Is this destiny?

In Masika\'s room…

Zack sat on the chair and observed the neat room. There is a seating area (where he is), a bed, a desk with a chair, and floating shelves filled with books. Everything is in its place.

Above the desk is a corkboard with a number of photos attached to it. Zack wanted to see who is on the photos, but he was afraid of how that would be too nosy, so he told himself to stay put. 

"We have about twenty minutes until dinner. Do you want to drink something?", Masika asked.

Zack rejected her offer. "No, thanks. I\'m fine."

Masika grabbed a bottle of water and sat opposite from him.

"The summer is over, what do you plan to do now?", Zack asked.

"Study mostly. If I keep my current pace, in two years I can start college."

"I thought you are already taking college-level courses."

Masika bobbed her head excitedly. "Those are advanced high-school courses which give me college credits. But I want to try out a course or two in person. I hear that UCLA is amazing and I want to experience sitting in a big classroom, surrounded with like-minded strangers, and listen to the lecture."

Zack smiled. He likes her enthusiasm and desire to try new things. "Do you know what major you want to take?"

"I\'m thinking about a few options, but at this point, I want to be a firearms engineer."

Zack was surprised by her choice. In his mind, she is a delicate girl who should go for a clean office job, in a sharp business suit... something with computers probably. "How did you pick that?"

"I know how to use firearms.", Masika said confidently. "I want a chance to improve them. And it\'s not only about explosives. Current weapons are getting mixed in with robotics and artificial intelligence, so there will be mechanics and coding as well. All those things interest me. A big bonus is that I can go to Charlie and ask for a job at Smithsonite corp. With his reference, I will get job easily.", Masika ended smugly. She saw that Zack is listening with interest. "How about you?"

"Me? I finished school a long time ago."

Masika knows that Zack didn\'t go beyond high school. "Don\'t you think that getting a college degree can be beneficial?"

"Not really.", Zack admitted. "It\'s not necessary for the type of work I\'m doing."

"Sarah does not agree with that. She reminds us that accidents happen. Now you can go and fight, but what if you get shot or your limbs are broken and you can\'t go on missions anymore? What will you do then without an education? Are you counting that your living expenses will be covered? Are you really fine with letting others take care of you? The Zack I know is not a passive guy. The Army of Chaos members have options to get their degrees online, you should look it up. I can help you with picking a major and a program if you want."

Zack smiled. He likes the idea of Masika coming to him for something non-mission related. But he can\'t say that right away. "I will think about it and let you know."

…

They all had dinner in the massive dining hall which is in the house where kids and staff are staying.

During dinner, Sarah asked JoAnna about the condition of Master Hollow.

"He is recuperating well.", JoAnna said. "Imani is doing a great job with medications and dressing his wounds."

"When can I get out of this?", Master Hollow gestured to the wheelchair.

JoAnna exhaled. This old man does not like to sit in the wheelchair, he told her that many times and she is surprised to see that he is not walking around sneakily. "You can start moving slowly and carefully. When you feel discomfort, you need to stop."

"Do you have an estimate when he will be recovered fully?", Sarah asked.

"If he takes good care of himself… Maybe in two to three months he can resume his usual activities.", JoAnna said. "But, I don\'t recommend that he returns home for the winter."

"Cold doesn\'t bother me.", Master Hollow grumbled.

"Yes, I know. You are a superman, but your healing abilities are a bit lacking.", JoAnna said sarcastically. "You need to face the facts that you are not getting any younger and that you need to take care of your body."

"Do you want to go home?", Sarah asked.

Master Hollow glanced toward Bo, Souta, and Wing and hesitated. "Do we need to talk about it now?"

"No. But now is the beginning of the school year. You know that all of you are welcome here, and if you decide to stay over winter, it will allow you to recuperate and we can get Bo, Souta, and Wing to enroll into a school.", Sarah said casually. She knows that if she mentioned only Master Hollow\'s recovery, he would probably deny staying due to his stubbornness. But with his disciples in the picture, it\'s a different story.

Master Hollow is not willing to accept staying long term, but he found an excuse not to reject. "OK. I will talk to them and see what they want to do."

Sarah smiled and glanced at Aiden. Both of them know that if it\'s up to those three, they are staying.

The topic moved to JoAnna\'s delivery.

"Are you scared? Excited?", Sarah asked Jeff and JoAnna.

"All of it.", Jeff responded honestly.

"We will be there.", Sarah said.

Jeff smiled gratefully. "I only hope that Anna is well after this."

JoAnna nudged him. "Of course, I will be fine. The best ObGyn in the city will perform the surgery and Emma and Imani will be there…" JoAnna said that Jeff will also enter the operating room and that he can\'t decide if he will cut the umbilical cords or not.

"It\'s not that I don\'t want to do it, but the reality is that if I don\'t faint, I will count it as a success.", Jeff admitted.

They watched a video of a C-section and Jeff barely kept his food down. In the video, they cut up the belly and he can see the insides, and the babies are tiny and slimy and gross and then they patch up the woman, and there is a lot of fluids and blood and… he is queasy just by thinking of it. Ah, and he will get to see it live tomorrow!

JoAnna laughed when she saw that Jeff is losing color from his face. "You will do great. I need you to be my strength, remember?"

"Luckily, Jeff is channeling my stress, so I feel fine.", JoAnna said jokingly.

…

At the end of the dinner, Sarah reminded kids that starting tomorrow, they are resuming their usual schedule: morning run, breakfast, study time, lunch, the afternoon is free, and then dinner.

Aiden said that tomorrow, after the morning run, they can do self-guided exercises if they want because he will not be there. "Don\'t try anything new without approval from Haru, Allen, or Julius.", Aiden reminded them.

Master Hollow cleared his throat and added: "I will be there if assistance is needed."

Sarah addressed the study time in the morning. "It is time for us to start the next academic year. Each of you went through testing recently and you are aware of your results. You have in your rooms booklets with information on courses that are available for you to take. Tomorrow morning, I will be at the hospital, welcoming my niece and nephew." Sarah glanced at JoAnna\'s belly and then continued addressing kids seated at the tables: "Use that time to go through the booklets, talk among each other, and pick the courses you want to take. In two days, I will meet with you to discuss your choices. By the end of the week, I hope that we can decide what you will do for the next school year. Based on that, we will figure out if you will take courses online, or we will get a tutor, or maybe you go and attend classes or take practical training in person. Independent studies from the books and online sources are also an option, but for that you will need to show me good previous grades. I hope that kids who are here for a while are confident enough to advise their juniors who joined us recently…"

Kids were excited. With this, they are finally going back to the routine, like a big family with the addition of twenty-seven girls who joined from the Beach House. Ah, it will be a fun year! And more than one year...

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