Yomi tugged at her shirt as she walked into the school building, ignoring the fluttering doves she walked past.
October had come, and the cooler weather meant it was back to their pink uniforms. Normally this was a happy occasion - they covered up more of her - but this time she could not help but think it was tighter on her than back in May. Her mother assured her it was just her natural growing. She wished she could be sure.
When she arrived at the classroom, it was mostly full, their teacher unsurprisingly not among them.
She saw two of her friends were standing in front of the class. Tomo was doing stretches while Osaka held a stopwatch. She uttered a preemptive groan.
"What are you doing now?"
"Yomi, weren't you just saying the other day that you wish getting to your desk in class was more exciting?"
"I never said that. No one has ever said that."
"Well wish no more! I give you, desk parkour!"
"I'm not even asking what that is" said Yomi, who went to her seat.
A sleepy Kagura then walked in.
"Morning" she said with a yawn.
"Ah, Kagura! Just who I was waiting for! I challenge you to desk parkour!"
"What?"
"Desk parkour! It's the newest sensation, created by yours truly! The goal is to reach your desk as fast as possible, without touching the floor. You must leap from desk to desk, in a daring challenge combing physical stamina, coordinat-"
"Forget it, it sounds stupid."
"Hmph. I figured you'd refuse. You're just afraid because you know the desks will collapse under the weight of your boobs!"
"Afraid!?" said a now furious Kagura. "That's it! You're on!"
"All right!" said Tomo.
The two took their positions.
"You ready Osaka?" asked Tomo.
"Well, I reckon no one truly is. Sure are lots of things I'd like to still do, but well, when it's your time, it's your time-oh, you mean the timer. Heh, I thought ya meant if I was ready ta die. All right, on ya mark, ready, set, go!"
Tomo jumped on the table closest to them, Ohyama's.
"What the-" he said, before being cut off as Tomo jumped onto the next one, I'm the process kneeing him in the face and breaking his glasses.
Kagura quickly followed, jumping on Rachel's desk, knocking her books off.
Tomo jumped on Chihiro's desk and immediately launched for the next one, causing the desk to slip and fall, knocking Chihiro down with it.
Kagura landed on Sakaki's desk, her foot coming right down on a Neko Kaneko to the tall girl's horror.
"Wah!" cried out Chiyo as Tomo stepped and on tore a page of her homework.
Kagura saw victory in sight. She landed on the desk right in front of hers, getting the attention of Kaorin, who had been too absorbed in the love sonnet she had been writing to notice what was going on.
When she landed, the desk, a veteran who had been with the school much longer than it's fellows, slid apart, and both Kagura and Kaorin screamed as the former fell on top of the later.
Not paying attention to her competitor, Tomo leaped onto her desk, accidentally kicking Yomi in the back of the head.
"Yes! I win!" she called out, making a V symbol with her fingers.
Osaka stopped the timer.
"47.3 seconds."
"Wow, that's better than I thought. I have to stop underestimating myself. Well, what do you all you doubters have to say now?"
The cheers Tomo expected failed to materialize. Looking around, she saw that everyone was still dealing with the damage she and Kagura had caused.
"Hmmm. Well, I guess there's some kinks to work out, but overall I'd call this a successful first try!"
At this, Osaka began to enthusiastically clap.
Outside the classroom, Yukari gave a sigh of relief seeing she had reached it. She had spent most of the previous night drinking, and now had a hangover the size of Honshu. She should be home in bed, which she would have been if not for her stupid mother and stupid Nyamo.
Well, at least she could have the next best thing. She brought an English language movie to show during class, a boring, quiet drama. The brats could watch it while she slept her hangover away at her desk.
Her calmness started to fade as she approached the door, and heard moaning.
Relax, Yukari, they're teenagers, they're probably just exploring their sexuality, no big deal.
She opened the door. It looked like a bomb had gone off in her class.
She didn't need to ask to know who was responsible.
"Don't fret Tomo, ah bet next time you'll knock down all the desks."
"That's not the goal, Osaka...although now that you mention it..."
"TAKINO!"
Yukari groaned as she wandered down the hall. Today just kept getting worse. Not only was she suffering from a hangover but her throat hurt from yelling at Tomo. It turned out Executive Action was not about the US political process but in fact was a very loud action movie. And now she had been called to the vice-Principal office. Probably another one of those brats' parents complained about her teaching style.
Why did the universe have it out for her? She was a good person. She still lived with her parents so they wouldn't get lonely; she always made sure Nyamo didn't get a big head; just the other day, when that blind man fell down the stairs at the mall, she made sure she was far away enough for him to not hear her before she laughed. She knew life wasn't fair, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.
Well, time to face the music she thought as she opened the door to Vice-Principal Banno's office.
"Ah, Ms. Tanizaki, glad to see-"
"Listen, I don't know what Toshio's parents told you, but maybe if they threw a textbook at him once in a while I wouldn't have to-"
"Hmmm? What are you talking about?"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing. So, what is this about?"
"Our school and its students have been given an amazing opportunity. You see, we've contacted by a Dr. Akiyama. He's said he's developed a process to increase mental dexterity, problem solving, memory retention, concentration-"
"You mean make people smarter?"
"Well, in simple terms, yes I suppose that's what they mean."
"Hmm, well with all due respect this sounds like a bunch of bullshit."
"I admit I had my doubts as well, but he's well accredited. The school board thinks it's worth to take the opportunity. I've been asking all the teachers to recommend students they think would benefit from this. Do you have any in mind?"
Before she could answer, Yukari heard a shouting outside. She looked out the window to see Tomo, Kagura, and Osaka, the former two of whom jumped on a table outside, which then slid off its stand.
"Oh, I may have a few ideas."
Kagura stepped into the office waiting room.
Tomo was up and about, furiously playing on a Gameboy, while Osaka was in a chair sleeping. She took a seat besides her.
"Hey Kagura" said Tomo. "Feels pretty weird to be here on the weekend, huh?"
"Not really. I do it all the time for swim practice, remember?"
"Geez, you can't go five minutes without bragging about being on the swim team, can you?"
"Wha- How was I bragging, you asked-"
The fight was cut short as the door opened.
Out came a tall, gaunt man, wrinkled and grey haired, and whose eyes showed a fierce sternness.
"Tomo Takino, Kagura Moritaka, Ayumu Kasuga?" he said, reading from a paper.
Kagura and Tomo approached him, before realizing their friend remained behind.
"He means you, Osaka" said Kagura.
"Oh!" said the Kansai girl, joining them. "Not used tah people callin' me that here" she explained to the man.
"I...see. I'm Dr. Akayama" he introduced himself, flashing a most insincere smile.
"You understand why you're here, correct?"
"Yeah, yah want ta fix our brains or somethin."
"In a matter of speaking. Now, I will be asking you each a series of questions, to determine which of you would best serve as a test subject."
Kagura frowned at being referred to as a test subject, though judging by her friends' expressions she was alone in that.
"I'll take you in one at a time for the interviews. Shall we begin?"
What are your favorite subjects in school?
"Oh that's easy, PE, I love getting physical. Uh, I mean in regards to sports."
"Well English is nice, all mah friends are there, and sometimes Miss Yukari doesn't catch me nappin'."
"Well I love PE. I'm a natural athlete, I hide it though, don't want others to feel bad. I mean, Kagura is already depressed about not beating Sakaki as it is, if she knew I was better too she'd be on suicide watch you know?"
What are your hobbies?
"Well I spend a lot of my free time training. And practicing. And preparing. Oh and you can't forget getting ready."
"Oh, ah don't have hobbies, cause what if ah end up being really good at it, so good it becomes mah career? Then ah'd start ta worry 'bout makin' ah livin', just stressed 'bout it, forget why I even loved it in the first place. Ah couldn't handle that."
"Honestly it's pretty hard for me to have hobbies, I master things quickly so I get bored pretty quick. Usually I just get in on what my friends are doing, looking at it through their eyes makes them seem interesting."
What would you do with an augmented intelligence?
"Well, it'd be great if I didn't have to spend so much time studying, I could spend more time-"
Training? Doing sports?
"Uh, yeah. Wow, you are pretty smart."
"Uh, whaddas augmented mean?"
"Oh I'd teach Chiyo-Chan some humility. Don't get me wrong, she's a sweet kid, but it's for her own good, if she doesn't learn there's always someone better now then when it happens when she's an adult she's going to snap, she'll end up joining a cult or something."
It was dark when Akiyama stepped into the unused classroom the school had given him to serve as his lab. Outside, rain began to fall.
He switched his computer on, and placed on the desk the papers containing notes from the interviews, notes he had written by hand, a tortuous experience he hoped never to have to repeat.
He reached for the lamp by the computer. He pressed a switch, and the lamp emitted a beam at the papers, digitizing and absorbing them, the data then appearing on his computer screen. Like all of his devices - like him - it had to be disguised from the barbarians of this time.
At that thought, he typed on the keyboard, and footage of various areas of the school came up on screen. The hidden cameras he had surreptitiously placed throughout showed there was no one in the building other than him. He would be alone until Monday morning. Until then, there was no need for him to maintain this facade. He untensed a few muscles, and his human appearance washed away.
His stature rose to over 220 cm. His body was now a muscular and yellow composition of bonded polycarbide, with hands and a purple triangular shield made of Giga Metal around his chest. His neck was a ringed metal cord that ended in his head, a golden box with a large red gem in the middle. On his shoulder there lay a patch with odd markings.
Yes, now Maladjusted Genius Iesnes could finally be himself.
He walked over to his computer, wires rising out of his body and connecting to it when it was within reach. He was forced by necessity to use the primitive machines of this era, but via special modification he was able to directly interface with it, enabling him to absorb the data in a way not possible via simply reading it.
He let out a soft moan of pleasure as he entered into communion with his computer.
He had rejected K. Moritaka right off the bat. He had always loathed athletic types, their worship of the body over the mind. No matter what he did for her mind, her horizons would be pathetically small. He might as well increase the intelligence of a rock.
In contrast, A. Kasuga was a tempting choice. Despite her poor academic history, her answers revealed a mind capable of abstract and out of the box thinking. Augumented with intelligence, it could very well be a mind capable of finding the solution he sought.
But ultimately, this choice came down to one factor: desire.
From the start, it was obvious T. Takino's constant self-aggrandizement was a mask for a deep insecurity. She was intimidated by her classmates, and obsessed with dominating them both physically and mentally. For Moritaka and Kasuga, all the prospect of an enhanced intelligence meant was better grades. Doubtless they would promptly quit once the side effects began. For Takino, it would be a dream come true. Once she got it, she would never give it up, no matter the price.
Mentally, he composed an email to Vice-Principal Banno telling him Takino would be an ideal choice. He would deal with the parents and other such matters.
Iesnes looked out the window at the unfamiliar city. He knew it was an illogical belief, but he could not help but feel it was destiny that brought him here. This time, he knew, it would work. Here, in this technological dark age, he would finally succeed. And then quite literally anything would be possible.
He watched the rain fall on the windows as he thought of the future.