"What the hell have I done?"

Those were the words that plagued his mind as he shook Director Gray's hand in Captain Ruiz's office.

As he rode in the back of the police car home.

As he turned in for the night.

As he slept.

As he woke up the very next morning.

As he rode in the director's black SUV to see this 'organization.'

"You're probably asking yourself why you agreed, right?" the director's deep voice brought him back to reality. He was dressed formally once again, with a black two-piece suit, opting to be without a tie. Michael couldn't help but gulp nervously.

Sure, the man was smiling down at him but he was still intimidating none the less. Michael had noticed how his eyes travelled around, observing everything keenly, from the oblivious passerby to the pigeons flying above, minding their business.

"Well, shouldn't I?" he asked. The director chuckled softly. "Oh, you should. I'd be scared if you didn't."

Michael rose an eyebrow. "Um... aren't you going to say anything to ease my mind?"

Now it was the director's turn to raise an eyebrow. "And why would I do that? Just remember why you said yes in the first place, and you'll be fine."

Michael shifted in his seat uncomfortably and the director smiled. Director Gray had said if he didn't say yes to the proposal, Slick and Heath would keep coming for him, and Captain Ruiz had openly admitted that they were on another level.
He had had no choice really. The director basically strong-armed him into saying yes.

They rode in silence, the radio playing some trap song Michael didn't know. The director though did, he mumbled the lines under his breath unconsciously.

Soon, they pulled up in front of an abandoned warehouse. That was strange, where did it come from? There was an old man sitting in a small cubicle to the right of the warehouse.

He looked up and noticed the SUV. He stood up rather lazily, almost like he had been doing this for a long time. He walked over to the driver of the car and discussed some things with the driver; things Michael could barely make out from where he sat.

He heard something about a card and how the kids were.

Yup, made no sense.

The driver reached into his jacket and brought a card out. He handed it to the old man who walked over to the garage-like door of the warehouse.
He swiped the card over a red box that instantly turned green. The door gave a low hiss and opened slowly.

That gave the old man enough time to return the card and sit in his little cubicle. Michael idly wondered if the man had worked here all his life. He seemed to like his job. A small smile rested on his dry lips as he watched them drive in.

The change of scenery gave Michael vertigo.

Who would have thought an abandoned warehouse would be a gateway to this... this... Michael couldn't find the right words to describe what he was seeing. His mouth hung open as he stared out the window.

"Amazing right?" Director Gray said with a hint of pride in his voice. He tapped the seat of the driver and the SUV slowly came to a halt.

"We're going for a little sightseeing, aren't we Michael?" asked the director as he opened the door and got down, the blonde doing the same.

"Woah..."

Michael wasn't one to appreciate scenery. Living in a well-furnished mansion all your life did that to you. But even he couldn't resist the pure beauty of this place. He looked back hoping to see the garage-like door of the warehouse but it wasn't there. In its place stood a large regal black gate made of long iron bars. The old man was nowhere to be found too.

Just what was going on?

The black SUV rounded a water fountain that also served as a roundabout, before it headed to where Michael assumed would be the parking lot.

Director Gray was already walking towards the tallest building when Michael snapped out of his amazement. He quickened his steps, so he'd catch up to the director. He idly noted that the floor was paved with interlocking blocks.

The main entrance to the tall building was a sensor door and it opened automatically as soon as they got close.

Director Gray didn't give him enough time to take in the ground floor because he was already heading for the elevator. He did manage to notice a receptionist attending to some people behind his marble tiled desk, a security guard clad in black, getting a cup of water from the dispenser, and in general, people walking about, all dressed formally.

The elevator opened with a graceful ding and they both walked in. Director Gray clicked on the button that had the number 13 on it. Then they stood, watching the elevator close slowly.

By Michael's guess, that was probably the top floor, because there was no button with a higher number. The elevator music did little to ease the silence. The director seemed content with just standing there, so he did the same.
A graceful ding later, and the elevator opened. A few people were about to rush in but when they saw who was in the elevator, they stepped back quickly and nodded their heads.

"Good morning, Director," most of them said.

Director Gray waved slightly in acknowledgement, before he stepped out of the elevator, Michael following his lead. The first thing he noticed about the floor was the amount of ceiling to floor windows they had.

Every room had them. Well, he shouldn't really be surprised. The exterior of the building itself was mostly glass to begin with.

"So nice of you to come in early for a change," a feminine voice alerted Michael that someone had joined them. was almost as tall as the director, which meant she was pretty tall herself. She wore a white long-sleeved pantsuit which went well with her fairly toned skin. Her wavy brunette hair rested over her shoulder. Her eyes twinkled with mirth and surety; her matte red lipstick stood out strikingly.

She handed Director Gray a cup of coffee which he took a sip out of, immediately.

"What are you talking about? I come in early every day," the director replied coyly.
"Right. Of course you do." The sarcasm in her voice was evident. Michael couldn't help but smile a little at their back and forth.

She glanced at him and winked. "I'm Katherine. This bozo's secretary," she said, jerking her thumb at the director.

"Bozo?"

She ignored Director Gray's protest and kept talking. "And you must be Michael. I'm glad you decided to come." Said boy nodded his head and smiled politely.

Until something clicked in his head. Decided to come?

"Wait. I could decide if I wanted to come or not?"

It was the director's turn to ignore as he started walking away. "Where are you going?" Michael asked.

Katherine replied instead of Director Gray. "Director Gray's a very busy man. He has a ton of work to do. That's why I'll be the one to show you the ropes. Come on, let's go."

She was already making her way back to the elevator. Honestly, why did they come up if they were going to go back down? Katherine could have just met them at the ground floor or something.

He sighed as he followed her back to the elevator.

«»

Yeah, she was cool...

That was Michael's conclusion after spending just 20 to 30 minutes with Katherine. They were currently sitting on a bench under a large tree, drinking smoothies. Katherine had gotten it for them at the food stall just behind the administrative building. That's what she called the building they just left.

Other than that, all he knew was that she was Director Gray's secretary.

"So, Michael, what do you know about The COSP?" she asked. Michael looked at her, puzzled.

"The what?"

"The COSP. That's what this organization is called."

Now that she mentioned it, he did remember seeing something like that in the elevator, just above the buttons. She pronounced it alphabet by alphabet, not altogether.

"Oh. Um, well, I know it's an organization for evolved people, and that there are bad guys around too." She hummed as she sipped her smoothie.
"I'd tell you more about this place but that's not why I'm here. I'm just here to take you to your class," she told him.

Okay, now he was confused. Class? What class? No one told him about any class. Also, didn't she say she'd show him the ropes?

The confusion was probably obvious on his face because Katherine laughed at him a little. "What'd you think you'd come here to do?" she asked between laughs.

Michael frowned at this, reminding Katherine that he was still a kid.
"Director Gray said you guys are like the cops of evos, and that he wanted to recruit me, so I thought I'd be a cop or something," Michael explained.

Katherine noticed how serious he was, so she stopped smiling. "Yeah, that explanation is suitable for toddlers but okay. We're a lot more than just evolved cops. Of course, I'm not explaining it to you. You'll learn in class, let's go," she said as she stood and started walking away.

Michael followed her lead and walked closely behind her. To his left, there was a large expanse of green land. He noticed kids his age there, about twenty of them, talking amongst themselves.

Of course, Sheila's burnt orange hair stood out the most. He was about to call out for her, but he realized how silly he'd look, so he kept his hands back in his pocket.

After some lefts and rights, Katherine stopped in front of a bungalow. Compared to all the other buildings, it seemed... underwhelming and childish.
Underwhelming, because of the size and childish, because of the bright colors used. Katherine turned back at him and stretched her arms wide.

"Welcome to your class," she announced, a tad dramatically. The blond boy imagined fireworks would go off and balloons would come raining down with confetti. Fortunately, there was nothing of the sort.

She noticed his hesitation and asked if something was wrong.

"Well, yeah. I feel everything's happening so fast. Like, don't I have to register or something before I start classes?" he replied her.

That wasn't all he wanted to say, but he withheld further comments. He had long since learnt that it'd make no sense to overload a person with multiple questions. He also didn't want to be like all the weird cliché protagonists in all the shows he had watched over the years.

"Remember when I told you we're much more than just evolved cops?"

He nodded in reply with a raised eyebrow. It wasn't that long ago. Why was she treating him like he had short term memory? "Well, we retrieved your bio-data and stuff, so you're already registered."

Okay, that was borderline creepy. They had his personal information already? Without his consent?

"Wait, isn't that illegal?" he asked skeptically. She chuckled a little but it sounded dark and somewhat cynical to Michael. "Oh Michael. We determine what's legal and illegal. That reminds me... here," she reached into the pocket of her pantsuit and gave him a card.

He collected it and saw his picture there, along with other information on him.

"What am I -"

"- Okay, have fun on your first day. Try not to get yourself killed," she interrupted him before she walked away. The orphan couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

Some chaperone she was...

He pocketed the card and pushed the door of the bungalow open. What he saw next left him completely confused.

«»

Principal Matthews couldn't believe what he was hearing. He refused to accept it. And he couldn't believe that man sitting before him had accepted it already.

"We believe it's for the best, Principal Matthews."

He shook his head in defiance. "No, no. As an educationist, I don't think it's a good idea, Captain Ruiz."

He understood that with the captain being a police officer and all, he didn't really rate formal education. He just believed it'd keep kids out of trouble, but that didn't mean he should resign Michael McKing to a life of below-par education.

"By all means, Principal Matthews, do enlighten me on what you believe is a good idea," the captain said as he leaned back into the chair and folded his arms. Principal Matthews noticed the slight frown on Captain Ruiz's face.
They weren't known for their nice respectable relationship. He'd admit that he didn't really give the captain a chance to show him the good bits of himself, it's just that he didn't think there were good bits to begin with.

"Michael should remain in school. He should remain around his peers and -"

The captain interrupted him before he could continue. Like he said, no good bits to begin with. "-And what? Tough it out? Remain around his peers who remind him that he's not an ideal thirteen-year-old? Who remind him of what he has lost? Who he has lost?" the captain's voice was getting raised but he was quick to keep it in check.
"No, I won't allow it. From here on out, Michael will be home schooled and that's that."

"But -"

"- Oh, for God's sake, I said that's that!" Captain Ruiz partly yelled but the sound of him banging the table was more prominent. That took Principal Matthews by surprise.
Sure, the captain didn't have any good bits but he wasn't one to lose his cool that quickly. Something was definitely wrong. The dark-haired captain wasn't done.

"I only came to inform you out of common courtesy. Know that the decision has already been made, and there's nothing you can do about it. Take him off the school's database. He's no longer your student."

And with that, the captain stood up, ready to leave.

Principal Matthews did the same, they mirrored themselves and buttoned their jackets. The principal stretched his hand out for a shake. Captain Ruiz looked from his hand to his face, he kept his hands in his pockets and turned to leave, looking Principal Matthews in the face.

"Good day, Principal Matthews," he said with little emotion.

"Good day, Captain Ruiz," the bald principal replied after he pocketed his outstretched hand. He watched the esteemed captain close the door behind him, then he immediately slid the files off his desk in anger.

God, the man infuriated him!

You'd think after all those years, bygones would be bygones. Apparently, the word 'bygones' wasn't in the man's dictionary. He glanced at the files scattered on the floor and one of them stuck out. He reached down and picked it up slowly.

She was the one that instigated this 'change' in Michael. Before she arrived, Michael was... well, Michael. He had to get to the bottom of it all. Now that he thought about it, the reason her mom felt it necessary to withdraw her daughter was downright preposterous: because she didn't feel 'safe'.

What a load of crap...

Crestville High was the best public school in the state, if he did say so himself. Also, wasn't it so convenient that she stopped coming when Michael stopped coming?

"Sheila Gallagher eh. Who the hell are you?" he mused.

All he knew about her was that she was from California. He had never even met her parents in person. A lot of things didn't add up, but he'd try to make sense of them all.