Stephanie tugged the small battery out of her pocket and held it up to her eyes to stare at the purple that swirled within. “No, but how about this?”

  She handed him the battery and he took it carefully. “Are you serious?”

  Her smile was wide. “Yep. It doesn’t hold a lot, but I received some new ones and filled that for ya.”

  He stopped and turned, grabbed her, and picked her up to shake her back and forth as he hugged her. When he set her down, she actually stumbled, a little disoriented by his enthusiastic thanks. “Wow. You’re welcome, dude.”

  Todd tucked it in his bag and they slowed somewhat, having made up enough time to not have to rush directly into the school building. “Question of the day. Drum roll, please…”

  With a dramatic gesture, he flicked drumsticks from his bracelets and drummed in the air, making the sound with his mouth. “Who would win in a battle? Mr. T or Donkey Kong?”

  Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Please? Really. This is so easy. Mr. T, of course.”

  She turned to walk backward. Her eyes glinting with suppressed laughter, she squared her shoulders and stiffened her neck, bowed her arms at the sides, and pulled her hands into fists. She pointed at him and frowned. “I pity the fool. I pity the fool.”

  Todd laughed and shook his head. “I knew you would say that but I don’t agree. I am Donkey Kong all the way. One hundred percent. Throwing barrels and taking names.”

  Pressing her lips together, she scoffed. “Pffft. Mr. T would put him in that barrel and throw him straight out the game. His weak-ass brown barrels.”

  Her friend made a Mr. T with one bracelet and a Donkey Kong with the other. “No, see, Mr. T is too bulky. He wouldn’t be able to even jump over the damn things. Instead, he would be bowled over in a heartbeat.”

  Stephanie made two fists and slammed her hands down in front of her. “He would use his strength. The dude did not either go sleeveless or roll the sleeves for no reason. His arms were massive. He would smash right through that shit.”

  “Yeah, but he’s all blinged out and shit.” Todd laughed. “All those necklaces would not only slow his ass down, they would get caught up on the barrels, choke him, or throw him off balance.”

  They walked into the school and stopped at his homeroom. He turned his bracelets off and put them in his bag, not wanting to have them confiscated. “We’ll have to use my dad’s simulator and plug that in. Inquiring minds need to know.”

  She laughed and started to walk away. “You got it. I’ll see you at lunch.”

  The day was like any other of the last week—distracting, slightly frustrating for taking so much of her time, but simple. She breezed through her classes without paying even the least attention and instead, made notes for the next theory she wanted to test in the sandbox. It was essentially her only time to do it since her mom and dad had suggested in a not so suggestion-like manner that she should get a good night’s sleep each night.

  “Miss Morgana, what is the answer to the question on the board?” her English teacher asked.

  Stephanie was so enthused with what she was writing she didn’t even hear her. The teacher cleared her throat and spoke louder. “Miss Morgana.”

  The class looked at her and she startled and looked up. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Frank. What was the question?”

  The woman pointed at the board. “What is the true deep meaning behind Poe’s A Dream Within A Dream?”

  She swallowed in an attempt to ease the dryness in her throat. “Right. Sorry. It’s a portrayal of the two different scenes that connect them into something of a knot. It’s essentially kind of suffering, and rightfully so as Poe’s life was a suffrage of sorts. A view of a lover’s journey through time. He also vividly describes dreams and reality with lines like, ‘All that we see or seem/Is but a dream within a dream.’ He is basically saying that neither one is more real than a dream. The poem is the outer one, the narrator the inner.”

  The teacher stared at her, surprised, as the bell rang. She shook her head as everyone stood. “Don’t forget. I want you to research your own favorite poem from the time period and write a three-page analysis, due one week from today. And Ms. Morgana, please stay behind. I would like to have a word with you.”

  Everyone glanced over at her but didn’t say anything, fortunately. Even they had seen the difference in her from the quiet and attentive girl she had always been. Stephanie knew the things that were going on and didn’t need to make eye contact. She spent most of her time learning Meligorn elemental theory from books and everything she would ever want to know about pop culture from Todd. For the rest of the time, her face was shoved into the 3D images of pages from a hidden website that talked all about Meligorn Magical Musings. The rest of life was shoved somewhere in the back of her mind.

  As she waited for the class to leave, one of the jocks tripped the quiet and nerdy computer kid in front of him. He flicked him in the ear and swiped his big-ass feet at his victim. Stephanie narrowed her eyes and gripped her battery. Taking care to keep her finger low, she released a small streak of magic. It spiraled forward and snuck up the back of the jock’s shirt. Slowly, it seeped into the fabric and created a picture of him crying and holding onto his mommy.

  All the kids began to laugh, and he looked back and freaked out as the image moved with him. In it, he sucked his thumb before the visual faded away. The teacher walked over and shut the door on the scene, grabbing her attention. Stephanie wiped the smirk from her lips and released the battery to put her hands behind her back.

  Ms. Frank sat on the edge of her desk, her hands on her lap, and gave her a kind smile. “You have not paid attention to a word I have said in this class for this entire semester.”

  Stephanie straightened her shoulders and her eyes shifted to the desk. “I have gotten all As.”

  The teacher thought for a moment and licked her lips. “Have you ever thought about the fact that these lessons aren’t only for grades? They are for life too.”

  She chuckled but quickly adopted a sober expression. “I’m sorry. Edgar Allen Poe is great. He has stood the test of time and destruction. We still have his work because someone out there memorized it and reprinted after the purges over our very sensational political past. But that is because he suffered darkness, pain, and loss. That is what society is now—at least the majority of it is. We relate but that doesn’t mean we should create a world of dark and suffering around us. That only keeps us down. Look, there will never be a time where my boss—any of them—ask me to break out Poe’s work and explain its meaning.”

  Ms. Frank shook her head and glanced at the ground. “And I am not teaching communications. I am teaching you a world of literature that has shaped the face of writing over the centuries. That have inspired greatness in other works along the way. The kind of writing that, if you took the time to look at it, helped to shape a society of people and the way that the laws, records, and musings were put together. Either way, when you don’t pay attention and I have to basically yell, it disrupts the class. And simply because you know it doesn’t mean I can allow you to not pay attention. That is not something the other students have the luxury to do.”

  Stephanie leaned grumpily against the desk. “I know. I’m sorry. I often find it hard to concentrate. I have taken all of the honors courses the Federation offers in high school.”

  Ms. Frank stood and fixed her student with a firm look. She had known the girl for years and felt more than comfortable discussing this with her. That aside, she also knew that Stephanie wouldn’t relate well with a counselor who had not earned her trust. “And you are not challenged. So coming here is like wasting entire days listening to lectures in the background. I get it. Which is why I believe that you should consider taking the tests necessary to graduate early. There is no reason you shouldn’t be able to breeze through them. I think if you applied, with the number of honors courses that you have taken and your exceptional grades, they wouldn’t even think to turn you down. It requires a day of testing, but then you can stop coming here to simply take up space. You can do whatever is connected with that notebook you constantly write in.”

  Stephanie tucked the book under her arm. “I actually never thought about that. I guess until recently, I had spent my time preparing for state testing. And when it was over and I didn’t get in permanently, I never stopped to think about the fact that I don’t have to do this anymore. It’s a habit, I guess.”

  Ms. Frank’s tight lips curled into a smile which made her cheekbones more pronounced and Stephanie noticed how young she actually was. “It’s also a protection in some ways, too. For most students, it’s a place to come to escape their family. But I know that your parents and you are close. Growing up can be scary.”

  She nodded as she walked toward the door. “But like death, inevitable, right, Mr. Poe?”

  Ms. Frank nodded. “He would say so. Think about it. And pay attention until then, please. Or get an inner note-taking chip so you can stare at me and glaze over while you take the notes in your head to transfer later.”

  Those were incredibly expensive.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  The sound of crickets outside her window helped her concentrate better on what she was doing. Stephanie sat at her desk and the warm breeze felt good, but she had to put a small fan on sprayed with a bottle of perfume she had for special occasions to mask the mixture of terrible smells that wafted from the subs. There was garbage everywhere as trashcans overflowed since the Federation only picked up every month to cut costs for the new stadium in the rich area. Added to that was whatever godawful thing her neighbor was cooking.

  She now worked through some final tests she needed to practice in order to finish school. After a moment or two, she completed the last question and submitted it for review. The system calculated the score and sent it back. Stephanie sighed as her shoulders sagged. “Ninety-two percent? What the hell?”

  Groaning, she went through it once more to see what she’d missed and review the correct answers. She had worked too hard on her school grades to accept a mere ninety-two percent. The phone rang and she fumbled awkwardly without looking to press the answer button. The screen came up and her mother’s face flickered slightly. “Hey, honey. All I see is the back of your beautiful head.”

  Stephanie glanced around with a frown. “I’m taking practice tests for school and not doing well.”

  Her mom pouted. “Uh oh. Are you failing them?”

  She raised an eyebrow, almost offended. “No. Not failing but not a high enough ninety percentiles.”

  Cindy giggled. “You are quite the overachiever. Anyway. I needed to call you to let you know that a job came up to run another building for a friend’s company. You remember Alice and Walter Sodermayer, right?”

  Stephanie nodded and rested her chin in her hand. “Yeah. The ones who live in Hickory Ridge in that huge white mansion.”

  Her mom rolled her eyes. “That would be them. So beautiful but huge. Anyway, they own a business downtown with twenty floors of space. She has another team already, but she needs more hands to get it done and they are very against droid cleaners. They would rather put the money back to the people. So, she called and of course, we said we’ll take more work.”

  She raised her head and stretched. “For sure. Don’t work yourself into a migraine, though. You know they will BS you about meds for it in the hospital like last time. They treat that stuff like it’s not mass produced in the Federation Pharm factory six miles away. Honestly, they think that because you live in the subs, you’re a junkie.”

  Cindy shrugged. “And that you can’t afford to pay so they give you half the service. It’s certainly not a problem that is new—it’s been around for hundreds of years. But I do have some in that place where we hide valuables in case it happens again. I’ll be careful, though.”

  Stephanie smiled. “Okay. And hey, I have some questions for you next time you are able to chat at home. Come grab me if I’m up here.”

  Her mom’s eyes sparkled, loving the idea of still being useful to her as a mother. “Of course. There are leftovers in the fridge if you get hungry. Love you to pieces, my dear.”

  She waved. “You too. Be safe.”

  They hung up and Stephanie swiped the tests away, having had enough. She went ahead and ordered a car and headed over to the pod place. Since her parents wouldn’t be back until really late, she might as well do something useful. And they were open all night.

  When she arrived, the small team cheered and waved a greeting. She slapped hands with a couple of them and walked to the desk, folded her arms on the surface, and rested her chin on them. Her eyes shifted up to Julie, who continued to type and didn’t look at her but smiled. “You must be here to use your special pod.”

  Stephanie nodded silently, her head teetering on the back of her hand. Two of the guys walked up and she straightened to give them a nervous smile. The one closest to her—his name tag read Terrance—nodded at her. “You should do one of the tests—the strategy and combat ones. We’ve been dying to see what scores you get on it.”

  The other guy laughed. “We already know you’d blow the other guys doing them out of the water. You don’t even have to play with cams on. You can request a cams-off only round, you know, to keep your stuff under wraps.”

  Julie smirked. “Now that we have an influx of folks here, they are looking for something to talk about while they work their asses off.”

  Stephanie chuckled. “An influx?”

  The woman nodded as she removed a page from the printer and set it on the stack on her desk. “Oh yeah. A lot of humans, after seeing you, want to check magic out now. It’s only natural to be curious, I guess.”

  A little surprised, she looked at the people who waited for a pod. “Yeah…I guess.”

  Julie nodded. “I’ll take two customers back, so follow along and break off into your room.”

  She waited as the assistant called a woman and her son and led them down the hall. As they walked, the boy held his mom’s hand, really excited. He pulled on her arm and jumped up and down. “Mom. Do you think I’ll become magic on Meligorn? You know, like that girl?”

  Her mom ruffled his hair. “I’m sure you will have your own wonderful personal gifts.”

  The boy smiled. “I hope they’re magic like that.”

  The woman glanced at Stephanie, smiled, and shook her head. “He’s got the bug.”

  Stephanie responded with a polite nod. “It’s catching.”

  She broke off and went to her pod, not sure what to make of all of it. It seemed so strange to her. She put her information in, pressed her palm to the screen, and waited for the door to open before she climbed in. A couple of guys on their way to their pods paused and pointed at the sleek design of hers. They didn’t see her because she was inside, but she could see their reflection in the open door. She began to not like the idea that at any moment, people could piece it together and see the wild blue-eyed girl in there. Celebrity wasn’t her thing.

  She closed the door and settled in to enter the Virtual World. This time, she stopped in the avatar room and went to the system section. She scanned the list and located the game the guys had mentioned and decided that she would at least give it a shot. Before she entered, she selected her clothes and armory items, including a battery, and studied the settings. It was imperative that she make sure that no footage of her in there could be shared. She didn’t want viewers, and she didn’t want others to record her session.

  There was enough going on in her life without having to worry about her privacy now too. She merely wanted to learn, do her job, graduate, and start creating the ideas she worked so hard on. It was the future for everyone, not her own ego or her name and face on the digi-newspapers that cast on the back sides of bus seats and across the 3D reader bracelets as people hurried around and tried to survive life.

  When she was fully satisfied that everything but her ending score would be secure, she read through the scenario. She would at least let the guys have the score since they were really excited about it. And she hoped it was harder than she expected. She wanted to show them she was still human—fallible, and that magic used by humans in combat wasn’t always what it was cracked up to be. You could still be killed.

  The scenario was a bank robbery located on the Meligorn Space Station. Well, she wouldn’t need the battery unless she was on the gravity side but it was good to have just in case. The Meligorn Space Station was two-sided. The closest—or bottom, really—was Meligorn, completely run by magic, and compatible with all ships that ran on magic. The flip side was for gravity. Most of the people who used it were from NorAm but there were a few others from Dreth who came for trade or such things. You could walk from one side, take the elevator, and end up on the other.

  Ships were always lined up everywhere, from tourists, to merchants, to government officials, since the humans were always obsessed with the lure and wonder of the planet. Most Meligorns didn’t seem to mind them coming to explore. As long as they showed respect, which most did, more out of fear of the unknown than because they actually put thought into it.

  Either way, that was where she was headed. “All right, let’s see what you have.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  The room displaced and colors careened past, and a hum resonated in Stephanie’s ears like the tones of voices that passed quickly without understanding. When this finally stopped, she floated above the space station, suspended there by the simple fact that the system no longer moved. If she hadn’t faced one of the largest space structures in the known universe, she would have been completely taken aback by the magnetic view of the two moons of Meligorn behind her and to her right and left. Or even the pillars of Shawhollow ahead and to her right. The plumes of cool molecular hydrogen seemed to brandish altruistically and hide the natality of life within its ever-churning nebulosity.