The hivemind is conquering for me?

The last thing I ever expect to come out of someone’s mouth is them asking me a question about Orchid as if they knew her. Most that speak to her do not escape unscathed as she just does not have the patience for humans.

”You know Orchid?” I asked, failing to keep my surprise to myself. The woman then nodded. ”Yes, indeed I do. I had to give her detention after she stabbed someone through the hand. The man deserved it, don’t get me wrong, but the excessive violence was above appropriate.”

The piece clicked in my brain and I. ”OOOOOOoooooh! You are that teacher? Right. Ok. Well, let me thank you for only giving Orchid detention then, someone less kind might have expelled her as well. So I am in your debt.”

” A bold proclamation. Be careful who you put yourself in debt to going forward Apollo, I will simply take your gratitude and leave it at that, but others might abuse such words. I also hope for your sake you aren’t as... Violence prone as your sister. I don’t tolerate that kind of behaviour in my classroom.”

”Haha, no, you don’t have to worry about that with me. I only get violent during spars and war. Well that and if you threaten my family... Don’t worry about Orchid though. She just has a low tolerance for other people, we talked about it and she won’t do it again. Probably. But I will keep an eye on her, don’t you worry.”

My comment caused an eye raise from the two teachers, but neither commented on it, instead, Toxic asked me. ”So, Apollo. Forgive me if this sounds creepy, but when your dispensation was announced to us, I had a look into your file. It said you have some poison resistance? It says on record you can drink enough Psionic beverage to kill a ship of phalanx. Is this true?”

I looked the man up and down, confused. ”You just looked up my file? I’m not creeped out a lot, but that is kind of odd? But I suppose yeah? I mean, I first had the drink a few months ago and I was told that I drank enough in the room to kill everyone twenty times over, so maybe? Why do you ask?”

Virulent and Mithra then looked between each other before he replied. ”Well, when we saw your dispensation, Mithra, my little inquisitive cutie, wanted to know what I knew about it. And most of my knowledge on it is theoretical of course, but strengthening and enhancing your body to such a degree. I told her that with enhancement, being able to fend off Poisons should become much easier. But I hadn’t expected almost complete resistance? This is most fascinating... Apollo, scientist to scientist. Could I pick your brain on this matter some time this week? I am incredibly fascinated with what you have done at such a young age.”

He then reached his gloved hand out towards me. I smiled, while I might have had the forefront teacher in the field, a lot of my improvements to myself were purely my own work. It was nice to be validated by someone who clearly understood the promise of my field of research.

I extended my hand out and clasped his, shaking once more. ”Of course sir. How about in two days?” I couldn’t see the man’s mouth, due to the rebreather, but the way his eyes narrowed kindly, I could tell he was happy. ”Two days it is!”

He then turned to Miss Duvile and said jubilantly. ”Beth, will we continue our discussion later? I’ll let you prepare for your class now.”

Duvile nodded her head. ”i’ll hold you personally accountable if we don’t.” She said with fake malice.” Virulent chuckled then turned to his daughter, Mithra. ”Ok then, chipmunk. Enjoy yourself. You know not to resist when Beth does her thing ok?”

”Daddy! Don’t call me that!” Mithra exclaimed, puffing her cheeks out, prompting Virulent to grab one and tug it playfully. ”Don’t give me reason to then, as the nickname is very apt at this moment.”

”Take care all.” He proclaimed one last time before he began walking away. Miss Duvile with the distraction out of the way then turned to Janine and sighed before looking back up at me. ”I don’t have any distractions for your Sepiida. I think I saw a gaggle down a way before I came here, she can go and join them for the duration of the class.”

I frowned immediately at the way the woman just looked so shallowly at my friend and insisted. ”Actually, I want Janine to stay if that is all the same? I find her presence reassuring and it helps me focus.”

I maintained eye contact while the woman for a few moments as she looked up at me bored, before she finally spoke. ”Fine, but no funny business. If I see anything that looks inappropriate, you are out. Understood?”

I nodded my head. ”Perfectly.” She nodded her head back. ”Good. Now, please take your seat, the others should start arriving at any moment. You too Mithra.”

The room was much much smaller than the lecture room. It was a classroom with roughly only thirty seats, give or take a couple. I was a bit miffed about the way the teacher just looked at Janine so I decided to go and sit at the back and try to forget it.

It wasn’t her fault she was raised in this society after all, but still it ticked me off. ’Especially considering this is the class Janine wanted to take...’ As we sat down, my emotions must have been apparent on my face as Janine placed her hand atop my own and whispered.

”It’s fine, honestly. I am actually more surprised how nice everyone else has been. This is just the norm. That being said, it is sweet that you care so much and you will be getting another kiss once we are finished with this lesson.”

That prompted a smile to emerge on my face. ’She is so sweet.’ I couldn’t help thinking. That thought was interrupted shortly as Mithra sat down on my other side and asked. ”Ok, what is a chipmunk? I don’t mind nicknames, I am not seven. I won’t get upset, but I don’t like not knowing what I am being referred to. So spill it.”

”Oh. Is that why you got worked up when your dad called it you? Sorry. A chipmunk is this small little furry animal that stores food in its cheeks so they puff up. They are actually quite adorable. Sorry, It was not my intention to leave you confused.”

Mithra blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting me to say something I just said. ”What?” I asked, confused, causing her to reply in shock. ”Y-You think I am adorable?”

As I replied in affirmation, Janine waved her arms up while shaking her head, followed by a face palm. ’Ah shit, here we go again...’ She couldn’t help thinking.

’And I can’t even be mad at you because you are clearly just being nice! Ugh! I swear when I am your female, I am getting together with the others and forming a committee to keep these hoes away from you! Because you don’t know any better, you sexy dense ass motherfucker!’

...

The class filled up quickly as there were not nearly as many as the basic class. Once the last person had arrived, the teacher barely gave any time for the woman to sit down before she began.

”Hello, my name is Elizabeth Duvile. I prefer being called Duvile or Miss Duvile. It is simply a personal preference, but you may call me Elizabeth if you choose to do so as it is the school’s preference. Welcome to Aura projection. Before we begin, I will explain why this class is only once a month as that is the big question everyone asks as compared to some classes that are sometimes twice a week, a monthly class is rare. That being said, the answer is simple. My class is hard.

Between classes you will be given a great deal of work to complete. This is because this class is not only hard to grasp, but equally dangerous. If something goes wrong, you could be left in dire straits, so you need to be prepared. If you struggle to keep up even for one class, I will be forced to fail you then and there. If the idea of you putting in so much hard work, only for it to be irrelevant four, five, six months down the line, only for it all to be for naught, it is best you leave now and find another class like. Pfft. Psionic cosmetology.

Seeing nobody stand up, Duvile nodded her head. ”Good, it would seem I have a class of strong-willed individuals this year. This is good. This will be to your benefit in the Psionic plane. Now. While I said this class is tough, it is also rewarding. During this class, I will be teaching you how to safely enter the Psionic plane outside of your Mindspace and learn a technique I simply call Plane walking. This technique will become an advantage you will all learn to master to have a significant edge over fellow Psionic opponents. Or, you will fail miserably and lose out on the opportunity till next year. So let’s begin.”