Since Minx left the cooking gear behind, they would be eating a raw diet for the next 36 hours, though she did seal some food from the various trays around her in the lunchroom. She had bowls of fruit and untouched rolls. She could grow fruit but having something prepared was different than fresh, and nice to have once in a while.
For now, Minx grew various plants under the tree and they would simply graze for the time being. Midas stole a lot of water, almost filling his bag, from the kitchen. Well, not really from the kitchen, per se… A telekinesis user stole from the kitchen and he stole from the telekinesis user. The guy was quite angst when all he stole kept vanishing but Midas somehow managed to succeed in his heist.
Both siblings rested against trunk, one eating a handful of peas, the other a cucumber. Without realizing it, they had the same thoughts. No more waking in the night to the screams from the basement or other rooms. No more "White Coat" announcements from the trees, eliciting a hasty escape to the safety of the forest. No more fear of whether they would see the next dawn.
The orphanage claimed the No Ability rule was about fairness, but the twin felt it was to make the abuse easier to carry out. Neither had any guesses why torture was conducted on innocent children in the name of science.
The kids would be fine. By the time the White Coats left, they were broken. They had all kinds of injures. Some lost control of their bodily functions. Some even lost their lives.
Minx realized very early in her life that adults could not be trusted. They either hurt you or stood by while others hurt you. It was only thanks to the meditations that Minx started four years ago that she was able to cope. They also enabled her to be able to read energy of those around her enabling her to maintain her cool around adults who were not strong rather than flipping out at every new adult until she learned which would harm her and which just watched the harm being done. It was difficult if not impossible for Minx to function round strong adults.
Their weekend passed in relaxation alternated with training. Minx practiced her ability plus the two practiced some fighting moves they learned from poutube.
Sunday morning, the twins timidly stood outside a house they never set foot in with their fingers crossed. A bus pulled up and a large, muscular man stepped off. Midas thought he was staring at a mountain with eyes. Minx was frozen to the spot. If she spoke, she knew she'd rhyme and didn't think the walking mountain would appreciate her whit. Midas gulped.
"Minx and Midas Botan?" came his deep, barrel rumbling voice. "Do you live here?"
Again, they nodded. Minx gave the husky man a brilliant smile and he waved them on the bus.
They took one step and he started hollering "Move it! Move it! Move it!" until they were safely seated and the bus could move.
They were the first stop, so they sat I the front to ed the yelling as quickly as possible. His hat reminded them of some really old videos of law enforcement from hundreds of years ago. Within 30 minutes, Midas had his head on his sister's shoulder, drooling as he slept.
Minx thought the military was a necessary evil but corrupted and exploited the weak. If she were given a choice, being a maid for a vampire was a better career choice than joining the military. They continued the societal structure of bullying as a means to achieve strength. In short, they were barbarians. The draft at 16 was a result of the tenuous peace with the dalki. Every day the media spoke of one incident or another that threatened that peace. Service was not mandatory but the two years of training were.
Minx noticed the stop had been completed as the seats were now filled. She had been lost in her thoughts like usual. She felt tired and was soon asleep. When she woke up, she and Midas were no longer on the bus.
As she awoke, she noticed her brother sleeping on the ground beside her and a watch on her wrist. She knelt down and patted his cheek until he woke up. He had a watch as well. Looking around, they all had one. Then she looked around and noticed a few faces that were seated behind her were still behind her, just on the ground instead of a seat.
They had been placed in the order they had sat on the bus. This meant the people in front of her were from a different bus. There were other lines as well on a green field, around 500 students in all.
Ahead of those students was a platform. Students' names were called and teleported away in groups of five.
There were two adults on the platform. One was writing things onto her tablet. The other would occasionally produce a book from thin air and hand it to the student who had provided their information.
Minx noticed one boy hugging the book as if his life depended on it. Another boy, 5'11" with curly black hair, was given the book then returned it, after seeming to think it over, which caught Minx 's interest. Did he just refuse an ability book? she thought.
The next boy she had been watching more closely. He was blond, 6'2" tall, chiseled face and sharp jaw line who appeared super friendly. He was shaking hands with everyone and those who refused to shake hands, he'd touch their shoulder. She couldn't keep her eyes off him as she thought, He can touch me anytime. She was still thinking about him when she found her feet walking onto the platform.
"Name and ability," the short brunette stated.
"Minx Botan. My ability is plants."
The lady gave her a strange look then put the military watch on her as she had done all the others. Minx had missed that part because she was distracted by the tall blond that had temporarily gotten away from her. She stood off to the side as directed by a hand gesture and then it was her brother's turn.
"Name and ability," he heard.
"Midas Botan, miss. I have no ability."
A book instantly appeared in the hands of the man to her side and Midas took it with both hands, a nod and a "thank you."
He stood off to the side next to his sister and soon, three more were added to their party. As soon as the fifth person was there, they were teleported away.
The first thing they saw when they reached their destination was a middle-aged woman in a white lab coat who appeared to be emotionally void. Her face bore no expression and she held her tablet and stylus like a clipboard. Her dark hair was in a tight bun with not even a strand out of place. She was simply there to direct and observe. Next to her was a man in black with a hood over his face.
"My name is Jane. I'm here to direct your assessment today." She looked at her tablet and decided who should go first.
"I will be making sure the correct ability level is displayed on your watches after you have demonstrated your strength. Will Midas Botan please step forward? You are first."
Minx smiled at her brother knowing he'd get the dreaded "1" on his watch but that would change. She would need to do her normal thing…
The question plaguing her was how difficult would it be in this environment? He would learn the earth ability as all those the military "helped" did. He also would be wrapped up into the bullying ring as a result. She was in for a challenge as she knew she had to protect her twin from the monsters pulling the strings.
She watched as her brother was escorted across the scorched earth that Minx wondered if she could even get anything to grow in. It had obviously been used for this purpose for a long time. She inwardly shook her head marking yet another reason she hated the military, their blatant disregard for the plant life on this planet. Were they even on Earth?
She heard the instruction of "destroy the targets in front of you quickly" and watched the woman walk away. When Susan was about 30 feet away, three round targets popped up but they had circles that depicted a target, three in total with a dot in the middle.
Midas ran up to each and punched them. The next test was to punch a drum and Midas was informed his strength was a 7.
The third test was for dexterity. The test taker was to avoid spikes which flew their direction and they got faster over time.
This one, Minx was particularly interested in. Was she allowed to use her vines on them? Did she want a high number? She needed to stay at a 5 for the whole year but how can she make sure she does? She observed as her brother got eliminated pretty quickly.
"Midas Botan, your strength is 7, agility is 5. Overall ability level is 1 but make sure you study that book and you can reassess."
Midas smiled brightly, "I will, thank you!"