ONE HUNDRED THIRTEEN: The Chainer, V

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEEN: The Chainer, V

Lute? Lute, are you all right? LUTE VELRA.

Lute realized he was in class. He was standing up at his desk. His pen was clenched in his hand.

He was breathing hard.

Every face was looking at him in confusion. The chemistry teacher, Mrs. Sharma, had a frown line between her brows as she examined him.

I said Lute.

Are you all right? she asked again.

I feel sick, he blurted. I need to leave. My head hurts. And my stomach.

Should he say that more things hurt? He really needed toto do something. Move. Get out of here. Think. Something wasnt right.

Maybe I really am sick? Maybe Ive gone crazy?

Mrs. Sharmas first name was Saanvi. It was floating on a lighted name tag over her shoulder.

Okay, said the teacher, her voice businesslike now that the problem had been identified. Tuyet, walk with Lute to the nurses office. Ill let them know youre coming. Lute, go ahead and take your backpack in case they send you home.

Lutes selection notice was still floating in front of his eyes. His hand moved toward it then stopped. If Iif I swipe something out of the air in front of them, theyll all know what that means. Adults do that. Avowed adults.

He pretended like he was sweeping his hair away from his forehead instead.

He was sure he walked to the nurses office beside Tuyet after that, but it was a blank. He might as well have been teleported there for all he could remember of the trip.

You do look like youre not feeling too well. The nurse was pointing a thermometer at his head. But you havent got a fever. You say its a head, stomach, and backache?

Did I add backache in there too?

I feel sick, Lute repeated. I think I need to lie down.

If you really think you might be sick, well take you to a Healer and have them use Diagnosis on you. Just to be on the safe side. How does that sound?

Lute was gradually regaining his senses at that point. His primary concern now was time. Everything was blowing up inside him. He didnt know anything about anything anymore. If he ran through the school screaming, Im either Avowed or insane! things would start blowing up outside him, too.

He had to figure out the internal explosions before setting off the external ones becausea thousand reasons.

They were all crowding together in his head so that he couldnt quite make out any of them, but he knew they were there and they were massive. He needed time. What he would like was to ride the train or the bus around and around for the next year, never stopping, until hed finally calmed down.

That wasnt going to happen.

He couldnt even leave campus until the end of the day. This was a family neighborhood. One of the watchers on duty would pick up the wandering student and put it back in the school where it belonged.

The nurse leaned toward him. Lute, she said in an even voice, are you really sick? Or are you having trouble with your classmates again?

Lutes troubles with his classmates were so irrelevant at that moment that he didnt even edit his answer.

Most of them think they never did anything to hurt me all these years, and then I repaid them by making fun of Avowed being killed. So now theyre consciously shunning me instead of accidentally doing it. But the bullies have switched to shunning, too, so that they fit in with the crowd. Its much better.

Fine, said the nurse. You can do your homework in here for the afternoon. Im only letting you because youve never done this before. Dont make a habit of it.

If Lute had known the nurse had a soft spot like this, he would absolutely have made a habit of feigning illness last year. He sat quietly in a chair, pretending to read on his tablet.

Instead, he was staring at his interface. It took almost an hour before he really started to accept the fact that this was not some trick or mental break. Nobody had managed to stick a pair of high tech contact lenses in his eyes.

This was the System interface.

And it was his. Whether he wanted it or not.

What has happened? thought Lute. Im Quadruple Decimal. Im not one of them. I dont get magic.

This text floating in front of himthat he still wasnt swiping away because touching the interface felt like too much of a commitmentsaid he did. It said he was ninety days, or one button press, away from being a Wright.

A Wright? I meanWrights exist. They have Wright jobs making Wrightwork here on Anesidora. Magic stuff. Fireworks, guns, equipment, infrastructure, toys, bombs.

Lots of people really want to be Wrights.

He could call to mind the names and faces of every person he knew whod ever gone through a Wright phase and all those who were currently close to deciding on the class for real.

This is kinda weird.

Like someone had just walked up to him in the street and said, Will you come over to my house in a few months to fix the dishwasher?

Oh no, you must have mistaken me for someone else. Im not a dishwasher repairman.

You will be then. And every day after that. See you in September.

He kept working on the word Wright like it needed deciphering.

It didnt belong to him. He was not a Wright. He was practicing and preparing for the day when he became a professional harpist. That was what was keeping him sane while he waited to get away from the Avowed.

Get away from the Avowed? Im going to be an Avowed.

The thought kept hitting him like a blow to the gut and then fading. Lute wondered if the substance of his being was just too stubborn to let something so antithetical stick for more than a few seconds.

Ive got to try to let it in. Get a grip on it. I cant just wander around with these words in front of my eyes for three months until the big thing happens to me. IveIve had the lessons with everyone else. Ive watched them plan for selection for years.

This was supposed to be go-time. Right?

You get picked. You trade for the class youve been planning on. Go to meetings with grown-ups who have it before you finalize everything. Professional career coaches. Make sure youre not screwing yourself up forever.

Applications. Affixation. Acceptance letters come. High school.

Wait, thought Lute. Waitwaitwait.

No.

I dont want to do any of those things.

Could he hide it? Globies hid it sometimes. Unregistereds. Criminals.

He could do that! And then it would be like it hadnt happened.

You idiot, Lute. Youre Anesidoran. Theres no benefit at all in your case.

For a human born here, getting your citizenship transferred to another country was so easy. It was one of the things hed been looking forward to ever since the class trips. At twenty-one, you just filled out some forms and had an interview with a Sway verifier, who would confirm for everyone that even though youd been born in superhuman territory you werent one yourself. And then you could make your home anywhere on Earth.

Lute wouldnt be able to pass that exit interview anymore. He was stuck here.

That hit him and faded as well.

He was still absorbing facts, still so busy trying to understand what was going on that he wasnt feeling a lot other than shock and confusion. And then one of his thoughts came through a little louder than all the others.

So its Wright. And its an S. Thats good. All Avowed want to be S-ranks because thats the bestone

An S-rank?

Lute stared so hard at his new rank that it actually expanded. Hed somehow enlarged the image mentally by overfocusing. Now there was a giant semi-transparent, golden letter S blotting out most of the nurses office.

Im fourteen years old.

The nurse looked over from her desk. Whats that?

Sorry! Lute shook his head. Just thinking out loud.

He clamped his mouth shut. The thought in his head was loud enough that it might as well have been echoing through the room anyway.

Im fourteen. He made sure the nurse had her back turned, then he hastily swiped the giant S away so that he could see clearly. He pulled up a calendar on his tablet. I am fourteen years, one hundred forty-nine days old.

Im a pre-fifteen S-rank.

Very pre-fifteen. Not even fourteen and a half.

The System didnt tell people why it chose them when it did. It didnt explain its outliers. It has plans within plans, some wannabe sages said. And we can only glimpse a few of them.

But if you shoved the small number of Uniques into a box and tucked them off to the side to be all batty, secretive, and potentially hyperbolic away from the ordinary Avowedone of the Systems more obvious plans or directives was to pick powerful people younger.

If you looked at the birthdays of every registered Avowed, it was all perfectly clear. The Ss and As at fifteen with a few Bs for good measure. Then a giant pile of mid-ranks with some highs and lows mixed in at sixteen. Then the Ds and Fs with some mid-rank stragglers along for the ride at seventeen.

It was almost as bizarre for an S to be picked at seventeen as it was for an F to be chosen at fifteen.

And far more bizarre than either of those

Unless this is one of those plans within plans, thought Lute, it implies Im likely to be powerful.

Not everyone started out exactly the same, even if the System slapped them with the same letter. If he remembered correctly, that fourteen-year-old S whod gone to school here a couple of years ago was supposed to have gotten more foundation points than normal for a beginner S of her class.

A few less stats, a few more, an additional spell impression or two, a special offer when you started to affixthe System seemed to play around with those things.

So Lute, at fourteen, might not be just an S. He might be an S that got something extra on top of it.

None of the faculty are S ranks, thought Lute, still gazing at the calendar on his tablet. Theres one in ninth grade right now, about to graduate. Three more in tenth.

If Lute Velra agreed to the Contract right this second, took Wright, and affixedhe thought he might walk out of the nursess office as the most powerful person in the entire school.

******

Why are you sitting on your hands? asked the nurse. Youre supposed to be doing schoolwork.

They were cold, said Lute.

More like they were three seconds away from pushing buttons just to see how much crazier the day could get.

I do not want to be a Wright. I dont think. Theyre definitely in the middle of the pack for me, not at the top, right? As far as Avowed classes I like go.

He hadnt had a favorite class since he was on the playground playing superheroes. It would have been like having a favorite sports car out of a lineup of them covered in plates that said NOT4LUTE.

Im not sure I like any of them.

His mind went straight to the instrument Meisters then ditched them. They werent really subclasses for high ranks. More Cs and sub-Cs. The couple of S-rank ones hed heard of had instruments that doubled as sonic weapons. Even if one of those rarities cropped up, that wasnt what he wanted.

Musical instruments were for creation. Not destruction.

Shaper.

Shapers were extremely useful, and they could be artists. Shaping performances set to song were popular and exciting. All the elements were good.

But Waters the prettiest.

He almost groaned out loud at himself. His taste in magic hadnt changed since he was four. Maybe because that was when hed last truly thought he could have it.

Its not my fault I havent prepared at all! I wasnt supposed to have magic. Lutes brow furrowed. Uhso why do I?

This question was urgent enough to temporarily knock the ten thousand others he had away from the single braincell that was still capable of normal function.

Im the kid of two regular people. Im supposed to be a regular person, too.

There wasnt a lot of data on children with two sets of superhuman grandparents and a pair of plain human parents, but it wasnt like he was the one and only. There were others. And there were those who had gotten the heck off of Anesidora, like Lute had planned to, and married regular people.

All evidence pointed to whiffs being garden variety human beings that the System had no interest in playing with.

Garden variety human beings didnt make superhumans very often. Every globie was a little statistical miracle.

I could be a miracle.

But before he started introducing himself as Lute Velra first ever fourteen-year-old S-rank born of non-Avowed parents on Anesidora, he had to consider the much more likely reason.

If Im not the biggest miracle ever, then at least one of my parentsisnt.

He realized his lip was trembling and he bit it, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. Thats notdont be a baby about it, all right? Its not a big deal.

It was a huge deal.

Your parents are even divorced. Like a lot of peoples. You didnt think they had some beautiful connection. Dad was probably into Mom because hes insecure about his own height and not being Avowed and the familys rich. And Mom liked Dad for

Actually, his mother had never admitted to liking anything specific about Cyril. But Lute assumed it might have been an insecurity thing with her, too. Shed never dated someone else since the divorce.

If Im being less of a doubter, they mightve just had the one huge thing in common and thought it would keep them loving each other forever.

It was hard being the only non-Avowed in every room. Lute knew. If another kid like him had walked into the school, he would have been completely fascinated by them even if everyone else thought they were the most blah person on the planet.

Im pitiful. And whether they loved each other or not

There was a lie somewhere. He was either a miracle or a lie, and he just couldnt bring himself to seriously believe the first one.

Theyre my parents.

Mundane Explanation: Jessica had cheated on Cyril with an Avowed and never told.

How could she? Was it a horrible mistake? Is she too embarrassed to admit to it even though its really important information for me to have?

Anesidoran Soap Opera Explanation: They had been in a polyamorous relationship, Artonan style, with a powerful S-rank who had betrayed them. Theyd hated the asshole so much, theyd agreed never to mention him to Lute.

That would require them to be way different people than I think they are, but since something way different is going on anyway, can I really rule it out?

He probably could, but he liked this scenario. It would mean his parents were both in on it together and they both knew Lute might have been fathered by the S-rank betrayer, and when his selection came out his Dad wouldnt

He wont stop being my Dad. He wouldnt. Right?

Superhuman Breeding Explanation 1: One or both of his parents were like Hazels. They had wanted a baby stronger than they could make themselves and theyddone something to make that happen. With or without the other persons knowledge.

Superhuman Breeding Explanation 2: Lute could be

I dont care! He shook his head again. Most of these are horrible. Theyre not horrible people! Theyre not perfect, but theyre my parents. I dont want other ones!

Jessica, even when she was busy, was Lutes best friend in the entire world. They were a team in a family full of crazy Avowed. They took care of each other.

Cyril, even though he was kind of bitter and a bum, was Lutes second best friend. They still saw each other every other weekend. Sometimes more if there was a heavy cousin population wherever Lute was living. They played video games together, badmouthed Cyrils awful parents and most of the Velra family members, and went for walks around the neighborhood where he lived in the evenings.

These were the people who loved Lute. And whom he loved.

These two.

If he lost them, he would be alone.

So I wont lose them. Hugh and Cady are Hazels parents. Mom and Dad are mine. And screw everyone whos going to say otherwise!

There. That was better. Now he could pay attention to the really important stuff, which was literally everything that was happening right now.

Okay. One good thing. If I cant leave Anesidora without smuggling myself away on a boat, then I justoh god Im trapped here!no. Focus, Lute.

If I cant leave Anesidora then I wont have to convince Mom and Dad to come with me. Well all be together for sure.

Whats another good thing?

He was an S. He was having some trouble wrapping his mind around it, but if it was going in a column it had to be the pro one, didnt it?

Another good thing?

There was something he had known he couldnt have. And now he probably could.

I might not have to die.

No matter how logical and mature he had tried to be about it since Hazel had dropped the bomb on him, the normal human lifespan had been a horribly painful pill to force down after a childhood spent in an environment that had made him assume it would be otherwise. The fact that he and his mother werent on the familys re-youthening plan had put him into something like a fugue state at twelve, and hed wandered through F-city with sticky toffee puddings for who knew how long before he came out of it.

He was fourteen now. Death was still a long way off, so he didnt have too much trouble shoving it down. Only it came back sometimes, and when it did, it came back with a vengeance.

It was there whenever some relative pranced through the house ten years younger than they had been the month before. And he ground his teeth against it whenever he noticed that his mom, always by Aulias side, was starting to look more and more like she could be Aulias mother instead of her daughter.

Hed told himself it was all right. He was extraordinarily privileged in so many other ways. It was true, hed reminded himself, that Avowed got magic and they got things regular people didnt. But they also paid a price for it other people didnt have to.

Lute could remember the sound of dice rattling against each other as he stuffed them one by one into the bags.

I might not have to dieof old age, he corrected himself.

He spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about his parents, the Velras, the dice, the cost of things. Leaving the nurses office that day, he was exhausted, as if hed run for hours instead of sitting on his hands having thoughts.

At the bottom of the building steps, he spotted Haoyu. He had one foot on a skateboard and was putting on his helmet.

Haoyu didnt want to be chosen this year, thought Lute. He said he wasnt ready. And hes had ages to get ready.

Im doomed.

Do you feel better, Lute?

Lute had stared for too long, and now Haoyu was looking at him.

I feel completely normal, said Lute quickly. Totally like myself. The same as every day. Why wouldnt I?

Haoyu blinked. Because I heard you got sick in class?

Im better now, Lute said. It was a very short virus. See you tomorrow!

He hustled away.

Whats with all this eyeball clutter?!

Some people had name tags floating beside them. Buildings had labels. Since when had the Nilama neighborhood had so much signage?

Theres some way to turn most of it off right?

He had recollections of adults idly mentioning that they were adjusting things like that, but for him to adjust things like that, hed have to wave his arms around and he didnt want anyone to know yet.

When he got back to the yacht, it was a relief to have everything looking normal again. He could pretend it was an ordinary afternoon for a while. Maybe that would reset his head.This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

On an ordinary afternoon on Libra, he went to see what the baked good of the day was in the galley. Then he took it to his cabin and ate it while he hid from Hazel and did his homework.

Chicken la King for dinner, Chef Kabir said while Lute stole a piece of coffee cake from under a glass dome.

Aulias stressed, thought Lute.

Chicken la King on toast was one of her not-so-secret comfort food dishes. He wondered if shed tried to make up with Roman again.

Ha! Thats not happening anytime this year.

He hoped Roman had more self-respect than that at least.

He might not. The brainwashing in this family seems to be really potent. When I finally get out of here

The thought hit him like a punch once again. And this timethis time, he thought it might be sticking. The bite of cake hed just taken sat in his mouth, unchewed, getting soggy on his tongue.

I dont get out of here. Im Anesidoran forever now. Even if I try to get a job off the island in the future, this is where theyll make me come back to. Always.

Lute swallowed the cake. He was sure it didnt really taste like dust. Kabir was a great cook.

do you like being a Brute? Lute asked.

Kabir was pulling a bottle of cream out of the fridge.

Ive been one for more than twenty years, he said lightly. I hardly ever think about it to tell you the truth. Its just who I am.

Kabir was a C-rank Longsight Brute. He wasnt much of a leveler. He was fast with a kitchen knife, and he liked it when Aulia wanted to do a chefs table for special guests, so he could show some flare while he worked. He had a spell that would let him set up a viewpoint somewhere, but it didnt last very long. He occasionally used it to monitor pots and pans when he was busy with something else.

Would you rather be something other than a Brute? If you could change classes right now, would you?

We all find ways to be happy with the road were on, dont we? Kabir said. Asking What if I had a different life? just distracts from the one youre living.

Okay, thats nice and all, thought Lute as he left the galley. But what if the System is currently asking you, Which life?

When he went back to get a second piece of cake, he heard Kabir murmuring with one of the crew members.

>

>

>

>

>

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Lutes first thought was, Wow! Translations!

His second was, I wonder how often adults I know have talked about me in languages I couldnt understand?

His third was an indignant, Im not longing to be an Avowed! And now look what Ive got. Its the opposite of longing. Im a fourteen-year-old S who wants to be a member of the Vienna Philharmonic! Does everyone think Ive been kidding about that my whole life?! I have anti-longing!

He had half a mind to march in there with a name tag turned on for himself: Lute Velra not jealous youre Avowed!

As he was heading back to his cabin, without any cake, another question knocked insistently on his crowded mind.

Why did Mom send me to Paragon?

In primary school, it had made more sense. Hed been happy. In sixth and seventh grade? This year?

Why did she keep sending me there after I told her how much I hated it?

It was one of the only real fights theyd ever had, that evening when hed told her hed cleaned out his locker and wanted private tutoring instead of school.

She said it was important for me to learn to face difficulties instead of running away from them.

It sounded like a thing a grown-up would say, but not a thing his mother would say to him, and it still felt like a burning criticism he hadnt deserved.

There was no reward for facing the difficulties at Paragon, no better destination at the end of the journey. Just day after day of being treated like an empty spot in the room, if he was lucky, or like the pitiable butt of a joke, if he wasnt, all resulting in an education that didnt apply to him as well as a more personalized one could have.

Lute had long since forgiven her for it and gotten on with his life as an unwilling student. And yet

Its basically a prep school for becoming a high-rank, but its not like I actually prepped for it well. They were even giving me alternative assignments for tons of things. She knew that.

He didnt think it really meant anything. Jessica must have wanted him in school so that he wouldnt be a recluse. Or so that he wouldnt grow up to be someone like Hazel, who probably thought the whole world worked like the Velra web. And Paragon was an expensive school where he could get to know future somebodies, as Aulia had put it before she sent him off on his very first day.

If you wanted someone to prepare for Avowed life, you wouldnt tell them so clearly and completely that it was impossible would you?

Lute flopped onto his bed in his cabin and clutched a pillow shaped like a fried egg to his face.

When you got selected, you either ran to tell your parents or your best friends. Lucky him, his parents were his best friends! No choice to be made.

Less lucky

Though he loved them more than anyone else, he didnt quite trust them right now.

And this was the rest of his life.

He couldnt mess it up.

******

First, Lute thought, staring at his notebook, you pick the class you want. Come on. You know them all. This should be easy. There arent that many.

The laptop on the desk in front of him and the two tablets beside it all showed notes. Avowed careershe wanted none of them. Summoning likelihoods, talents, satisfaction surveys, all those ugly statistics hed found for his classmates last year

It was midnight. Hed been at this for seven hours. Libra creaked and rolled in the waves because Aulia said she slept better when the yacht wasnt so stabilized that it felt like just another house. Lute liked it when the boat felt like a boat as well, though he wouldnt admit it.

Somewhere in the galley fridge, his serving of the Chicken la King was probably beautifully plated and waiting for him. But he couldnt pull himself away from this task.

Time wasnt on his side. One little mistake, one slip, and his family would involve themselves.

I cant believe it took me so long to realize that.

Lute was so used to being beneath everyones notice, the truth had taken its sweet time to land. Being an S-rank at fourteen meant he would suddenly become interesting to his own relatives.

Will they want me for?

He didnt know. He just didnt know about the S-rank Chainer slot. Theyd kicked Roman, a good and loyal Velra scion, off a cliff because of Hazels psychic quirk.

Im a lot younger than Roman. Im the first Velra ever to be selected before fifteen.

And coming right on the heels of Aulia rejecting Roman?

Grandma might think its some kind of sign, and then who knows what shell do?

The thing was, it didnt matter if they wanted him for Chainer or not. Even if he was out of the running for that, theyd still want something from him. Chainer was the Velra signature class, but it wasnt like Aulia was going to ignore all the other high ranks.

Roman had taken a Rabbit skill that allowed him to locate lost objects, and Lute had already heard his grandmother brainstorming different helpful things he could do with it for the familywhen we arent having a little spat anymore!

Lute had to figure out what he could live with, and then do everything in his power to position himself for it before they started to get ideas and cut him off. They could really help him or really hurt him.

S was too freaking rare.

Welcome to the one percent! Good luck clawing the class you want away from the other members of your tiny trading pool without a seven digit argold balance and a lot of handshakes being exchanged by everybodys extended families.

How do globies do this?! Do they just take random stuff and think Guess thatll do?

He could sympathize. His family could buy him almost anything, but they wouldnt do it if they got it into their heads that he needed to be something else. And if they were really serious about forcing him into some random class, they could even go so far as to pay other teenagers to take the classes hed prefer off the trading table. The only security net he could be sure of having was whatever class was in his possession on the day his grandmother found out.

Lets not panic yet. Lets make a list.

By three in the morning, hed sort of done it. Hed ranked all the classes in order, from top to bottom, only leaving off the very rare ones. Except for the obvious

1. Healer

2. Rabbit

3. Adjuster (spell paths tbd before affixationnot combat ones)

4. Shaper (preference: water, object, life, ground, skyrares?)

5. Wright

6. Meister (non-combat tool)

7. Chainer (what exactly does my family do with the aliens?)

8. Brute (vocal, sensory, maybe morph?)

9. Meister (ranged weapon)

10. Brute (the other ones)

Trading partner, said Lute, stepping quickly over to the door. Isabel! Lets do this!

She insisted on doing it with wedding lingo, said Lute, shaking his head at the memory. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to behold a miracle in the form of my Cousin Lute! Isabel thought we were nuts. Then she saw my last name on the trading notification, and she was like, I should have demanded more money.

She totally should have, Alden agreed from his spot on the rug. But not demanding enough money from Velras is an honest mistake. Anyone could make it. Its not a sign of foolishness. Nobody should be judged.

I know youre talking about yourself right now. Dont worry about Isabel. She was confident about Wright. She affixed standing right there on the balcony, and Aimi transferred a celebratory amount to her in honor of the special occasion.

What?

Their apartment doorknob made a lot more noise than it usually did when it was being opened, and they both sat up in surprise as Haoyu stepped in.

He was wearing his windbreaker and an odd smile.

I thought you were staying at home tonight? Lute said.

No, I was just having supper out with Mom until late. Haoyu wasnt quite meeting his eye. All my comfy pillows are here. What are you guys doing?

Just talking, said Lute.

Haoyu nodded. He was still smiling weird.

Guilty weird, thought Alden. He studied their roommate.

Were you listening at the door? he guessed.

No! I heard Lexis name, and I wonderedare they talking about him? What are they saying?

So you were listening at the door. The act youre describing is eavesdropping.

No! Because its my door, too. You cant eavesdrop on your own door can you?

That depends, Lute said. How long were you standing there?

Not long! Haoyu said. Just ten or fifteen minutes or so.

Lute looked startled

Alden stared.

What? Haoyus tone was defensive.

Thats not how you confess to eavesdropping, man, said Alden. Youre supposed to say, Not long. I was only there a second. Even if you were there for way longer than that.

Yeah. Standing out there for fifteen minutes with your ear pressed to the door is spy territory. Not friendly eavesdropping, said Lute. I havent been sharing state secrets. Why didnt you just come inside?

Haoyus nervous smile grew more nervous. I thought

They both waited silently for his answer.

I just thought you might mention me?

Why? Lute asked. I meanI can mention you if you want. Alden, Haoyu tried to grow his hair out long when we were in fifth grade. It made him look like a completely different person. It wasnt bad, but he cut it all off after one of our tour guides on the trip to the Grand Canyon thought he was a girl from behind. I bet Kon has pictures of the look.

Dont mention me like that! Haoyu said in horror. I was just waiting to hear where I was on the list!

What list? Lute asked.

Alden laughed. He means your People I Hate Forever list. The one you made with all your classmates names on it.

Alden had wondered where everyone he was familiar with had ended up, too.

You were naming people whod been crossed off for life! Haoyu said. And you were naming people whod been underlined for being nice to you. And I needed to know if you crossed me off. I dont want to be crossed off.

You werent crossed off.

Well, did I get underlined?

It doesnt matter if you got underlined or not, Lute said. I was telling Alden about the list to explain my mood at the time. Not because the list is actually important now.

I didnt get underlined!

You were underlined.

Haoyu groaned. I should have kept eavesdropping. Now Ill never know if youre just saying that to make me feel better.

You were underlined. If the list still existed, I might have to erase your underlining. Since youre a spy.

But hes a really honest one, said Alden. That counts in his favor.

Does it? Honesty is a bad quality for a spy.

Haoyu unzipped his jacket and sat down in one of the chairs. Can I listen?

You just were.

Youre telling selection stories! Theyre always so much fun. And I havent heard yours.

Lute fluffed a cushion and laid back down. Wellmine is actually my entire life story, delivered to Alden because we saw my mom earlier this evening. And he didnt know she was non-Avowed. So hes getting a download from me before anyone else can poison his mind.

Haoyu looked down at Alden. You thought his parents were high ranks?

I hadnt really thought about it. It was just an assumption.

I was telling him about school, Lute explained.

Tell him about the talent show, Haoyu said immediately.

Lute rolled to look at him. I told him about that.

He played for ages! Haoyu reported. And when they went up to drag him offstage, he gave Mr. Fretch such a scary look that he took a step back.

I didnt.

You did.

Im sure not. I was very composed.

Lute looked out over the whole audience, said Haoyu, and I could feel him staring right at me

I wasnt staring at you! I dont even know where you were sitting.

Everyone could feel him staring, Haoyu continued, pointing at his eyes for emphasis. And then he said, Im five times more talented than all of them.

Dont repeat it. It sounds worse when other people say it.

You said it so loud! It echoed through the whole room. He paused. People made fun of you for weeks.

Refusing to get off stage was a weird thing to do. And then I backed it up by saying something like that. I didnt expect anyone to like it, so I couldnt really blame them for that one. Lute glanced away, then added, I told Alden about the dice, too.

The die dice, Haoyu said mildly. Yeah that was another memorable day.

Im sorry.

You dont have to apologize. Youve already tried a couple of times.

Alden had nothing to add to that minefield, so he stayed quiet.

Haoyu threw his legs over an armrest and sat in his chair sideways.

I think you think it was some big shock to me, said Haoyu. Ive been looking up that kind of statistic ever since I got my first tablet. Every time my mom gets summoned, I go look again. Even though its stupid. Shes not a statistic. Shes usually working with and for people she knows. She seems to feel like its important. Im sure shes smart and careful. Or when my dad gets a sudden call to supplement a team in a new cityI run to check and see if any heroes have died there. Thats stupid, too. Some other hero having an accident five years ago doesnt mean he will today.

Still, said Lute, I shouldnt have just thrown it at you all like that.

It was kind of mean, said Haoyu. Everyone else thought it was really mean. I just figured most of them didnt have parents who talked with them about serious stuff like that a lot, and they felt like it was harsher. Or like you didnt have the right to point it out because of who you were.

They think I was a crazy, jealous whiff who couldnt take a condom joke, and I laughed when Avowed died.

Haoyu didnt answer.

Awkward, thought Alden, wondering if he should try to cut the tension. So awkward.

Im not that, Lute muttered.

It hurt your feelings, Haoyu said, watching him. When everyone expected you to give up the dice bag. You usually acted like you didnt care at all about that kind of thing. But you were so upset that day. Then Vandy made it worse by telling you it would only be okay for you to keep the dice if you actually wanted to be Avowed. You looked like you were about toyou looked miserable.

Lute swallowed. I didnt realize you noticed.

I noticed. I just didnt know what to say. Then Declan was disgusting, and everybody focused on him. I helped Kon yell at him.

Thanks.

It was easy to yell at Declan, said Haoyu. But the second I saw the death dice, I remembered how bad your face looked. And I felt like I should say something to you, but I still didnt know what. So I didnt say anything at all. I never said much to you, and I always made excuses like that. Im sorry.

Its fine. But Im really not that hard to talk to, said Lute. Ask Alden.

Alden cleared his throat. Lutes great. The second time I met him, he forced me to guess what happened to his eye over and over again, and I wasnt even sure it was really missing at the time because his sense of humor was so weird.

Hey!

He tried to make me wear a ski mask against my will earlier today. He called me Cottontail.

Thats terrible, Lute, said Haoyu. Dont be mean to Rabbits. Theyre the sweetest class.

Aldens a confused Rabbit. Hes in school with all you fighty people. Lute yanked off his eyepatch and tossed it at the foot of the couch. I was supposed to weather the bad luck half of the Gloss in a safe location. As safe as anywhere can be when Aulias fate boomerang is coming in for a landing, anyway. It landed too soon. Or I made it to the safe place too late. I was standing right outside it, and a drone crashed into the car Id just arrived in. One of the propellers flew off.

He touched his cheek below the prosthetic eye. It was fast. I just thought, Shit. Im hurt. It was a minute before I understood I was really hurt. Afterward, my family acted like it was going to be no big deal for me to get a new eye.

He swallowed. I found out they were lying about that. No surprise there. Healing it was going to beexpensive and complicated. And not for them. I decided I couldnt afford binocular vision after all.

There was a long silence.

Eyepatches are badass, said Alden.

They are, Haoyu agreed quickly. And most people cant get away with wearing them if its not Halloween.

I like the one with the big red X on it.

The leather one is my favorite.

Lute smiled. Im making one that says, Look away, Lexi. We can put it on the polar bear after Ive worn it a few times.

Lute had Shaper. It was there below his name on his selection notice now.

And not just any ShaperIsabel had been in possession of Shaper of Water.

He was at his Dads place this weekend, and he stared at it through dinner. In the bath. In bed.

This, he thought, this doesnt feel like Wright did.

His brain was full of all the reasons it was wrong for him. On paper, other things were still better. But this class felt like it had a bit of a shine to it, didnt it?

It makes all of this feel a little less like a disaster.

Most importantly, it made him feel like he could move forward with everything else that needed to happen. At some point, he had to tell everyone instead of just Aimi and a newly minted Wright.

I need advice from some people who know more than me about the classes that I dont hate. Career counselors?

Isabel had been rattling off a twenty-point plan for the next three months of her life when they parted. It had made Lute feel his lack of preparation more acutely than ever.

If I do want something like Rabbit or Adjuster, Ill need help to get them. Mom could probably pay for it if Aulia wouldntbut negotiating for a popular or rare S class takes time no matter whos after it.

He had more than eighty days still. He would be able to calm down, figure out whether his family was going to help him or not, and make rational choices before the timer ran out.

How to kick over the first domino?

Lute stared up at the glow-in-the-dark stars hed stuck on the ceiling in this bedroom when he was nine. He made his decision.

Monday, he thought. It happens on Monday.

Hed need to stop by the mansion first and get something hed left in his closet.

What will it feel like to be one of them? I cant imagine it at all.

Guess Ill find out.

******

Lute arrived at Narcissus House when the morning was so early it still felt like night. A car put him out at the front gate, and his cellphone and handprint gave him access.

Thats something that will change, he thought as he walked down the drive with the cold air stinging his cheeks.

Anesidora was the only place on Earth where the System had agreed to make itself useful for even some of the tiny details of daily life. The gate would open with an interface command for Avowed family members, and that would include him once Aulia knew about him.

Since the last time Lute had been here, the landscapers had come. The planters by the front door were bursting with pale hellebore flowers and those dark red plants with the tendrils that luminesced every time the wind stirred them.

I wonder if Ill ever end up on the world where those things come from.

Inside, he found signs that his grandmother had unexpectedly chosen this weekend to make her return from life at sea. One of Hazels favorite scarves was in the coat closet. A pile of miscellaneous cases and bags waited by the door for daylight, when someone would unpack them.

He headed upstairs. His room was exactly as hed left it. He had school uniforms here, just like he did in all his other residences, and he grabbed the one that looked like it had never been worn. He put it on with an unusual amount of care, then chose a black cashmere topcoat to go with it. Climbing onto a step ladder, he reached for one of the highest shelves.

A small wooden case with his name carved into it was there.

Was it this heavy the last time I held it? he wondered, looking down at it. He distinctly remembered thinking it was worthless to him. He remembered rolling his eyes as he stuffed it away to wait for its one and only appearance on sugar cookie day.

His fingers hovered over the lid.

Not yet.

He slipped it into his blazer pocket and threw his coat over his arm.

When he made it back downstairs, he heard murmuring in the kitchen. Hed been hoping to grab something from the fridge, but never mind. He would just go. Quiet. No confrontations. One day, he would leave Anesidora forever, and he could be as loud as he wanted then.

Lute froze in the foyer, just a few steps from the front door.

How long will it be before I stop having thoughts like this?

How many times have I skipped meals or left rooms, just so that I wouldnt feel like the adults were erasing me with their inattention and the cousins were watching me for vulnerabilities.

I wonder how theyll all look at me today, how theyll look to me today. On this morning right before everything changes.

For better or worse.

He turned back to see which Velras were up so early in the morning, talking quietly and filling the house with the smell of coffee.

Aulia, Corin, Cady, Hugh, Hazelthe usual suspects, all in their robes or pajamas except for Corin, who had probably been born in that boring three-piece suit. Then there was Aunt Diana, her husband, and their two adult childrenunusual additions, but predictable in this case. They liked to inhabit the mansion whenever it was mostly empty and pretend that it was theirs. They must have been caught here unawares last night and now they were breakfasting with everyone else to make it seem like they were guests instead of serial house thieves.

The Diana family was smiling and nodding mechanically while the others all talked.

When Lute stepped into the room, absolutely nothing changed at all.

Aulia continued stirring brown sugar into her coffee with a tiny silver spoon. Hugh and Corin kept leaning toward her, peppering her with words delivered in tones that implied the conversation was very serious, though it probably wasnt. They both talked to her like that no matter how trivial the subject, as if they could force their opinion to mean more than everyone elses just by vocal inflection.

I want a new stylist, Hazel was saying to her mother. The way the last one braided my hair before I left was ridiculous.

Oh. Hazel must be heading off to do whatever it is she spends her time doing with the Artonans. And Aulia would naturally be going with her.

In that case, it wasnt strange for them all to be up this early. Time differences between planets meant Avowed, and Hazel, could be found prepping to travel at all hours.

Lute studied all the faces. None of them studied him back.

Good morning, said Lute.

There were nine people in the room besides him. Cousin Becky, with Aunt Dianas group, made a grunting sound over her coffee mug that could have been taken as a miserable sort of good morning in reply.

Hazel glanced at him then away, not stopping her conversation with her mother.

Nobody else responded at all.

Lute went to one of the two steel refrigerators in the huge kitchen and searched it for breakfast. He was reaching for a yogurt when he thought better of it.

No. Something more conspicuous than that.

He opened the freezer and found a pint of black cherry ice cream. He spooned it all out into a bowl. Then he covered it in cornflakes, chocolate chips, and walnuts and sat cross-legged on top of the kitchen island to eat it with a serving spoon. He made sure to crunch aggressively and occasionally bang his spoon into the side of his bowl.

This is actually better than I realized it would be. Ice cream and cereal really works.

Not a word from any of his relatives as he worked his way through the strange breakfast.

Hazel was aware of him, though. He could tell she was because of the occasional annoyed looks. But she was in Im-too-important-for-you mode, and all she did was increase her volume as she talked about appropriate footwear for a long day spent on her feet with the aliens.

Lute ate as much ice cream as seemed reasonable given the time of day then set his bowl on the white marble beside him.

Roman, he said.

At the sound of the name, conversation stopped. Heads turned.

Hows he doing? Lute asked. Is he feeling better?

Like you care, Hazel scoffed.

People shifted. Chairs scraped lightly against the floor. Aulia was looking at him with a neutral expression on her facenot upset, not happy, just a look that said, Yes, theres the child who has lived with me his whole life.

I was just wondering, said Lute. He was so excited on the day he got selected. I do feel bad for him.

Hazel opened her mouth.

We all feel bad for him, dear, said Aulia. Her smile was faint but not particularly annoyed. I would have Chainer waiting for every member of this family if I could. Maybe one day.

Romans fine, said Corin. His eyes swept the table. He was directing his words to the rest of them instead of Lute. Hes better off even. Rabbit suits his personality much more than Chainer, if you think about it. Hell settle in and be happy as a clam!

Cady and Hugh were both nodding. Nobody else agreed. Not even Aulia.

I guess he was only eight months younger than Hazel, said Lute. Eight months isnt a lot really.

It was absolutely a lot, when one of the people involved was sixteen and the other was fifteen. And everyone in the room knew it.

Lute slid off the island and reached for his coat. It was so nice to have breakfast with you all. Good luck on your travels, Grandma. Hazel. Ive got to go.

Hazels eyes were narrowed.

Aulias smile now warmed the room, as if to banish any remaining mentions of poor Roman. Thank you, Lute! Have a wonderful day at school!

Its going to be interesting, said Lute as he left the kitchen behind. Ill tell you all about it when you get back home.

******

He opened the box for the first time on a bus as it drove the length of the Span. The sun still hadnt risen, and to his left and right, the dark ocean might as well have been endless. The graduation pin was right there, nestled on a bed of blue satin.

The titanium symbol glimmered as it caught the light of streetlamps. The bus was full of adults conversing at early-morning volume. Lute heard bits and pieces while he stared at the pin.

>

Im heading to Milwaukee for the 4th of July. My old man cooks a beer can chicken every year.

>

Ive always liked that symbol. It was the middle-aged looking woman in the seat beside him. She was looking at the pin. A beginning and an end at the same time.

Its a pin they give to students at my school, said Lute. The principal gave a speech about it.

The woman smiled. Her eyes were such a perfect shade of aquamarine there was probably some magical assistance involved, and she was wearing a shirt for a Brute diving club under her jacket.

Did they tell you its sometimes used to remind a person to move forward? It can be a way of saying that no matter how beautiful or painful a moment in your life is, its still just a waypoint. You cant hold onto it, but you can have the next moment.

She didnt put it like that.

Well thats my favorite thing about it, said the woman. So now you know.

Lute touched the titanium logogram with a finger, just like hed seen so many of his classmates doing a few months ago.

Later, in the bathroom of a shop near his school that sold otherworldly imports, he finally put the pin on. Then he played with his System name tag.

Lute Velra

Lute Stellan Velra- S rank

Lute Velra - Harpist

Lute Velra - Pre-affixed Shaper of Water

Stellan Velra - No, not that one

Enjoy Eleventh Grade, Carlotta and Declan

It really will let me put anything I want.

He tried the harpist tag on several times. He liked it best. It was the one he thought he would wear most of the time. But for todaysomething a little different.

Mind made up, he hid the tag and left the bathroom with his coat on over his blazer.

Walking the final block to school was surreal. The sun still hadnt risen. He felt like the journey took a long time. People he saw every day passed him on bicycles or on foot. Their breath made puffs of fog around their faces. Chattering groups of friends, older students, younger ones. Primary schoolers in their winter sweaters, holding onto the hands of parents or arriving in cars.

He spotted Tuyet grabbing the back of her little brothers coat. And there was Vandy, chasing a windblown chip bag down the sidewalk. She leaped and smashed it under a loafer, then picked it up. Lute stopped to watch her.

If I was going to say something to her, what would I say?

An apology would go a long way with Vandy, but he wasnt going to give her one. Not her. Not until she gave him one, and he didnt see that happening. She was very stubborn. Even if he wrote a ten-page essay baring his soul, she wouldnt think shed done anything wrong.

From her point of view, she hadnt.

From everyones point of view, maybe. Except for mine.

Was it really so hard to make out the ground from your place in the sky?

Well, it went both ways. He hadnt felt very sorry for the people whod cried at the end of the class trips, had he? They'd all been dealing with knowing that they were seeing things they might never be allowed to see again. Everly had been particularly devastated on the last day.

Salar de Uyuni, right after a fortuitous rain.

Lute sat down on a bench and called his father on his cell phone before entering the middle school building. Cyril was still asleep. He had to place the call twice before he answered.

Hey, Lutey, he said in a gravelly voice. You okay at school?

Lute pressed the phone to his ear. "Im good. Sorry for waking you up.

Its fine. Cyril yawned.

Dad, I wanted to tell yougood morning and have a nice day andumlove you.

That wasnt what hed called to say. But the other words wouldnt come. They exchanged pleasantries, and then he hung up.

Lute tucked his phone away and climbed the stairs up to the building. He stopped at the doors. People were still arriving, but not as many. It was almost time for the first bell.

The halls would be full of students lingering to talk to friends before heading into their classrooms. There would be some ninth and tenth graders keeping an eye on the entryway, eager to be the first to report a new graduation pin sighting to the rest of the school.

Now? wondered Lute, holding his hand over the place where the pin was hidden beneath his coat. Here? Or later in the classroom?

Rapid footsteps behind him, shoes bounding up cement steps. Then Konstantin was passing him like a whirlwind, yanking open the door, insanely eager for a Monday morning as usual.

He took three steps inside then stopped and spun back to grab the door before it could shut in Lutes face.

Hed been holding doors and saying unusually loud good mornings all week. Lute was pretty sure he was upset that hed been deemed less socially observant than Lexi.

I didnt mean it like this, thought Lute while Kon waited with the door. He doesnt understand at all.

Though his misguided efforts had earned himself the highest number of underlines on the list this week.

I know how I want to do it.

Good morning, Lute, said Kon as Lute walked through the door.

Morning, Kon.

They walked into the building side-by-side. Lute strolled through the entryway at a leisurely speed.

Kon, no-doubt vibrating with the need to go talk to twenty people before the bell rang, slowed down to match his pace.

How was your weekend? he asked politely.

Lute was going to have to underline him again. He kept missing the point, but a wrong-minded effort was still an effort, Lute supposed.

It was okay. Ive had a really stressful few days, but I ate ice cream for breakfast this morning with my cereal. I recommend that.

They had passed through the entryway, and as they entered the hall that held their classroom and their lockers, Lute stopped walking. It was crowded. People were milling around. Locker doors banged, and voices filled the air.

No new selectees today, thought Lute.

You could always tell by the atmosphere. It didnt matter which grade they were in, there would be an additional buzz in the air about whoever it was. People would be talking about the class the latest lucky person had been assigned and snapping photos with them.

Kon stopped beside him. When Lute didnt move for several seconds, he asked, Did you leave something behind?

So many things. I dont even know whats going to be left after this.

Im just going to take off my coat.

Lutes fingers touched soft cashmere. He shrugged his shoulders free of the coat. Then he reached up to activate the name tag, so that people with the necessary apps, or interfaces of their own, would be able to see it:

Lute

Nothing else. He had decided to let the very existence of the name tag speak for itself.

He turned to face Kon.

He watched brown eyes fix themselves on his lapel. The graduation pin shone there. Kons brow furrowed. He opened his mouth, probably to ask Lute what exactly it meant, and Lute said, I got my S-rank selection on Monday.

The silence between them stood in stark contrast to the bustle of the other students in the hall. Nobody else had noticed yet. Lute knew it would only be moments.

Youve never seen me before, he said, staring into Kons eyes. Maybe youll be able to now.

**********

**********