Linker looked at me skeptically, probably as much because I had walked into the BSA recruitment center bare-chested and shoeless, looking like a shipwreck victim, as because of what I was asking. “I don’t think we have ever had a sponsored student ask if they can sponsor another student.”

  I flashed him my best "trust me, I'm not a villain" smile, which probably needed work. “Learn something new every day. But seriously, she has helped me dramatically increase my energy abilities. Right now I could probably heal someone who’s heart is missing as long as they were still breathing. Remember that pound of change? I could probably merge an entire two pounds at once right now, maybe even more. Deacon here is an enhancer, a solid one, and I want her on my support team.”

  I leaned forward. “Right now, would I even need a sponsor if I walked in the door? Or would you or someone working under you be frantically scrambling to find the perfect scholarship before I walked back out?”

  He laughed, “Good point. Enhancer, you say? That’s odd, I am not detecting any quantum signature at all. You aren’t doing this just to get a girlfriend a free ride, are you? Because the academy has rules about fraternization, and Glacier Girl might object.”

  Deacon—Sabrina—smiled slightly, held out her hand, and a flame appeared. It was blue, and flickered strangely, like it was burning something other than oxygen, but I could definitely feel the heat. “I was raised outside of the cities and BSA influence. One of the very first things I learned was how to hide my energy signature, it was sort of a… survival mechanism.”

  “Survival mechanism?”

  She nodded, “Yes, where I came from we had drainers, and very aggressive recruiters… Like put a bag over your head and you wake up in a restraint collar type recruiters.”

  “Drainers?”

  “Yes, Alphas who were able to strengthen their own power permanently by sucking the power, and the life, out of weak alphas. Sort of like the Necromancer, sir.”

  He nodded, his expression grim. “That sounds rough, but without being able to trace your bio-energy, unless you can show me something stronger than a minor flame summon, I won’t be able to classify you as higher than a class two.”

  “Is a class two good enough for me to sponsor her?”

  He sighed deeply, the sound of a man whose paperwork was about to double. “Yes, it is… but unlike your deal with Glacier Girl, she doesn’t have any school transcripts, and I can’t provide a registered power graph. That means her sponsorship would be the real deal, and you’d have to help keep her off of academic probation. Her failures become your problem.”

  “What kind of classes would be needed?” Sabrina asked, all earnest curiosity.

  He shrugged, “You’d have to take classes or test out of a lot of basic subjects, subjects that you’d have to take remedials for, such as American and world history, basic science, mathematics, and introductory English. If you can’t at least test for a basic level for remedials, you’d need to attend special courses, on your own dime, to get caught up to educational standards and then wait at least a semester.”

  She nodded, “I was well educated, although I might require remedial American and World history, since the farmer families taught their own version of those subjects.” I made a mental note. Their version probably involved more serfdom and less civil rights.

  “You are from a farmer family?”

  She shook her head, “No sir, my family was enslaved by a farmer family. One of the reasons I am interested in attending is that it will keep me in the same year group with Jacob, and the school is usually a much tougher nut for farmer recruiters to crack than it was recently.”

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  His eyebrow shot up, “You know about that? That’s being kept high-security confidential.”

  I waved a hand, “I was the one they kidnapped, sir. I met Deacon over the course of our escape. She was part of the… hospitality committee.”

  He started tapping away at his computer. “That actually helps. We can bring you in as a refugee instead of a mystery guest. Do you have a real name? Super names won’t work under the circumstances, and I’d also like to know which family had you so we can use the leverage against them if they try to attempt another acquisition.”

  We had carefully discussed what we would and would not talk about to a truthseeker during our long, shoeless walk to the center. “I don’t want to state which house, sir. I don’t want to be the center of a political kerfuffle. But I can state that both Magazine and Baelfire were part of the acquisition team, and both were prepared to create an incident.” Deacon mentioned.

  He nodded slowly, “Magazine is already kill-on-sight in any of the associated cities. Baelfire was recently warded off and cited for unauthorized operation in a flight zone. Was she searching for you?”

  I shrugged, “She was looking for me, actually. That’s why I laid low. Didn’t want my impromptu escape to ruin her day.”

  He nodded, “Well, we don’t have much information about her, other than a few suspicious incidents without any proof… but it’s hard to collect evidence when a crime scene is completely vaporized. But if she kidnapped you, that’s enough of a felony to swear out a warrant and restrict her from entering a city zone. Do you want to press charges?”

  I nodded, “Yeah, but it can wait till I get back to the academy and put on some pants. She and Magazine were leading the team that broke in and got me, but I was not actually conscious at the time. My lawyer advises me not to comment further.”

  “Lo Sabrina.” Deacon spoke up. “Or I guess here surnames are last, so Sabrina Lo is fine. I won’t be using the name Deacon, however, it has poor associations and could attract too much attention.” Understatement of the century.

  He tapped on his keyboard. “Blueprint said you were an enhancer and you displayed elemental fire production… is there anything you can give me as to your alpha abilities?”

  She nodded, “Yes, I have the ability to enhance concoctions made from plants and animals acquired in the wilderness zones, as well as advanced chemistry. It is called alchemy, but doesn’t follow the guidelines of the alchemy taught at the magical schools. I cant create homonculi or shapeshifting magical brews, but I can create a huge number of baseline potions and pills. Minor healing, permanent power enhancement, broad-spectrum antidotes, it would probably be more appropriate to refer to it as mystical medicine than it would be to compare it to the alchemy practiced by magical schools, which are basically spells sealed into liquid form.”

  He nodded, typing away. “Do you know what you would prefer for an alpha identity? I can run it through the database for an IP check.”

  She looked lost in thought, but I grinned. A terrible, wonderful idea had just bloomed in my mind. “Can I put a suggestion in the hat?”

  Linker shrugged, “Is it offensive?”

  I thought about it. “Some might think so? I don’t, but then, I might just be thinking about the matching costume.”

  He sighed, “Go ahead and hit me with your young man brilliance.”

  “Candystriper.”

  He facepalmed. “You just want to see her in a sexy candystriper outfit. You are a walking HR violation, Doyle.”

  Deacon, or I guess, Sabrina, was looking back and forth at us in confusion, “What’s that?”

  Linker sighed, “Candystriper was a nickname for a nursing assistant about fifty or more years ago, because they wore red-and-white nursing uniforms. The term has fallen out of favor because it was deemed offensive before the FAAFO, when the ideologist power blocs basically took over the media. Now it’s more of a male power fantasy about a healer girl that dresses in vibrant outfit with an extremely short skirt, and it’s more of a sex thing, like a French Maid, than any sort of realistic representation.”

  “Nurse… Nurse…” Sabrina was thinking. “With a hint of Darkness. Umm… Night Nurse? With alliteration?”

  I laughed as Linker facepalmed again. “That’s even worse. A night nurse is a girl that hangs around in case a medical problem comes up in the night.”

  She looked at me in confusion.

  I looked down at my pants. “Something comes up in the night? Get it? She takes care of it?”

  She blushed, “Sorry, that wasn’t slang I heard before. But I like nurse, it’s much less aggressive than poison master or drug dealer, my names are pretty bad because I wasn’t raised with English. How about just Sabrina?”

  I looked at Linker and he smiled a little, “Not bad, I mean, it’s connected to her real name, but she doesn’t have any family here yet. She might get some flack if she starts calling herself a witch, but otherwise it should be fine.”

  Sabrina nodded, “Okay by me. The families don’t know this name.”

  “Sabrina it is.” Linker said, typing it in. “Welcome to the system. Try not to let your sponsor get you expelled.”