“Now I don’t want to take up too much of your time today, it is your first day after all, but I did want to ask you something important,” Dr. Michaels said once everyone had calmed down. “Do you remember anything strange happening during the Rupture? Anything out of the ordinary?”

  “Ummm… can you be more specific?” Olivia asked, shifting in her chair. “I don’t think either of us have enough experience with Ruptures to tell what is and isn’t normal.”

  The doctor glanced up, the briefest look of surprise crossing her face before her previous easy smile returned. “Of course. Ruptures occur so frequently around here, I sometimes forget they aren’t as common back in the ‘real world’. I guess it would be difficult to tell if anything was off…”

  She sighed “Alright, in that case I don’t have any more questions for you. I would like you to do me a favor. When you do encounter another Rupture can you record some basic information for me? How big the invaders are, what they look like, and how long the Rupture stays open for?”

  “Well… We’re both going to try and take cover in a panic room when the next Rupture happens, but we can still try and gather that information for you,” I promised. “Can I ask why? Did something happen upstairs that we missed?”

  “It was short,” Pam declared, making me jump. She’d been so quiet since we arrived, I’d forgotten she was there. “And I don’t mean a couple seconds shorter. It was extremely short, like it lasted less than half as long as usual.”

  “That short?” Olivia asked, surprised. “It seemed pretty long to me.”

  “I wish. If that was true, our security team members wouldn’t suffer so many injuries,” Pam muttered. “The invaders also died, and decayed much faster than usual, making cleanup much easier.”

  “That sounds like a good thing,” Olivia said casually. After a second her half lidded eyes shot open, and she shot forward. “You don’t think one of us caused the change, do you?”

  “It’s possible,” Dr. Michaels admitted. “However it’s very difficult to determine after a single incident. There could be any number of other causes… maybe because the girl managed to clamp down on her powers faster than usual, maybe because the invaders couldn’t absorb enough particles to stabilize the portal, or maybe reality just reasserted itself much faster than usual. There’s no way to know without more data.”

  “And if one of us is the cause?” I asked cautiously.

  “Then we’ll perform some tests to see if we can figure out the reason,” Dr. Michaels replied, raising an eyebrow at my standoffish attitude. “You don’t think that we’d do anything dangerous, or unethical, do you?”

  “After the few minutes we’ve spent together? You don’t seem like the type of person to do that, no,” I said after a couple seconds.

  “You see…” Dr. Michaels started.

  “Unfortunately we’ve established that even though you’re in charge of Research and Development here, the people above you have different ideas about what’s safe, and ethical,” I finished.

  The doctor winced. “I can’t deny that. If you report this information directly back to me I promise I won’t share it, or my findings with anyone else. We’ll keep it between us.”

  I turned in my chair and looked at Pam. The agent, who was leaning against one of the bookcases, just shrugged. “My job is to act as a receptionist for the admin building, and coordinate the security teams. I have a responsibility to report suspicious activity to my superiors, but as far as I'm concerned you three are just discussing medical advice right now.”

  “Thanks,” I said, smiling cautiously.

  “You’re welcome,” she replied, smiling pleasantly.

  “Sounds like we have a deal,” Olivia exclaimed. “I really hope we don’t encounter any more Ruptures while we’re here, but if we do… I hope we discover something useful when it happens.”

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  “Thank you,” Dr. Michaels said, pushing herself to her feet. She offered her hand again, and this time I took it, shaking vigorously. Olivia did the same. “I’ll have Pam escort you to your first class, and mark down in your file that you were with me so you don’t get in trouble.”

  “Thanks!” Olivia chirped.

  “Appreciate it,” I replied at the same time.

  “And Tamera, please make an appointment to come back and see me soon. I’ll see if I can help you figure out your powers.”

  “I’ll do that,” I promised, before turning and heading towards the door. “Thanks.”

  “You’re very welcome,” the doctor replied. “Have a good day.”

  Pam was already standing at the door when Olivia and I arrived, and held it open for us.

  Even though the doctor had been extremely accommodating and polite, I had been extremely tense the entire time we’d been in there. I just had problems trusting new people.

  “Where’s your first class?” Pam asked as she led us back through the research area.

  Olivia hmmm’d to herself and tapped the tracking device. After scrolling through a couple different displays she looked up. “We’re both in the Darmont building. Is that far?”

  “It’s not far, about halfway between here and the residential district,” Pam explained.

  When we pushed into the reception area Pam led us back to the main desk. I was relieved to see that the two security guards were gone. “Hey Genine, we’re done with the doc, but she wants Tamera here to make an appointment. Can you help her out?”

  “Actually,” I said, rushing forward. “Would it be possible to call in, and make an appointment once I talk to my mom? I can bring her to the first couple sessions, right?”

  “Of course she can. The doctor actually encourages family members to attend the first few sessions, the only time they can’t attend is when you’re put into one of the chambers to test your powers. We don’t allow observers in those sessions, in order to prevent accidental injuries. Can I see your bracelet?” the receptionist asked.

  As I held out my arm she took a white plastic brick from behind her desk, and passed it over the device. After a second it beeped and spat out a thin plastic card.

  “Take the card, and when you’re ready to book your appointment pass it above your trackers reader, a new app will pop up,” Genine explained.

  “Isn’t that a little… convoluted? Wouldn’t it just be easier to get people to call?” I asked, taking the card gingerly and slipping it into my pocket.

  “Oh, it’s possible, but the bureau likes to keep a record of everything on the central system,” Genine explained.

  “And I can use this to book multiple times? The doctor said I was welcome back anytime,” I said.

  “Oh! Me too!” Olivia exclaimed.

  “You can, although the card expires after two months. You’ll have to get a new one before that happens,” Genine said. She held the brick up again, and Olivia swept her bracelet over it before taking the card that popped out.

  “Don’t you already have one?” I asked.

  “My mom does, but if I may need a copy in case I get close to another Rupture,” Olivia replied. “Maybe I can use it to alert someone before it opens.”

  “Makes sense,” I muttered.

  “Alright you two, we really should get going. The first period should be ending soon, so we’ll have to leave soon if we want to make it before the start of the second,” Pam declared.

  “Right, thanks for the help,” I told the receptionists.

  Our small group quickly made our way back out through the secure doors, followed the stairs up and emerged back in the lobby.

  The security team was gone, and in their place were a row of receptionists, and a short line of people lined up in front of them. I jogged over to the hallway where the Rupture opened and took a look down, I couldn’t see a single mark that indicated something had happened earlier.

  “We did a good job, huh?” Angelica asked, making me jump. My friends had followed me into the doctor’s office, but stayed quiet while we discussed everything. I hadn’t expected Hairy to come up and talk to me, because they usually gave me space while I was in public.

  “Yeah, really good,” I replied, as Hairy ran down the hallway. He appeared to be inspecting the area where the Rupture appeared. Or dancing. It was hard to tell with his spastic movements. “Did you guys do anything to cause the Rupture to close early?”

  Angelica paused. Even though she didn’t have any eyes, it felt like she was looking me over. “Us? No. We don’t have that ability,” she said.

  Something about the way she said that bugged me, but before I could ask Oliva called out for me.

  “Hey, Tamara, we have to go!”

  “Right, be right there,” I called back.

  As I headed back to Olivia and Pam, I turned towards Angelica intending to ask her to clarify, but she wasn’t following. I furrowed my brow as she disappeared into the hallway after Hairy. Something else to ask them about later.

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