Xenron opened his eyes to the most brilliant view he’d ever seen - a sky full of stars. The wind whipped around him, bringing a brisk chill he didn’t dislike. Panning down, he saw Eric and Ken on the rooftop with him, and a sprawling metropolis far below.
“This is beautiful,” Xenron said hesitantly, “but is it okay for us to use the new Neural Dive Console like this?”
“It’s productive,” Eric said with a shrug. “Director Vaere signed off on it, so we’re all good. It’s not like we’re crowding out a larger group - I’ll have a friend or two dropping in later.”
Xenron shrugged, but Ken’s hair had already blown into a mess, his arms crossed.
“We’re supposed to work up here?” Ken asked. “There’s not even anywhere to sit.”
“Sure there is,” Eric said, falling backwards. Almost not in time, a plush chair materialized under him as he fell. “Here, I’ll show you the commands.”
Eric called up a panel of hard-light, then flicked it over for Ken and Xenron to review.
“Fine,” Ken shrugged, “but what about these ‘friends’. I don’t mean to sound greedy, but I don’t think boons grow on trees. You and I could both stand to get our rankings bumped, but there’s no point if everyone’s involved. It’s a long shot even splitting this four ways.”
“Speaking of,” Eric said, “any luck on Leo?”
“Not yet. I’ll bring him around,” Xenron said, trying to convince himself.
“Ahh, well. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about them. I already explained.”
Eric seemed to think that was enough explanation, and Ken dropped the point, returning to the commands. After some trial and error, he decided to stand anyway. Meanwhile, Xenron visualized the castle’s 20th floor pool, added some heat for good measure, and issued a couple of commands. A moment later, a pool had materialized and he was diving in. The water was warm, and he floated naturally. There was something about floating that comforted him, and Xenron next called up several hard light panels comfortably in his field of view above him. Xenron grinned as he reviewed the objectives. He made a hard light panel next to him and used it to draw visual aids as he spoke.
“Remember, we’re here to create a proposal for the revision of the KEY Program’s penal policy, specifically in the Tier III-lead training sections. That’ll come in three parts:
1. Find sufficient backing evidence that the Tier III students are using punishments that aren’t proven to have good outcomes.
2. Develop a general idea for a system that fills the gaps.
And the hardest part…
3. Write up a formal proposal revising the relevant passage in KEY penal code.”
Ken called a fishing pole to his hand, then hooked Xenron’s note panel and pulled it towards him.
“I guess we can’t just stop at proving kicking the crap out of people isn’t nice?” Ken asked.
“They’re probably going to resist change no matter what,” Eric said cheerily, sipping a mug of something hot in his chair. “At least if our project is impressive, there’s a chance they pass us even if they don’t change the code. That’s the real goal, right?”
Xenron felt a little strange hearing their overly ambitious dive into legalese referred to like a common book report. Then again, he’d only ever heard about group projects second-hand. Maybe it would be fun to just go with it. He nodded, then opened a new query.
“Let’s give them the best extra credit they’d ever seen,” Xenron said, grinning.
They divvied up tasks amongst them, then got started. Xenron didn’t waste any time surrounding himself in a sphere of different leads, moving from one to another. The arc of space directly in front of him and around, he filled with notes and core documents - things he was collecting. Ms. Vale had put him through the paces of research. Above and below him in dome shapes spread and increasingly busy network of articles, interviews, and KEY Program withdrawal statements, statistics, and more. There wasn’t that much to go on - from what he saw, Xenron would have thought everything was running perfectly smoothly. He knew that wasn’t the case. Diving down underwater for a change of perspective, he looked again at an interview with a former Tier III student. No scathing remarks, but the interviewer noted scars on his body. He’d had several students rebel against him in the middle of a training session - and unprecedented breach in order. Gleaning bits and pieces, Xenron could feel himself pulling the thread of a larger cloth.
Then, another person materialized. Annabel Lenoz appeared, her azure hair tied back in a braid, clad in a dress and long gloves made of impossibly many white petals. Xenron put in a command to turn down the pool lights, because he knew he was blushing furiously.
“Hey Eric,” she said brightly. “What can I get on?”
“Can you get a few different angles on Leo’s ‘fight’? I’m sure it’s all archived, but I can’t navigate that system for the life of me.”
“Got it,” she said, turning to Ken. “You adjusting to the system alright?”
“So far, so good,” Ken replied. “It’s a little fancier than it needs to be, but it’s not in the way or anything.”
“So you’re not going freak out if I throw an article at you?”Anna teased.
“You saw my fight,” Ken complained. “I lost, but it was a good loss. I’m not some bumbling half-wit. Where did you find this girl, Eric?”
“Yard sale,” she said casually before Eric could answer. She noted Xenron then, and he almost hid underwater when she turned to him.
“Your Highness,” she said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize-”
“Don’t bother,” Ken said.
“He’s cool,” Eric elaborated.
Annabel turned back to Xenron, pensive, as if looking for confirmation. What was he supposed to say?
“M-my father wants everyone to treat me as a normal peer, that’s not some weird political trap. Even… even if I wanted to stand on ceremony for some weird reason, no dice,” he said, borrowing Ken’s expression. Did it sound casual? He hoped it sounded casual. It was good enough, because Annabel grinned.
“’Sup, then?”
Xenron grinned back.
“Oh, y’know. In over my head,” he said, sinking underwater and blowing out air while holding up his hand dramatically for effect. The sound of Annabel’s giggles made Xenron’s feel warm. When he finally surfaced, she had generated a nearly flat furry animal Xenron didn’t recognize. She lay in its considerable bulk, navigating several screens already. Xenron relaxed a little, and decided he’d take a page out of Eric’s book. He summoned a mug of hot chocolate, took a sip - and almost spit it out. Way too much cocoa. Idly, Xenron wondered what all might be wrong with his rush-job pool. Everything here was based on his mental image of things - he didn’t think he had a bad understanding of water, but he also thought he understood cocoa. Well, it didn’t matter. It was just going to be the four of them, most likely.
***
Three hours later, Ken wondered if the nerve link thingy had fried his brain and this was all a weird dream. There were way too many people in the ‘research’ session, many of them wearing generated clothes from corny superhero jumpsuits to the much more original harmless-fire-as-clothing. Several of these were swimming laps in Xenron’s pool, another few were playing with Anna’s pet farrusk, even as she worked away on its back, and Eric had opened a drink bar after no one else had managed to get hot chocolate right. He was still chatting with people over there. Ken didn’t understand how anyone bothered with so many friends. To know this many people, Eric either had to be the most charming guy in the world, or a mob boss. Nice as he was, Ken was pretty convinced it was the latter. At least Xenron and Anna were still working. Anna seemed way better at staying on-task than Eric was, and all she’d asked for was “a small mention in the writeup, so I can put it on my resume.” Even Zekain, Vex, and Aslear had found some useful primary sources.
Aslear was the most surprising, given her professed distaste for school work. She’d had an interesting exchange with Xenron that was a relief to see.
***
“You really don’t have to do this,” Xenron had said while she was searching for sources on mind altering magic. She hadn’t asked any questions, just gotten to it when he’d listed things they needed early in the gathering.
“It’s fine,” Aslear said without looking. Xenron needed to say more.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Actually…” Xenron put his hand on her shoulder, and she looked at him for the first time, “I wanted to say I’m really sorry for snapping at you. You’ve been nothing but kind to me. You didn’t deserve that.”
Aslear took a long breath. She shook her head, looking embarrassed. “It’s not your fault. My brother says I shouldn’t just hug people all the time. It’s just hard because I get so excited when I see people I like. I didn’t always have people I felt close to like this… but he’s right. I need to try to understand what people are actually feeling, rather than pushing my feelings on them. You were clearly upset, in hindsight. I should have seen that.”
“It’s not like you were trying to hurt me,” Xenron said with a shrug. “I love that you’re so affectionate with your friends. I’ll make a point of communicating what I mean, instead of just getting mad. Come on. Let’s stop being so stiff and hug it out.”
Aslear looked relieved, smiling sweetly as she walked closer to Xenron. She came close - and gave him a shove, knocking him into the pool before doubling over laughing. Xenron glared at her after the prank, then created a fire hose in his hands. She continued shriek-laughing as he knocked her off her feet with a blast of water. He couldn’t help laughing himself.
***
Ken wasn’t working as well as he wanted. He’d ended up talking to Silver Reginald, for some reason. The guy wasn’t even in either his or Eric’s training section.
“-and that’s how Alabaster Reginald the Third escaped a tribe of Gaian savages with nothing but a golden wristwatch. Fascinating, don’t you think?”
“Can I level with you, Silver?”
“Please do, my good man.”
“I have no damn idea what you’re talking about.”
Ken glanced up at the expression on the noble knob’s face. Not angry like Ken expected, the shiny-haired nugget looked like he was ready to cry. Ugh.
“I’m sorry to have bothered you,” Silver said. “I just thought we might get along famously.”
“Look,” Ken said, “it’s not you, man. I’m just in the middle of reading shit from scholars with a pole stuck up their ass, who can’t use words with less than 15 letters, trying to prove that people on the same side shouldn’t hit each other. It seems mind-numbingly obvious to me,” Ken said, swing his arm through hard light tabs. Instead of providing resistance, they just went racing away, adding to his annoyance. Stupid convenience features.
“You sound like you need a brief respite,” Silver said, brightening instantly. “Why don’t I teach you how to fly in this world?”
“How does that help me do nerd shit?” Ken asked.
“You’ll be in a significantly brighter mood,” he chimed. “Besides, it’s easier to organize your tabs when you can float between them. Come now! I’ll show you. We’ll start by jumping off this rooftop. I promise I’ll help you do ‘nerd shit’ when we’re done.”
Ken groaned. He could just let Silver jump, but in the long run, it was probably this or another Reginald family tale. He followed the Silver to the edge, feeling like there was some kind of “would you do it if your friends did?” message he was supposed to be remembering.
***
As Xenron returned to his work, he hadn’t expected his research to delve into obscure psychological theories, but there he was. If his pile of articles and ideas was a tower, it was a leaning tower on the verge of collapse, and he was trying to keep it up by hitting it with a sledge hammer in another direction. All told, it was going as well as could be expected. Aradelle’s Adaptation Theory was interesting. Xenron couldn’t deny he’d changed after associating with people more. But if the way he changed was based on their mana, shouldn’t he have already been some combination of everyone around him, subconsciously? There was more than that to it. But just as the theory was starting to look like it held water, the researcher started falling into increasingly deranged ramblings. He had been in the Mad King’s service by that time, so perhaps his descent was as much proof of his theory as any sound logic, but Xenron couldn’t very well use that as the basis for a paper. He was tried to find any scrap that tied everything together…
“Annabel!” a guy that was practically twice as tall as Xenron called, “come forth and join us! The water’s the perfect temperature.”
“I’ve got stuff to do,” she hollered back without looking.
“Oh really?” asked the lumbering man - Xenron could only think of him as a man. He didn’t look at him until the ball of water in his hand had become massive, and he hurled it at Annabel, drenching her.
“You dick,” she hissed.
She glared for a moment, then got up and ran towards the water. Her dress shimmered like it was going to disappear, and Xenron looked away, concerned he’d see something she didn’t want to show. He was shocked to instead hear “cannonball!” and be thrown up against the wall of the pool by a sudden wave.
When he opened his eyes, they were all standing at the bottom of a near-empty pool, laughing.
“Hey, what gives?” a shorter guy said. “I can’t refill this. I never get water right.”
“Well, who made the pool? Surely they can refill it from a little mishap?” the man said.
“Xenron, was it you?” Annabel asked.
“Y-yeah, but I’m not sure I got it right. I just tried something randomly.”
“Seems wet enough to me,” the shorter guy said, kicking around the water at his feet.
Xenron shrugged, then closed his eyes and imagined the pool he had drawn from - a place of respite. He was starting to get a little itchy - he was probably copying the effect of chlorine - but he wasn’t going to change his approach and risk making it worse. Curiously, he could still see people’s souls when he closed his eyes, despite being in a virtual place. So, their souls were somehow inside the virtual realm, not just their consciousness? Something to consider later. The pool filled, and a wave of cheers rose. Xenron smiled and scratched his head, then realized Annabel was swimming over. Well, it’s on my bucket list…
“Anna,” Xenron said, preempting whatever she was going to say. He was going to apologize, but remembered what Eric had said and stopped himself. "Thanks for the fight. It was incredible. You really pushed me to the limit."
"Right back at you," she said with a smile. "I still can't figure out how you saw me coming, but I know better than to pry. Hopefully I'll figure it out myself at some point."
Xenron chuckled awkwardly, and Anna moved past it easily.
“How’s your research going?” she asked.
“Alright, I guess,” Xenron said. “I’m not really good at focusing with so much going on - t-that’s, all on me, of course! I’ll get used to it.”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Annabel said, holding one arm as she treaded water by kicking her legs. “This is how we usually do our projects, but I guess you probably don’t do things this haphazardly. It takes a bit longer, for sure.”
“I-I don’t mean to complain. Eric is already helping s-so much, and you’re working hard too. If this makes him happy-”
“It’s not just that!” Annabel interrupted, then blushed. “I mean, he’s not like, just some himbo party guy. I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea because of me. You see that girl he’s chatting with?” She pointed to where Eric was standing at a wooden bar, petting an ostrich, chatting with a beautiful blonde girl our age on the other side. “That’s Erina Serin. She’s a genius of ice magic, and a workhorse. She’s usually too busy to hang out. Eric convinced her to come here and interview with him.”
“Interview?”
“He’s getting firsthand accounts from almost everyone in the program,” Annabel continued. “Their impressions of the Tier III mentors. It’s a stupid amount of data to gather for something you already know, but he wants more credibility.”
Xenron pondered that, feeling drawn into her sincerity. “I appreciate his thoughtfulness, but wouldn’t it have been easier to ask them in one at a time?”
Annabel pointed at Xenron and nodded emphatically. “And that’s what you’d do if you were a normal person that didn’t want to make everyone happy all the time. I bet he figured he would host a rooftop party, change the king’s law, and save the whales all in one day!”
“What’s a whale?” Xenron asked.
“My point exactly,” Annabel said, swinging her arms out to both sides as if that had settled something.
Annabel seemed pretty emphatic about all this, but her Xenron didn’t hear any real bite in her words. Curious, he closed his eyes for a moment. Anna’s color of was a deep and vibrant red, a rose in full bloom. He understood without words. It was something he’d rarely seen his father display, something he had only seen on ‘too corny’ shows. Something he could tell by context wasn’t for him, but for Eric. Love. Frustration, anger, and self-loathing raced through his mind. How could he be such a fool? And at the same time, impossibly, he felt the warmth of that feeling, that love, as if it was in his own chest.
“Hey, Xenron?”
“A-ah, sorry,” Xenron said. “Just a headache. I… um-”
“Yaaaaaahoooo!! FUCK yeah, come and get me!”
Xenron had to blink to see if the system was glitching. Above his head, Ken was flying through the air without wings, a gun with an orange tip in his hands. He turned and blasted a wave of shots at… was that Silver? Xenron had remembered his fight. He didn’t seem like someone Ken would get along with, but they seemed close enough.
“You dastard!” Silver called, having been painted various colors where he’d been struck. “I’ll get the better of you yet!”
Annabel was giggling again, the sound heavenly on Xenron’s ears. Putting a stopper in his conflicting emotions the best he could, he smiled.
“You like him a lot, don’t you?” Xenron asked wistfully.
Annabel blanched, recoiling as if struck. “I-I, mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Xenron said, feeling calmer as he spoke. Annabel and Eric had gone out of their way to help him extend a hand to Leo for once. As far as he was concerned, they were both amazing people… and deserved each other.
“Well, he needs someone to keep him from getting into trouble, with all his crazy ideas! That’s all,” she said, frowning and crossing her arms.
“Good luck. He’s a great guy,” Xenron said.
“I don’t need you to tell me that,” she said, her grin coming back.
They lapsed into silence for a while like that, treading water and watching the skyline, and the full moon. What an incredible mirage. The trance was broken when water splashed over Xenron’s head from the big guy, and Annabel coached him through their counterattack. In the ensuing battle, the pool was drained at least five times by absurd dream physics, falling sheep, and random oversized houseplant appearances. Xenron couldn’t remember exactly - at some point, he started laughing so hard it all blended together. He caught Anna’s ear for a moment when it settled.
“I think I see why you do things this way. I’ll need some quiet for a bit - because right now, I’m feeling refreshed for another round.”
“I’m glad,” Annabel said, punching Xenron’s arm lightly. “Don’t work too hard. It’s not just about brownie points. This project affects everyone in the program. We’re counting on you - and that means no burnout allowed!” she said, giving him a big grin.
Xenron grinned back, then asked Eric to take him somewhere quiet in the building. The thought hadn’t crossed his mind it seemed, but it was an easy thing. Inside, with encouragement from his new friend, Xenron got right to work. He wanted a convincing first draft to show his friend so that, next time he did something like this, Leo would experience it with him.
