Of course there was a library here. There was a school a danger room; a pool, supposedly a jet and a dozen other things that would make this place seem more like a small country than a school for gifted youngsters. So the library made sense none of the other stuff did really.

While he might have been here for more than 11 years he didn’t recall any of it and if he had a permanent room at the school in the co-ed hallway he might as well enjoy the amenities. Such amenities included said library. Sam walked in slowly taking in the sight he was trying to memorize the lay out, something he had been doing often since he woke up younger. It was weird, older Sam was probably begging to be attacked for staying here so long but for some reason the place was still standing. Maybe the security was better than he had seen.

Once he glanced the first setting in the entrance of the library he decided to go see what the room had. Hundreds of books, dozens of bookcases Sam took in the smell of dust and old books. He liked the smell; one of the few things he had access to when he was younger was books. Just the classics though he only cam across others on missions most of which were confiscated after debrief.

Sam didn’t know where to start. Libraries might not seem impressive normally to Sam but he was pretty cool with it being in walking distance from his room.

Evelyn had been studying a lot recently. Given that she avoided sleeping whenever possible, she had more hours in the day to read things. She finished what the mansion had to offer on criminology, and she was ready to start her way through the science section next. It was late so she felt it would be a good time to gather a book or two for the night, but this time she noticed someone else was in the room.

Evelyn paused behind the man, watching as he scanned titles. Something about this new arrival felt off though. Most of the strangers that she saw were very clearly unfamiliar to her. Even Mirror had been unknown when she first ran into them. But his figure and stance felt similar to other staff she had seen from afar at least once. Now, it didn't match up though. She squinted, eyes turning silver as she tried to work through the memories. The confusion. Was this a shifting mutant? Had they looked different last time? She would have to figure it out, which meant she would tolerate social interaction.

"Is there anything you're looking for? I can tell you if we have it." Evelyn spoke up. She didn't offer help much, but she did know every book title they had by heart now. She had a mental checklist she was going through, on a mission to devour as much literature as she could. Plus, having a perfect memory gave her lots of storage space. She wanted to fill that storage with useful things, unlike the other kids who watched endless television episodes. That was not for her.

”Not sure.” Sam said shifting his gaze from the shelves to the books. he honestly had no idea where he would start. There was a book about a kid finding out he was a wizard that he recalled from a date he was on a few months back the date had sworn by it and demanded he read it. Was that 12 years ago?

”Feel like a princess though being surrounded by all the books.” Sam said trying to make the kid laugh he didn’t but he thought it was funny. Girls were supposed to be familiar with that stuff right?

Sam wasn’t sure how much help she could give him so he turned to her. ”I’m open to suggestions if you got any good ones. No spies, or romance. You got magic, monsters and spaceships I’m in.” he offered a wave. ”I’m Sam, and kinda new here.”

The guy gave a joke about a princess. Evelyn blinked slowly, but did not laugh. Her brain saved her with a small memory of the Drisney character he was making a reference to, and she nodded slowly. "Ah, I don't think princesses would read the books I'm interested in. Those airheads spend too much time waiting for someone to go rescue them. I prefer to handle things on my own."

She walked over to one of the bookshelves and started pulling out her chosen volumes for the night. One of them happened to be a rather thick chemistry textbook, the other looked like some basic Biology foundations. They would be dry reading, but maybe that would help her sleep in the end.

"I don't read a lot of fiction, frankly. I don't forget things, so if I pick up a book and it sucks, then I am going to be stuck rereading that book for the rest of my life. Its bad enough living here with all these kids. In the future I will still be able to perfectly recite every word to children's theme songs. That is knowledge no one needs," she complained. She said the word kids like an insult, completely disregarding the fact she was seven herself. In her mind, she was not a kid. She had long surpassed that mental status. Fun was for toddlers.

"That being said, what you want will probably be this section here. School of magic where three friends have to fight evil wizards. Romance doesn't happen until book 4, bestseller list for several years running," She lifted the first Perry Hotter from the shelf and offered it to him. She paused when she was in reach. "Don't touch my skin. I have given one or two people an earful of echoes recently and I think the disclaimer makes this whole interaction less troublesome. You look like someone who doesn't need voices in his head too." She sighed.

The kid before him was odd to say the least but it was a school for mutants and most would say he was the odd one. Most kids weren’t raised, as assassins he was meaning his upbringing would probably be the oddest. Then again, maybe she wasn’t a kid. The way she talked she sounded more like an old lady. Sam decided not to say anything until after she mentioned the echoes.

”Fair assumption.” Sam nodded his head, ”Thank you for that, I already got a lot on my mind, don’t need more voices in there. Hard enough listing to myself.” Sam said trying to make a joke that she probably wouldn’t get. Apparently old Sam heard a lot of things.

”No touching.” Sam nodded his head and accepted the book making sure not to touch her. ”Respect, not a big fan of people touching me either.” Sam looked at the cover, ”You know quite a bit then huh?” Sam said glancing at the cover that was handed to him. ”I’m Sam.” he held the book in his hand then gave a slight wave instead of offering a hand to shake.

The guy tried to joke and it failed in the most spectacular way possible. He didn’t remember having voices in his head, she didn’t remember him. It was like two people trying to casually reference things in a language neither spoke. Sometimes, she felt a twist in her heart almost like the sliver of memory she had forgotten. Even computers found ghost imprints of deleted files, maybe it was the echoes way of trying to hold onto some of the things she lost. She wondered if they had been friends, close enough that losing him would have hurt. Now they were strangers. Somehow this felt even worse than being around Mirror who at least held onto some of the memories from her past.

”Did we, ever know each other?” she asked once he took the book. She squinted at him, trying to force the echoes to say something, but found nothing. Not that she was surprised. They still had no clues to her past years. ”Apparently I lived here before I became 7 again. Even dated a gender shifter who quite frankly is a stick-in-the-mud. But going from 31 to 7 erased...a lot.” she pushed her hair from her face and considered his comment. ”I know enough, but there is still plenty to catch up on. I can’t miss what I don’t remember at least. Sam? I’m Evelyn.” she responded, nodding her head in acknowledgment.

If she remembered their last together she would have felt sad. This was someone she once mourned when she thought he was dead. It was a friend, a college, even like a parental figure from time to time. Maybe that last was gone, but in her small form she still found some sort of peace having him there. Almost like he was still looking out for her.

Did he know her? He didn’t know. There wasn’t really anyone mentioned about Evelyn at least not from the files he saw it had all the access to his old teammates maybe some other people he knew were in there. If she was thirty and he was thirty though there was a good chance they knew each other. Better chance they dated. Sam doubted his older self would have not hit on a woman. He wouldn’t. ”That is a lot of time.” Sam agreed. He thought it was rough being under the legal drinking age and owning a bar. If he was de-aged that far back, he’d be hopeless.

Sam crouched down a bit so he was eye level with Evelyn and he covered one eye with his free hand. ”Well Evee, we could have. I used to live here too. Apparently I had an eye patch, still have it. Don’t need it.” that wasn’t who he was just like he was sure the girl wasn’t who she was. If so she would have been on the old soul side.

”But, we know each other now and now you get to learn everything for the first time. Kinda cool for someone who doesn’t forget things. I always love learning something new.” Sam stood up, ”Like yesterday, apparently my cat doesn’t like my dirty socks being left out. She piled them up for me.” Sam snapped his fingers, ”I also learned the mansion’s fridge is always full.” Sam nodded his head, ”Kinda cool.”

Sam came down to her level and covered one eye. She wondered if it was meant as a joke. She didn’t feel like she had the sense of humor to be amused by childish things, but found herself reaching up anyway, and pulling his hand back down. ”Sorry, I think you should avoid the eye patch. Unless you’re a pirate. I’m not sure you’re cool enough to be a pirate.” she crossed her arms and gave him a once over. Was she trying to joke back? They both needed to work on their humor if that was it.

She blinked, shaking his head at him, ”I don’t blame the cat. Who wants to have dirty socks lying around? And the fridge may be full but I’m not really supposed to go near the kitchen anymore. Mirror says I can’t make Molotov cocktails without adult supervision.” she complained.

Wait, adult supervision. She looked at him again, the awkward pirate who kept trying to make jokes and was looking for fantasy novels. She was more certain now they had once been friends, again feeling that desire to look up to him. And not just because he was tall. She felt like he could be a good mentor. ”You wouldn’t happen to like going into the danger room or experimenting with explosives, would you?” sometimes it was better to be blunt. If he said no she could always find other ways to break in.

Any look was cool enough for him. Sam smirked and stood up clearly she didn’t know him then. The eye patch wasn’t a common accessory. If that didn’t stand out they probably didn’t run into each other. ”What? No Molotov? What a monster!” Sam asked trying to act surprise. He had used them many a times when needed. They were great at clearing rooms and distractions everything a young girl needed to do.

”I do happen to like going into the danger room, I also happen to like explosives. Only when I set them though, and from a safe distance. I do not like being right next to them.” Sam said firmly. He did not like being surprised with explosives, it happened way more than he liked.

”I don’t really remember the mansion but the danger room remembers me. There are a bunch of simulations saved from when I was older. Tons.” Sam looked to the book then the kid. ”You got trouble getting in there?”

Sam smirked, ”Not much of an adult supervisor type but apparently I was a teacher here. If you want to go we can but we just got to be safe right?”

Evelyn wasn’t sure where this adult came from, but she was pretty sure he was the coolest person ever. Her eyes lit up when he mentioned he liked going into the danger room, and she almost dropped a book when he said he liked explosives. ”Oh, I’m not a fan of being next to them when they go off. My echoes get a bit, what’s a good word for it? Scrambled. You know how loud noises make your ears all ringy? It’s like that, but with like, your thoughts.” she only had it happen once since she returned to this age but that was plenty. Anything that made her powers angry was bound to cause a headache.

”We can really go in there? That would be so much fun! It’s it really like a big computer? Does it feel real? Will the echoes think it’s real? Do I have to use a weapon? I feel a bit partial to sai personally.” the last phrase slipped out and she wondered where that knowledge came from. She didn’t fight it though. It was evident that was her choice in defense and even in this life, some things remained.

Evelyn agreed to be safe and they made their way to the Danger Room before he could change his mind. Evelyn waiting while their books were put away first, and could barely contain her excitement when they finally reached the metal doors. True to his word, the system remembered Sam, and it even remembered some of Evelyn’s old training programs. She was less lucky on that front though, because someone (she blamed Mirror) had already locked her out of them as of expecting the seven year old to make it this far.

”I did use Sai!” she exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the blocked program. It was only target practice, what harm did they think she would really do? ”What do you normally practice when you’re in here?” she wondered, trying to look over his shoulder. While she used a lot of big words when she talked, moments like this pointed out she was still a kid, prone to being entertained even by something as simple as another mutant training with their powers.

The old programs for Eve were locked out but it did have some information. It seemed that the kid did have a pretty decent memory or at least some good instincts. Sai wouldn’t have been his first choice for a weapon but it could be effective with proper training. Sam was more partial to swords and spears. ”Ummmm…” Sam said feeling the gaze of the child from over his shoulder. The icemancer moved out of the way a bit so she could see.

”All sorts of stuff. Hand to hand, weapons, search and rescues, piloting and of course smashing robots. Love smashing robots.” Sam said now scrolling through a few of his training simulations he wasn’t sure what would be best for a kid. He went through basic training when he was close to her age but most kids didn’t grasp the ‘survive’ in survival training like he did so he decided to play it safe.

”You said something about explosives right?” Sam asked figuring the reason they were here was to see some explosions. ”Or you want to try something else?” Sam asked, ”pretty sure I can make some sais for you. Safety first though right?”

Evelyn considered the information on the screen. Her own training sessions had relied on target practice, frequently run on repeat which she could only guess was a way of building muscle memory. She couldn’t read any of the underlying data, which she suspected could show progress or calculations she was using. At least, that’s what she would do now. It was hard to decide if adult her and child her still thought the same but with more experience, or if they had already diverted to different paths. Sam asked about the explosives and she considered.

”Maybe we could start with the basic training first. The explosives are useful to make a point and when you have a mission. Like, if we were in a situation where we had to bust down a door or blow up an enemy fortress! But, that wouldn’t make much sense as a training scenario if I can’t even hold a weapon yet.” she admitted. She may be a little on the disturbing side, but she was still logical.

”Do you think we can make some light enough for me? My powers may be advanced but I’m pretty sure my muscles remember they are seven.” she was still rather scrawny for her age. She ran mental calculations of the typical weight of a weapon and was already pretty certain she wouldn’t be able to throw more than a couple feet, brains or not.

”Got it. No explosives.” Sam said with a little sigh, they could have made a fortress to blow up, they could view it from the god room and enjoy the show. If she was going to play with explosives anyways it would have been best to do it in a safe environment even if Gawain didn’t approve.

Sam nodded his head and punched a few buttons and then raised a hand, ”Boom.” the danger room responded by creating a few tables with a dozen weapons on them sais included. All light, maybe not the sturdiest due to the weight restrictions but for target practice it would give her an understanding.

A few targets with giant bulls eyes appeared opposite of the tables. Each one mimicked a scary monster some humanoid some not. During his training they were people and it wasn’t target practice it was combat training and if he didn’t do well, well he never didn’t do well.

”Lesson one” Forming a small throwing knife in his hand he flipped it in the air a little mist falling from it as it was flipped. He caught it turned and flung it to the chest of the nearest target hitting it in one of the shoulders. Sam was aiming for disarming. ”Know where you want to hit.”

Again, if she was going to insist on learning anything with weapons she was going to learn from the best.

Evelyn momentarily regretted opting out of explosives, but figured if needed maybe she could talk him into blowing something up at the end. It was hard to make logical choices, when it was much more tempting to just choose mayhem all the time. Elke would have probably chosen mayhem, but Evelyn felt she needed more training if she was really going to be helpful for any cause.

Evleyn blinked in surprise when the tables appeared and tried to ignore the explosion of echoes in her head. Spontaneous generation of objects did NOT make the logic side of her brain happy, especially when she lifted a few and found them very obviously solid. There were things you just shouldn't question, and she focused until her powers settled. She gave a couple awkward tosses and let the echoes hone in on the weapons, trying to melt her mind and her muscle memory together. With each toss, she started feeling more comfortable with the weight distribution, and was understanding how it would respond to her actions. She could get used to this quickly. As long as what she was doing was within her bodies ability, she was confident her mind could do the heavy lifting.

The targets appeared and she scanned the options. Some of them seemed a little cheesy for her taste, but she figured Sam was staying more kid friendly with her. She looked calm and calculating with a weapon in her hand, and she was quiet and studious as he made the first throw. The echoes analyzed his actions too, quickly aware he was not someone she would ever want to cross. There was no hesitation in his throws, no clumsy first attempts like she had. Only people training to cause damage acted like him.

Evelyn picked her own target, and gave her first throw. The sai were light enough she managed to hit the bottom of the target with her limited muscle strength, but it did a rather silly looking spin in the air and clattered to the floor. Rather than looking frustrated like some kids would, Evelyn seemed calm. Calculate, adjust, continue. She told herself. She took the second sai and tried again. This time, the spin had a little more control, she managed more force, and the sai lodged in the leg of one of the monsters. The room was polite enough to return the weapons for another attempt. Perhaps it was to prevent practice partners from spearing each other during practice. "You have been fighting for a very long time." Evelyn commented, picking the same spot, adjusting, throwing. A little higher, echoes clamoring helpful suggestions in her ear.

"You don't seem military. Mercenary? You're too guarded for anything that law abiding," she decided. Throw, hit, recalculate. Her eyes were voice of color as she let her echoes overrun her mind. Numbers, logic, mechanics. She wondered if Sam understood those types of feelings too.

She was very quick study. Unnaturally quick, Sam was jealous if he could pick things up the way she did he probably could have escaped when he was younger, much younger. He tried not to think about all the years he wasted in T.A.T. but it was hard not to. Sam nodded his head while he watched Eve throw waiting to see if he had to give her tips or if she wanted to figure it out on her own. ”I have been.” Sam agreed. He didn’t elaborate until she asked her question.

”Sure, let’s go with mercenary.” that was probably the nicest way to describe what he was and what he had to do. ”You’re very astute kid” Sam said looking over to the table and picking up a pair of safety glasses that was next to the throwing stars. He offered a pair to Eve. ”Safety first.” Sam said as he leaned up on the table.

”I was probably a little younger than you when I first had to figure out how to throw. I’m glad you weren’t around when I was learning. You’d show me up every time.” Sam said throwing another knife from the comfort of the table. The blade stuck in the target he had hit earlier this time it was in the other shoulder. ”What do you know about mercenaries?” he asked curiously.