School is now a thing. D: But my classes don't seem bad this year, so I'm feeling hopeful. But seriously, why did I just get a coloring project in AP Psychology? DX
They say that teenagers like me need 9-10 hours of sleep, but I would have to go to bed at 9 to get that. xD I managed to do that halfway through Junior year, and after that I quit (actually, it was when I started writing City of Progress). So I'm feeling pretty tired right now. :( How about you guys?
I also had textbook sections that I planned to add for this chapter. While these ones weren't boring, it felt kinda like I was trying to force information down your throats. So I removed those parts and added on a bit from the next chapter onto this one. Anyways, the good news is that this plot is progressing! We are approaching the end of part 1, and I'm not going to tell you how many parts there are because I don't know yet. xD
I can't think of anything else to say (especially with my tired brain) so I'm going to respond to reviews.
Review Responses:
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, I've never had low self-esteem like Ness, but writing it comes relatively easily to me (compared to Ninten's character, at least). It feels awesome knowing that readers like you are emotionally connecting with my characters! :) Yep, Lucas is definitely the consensus for who everyone thinks that Claus was talking to.
Huh, that's an interesting point with Ness feeling like Ninten and Ana are better than him. I totally get what you mean, but at the same time I feel like he might be so relieved that he doesn't even think about it. I don't know. xD It's just what came out. But yeah, I should at least address that next time. Thanks! :)
Adicarra: Thanks! :) I'm glad that you can feel for Ness. He doesn't really understand that most people would be just as terrified as he in his situation. D: ...And I tend to make my characters go through a lot (I'm always interested to see how they turn out... sometimes my characters surprise even me :O). I suppose that part of my fascination with intense emotional struggles stems from the fact that I've had a really easy life so far. I'm trying to understand just how it feels to hurt in such a severe way and what that can do to an individual.
Yeah, Ninten acting aggressive towards the person who he fears probably wasn't surprising. :P Ninten usually expresses his fear through anger, which is part of the reason why he interests me so much. You'll get an (admittedly small) glimpse into Lucas' past relatively soon... with the speed at which this story is progressing, it might take a while to work his and Claus' past into the story. Hey, it's great that you had a teacher like Mr. Agerate! :D Teachers really make or break classes.
Orangeflight of ShadowClan: Proud Accomplishment? (I googled it and got nothing D:)
I started school yesterday, actually. But this day kinda felt like the first because my classes switch off every other day, so this was my first time with this specific set of classes. And yeah, this is the first time I mentioned that Ness' dad is dead. I put a few subtle hints in, but this is the first time I've said it outright.
Yeah, a lot of people need encouragement, both in this story and in real life. I always make characters' situations pretty rough and see how they adapt (believe it or not, this story was planned to be pretty light with mostly day-to-day life stuff... it's funny looking back on that plan. xD). Thanks for the catch! :D I hate those spelling errors that spellcheck doesn't catch. D:
Yeah, Claus' and Lucas' backstories are the most intense. I always planned to unfold them slowly, but with the pace of this story... it could seriously take a while. xD And I'm glad that you can feel for Mr. Agerate... he was one of the characters that I kind of slapped on, so I'm glad to see that he still means something to you. :)
I'm totally the same way! I can spot spelling/grammar mistakes pretty easily in other people's writing, but I suck at it in my own. It makes sense, though. Since I'm so familiar with my own words, my brain tells me that it's okay to skim over stuff since there's nothing new/exciting. Wow, I've never visited a teacher's house. That's so cool!
Wow... I had no idea that Warriors was that big! xD I've never read the books myself (and now I'm at the age where they wouldn't really interest me D:). But seriously? Four series? I honestly get a bit annoyed when authors make a ton of books but keep each one really short. It feels like kind of a scam, honestly (I don't know how long Warriors books are, but I had that problem with a fantasy series called Drizzt). I mean, with that long series that I was reading (it's called Wheel of Time, in case I haven't said that yet), most of the books are longer than 300k words, so it feels like the author just wanted to write more instead of wringing more money out of people. But maybe that's just me.
A Fan: Well, missing one chapter isn't all that bad. :) Nah, them getting confused isn't really a joke. It's just sometimes fun to write about scenes where the main character doesn't really know what's going on (because I don't want to spill all of my secrets yet!). Yep, Ninten and Ana are definitely familiar with where the assassin is from. And yeah, it's the same cloaked guy as the one near the start.
Yep, pride often causes illogical underestimations. A lot of it has a historical basis as well. In the empire, psions were considered to be better than everyone else in pretty much every aspect, and some of that bias remains. And psionics in this universe are more powerful and versatile than in Earthbound or Mother 3. But as you will see, there are definitely ways to kill powerful psions.
I'll say that Paula's reaction doesn't necessarily connect her to Claus' ramblings. She could be scared for other reasons. I like your theory, though! :) And I'm glad that you picked up on the importance of Claus having some sort of ward in his pocket.
Yeah, none of that was intentional, but that doesn't make it any less perceptive on your part! :) One of the beauties of writing is that an author can put these deep characters out into the world where people are free to make their own connections and draw their own conclusion. The one thing that they hammer into my mind in high school English is that author's intent doesn't matter at all.
crabbyTomato: Hey, I would love to hear your long rants (no sarcasm, really! I like long reviews) :)
Yeah, the universe just came out of the dark ages, so there's a lot of prejudice. It seems rather progressive and free to the people there, but that's because they could only compare it to the empire's totalitarian regime. And yeah, I'll explain everything... eventually. :)
Hey, if you like the culture and worldbuilding that I did, you should totally check out some contemporary fantasy! There are real authors who do it better than I (Both The Wheel of Time and Stormlight Archive have great worlds with great cultures, but I prefer Stormlight Archive from a prose/character development/plot pace perspective). While all of my ideas are my own, I picked up on most of the processes from those series (the major points being that all culture should have roots in the world's history and that culture/lore should be mixed with plot progression so that it doesn't seem like Lord of The Rings). But thanks! :)
Yeah, I just have more fun writing verbose characters. I don't know it I'm going to accept it or try to fight it just yet. When I become and adult and start writing about adult characters, it will probably be more believable. Thanks for pointing it out, though! :)
Nostalgia. At what point does it become a bad thing? Sometimes, I want to go back to a time when life was simpler.
That scares me. The time of which I speak was riddled with abuse and lies. Yet I still crave it…
Maybe it's because the pain was all that I knew. Even if I hurt, I was home. That was enough for me.
It shouldn't have been. I should have struggled and resisted. But I didn't. I can't help but think that if I had acted a bit more rebellious, I wouldn't have killed so many innocent people.
Jeff sat at a cafeteria table, trying to forget about that Intro to PSI class a week ago.
Who would Ninten fear enough to physically attack? He wondered. And Claus… just what did he go through to end up so twisted?
Jeff shook his head. He had already spent hours thinking about that, and that time had yielded no useful results. Instead of focusing on that incident, Jeff opened up his History of PSI textbook and started reading the assigned chapter on the Divine Rulers.
After a few minutes of reading, Jeff yawned and closed his book. He already knew all of the information, and he imagined that most people did as well. The Divine Rulers were simply powerful psion emperors who claimed (falsely, of course) to be gods. Jeff still didn't want to be left alone with his thoughts, but he certainly didn't want to read stuff that he already knew. He decided to skip ahead, opening the book back up. He flipped to a random page in the second half of the book and started reading.
The chapter detailed about some Cultural Revolution centuries ago spearheaded by a woman named Empress Rina. According to the text, Rina forcibly snatched more artsy jobs from men and handed them to women in an attempt to give them more opportunities.
Is this… true? Jeff wondered. Are girls supposed to learn art, and to a lesser extend music, because of one woman who lived hundreds of years ago? Crazy.
Jeff wasn't sure how to feel about Rina. On the one hand, women back then did deserve more opportunities, but denying those same opportunities from men was nothing short of immoral.
"Hey, Jeffster," came a voice from behind him. Jeff turned around to see Tony, wearing a characteristic smile. "You look surprised about something."
"Yeah, I'm surprised!" Jeff explained. "I just learned that many of our gender roles in today's society are the result of one woman's work a few centuries ago!"
"Really?" Tony asked, sitting next to Jeff. "Like what?"
"You know how girls are supposed to be creative and boys are supposed to be pragmatic and strong? That tradition came from Empress Rina. Before then, men filled the roles of soldiers and artists."
Tony raised an eyebrow, not seeming to believe Jeff.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
Jeff pointed at the section in his history textbook. Tony scanned it, looking deeply disturbed.
"So Rina's manipulation and assassination turned our culture into what it is today," Tony said. "That's… disturbing. Yet I can't even imagine a male artist like this book describes. It just seems so weird."
"Yeah," Jeff replied, thinking about Ness. "It makes me wonder if we really should push people to do anything based off of gender."
"That sounds like something that Ninten would say," Tony replied with a smirk.
"He might be right," Jeff said. "And speaking of Ninten, how are you two getting along after that… incident?"
"Oh, you mean when he blew up at me?" Tony asked with a dismissive wave of his hand. "That was two months ago. I don't really hold grudges, and neither does he. We might think that the other one of us is crazy, but neither of us really care. Better to be kind than normal, right?"
"Err… yeah," Jeff said. "So neither of you care about that argument? He looked like he was about to murder you."
"Some people are emotional," Tony said, "And that's okay. Ninten blows up every once in a while, and I just happened to be the unfortunate recipient. I don't take it personally."
Jeff wasn't sure that he would forgive as easily, which made him uncomfortable. He always admired Tony's ability to make friends with anyone, even someone who hated his guts the day before. Jeff had tried to imitate Tony's methods, but he had never yielded meaningful results. Perhaps he just didn't have Tony's charisma.
"And Ninten is highly emotional, like I implied," Tony continued. "After the incident, he calmed down and was able to see that while my opinions are quite different from his, that's okay. Neither of us let differences in beliefs prevent us from seeing people for who they are."
And yet Ninten doesn't like me, Jeff thought. So if he can see me for who I am, what does that make me?
"Actually, I've gotten a worse response from Ness," Tony said, his normally excited face turning downcast. "He doesn't really trust me, not that I blame him. I hurt his feelings more than I thought. I assumed that he would get over it after a couple of months, but some people don't work that way."
Yeah, some people don't drop incidents as easily as Tony and Ninten, Jeff thought. I'm like that.
"Well, you'll just have to regain his trust," Jeff said.
"That's pretty difficult when he spends all of his time alone," Tony pointed out.
Jeff shrugged. He didn't know what else to say, being a novice with emotions himself.
"Speaking of Ness, do you know what happened between him and Paula?" Tony asked.
"No," Jeff said. "Ness doesn't know."
"Are you sure?" Tony asked. "I don't want to seem like a jerk, but if she's scared of him then there's probably a reason. He could be pretending."
"Ness isn't that kind of person," Jeff said, not budging an inch.
"But how can you be sure, after only knowing him for a couple of months?" Tony asked. "Think about it. How is there a way that Ness doesn't know why Paula fears him?"
"Ness wouldn't lie," Jeff maintained. "Not about something like this."
"Maybe he forced himself to forget," Tony said. "Maybe he hypnotized himself into erasing that memory from his mind because he felt too guilty."
A shiver ran down Jeff's spine. He had read of psions who had done that in the past. Hypnotizing one's self was a technique used to remember specific scenes… or forget them.
"Think about it," Tony said softly. "He's someone who feels a lot of guilt. Can't you see him resorting to self-hypnosis to escape that guilt? Sure, he'll hate himself while he's doing it, but afterwards… he won't remember a thing. People do crazy things when they feel that they've been backed into a corner."
Jeff didn't respond. He wanted to yell that Ness would never do that, but the truth was that he could see Ness resorting to something drastic if he felt that he had no other options. Maybe Ana was right and Paula's memory had been altered, but even she admitted that her idea didn't make much sense.
"But I'm straying off topic," Tony said. "I spent the better part of last week looking into rumors, which is why I skipped my classes. You'd be surprised at how many secrets this school has. Anyways, I found one that seems scarily plausible, and I want to see if it's true. Will you come with me?"
"What's the rumor?" Jeff asked.
Tony flashed a cold smile.
"Apparently, one of the staff members was murdered last year."
"A-are you joking?" Jeff stammered. "That's horrifying!"
Tony nodded.
"I want to see if it's true," he repeated.
"But if you get involved in that…" You might die yourself! Jeff finished in his head, unable to say those words out loud.
"Hey, it's just a rumor," Tony said with an amused smile. "It's probably not real. I just want to check it out."
"Okay…" Jeff said. "So where do you plan to go? Are you going to gather information from the older students?"
"I already did that," Tony said. "The truth should be in the staff archives."
"Um, Tony?" Jeff asked. "Isn't that place for staff only?"
"Yeah," Tony replied. "So we have to sneak in."
Divine Rulers, Jeff thought. He's serious about this!
"What if we get caught?" Jeff asked.
"Easy. We don't."
Jeff fidgeted with his glasses. He hated breaking rules.
"Don't pretend like you're not interested," Tony said. "I know that this will bug you to no end if you weasel out of this opportunity."
He knows me too well, Jeff thought.
"So assuming that I do decide to go with you, which I haven't," Jeff said, "What's the plan?"
"We wait until midnight and sneak in."
Jeff released a sigh. Of course Tony didn't have a plan.
"What if there's someone guarding it?" Jeff asked.
"We take those devices of yours that give x-ray vision and super hearing."
"There will be psionic enchantments protecting the room," Jeff said.
"We bring your device that detects those enchantments," Tony said. "If we see one, we turn back."
"Okay…" Jeff said. "What if the door's locked?"
"Huh," Tony said, looking up to the ceiling. "I hadn't thought of that."
Jeff slammed a palm into his face.
"Tony," Jeff said. "How can you not plan for that?"
"I prefer to improvise," Tony replied with a smirk. "But don't you have a psionic lock pick or something like that?"
Jeff didn't respond. He did have one, but he didn't want to use it to actually sneak anywhere!
"I thought so," Tony said, interpreting Jeff's silence correctly. "See? Everything's covered. What do you say? Are you on board?"
No, Jeff thought. But looking at Tony's excited face, he couldn't just say that.
"I… guess," he said.
"Great!" Tony exclaimed. "See you at midnight."
Just what did I get myself into? Jeff wondered.
"Geez," Tony whispered as the two of them were walking through the halls during the night. "Can you make any more noise when you walk?"
Jeff sighed.
"This wasn't my idea," he reminded his friend.
"I'm just teasing," Tony said with a smirk. "Lighten up. But hey, it's kind of crazy that Ceres has the exact same 24-hour cycle as Earth, huh?"
"I think that psions altered the planet's rotation to match Earth's," Jeff whispered. "Now would you please stop talking?"
"No."
Jeff sighed again as he continued walking down the hall. At this hour, the view in front of him appeared murky as a result of the lack of light. He could see about 20 feet in front of him, but no more than that. Jeff squinted, barely able to make out the passageway into the staff's quarters. Unlike in Jeff's boarding school back in Winters, staff as well as students lived on campus. Jeff and Tony turned into the staff's quarters, trying to make as little sound as possible. The archives lay at the far end of the corridor, meaning that Jeff and Tony had quite the distance to walk. Additionally, they started to hear voices as they progressed down the hallway.
"Jeffster," Tony whispered, his voice turning hard. "Put on your super hearing thingy. See what they're talking about."
Jeff nodded, taking out what looked like a pair of earmuffs and putting them on. He could now hear the conversation perfectly.
"Fancy meeting you at this hour, Juno."
That's Mr. Agerate's voice! Jeff thought. What's he doing?
"How did you find me, Apollo? Oh wait, you don't need light to see. Sometimes, I forget. Silly me!"
A woman's voice… Jeff thought. I don't recognize it.
While her words were sweet, something about the way that she spoke made the hair on the back of Jeff's neck stand on end. Her voice sounded fake, somehow.
"Yes," Mr. Agerate said. "I have excellent night vision."
"Of course," the woman replied. "Night vision. That's it."
She thinks that he's detecting her some other way, Jeff thought. But how?
"Juno," Mr. Agerate said, seeming exhausted. "I need an answer. Do you know a girl named Paula?"
What? Jeff thought, craning in to listen more closely even though he knew that it wouldn't make a difference.
"I told you, Apollo," Juno replied with a creepy giggle. "I don't know anyone by that name."
"We're alone," Mr. Agerate said. "You can tell me, Juno. This isn't a trap."
"I seriously don't know anyone by that name," Juno replied with an exaggerated sigh. "Why do you care so much about her, anyway? Who is she?"
"An emotionally scarred young woman," Mr. Agerate said.
"Oh, so you think that…" Juno trailed off. "No, I didn't do anything to her. I've never met her. If I were lying, you could probably tell."
"I… suppose that I could," Mr. Agerate conceded, although he didn't sound happy. "But who caused her condition, then?"
"People do earn scars in other ways, Apollo."
"This is different," Mr. Agerate said. "She seems to have false memories about a certain boy in my class. She's terrified of him, even though they were best friends."
"You read too much into that," Juno said. "Teenage girls are drama queens. She's probably pretending."
"I can tell that she's sincere."
"Ah, right. I keep forgetting…"
"So you have no knowledge of something like that? Something commonplace that could twist someone's memories?"
"Nothing."
Mr. Agerate sighed.
"You seem to tell the truth," he said. "But that still raises the question of who altered her memory."
"Why so drastic?" Juno asked. "Perhaps the boy did something to cause her anguish and forgot about it. You know how boys get."
"I don't think that's it…" Mr. Agerate trailed off.
"You trust people too much, Apollo," she said. "Or maybe you trust them too little, so you feel like you have to find the truth with your piercing eyes. Either way, it is a fault."
Piercing eyes? Jeff thought.
"I have many faults, but that is not one of them," Mr. Agerate replied.
"I don't suppose that we will agree on this issue," Juno said. "So I guess that we should just drop it."
"All right. You should get some sleep. Good night, Juno."
"I find it amusing that you lecture me about health. Good night, sleep tight; don't let your secrets bite."
Jeff took off the psionic device and his hearing went back to normal, not knowing what to make of the conversation.
"Who is it?" Tony asked.
"Mr. Agerate and a woman who I didn't recognize," Jeff answered.
"Wait," Tony whispered. "I can hear more talking. Put the earmuffs back on."
They're not earmuffs! Jeff thought, but complied with the request. He could once again hear the conversation as if he were listening from ten feet away.
"You can't hide forever, Agerate. I'll get dirt on you eventually."
That's Pokey's father! Jeff thought. What's he talking about?
"I don't know what you mean, Aloysius," Mr. Agerate replied.
"Don't act innocent," Mr. Minch hissed. "Strange things have been happening ever since you came to this school last year."
Mr. Agerate only became a teacher last year? Jeff thought.
"Ah yes, because correlation always implies causation, no?" Mr. Agerate asked sarcastically.
"I know that you're behind it," Mr. Minch said. "I just need to find proof. Murdering another teacher is serious enough that I will never stop my investigation."
W-What? Jeff thought. Mr. Agerate… murdered a teacher? So Tony's rumor was true?
"Let me know the next time that you have something other than threats to sling at me," Mr. Agerate said coolly.
He didn't actually kill someone, Jeff thought. Right?
"The Gate to Prosperity shut down a few hours ago," Mr. Minch said. "I know that you have something to do with that."
"Wait, WHAT?" Mr. Agerate asked in an uncharacteristic state of panic. "The Gate stopped functioning?"
"Yes…"
"I need to leave now. Have a good night, Aloysius."
Jeff took off his device.
"Your rumor is true," Jeff said, "At least, according to Mr. Minch. He thinks that Mr. Agerate's the killer."
Tony's eyes bulged out of their sockets.
"Not him! He wouldn't…"
"Remember, this is Mr. Minch we're talking about," Jeff said.
"Yeah," Tony replied, sounding calmer. "He's just jumping to conclusions. Mr. Agerate wouldn't kill anyone."
"And he also seemed alarmed when Mr. Minch told him that the Gate stopped working," Jeff said. "I think that he left."
"Let's follow him!" Tony exclaimed softly.
"I knew that you would say that," came a voice from the darkness.
Mr. Agerate came striding out, his normally calm face looking stressed.
"Uh… hi?" Tony said, flashing an embarrassed smile.
"It is generally impolite to listen to other people's conversations," Mr. Agerate said. "I should send you back to your rooms… but like you said, you would just follow me. I suppose that I should let you stick with me for now."
How did he hear us? Jeff wondered. We were talking quietly…
"Err… thanks," Tony said.
"Now," Mr. Agerate said. "We're heading over to the Gate. I hope that Mr. Minch was wrong, but if he wasn't…" he trailed off, leaving the dark hallway in an awkward state of silence.
"If he wasn't, then what?" Jeff asked.
Mr. Agerate sighed.
"Then the starmen may attack us," he said. "Historically, that's what's happened. The Gate doesn't just fail on its own. Something else causes it, and the starmen are the only ones powerful enough to disrupt the Gate's psychotechnology."
A chill ran down Jeff's spine. A starman attack… it was something that mothers used to instill fear into naughty children. They always said that starmen would kidnap the bad children. Jeff didn't think that an attack would actually happen, not to him. He looked over to Tony, who seemed just as terrified as Jeff.
"Still want to follow me?" Mr. Agerate asked. "You can always hide in the special shelter that we have. You will be safe there."
Jeff looked over to Tony, who slowly nodded.
"I'm going with you," he whispered.
"I'm going with you too, even though it's probably stupid," Jeff added. "I want to see the truth."
Mr. Agerate nodded, seeming unsurprised.
"Let's go," he said softly, and then took off.
I hope that Mr. Agerate is wrong about the starmen, Jeff thought. But what if he isn't?
That possibility hung unspoken in the air, refusing to leave him alone as he followed Mr. Agerate out of the school.
After a few minutes of power walking, Jeff started to fall behind Tony and Mr. Agerate, both of whom were in shape. He started panting as he felt sweat trickle down his face. Jeff hated sweat. It made him feel dirty.
He looked up at the sky, seeing a full, blood-red moon that blanketed all of Ceres in a dull, crimson glow. Under the deathly red light that the moon reflected, everything appeared lifeless and withered.
That is, everything except for anything the color red.
Jeff shivered. He didn't believe in omens, but the moon in the sky made the world before him appear scarier than Earth on Halloween. He scanned the dimly lit paths laid in stone. Red shadows danced in the distance, fueling Jeff's imagination.
Anything could be over there, Jeff thought. Starmen or worse.
"Do you think that starmen would really attack us?" Jeff whispered to Tony.
"Nah," Tony said. "They have no reason to."
"They're aliens," Jeff said. "Maybe their minds work differently than ours."
"Think about it," Tony replied. "There hasn't been a starman attack in centuries, unless you believe the tabloids. Why attack now?"
"I don't know," Jeff answered. "I just can't help but worry when Mr. Agerate loses his calm. When someone like him panics, I feel like we should start running."
"Maybe we should," Tony said with an upbeat grin. "But we're a couple of dumb teenagers, so we won't."
"Almost there," Mr. Agerate whispered.
Jeff looked up at the massive tower extending into space, unable to contain his awe. Instead of shining its normal purple, the Gate carried the same dull red that blanketed the rest of the planet. However, under that sheet of red, it was completely transparent.
"The Gate looks creepy," Tony noted. "Almost like a haunted house. Is something wrong?"
"Yes," Mr. Agerate said. "The Gate is reinforced by a network of psionic energy. It seems that someone shut that energy off… which isn't good. The Gate isn't strong enough to stand on its own. It could come toppling on all of us, if left unchecked."
A chill ran down Jeff's spine. He imagined a tower that tall crashing down on the major city of Ceres, leaving only dust in its wake. A tower that tall could destroy enough architecture to warrant a global emergency.
"Luckily," Mr. Agerate said, "Ceres spins pretty quickly, which pushes the Gate outward. Centrifugal force should buy us a few more hours."
That's good, Jeff thought.
"Err… what?" Tony asked.
"I'll explain it to you later," Jeff whispered to him.
Soon, they arrived at the Gate to Prosperity. Jeff cringed whenever he looked at it, hoping that it would not come toppling down on him. Mr. Agerate entered, and Jeff hesitantly followed.
Jeff had forgotten how large the Gate was until he stood inside. Sure, it wasn't as big as Fourside's astroport, but he was used to seeing it as a thin tower in the distance. Jeff scanned the transparent walls that spanned football fields. He then looked in towards the center of the Gate, which was enclosed by more transparent walls. Nothing stirred under the judging light of Ceres' moon. It made the Gate feel empty… and haunted. Jeff shook his head, trying to calm his heart.
Nothing's wrong, he told himself. That moon is normal for Ceres. It just makes the ground and walls look a little red, that's all…
"Follow me," Mr. Agerate whispered, leading Jeff and Tony into a small room.
The first thing that Jeff spotted once inside was a knifelike object sticking into one of the walls. Luminous purple cracks surrounded the knife, strangely ordered in a hexagonal pattern. It was as if the wall itself was bleeding. Two people were huddled up next to the knife, examining it closely.
"Hello," Mr. Agerate said, walking up to them.
One of the people stood up, facing Mr. Agerate. She possessed long, blond hair, and her eyes appeared blank as they radiated light like a lightbulb, illuminating the area in front of her.
A psion… Jeff thought. She used a power that emits light from her eyes.
Those pure, white eyes almost made her look like a zombie, yet something about her posture made her seem to vivacious to belong to someone of the dead. She offered a businesslike smile.
"Greetings, she told Mr. Agerate, her voice stern but friendly. "As you can see, we are currently working on fixing something important."
"I think that I may be able to help, Ms. Aniah," Mr. Agerate said. "My name is Apollo Agerate, and I think that I know what that device is."
The other person examining the knife started laughing. His laughter sounded so condescending that it was physically painful for Jeff to listen to. Jeff wanted to punch this man in the face, whoever he was…
"Who do you think that you are?" the man asked. "This is technology beyond…"
"Think before you speak, Roland," the woman cut him off. "If you had examined Mr. Agerate, you would have noticed a surprisingly well-crafted mind shield. He's clearly a powerful psion… or another type of psionics-user."
Wait, what? Jeff thought. Since when can Mr. Agerate use psionics? Only the higher-level teachers are supposed to be psions.
"But I don't recognize you," the man, who was apparently called Roland, told Mr. Agerate. "And I know all of the powerful psions on Ceres."
"I prefer not to flaunt my powers," Mr. Agerate said. "Now, would you let me examine that device? I have experience with starman technology."
Ms. Aniah raised an eyebrow.
"That's a rather obscure skill," she noted. "But sure, go ahead. It's not like we've made any progress."
What on Ceres is going on? Jeff wondered, feeling hopelessly lost.
"Megan!" the man exclaimed. "We can't trust this man! He probably will just waste our time."
"If we could do this by ourselves, then he wouldn't need to interfere," Ms. Aniah replied. "Now please, be quiet while this man tries to do what we cannot."
Jeff tried to read the situation. Mr. Agerate seemed to know who Ms. Aniah was, but not the other way around. It appeared that both of them and the other man were psions, but Jeff couldn't tell for sure. He looked at Tony, who only offered a confused shrug.
Mr. Agerate walked up to the knifelike device, closing his eyes as he mouthed words that Jeff couldn't make out. After a few minutes of seemingly doing nothing, the device fell out on its own. The walls dropped their red glow and once again shone purple. Ms. Aniah looked surprised. Roland looked completely stupefied.
"Thank you," Ms. Aniah said, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "How did you do…" she trailed off as all three psions looked outside in alarm. "Starmen."
Jeff once again felt a chilling sense of fear rush through his veins. He wanted to say something, anything, but the prospect of starmen coming after him froze him in place.
"They must have noticed that we disabled their little toy," Mr. Agerate said. "Maybe if we retreat quickly…"
"Retreat?" Roland asked. "We should fight!"
"Not with two children in tow," Ms. Aniah said, looking Jeff and Tony in the eyes. "I know how you fight, Roland. It hurts the land more than it does your enemies."
Children? Jeff thought. I'm hardly a child at age 15.
"I shall take my leave and escort these students to the anti-PSI bunker," Mr. Agerate said.
"What were you thinking, bringing two children here?" Roland demanded, seeming appalled. "This is serious business!"
"And students have the capacity to understand serious issues," Mr. Agerate said. "Goodbye."
He left the building, Jeff and Tony following closely behind. Jeff felt unnerved by Mr. Agerate's conversation with the psions, and the prospect of a starman attack didn't help.
"Ms. Aniah is an important woman," Mr. Agerate explained. "She holds a central government position. She also happens to be Ana's mother. I didn't recognize the man, though."
Tony and Jeff stared at Mr. Agerate blankly.
"…Really?" Jeff asked. "Ana's mother is that important?"
"Yeah," Mr. Agerate said with a light smile. "I expected Ana to be sheltered and bratty, but she's surprisingly aware of what goes on in this universe. Perhaps even more than I…"
Mr. Agerate cut his sentence off as three starmen appeared in front of them. Their skin looked sleek and metallic. Jeff had read that starmen were organic creatures, but in that moment he could have sworn that he heard gears grinding inside of their hollow bodies. But what was scariest about the starmen was the complete lack of emotion in their body language. They didn't have eyes, noses, mouths… or hearts. They only possessed geometric dark spots on their chest and face. Like everything, they looked slightly withered under the moon's red glare. Jeff let out a yelp, feeling his heart pound in his chest.
Starmen attacks… Jeff thought in disbelief. They're supposed to be stories to scare children! I never thought that they were real! …Is this real?
"Hello, forsaken one," one of the starmen rasped mechanically, although Jeff didn't know how it made sound. "I assume that it was you who disabled our device?"
Mr. Agerate smiled coldly.
"What brings you here?" he asked. "Surely you know the price of this visit."
"We do not think that the president will follow through with her threat," the starman said. "It would leave her with no more leverage on us."
Mr. Agerate laughed mirthfully.
"You don't know her half as well as you think that you do," he replied, wagging his finger.
I'm still so confused… Jeff thought. Since when does Mr. Agerate know Minerva Carpainter so well? Since when does he know the starmen so well?
"You lie," the starman said. "Now… I shall put you out of your misery, forsaken one. Would you like that?"
"Come at me!" Mr. Agerate spat.
Suddenly, Jeff felt himself being lifted up into the air, even though nothing was touching him. He turned to look at Tony, who also floated above the ground. Jeff tried to move his limbs and found them locked in place. Fear gripped his heart as a starmen teleported right in front of him. Jeff felt the starman's tentacle-like hand touch his face and was surprised at how cold it felt.
"You seem to care about these two," the starman told Mr. Agerate. "And now we hold a… what do you humans call it? We hold a sword to their heads. You humans do die when we remove your heads, yes?"
Mr. Agerate gritted his teeth. Jeff tried to struggle and slip free, but he couldn't resist the invisible chains that bound him in place. Mr. Agerate shot a melancholy glance at him.
"What is your move, forsaken one?" the starman asked.
"Null psionics field," Mr. Agerate said.
Suddenly, Jeff and Tony fell to the ground. Jeff felt himself being scooped up by Mr. Agerate. The teacher ran forward faster than Jeff could believe. The wind whipped in his face as Jeff registered that Mr. Agerate was taking him away…
"Teleport!" Mr. Agerate exclaimed.
The world swirled around Jeff. After a few seconds, he found himself standing in a hallway, right outside of a room that he didn't recognize. He released a sigh of relief when confronted with the familiar walls of the school with their rainbow swirls of color.
I'm back at school, Jeff thought. I'm back home.
"What… did you do?" Tony asked.
"I created a field where psionics didn't work," Mr. Agerate said softly, "Which broke the starman's enchantment that held two in place. I then ran out of that zone and teleported you two to safety. In the door behind you is a room with the same kind of field, meaning that starmen cannot reach you there. I would strongly advise staying in there. I shall alert the rest of the staff to order an emergency and then go back and combat some of the starmen."
"Will you be okay?" Jeff asked.
Mr. Agerate shot him a sad smile.
"I think so, but the world wouldn't lose much if I died out there. Please, don't worry about me. Or if you have to, please respect my decision to fight for what I care about."
"We want to help too," Tony said, the determination in his voice surprising both Jeff and Mr. Agerate.
Err… we do? Jeff thought.
"Are you certain?" Mr. Agerate asked. "Those starmen back there could have quashed your brains if they wanted to. Since you don't have a psionic aura, any starman that wants you dead will find no difficulty killing you."
"Tell me truthfully," Tony said. "Will the starmen kill us on sight?"
"…No," Mr. Agerate said. "In fact, most of them will ignore you. Starmen are a proud race, and they consider those without PSI to be nonfactors."
"Great," Tony said. "Jeff, do you want to come with me?"
"What will we do?" Jeff asked, unable to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "Neither of us can fight, Tony! Well, you can fight, but you most certainly cannot take on a starman!"
"We'll find something," Tony replied. "People to save. Starmen to distract. This is our time to really make a difference, Jeff."
I really don't want to do this… Jeff thought.
"Make your own decisions, Jeff," Mr. Agerate said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Just because Tony wants to rush into the site of conflict doesn't mean that you need to."
Jeff sighed.
"I'll go with you, Tony," he said. "I don't want to, but it is the right thing to do. Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Agerate. I'm not going because Tony is pressuring me; I'm going because I know that he's right."
Mr. Agerate flashed a tired smile.
"I assume that me pointing out that you two are acting rather foolish won't dissuade you?" he asked.
"Not a chance!" Tony exclaimed with a triumphant smile.
"All right," Mr. Agerate said with a chuckle, turning around. "Be careful out there. Remember exactly what you have to lose."
"What do you mean?" Jeff asked.
"There's so much that both of you can do to help this world," Mr. Agerate said. "And you have all of the time you need to make a difference. The entire world will mourn your loss if you die now."
With that, he walked away, leaving Tony and Jeff alone in the dark passage.