EIGHTY-SIX: One Word

EIGHTY-SIX: One Word

86

Alden slept like a baby.

Going to bed physically tired and emotionally drained on the night youd found out your missing friend was okay turned out to be the perfect recipe for rest. When his alarm woke him early in the morning, he turned it off and hugged his pillow tighter.

Bed is amazing. Im going to sleep until noon.

He was on his way to doing it, too, when someone turned on all his lights and yanked his blankets off with a businesslike brusqueness that was almost as cold as the air in his room.

No, Alden moaned, bringing his knees up to his chest. Why??

Because you have school. You ran out on your first day. You cant skip your second. Your new teachers will think youre a flake, said Boe, reaching over to yank the pillow away, too.

Alden clung to it. Its not real school. The first week was optional. I havent even moved into the dorms!

But you showed your face, and they all know you dont have anything better to do now. So youll make yourself look bad. Go to school. Make nice with the other Avowed.

Alden tightened his grip on the pillow. That was the best sleep Ive gotten since February, he hissed.

You were that relieved to see me, huh?

No! How can an empath be such a heartless monster?

Boe rolled his eyes. Did you really want to sleep all day?

I guess not. But I didnt plan to go to school either. I planned to stay here with you.

Thanks, said Boe. But I stayed up all night maintaining my barrier and sorting out my own return to life, so Im going to sleep all day. And you can go to school. And then we can hang out all afternoon.

He ripped the pillow from Aldens grip.

Alden groaned.

You can go late and skip the science lecture you hated, Boe said placatingly, tossing the pillow at the foot of the bed. It was a giant class, right? Nobody will miss you there.

That wasnt a bad idea, andAlden checked a blinking message. Natalie wants to come over to deliver my last few meals.

Thats fine. Ill just hide out in here. Why are they your last meals?

Shes not going to have time to prep for me as often with her classes. Maybe every now and then, she said.

Boe raised both eyebrows at him. Im not reading you right now, but you sound mournful.

You tasted her food.

I did.

How am I going to survive without her?

Judging by the number of messages you left me describing various condiments, not too well. Can I borrow more of your clothes?

Alden waved at the closet then rolled out of bed.

[Come over. Im running a little late this morning, so if youre heading up to Apex early again I wont be able to go with you.]

I texted her, he reported. Stay out of sight.

A couple of minutes later, he received a notification that Natalie was at the door, and he went to open it.

Hey! She glided past him into the kitchen. She was wearing a pleated skirt and a pastel blouse with a pattern of rabbits and radishes on it. Her arms were full of containers, and the smell of vanilla and cinnamon followed her into the apartment. Dont be upset with me. I know youre going easy on the sweets. But I finally got the cinnamon rolls right, and theyre fresh out of the oven, so I just had to bring them over!

He shut the door and breathed deeply. Natalie, I miss you already.

Were going to the same high school.

Ill starve without you.

Natalie giggled as she set everything on the counter. She opened the fridge. The campus has so many options! Youll find something. How was your first day? Are the teachers nice? What about the other students?

They chatted briefly, and the cinnamon rolls made an appearance. Shed even managed to make something that tasted so much like real cream cheese frosting that Alden was going to need to find a way to send one of these things to Gorgon.

I know you said you were running late, so dont mind me, Natalie chirped. Im just going to have my coffee in your living room with Victor. Theres my precious boy! Whos a good kitty?

Victor was rubbing his head against Natalies ankles.

Alden swallowed an enormous mouthful of sticky, sweet roll. Umyeah. Thats all right.

He glanced past her at the door to his room. It was opened a crack. He definitely hadnt left it that way.

Im going to go change out of my pajamas. Be right back.

The second he entered his room, he was met with Boe sitting cross-legged on the foot of his bed, polishing his glasses on the hem of his shirt. He put them on his face, and gave Alden a double thumbs up.

What were you doing poking your head out? Alden whispered. What if shed seen you?

Boe grinned. [There are certain things a person has to experience for himself.]

Right. We can text.

[Whats that supposed to mean?]

[You cant just casually mention in one message that your personal chef put all her freely selectable S-rank points in Appeal and then never describe what she looks like at all. What kind of a friend does that?]

[You risked prison to see how pretty she was???]

[Yeah. And it was very worth it.]

No its not, Alden mouthed at him.

[Shes a masterpiece. The System has outdone itself. And I barely caught a glimpse of her face. Are her eyes gold, or am I imagining it?]

Alden had spent some time pondering the eye color since it was Natalies most impossible-looking feature. [I think theyre as gold as they can be without falling over the edge of fascinating into the uncanny valley.]

[She must have been stunning to start with. I dont think even S-rank Rabbits get enough free points on their first affixation to do that well. Did she choose some trait that boosts her appearance on top of it?]

[Im not going to ask her that. Just sit here quietly. Ive been letting her and the other girls from her apartment hang out when they want. I couldnt think of how to tell her no without it being unusual. She probably wont be long. Ill throw up the Do Not Disturb as soon as shes gone so they cant get in for the rest of the day.]

[Its fine if she stays. Im jealous of Victor. Listen to all the nice things shes saying to him. Even her voice is worth it.]

Alden rolled his eyes.

********

Really? Id love to hear whatever youve come up with. But what I need to tell you now isI dont think I can.

Register?

Boe shook his head.

Alden swallowed. Hed known Boe probably felt that way. If hed wanted to live on Anesidora, hed already be living here. But there had still been a flicker of hope inside him.

Since youre here nowmaybe one day, Boe said. But Ive got some things I have to take care of first. If I even can. And, honestly I need to think. I didnt do a lot of thinking while you were away.

No?

Well, I did, but my thoughts were the kind of thoughts that made me sure I needed to magically evacuate from humanity, so

Yeah. Alden hopped up to sit on the counter. Those kinds of thoughts get erased when your reality changes, right?

Boe put the magnet back on the fridge. I hope so.

For example, I had thoughts about hiring other Avowed to carry me around in a palanquin when I got home. And they were going to force-feed me racks of ribs.

Why did you abandon that plan? Im in favor of it.

I suppose it could always return if I have a few too many bad days in a row.

Boes smile faded. Mine werent nearly that fun.

Mine werent really either. Do you knowwell, you cant know. But it almost didnt happen. Me getting stuck on Moon Thegund. I had to go to the party

Its been so long since I thought of you at that party. You were so unhappy about it, but Jeremy and I were having a lot of fun imagining you there. Please tell me youve got pictures of your costume somewhere.

Not a single one, said Alden. But that party kept me from picking berries that night. And if it hadnt, I would have been able to

Save Kibby and her sister. The next night, I would have saved her father and the scientist in the green coat. The only reason I didnt teleport in time was because Kibby was scared of leaving. We delayed so her dad could make her feel better.

The delay would have come a night earlier if not for the party. It would have come on a night when nothing went wrong. On the day the System broke, I would have left a few minutes sooner.

Three more people would have lived. Kibby would have her family.

He wanted to say it all. But it was too much detail about his real assignment from Joe for the contract to abide. The words wouldnt come out of his mouth.

He cleared his throat.

I would have picked the berries faster, he said. If not for that party, I would have come back home when I was supposed to. I know nobody hurt me on purpose, but things happened that wouldnt have happened if others had just been semi-okay people instead of flaming-dumpster people. And sometimes, when I was puking up food because Id guessed wrong about it being safe for humans to eat or I was watching one of the lab lights flicker out for the last time and feeling like it was a metaphor for what was happening to me and KibbyI wanted some punishment. For the dumpster people.

Just hearing about it makes me want to punish the dumpster people, and I wasnt even there.

I dont mean justice, Boe, said Alden. I mean punishment. If someone had sent me a space pigeon message while I was in one of those moods, and it said that Manon and the executives who owned the lab had gotten lost on Sreeeakk and were being hunted by the locals, Im afraid I might have smiled.

He didnt feel that way anymore. The anger was there but it was a dull ember of what it had been. It was hard to maintain a hot rage when the corporation was completely beyond the scope of his knowledge or reach and Manon was involved only because of a series of manipulations she couldnt have known would lead to the disaster.

I wish the boater would quit sailing through my mind at the worst moments. Even if I go through with the "email everyone" plan, am I still going to feel like I havent done enough? Manon is the

To hell with the dumpster people! Boe had just taken a mug from a cabinet. He raised it in salute. May the grivecks enjoy their feast.

It was so great to have Boe around.

Dont you need to go to school?

I was just thinking you were good company, and you come out with that.

Youre a legal voter and everything now. You have to be responsible.

No. Lets play video games all day.

How are you going to fake being normal and give me my fake phone call if you stay here instead of going to school?

Alden groaned.

Anyway, Im not playing video games with a person who had his hands magically speeded up. Unless theyre puzzle games. Or games where we use foot controllers.

Buzzkill. He checked the time. But if Im going, I really do need to leaveten minutes ago. Im going to have to run to make it to class.

He slid off the counter and grabbed his bag. Ill leave you the laptop. Ill take the tablet. Its unintuitive if you havent used Artonan tech before.

Boe was leaning toward the coffee machine, studying all the buttons. Just as Alden was about to head out, he said, The hand speedyou did it for spell casting, right?

Alden stopped and his eyes widened. I completely forgot I blurted that out last night.

Oh, I definitely didnt forget. Boe pulled on a lever, and the coffee machine started grinding beans. Youre a wizard now?

I mostly just know kindergarten-level spells.

But you do know spells. As in multiple ones. That the System didnt give you.

Yes.

Boe turned to smile at him. Alden, youre a wizard?

Alden adjusted his bag. Humans cant cast just like Artonans. Their spells are designed for them. Im anatomically incapable of lots of them. But for hand casting at leastone day, Im going to be a wizard.

It felt simultaneously embarrassing and awesome to say it.

Oh my god, said Boe, grinning more now. Thats so freaking cool.

It is.

I dont know why youre turning red. Its literallyso cool I cant even think of a way to make fun of you that doesnt just make you sound more awesome. You mage geek. You didnt get to be an Adjuster like you wanted, and the Rabbit spells made you mad, and so you justbecame a wizard instead?

It wasnt that intentional.

Who cares?! I didnt know humans could even do that! Boe stared at him. Do the Artonans know humans can do that?

Theyre aware its a possibility, but I think its such a distant one that they dont take it seriously. Humans arent naturally suited to it. A lot of different complicated things had to come together for me to get there. And the Artonans definitely dont know that Ive actually managed it. Im keeping it a secret from them, too.

This is terrible, said Boe, shaking his head. You just keep sounding more ballsy and badass with every word that comes out of your mouth. Im going to have to diss your rank more until I feel better. Shitty B-rank.

Shitty B-rank wizard, Alden countered.

Boe winced. Oh great.

Alden nodded.

One word really could hold a lot of power.

*