The Magic Factory

Oliver felt all the fight leave his body. It was such a relief to know Armando had already figured it out and that he didn’t have to fight for recognition. But then he remembered the other reason he’d needed to see Armando; the men in suits. His anxiety came back in full force.

“Armando,” he said, “there were men in the factory. The landlord, I think. Is he trying to sell the place?”

Armando looked somewhat perturbed by the news. “The landlord was here? Ah. Yes. Well, you weren’t supposed to find out about that, Oliver. Financial problems are for me to worry about, not you.”

“So it’s true. The factory is in financial difficulties. What are we going to do? Will the factory close?”

Armando paused. He patted the seat next to him. “Come, Oliver. Let me talk to you.”

Oliver went and sat beside him, his stomach swirling with anticipation.

“It’s true that we are in a dire financial position,” Armando began. “And it is entirely my doing. All these years I’ve devoted my time, talent, and effort toward inventions to help mankind. And yet I’ve not succeeded in selling a single one.”

“The invisibility coat,” Oliver suggested. “We could definitely sell that. And for a lot of money, I bet. It would solve all our problems.”

Armando shook his head. “It’s not as simple as that. With great inventions come great responsibility. We cannot just sell an invention such as that to anyone. We must protect it. In the wrong hands, it can be used for great evil. In fact, I could have made a huge profit by selling my inventions to chemical and weapons companies, but I’ve always turned them down.”

Oliver was at least relieved to hear Armando put his morals first, but that didn’t mean their situation was any less woeful. Besides, he’d worked so hard on the coat he didn’t want it to be for nothing.

“There must be something we can do with the coat,” Oliver said.

Armando stroked his chin. “You’re right. We can’t just drop it and move on. Your success is a huge deal for the entire scientific community.”

“Maybe I could wire the rest of it,” Oliver said. “Then we could tour it around the country. Give talks at all the science fairs. We wouldn’t have to sell it if you’re worried about it falling into the wrong hands, but there must be some other way to make money from it.”

Armando nodded with enthusiasm. “I agree that it’s a major breakthrough. People the world over will be amazed by your achievement. We must do the rest of the rewiring, then sell the coat to the correct people.” He tapped his chin. “I’ll assign the rewiring task to Lucas. There are other things for you to do. Things more suited to your particular talents…”

Oliver felt a little swell of pride in his chest. “What other things do you need me to work on?”

But Armando hesitated, as though in deep contemplation. Oliver’s sense of pride began to fade, replaced instead by a swirl of apprehension in his stomach.

“Armando?” he asked. “What things do you mean?”

Armando didn’t answer. He seemed to be in two minds about continuing the conversation. Oliver was struck with a sudden thought. Did Armando know something about his powers? Was that what he’d meant when he’d said there were other things more suited to Oliver’s talents?

Finally, Armando turned his misty eyes to Oliver. “I don’t think you’re ready to know,” he said, his tone solemn.

“Know what?” Oliver asked, his voice now trembling slightly. He thought of the broken table leg, of the man and woman in his visions. He added, more insistently now, “Please, I can handle it, whatever it is.”

Armando was quiet for a long time.

“Oliver,” he said finally. “You’re what is known as a Seer.”

“A what?” Oliver stammered. He’d never heard the term before.

“A Seer,” Armando repeated. “It’s a power you’re born with. And it’s a power that can be harbored, once you’ve learned how to handle it.”

“Can you teach me?” Oliver asked. “Are you a Seer too?”

“Me?” Armando said. He shook his head. “No, dear boy. Not me. Not anyone. Throughout the entirety of history there have only been a few Seers. It’s not like they’re walking around all over the place. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were the only living Seer on earth.”

The thought hit Oliver like a bolt to the heart. What a lonely thing to exist with, being the only Seer. It was like being the last of a species.

“How do I learn then?” Oliver asked. “If I’m the only one? Who will teach me?”

Armando reached forward then and patted Oliver’s hands. “Enough. Let’s not ask any more questions, Oliver. I’ve already told you a lot. You need time to think about it and process it all. I don’t want to overwhelm you all in one day.”

“I need to know,” Oliver pleaded. “My whole life I’ve felt different and now I know that’s because I am. If there’s anything you’re keeping from me, please tell me now. I just want to know.”

Oliver’s throat felt dry and scratchy. His heart raced.

But Armando shook his head. “All I will tell you is that this is just the beginning for you. There is more to come. Much, much more.” He paused and looked deeply into Oliver’s eyes. “One day, Oliver Blue, you will save mankind.”

CHAPTER TEN

Oliver crawled into bed. He was so exhausted from the events of the day, from the bombshell Armando had dropped about him being a Seer.

But despite how strange and heavy his day had been, Oliver didn’t approach sleep with any sense of dread. His dreams since arriving at the factory had been bizarre to say the least but never bad. Even with the weight of mankind now on his shoulders, Oliver was confident he would not have any nightmares.

It didn’t take long for Oliver to fall into a deep slumber. In his dream, he was in the factory. It was the middle of the night and everything was very dark. All around him stood the giant robot machines that stood around the factory floor.

He heard a sound coming from the distance. He recognized it instantly as the whirring of an engine. As he peered through the gloom he saw a thin sliver of light coming from the direction of Armando’s office.

He followed the light hurriedly, confused as the engine noise grew louder and louder, then hurried in through the door and blinked in the brightness of Armando’s office.

It looked just the same as usual, except for one bizarre exception. There, standing in the middle of the room, was a large metal cocoon with frosted glass doors. It took up so much room there was hardly even any space to walk around it. Battling against the roaring engines, Oliver called out.

“Armando? Where are you?”

There was no answer. Suddenly the machine fell silent. There was a hiss as the doors opened. Then something fell from inside.

Oliver flinched backward, overcome with horror. Because lying prone on the floor, staring upward with dead, unseeing eyes, was Armando.

Oliver gasped and sat up. He was back in his room, the nightmare over. His forehead was wet with perspiration.

Feeling unsettled by the dream, Oliver knew that sleep would not return to him. It was very early in the morning but he readied himself for the day anyway. Then he went out to the factory floor.

As he expected, it was very quiet. Lucas was probably still up in his room at the top of the red spiral staircase of his own special wing, and Armando would still be sleeping.

But then Oliver heard voices. They seemed to be coming from the other side of the fake wall. He hurried toward it and pressed his ear against it. The fake wall must have been made of plasterboard because he hardly had to strain to overhear what was being said.

“So you can see how valuable this technology could be to you,” said the first voice. It was unmistakably Lucas’s.

“It’s fantastic,” another voice replied. “I can see how we at ChemCorp can make use of such a genius piece of technology.”

Oliver gulped. He didn’t like what he was overhearing. ChemCorp must be short for Chemical Corporation. Could they be one of the dangerous weapons manufacturers Armando had warned Oliver about? The ones he’d described as the wrong hands for his inventions? Lucas was clearly selling something to them.

Just then, Oliver heard the grating sound of the lever being pulled on the other side of the wall. He hurried away just as the turntable floor began to rotate and hid in a shadow cast by one of the giant bronze automatons.