GLASS || The Catalysts Series, #1

XXXI || Aftermath

As soon as her shoes touch sweet bitumen and tar, Lena can breathe again.

She might've kissed the road if it isn't for the many eyes watching. That brings her to ponder why exactly are people even watching — people here, she has learnt, do not care even if a flying car is hurtled straight at them.

Arius and Illeanna helped bring the remaining passengers down to safety. As soon as no one's left on the wrecked train, the train begins to fix itself. When Lena pointed the fact that the train only start mending itself when no one is on board, Illeanna chuckles and explains, "You're a sharp one. The AI fixes everything — but only when nothing's in the way. The process is too quick, you see. We can't risk the people or any undamaged things lying around. While mending itself, it might affect the bystanders. If heat signatures and undamaged, still functional goods are definitely out of range, they begin to do their jobs."

"Speaking of jobs," Arius interrupts, clearing his throat and adjusting his suit. "You four owe authorities some explanation. Standard procedure. Illeanna."

Illeanna rolls her eyes as she brings up a rectangular device from inside her cloud. She still doesn't leave it even though they are on the ground now, remaining cross-legged and poised on top her cloud of wonders. She taps on something, and a blue screen projects before the four of them, separating Lena, Neesha, Roen and Caelus from Illeanna and Arius.

"Wait, why not the other passengers on the train?" Roen protests. "Why only us?"

"You know why, Roen," Neesha warns. "We were in the middle of the chaos. The passengers all scooted away before anything really begun, but most importantly, we used our abilities without restriction or proper permission granted." At this, she glances at Caelus, who is casually sitting on the ground and conveniently ignoring the Catalysts right opposite of them. His eyes are on the blue screen before them, but are not exactly focused.

"Initialising Model X," Arius says into his microphone. "Begin scans and documentations."

A bright red light flashes through Lena, Neesha, Roen and Caelus. As it goes by, Lena feels ticklish. It is gone within a second, but something pops up on the other side of the blue screen — their images and some profiling. From Lena's side of the screen, their images and the words are all inverted, but she can roughly make out their age, their education, their power level, etc. Arius and Illeanna start reading the information on the screen.

Arius clears his throat. "Four students," he begins, "from the City of Leatia's top Institute for Elite Catalysts — Arcane Academy. What exactly will the world think of you?"

Lena feels eyes watching. The crowd around them stiffen as they begin to mutter amongst themselves, and gradually, the number of bystanders increase. More people gather, like a typical ripple-effect back home for Lena. Why does she seem to be stuck in the centre of attention today?

How do these people pick what is noteworthy, anyway? Because they certainly didn't stop to spare her a glance when she crashed into a building.

"Allow me to cut to the chase — question one: why are you four not in school?" Arius questions authoritatively, his eyes matching their faces to the their profiles on the screen. Lena can't help but notice his glance flickering to their uniforms and the golden crests embroidered on them.

Lena shrinks from the interrogation in the centre of the city. She is about to bark an argument when, to her surprise, Illeanna speaks from behind Arius in their defence. "Classes are cancelled for the rest of the day," Illeanna says as she stretches her arms lazily. As Arius eyes his partner skeptically, Illeanna adds, "You should keep a watch on the news. Besides, I have first-hand source."