Alex O’Rose wasn’t certain how she survived her first class, magic in its many forms. She was terrified when Grandmother stepped into the room. She was doubly terrified when she realized she spoke out loud in response to a question and that Grandmother recognized her.

  The Grandmother who taught the course was not the same one who came to Chicago. That was the only way Alex could explain it. The woman introduced herself as Chief Engineer Whitman. She must be a twin of Grandmother. The idea calmed Alex enough to get her through the class.

  The session covered how physical items in the structure were interacted with. Engineer Whitman covered everything from sinks to transportation rooms. Along the way she talked about a few non-physical items like maps and personal interfaces. The Speedwell’s educational machines, which everyone learned how to use in their first week, had a top level menu system that was very similar to the structure’s interface. Finally she circled back around to sinks. She talked about how to make the water hotter and colder. She compared the system with the controls in their apartment restrooms.

  “Remember these tapped symbols,” the Chief Engineer said at the end of the session. “Next time I am going to cover utility spells, which also utilize this tap system.” It was amazing how much Engineer Whitman taught Alex during that first lecture. Alex grew up in Chicago so she wasn’t familiar with sinks, vendors or payment surfaces, never mind transportation rooms.

  She spent the afternoon in the wizardry class. Alex thought the instructors were with Grandmother the first time she saw the woman in Chicago, but she wasn’t certain. They were overshadowed by her memories of the old woman and Todd. The instructors treated her no differently than anyone else. Alex breathed a little easier.

  Her second morning was spent on the educational machines. The machines were teaching her how to read. She remembered how the real Grandmother wanted her to learn to read. She spent most of her free time working with the machines trying to master the subject. She thought she was making progress, but it was hard.

  Alex’s afternoon class was in the structure. It was scavenging and the first day instructions included that they were to arrive at the entrance with a travel pack. She rode a shuttle out. Sets of instructors were standing in front of the arches to the structure calling the names of their classes.

  Alex cringed again when she saw who was calling out scavenging. It was both of Grandmother’s beast men. Valin, the smaller one with sparkling white skin, was calling out in the human language, while the other, Companion, was singing the class name in Selkie. Or at least Alex thought it was the class name. She needed to learn Selkie.

  Alex went over and stood at the back of the group of students. When the shuttles were empty, Companion counted the students out loud in selkie.

  “Yep,” Valin agreed. “That is all of them.” He and Companion made them line up into two rows. The shorter students were put in the front and the taller ones in back. Alex was happy that she was still in the back, but she lost a lot of her cover.

  “My name is Valin,” the non-human announced. “I am an elf. This is Companion, he is a selkie. Companion doesn’t speak any human, but he understands all of it. Learning how to communicate with someone that doesn’t speak your language is an important lesson of the academy.” Companion sang something out. Alex realized that three of her fellow students were selkie.

  “First we are going to do a safety check. Does everyone have their armband on?” Alex fingered the bright yellow cloth band that was around her upper arm. They were told to always wear it anytime they entered the structure. At yesterday’s wizard class a couple of the students forgot them. This group was doing better as everyone brought them, although two students weren’t wearing them. Valin waited pointedly for those two students to put them on.

  “Your instructions included that you arrive today with a travel pack. Companion and I will now inspect the packs. Those in the front row move to the left and show your pack to Companion. Everyone in the back row, line up to your right and bring your pack up to me.” Valin stepped back behind a small table as Companion sang out this message.

  “Your first,” Valin called with a gesture to the student in the rightmost position in the back line. The student went up to the table with their pack. Valin dumped out the contents and sorted out the contents into two piles. He spoke to the student, but Alex could not hear what he or Companion said to the students. She realized they were using muffle spells.

  Alex was the third student to present her pack to Valin. The elf dumped the contents of her pack just exactly the same as he did the others. He went through the contents. Unlike the previous two students he didn’t put anything into a second pile.

  “All of this is good,” Valin said. That was when she realized the second pile for the previous students must be rejected items. Valin should approve of everything in her pack, he bought most of it himself for her in Chicago. “Do you have a water flask?” Alex showed it to him where it was secured to her belt. “Weapon?” Alex pulled the knife from her belt. It had seen better days, but it was all she could afford. Valin fished another knife out of a bag at his feet. He handed the knife over to her.

  “Here,” he said. “It isn’t integrated but it will serve. Your knife is so worn it’s in danger of breaking at the first blow. A travel pack includes rations for three days. You can get travel food from the dining room. Get it tonight and bring it next week.”

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  “Yes, master,” Alex responded.

  “It is Instructor,” Valin told her. “Yes, Instructor.”

  “Yes, Instructor,” Alex echoed.

  “Good,” Valin said. “Now do you see that young boy with violet magic?” He waved at a boy wearing hunter’s greens and a violet armband. He was armed with a short sword. The boy was one of the youngest students in the class. He was literally bouncing on his feet with excitement as he waited his turn. Alex was nearly the oldest student, under normal circumstances she wouldn’t have given the boy a second glance.

  “Yes,” Alex replied tentatively. She studied the boy for a moment and decided she remembered him from her wizard class the day before.

  “He would be a good person to be friends with,” the elf said.

  “Friends?” Alex asked with some confusion.

  “Friends will tell you things voluntarily that you can not buy. Things that Grandmother might need to know.” Valin’s large black eyes locked on Alex.

  “Is Engineer Whitman…” Alex started to say.

  “Grandmother is very good at playing roles,” Valin countered. “A diverse set of friends will serve you well in the future.” Valin looked over at the other students and lingered on the selkie members of the class. “If you remain loyal and true to them and Grandmother, you can all benefit.” Valin finished checking her equipment. “Repack your bag,” he instructed.

  As she reloaded the bag, Valin gave her instructions on what to put close to the top for easy access and what could be buried in the bottom. When she was finished she went back to her position in the line.

  After everyone’s bag was inspected, they were broken into four groups. Alex was unsurprised to see that she ended up in the same group as the young boy with violet magic. They were given a few moments to introduce themselves.

  “My name is Tam,” the first boy said, he was armed with a short sword. “I’m from Home Square. I can imbue ice and cast fear.”

  “I’m Maria,” the first girl said. “I’m from Moscow. I am an archer.” Maria carried a bow slung over her shoulder and a quiver of arrows secured at her belt.

  “Hi, I am Alex,” Alex said when it was her turn. “I am from Chicago. I know some magic, mostly cloaking spells and fear. I learned shield yesterday in wizardry.”

  “I’m Phil,” the young boy told the group. “I’m in wizardry too. I can cast lightning!” he said excitedly. “Oh and I’m from Londontown.” Alex wondered if the fact that Phil was from Londontown was why Valin suggested she make friends with him. Alex thought everyone from Londontown had blue magic, it was interesting that Phil's magic was violet.

  “How did you get violet magic?” Alex heard herself ask.

  “Mama told me don’t pick blue,” Phil explained. “Instructor Todd explained that a green or a violet can heal a blue safely. I picked violet because it’s rarer and makes me special!” the young boy reported excitedly. Alex’s magic was yellow which was just as rare as violet. She didn’t pick it. In wizardry, Instructor Sarah, who was also yellow, told her she got the color from casting fear. Alex didn’t even realize she knew fear. When Sarah described how to cast it, Alex realized it was what she did to ward off the stray rats that would wander the halls of Chicago at night. Sarah warned her that the spell was dangerous. If it was used against an animal of a higher tier than the spell/caster combination it became enrage.

  After the introductions Companion and Valin taught them a series of hand signals and one word commands, both in selkie and human. The commands were alert, hide, contact, stop, advance, turn right and left.

  “When you join a new group traveling into wildspace, part of the introductions should be agreeing on what signals you will use in the group,” Instructor Valin told them. “Every group does things slightly differently. Miscommunication can be deadly and is easily avoided with a little forethought.” This time Instructor Companion spoke first, followed by Instructor Valin’s translation.

  They headed into the structure, where the instructors taught them the responsibilities of each person on a team, from head to tail, when walking through wildspace.

  “I didn’t know how much work it is to walk,” Maria said to Phil in the shuttle after class on their way back to the Wizard's Tower. Their group was sitting together. Maria was much closer in age to Phil. It was a more natural fit for them to be friends.

  “It’s not much different from living in Chicago,” Alex offered.

  “Are there rats in Chicago?” Phil asked. As the class ran into single rats in the hallways, the instructors rotated the groups so that each group faced off with one of them. Phil managed to land a stun spell on the second rat their group dealt with before Maria hit it with an arrow. The young boy was thrilled with his success. He killed rats before to get his color, but it felt so much more controlled then. The instructor stood by to make sure none of the rats got anywhere near him. This time the instructors stood farther back and only gave advice.

  “Yes,” Alex replied. “Although they are usually only in the halls in the early morning before the guard clears them. Unsecured rooms can gather a lot of them. I saw a room once that was filled with over thirty rats.”

  “No way,” Maria countered.

  “A traveling group cleared it,” Alex responded. “I saw the dead rats afterwards.”

  “Do you think we will be able to do something like that one day?” Phil asked.

  “Sure,” Tam responded. “We just have to practice.”

  The shuttle arrived back at the Wizard's Tower. The students all rushed off to drop off their weapons and packs at their apartments. There was an hour or so of free time before dinner. Alex went to the educational machine lab to put a little more time into learning to read.