Creatures of Snow (17 page)

“
Now, as they keep moving
the hole soon fills in as if never there, but if the Flickers
congregate around one area for long enough…a portal is
formed.”

There was a gasp from the room that Sky
participated in. Flickers created portals?! The students around him
exchanged nods of understanding and looks of revelation.

Beside him Con let out a snicker and
scribbled down some incoherent notes.

“This knowledge is REALM’s
and REALM’s alone. Very few people outside Archaios have ever heard
of a Flicker and I guarantee you, no one outside REALM will know
that Flickers’ are what are behind the infamous
portals.”

A hand is raised and
Professor Finley points to the student. “Yes?”

“So how many Flickers are
there? Are they everywhere?” A tall, thin girl with the greenest
hair he had ever seen on a human asked in a gravely
voice.

“We have no way of
counting their numbers; they outnumber people a billion times over
I’m sure. As for where they reside, yes, they are everywhere.”
Professor Finley answers. The students looked around the room and
at one another. “Right now, in this room alone, I would say there
is probably a few hundred drifting about, give or take, depending
on how much energy resides here.”

The green haired girl continued her
conversation, her arm still lingering in the air. “By energy, what
exactly do you mean? Are you saying that if we all of a sudden
started jumping in place instead of sitting, expelling our own
physical energy, we would attract more Flickers?”

“
Excellent question. And
the answer is yes, but a quick burst of human physical energy from
this small of a class is not enough to attract more than a few. If
there were, say, five hundred to a thousand young, athletic
students all running around exerting energy, then yes, that may be
enough to attract a handful more to the party, but not near enough
to create a portal.”

Sky found himself
wondering what could cause enough energy to create a portal. What
crazy amount of energy would have been required to cause something
like the Origin?

“
How many then?” Con’s
voice called out beside him. He hadn’t bothered raising his hand.
“How many humans would it take?”

Professor Finley stared
curiously up towards Con, an unexpected tension growing in the air.
“Well honestly, Mr. Embers, I don’t believe it is possible with
just human energy, but that’s a lecture for a different
time.”

The devious little smile that had snuck onto
Con’s face made Sky wonder what he knew.

“Now, moving on, let me
explain a little more about portals.” Professor Finley turned away
from them, “We’ll go over this again later on in the semester in
great detail, but for now - a quick enlightenment. There are three
types of portals - unstable static, stable static and
roaming.”

Sky leaned over slightly towards Con,
lowering his head as he did so, “Did you know that was the answer?”
He mumbled.

“Of course I did.” Con’s
eyes were zeroed in on the Professor with an eerily unwavering
smirk. “Flickers give the Snow purpose? This Professor knows
nothing. This whole lesson is a waste of our brains.”

“
As of today there is an
unknown amount of unstable, usually these are caused by collapsed
stars, or what are sometimes called black holes.” Professor Finley
was saying, “These are inaccessible, dangerous and unpredictable,
so we will leave the research of those to someone else.” She let a
sly smile pass her thin lips, “As for the ones we can explore,
there are four known static portals that REALM has claimed for
study. Two on the planet Haigon, one on the planet of Asre and one
here on Archaios. The one here on Archaios is a massive static
giant, nicknamed the Origin, and we believe is the oldest.”
Professor Finley called on a young man with his hands raised “Yes,
Mr. Cashton.”

“Why don’t we know more?
If there is this massive portal here, why haven’t we sent people in
to other Levels before? Why has it just been probes and
cybernetics?”

Professor Finley smiled
broadly. “Someone always asks that question. In the past my answer
was that people have ventured into the portal. The first ones were
back thousands of years ago when the portal was first uncovered and
then subsequently sealed. It was a stable portal, yes, but very
unpredictable. It was a chaotic time when the Origin was found,
some say it was a cause of the First War and others claim it to
have been found because of the War. Out of the many brave souls
that ventured into the portal, few returned. Those that did return
spoke of wondrous things, but, like I said, most did not return,
and it is assumed they got lost in the Snow. And even now, almost
two decades ago, REALM tried to tempt fate again.”

Sky ear’s perked up. This
was news to him.

“
Ultimately, the project
was a failure." The Professor solemnly scanned the room and came to
rest on Sky’s attentive gaze. “In the end, out of all who were sent
in, none survived.”

Of course it had been a failure - otherwise
they would have known about it. But still, the feeling this
information gave him started a stirring in his blood, and it didn’t
help to have Con staring directly at him with a fiery grin.

“We have since continued
our research of the Levels to better understand how they work, how
they flow. The more we understand the better chance we have of
mastering the portal. That is the foundation of why we formed REALM
in the first place - To discover what else is out there. Since
then, our efforts have been exceptionally successful using
cybernetics and automation in place of people.” Professor Finley
narrowed her wide eyes down to slits, “At least, that’s what I
would have said in the past. But now, I am proud to say, we are
about to make history once again.”

Sky’s heart leapt to his throat. Was she
really about to let loose the secret of Moira?

“REALM has joined forces
with powerful allies in the way of the Arche Academy’s
revolutionary program, Axis, and has come up with a way to tame the
portal and send actual researchers through.”

He couldn’t believe she said it. Aloud. To
everyone.

The class exchanged looks and comments of
excitement. The buzz of conversation overwhelmed his brain.

“
Did you hear that?” Con
jabbed him in the ribs. “We’re ‘powerful allies’.” He
laughed.

“Was she supposed to tell
everyone?” Sky’s head began to pound and his stomach was again
becoming unsettled.

Con leaned over with a
devilish smile, “Why not? These stiffs are the one’s that are going
to have the real control one day.” Con shook his head and pushed on
his shoulder, “We’re just their lab rats.”

“Yes, this will be a very
exciting year, for all of us.” Professor Finley finished, her smile
stretching across her face.

Professor Finley continued
the lecture, but Sky’s mind drifted slowly away. He kept forgetting
it was all just temporary and they were just visitors at REALM,
learning what they could.
Do I really want
to travel to other Level’s?
Why had he not
ever asked himself that before?

All previous missions had
been failures. Failures with no survivors. Was he really willing to
put his life on the line for something he barely understood and
could only pretend to care about? His chest tightened and began to
ache.

Without him even realizing
it, Professor Finley had called the class to an end. He only
noticed as the students around him began to shuffle about,
gathering their books and papers.

“
You look like you’re
gonna be sick.” Con had already stood.

Sky scooped up his
notebook and shoved it carelessly into his bag. “I’m fine.” It was
his automatic response.

“All right. I’m not sure
if I really believe you, but we’ll find out next class.” Con
slapped him on the back and scooted his way down the aisles. “Since
you said you were fine I’m not going to go easy on you.”

Sky nodded and died a
little on the inside. Gaah. He had completely forgotten his next
class was Attack and Defense.

“Wouldn’t want you to.” He
called after Con in a wavering voice.

Sky slumped back down in
his seat as the class cleared. He debated letting his head slam
down on the desk, but decided there were still a few too many
students milling about to make that not look weird. He slowly sat
up, heaved his bag up into his lap and somehow managed to stand
without falling.

“Hey, you.” It was an
unfamiliar female voice that rang out with an accusing
tone.

He turned to see
Colossal-hair, of all people, standing a little too close behind
him. “Me?” He asked innocently.

Colossal-hair threw a
finger into his face and leaned in towards him, “I want
in.”

He had no response except, “Huh?”

“Listen, it’s obvious you
and that loud mouth are some of the Axis students everyone’s
whispering about. It wasn’t a secret, you know.” She pulled her
finger back, but didn’t back up. Instead she looked him up and down
in an uncomfortably slow manner, “You’re not smart or rich so there
is no way you got in here on your own. I researched your name and
it turns out you have quite the reputation for trouble.”

His jaw clenched in reflex. “What do you
want?”

“I researched Axis too;
but there isn’t much to find, so the only logical assumption I can
make, as to why REALM would align itself with violent war mongers
is, that you are the ones that are going to be sent through to
other Levels.”

Colossal-hair was a lot
smarter than he had given her credit. He just shrugged in response.
He really needed to leave and get some air.

“At first I was angry. It
wasn’t fair that they would give such a vital role to outsiders.
But now,” She paused and somehow managed to get closer, “now I know
what I have to do. Look, Skyden, I’m young, smart, athletic,” She
brought her hand back up, letting it trail slowly up the front of
his shirt, “and willing to do anything to help the cause.” Her hand
wrapped around the back of his neck.

At first he thought it was the most
ineffective way to try and threaten someone, generally people
choked him from the front, but when she pulled his head forward
towards her own it finally clicked what she was trying to do.

“Oh, hey there.” He pulled
away from her until his backward momentum was halted by the desk
behind him. “Let’s uh, let’s get something straight.”

She stepped towards him and he had no where
to go.

“I’m really not the one
you would need to talk to. If you want to help out, I would go to,
uh you know, that guy…” He stammered, desperately searching the
room for other signs of life, “…Professor Blanks.”

Colossal-hair inched
closer, the overpowering floral scent of her outrageously curly
hair rose into his nostrils. “Seriously, I’m not in a position to
pull any sort of strings if that’s what you’re asking-” She grabbed
a hold of the front of his shirt and pulled him roughly forward.
That movement alone was enough to make him want to puke, but it
didn’t end there, oh no, Colossal-hair proceeded to smash her
overly moisturized lips into his. It was all he could do to not
retch right then and there as he kept his focus on his breathing,
and keeping the bile at bay. When she finally pulled her head back
he nearly fell back, but felt a small moment of victory over not
throwing up on her.

Colossal-hair smiled
smugly before spinning around and marching off down the aisle,
“When the time comes you’ll be begging me to be a part of your
team.” She gave one last look over her shoulder, “And I will gladly
accept.”

Sky picked himself up and slunk his way out
of the class room. It was the first time a girl had ever kissed him
and he had to admit, it was awful.

Chapter Fourteen

“How was your class?” Al
bounced lightly off the wall he was leaning on. “Wow, you still
look like barf, by the way.”

Lee gestured them further into the room
towards the lounging area where randomly placed couches and
awkwardly shaped tables adorned the marbled floors.

“So what did you guys find
out? Anything?” Sky asked as he let himself fall into the stiff
embrace of the cushions, trying to forget the last fifteen minutes
of his life.

“Nothing yet. If there is
anything on that book, it’s got to be here. Anywhere else is too
heavily regulated by the government to contain anything Telic
related.” Al plopped down beside him with a light thud.

“
I am worried.” Lee kept
his rigid stance at the end of the couch, “After much thought, I do
not know if it is wise for either of you to return to your homes.”
He stated matter-of-factly. “You are being targeted, and if we can
not figure out by whom…”

Sky shook it off, “My dad
and Zero are coming back tonight. No sprinkle man-”

“Man of Mist.” Al
corrected.

“-is going to want to mess
with a house that contains a full blooded Iko
and
Telic.” Sky finished.

Lee stared at him
intensely. “Your father is an Iko? Then, you are-”

“No.” Sky could feel the
rush of blood to his face. He had never mentioned such a thing so
casually before. “Well, uh,” He stammered.