Clone Earth : MELVIN

The small, ceramic duck stared at Trevon from the corner of President Warrington’s desk. Its presence along with other knick-knacks, seemed out of place when compared to the grandly decorated building. But strangely it put Trevon at ease.

President Roderick Warrington, the last time Trevon and he spoke the old gray-haired man shattered Trevon’s dreams. Trevon’s fingers twisted, looking for something to tug.

“Mr. Kana.” The elder man took his seat behind his desk, sorting through several sheets of paper, which kept him from looking up at Trevon for a time. “It’s been awhile since we’ve spoken.”

“Yes sir.” He settled deeper into his chair.

“A lot has happened since then.” President Warrington said. “I am sorry to hear about your sister.”

The knot tightened in Trevon’s chest, but he managed a nod.

“You’ve been auditing classes.” He continued, his tone full of unpromising speculation, “Very clever of you.”

Trevon tried to swallow the lump in his throat as subtly as possible. If he were in trouble he wouldn’t mention it, but he suspected the President already knew. “I can’t take full credit for that. I had some help.”

“So I understand. You made friends with the Mikayo boy and our newly returned Mr. Slayden.” Newly returned? Must mean Robie. Trevon nodded. “That was a very smart decision.”

“Why’s that?”

“Regardless of your Military support the Board of Directors takes Clan support very seriously.” As he explained he leaned forward on his desk. “Though you do not have the actual support of the Mikayo Clan, your choice of friends caused everyone to take a closer look at you.” He pulled a slick sheet of paper from the stack and placed it in front of Trevon.

Scooting closer to get a better look, Trevon instantly recognized the format of the basic progress report. What he didn’t expect to see was the dramatic increase in his scores. “Upon evaluating your four classes, it was impossible to ignore the fact you are a quick study. More impressive, your healing ability has potential to surpass those in your current class -”

This surprised Trevon most. Not once had he felt on the same level as any of his classmates. Yet, according to his scores, proved he was holding his own.

Relief filled his expression.

“To put it simply Trevon Kana,” President Warrington slid another paper in front of Trevon. “The board has agreed to extend you the opportunity for early enrollment. If you accept, three classes will be added to your current schedule.”

“Yes!” The word jumped from his mouth louder and quicker than he had intended. Gathering his composure he tried it again, “Yes. I’m here to learn.”

“I feel it pertinent point out that the board has made this decision unaware of your current trauma.” Trevon’s mouth gaped. “Only I know of the situation with your sister. So I want you to be honest. Will you be able to continue with the appropriate amount of focus during this difficult time?”

Trevon’s head hung as he searched himself for his true feelings and as helpless as he felt he wasn’t going to give up on his sister. “President, My sister is still alive. I’m going to work hard so when she’s found, she will be proud of what I’m doing.”

“Which is why I was willing to vouch for you.” The lump in Trevon’s throat tightened. “With the Commander and General Bishop looking in on you, members of the board are still worried about you bringing military interference. I did assure them they would be seen in a parental capacity only.”

Trevon’s nod was slower this time. Warrington smiled, but there was a hard edge to it. “They also wish to grant to you, this scholarship. This way you can stop working at the stables and focus on studying. Do you still accept?”

Though his body was tingling with excitement, Trevon sat tall in his chair, he gave the most sincere smile he could manage without looking giddy. “Yes, I accept. I will work even harder so that the board can be proud of their decision. Thank you.”

Leaving the Presidents office Trevon could have sworn he saw the old man smile kindly. Trevon knew he had gotten lucky, but the first person he wanted to tell, was still missing.

His fingers brushed across the personal comm at the bottom of his bag. Taking in his surroundings Trevon deduced the hallway wasn’t the right place. So he headed out into the rapidly chilling air, straight across campus to the library.

The building held a unique smell which Trevon loved. The combination of each book, made of paper and leather gave it a very organic aroma which somehow made him feel warm. However this time Trevon wasn’t searching through the hardcover books. He passed the lines of tables and lamps down the center of the main entrance, climbed the grand staircase up to the second level. Not everyone had a computer set up like Russ and Robie. So this Library Hub was a good on campus alternative.

Trevon slipped down a row of shelves and found a cubical that suited him. Pulling his Personal Comm from his bag he quickly accessed the link ZIG had sent him, and waited.

He didn’t expect to wait too long, but Trevon decided to distract himself with a few extra class notes.

Elements, gases, bacteria ... they all connected. That was the big stumbling block in using magic - if you didn’t understand an element, there was no way you could use it. This was also why it had always taken so long to heal a simple bruise or cut in the past. Trevon was so focused on the surface, on what he could see and making it vanish, that he never succeeded in complete reconstruction.

However, once he gained a better understanding of each layer of the human body, he would be able to heal the entire injury.

ZIG: Your patience is levels above your sisters.

TREVON: I know. But even I have my limits.

ZIG: She’s headed to a salvage yard on Melvin.

Trevon slid forward so quickly he almost fell from his chair. Using both hands to stabilize himself he waited for more to read.

TREVON: Which one, I’ll go find her.

ZIG: Based on my limited data, I’ve narrowed it down to twenty-five that have limited, to no human, transactions.

Trevon’s heart sank a bit; however, the relief she wasn’t only alive but was headed his way, was more than he expected.

ZIG: I’ve considered giving her your destination. Does she know you’re at a magic school?

His hand hovered above the keys. No she didn’t know. He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted to apologize for letting her be dragged away at Midway. He wanted her to know he felt responsible for leaving her behind but should that really come from ZIG?

TREVON: I need to meet her if that’s possible.

ZIG: I’ll do my best.

The relief didn’t make it any easier for Trevon to study. He checked his new workload on the Library computers. Three new classes had been added. Usually that would launch him into prep mode, but he struggled for sometime in the library and eventually retreated to his own room to focus on an Origin of Magic essay, for his history course.

Due to the Government’s restrictions regarding all knowledge of magic, this wasn’t exactly something he could research on the computer; so instead, all the books he had been able to find about the various origin myths and stories were spread out on the bed, while he sat on the floor with his tablet.

He was transcribing a passage from one of the older books, when the door burst open. “Welcome back,” he said, sparing a brief glance at his roommate.

Russ didn’t respond. He kicked off his shoes, pulled off his jacket, and over to his bed. Then in a fantastic display, he flopped forward, smashing his face into the pillow while his arms and legs sprawled out across the sheets.

When he didn’t move or respond for several seconds, Trevon leaned forward to poke him. “You still alive there?”

“He’s fine,” Robie said, entering through the wide open door. “Just let him slip into a coma for a few hours, and he’ll be back to being a delightful pain in the butt.”

“What happened to him?”

Robie sat down at the empty computer and logged in. “The Government liaisons announced the results of a recent summit. They put restrictions on the Elemental Courses. The Board of Directors were told that the elemental courses were getting too carried away with physical practice. Their reasoning is that with practice sessions clashing in the woods we risk negatively impacting neighboring towns.”

Trevon nodded to himself as he considered this. “Kiev isn’t too far off, and if someone were to get carried away, or lost control...”

“That was the argument,” Robie agreed, but there was a twist to his smile. “Now each class is limited to one scheduled slot a week to practice, and professors are mostly stuck teaching theory. It took a lot of willpower for Russ to keep himself from lashing out.”

Trevon noticed the orange braces back on Russ’s wrists. “It looks like he did lash out?”

“A lot of willpower that he didn’t have.” Robie chuckled, “He’s been sentenced with doing paperwork for the department heads, and a formal letter will be sent to his family. So once the Mikayo clan leader gets involved I doubt we’ll see much of Russ for the next few weeks.”

Trevon let out a low whistle. “All that for complaining about his classes being changed.”

Robie’s head bobbed, but he kept facing the computer screen. “It’s strict here - not just because of the Government influence at the University, but restrictions by the local and planetary leadership as well. It makes sense to a degree, with such a large percentage of the mage population located here … but when you look at the bigger picture and really recognize the complete censorship of magic that’s been propagated by the Government, it’s ridiculous.”

“Near-complete censorship,” Trevon corrected, and gestured at the books covering his bed. “I can’t find any of this text on the computer. Maybe we’re lucky they haven’t destroyed these books.”

“You can’t truly delete history,” was Robie’s response. “At least on planets we work hard to keep what knowledge we have, but out in the ’verse, they get their own version of the truth.”

Trevon frowned. Having seen both sides of this trade-off, he couldn’t honestly say which he thought was better. For the people who would never know about magic it didn’t really seem to change their lives for worse - though for him, having magic and not knowing what it was, had been terrifying.

“You seem happier.” Robie’s change of subject startled him. “Did something good happen at your meeting with President Warrington?” Robie asked. It was almost like he knew what Trevon was thinking. Or perhaps he was just being courteous by continuing the conversation while he worked. Robie was interesting there was nothing fake about him. Everything he did seemed genuine.

“I am officially a student.” Trevon answered. Robie stopped what he was doing, to face Trevon. “Early enrollment and they gave me a scholarship.”

“Congratulations. That’s big.”

“Thank you. They said it had a lot to do with my progress and that I made the right friends.”

“The Mikayo Clan?” He asked without a moment’s hesitation. Trevon nodded. “Yeah. It’s funny we’re not the most powerful clan out there but people don’t mess with us.”

“Us?” As if a lightbulb had just went on, Trevon chuckled. “You’re in the Mikayo Clan.”

Robie laughed. “My mom’s the baby of the family.”

“And your dad?” Trevon felt like it was natural question,

“He ditched his old clan to marry her. The End.” Russ’s muffled interjection came from his pillow.

Robie grinned at his cousin, “With all this exciting news, I bet you wanted to tell your sister.” Robie did it again. How was he so insightful? “Still no news on her yet?”

Trevon felt the heat touch his cheeks, “Actually, I know she’s alive and headed towards Melvin right now.”

“Whoa,” Robie laughed, he laced his fingers behind his head. “Forget having a good day, your day’s been amazing!”

“What the -” Russ interjected. He’d sat straight up in bed, his arms out in shock. “That’s huge! Why didn’t you hit us with that when we came in, man!”

The heat turned up in Trevon’s face.

“He was worried about you, you idiot.” Robie answered for him, “The way youlumbered in here you looked dead.”

“Shut up. When is Little Kana getting here?” Russ

“If you call her that she will punch you in the jaw.” Trevon laughed, “And I-I don’t know when yet, but Ari doesn’t actually know I’m here yet.”

“Ariana Kana will be thrilled when she finds out. Once you know tell us, we’ll make sure we’re all out to greet her.”

Robie’s smile gave Trevon more comfort he hadn’t realized he needed. Trevon wondered if he should also point out that calling Ari by her full name would get him punched in the face as well.

Having both boys undivided attention Trevon gave in to the his nagging curiosity. Climbing off the floor he sat among the books on his bed. “Now that I’m a full time student can I ask you some cultural questions that I’m still unclear about?”

Robie and Russ exchanged glances, “You can ask Robie whatever you want.” Russ answered falling again face first into his pillow.