Cragbridge Hall, Volume 2: The Avatar Battle

by Morris, Chad

  Most of you? Abby wondered if he would contact her. The group gradually spread out as they made the journey back up toward the school.

  Abby inched up closer to her grandpa. There was still something she couldn’t figure out. Maybe it was the right time to ask. Derick and Carol followed. “Grandpa,” Abby said quietly, “I have a question.”

  “Go ahead,” Grandpa said, his red face slowly fading back to its normal hue.

  “I understand that you must have some sort of device that told you when Muns used an energy burst, but how did you know where in history Muns had sent his men?”

  Grandpa looked over his shoulder, then spoke softly. “Derick and Carol, did you both hear that question?”

  They nodded.

  “I don’t believe anyone else did,” Grandpa said. “Do not share that question with them. I have been preparing for quite some time to answer it, but would like to address it my way. But it is a very good question.” He cleared his throat. “The kind that needs an answer.”

  Abby walked alongside her Grandpa. She waited for him to tell her more.

  “There is something I have become increasingly worried about,” Grandpa said. “There is more to understand than even those with keys know. Now that Muns has acted again, the urgency has increased.” He took a few more steps. “Yet some answers shouldn’t just be given.”

  “What does that mean?” Derick asked.

  “Just as with the secrets you learned from inside your lockets,” Grandpa said, “some answers you need to earn. The answer to your question is just as serious as the answer you learned about our ability to go into the past.”

  A rush went through Abby. Really? Something that serious?

  “It is not a trifling matter,” Grandpa explained. “Monday morning, check the safety deposit room.” Abby had seen that room before. It was on the main floor of the Hall, a place where students could store valuables they didn’t feel comfortable keeping in their dorms. Abby had never used it; she hadn’t had the need. “I will send you a retrieval code. Please keep secret what you find there. Derick and Abby, because you have keys, you will find special information there. Carol, you do not have a key, but you know the secrets of the Bridge already. If you desire, I will let you assist Abby and Derick. No one but you three should discover what you find. I urge you to treat this seriously. After tonight’s events,” he paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully, “it has become very important for someone else to know the answer to that question. It could be essential in the future if Muns continues to strike.”

  9

  The Black Box

  The three students approached the safety deposit room. Carol yawned. It was still early. The cafeteria hadn’t even started serving breakfast. Most of the school was still sleeping. The room was long and thin, a row of twelve doors down one side, each with a scanner beside it. Derick approached a door and raised his hand so the machine could match his fingerprints and verify his identity. He waited for a moment.

  “Nothing here for me,” he said. “I bet Grandpa sent it to you, Abby. You were the one who asked the question.”

  Abby raised her hand. She couldn’t feel the scan, but knew it was happening. Almost immediately a message came through her rings.

  Your belongings are being authenticated and delivered.

  A light turned green beside the door. Abby opened it and stepped inside. There was barely enough room for one person. A framed metal door the size of a cereal box hung on the wall at eye level. Abby was scanned again. They really protected people’s stuff. Of course, a lot of kids at Cragbridge Hall came from wealthy families—or had already gained some decent wealth themselves. They would have some things they’d want to keep safe. Abby could hear the muffled sounds of metal on tracks, movement behind the wall. She had heard how the rooms work. Behind the wall, a delivery system would retrieve a unit with her belongings from the vault in which it was kept and then place it behind the door. Scans of both her and the unit ensured that the right items were delivered to the right person—and only the right person.

  A light on the smaller door glowed green. Abby opened the door, discovering it was several inches thick—not nearly as heavy or thick as the huge doors protecting the Bridge but still impressive. Inside was a small package wrapped in brown paper. It was about the length of two candy bars and a couple of inches wide.

  Abby retrieved the package and stepped out to see Derick and Carol waiting. “Oh, it’s like Christmas, or my birthday, or Easter, or graduation, or just Fridays when my mom has had a stressful week and she feels like doing some shopping therapy. Present time!” Carol clapped her hands.

  Derick leaned over and read the tag tied to the top. “To those who ask the right questions.” He looked at Abby.

  “Can I open it?” Carol asked.

  “Sure,” Abby said, “but let’s go to a study room first. I know it’s probably too early for anyone else to be around, but we should probably be careful. Grandpa said to keep this private.”

  Moments later, they were in a secluded study room along the commons. Carol ripped at the paper. She was impressively quick at opening a gift. From the remaining wrapping, Carol pulled a rectangular black box made from dark metal or extremely reinforced plastic. On the front was a silver metal lock shaped like a question mark, a keyhole in the body of it.

  “It needs a key,” Carol said and looked over at Abby and Derick. Whatever was inside was intended for those who had already faced the challenges and could be trusted with the power to go back in time.

  “Here,” Derick said, pulling a key from his pocket. Grandpa hadn’t yet made a cool way for him to save and protect it. “I really want to use this.” Derick had told Abby last night about enduring a Civil War battle to get a key. He hadn’t said too much, but after surviving her own simulation, she had an idea how hard it had been. Boys never gave enough detail in their stories.

  The key fit perfectly. With a twist and a click, the black box opened. A small, three-dimensional image of Grandpa appeared. He was only four inches tall.

  “Hello,” Grandpa said. “Whoever you may be, you have been asking questions. I admire that. Questions are to be valued . . . treasured. They are the beginning steps of some of the best journeys. I have probably spoken to you about the importance of this particular journey. I need others besides me to know more information, though you must be prepared to receive it. In fact, I hope I am not too late in extending it to you.” Grandpa exhaled and rubbed his eyes. “But you must ask yourself how much you want the answers. Because answers—real answers—cannot simply be given; they must be earned. The answers to the question or questions you have asked especially must be earned. Those answers come with power and consequences.” He motioned toward the open box below him. Inside it, Abby found what must be a small compartment. Covering it was a touch panel that, when she moved her fingers near it, showed a grid of random letters and numbers. It must take some sort of code to open. On top of the panel lay a small rolled-up piece of paper. Abby picked it up and unrolled it.

  “Another Bridge code,” Carol said out loud, reading the piece of paper over Abby’s shoulder.

  The image of Grandpa spoke again. “So . . . how badly do you want to know?”

  • • •

  Derick, Abby, and Carol all entered the Bridge booth. Such booths lined history classes and labs in the school and in the dorms. Each booth had enough space for several students, who could study without anyone else seeing what they saw. Abby entered in the code, ready to see an event from the past. Soon all three students were looking at the faded image of a bald man with a long beard who was dressed in robes. In some ways he reminded Derick of Grandpa, though this man was much more muscular.

  A young man approached, standing tall with a wide smirk on his face. He began to speak a language Derick didn’t recognize or understand.

  “Turn on the translate feature on your rings,” Derick said, switching his own rings on and searching for the right setting.


  “Or we could just talk for them—like voiceovers—and say what we think they should say,” Carol said. “Like,” she began to speak for the young man. “Oh, great bald one! I have come from afar to see the great shine of your scalp. You have a legendary noggin of great gleaming wonder.”

  Abby snickered. “Very funny, but I don’t think it’s going to lead to the answer to my question.”

  In a moment, all three of them had turned on their translators. Derick’s showed that it had detected ancient Greek and began translating it into English so he could hear it in his earpiece—the same earpiece that allowed him to hear messages he received on his rings.

  “Socrates,” the young man addressed the older one. Socrates? The bald man with a beard was the great philosopher? Interesting.

  “Sorry, Socrates,” Carol mumbled. “I was just playing, but you do have an amazingly bald head.”

  There was something about the young man that Derick didn’t like—he had annoyingly good posture and he seemed to keep his chin too high. “I have come 1,500 miles to gain wisdom and learning,” the young man said, definitely proud of himself. Wow. If Derick lived at the time of Socrates he thought he might search him out too, ask him some questions. But he probably wouldn’t have traveled that far. Well, he might now on a speed train or plane, but definitely not on foot. “I want learning, so I came to you.”

  Derick watched as Socrates motioned with his strong arm and invited, “Follow me.”

  Derick couldn’t help but wonder how watching Socrates would help them with Abby’s question. What did any of this have to do with how Grandpa knew where to go back in time when Muns attacked?

  The philosopher led the young man down to the shoreline, the water a blue-green. Socrates gestured again for the young man to follow him as he waded into the water. Not what Derick expected.

  “This is weird,” Carol whispered. “He asked for knowledge, not swimming lessons.” Abby shushed her.

  The young man was apparently willing to humor Socrates because he followed him in. Soon the water was up to both of their waists. Then the strong philosopher grabbed the young man by the back of the neck and plunged him in under the water.

  “Weirder,” Carol said. “This is just getting weirder.”

  The young man struggled under the water and tried to stand up, but Socrates wouldn’t let him surface.

  “And I thought I had some mean teachers,” Carol said.

  “He must be teaching him something,” Derick replied.

  “Pay attention,” Abby said.

  “Well, he would be a horrible swim teacher,” Carol mumbled. “And he’d get terrible scores on a rate-your-teacher site.”

  Derick waved Carol off. Socrates let the young man up for air. “What do you want?” he asked.

  “Knowledge,” the young man replied.

  Socrates pushed him back under the water longer than he had before, then pulled him up again. “What do you want, young man?” he repeated. Derick didn’t think Socrates was trying to be mean. He didn’t seem like he was angry or bitter, just determined.

  This time, it took the young man longer to answer. He breathed in heavily before responding, “Wisdom, great Socrates.”

  Again Socrates plunged the young man under the water. This time, he held him longer. Finally, he pulled the young man back up from the sea. “What do you want?” he asked again.

  The young man sputtered, gulping in air as deep and as fast as he could. “Air! I want air!”

  “If I were him,” Carol said. “I would say ‘air’ and ‘to punch you in the face.’”

  Both Abby and Derick suppressed their laughter.

  Socrates pulled the young man back up onto the shore. He crouched down and looked at him closely. “When you want knowledge and understanding as badly as you wanted air, you won’t have to ask anyone to give it to you.”

  The image faded out. Derick had to think about that for a minute: if the young man wanted knowledge, he could find it. He didn’t have to ask someone else for it—he just had to really want it. In fact, if he wanted it badly enough, that might be the best way to learn.

  Abby looked down at the black box. “So what now? I really want to know the answer, but all we have is a keypad.”

  “We obviously have to type in some sort of password,” Carol said. “I think with your grandpa, it would have something to do with what we just saw.” Carol pointed where the image of Socrates had been moments before. “Maybe type in Socrates.”

  Abby started to type in S-O- . . . “Um, there’s no C on this keypad.”

  Dead end.

  “There are tons of words we could type in. There has to be more of a clue.” Abby looked down at the keypad. “The letters are all out of order. I mean, they’re not in alphabetical order or the order they’re in on our rings’ virtual keyboard. And there are numbers in there too. Let’s see . . . there are . . . twenty characters . . . four are numbers, so only sixteen letters we can pick from.”

  “Wait.” Derick raised his hands. “The last thing Grandpa said in his message was a question: ‘How badly do you want to know?’”

  Derick thought for a moment as he looked down at the keypad. How badly did they want to know? He stared at the random assortment of letters, letting his mind rearrange them, trying to make sense of them. In a flash, he had an idea. He looked closely, searching the keypad for an A and then an I. There. And an R. Yep. He let his eyes backtrack to see if the letters before a-i-r were there. He moved the remaining letters around in his mind. Yep. They were all there. “Look,” Derick said. He began to punch in the letters:

  a s b a d l y a s y o u w a n t e d a i r

  “That’s what Socrates said,” Abby said, then felt weird for having said something so obvious aloud.

  The panel slid to the side, opening the compartment in the black box. Grandpa appeared again, blocking Derick’s view of what was inside. “Very good,” he said. “It is an interesting story, isn’t it? If we are determined enough, we can always learn. I believe this is what Socrates was trying to teach. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to teach the young man, but that he wanted his pupil to be an active learner, not one who expects others to simply give them answers. Though I am happy to help you find your answers, the question is, really, How determined are you? I require determination. Do you want the answers as badly as you want air?”

  Derick looked over at Abby, who raised her thumb. Carol smiled big. He wasn’t sure if that was because she wanted to know or if she was flirting again.

  Grandpa continued, “Learning to think in new ways, to ponder consequences, and to contemplate possibilities is a noble endeavor. Learning to learn is worth the journey.” The image of Grandpa disappeared. Inside the compartment were three small white spheres, each about the size of a grape.

  “So, cool little marbles are going to help us figure out how your grandpa knows where in time Muns has attacked,” Carol said. “I’m not sure I see the connection.”

  “I’m not sure I even know what these are,” Abby admitted.

  “Let’s figure it out,” Derick said, reaching in and scooping up the spheres. Once in his hand, one of the three glowed. It was a dim glow, but it glowed just the same.

  “Whoa, trippy,” Carol said. “Maybe it’s just a really cool flashlight for when we go in the basement.”

  “It’s not that bright,” Derick said. “Besides, what about the other two that aren’t glowing?”

  “Maybe they’re out of batteries,” Carol suggested.

  “Can I hold them?” Abby stretched out her hand. Derick agreed and passed them to his sister. Once they changed hands, the glowing sphere went out, but a different one began to glow. “Huh. Why did that happen?”

  “My turn, my turn,” Carol squealed. Abby passed the orbs. The same thing happened again, but this time, the third sphere illuminated. “There’s one for each of us.”

  “Awesome,” Derick said, taking the sphere that glowed with his touch.

  Abby
picked hers up, holding it close for a better look. “Now all we have to do is figure out what to do with them.”

  10

  A Virtual Bridge

  Abby tried not to think about flaming dirigibles and Brazilian dance-fighting teachers. She tried not to think about Muns. She tried not to think about the sphere in her pocket that lit up when she touched it. Now it was the first day of a new semester. Abby had a new start. She had to focus.

  “Welcome to your second semester at Cragbridge Hall.” A tall, thin woman with dark brown skin and short cropped hair stood at the front of the room. “I hope that you enjoyed your first semester, but because my class wasn’t part of it, this semester will go down in your personal histories as the best so far.” She winked. “But I have a question first, ‘Who is ready for some MATH?’” She asked it like she was introducing a rock star or beginning a prize fight.

  She didn’t get much of a response.

  “What?” she said. “I said, ‘WHO is READY for some MATH?’” She put her hand to her ear like she was waiting for the class to go wild with cheers and applause. It didn’t happen. “How about some ENGINEERING?” A couple of people clapped.

  She stood up straight. “I can see I have some work to do. My name is Mrs. Trinhouse, and I will be your Math and Engineering teacher. And before you leave my class, you will be so much more excited than this.” She smiled big, her white teeth standing out against her full dark lips.

  Trinhouse. Abby had heard that name before.

  “You have already completed your first semester of math and that will be absolutely vital to what we do here. But now it is time to amp up the learning and your experience. You’ll notice that, like many classrooms at Cragbridge Hall, this one has several booths along the walls. Each booth is designed for a more interactive experience. I will invite you to enter a booth, and then put on the suit and sensors that you find there. The booths and their equipment are very similar to the avatar equipment you’ve used. Oscar Cragbridge has found methods of using much of the same technology in many different ways. In this case, your suit will not connect to a robot avatar or even to any place that is actually real. These virtuality booths will allow you to experience a world that doesn’t exist. You will see what has been programmed, what has been built. You will feel what someone in this virtual world would feel. The experience is completely immersive.”