The Magic Factory

“But switchit is awesome!” Walter exclaimed. “I’m obsessed. It’s like basketball but with lots of hoops. And you fly on ostreagles.”

“What’s an ostreagle?” Oliver asked.

“They’re an animal from the year three thousand,” Hazel explained. “A genetic splicing between an ostrich and an eagle.”

“Right. Got it,” Oliver said, feeling exceptionally out of his depth.

Ralph spoke in his paternal way again. “Walter, there’s no time for switchit before bed for us first-years, you know that.”

Walter rolled his eyes and went back to eating.

Overwhelmed by everything, Oliver turned his gaze back down to his plate, picking at the pepperoni. As he did so, he realized someone below him was looking up.

She was a very pretty girl, with emerald green eyes and straight black hair. She smiled at him shyly and then looked back down at her own food.

“That’s Esther,” Hazel said. “All the boys love her.” She said it very theatrically, letting out a little scoff from the back of her throat.

Oliver thought she looked utterly charming. He wanted to ask more about the beautiful girl but Hazel’s attitude seemed to suggest it was a sore topic, for her at least. She seemed jealous of Esther, even though she herself was very pretty, with her gray eyes and butterscotch hair. Oliver could imagine Hazel being the subject of many a boy’s crush; it just so happened that he himself was drawn to the ethereal beauty of Esther.

Suddenly a mechanized arm appeared and collected all the plates, bowls, and cups off the table, right from under their noses. Oliver’s unfinished pizza was whisked away. He reached for it with futility.

The table began to quickly descend, plummeting to the ground—a most unpleasant experience after having just eaten. Once they reached the ground, Ralph instantly unclipped himself and came up to Oliver.

“We’d better get to bed,” he said. “It’s our allotted slot.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Ralph directed Oliver out of the atrium. It was just as busy as usual with students. Filing out of the Z room looking fresh and eager to begin their lessons were a bunch of kids who looked to be around fifteen or sixteen. Oliver presumed they were in the years above.

The small group Oliver had shared dinner with walked around the huge kapok tree, heading for the door marked Z. There were other kids congregating outside and they looked up at Oliver with suspicious glances as he and his gang approached.

“Ugh,” Hazel said. “That’s Edmund. Whatever he says, just ignore him.”

But as soon as they reached the door, Edmund turned around and sneered.

“Another new kid,” he said loudly to his friend who had an equally sneering expression. “We’ve already had a ton of kids who are supposedly the most important, powerful Seer of all time and none of them have turned out to be. I’m pretty certain you’re not the one we’ve all been waiting for.” He smirked nastily over his shoulder and addressed Oliver directly. “You don’t look like much to me.”

“Shove off, Edmund,” Ralph said between his teeth.

He put his arm around Oliver protectively and led him some distance away from Edmund. As they walked, Edmund called out, “I bet you’re a cobalt!”

“A cobalt?” Oliver asked, looking up at Ralph, who was hurrying him along out of earshot. “Is that some kind of insult from the future?”

He lamented the fact that there were bullies everywhere, from school, to the factory, to here, this magical place located in between time. At least he didn’t understand their taunts here.

“Just ignore him,” Ralph said.

But Oliver couldn’t help but note the troubled look on his face. Something Edmund had said had rattled him. Oliver got the distinct impression Ralph wasn’t telling him something.

“What did he mean?” Oliver asked. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Ralph remained silent, his gaze fixed on Edmund and the rest of the kids crowded by the Z door. The Z in the door turned white and everyone around them began filing inside but Ralph held back until Edmund was gone.

“Come on, let’s go inside,” he said.

Oliver followed alongside him. “Can you please answer my question, Ralph?” he asked. “Is there something you haven’t told me about?”

They stepped inside the Z room. It was like some kind of airlock. It was quite dark, save for rows of glowing white, circular doors, like the lockers in a changing room.

Once again, Ralph didn’t answer Oliver’s pleas.

“Grab your sleep suit from there,” he said, opening up a pod. It hissed and white steam coiled out.

Still confused, Oliver reached inside and pulled out a strange white suit. It looked like a kid’s blanket sleeper. “I have to sleep in this?”

Ralph just nodded. “The changing rooms are that way.” He gestured to a row of white curtains.

“Thanks,” Oliver mumbled.

He couldn’t understand Ralph’s sudden change in demeanor. Either cobalt was a deeply offensive term, or it meant something else entirely that Ralph wasn’t willing to tell him.

He hurried behind the curtains and quickly changed, wanting to get back out and interrogate Ralph some more. The strange white sleeper felt very cool against his skin, more like he’d put on a suit of air rather than fabric. He hurried back out with his clothes bundled in his arms.

“Put those in the pod,” Ralph said immediately, shoving Oliver’s clothes into the now empty pod he’d taken the suit from. “They’ll be cleaned for you while you sleep.”

The sleeping process at this school was just as baffling as the eating one had been, Oliver thought. But more baffling than all was Ralph hurrying him along.

“Ready?” he asked, sounding impatient.

Oliver nodded. “Yes, but Ralph, can you please explain why Edmund’s rattled you so much?”

He could see the sneering bully standing with the rest of the kids, dressed for bed in matching white sleepsuits.

“It’s nothing,” Ralph said.

The next door opened and everyone started to file out.

“It’s clearly not nothing…” Oliver began, following the others.

But his words died in his throat when he saw the sleeping dorms. Like the other specialized areas, this one was a huge fifty-floor atrium, with strange glass pods attached to the walls and a central column. It was very dark, save for the white glow of each pod, and some small glittering snowflake lights that fell endlessly through the air.

“How does that work…?” he murmured, transfixed by the snowflakes.

He looked over and saw that Ralph had already joined the queue. He snapped back to attention and hurried after him. He wasn’t about to drop this one.

At the front was an older Japanese boy who was directing each kid into a pod. It was a smooth process, done with almost military precision. The pod would whiz into place, the boy would push a button to open the lid, the kid would climb in, and then the boy would push the button again, the lid would close, the pod whiz away and everyone in the queue would take a step forward.

Edmund was right at the front of the queue. He turned, clearly searching for someone. When his gaze found Oliver’s he called out, “Hope you get a good sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a big day for you!” Then he got into his pod and whooshed away.