The Magic Factory

“How was your first sleep in the pod?”

Oliver blinked with confusion. He looked up into the face of Ichiro, the boy who just moments earlier—or at least that’s how it felt to Oliver—had shoved him into the sleep pod in which he was currently lying. Behind Ichiro, the sky was no longer sparkling stars in a blanket of black but soft warm daylight, like an early spring morning.

In a flurry of surprise, Oliver sat up. He rubbed his eyes. He felt disorientated and quickly pulled the sticky tabs from his skin. “It’s morning? But it feels like no time has passed at all.”

Ichiro chuckled. “There’s no morning or night here. It’s all synthetic, all manipulated. But if it makes you feel less weird, then sure, it’s morning. As for whether any time has passed or not…”

Oliver held a hand up to stop Ichiro in his tracks. Ralph had given him enough of a headache talking about the nonexistence of time yesterday. The last thing he needed was a debate first thing after waking up.

Instead, he took Ichiro’s outstretched hand and got to his feet.

But as Oliver stood, his memories suddenly came back to him. With a jolt of fear, he remembered that today—his first full day of lessons—would involve the dreaded test. What if it turned out he was a cobalt Seer with the potential to turn his powers to evil?

Ichiro must have noticed the change in Oliver’s expression.

“Interdimensional sleep can feel a bit weird at first,” he said reassuringly. “But you’ll get used to it.”

“It’s not that,” Oliver muttered. “Today is my test.”

“You get to find out your specialism?” Ichiro asked. “What are you thinking—electrical? Or maybe elemental like me? That’d be great. I’d love another elemental buddy.”

“Not that part of the test,” Oliver refuted. “The part about whether I’m bromine or cobalt. Good or…” He lowered his voice to a whisper, “evil.”

Ichiro pulled a face. “I’m sick of those binary comparisons. Cobalt Seers can be good! Bromine Seers can turn bad. It’s the equivalent of saying every sociopath is evil. It’s reductive and not true at all. You’re a good kid, Oliver. There’s no reason you’d go bad, cobalt, bromine, or otherwise.”

Oliver felt greatly reassured by his words. “You really mean that?” he asked Ichiro. “It’s really not that big a deal?”

“Not at all,” Ichiro told him. “And I should know. I’m cobalt.”

Oliver was surprised by the admission. Clearly, it wasn’t so bad after all. Ichiro seemed nothing but kind and reassuring, and he hadn’t been kicked out by Professor Amethyst either. Oliver had been worrying about nothing.

“Your clothes will be in the airlock,” Ichiro added, patting Oliver’s shoulder. “Cleaned and ready for you. Enjoy your day!”

Oliver felt very relieved. The thought of being tested no longer filled him with dread. In fact, without that anxiety occupying his mind, he suddenly became eager to learn more about his powers and how to harness them.

He went to where Ichiro had pointed, the same changing-room area from last night, and wondered who else would be inside. He hoped to see Ralph and Hazel, and Walter and Simon. And the beautiful Esther. But not Edmund or his horrible scowling friend, Vinnie.

Oliver entered the airlock changing room and was relieved to find Ralph and Hazel the only people inside. Hazel had already braided her hair into the same two-bun style she’d worn yesterday.

“Feeling rested?” Ralph asked.

“I got your clothes for you,” Hazel said, handing Oliver his blue overalls, cleaned and smelling of fresh lavender. “Oh, and this was with them.”

She held out a small rectangle of hard transparent plastic.

“Your timetable,” she explained.

Oliver took the piece of plastic and it suddenly whirred. Lights appeared on the surface. They arranged themselves into times and coordinates.

“It’s everywhere you need to be and when,” Hazel told him.

“Does it show me when my test will be?” Oliver asked.

Hazel pointed to a series of digits and numbers. It was right after all his classes for the day. She gave him a gentle smile. “I promise you it won’t be that bad.”

Oliver took the bundle of clothes from her arms. “I know,” he said as he walked over to the changing area. “Ichiro told me that the test isn’t that big a deal.” He closed the curtain and started to change, calling out as he did so. “If he’s a cobalt then it can’t be that bad.” It felt nice to be out of the strange white sleeper. His overalls were the only familiar thing in his life right now and so wearing the factory garments from Armando’s factory made him feel secure. “You could’ve been a bit more reassuring. You made the test seem very dramatic! But if Ichiro is anything to go by, it doesn’t make that much of a difference whether I’m cobalt or bromine.”

He remembered then that Ichiro’s exact words had been cobalt, bromine, or otherwise. He wondered if it was a figure of speech, or whether there might be more categories of Seer to belong to.

Oliver put his timetable in his overalls pocket and walked out from behind the curtain. He saw Ralph and Hazel were still there, but the room was also now full of a ton of other kids. Amongst them were Edmund and his mean friend. They’d all overheard him. Edmund sneered at him.

“Did you hear that, Vinnie?” he said to his friend. “Apparently it doesn’t make a difference what type of Seer you are.”

Vinnie began to cackle.

Then Edmund called out to Oliver, “Just keep telling yourself that when your test shows you’re cobalt!”

Oliver felt his cheeks burn. He pushed past Edmund and Vinnie and stood beside Ralph and Hazel, silently wishing they’d told him to stop rambling aloud from behind the curtain. He had not intended to put himself in Edmund’s firing line so soon after waking up.

Just then, Walter emerged from behind the curtain in sneakers and a shirt with a cartoon character on. He came and joined them.

“Can’t wait for switchit practice today.” He grinned and slapped Oliver on the back. “Sleep okay?”

“Yes. Fine,” Oliver said tensely.

Simon joined them in his strange Victorian fashion, looking every inch the smart English gentleman. “Tally-ho,” he said.

Just then the airlock doors opened and everyone filed out, in their usual hurried manner. Oliver was swept along with the crowd.

A whole host of emotions roiled inside him as he followed everyone to the F hall for breakfast on the levitating table. He clipped himself in next to Hazel, prepared this time for the sudden sensation of elevation. He also knew to be quick and grabbed himself an oval-shaped banana and a stack of neon pancakes. But as he reached for a glass of green orange juice, his gaze went through the glass table to the one beneath him. There, Edmund was sitting with Vinnie. They both glared up at him. Oliver quickly broke eye contact.

“Are you all right, Oliver?” Hazel asked. She sounded concerned. “It’s not still the test, is it? I did try to tell you it wasn’t a big deal.”

“It’s not that,” Oliver replied. “It’s Edmund. I’m sick of bullies. I thought here of all places I wouldn’t get picked on.”

Hazel looked at him sympathetically. “Try to ignore Edmund. I know it’s hard. I was bullied at my old school too.”

“You were?” Oliver asked, feeling his friendly connection with Hazel deepening.

She nodded, empathetic for his plight. “Being a Seer makes you different, even when your powers aren’t showing yet. I guess we’re smarter than the average kid and it makes us stick out.”

From the other side of Oliver, Ralph suddenly piped up. “I’m not smarter.” He laughed and pointed at himself with both his thumbs. “Worst Seer the school’s ever seen, according to Doctor Ziblatt.”

At the mention of their teacher, Oliver remembered it would soon be time for lessons, for learning. He felt himself tremble with nervous anticipation.

Once breakfast was eaten, the robot arms cleared their plates and the table descended. They left the F hall and went into the main atrium. It was even busier than it had been yesterday with students everywhere, whizzing around on the myriad walkways above.

Ralph led the way to the elevator; thanks to his height, he had a larger stride than the others. He also seemed to enjoy being a leader, which was fine with Oliver because right now all he wanted to do was follow.