"Here, Current," says Tin Man, as he hands the boy an electronic screen. "you'll need this to get in."
"What is it?" asks the boy.
"It's called a Gridley wave or, as the kids like to call it, 'the G-Wave.' It has your file, and acts as a key to the castle."
Ultra Power continues, "it also monitors mainland communications - radio, broadcast and satellite television -Free-to-Air, of course - and even connects to the Iridium system, and GPS."
"Plus," said a third voice, "it's connects to something, to which only Two Mooners have access: the Archive."
When he looks up, he sees another student, this one a little shorter than Current. His right eye is replaced with an electromechanical one, and he appears to be left-handed.
"Kaor Dad!" shouts this kid.
"Hi, Sam!" says Tin Man.
"A human kid here?" asks a dumbfounded Current.
"Hey," replies Sam, "Don't call me, 'Human!"
"So, you're a mutant?"
"Indeed, I am! I travel through a dimension I call Solarspace. It only covers this Solar System - hence, the name - but I can move through it at faster-than-light speeds. The only problem, is that everything in normal space, has a shadow in Solarspace, so I have to be real careful not to merge with it.
"I also have superhuman intelligence. In fact, my IQ is 375. in addition I lost my right eye, in a tree-climbing accident, as you can see, so it was replaced by this little number - with electromagnetic vision, zoom lens, and the Eighth Ray."
"Eighth Ray?" asks Current. "What's that?"
"It's the way you got here - a property of light that repels gravity."
"In other words, a tractor/force beam."
"Exactly."
"So, what's the deal with all the freaky technology? Where the heck did you get it? Mars?"
"Actually, yes, but the natives call it, Barsoom."
"You mean to tell me, that all the stuff that happened in the John Carter novels was for real?"
"You got it! Now, do you prefer coffee, or are you more a tea person, like me?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because that's the stuff over which I'll be explaining everything. Well, that, an exciting game of Jetan."