, mathematics and physics. The parents were proud of her. However, her genius would also turn to be the very source of unhappiness. Being ahead of the most of the children at the same age, Enrica had very little friends of the same age. She did not like to talk with them, preferring to have small talks with the 'boring old grannies'. This made her quite a special girl in the community. Verona and Edward always felt uneasy at this, worrying that someday someone will find her and .

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Montreal, 3:00pm

"Who are you?" Enrica asked a woman she never met before as her class teach told her that there would be 'a friend of Aunt Gloria' to take her home.

The lady was young, about twenty-five to thirty years old with a warm, sweat smile. "My name is Yvonne. I'm a friend of Gloria. Poor Joseph is sick and Gloria has to take him to the doctor. So, I am here." The lady with a pony tail told her.

Enrica looked at her doubtfully. She was not sure that this lady was telling the truth, but it was true that Joseph (Gloria's son) had a mild fever that day. Knowing Enrica suspecting her, she offered her cell phone to her. "You can call her." She said.

Enrica decided that it was impolite to doubt such a kind lady and so she politely said "thank you" and followed her to go. They went into a van in which the lady drove. "The sunlight is a little bit too strong, my dear. Shall we draw the blinds?" then she pressed a button and the summer sunlight was blocked from outside. Enrica suddenly became suspicious again, there was something unusual. She couldn't tell but she would find out.

"Could you please stop, Aunt Yvonne, 'cos I .have a call from nature?" she asked timidly. "Stay for a while, dear. We'll soon arrive." The lady answered in a sweet voice. "But. I want so much."

Suddenly, she heard some unfamiliar sounds. They were not the familiar cries from the markets, but the sound of heavy traffics. She became panic, "Where are we?" No answer. "WHERE ARE WE?" she asked in an unnatural, high voice. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man in sunglasses appeared behind her from the back seats, covering her mouth.

"Don't shout, little girl. This will disturb the driver." The man said in a sneer. Enrica trembled all over with shock, she quickly thought for solutions. "023, don't scare the girl." Aunt Yvonne said. "Sure, I won't. She will be a good girl, right?" said '023', looking directly at Enrica through his sunglasses. She tried her best to stay calm and remained silent.

Enrica said nothing for the next twelve hours. She was taken to the airport and immediately 'sent to a special school' by air. The man, called '023' and 'Aunt Yvonne' were with her along the way, trying to tell her little jokes to ease her nervousness. However, Enrica remained silent. She has learnt her lesson: NEVER TRUST PEOPLE WITH HONEST FACES AND WARM SMILES. She quietly observed the surroundings. However, it was nothing special. Just before she went into the plane, she noticed that the plane was a mini-sized jet, having about 50 seats. There were few passengers, about 20, including the people kidnapped her. She tried very hard to deduce what was going on. People were talking in a low voice with each other. She tried to catch a word and found 'headquarters' repeated several times in Italian by different people. She then recalled the man beside her had a code name '023'. She thought she has observed some kinds of neatness among the passengers. She deduced that they were all the members of a large authority. Which organization would have such well-trained men and have them 'escorting' a little girl by plane? Her parents always to 'behave in the public', was there any linkage between them?