Extra Human (On Hiatus)

5. The FSS Interrogation

The Federation Security Service, or FSS as they preferred to be called. Everyone just called them the Secret Police. An intelligence agency that investigated acts of terrorism, organised crime, political conspiracies, espionage and other high-profile crimes.
They had a love-hate relationship with the public. We were all aware that they did good work to keep the country safe, but their methods were questionable and sometimes inhumane.

The FSS was involved in our 2015 abduction case and disagreed with the regular police over the handling of the case. The police wanted to find the kidnapped kids and bring them home safely. The FSS couldn't care less about what happened to us. They just wanted to take down the cult. Luckily we were rescued safely.

The principal and Agent Babajide took us to the admin building. All twenty-one students of the exploded classroom sat in the waiting area. One by one my classmates were called into the principal's office for interrogation.

Some interrogations lasted longer than others. Everyone came out looking more frightened.
Daberechi's interrogation was the longest at twenty minutes. This was probably because of a suspiciously convenient exit from the class before the suicide bomber arrived. She must've been drilled hard by Agent Babajide because she came out with tearful eyes. I felt sad seeing her like that.

Since Marcel, Astrid and I arrived late, we were at the back of the line. This gave me and Astrid time to coordinate our stories to match our classmates. If the FSS found out or even suspected that we had superpowers, the cult would be the least of our worries.

Astrid went in before me. Her interrogation was ten minutes long. She came out looking more frightened than the others.
My heart pounded. What could Agent Babajide possibly be telling them to make them look frightened?

"Mr Chike," Agent Babajide called for me.

Going to the principal's office was often an unnerving experience but this was a whole other level. It was difficult to maintain my composure. Not with Agent Babajide's intimidating eyes fixed on me. Not with the camera pointed at my face. Suddenly my palms were sweaty and my school uniform felt very uncomfortable.

The lights flickered. I knew that was my power acting up. I took a deep breath and calmed down. I was Julyan Chike, a certified genius. I could do this.

I told agent Babajide everything that happened, just like any of my classmates would have. We were taking a history exam, Daberechi went to ease herself, the suicide bomber came in, suddenly we were all outside and the class was exploding.

Babajide stared at his notebook intensely.
"So you knew it was an explosive belt once you saw it, yet it was Mr Lusamba who spoke up," he noted.

"I would have raised the alarm too," I said. "Marcel just beat me to it."

"Mr Chike, why were you still in the class when you were done with your exam?"

"I didn't want to be the first to submit," I stated. "I know, it's weird, but that's just who I am."

"You are the top student in your class and even in your entire grade," Babajide said. "You are undoubtedly academically gifted, with top IQ scores. In fact, your teachers claim that recently your academics have improved in ways they didn't even think were possible, surpassing all expectations. Yet you have repeatedly refused to skip grades. Why is that?"

"I just want to be a regular student," I replied.
Babajide took notes.

"In primary school, you were an excellent student, but you were simply one of the best," Babajide stated. "But after your — incident in 2015, you became a genius and prodigy."

Was that really the case? I never thought I got smarter after that incident. But now that he mentioned it, academics did get a bit easier since junior high. That wasn't the case for most people so I understand why that would be weird.