Light and darkness. Metal and plants. The campus was almost a study on opposites. And where they met, they formed a sort of organized, chaotic blend of the two. Slowly, the bus made its way around a rather large courtyard before finally coming to a stop in front of a massive brick building.

  Small groups wandered in and around the building. But before I could really look around much more than that, the bus came to a stop. “Welcome to the Academy. Get out.” I didn’t know if I liked or hated the woman.

  As one, everyone in the bus got up and started to head for the doors. The driver didn’t bother to join us, let alone help us get our luggage from the undercarriage. She simply hit a button next to her.

  A soft whirring and clicking sensation vibrated up my legs as whatever she did activated some machine below us. By the time I got outside, I found the entire luggage compartment was on the ground next to the bus. A few of the more unfortunate pieces looked a bit squished.

  Not that we could complain. The moment the last person stepped off the bus, the doors slammed shut as it took off. Every one of us stared after the vehicle in a state of shock that was broken a moment later by a single clap.

  “Welcome to the Academy.” For some reason, I could hear the capital letter when the speaker said academy. Too short to see over everyone, I was unable to see the speaker as they continued. “Through the doors behind me, you will find our administration staff. Any questions you have, requests, or such can be answered by them. So please grab your stuff and make your way inside.”

  As one, the people around me rushed to the pile to dig through it and find their bag. Seeing as I didn’t want to get crushed in the small mass of bodies, I stayed back. Bert waded right in, emerging a moment later with my stuff as well as his ball.

  With a jerk of his head, we made our way around the group and joined the thin stream of people heading toward the open doors. A soft brush of mana washed over my skin as I stepped into the building. My pad vibrated just as a single-robed man stepped into my path.

  “Sir,” he gestured to the spot he had popped out of. “Please step to the side for a moment.”

  Confused and not knowing what else to do, I followed his instructions. Bert was close on my heels as we entered a small space hidden behind a thin divider. The opening was nearly invisible due to a trick of perspective and light. Basic yet perfect for hiding something. I would have to remember that.

  “Did you bring any weapons with you?” He asked as he sat down in one of the chairs set in the room. His being the only one on the far side.

  “Why wouldn’t we?” I furrowed my brows at his question. While I hadn’t brought a weapon, I wasn’t going to tell him that without a good reason. Not when I had all of my stuff with me.

  “Of what type are they?”

  “Type?” I started and then gestured at Bert.“And why are you asking me about weapons when Bert here has a massive hammer?” The hammer in question was stuck through the center of his ball. Now that I got a good look at it, if he held onto the handle, it would look like an oversized lollipop.

  He swiped up, and a pair of holographic windows appeared in front of him. While I couldn’t read what they said, I could see that each of them had a picture of one of us at the top.

  “Bert James Caldwell. Born 2301 in Lionsguard City. The only son of Georgina Caldwell and William Caldwell. Registered power: Strength.” He took a second to look Bert up and down. “That will likely be updated after the first day.” What did that mean? “Certifications: Monster Identification and Butchering One. Likely weapon types: close quarter. Weapons detected: Modified War Hammer. Approved.”

  That was a lot of information. And the certification caught me off guard. Since when did Bert take time to take a test? But the person didn’t stop long enough for me to ask about it. He turned just enough to get a good look at the other screen.

  “Eli Rowan Tazlin. Born 2302 in Lionsguard City. The only son of Janet Tazlin and Henry Tazlin. Registered power: none. Though there is a note of a pending test. Certifications: Light Machine Repair, Heavy machine Repair, Security System Repair, System Diagnostics and Repair – Basic, and Intersystems Communications and Signal Routing – Intermediate grade.” I forgot I had that last one to be honest. I only took the test to get out of a class. Still have no idea how I passed the stupid thing.

  “Likely weapon types: support. Weapons detected: UNKNOWN. Information required.” With a flick, the screens vanished. “So, let me ask you again. What weapon did you bring with you?”

  While I understood what he was asking, I had no clue what he would consider a weapon. Nothing in my bags would count. At least, not to me. But maybe they were stricter. Not knowing what else to do, I gestured for Bert to put my bags down as I spoke. “I don’t know what the system is picking up, but I am willing to have my stuff inspected if that will make you happy.”

  For some reason, my words only irked him more. His hand flailed and spit seemed to fly out of his mouth as he gestured at the bags on the ground. “I am not talking about what is in your bags. I am talking about what you have on you. Something on your person triggered the system. Now stop stalling and tell me what you have on you before I am forced to arrest you and find out for myself.”

  Hands up, I tried to get the man to calm down. “I only have my pad on me.” With a pair of fingers, I slowly reached into my pocket and pulled out the device. Something in the corner of the room shrieked in alarm.

  Chairs bashed against my legs as I suddenly found myself pinned to the wall. The man’s hand hovered in front of him as he panted with effort. “Drop the device.” Each word was short, clipped, and I didn’t hesitate to follow the instruction.

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  Surprisingly, I didn’t hear it bounce against the wood floor, so either he grabbed it with his power, or it managed to land on one of the chairs that was working to shove its way into my thigh. With his hand still up, he took measured steps toward me.

  He hesitated for only a moment before finally grabbing the device and setting it into some sort of recess on a table near his chair. A table that wasn’t there when we first came in.

  The hum of power filled the space as lines of light appeared across the table. Pulsating in an odd rhythm that I could almost hear. A soft chime filled the space as I watched my screen light up. Whatever the system was doing, it managed to break through the pad’s encryption.

  Or the phone manufacturer gave them what amounted to a skeleton key under the guise of protecting this place. Not like I had anything secret on the thing. My only worry was my drone.

  Oh. Wait. Fuck. My drone was a weapon, wasn’t it? I wanted to slap myself for being so stupid. While I didn’t know how they detected the connection, it would make sense that they would think the thing was a threat. After all, who knew what it was capable of?

  A blaring horn echoed off the walls as something on my screen flashed an alert. The alert vanished for a moment before appearing once again. Whatever the system was trying to do, my phone wasn’t liking it. Finally, the alert stayed on the screen as the streaming lights on the table froze.

  With a glare, the man yanked the device out of the recess. His fingers flew over the screen as he tried to do something. Whatever it was, it either wasn’t working or my pad was refusing to do what it was told.

  Finally, with a snapped “order your drone to land,” he held the device toward me. “And don’t you think about trying anything.”

  I found that while I couldn’t move away from the wall, my arms were free. Slowly, so as to not spook the man, I took the pad and tapped the screen three times. Once to switch modes. Once to order the drone to land. And once to tell it where to do so.

  No errors popped up. Nothing yelled at me. The drone simply came to a soft landing in the middle of the grass just outside the building. Given how the turrets nearby seemed to be following it, they would have destroyed the drone if it did anything they didn’t like.

  As soon as the various fans cut out, the man yanked my pad back out of my hands and tossed it back into the recess. “While your weapon is being inspected, you will be answering some questions.”

  “I think not!” A voice I vaguely recognized from somewhere spoke up from the door.

  “You have no right to be here.” He shouted back.

  “Per section eight, paragraph three of the student handbook, a student is well within their rights to request their advisor be present at any and all hearings, interrogations, or other legal matter.” I had to assume the older man standing in the doorway was Professor Ulrick. While he looked old, he still had some muscle and gave off an air of ‘don’t fuck with me’.

  “I find it curious that a professor such as yourself was informed of his detainment when he only just got here.” There was something about the way that he was talking that set my teeth on edge. It almost felt like there was a battle going on between these two. One that I couldn’t see yet would determine how things went for me. “And, in fact, he never talked to an administrator, so there is no telling if he is a student or not.”

  “Good point.” The professor nodded. “But if that were the case, then you are not legally allowed to ask him any questions. Any civilian suspected of, or even caught in the act of, doing something illegal is to be held until the city authorities arrive. At which point, everything is required to be turned over to them.” Emerald colored eyes focused on the man. “Tell me, when do you expect them to arrive?”

  The man spluttered in anger. “I am well within…”

  “No, you are not within your rights.” Professor Ulrick’s voice flattened out as his words cut the man off. “Eli here is either entitled to ask for his advisor, or he is to be turned over to the city. You cannot have it both ways.”

  “Under section two of the student handbook and section nine of the Academy charter.” A new voice called from behind the professor. This one was softer and sounded feminine, but her words cut just as, if not more than, the professor’s. “The Academy Security teams may detain and question any individual with unknown weapons and capabilities.”

  The professor stepped into the room and toward my side of the room, letting the speaker enter. “I am not arguing that you cannot do so. However, Eli here is still entitled to his rights as a student. One that has already agreed to have his powers tested.”

  “He doesn’t have any powers.” The man waved off the professor’s words.

  “And you know this how?”

  “His records…”

  “Are wrong.” The professor cut him off. “Something that was to be fixed the moment he came to see me. Something he hasn’t been allowed to do, given that he was detained the moment he stepped into this building.”

  “That was be…”

  “This is getting nowhere.” The woman shushed the man. “Our system detected a signal connecting the device in his pocket to something in the sky. Given the recent monster activity, the system alerted us to a potential threat.”

  Professor Ulrick let out a sigh before looking at me. “What was your pad connected to?”

  “A drone I built.” I tried to explain, but the woman did something that somehow caused the words to refuse to leave my lips.

  She looked down at something on her wrist. “From our initial inspections, the drone is a class two unit equipped with hybrid engines and some decent software.”

  “Decent in what way?” Professor Ulrick sounded intrigued by what she was saying.

  “It fought our software.” She glared at him. “Nichole is on the way to get answers out of it.” The professor let out a soft whistle. “But, from what we can tell, the drone only had one weapon system, and it was unloaded. In fact, it looks like the system has never been used.”

  I fought to say something, but whatever she had done was preventing more than air from leaving my lips. “That is because he avoids monsters and only built it to try and protect him if he found himself near one. Not that he has had a chance to test it.” I could kiss Bert. The man said what I wanted to, albeit without most of the information I would have. But the basics were there.

  “Who is this?” The woman asked.

  “Bert,” Bert replied. “Close friend of Eli’s”

  Even from here, I could see her eyes roll. “Thank you for the information, but you are not welcome in this room.” She stepped to the side and gestured toward the door. “Please leave.” Bert looked torn. Like he knew that he had no choice but to leave, yet there was no way he was going to.

  “How about this.” Professor Ulrick pulled the room's attention from Bert and toward himself. “Weapons are allowed in the academy so long as the student both registers it and has a reason to use it. Eli here was going to get his powers tested anyway, so let us go there and do that now. Then he can register the drone as something he requires for his power and training.”

  “You are assuming his power is one of those that can use such a device.”

  “For good reason.” Even as her eyes tried to drill into the professor’s head, he didn’t elaborate on his words.

  “Fine.” Her words came out as a growl. “Ensin Finch. Release your hold on Eli and resume what you were doing. Eli, don’t make me regret this. Yosef, lead the way.” Professor Ulrick let out a small huff, but he did as she asked. I didn’t bother to wait for her to gesture for me to go next. I practically ran into the guy in my hurry to get away from her.