None of us was allowed to bring our cellphones but we did have an intercom of sorts connected to our rooms so that the administration could contact us there if needed. As I lay on my bed following my bath, my intercom chimed. I rolled over and tapped the button to answer. The intercom shattered.

I stared at the broken pieces for several long seconds. In that moment, I wanted to rage and scream and knew it would be all too easy for me to wreck this entire place. Instead, I took a few long, deep breaths and then cried. I lowered my face down onto my pillow and didn’t stop crying until someone knocked on my door. I sat up, wiped my face, and got up off my bed. I remembered to be gentle this time as I opened my door.

Doctor Whimborn, or Tim as he preferred, stood there with a strained smile on his face.

“I heard about your day and thought I’d check in on you,” he said. “I tried to reach you on the intercom but…”

“Yeah, you can add that to my list of broken things,” I said, keeping my composure as best I could.

“On difficult days like this,” Tim went on, “it can be helpful to talk to your parents.” He held out a cellphone. “We have both your parent’s numbers.”

“I don’t want to talk to my mom,” I said at once.

“Your dad, then?” Tim asked.

“Sure,” I replied.

Doctor Whimborn tapped the screen a few times and soon, the phone was ringing. He handed it over, which I was especially careful with, and then he stepped back.

“I’ll just be out here when you’re done,” he said.

I closed the door and then sat down on the edge of my bed.

“Hello?” My dad answered groggily and I remembered that I was in a completely different time zone than he was. So while it was late morning here, it was probably the middle of the night for him.

“Hi, dad, it’s me, did I wake you?”

“Misha?” His voice brightened immediately. “It’s so good to hear you. How are you settling in?”

I opened my mouth to say I was fine but the words wouldn’t come. My throat constricted and tears began to flow once more. I shut my eyes and images of what I’d done earlier that day, the injured and the dead bodies all around me, filled my head.

“Misha are you alright?”

“No, dad,” I choked out. “I’m not alright. I messed up real bad today and a lot of people got hurt.”

“They have healers, though, right?” He asked, concern heavy in his voice.

“Yes, and everyone’s been healed, but I still can’t get them out of my head. I see them and know it was my fault and I’m afraid I’ll do it again, and what if it happens when there’s no healers around?”

“Well,” my dad finally said after a heavy pause, “that’s why you’re there, right? To learn to control your strength so you don’t have accidents.”

“But what if I’m too strong, dad? What if I can’t–

“You can,” my dad interrupted. “It’s hard right now because you’re just starting out but you’ll get there. Just be patient with yourself and with the process. I wish I could be there to sit you on my lap,” he added when I continued to sob, “and tell you its all going to be okay.”

“It’s not okay,” I said through my tightening throat.

“I know it’s not,” my dad agreed, “but it will be eventually. Just focus on that.”

“Okay, dad.” I still wasn’t alright but I did feel somewhat better. “I should let you get back to sleep.”

“I’m alright to keep talking,” he assured me.

“No, I should let you go. I have lunch coming up anyway and I can’t hide in my room all day.”

I certainly could stay in my room all day but I didn’t want my dad thinking he was obligated to stay up just for me. “I love you dad.”

“I love you too, Misha. Call me any time you need.”

“I will. Bye.”

“Good bye.”

He hung up and I ever so gently tapped the screen to close the call as well. I walked back over to the door and opened it. Tim was standing a few feet away and looked up as I handed him back his phone.

“Lunch is in a few minutes,” he said. “Would you like to come and eat?”

I knew I ought to. I was certainly hungry after everything that had happened but I didn’t want to be the subject of conversation as the girl who nearly wiped out her entire class.

“Do I have to eat in the cafeteria?”

“Of course not,” Tim replied, ushering me towards the exit. “Many of the students prefer to eat outside or in their dorms.”

I let him guide me across the campus to Cane Hall where the rest of the supers were gathering to get their lunch. I had never really considered how many of us there were here but now I did a quick count and was surprised to find there were well over a hundred of us.

“I believe it’s lasagna, baked potato, and steamed vegetables today,” Tim said as he held open the door for me.

That did sound good and the closer we got the stronger the smell of the food became. As we reached the cafeteria Tim let me go ahead and join the queue. No one seemed to be staring or pointing at me. Maybe word hadn’t spread, or, a new thought struck me, what if this sort of thing wasn’t that uncommon here? I may be the strongest, physically, but every super here was particularly powerful and capable of doing great harm. That was why we were here.

“Hey Misha,” a slightly muffled voice said from behind.

I turned and was mortified to find the boy from my class who’s legs I’d severed. His mask was still a bit dusty from before but he looked fine all things considered.

“Um, hi,” I replied awkwardly. “How’re you doing?”

I wanted to kick myself after asking him that. He’d just had his legs blown off and then put back on. How did I think he was doing?

“Doing alright,” he said with a shrug. “I was wondering if you wanted to eat lunch together?”

I stared at him in disbelief. Was this some sort of twisted syndrome going on, making him attracted to me because of what I’d done to him?

“I heard what Minh said about not being able to give you a mind wipe,” he went on when I didn’t respond. “Figured you could use some company.”

“How can you act so normal around me?” I demanded even though I knew what Minh had done to him and the others.

“Minh explained it to you, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he did,” I admitted.

“For us it’s like a movie we saw,” he explained. “Nothing more.”

“Well to me it’s still real,” I choked back the tears that were threatening to return in force.

“I know, that’s why–

“I know!” I almost shouted but caught myself before I could make a scene.

“I killed an entire building’s worth of people my first day here,” he said without any preamble. “My mask isn’t exactly comfortable so I kept sneaking a few breaks where I’d take it off. I exhale a very toxic gas and thought if I was by a window it’d be fine. I didn’t realize that window was right next to the air intake for the entire building. Ended up sucking it right back inside and poisoning the whole building. When I went back to class I found everyone on the ground having convulsions, bleeding out their eyes and ears. The healers were almost too late to save everyone.”

“Why are you telling me this? It’s just a movie to you.”

“It isn’t,” he replied. “Minh told me he only does that when it’s an accident. I was being reckless and he wanted me to remember the consequences of my actions.”

That gave me pause.

“It happened last week,” he continued. “I’ve only been here a few days longer than you. Half the students from our math class were in the building I gassed. Most of us have either been hurt or hurt someone else badly enough that we’ve needed the healers. That’s why we’re here.”

By this time we’d reached the front of the line and loaded up our trays.

“I have a place I usually eat,” he said. “Come on.”

I followed him without further argument.