It didn’t take us long to empty the small transport truck, and put away our things. The bureau had sent most of our stuff to a storage unit back in town, all we really had to do was put the dishes away and make the beds.

  “I’m glad the agents reminded me to pick up some groceries before coming, there’s absolutely nothing in this kitchen,” my mother hummed. “Do you think there’s a store around here?”

  “Probably,” I shrugged. “It’s a pretty big ‘neighborhood’, so there’s probably at least a corner store. I’m pretty sure I saw a grocery store when we were going through the town too.”

  “I did too, but that’s a long way to walk. Hopefully the campus has a bus service, or there’s a closer store, otherwise getting groceries is going to be a problem,” she sighed.

  “Maybe we can find something about it in the information package,” I suggested. “The intake officer said they’d leave one on the table…”

  I paused just long enough to take in the completely empty kitchen table, before sighing. “Of course it’s not here… I don’t know why I ever expected otherwise. I guess I could just go out and wander around for a while, see if I can find anything. I’ve been cooped up in those government offices for so long that it’d feel good to get out and stretch my legs.”

  “Before you go wandering around, would you mind just popping over to the neighbor’s unit and see if they have a copy we can borrow?” my mother asked lightly. “It’ll save us a lot of time and effort in the long run. I’m sure I saw a notepad around here, I’ll just jot down the important information so we have it.”

  “You want me to go next door and visit the neighbors, in a school residential district?” I asked incredulously. “Do you honestly think that’s a good idea?”

  “It’s one o’clock on a Friday. If they have kids they should be in school right now, so you have nothing to worry about,” my mother replied. “Besides, it’ll only take you two minutes, you can go on your walk afterwards.”

  “Fine,” I grumbled as I grabbed my coat off the back of one of the chairs and headed to the door. Hairy was already there, bouncing from one foot to the other like a hyperactive six year old. A soft metallic grating noise from the room behind me let me know that Tyberius and Angelica were probably right behind me.

  I held the door open while I slipped my shoes on, giving everyone plenty of time to get out before I followed them.

  The street outside was almost unnervingly quiet, the only people that I saw were out walking their dog. It was quite the difference from the busy intercity neighbourhood I was used to. The fact that the entire neighbourhood consisted of nearly identical, slightly uncanny, bunker houses did nothing to relieve any of the uneasiness I felt.

  After zipping up my jacket, and shoving my hands into my pocket, I carefully made my way down the short sidewalk and headed towards the next house over.

  “I don’t like it here,” Hairy whined, his head constantly twisting back and forth. “The air tastes funny.”

  “Probably because this entire campus is full of Empowered people, and a Rupture could open at any moment,” I muttered. “I wouldn’t consider myself sensitive to this sort of thing, but even I can feel that there’s something wrong with the area. Probably all the instability.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “That’s not a good thing,” Tyberious growled.

  “I know, but it’s not like I can do anything about it. I’m stuck here until the government says otherwise. We’re just going to keep our heads down, and hope the government labels me as a ‘non-threat’ when my year’s up,” I said, shuddering slightly as I turned up the neighbor’s walkway.

  The only thing that differentiated 236 Henley Heights from our own little ‘bungalow’ was the color. It was a dark caramel color, instead of forest green. It had the same short walk, shrubs by the door, and reinforced entrances. Just based upon the position of the windows I’d guess that it had the exact same floor plan, and furniture too.

  I marched up to the door, took a moment to work up my confidence, then knocked.

  There was a faint thud from inside, followed by the sound of someone running through the house. I stepped back just as the door was violently jerked open revealing a girl about my age, in her pajamas.

  Her long blond hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, and she was wearing some half rim dark metal glasses. What really threw me off though, was the smile.

  “Hey! You must be the new neighbor! Nice to meet you, I’m Olivia,” she beamed, sticking out a hand. “I thought about coming out to introduce myself when you first drove up, but decided it would be better to let you settle in then bring my family over later, after they home.”

  I took another half-step back, surprised by the bright welcome. I stared at her blankly for a few seconds before finally shaking off my stupor and taking Olivia’s hand. “Tamara Monroe, and yeah, I just moved in next door with my mom.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Olivia smiled, gesturing me inside. “What can I do for you today?”

  “When I went through the registration process I was told that our unit was supposed to have some sort of welcome, or information package, but it wasn’t there, so my mom asked me to stop by and see if you had one we could borrow,” I said cautiously.

  “Oh sure, my mom spent the first two days going through it in such excruciating detail that she’s probably memorized most of it. I don’t think she’ll mind if you borrow it for a couple days,” Olivia replied brightly. She grabbed a thick folio from one of the side tables and held it out to me. Her brow furled when I hesitated to take it. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I mumbled as I awkwardly accepted the sheaf of papers. “I’ll be honest, I’m finding this whole situation a little odd. Don’t you find me awkward, or disturbing to be around?”

  Olivia raised an eyebrow. “No, it’s actually quite the opposite. I find your presence to be almost comforting, and your awkward, befuddled attitude to be quite cute. Why?”

  “Because I’m used to all my classmates avoiding me like the plague! I don’t remember the last time I actually talked to someone my own age,” I explained.

  “Well, yeah, kids are more sensitive to Instability than adults. Once my powers developed all my friends slowly drifted away from me. It was an awkward couple of months. Did you really find it that bad?” Oliva asked, a small smirk growing at the corner of her mouth.

  “I haven’t interacted with anyone my age since I was six,” I told her flatly.

  Olivia looked at me for several seconds, before she stepped back, her smile falling away. “No shit? I can see on your face that you’re not fucking with me. How did that happen?”

  “Apparently I don’t give off Instability the same way other people do, so the school’s old school detectors didn’t register anything. It wasn’t until I was nearly caught in a Rupture, and the BEI performed some tests, that I found out,” I explained.

  “Fuck… that sucks. I don’t know if I would have been able to handle something like that, I found it hard enough to deal with slowly being isolated over a couple months. How did you manage to stand years of that?” Oliva asked quietly.

  “It wasn’t easy, but I had good people around to support me,” I said vaguely.

  Oliva gaped at me for a few seconds before standing up straight. “Hey, what are you planning on doing this afternoon?”

  “I was going to drop this off back at the house, then maybe go explore the neighbourhood. Why?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Perfect! That’ll give me just enough time to change, I’ll come with! I’ll meet you out front of your house in a couple minutes, okay? Don’t leave without me!” Oliva called as she disappeared into one of the side bedrooms.

  “Ahh… okay?” I just managed to answer awkwardly before her door slammed shut. I glanced around the small house for a few seconds before slowly backing away. “I’ll just leave then, shall I?”

  I slipped outside, remembering to shut the big metal door behind me, and let out a long sigh. When I looked up Hairy, Tyberius and Angelica were there, hoving just a couple feet away from my face.

  “So,” Angelica asked hesitantly, “How’d it go?”

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