Chapter 13: Almost an esper
"Okay, so I'm thinking that we go at this from the angle that Captain Thatcher noticed Guide Woods potential on the front lines originally, and-" Casper was interrupted by Ms. Hill.
"Oh, me too! I saw first hand how skilled he is on the front lines." Casper frowned at her interruption, but continued. Ms. Hill pouted at being ignored, turning away from them on the couch and unwrapping another lollipop.
"So he noticed your potential, but then you left the front lines. A couple of months go by, then the incident at Guiding Center B takes place. Captain notices that Guide Woods works there and takes this chance to talk with him. He also notices that there has been a request for a retest for a Guide from Guiding Center B. Going off of a hunch, he shows up at the Center and it happens to be Guide Woods. Things happen, you get retested, and low and behold! What a great match. Wow. Everyone goes wild, and look! Guide Woods has also gone up in Class! Everyone loses their mind over this new information." Everyone stared at Casper for a moment, before Ms. Hill broke the silence.
"Casper, have you been reading in your free time? Because that was reeeeeeeally close to what actually happened." Casper flushed, but seemed to be slightly proud of himself. He cleared his throat, while the Captain continued to play with a piece of Kellen's hair.
"I talk to Pamela quite regularly, and we go over worst case scenarios. Captain's exclusive partner popping up out of nowhere is one of them." Ms. Hill stared at the other Lieutenant.
"How is that the worst case scenario? That seems like the best outcome to me." She asked, and curious too, Kellen didn't say anything, only waited for Casper to speak. He adjusted his glasses.
"Well, no matter how or when Captain Thatcher found his partner, it was always going to cause waves. I mean, it's the Captain." Ms. Hill nodded, but so did Kellen's Mom. "So Pamela and I decided it was better to have a plan in place for when it did happen so we weren't caught by surprise. I mean, finding out your match rate while helping with tests is fairly common, so it's not the worst story to go with." Casper's cheeks were slightly pink, while Captain smirked. The Captain shifted slightly towards the Guide next to him.
"I am pleased to find out that you two care so much about my relationships." He said dryly and Casper laughed nervously.
"Ah, well, it was mostly for fun. Like problem solving." He muttered and Kellen watched the man. Kellen had a feeling that if things went well, he probably would get along with him.
"So, it sounds like we have a fairly solid plan already. I take it that not many people know about the Captain's powers to drain others?" Somber faces met Kellen's words. "Then this cover story is reasonable. It should be noted that my powers might still increase over time, but I'm not sure what the rate is. I'll have to go over all of my other tests before I could give you a guess." Ms. Hill snorted.
"What? Are you going to math out the curve or something?" She teased and Kellen felt a wave of embarrassment at being called out so easily.