New Markets - 02 (38 page)

Professor Gently stopped by before he walked into the classroom.  He appeared to be in a very good mood.

He said, "Hello, Stephanie - how are you doing today?"

"Not so good, agency problem.  Kidnapping gone wrong, it's got me worried."

"Oh.  Well, I'm sorry to hear that.  Is there anything I can do?  It's easy to forget you joined H.E.R.O., I've been pretty busy here at school."

"No, not that I can think of.  I'm not even sure what
I
can do about it.  On top of that it seems like news about who I am is spreading around the University.  Well, at least that Psystar goes to school here.  We should use that name on any documents and such for this special class you're working on."

"Speaking of, I've got news, but will talk to you about it after class if you have time?  I'd like to stay focused on class first."

I shrugged, "I've got time, there's about two hours to blow after class before another super can help me track down the people who are kidnapped."

He thought,
Scheduling kidnap work?  That seems odd.  I wonder if those who become agents of H.E.R.O. have more going on in their lives than we give them credit for, we just kind of expect them to show up and save people.

I nodded at him.  "Pretty much.  It might be easier for those who give up school and jobs to do it full time."

"Okay, I need to get into class; you'll be out here afterward then?"

"Yep.  I'll wait to see you."

"Excellent."  He walked into the classroom, checked his watch and shut the door after a minute.

As I watched through Megan and Professor Gently's mindviews during the class I realized that DNA was one of Megan's more challenging subjects.  I filled in more detail several times when she sounded confused in her mental speech.  Speaking to her while connected with a mindview seemed to be getting easier each time, although I felt mentally exhausted by the end of class.  Something about keeping mindviews pulled up close and communicating through them seemed more taxing than normal activity.

When class ended, I caught a lot of mental chatter as people spoke to one another.  While all the noise was becoming normal for me, this time Psystar kept getting referenced.  Some of the same students from Professor Stonewall's Biology class also had DNA with us, and recognized me outside the room.

This chatter grew to most of the class as the first few of these left the classroom and saw me sitting nearby on the corridor floor.  They stopped to tell their friends ... and everyone else ... that they recognized me from Biology.

When I glanced up toward the first group leaving the room, the mindviews from them showed my eyes glowing brightly backlit with a yellowish-golden light.

Then the rumors and questions began about why I was there for two different classes. 
Great, am I going to get bombarded with questions again?

Professor Gently left the classroom after he'd collected his materials, stopped in the hallway and noticed the mass of students simply standing out there whispering to each other.

He loudly said, "Come on now; go to your next class."

Several smart aleck students commented, "We're done with classes for the day now."

The Professor said, "Bah."  He motioned to me to follow him and began walking away.

I finished putting away my notepad and quickly walked after him.  I noticed I was writing down more notes due to extra information I was picking up from other students during the class.  It never seemed like I was the last to pack my gear before I changed.

Walking through the mass of students blinded me with dozens of mindviews.  It took effort just to get through them.

I caught up with him, Megan just a step behind me; she hooked my left arm with her right and moved to my side.

Professor Gently said, "Hello again, Megan.  Do you have a question?"

Megan shook her head, "Nope."

"Do you mind if I have some time with Stephanie alone?  I've got news for her that's somewhat private."

I said, "It's okay, Professor.  Megan is a good friend of mine.  She's in my study group for classes this year too."

"Oh really, you have a study group?"

"Yep, the two of us, plus Kell, Trevin, Odes and Carey.  Though I think Carey may drop from it."

He raised his eyebrow and wondered why.

"Because of me, I think.  She really dislikes supers, so I'm now on her bad list, I guess."

Megan snorted and said, "That's an understatement.  Once you left yesterday she was
pissed
.  I don't think I ever realized why she was in the genetics program."

"I knew, though I didn't think it was as big a deal as she's making it out to be."

Professor Gently said, "That's too bad.  However, I guess everyone has their own reasons.  Some want to be in a position where their name is known, like a Professor.  Others want money; others want to find a way to cure diseases.  I'm sure there are quite a few other reasons as well.  Speaking of, considering your current situation, what's your reason for continuing your degree?"

"Mine?  Well, at this point my thought is to finish just to set an example for others.  I'm hoping that a H.E.R.O. who finishes their degree after they change will set a good example."

"That's a nice goal.  Some sports stars do the same thing.  How about you, Megan?"

Megan replied, "Oh, I'm taking DNA as one of the optionals for my Biology degree, so I'm not quite in the same boat.  I haven't gotten as far as thinking about what I'd do after college though.  Jobs are hard enough to find that I'm just hoping to land in the field."

The Professor nodded, "That's true.  One of the keys is to get into an internship if you can before leaving the University.  I don't have much on those in biology, but I do have information on some in genetics."

We arrived at his office.  He unlocked it and walked in, setting down his briefcase next to the desk.  He motioned to the chairs.  Then he sat down.

He said, "We have great news, not only did we get the Dean's approval to have special class, but he authorized several classes, especially considering the limited number of students we can have in each one."

I grinned, "Yeah!  I
do
get to be in it, right?"

"Yes, of course you do.  He asked if there was going to be a fee for your or any other supers you brought in.  I told him I'd have to ask about that."

"I know some people that would love to be in one of them, is that okay?  And no, I wouldn't charge for it - and I get veto control over some tests if someone wants to do something, well, repulsive like extract brain fluid."  I shuddered.  "I'll have to ask Spartan and Black Tiger."  My chest tightened as I hoped we'd be able to find them.

"That might be an issue, unless we can find a way to increase the size of each group, or go ahead and have multiple running."

Megan's expression took a downturn.

I said, "Well, hmm, I still can't get more than about six people within fifteen feet of me without being overwhelmed by mindviews."

"How do you handle groups walking down the hall that go past you?"

"Oh, my vision becomes a mess for a few seconds, but they usually keep going."

"All right, what about what we are doing with class right now.  You stay on one side of the room, and we have two groups of six.  We simply have a strict requirement to have them on two sides of a larger room.  If the projector screen is in the center, everyone can see the same thing, but you are only exposed to six at a time."

I thought about it a moment and said, "Yeah.  Yeah, that might work.  I'm willing to go through that if we can fit in a larger group."

Professor Gently looked at Megan, "I know you want in on something like this pretty badly, but do you realize how advanced the material may get into?  I'm anticipating pretty much all the students being in their doctorates.  In fact, I'd be shocked if one or two don't change their doctorate paper to be on this topic.  You'd have to catch up in effect on years of classes to be at the same level of understanding."

Megan looked surprised.  "Oh, yeah, I hadn't thought about that.  Sorry Steph, that's going to be way out of my league.  I want to have a social life, you know."

I smiled ruefully.  "I know, I'm worried about the same thing.  This will be a pass or fail type thing, right Professor?  Not a graded thing?"

"I haven't gotten that far.  I think the primary focus will be researching what we can, and writing papers on various topics that we come up with.  It'll be more fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type thing than well structured."

I laughed, "Okay.  That I can probably do.  Is there anything else we need to do to move forward on it?"

"The Dean called a few sponsors yesterday.  He got a grant in about a heartbeat, knowing that we might come up with something that changes medicine or our understanding of genetics.  We just need to contact all of the students in the genetics program right now and have people who are interested sign up.  That'll tell us what we need to do with class counts, or if we need to select from a large list if everyone in the program signs up."

"How long will that take?"

"We don't have a huge list of students, and all of them are in classes of mine.  I'll write up a sign-up request sheet tonight and hand them out to classes tomorrow and Friday.  We might be able to start some initial classes Monday."

"Wow, that's moving pretty fast."

"This is exciting stuff.  Don't be surprised if the legal department doesn't have some kind of waiver for you to sign about being poked, prodded and having bodily fluids taken type thing."

I shrugged, it wasn't like having blood drawn was going to be scary compared to being shot.  "Not a problem.  Like I said, so long as I can veto some things.  I'm all for experiments, but I'm not joining the military and letting someone do everything they feel like to me."

"Fair enough.  I'm sure a physical will come up at some point as well.  As I noticed with your arm the other day, there are some distinct physical differences you've got now.  You'll probably want to have a bikini or something on hand to wear for that - you're alright with either being nude or wearing something like that?"

"Err ... okay."

"You aren't worried about needles or knives to get skin samples or blood samples?"

"No.  I heal very fast."

"Why don't you want brain fluid drawn?  As a telepath I'd think that might be very valuable research?"

"What?"  My eyes were quite large at this point.

"All right, all right.  I suppose we can forego that, although it would be ideal considering your powers."

"I'd want to talk to a medical doctor before agreeing to that to see if it is safe, and if it is, have it done in a hospital or something.  But something just creeps me out about having something stuck in my brain."

"I agree.  I have no desire to see you harmed, that would be wrong.  Well, I better get to work on the sign up sheet and contact legal about your document so we don't get held up."

Megan said, "Kind of humorous that you don't like the idea of someone being in your head, but you can get into other people's heads."

"Hmm."  I shrugged.