Chapter Text
Sept. 14th, 2031
Today will be an amazing day, I can tell already! An invitation into NAAGI! That's like, a 1 in a million chance for even the most gifted people! My parents are currently packing my things while I type this down. We live a couple of hours from Phoenix's airport. so they woke me up especially early to be able to catch the plane. I'll probably miss Phoenix a lot. I've made so many friends, and my sister did too. Speaking of which, Carmella also received an invitation! Apparently, her work, which she refuses to tell me about despite my complaining, made her even more interesting than me! Can you imagine that? Anyways, as for my future classmates, I've heard that David Smith, CEO of Eclipse Enterprises, is going to be there. How does Ultimate CEO even qualify as a skill? Ultimate Exploitater more like. I should probably avoid shit-talking my future classmates though. I wonder what the professors are like? I've heard that Hope's Peak professors are something else. Maybe NAAGI is the same? Anyways, when I read the letter, it said this:
“Dear Ultimate Escape-Artist, you have been scouted by the North American Academy for Gifted Individuals, due to the remarkable skill you showed navigating a collapsing building, in which you were temporarily blinded, as well as your skill in consistently escaping from seemingly impossible situations.”
How cool is that!?
Anyways, that'll be the end of today's digital notebook entry. I should get downstairs and help my family pack up.
I closed my laptop, put it in my backpack, and ran downstairs to the living room. My dad is sitting on the couch organizing some photos of me and my sister when we were kids.
"Dad, come on. We have those pictures on our phones," Carmella said. Despite her kind appearance, pink hair and eyes, she's the only person who my dad has ever been intimidated by. It's kind of funny.
"These photos were taken by your grandmother! They should be very precious to you!" My father responded, making an exaggerated sad face.
"Carmella's right, dad. I think it would be better if you kept the photos. I mean, we have almost all of them on our phones." I said with a smile on my face, showing one of the pictures saved on my phone's gallery. The picture is of my mother holding my sister and I as toddlers, and my dad to the left of my mother, carrying a very large black cat. "Besides, you and mom both know we'll miss you very much."
"Honey, as much as I want them to take the photo album, they're right." My mother said with a caring smile, gently taking the photo album from my father and closing it. "They're not teenagers anymore, it's time we let them sprout wings and fly."
“You’re right, dear.” My dad wiped a tear from his eye. “It’s about time we let them go. They’re adults now, after all. We can’t keep our eggs in the basket forever.”
“Aw, dad…” Carmella and I both gave our dad a hug. “We’ll both miss you a lot.” Carmella said.
“That doesn’t mean I’ll miss your cooking!” I chuckled. Everyone else joined in and laughed.
“Go get dressed, you rapscallions!” My dad yelled, still chuckling.
My sister and I ran to our rooms to get dressed. We both came out a couple of minutes later wearing our outfits. I looked into the mirror. I was wearing the outfit I always used when navigating escape rooms, which includes a large, bright pink bow on the top of my strawberry red hair. I always thought it would bring out the color of my pink eyes. I also wore a dark gray scarf with black stripes that reached down to my lower abdomen. Alongside that, I decided to wear a white and gray shirt with long sleeves, white shorts, fishnet stockings, and black shoes. Carmella always thought it looked uncomfortable, but I’ve been able to sleep in this outfit before. The scarf also doubles as a fidget or stress object. Sometimes, fidgeting with it helps me focus.
“Damn, I look good,” I said smugly. “I wonder what Carmella is wearing?”
I walked out of my room to see my sister wearing a black tuxedo with a white undershirt, as well as a black tie. She was also wearing black pants, black dress shoes, and white gloves. She also wears what looks like a 1930s era detective fedora. She’s a huge fan of 1930s noir films and detective stories. She also refuses to tell me what her Ultimate Skill is. Maybe she’s the Ultimate Detective? Is that what she goes out every couple of days to do?
“Hey sis. Nice hat.” I said with a smile, fidgeting with my scarf.
“Thanks. I like your bow.” She responded, adjusting her hat slightly.
“So, are you ever gonna tell me what your ultimate skill is? Are you a detective? Assassin?” I continued listing off various different occupations until she shushed me.
“Alright, alright, fine. I’ll tell you about it…when we get there.” She chuckled.
“Well, let’s go then. Don’t wanna miss the plane,” I said, smiling.
We both walked back to the living room again to grab our things.
“Oh, our babies are all grown up.” My mother said with tears in her eyes.
“Our friend should be here to pick us up any minute now. I promise to keep my sister in line.” Carmella said.
“He’s here!” I said, excitedly, “Let’s go!” I ran out the door, and then immediately ran back in to give my parents one last hug.
“I promise that I’ll call whenever I can.” I said with a hopeful smile.
Carmella and I both ran to our friend’s car, packed our suitcases, and got in the car. We didn’t really talk much during the ride, as I fell asleep almost immediately. When we arrived at the airport, we bid our friend farewell, and looked for our terminal.
“There it is!” I squealed with anticipation. “New York City!”
We both rushed to board the plane. I ran so fast, that Carmella actually had to grab my scarf to stop me. Luckily, she stopped me before I rammed into anyone. We both calmly boarded the plane. As soon as I stepped on board that plane, I knew my life was going to change forever.
“Okay–” Carmella placed our carry-ons into the overhead bin– “because I’m feeling nice, I’ll let you have the window seat.”
“R-really?!” I asked in an overly dramatic voice. “Oh, sister! You are far too kind for this world!”
“I can always change my mind,” she said sternly.
“Window seat it is!” I said, sitting down immediately.
“Oh, and don’t forget to set your phone to airplane mode,” She said.
“Already done,” I responded. “How long is this flight again?”
“The flight should be about four hours long. Then, we’ll take a boat to Infinite Salvation island.” Carmella let out a sigh when she said the name of the island.
“What’s wrong?” I asked
“The name of the island.” Carmella placed her palm on her face. “Infinite Salvation, really? It’s just so over the top. It sounds like something you’d see in science fiction, not real life.”
“I like over the top names. I once went to this escape room called the “Super Duper Ultra Level Escape Puzzle” and it was great.” I soon started rambling about my adventures in the “Super Duper Ultra Level Escape Puzzle,” and didn’t even notice Carmella dozing off.
“Sis? You okay?” I asked caringly.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” She yawned. “Has the plane lifted off yet?”
“We’re departing in a few minutes, were you listening to anything I said?” I asked.
“Uh…yeah…yeah I heard everything…about the thing…you said…” She said, “Sorry…I’m still super tired…”
“Alright, whatever.” I said, slightly disappointed.
The pilot announced that the plane was about to depart, and we both relaxed. I looked out the window, it’s bright out. I wondered what the weather of New York would be like when we got there, since the only time I ever left Arizona was during my family’s vacation to Vancouver. I hope it’s cold. I always liked the cold more than the desert. My mind continued to wander as we lifted off. I decided to write down all of my thoughts on my phone about 30 minutes into the flight. Carmella quickly fell asleep, and her hat fell to the floor. I didn’t even notice until the person in the seats across from us told me. I put her hat on her head, carefully trying to avoid waking her up. After about an hour and 40 minutes, we landed in Denver because of a technical issue. Seriously? Do we have an Ultimate Unlucky Student onboard too? It took about 2 hours for us to start flying again, and now it’s getting dark. I hate timezones. I think I forgot to set my clocks to EST though. Whatever, I’ll do it when we get to NAAGI. Speaking of which, I wonder, what made the USA want to replicate Hope’s Peak Academy? Maybe Carmella knows. She always seemed to have this sort of…wisdom. Maybe she’s psychic! Nah. I don’t believe in that stuff. Anyways, I think I’m done writing now. I’m so tired…
Before I knew it, I fell asleep. When we arrived in NYC, Carmella woke me up.
“Sis…” She yawned. “Get up…we’re here.”
“H…huh?” I yawned and stretched, accidentally pushing Carmella away with my outstretched arm. “Already…?”
“Yeah, get your stuff.” She lifted me out of the seat, which my scarf briefly got caught on the arm of, before she removed it.
“Alright…” I said, still waking up.
We retrieved our carry-on items from the overhead bin, and departed from the plane. When we walked into the airport, it was like walking into a whole new world. We had traversed a continent in what, 6 hours? It’s truly amazing how planes work. I could go on and on about how planes work, but I probably shouldn’t. I should be focused on getting to NAAGI!
“Where do we go now?” I asked politely.
“There’s a special dock in the harbor meant specifically for NAAGI Students.” Carmella said, quietly.
We retrieved all of our non carry-on belongings, and left the airport. We took a taxi to get us as close as possible to New York’s harbor. I took a bunch of photos of the city. If Carmella wasn’t with me, people around us probably would’ve thought I was a lost child. We decided to walk the rest of the distance to the harbor, which was around 20 minutes of walking. I thought about doing some stunts on benches, but Carmella probably would’ve gotten mad, so I didn’t. We knew that we were at the harbor when we saw the large boat with the United Nations flag on it. I’ve never seen a boat that looked like this before. It looked sort of like a cross between a barge and a cruise ship. We boarded the ship, and I continued taking pictures of NYC’s skyline, until it disappeared beyond the horizon. When I saw NAAGI, I was completely awe-struck.
“That’s NAAGI?!” I squealed excitedly. “That’s where we’re going to live for the next few years?!”
“Yes, Carmen. That is the North American Academy for Gifted Individuals, the place we’re going to live for the next few years.” She responded in a monotone voice. “Try not to hyperventilate.”
The ship arrived at NAAGI, and everyone departed. Most of the departing students were Reserve Coursers, people who paid to get into the school. I hear that NAAGI is structured almost the exact same way as Hope’s Peak, so it makes sense that there would be a Reserve Course. My mind continued to wander, thinking about all of the possibilities for our future. Carmella and I approached the front gate of the school. It looked very strange for a school. Like something you’d see on a secure government research facility in a science fiction movie. It had an optical scanner. We scanned our eyes, and were allowed inside the school. We walked inside, and the gate shut behind us. As soon as I felt the gate shut, I felt extremely dizzy, I saw Carmella look around, before collapsing and falling unconscious. The last thing I saw was Carmella reaching for me, before everything went black.