AN: I am so sorry, my friends. I totally had this edited, I just completely forgot to post it. I must have read it at least four times last night and I still managed not to get it put up. So here's this week's chapter, I'll try not to be late again! Love you!
Jim knew that the dining hall wasn't actually any quieter than usual. He knew that the other students were continuing about their lives as per usual. He knew it was unreasonable to expect the whole school to grind to a halt over this situation. But without Braxton, everything felt significantly less vibrant.
"Jim, you have to eat something," Matt's gentle voice coxed Jim from his brooding thoughts. "All you've done tonight is rearrange your lasagna. I'm not even sure you can call it lasagna any more."
"Was it ever lasagna to begin with if it doesn't have meat or cheese in it?"
"You didn't have to go through my line, you know."
"Yeah, well," Jim huffed and shoved his noodles around a bit more. "You looked like you didn't want to be alone."
Varian set a gentle hand on Jim's shoulder. "It's okay if you miss Braxton," he stated gently. "We all do."
628 nodded, his ears flopping dejectedly. "Braxton good. Was good friend. 628 miss him lots."
"We don't know for certain he's being expelled," Sy hesitantly voiced the unlikely opinion. "Until we hear to the contrary, Braxton is still part of our school. They haven't disabled his messages yet. Maybe he'll still be able to join us for dinner."
Matt smiled. "I hope so."
"It's Gray that's trying to get rid of him," Jim reminded the group. "He isn't going to just let Braxton stay. Not without a fight. And fighting Gray is what got Braxton into this mess."
"Braxton isn't defenseless. He's got a lot more people on his side than I think we give him credit for." Sy touched Jim's hand gently and offered a small smile. "It'll be okay. I can just feel it."
"I think I'm with Sy on this one," Matt admitted hesitantly. "I mean, Burnside came all the way out here for this, that's a good sign, right? He wouldn't make the trip if he thought it was pointless. Space rangers tend to be really busy, I know he's have better use of his time if there wasn't a chance in this fight."
Sy nodded. "See? That's the kind of attitude we should have! And you said that Mrs. Parr told you that she put in a good word for him, right? So he's got the support of at least some of the faculty! I spoke with Zephyr, and he said that it's a high standard to prove someone deserves to be expelled. In his four years here, they haven't expelled anyone. The closest he could think of was in his first year learning and a boy in his grade was relocated to another facility due to the conflicts he kept having with another student."
"That's student conflicts, Braxton's fight was with an officer."
"Are you going to be pessimistic and shoot down every one of our hopes?" Hogarth's reprimand was teasing, though pointed. "We have to have faith in Braxton. He needs us."
Varian nodded. "Hogarth's right. There's magic in friendship. I know, I know. I'm the science over magic kid, but even I have to admit that sometimes there's no purely scientific explanation for things. Once in a while there truly just is a little magic. And friendship? That's one of those things. This artifact, however, is a completely different matter."
The young alchemist slammed his book down in the center of the table. "What do you guys think?" He pointed to a picture of a rather ordinary looking oil lamp. It was silver, most likely, and had a thin chain connecting the lid to the curved handle.
"I think it looks useful, I suppose," Jim offered hesitantly. "Though I wouldn't want one on a ship. Seems like it could spill too easily if knocked over."
"Ooooh, pretty!" 628 perked up slightly, his head tilted as he studied the ornate design on the side of the lamp.
"What is it?" Matt's eyes scanned the page, slowly reading the excerpt below the picture.
"Supposedly it's a 'Magic Lamp'. But as we all know, there are perfectly logical and scientific explanations for just about everything in the known universe, and I am determined to figure out this one. I'm thinking it might be a myth that has been blown out of proportion and extrapolated heavily based on cultural and individual influences." Varian flipped the page, gesturing to another picture with several sketches of different lamps, jugs, bottles, and even a seemingly out of place ring.
"I borrowed this book from Aladdin, thanks for the suggestion by the way Sy-"
"Don't mention it."
"-And I think I may have a couple of different theories about how these things might operate."
"Aladdin's talked about his lamp a couple times," Hogarth offered brightly. "I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you all about his genie."
Varian shook his head. "I do want to know his opinion, but his observations are tainted by being engrossed in the culture I'm studying. He can't have an objective opinion, because he was raised to have a specific view point in regards to this subject matter, and he'll be utilizing knowledge outside the scope of the research. I'll be able to more clearly find the heart of the matter if additional, irrelevant, information is not being used to obscure the truth."
"So you don't believe the genie is real?" Sy inquired.
"Of course I believe the genie is real," Varian reassured his friend. "But I don't believe the genie is magic. I need to find the true source of the power, and to explain how it operates and grants its supposed wish fulfilling abilities. I'm thinking it might be sort of a self fulfilling prophecy, mixed with a bit of the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, and a touch of the theory of synchronicity or seriality."
"I have no idea what any of that means," Matt admitted, "But it does sound like a very cool research paper. Will you send me a copy of it after you've finished it? Don't worry about adjusting the difficult words, if I have any trouble, I'll just ask Braxton."
The table fell silent again at the mention of his name.
628 sighed heavily. He scooped up his plate, dumped the rest of his meal into his mouth, then planted his face on the table. His ears flopped dejectedly on either side of his head.
Sy glanced about the table. "Hogarth, do you think we could all hang out in your room tonight? I'd wanted to see your project you're working on in your biology class. If not, my room is available."
Hogarth nodded. "Sure, Sy. We can hang out in my room. I still have some hot chocolate left, too. We can finish that off tonight. C'mon, guys, let's finish up. We've still got almost two hours before bedtime, let's not squander it!"
"Oooooh, chocolate!" 628's ears perked up and he lifted his head at last. "El kiyotay! Goobaja!"
