“I didn’t think we’d be leaving the city for this,” I muttered as the scenery outside the window flew by. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been outside our little neighbourhood, never mind the greater urban area. I didn’t exactly crave the great outdoors, but I could appreciate the novelty of traveling down the back roads, through these quaint rural areas.

  Between the rough road, which caused the BEI van to rock violently and the fact that there was nothing to see but empty fields, the novelty faded quite quickly leaving behind nausea and boredom.

  “So, agent Lawson, where exactly are we going?” I asked our driver. “I kind of expected to be going to one of the enclaves, not some facility in the middle of nowhere.”

  When I’d come down to start loading the van with our essentials I’d expected to meet some random BEI agent, I hadn’t expected to see the two agents who first interviewed me. Maybe the BEI thought that traveling with familiar faces would be less stressful for my mother and I. Of course, if they’d bothered to put any serious thought into it they probably would have realized that sending the two agents that brought my peaceful life to an end, wasn’t the most comforting choice. Whatever, I wasn’t going to complain about it, that would only complicate the citation further.

  “I wouldn’t say the Empowered Educational Institute is ‘In the middle of nowhere’,” the woman chuckled, “It’s only half an hour outside the city. It was created so that Empowered people could get an impartial education without feeling excessive pressure to join one enclave over another.”

  The woman paused for a moment, then muttered, “In theory anyways,” under her breath. “And you don’t have to keep calling me Agent Lawson all the time, I’m going to be your case agent, so you can call me Pamula, or Pam.”

  I glanced at the woman for a moment before sighing. “Sure ‘Pam’, whatever you say.”

  “So since the EEI isn't located in an Enclave, does it mean it’s not located in an isolated district?” my mother asked, trying to redirect the discussion.

  Pam sighed. “Unfortunately, the two of you are going to have to get used to the idea of living within a walled area. Like it or not, it’s a matter of public safety. Empowered people cause Ruptures to form just by existing, and having perimeter walls prevents the extradimensional threats from threatening non Empowered areas.”

  “I know what you’re thinking, it sounds like a prison, but I assure you both the Empowered Educational Institute, and the Enclaves, are pretty nice places to live,” her partner, Agent Mac, explained from the passenger seat. “The EEI is located inside the small town of Willow Bend, and even though the entire place is surrounded by a low wall, you’ll have unrestricted access to the entire town. Instead of thinking of it as confinement, you can consider it as a chance to experience a year of small town living, paid for by the government.”

  “Small town living, with an added chance of being ripped apart by extra dimensional entities,” I grumbled.

  “That’s true… but almost all the Empowered in town are students, with extremely low power levels, and all the stores have personal shelters. Because the strength of the rupture is proportional to the power of the Empowered that caused it, there hasn’t been a serious incident in years. The Ruptures are weak enough that BEI agents can suppress them without the help of any Empowered people,” Pam said. “Which isn’t something you’ll encounter in the enclaves very often.”

  “So, only half the students will die if there’s a rupture, instead of all of them” I muttered. “Huzzah!”

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  “Tammy, I know you’re stressed, but you don’t have to snap at every little thing,” my mother whispered gently as she leaned over and rubbed my back.

  “Yes I do, it’s my main coping mechanism,” I huffed.

  Agent Mac snorted at my comment, but the Van otherwise fell quiet as I went back to watching the scenery.

  Despite only being half an hour outside the city, it felt like the drive took forever. I kept glancing forward, expecting to see some imposing concrete wall blocking our way, marking the perimeter of the Willow Brook, so I was surprised when the van pulled up to a small, rather unassuming checkpoint. Instead of a cold concrete wall, there was a fancy nine foot brick wall topped by wrought iron branching out in both directions. It looked like the sort of thing I would have expected around a high class university instead of an Empowered school.

  While Agent Lawson filled out some paperwork with the guard, I noticed another car casually pass through the checkpoint heading out of town. I couldn’t help but stare in surprise.

  “What? You didn’t think the town was completely isolated from the outside, did you?” Mac chuckled as he watched me through the rearview mirror. “Non-Empowered people are allowed to come and go from Willow Brook as they please.”

  “Then, how do they keep the students from leaving? They didn’t inspect the car that closely, and I doubt the wall is high enough to keep someone from jumping the wall,” I asked.

  “Once we get to the school you’ll receive a smart watch, which’ll be used to monitor your position while you’re at the school, for safety purposes,” he explained, the smile falling from his lips. “The school has a zero tolerance policy, and anyone that attempts to jump the wall, or intentionally sabotages the watch, risks being labeled renegade, just like anyone that runs from an Enclave. I’m sure you understand the reason for that better than anyone.”

  I nodded wordlessly in response.

  After Pam finished the paperwork, she slowly drove through the gate and into the town. I was surprised, I was expecting some sort of government gulag but Willow Brook looked like a regular, modern, town. The main strip had a variety of small family owned stores, along with a big box grocery store and even a variety of fast food and coffee shops. There were a ton of people just casually strolling down the street, laughing as if there wasn’t a chance that reality might rip open at every moment.

  As we approached the end of town Mac pulled a file folder out of the briefcase at his feet and passed it back to my mother. “Although the Bureau can’t straight up give you a job here, it’s not like we have an office around here, so I made some inquiries and arranged some interviews for you. You’ll be responsible for calling the associated numbers, and arranging the times yourself.”

  “Thank you!” she replied, surprised. After leafing through the thin pile of paper her brow furrowed. “I don’t see any service jobs in here…”

  “I read your record, and figured you might want to avoid that kind of work after everything you’d been through the last few years. You’re qualified for all the jobs listed, even if you haven’t used those skills in a while, but if you’d rather get another service job, I can make some inquiries.”

  My mother flinched back, quickly shaking her head. “No, of course not. Thank you very much for your help!”

  While those two discussed a few details about the town, I became engrossed in the scenery outside the window. As we left the town, the quaint houses gave way to a well maintained lawn lined with oak trees.

  We turned down a long paved drive, past a series of small parks lined with walking paths, and up towards a large cluster of buildings. Most of them had a similar aesthetic to the outer wall, fancy brick with wrought iron detailing.

  Pam parked the van in front of an older looking, L-shaped stone brick building. It had tall, thin windows, and an ornate clock tower that emerged from the center of the building. It felt older than the other surrounding buildings, but still felt like somehow fit in with the more modern architecture.

  “Since we’re not allowed to leave your side until you’re checked in, we’re going to take you to registration first, then we’ll help you get settled in at the residence,” Pam explained.

  I slipped out of the door, and waited at the front of the van for everyone to gather up. Surprisingly, despite there being a lot of people walking around, I didn’t receive that many glances. I guess driving up in a marked BEI van wasn’t a big deal when the school was full of empowered people.

  It was such a little thing, but the complete disinterest actually made me feel a little bit better, more confident about my situation. Pretty much everyone here had encountered a similar situation to me, being ripped from their previous mundane life and whisked away to this town just because they were identified as Empowered. It made me feel like less of a freak than usual.

  As soon as she walked up my mother threw an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a side hug. “Deep breaths, I know it’s a little scary, but we’ll get through this, together.”

  Slowly stepping forward we followed Pam towards the heart of the admin building, mentally preparing myself for the many challenges yet to come.

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