Gifted #Wattys2015

Chapter 14

Adult Tula

"What?" Jay asked. "Really?! You're not joking right?"

"Nope. There's a reason we all have the same name though. Apparently the first person to discover that people had Gifts was May Wentzell. She travelled far and wide, looking for all types of Gifted, young and old. She created an organization so she could teach people how to manipulate the energy to control their powers. The organization was called United Corporation for Gifted, but everyone just called it UCG. Normal people just assumed it was some state university, and no one took any trouble to find out anything about the place. Such was the charm about the organization."

"Wow. They did a pretty good job covering up their tracks. I've been looking for Gifted ever since we graduated, and I've never heard of this organization."

"It completely disaappeared almost a centuary ago."

"Disappeared? Do you mean physically, or that people just forgot about it?"

"Mrs. Wentzell died on 15 April 1912..."

"15 April 1912?! Was she on the Titanic?"

"Yes, she was. She travelling to New York for the last leg of her World Recruitment Trip. She was found in a broken life boat. Many people think something heavy fell on her from the ship, but no one knows for sure. What we do know is that  she left the organization in her daughter Liz's hands with instructions to manage it till she returned in six months. Once Liz found out that her mom had passed away, she took complete control of the organization. She did what her mom had started, but didn't have her mom's powers to sway people. The details are fuzzy, but we know that she got into a disagreement with a particularly strong Gifted and disappeared off the face of the Earth."

"And the organization?"

"A couple of people tried to make it work, but no one could head UCG for long, and soon, everyone went their own way and the UCG was never heard of again."

"How do you know this story then?"

"That's a story for another time. We're getting sidetracked. Let's focus on one thing at a time, and I swear I'll tell you later."

"Okay. So, why are you guys named after her?"

"There is a legend that people with her name will get greater powers. Sometimes, parents who want their kids' Gifts to flourish name them after her. Mostly, only girls are named after her, but I've met a Maey who is a guy named after her, so I guess it works both ways."

"That's pretty interesting. It isn't actually true though, is it?"

"Nope! Not even a little," Tula replied, hoping Jay wouldn't ask why she was named after May. She wasn't ready to tell anyone about her history...yet.

Either the thought didn't strike Jay, or maybe he just knew she didn't want him to ask, but Jay mercifully, didn't ask. Instead, he said, "What about Lennor?"

"Lennor is not a very common name, so I think they both might have been named after the same person, a distant relation of sorts."

"That's a pretty good theory. Do you want to ask them?"

"Yeah. Separately, though. I want to make sure the information we get is as correct as possible. I'm going to make sure that when we're talking to one of them, the other is unconscious, and vice versa. I was a bit suspicious of the duo from the start, but the Lennor-May mix up, I really think they're not as innocent as they seem."

"I think so too. How about you do the talking while I watch the person who's unconscious? I'll also moniter the network so we can be sure they're not communicating."

"That sounds great. I'm going to talk to the original Lennor first, the "spy"," she said with eggagerated finger quotes. 

Then the two friends looked at each other and burst out laughing. They turned around and walked back to the hospital. As they entered, they got ahold of the first medic they could find and told her what they needed. She verified that she was allowed to take orders from the "outsiders", then led them to the girls' room. There, she told 'May' that she was required for some test, and she led her away, followed by Jay. 

"Hey," Tula said, "How are you doing?"

"Great. We slept, so I'm feeling refreshed."

"That's good. You know, I was thinking. Do you know how you got your name?"

"Yes, in fact, I do. It's a story I love telling people. It always inspires me."

"I'd love to hear it."

"Okay. So, basically, my grandmom and grandad were in the car on the way to a function, when they saw a homeless kid on the road. She didn't have anything on her feet, and my grandmom felt bad for her. She stopped the car and gave the kid her shoes. The girl thanked her, and had a small request. She asked for a dime. Since it was a small thing, my grandmom gladly gave it to her. My grandparents then left to the function, never expecting to ever see the kid again. Ten years later, my grandmom was going on the same road once again, on the way to a similar function, when she saw that there were absolutely no homeless people in the vicinity. She continued on, and reached the function. And, wonder of wonders, the guest of honor was the very same girl she had donated her shoes to! The girl had started a buisness by getting homeless people to do small favors for people. The dime was the reward she had promised, which was what the people being helped had to pay. The buisness had grown. My grandmom was immediatly recognised, and she had dinner with the girl that night. The girl then asked my grandmom to name her. My grandmom picked Lennor, because that was one of the fancy names she had always wished she could name her kids." Lennor stopped to take a breath.

Then, softly, she continued, "That girl was me. My grandmom adopted me, but since she was so much older than me, she always pretended that she was my grandmom. Her two daughters had left years ago, and my grandad had died two years previously. I lived happily, alone with her until she passed away, and I was re-adopted by my current parents."

"That's pretty cool. I'm guessing your adoptive parents named you May then?"

"Yeah."

"One last thing, how old are you?"

"17. Since I missed middle school, I'm going to finish all my education before I go on to work or anything."

"Okay. Why don't you go to sleep? It's getting late and you're probably going to get discharged tomorrow."

"I'll do just that."

""See you later."