The Magic Factory

Professor Amethyst came striding out. The guards and teachers, including Doctor Ziblatt, Coach Finkle, and Mr. Lazzarato, followed him. All eyes watched with rapt attention.

“School meeting,” Professor Amethyst announced. “Now.”

No one needed telling twice. The entire school scurried toward a door Oliver had not yet entered. It was marked with a letter D, and the light glowed softly to indicate they could all enter.

Oliver and Hazel helped Esther to her feet. Although she was considerably more stable now, they supported her between them as they shuffled toward the D door. The three others followed behind.

“The D is for debate or discussion,” Ralph explained, defaulting to his teacher-mode. “Although I don’t think there’ll be much in the way of discussion going on today.”

As they entered the atrium, Oliver glanced about him. It felt like a cathedral, with large pews in a horseshoe shape and a stage in the middle upon which Professor Amethyst stood. The atmosphere was solemn and foreboding.

They took their seats. Not a moment later, Professor Amethyst began to speak.

“Rogue Seers,” he announced, projecting his voice across the vast expanse. It was met by rapt silence from the onlookers. “Those who have turned to the dark side.”

There was a collective gasp, followed by murmuring and hubbub. The head teacher cast his eyes downward. He looked ashamed, Oliver thought, as if he perceived the Seers turning rogue as a personal failure. It made his own determination to stay on the right path grow even stronger.

“They were trying to steal the Orb of Kandra,” Professor Amethyst continued. “In order to destroy the school. The crisis was averted thanks to our fearless security personnel and teachers. That, and the actions of our brave students sounding the alarm.”

He looked directly at Oliver and Esther. Oliver squirmed in his seat.

The headmaster continued. “I have sealed the tear in the invisible wall that protects us. But we’re not out of danger yet. For the rogues to have even found the school to enter in the first place, they must have been aided. I fear that amongst our midst there is a traitor. A spy.”

There was another large gasp. Oliver looked over at his friends. Ralph in particular looked very troubled at the news. Simon had turned an even paler shade of white. Esther grabbed Oliver’s hand for comfort and Oliver squeezed it reassuringly.

“Your timetables will be disabled for the next forty-eight hours,” Professor Amethyst added. “To give the faculty and myself time to strategize. I’d like everyone to rest, eat healthy meals, and get lots of sleep. Normal classes and schedules will resume in two days’ time.”

Oliver checked his timetable and saw that it was completely grayed out, with no coordinates or ticking clock. For the first time since coming here, his every move was no longer predetermined. It left him feeling strangely unmoored.

With the announcement over, everyone filed out of the atrium and headed toward the F hall. Esther was now more or less back to normal, but Oliver hung closely by her side just in case. Everyone was silent and solemn as they clipped into a table.

The table rose and clicked into place. The food chutes moved into place, displaying a vast array of colorful foods. No one took anything. They were all too stunned. Finally, Simon broke the silence.

“I know I ought not admit this,” he said, “but I for one am rather scared.”

“Me too,” Hazel agreed with a nod.

“It was too close a call,” Ralph commented. “For people to penetrate the invisible wall. It makes me feel very unsafe. What if they come back?”

“Do you think the school is still in danger?” Simon asked.

“Professor Amethyst said he closed the rip,” Hazel reminded him.

“But he also said there was a spy!” Walter exclaimed.

Oliver listened to his friends discuss the situation, but remained very quiet. The attack had sent his mind reeling. As he looked at the faces of his friends, he could tell that everything had changed. The attack had stolen everyone’s innocence and sense of wonder, replacing it with heavy reality, with the weight of their collective missions. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Esther sat amongst them now as a new friend.

A girlfriend? Oliver wondered.

He didn’t know how to define their relationship but he was very glad to have her by his side.

The group of friends picked at their food. No one was hungry and barely a morsel had been eaten between them when the motorized arms came to collect their dishes. Then the table descended and everyone left the F hall.

They didn’t even need to say aloud where they were heading. They all made a beeline straight to the Z atrium. It was flashing white to allow the students to enter freely, as per Professor Amethyst’s instructions for them to get lots of sleep. Oliver was grateful. He was exhausted.

Ichiro was on duty, his usual smile replaced by a sort of heavy weariness. He showed each of them into their sleep pods without any joking quips.

Oliver attached his wires and monitors quickly. He couldn’t get to sleep soon enough. He wanted to put the terrors of the day out of his mind. So as soon as he was wired up, he pressed the white button and fell into a deep, instantaneous sleep.

*

Oliver found himself standing on the edge of a tall building. Though he’d never seen the School for Seers from the outside, he instinctively knew that that was where he was standing. He could see the shimmering bubble-like barrier of the protective shield arcing all around the building, encompassing the vast green fields of the school grounds that stretched on.

Just then, something in the distance caught Oliver’s eye. There was movement. Some kind of dark shape was bobbing on the horizon.

Oliver squinted and tried to decipher what he was seeing. The shape seemed to be bobbing, up then down, over and over. With a gasp, Oliver realized what he was looking at. An army. One hundred men strong. The strange movement was their perfect march.

Oliver gasped. The army was heading straight for the school!

As they drew closer he could make out more details. Their uniforms were a dusky khaki color, reminiscent of the uniforms worn by soldiers in World War Two. And they were maneuvering something along with them, some kind of weapon on a metal gurney with wheels. It looked like a rocket, with a strange egg-shaped body and wires protruding from it. Oliver recognized it instantly. The first atomic bomb. He’d seen its image in his inventors book.

The army reached the shimmering boundary of the school’s protective wall and stopped in one sudden, uniform motion. Oliver watched on in stunned silence as they began to adjust the bomb, angling it toward the wall.

“They’re going to blow up the school,” he stammered aloud.

Just then, a single figure broke from the line of soldiers. He walked up to the bomb, held his hand over the button, then paused and turned to look up at Oliver.

Oliver let out a desperate scream of realization. He knew that face all too well.

It was Lucas.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

Oliver awoke with a gasp. The dream bounced around in his mind. Had it just been a dream? Or a premonition? Oliver’s dreams had guided him before, so why not this one?

Frantically, he mulled it over in his mind, trying to make sense of the idea that Lucas had been behind the attack on the school, that he was sending an army to finish the job. Why would he want to destroy the School for Seers? How did he even know about it in the first place? He wasn’t a guide like Armando, nor a Seer.

In a flash, Oliver remembered his conversation with Professor Amethyst in the sixth dimension. The headmaster had told him of rogue Seers who aided the most evil people in humanity. Could Lucas be one such person? Not just bad but… evil? Was that why he’d seen him leading an army?

Whatever the reason, Oliver knew he had to act. And fast. The visions he had when he closed his eyes at night were more than just dreams, they were premonitions. Armando’s death. The rainbow mantis shrimp. The universe was guiding him.

Suddenly, Oliver heard a voice ring out inside his mind. It was Ms. Belfry’s, telling him to always follow his dreams. Oliver wondered now if she’d meant literally, if there was something she knew about him.

Whether she did or not, her words coming to him in this moment seemed like a rallying cry, like another sign from the universe to guide him on his journey.

There was no time to waste. Oliver had to foil Lucas’s plan, stop him in his tracks in order to protect the school. He had to leave and return to the factory.

As he felt his pod moving beneath him, he tore off the monitors and wires, willing it to move faster, to free him quicker.

Finally, it clicked into place. The lid hissed open and Ichiro’s smiling face appeared above him.

“Hi, Oliver,” he began.

But Oliver was on his feet in an instant.

“Sorry, Ichiro! No time to explain!” he cried.

He hurried for the airlock. Inside, he went straight up to the locker, pulling out his freshly laundered clothes. He changed quickly in the changing room. As he hurried out, he slammed straight into Hazel.

“Oof!” she cried, stepping back. “Are you okay, Oliver? What’s the hurry?”

“I’m fine,” Oliver stammered, barely making eye contact. He gazed at the door, desperate for the white light to allow him to leave. “I just have to… I have things to do.”

He went to move past her, but Hazel took a step to block him. She fixed her concerned, gray eyes on him.

“Oliver, what’s wrong?” she said, more insistent this time.

Just then, Ralph emerged from the changing room. He took a second to survey Hazel and Oliver before him, then quirked his head to the side. “What’s going on, guys?”

Oliver’s mind was reeling too much to get his thoughts in order. “I have to stop him.”

Ralph and Hazel exchanged a confused glance.

“Stop who?” Ralph asked.

Oliver’s mind was frantic. He paced away from them only to find his route blocked by Walter, Simon, and Esther coming out from behind the changing curtains and into the main airlock.

“You guys okay?” Walter asked, looking bemused.

“Crumbs, I do hope you’re not having a barney,” Simon said.

“It’s Oliver,” Hazel told them. “He’s had a bad dream or something.”

“Not a dream,” Oliver explained. “A vision or a premonition or something. I’ve had them before. I know who attacked the school.”

Esther gasped. She grabbed Oliver’s elbow and steered him through the door—its light now glowing red—and out to the benches beneath the kapok. Everyone followed, crowding around Oliver.

“Who attacked the school?” Esther asked him.

“Lucas,” Oliver stammered. “The man who killed my guide. He was behind the attack and he’s planning another. With an army, this time, and a bomb. I need to get back to Armando’s factory. I need to stop him.”

“How do you know all this?” Hazel asked. She looked very confused.

“I saw it in my dream!” Oliver exclaimed. He didn’t have time for this. He needed to leave. Now.

He tried to shove his way through the group, but they butted their shoulders together, preventing him from getting past. Hazel looked perturbed. Simon, Walter, and Esther gave each other worried looks.

“You’re not leaving the school,” Ralph told him sternly, “and risking expulsion just because of a dream.”

He pushed down on Oliver’s shoulders, forcing him to sit. Oliver relented, sinking to the bench with a huge exhalation. He felt like the wind had been knocked right out of him.

“It wasn’t just a dream,” Oliver said. “It was a premonition. I’ve had them before.”

Esther took a seat beside Oliver. She rested her hand gently on Oliver’s arm. It was comforting.

“Start at the beginning,” she said, softly.

Oliver felt some of the tension in his body release. “ I dreamt that Armando died. Then he did. Now the man I think killed him is trying to destroy the school.”

His thoughts were so jumbled it was almost impossible to articulate them in ways his friends could comprehend.

“And you know this because of a dream?” Hazel asked, folding her arms, looking down at him.

“Yes,” Oliver said tersely.

“This is crazy,” Walter said.

“Absolutely ludicrous,” Simon added.

“You can’t leave the school,” Ralph implored.

Oliver grew increasingly exasperated. Why wouldn’t his friends just believe him?

Esther hushed everyone. “Ralph’s right,” she said diplomatically. “Even if you wanted to leave, you wouldn’t be able to. Your timetable won’t let you.”

Oliver grabbed his timetable and waved it. “No schedule,” he said. “Professor Amethyst switched them off, remember? It’s another sign from the universe.”

No one looked convinced.

“I need to go and now’s the time to do it,” Oliver added with determination.

“But we need you here,” Esther said, her voice sounding pained. “To protect the school.”

Oliver felt his heart clench at the thought of Esther feeling scared and vulnerable without him there.

“Can’t you see?” Oliver said. “The only way I can protect the school is by leaving.”

“But what if there’s another attack from the inside?” Esther asked.

“Then you’ll fight them,” he said. “I’ve seen how strong you are.”

But Ralph was having none of it. He folded his arms, looking down at Oliver like a bossy teacher.

“No way,” he said. “This is not happening. Timetabled or otherwise, Professor Amethyst won’t let you leave the school.”

“Professor Amethyst doesn’t need to know.”

“If he finds out you’re planning on following your own path then he’ll expel you.”

Oliver narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t stupid. He knew leaving the school wasn’t allowed. It wasn’t something to do lightly or on a whim. He could be trapped outside forever, at a huge personal sacrifice. But it was a risk he felt compelled to make.

“Then let’s make sure he doesn’t find out,” Oliver said with a warning tone in his voice.

Ralph looked shocked by his tone.

“How are you planning to stop Lucas?” Esther asked. “You have nothing to guide you but your instinct. No timetable to warn you if you go off course. You’d be blind.”

“I don’t know yet. But the universe is guiding me. I can’t not follow her lead.”

Oliver looked from one skeptical face to the next. His frustration magnified. They didn’t believe him. Didn’t trust him. Whatever he had to do to stop Lucas and save the school, he was going to have to do it alone.

Just then, the sound of footsteps caught everyone’s attention. The group stepped back and through the clearing between their bodies Oliver saw a figure moving away. It was unmistakably Edmund.

“Oh no!” he cried, jumping up. “Edmund overheard us. I bet he’ll tell Professor Amethyst. How will I get out now? He’ll be watching me like a hawk!”

Oliver realized then that leaving the School for Seers was going to be even harder than he’d bargained for. Not only were his friends not on his side, but now his enemy knew what he was planning. He would have to formulate an escape plan and keep it to himself. It was the only way he’d be able to leave and stop Lucas. But that only made things feel even more tense for Oliver. He’d figured stopping Lucas would be hard enough without the added hurdle of escaping from the school.

“Maybe,” Esther said gently, “that’s the real sign from the universe. Maybe she’s telling you not to leave.”

Oliver looked at her twinkling eyes. He didn’t want to lie to Esther, but nothing could change his mind. He was going to come up with a plan to leave and he was going to do it without them. Whatever plan he came up with it would have to be failsafe. He had one shot at this.

“You’re right,” he replied, sighing heavily to mask the awkwardness of his lie. “Sorry, guys, I just freaked out, I guess.”

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

“So you’re not leaving?” Hazel confirmed.

Oliver shook his head.

“Good,” Ralph said, sounding relieved. “Now let’s get some breakfast and put that whole thing behind us.”

Oliver followed everyone toward the F atrium. Little did they know…

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

Oliver kept a low profile all day, silently plotting his plan of escape, pretending to his friends he’d put the silly dream out of his head. He knew he only had one chance to leave—while the timetables were switched off—and decided his best bet would be while everyone was in their sleep pods. He just had to make them think he was going to bed, then he could escape.

As the day drew to a close, Oliver walked along with his friends toward the Z atrium. The letter on the door glowed white and they went inside the first airlock door.

As they headed to the lockers to collect their sleep suits Oliver kept his overalls on him. There was no way he was saving the world wearing a strange white sleeper suit.

He changed quickly and stuffed his overalls into the front of his suit, then hurried out to the lockers, pretending to deposit his clothes inside a locker in case anyone noticed. Just as he closed the locker door, Esther reemerged in her own sleep suit. Oliver turned abruptly, trying to hide any signs of guilt from his face. Esther did not seem to notice that anything was amiss and went about putting her clothes into one of the lockers.

The rest of Oliver’s friends congregated in the changing room, then headed through the airlock door into the area with the sleep pods. Oliver had never seen the sleeping atrium so filled up. Every student must be sleeping right now, as per Professor Amethyst’s instructions. Ichiro wasn’t even there to show them into their pods. It was another stroke of luck for Oliver; it would be easier to sneak away without Ichiro awake.

One by one, Oliver’s friends got into a sleep pod and whooshed off into the blackness. With each one, Oliver felt a stab of grief knowing it may be the last time he ever saw them. He wished he could tell them what they meant to him but there was no way without them guessing immediately that he was still planning on leaving.

He hung at the back, hoping that he could be last and avoid getting into a pod. But Esther was standing a little farther behind than he was.

“After you,” he said to her when the next pod moved into place. His voice cracked with emotion at the thought these may be the last words they exchanged.

“You first,” Esther replied, smiling sweetly.

There was no way out of it. Oliver took a last lingering glance at Esther’s beautiful face in an attempt to sear it into his memory. Then he swallowed the lump of grief in his throat and turned away from her. He climbed into the pod and pulled the lid into place, staring up at the frosted glass, trying not to dwell on his loss but focus, instead, on the task at hand.

The pod began to move into place. Oliver hoped it wouldn’t travel too far into the air. He didn’t feel like risking breaking his ankles at the first hurdle.

As soon as the movement stopped, he pried open the lid of his pod. To his frustration, he discovered his pod was, indeed, floating miles from the ground, right near the top of the atrium.

He pushed the lid fully open and quickly changed from the sleep suit back into his overalls, maneuvering in the pod awkwardly. Once he was dressed, he stood, feeling the pod sway unstably beneath him.

Each of the pods was connected to a thick cable. Oliver clung to his as he squinted through the darkness, trying to map out a route down to the ground using the pods like stepping stones. It was a long, long way down; he’d need to use at least twenty pods in his descent.

Oliver inched along the lid of his pod and reached for the cable of the next one along. He grabbed it and stepped from one pod to the next, feeling them wobbling as he transferred his weight from one to the next. His heart flew into his mouth. But soon the pod stabilized.

Oliver inched along to the next. It was a bigger jump down than the last. He stretched across, one hand gripping the cable of the pod he was on, the other reaching for the next cable. But he couldn’t quite get his fingers on the next cable. He stretched and stretched and went up onto his tiptoes to get an extra inch of length but it was no use. He just couldn’t reach.

As Oliver searched around him for an alternative route, he suddenly lost his footing. He slipped, his stomach crashing onto the lid of the pod. Then he began to slide across its sleek surface.

Oliver groped forward for the cable. He managed to get hold of it, but he was still sliding, and the cable ran painfully through his sore hands, making him wince.

The sliding stopped suddenly, and Oliver was left dangling over the edge of the swaying pod. For a moment, he clung onto the cable. But then he lost his grip on that, too, and began to tumble through the air.

There was no time to think. In an instant, Oliver summoned his powers, recalling the way he’d changed his own body in the switchit hall. Could he do it again?

As he fell through the air he visualized his body becoming bouncy, as if he had springs in his legs instead of bones. The ground was coming up fast to meet him. If it didn’t work he’d be toast for sure.

Oliver hit the ground and felt his legs taking the force like pogo sticks. They bent all the way down then bounced back up, pinging him several feet upward.

It had worked!

Oliver landed a second time, this time without the bounce back. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, relieved and a little surprised to still be in one piece. Then he hurried through the darkness toward the airlock.

But just as he reached the changing room door, a figure loomed up ahead of him, blocking his exit. Oliver staggered back and found himself staring into the eyes of Edmund.

“What are you doing?” Oliver gasped, taking another step back.

But it was no good. There was no getting space from Edmund. The bully grabbed Oliver and threw him to the ground. They tussled, Oliver managing to roll them over so that Edmund was beneath him. But as soon as he attempted to stand, Edmund kicked out, swiping Oliver’s legs from beneath him. He fell, and Edmund grabbed him again, rolling them both so that he was back on top. He glared down at Oliver, his angry face framed by a backdrop of floating white pods against black velvet.

“What’s your problem?” Oliver hissed through gritted teeth as he attempted to get Edmund’s hands off him.

“I knew you’d go against Professor Amethyst’s directions,” Edmund said. “So I stayed up to stop you.”

He pushed hard into Oliver’s shoulders, pinning him to the ground. Oliver writhed against the force of him, wriggling his body side to side in an attempt to break free. It was futile. He was completely immobilized.

“You were waiting for me?” Oliver said. “Why? Why are you so determined to stop me?”

Somewhere deep inside, Oliver could feel his powers beginning to swell. He fought to control them. It was like a fight or flight response; instinctual.

Edmund ignored Oliver’s question. He pushed Oliver’s shoulders harder against the ground. Oliver winced from the pain.

Oliver gasped as a horrible thought struck him. “Are you the traitor?”

Edmund cackled loudly. “You’re even stupider than I thought. I’m no traitor. I love this school. It’s just you I hate.”

“Why?” Oliver asked, pained. “I’ve never done anything to you.”

They kept tussling. Edmund had the upper hand. His physical strength was greater than Oliver’s. But Oliver’s powers were stronger. Too strong. Oliver fought against them as they grew within him. He didn’t want to hurt Edmund again.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Edmund sneered.

Suddenly, movement from above caught Oliver’s eye. Someone else was hopping along the sleep pods, using them as stepping stones to the ground. Their movements were ballet-like, almost effortless. Oliver realized it was Esther.

At the sight of her, something fell into place in his mind. Edmund liked Esther, too. This whole rivalry between them had just been because of Esther.

Oliver saw Esther reach the final pod and hop down to the ground. Then she darted across the floor toward them.

“Get off him, Edmund,” her voice echoed across the space.

Edmund flinched and looked over his shoulder.

It gave Oliver the second he needed. He pushed out with his arms, shoving Edmund back. At the same time, he brought his knees up to his chest and kicked out like a kangaroo. Without needing to use his powers, Oliver managed to push Edmund all the way off him. The bully rolled away and hit the floor with an oof. Oliver leapt up to his feet.