" . . . od . . . not resp . . ." Voices began to fade in and out of Ben's mind; the speaker was young, with a heavy British accent. "I thi . . . illed . . . m a mon . . . r . . ."

"Stop y. . . ining . . . boya!" The second voice was feminine and had an accent, middle European; from the brusque authority in her voice she was experienced and well learned, albeit not a people person. "Serv . . . ight I say . . . no busin . . . eing there t . . . ith . . ."

"This entire . . . versation . . . moot, his life si . . . are quickly . . . bilizing . . ." Although young, the speaker's voice denoted vast intelligence and culture. Although she spoke English, her words held a notable Japanese accent. "What inter . . . s me are the mechanical implants."

SYSTEM ONLINE

The mechanical systems suddenly kicked on, causing Ben to flinch violently, his eyes flying open. The people around him made surprised noises and jerked away, most notably a young boy of ten, who almost leapt out of his skin, crying out in alarm. The only one who did not react was a small girl with long blonde hair, who fixed on him with green eyes filled with unnatural intelligence. "Well, well, looks like you survived after all." She crossed her arms, a look of annoyance on her face, "Not many people would have lived through that, you should be proud of yourself." The tone of her voice held no concern or genuine praise, but rather a dry sarcasm. She shifted her stance and put her hands on her hips, the uniform skirt rustling as she moved.

Ben pressed his prosthetic hand against his face, the metal being icy cold compared to the fevered sweat on his face. "Where am I?" As he moved to stand, his body was sluggish and unresponsive, every action filled with burning pain. He settled for a sitting position after the light blanket fell off his chest, expressing his state of undress. He quickly brought it halfway up his chest, plagued by a sudden burst of self-consciousness. "System status?"

BASE SYSTEMS AT 35 PERCENT

WEAPONS OFFLINE

COMMUNICATIONS OFFLINE

LIFE SUPPORT AT 20 PERCENT

"I have communications?" Ben crooked an eyebrow, "That's news to me."

"Yeah! According to your bios internal diagnostic specs, you have cellular/satellite adaptive communications capabilities." Ben's eyes drifted to the speaker, a black-haired girl in a maroon-themed school uniform and lab coat, her inquisitive eyes sparkling from behind thick-lenses. "What really interests me is your weapons systems; I can't access them while the routines are off-line, but I'd really like to ask you-"

Ben reached down and unplugged himself from the computer, the cable recoiling into the hourglass emblem on his wrist, the panel snapping closed. "Okay, hold on a second, dammit!" He squinted at the lab technician, "I have no idea what's going on right now, or where I am; so before we go back to treating me like a sports car in an auto shop, can someone please answer some questions for me?"

"You're in Japan, at the Mahora Academy Science Labs." The blonde girl spoke quietly in the voice of a young baroness. "After you appeared in the middle of my home and got yourself summarily blown up, we deliberated on whether or not to take you to the nurse's station, but upon seeing all the machinery, we thought you were one of Hakase's robots, and brought you here." She turned away, "Rather than bark at her for plugging you into that computer, you should be thanking her, she probably saved your life."

"Evangeline, be fair." The young boy spoke up, his proper British accent sounding out of character on such a young boy, "To have gotten so summarily blasted apart without warning must have been a shock, so I can imagine why he might be somewhat irritable regarding it." The boy placed a hand on his chest, "I am so sorry for what happened, it was my fault; when you appeared in the middle of the Master and I training, I froze, rather than redirecting the attack."

"That was training?" Ben chuckled wearily, "I thought I'd walked into the middle of a warzone. What kind of training involves-" The teenager groaned and pressed his hand to his forehead, "Gha . . . my head's killing me, I hope this isn't like last time."

The boy's face twisted with concern, "Of course, we haven't tended to your physical injuries yet." He turned to someone Ben could not see, "Chachamaru, would you please bring Konoka here?"

"Of course, Negi."

Ben squinted at the boy, "Look, I'm sure this isn't anything serious. Considering how things have been . . . lately, this is kind of normal for me." He extended his normal hand, "Benjamin Bradt."

"Negi Springfield." The boy smiled and shook the offered hand, "I teach homeroom here at Mahora."

Ben's eyes widened, "You . . . teach?" The boy was wearing a pastel green suit and red tie, his pale red hair tied back in a short ponytail; a set of pince nez glasses sat on his nose, the antiquated spectacles somehow fitting the odd ensemble of the little professor.

"Yes, I'm a collegiate English professor with a doctorate in Literature and The Arts." Negi grinned sheepishly, "I know it's hard to believe, but I really am a teacher."

"You know what . . ." Ben chuckled weakly, "Considering what I was doing yesterday, it's not so strange, I think." Ben groaned again, "Oh damn . . . this is a bad one." His eyesight blurred, then began to sharpen up, until everything was in crystal clarity. "What the hell? I can see."

"Could you not before?"

"Not without my glasses," Ben blinked and straightened up, the headache gone. "I used to be blind without them."

"Let me see!" The girl, Hakase, stepped between Negi and Ben, examining his eye with a hand-held phoropter. "I can see the optic filaments that you use to control your drop-down menus . . ."

Ben frowned, uncomfortable with her knowledge of his systems. "You know, that you apparently know more about what's wrong with me than I do, is kind of unsettling. I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Satomi Hakase, head of the Junior High division of the Mahora Robotics Club."

"Your school has a robotics club?"

"Stop looking around!" Hakase clucked her tongue thoughtfully, "It would appear that nano-filaments have integrated with your ocular nerves, probably augmenting the input signals to compensate for your visual deficiency." She grinned, "How amazing! Advanced technology integrated on a biological level. Together, you and I are going to revolutionize the current technological standard. Now let's see what other systems you have." Hakase grabbed a handful of the blanket and jerked it off of the teenager.

Ben yelped and grabbed the cloth, pulling it back over himself. "Hold on a second there! I'm naked!"

"Modesty is an antiquated concept. In science there is no need for modesty, I've seen plenty of pictures."

"Then go look at pictures!" Ben struggled to retain any level of privacy, "I'm not comfortable being naked in front of a girl!"

"Stop overreacting, this is purely professional." An extra set of mechanical arms extended from the device on the scientist's back, grabbing the blanket.

"Believe it or not, that kind of makes it worse!"

Negi grabbed the blanket, trying to help Ben, "Hakase, this is inappropriate behavior!"

"Are you guys playing strip tug-o-war?" The trio froze, glancing toward the door. Several girls stood in the now open doorway, many of them blushing at the scene of their professor and an apparently naked teenage boy fighting over a sheet, clutched in their classmate's hands. "If Negi's playing, I wanna play on Hakase's team!"

"This isn't what it looks like!" All three of them threw their hands up in defense; without anyone holding it up, the white blanket fell to the floor, causing pandemonium to erupt as the girls screamed and covered their faces, blushing furiously. Ben yelped and wrestled for the discarded blanket, with Negi trying to keep himself between the naked teenager and the active cameras held by both the scientist and the school's paparazzi.

- J -

"This is so friggin' embarrassing." Red-faced, Ben grumbled in irritation as he donned the clothes that Negi had provided him with; being tailored for his older self, the clothes were a close fit, although Ben was broader in frame than the young teacher's adult form.

Negi rubbed the back of his head, chagrinned. "I cannot begin to apologize for Hakase. She's a good-hearted girl, but when it comes to science she tends to lose perspective."

"It's fine," Ben's voice was grim as he belted the slacks on, thankful to be dressed again; the many scars on his body haunted him, made him feel like even more of a freak. He could only hope that no one had been paying very close attention. "Just what I need, more girls to think I'm a freak, because Dentech just wasn't enough of a blow to my self image."

"I've been meaning to ask you." Negi sat in a nearby chair, still keeping his back to Ben, respecting the boy's apparent discomfort with being seen naked. "How exactly is it that you appeared in the training resort like that? It's sealed to prevent intrusion by most."

"Not entirely sure," Ben sighed deeply, "I'm not entirely sure about anything these days." He walked past Negi and got himself a cup of water from the sink, "Does everyone here use magic?"

The young teacher paled, "MAGIC? Who said anything about magic?"

"Before I got caught in the crossfire, I heard you chanting in Latin, specifically the words 'Saggita Magica'. Being bombarded by a ton of energy and ice missiles after hearing someone shout 'magic arrows' is somewhat of a dead giveaway." Ben frowned as he buttoned up the shirt, realizing that the sleeves would not cover his arms effectively, being longer than the fifteen year old Negi.

"Oh no!" Negi panicked, waving his arms. "You can't know about that! I'll lose my license and be turned into an ermine!" Ben started laughing, which only seemed to agitate the young teacher further. "What are you laughing about? I could spend the rest of my life as a furry little creature! I'll lose my teaching job! This is no laughing matter!"

Ben grabbed Negi by the shoulders and shook him. "Relax, Professor Springfield! I appeared out of nowhere on your magical resort, my arm and leg are composed of living metal. I'm not exactly normal."

Negi breathed a sigh of relief, "When you put it like that, it doesn't sound so bad."

He chuckled, "Besides, you're not the first mage I've met. I know an eleven-year-old in California who can do some amazing things."

Negi grinned, "She's only a year older than I, that's impressive. Although," the young magi's smile dipped, "If she's not careful, letting someone like you see that she has magic could get her license revoked."

"She doesn't have one," Ben cursed as a button slipped out of his smooth metal fingers, "She's self taught, from a spell book she took from a mage who was high on a 'World Domination' kick."

"Here, let me get that for you."

Ben froze as Hakase appeared before him, her narrow fingers deftly buttoning up the shirt that Ben had been struggling with moments before. "Thank . . . you?"

"Hakase!" Negi waved his arms in confusion, "I sent everyone out, how did you get in here?"

"Stealth jacket," she tapped the plasticized white hoodie she was wearing, "The same ones Chao and I used to avoid Gandolfini during the festival." She turned back to Ben, winking. "Excitable, isn't he?"

Ben nodded stiffly, a deep crimson blush spreading across his face at the proximity of the young scientist. "Uhh . . . yeah . . ."

"Anyway, I came to apologize."" Having finished buttoning the shirt, Satomi stepped back and bowed apologetically, "I tend to get carried away when the scientist in me gets excited, and this isn't the first time I've crossed a few social borders without realizing it."

Ben forced a smile onto his face as he bowed, "It is I who should apologize." Both teacher and student widened their eyes in surprise as he spoke to them in Japanese, his voice stammering slightly as he struggled to remember the proper inflections and words. "By nature, I am not a social beast, and I often forget that a guest should treat others in a respectful way without condition. You saved my life, Miss Hakase, and I am in you debt."

It was Hakase's turn to blush, ". . . thank you, Mister Bradt."

"Please, Hakase, call me Ben."

"Okay, but . . . only if you call me Satomi." The two fell into an awkward silence, broken a few minutes later when Negi cleared his throat. "Well, I'm pleased to see you two have made up." The pair chuckled quietly, turning their attention toward the ten-year-old. "I think that we ought to be on our way; Ben, we need to find you some manner of lodging, while we figure out the nature of your arrival"

"O-of course!" Hakase bowed to her teacher, "Sensei, if the Mahora Robotics Club may be of any assistance, do not hesitate to call upon us."

"Thank you Hakase." Negi bowed to her, "Ben, let's go meet with Dean Konoe."

"Lead on, Professor." Ben smiled to the scientist, gently laying his metal hand on her arm before turning to go. "I'll see you around campus later, Satomi."

"Alright . . . Ben . . ." She smiled as he walked away, absently rubbing her arm were he'd touched her moments before.