When I built the controller, I had taken a few shortcuts. Ignored the spit and polish required of any end product as I worked to just get the thing done. As I skipped steps and used junk I had on hand to get it built. Sadly, that meant that there was very little I could change or modify without making it look like a piece of scrap.

  Bert’s strength was a great help with the pieces that needed to be bent and twisted. Still, it took me over an hour to produce something usable. It wasn’t polished, just usable. But that was as far as I could get without a full workstation.

  Well, that wasn’t true. I could do the work given all of my tools. Unfortunately, most of those were still in need of repairs and upgrades. A tedious task that I needed to get done before the first day of class.

  I forced myself out of what needed to happen and to the present. To focus on my new pad case. I had debated keeping the device as something I could take on and off as needed, but that had way too many issues. From the device getting lost to it not connecting properly just when I needed it to.

  To be frank, there was no good reason to keep everything separated. If I could have, I would have just upgraded my pad to do all the work without the device. While I was sure my mother could have accomplished such a feat, I had no real skills when it came to complex circuit modifications.

  “Time to pack it up,” Bert said as he got out of his seat to stretch.

  “Why?” I asked as I turned to check out the window. To my surprise, a mountain range loomed over us. Unlike the last two times, massive towers dotted the landscape. Walls stretched farther than I could see. And behind them, more towers stretched high into the sky.

  “Attention passengers.” The voice boomed across the train. “We will be arriving at Olympic Cities Central Station shortly. For those visiting the city for the first time, welcome. For the rest of you, welcome back. Please make sure to collect all of your belongings before you disembark. Thank you for choosing Questing Rails. May your journey be safe, your aim true, and your loot plentiful.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at the way the announcer signed off. It sounded like something you would read in a book or see in a game. Not something people would say in real life. Then again, maybe it was common when traveling between cities?

  While I wanted to ask Bert about it, he was too busy getting everything down and ready to go to answer any questions. Almost like he was in a rush or something.

  I took a minute to get my stuff together and debated how I was going to do this. I only had two hands for four different items. Sure, my backpack would fit on my back, but both my drone and my luggage were things I had to manhandle to my destination. Especially since Bert was overloaded with his stuff. Actually, how in the hell was he going to carry everything?

  I took a second to glance over and found him latching the various bags together with a series of straps. Basically, making a giant ball of luggage. One that looked almost too big to get through the door. That was a solution. One that I would never be able to copy.

  I almost asked him if he would strap one of my bags to his, but I shook my head at the idea. I brought them, so they were my responsibility. If only one of the items could drive itself.

  Yeah, I nearly smacked my forehead against the wall as that thought streamed through my head. While I didn’t know how strong the drone was and how much it could carry, it was strong enough to carry itself. Furthermore, it could follow me.

  With a few taps, the drone powered up. Air raced through the room, pushing me back as the drone forced itself off the ground. Sure, it wasn’t enough to do any damage or even push anything around, but that was only because we were inside a cabin. If we had been in a cave or some dusty space, the normal fans would have caused quite a stir.

  Thankfully the fans were not the only method of propulsion. Well, they were, but each had an alternative propulsion system built in. A system that wasn’t all that efficient. Okay, it was so inefficient that I hadn’t even bothered to add the option for it to be used. Yay, another thing to fix when I found the time.

  While the sun was low in the sky and the day was well on its way to night, the sight of something massive passing by the window, followed by total darkness, caught my attention. The darkness outside the window lasted all of a minute before a bright light caused my eyes to water.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  As my eyes adjusted to the much brighter space, I found myself looking at a massive space with multiple tracks. All of which were in use and were spilling their contents onto the platform.

  With a soft thump, the train came to a stop. Bert didn’t hesitate for a moment. One hand grabbed his ball of luggage while the other opened the door to utter chaos. People streamed through the narrow hall as they made for the nearest exit. Each of whom had their own bags. Some were carried by some servant, while others trailed after their owners under their own power.

  Yeah, I was going to wait. There was no reason for me to even think about exiting this room and trying to navigate that mess. Bert, however, didn’t hesitate. He used his massive bundle to halt the flow of traffic as he turned to me. “Let's go.”

  People cursed at him while others seemed to try to force the roadblock to move. Knowing him, there was no chance that anyone blocked by him would be able to move it unless he let them. In a rush, I slung my backpack on and grabbed everything else. The drone trailed after me as I raced through the door, down the hall, and off the train.

  “Welcome to Academy City,” a voice announced over the station's intercom. “The next bus for the Academy campus leaves in eight minutes. The bus for Research Institute Three leaves in fifteen minutes. The bus for Outer Gate Five arrives in six minutes. For a full list of our other buses and their schedules, please see our website.”

  The voice stopped before another voice took over. “Bienvenidos a Ciudad Academia. El próximo autobús hacia el campus de la Academia sale en ocho minutos. El autobús hacia el Instituto de Investigación Tres sale en quince minutos. El autobús hacia la Puerta Exterior Cinco llega en seis minutos. Para ver la lista completa de nuestros autobuses y sus horarios, por favor visite nuestro sitio web.”

  The announcer changed once again. But unlike the last time, I had no hope of understanding what it said. I could barely even tell that it sounded something like Chinese. Exactly which language? No clue.

  My eyes were focused on the floor, making sure I didn’t trip over the lip between the train and the platform. So when I finally did look up, my feet faltered and I found myself in awe at everything in sight. The view through the window was nice and had shown a decent amount of the place, but it was on the other side of the train.

  There, sitting in the middle of the room, stood a massive machine. No. Not just a machine. A work of art. One that looked almost alive. Pulses of mana almost seemed to dance as they flowed up and down every visible surface.

  Then there were the holograms floating all over the place. Some followed people, directing them, helping them, connecting them. And from each hologram there was a thin, nearly imperceptible thread of mana linking it to the machine.

  A sudden shove to my back was followed by a call from someone to keep the line moving. In my dazed state, I trudged my way toward the machine. Before I made it halfway, a hand grabbed my shoulder and redirected my path to the left.

  I had to get out of the hold. I had to get to that machine. To see how it was doing all of this. How it had been put together. Surely they wouldn’t mind if I took a small section apart? It wasn’t like I wouldn’t put it back together.

  I pulled, grabbed, and twisted to try and break the hold, but the hand refused to move. Left with no choice, I reached for my pad. If I couldn’t get out of this, my drone could do something. Maybe intimidate the person enough to let me go. Maybe bludgeon them.

  The hand dropped from my shoulder to grasp my arm. Whoever this was, they somehow knew what I was doing. That my drone was a threat they couldn’t ignore.

  They used their hand to twist me around. Forcing me to face them. Honestly, it should have been one of the first things I should have done. If not to know the potential powers they might have, then to at least know the face of my attacker. To know who to avoid next time.

  Of all the people to stand there, a worried and anxious Bert was not what I expected. I watched as his lips moved, yet I heard nothing. In fact, all I could hear was a faint hum. The hum of both power and life. A hum that drowned everything else out.

  Surely he could hear it? It was too loud for anyone to ignore. But then why was he trying to talk over it? Actually, he wasn’t even doing that. If he was then he would be shouting in my ear. Instead, it looked like he was talking to me in a normal voice. But why? Could he not hear it? Why couldn’t he hear it?

  With each question, the humming started to fade as the noises of the station returned. Finally, I was able to make out the words coming from him. “…ignore it. Come back to me. Don’t get lost in the magic. Don’t let it drag you away. Stay here. Come back.”

  “What happened?” I asked, confused over the whole situation. Why had I just obsessed over some machine? Sure, it looked great and was impressive as all hell, but that was not enough to nearly break laws and ignore the world. Not for a little bit of information, I could probably get from the academy.

  Bert yanked me toward him. He pulled me into a hug as he spoke. “Thank magic. I know you can lose yourself in your projects.” Since when? When have I ever tuned the world out to the point that I couldn’t be pulled out by some sort of noise or touch? I almost demanded an answer, but he continued before I could. “But it has never been this bad. You have never fought me.”

  I didn’t know what to say. So I stayed quiet. We stayed there for a minute before he finally let me go. This time, as we made our way toward the door marked for academy students, he stood between me and the machine. Making sure to block it from my view. Not that I would have looked at it. The whole idea that I had gone into a trance after looking at something was both scary and exhilarating. After all, I knew of no normal person who did that. In fact, very few powered people went into such a state. Yet another sign pointing to the fact that I might actually have a power. That, or I was absolutely insane, and there was no hope for me.

  It was a good thing I only had to wait a tiny bit longer before I could find out which it was.