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  She nudged her foot against his. “Isn’t that your job? Aren’t you the great master of all things fun and interesting? Come on, don’t let me down now. I’m counting on you. No pressure.”

  “Nope, no pressure,” JD said. “You want to do something fun?” His eyes locked on hers and a tiny smirk appeared on his lips. She felt her heart beat a little bit faster, the first time that had ever happened to her before in her life. Cadence definitely didn’t expect JD to ever be the cause of it. Something about the way he was looking at her was making her feel flustered. Like he was hinting at something maybe?

  It took a moment for Cadence to find her voice. “Something fun, but PG. I don’t want to get in trouble with my mom. Oh, legal would be a good idea too.”

  “Thus the PG rating, that’s cool. Wasn’t thinking anything worse than that anyway, eesh. I’ve got a lot of things up my sleeve. Go make us some popcorn and I’ll work my magic on your Nintendo.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “That thing hasn’t worked in years.”

  “Because you won’t ever let me touch it.”

  “And there’s a reason for that.” She stood up from the couch to go do as he asked anyway. Maybe it was time to let go of the past after all and start creating new memories.

  JD got up as well and went to her television to dig out the original Nintendo system her father had always played on. It was one of the things that always stood out in her mind the most about him. He’d play it just about every night with her, and by with her, it usually meant she watched while sitting in his lap. He would read the text bubbles for the game, tell her the story, make up songs... After he died, the system seemed to die with him. She tried to get it to work once, but she didn’t have the magic touch. Nothing she did could make it function again.

  “I won’t break it. I promise,” JD said and the way his eyes sparkled as he said it made her want to trust him.

  She nodded, giving him the official permission to try. “All right, it’s time. Video games are made to be played with, right?”

  “Exactly!”

  Cadence put the popcorn into the microwave so it could cook, and went to see what else there was to eat. She needed something sweet, like a cookie. Chocolate wasn’t her comfort food, but sweet was. Comfort was something she needed then. JD most likely didn’t understand how big of a step this was for her. She’d only mentioned the Nintendo to him once in the past, and while he was great at listening when he wanted to, he was horrible at remembering certain details. His memory was incredibly selective. Sure he could list off just about any baseball statistic known to man, but if he was asked what he ate five minutes ago he’d give a look that reminded her of a deer in the headlights.

  The popcorn began to pop; she could hear JD blowing into the game cartridge, and that sound alone started to make her body shake slightly. More because of nerves than anything else. Her hopes were up, and she was afraid of being let down. Plus something else about him was making her shiver in a way that was giving her tingles. What was he doing to her? It couldn’t be normal. So much of what she felt lately in general wasn’t normal anymore. Do I even know what that is?

  Soon the familiar sounds of computerized music filled the air, along with a tune she hadn’t heard from her television for at least eleven years. Her father’s death felt like a lifetime ago. Then again, he’d been gone for most of her life.

  “Is that Legend of Zelda?” she asked quietly. Cadence was almost positive JD would have started with a Mario Brothers game. Still, she recognized the theme song to the classic role-playing game, and smiled.

  “It’s the first one I could get to work. I tried Double Dragon because that game is boss, but it’s not giving me much love today. Maybe later I’ll try Mario Three again, but I’m not sure I have the time to dedicate to it anyway. Takes like six to eight hours to finish one game. Didn’t think you’d want to see me for that long,” he said, and waved for her to come over and sit next to him on the floor.

  Once the popcorn was finished, she pulled it out of the microwave so she could put it into a bowl for them. With that done, she then grabbed the box of chocolate chip cookies. She took a seat next to him on the floor, leaning back against the bottom of the couch. He handed her the controller, but she shook her head.

  “What?” he asked with a slight frown.

  “You play. I’ll watch,” she said with a shrug.

  “You sure? I don’t want to be rude.”

  “Please, I’d like it a lot if you did. I was never too good at this one anyway. All of the little goblins did me in.”

  JD shrugged and watched the television, reading the text bubble aloud. “Many years ago...”

  She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder, and noticed him glance her way. But neither of them said a word to the other, and she was okay with that.

  Chapter Seven

  Every day while his charges were in school, Alan took the time to do as much research as possible. He’d go to what the earth people called the city library. For a supposed treasure trove of books, he found it to be a bit limited in materials. There were old books with information so outdated there was little purpose of keeping them on the shelves. Most of the content was also fictional, a trait that the earth people had in common with Alturans—they loved to read. At least, that was the impression he got from the multitude of stories available for browsing. There was hardly ever anyone in the library. He saw more elderly inside than youth.

  What he especially enjoyed was the access to a tool the earth humans referred to as the Internet. It was easy and handy, with so much information on it for him to access. A lot of what he found wasn’t necessarily factual, but he didn’t have problems finding the truth from the lies. He could see what was happening all over the world, even see what his people were doing elsewhere on Earth. The Internet had websites from all over the planet on it, and most he could translate either with the program already on the computer or with his own technology from home.

  It took him a little time to get used to the different style keyboard. Back home almost everything was done through a touch screen, a technology that was just starting to boom on Earth. Though he didn’t much like the touch ability on the humans’ devices. It wasn’t anywhere near as accurate or reliable as the Alturans’. The physical keys were more accurate on Earth, so he would use those as much as possible.

  For the most part, he was looking for any mysterious deaths pertaining to an unexplained illness. Or a disaster caused by unknown forces. Even a sighting of something considered supernatural would be a good lead for him. More often than not, they were hoaxes, but it was worth at least looking into.

  Part of him simply enjoyed playing around on the Internet as well. The culture was fascinating, and all of the silly games provided a good way to kill time when he wasn’t sure what else to do with himself. No doubt his shipmates would think that shameful, but sometimes it was good to clear his head. A lot of his conversation with Sir Tuliy was still being processed. So much to think about.

  On the one hand, Sir Oriol and Sir Tuliy had both made it clear he was doing something unique and productive with his charges. The way he ran the group, he tried to be as respectful of them as possible. JD had mentioned that being important for him and his peers. They wanted the respect an adult had earned without necessarily having to act like them, and that was the part that “tripped” Alan up, as JD would say.

  It had been normal on Altura too. Alan vaguely remembered going through his own awkward stage of growing up. Going into the military had been his way of trying to be a real adult, of taking responsibility. And the only reason he had done that was to be with Alona, to prove he was mature enough to marry her. She went and made things more complicated by running off to help the blue tribe, one of the rival nations who had started the war. That was her native land, and he tried hard to keep in mind that she might not have a choice in the matter. A hard thing to remember given some of the things she had said during their last conversation.

>   “I’m recruiting, and those who are not compatible with the process by which we are extracting abilities, well, I believe they have a theory here called natural selection. The survival of the strong.”

  Her words had made him sick to the stomach. She was justifying the murder of innocents. All for a war that didn’t need to be fought in the first place. Not how Alan understood it at least. He’d never visited her home before. They’d made plans for him to go before the war got heated, but those fell through. Then she was brought back home, his tribe became involved, and he was forbidden from going over there. It would have been considered treason. As much as he loved Alona, he would not join her cause. Especially if it meant his mind would be warped like hers had been. She’d always been a bit hard, but never so heartless.

  The other tribes are recruiting more. We’re falling behind. The more the humans here are involved, the more problematic things will become. They aren’t ready for our ways. Alan shook his head, and that summed up his decision of what to do with his charges. He almost felt guilty because he hadn’t given them much of a choice in the matter. They could have said no to helping him. They still could, but their powers had been unlocked without their permission. He couldn’t force Altura on them.

  Sir Tuliy was right about one thing: Alan needed to establish himself as their superior. They had to respect him, and they needed to earn respect from him. Alan would bring it up at the next meeting, and hopefully there wouldn’t be any dramatic fighting. He also needed more charges. If the other tribes were getting more to join them, then he would do the same.

  JD and the others probably wouldn’t like the idea. When Angela joined, there’d been a lot of uncertainty. The one who was least upset about the idea was Orlando, surprisingly enough. Alan understood JD’s problems with the idea. She was his sister, but he couldn’t protect her from everything. Cadence was a little harder to read. At least in front of the others, perhaps when it was just the two of them, she’d open up to Alan more. She usually did. He found himself doing the same thing actually, but she was easy to talk to. And Cadence would have the best insight on the situation to determine just how thoroughly he should be recruiting. The fact remained that when they found the other eleven test subjects, they would need to be offered a position somewhere in the group. Whether it was with himself or another warrior from his tribe was still to remain seen. He wanted more charges. They would add something more to his team, more harmony maybe? If the others could feel like they had a better place in the hierarchy, would they be more cooperative?

  Alan pulled out the list of students Orlando had given him. There was a website referred to as a social network, a database of individuals who essentially used the site to network and connect with others. Alan didn’t quite understand its purpose. He supposed there was some use of its ability for people to communicate with one another through it. Mass amounts of messages could be sent at once, and anyone who used the site could link to others. Anyone could be informed of what was happening all over the world.

  However, he didn’t see it used to its full potential. What he did find helpful was the ability to put a face to a name. Sometimes he could read what was happening in others’ lives by glancing at any individual’s profile, otherwise known as their web page where messages could be left. Sometimes they were public for anyone to see, some were completely private and locked down unless given permission from the user, and some only displayed selective bits of information. JD had a public page, and wrote a lot of random things about home, food, or flirting with girls. Cadence on the other hand had a completely private page. All Alan could find was a picture and the name of her school. Orlando barely used his outside of playing games on occasion which would update his page to show his progress. What Alan was planning to do was find the students on the list.

  “Nathan Coe, Senior at Lunar Falls, swim team captain,” Alan read quietly after typing in the first name into the search field. Outside of that information and a birth date, the profile was private. There was an intelligence in his eyes, and Alan couldn’t help but make note of it. He’d be seeking this boy out and observing him.

  A girl named Tori Geizt was next on the list. Skimming over her page, he found out she was devoted to the school band, her grades, and her friends. The messages posted on her profile suggested something was wrong. Her friends expressed worry, and she’d been missing a lot of school as of late. Another lead? Was she pushing away from her friends because she was trying to hide something?

  Dale Henzel, another on the list, was her boyfriend. He was popular, and Alan made note of the multitude of female friends he had. Also a member of the band, he spoke about something called student council a lot on his page. Both he and Tori were juniors, which was apparently the same knowledge level as JD, Cadence, and Orlando. Alan didn’t quite understand how that sort of thing was measured on Earth. Back home it had been done through lots of testing; here it seemed like it was based primarily on age.

  Another boy named Gideon Schmidt didn’t do much beyond play games and write about computers. Smart? Maybe. Alan would need to do more research to see if he’d be worth the time to pursue. Alan couldn’t afford to be picky. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and every little bit helped.

  The last on the list was a girl named Nia Ortiz. She didn’t fit in with the rest of the students he’d seen. They had all been popular or involved in some kind of extracurricular activity, even Gideon. Her page was covered in poetry, photographs and rather offensive language. It almost made Alan cringe to read.

  “Not sure I want someone like this on my team,” he mumbled as he closed out of the website. Why would a girl like that go to a party with a bunch of jocks? He also made note of how he needed to make his own account for the website. Hacking into other users profiles just to view the site would only get him in trouble, and it was unethical. He’d save that for the next time he was on the computer.

  With all of this new information, Alan teleported himself to Orlando’s school, Lunar Falls. He’d been getting better about not “popping” himself directly into classrooms anymore. No one but Orlando, JD, or Cadence could see him on Earth. Not unless he wanted them to, an ability all of his shipmates shared with the same technology. It helped them travel about without causing a scene.

  Alan found it helpful to be visible while doing certain things. Using the computer at the library was one of them. Then he didn’t have to run the risk of being sat on, or having one of the bookkeepers turn off his computer while he was in the middle of using it. Not to mention any other behaviors that might be considered strange, like a computer appearing to run itself. At the school, he had to be invisible. Orlando had made that clear the first day Alan ever visited it. For someone who tried so hard to fight the social norms of his society, Orlando cared an awful lot about what others thought of him.

  Alan stepped out of the men’s faculty bathroom he had teleported into. After doing a lot of observing in the school, he’d found an area that hardly anyone went into. The bathroom itself was always locked which made it ideal for his purposes. He could unlock the door, wander about the school, and then leave again after he returned the room to normal.

  He had good timing because when he stepped out of the bathroom, there wasn’t a person in sight. Everyone must have been in class. Alan found a clock, making note that this was usually the time Orlando was in his Spanish Language class. The room wasn’t far from Alan. He walked through the hallway, enjoying the echo his footsteps made as he did so, and peered into the window of the classroom.

  Orlando sat in the back corner of the room and gazed out a window. Sitting next to him was the Nia girl. Alan almost hadn’t recognized her. The picture on her profile depicted her hair as being longer and curly. Her hair was short now, cut much in the style of a boy, and black. Heavy eyeliner rimmed her eyes and she wore more black than Orlando, something Alan thought would be impossible to achieve. She leaned over and whispered something to Orlando, and he laughed while rolling his
eyes.

  The fact that she could make him laugh also said something. Alan wished he could enter the room to hear what they were talking about. Opening the door would draw attention, and if he teleported inside he’d frustrate Orlando who told him that was an unwise thing to do. Alan didn’t want to do that if it wasn’t necessary. The school was Orlando’s territory. He knew what was best. Alan trusted his judgment, and if he said it was a bad idea to go into the classes, then Alan wouldn’t unless it was absolutely necessary. Getting a closer look at the girl wasn’t an event that qualified as such. He was disappointed, but he’d get over it. He could tail her after class for a little while and get a better read on her personality. She seemed like a friend of Orlando’s, so maybe he would have some useful information about her as well.

  Alan heard voices down the hall, so he went to listen in to see if there was anything interesting going on. Eavesdropping was one of his guilty pleasures. He knew it was rude to do, but he liked to observe others. When progress was slow, sometimes Alan just listened to what was going on with the students in the schools. There wasn’t always useful information, but teenagers could be entertaining to observe. He spent more time at Orlando’s school than Cadence and JD’s. Alona had charges who went to Lunar Falls with Orlando. Part of his reasoning was in selfish hope he’d see her again. Despite everything that had happened, he still loved her and hoped he could bring her back to her senses.