Chapter 10
We walk through a maze of hallways and “shortcuts” through other dorms and two bathrooms. It’s probably the longest walk for lunch that I’ve ever taken.
Finally, we arrive at the cafeteria. But here, they call it the “mess hall,” like it’s the military or something. As soon as I step in, the delicious aroma of breakfast hits me. There are so many things to choose from. Things I recognize, like eggs, bacon, French toast, and orange juice, and things I’ve never seen before.
Overwhelmed, I freeze. Kyle grabs my hand and leads me through the mass of people.
This. School. Is. Huge. There have to be at least 1,000 people here. Consequently, there’s piles of food everywhere.
These guys don’t mess around when it comes to food. I navigate my way towards the nearest booth. At the top, block letters spell out “NA-USA Earth” at the top. Really? I never would have figured out that the food was from Earth. Some people are just too specific.
I feel a tap on my shoulder. It’s Ya’asa. Llare stands next to her, nearly a full foot taller.
Llare takes my arm and leads me away from the NA-USA Earth booth, and over to one that reads…well, I can’t tell what it says. It must be a different language. “What’re you guys doing?”
“You’ve had food from the Earth table every day of your life,” Ya’asa says. “Try the Chastan food. I think you’ll like it.”
“Chastan? Where’s that? Isn’t it in the Middle East or something?” I ask. Both of them laugh and smirk at each other. Llare says to me “No, Krystal, Chastan is another world.”
Yeah, right.
Ya’asa speaks up before I can voice my doubts. “My brother is serious; Chastan is another world. We lived there before we were recruited.”
“Your brother? Oh, now it makes sense that I thought I recognized you.” I’m just going to leave the whole “different world” thing alone. No use getting into a fight on my first day.
After getting our food (none of which I recognize), we sit at a table with the rest of our Team. Most of them have food that I’ve never seen in my life, though there’s the occasional glass of orange juice, or plate of eggs.
Kyle has an assorted mishmash of weird food that he seems to be enjoying immensely. But then again, Kyle always enjoys food. Krys, you gotta try this; its da BOMB DIGGITY! He thinks into my head, not bothering to raise his head and talk.
“Actually, I’m going to try the food from Chastan today,” I say to him aloud. The other team members glance up. Oops. Forgot they didn’t hear what Kyle said.
Yeah their world makes really good food. Just avoid the “mints,” alright? Kyle says.
The attention of everyone at the table shifts to me as I pick up the first item on my plate. It looks like some sort of fruit or vegetable.
“That’s a geinskat,” Llare informs me.
“What do I do with it?” I ask him.
Try eating it, I hear Aiyamar giggle to herself.
Ya’asa picks up a geinskat on her plate and shows me how to peel the fuzzy black skin off of the fruit. The flesh is a pale orange color. Everyone watches as I take my first bite.
Oh. My. Daffodils. This is the best thing I’ve EVER tasted. It’s so sweet and cool, and then there’s a slightly spicy aftertaste. Like kiwi, but with orange and cinnamon, too.
My teammates chuckle at my reaction. All except Ikah. I don’t think I’ve seen her smile yet.
…
After breakfast Kyle takes me to my first class.
“This lesson is for Class Vigoris Unum, or First Year Energy Classmen,” Kyle says informatively.
“You’re in first year too?” I kind of assumed that Kyle’s more advanced than I am, considering how much he knows.
Kyle grins at me, delighted to show off. “No, I’m in my second year. I started around this time last year,” he corrects as we round a corner and come face-to-face with Lorik.
“Thank you, Kyle,” he says first. “Hello Krystal.”
“Hey, dude.”
“See ya, Kryssi,” Kyle calls as he turns to leave.
“So, uh, where’s everyone else?” I question as I follow Lorik into an empty room furnished with only a rug. “You will be receiving separate lessons from the other Energy Classmen. Your power is very…potent, so it’s safer both for you and for the other Energy Classmen that you have separate lessons,” Lorik explains. Something’s different about him. He’s definitely not as creepy. Maybe he just doesn’t deal well with stress. A lot of people have told me that I stress them out.
Lorik picks up my observation; I know we got off to a bad start. Since we’ll be working so closely together, it’s better for both of us if we at least pretend to like each other.
Makes sense.
He continues. I only have two rules. That you do your best, and you keep your mind open to communication from me at all times, in session or not.
Oh, joy.
Lorik ignores me. Alright Krystal, your first lesson will be in making your thoughts private.
Well there’s something I could use.
My Instructor sighs, exaggerated patience written all over his face.
Sorry, Mr…Lorik I amend in an effort to be respectful. Contrary to the opinion of most people, I am a fair person. Since Lorik seems to be genuinely trying to be nice to me, I will make a conscious effort to be nice to him. I don’t know if he picks up on my self-reprimand.
You may address me as “Lorik”.
And you may address me as Krys, I tell him, emphasizing “Krys” in the event that he gets any ideas to call me “Kryssi” or “Krysti”. I hate those nicknames. I fought Kyle using them for years, and then I just gave up.
Lorik nods and continues his lesson. As I said, we will first work on controlling how much of your thoughts people can hear. It’s not very complicated, but it will require practice. He looks at me to make sure I’m paying attention. I am.
There are different methods for everyone. Some picture a solid wall, or a single color to block out their thoughts to everyone. This will result in complete privacy.
What about if I want to say something to you and I don’t want everyone else to hear?
Simply picture me and me only. I will hear you anywhere, provided that place is within your capable distance.
Oh, that’s easy.
Did I not say so?
For the next 2 hours, Lorik shows me how to control how loud my thoughts are, how many people hear them, and how to send emotions as well as thoughts. He’s visibly impressed with my learning abilities. This is going to sound cheesy, but I feel that there is a kind of bond between us. Or I’m just extremely tired.
“How can I be tired if my IP is Energy?” I ask, frustrated at the paradox at work here.
Lorik laughs at me. It’s a strange sound, coming from him. It’s kind of…I don’t know. Comforting, I guess. I don’t feel like he’s making fun of me. I realize that it’s because our minds are connected as instructor and student. I can feel his emotions as well as my own, which lets me know exactly what he means when he says something.
“You can control Energy, but that doesn’t mean that you have more Energy than anyone else. Just as Ikah has no larger percent of water in her body than you do.”
He looks at me meaningfully, his way of asking for an explanation. I tell him everything exactly the way it happened. While I’m telling him, Kyle slips into the room and listens. When I finish, Lorik bursts out laughing. Kyle joins him. Thanks, Ky I sarcastically think at him, allowing Lorik to hear. After a few minutes they finish their howling and wipe the tears from their eyes.
“Well, I’ve heard of new students interrupting the normal schedule but…wow,” Lorik comments. He turns to Kyle, all business again. It’s amazing how quickly that man can change moods. “When is your next class?”
Kyle replies “In about half an hour, Earth time.” I still don’t know what’s up with everyone specifying “Earth,” but it’s not really an important question, so I’ll just wait until it comes up again.
Lorik gestures for us to follow him. I instinctively know that we’re going to my Team’s dorm room. On the way there, I notice something about the School.
“Lorik, why aren’t there any windows here?”
He looks at me, surprise momentarily flitting across his face because I don’t know the answer. “Because we’re in the middle of space. There’s nothing to see here; not even stars.”
I stutter, incredulous. “B-b-but th-that means we’re j-just, like, FLOATING!”
Nice one, Sherlock Holmes Kyle teases. I choose to ignore him.
"But, how did we get here? Like, is the school pantry...magic?" I ask, casting about for any idea.
Lorik glances back at me. He’s trying to see if I’m kidding or not. I don’t see why he bothered, since he knows exactly what I’m thinking. Magic isn’t real, is what his general thoughts say.
"The portal we used at your school is activated by the presence of someone with an IP. If you weren’t able to get here, we would have known that our source was wrong,” he says, throwing a pointed look at Kyle.
"Well, since I'm always right, you ended up passing the test, Kryssi," Kyle responds proudly, smirking at Lorik. “Besides, did you really doubt it after our, er, friend showed up?”
