Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

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The Legal Stuff: Emerald Princess © 2016-2023 By Sofia Hammerstein
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2016-2023 By Sofia Hammerstein. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
 
 
Chapter 26: Results

WE WERE SENT into Mrs. Hensley’s office by her secretary shortly after arriving. “Come have a seat over here on my couch, ladies,” she told us.

Being in the principal’s office was at least slightly less scary. “Okay, I’m swamped this time of year, but I wanted to ensure I took care of getting your schedules done personally due to your… umm…?”

“Weird?” I suggested.

“Odd,” Hannah suggested with a smile.

“Unique,” Mrs. Hensley said with her own smile, “unique circumstances.”

“Thank you,” I said simply, and Hannah’s voice overlaid mine.

“You two must have been great friends before all of this?” She asked.

“Us and our friend Jacob… we were like the three musketeers,” I told her.

“We grew up with each other,” Hannah added.

“Well, it seems that’s been good for you two now.” She paused to shuffle some papers, “Okay, well, the first thing is to let you know what your powers testing showed.”

Hannah squeaked and started to shake just a little bit.

“Hannah, since you haven’t been told anything yet, let’s start with you.” She paused and pressed a few times on the tablet she held, “First, you’re a Paradigm Level 2. You’re at genius intellect levels mentally and about as strong as a normal human can get. Next, you can sense emotions from others and discern who is feeling what. We label that as an Empath Level 2 talent. Next, you seem to be Level 2 in Danger Cognition. Your main abilities seem related to the Pyrokinetic blasts you can make. They rated you a Level 5 in Pyrokinesis. Your blasts seem to reach around 1500 degrees Celsius, and you can pinpoint them to the accuracy of a dime at one-hundred feet. You also have a Telekinesis ability that we rate at Level 2. Tests show you can lift up to two hundred pounds from a distance of fifty feet. The power is fairly useful since you seem to have a very fine level of control as if you’re using your hand. The final thing they noted was that you seem to be a Regen Level 5. Meaning you should heal very well if you get hurt.”

I smiled at Hannah, “You’re a tough cookie!”

“Yes, you are,” Mrs. Hensley agreed. “Don’t get overconfident around here, though,” she advised.

Hannah nodded and squeezed me, “What about this one?”

“Sofia’s tests were interesting. We already had a foundation with hers from Los Alamos, of course,” she smiled at me, “but we can test here beyond theirs. The device you went through last night is one of a kind built by one of the technomages we have on staff that has helped our accuracy improve. So far, it seems to give about the same results as our established tests, but once in a while picks up on some powers that slip by us. We may ask Sofia to undergo additional tests in a few weeks to confirm the device.”

“What changed?” I asked.

“Well, obviously, your main talent is your Avatar talent. We agree with Level 5 from your previous testing there. Esens Level 3 also did not change,” I nodded. She took a deep breath and said, “We’re labeling you a Copyist Level 1 because you seem to be able to take on Hannah’s talent. We think this is likely due to your nursing from her?” She shook her head, “Not really sure. It lets you have the equivalent of a Level 1 Pyrokinesis with your blasts.”

“Cool,” I said off-handedly. It was kind of, in a way. I wondered if I stopped nursing if I would still have it, though?

“Next, your Paradigm Level stayed at Level 4, borderline Level 5. One of our technicians was leaning towards five in his assessment. But, the device went with four, so we’re sticking with that.”

Not much had changed so far; how she spoke before made me wonder about my Magic level.

“The last power that showed up obviously is your Magic power. Mrs. Raspin and the device seemed to think you’re a Level 7 here.”

I looked at her and said, “You’re joking, right?”

She shook her head, “I’m afraid not. It’s probably partially due to Caireen being involved. Still, you fit our definition simply by how you interact with Ley Lines. Mrs. Raspin noted that you also blew through her protection circle easier than anyone else she’s had before.” She sighed and seemed to age a decade in her posture. I watched her pull her glasses off her face as she looked at me, “Sofia, I have to implore you to be very careful with your use of magic. Level 7 Magic abilities are exceedingly rare. We’ve only had a couple dozen at Bechtel since the school was founded at that level or greater. Those levels of magic very often lead to self-destruction... On the other hand, you have more power at your fingertips than almost anyone else.”

I nodded, “The whole with great power thing…?”

Hannah squeezed me reassuringly again. “So, did the device come up with any other results?”

Mrs. Hensley nodded, “Age regression seems to be a common side-effect with high-level paradigms, so the device was designed to pinpoint the exact age of a student. Hannah, you’re showing up as being 16.”

“Wait, what?” Hannah asked. “I feel like I got older… not younger?!?!”

Mrs. Hensley shrugged, “I’ll be honest, the device hasn’t been wrong yet. But, I think you may be perceiving the changes brought about by your Paradigm trait?”

“And what about me?” I squirmed.

She looked at me and gave me a kind smile like she was about to pronounce a death sentence or something. “Well, this is where the device and our doctors really can’t make up their minds. So the Device is saying eighteen months.”

I nodded, “That’s what the doctor said earlier,” I sighed, “but...?”

“But the doctors think you could be more like right at twenty to twenty-two months based on your dentition, height, and skeletal structure.”

“So, are you changing my GEID data?” I asked.

She shrugged, “I’m going to leave that up to you. We probably should split the difference and change it to twenty months. However, I have seen enough out of the machine to believe it’s probably more accurate at eighteen months.”

Hannah squeezed me in a hug, and I just nodded, “Go ahead and change it to eighteen months, I guess… I definitely qualify for free everything at restaurants now, right?”

Hannah laughed behind me, “Somehow, I don’t think your appetite is what they have in mind for ‘kids eat free.’”

Mrs. Hensley cracked a small smile herself. “There’s one other thing that the Device did seem to confirm on you, Sofia... We can rerun the test in a few months, but the results indicate that you aren’t aging.”

“I kind of figured that. I guess I’ll spend a lifetime as a baby.” I felt a tear going down my cheek, which Hannah wiped away and kissed the top of my head.

“Hannah, I won’t be surprised to see you reach eighteen again with your body and then freeze at a certain age. The doctors have made notes that they’ll test you both again in three months.”

Hannah nodded.

“Well, here are your new GEIDs and your official student IDs,” she said, handing over two new cards to us. “Sofia, do you have your old GEID so I can destroy it?”

I nodded and reached into my storage place for my purse and to give it to her. She smiled at me and said, “You both have great pictures on these!”

“Okay, now that we have all your test results, I think we need to talk about your coursework. You were almost done with high school and taking very advanced courses.”

I sighed and nodded, “So it’s official, back to preschool for me?”

She laughed, “No, but I think it would do both of you good to consider this a chance to explore some of our more specialized coursework. Also, because of your abilities in your other subjects, I think you two could benefit from working on this for more than six months or even a year.”

Hannah nodded, “So sophomores...?” I couldn’t blame her for trying, even with the discussions on Sunday about us being freshmen.

Mrs. Hensley looked thoughtfully but shook her head. “Because you’re coming in so late this year and already rooming on the freshmen floor, I think it would be better for you both just to go ahead and be freshmen.”

“I’ll never make it to college!” Hannah groaned.

“We will be sure that you work on some coursework over the next couple of years that will make it to where you can enter college as at least a junior. So it’ll make up for that a little bit,” Hensley said.

“I guess,” I heard her grouse behind me. I leaned into her and turned around to give her a hug.

“Thanks, Sofia,” she told me.

We spent the next hour putting together our two schedules as best as possible. We both ended up with Costume Design I, Powers Fundamentals, Power Exploration, and Calculus II. Separately my schedule listed Magic I, Intro to Magic Theory, Mythical Fundamentals, and an Advanced Martial Arts class without her. Hannah would split off and had Esens I, World History, Intro to Psychic Arts, and a Firearms Basics class on her schedule. I wanted to take the Firearms class too, but there just wasn’t room in my schedule. As it was, we would both have a class after dinner each day. Mrs. Hensley tried tweaking the schedule as best as possible to allow us to meet up at least every other hour, even if we didn’t have classes together.

“Thank you for your help with this,” Hannah said politely as we wrapped up.

“It’s my pleasure,” she told us both. “Try and make it by the bookstore in the next couple of hours before they close so you can get your materials and supplies.”

“Okay,” Hannah said before we left her office and bundled up in our coats.

Ms. Hensley’s secretary gave us an odd look as we walked out the doors, past the reception area, and out of the building, where we could see snow flurries starting up. “Remind me to wear tights tomorrow!” I said to Hannah as I shivered.

Suddenly the air around me was warm, though. “What did you do?” I asked her.

She looked down at me and shrugged, “I guess I can warm up the air too?”

“That’s cool… I guess we don’t need coats when you do that?” I suggested.

Suddenly, it was cold again, and I glared at her. “Well, I haven’t quite got the knack for that yet. But, maybe you can learn a spell.” She said with a bashful smile.

Caireen said, ‘there is one, but I think tights would be good until spring comes anyway.’

I just sighed, “Where are we going now?”

“The bookstore, like she said?”

“Are you going to make it any longer than my diaper is?” I asked. For once, I noticed it was squishy without someone else telling me.

“Our room first?” She said with a grimace.

I nodded.

Unfortunately, Trident seemed to be the furthest building away from anything! Hannah walked quickly, though, and it wasn’t too long before Hannah carried me through the doors and sat me down on my feet in the lobby. Ms. Lang stopped us as we passed her room and said, “There were a bunch of boxes that came for you two today. I took the liberty of putting them by your door.”

“Thanks,” Hannah said and smiled at me. “Shall we go see what our mommies sent us?”

I smiled, “I’m hoping for cookies!”

She laughed and patiently waited while I walked beside her up the stairs to the second floor on my own two feet. It wasn’t that I moved that slowly; I just had a very wet diaper that seemed to have gravity trying to pull it off my body, even with the help of the onesie. I grimaced since my skirt seemed to be having issues too. ‘Caireen, do you think you could make some of these outfits with the skirt attached to a onesie?’

‘Sure,’ she seemed to smile at me, ‘I thought it was a good idea yesterday too, but I didn’t want to push you into that one.’

‘Thanks, but I think it’ll be easier to deal with for us.’

Walking down the hallway to our room, I noticed the dorm seemed almost eerily quiet, with all our friends and fellow students off at their classes. A large pile of boxes sat in front of the door to our room. “Wow, our moms went a bit overboard?” Hannah suggested.

I looked at the pile as she unlocked our door and shook my head. Hannah and I dragged the boxes in and began opening them up. We put the contents on the ground where I could help sort them. My mom had sent me several large packages of diapers, dozens of baby bottles, pacifiers, bibs, clothes, hair supplies, shampoo, and toothpaste. She had even included some stuffed animals - including the bear Hannah had given me in the hospital. I shrugged at most of it as boring necessities. Many of them had already been provided by Caireen and the school. The items I did treasure were framed photos she sent. There were the pictures we had taken Saturday, pictures of our family before my emergence, and even pictures of my grandparents and extended family. With Caireen’s help, I took a moment to magically hang all of them above my desk. I had a few tears going down my face with homesickness as I looked at a picture of Lily and myself from the other day.

In another box, I found a pink Disney Princess backpack with Belle, Cinderella, and Rapunzel. Mom had thoughtfully stocked the front pocket with pens and pencils, but I couldn’t help but notice the kids’ backpack was huge compared to my body! Even being one of the smaller kids’ backpacks, it was two-thirds my size! I looked at it thoughtfully and then instinctively used magic to make it shrink in its outward appearance. ‘Caireen, how do I make it larger inside like you’ve done with this room?’

I could feel her pride as she instructed me on how to do it. I then made the main compartment much more extensive than any regular backpack and divided it into several sections. So I could keep spare diapers, clothes, books, and maybe a bottle or two and still have some extra space. Hannah had stopped opening boxes to watch then, “That is so cool!”

I smiled, “And the backpack fits me and looks’ totes adorbs,’ right?”

She laughed at me, “Please don’t ever say ‘totes adorbs’ again?”

“Why, I am, according to Esmie!”

“I am never letting you talk to her again!”

I just laughed, “You want me to do this to your backpack too?” Her mom had sent her own well-used purple Jansport backpack out to her.

“Please?”

I just smiled and motioned for her to hand it to me. She grabbed a few things from the main compartment first, and then I began working to help her have the space for stuff for her and anything she might want to carry for me in there too. It was now the world’s best student backpack and diaper bag a young mom could need!

“Thank you, Sofia!” she said with a big smile, and she stocked it for herself. Next, we sorted the rest of the makeup, clothes, and other supplies her mom had sent her.

“They did send cookies!” Hannah said as she opened the final box. Inside was a package of microwave popcorn, homemade cookies, and even some dried red chile pods!

Nearly an hour later, she had changed my diaper, nursed me, and we were on our way to the bookstore with her backpack on her shoulders. I also wore mine and enjoyed the novelty of walking across campus on my own two legs. Mrs. Hensley had mentioned that our IDs held money that our parents had loaded into them and any money we might earn on-campus jobs to spend there. Following the directions we were given, we soon found the campus store.

“Whoa…” Hannah said when we entered the doors.

“I can’t really see anything,” I told her. She leaned over and picked me up so I could see. From a taller vantage point, I could see that we were in a store that would rival Walmart for supplies. It seemed to have electronics and components in one section of the store, making even an old Fry’s store seem pitiful. Hannah noticed traditional shopping carts were sitting next to the door. I waited in her arms while she grabbed one, put the seat down, and then set me down. Unlike a regular cart seat, this one seemed to sense a baby and automatically buckled a belt across my waist.

I frowned, “This isn’t fair!”

Hannah laughed, “You haven’t been in one of these since you emerged, have you?”

I shook my head, “Mom never made me go into Walmart or the grocery store. The closest we might have been would have been the stores on Saturday, but you all pushed us in the stroller or let us walk?”

She smiled reassuringly, “I promise I’ll let you out if you want to look at something.”

I huffed and spent the next ten minutes looking at her rather than the store from my fixed viewpoint. She would grab items from shelves, which would be my only real opportunity to see what was there. “Please let me out?” I asked.

She sighed, “Alright, but you have to stay with me!”

I nodded.

She poked at a button on the buckle and released me from the restraint before setting me down on the ground. I still couldn’t see past the aisle we were on, but at least I could look around it! As we followed the maze, I got the impression you would never have to leave the campus for anything. First, there were your basic necessities for hygiene and groceries. Then there were whole sections of clothing, movies, games, electronics, computers, and finally, the books and supplies we came for!

It took us a half hour to look at our course schedules and the required texts to find all of the books for us. Next, we found some needed supplies for the courses. For example, my magic courses required specific items, and Hannah needed a gi for her beginning martial arts class. Finally, we carefully split each other’s things into two separate piles at the cashier.

“Why aren’t you the cutest little girl?” The cashier asked of me.

I smiled, “So I hear.”

She looked blankly at me for a moment but processed our items, “Okay, that’ll be six hundred and ninety-four dollars,” she said with a smile at Hannah with my pile. Somehow, she seemed to be missing me handing her my student ID.

“Ma’am, that stuff is mine; here’s my ID.”

The lady looked at me suddenly like I’d grown two other heads. “Umm…”

“I’m a student,” I reassured her.

She looked like she was about to faint as she ran my card and passed me a receipt. I had only purchased my books and a few other supplies. I pulled my backpack off my shoulders, took the shopping bags she had placed the items in, and shoved it all quickly inside my backpack. I zipped it up and put it back on my shoulders. I couldn’t help but grin at the lady as she looked like she was about to faint.

She caught herself, though, and quickly rang up Hannah without saying another word. She’d picked up more items than I had. Still, she was also able to throw everything in her enlarged backpack. Hannah picked me up and placed me on her hip. At the same time, surreptitiously, she checked my diaper, “Come on, Sofia, let’s go find the restroom before we head back to our room.”

I watched the lady practically have her eyes pop out of her head as Hannah carried me into a nearby ladies’ room. We both giggled as she pulled down the changing table on the wall.

 
 

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