Harmonics: Rise of the Magician (Harmonics Series Season One)

by Chris Snelgrove

  Sam pulled a water bottle from her bag, took a long drink from it, and eyed the silver box sitting complacently upon the table. If it wasn't one question it was another. The box was just as frustrating as her nightmares, maybe more so because of its tangible presence. Basically, the box pissed her off.

  Sam placed her bottle on the table next to the box. She picked it up gently and held it closely in her hands. She closed her eyes, enjoying the quiet.

  Soon the weight of it became more noticeable, but not burdensome. It was comforting to a degree. Ahh…yes, it was the peaceful feeling right now. She had missed this one.

  The situation confused her. She couldn't leave the box alone and couldn't explain what it did to her. Sometimes she felt at peace when she held it, like she had connected to a deeper part of herself. At other times, she couldn't help but feel fearful, angry, or irritated. The emotional continuum changed frequently, but also stayed consistent. Different feelings came at different times, but always the same range of emotion, if that made any sense.

  Sam didn't know why these feelings always came when she held the box, but they did every single time. Then there was that incident in her room, the night of the attack. It was like the box had been a magnet and her hands metal, which was absolutely mystifying. Now she was wondering if her hands sticking to the box had even happened. It hadn't happened since. Perhaps it was all in her head.

  Sam opened her eyes to stare at the box. What was so special about it? Why did it make her feel this way? Why couldn't she bring herself to tell her friends about it? All these questions continually plagued her, but if there were answers to be found she didn't know where to look.

  A distraction came as a message flashed across her screen. It was from Cammie. Sam reluctantly tucked the box back into her bag and scooped up the tablet.

  Have you made up with Dick yet?

  Sam typed back. No, not yet.

  OMGWB, it's been almost a month! He can't still be pissed because you lied to him.

  You obviously don't know Richard very well, and I don't think he's really pissed about the lying anyway.

  Is it about Adam?

  No, I don't think so. Haven't seen much of him either.

  I noticed. What's up with that? Why hasn't he been around?

  Who knows--I haven't talked to him.

  Coda's been MIA as well. He's been skipping to spend time with that skank, what's-her-brick again?

  Lacey, and stop pretending you don't know.

  Whatever. The point is, what is going on with our boys?

  "Samantha, what are you doing?"

  Sam looked up from the conversation as Richard walked into the room. He looked haggard; a far cry away from his usual haughty self. Sam didn't care, though. He had just spoken to her! She was going to take advantage and not ruin the moment.

  "Would you believe that I was doing homework?" she said, covertly slipping her bag under the table.

  A half smile formed on Richard's lips. "You were talking to Cammie, weren't you?"

  Sam giggled slightly. "Yeah. She was just wondering about you."

  "Well if that isn't the logical quandary. Cammie expressing an emotion beyond the insatiable need to shop. Amazing."

  Awkward silence settled upon the two. Richard's trademark wit felt comfortably familiar, and yet the punch line didn't have the same impact. His delivery was off slightly.

  "What's wrong, Rich?"

  "Don't 'what's wrong' me. I'm still not real happy with you, that's what's wrong."

  Sam nodded her head. So that's what it was. He's still hadn't forgiven her.

  "Richard, I told you I was sorry. I promise I will never lie to you again. Can you just stop? Please? Just stop."

  Richard studied her. "You promise you will never lie to me again. You promise?"

  "Yes, I promise," answered Sam quickly, feeling that she was finally getting somewhere with him.

  "I'm serious Samantha, no more lies."

  Sam paused ever so slightly. This was really important to him, she knew that much. She wasn't sure why, but if her promising and meaning it was the only way to get Richard back, then she would do it.

  "I promise you, Richard, that I will never lie to you again."

  "Ok," stated Richard matter-of-factly. "Then you are forgiven."

  "Really?!" Sam's face broke out in a huge grin. "You're going to stop acting all weird now?"

  Richard nodded.

  Sam wanted to do a back flip right then and there, but was reluctant to believe him. "Really? No lecture? No telling me how I don't think, and how you're right and I'm wrong, and that I was stupid for not going home when I should have, or for listening to Cammie? Nothing?"

  Richard scoffed. "I've prepared remarks. If you like, I'd be more than happy to lecture you for the next couple of hours."

  "No! That's ok. I'm just surprised you let me off the hook so easily." She smiled. "You must have missed me."

  Richard shrugged. "It was about that time, and there is no way that I missed you."

  Sam bounced out of her chair and threw her arms around him. "Well I missed you, Rich!!"

  "Yes, yes, throw our arms up in the air. Huzzah for the long awaited reunion." Richard gave another half smile. "Shall we, my dear? The lunchroom awaits."

  Sam beamed, ran over, and grabbed her stuff. "Oh, I thought you'd never ask!"

  ***

  As they walked side by side to the lunchroom, Sam felt alive again. Richard was talking to her! He had forgiven her for lying to him about being home that night. She was elated. Her doubts still gnawed at her, but she felt only passing concerns, conversation points instead of true problems. Still, she needed to focus. She now had the chance to ask the question she had been waiting to ask Richard. She took a deep breath; for some reason she was nervous.

  "So, now that we're talking again, I need to ask. Did you check up on me that night?"

  Richard leaned into her, moving over so he could get out of the way of some oncoming students. "Now, of all the questions you could have asked after our long anticipated reunion, you choose that one? I wonder why. In answer to your query, no, I did not. When I say I'm going to be somewhere, I'm generally there."

  Sam rolled her eyes. "I told you I was sorry Richard, and you already forgave me. You have to let it go now; that's how it works."

  Richard contemplated this. "Really? That's how it works?"

  Sam nodded.

  "Well that certainly seems unjust, but to each his own, I suppose. I appreciate the lesson on social mores. Please continue. "

  Sam started up again. "So I told you how Cammie and I were attacked by those human trafficker guys, right?"

  "Yes, I think you may have mentioned it, Samantha," answered Richard sarcastically.

  Sam stuck her tongue out at him but continued. "So I told you I got shot and right after passed out?"

  "Is this also a social convention? That people have to rehash events in a highlight-reel pattern of story telling? Because if that is the case, I might have to teach a seminar on the proper way to analyze a sequence of events."

  "Here's my point, jerkface, so you'd better listen. After I passed out, I mean, when I woke up, I didn't come to on a slab of cold cement outside Mega Lots Shopping Center. I woke up in my bed. In my bed, Rich. I was even wearing my pajamas."

  "So someone undressed you? They saw you almost completely nude?"

  Sam's face went scarlet. "That's what you got from that story? That someone saw me naked. Focus, Rich. I'm telling you that someone knocked me out and then took me home, dressed me, and put me in bed."

  "And in the process saw you naked."

  "Why aren't you focused more?"

  "Why aren't you more concerned? I would be if someone had the misfortune of seeing me naked. Then again…" he looked Sam up and down, "I suppose that seeing you naked would be a far more desirable experience than seeing yours truly."

  Sam punched Richard's arm.

  "Ouch! What was that for? Totally uncalled for.
"

  "It was for talking about me naked and not even blushing. I'm pretty rockin' in the buff; the thought should at least make you pause."

  "I see. If the occasion of discussing your personage au-natural ever again presents itself, I will try to act more appropriately."

  Sam smiled and said mockingly, "And people say you have no social skills. Now come on, I'm starving. Let's go get some food."

  ***

  Ten minutes later, Sam and Richard had trays heaped with food. They sat down at an out-of-the-way table, like they usually did.

  Sam sighed, completely forlorn. Richard rolled his eyes. "Samantha, is there something else troubling you, or are you still preoccupied with the thought of someone seeing you naked?"

  "You're hilarious."

  "Yes I know; it's my burden and curse. So, are you planning to share or can I go back to eating my vegetables and dietary supplements in peace?"

  "Richard, I can't shake the feeling that I knew him." Richard popped a supplement and a couple of cherry tomatoes into his mouth. "And who do you supposedly know?"

  "The sec-guard. Well, I guess I don't really know he's a guard, but the person who helped us."

  Richard chewed his food slowly as if he were preparing himself for something unpleasant. "So you feel as if you recognize this knight in shining armor who saved you from the bad men?"

  "Yes. I swear. It was a little thing; small, tiny, every other similar adjective I can think of. There was something about him that I recognized."

  "So who is he then?" asked Richard with little to no interest. "Who is your mysterious savior?"

  Sam gave Richard a scathing look. "You'd better not laugh, Richard. I think… I think he reminded me of Adam."

  Richard burst into laugher. "Samantha! Don't be ridiculous. What reason, what possible reason, could Adam have to hide his identity from you?"

  "What do you mean? Weren't you the one that said he was untrustworthy?"

  "Of course, but only within the context of the everyday adolescent construct. What you are saying is just crazy."

  Sam scowled. She knew she shouldn't have told him, but she wasn't backing down. She had only seen the man for a few seconds, but the way that he talked, walked, acted, the way that he moved; it all had the air of familiarity to it. Sam had had plenty of time to run the scenario over and over again in her head. She knew that man, and the only one that made sense from the build to the height to the hair was Adam.

  "I don't know. He's from the Jade Empire, did you know that? Maybe he's a spy and he's trying to protect me."

  "Protect you? Protect you from what, Sam? If he's a spy from the Jade Empire, what could he possibly want from you?"

  Good question. Sam mulled it over. Maybe it wasn't her at all…but something else…

  Sam's mind reverted back to the box. Why hadn't she thought of that before?

  "You do realize that if it's true and the person that undressed you without your knowledge was in fact Adam, then he saw your nude figure in all its glory."

  "Yeah so?"

  "Well, after he saw you in your birthday suit, he disappeared for weeks. That doesn't say much for your naked body. Also, riddle me this: Did you know that in 18th century England there was a tradition that unmarried women could not marry if they were seen in the nude before their vows were taken? It's too bad that the Victorians destroyed their own traditions."

  Sam scowled again. He was having way too much fun. She spoke without thinking. "If it was Adam and you know that I like him, then he saw me naked and you haven't. Shouldn't that upset you?"

  Richard's face contorted in surprise. "In reality Samantha, I would hope that you would be the one upset about Adam seeing you in the buff, as you put it."

  "Attention students, attention. An assembly will be taking place immediately. Again, please assemble in the complex. Please gather with your instructors and proceed to the Central Chamber. Attendance is mandatory for all students."

  The students in the lunchroom started to move, dumping trays, returning plates, and gobbling up what was left of their food. Richard looked down with melancholy at his barely touched lunch.

  "They'd better have a damn good reason for interrupting."

  Sam gathered her stuff, and then she and Richard started down the hall. Richard pulled out his tablet and started tapping away vigorously, the sound drowned out by the chatter of the crowd. Sam gave them all no notice, but continued to ponder the events of the past few months, especially the day that she and Cammie got attacked. Her conversation with Richard had left her wanting and had simply restarted the cognitive process that so many times before had left her irritated and disappointed. She just couldn't leave it alone.

  What bothered her most was the distinct impression anchored within her subconscious that the man who had saved them was Adam. His actions, his body language, everything about their rescuer during that brief interaction was just too familiar. It had to be him. But if it was then why not show himself? Why not take credit for helping them? It didn't make any sense.

  Worse still was the fact that no one, including Cammie and Richard, gave credence to her theories. It ate at her in the most grating of fashions. The whole mess jumbled in her mind whenever she tried to make sense of it.

  Still, she tried to shake the feeling that she was missing something obvious. She couldn't help but believe, somewhere in the pit of her stomach, that these strange feelings were somehow connected to the box she had in her bag. She felt all of this was connected; finding the box, her sudden rise to fame at school, Adam taking notice of her, she and Cammie being attacked; so many random events in such a short time. They all had to be related somehow. But how? And why would she be at the center of it? Sam closed her eyes briefly, centering her thoughts as she clutched the bag to her chest. Richard's increasingly vigorous tapping on his tablet irritated her.

  "Rich can't you do that a little quiet--"

  Sam stopped mid thought. Richard was staring at his screen, his expression one part confusion and one part anger. Richard continued to read with lightning speed. The further he moved down the page, the more his anger and confusion morphed into deep thought. Sam was almost too startled to ask.

  "Rich, what's wrong? Why do you look so upset?"

  "This assembly. It wasn't on the schedule, and they don't have any information on the server indicating its purpose."

  Sam let out a breath of relief. "Is that all? And here I thought you were really mad about something. Not everything goes according to plan, Rich. Someday you're going to have to learn that."

  Richard didn't answer.

  The students pushed through the many sets of double doors leading to the huge centralized auditorium located at the center of Academy City 676. Sam saw that they weren't the only ones being called in for this assembly. All the younger kids were being rounded up as well. More disturbing still was the presence of many unknown men and women. Some of them were in black suits and some in lab coats, but all were mulling around and directing students. Medical and lab equipment were out in abundance, not to mention, though they tried to hide it, many men with guns. And not just any guns. Highly advanced looking guns. Something was not right here.

  The older students were pushed to the outer ring near the walls while the younger ones were herded towards the center. Right smack in the middle of the building a circular stage was erected with nothing on it but a podium and two people. The first Sam recognized: Peter Thomson, the principal of the school and Mayor of Academy City 676. The second was a woman that wore a unique black body suit that fit as if it was tailored to her every curve. It was almost like a black-skinned suit of armor. The woman wasted no time coming to the podium.

  "Shut your traps, you brats."

  The room instantly went silent. Every eye was on the woman. "Now that's better. I have a special assignment here today, and if all goes well, we can exit quickly and quietly. The government has commissioned my company to find something very special and I need your help and cooperat
ion. Can you help me with that?"