10. 1% Synchronization

The days passed by seemingly unimportant. I had, to my dismay, started settling in as a somewhat normal teenager at my school. How underwhelming. The tutoring I received from Juliet saved my life, and I was for the most part beginning to understand the material presented to me in class. The tests never seemed to end, and though two weeks had passed by, the school continued to give us all sorts of strange surveys.

I was starting to have some fun. Juliet was a pleasure to be around. Even Miya was growing on me, kind of. Okay, she still creeped me out, and seemed to flip flop depending on her mood that day, or multiple times that day, but I got used to it. I think I even made a friend, if you count Taika.

We were all seated for lunch when Miya’s phone started ringing as angrily as its owner. She looked down at the device and silenced it. Then she started reading something which gave her a nasty look on her face. Needless to say, whatever it was, she wasn’t pleased..

Miya picked up her phone, pressed it to her ear and called someone, “Hola.”

Now, I have to say, like in the arcade, I got excited. Not because I fully speak Spanish, because I don’t. But I can get by, and have some basic understanding. I did take a couple years of it in Seattle, and I was excited over the fact that I was finally able to understand something she was saying. But luckily, this time, unlike the arcade there wasn’t some asshole making fun of me in said language.

The conversation went something along the lines of: “I just forwarded you some photos, Mr. Manager.”

“No, I’m not too upset. They got what they deserved for not being the best. Obviously— ” Miya’s expression was cold. “Despite what you promised me.”

“So I dare to ask…” Something… “I do hope so…” Something. Okay, whatever my spanish wasn’t perfect. But I understood most of it.

After she hung up, Taika looked towards her. “How suspicious, that conversation!”

“Wait, do you speak spanish?” I asked Taika. He nodded.

“Man...so many languages,” I felt utterly inferior in every way. Even to Taika, the school’s hyperactive, dysfunctional mascot.

“Maybe, it’s simply you who speaks too little?” Miya suggested and I cried. Not really. But the tears were growing.

“Business call?” Taika wondered.

“I suppose you could say that,” Miya leaned back. She became lost in thought and the rest of lunch would have been quiet. Except Taika was there, and decided it was time to practice his beatboxing. The one thing he was terrible at.

After lunch, our ever enthusiastic (hopefully you don’t take that seriously) professor Yackerman, as Taika liked to say, ordered us to plant our butts on our designated seats. He then smiled in a smug way, which only accentuated his dark eyes and deep circles.

“I have a list here…” he began, “of those of you lucky enough to be selected into the candidate process for our program: Elias Mason...Miya Weskaber, Juliet Captor, Iki Nobu, Melanie and Natalie Bishop, Shu Zhou, Ayase Namada, Alice Hardy.” He ended the Hardy by elongating the syllables and appeared satisfied about his reading, or something. The guy was weird.

But then his look distorted and he became exceptionally disgusted as he turned the page, “Taika Taylor, as well...somehow.”

“YAHOO!” Taika fist pumped the air with enough force to rip the ozone layer.

“Settle down, Mr. Taylor.”

“Yes, professor.” Taika snickered in gleeful bliss.

“You can all report to the lecture hall now. For your orientation.” With that, Ackerman proceeded to hurry us out of his class room so that he could continue his lecture.

Now, what I said before about our school. It was a much different place from public education. That has already been well-established. However, there were several classes by grade, and in those classes, they tended to be separated by academic ranking. Keep the smart kids, with the smart kids, dumb with dumb, to simplify it. Though, considering it was a private school that you needed to test into in the first place, even the dumbest kids at the school would be among the brightest in a normal high school. Which begged the question: Why am I in a class with these guys?

Alice was walking with delicate, but powerful strides ahead of Miya. Her cronies were with her. The twin girls, the dude that was always on his laptop. Shu, I think his name was, was on the outskirts, he was a loner. Even in class he seemed to keep to himself. He was Chinese-American, but I think he was born here? Hard to say. He had the obvious appearance of being half-white and half-asian. I didn’t know anything about him. That left Miya, Juliet, Ayase, Taika, and I stuck in our own cohesive unit.

Once we got to the room that they wanted us in, I found a seat in between Taika and Juliet and took note of the classroom. There were several students from other classes all separated by different sections of chairs. In total, it was a full class. So maybe thirty kids. I didn’t know if there were other classes elsewhere that were also getting this little orientation or whatever it was. But I found it amazing that, as mediocre as I was at everything, somehow they decided to put me into this program that was supposed to be for gifted students. That’s when I saw him, my dad. He was at the front of the room, looking out at the students in front of him. He wasn’t even acknowledging me, I was just another face.

“Yo, you know that guy?” Taika looked over. He must have noticed me staring at him.

“Uh, sort of…”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Miya commented, “they’re father and son.”

“How do you know that?” I asked, astounded.

“Really? That’s your dad?” Taika seemed as surprised that that was my father as I was over the fact that Miya knew it was my father. “He’s a scientist?”

“He’s something.”

My dad began speaking, “Thank you all for coming. Starting today, you are group zero, the first, of the first.”

“For what?” Taika was the first to ask, in typical fashion.

“You've been enrolled into a high transition, acceleration program. It will allow you

graduate a year earlier. If you do as we say and remain serious in your studies,” my dad was quick to add. “Firstly, does anyone have any basic questions?” There was a pause, and silence. “good if …”

“Can I use the restroom?” Taika asked.

My dad looked at Taika, knowingly. It was obvious to anyone that Taika was going to be

a problem. “Can it wait until after I've explained it all?”

Taika shrugged. “Long as you've got a mop?”

My dad ignored that comment. “You will be given this to wear.” My father raised up a

device that looked similar to a smartwatch. “It's a monitoring bracelet, it tracks your nervous system and brain waves. It's part of the research experiment that funds the program. It's designed to monitor how you grow and improve during your various learning exercises. That way we can help others learn quicker and more efficiently as well. Everyone, follow us, we're going on a field trip.”

We were then loaded onto a bus. It was a nice one, by comparison to the run-down school buses I was used to. Not that I was in the mindset of thinking anything coming from our school was going to be anything less.

“Where do you think we’re headed?” Taika leaned his head back, watching the buildings pass as we drove.

“Not sure.” I stared at my father seated in the front of the bus. What was going on? What was my dad doing?

Taika pulled out a stick of gum and popped it into his mouth. “Want any?” I shook my head. “You know, they separated the groups. This bus could fit more people but there’s only ten of us out of the thirty or so that were there.”

I looked around to confirm his count. Taika was right. Taika, myself, Juliet, Miya, Shu, the twins, Iki, Ayase, and Alice.

Miya smirked from behind Taika. “Taika you notice the things that matter but somehow fail to notice anything else.”

“Huh?”

Miya said nothing after that. She remained quiet until we reached a facility. It appeared to be a hospital. It was unmarked but the layout and feeling gave off the same impression. The ten of us were escorted into the building, through an elevator up to the fifteenth floor. Then we went into a waiting room. My father brought out a suitcase and set it on a table before us. He then pulled out the monitoring devices he had shown us at school.

“There will be minor discomfort…” My father said too late, as the device clamped down on my wrist. There was a brief piercing sensation, as if the device were not put on, so much as implanted. It was snug around my wrist. I’d have to break it off if I wanted to remove it.

“As you’ll come to realize these bracelets can not be removed,” my father explained, “but I promise they should cause you no trouble. They are waterproof, you can shower with them on, and should leave no mark besides a bad tan.”

One of the researchers entered with a clipboard. “Sir, we are ready.”

My father nodded. “Follow us.”

We entered a lab and within it was a series of chairs that we had to sit on. In front of us was a large television and beyond that, there was a door. As we took our seats I noticed that Juliet was looking nervous. I reached out, despite my better judgment and squeezed her hand, I let go almost immediately. “It’ll be okay.” My face felt hot. I couldn’t believe I had the guts to touch her, even if it was just her hand.

She smiled pleasantly, but it was obvious she was still scared. “Thank you.”

The television turned on and it began playing an instructional video. It displayed a large pod with a seat built into it. The pod could fit a single person, and enclosed them in a pseudo-cocoon. The entire thing was futuristic looking, with a sleek race car design, once we entered the pods, we had to sit down and our wrist device would lock into place on the arm rest. Then a helmet would be placed on us and the pod would close.

My father had vanished and when the video ended a woman was there to greet us. “Any questions?”

“Uhh, our parents are really okay with this?” Taika questioned, “this thing itches, and I can’t scratch under it.”

The woman smiled. “Please don’t scratch it. While there are some parts that are for important reasons secretive. The main goal of the project and all necessary information has been explained to your parents.”

I doubted that. Taika raised a good question. While obviously my father was okay with this, I was not sold on everyone else’s parents being told everything. The pods helped to accelerate our learning potential. The wrist device was to monitor everything. That’s what the video and the scientists told us. But what was the truth? Why were the selected students separated? Ten of us, only from my class. What were the pods really doing?

“I understand your concerns. I assure you everything is safe and you will all be well taken care of. We will be returning you to your school after a quick test.” The woman finished and opened the door behind the television. We were led through it and saw ten of the pods that the t.v. had shown us. Five lined up on one side, five adjacent on the other.

Taika was still fiddling with his wrist. “Doc, what if I theoretically used a straw to scratch this?”

“Taika Taylor,” the scientist said while lining us up with our pods, “I have heard much about you, and I see it’s true.”

Taika smiled innocently. “In my defense you all chose me, not the other way around.”

“And we don’t regret choosing you,” my father’s voice spoke to us through speakers somewhere. “But I do see where problems could arise. Don’t assume the entire world is a joke.”

“It’s not a joke, but it is a punchline!”

“Let’s just begin,” the woman declared. We were paired with our pods and asked to enter it.

As the pod shut on me, I felt claustrophobic. My wrist latched onto the console and the helmet covered my face. The chair was comfortable at least. The helmet had a screen in it. I noticed that we could hear each-other.

“Yo, is this a walkie-talkie,” Taika cheered.

“No, it’s a speaker and microphone synced with all of the pods, obviously,” Miya corrected.

“This is a bit strange,” Alice added.

My father began to speak again, “You will feel momentarily dizzy, then tired, and it will feel like a dream. If you feel discomfort at any time, push the red button.”

Taika began to snicker.

“Itchiness does not count. The button is not a toy.”

“What button?” Juliet sounded confused. I was right I didn’t see any. But as the thought crossed my mind I was incredibly dizzy and tired. It was only about thirty seconds but I felt the sensation of sleep.

The world went black. I was alone. I could see myself. I was standing walking somewhere. But all around me was nothingness. I reached out and stared at my hand. “Hello?”

I heard my father: “Attempting to synchronize parties, 1 percent.”

There was a bright flash. Instead of black the world was now a translucent white.

“Aye! Who turned on the lights? I get shy when people can see me and can’t sing anymore,” Taika complained, and turned to meet me.

“Taika?”

“Oh, hey buddy! Welcome, sorry I didn't have time to clean up the place...uhm, you can sit...over near that patch of white.”

“You two have managed to sync, attempting to bring you into contact with the others,” My father’s voice echoed.

As he finished Miya appeared with her arms folded, looking around in mock amusement.

“Hey good looking, come here often?” Taika said to her.

She glared at him for a split second but lost interest.

“Where is everyone?” I wondered.

My father answered, “We are attempting to fix the connection.”

“Maybe they died on entry,” Miya stated as Alice appeared before us.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Alice hissed.

“Oh, unfortunately not, looks like I’ll have to use my hands…”

Alice backed up. “You are…”

“It appears the others have connected, but you four are separated. It is fine. Today will only be the initial readings. Attempt to have a conversation with each-other for a few minutes,” my father ordered.

“He’s leaving us here together?” Taika laughed. “Ha! Bad choice.”

“Why?” Alice asked.

“Miya might kill you.” Taika shrugged.

“What?” Alice shrieked.

Miya wasn’t paying attention. She was looking at her hand. “I wonder...if our bodies here reflect our body’s in the real world. I rather like this,” A cube suddenly appeared and Miya sat on it, crossing her legs. “I can even create things here.”

“How did you do that?” I said in shock.

“Now you two peasants,” Miya pointed at Taika and myself. “Fight to the death.”

“Incredible,” my father boomed. “Can you all conjure objects?”

Taika made a strained face, as if he was thinking too hard, then a red dot appeared.

“What is that?”

“I tried to make a yo-yo…” Taika threw it, “wait...you’re supposed to come back!”

Alice frowned. “I can’t do it.”

“Of course you can’t,” Miya said bluntly.

Alice grimaced. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You tell me.”

“I can’t either.” I feel a bit defeated now as well.

My father explained, “We have set this stage so that you all might summon objects and change the world around you. However that is supposed to be possible at fifteen percent synchronization. You all are fragmented, and at only one percent. Miya, that is astounding.”

“Please, I haven’t felt this comfortable in years.”

“Comfortable?” I didn’t understand what she meant. “I guess it is calm in here, weightless.”

Miya seemed to mumble softly to herself.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“What now?”

“I can’t believe I’m stuck here with you guys,” Alice said angrily.

“Losing stability,” my father said, “we will be bringing you out.”

As I sat up in my pod coming out of the white world I turned and saw Miya seated in the pod next to me.

“...Lost my train of thought,” Miya twitched irritatedly as if she were in pain. But the look vanished shortly after it appeared.

We exited the pods and I looked around at our group. I wondered if the others went through the exact same thing as us.

My father entered the room.

“How was the experience? What did it feel like?”

“You know how, when you take off your socks after a long day!” Taika decided.

“As absurd as that sounds, I agree.” Miya said after.

“We will be inputting all of the data. I advise you all to spend as much time with one another as possible. The closer you are, the easier the connection process will be.”

After my father said that Juliet jumped onto Miya’s back. “Looks like we need to hang out more!” Juliet reached over and tugged Ayase closer as well. “Know what that means?”

Miya sighed heavily. “Unfortunately.”

“Slumber party at Miya’s,” Juliet cheered.

“Sweet!” Taika pumped his fist and cheered madly, “I’ll bring blankets and pillows. CAN WE BUILD A FORT!”

Ayase and Miya rolled their eyes.