The Magic Factory

“It’s very rare,” the professor explained. “Exceptionally rare. Come to think of it, the combination of atomic powers and a mixed type, well, I don’t think we’ve ever had anything of the sort at the School for Seers. You’re one of a kind, Oliver! One of a kind!”

The headmaster seemed thrilled by the news. But Oliver, on the other hand, was not. He’d spent his entire life being the other, being different, being bullied. Coming here had made him feel like he truly belonged somewhere for the first time. But he didn’t belong at all. Because once again, Oliver was the odd one out.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. “May I leave now, Professor?” he asked.

“Of course. I’ll expect you’ll want to run along and tell your friends the good news.”

Oliver shook his head. “Actually, I think I’d like to keep this between the two of us. No teachers or students, just us. For a little while at least. Until I’ve had a chance to process it. Is that okay?”

Professor Amethyst gave him a curious expression. “If that’s what you desire, Oliver, then who am I to argue?” He let out a celebratory guffaw and began to float away, muttering to himself as he did. “I wonder if Mistress Obsidian’s ever had an atomic-mixed Seer.”

Oliver watched him disappear into the darkness. Far from feeling celebratory about the news like the headmaster clearly was, he felt a strange, foreboding feeling deep within his gut. Whatever he was, and whatever he was to become, the journey wasn’t going to be smooth.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Oliver rode the superfast elevator down to the ground floor, his encounter in the sixth dimension repeating over and over in his mind. What he’d visualized during his test had been intense. He couldn’t get the Orb of Kandra out of his mind. It was awe-inspiring.

When the doors pinged open, Oliver was surprised to see Ralph, Hazel, Walter, and Simon standing beside the huge kapok tree. They all hurried toward him, as though they’d been waiting for him.

“So?” Hazel said, fixing her gray eyes on him.

“What happened?” Ralph pressed.

Oliver knew they wanted to know about the results of his test, but he didn’t feel like sharing them. Telling his friends that he had the most powerful specialism of all could cause resentment. Telling them that his Seer type had been mixed was just downright scary.

“Come on, Oliver,” Walter cajoled. “Please tell us.”

“Nothing happened,” Oliver replied evasively. “Professor Amethyst said I’d be punished later and…”

“Not about the fight with Edmund!” Hazel interrupted. “The test! You were called to his office for the test, weren’t you?”

Oliver squirmed. He really didn’t want to reveal what he’d learned about himself in the sixth dimension, and he didn’t want to talk about the Orb of Kandra. Seeing it had felt special and deeply personal to him, not something to share with anyone.

Simon chuckled and clapped a hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “Let’s leave him be. Whatever happened in the test, Oliver has a right to his privacy.”

“Thanks,” Oliver said, grateful for the ally.

The rest of them sighed, clearly disappointed that he wasn’t going to divulge anything.

Just then, Oliver felt his timetable vibrating. In the exact same moment, all his friends must have had the same feeling, because everyone’s hand darted to their own pocket.

“Dinner time,” Hazel said, checking her own device. “Maybe once you’ve eaten you’ll be more in the mood to tell us what happened.” She gave him a cheeky smile.

“Hazel,” Ralph said in his teacherly, warning voice. “Simon’s right. Oliver doesn’t have to tell us if he doesn’t want to.”

Oliver pulled his timetable out from his large overall pocket. But it was not telling him to go to the F court like the rest of his friends. Instead, it was flashing up a large P.

“What does P mean?” he said, looking up.

Walter’s eyes widened. Hazel bit her lip.

“What?” Oliver demanded. “What is it?”

“P is for punishment,” Ralph explained. He clapped a hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “I guess Professor Amethyst wasn’t going to let you off that fight with Edmund for long.”

Oliver gulped. He had no idea what a punishment at the School for Seers would look like, and he didn’t really want to find out.

“We’d better go,” Ralph said. He sounded a little sorry for Oliver. He gave his shoulder a gentle, affectionate punch.

Oliver watched as Simon, Ralph, Hazel, and Walter bustled off together to the F door.

Now alone, Oliver looked down at his timetable. The coordinates seemed to be leading him toward the sleeping atrium. He drew up outside the door and was surprised when the gray Z turned white to indicate he was allowed through. He opened the door into the airlock.

There, set up in the room, was a small table. Upon it sat a cheese sandwich and a glass of milk.

Oliver laughed. This was his punishment? A tiny meal and early to bed? His years in the Blue household had prepared him for the worst. This, he could handle. In fact, considering how many dinners he’d had confiscated by his parents due to bad behavior, a cheese sandwich was luxury.

Oliver sat at the desk and ate slowly. His mind sifted through everything he’d gone through that day—turning his hands to steel; learning that his specialism was atomic; his unusual mixed Seer type; Esther’s beautiful green eyes; Edmund’s horrible sneer. And above all, the Orb of Kandra. It had been quite the day.

When his sandwich was finished, he headed to the lockers to collect his sleepsuit. He was actually grateful for the downtime, for the moment of quiet to catch his breath, to change slowly and in peace. The School for Seers was so frantic that he’d really needed this moment to clear his mind, away from the distractions of everyone else.

The airlock light indicated he could now enter the sleeping dorm. He went inside and saw that none of the pods were occupied. Ichiro wasn’t even here.

Oliver went up to one of the pods and got inside. He attached his electrodes and heart monitor and closed the lid down. As he lay looking up at the frosted glass, all he could see was the Orb of Kandra. It had enchanted him. Called to him. He didn’t understand why or what it meant, but he felt that something in him had changed in its presence.

He yawned deeply. The day had exhausted him. He hit the button to invite slumber. It couldn’t come soon enough.

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Oliver sat in Doctor Ziblatt’s lecture theater the next morning, the Orb of Kandra on his mind.

As the students continued with their studies, looking through portals into the next dimension, Oliver just could not focus.

Oliver brought his attention to the black splotch in front of him. Each student had their own card today and were working on projecting their minds into the next dimension. Many of them had achieved their goal—Hazel, for example, who was squealing with awe at a grassy field—but many others were still confronted with frustrated failure.

Suddenly, there was a loud clapping sound coming from the other side of the hall. Everyone turned their attention to the noise. It was Edmund. He was standing up, looking triumphant.

“I just looked into yesterday!” he cried.

Immediately, the sound of hubbub from whispering, excited students filled the lecture theater. No one had been able to look into the past or future yet, and Edmund’s accomplishment was incredible.

All eyes were on Edmund as he raced down to the front of the hall to show off his amazing talent in the holograph machine.

Just then, Esther turned from the bench in front of them. She fixed her pretty green eyes on Oliver. Oliver gulped hard.

“Edmund’s such a show-off,” she said, rolling her eyes. “How are you getting on?”

Oliver’s throat seemed to constrict. His palms grew sweaty.