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# City of the Falling Sky

# The Seckry Sequence Book 1

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# Joseph Evans

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# Copyright Joseph Evans

# First Published 2011

# Smashwords Edition

# Prologue

# The Xinary

"Dad, look at this one," said Seckry. "It's all squishy and there's something wriggling in it!" He thrust a berry into his father's face.

"That's a bad one," said his father, Pawl. "A worm has burrowed inside."

"Hello, little worm," said Seckry. "Are you enjoying some ellonberry juice?"

"Ubberworms love ellonberries," Pawl said. "You'll find quite a few of them, so we've gotta do a good job of selecting the good ones. We don't want any of them getting cooked in your mum's pie. Imagine your sister's face if she found a worm in her pudding."

Seckry giggled. "She'd go mad, wouldn't she, dad?"

Pawl nodded seriously. He picked a particularly plump berry from one of the bushes, quickly inspected it, then popped it into his mouth.

The taste of ellonberries was like nothing else in the world. Pawl closed his eyes as the soft skin popped between his teeth and the bitter, fruity tang of the juice transformed in his mouth into a rich, sugary syrup.

"Oh yeah," Seckry suddenly remembered. "Mum said you better not eat them all before we get back."

"I won't, I won't," Pawl said defensively.

Seckry placed his basket of berries on the ground and collapsed into the grass with a sigh.

"It's tiring this, ain't it, dad?"

"It is, indeed," Pawl said.

"Am I doing good? I've got loads, haven't I?"

Pawl inspected Seckry's basket. There were twelve berries in total. Seven if he didn't count the ones Seckry had accidentally crushed whilst picking them.

"I know I haven't got as many as you," Seckry said, "but for my age I've got loads, haven't I?"

"I tell you what," Pawl said. "If I had been able to pick that many ellonberries when I was your age, I'd be the best berry picker in the world by now. Hey, I think I found a big bunch of them hidden away at the back here."

Pawl reached into the bush but quickly pulled his hand out.

"Ouch!" he said, "it bit me!"

Seckry laughed.

"Hey! Don't make fun of me."

"You've been telling me all day to be careful, dad. You should have listened to yourself."

Pawl felt his wrist swelling. He unstrapped his watch and laid it on the grass before rubbing a generous helping of cold ointment onto the raw bulge.

As he was doing so, Seckry picked up the watch and examined it closely.

"Dad, what's this under here?"

"Hey, hey, _hey,_ " Pawl said, taking the watch from his son quickly. "You're not supposed to pull that part off."

Seckry had unclipped the main bulk to reveal a disc underneath, a circle of glowing green light that was inscribed with foreign markings.

"But look, dad!" Seckry said. "There's something weird and green there."

"Yes there is. And you're not supposed to have seen it."

"Why not?"

"Because, Seckry, it's something very important. And something that nobody apart from me is supposed to know about."

"What is it, dad?"

Pawl sighed and looked at his son.

"This will have to be a secret between us two, okay? You can't go telling mummy, understood?"

"You know I can keep a secret."

"No you can't!" Pawl laughed. "You told your mum I had got her those earrings for her birthday last year!"

"That was when I was five. I'm six now. I'm more grown up."

"Do you promise not to tell mummy?"

"I promise."

"Well this isn't just a normal watch," Pawl said hesitantly. "It's a very special watch called a xinary. It does something very important for me. It tells your dad that everything is okay."

"How does it do that?" Seckry said curiously.

"Well, you see this secret circle that you found? You see that it's the colour green? That tells me that everything is good, and there's nothing to be afraid of."

"So what happens if it turns a different colour?"

Pawl laughed. "Well, Seckry, you'll be waiting a long time for that to happen."

"Yeah but what happens if it does?"

"Well . . ." Pawl slapped his own leg. "It'd be the end of the world."

Seckry's eyes widened for a moment, before giving his father a suspicious stare.

"Dad!" he said. "Don't be silly."

Pawl laughed and picked his son up.

"There'd be huge explosions, like this!" He made a loud noise and lifted his son high into the air.

Seckry screamed and then giggled.

"No there wouldn't!" he said. "Can I have a . . ." he struggled to pronounce the word, "xinary?"

"No, you can't have a xinary, Seckry."

"Why not? I really want one."

"Because in the whole of the world, only one xinary exists. This one right here."

"Really? That must have cost loads of money if it's the only one."

"Well, Seckry, I didn't buy it. I made it."

Pawl felt the slight coolness of the evening air brush against his face and the sun was now sinking into the grassy horizon behind him.

"Come on, you," he said, ruffling Seckry's hair. "We better get going or your mum will think we've been eaten alive by these bushes."

After a delicious helping of ellonberry pie that evening, Pawl and Coralle Sevenstars put their two children to bed and went to sleep feeling happy.

But at three thirty in the middle of the night, Pawl sat up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily.

What had woken him? The window was open slightly, just as they had left it, and the netting was shimmering gently in the night breeze. He turned to his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She stirred and reached up sleepily to touch her face.

Pawl lay back down and told himself that it must have been the rich food upsetting his stomach. But there was one thing he had to check before going back to sleep.

He lifted his left hand and unclipped the face of his watch.

As he did so, his whole body began prickling with fear.

"Oh, dear Gedin, no," he said to himself.

He rubbed his eyes furiously to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

But there was no mistaking the colour of the xinary.

It was glowing deep, blood red.

# Chapter One

# Estergate High

"Excuse me, sir," Seckry asked. "Is this the stop for Estergate High?" He clutched a hand rail and nearly toppled over as the rickety monorail he was riding to his new school suddenly veered to the left.

The man sitting opposite him rolled his eyes.

"No, it's not the stop for Estergate High. Like I told you five stops ago, I'll tell you when it's the stop for Estergate High."

"Yeah, right, thanks," Seckry said as his backpack nearly slid out of his grip and onto the lap of an elderly lady.

It was Seckry's first day at his new high school in the city of Skyfall, and he was already more than a little overwhelmed. The monorail had taken them through a winding maze of high rise buildings and dimly lit tunnels and they had even passed through what seemed to be someone's living room at one point, but as it sped around another corner, Seckry blinked in amazement.

The buildings on either side of the tracks had opened up and the entire expanse of the city was now visible. It was gigantic; a vast, circular, living thing with a cluster of tall structures at its centre. The early morning sun was rising behind them, casting a pink and orange haze, and a couple of blimps were hanging sluggishly in the air.

As he admired the view, something caught his eye. It was a long, white tower, just to the right of the city centre, jutting into the clouds and engraved with some kind of logo. Seckry had to strain to read it, but as he did so, his stomach churned.

Endrin Corp.

It was the headquarters of the Endrin Corporation, a scientific research company that Seckry had come to despise over the past six months.

Two years ago it had been discovered that Seckry's hometown, the quiet village of Marne, had been sitting on a pocket of unstable energy. There had been government talks and meetings and arguments about the extraction of it, and there had inevitably been protests from the people of Marne, but a year and a half later it was officially announced that Endrin were to be setting up an extraction site right at the heart of the village.

Seckry remembered the letter they had received from the government.

'In the best interests of the people of Marne,' it had said. 'The village is no longer a safe place to reside. All residents will be evacuated and given sufficient accommodation in neighbouring cities.'

And so it was that Seckry, his mum, and his sister had been forced out of their home and sent to the east partition of Skyfall, while all of Seckry's friends had either been sent to other, smaller cities, or to one of the three other Skyfall partitions, the north, the west and the south.

They had only been in the city for one night, and Seckry was already missing home terribly. He missed the cobbled streets of the village, the town clock at the centre, the ellonberry fields, his friend, Busbee Knowles, and his house. But most of all, he missed his bedroom.

He had woken up numerous times last night and tried to reach for his bedside table before realising that it was no longer beside him, and that he was no longer in the home that he knew.

The monorail swerved to the right and Seckry gripped the handle he was clutching onto even tighter. He peered out of the window. Was his new school really this far away from his flat?

Sitting a few seats away was a tall boy with spiky black hair and pierced ears. Seckry guessed he was about the same age as himself, fourteen, and hoped he was heading to Estergate too, that way Seckry could follow him. Seckry would have asked the boy if that's where he was heading, but he was wearing a chunky set of headphones and was bobbing his head emotively, with his eyes closed.

Before Seckry had time to contemplate getting the boy's attention, there was a deafening screech and the monorail slowed to a halt. An enormous contemporary building made of glass and wood flooded into view.

The entrance to the place was swarming with teenagers of all ages and a large plaque just outside the carriage read:

Estergate Institute of Higher Education

Where Excellence Excels

The man opposite Seckry turned to him and said, "This is the stop for–"

" _I got it,_ " Seckry cut in politely. "Thanks."

As he stepped off the carriage he lost sight of the spiky haired boy, but that didn't matter now, the monorail had delivered him right to the school's entrance.

Seckry had never seen anything like it. It was a million miles away from his old, quiet school in Marne.

The main gates, at which Seckry was standing, opened out into a wide courtyard with a statue at its centre, and beyond that lay the main building, which was shaped like a huge, oval tube, with random glass corridors poking out of it here and there and leading to other, equally oddly shaped classrooms and offices.

After making his way through the swarms of pupils gathered outside the main entrance, Seckry approached the reception desk and told them his name and that he was a new starter. A couple of phone calls were made, and a few moments later, a friendly faced teacher with heavily rimmed glasses appeared from one of the corridors.

"Mr Sevenstars?" she said brightly.

Seckry nodded tentatively.

"Welcome to Estergate Institute." She gave him a warm smile and shook his hand. "My name is Mrs Furrowfog. Now, if you'd just like to follow me down the corridor here where we can have a quick chat before introducing you to Mr Gobbledee, the headmaster."

Seckry followed her into a classroom where she picked up an already made mug of coffee and took a sip.

"Have a seat, Seckraman, have a seat. So, you've come from Marne, just south of here, is that right?"

"That's right," Seckry said. "It's about an hour's train journey away."

"Yes, I visited there once," Mrs Furrowfog said happily. "Lovely place, Marne."

"Really?" Seckry said, brightening up.

"That gorgeous old town clock in the centre, and the cobbled streets. Oh, and the fields and fields of ellonberry bushes. Such a shame what's happening to it with this extraction site."

"Yeah," Seckry said. "Yeah it is." The thought of Marne right now was threatening to make him cry with homesickness, but he knew he had to hold it in and keep his composure. Skyfall City was where he was going to be living now, as much as he'd like to deny it, and this school, Estergate High, was where he was going to be spending the next four years.

Mrs Furrowfog must have realised she had touched a sore point as she smiled apologetically and changed the topic.

"I'm sure you'll come to love Skyfall over time. So many exciting things here for someone your age. So many possibilities and dreams. Have you tried Maldo's famous melted chocolate and seven syrup ice cream yet?"

"Uh . . . no, I haven't," Seckry said.

"Best ice cream in the world, and you can only get it here in Skyfall."

"I'll have to look out for that," Seckry noted. "Thanks."

Mrs Furrowfog smiled and took another sip of coffee.

"It takes everyone a while to settle in to somewhere new. If you ever need to chat, that's what I'm here for, okay?"

"Thank you," Seckry said, and he meant it.

The door opened and a small man with grey, wispy hair, a bulbous nose, and a pair of round spectacles hobbled in, looking slightly flustered and confused.

"Ah, headmaster," said Mrs Furrowfog, setting down her mug. "This is Seckraman Sevenstars. The pupil from Marne we've been expecting."

"Yes," muttered the headmaster, "Oh right . . . uh, Merrinda, have you seen my tie around here anywhere?"

"I'm afraid I haven't, headmaster," Mrs Furrowfog said, but the headmaster didn't seem to be listening, he was more interested in pulling out drawers, lifting up chairs and peering at the empty space with a suspicious frown.

"Right you are, right you are."

"Anyway, this is the pupil we've been expecting, headmaster, Mr Seckraman Seven–"

"Coffee!" blurted the headmaster. "I haven't had my morning coffee. How could I have forgotten?"

"I'll make you one while you're chatting to Seckraman, headmaster, there's no need to worry. Now Seckraman arrived yesterday and he–"

"Dear Gedin and ghastly Gainstop!" said the headmaster in exasperation. "What on earth is that?"

He was staring at a plant on the classroom's desk as though it was about to leap at him and wrap its vines around his neck.

"It's a Pintheus Maletonus plant from the school greenhouse . . . um, Mr Gobbledee," Mrs Furrowfog said suspiciously, tilting her head to one side. "Have you remembered to take your special medicine this morning?"

"Of course I have, Merrinda! Don't be silly now. Do you know what would happen if I didn't take my – wait! Come to think of it, I may have forgotten to. Yes. In fact, I am quite certain that I did not take my special medicine this morning." He stuck his hands to his hips and said, "Well that settles that!" with an air of finality.

Mrs Furrowfog turned to Seckry and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Excuse me for one moment. I'll be as quick as I can." She left the room and closed the door behind her.

Seckry felt incredibly uncomfortable. He was alone in a room with his new headmaster, who seemed to be either drunk, mentally unstable, or a combination of the two. He swallowed heavily and tried to avoid the headmaster's gaze.

"Is that you, Fellibrund?" the headmaster said, peering at Seckry with one eye closed and the other bulging out of its socket.

"No. My name's Seckry," Seckry said nervously.

"Oh . . . right. Yes of course. What am I thinking? Fellibrund died seven years ago."

There was a moment of silence before the headmaster burst into hysterical laughter. Seckry clutched his hands together and hoped that Mrs Furrowfog was going to return any minute.

As the headmaster nearly fell face first onto the classroom floor in fits of giggling, Mrs Furrowfog entered holding a blue flask.

"Here, here, Allon, I've brought you some of your special medicine, okay? I'm going to give you this cup and you're going to drink it, okay?"

She poured some luminous blue liquid into the cup and the smell of it hit Seckry within seconds. It made his eyes water. It was like paint stripper.

"You're killing me, Merrinda!" the headmaster laughed, slapping his leg and shaking his head.

"Come on now, Allon, how about a sip, eh?" Mrs Furrowfog held the cup to the headmaster's lips and rubbed his back with her other hand.

He stopped laughing and sniffed the air. "Something smells rotten in here," he said, and snatched it from her before downing the bright liquid in three huge gulps, throwing the empty cup across the room, then seizing up like a wooden plank and dropping to the floor.

Mrs Furrowfog sighed.

"Seckry, is that what you'd prefer to be called, for short?"

"Yeah, everyone calls me Seckry."

"Seckry, I'm so sorry you had to see that."

Seckry waved it away. "It's fine. Uh . . . Is he okay?"

"Mr Gobbledee will be up and about in a few moments and back to normal again."

Seckry stared at the lifeless headmaster uncomfortably.

"What was, uh . . . what was wrong with him?"

"Mr Gobbledee has a very rare medical condition. It's not something that is widely discussed with pupils so I can't comment on it further, but I regret that you had to see your headmaster in this fashion. Especially on your first day."

"It's no problem, honestly," Seckry said, and he could see that the headmaster's eyes were opening.

There was a groan and the headmaster sat up sluggishly, looking around the classroom.

"Oh Merrinda," he said, devastated. "I wasn't . . . ?"

Mrs Furrowfog nodded quickly and helped him into a chair.

"Oh, dear me, I am so sorry. And who do we have here?"

"My name's Seckraman, sir."

"Very nice to meet you, Seckraman," said the headmaster, and then quietly he whispered, " _Did the boy see everything, Merrinda?"_

" _I'm afraid so,"_ Mrs Furrowfog whispered back.

The headmaster patted his chest searchingly. "Good heavens, I haven't even put on my tie." He pulled a bright red tie from his trouser pocket and fastened it around his neck.

# Chapter Two

# Late for Cutson

"It's very unusual for somebody to name their son Seckraman, isn't it?" said the headmaster, curiously.

"Yes it is," Seckry replied, hoping that the headmaster wasn't about to crack some terrible joke.

Seckry had been born with his left eye slightly greener than his hazel coloured right eye, exactly like the ancient descriptions of Seckraman, the son of Gedin the Almighty, which was why his mum had given him the name. He had been teased about it at school when he was younger which was why he asked everyone to call him Seckry nowadays.

"It's a shame there aren't more Seckramans around, I say. Fantastic name, very majestic. Now, down to business."

Mr Gobbledee flicked through a heap of papers, pulled his glasses to the tip of his nose, and peered at one of the sheets.

"Seckraman Sevenstars, here we are. So it seems that you have, until this point, been studying the subjects of mathematics, science, literacy, geography, art, and history, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"I see. Dear me, the limitations of these poor schools . . ." He shook his head, smiling briefly. "Well, at least you'll have the basics. I'm sure you'll pick things up fairly quickly. I daresay with a surname like Sevenstars you'll be a dab hand at astronomy."

"Astronomy?" Seckry said uncertainly.

"Astronomy indeed. Just one of the new subjects you'll be undertaking here at Estergate Institute. You're in Skyfall now, my boy. We're governed under the Skyfall Board of Education, and that means we're on the XL-Ent curriculum, where excellence excels."

Seckry suddenly felt a surge of panic. He didn't have a clue about astronomy. How would he ever be able to catch up to the other pupils?

"What other new subjects will I be studying, sir?" he asked nervously.

"Well, let's see now, there's genetics, psychoanalysis, ethnology, osmology, animal care, oh and immunology, hydrology, geoarchaeology amongst others."

"Excuse me?" Seckry said meekly. He had never even heard of most of those words.

"Oh, and I'm sure you'll love botany," the headmaster said brightly. "My personal favourite of the bunch."

"Botany? Is that the study of flowers? Sir, I know literally nothing about flowers, how will I–"

"Seckry, there's no need to worry. I firmly believe that you will be able to pick these subjects up and, in time, become great at at least one of them. I know it may come as a shock to you to have all this new information to learn, but you are not the first to have moved to Skyfall halfway through their education, and you will not be the last. There have been many others before you and almost all of them have succeeded in adapting to our educational system. It really is the best in the world. Yes, Rudaby Simmsworth was the last to have joined us half way through. Very successful nanophysicist now."

Seckry wasn't sure about this. A nanophysicist? Where would you start?

"Many years ago the schools in Skyfall operated just like your old school back in Marne," the headmaster continued. "There was no system to speak of, just your basic, plain old subjects. But over time we set up the board of education to make sure our pupils here in Skyfall were the most intelligent, most skilled, most adept young prospects in the world."

Mr Gobbledee looked at his watch with a raised eyebrow.

"Now, I've talked for quite long enough. Let's have a look at your timetable." He traced his finger over the paper. "Monday . . . nine thirty . . . electronics with Mrs Cutson . . . Oh dear."

"Oh dear?"

"I mean . . ." Gobbledee stammered. The blood seemed to be draining out of his face. "Yes, electronics with Mrs Cutson, how wonderful! I . . . uh . . . have to rush off, I'm afraid, but if you return to reception, the secretary will be sure to point you in the direction of Mrs Cutson's class."

Seckry was ushered out through the doorway and Mr Gobbledee gave him a firm handshake before glancing around wildly, wiping his forehead with a tissue, and disappearing down the corridor.

"Don't tell me you got Cut Throat Cutson for your first class," said the secretary, a young woman with tied back hair and a fluffy pen in her hand.

"That's what it says on my timetable," Seckry said nervously.

"Unlucky, man. Well she's down in the electro-quarter, you know where that is?"

"Nope."

"Okay, you gotta take the first right past the sliding doors, head down towards the training facility, then you take the pneumatic pods and follow the signs for the electronics unit. Got that?"

"Uh, yeah. Think so. Thanks." Seckry headed off and heard the secretary shout, "Whatever you do, don't be late for Cut Throat!"

Seckry looked at his watch. It was almost half past nine. Why had the headmaster looked so ill at the mention of Mrs Cutson? And even more worryingly, why was she referred to as Cut Throat?

As he passed the training facility, Seckry made a note to himself. He just had to take the pneumatic pods now, whatever they were.

In front of him was a circular set of metal doors.

A gangly boy with long, spiky, black hair rushed past Seckry and slammed his open palms onto the shiny surface.

"Open up!" he said desperately, and started banging the blue circle next to them repeatedly with his fist.

It was only then that Seckry realised it was the same boy that he had seen on the monorail that morning.

"Are these the pneumatic pods?" Seckry asked him.

"Yep," said the boy. "Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!"

"Are you heading for the electronics quarter?"

"Yep. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on!"

"Mrs Cutson's class?" Seckry asked.

"Yep. Come on, come on, come on, come, on, come on!"

The boy gripped his own head and shouted, "For the love of Gedin, get your pneumatic butt up here!"

"Don't worry, I'm gonna be late too," Seckry said, to console him slightly.

The boy looked at his watch with a pained expression and squeezed his one eye shut.

" _Tick,_ " he said dramatically, and let his arms slump to his side. "That's it," he sighed. "Doesn't matter if you're one hour late or one minute late. If you're late for Cutson's then you're gonna pay."

He looked at Seckry as though he'd only just noticed him.

"Did you say you were looking for Cutson's class too?"

"Yeah, it's my first day at Estergate."

"Your first day at Estergate and you got Cutson for your first lesson? Bad luck, man. Well, at least you'll get meeting her over and done with early on. I had to wait a day and a half before my first electronics lesson and man, did it come as a shock."

"Is she really that bad?"

The boy nodded grimly.

There was a pleasant electronic _bing_ and the metal doors slid open with ease.

"After you," said the boy, and Seckry stepped inside.

The pneumatic pod was a giant, curved, glass cylinder which was facing diagonally downwards and was filled with twelve rows of seats.

Seckry looked all around him. Outside of the pod he could see the inner circle of the school.

"Wow, there's a garden in the centre," he said.

"The Central Plaza? Yeah, nice place to have a packed lunch if the weather's good. Gotta be quick though, the benches fill up within five minutes of the lunch bell ringing."

As the pod began descending, their natural light disappeared and was replaced by the warm orange glow of circular light spheres that were implanted into the walls around them.

"So what's your name?" said the boy, slumping into one of the seats and putting his feet up on the chair in front.

"Seckry," Seckry said.

"Nice to meet you. Name's Tenk Binko."

"Why are you late?" Seckry asked.

"I had to hand in some overdue genetics homework and then got caught up chatting to some friends in the year above for too long," Tenk explained.

"What do you think Cutson will do to us for being late?"

Tenk sighed. "Well, it all depends on whether the old hag's pet gimmypug is eating his lifferleaf again or not. If he's still on that bloody hunger strike she's gonna be livid. Otherwise she'll just be her usual miserable self."

"Gimmypug? What's that?"

"You never heard of a gimmypug? Where you from, man?"

"Marne. Just south."

"Really? Never met anyone from down there. You don't have gimmypugs there?"

"No, never heard of them," Seckry said, feeling more and more clueless by the minute.

"Well, the city started importing them from either Cavaria or Gotland a few years ago, can't remember which. You haven't missed out on anything. The little fat things just sit around all day and make these weird burping noises. If you ask me, the reason they're so miserable is because they've been shipped over and stuck in these cages. They're supposed to be running wild in the fields. Cutson calls hers Peanut, but I call him Pugface. Hasn't been eating properly for two weeks now. I reckon he's hoping she'll take him to the vets, then he's gonna make a run for it. If I was him, I'd do the same. Must be like living hell having to sit in that cage looking at Cutson's ugly mug all day." Tenk suddenly started laughing. "Oh man, we think _we're_ in trouble, but my mate Tippian, he ain't even gonna make it to the lesson at all. He's been chatting to this girl online for a few weeks and last night he was up until about four in the morning messaging away. He wants me to tell Cutson he's ill. The guy's gonna get slaughtered."

The pneumatic pod came to a controlled stop and the doors slid open with a hiss. Beyond was a corridor that smelled of chemicals and was flickering from a loosely wired tube light.

"Follow me," Tenk said.

# Chapter Three

# A Tiny Tinge of Excitement

"Brace yourself," Tenk said miserably, and he slowly opened the door to B12.

Seckry was imagining the room to be silent, and for him and Tenk to have to explain themselves in front of this dreaded Mrs Cutson, but to his surprise, and Tenk's, the class was alive with chatter.

"She's not here . . ." Tenk said in disbelief. He turned around to Seckry and grabbed him excitedly. "She's not here! We're not in trouble!"

" _Who is not here?_ " came a sharp voice from the corridor that cut through the commotion like a guillotine.

Tenk's eyes widened. "Quick!"

Tenk and Seckry shot across the room and landed in a couple of seats towards the back, and everyone else flung themselves into their own seats. A mid-flight paper aeroplane hovered dangerously close to Cutson's desk before someone grabbed it and stuffed it into their pocket.

Through the door came a frail looking middle aged woman with a skewed grin, holding a cage by its handle with a plump, furry creature inside which must have been her gimmypug.

She eyed each pupil individually before plonking the gimmypug in front of her and sitting at her desk. Seckry thought that her eyes lingered for slightly longer on him than the others.

"I see we have one missing," she said, and her voice was thin and cold. "Mr Tippian Furst. Has he decided that education was finally beyond him and left to work in a . . . _shop_ all his life?"

"He's really ill, miss," Tenk said. "Last night he was vomiting everywhere. He's really sick." He leaned closer to Seckry and whispered, _"Lovesick, that is."_

Mrs Cutson stared at Tenk with that lopsided grin still on her face. It looked very unnatural, as if her skin were being pulled into some awkward position. She eventually turned around without saying anything, and on the whiteboard she wrote 'The Importance of Transistors in Electronic Circuits.'

"Copy the board," she demanded in a stern tone. She began scribbling at an incredibly fast speed in miniature writing.

" _I hate copying from a board. I switch off completely,"_ Seckry whispered to Tenk.

"Me too."

Nevertheless, Seckry began noting down, his writing becoming scruffier and scruffier as he struggled to keep up with Mrs Cutson's furious notation. It wasn't long, however, before Tenk was tapping on Seckry's arm and pointing towards his bag under the desk.

" _Have_ _you got your avatar with you?_ " Tenk whispered.

" _My what?_ " Seckry whispered back.

" _Your avatar._ "

Seckry frowned. He had heard the word avatar before; it was the name given to digital versions of people in 3D chat rooms and online forums, but he had no idea how he was supposed to be carrying one on him.

The boy blinked very slowly. " _You know about Friction, surely?_ "

Seckry had nothing to go on. He shrugged his shoulders.

" _Wow. Have you been living in a cave all your life? Friction is like . . . the biggest thing ever. In Skyfall at least. Don't they have Friction in Marne?_ "

" _No, what is it?_ " Seckry asked.

" _It's a game. But it's not just any game. It's the best game ever. And I'm pretty much the best player in the whole city. Well . . . maybe not the whole city. But definitely the best player in my district. Although Lessana wouldn't agree with that. But screw Lessana._ "

" _Who's Lessana?_ "

" _Lessana's like, the original player of Friction. No one's ever beaten her in a direct duel but people don't take into account the team battles._ "

Seckry was aware that he had lost track of Mrs Cutson's lecture, but this game sounded much more interesting.

The boy looked up at Mrs Cutson, who had her cardigan-covered back facing the class, then quickly whipped out a small, flat object from his bag. It was the size of a paperback book, but thinner, with a couple of buttons at the bottom and an LCD screen.

" _This, here . . ._ " he pressed a touch sensitive circle on the device, " _is Basher, my avatar._ "

A digital creature appeared on screen, and waved at the two boys. It was a blue ogre, with big, muscular arms, a small head with a few missing teeth, and most notably, a pair of pink fluffy slippers on his feet.

" _He's in 'recreational mode' right now,_ " Tenk said. " _Those blummin' slippers . . . the programmers must have had a right laugh when they were making him. But when he's in 'action mode' they disappear._ "

The creature was beaming at them like an escaped inmate, his teeth (what little there was of them) dripping with saliva. It reminded Seckry of his distant aunt Pennypinkle.

" _I'm saving up for a new creature,_ " Tenk muttered, covering the screen with his hand momentarily so the beast couldn't see him.

" _So how do you play Friction?_ " Seckry asked. " _Does Basher . . . bash other people's creatures up?_ "

" _Man . . ._ " Tenk shook his head. " _I can't believe there are people out there that don't know anything about Friction. I've got a lot to teach you. But we can't do it here, I'll take you to a booth one day._ "

Seckry and Tenk had both been staring at Basher under the desk, and neither of them had noticed Mrs Cutson's shaky form appear in front of them.

"Gentlemen," she said.

Seckry jumped in his seat and his pencil nearly went flying out of his hand.

Mrs Cutson waited in silence for them to regain their composure.

"Intrigued by the wonders of technology, are we?" She looked at Seckry with that faint, false smile. She had seen the avatar.

"Wonderful isn't it? To come from nothing, to . . . this. A few years ago we wouldn't have allowed someone like yourself to live here. Some would have called you an outlander, a farm boy."

So she knew who he was and that he had come from Marne, even though she hadn't bothered to introduce herself to him. But what was she getting at?

"Of course, now we have the Outsider Initiative. We welcome . . . _people like you_."

She sputtered the words 'people like you' as if she was about to choke on her own bile.

It was then that Mrs Cutson's absurd smile fell comfortably into what seemed like its natural position – a lopsided grimace, her bottom lip poking out like some bulbous blood sack on a hanging piece of ham.

"You're a fool to think you can come into our city and have the _audacity_ to be rude to a teacher on your first day." Her watery eyes narrowed into bloodshot slits. "And with all the financial help our government gives you."

Seckry began to feel adrenaline firing around his body. Financial help? It was the city that had forced his mum to move here. If the Endrin Corporation had just left Marne alone they wouldn't have had to leave. He felt like standing up and walking out, but his mum would've killed him if he had. So instead, he hung his head down and hoped she'd just carry on with the lesson, releasing his anger by squeezing his pencil underneath the desk so hard that it snapped.

When the lesson had finished, Seckry could barely remember what had been said. His mind had been racing. He had never been spoken to like that by a teacher back in Marne. He had never felt so unwanted and embarrassed in his life.

"That was way out of order, that was," Tenk said, as they rode the pneumatic pod back up to the ground floor. "She doesn't even know you, and she goes off like that, saying about how you should be grateful and all." He was shaking his head.

"Are there many people in the city who don't like outsiders moving in?" Seckry asked miserably.

"Not really, it's just this cow. Besides, you're practically city folk anyway. You can almost see Marne from the top floor window of the library, for Gedin's sake! What would she be like if someone crossed the Phary Ocean to enrol here? She'd have a heart attack."

The canteen was one of the numerous separate buildings to the right of the school that was linked to it via a transparent corridor. As they arrived, Seckry stopped in awe and all his thoughts of Mrs Cutson vanished.

The canteen was unlike anything Seckry had ever seen in his life. The most notable thing about the place was that a huge conveyer belt was snaking its way around the building, and was filled with plates of food, all of them covered with translucent domes. Seckry watched the food going past him and was sure he spotted something moving in one of them.

"Pretty cool, huh?" said Tenk. "You just take whatever you want and you pay for it later."

They sat at a couple of stools and Tenk reached over the table, snatching a plate from the conveyer belt that was filled with pasta and meatballs. Seckry watched a few go by until he spotted one with some fish and chips and a wedge of lemon inside, which he whipped off and began eating.

"How would anyone know if we just decided not to pay for this?" Seckry asked. "We could just walk out of here with a free meal."

"Believe me," Tenk said, after slurping a string of spaghetti. "People have tried. But there's some kind of scanning device in the ceiling, it clocks your student ID number and tracks what items you've taken from the belt. If you try to walk out without paying, this electromagnetic thing stops you. It's like walking into an invisible brick wall."

"The conveyer belt is pretty fast," Seckry noted, as he watched more plates of food go by.

"Yeah they've been having trouble with the speed settings recently, I think. It's probably on the blink. Or maybe it's just never recovered from Callam Butchon's prank last year."

"What did he do?"

"He got into the back somehow and cranked the speed up to max. You can imagine the mess. The teachers were frantic. They couldn't tell if it was blood or pasta sauce they were cleaning up."

There was a short musical fanfare from the other side of the canteen and the shouts of, "Yes! I won!"

Seckry glanced over and saw a young boy jumping up and down in front of what seemed to be some kind of crane arcade machine.

"Oh no," Tenk said. "He's gonna be so sorry."

"What do you mean? What is that thing?" Seckry asked.

"That's Food Grabber," Tenk explained. "You catch the plastic balls inside and they're full of different items of food. But if you're wise you'll never touch that thing."

"Really?" said Seckry. "It looks like fun."

"Trust me. They all get sucked into it. All the first years. Just be glad that you've got me to ward you away from it."

"What's so bad about it?"

"Well, to begin with, the crane is rigged so that it never closes properly around the balls. And when it does, which is like about ten percent of the time, you pretty much always get a Nasty."

"A Nasty?"

"Yep. They put these joke ones in there called Nasties that look like ordinary food but certainly don't taste like ordinary food. There's supposed to be a random one here and there but I reckon more than half the balls in there are Nasties."

"Have you ever had a Nasty?"

"Yep. Back in my first year when I was just as gullible as the rest of them. It was a slice of cheesecake. I was so pleased I had won something that I scoffed the thing down without even stopping to smell the stench that was coming from it. After spending three days worth of lunch money on it, who would?"

"What did it taste like?"

"Like beef gravy."

"Oh," Seckry said, his stomach churning slightly.

"I just think of myself as lucky actually. At least I didn't get a chili sandwich. Seen a few of those come out of that thing. Poor first year kid had to be taken to hospital after one of those."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yep."

The slowly chewing face of the triumphant first year over the other side of the building had now transformed from a gleeful smile into horrified realisation.

Tenk craned his head to see.

"Ooh!" he said, cringing, as though he was feeling the first year's pain. "Looks like that was a . . . horseradish muffin."

When Seckry and Tenk had both finished their meals they paid for them at a coin operated booth and returned to the main building.

"So what part of the city did you move to?" Tenk asked as they were walking.

"We got a flat here in the east partition. It's in a place called Kerik Square. You know it?"

"You're kidding me? That's where I live," said Tenk, exasperatedly.

"Really? Which block are you in?"

"Block seventeen, third floor. How about you?"

"I think it's block twenty two."

"Man, we'll have to catch the monorail to school together tomorrow. We must have been on the same one this morning but in different carriages."

"Actually, I saw you this morning," Seckry admitted. "You had your headphones on and you seemed to be enjoying the music."

"Oh, yeah . . . I was listening to Graveturner. You heard of them? They're this doom metal band that's just burst onto the scene. One of the tracks on their new album is a two hour long epic. It's insane."

"Haven't heard of them," Seckry said. "I mostly listen to a band called The Broken Motion."

"The Broken Motion? You've got good taste. The Broken Motion are awesome."

Seckry smiled. The Broken Motion were his favourite band of all time, and he'd never met anyone who'd even heard of them, never mind liked them too.

Their next lesson was geography with a gentle, old fashioned man named Mr Pegglewim who appeared to be in his fifties from a distance, but was actually only in his early thirties. It didn't take long for Seckry to realise that he didn't have much control over the class and as soon as the first paper aeroplane had been thrown into the air, it was just a downhill spiral into complete chaos. By the end of the lesson, the poor man had looked close to tears, with an ink stamp floating in his coffee and a giant drawing of an anarchy symbol on his whiteboard which someone had actually signed at the bottom.

Their last lesson of the day was inverse mathematics with a professor named Cookrook, but Seckry just wanted to go home. As much as he was enjoying Tenk's company, he was missing Marne like crazy. He just wanted to go back to his old living room and chill out on his sofa watching the TV. He hated maths enough in his old school. Now he was dreading it.

Their room was locked, so a small queue had formed in the corridor. Seckry and Tenk were just in front of a big, awkward looking boy with unfocussed eyes and a mouth that hung slightly open from the weight of his chin. Another kid with a ton of freckles and a chunk missing from his right ear seemed to be harassing him.

"Oi, Conker, what you drooling at?"

There was no response.

"Looking at my missus, is it? Think you can have a piece? Got no chance mate."

The large boy named Conker looked away.

"Don't roll your eyes at me."

"I didn't." Conker's voice was guttural and heavy compared to the freckly faced fast talker's.

"Yeah you did, I saw you. Don't think you can cheek me. Why'd they call you Conker anyway?"

There was silence.

"You deaf? I said why'd they call you Conker?"

The boy huffed. Evidently, he had to put up with this quite often.

"Just leave him be, Snibble," said Tenk.

"Shut it, Friction head. I can do what I want."

Seckry recognised this Snibble boy's face from Mrs Cutson's class, but he had been silent during that along with everyone else.

Snibble was trying to hold a girl but she was pushing him away and slapping his arms, saying, "I ain't your missus, Snibble, you can carry on dreaming."

"Stupid cow," Snibble said vehemently, and pushed her back.

After a few moments, a teacher appeared with a clipboard.

"Mr Cookrook is very sorry but he cannot make it today. You're all free to leave, although I'd advise you to use the time wisely and head to the resource centre to do some work of your own accord."

A couple of kids cheered, and everyone began swarming out of the corridors. Seckry felt like cheering himself. That was it. He had got through his first day.

When Seckry and Tenk reached the gates, someone was waiting.

"Tipps!" said Tenk. "What you doing here? If Cutson sees you you're doomed! Oh yeah, Tippian, Seckry, Seckry, Tippian."

"Nice to meet you," Seckry said.

Tippian was a frail looking boy with heavily magnified, round glasses, shorter than Seckry, and with hair so fair it was almost white.

"I had to show you this new mechapack I got for Apocalyptia," Tippian said to Tenk. "My dad gave me ten notes. Check it out." He pulled an avatar from his backpack.

"What did your dad give you ten notes for? You didn't tell him you needed it for a geography trip again, did you?"

"Nah, for helping him fix his computer. He thought the thing was broken, but all I needed to do was disable this dodgy driver he'd installed. Some third party networking thing for his work that was just really badly programmed. So, you a Friction player?" Tippian asked Seckry.

"He will be soon," Tenk answered. "I'm gonna train him up." He turned to Seckry. "If you need any advice on upgrades, Tippian's your man. This freak has got everything catalogued in his head, he's like a walking Friction encyclopaedia."

"He's right. And if you need any . . . you know . . ." Tippian winked, "Specially modified items, just give me a call."

Seckry looked at Tenk for an explanation, but Tenk looked furious.

"I haven't even got him playing yet and you're trying to sell him illegal items." He turned to Seckry. "Don't listen to him, it won't do you any good buying any of that homemade crap, it's all banned in the official tournaments and it's really heavily regulated so no one can cheat."

"No homemade crap," Seckry noted.

"And anyway," Tenk said to Tippian. "Since when have you got time to be building black market items? I thought you had a girlfriend now."

"Not anymore," Tippian replied. "She dumped me last night. I made the mistake of sending her a real photo of me. She took one look at it and signed herself off Messenger. Looks like she's blocked my IP address as well so I can never try to chat to her again."

"Ah, sorry man." Tenk slapped him on the shoulder. "So, you gonna go back to scanning in those catalogue pics of male models?"

"Yeah, maybe," said Tippian, looking dejected.

After showing off his new avatar equipment to Tenk, Tippian decided to make his way back to his own district and Seckry and Tenk caught the monorail home together.

"I live in that block, just over there," Tenk pointed, as they reached the rusty old fountain that was situated in the centre of their square. "And the arcade is just there, right on our doorstep. I spend more time in the arcade than I do at home. They've got two Friction pods for training. They're pretty old and battered now and one of the doors is hanging loose but they do the job. Anyways, catch you tomorrow."

The flat was empty when Seckry got in, but a message had been left on the fridge for him.

There's some food left over for you – low fat vegetable pie. Mum bought some doughnuts but I chucked them away – they're full of chemically altered fat! If you want some dessert there's yoghurt in here and fruit in the bowl.

Leena x

She threw away doughnuts? Why was she always doing that? Seckry would have loved a doughnut right now. His sister was a health extremist, although she insisted she was perfectly normal. She was always ripping food out of their hands and telling them not to eat this because there were chemicals in it or not to eat that because it was linked to some rare disease. All Seckry really cared about was whether it tasted good or not.

He reheated his sister's pie and put The Broken Motion's latest CD on, setting the player to repeat tracks 2 and 5, his favourites of the album. Hearing their music reminded him of home and he found himself welling up. It was strange how music could do that. It was the chorus of track 5 that did it, as soon as it kicked in, vivid images of his bedroom back in Marne flashed into his mind and smells and tastes attacked his senses; his mum's cooking, the carpets, the fabric conditioner, the sticky tack on his walls.

It wasn't long before his mum, Coralle, came through the door, followed by Leena. Back in Marne, they had both been working for the same printing company, and had both been allowed to transfer to the city's branch when they had moved.

"Hello, my love," his mum said affectionately. "So, was it as bad as you imagined?"

"Hmm," Seckry thought. "I'll get used to it." He knew his mum had tried everything she could to keep them in Marne, it wasn't her fault they had to move, and he didn't want her to feel guilty.

Leena slapped her satchel onto the settee.

"You'll never believe what I just saw, Seck. A kid, about this high, he must've been about ten, and he had a cigarette in his mouth!" She stared at him incredulously.

"Thanks for the food," said Seckry.

Leena was too outraged to respond.

They spent the rest of the evening playing a board game in the living area whilst their mum watched some television. It was about eleven o'clock when Seckry found himself struggling to keep his eyelids open.

He said goodnight and entered his new bedroom. It smelled different from his room back home and it had a strange ambience that he couldn't put his finger on, but he just hoped that one day he'd get used to it.

Before pulling his curtains together, Seckry gazed out over the hazy, colourful nightscape.

It was buzzing with activity, even at this time of night. There were fire jugglers dancing through the alleyways, animated neon lights advertising shops, a few fireworks exploding in the sky, and one of the giant blimps he had seen in the morning, floating sluggishly through the smog. There was an electronic sign flashing on the blimp's body that projected in huge letters a familiar word:

Friction

The Mega Meltdown returns this winter!

Prepare for battle

Friction? Event? Seckry realised this Friction thing wasn't just some game. This was a sport.

He closed his curtains and went to sleep feeling exhausted and homesick. But somewhere, deep inside of him, was a tiny tinge of excitement.

# Chapter Four

# Snibble Knotting

Seckry was dreaming that he was in a field. The air was lazy and warm and filled with the scent of ellonberries. Somebody was picking them nearby. As he approached, the man turned his head towards Seckry.

"Dad . . ." Seckry said.

"How many berries have you got now, Seckry?"

"Dad . . . Where have you been?"

"What do you mean, Seck? I've been here with you."

"Dad, I haven't seen you for nine years."

His dad turned to look the other way. There was a sound coming from the distance. It was the sound of somebody singing.

Seckry's eyes flickered open. It took him a moment to remember that he wasn't in Marne anymore. He was in the new flat. He was in Skyfall City.

As he came to consciousness he realised that the singing was real and it was coming from outside of his window. It was a surreal sound; high pitched and melodic, and it seemed to be reverberating through the metallic framework of his building. He fumbled for his watch and checked the time. 3:15am. He got up and peeked through the curtains.

Down in the square, sitting on the rim of the rusty, dry fountain, was a woman, rocking herself from side to side and singing a lullaby. She was dressed in a nightgown and she looked in her fifties. Seckry sat on his windowsill and watched her for a while, trying to think why she'd be out there so late, but his head began to drop after half an hour and he slumped back onto his bed, drifting into oblivion.

As Seckry brushed his teeth that morning he almost spat a mouthful of toothpaste at the mirror. Today was his birthday! With all the stress and upheaval of moving, it had gone right to the back of his mind. A flood of excitement shot through him and he pelted into the living area.

"Happy birthday, my love," his mum said, smiling. She was in her yellow kitchen apron and was wiping her hands in a cloth. "I've been up since six making something special for you. You can't have any until later, though. You'll be sick eating cake in the morning."

"Thanks, mum," Seckry said, his mouth watering at the thought of one of his mum's birthday cakes.

"Have a bit of cereal while your sister's getting up. She's got something for you. I don't know what it is this time, though."

Seckry hoped Leena wasn't going to give him another 'grow your own organic carrot kit,' as grateful as he made himself out to be last year.

"Here's a present from me," his mum said, and handed Seckry an envelope with his name and a couple of squiggly balloon drawings on it. "I hear that this is the big thing for teens in Skyfall. I thought I'd give you a little starter."

Seckry ripped open the paper and a voucher slipped out of the card that read:

FRICTION

50 CREDITS

AVATAR GIFT CARD

"Wow, this is fifty notes worth," Seckry said, astonished.

"Well, I had a little bit of money left from our government compensation so I wanted to treat you this year."

"Thanks so much, mum." He gave her a big hug.

"Have you heard about this Friction thing?" she asked.

Seckry laughed.

"Have I ever? It's all people talk about here. It sounds pretty fun. This guy I met who lives just over in block seventeen, called Tenk, he'll be really jealous. He's into it in a big way. He said he's the best player in this district."

"Did he now? Well I'm sure my boy will give him a run for his money."

Seckry smiled. "Maybe. I better learn the rules first, though."

Seckry finished his breakfast and Leena appeared, looking flustered.

"I've lost a contact lens. Happy birthday, by the way."

"Thanks, sis."

Leena threw him a present and began searching the units.

As Seckry unwrapped it he began to guess what the present was.

"A travel water purifier, how did you know?" Seckry said.

Coralle rolled her eyes.

Seckry looked at his watch. He still had ten minutes before he was going to meet Tenk. He stifled a big yawn.

"Get much sleep?" his mum asked, noticing his contorting face.

"Not really. There was a woman singing out in the square last night. It woke me up."

"Ah, that must have been Mrs Plum," his mum sighed. "It's really sad what happened to her. They say she's out there singing all the time. Singing the same song."

"What happened to her?" Seckry asked. "I thought she was a ghost at first, sitting there in that nightgown."

"There is no such thing as ghosts," Leena said sharply, now throwing cushions everywhere and trembling with frustration.

"Well, I was told that her five year old boy, Danney, was abducted from her home about twenty years ago. She woke up one night thinking she could hear him screaming but she searched the house and he was gone. She searched the streets and there was no sign of him. Just completely taken away from her in an instant. It's awful."

"Wow," Seckry said. "Poor woman."

"Yeah. They say she sings at the fountain because when Danney was a toddler he used to love playing in that fountain so much, splashing his little feet in the water. She sings his favourite song thinking he'll recognise it and come running back. They shut that fountain off years ago though. The thing's dried out and rusted over. Of course, if the boy was still alive he'd be a grown man by now. It's just harrowing what losing a child can do to you. It's a mother's worst nightmare."

Before leaving for school, Seckry noticed an envelope sitting on the doormat. There was no address, just the word _Seckry,_ meaning it had been posted by hand. But who did he know around here? The only person he had really spoken to so far was Tenk, but he hadn't even mentioned his birthday to him.

Seckry ripped the envelope and opened the card.

_Happy Birthday_ , it read, and nothing more. There was no indication of who it was from. He showed it to his mum and Leena, but they were equally perplexed.

He popped the card on his bedroom windowsill and headed down into the square. He gave the dried out fountain a glance as he waited for Tenk. He felt a deep pang of sadness for Mrs Plum. He just couldn't imagine what it'd be like for a mother to lose their child like that.

"Morning, Seckry," Tenk croaked, dragging his feet, his long hair flopping over his eyes.

"Where's the gel today?" Seckry asked.

"Didn't have time. Got up too late. Couldn't get a wink of sleep 'causa the singing."

"I woke up in the night too," Seckry told him.

Tenk shook his head. "It's bad what happened. But man, it was decades ago. She's just gotta let go."

"Look what I've got," Seckry said cheerfully, hoping to change the mood. He pulled out his Friction gift card and took pleasure in watching Tenk's eyes widen in awe.

"Who on earth gave you that?"

"My mum. It's my birthday today."

"Your birthday? Man, why didn't you tell me yesterday? I would have got you a card."

"Sorry, I just forgot, I guess," Seckry said. Well that ruled out Tenk as the one who had posted the mystery birthday card.

"But seriously," Tenk continued, "fifty notes worth. Do you realise the kind of avatar you can get with that? Damn."

"I haven't got a clue, to be honest," Seckry told him truthfully. "I think I'll need you to come with me and help me out choosing something."

"It'll be my pleasure, dude," Tenk said slowly.

"Where would I spend these vouchers anyway?" Seckry asked.

"You ain't seen the Friction stores yet? There's one not far, just down Old Hobber's lane. It's only a small shop that one, though. The place you want to go is the official Friction emporium in the city centre. It'll blow your mind. How about I take you there on the weekend?"

"Sounds good," Seckry said, looking forward to it.

The streets were warm again this morning. The summer was ending, but the heat seemed to be lingering around a lot longer than usual.

As they stepped off the monorail, they saw Tippian waiting by the entrance and he joined them as they headed for their first lesson of the day; art with a teacher named Mrs Dooly.

Seckry loved art; he was always drawing in his spare time and he liked doodling little pictures on his computer with a virtual paintbrush. He was excited about the lesson. This was one subject that he knew he could look forward to, and he was feeling a lot happier than yesterday until he noticed that the foul mouthed Snibble boy from his inverse mathematics class was also queuing up for this one.

"I love art lessons," Snibble said loudly as he stormed into the room and took a seat. "It's a free lesson. Everyone knows we ain't gonna do any work."

"Some of us are," said a quiet looking girl.

"Yeah, I know _you_ will, you nerdy swot."

"Oi, calm down now," said Mrs Dooly, entering the room with about five paintings under her left arm and a bowl full of dribbling oil paints in her hands. She plonked them down and tried to settle everyone so that she could begin. It didn't seem to work though. Her voice was slightly airy and it almost seemed as if her mind was wandering elsewhere, outside of the classroom.

Amidst the din, she managed to give the class instructions to each draw an object in the room but as soon as she stopped talking the class just began chattering even louder amongst themselves.

"Look, it's Conker again," said Snibble. "What you drooling at now? My missus ain't even here. You slobbering over Mrs Dooly? Sick piece of crap."

Conker was seated just in front of Snibble and he didn't turn around. He just carried on drawing his pencil case, which was the only thing on his desk.

"Don't say much, do you?" Snibble carried on. He got up and stood right next to the large boy.

"Snibble, stop it," came the voice of a girl chewing gum.

"Shut it, Tania," Snibble dismissed, then he knocked his knuckles on Conker's skull. "Empty fippin shell."

"Oi," Seckry blurted out without thinking. He immediately regretted it. He usually kept quiet in situations like that. Why had he said something now?

Snibble turned and glared.

"What you say?"

Seckry's face exploded with miniature prickles, he was sure he'd gone bright red. "He wasn't doing anything to you, just leave him alone." His voice felt weak and trembled.

The girl chewing gum clapped her hands.

"I'm glad someone said something. You need a right good slap, you do, Snibble."

Snibble walked over to Seckry and put his face right up close to his. Then he made as if to head-butt him, and Seckry flinched.

"Like this new guy, do you Tania?" Snibble said mockingly.

The girl rolled her eyes.

Seckry turned his eyes downwards and began drawing his key-ring, which was a little fat cat that he'd won in an arcade machine years ago. He hoped Snibble would just walk away.

But he didn't. As soon as Seckry began shading, Snibble flicked the pencil out of his hand and onto the floor.

Seckry breathed out slowly. He paused a moment before leaning down and picking it up. But as he put his pencil back to the page, Snibble flicked it again and it went flying across the room.

That was it. Seckry's adrenaline fired through his limbs and he shot up involuntarily.

"What's your problem?" he said loudly, and pushed Snibble away.

Something snapped then. Snibble's eyes changed from smarmy malice to pure rage. He launched himself at Seckry but Conker grabbed his shirt and wrenched him backwards.

"One more fight and you're expelled, Mr Knotting," said Mrs Dooly in her feeble voice. "The headmaster has warned me about you."

Snibble's eyes stayed locked on Seckry's for a moment, but then he turned to Mrs Dooly and he seemed to calm down.

"I ain't fighting, miss. We were messing."

In the moment, Snibble must not have realised that Conker had restrained him because he seemed shocked when he noticed that Conker's brick of a hand was still clasped on his shirt. He smacked it away in disgust.

"Get off me, you fippin freak," he spat.

After that, Seckry was left to carry on drawing and Snibble didn't say a word. At the end of the lesson Snibble left before anyone else.

Tenk showed Seckry his drawings. He hadn't bothered doing any still life at all, he had spent the lesson coming up with logo ideas for his avatar, Basher.

For the rest of the morning Snibble kept to himself and Seckry's day went pretty smoothly. He had his first genetics lesson in which they had a teacher named Mr Gilb, who was pleasant enough, although stank of alcohol and had a noticeable sway in his step. Then they had religious education, in which they were dictated to about Gedin and the coming of Seckraman. Seckry kept his head down in that one, hoping no one was going to ask him why his mum had named him the same name as the son of the Almighty.

When lunchtime came around, Seckry sat in the canteen with Tenk and Tippian and listened to their conversations on Friction. He couldn't believe he had heard so much about this game and he hadn't even played it yet. Tenk was itching to take Seckry to the Friction pods that very night, but his eldest brother was coming home for a couple of days from university to see his family. Tenk promised he would show Seckry how to play on the weekend.

While the boys were chatting away, Seckry noticed that Snibble was sitting in the far right corner of the canteen, talking to the chewing gum girl, Tania. She looked angry and she was shaking her head at him. Seckry tried to read Snibble's lips but they were too far away to see.

"What Mrs Dooly did earlier, that's the only way to get him," Tenk explained, following Seckry's line of sight. "The guy's scared to death of being expelled. Scared of his parents, I guess. His dad sounds like a right nutter from what I've heard and his mum is in prison for life. No one knows what she did to get herself there."

After lunch, Seckry and the rest of his class had a period of animal care which was run by a woman who lived on campus named Ms Butterkins. If Seckry hadn't known any better he might have mistaken Ms Butterkins for a homeless person who had wandered in off the streets, since her clothes were ravaged and tattered and her hair was like a giant, tangled bird's nest. He felt slightly intimidated by her at first, since, aside from her striking appearance, she was also rather unpredictable, and unnaturally strong. Tenk assured him, however, that Butterkins was one of the nicest, and most harmless of teachers in the whole of the school.

The lesson took place in a separate building known the sanctuary, which was located just outside of the headmaster's office and which was home to about fifty different animals, some very young, which were being kept in incubation tanks for a period of time, and others older, who had free run of the place.

During the lesson they learned how to feed baby mollycobbles, which were little plump things that looked to Seckry like oversized grubs, and which snapped at a person's hands so quickly that you had to be careful not to lose a finger. The task was a relatively simple one, but was made overly difficult by the resident bubbit (a knee high bouncy species that Seckry recognised from the fields around Marne) who kept flying through the air and swiping the food from pupils' hands, and, in one case, knocking over one of the smaller girls before sitting happily on her chest and licking her face.

When the bell rang, Seckry felt bile rising up his throat. They only had one lesson left, and it was electronics with Cut Throat Cutson.

Seckry and most of the rest of the class were already seated in room B12 when Snibble strolled in with a deliberate limp.

"Who you lookin' at, Conker? Give me one more look like that and you know what I'll do?" Snibble leaned in and said vehemently, "I'll send the Rabbit Man round."

"The Rabbit Man?" Seckry stifled a laugh. "Who's the Rabbit Man?" he said to Tenk. "Some kind of giant rabbit?"

But before Tenk could answer, one of the girls over the other side of the class (Primmy Trotts, if he remembered her name correctly), stood up furiously and shouted, "Don't even joke about that, Snibble, you disgusting pig!"

"Who says I'm joking?" Snibble retorted and began strolling over to her, but at that moment Mrs Cutson opened the door and the class fell silent.

Snibble's expression turned to panic and he jumped into his seat.

# Chapter Five

# The White Chip

Cutson entered carrying a tray and placed it very carefully on her desk.

"These, ladies and gentlemen, are the electronic chips that will be protecting you from the harmful toxins of the south partition power plant leak."

There were a few murmurs in the class.

" _Power plant leak?"_ Seckry whispered to Tenk, but Tenk just shrugged his shoulders.

"Quiet!" said Cutson, furiously. "Don't tell me that none of you watched the news last night."

"I did," said one girl feebly. "So did I," said another, but that seemed to be it.

"You're supposed to be the brightest prospects in the world here in Skyfall," Cutson said disgustedly, "and none of you can even be bothered to keep up with current affairs. Even when your own lives are in danger."

There was another wave of murmuring in the class, this time full of worry and confusion.

"Yes, that's right," Cutson said. "All of your lives could be in danger as there was a leak at one of the city's largest power plants yesterday evening. The chemicals that have been released into the air are extremely toxic, which is why I'm carrying this tray of wonderful cutting edge white chips, which have been designed to protect us from these very toxins. Thank Gedin for Endrin."

" _Endrin?"_ Seckry whispered to Tenk. _"They're the ones that set up that extraction site in my village."_

"We are now going to watch a video message from the president of Endrin, Mr Kan Darklight," said Cutson. She seemed to go red saying his name.

"He's such a sleaze," blurted one of the girls.

"Mr Darklight is nothing of the sort!" said Cutson, abruptly. "He has taken Endrin to a completely new level. He is a beacon in the name of science. If you interrupt me like that again, Isabelya, there will be serious consequences."

Cutson regained her composure and flicked the lights off. A projector at the back of the room stuttered into life.

The man on screen was wearing a suit and tie with gelled back black hair and a confident, if somewhat sinister, smile.

"Hello, pupils of Estergate. I'm sure you will all have heard about the unfortunate recent spillage in the south partition power plant, and I'm sure you will all have your concerns about this. However, here at Endrin we have been working on technology to protect ourselves from such an event for a long time, and we are here to protect you too. It is estimated that the leaked substances will not begin to have an effect on the human body until around five days after exposure, however, it is imperative that we administer this protection as quickly and as efficiently as we can."

He raised his hand up to his chest, holding a small white cube between his forefinger and thumb.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Endrin white chip. It works by sending out a signal in a kind of invisible, circular bubble around your body which repels these toxins. The easiest way to ensure that you are always protected by the white chip is to wear it around your arm with these simple arm straps we are supplying."

He slotted the cube into a holder on a thin, rubber arm strap and fastened it around his wrist.

"We don't know how long it will take for these chemicals to neutralise completely so you will all have to wear your white chips until further notice. As students of the XL-Ent curriculum, we, at Endrin, are giving you the first opportunity to have access to the white chips and we are also providing you with complete diagrams of the inner workings of the chip for you to study.

"Your teacher will now provide each and every one of you with a chip. Thank you for listening."

The screen faded to white and some text appeared on screen:

Endrin: Proud to be ethical.

As soon as the lights clicked back on, the class erupted into nervous whispers once more.

"Quiet!" Cutson said viciously. "If there are any questions then you will put your hands up and wait to be asked. _Yes_ , Miss Turntop?"

"Miss," said one of the girls, anxiously. "What about Peanut? Will he be safe from the toxins?"

"Peanut will be fine," Cutson said impatiently. "Endrin have informed me that the chemicals pose no threat to animals. Only humans. Now, I'm going to hand a white chip to each and every one of you, and you will attach it around your arm immediately. Understood?"

There was a murmur of, "Yes, miss,' and a few nods.

When Seckry received his chip he strapped it around his left wrist.

"Now what we are all going to do is unclip the face of our chips so that we can see the circuitry inside. Then we're going to draw a diagram of the inner workings into our workbooks.

" _Not copying again,"_ Tenk complained under his breath. _"This'll take us hours. Look at the thing. It's like something from outer space."_

As they all lethargically reproduced the diagram which Cutson had projected onto the whiteboard, Cutson explained the nature of each connection. As Seckry was listening, he found himself seeing patterns and shapes in the circuitry on the tiny chip on his wrist. Over in the top left hand corner was a kind of bear figure, right in the centre there was a sort of star, and when he tilted it, there was a tiny distorted face just at the bottom. He looked up at the projection to see the shapes on a larger screen. But something wasn't right. The face had only one eye. Its left eye was missing.

He did a few double takes to check he wasn't mistaken. But sure enough, a circular dot of some sort was missing from the diagram.

At that moment another teacher came into the classroom, a man holding a white chip of his own. He gestured an 'excuse me,' to Cutson, and he pointed to a stack of files at the back of the room before heading down there and flicking through them.

Cutson didn't look at all pleased to have her lesson interrupted.

Seckry wondered if he should point out the mistake on the diagram. He knew it would probably infuriate Cutson but he was itching to say something. He shocked himself when he realised he was raising his hand slowly.

Cutson's gaze fell upon his and she froze, glaring at him.

"I think the diagram is missing something," Seckry said.

When she continued to stare at him like a stone statue, Seckry thought it was best to elaborate.

"In the corner on the bottom left, there's a little dot missing. Just down there where it looks like a . . . face."

Mrs Cutson sighed impatiently. "Would you like to stand up here and give your own lecture, Seckraman? I assure you that Endrin would never allow–"

"Mrs Cutson," said the teacher at the back of the room, and his deep voice stamped out Cutson's whine immediately. "Forgive my interrupting," he said, "but this young man has a very sharp eye. He is absolutely correct. The diagram that Endrin have provided us with is inaccurate, and is the reason I am locating their contact details right now." He turned to the class. "I will be in touch with Endrin tonight to get us all replacement copies. Well done for spotting that." He glanced at Seckry and gave a nod before leaving.

Cutson looked like she'd just received a slap. Her face was bright red, her thick veins pulsating under her loose fitting skin.

For the rest of the lesson she remained silent, leaving the pupils to copy into their workbooks. Seckry couldn't help but gleam inside. That teacher had put Cutson right in her place.

When the class ended, Seckry and Tenk began packing up their bags, but there was one thing that Seckry couldn't get out of his mind.

"What was all that about a rabbit man earlier?" Seckry asked. "Primmy seemed really upset about it. Is the Rabbit Man some kind of–"

"Seckry, man, it's not cool to laugh about it. Have you really never heard of the Rabbit Man?"

Seckry shook his head.

"Well, he's not a man in a giant bunny suit if that's what you're thinking. He's the most feared man in all of Skyfall. He's a killer. A murderer."

"Oh," Seckry said, taken aback.

"It's been all over the news for the past three years. The mysterious Rabbit Man kills again. He's murdered sixteen people."

"But why do they call him the Rabbit Man?"

"They've got footage of him on security cameras and he's been sighted a few times. He's got some kind of strange marking, like a tattoo on his forehead that's in the shape of a rabbit."

"A tattoo on his forehead?"

"Don't ask me," Tenk said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe it's some kind of secret cult marking or something. Who knows? All we know is that he's out there and he's never been caught."

"I guess Primmy just thought it was out of order, Snibble saying he was going to set him on Conker."

"Totally out of order. You don't joke about the Rabbit Man. It's just not something you do."

"Why do you think he murders people?" Seckry said curiously.

"Nobody knows. That's the big question. His victims have been both male and female. From as young as twenty five to eighty five, from all four partitions. There are no links. No correlations. Just the most random, most brutal of murders. That's the scariest thing. Who knows when or where he's gonna strike next? It could be anyone."

As they were leaving, the chewing gum girl from the art lesson earlier called Seckry to one side.

Tenk gave Seckry a surprised wink and said, "Gotta rush off, man, I'll meet you at the station."

Seckry gulped. What did she want to say to him? And what was her name? Tania, if he remembered rightly.

"Hey, new boy," she said slowly. "Was good seeing someone brave enough to stand up to Snibble earlier. Most people just take his fippin nonsense."

"Yeah, um . . . I don't usually act like that," Seckry replied. His words felt like they were falling out of his mouth uncontrollably. He couldn't believe how fast his heart was beating, he had never had a girl compliment him before, especially not on his bravery.

"What's your name?" she asked, still chewing that gum. Seckry wondered if it was the same piece that she'd been chewing this morning. He could smell the artificial sweetness of it, mixing with her warm breath.

"It's Seckry."

"Cool. My name's Natania. You up to much tonight?"

Seckry was about to tell her it was his birthday and his mum would most probably have something planned, but he stopped himself just in time.

"Umm . . . not much. Just watching some TV or something, I imagine."

She looked him up and down, smiling.

"Wicked. Well, do you fancy meeting up? We could meet on Ferry Road about seven and I'll take you somewhere nice."

Seckry felt like he was going to swallow his own tongue. "That'd be . . . uh . . . good," he said croakily.

Natania smiled and walked away, saying nothing more.

Seckry rode the monorail home in a daze, his insides doing back flips as he flittered between fear and excitement. Amidst Tenk's congratulations, he wondered how his mum would react when he told her he was actually going on a date. He was dreading the embarrassment.

All the boys in his school back in Marne had been seeing girls for years, it shouldn't have been a big deal, but for some reason, he was terrified.

When he pushed open the door to the flat, the lights were off and the curtains had been drawn. For a brief moment he wondered if his mum and sister had had enough of the city and packed up and left. Then the familiar scent of burning candles hit him and his mum stepped out of the kitchen with his cake, singing happy birthday. She was followed by Leena who was miming along and looking slightly uncomfortable.

Seckry felt sick. This morning he couldn't wait to have a slice of cake, but his stomach had been churning so much on the way back that it was the last thing he wanted to see now.

"How was your day, birthday boy?" his mum asked, after Seckry had blown out the candles. She placed the cake on the living area table and began cutting it into huge chunks.

"It was . . . interesting," Seckry said.

He explained about the white chips and his mum and Leena both lifted their sleeves to reveal that they, too, had been given one each at work.

"Can you believe they're made by that Endrin company?" Leena said. "I feel sick wearing something that's been made by them. They ruined our lives for the sake of greed. I bet they're raking in the money from extracting the energy underneath Marne."

"Well, they haven't started extracting yet, my love," Coralle said. "It's going to take them a year to set it up."

"Well . . . that's beside the point," said Leena.

"Anyway, let's talk about what we're doing tonight," Coralle said merrily.

Before his mum could say any more, Seckry decided it was just best to come out with it straight away.

"I've . . . kind of got a . . . date tonight."

Seckry squeezed his face up into a cringe and closed one eye as he watched his mum's expression transform into one of pure pride and glee. She put both her hands on her heart and took a deep breath. It looked as though she was about to cry.

"My son," she said softly, and nothing else.

"So where are you going?" Leena asked, her down to earth tone making Seckry feel a little more relaxed.

"She wants me to meet her on Ferry Road and she's gonna take me somewhere. That's all I know."

"Ooo!" his mum cried. "You might be going to one of those posh restaurants over in Falberry Quarter. Now you know you have to eat with your fork in your left hand and your knife in your right hand when you're in a restaurant, don't you? I should have trained both of you properly when you were little."

"I get a feeling we're not going to a restaurant," Seckry said.

"Yeah they don't go to restaurants, mum," said Leena. "It'll probably be a coffee shop. Have some evening lattes. Maybe a hot chocolate."

"Oh it's _so_ romantic," his mum squealed, delighted again. "And on your birthday as well. I was gonna get some party games going for the three of us but that will just have to wait. Now, I'm gonna cut you both a slice of cake, you can take a piece for her."

"Mum, are you serious?" Leena exclaimed. " _Do not_ take her a piece of cake, Seckry."

"Why not?" their mum said defensively. "I'm sure the girl would love a slice."

Leena shook her head.

"Right. I'm gonna give you some solid advice," she stated, slapping her hand on the table. "Besides from not bringing cake to a date, there are a few things you should know about the way a girl should be treated."

Their mum rolled her eyes but Leena didn't notice.

"Firstly, don't be overly forward. That'll just put her off straight away. Secondly, do not tell her she looks good, smells good, tastes good, or any of that other cheesy crap. We know you don't mean it."

Seckry raised an eyebrow.

"And thirdly, do not pour her a drink, pull out her chair, or open a door for her. If you do that, it's over. You may as well have 'male chauvinist' inked across your face."

"Oh, don't be silly, Leena," said their mum. "Your dad always used to open doors for me. I felt special. Looked after."

"Well times have changed, mum. That was a long time ago."

"Not _that_ long ago, thank you very much!" said Coralle.

Seckry's palms had been sweating like mad before he even left the flat and tiny glowflies were now landing on his damp skin as he headed for the monorail station. The warm air was making him dizzy. His mouth was dry too and he kept swallowing which seemed to make it even worse.

It was definitely warmer in the summer here than in Marne. At least in Marne you could sometimes feel the cool breeze which came across the fields from the Phary Ocean in the west. Here in the city you were surrounded by hot metal and fizzing, fluorescent light. Seckry could see the heat distorting the road ahead.

He was wearing a blue shirt; the only smart shirt he really had. He felt uncomfortable in it and it was too big, but his mum had assured him he had to make an effort to look good. Seckry wasn't sure that Natania was the kind of girl to be dressed up smart, but his mum probably wouldn't have let him out of the door wearing anything else.

Ferry Road was not far from Estergate. Seckry had spotted it from the view of the monorail the day before. When he departed the carriage, he took a few turnings and stopped to take a deep breath as he saw the street sign that he was looking for.

And there she was, leaning against a telephone exchange box wearing a yellow hoodie.

He knew he shouldn't have dressed up.

He swallowed for the last time and walked towards her. His footsteps caught her attention.

"Hey, big boy," she said lazily. She was chewing more gum again, bright blue this time.

"Hey," Seckry said, his voice cracking from the dryness of his throat.

She eyed him up and down and chuckled to herself.

Seckry looked away in embarrassment.

Natania began walking.

"So where are we going?" Seckry asked boldly, following her and trying to mask his shaky voice. Natania said nothing.

As they headed down a near side street, Seckry realised that they were down an alley at the rear of some restaurants. He found himself stepping over sludge on the ground, rotting mixtures of wet and dried out food waste, wriggling with cockroaches and maggots. What kind of place was this for a date? It looked like a dead end.

And then he spotted something: a cloud of unnatural looking, bright green smoke, hovering sluggishly in the unmoving air of the alley.

"Here he is," Natania said, and it took Seckry a moment to realise she wasn't talking to him. Someone else was here.

A pair of eyes flashed open within the smoke.

"You better give me twenty notes worth," Natania said forcefully.

Then someone stepped forward.

It was Snibble Knotting.

Seckry looked at Natania for an explanation, but she had no interest in him now, she was staring intently at Snibble, her eyes wide.

"I'm not waiting until you've finished with him before I get my crazydust. You better hand it over now, I'm gagging. I've brought you the kid."

"Calm down, impatient cow." Snibble lifted a small cellophane bag full of glowing green stuff from his pocket and threw it to her.

Seckry's body felt like lead. He had been tricked. Snibble had used her as bait to get him alone at night, out of sight of any teachers or anyone. When they had been talking in the canteen, they must have been plotting it. How could he have been so stupid?

But he didn't have time to let the disappointment sink in. He had to get out of here before it was too late. He turned to run but Snibble's hand gripped him firmly and held him, squirming to get away.

To make it worse, two large figures stepped out of the shadows and blocked him in. They looked a few years older than Seckry, and seemed to be identical twins. Seckry was trapped.

"You ain't going anywhere, newbie," Snibble asserted.

Seckry stopped moving. He would have to wait until Snibble had let go before he could make another escape.

Snibble pulled Seckry's face close to his own. Seckry could feel the boy's warm, stinking breath wafting into his nostrils. It was the strangest smell he had ever come across. It was like rancid vegetables mixed with detergent. Snibble's eyes were bloodshot and his pupils were dilated.

"So you think you can cheek me in school, do you? Think you can get me hyped up and kicked out, eh? Well it ain't gonna happen, I'm telling you now."

Snibble head butted Seckry and barred his teeth like a rabid dog, then he kicked him with a furious force in the shin, and Seckry crumpled in agony. It felt like the bone had split in half.

"Try running now, eh?" Snibble shouted.

The searing pain made Seckry's mind pulse in and out of consciousness. He'd never be able to get away.

To make sure Seckry was going to stay put, Snibble stamped on both of his hands. Then he started coughing, retching up phlegm and green mucus.

Seckry's eyes were filled with water from the pain, but he could just about see Snibble lean over and dribble the foul stuff onto him. The wetness of it began to seep through to his chest immediately.

Then Snibble pulled something out of his pocket and bent down but Seckry's eyes were too unfocused to see what it was until it was right up close to his face. A lighter.

Seckry squirmed. He imagined the pain of being set on fire. He had to get out of here. His life depended on it. He wriggled violently, trying to get up. As he did so, his Friction avatar gift card slid out of his pocket.

"What's this?" Snibble said mockingly, picking it up. His face formed a cruel smile. "Friction. You fippin geek." He held it between his thumb and finger, hovering it close to Seckry's face, then he sparked his lighter underneath it and let the plastic slowly liquidise. Seckry felt the heat from the small flame but all he could think about was his mum. All the money she had spent on him, melting into nothing.

After the card was a small pile of scorched and shrivelled plastic, Snibble sighed and leaned in closer to Seckry's face, the lighter still lit. The heat was like a solid object, burning his skin like a molten rod.

"Snibble!" Natania said angrily. "Don't you dare set him alight. You promised me you'd only slap him around. I ain't having any of that murder stuff on my conscience."

Then, as Seckry felt his skin begin to blister, there was a bang, and the heat was ousted immediately. There were heavy footsteps.

"Who the fippin hell's that?" Snibble hissed, looking around frantically. The twins seemed to disappear immediately. Natania scrambled to her feet, throwing her roll up crazydust to the floor, and started running away. Snibble let out a roar of rage and swung his dirty trainer full force into Seckry's nose.

Everything after that was a scrambled mess in Seckry's mind. He lost track of where he was, who he was with, what time it was, what day it was. It was like his brain had been knocked out his skull.

The only thing Seckry was aware of was that he was being ripped from the ground by some powerful force, and he was moving. Fast.

# Chapter Six

# Welcome to Atoria

"Where do you live?" The voice was deep and calm, soothing to hear through the incessant ringing in Seckry's ears.

Seckry opened his eyes groggily and had to stop himself from yelping because it stung so much to do so. His eyelid would barely part for his left eye; it had clamped shut and it felt like there was a giant ball under his skin.

He looked around as much as he could, trying to take in his surroundings through his watery vision.

It was a car, and he was in the back seat, lying down. The car was motionless and it smelled of fabric, coffee, and a hint of aftershave.

He leaned up and groaned.

"Relax, now," the voice said.

Sitting in the driver's seat sipping a thermal flask was a man Seckry had seen once before. It was the teacher from Cutson's class, the one who'd backed him up about that missing dot on the diagram.

"I changed your shirt. I've wrapped the other one in some plastic for the moment, it was wet with blood."

Seckry hadn't even noticed he was wearing different clothes. He suddenly felt tiny, draped in this man's loose top.

"Thanks," Seckry said croakily.

The teacher sipped some more from his steaming flask and breathed out heavily.

"It makes some kids go insane, that stuff."

Seckry remembered the foul smelling green goo Snibble had been smoking.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Cosius milatopaine. Or crazydust, as it's more commonly known. The most widely available drug on the market."

"How did you find me?" Seckry asked.

"I was driving home from Estergate, I had stayed late, investigating a few things. I saw that there was something going on as I was driving past and I pulled up to take a look. I knew there was trouble as soon as I smelt the crazydust. The air was thick with it."

"To be honest," Seckry said, "I think Snibble is just as bad without that stuff. If he hadn't been smoking it he probably would've done exactly the same. He wanted to beat me up. Get revenge for me saying something to him in class."

"What's your name?" The man asked.

"Seckraman Sevenstars. Seckry for short."

"I'm Jonn. Jonn Vance. I'm head of science at Estergate, and I teach a range of science subjects to the older students. Are you a fan of science, Seckry?"

Seckry screwed up his face, "Not really. I'm more of an art person."

"Well . . . Maybe a few more of Mrs Cutson's lessons will spark a passion."

Seckry saw the sarcasm on the man's face, even through his blurred vision.

"What happened to Snibble?" Seckry asked.

"He ran away just after the girl. They both went in opposite directions. They looked petrified."

"Good," Seckry said, feeling a little triumph. "How long have I been out for?"

Vance looked at his watch.

"I'd say about ten minutes. Your eye is swollen and your hands and leg are bruised, but there's no serious damage."

No serious damage? Seckry felt as though he'd be bed ridden for weeks after this. He was in agony. He wondered what serious damage would feel like.

Vance finished his drink and sighed.

"I'd better be getting you home. Will your parents be waiting for you?"

"My mum will," Seckry said.

"Then the sooner we get back, the better. Where do you live?"

"Kerik Square, do you know it?" Seckry began struggling to get his belt on.

Vance put his hand up and shook his head.

"Lie down, it's okay. I'm going to drive slow, and there's no cars about at this time. I know Kerik Square. It won't take us long to get there."

Seckry gladly lay back down, his head spinning. He forced himself to focus so he wouldn't vomit. He asked Mr Vance why he'd stayed behind so late at school.

"I was very curious about something," Vance said, steering the car gently so that Seckry didn't roll around. "The missing node on the white chip diagram is very interesting indeed."

"Really?" Seckry exclaimed.

"Yes. And well done for spotting that again. You're the only one that did. It's a very minor detail. But possibly a very important one."

"Wasn't it just a mistake?" Seckry asked.

"I considered it originally. But this is Endrin. They rarely, if ever, make mistakes. Especially ones as careless as this. No, the node was emitted from the diagram for a reason. I'm not sure what that is yet, but I will find out."

"A secret node," Seckry mused, surprised to be so interested in that kind of thing. "So they were trying to hide it from us, thinking we wouldn't notice it?"

"Exactly," Vance confirmed. "Now I would rest for a few days, your body will need to heal itself. Don't worry about phoning the school in the morning, I will sort everything out. And I will deal with Mr Knotting myself."

"Really?" Seckry said. "It seems like everyone is scared to say or do anything to Snibble because everyone's afraid of his dad."

"Not everyone's afraid of his dad," Vance said, and there was a slight twinkle in his eye.

When they pulled into Kerik Square, Vance lifted Seckry out of the back seat with ease and helped him to the door of his flat.

"You can give me the shirt back when you're healed up," Vance said.

Seckry thanked him and let him drive away before turning the key.

The lights of the flat had been switched off aside from a single lamp on the kitchen unit that was bathing everything in a warm, orange glow.

There was a note stuck to the fridge by a magnet.

Hope you two had a great time tonight. I knew it wouldn't be long before someone fell for my little stud!

Goodnight sweetheart.

Mum X

Seckry's stomach lurched. The physical pain he could deal with, but seeing the disappointment in his mum's face when she realised that Natania hadn't fancied him at all would be too much to bear. He felt as though he had let her down.

His mum was asleep on the settee in the living area, and the television was on low volume. She looked comfy so Seckry switched off the plug and pulled a thin blanket over her gently, forcing himself not to wince as his arms moved in pain.

After he'd made his way into bed, Seckry found he was fighting back tears. He'd been tricked. On his birthday, of all days. And he'd lost his Friction gift card that his mum had paid so much for. She'd be devastated when she found out.

He flipped open his phone and sent a short text message to Tenk.

Not goin in 2moro. I'll xplain later. Seckry

He closed his eyes, knowing it would be a nightmare to open them again in the morning with all the bits of blood and slime congealing there.

He must have been tired because he didn't wake to the sound of Mrs Plum's singing that night, even though she was out there for hours, crooning her eerie lullaby.

When he woke in the morning he felt nothing but relief. He had been dreaming that Snibble had followed the car home and that he'd snuck into the flat with his lighter and had been burning his mum's skin. Seckry had tried to pull Snibble away but he was too strong and he just kept shoving Seckry with one hand.

Seckry tried to open his eyes as his heart beat gradually slowed back down to normal pace. His right eye felt even more swollen than last night. He could barely see through it and it hurt even to blink.

He made an attempt to get out of bed but he almost collapsed from the agony in his legs.

He could hear his mum in the kitchen clanking dishes and cutlery. She was humming too.

"Seckry?" she called. "How's my boy this morning? Did you go somewhere nice?"

Seckry hobbled to his bedroom door, held it ajar and said, "Mum, don't be alarmed. My face might look a bit different." Then he stepped out into the passage where his mum could see him.

She froze, a cup in one hand and a dirty dishcloth in the other.

" _Seckry?_ " Her voice was a whisper. Her eyes were locked on his face. "Oh, Seckry." She put down her cup and came towards him slowly, cautiously, as if he'd break if she moved too suddenly. "What on earth . . .?" Her voice was wounded more than anything else. There was no anger, no outrage, just pain at seeing her son in such a state.

"There was no date," Seckry explained groggily. "It was a trap. Some kid with a real chip on his shoulder wanted to beat me up and they cornered me."

His mum almost had tears in her eyes. She put her arms around him gently, scared to touch him in case he was bruised all over.

"I'm gonna skip school today if that's alright."

"Of course, love, of course." His mum was shaking her head. "We should never have come here. I knew the kids were like this. We had no trouble back in Marne."

"It's okay mum, we had to move, I know that."

At eight thirty his mum had to leave for work. She was reluctant to go in, but Seckry assured her he'd be fine on his own. Leena looked scared to say anything when she saw Seckry, and she left for work looking shocked and confused.

When the flat was quiet, Seckry collapsed back onto his bed. He lay there for a while with his eyes closed, feeling utterly miserable. He kept thinking about Snibble beating him up but after a while he realised it wasn't Snibble that was making him so upset. It was Natania.

Maybe he'd wanted a girlfriend just as much as his mum had wanted him to have one.

He stayed in bed for a few hours and kept drifting in and out of sleep. Each of his dreams were different, but in all of them appeared a girl, the same girl, standing a short way away, smiling at him with beautiful eyes. Each time he would make his way over to her to ask who she was, but before she could answer, he would wake up.

Eventually he felt too sweaty and fidgety to be comfortable. He got up and winced at his shin, but he had to get out of his room for a bit, the air was going stale in there.

Seckry decided he needed some fresh air. He checked all the lights were off in the flat, checked his key was in his pocket, and headed out into the square.

It was warm again this morning and the buildings emanated heat, making the air look like liquid.

Before he'd even had time to ponder anything over, something caught his eye; a pink, flashing animal logo above the small arcade centre that Tenk was so fond of. Was it open now? He wandered over and peeked through the window. There was a shabby desk inside that was in desperate need of some varnish, but there was no one behind it. It looked like the machines were running though. He could see two teddy cranes, some rumbling driving seats, and a standalone beat 'em up coin op.

He pushed the door gently and it creaked open.

"Hello?" came a voice from behind one of the walls. "Is that you, Tenk? Skipping school to play Friction? Your mother will be down here again before long giving me a good old piece of her mind."

"It's not Tenk!" Seckry called.

Suddenly an old man's head popped up from the desk. He had white hair, wispy and sparse on his speckled scalp, a pair of glasses resting on his large, hairy nose, and he was dabbing his lips with a tissue.

"Dear me," the man exclaimed, clearing his throat. "Someone's been through the mill."

"Don't ask," Seckry said in the politest way possible. He didn't want to seem rude but he was fed up of thinking about it.

"It might not be any of my business but shouldn't you be in bed trying to heal that black eye?"

"I needed some fresh air," Seckry protested weakly.

"I haven't seen you round here before. Are you the Sevenstars boy?"

Seckry gulped. "Uh, yeah."

"Ahh. A belated happy birthday to you, my son. Your mother's a lovely lady. Had a nice chat with her the other day. She popped in for some advice. Very curious to know what the trends are in the city these days for a boy like you. I recommended some Friction credits of course. You'd be mad to move to the city and not be taken in by the Friction phenomenon."

"You sell the gift cards here?"

"Yes, of course. I don't doubt you'll be needing any for a while though, your mother bought fifty notes worth. You're a very lucky lad. Have you had a chance to redeem them yet?"

Seckry groaned internally. He wished he'd redeemed the card the moment he was given it. Then Snibble would never have been able to melt it into a pile of burning embers.

"Not yet," was all Seckry said.

"My name's Henrei, by the way," said the old man, and he stuck out a semi-translucent, pockmarked hand.

"Seckry. Nice to meet you," said Seckry in return. Henrei's hand felt cold, bony and slightly sticky.

"Your mum in work, is she?"

"Yes."

"And she thinks you're all wrapped up in bed, I bet," Henrei smiled and raised his white eyebrows knowingly. He took a bite out of his sandwich and something red and thick glooped onto the desk.

"Oops," he said, and whipped out a cloth to wipe it up. "Can't be caught with these."

"Sandwiches?" Seckry asked.

"The jam," Henrei replied, licking a bit off his finger. "Marbery thinks I made myself some chicken and salad this morning. Supposed to be watching the cholesterol, you know?"

There was some creaking upstairs and Henrei cringed.

" _Stay there my love, stay there a moment,_ " he whispered nervously, and scoffed the rest down.

Seckry laughed.

"You can't beat a bit of jam," Henrei said defensively.

Seckry glanced around him at two huge, circular domes which were blinking with blue lights. One of them had the faded letters FRI ON printed on it.

"Are those the Friction pods?" Seckry asked.

"Indeed they are, my boy," Henrei said, striding over to them. "Got a few screws loose, this left one here, but I've masking taped it up. Good as any pods you'll find in the city, these are. Been running them for twenty five years now. Had them when Friction was first invented, I did. I tell you what, the game looked a lot different back then."

Seckry examined the pods. They were made of fibreglass and it looked as though both of them had begun to melt at the bottom from the heat of their power supplies. They were perfect spheres with a hatch each on opposite sides. He opened one and peered into it.

The pod was empty, but its inner walls were coated with dark glass. The only blemish in the sphere's perfection was an open slot in the base, which was just big enough to hold an avatar tablet.

"You want a go?" Henrei asked.

"I'd love to," Seckry said truthfully, "but I haven't spent my vouchers yet. I haven't got an avatar."

"Well, no need to worry, lad. Most newbies don't have one. You don't need an avatar for the training program, and I wouldn't advise jumping straight in without at least getting to grips with the basics. Go on, get in."

A smile spread across Seckry's face. He thought he'd have to wait ages before he'd be able to have a go of one of these things. He got inside cautiously. It smelled a bit sweaty and damp but he didn't mind.

"The pod will detect that you're a new player and it'll load up the training program," Henrei said. "I'm gonna close the door. It won't start until I do. Here's a reference sheet if you forget any of it. And there's always an exit button located on your waist for when you're ready to quit." Henrei stuffed a small, laminated piece of paper into Seckry's left pocket and shut the pod hatch with a thud. It seemed as though it were hanging loose a bit.

Seckry spun his head around. It was strange being so enclosed.

Before he had time to ponder any more, there was a burst of colour all around him and some music began playing, a nice, subtle background piece.

"Welcome," said a woman's voice. "Just relax while we begin your Friction experience."

The voice was soft and soothing, crisp clear with a Skyfall accent.

"You will now be lifted into the centre of the pod."

_Lifted?_ Seckry thought. He looked around, but there was nothing to take a hold of him.

Suddenly, Seckry found that his arms felt a lot lighter, and they were drifting up towards his head. Then he realised that his feet were parting with the glass sheen of the floor.

He was floating.

"Oh my Gedin!" Seckry said to himself.

"Now that you are suspended in the air, Friction can fully emulate your surroundings. The first thing we will emulate is a floor."

There was a flicker of green light and a wire mesh appeared momentarily beneath him before transforming into a patch of grass.

Seckry's weight seemed to come back then, and he dropped onto it. The amazing thing was that this grass wasn't confined to the pod, it seemed to stretch for miles in all directions. An illusion by the pod, no doubt, but an utterly convincing one.

He ran his fingers through the grass and it felt cold and slightly wet and . . . real.

"There we are," the voice said reassuringly. "Now tell me your name."

"Seckry," Seckry said, unsure of where to aim his voice. It didn't seem to matter though, as the woman replied, "Hello Seckry."

"Hi," Seckry said sheepishly, glancing all around him.

"Let me tell you a little bit about Friction before we begin."

The Friction logo appeared in the sky.

"Friction was invented twenty five years ago by design team WePlay, and has since become the world's most popular video game. Players from all across the lands hold annual tournaments and championships in which teams of Friction players compete to represent their cities' partitions."

A montage of video footage was being projected onto the sky. There were crowds cheering, flags being waved, and people holding giant cups and jumping in the air in slow motion.

"The aim of the game is variable from match to match, but the most popular Friction format is the item mode. Players compete to collect items located in an area of land. A number of different items are usually available to collect, and many are hidden in hard to find places. Each item is worth a different amount of Friction points and the player with the most points at the end of the session wins. Sessions like this can be combative or non-combative."

The words 'training level' appeared accompanied by a map.

"The best way to demonstrate this is by loading you into the training level and letting you play a test session."

There was a flash of white light, and Seckry found that he was now surrounded by not only the grass, but a whole environment of beautiful green scenery, the sound of running water, and the lovely smell of fresh flowers.

" _Welcome to Atoria,"_ the voice said. "Atoria is the official home of the Friction universe and our training session is set in the valley of the south. Let's begin by looking at the items available in this land."

Objects began appearing in front of Seckry, floating and spinning slowly in the air.

First a bunch of carrots, then a spoon, then a coin, an apple, a rock, and finally a shiny, golden harp.

"These items are all located in this area and your goal will be to collect them. Once you have picked up an item, it will be added to your inventory. Are you ready to begin, Seckry?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Great. If at any point you would like to leave the game, just press the exit button on the left of your body. Now, take your time, and good luck!"

A short, pinging sound signalled the start of the session.

The first thing Seckry did was look down. His body was no longer his own, it was that of a wooden training dummy.

He raised his right hand up to his face and flexed his fingers. He was amazed at how the little wooden corks opened and closed.

So this was what it was like to be an avatar.

The next thing Seckry did was test his movement. He moved forwards then backwards, strafed left then right, then spun around on the spot. He couldn't get over the air. It felt as though he were actually in a valley. A butterfly flew past him, and he felt a slight breeze flap his right earlobe. Some serious programming had gone into this.

The area was beautiful. There was a river behind him that was running out of a pool to his left, and splashing spectacularly into it was a small waterfall. To his right there was a cottage, with smoke coming from its chimney, and surrounding them were high cliffs and hills.

He was immediately drawn to the pool with the waterfall. As he got closer to it, the gentle rumble of the water grew louder and he actually felt the spray of it tickling his face.

Seckry wondered what would happen if he went into the pool. He leaned over the bank and saw the reflection of his avatar. He nudged a little bit closer to see if he could see anything below the surface and before he knew it, he had slipped in. He felt the coolness of the water as he went under, but fortunately he was still able to breathe. At least they'd left something up to the imagination.

Instead, a blue bar had appeared in the top right corner of his vision indicating his oxygen levels, and it was decreasing very quickly. Seckry swam to the surface and bobbed in the water for a moment while his oxygen restored itself to its full amount.

He was sure one of the items would be hiding at the bottom of the pool so he dived down a few times, scanning the bed before running out of oxygen again and returning to the surface. After his fourth failed attempt he steered himself to the bank and clambered out. He'd try the little house instead.

He stood up and shook his arms. He was drenched. Seckry took a moment to wonder how they were simulating the feeling of being wet so well. Was he wet in the real world? Had the pod filled with water?

Luckily the sun was blazing and his wooden skin seemed to dry a lot quicker than his human skin.

In the house, he was half expecting someone to be in there to greet him, but he found it empty, with a pan of water simmering gently on an old hob. To Seckry's delight, there was a wooden spoon sitting in it just like the one that had appeared in front of him earlier. He lifted it out of the water, and as soon as he did so there was a triumphant _bing_ and the spoon vanished from his hand. A small icon of the spoon then appeared in the top left corner of his vision, and seemed to be there continuously, even when he moved his head.

It didn't take Seckry long after that to find most of the other items. He found the apple hanging from a tree, the carrots growing behind the cottage, the coin in the pocket of some laundry, and the rock near the pool. All that was left for him to find was the golden harp.

He scoured the whole area for it, and even dug up a patch of earth that seemed to be slightly raised from the ground, but there was nothing there, and Seckry plonked himself on the grass.

He sat and thought about other places the harp could be hiding but he was completely stumped. The sound of the waterfall was soothing and it was only then did he realise that this Friction game had taken his mind far away from the trouble with Snibble and Natania, and had even made him forget about the physical pain in his limbs.

After sitting and listening to the water and the chirruping of the birds in the trees, Seckry decided to leave the game and head home. He was enjoying it but he knew he should really be in bed resting his bruises.

As Seckry reached down to press the exit button located on his waist, he noticed that the small laminated help sheet that Henrei had stuffed into his pocket was still with him, in a wooden pouch on his side.

He took it out and examined it. All that was printed on it were reminders of the basic rules of different types of gameplay, but at the bottom there was a scrawl of black marker ink.

Note to self: There's a cave behind the waterfall!

The waterfall! Of course. Another player had left a tip. Seckry stuffed the sheet back into his pouch, rushed to the pool once more, this time jumping in with a big splash, and made his way right into the heart of the gushing water.

He emerged in a dark cave and there on the floor was the golden harp, glowing vibrant yellow and shimmering with reflections.

He slapped his hand down on it and shouted, "Got it!"

The Friction logo blasted into his vision and a victory fanfare started playing.

"Congratulations, Seckry," came the woman's voice again. "You have successfully found all of the items and are well on your way to becoming a fantastic Friction player. You will now be taken to an options area where you will be able to try other modes of play and explore other lands."

Seckry thought he'd better start heading home but when the options area appeared, which was a room full of archways, there were two new lands, and he just couldn't resist testing them out.

One was called Mushroom Dwelling and had numerous different types of mushrooms to forage. Seckry had trouble finding one called the Boisterous Bubblecap, which was growing on the chimney of a cabin, but he was very pleased with himself when he managed to find the Shroom of Solomos which was a single, tiny white thing floating in the dew of a huge leaf.

The other level was called Rocky Outcrop but Seckry's experience there was cut short when he was trampled on by a Golboro, which seemed to be some kind of giant hippo. Luckily the simulation of being crushed consisted of just a little, mild pain along with his vision turning to red and the words 'game over' appearing in front of him.

When he eventually hit the exit button on his waist, the simulation came to a halt, the pod's glass interior came back into view, and the door popped open. He felt his feet land firmly on the pod's floor and it seemed like he couldn't possibly have done all that running around while suspended in mid air.

"Thought you'd never come out!" said Henrei, who was reading a newspaper at his desk.

"That was fun," Seckry said. "It's so . . . real in there. It's like I was actually in that Atoria place."

"State of the art, I know. Hasn't always been like that, mind you. Back when it first started there was none of this atmospheric simulation stuff."

Seckry handed Henrei back the help sheet.

"Oh dear," Henrei said. "I haven't done it again? Tenk will have a fit. He wanted me to throw this sheet away. Wrote the notes on there himself when he first started but I've been handing it out to new players. He gets mad cause he says his secrets are being given away. Just don't tell him you saw it."

At that moment Seckry's phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a message from Tenk.

Mate wot appened? U ok? They said u was in a fight!

Seckry looked at his watch. School had just finished. He sent a reply.

In the arcade. Meet me in here.

While Seckry waited for Tenk, he had a go on one of the teddy cranes, and he just missed a bright blue bear with a little t-shirt on.

"Oh, man!" Tenk said as he entered the arcade and saw Seckry's bruises.

"I know," said Seckry, half smiling.

"Was it Snibble?"

"Yup."

Seckry told Tenk what had happened with Natania and how she'd led him to Snibble down the alleyway. Tenk shook his head furiously.

"That guy's gonna get it one day, I tell you. He thinks he can get away with it because everyone's scared of his dad but, man . . . and that bloody girl as well . . ."

"I just want to forget it now," Seckry told him. He'd had enough of feeling sorry for himself.

Tenk nodded.

"I had my first go at Friction," Seckry said, smiling.

"You started without me!"

"Well you guys were going on about it so much I couldn't wait that long."

"Yeah, that's understandable." Tenk slapped one of the pods. "Can't postpone Friction. When you gotta play you gotta play. Ain't it, Henrei?"

"Tell your mother that," Henrei said, shaking his newspaper.

# Chapter Seven

# A Mysterious Proposition

Seckry and Tenk left the arcade together and stopped at the rusty fountain.

"So you're telling me you found all the items on the training level, just like that?" Tenk said. "Even the golden harp?"

"Even the harp. It was behind the waterfall. Quite an obvious hiding place for it, I thought." Seckry stifled a laugh at the sight of Tenk's face. He couldn't help playing around with him.

"You're gonna be one hell of a Friction player . . ." Tenk said, in awe. "It took me about five tries before I found that harp."

When Seckry got back to his flat, he had about half an hour before his mum came in from work.

When she did, she looked pained again at the sight of him, as though she'd forgotten how bad he'd looked this morning. After insisting on making him a nice cup of tea, she sat at the table with him.

"Right, now we can talk about this properly," she said.

Seckry took a deep breath and explained everything that had happened. "It doesn't matter though, mum," he said.

His mum's face seemed as though it was going to burst. She was moving her lips silently and shaking her head as though muttering the incantation of some dark spell.

"The guy is just a complete psychopath," Seckry said. "I think I've just got to forget about it."

"Well, I'm not going to forget about it. What is his name again?" she insisted.

"Snibble. Snibble Knotting."

"Knotting. Of course," his mum said, shaking her head.

"You know them?"

"I've heard about the father. Terrorising other parents and that. An absolute pig of a man."

"Yeah, sounds likely," Seckry said.

"I've got a good mind to find out where they live and storm around there right now."

"Please, mum, don't," Seckry said, trying to calm her down a bit. "It'll just make things worse. And it'd be dangerous. The mum is in prison for something or other. It's best to just forget about it."

After his mum had drunk her own cup of tea, she did relax a little, and she decided to bake an ellonberry pie for Mr Vance as a gift for helping Seckry.

When Leena joined them, the topic of conversation changed.

"I'm _sick_ of seeing the word Endrin plastered everywhere," she complained. "It's even on my own arm!" She eyed her white chip with disgust. "And what's this saying that they've got underneath their logo sometimes? Something about being ethical?"

"Proud to be ethical," Coralle recalled. "A million miles away from the lab baby affair."

"Yeah, that's it. What's that all about?"

"The lab baby affair? Oh, I suppose you won't have heard of it. People don't talk about it much now. I remember my parents going on about it when I was young. It happened about two years before I was born. It was this terrible experiment gone wrong. These two scientists tried to make artificial babies in their lab but they didn't survive long. They were horribly mutated and died soon after their creation."

"And those two scientists used to work for Endrin?"

"I think those two scientists _were_ Endrin. They founded it. I guess the modern day Endrin just want to prove to people that they've come a long way since then. Your dad used to hate it whenever anyone mentioned the lab baby thing. It used to send shivers down his spine, I could see it, and he'd always change the subject. I think some people just find the thought of it disturbing. Most people think it's unnatural. It's just messing with nature in a way that people shouldn't. Luckily there's been nothing like it since."

After they had all had some food, Seckry decided to go upstairs and set his computer up. It was an old, tower based one that was ancient by current standards, but his mum had bought it from a charity shop back in Marne, and Seckry had decided to wait until he could afford to buy something contemporary with his own money before asking for an upgrade.

It was covered in dust so he gave it a little vacuum, hoping that the pinging sound in the tube wasn't something important getting sucked up.

It took him a while to get everything back together, but when he did, the first thing he checked was his emails, realising that it had been over a week since he'd been able to access the internet, having an old, second hand phone too which could just about send and receive texts.

'27 unread messages,' said his email client.

Half were advertisements from companies he'd never even heard of, a few were from banks that he had nothing to do with, claiming his account had been violated and they needed his account information, and just one of them caught his attention.

It was from The Broken Motion mailing list.

Dear Seckraman

The Broken Motion are back on tour!

The band will be touring all over the country with their latest album, In Search of the Promised Land, beginning in their home city of Skyfall and ending in Gollow upon Dyne.

Venues and dates are as follows.

Thanks to everyone for supporting us! We hope to see you there – E. J.

Seckry scrolled down the email until he reached the Skyfall details, scribbled down the date on a scrap of paper, tore it off and stuck it to his wardrobe. He'd never seen them live, and he made a promise to himself there and then that he'd do it this year.

The next thing he needed to do was find a way of getting fifty notes so that he could replace the Friction gift card that Snibble had melted. And the only way he was going to be able to do that was to find some kind of job.

He typed in 'superfind.sf,' tapped the control and enter keys on his keyboard, and the city's official search engine appeared, a clean page with the Skyfall flag as its logo.

Seckry typed 'Jobs in Skyfall,' hit the enter key and waited for the results to load.

He clicked on the first of them; probably the most relevant. When it loaded, he clicked on a current vacancies tab and a huge list of jobs stared at him: Accounts Director – Teletron Networking, General Manager – Neo Emporium, Sales Analyst – Cogwork Corporation.

They were all full time, never mind being way beyond his capabilities. He needed something one off. A little job to get him some pocket money. He scrolled down the list. Nothing.

He tried some of the other sites listed on the search engine but realised after checking the seventh one that they were all the same, and most were listing the exact same jobs as the others.

For a moment, he thought he had struck gold when he saw an advertisement for a one off job that paid in cash, but slumped in his seat when he read the details:

Applicant has to be big, burly and strong, as this is manual labour.

He looked at his scrawny arms and typed in the words 'short, skinny teenager looking for one off job,' and one result was returned:

One off job – Looking for small, nimble person to retrieve something of value. Please email for further details. Will pay in cash.

Seckry peered closer at the screen. This was just the thing he was looking for. He quickly loaded up his email client.

Hi, my name's Seckraman Sevenstars and I'm interested in the job you're advertising on the Skyfall Jobs 4 U website. Please let me know the details. Thanks.

He hit 'send' and reread the job description again. 'Looking for small, nimble person to retrieve something of value.'

It was vague. He wondered what kind of thing he'd have to retrieve.

That evening, Seckry left his computer running, and even though he spent most of his time in the living area with his mum and Leena, he kept running back and forth to his bedroom, refreshing his emails to see if he'd had a reply.

When ten o'clock came around, Seckry still hadn't had an email back so he decided to do a bit of reading to occupy his mind.

Then, out of nowhere, came a bleep. He'd fallen asleep with his computer running. His mouth was hot and dry, and his heart was beating fast.

It was a new email.

Seckry took a sip of water and moved his mouse to get rid of the screensaver. His email client was still on the screen.

Hello Seckraman, thank you for getting in touch. Now this task is a very dangerous one, something that can get you into a lot of trouble, so I will understand fully if you want to decline.

As you will no doubt know, the Endrin headquarters are at the heart of the city, and they are barricaded by a huge circular wall. Behind that wall, Seckraman, lies something that is very valuable to me – rintide worm. I will not trouble you with the details here and now about why I would like them.

Your job will be to sneak into the Endrin compound, find these worms, collect a small container full of them, and put that container on the 7.45 train to Arivel in two days' time.

On the easternmost side of the Endrin perimeter, there is a drain, a sewerage tunnel that spills into the river. If someone were to go into this drain and climb up through the first manhole, they would emerge in the open air cultivation unit, which is where I believe the worms are being kept. There is no housing for employees in this area and there are no security cameras. You will be unseen at night.

If you wish to accept, I will pay generously in cash.

My name will not be given to you. Putting the worms on the train that I mentioned will be the only thing you need to remember.

Seckry reread the email three times before he fully accepted what he was reading. They wanted him to break into Endrin's headquarters? He'd be arrested if he was caught. And go through a sewer? He couldn't imagine it.

In bed that night, even though his body was exhausted, his mind was racing. He kept trying to guess the amount of money that the job would pay, and more than that, he kept thinking of the self satisfaction he'd have at stealing something from Endrin, the company that stole his home.

When he woke in the morning, he jumped into his computer chair and read the email again.

No security cameras. No one around. No one would ever know.

Seckry couldn't believe he was doing this, but he started typing.

I'll get the worms for you.

Seckraman

He pondered over the send button for several minutes before hitting it.

That was it. Done. He was breaking in.

He suddenly felt panic flood over him. What was he getting himself into?

Seckry spent the next day down at the arcade again, practising collecting items on the sample levels of Friction. For most of the day, though, he was browsing through Henrei's avatar catalogue, fantasising about buying each and every one of the creatures on offer with whatever money he was going to get. There were all sorts of ogres, animals, robots and humans to choose from and each looked more exciting than the next.

But when the evening came around, Seckry could do nothing but think about the task that lay before him. Twice he logged onto his computer and wrote an apology letter to his anonymous employer, whose email address was simply the letters ktk@skyfall.sf, saying that he was no longer available to do the job. But both times he stopped himself before sending.

Soon enough, it was midnight, and if he didn't leave now, it'd be too late. With hands trembling with anticipation, he grabbed a plastic food container from the kitchen and a large towel for the dirt, shoved them into his backpack, and left as quietly as possible. If his mum knew what he was doing she'd go insane.

He boarded the monorail and sat alone in the empty carriage, whilst the flickering lights clicked on and off.

A rail attendant joined him.

"Well, well, we have a customer," he said merrily. "Not often you find someone riding the monos after midnight."

"I'd like a ticket to the Riverside stop, please," Seckry said shakily.

"Riverside? By the Endrin building? What you doing round there? The closest thing by foot from that stop is the casino."

"Yeah, um . . . of course," Seckry said. "I'm hitting the machines, you know." He looked around uncomfortably while the attendant raised one of his eyebrows.

"How old are you?" the attendant said.

"Eighteen," Seckry said unconvincingly. He usually had trouble convincingly people he was fifteen, never mind eighteen.

"Eighteen huh," the attendant said ponderingly. "Well here's your ticket."

Just as the attendant was about to leave the carriage, he turned back and said, 'Hey."

Seckry gulped.

"Yes?"

"I heard there's a bit of a fault on the Golden Giveaway machines. Paying out a bit more often than they should be, you know? Just a little heads up."

"Oh . . . thanks," Seckry said, swallowing his relief.

When he exited the carriage, he followed the gullies around until he reached the river.

It was stinking. It was hard to see much in the dark, but Seckry was sure there was a dead rat floating nearby.

He waded through it as fast as he could until he reached the sewer he was looking for. He gave a quick glance behind him before pulling himself up into the echoing tube.

It was even darker inside, almost pitch black, and he could feel wet, rancid effluent bubbling over his trainers. He ran his fingers across the wall to keep his balance, until he felt something furry and warm touch his hand, making him shudder and speed up. Eventually he found the sturdy coldness of metal. A ladder.

He was trying to be as silent as he could, but lifting the lid made a slight grinding noise, and he couldn't help but cough and heave a little as he emerged from the stinking pipe.

He took in his surroundings. It was an awe inspiring sight.

Every building in the Endrin compound was white, a pure bright white, dazzling in the glow of fluorescent tubes that were dotted around. Seckry had never seen anything so clean and perfect. It was like stepping into another world.

_Focus_ , he thought to himself. If he didn't, he'd be caught, and there was no telling what would happen to him if he was.

He scanned around him for any sign of worms but there were none. The floor here was concrete, but to his left was a gate with a warning above it.

RINTIDE SITE. KEEP CLEAR

Rintide. That was the name of the species of worm.

Seckry passed through the gate, not hesitating for another moment. In front of him the floor was made of fluffy soil, and it was undulating with hundreds of little red lights. Were they the worms?

Seckry had no idea about different species of worms, but he had never seen any that emitted bright red light before. He leaned down and sure enough, the little bright lights were worms, wriggling so frantically it looked as though they were in pain.

He knew he had to be quick so he dropped to his knees and started scooping as fast as he could. Seckry couldn't be sure, but there was something strange about the earth here. It was as though every handful was full of static electricity. It seemed to make the palm of his hand tingle unpleasantly. He noticed that as the worms were dropping into his tub, they were losing their colour, reverting to the burgundy-brown shade that Seckry usually associated with worms. They were also wriggling less frantically in the tub.

As he was scooping, Seckry realised his arm was starting to go numb. He tried scooping faster but the numbness seemed to be spreading through his body and into his mind. He started to feel dizzy.

" _Don't be sick,_ " he told himself quietly. " _Don't be sick now._ "

What was happening to him? He he had to get up and go before he collapsed face first into the mud.

He clicked his container shut and dropped it into his backpack, then he forced himself to stand up and it took all his energy to do so.

But as he turned to run, his heart froze.

A breath.

Someone was behind him.

# Chapter Eight

# The Girl in the Mud

Seckry stood absolutely still, praying to Gedin that it was just a whisper of the wind and not the noise of a human.

But there it was again. A short outing of breath, like a whimper, a sob.

He was shaking, terrified that he'd been caught. He stood where he was, waiting for someone to grab him. But they didn't.

Just that same short cry again, with a snivel this time too.

Seckry turned around slowly, and there, in the darkest corner of the mud patch, he caught a glimpse of a figure, illuminated briefly by the undulating glow worms.

It was a girl. How had he not noticed her while he had been digging?

" _Hey,_ " Seckry whispered softly, and the girl flashed her eyes at him. They were large and dark, eyeing him widely with fear and confusion.

"What are you doing here?" Seckry asked, and he looked away quickly as he realised that she was completely naked, huddled in the mud, hugging her own knees close to her chest.

There was a long silence before she said, "I don't know," in a weak voice.

Who was this girl? She couldn't be an Endrin employee, she was too young. Seckry wasn't certain, but he thought she must be around the same age as him, fifteen or sixteen.

Right then there was a crack in the air, like a thunderbolt, and floodlights started bleaching the complex.

That was it. He had to get out.

"Come on!" he said urgently, and grabbed the girl's hand to help her up. She slipped on the boggy surface, and struggled to get back to her feet again, her knees shaking as if her legs had never been used before.

With a bit of help, Seckry got her over to the manhole, kicked off the cover and hoisted her down.

Seckry's fingers were tingling. He had never been aware of touching someone's skin as much as he was now. He could feel her soft, damp flesh under his palms, slipping and sliding from the slimy mud. As he held her tight to keep hold of her, he could feel the tendons of her muscle tissue and the bones in her arms.

He jumped down himself, slid the manhole cover back into its place and waded as fast as he could through the sludge of filth until they came out into the river.

Seckry dragged the girl up onto the bank and into the cover of some corrugated metal sheeting. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. She was small, shorter than Seckry, and the jacket draped down to her knees.

They waited in silence for as long as they could manage. There wasn't a sound.

When Seckry realised no one was coming after them he took a deep breath.

What was he going to do with this girl? He couldn't leave her here. She was petrified.

"What's your name?" he asked her.

Her eyes searched around and she shook her head. "I don't know."

She was trying to cover her legs, aware that they were exposed, but Seckry wasn't looking at them. He was trying his best to avert his gaze from her eyes. They were so large and deep, so round and dark that they were almost like a baby's, taking in the world for the first time.

Seckry knew they had to leave. Even though they couldn't hear anyone, Seckry was sure there'd be Endrin guards scouting the perimeters by now. There was only one thing he could do.

"You'll have to come with me. You can't stay here."

The girl nodded shakily.

"I live over the other side of the city, do you think you can walk to the monorail station over there?"

She nodded again.

They made their way to the stop as quickly as they could.

As the monorail approached, Seckry saw that it was being serviced by the same attendant that had been on his outward journey.

"Hello again," Seckry said meekly as they boarded.

The attendant looked at Seckry and then the girl, then at Seckry again.

"Good night on the machines, eh?" he said suspiciously.

"Um . . . yeah," Seckry said.

Luckily he didn't give them any trouble, and when they arrived at the flat, Seckry turned on the shower as quietly as he could and gave the girl a towel and some spare pyjamas of Leena's that were lying around. She thanked him and Seckry closed the bathroom door. After she had finished, Seckry jumped in the shower himself.

It was only then that he had time to reflect. What had he done? He felt sick with fear and regret. What if they had him on security camera? And what was the girl doing there in the mud? Would Endrin be looking for her?

The worst thing that plagued him now was that he was going to have to explain to his mum why there was a strange girl sleeping in the spare bed. He was going to have to tell her that he broke into Endrin.

When he got to his bedroom the girl was fast asleep.

He lay down on his bed quietly and watched her. Seeing somebody in that bed seemed strange and out of place.

He eventually laid his head on his pillow and tried to get to sleep, but his mind wouldn't rest, and it was only at five o'clock in the morning that he drifted off.

Seckry woke to the sound of shouting.

"Who do you think you are? You lead my brother on, lure him into your little trap so he can get cornered by that horrible boy and now you've managed to seduce him again! Wait a minute . . . those are _my_ pyjamas!"

Seckry's eyes flashed open. "Leena, no!" he shouted.

He scrambled out of his sheets and stumbled into the living area.

"This isn't Natania!" he exclaimed.

Leena was stood with her fists clenched and her mouth screwed into a vicious snarl, staring intently at the poor girl he'd found last night as though she was about to rip her to shreds with her fingernails.

"This isn't Natania! This isn't Natania!" Seckry repeated, jumping in front of his sister before any damage was dealt.

"What on earth is going on out there?" shouted their mum from the bathroom. They heard the shower stop and some ruffling of towels before Coralle opened the door in her bath robe and saw the three of them.

"Well, who do we have here?" She said quietly, and she looked to Seckry for answers.

"Uh . . . she's . . ." Seckry didn't know what to say. The girl didn't even know her own name. "She's lost," Seckry eventually said. "I left the house late last night to do something and I found her. She was lost and alone. I said she could sleep here, she had nowhere to go. It's a long story."

"Oh, my dear," Coralle sighed, and she took hold of the girl's hand. "Of course, of course. You're more than welcome."

Coralle flashed Seckry a look that said, 'What were you doing out at night?' and then returned to the girl.

"Where do you live?" she asked.

The girl opened her mouth half way as though she were about to speak, but she closed it again, and her eyes turned downwards.

"She's having a little trouble with her memory," Seckry explained.

"Oh, you poor soul. It's okay, my darling, You stay here as long as you need."

"Thank you," the girl said, with a grateful smile.

Leena's rage eventually calmed after that, and she left for work in silence. Coralle made a fuss of getting the girl some decent breakfast and insisting that a nice cup of tea would probably bring her memory jogging back.

When Coralle was about to leave, she called Seckry aside.

"I have to go to work now, but will you be explaining all of this to me later?"

"Yeah . . ." Seckry said guiltily. "I'll explain everything later."

Seckry was left alone with the girl in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry for this," she said, shaking her head. "I won't be here when your mum and sister get back. I'll leave in a moment."

"No," Seckry said quickly. "You don't have to leave. My mum really doesn't mind you being here. She's always genuine when she says things like that. She loves looking after people."

The girl smiled.

"You can stay here at least until you start remembering. Otherwise, where will you go?"

The girl laughed briefly. "I don't know."

They sat in silence for a while, and Seckry decided to make himself busy so that he wouldn't keep staring at her large, watery eyes again.

While Seckry was plonking plates into a sink full of bubbles, the girl said, "I'm not sure if I'll ever remember."

Seckry stopped and turned around.

"It just . . . It just seems like there's a complete void."

"I'm sure it'll come back to you eventually," Seckry reassured her, but he had no idea if this was true or not in all honesty. He had found her naked on a patch of mud in the Endrin complex. What in Gedin's name had happened to her there? Why was she even there in the first place?

They spent the rest of the morning watching cartoons on the television. They sat in silence, although the girl giggled during an episode of Tommie Tiger. When the midday news came on Seckry made them both a salad sandwich and they sat on the sofa, eating.

Leena's clothes were too big on her and she looked lost in a pile of fabric.

"The place where you found me," the girl said quietly. "What is it? Where was I?"

Seckry put down his sandwich. Her face was becoming less fatigued now, and she had keen curiosity in her expression.

"It was in the very centre of the city, in the private grounds of a science research organisation named Endrin."

"Oh . . ." the girl said. "What were you doing there? It looked like you were digging something up."

"I was . . . uh. Well I wasn't supposed to be there. I'd broken in to get some worms for someone. They said they'd pay me a lot of money if I did it." He shook his head. Seckry was about to say how much he now regretted breaking in at all, but he stopped himself as he realised she might still have been cowering naked in the mud if he hadn't helped her get away.

"The earliest thing I can remember," said the girl, "is the smell of soil. And then opening my eyes and seeing you."

Seckry felt his face go red as he recalled her naked form again. She must have been embarrassed too because she turned her head down and avoided his gaze.

"Thank you for getting me out of there," she said eventually.

Seckry decided to pass some time by showing her some video games. They lay on separate beds and took it in turns to beat arcade mode on a couple of beat 'em ups.

"Whoever you are," Seckry said, "you must be a pretty good gamer. You're amazing at this."

"It does feel familiar," the girl said ponderingly, as she defeated the final boss for the second time. "Oh, look! I've made the leader boards."

Seckry smiled but immediately felt awkward. The leader board was asking her to type in a name for the records, and she was just staring at the screen, lost in her own thoughts.

"I really have no idea who I am," she said.

After a moment, Seckry thought of an idea.

"Would you like to have a temporary name? Just for now, you know? Until your real name comes back to you."

The girl looked at him, and he saw sadness in her eyes. "I'm sorry," Seckry said straight away. "That's a really bad idea."

"No, it's not," the girl replied, and she smiled. "I think I'd like a temporary name. What do you think would suit me?"

"Hmm . . ." Seckry thought. "I think it should be a name that means something to you. Can you remember anything that you like? Anything at all?"

"It's really strange. I remember smells and tastes. I can picture things and places. But . . . nothing links to anything else." The girl thought for a while. "Is there such a thing as an 'eiya' flower? I don't know where or when I ever came across it, but there's a flower I can see in my mind, a little white one with a lovely smell."

"Yes," Seckry said. "Yes there is." He knew the flower. Of course he did. He walked past a garden full of them every morning on the way to school back in Marne, and every day he'd get a waft of beautiful aroma in the gentle morning breeze.

"I remember that flower," the girl said. "It's my favourite one."

"Well then," Seckry said dramatically. "It's nice to meet you, Eiya." He held out his hand and she shook it with a giggle.

"It's only four letters too," she said. "Which means it fits into the leader boards perfectly."

After a few more games, Seckry realised it was half past three and school would just be finishing.

There was one thing he had been waiting all day to do. He had to speak to Mr Vance and tell him about the girl.

"I've just got to make a phone call, okay?" he said, and he slipped into the living area.

He didn't have the number for the school stored in his address book but his mum had written a list of important phone numbers and tacked them to the notice board above the toaster.

He whipped out his mobile, dialled and waited for an answer.

"Estergate Institute reception, Claura speaking, how may I help?"

"Uh . . . hi, can I speak to Mr Jonn Vance please?"

"Mr Vance? Can I ask who's calling?"

"Tell him it's Seckry Sevenstars."

Would Mr Vance remember the name?

"Tell him it's the boy from the alley," Seckry added.

"Uh . . . sure. One moment."

Seckry was put on hold. After a couple of minutes of classical music the speaker went silent again.

"Hello?"

"Mr Vance . . . I'm really sorry to disturb you,"

"It's quite alright, Seckry, it's quite alright. Is everything okay?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about. It's to do with Endrin."

"Endrin? Go ahead, Seckry."

"I . . . found a girl inside the complex," Seckry explained, "I wasn't supposed to be there. I . . . snuck in."

Mr Vance was silent for a moment. Seckry didn't know if the man was going to scold him or not. Either way, he knew he had to tell him. Mr Vance would probably be the only one who could shine a light on who the girl was.

Eventually Vance spoke.

"Dear Gedin, Seckry, I don't know why you would break in to the Endrin complex but you are now in very serious danger." His tone was more concerned than it was angry. "If you meet me tomorrow after school in my classroom we can discuss the details of why and how, but for now, you say you found a girl?"

"Yes," Seckry said shakily. "She's lost her memory. She can't remember a thing. She was huddled in a patch of mud and she doesn't know how she got there or who she is."

Mr Vance was silent again for a while.

"You did the right thing in phoning me, Seckry. Is she with you now?"

"Yeah, she's here. She's gonna stay here with us until things start coming back to her."

"That's good. Make sure she drinks plenty of water. Does she have any injuries, was she hurt?"

"No, it doesn't seem like it," Seckry said.

"Good. Seckry, this is very interesting indeed. Especially after the discoveries I've made today."

"Discoveries?" Seckry asked.

Mr Vance sighed, and his voice trembled a little.

"The white chip. I've been running tests through it for the past two days. I had hit a block yesterday evening, and I thought I'd never know what the purpose of that phantom node was. But I was taking the wrong approach. It wasn't emitting anything, no power, no information, nothing. I almost thought, for a moment, that it was dud, that maybe I had been paranoid about Endrin and this node had really been a manufacturing mistake. But, Seckry, this node isn't emitting anything for a reason. It's a negative. It's not giving, it's receiving. It's reading. It's gathering."

"What do you mean?" Seckry asked.

"Endrin are searching for something. It's quite complicated, and I wouldn't even teach my sixth formers this stuff, but, if the white chip picks up a certain element then a signal is sent to the wireless emitter. That signal goes straight to Endrin HQ. They're waiting for the node to detect that element in the air."

"What element is it?"

Mr Vance breathed out slowly.

"That's where things become very strange indeed. It's not an element listed in the official tables. Its properties don't make sense, it's an element that doesn't exist."

"Why would they be searching for something that doesn't exist?" Seckry asked.

"Seckry, every academic bone in my body is telling me that this is impossible and if I ever tried to prove this to the fellows of the Science Committee I'd lose my job, but I think I have an idea of what Endrin are looking for."

"What is it?"

Seckry heard Mr Vance shuffling around on the end of the line.

"It's not something I even want to talk about over the phone. Can you meet me tomorrow at lunch time? I'll be in my office, at the end of T corridor on the second floor."

"Yeah sure," Seckry answered.

"And Seckry," Mr Vance said urgently. "Do you have a white chip on your arm at the moment?"

"Yes," Seckry said, rolling up his sleeve.

"Take it off, wrap it in a lot of tin foil, and put it away."

"What?" Seckry said, aghast. "Even if they're trying to detect elements in the air, aren't they still the only thing that's protecting us from the leaked toxins?"

"Seckry," Vance said gravely. "There are no leaked toxins."

# Chapter Nine

# Interrogation

With the whole situation of finding the girl, Seckry had almost forgotten that he had to put the container of worms on the 7.45 train, but luckily he just about caught it. He received a few curious glances from the other passengers, but he disappeared before anyone could comment.

That evening, when his mum arrived home from work, she sat with Seckry and allowed him to talk.

He told her about Snibble melting the Friction gift card and about the email and him sneaking out in the night, and he watched her expression of disappointment with a horrible feeling in his stomach.

"Who on earth is the person on the other side of that email address?" Coralle asked rhetorically. "I mean, what kind of person are you involved with now?" She cupped her head in her hands and shrugged her shoulders. "I always thought it'd be Leena that'd be the troublesome one, not you, Seck."

She didn't say much to him for a long time after that, and Seckry knew she'd need time to forgive him.

The next day, Seckry was back in school. The swelling around his eye had reduced and the bruising on his legs was getting better. He saw Snibble not long after arriving, but the boy said nothing to him. Whatever Vance had said or done to him, it seemed to be working for the moment. Seckry simply shot him a look of disgust and carried on with his work.

When the buzzer rang for lunch, Seckry grabbed a sandwich and hurried to Mr Vance's office.

"Seckry, come in," said Vance, clearing some papers off a chair for Seckry to sit on.

"Hi, sir."

"Have you had a good morning?"

"It's been okay. We just finished a lesson with that Mr Pegglewim. Didn't manage to get much done to be honest, though."

"Ah. Yes. Mr Pegglewim. Lovely chap. Deserves to be in a better school really."

"Mr Vance," Seckry said, unable to keep his curiosity at bay any longer. "What you said about the leak on the phone yesterday. That it didn't happen. Is that true?"

Before Vance said anything in response, he shut the blinds, closed his door and locked it.

"I don't want anyone to overhear," he explained quietly. "And yes, Seckry, it's true. I visited the power plant. The workers there wouldn't say anything about the spill. But before leaving I managed to take a photo of their records. When I got back and looked at them there was no mention of the leakage at all. In fact their reports for that day show that business went pretty much as usual."

"So all this power plant leak stuff is just a big lie to get everyone wearing one of the white chips?"

"It would seem so," Vance said grimly. "It's deeply disturbing."

"What kind of thing is so important to find that they'd make something up this big just to find it?"

Vance breathed out and put his hands behind his head. "I can't believe I'm actually contemplating this to be honest, but . . . the thing that Endrin seem to be looking for is an element that people wrote about around two thousand years ago. It was something that scientists were fascinated with. Some spent their whole lives devoted to studying it. But nowadays it's never spoken of. All studies regarding it were dismissed on the conclusion that the element doesn't, and never did, actually exist. Contemporary scientists believe that all that time ago people were so caught up in superstition and folklore that their minds were warped and confused. The strange thing is that every other element the ancient scientists discovered are the same ones that are in our elemental table now. This . . . mystery element is the only one we've never been able to find."

"What's this mystery element called?" Seckry asked.

"Helitonium," Vance said, and he seemed to shudder just saying it. "The thing with helitonium is that it wasn't regarded as just any element by the Ancient Klaxions. It was the ruler of all elements. They worshipped it and they feared it equally."

Vance turned around and began running his finger across his shelf of books, which seemed to be populated with all manner of dusty tomes and ancient encyclopaedias.

"The great salt lake . . ." he muttered to himself, and pulled out a thin, worn book with a frayed leather jacket and about five or six post it notes sticking out of its pages.

Vance opened the book on his desk in front of Seckry and flicked through a few pages before reaching one with a large illustration on it of a lake.

"This," Vance explained, "is the Great Salt Lake of Isperland. Have you heard of it?"

"Yes," Seckry said. "I've heard the name, but I don't know where." He assumed it must have been in a geography lesson somewhere along the line.

"It's known as the Isperland Salt Flat now as the lake has dried out, but back in the times of the Ancient Klax it was a deep lake high in concentration of salt. What is unique about it is that the Klaxions recorded the lake as having a giant mass of helitonium hovering above it."

Vance turned the page and there was another illustration of the lake, this time with bright green and blue coloured patterns just above its surface, like glowing, liquid smoke.

"Of course, modern scientific research at the flats has revealed that there could have been much more practical reasons for the strange clouds above the lake. Salt conducts electricity, and the high concentration of it in the water could have caused it to form small thunder clouds in the air."

"Is that what you think it was?" Seckry asked. "Small thunder clouds?"

Vance closed the book. "I don't know what it was that the Klaxions were looking at, but those illustrations don't look like thunder clouds to me."

"But why was helitonium so important to them?" Seckry asked.

"Because . . . helitonium had the power to manipulate all of the other elements in the periodic table in ways that no others could. Things that came into contact with helitonium were changed by it in very unpredictable ways. There are records of inanimate objects starting to hover off the ground in the presence of helitonium, fires sparking up on pieces of fabric that were stone cold, certain plants began growing rapidly out of the ground, and all other manner of strange things that defy the laws of physics. There is even one account of a starving man in contact with helitonium wishing for food so badly that fruit began appearing out of thin air."

Vance sat down in his desk chair and began swivelling slowly from side to side.

"Do you think it's real?" Seckry asked. "Do you believe that helitonium exists?"

Vance was staring into space.

"I don't know. But something is for certain. Endrin believe that it exists. And they're looking for anyone that might possess it."

"You mean, like in a bottle or a jar or something?"

"Yes, maybe. Something like that. The Klaxions were never able to store helitonium, it was too volatile, too chaotic. Endrin obviously believe that it can be stored. Did you hear about the supposed toxins being cleared?"

Seckry shook his head.

"Endrin announced this morning that the toxins have now been successfully contained and everybody can remove their white chips and dispose of them. It's unnerving to think that Endrin have found what they were looking for so quickly. Now, Seckry, I think it's time for you to tell me how on earth you found yourself inside the Endrin compound."

Seckry had been dreading it, but he had to tell Vance, it could be important. He took a deep breath and began recalling everything; about the job request, the email, and the worms. He felt sick knowing how much trouble he was in.

Vance listened intently and didn't interrupt once. When Seckry had finished, Vance took a breath himself as though he had been holding it in.

"I know you're expecting me to raise my voice at you, Seckry, but you can relax, I'm not going to."

Seckry gulped.

"Aren't you angry?"

Vance leaned back in his chair.

"Seckry . . . to be honest, you remind me of myself when I was your age. I could sit here and scorn you for being idiotic . . . but the truth is . . . when I was your age I did a very similar thing. It was wrong. I knew it was wrong at the time, but if I could go back and change things I wouldn't, because I would never have learned the lessons it taught me. We all make mistakes and we all learn from them." Vance laughed briefly. "Do you think I'm too understanding?" he said, a slight smile in the corner of his mouth. "I'll never make a good parent, will I?"

Seckry let himself smile a little.

"There is something very important to discuss here, though," Vance said, his expression losing its humour. "Did Endrin see you?"

"I don't know . . ." Seckry said. "Floodlights came on all around us but we jumped into the manhole pretty quickly. We hid for a while nearby, but nobody came looking."

"Let's hope that they saw nothing. Tresspassing on private property in Skyfall can be punishable by a prison sentence. You're fifteen years old which means that you wouldn't be sent to the juvenile detention centre in the north, you'd end up in Skyfall City Penitentiary."

Seckry almost felt like crying. Going to prison would kill him.

Vance grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it.

"Hey, in any other situation that'd be the case. But not for this. I'll make sure you don't go to prison, you hear me?"

Seckry nodded.

"Sir, what do you think someone wanted those worms for anyway?"

"I don't know, Seckry," Vance said honestly. "It's something I will be looking into very acutely over the next few days. Rintide worm, you say they were? They're a very rare species, the rintide. Very valuable. They may have been at Endrin simply for the purpose of breeding for monetary gain . . . but something tells me that they were using them for more than that."

"Do you think the girl I found . . . do you think it's all connected, that she's some part of this helitonium thing?"

"It's very possible, yes. I'd like to speak with her soon."

At that moment the bell rang and it was time for Seckry's last but one lesson of the day, psychoanalysis with Professor Frudenberg.

Before leaving, Seckry thanked Vance and helped him reopen all of the blinds.

"Try not to get into any more trouble," Vance said with a small hint of sarcasm. "First a fight, then a break in . . ."

Psychoanalysis went smoothly that day. It was Seckry's third lesson so far and he began to realise that he was enjoying it. Come to think of it, he was enjoying his lessons of planetary science, ecology, and typography too. The worst thing about his day was what he knew was coming next; electronics with Cutson once more. He knew that electronics was one of the most important subjects in the city, but he was sure he had had more lessons with Mrs Cutson than any other teacher.

The lesson began by Cutson dictating to them all about the regulations of circuitry in the city and how they were the most refined and well researched regulations in the world. Then she got them all to copy nine pages out of a textbook into their work journals.

It was during his ninth page of arduous and painfully mind numbing copying that Seckry heard a patter of hollow footsteps echoing in the corridor that became louder and louder. A sense of dread washed over him but he didn't know why. He could hear the muffled voice of the headmaster, fast and nervous.

There were a few murmurs from the class and everyone seemed to be looking towards the classroom door, though Cutson sliced through the noise with a sharp, "Silence!"

Then the door opened, and Gobbledee stepped in.

"I b-believe it's this class you're looking for," he stammered.

Two men in white uniforms entered the room slowly.

Cutson leaped out of her chair and nearly knocked over her desk. She frantically tidied a few papers and began straightening her skirt.

"Oh my, do come in, do come in," she said, flustered. She pushed past the headmaster. "How can I help you today, gentlemen?"

But the two men had no interest in Cutson, they were both staring calmly at Seckry. Seckry's heart began pounding. Both men had a badge embroidered on the left side of their uniforms.

Endrin Corp.

Cutson kept pushing her permed hair in an attempt to make it look better, but all it was doing was springing back into place.

"Mr Sevenstars," one of the men said, in a sickly tone that made Seckry feel like retching. "We'd like you to come for a chat."

Mrs Cutson followed their gaze and as her eyes met Seckry's she mouthed the word ' _you'_ with silent contempt.

Seckry was frozen to his chair.

"Don't just sit there, boy! How rude of you!" Cutson shouted, her face red with nervousness and fury.

"We only wish to talk with you, Mr Sevenstars. If you would just like to come with us."

Seckry stood up and followed the men into the corridor, much to the excited speculation of the rest of the class.

Mr Gobbledde gave Seckry a curious and slightly concerned look of confusion as he passed him.

"Please, follow us," the same employee said, and then thanked the headmaster.

Seckry's mind was racing. What could he do? He had nowhere to run. He was just going to have to act oblivious. He was going to have to force himself to believe that he hadn't done anything wrong.

As they walked along the corridor, Mr Vance burst out of a set of doors behind them.

"Seckry!"

Out of adjacent corridors, two more Endrin employees appeared and grabbed Vance, holding him in place.

"Seckry, you'll be alright, okay?" Vance called. "You've done nothing."

Seckry nodded at him.

When they reached the entrance the men ushered Seckry into the back of a four by four car with tinted windows and drove away slowly.

It didn't take long for them to reach the Endrin compound, and neither man said a word. Seckry was led through the front gates and into the main building.

Everything inside was just as white as the outside. It was like a hospital, but quieter. Seckry hated the atmosphere of hospitals but this was even worse.

Seckry seemed to follow the men around corridor after corridor, and for most of the time, Seckry kept his head down. But at some point he thought he heard a muffled scream behind a door, and his eyes darted in its direction. The face of the door was printed with a symbol of some sort, a few DNA strands encased in a circle with graphical wings. Underneath it were the words _Divinita Project_.

Before Seckry had time to study it more, he was dragged into a room in which someone was waiting for him. A blank table was situated in the middle. On one side of it sat a woman, with tied back blonde hair and a clipboard, and on the other side was an empty chair.

"Mr Sevenstars," the woman said with velvety smoothness. "Please, have a seat."

The two men left the room at that point, leaving Seckry alone with her.

"Would you like a glass of water?" she asked.

"No, thank you," Seckry said. He was going to say as little as possible.

There was a squeaking of stretched plastic as the woman leaned back in her chair.

"My name's Jenniver Layne," she said. "I'm not here to interrogate you. I just want to ask a few simple questions."

Seckry remained sitting absolutely still, his mouth pursed into a tight clench.

"You can relax," she said comfortingly. "We're not going to hurt you."

Seckry forced himself to breathe a little more.

Jenniver scribbled something on her clipboard and looked Seckry in the eyes.

"It must have been hard relocating to the city. It's mind blowing here isn't it?"

So they'd done their research on him. Seckry wondered what other information was being stored about his personal life. He decided not to comment.

"The reason we've brought you here today, Seckry, is that we know you gained unauthorised access to our facility and we need to know what happened while you were here. Did somebody ask you to do it?"

Seckry's stomach was doing back flips, but he had to keep focused and he had to keep to his story.

"No," he said simply, his eyes fixed on the table.

"Seckry," Jenniver said calmly. "The area that we saw you enter is a very dangerous place to be without the right protective clothing. The worms that are being held there are very important to us and if they were to be removed from the soil it could have very serious consequences. It's very important that the worms don't fall into the wrong hands."

Seckry swallowed hard.

"Did you take any of the worms, Seckry?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Seckry said unconvincingly.

Jenniver sat, looking at her papers for a while. She placed the clipboard on the table and rested her chin on her closed hands.

Seckry caught a glance at the papers. He could just about make out the text, reading upside down.

Fatal breach . . . Divinita Project . . .

"What's the Divinita Project?" Seckry asked.

Jenniver's eyes darted to the papers. She picked up the clipboard and slid it into a drawer on her side of the table.

"I'm afraid that's one question I cannot answer for you," she said.

She was silent for a long while.

"Seckry, we cannot tell from the security footage if you took any worms from the soil or not, as there was some malfunction on the tape. We only have footage of you entering through the drainage system, and then you seem to spot something before our tape begins to go very distorted and becomes undecipherable."

Seckry's pulse was racing. If what Jenniver was saying was true, that meant that they hadn't seen him escape with the girl. Jenniver hadn't mentioned the girl at all yet. Was it possible that Endrin had no idea she had been there?

"We don't know what happened to the tape, but we have specialists working to repair the footage. It won't be long before we see the rest of it, so Seckry, if there's anything that you'd like to tell me about why you were here, who sent you, or what you did here, then please do so now."

Seckry swallowed and tried to avoid Jenniver's gaze. He said nothing.

"Okay," Jenniver said finally. "Here's what's going to happen, Seckry. We're going to let you go now. You'll be driven back to your school where you can rejoin your classmates."

_Thank Gedin for that_ , Seckry thought.

"We're not going to inform the Skyfall Patrol. This is a matter for us to deal with and we'll deal with it accordingly. In the meantime, Seckry, if you manage to remember anything that happened that night, just come to our front gates and ask for Jenniver Layne. I'll be here."

# Chapter Ten

# The Blacklear

Days went by and the girl they were now calling Eiya still hadn't had any breakthroughs with her memory. Seckry took her to see Mr Vance, but even he could find no way of getting her to recall a single detail of her past, though he was very interested to hear Seckry's description of the Divinita Project symbol he had seen at Endrin.

Coralle had begun to start acting like her normal self again for the first time since Seckry had told her about his actions, and was more than happy to look after Eiya. In fact, she seemed to be in her element, fussing and pampering. She had pleasure in pulling out all of the old photo albums of Seckry and Leena as babies, telling Eiya stories about them growing up. Coralle recalled the time Seckry had been so tired sitting at the table for dinner, he had dropped his head straight into his mashed potato, which Eiya seemed to find particularly funny.

Seckry found it strange having Eiya around at first. The only spare bed in the flat was in his bedroom so that was where she slept. He no longer had the privacy of his own room, but as time went on he found himself enjoying the company a little.

Leena sometimes winked at Seckry and said things like, "You two are getting along quite well . . ." but Seckry just shrugged them off. Even though Eiya was a girl, Seckry found that he didn't feel nervous around her at all. He had none of the angst inside him that he usually experienced when he was in the company of an attractive girl. Maybe it was because he had never met anyone quite like her.

When two weeks had passed, Coralle decided it would be best for Eiya to enrol at Estergate while she was staying with them, so that she didn't miss out on any education. Coralle ordered a uniform and told the school that Eiya was a family friend from Marne, with the made up surname of Tacana, which was the name for the root of the eiya flower.

On her first day, Seckry introduced her to Tenk and Tippian, who both seemed incredibly shy in her presence, but after a few days they were back to normal. Seckry explained to them both about Endrin and how he had found Eiya and got them both to swear that they wouldn't tell anyone else about it.

On the Sunday night before the beginning of Eiya's second week at Estergate, Seckry was finding it difficult to get to sleep. He kept waking up and watching Eiya. His mind had been pondering over the possibilities of who she could be and where her family were for weeks now and he just couldn't shut his mind off. When he eventually got to sleep he found himself dreaming about her.

"Seckry."

Where was he?

"Seckry . . ." The voice was soft and sweet. Seckry felt like smiling.

"You missed your alarm."

"What alarm?" Seckry said dreamily.

Then he woke up.

"Oh Gedin!" he said, his eyes darting open.

Eiya was standing at his bedside dressed in her Estergate uniform, smiling ashamedly. "I went for a shower thinking your alarm would wake you up. You must have missed it."

Seckry shook his head and let his eyes refocus. "What time is it?"

Eiya looked at her watch and cringed. "It's twenty to nine. The monorail is coming in five minutes."

"You go on ahead," Seckry said. "I'll meet you on the carriage."

Eiya nodded and let herself out.

Seckry slapped his face into the palm of his hand. _Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go_ , he said to himself.

He scrambled into his uniform and splashed his face in the sink before brushing his teeth for about five seconds and then grabbing his bag.

As he got to the station, panting like mad, he spotted Eiya waving at him, inside one of the carriages. He ran towards the door and was just about to jump on when the 'doors closing' _bing_ sounded.

Seckry slammed his hands onto the metal.

"No! Wait! One second!"

Eiya jumped up and came to the inside of the door. She was trying to prise it open but it wasn't budging.

As the monorail began to move, Eiya mouthed, 'I'm sorry,' through the window.

"Don't worry, I'll be there soon!" Seckry shouted, and collapsed to his knees.

It was the first time he'd missed the monorail. He'd have to walk to Estergate. According to Tenk it was only a twenty minute walk if you cut through some lane called the Blacklear.

Seckry picked himself up. If he upset Cut Throat again, who knows what she would do? He was going to have to run.

As he made his way through the streets he was starting to get worried. He hadn't seen any sign for any lanes called the Blacklear. Up ahead were an elderly couple, walking hand in hand.

"Sorry to bother you," Seckry said, as politely as he could amidst wheezes. "Would you happen to know where I could find a street named the Blacklear?"

The couple stopped in shock. It was the lady that spoke. "The Blacklear? My dear boy, why on earth are you looking for that Gedin forsaken place?"

"I'm late for school. I was told it was a shortcut."

The couple exchanged glances.

"Who are these people, telling young lads like this to take a shortcut through that place? Probably trying to lure you there and get you involved in all of that filth I imagine. If you're a sensible boy I'd stay well away from the Blacklear. Well away."

Seckry gulped. "All the same, I'd like to know where it is," he said. "So I can avoid it in the future." It might have been sensible to avoid the Blacklear in any normal situation, but being late for Cut Throat Cutson was not any normal situation. He had to take the shortcut no matter what kind of place it was.

"Well, you see that rusty sign over there? It used to say Blacklear."

"Now it says _No Entry Punks_ ," the old man said with very precise pronunciation. "In red spray paint." Seckry could hear the distaste in his tone.

"Thanks," Seckry said. "Wouldn't want to turn down there by accident."

He waited until the couple had disappeared around a corner before pelting it into the forbidden lane.

The atmosphere of the place made Seckry slow down a bit. It felt as though hundreds of eyes were watching him. It was long and narrow with stagnant pools of water sitting underneath drainpipes and wet rat droppings scattered across the ground. There were buildings on either side of him, but a particular one made Seckry's skin tingle.

It seemed to be some kind of large, abandoned warehouse, and as Seckry passed it he could hear lots of whispers echoing inside. The most unsettling thing, though, was that, coming from the depths of the building, was the sound of a young girl crying.

"Man, that Blacklear lane shortcut thing wasn't pleasant," Seckry said to Tenk that lunchtime. He had made it to school that morning with about one minute to spare. Eiya was getting herself a can of fizzy pop from a vending machine.

"You went through the Blacklear?" Tenk said, almost spitting out a baked bean.

"Yeah you said it was a shortcut."

"Yeah it is. I didn't say I ever used it though. I'd poo my pants walking through there."

"What?" Seckry said, aghast. "You've never even been through there? I thought I was gonna get stabbed!"

"Hats off to you, man. Did you see any crazydust dealings happening?"

"No, is that what they're doing in that warehouse?"

"Yeah, bound to be. You see all these hoodies coming and going. What else they gonna be doing?"

"I didn't see anyone, in fact," Seckry said. "The place was empty, but I just had this feeling as though someone was gonna jump out at me at any moment and stick a knife into my back."

There seemed to be a bit of a commotion at the entrance to the canteen and Seckry and Tenk turned their heads to see.

Snibble had turned up with the huge twins who had been around when Snibble had attacked him. They looked like stone gargoyles, with black leather coats and unpleasant frowns on their faces.

"Who are those guys?" Seckry asked.

"The Brossius brothers," Tenk said grimly. "Sons of Amolfo Brossius. Biggest crazydust dealer in the east partition."

"Really?" Seckry said. "Do you think he's got something to do with the Blacklear?"

"I reckon so," Tenk said. "That place has got to be the biggest crazydust den in the east. I'd bet you any money Amolfo is running it."

"It looks like they're Snibble's bodyguards." Seckry pondered, as the twins pushed through the crowd of students to give Snibble clear access to a seat.

"Yeah, they look after him for some reason. Must see him as a little brother or something like that. Their dads are best buddies."

The next morning, Seckry woke to the sound of the front door knocking. He opened his eyes and walked barefoot across the hall before opening the door to a delivery man.

"Parcel for Seckraman Sevenstars?" he said, and handed a big box to Seckry.

After signing for it and thanking the man, Seckry ripped open the casing and pulled out a briefcase.

There was nothing else. No letter.

Seckry wiped his eyes to remove the last of the sleep from them and flicked the briefcase open.

" _Dear Gedin . . ._ " he whispered to himself.

The case was full with wads of money, tied together by elastic bands. Seckry nervously picked up a batch and began counting. When he finished he placed the money back into the case and stared at it blankly.

In front of him were two hundred thousand notes.

Seckry shut the case and hid it under his bed before anyone else got up, and the only person he told about it was Eiya. Having that kind of money was beyond his wildest dreams, but he was also now petrified. If this was the reward for stealing those worms, what on earth were they being used for?

Later that day, whilst his mum was watching the television in the living area, Seckry heard an advert that caught his attention and he watched with interest. It was a government message.

"The Skyfall Patrol are urging people to come forward with any information regarding crazydust dens. These buildings are thought to be littered around Skyfall and act as meeting places for crazydust dealings. Young children are often used as go betweens and are treated like slaves by the dealers. If you have reason to believe that a property could be one of these dens, please contact our crazydust helpline and we will investigate. Thank you for your cooperation."

"The Blacklear," Seckry said to Eiya. "Do you think I should phone the helpline?"

"Are you certain it's a crazydust den?" she said.

Seckry screwed up his mouth. Everything pointed towards it being one, but he just couldn't be sure. He was going to have to go back there and do a bit of spying, just to be certain.

The next day, Seckry and Eiya got up extra early and walked to school, stopping at the turning for the Blacklear, and trying to spot any strange goings on.

They watched and waited for about fifteen minutes before Eiya looked at her watch and said, "We better get going. School starts in twenty minutes."

Seckry reluctantly turned away and they both began heading for the long way around. They could have reached Estergate in about five minutes if they had gone through the Blacklear, but Seckry didn't fancy it again, even if there was nothing going on down there right now.

Before the Blacklear disappeared out of site, Seckry glanced behind him, and as he did so, he saw a frail looking girl sprint out and around a corner.

"Hey," Seckry shouted and ran after her.

The girl glanced back in fear and tried to run but tripped over the pavement.

Seckry caught up to her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"What do you want?" the girl pleaded, crying.

"I'm sorry," Seckry said, feeling awful. "I just wanted to ask you what you were doing down the Blacklear."

"It's none of your business," the girl said feebly. "You won't tell anyone about it, will you?"

Seckry stammered. "Is it . . . a crazydust den?"

The girl gave a short, incredulous laugh, but there was no humour in it, just anguish. "Please," she said. "Just go away and don't follow me."

"I'm sorry," Seckry said, "but are they using you as a slave? Where are your parents?"

"Don't enter the Blacklear again!" the girl said desperately. "And don't tell anyone about it!" With that, she jumped to her feet and sprinted away as fast as she could on her little legs.

Seckry couldn't take his mind off it the whole day in school and neither could Eiya. When they arrived back in the flat, Seckry sat at the kitchen table and began spinning his mobile phone around in his hand, staring into space.

"You look like you're away with the faeries," his mum said.

"Huh? Oh, sorry."

"He was always like this," Coralle said to Eiya. "He could just sit there for hours, lost in his own imagination. I bet he can't even hear me speaking right now."

"I can hear you, mum," Seckry said dryly.

After three hours of deliberating, Seckry couldn't take it anymore. The girl didn't want him to tell anyone, but it was for her own safety. She had to be saved from that place.

He dialled and put his phone to his ear. Someone answered immediately.

"I'd like to report a suspected crazydust den," he said.

On the Wednesday of the following week, an official looking letter arrived in the post, addressed to Seckry.

He ripped it open and he and Eiya stared at it.

Dear Seckraman

Thank you for your support in our ongoing battle to prevent drug abuse in the city. However, upon search of the premises you reported, we found no evidence of drug related activity and will not be charging any residents. We would like you to rest assured in knowing that this property is not a crazydust den.

Thank you for your concern.

Yours.

The Chief Commissioner of Drug Prevention

Collum Barrs.

Seckry reread the letter. How could the Blacklear not be a crazydust den? What about the girl?

The Patrol were wrong, Seckry knew. Either the Blacklear was doing a very good job of disguising themselves or . . . or the government were choosing to ignore it.

# Chapter Eleven

# Sanfarrow, Darklight, Kayne, the Three

"It's time for me to take you to the emporium," Tenk said to Seckry that Saturday morning, and Seckry's face lit up. He had been looking forward to buying his own avatar ever since he had first got in Henrei's Friction pod, and now he had money to spend, a _lot_ of money to spend, he couldn't wait to start his Friction experience. It would also take his mind off the Blacklear, which had been confusing and worrying him since he had received the letter.

Seckry invited Eiya along, but she had already planned to go to the Skyfall City Library to do some research on Endrin, so Seckry and Tenk took the monorail to the city centre and bought a couple of milkshakes at the entrance.

The emporium was huge, even bigger than Seckry had imagined. The outside was flooded in blue neon light and filled with holograms of avatars running around, jumping through the air, floating, buzzing, and flickering in and out of focus.

"Hello boys," said a girl who was sporting a pair of luminous green socks. "Welcome to the emporium. You been here before?"

"Not me," said Seckry. "My friend's gonna show me around." He turned to Tenk, but Tenk was licking his dry lips and staring at the girl as though she had hypnotised him.

"Come on, Tenk," Seckry laughed, and pulled him away.

"Mate, I've never seen her before," Tenk said, glancing back at the entrance. "They used to have this fat guy outside to greet everyone."

"Maybe you can show her how good you are at Friction one day. I bet she'd be impressed."

Tenk nodded, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Yeah, she would, wouldn't she?"

When Tenk lost view of the girl, he showed Seckry the different sections of the building. When an emporium assistant became free close by, Tenk called him over.

"My friend here is new to Friction, can you get him sized up?"

"Sure, no probs," said the assistant. "Hey, Jerro, slide me over a fitting booth."

A big tubular booth that seemed to be hovering just above the floor by some kind of magnetic force slid towards them. The man grabbed a handle on the side.

"Step in."

"What do I do when I'm inside?" Seckry asked.

"Nothing. Go on. You can take your milkshake in with you if you like."

Seckry stepped in. He took a sip of his milkshake and as he did so an array of blue laser beams scanned over his body.

"That's it, we're done!" said the assistant, loudly.

"That was quick," Seckry said, stepping out and slurping the foam at the bottom of his cup.

"Yeah these things are great, used to take ten minutes each person about three years back. It was a nightmare on the weekends. Well, you're all sized up, here's your fitting info card. Looks like you're a group F – G. Just slot this card into the back of your avatar and he'll match your dimensions."

"Thanks," Seckry said.

"Here, I'll show you the avatars," Tenk said excitedly, and dragged Seckry into what seemed to be the centre of the emporium.

It was an enormous circular space with walls that were made of hundreds upon hundreds of curved plasma screens, each one sporting a unique avatar.

There were also a few people wandering around in zip-up avatar costumes, including some kind of female animal that was having her tail yanked by a couple of overexcited children.

"This half, here," Tenk said, "are the uni-fit avatars. And over there are the fitted ones."

"What's the difference?" Seckry asked.

"The fitted ones are organised by size. That's where all the organic avatars are, the animas and humanoids. They'll be linked up to your limbs the same way as the training dummy was in the training program. The uni-fit ones are where you'll find all the mechas. The mechas work in a different way. They've got seats inside them, and your limbs aren't synced up. When you're in your friction pod it'll feel as though you're sitting inside the mecha's cockpit kind of thing with all the controls and levers and buttons in front of you."

"But Basher . . . he's huge," Seckry noted.

"He's muscular, yeah, but he's the same size as me in terms of the length of my arms and legs and that. Muscle doesn't really count in Friction, it's an aesthetic thing. But you have to get the lengths right. Basically, you couldn't have a four foot three guy floating in his pod linked up to a five foot nine avatar. It just wouldn't work. The Friction system links all your joints up to the avatar's so you'd end up flailing around on the floor like an overturned spider, trying to get your balance."

"So Basher's an anima avatar?"

"Yeah, animas cover any avatar that's a form of creature or beast. And Tippian's Apocalyptia is a mecha. A blummin' great beast of a mecha."

"And humanoid avatars look like human beings, right?"

"Yep. You can be a barbaric warrior guy or a robed priest and all kinds of things like that. Timotho Rothren, though, the Southern Slayers captain, he actually commissioned an avatar designer to make a replica of himself. When he's in the game he's just a digital version of himself. How vain is that? Some people have just got way too much money, man, I'm telling you."

Tenk showed Seckry that each part of the room was split into segments relating to size, and then sub-segments of male and female. When they found the F – G segment Seckry stepped back and admired his options.

There were grisly, angry looking humanoids swinging balls on chains and fierce looking animas roaring and howling and scratching within their screens, amidst others. But one seemed completely disjointed from the rest. He was an anima that looked half human and half cheetah, dressed in cloth trousers and a sturdy jacket, with a bow and arrow on his back. The most unusual thing was that, unlike the rest of the overconfident avatars, he was standing absolutely still, surveying Seckry with a steady, silently confident gaze.

Seckry looked away. He had never before experienced a digital video game character looking back at him with such realism. It was almost like the avatar was understanding how overwhelmed he was by the choice on offer. Seckry met his gaze again and the avatar gave a short, silent nod in greeting.

Suddenly Tenk turned his attention to a crowd of excited people at the centre of the space. They had been steadily growing in number as they had been talking and now there was someone unveiling a group of standalone screens before them.

"Oh Gedin," Tenk exclaimed. "It's not . . . it's not the Hammer . . ."

"Introducing–" shouted the man who was at the centre of the crowd, "–the Hammer Brothers!"

Tenk's eyes went wide with awe.

"Seckry! They weren't supposed to be released until next year. They must have brought the date forward. Why didn't they mention it in last month's Friction Fanzine? Seck, you have to buy a Hammer Brother!"

"Let's take a look first," Seckry said, and they made their way through the cheering crowd until they could get a view of one of the large screens.

The Hammer Brothers were a collection of five grisly looking humanoids wearing spiked black armour and wielding deadly, blood stained axes.

"Seckry, look at them, the Brothers are calling you. They're calling your name, just look at those beauties."

One of the Brothers cocked his head and spat a gob full of green mucus away from him before snorting like a pig and waving his axe aggressively.

Seckry wasn't sure. They looked powerful and mean, there was no doubt about that, and if he bought a Brother, he doubted a Golboro would dare stamping on him again. But for some reason, he turned his head and his eyes met those of the silent cheetah-archer again, who was watching the commotion of the emporium with his steady gaze.

Seckry made his way out of the crowd and caught the attention of an assistant.

"Excuse me, what can you tell me about this one?"

"Anikam?" the assistant said, putting his hands on his hips. "An interesting one, this guy. We got him back about . . . oh, it must be around two months ago now. Don't get much interest in him. Not a very lively one to be honest. Doesn't seem to want to show off his skills like the rest of them. It was a bit strange when we got him delivered actually. Most avatars are produced in batches, with a few variations on the same model, like the Brothers here. But not Anikam. He came boxed on his own. Only one size, only one edition. You gotta be a pretty special avatar to be singularly boxed like that, but strangely enough, you're the first person to ask about him. Bit of an enigma."

"I'll take him," Seckry said, and he knew he'd made the right choice.

Tenk complained to Seckry about leaving the Hammer Brothers behind the whole time he was buying Anikam, but as they left the emporium Tenk was distracted by the welcome girl again, who gave them a cheeky wink and handed them both a flyer for some pre-order deals.

Eiya was in the living area when Seckry arrived home, jotting down notes and flicking through ancient looking, leather bound books.

"Did you find anything useful at the library?" he asked cheerfully.

"A couple of things . . ." she said uncertainly. "I managed to get a copy of the _History of the Great Continent_ , which mentions a bit about helitonium in the Klaxion times, and another one called _Endrin: the Rise to Superpower_ , which chronicles Endrin's journey to the top. The only thing is, I can't seem to find any link. There's nothing about people believing in the existence of helitonium in modern times and there's nothing about Endrin's Divinita Project."

She closed the book and a puff of dust wafted into the air.

"It was interesting reading about the two guys that founded Endrin though . . ."

"You mean the guys that made those artificial babies?" Seckry said.

"Yeah, they were both infertile scientists who knew each other while they were working at some other research facility and they decided to form their own company called Endrin in order to research more into the process of creating artificial life. Neither wanted to adopt because they knew it would be someone else's child that they were raising, but they both wanted sons, and they convinced themselves that they'd be able to create their own sons in their lab using some kind of synthetic substances. They had a team working on it and somehow they managed to create two babies. It said that they raised the two boys in their building and they actually grew to the age of about sixteen before dying of extreme medical difficulties. The two scientists both committed suicide together shortly after, and the remaining team formed what we now know as Endrin. It's haunting isn't it?"

Seckry shuddered.

"My mum reckons that my dad used to go pale when anyone mentioned it on the news, and to be honest, I think he's passed it on to me, it just makes me feel uncomfortable thinking about babies growing in a lab."

Eiya was silent for a moment, then she said, "Seckry . . . you've mentioned your dad a few times but I don't know anything about him . . ." She trailed off, her voice unsure and unsteady.

Seckry had never talked about his dad with any of his friends before, he had never felt comfortable enough to do so. But with Eiya he was completely at ease. He felt as though he could tell her anything. Maybe it was because she was also so unsure about her past life.

"I haven't seen my dad for nine years," Seckry said. "I don't really remember what he looks like, only what my mum's told me. He just disappeared one night. Mum says it was like he vanished from the face of the earth. Every photo of him was gone. Every photo of him and mum, every photo of him and Leena . . . and every photo of him and me. There was no trace of him."

"Wow . . ." Eiya said softly. "Just like that . . ."

"No explanation, nothing," Seckry said.

"Do you remember anything about him? Anything at all?"

"I've got this vague picture of him in my mind, though I don't know whether it's from my own memory or descriptions of him from my mum. He's tall with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. What I remember most though is picking berries with him. My mum says me and him used to go out all the time into the ellonberry fields and collect ellonberries for her to cook with."

They didn't have time to talk about it for much longer, as they'd been given a substantially large piece of inverse mathematics homework by Mr Cookrook which was due in first thing on Monday morning.

As Seckry was trying to work out the square root of 67498, he noticed Eiya was humming. She was doing it very quietly but Seckry could just make out the familiar tune.

"Lifted Light?" he said suddenly.

Eiya's lips curled into a guilty smile. "I hope you don't mind. I listened to a few of your CDs earlier. That one stuck in my head. The . . . Broken Motion, is it?"

"Yeah, that's one of my favourite songs!" Seckry said enthusiastically. "Do you like it?"

"I love it," Eiya said, sitting up. "When it first played I repeated the track, it was my favourite one on the album."

"No way!" Seckry said. "It's mine too, even though most of the fans prefer Send Room, which they released as a single."

They chatted about The Broken Motion for about half an hour, in which Seckry invited Eiya along to the Broken Motion gig that was coming up, before remembering again that they had a lot of homework to do.

During the middle of that night, while Seckry was in the midst of a field with his dad once more, Seckry felt something warm and soft touch his arm. His eyes flickered open to find Eiya kneeling beside his bed with a torch in her hand.

" _Seckry,_ " she whispered. " _Look at this._ "

She was shining the light on The Broken Motion's first album, _Looking for Tomorrow_.

"When was the last time you listened to track four, A Time for Change?" she asked.

Seckry was confused. "Track four? I . . . can't remember. Why's that?"

"Here," she said, and handed him her earphones. "Listen to the lyrics."

Seckry wiped the sleep from his eyes and placed the earphones on.

Eiya fast forwarded the track until it reached the chorus.

Sanfarrow, Darklight, Kayne, the three,

Who'll unleash the dark heart, set the demon free.

Seckry asked Eiya to repeat it, and he listened once more. Darklight? This was a song about Kan Darklight, the president of Endrin, and Seckry had never noticed it.

"Who are Sanfarrow and Kayne?" Eiya asked.

Seckry shook his head and got up. "I'll do a search," he said, and switched on his computer. He found nothing, though. His search engine just kept telling him he must have misspelled his words.

"I have the band's email address," Seckry said enthusiastically.

"Do you think they'd reply?"

"We could give it a go."

Seckry quickly typed a message.

Dear The Broken Motion.

My friend has noticed that on track four of Looking for Tomorrow you mention two people named Sanfarrow and Kayne along with Darklight, who we assume to be Kan Darklight, the president of Endrin. We are curious to know more about the other names. Could you let us know who they are?

Thanks a lot

Seckry Sevenstars

P.S. Congratulations on the new album, it's your best to date and I haven't stopped listening to it since the day I bought it (which was the day it got released!!!) And we're coming to see you on tour!

Eiya smiled as he typed the last sentence. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see if they reply."

They both lay back down but Seckry had no chance of getting back to sleep.

"I'm wide awake too," Eiya said quietly.

"Do you ever remember having a midnight feast?" Seckry asked her.

"I don't think so."

"Food tastes amazing at this time of night."

Seckry got some chocolate bars and a bottle of fizzy pop from the kitchen and they sat cross legged on the blankets, scoffing their faces. Eventually they both fell asleep where they were.

The next day, Seckry had a single unread message in his inbox. It was from The Broken Motion.

Dear Seckry

We're glad you're enjoying our latest album.

In regards to your question, you may be mistaken, as there is no mention of these names in any of our songs. The track listings for Looking for Tomorrow are below.

Seckry frowned. No mention of the names? He scanned through the track listings they had typed, but there were only twelve songs when there should have been thirteen. They were missing A Time for Change.

He reread the email again and again, confused and disappointed. The only other piece of text on the page was a quote from one of their songs.

If you read between the lines, you'll find the truth at last.

"They're denying that it's even on the album!" Seckry exclaimed to Eiya over breakfast, feeling utterly disappointed that The Broken Motion would lie to him.

Coralle handed them each a second helping of marmalade lathered toast.

"They can't just pretend a song doesn't exist when everyone's got the album," Seckry said, shaking his head.

Seckry spent the day feeling miserable, and finding it hard to concentrate in any of his lessons.

At lunch time, Seckry told Tenk about the email.

"A Time for Change . . . I don't remember that one. Which track was it again? Track four? Wasn't track four Living Without Love?"

"No, Living Without Love was track five."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure!"

The next day, Tenk brought his copy of Looking for Tomorrow to school and whipped it out during an uneventful lesson with Mr Pegglewim.

"Which one was it again?" Tenk asked, but Seckry was dumbfounded. There were only twelve tracks. A Time for Change was missing.

"Never mind," said Seckry absent-mindedly. "I must be going mad."

When he got home he loaded up his email client and reread the Broken Motion email.

Could it be that his copy of Looking for Tomorrow was different to everyone else's?

He was just about to send a reply to them, when he noticed his pointed cursor switch to a hand symbol as he hovered over the middle of the screen. He looked closer. It seemed that there was a slight gap between the listings of track four and five, and whenever he rolled over it, the hand would appear, indicating an invisible link of some sort.

Seckry reread the quote at the bottom of the message.

If you read between the lines, you'll find the truth at last.

Read between the lines? He thought it was a strange quote to have at the end of an email. They were telling him to click this link.

With a new wave of excitement, Seckry clicked it.

A new window popped open.

Hi Seckry

I sincerely hope that you manage to find this link. We couldn't think of any other way to get this message to you without it potentially being read by the government.

Sorry that we had to tell you A Time for Change doesn't exist. Of course, it does exist, though you won't find it anywhere these days.

We were all in shock when we received your email last night. I'm not sure if you realise this, but you have the only remaining 'true edition' of Looking for Tomorrow. We've actually been searching for it for years but were never able to trace the purchase.

Just after the release of Looking for Tomorrow, we were arrested by the Skyfall Patrol and told that A Time for Change was an unacceptable track and that it had to be removed from the album immediately. Of course, it was our first album, we were unknowns, so we didn't make many sales initially, but nevertheless we were forced to have all buyers return the album and we had to issue them new, amended ones. I doubt they even had time to listen to it, which means that you and your friend may be the only ones to have ever heard it. To this day, the Patrol think we had every copy returned to us.

I don't know what would happen if you were caught with the true edition, but I'd keep it well out of sight if I were you.

At the time of writing A Time for Change, we were still in university, and E.J. was studying microbiology. He was interested in the work they were doing at Endrin and he started doing a bit of research into the company. What he found was a gigantic web of greed and corruption that all seemed to stem from the appointment of Kan Darklight as CEO.

E.J. asked around a bit and found out that Darklight had studied at the same university and had been sighted having heated discussions with the late Professor Holdenbubble about a mythological element named helitonium. Darklight seemed to be convinced it could be extracted from something called an innoya, which we believe to be some kind of root or plant.

He was also inseparable from his best friends Ropart Sanfarrow and Kevan Kayne, who both later went on to work alongside Darklight as researchers at Endrin.

When we wrote the track, we believed Sanfarrow and Kayne to be allies of Darklight's. But it seems that Sanfarrow and Kayne were both expelled from Endrin at some point, and no one has seen them since. Maybe they weren't as close as we thought.

Anyway, it's no surprise that we were arrested over the release of the song – Darklight has the Skyfall City government in the palm of his hand. He's the wealthiest man in the city. If he doesn't like something, he gets rid of it. He obviously wasn't impressed by our track. Gedin knows how he heard about it.

I hope this has enlightened you a little bit, Seckry. We're very interested in what Endrin are up to and Darklight is a dangerous man. If you're planning on doing your own bit of research, we have something that you might find useful. It's a letter from Ropart Sanfarrow to Kevan Kayne that E.J. found in one of the dorms. A very strange letter. When you're at our show in three weeks time we'd like to give this to you. Just tell security your name and they'll let you backstage after the gig.

We look forward to seeing you.

Tobi,

The Broken Motion

"Eiya!" Seckry called excitedly. "Eiya, come and read this!"

Eiya, who had been engrossed in a book in the living area, rushed into the bedroom.

Seckry reread the email with her.

"Can you believe it?" Seckry said. "Darklight had them arrested for releasing a song that mentioned him."

"Extractable from an innoya . . ." Eiya read aloud. "What could it be?"

"Some kind of root or plant," Seckry pondered. "That's the first thing we can look into. And if these two guys, Sanfarrow and Kayne, are still living in the city, I bet they'd be able to tell us what the Divinita Project is. If they were expelled from Endrin they won't have any ties to the company. If anything, they'll be bitter about it and want to dish the dirt."

"It looks like we might be on our way to finding out who I really am," Eiya said, and Seckry saw both anticipation and fear in her watery eyes. "And Seckry . . . we're going backstage with The Broken Motion!"

It was only when Eiya said it that it actually sunk in. Seckry let out an excited laugh and stamped his feet rapidly on the floor.

# Chapter Twelve

# The Eastern Eidolons

During a particularly wet lunchtime the following week, Seckry was able to catch Mr Vance on his own and tell him all about the email.

"The innoya . . . it doesn't ring a bell," Vance said thoughtfully. "And Darklight believed helitonium to be extractable from it?" He shook his head in disbelief.

Vance pulled out a heap of books from his shelves and started flicking through them until he said, "Aha! Potkins' Concise Encyclopaedia of Vegetation. Bound to be listed in here."

As he ran his finger down the index page, he read, "Ingleberry, Inifern, Inkenspot, Inlandarrow . . . Innsbarrow."

"No innoya," Seckry said.

"No innoya," Vance confirmed. "Strange. You can usually trust Potkins."

Vance flicked through a few more of the books, but found nothing of use in any of them.

"I know a man who may be able to help us. Professor Thaumatop. He's head of plant biology at the university. As soon as I manage to get in touch with him, Seckry, I'll let you know."

Over the following two weeks the weather took a turn for the worse and there was torrential rain in Skyfall, soaking everything in the city. Seckry and Eiya visited the library and the university in an attempt to find out a bit more about Ropart Sanfarrow and Kevan Kayne, but there were no records of them. It was as though they had never existed.

Eventually they came to the conclusion that the only thing they could do was wait until the concert, where they'd be able to speak to The Broken Motion and get this mysterious letter from them. In the meantime, Seckry began to spend a lot of time playing Friction with his new avatar, Anikam, who felt a lot more comfortable than the wooden training dummy. He found that, as Anikam, he could actually beat Tenk nine times out of ten in combative matches by simply firing arrows at him from rooftops before jumping down and swiping whatever items were there to be found. Tenk seemed to be in complete awe of Seckry's Friction skills, but Seckry had been playing hand held computer games all his life, and he had picked up a few tricks along the way.

"Seck," Tenk said the following Monday morning, "you ready to meet the Eastern Eidolons?"

Seckry had been looking forward to this day for a while. After school he was going to be joining the school's official Friction team to discuss the possibility of him training with them.

"Do you think they'd really consider training me up to actually join the team?" he asked. "I've only played a few games."

"Of course, man," Tenk said confidently. "I've never seen anyone pick up Friction as quick as you. It's like you were born to play it. I've told the guys about you and they can't wait to get you involved. We've been waiting for a good player like you to come along all summer. Good riddance to Rungle. That guy always held us back."

Seckry spent most of the day daydreaming about competing in the annual Friction event, the Friction Mega Meltdown, with his new team, and during a practical biochemistry lesson he accidentally spilled a test tube of liquid nitrogen and froze the base of his tie, whilst imagining himself bowing to a cheering audience.

When the bell rang, Seckry followed Tenk to the third floor and into the Friction training room.

It was an unused classroom that had been fitted with six Friction pods. The walls were strewn with posters of avatars, levels, event flyers and other stuff, and there were tack boards full of photos from Meltdown games of the players in their pods and holding trophies.

A short girl with rosy cheeks and a big, white, fluffy hat on her head thrust her hand out to him.

"Loca Thumbsuckle," she said brightly, and shook his hand.

There were two, long, fabric ears hanging from either side of the hat, two little black eyes pinned to its front, and a set of sharp teeth around its base. It looked like the girl was being chewed on by some cute animal turned bad.

"And this is Kimmy," Loca said. A slender, tanned boy sitting in one of the chairs smiled and said, "Hi."

"Am I invisible?" said the only other person in the room that Seckry didn't recognise, a large, stocky girl with fiery red hair and a scowl on her face.

Loca gave Seckry a look that indicated disgust and said, "That's Lessana."

"They're all a year older than us," Tenk informed him.

"Nice to meet you all," Seckry said politely.

Before they got settled, Seckry had time to have a better look at some of the photos on the walls. The largest of them all was an enormous framed photo of a man holding a golden cup with the Friction logo on it.

"That's Kolda Kod," explained Tenk. "Best Friction player there ever was. The guy took on the Northern Nightmare team single-handedly back when he was in Estergate, and when he moved into the over eighteens division he won the cup for the east seven years in a row."

"Tenk tells me you're pretty good," said Loca, interrupting. "Heard you're better than Tenk."

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm bett–"

"He's awesome, Loca," said Tenk. "Just wait 'till you see this guy play."

As they sat around and talked, Seckry realised that the slender boy, Kimmy, wasn't saying anything at all. He was staring at the floor and his face was becoming more and more upset about something as time went on.

"So d'you reckon Seckry will be better than all of us after a bit of training?" Lessana asked Tenk, loudly.

"Yeah maybe," said Tenk.

"So you'd say he was a bit of a . . . prodigy?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"I think we should change the conversation now, Lessana," Loca interrupted. "I'm sure Seckry is great, but he's probably fed up of hearing about it."

"Yeah, I'm really not that good," said Seckry, feeling embarrassed and unworthy of the praise he was getting. "I probably just got lucky against Tenk on two occasions and I actually cheated in the training level by using Tenk's sheet which–"

At that moment, Kimmy muttered something about the bathroom under his breath and hurried out of the room.

"Look what you've done now, Lessana!" shouted Loca. "You knew exactly what you were doing, didn't you?"

"Is he okay?" said Seckry, perplexed, searching the others' faces for answers.

"Yeah, what's wrong with him?" asked Tenk, as clueless as Seckry.

Loca sighed. "Tenk, you're so tactless. Don't you realise? Kimmy's been training so hard for the last two years to become as good as his dad, and now everyone's going on about Seckry being a natural. It must be like a kick in the teeth."

"Well it's not Seckry's fault that Kimmy's dad is who he is."

"Who's Kimmy's dad?" asked Seckry.

"Who's Kimmy's dad?" repeated Tenk. "Who's Kimmy Kod's dad?" He leaned back in his chair to give Seckry a better look at the huge framed photo of Kolda Kod holding the Meltdown trophy.

When Kimmy returned from the bathroom, he seemed to have composed himself, and Loca gave anyone mentioning Seckry's natural ability a furious glare. They played a few games of non-combative Friction in some lands that were new to Seckry and he was introduced to everyone's avatar. Loca's was a cat-like anima named Kittya that matched her height and was equipped with a dagger, Kimmy's was a humanoid named Slider who looked ready to slip out of site before using his tazer gun on the back of your neck, and Lessana's was a hulking ogre anima named Ogg, who was like a female version of Tenk's Basher. It was the first time Seckry had been introduced to Tippian's avatar too, since even though he had heard a lot about Apocalyptia, he had never been in a game with him. The thing was twice the size of everyone else and was like a walking, mechanical giant, with a digital version of Tippian sitting in its cockpit of a head.

Despite being overwhelmed, Seckry managed to beat everyone's scores on all three levels, which got everyone murmuring excitedly, but Seckry knew it had been down to luck. He had accidentally stumbled upon the rarest item of the Nightbloom land (the crystal petal) when he had tripped over some tangleweed and fell face first onto it. And in the other two lands, called Sandstone Temple and Mystic Cavern, Seckry had been unusually lucky in spawning extremely close to a cluster of items.

As Seckry rode home on the monorail with Tenk that evening, he felt slightly guilty.

"I didn't mean to make Kimmy feel bad," he said.

"Don't worry, man," said Tenk, shrugging his shoulders. "It's not your fault you're good. And anyway, we're all better than Kimmy. It just sucks for him that he's got all that weight on his shoulders."

"Does Kolda Kod still play Friction?" Seckry asked.

"Nah. It was tragic what happened to him. Got smashed in a car accident and they had to amputate both his legs. Been in a wheelchair ever since. 'Course, you can still play Friction with no legs, there are plenty of mecha avatars. But after being the world champ with his anima avatar, Dagger Eyes, he just couldn't accept it, I reckon."

"So his hopes of victory are now with his son, Kimmy?"

"Yeah. Gonna be hoping for a long time, though. Kimmy just . . . hasn't got it, you know?"

"Poor Kimmy," Seckry said.

"The thing is," Tenk went on. "Kimmy is like, a maths genius. He's supposed to be amazing. He won the Skyfall Maths Standout of the Year award recently and guess what? He couldn't even bear to tell his dad because he was embarrassed about it. All his dad cares about is Friction."

The next day, as Seckry opened his locker to get his astrophysics workbook, a note fell to the floor.

Think you're good at Friction, eh? Well I don't. I was only saying that stuff yesterday to make Kimmy cry. The guy's pathetic. And when you won those games? I know you got lucky. Meet me at the training room after school today without the others and we'll find out just how good you are. We'll have a real match. One on one. A duel.

Seckry glanced all around him. Glaring in his direction was Lessana. Silently she mouthed, " _Too scared?_ "

Seckry shut his locker and walked away without saying anything back. He was beginning to see why the others disliked this Lessana so much.

When the end of the day came, Seckry began making his way home with Eiya and Tenk, but as they were leaving the building, he stopped and started tapping his foot.

"You alright?" Tenk said.

"Yeah I just . . . I gotta sort something out." He knew Lessana would be waiting for him, and he wanted to prove to her that he was worthy of being on the team.

"I'll tell you tomorrow," Seckry said. "See you in a bit, Eiya."

He left them staring at him in confusion.

As he entered the training room, Lessana stood up and smiled triumphantly.

"I thought you'd got scared and chickened it for a moment," she said.

"Bring it on," Seckry said.

Seckry stepped into his pod and shut the door behind him.

"If you want to quit," Lessana said through the intercom, "all you gotta say is, 'I'm a wimp, let me out,' okay?"

Seckry smirked. "No one is quitting. Someone's walking out of here a winner."

"We'll see," Lessana said with a malicious chuckle.

"Just tell the thing to start, Lessana," Seckry said.

As soon as Lessana started the game, Seckry appeared in a forest at night. He felt the artificial chill of the night air and he could hear owls hooting in the trees. He looked all around him. No sign of Ogg. He walked forward a few steps, keeping a look out in all directions. He knew this wasn't going to be a simple game of one on one Friction. Lessana was here to prove a point and he knew she had every intention of beating him.

He wandered around a bit more, flicking his head in all directions to try to intercept a possible sneak attack. But there was nothing.

Then something strange happened. There was a sharp electronic buzz and the forest around him momentarily turned into a wire mesh before returning to its normal state.

Seckry spun around, taking everything in. There was silence. Then came a high pitched screech and Seckry's pod flashed bright red.

The female Friction voice said, "Warning. This Friction session has severely malfunctioned and must be terminated. All players must evacuate their pods immediately to avoid any harm. Warning. This Friction session has severely malfunctioned and must be terminated. All players must evacuate their pods immediately to avoid any harm."

_What?_ Seckry thought to himself. But he had no time to question what had happened. He had to get out of the game and out of the pod. He reached for the emergency stop button on his belt, but as he pressed the area, he realised the button had vanished. Seckry saw something else; Anikam's fur, _his_ fur was drenched in blood.

"What's going on?" Seckry shouted. "Lessana! Can you hear me?" But there was no answer. Was she stuck inside the game as well? "Lessana!" Seckry shouted again, over the voice of the Friction announcer.

"Warning. Session will begin purge in ten seconds. All players must evacuate their pods immediately to avoid harm. Warning. Session will begin purge in eight seconds. All players must evacuate their pods immediately to avoid harm."

_Begin purge? What did that mean?_ Seckry began thrashing about as much as he could, trying to hit the edge of the pod and break himself free. But he knew the simulation was still running and in the real world he'd be floating in mid air, unable to touch anything.

Then a distorted cackle came through the buzzing of the machine.

"Remember what you gotta say, Seckry?"

"Lessana!"

Lessana laughed cruelly. "Just say the words and it's all over."

"The words?"

"What are you, Seckry?"

"Lessana, get me out of here!"

"What are you, Seckry? You're a w . . ."

"I'm a wimp! I'm a wimp! Let me out!"

As soon as Seckry said that, the machine gave an electronic sigh and Seckry felt the floor of the pod hit him with a thump.

He wrenched himself up to his feet and kicked the door open before stumbling out into the training room.

Lessana was standing over him with a huge grin on her face.

"What happened?" Seckry said, out of breath. "I was locked in there! The thing malfunctioned!"

Lessana let out another laugh.

"Come on, Seckry, you're not that stupid are you? I knew I'd fool you first off, but I can't believe you haven't worked it out by now."

" _You_ did all that to me?"

"It was a prank! You sounded like such a girl, screaming, 'Lessana! Lessana!" She burst into another fit of laughter.

Seckry felt anger bubbling inside of him.

"I thought the machine was going to kill me in there!" he said furiously. "I thought you wanted to have a duel, not play some stupid prank on me."

"No, watching you squirm like a drowning rat was much funnier than duelling you, I have to say."

Seckry picked himself up and slotted his Anikam avatar into his pocket.

"Goodnight, Lessana," he said stiffly, and left her laughing.

"She is in serious trouble, man," said Tenk, the next morning.

"Did she program it to do all that herself?" Seckry asked.

"Lessana? No way. She couldn't program a Friction game if her life depended on it. Nah, those prank games are downloadable from FrictionPranks.sf. Nasty bloody things. The official Friction board has been trying to shut those kind of sites down for years but as soon as they do, another one pops up on the net. It basically just proves to everyone what a coward Lessana is. She arranges to duel you one on one and then pulls some stupid stunt on you instead. She's clearly afraid of you. She knows you'll beat her hands down in a duel so she decided to humiliate you instead."

Later that day Seckry received a text message from Mr Vance.

Seckry, Thaumatop has agreed to meet me in private later this afternoon. I'll let you know what happens.

Seckry dropped his phone back into his pocket with a feeling of hope. If anyone would know what the innoya root was, it would be the city's professor of plant biology.

Seckry, Eiya, Tenk, and Tippian spent most of the day with Ms Butterkins in the school sanctuary, as they had triple animal care, and were given the task of feeding baby bubberybirds, which were lively little things that kept flying around the room and settling in Butterkins' frizzy hair, mistaking it for a nest.

At the end of the day, Seckry and Eiya stayed behind and went to visit Vance.

"I took my portable recorder with me and switched it on in my pocket," Vance said, looking rather concerned. He pulled the recorder out and pressed play. "Listen to this," he said with an expression of worry.

There was muffled, distorted noise for a while, as though Vance was still walking, and then closing of doors, reverberating as though in a large hall. Then came a voice. Vance's.

"Professor, it's good to see you."

There was no reply.

"I'm grateful for your time. I know you must be busy."

There was silence again for a while until –

"Jonn. You have to forget you've ever heard this word."

"Innoya?" Vance asked.

"Don't! Don't say it in this building," the professor hissed. "The only reason I called you here is to stop you from hounding me with letters and emails. Are you trying to get me killed?"

"I just thought that–"

"You just thought you'd badger me until I gave in, that's what. Well you're meddling in things that you shouldn't be, Jonn. Who on earth mentioned that word to you?"

"I believe that Professor Holdenbubble was overheard talking about it during his time here at the university–"

"Dear Gedin, Jonn. Don't you remember what happened to Holdenbubble?"

"Yes but–"

"You have to leave, I'm afraid," said the professor, and there was the ruffling sound of material shifting.

"Professor Thaumatop, I need to know what's happening at Endrin, and the innoya root has something to do with it, doesn't it?"

"Out! And I never want to hear from you again!" bellowed the professor, and the recording crackled with distortion.

Vance clicked the 'stop' button.

"Wow . . ." said Seckry. "He really wasn't happy."

Vance nodded concernedly. "I didn't expect him to react so badly. This innoya thing must be pretty powerful, whatever it is."

"That Professor Holdenbubble, who tutored Darklight and the others . . . what did Thaumatop mean when he said 'don't you remember what happened to him?'"

"Holdenbubble was murdered," said Vance. "By who, nobody knows."

# Chapter Thirteen

# The Broken Motion

With a smile, Seckry crossed off the last but one day on his bedroom calendar before the Broken Motion gig. He had been excited about finally seeing them live since he had bought the tickets, and now he and Eiya were going to be heading backstage with them. He couldn't believe his luck. Not only would they get to chat to the band about their music, but they'd be able to find out more about this innoya thing, which seemed even more important since Vance's strange encounter with Professor Thaumatop.

That night, just before bed, Seckry's mum sat with him in the kitchen area and said, "So . . . you and Eiya are getting along really well."

"Yeah" Seckry nodded. "She's great."

Coralle smiled and nodded. "She's different to every other girl to you, isn't she?"

"Eiya? Yeah she's really down to earth. I thought having another girl in the house would be a problem after a while, but she's so easy to get on with . . . why are you smiling at me like that, mum?"

"Because for the past month you've been happier than you've ever been since . . . well . . . since your dad left."

"Yeah . . . I'm enjoying it here," Seckry said. "I've got good friends."

"And one very good friend in particular," Coralle said. "Whenever I say the word Eiya, your eyes light up and your cheeks blush."

"What?" Seckry said defensively.

"They're doing it now," said Coralle with a smile.

"You know we're just looking after her, mum. I enjoy her company and she likes the same music as me, that's all."

Coralle nodded. "I think you got really hurt by that Natania girl and that fake date and you've put up a guard around you. But I think Eiya means more to you than you're letting yourself believe."

Seckry blushed and dismissed it before heading to bed.

He didn't fancy Eiya, did he? He could see why people might think that. They spent most of their time together in the day, they enjoyed each other's company, and they even slept in the same room. But there was a reason for that. There was nowhere else for her to stay.

He sat on his bed and watched Eiya sleeping, something he'd been doing quite often lately, before lying down and sinking into a warm, fuzzy sleep.

During the day on Friday, Seckry and Eiya kept giving each other excited glances during lessons, and when the bell rang in their last lesson, botany, Seckry couldn't contain himself any more.

He crammed his lypicus bulbs into his backpack and he, Eiya, and Tenk headed for the monorail.

"You sure you don't want to come tonight?" Seckry asked Tenk.

"Sorry man," he said. "You know I love The Broken Motion, but my nan's visiting and I'm telling you, if I ditched her to go to a gig, my life wouldn't be worth living."

"Your mum would give you a hard time about it?" Eiya said.

"My mum? No, my nan herself would probably beat me to a pulp," Tenk said. "Freakishly strong woman for seventy five."

When they got back to the flat, Seckry and Eiya had a shower each and Eiya put on some clothes that she had bought the previous weekend with some of Seckry's small fortune.

When they eventually took the monorail to the venue, the place was heaving. There were all sorts of people and ages there, some with Broken Motion t-shirts on, some with t-shirts of other bands that Seckry recognised and some who were completely clad in gothic leather and spiky things.

"What are you talking about?" someone shouted whilst they were waiting in the queue. "Kaleidoscopic Slide was their best album."

"Looking for Tomorrow was their best!" shouted someone else.

When they got inside and hung around for another fifteen minutes or so, the lights began to dim and the crowd went wild. Then, as The Broken Motion appeared from behind a curtain the crowd went even wilder.

Seckry and Eiya exchanged glances, both beaming with excitement.

They played a few upbeat songs from their second album to begin with, which got the crowd jumping up and down, and then a couple of newer ones that Seckry loved, then the lead singer, E.J. began talking.

"Our next track is one that's very special to us. We wrote it one night when all our electricity had cut out. It was just us, our guitars, and a couple of lighters. We want you to hold up your lighters and sing with us."

The lights dimmed and there was an expressive sigh from the crowd as the ceiling lit up like a star field, tiny lights scattered above them.

"It's called, 'Do You Feel it Too?'" said E.J, and the song began.

"It's so beautiful," said Eiya, beaming.

Seckry had listened to the song so many times on his player that he knew every word, every chord change, every drum beat and every riff, but hearing it now was like hearing it for the first time again. He felt the hairs on his arms stand up.

"I love their music so much," Eiya said. "I bet I was their biggest fan before I lost my memory. I can't have only just discovered them. I feel like I've been listening to this song all my life."

Seckry felt Eiya's small hand squeeze his own, and something strange coursed through his body. Eiya brushed the fine strands of her hair that were falling across her face and tucked them behind her ears.

The rest of the gig was just as good. One screaming girl had fainted and had to be taken out on a stretcher, though as they were carrying her, she managed to say, "I love you, E.J." weakly, and reach her hand out in his direction.

As everyone was squeezing out, Seckry and Eiya made their way backstage.

They were both gripped tightly by security guards.

"Stop!" shouted E.J. He came towards them. "Seckraman?"

Seckry nodded.

"Let them go, they're with us," E.J. said, and the guards let go of them with dissatisfied growls.

E.J. led them into the band's dressing room where the others were sitting on sofas.

"Here, have a drink." Jopherson handed them each a can of ice cold pop.

Seckry was so excited he could feel his hands shaking a little.

"Thanks for inviting us back here," he said.

"It's no worries, you two," said E.J. "We wanted to see you just as much. We were very interested in the email you sent us."

After introducing themselves to everyone, Seckry and Eiya told them about how Eiya had been found in the Endrin compound, and they all looked at each other with contemplation on their faces.

"You just woke up there?"

"It's the first thing I can remember, yeah," Eiya replied.

"Wow . . ."

"Why do you think Sanfarrow and Kayne were expelled from Endrin?" Eiya asked.

"We think Darklight must have had a massive disagreement with them. Here, this is the reason we invited you backstage tonight," said E.J. and he pulled a small computer memory stick from his pocket. "If you're serious about finding Sanfarrow and Kayne, this might come in handy. It's a scan of some paper that was found in Kayne's old dorm. It was wedged between drawers."

He handed Seckry the memory stick.

"We've never been able to fathom it out, but we knew it would be useful to someone someday. Maybe you'll have more luck with it. There's also a photo on there of Darklight, Sanfarrow, and Kayne when they were at university. Anyway, aside from this talk of conspiracy and corruption, what did you think of the concert?"

"It was amazing!" Seckry said excitedly. "When you played the alternate version of 'Leave My Place.'"

"And the skylights," Eiya said. "They were so pretty when you were playing 'Do You Feel it Too,' and everyone had their lighters held up."

"That was Denno's idea," said E.J. and patted the drummer on the back.

They sat and talked for the next hour and a half, and E.J. even played the verse of an unrecorded song on his acoustic guitar for them.

In the taxi back, Seckry and Eiya were smiling at each others' t-shirts, which the band had all signed, until Seckry noticed that Eiya was gazing into his eyes.

"What's the matter?" he asked her, and she smiled innocently.

"It's just nice watching someone's dream come true," she said.

When they got back, Seckry plugged the memory stick into his computer and opened the single file that was stored on it, named sanfarrow_message.jpg. It was a tattered piece of paper that read:

If things go wrong for us, K, you know it will be bad.

We will have to hide. I'm sure you'll know what I mean when I say the following:

Refuge under the sign of Silversong.

Those trapped in glass will light your way.

There was a logo at the bottom of the sheet; a figure of a man standing with his arms outstretched inside a bold circle. It was as though he were a human clock, with his left hand pointing to the position of eleven, and his right hand in the position of the three.

Underneath the logo were two small words:

Emrorrim Retneot

"Emrorrim Retneot?" Seckry said slowly, wondering if he was pronouncing the words correctly. "What language is that?"

"It looks like Ancient Klax, doesn't it?" said Eiya. "Your mum's got that old dictionary."

"Good thinking," Seckry said, and ran off to fetch it.

"Em . . . ror . . . rim," Seckry said as he ran his finger down the heavily yellowed page.

"Here," he said excitedly. "Emrorrim, from the southern dialect of Klaxion. Emrorrim: To Love."

They looked at each other.

"To love what?"

Seckry thumbed through the pages quickly.

"Ret, ret, ret, ret . . . retneot! It means . . ."

Seckry squinted and looked closer at the description.

"It means . . . 'a rather smelly variation of pig stew.'"

"Oh," said Eiya.

They both sat in silence for a moment.

"What about Silversong?" Eiya said.

"Refuge under the sign of Silversong . . . I have no idea what that is."

They didn't have time to ponder over it that night, though, as they were both absolutely shattered and they couldn't keep their eyes open for any longer. Before going to bed, they opened up the photo that was on the memory stick and eyed it sleepily. Seckry recognised the face of Kan Darklight immediately as he had seen him on the white chip video message, and there were labels next to the men either side of him that the band must have jotted down stating which was Kayne and which was Sanfarrow. Kayne was standing to Darklight's left, his eyes dazzlingly dark and his black hair flowing down his shoulders, and Sanfarrow was more of an unconfident looking figure, his smile forced and his posture uncomfortable.

# Chapter Fourteen

# Tenk's Sleepover

The next morning, Coralle let Seckry and Eiya sleep in until half past ten, and when they emerged into the kitchen area, they found she had made them each a glass of fresh orange juice and a heap load of pancakes drizzling with syrup.

As they indulged themselves happily, Eiya suddenly turned around to face the TV, which had been buzzing in the background without Seckry noticing.

"Seckry, look," she said.

The morning news was playing. Eiya upped the volume a notch.

"It's the seventeenth murder in what is believed to be the most brutal, most horrific serial killer case in the history of Skyfall," read the presenter. "Ederith Umbercotton, a sixty five year old librarian from the north partition, was found dead in her bed in the early hours of this morning, her body brutally mutilated. The room was left in tatters but no possessions were stolen from Mrs Umbercotton's property, leaving little doubt in anyone's mind right now that this is the latest work of the infamous Rabbit Man. The big question everyone is asking right now is, when will this stop? When will this mysterious man have had enough blood?"

"Why would anyone want to murder a sixty five year old librarian?" Eiya asked in distress.

Seckry shook his head. He didn't know. And neither did anyone else in the city, it seemed.

The presenter stood to one side and a graphic map of the city appeared beside her.

"Let's take a look at where these murders have taken place," she said.

Little red rabbit icons started popping up all over the map.

"So far there have been four in the west partition, six over here in the east, three in the south, and now four in the north. Patrol officials say there are more and more officers being assigned to this case every day and are determined to stop this evil killer before he strikes again."

That weekend, Seckry and Eiya spent their time trying to find alternative meanings to the word 'retneot,' but uncovered only that it could also mean the awful smell of the stew as opposed to the stew itself. They also searched for the word 'Silversong,' but found no entry in the dictionary and no definitive answer on the internet.

When Monday came around, they realised that they weren't any closer to finding out where this Sanfarrow or Kayne could be hiding than they were before meeting the band. They showed the letter and the picture to Mr Vance, who made a copy for himself and found the information very intriguing, but even he had no idea how to decipher what was written.

Seckry spent most of the day listening to Tippian describe excitedly the features of his latest Friction purchase – some kind of electronic glove for Apocalyptia called the Glove of Destruction.

"You just place your hand on a piece of wall, activate the power surge, and kaboom!" Tippian said with excitement. "Guys, imagine the shortcuts we can take with this. Never mind finding our way through another Section 52 maze, we can blast our way straight through it!"

As they were leaving the school that day, after a particularly pungent osmology lesson, Tippian jumped in front of them and said, "I got thinking just then, what if Apocalyptia's Glove of Destruction was real? I mean, it'd only take two transistors connected to a–"

"Tipps," Tenk cut in dryly. "You'd better be kidding me."

"Chill out, Tenk, I ain't gonna go around blasting things to pieces. I'd never be able to create a blast with that much force. It'd be cool to have a glove that gave a nice, solid shock though, you can't deny that."

Tenk shook his head. "One day, man, you're gonna be sitting on a rock with just rubble around you and you'll be wondering why you're the only person left alive in the world."

On Tuesday morning, Tippian joined them at the school gates and said, "Tenk, my good friend. I've known you for several years now and I've never had the decency to formally introduce myself. Please join me in a long overdue handshake." Tippian stuck out his hand which was encased in a bright blue glove that seemed to be emanating a fuzzy glow.

"Tippian, you didn't go ahead and make one of those things for real, did you?" Seckry said in disbelief.

Tenk was backing away.

"Don't you come near me with that thing, you nutter."

Tippian was laughing.

"Wanna see this thing in action? Give me something you don't need or want."

Tenk pulled a soggy sandwich out of his backpack.

"Here, it'll save me chucking them in the bin when I buy some chips at lunchtime."

Tippian took the sandwich with his free hand and eyed it with distaste.

"What does your mum put in these things, Tenk?"

"Gherkins, marrowmallow, bit of mingroot I think."

"What's that brown stuff?"

"I don't know, gimmypug meat? I don't ask and I don't eat."

"Well, stand back," said Tippian. He picked the sandwich up with his gloved hand.

"I've installed a button inside the thumb to activate and deactivate the power. Here goes."

With a loud crack, the sandwich disappeared. A few moments later there were a few wet slaps as bits of the sandwich hit the floor. A chunk of something landed on Tippian's forehead and started dribbling down his grinning face.

"Dear Gedin, Tipps," said Seckry.

"You tried to shake my hand with that thing!" shouted Tenk.

"Cool, eh?"

Other students were looking in their direction.

"What was that noise?" someone shouted. Tippian quickly slid the glove into his pocket.

"You better hope that thing doesn't go off in there," Tenk said.

The following few weeks passed and Seckry and Eiya were so snowed under with homework that they had almost forgotten about Sanfarrow's coded message to Kevan Kayne, until one afternoon, in a particularly taxing astronomy lesson, when their teacher, Mr Nebrio began explaining about constellations.

"Here we have Caprima, Kelomos, and right over here we've got this very distant constellation which most people disregard, but some like to call Silversong."

Seckry and Eiya nearly jumped out of their seats.

" _Silversong?_ " Seckry blurted out.

"Yes, mister Sevenstars. Silversong. The furthest of our constellations, and as I say, often forgotten or simply disregarded by many due to its distance from the earth. Its shape is like a musical note. Have you heard of this constellation?"

"Yeah . . . somewhere," Seckry said.

"Really?" Nebrio said curiously. "I'm surprised, Mr Sevenstars. Pleasantly surprised, don't get me wrong, but surprised nonetheless. I daresay you've been reading my selection of recommended texts?"

"Uh . . . yeah, I've had a glance through," Seckry lied. "Uh, sir, is the sign of Silversong ever visible in the sky?"

Nebrio raised his eyebrows. "Of course. Like all of the constellations I've mentioned today, Silversong is, at some point, visible to us here on earth."

"At some point? Do you know when it will be visible next?"

"Oh . . . I'd say in about two to three hundred years time."

"Oh," Seckry said miserably, and he and Eiya exchanged sullen expressions.

After that, Seckry and Eiya still had no idea what the letter meant when it said, 'refuge under the sign of Silversong,' and they were getting so much homework it was being pushed to the back of their minds.

Early one morning during a double dose of electronics in the following week, Cutson stopped giving her usual bitter rant and narrowed her eyes. As she made her way through the tables, everyone turned to see what she was looking at.

She stopped at Peanut's cage and pulled open the door. There were a few gasps as everyone realised that Peanut was no longer inside. The only things that were in the cage were a few half chewed bits of lettuce and a square bit of paper. Cutson snatched the paper and stared at it before turning to the class.

Seckry had never seen her look so utterly disgusted and livid, and neither had the rest of the class.

" _Whoever. Did this. Is going. To pay_."

After the lesson, which had been even more excruciating due to Cutson's anger, a crowd began gathering in the corridor.

"What's happening?"

"Jemmy picked up Peanut's note. Look what it says."

Seckry squeezed in to have a peak.

In pink, fluffy handwriting, it read:

GONE ON HOLIDAY!

I'LL SEND A POSTCARD!

A week and a half later it was Tenk's birthday, and he had decided to have a sleepover, inviting Seckry and Eiya and the rest of the Eastern Eidolons Friction team apart from Lessana, which nobody objected to in the slightest.

"Does she really think I need another pair of socks?" Tenk complained as he, Seckry and Eiya waited for the others by the rusty fountain in the square. "Why couldn't my mum have got me a Friction gift card like you got on your birthday?"

Seckry handed Tenk the present he had bought him, which was a new poster of Serra Simmony, Tenk's favourite actress, and Tenk swooned as though he was going to faint from the beauty of her.

"You know me well," Tenk said, and took a deep breath to regain his composure.

When the others arrived, Tenk led them into his place. Waving a quick 'hey' to his mum and dad, who were watching Skyfall's most popular soap, Steelplank Street, Tenk led them all into his bedroom.

Tenk's room was full of clothes and all manner of junk, strewn across the floor and piled high in disorganised heaps. The most striking thing about the place, though, was that it was covered from wall to wall with posters of Serra Simmony, and Seckry even noticed a couple sticky tacked to the ceiling. If it hadn't been so messy, it could have been mistaken for some kind of shrine.

"Tenk, seriously . . ." Loca said, eyeing his room with a frown. "Do you really think you're gonna get a girlfriend with all these posters up? You've really gotta take these down. It's creepy."

"Just stay away from my posters of Serra, Loca. Anyone touches my Serra and there'll be trouble." Tenk turned to Seckry. " _This is why I've never invited her over before_!" he whispered.

"And Seckry!" Loca said in disbelief. "I can't believe you bought him another one. I mean, where's it gonna go? There's no room."

"There's always room for one more," said Tenk defiantly. "There's a bit of space behind the TV, I think."

"I mean, seriously though, look at her," Loca continued. "She's so . . . unreal. You know they airbrush all these photos, don't you? I bet in real life she's full of spots and wrinkles and all sorts."

"You're just jealous."

Loca spat a crude laugh. "Jealous! Of that false–"

She was cut off as Tenk's older brother, Longo, came running into the room and dived on Tenk, wrestling him to the ground.

Loca screamed in shock and Tenk yelled, "Aaaaaargh! Get off me!"

"I haven't given you your birthday beating!" Longo said.

"Birthday beating? Since when has there ever been birthday beatings?"

"Since I invented them this morning," said Longo, digging Tenk with his elbows and knees.

They rolled around on the floor in a flurry of fists and everyone had to dodge out of their way.

"Boys!" shouted Mrs Binko from the living area. "What have I told you about fighting?"

Longo got up to walk out, saying, 'Nice to meet you all,' to everyone, but Tenk grabbed his foot and pulled him back to the ground, shouting, "Is that all you've got?"

After fifteen more minutes of fighting, they both finally looked exhausted and Longo disappeared into his own bedroom, leaving Tenk's room looking even more like a scrap yard.

Loca shook her head.

"For Gedin's sake, Tenk, is that all you do around here, fight?"

"Pretty much," said Tenk, peeling a pair of underpants off his t-shirt and shaking a couple of crisps out of his hair.

After a few bouts on a new beat 'em up game that Tenk had been given by his brother for his birthday, they were invited into the kitchen, where Tenk's mum had made a platter of nibbles. Seckry helped himself to a couple of hog and heather twirls, which were crunchy and meaty, and a few dinglepaste dollops, which was some kind of gooey mixture blobbed onto salty crackers. He had quite fancied dipping one into the mullsquash dip but it got splattered over the floor when Tenk and his brother broke into their third fit of scrapping.

Later that night, after Tenk's parents had gone to bed, they watched a film called Attack of the Shrunken Heads in the living area, which was possibly the creepiest horror film Seckry had ever seen, and they stuffed their faces with crisps and pop until they all felt queasy and Kimmy had to run to the bathroom to be sick.

It was around one in the morning, and everyone was wide awake from all the caffeine, when Tenk said, "I know! We should play the truth game."

Loca rolled her eyes. "Tenk, you're fifteen, not five."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with the truth game," Tenk said defensively. "It's a timeless classic. It's gotta be played on sleepovers."

"What's the truth game?" Seckry asked, who'd never heard of it.

"I don't think I've ever played it, either," Eiya added.

"Well, someone picks either odd or even and then rolls a dice. If their number matches what they chose then they get to ask someone a personal question, if their number doesn't match then they've got to pick someone to ask them a question."

"Sounds simple enough," Seckry said.

Tenk looked positively at Loca. "You ready to play?"

"Sure, but be prepared for some serious probing, Binko," Loca said, narrowing her eyes.

Seckry, Eiya, Loca and Kimmy all huddled their blankets closer while Tippian made himself a little feast of crisps and sugar coated mice and Tenk disappeared to find a dice.

"I think, being the oldest and all, Kimmy should go first," said Tenk, sitting down and wrapping his puffy sleeping bag around his shoulders.

Tentatively, Kimmy said, "Okay, I guess . . . even," and rolled the dice. It landed on a two.

Loca gave him a little clap. "Well done, Kim."

Kimmy looked around the group. "I really don't want to ask anything too personal–"

"Kim," Tenk cut in. "Come on, we're all playing the same game. You can ask anyone anything you want. That's the fun of it."

"Okay," Kimmy said. "I've got a question for Tippian. What's your idea of a perfect date with a girl?"

Tippian pondered for a moment. "We'd both get into a Friction pod and load up a level that was in the sunset or something, then we'd have a one on one duel. If she beat me, that'd be it, it's over. I don't want some macho tough woman. If I beat her, then who knows? Maybe the second date we could have in the real world."

Loca shook her head at Eiya as if to say, ' _Boys, eh?_ ' and Eiya giggled slightly.

After that they all rolled a few times each, and it was revealed that Loca sometimes stored packets of gum under her many hats while she was wearing them, Tippian still slept with a teddy bear in his bed, Kimmy once ate a spider by accident, and Tenk sometimes kissed a particular poster of Serra Simmony before going to sleep. Seckry was asked what his most embarrassing moment was, to which he told them about the time when he accidentally pulled off his maths teacher's wig with a ruler back in Marne.

The only person that hadn't been asked anything up until now was Eiya, so when Tenk rolled an even number, he said, "Okay . . . Eiya," and looked at her expectantly. "The newest girl in the school. Has anyone caught your eye? If you know what I mean."

Eiya said nothing for a moment and Seckry saw her cheeks blush gently.

"Yes, I . . . think they have," she said nervously.

Seckry felt a strange sensation course through his body then. He'd never experienced it before and he wasn't sure what it was. Eiya fancied someone at school?

"Can we have a clue as to who it is?" Tenk asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't say any more," Eiya said embarrassedly. "That's all you're getting on that subject."

At about two o'clock in the morning, only Seckry and Tenk still had their eyes open. The rest were scattered around the room in various positions, wrapped cosily in their sleeping bags.

"Hey, Seck," Tenk whispered. "You wanna know something?"

"Sure," Seckry said. He didn't even feel tired.

"You know I say that Serra Simmony would be my perfect girl? Well . . . there is someone else. Someone in the real world that I think I was destined to be with."

"You're not gonna start rambling on about the Chip and Milk Girl, are you?" said Tippian from across the room, his eyes still closed.

"I thought you were asleep," said Tenk.

"I am," said Tippian.

"Who's the Chip and Milk Girl?" Seckry asked.

"Well, it was at last year's Friction Meltdown. We had lost to the Northern Nightmare, and I was feeling really angry, so I stormed off and went to get a milkshake without congratulating anyone. Whenever I need a quick fix, something to cheer me up, I get myself a bag of hot chips and a multiberry milkshake, and I dip the chips in it."

Seckry screwed up his face a bit.

"Really?"

The thought of salty chips soaked in sweet milk made his stomach churn a little.

"Disgusting, ain't it," Tippian interjected.

"Man, I'm telling you, it's the ultimate comfort food. Anyway, I asked the lady behind the desk for my usual, and she said, 'I think you've started a trend.' I didn't know what she was talking about to begin with, but she slowly pointed to the other side of the counter where there was this girl sitting by herself, soaking up the bottom of her megamilk with a big, juicy chip. Can you believe it?"

"Wow," said Seckry. "There's two of you."

"Exactly! Who else in the world likes chips dipped in milkshake? No one. No one except for her. It's like I was looking into the eyes of my soulmate."

"Did you talk to her?" Seckry asked.

Tenk looked down miserably.

"He chickened out," Tippian said.

"I didn't chicken out!" Tenk said furiously. "I just . . . I thought I'd have time to finish my chips before going over to her. As I was scoffing them down, though, the Northern Nightmare gang arrived, all cheering and shouting and hugging each other, and I lost sight of her. I got up and looked around but she had gone."

"He wouldn't leave the stadium afterwards," Tippian said. "The place was empty and we had to drag him away. He was convinced she had to be there somewhere."

"I just don't understand where she could have gone . . ." Tenk said despairingly.

On the following Monday, they had electronics once more for first period, and as soon as they entered the classroom one of the girls squealed in delight.

"Peanut's back!" she shouted, running to the cage. Soon, a group of pupils had gathered around it.

"Move away!" Cutson's voice sliced through the excitement like a guillotine.

The crowd dispersed sheepishly and Cutson approached the cage slowly.

Now that Seckry had a clear view he could see that attached to Peanut's cage was a magnet of a pineapple.

"You _stupid_ animal," Cutson said with disgust.

Peanut turned to look at her whilst chewing on a leaf and gave her an expression that seemed to say, "What did I do?"

# Chapter Fifteen

# Kolda Kod

"Training time," said Loca Thumbsuckle, pacing the Friction common room a week later with a determined expression. "The Meltdown's just three weeks away and we've all got to be on top form. Right Tippian?"

Tippian looked angry. "It ain't my fault Cookrook gave me extra homework again. He hates me."

"I don't care how much homework you got, I want to see you training. We're not losing again. I've had enough of losing to Mobbins and the Northern Nightmare gang. If I see his smug face holding that trophy again this year I'm gonna . . ." She clenched her teeth and cracked her knuckles. "Now we need to talk strategies. The reason we've lost for three years running is that we've got no structure. Everyone's doing their own thing and trying to compete for attention when what we need to be doing is giving everyone roles."

Tenk shook his head. "The reason we lost last year is 'cos those blummin overseers stuck us in a cave."

"Well if we'd equipped one of us with a torch beforehand we'd have been fine."

Lessana sighed and chuckled.

"Amateurs."

Loca narrowed her eyes.

"You're not better than us Lessana. Just because you found your way out doesn't make you a better player. A truly good player would have helped the rest of us out."

"Why bother?" said Lessana. "You'd all just have got trapped in the marshes anyway."

Lessana continued to be a nuisance to everyone during their following training sessions, and Seckry was getting particularly annoyed with her smugness after the cheap trick she had played on him.

They began training three times a week after school had finished, and before Seckry had even come around to accepting it, the Mega Meltdown was upon them.

Just three days before the event, during the midst of a heavy practise session, something strange happened.

They were all running through a section of the Atoria Valley and reloading their weapons when Loca stopped.

"Something's different," she said. "Something's wrong."

Everyone came to a halt and looked around.

"What's the matter?" Tenk gasped. "Come on, we've only got two days left of training. Let's go, let's go!"

"Tenk, she's right," Tippian said. "Something's been changed. The mesh."

Suddenly, Basher's big, furry body started jiggling.

"Tenk, what are you doing? This isn't the time for dancing!" shouted Loca.

Basher began wiggling his large, fluffy behind in Loca's face.

"It's not me! I'm not controlling Basher anymore! Something's seriously wrong!"

"It looks like I'm picking my nose," said Tippian, whose avatar was thrusting a huge finger into his metal nostril.

In the sky appeared some bright green writing.

Having fun, losers? Get ready to be slaughtered on Saturday. The Northern Nightmare is coming your way.

There was a flash of light and the writing disappeared. Tenk and Tippian regained control of their avatars.

"Those cheating scum!" Loca yelled. "How did they manage to hack our game?"

"When I see Mobbins I swear I'm gonna pound his face in."

Basher picked up a rock and threw it at the sky. "You hear that, Mobbins? I'm gonna smack you in the face!"

"Guys, I don't get it . . . " Tippian said. "How could they have hacked our game? The only way they could have done it is by knowing our combination key for the security lock."

"Unless . . ." Loca said suspiciously. "Unless the lock was left open . . ."

"Who would open the security lock?" Tippian said. "We'd only do that if one of us wanted to hack the game ourselves . . ." Tippian trailed off and everyone slowly turned their heads towards Lessana.

Lessana gulped and looked around defensively.

"What? Don't blame this on me! I forgot to turn the security lock back on when I pranked Seckry, so what?"

"You know what, Lessana?" said Tenk, coldly. "It'll be a miracle if I don't turn my gun on you in the Friction Meltdown and put a bullet right through that fat, furry head of yours."

On the day of the Meltdown, Seckry felt sick. Even though they had been training five days a week, he still felt nervous about playing in front of a huge audience. Tenk and the others had complete confidence in him (aside from Lessana) but Seckry wasn't so sure he was going to cope under the pressure. It was true, he had picked up Friction very quickly, and he loved the game, but was he really ready to compete in the Meltdown?

At six o'clock that evening, about an hour after the sun had set, Seckry, Eiya, his mum and his sister all took a taxi to Skyfall Stadium, which was located in the west partition, and each of their mouths dropped open when they got out.

The stadium was a gigantic, open top structure, lit by hundreds of coloured floodlights, and draped with all manner of Friction related banners.

There were helium balloons of puffy, cute avatars floating around everywhere, jugglers and fire eaters, and the most spectacular array of fireworks Seckry had ever seen.

The air was crisp and cold now as winter was nearing, but was being warmed by the glowing heat of burger vans and toffee apple stands. Seckry licked his lips as the rich smells of frying onions and candyfloss wafted past him.

The place was roaring with the excited bustle of people, and crowds of all ages were still pouring into the surrounding plaza.

"Mum, look, there's the Western Warriors captain!" yelled one child.

"I'm gonna be the best Friction player in the world when I grow up!" shouted another.

"Hotdogs!" screamed a third.

All players had to be ready to play and within the gaming area by seven, so that they had time to get everyone else seated and time to have a prep talk. After Coralle had bought a few official Friction hats, and Leena had spent enough time refusing to wear one, they queued up and entered the stadium itself.

Thousands of seats lined the inner walls and were all focused on the centre of the stadium, where there was a large ring of pods. Above the seating were four enormous screens, one above each corner, which would display footage of the game in action.

"Seckry! Eiya!" came a high pitched call. It was Loca, waving at them from a distance. She made her way through the crowd, dragging her parents along behind her.

"This is my mum and dad," she said, panting.

Seckry and Eiya both waved and Loca's parents acknowledged them shyly.

"Have you seen Kimmy?" Loca asked, searching around her.

"Not yet," Seckry said. "This place is packed!"

"I hope he's not being sick in the bathroom like last time," Loca said worriedly. "I thought he wasn't even gonna make it into his pod."

At that moment Mr Binko wandered past them with a huge hotdog in his hands, overflowing with onions and mustard.

"The Mega Meltdown Meatwurst!" he shouted at them. "This is what Friction's all about, eh?" He took a huge chomp and disappeared into the crowd happily.

Seckry was about to yell after him to ask him if Tenk was here, but before he had a chance, Tenk stumbled through a group of giggly girls and put his hand on Seckry's shoulder, panting. He was followed by his mum, who was chewing on an oversized, twirly marshmallow.

"Hey guys," Tenk said breathlessly. "Just been doing a bit of strength and conditioning before the game over in the locker rooms. You nearly ready?"

"Ready as ever," Seckry said, with growing nervousness.

"Look! There's Mobbins!" Tenk suddenly said with venom. He pointed to a tall, shirtless, muscular boy doing press-ups close to the pods. A circle of people had formed around him and girls were whistling at his torso.

Mrs Binko gave him a wolf whistle too.

"Mum!" Tenk shouted. "What are you doing? He's, like, our sworn enemy!"

"He's really cute!" she said defensively.

Tenk's face screwed up into an uncomfortable grimace.

"He looks like a machine," Seckry said, wondering how he'd ever be able to compete against someone like that.

"Yeah, the guy's a freak. All he does is train. I've heard rumours that he actually goes up this mountain called Big Boar three months before a Friction match and trains in the high altitude so that his lungs are almost indestructible."

"That's crazy!" said Seckry. "What about his school? Don't they class that as truancy?"

"Are you kidding? I bet they fund him to go up there. Friction's big money, man. Mobbins is their school's hero."

Mobbins jumped to his feet and started flexing his biceps for the crowd, who squealed in delight.

"I'd love it if someone took him out in the first minute," Tenk said viciously. "I swear to Gedin I'll do it one day."

"Tenk!" Loca exclaimed. "We gotta stick to the plan, remember? Don't be getting any bright ideas about hunting him down."

In between signing autographs, Mobbins turned to Tenk and made a slow, slitting motion across his neck with his finger, and Seckry had to grab Tenk before he ran down to punch him.

The stadium seemed to be getting fuller and fuller, and the heat of the crowd and the lighting was making Seckry feel slightly faint.

"Greetings," said Tippian, squeezing through the masses and readjusting his skew-whiff glasses. "What's wrong with Kimmy?"

"Kimmy?" Loca said quickly. "Where is he?"

"Just saw him running to the bathroom."

"Oh no," Loca said, distressed. "Right. I'm going after him."

"But that's the men's toilets!" said Tippian.

"You think that's gonna stop her?" said Tenk, as Loca stormed away.

She returned about five minutes later shaking her head in disbelief.

"His dad's ignored him, that's what it is," said Loca, shaking her head with fury. "After all the effort Kimmy's put in, he blummin' ignores him!"

"Is he okay?" Seckry asked.

"He's come around. He's just splashing his face."

With only twenty minutes to spare, Seckry had become so nervous he couldn't stop going to the bathroom himself. When he returned for the third time, Kolda Kod wheeled himself out of one of the cubicles and began washing his hands in the sink, a stern expression on his face.

Seckry was in the presence of a true Friction master, a legend of the game, but all Seckry could think of was that he had ignored his own son. Before Seckry knew it, his mouth was talking without his consciousness even having decided to do so.

"You could at least have wished your son good luck."

Kolda Kod stared at him, taken aback.

"He might never be as good as you," Seckry said, "but he's trying, and you should give him some encouragement."

"But . . . he never takes my advice!" Kolda raged bitterly. "I try to give him practise at home, but he's got no interest. All he thinks about is that Thumbsuckle girl. He's like a wet rag."

"Have you ever considered that Friction might not be where Kimmy's future lies? Do you even know that he won the Skyfall Maths Standout of the Year award?"

Kolda Kod was silent, staring at Seckry unflinchingly.

As Seckry dried his hands, Kolda Kod said, "I . . . didn't know that," and looked at the ground.

Seckry returned to the stadium, feeling like he was walking on jelly. Had he really just raised his voice at Kimmy's dad, the greatest Friction player to have ever lived? And did he say that all Kimmy thinks about is Loca Thumbsuckle? Did Kimmy fancy Loca? Seckry didn't have any more time to think about it, as the game was about to start.

"Seck! Come on," Loca shouted.

"Good luck!" Eiya said, and gave him a quick hug before running off to join Seckry's mum and sister in the VIP seats.

Seckry paused for a moment and watched her meander through the crowd. He suddenly felt at ease.

"Seck! Get over here!" Loca screamed.

"You can give her a kiss later!" said Tenk.

"What?" Seckry said, blushing, before joining the team and huddling close as Loca went over their basic strategy again.

When the music started playing, they all climbed into their pods and switched on their intercoms.

"Okay, this is it, guys. You ready?" said Loca

"Yeah!" everyone shouted enthusiastically.

"I didn't hear Tippian then. You ready, Tippian?"

"Yeah I'm ready, for Gedin's sake!" shouted Tippian.

"Good. Now get ready to kick some north, south and west butt."

"Good luck Anikam," Seckry said to his avatar, and Anikam gave him a firm nod before Seckry placed him into the slot.

# Chapter Sixteen

# The Twenty Seventh Annual Friction Mega Meltdown

At that moment the commentators burst into life. They were being broadcast around the stadium, and the sound of their voices was entering the pods.

"Hi, I'm Mick Mannerim and we are here once again at the sold out Skyfall Stadium for the twenty seventh annual Friction Mega Meltdown! I'm here tonight with fellow commentator Jowe Kingsfoller. What a night we've got lined up, hey Jowe?"

"Yeah, a fantastic night ahead of us, Mick. And some interesting new talent too."

The commentators talked about a couple of the Western Warriors' new players for a moment, and then Seckry heard, ". . . for the Eastern Eidolons, Seckraman Sevenstars."

Seckry felt a buzz of excitement as he heard his own name echo around the massive stadium.

"Not much is known about Sevenstars," Jowe Kingsfoller continued, "but I've been told he's got heaps of raw talent. Let's just hope his lack of experience doesn't get the better of him tonight."

"And of course," said Mick Mannerim, "Sevenstars will be joining the Eidolon regulars Tenk Binko, Lessana Lubworth, Tippian Furst, the ever energetic Loca Thumbsuckle, and the veteran's son, Kimmy Kod."

"Yeah, a great team, Mick, and Thumbsuckle's always been a good team leader. She gets them close to the win, and many think she's the one that can topple the Nightmare's reign."

"And what about Kimmy Kod, Jowe? Do you think he will ever live up to his father's expectations?"

"It's a tough one, Mick. We've yet to see the kind of skill from Kimmy that his father possesses. It must be hard for him, with all that pressure. But I hear he trains hard. Who knows? We'll find out tonight."

"Okay, I've just been told we're about to begin . . . and . . . here we go! The twenty seventh Annual Friction Mega Meltdown is underway!"

Seckry braced himself.

"Section 52," said a deep voice. "Only one item in the game – the Meltdown Trophy. Find it to win."

A deafening horn reverberated through the entire stadium. The atmosphere in Seckry's pod suddenly changed, and his body was wrenched into the air, floating in invisible liquid.

Water.

He wasn't expecting to spawn underwater and neither was anybody else, but he had no time to be surprised. He had to find his way to the surface. If he didn't, his avatar would run out of oxygen and he'd be out of the game in the first few minutes.

But something was wrong. Seckry was choking. He tried coughing, but he couldn't. It was as though his lungs had shut down.

How long did he have? He glanced up to check his oxygen bar, but to Seckry's surprise, he couldn't see one. It was only when Seckry saw the faces of the other players writhing in pain and clutching their throats, that Seckry realised what was happening.

They were suffocating.

There was no oxygen bar because the game makers must have taken the underwater simulation one step further. They were drowning.

Seckry could hear the _binging_ sound of players' pods locking down, deactivating, and sending them out of the game. One, two, three . . . four . . . five. They were dropping like flies.

In front of him was mayhem. Amidst the bubbles was one green avatar, a spindly mecha, flailing around and sinking from its own weight, and another avatar, a red anima, squirming violently until it stopped abruptly and Seckry heard another _bing._

If Seckry didn't move he was going to go unconscious himself. Where was the surface? Above them was what seemed to be a giant steel plate, and swarms of avatars were pounding on it to get through to some air.

Seckry could feel his lungs in pain now, and he was panicking, which was losing him oxygen.

He looked around frantically for his team mates, but he couldn't see them, until he heard a gargled scream of, "Down!"

Below him was Loca's avatar, viciously motioning him downwards, before swimming into some kind of underwater tunnel.

Seckry didn't waste another moment. He propelled himself after her, down into the depths of the water, and into the dark hole.

Just as he thought he was going to lose consciousness, he was ripped out of the water and oxygen flooded into his lungs.

It took him a moment to realise what had happened.

"You were nearly out, there!" said Tenk, his avatar, Basher, standing over him with a huge, toothless grin.

They were standing on a metal, grated platform in a futuristic underground chamber.

"What was happening?" Seckry asked, drenched.

"The overseers," Tenk said. "You know, the people who design the Meltdown events? I should have realised they'd pull a stunt like that. I'd heard rumours about more realistic water simulation being designed, but I didn't know they were gonna physically drown us."

"Looks like you guessed right about the location," Seckry said. "Section 52 it is." He had gotten familiar with each of the areas of Atoria by now, and Section 52 was Friction's futuristic, science fiction style land, in which many of the levels were designed.

"Yep," said Tenk. "As expected, and you know what that means? The gravity gun. It's here somewhere. It always is in 52 Meltdown events. It's epic, I'm telling you. Just gotta make sure it's one of us that's holding it. Preferably me," he added.

Now that Seckry's ears had been drained of all water, he could hear the roaring of the crowd again, and the excitement of the commentators.

"Sevenstars is up!" yelled Mick Mannerim. "That's all six members of the Eidolons successfully out of the water. What of a turn of events, Jowe?"

"Very surprising, Mick. What a vicious start to the game! We've lost almost half the players! Gindling, Ubblepots, Hibbins . . . Ironstamp, all of them out of the game in the first few minutes. I mean, who would have expected it? A completely new form of atmospheric simulation, throwing the players straight into the deep end. Literally."

"And for the ones that _have_ survived, Jowe, it's got to be a blessing, right?"

"Yeah, there's a lot less competition now, but there are still some super tough players in there."

"And just to remind our viewers at home, the safety of the players is always first and foremost at the official Friction events, our medics are at hand and are working with the eliminated players to make sure they regain consciousness and are not injured in any way."

"Come on," said Tenk. "The others are ahead of us." Basher jogged away into the darkness, his hulking feet making the metal platform shake with every stomp. Seckry ran after him, shaking the water out of Anikam's fur as he went.

As they turned a corner, Tenk shouted, "Seckry! Duck!"

Seckry immediately dropped to the floor, as Basher pulled out his default weapon, a plasma canon, and beamed a ray of energy at a surprise pursuer, sending him flying back into the water while shards of metal panged against the walls.

Bing.

Another player down.

"Thanks!" muttered Seckry, still shaken.

They emerged into a corridor with a set of exits to find Loca, Kimmy, Lessana and Tippian.

"This could be a trap," said Loca. "Some of these could be dead ends. We can't afford to all get stuck. What we're gonna have to do is split up. Take a corridor each. It's our best chance of getting through. Even if only one of us makes it, it's better than none."

Each of them entered a separate tunnel and Seckry ran as fast as he could to make it through. It was longer than he imagined it would be, but he eventually burst out into a vast chamber.

Seckry drew back his arrow and almost fired as another player burst out of a nearby doorway, but he stopped himself just in time as he realised it was Loca's avatar, Kittya.

"Seckry!" she said exasperatedly. She glanced around her at some more noise and out of another exit popped a wheezing Basher.

"You okay, Tenk?"

"I tell you what," Tenk said, strained. "I think Basher's put on some weight in the last year."

Following Tenk came Tippian's avatar Apocalyptia, waving his gun around like a mad machine.

"Where are the others?" said Loca.

"Oh my word!" yelled Jowe Kingsfoller. "Benjabob Truskin has just climbed inside the head of that beast!"

The four of them stopped and looked at each other, and Seckry felt his stomach churn.

"Beast?" said Loca, but before they could even begin to worry, they were under fire. Pellets were panging all around them and they scattered in different directions.

Seckry launched himself behind some crates, until he saw a sign printed on them labelled 'Dangerous Explosives.' He flung himself away from them, across the room, and behind some pipes.

Up on a ledge was one of the Southern Slayer avatars, a thin anima with two pistols, raining bullets down at Loca. Was Seckry close enough to take a shot?

He pulled back his arrow and aimed. He fired and missed. The anima turned in Seckry's direction, surprised by the whizzing arrow, but before it could raise its pistol, Seckry had let loose another, this time thudding straight into the creature's forehead and knocking it off the platform, out of the competition.

"Yes!" Seckry said to himself, and Loca gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up from the other side of the area as a _bing_ sounded around them and echoed into nothing.

At that moment, Lessana appeared out of an air ventilation shaft and clambered down some pipes.

"Where've you been?" said Loca.

"Climbing through vents thanks to you," Lessana said maliciously. "You gave me the short straw on purpose."

"Have you seen Kimmy?" Loca asked. "Is he okay?"

"Kimmy? How would I have seen him? Didn't he get through his tunnel? I bet he gave up halfway through and quit the game."

"Lessana, Kimmy wouldn't quit," Loca said furiously.

"Oh no!" yelled the commentator Mick Mannerim, "Looks like that's the end for Kimmy Kod, Jowe. Very unfortunate. Very unfortunate."

" _Kimmy . . ._ " Loca said, pained.

"Come on, Loca," Seckry said reassuringly. "We can still do it. Let's get your plan back in action and win this thing."

"Yeah. You're right. Let's station ourselves around the outer perimeter of this chamber and pick off any players that enter, then when there's a lull we can move through that door over the far side and get our bearing in that room."

Seckry positioned himself behind a pipe that had been burst by a bullet and which was billowing out steam, providing good camouflage for him while he aimed his bow and arrow at enemies. The others all dotted around the chamber and did an equally good job of taking out intruders as soon as they entered.

As soon as things went quiet, Loca shouted, "Let's go, let's mov–"

But Loca's words died in mid sentence as a deep, sub atomic rumble made the metal beneath their feet vibrate.

"What in Gedin's name was that?" said Tenk.

But there was no need for anyone to answer. The wall opposite them started buckling, and there was a deafening screech of breaking metal. Then the entire wall collapsed as a giant mechanical suit of some sort stomped over the rubble and began to head towards them.

"It's that Benjabob Truskin!" Loca said. "That's the beast the commentators were on about."

"Well I'm not gonna stand here and be trampled on," said Lessana angrily, and she stepped out of their cover, straight into the giant's path.

"Lessana! No!" Loca yelled, and Tenk tried to grab her.

But Lessana had no intention of listening to any of them. Her avatar, Ogg, stood defiantly and began unloading bullets into the chest of the huge thing. There was a panging of metal and some discharged electricity as cables within its body were pierced and frayed, but it continued to move forward with monolithic steps.

"Take that, you Northern Nightmare noob!" Lessana bellowed, but the mecha leant forward its unforgiving face and sent a beam of razor sharp light right through Lessana's body, slicing her in half and sending her out of the game.

Loca slammed her fist onto the grating.

"Aaargh! That girl is unbelievable! She won't listen to a word anyone says."

"We're better off without her!" shouted Tippian. "I've got a much better way of bringing him down."

Tippian had opened a pack of gadgets and circuitry on the floor and was quickly stuffing a few different components together with his big metal hands.

"What are you doing?" Loca yelled. "We haven't got time for this!"

"Loca, just trust me, alright! Just keep him away from me for two more minutes."

"Tipps, we ain't got two more minutes!" said Tenk, cowering behind some rubble.

"You better have something going in less than ten seconds Tippian, or we're all gonners!"

"I'm trying!" Tippian screamed.

The Northern Nightmare controlled mecha bore down upon Loca, raised one of its enormous fists and four holes appeared, one on each of its knuckles.

"Run!" screamed Tenk, but Tippian shouted, "Wait!" and thrust Apocalyptia's mechanical arm out in front of him, holding a plastic box that had a lever on it, and was hanging with wires and a couple of batteries.

The giant mecha's arm began shaking, as if an invisible force was trying to wrench it away.

Tippian pressed a few buttons and tilted the lever.

The mecha's arm swung away from them, out to one side. The rest of its body was now trembling, unstable and ready to collapse.

"You're controlling that thing?" Loca said in disbelief.

Tippian shrugged Apocalyptia's shoulders. "I'm a genius," he said simply.

Benjabob Truskin's avatar, that had been controlling the mecha from the seat inside its head, was now trying to scramble out. Tippian pressed a couple more buttons and the ear slammed shut on it, locking the player in.

Seckry and Loca watched as the mecha's arm curled back in and pointed its fist at its own head.

"Who's smiling now?" Tippian said, and pressed a button.

Flames burst out of the machine's knuckles, engulfing its own head and the player inside with furious, red hot fire. They all felt the heat as the room flashed with orange light. As the screams of the player echoed around them, Seckry had a horrible feeling that the heat inside the player's pod had been just as well programmed as the oxygen. A _bing_ signalled the defeat of another combatant, and the empty avatar hung limp inside the scorched cockpit.

"Well done, Tipp–"

Crack!

Apocalyptia fell face first onto the floor, green liquid oozing out of his broken body, and Loca screamed.

Seckry spun around and saw a humanoid, standing with a pistol, shaking like a leaf and frozen to the spot.

Seckry was about to ready his weapon when he spotted Tippian's remote control at his feet and realised that nobody was controlling the giant robot any more.

"Look out!" he shouted, and he, Loca, and Tenk dived in opposite directions as the gigantic beast fell forwards like a monstrous, metal ragdoll, obliterating their hiding place and crushing Tippian's assassin into oblivion.

"Both alright?" Loca called, as the echoes died and the room filled with thick dust and ash.

"I'm fine!" Seckry called back, his leg trapped underneath the elbow of the limp robot.

"Tenk?" Loca called, but there was no answer.

Seckry craned his neck to see if he could spot Tenk but there was no need.

"And that's Tenk Binko out of the competition!" shouted Mick Mannerim. "Could this be the beginning of the end for the Eastern Eidolons?"

"Not yet!" Loca called out viciously. "Come on, Seck, it's just us two left, we have to get to the trophy, it must be in that direction."

"Wait, I'm trapped!" Seckry said, trying to heave himself out.

"Okay, I'm coming to help," said Loca, and Seckry heard her scrambling over the robot.

"Here, take my hand," she said, appearing above him.

Seckry grabbed the anima's wrist and she hauled him halfway out before darting her head to one side and nearly dropping him.

"What is it?" Seckry said, scrambling and just catching a hold on one of the giant fingers.

"Seckry!" Loca said quickly and furiously. "Get to the trophy! It's just you!"

Before Seckry could say, "What?" Loca was hit by a huge, invisible force wave that flung her into the wall and smashed her avatar to pieces.

Bing.

"Loca!" Seckry shouted.

Seckry wrenched himself up onto the machine, whipped out his bow, and with rage, fired an arrow straight into the chest of Loca's attacker, a big anima with reptile-like features, holding some kind of force canon.

Bing.

Was it really just Seckry left? Was he the Eastern Eidolon's last chance at winning the game?

How many other players were still alive? He ducked behind the robot for a moment, trying to listen to the commentators. He couldn't just run across the arena, it was a sure death wish.

"Loca Thumbsuckle, Jowe," said Mick Mannerim. "Always a great player, one of the best Skyfall's had in a long time, some may say."

"Yeah, Mick, a fantastic team player and a great leader."

"With just Seckraman and Mobbins left, will it be the east or the north that win the Friction tournament this year?"

"It's a close one, that's for sure, Mick."

Just him and Mobbins left?

Seckry took a deep breath. Mobbins might be physically stronger, but Seckry wanted it more. He wanted to do it for his teammates.

Seckry darted from his hiding place, weaving in and out of view, and sped into the next room.

It was empty except for a few lifeless avatars who had been killed earlier in the game. The only problem was, this room led to two other rooms, and it seemed like those led to even more. Which way should he go?

There was only one thing Seckry could do, and that was make a blind choice. He picked left first and began exploring, but after ten minutes of mindless wandering, he reached a dead end and had to turn back. When he followed the rooms to the right he sensed he was getting somewhere, and crawled through pipes, tunnels and walked across narrow indoor bridges until he reached a gigantic open chamber with something glowing brightly in the centre.

As he neared he could see it clearly now. There was no doubt about it, it was the Meltdown trophy, floating and spinning just above its pedestal. Seckry couldn't waste any more time. He took one last look around him and made a run for it.

And he hit the floor with a _bang_ , his face pressed to the metal grating.

"I don't think so, little boy," said a deep voice above him. _Mobbins._

Where had he come from?

"You think you can beat me?" Mobbins said. "At your very first time in a Meltdown?" he let out a bellowing laugh and pressed harder on Seckry's head. Seckry could feel the grating almost cutting into Anikam's skin. He tried to wriggle free but it was no use.

"Game over," Mobbins said, and raised his foot into the air, ready to stamp on Seckry's skull with his humanoid boot.

Seckry could hear the crowd roaring, and the commentators were going wild with the tension of these last moments.

Then –

There was a deep, deafening wave of sound and Mobbins was lifted into the air.

"I don't believe it!" Jowe Kingsfoller was screaming. "Kimmy Kod has returned from nowhere!"

Kimmy?

Seckry wrenched himself from the floor to see Kimmy standing at the opposite end of the room, holding some kind of huge canon.

"All this time we thought he was out cold," yelled Jowe Kingsfoller. "And he was actually battling for the infamous gravity gun! Can you believe it?"

Mobbins was floating in mid air, flailing about and roaring in outrage. He tried to fire his weapon at Kimmy but the shot hit the roof of the building.

"No you don't," Kimmy said determinedly, and cranked back a lever on the gun.

Mobbins suddenly started spinning rapidly and screaming, his gun flying out of his hands and hitting the floor with a clang.

"If you had a bit more respect for your opponents, you might get a little bit back," Kimmy said, and then swung the gun to the left, dragging Mobbins' avatar through the air and pummelling him into the wall. Kimmy turned the power off and ran over to Seckry whilst Mobbins fell to a crumpled heap on the floor.

"You okay, Seckry?"

"Thanks Kimmy! We thought you'd been killed!" Seckry said, shocked.

"I almost was," Kimmy said, helping him up. "Look at me!"

Now that Kimmy was close Seckry could see how battered and bruised his humanoid avatar, Slider, was.

"Mobbins is just stunned," Kimmy said. "You'd better finish him off with your bow."

"My pleasure," said Seckry.

Mobbins was growling and trying to get to his feet, but Kimmy pointed the gravity gun in his direction and poised his hand on the lever, ready to zap him back against the wall if he tried to reach for his gun.

"The Northern Nightmare never loses," Mobbins choked.

"Looks like that's about to change," said Seckry, and fired an arrow straight into the avatar's skull.

"Kim, do you realise we've just won?" he said.

A grin of pure glee emerged on Kimmy's face.

"Touch the trophy, Kimmy," Seckry said. "You deserve it."

"I wouldn't have got this far if you guys hadn't have fought the rest of them. We won this as a team. Let's grab it together."

They both counted down from three before each gripping a handle.

There was a blinding light and the roar of the crowd became deafening as their pods clicked open and revealed every player with a synchronised pneumatic hiss.

"The winners of the twenty seventh annual Friction Mega Meltdown, the Eastern Eidolons!" shouted Mick Mannerim.

Seckry stumbled out feeling exhausted but ecstatic.

As his eyes adjusted to the light of the stadium he saw Loca run past him like an unleashed animal and fling her arms around Kimmy, almost toppling him to the ground.

"Seckry!" came a soft voice, and he felt a cool hand take hold of his own.

"Eiya!" Seckry said, turning around and smiling.

"You were great!" She hugged him and Seckry felt her cheek briefly brush against his.

Once everyone had hugged him and congratulated him, Seckry joined everyone else in sitting down while the Friction pods were whisked away and the commentators got up onto a stage that had been put in their place.

After getting everyone to cheer again and talking a bit about the game, Mick Mannerim said, "And now, a word from the legend that is . . . Kolda Kod, ladies and gentlemen!"

The crowd erupted, and Kolda wheeled himself across the stage.

"Thank you, Mick."

Kolda cleared his throat and there was a moment of sharp sounding feedback from the microphone as he lowered it to himself.

"I remember the very first time that I entered a Friction pod," he began. "It was a grotty old thing that had a hole in one side and a cracked screen. There was none of this 'atmospheric simulation' stuff back then . . . but maybe that was a good thing, eh?" He clutched his throat and the crowd, along with lots of the Friction players, gave a knowing laugh. "That was a shock tonight, wasn't it?" he added as an aside, raising his eyebrows.

The crowd settled down and he continued.

"As soon as I stepped in to that pod, I knew I was going to make it my life's goal to become the best Friction player to ever live. It was as though I'd found my ultimate motive, my dream. I fell in love with the game, and I spent my school years practising nonstop."

Loca was leaning forward in her chair, looking furious.

"If he uses this to have another go at Kimmy, after Kimmy's just fippin won it for us," she hissed. "I'm gonna go up there and strangle the man!"

"The truth is," Kolda said, and he paused for a moment. "The truth is . . . that everyone is different. And everyone has their own dreams. I'd like to call my son up here, if I could."

There was ruffling from the crowd, and Seckry saw Kimmy making his way nervously up to the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Kolda said slowly. "I'd like to congratulate my son, Kimmy Kod . . . I'd like to congratulate my son on becoming the Skyfall Maths Standout of the Year."

The crowd wasn't sure how to react, but Loca started clapping furiously and the rest of the crowd joined in, even shouting a few cheers for him.

Kolda put his arms out and gave Kimmy a hug, and Seckry was sure that Kolda said something private to his son in that moment.

"And secondly," Kolda said. "I would like to congratulate him on such a monumental Friction performance."

The crowd roared again, louder this time.

"I'd also like to call up Seckry Sevenstars, whose equally outstanding performance has impressed us all. What a game for a first time meltdown?"

Seckry made his way onto the stage, trying his hardest not to blush, even though he knew his cheeks wouldn't listen.

"Okay, and let's have a huge round of applause for the rest of the winning team!" yelled Jowe Kingsfoller. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Eastern Eidolons!"

Loca, Tenk, Tippian, and a smug Lessana filed out onto the stage, and the crowd roared again.

It was only then that the situation seemed to sink in. Less than a year ago Seckry had never even heard of Friction, and here he was now, being cheered by about fifteen thousand people.

As Seckry scanned the masses in front of him he caught sight of his mum, waving frantically and dabbing the tears away from her eyes with a cloth. Next to her was Eiya, smiling her unique smile, her eyes glistening at him, and Seckry couldn't help but form a huge grin himself.

# Chapter Seventeen

# Bubble the Baby Gimmypug

"Did you see Mobbin's face when he got out of his pod?" Tenk said, popping open a packet of crisps. "He was absolutely livid!"

"I don't think you helped his mood by teasing him in front of everyone," said Tippian.

"Yeah, well the oaf deserved it. He would have done the same to me."

"I think you took it a bit too far when you threw that chunk of hotdog at him, though," said Loca.

"Are you kidding? That was the best moment of my life!"

"Seckry, what pop do you want?" Loca said to him. "Red, blue, white, green?"

"I'll have some blue. Thanks."

The team had been given access to the Friction training room for two hours for post Meltdown celebrations and the school had provided them with all manner of drinks, sweets, and snacks. They'd also let Eiya in with them as a special guest.

During that time, Kimmy explained to them all how he'd been attacked down his corridor by artificial intelligence robots and had been knocked unconscious which is why the commentators had thought he was out of the game. Then he'd come back around and the bots had disappeared, leaving him to trek through a series of obstacles before finding the gravity gun and retracing his steps with it.

After nearly two hours of talking and laughing and reminiscing about the game, Loca stood up and said, "There's something I've been meaning to do all night."

"What is it?" Tenk asked.

But Loca said nothing. She put her pop down and slowly made her way over to Kimmy, who was staring at her with glazed eyes. Then she placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him for what seemed like a lifetime.

When she stopped, everyone was silent. Tenk's mouth was hanging wide open and Tippian was wiping his glasses and frowning.

"Well done today, Kimmy," Loca said eventually. "You're my hero."

Kimmy stammered and looked as though he was about to faint, but their shock was cut short.

"Well done tonight, guys," said the school janitor, poking his head through the door. "You did us proud, but I'm gonna have to close this place up now."

During the following two weeks, Skyfall City was treated to a few bursts of snow which unfortunately melted before anyone could play in it, but which got everybody excited about Seckramas, the celebration of the coming of Seckraman, son of Gedin, which was only three weeks away.

Seckry's mum had been swapping recipes with her colleagues at work and flicking through Skyfall cookbooks for the last week and a half, compiling a list of ingredients she needed for half a dozen recipes she was planning to cook for Seckramas day.

One weekend she asked Seckry to pick her some things up at the market, most of which he had never seen or heard of in his life; some pillowpuff crackers, two coliground roots, a pound of lumpenlock, and a sprig of binyon, amongst others. Seckry was beginning to wonder what in Gedin's name his mum was planning on making, especially since the coliground roots seemed to be wriggling in the corner of his eye every time he looked away.

As Seckramas drew closer, the school began buzzing with excitement, and when there were only a couple of days left before the holidays, not much work was getting done. Most lessons were filled with chatter and some teachers let them watch a film. The only teacher who was having no part in the merriment was Mrs Cutson, to nobody's surprise. In fact, she seemed to be taking the jolliness of everyone around her as a personal insult and had decided to give the class extra homework as revenge.

Seckry and Eiya spent most of their free time playing video games with Tenk and Tippian, and Kimmy and Loca were nowhere to be seen.

"I bet they can't pry their lips apart," Tenk said. "I bet they've been locked in a kissing fest for weeks."

During lunchtime on the last day of term, Seckry and Eiya almost bumped into Ms Butterkins, who was storming down the corridor clutching a handful of freshly picked carrots and swinging them so violently that spatters of dirt and earth were showering the corridor walls.

"Oh, hello Seckry, hello Eiya," she said. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare food processor on you, would you?"

"Uh . . . sorry miss, no," Seckry said, patting his pockets as if searching for one.

"Hmmm," Butterkins said. "I guess I'll just have to use the old one. Just a bit slow that's all. Right gotta go. Very important business to attend to."

"Where are you going?" Eiya asked.

"To the sanctuary, where else?" Butterkins made to rush off, but paused momentarily. "You know, I could use a couple of spare hands," she said. "Would you like to join me?"

Seckry and Eiya both nodded. They had no other plans.

When they reached the sanctuary, Butterkins popped the carrots into her own blender and got Seckry and Eiya to add a bit of water and purify them while she fetched some kind of baby bottle from a distant cupboard.

"What's this for?" Eiya asked.

"It's for Bubble," Butterkins said. "The newest member of our team, and possibly the most important."

"Bubble?" Seckry said.

Once the carrots were purified into a smooth, thick liquid, Butterkins filled the bottle with it and led them to an incubation tank at the far end of the sanctuary.

"Seckry, Eiya," Butterkins said, "say hello to Bubble, the world's first gimmypug hybrid."

The baby gimmypug was tiny and was blinking its eyes as if waking up from a nap. It sniffed the air and tried reaching its head out to them and one of its overly large ears fell down across its face.

"It's so cute!" Eiya said gleefully, clutching her hands together in front of her chest.

"What do you mean by a gimmypug hybrid?" Seckry asked.

"Bubble is a cross breed between a short eared gimmypug, the kind you see over here, and the almost extinct long eared variety."

"Extinct?" said Eiya.

Butterkins nodded sadly, before letting Bubble suck hungrily on the tip of the bottle.

"Long eared gimmypugs are native to Phary, and poaching is common there. The long eared gimmypug has been hunted for its ears for years and years. They use the tough gristle to make leather. The institute of animal care there has done all it can to prevent the extinction of the species but it's been a losing battle. There's only one female left. She's being looked after by an expert team over there, but . . . she's dying." Butterkins looked away from them and stifled a tear.

"That's awful," said Seckry.

"We'll never have pure bred long-eared gimmypugs again," Butterkins explained. "There is no chance of it. The institute have been trying to get male short eared gimmypugs to mate with Petra all season. They believe this is the last year she will be able to bear offspring. Giving birth to a new hybrid breed of middle-eared gimmypugs would be the least we could do to give the long-eared gimmypugs any form of existence. And their existence is very important, because the people of Phary have long believed that the long eared gimmypug's blood holds special healing powers."

"So they got a short eared male gimmypug to mate with her?" said Eiya.

"No. They couldn't. They couldn't do it. They tried, but it was pointless. It's not mating season for gimmypugs. They only mate in spring."

"So how . . . how does Bubble exist?" Seckry asked.

Bubble yawned and curled up into a ball.

"Well, that's where a certain friend of ours came into play."

"Who?" Seckry asked.

"Well the gimmypugs in Phary have a kind of built in seasonal clock. But if a gimmypug had never been a part of that, had never felt the heat of a Phary summer or the moisture in the air, then it wouldn't have a set mating season, it would be able to mate any time of the year. So I took our very own gimmypug and gave him the holiday of a lifetime."

"You mean . . ." said Seckry.

"Yep. Bubble's daddy is our very own Mr Peanut."

"It was you that stole him!" Eiya exclaimed.

"Cutson went absolutely ballistic over that!" Seckry said. "We thought she was going to have a mental breakdown."

"Well I knew she'd never let me have him," Butterkins said defensively. "It was the only way. You won't tell her it was me, will you?"

Seckry and Eiya both laughed disbelievingly. "No miss, we won't tell."

"Did she like her magnet?"

"I think you can probably guess the answer to that one," Seckry said.

After helping Butterkins take a small amount of Bubble's blood with a syringe for testing purposes, to which Eiya had to look away, they headed back through the corridors and turned up, slightly late, for their next lesson.

At the end of the day, before leaving, Seckry ran into Mr Vance.

"Seckry," he said, "I'm afraid there's been no update in the search for Ropart Sanfarrow and Kevan Kayne."

Seckry's heart sank a little, but he wasn't going to let it ruin Seckramas.

"We haven't found anything either," Seckry told him. "What are you doing for Seckramas day?"

"Me?" Vance said. "Oh . . . I imagine I'll just be spending it reading a good book if I'm honest with you, Seckry."

"Don't you . . . have any family around here?" Seckry asked, hoping he wasn't probing too much.

"I'm afraid not," Vance said simply. "And I'm not a particularly religious man. Science and religion aren't the friendliest of concepts."

As Seckry was about to wish Vance a merry Seckramas and head off, he suddenly thought of something.

"You can have dinner with us!" he blurted.

Vance was taken aback for a moment. "That's very kind, Seckry but I'm sure–"

"No, please," Seckry interrupted. "Our whole square is having an open kind of feast. The rule is, the more the merrier. And my mum would love to meet you."

Vance looked as though he was about to protest again, but a glimpse of a smile appeared on his face.

"It _would_ be nicer than spending it alone. Will your mum be making another one of those ellonberry tarts?"

"Are you kidding?" Seckry said, laughing. "She's already lined the tin."

# Chapter Eighteen

# A Familiar Symbol

On Seckramas morning, Seckry woke to find Eiya standing at the bedroom window.

"Seckry, it's so beautiful!" she said, gleaming.

Seckry got up and joined her.

Outside, Skyfall was covered in a blanket of pure white snow, glistening in the cold, winter sun.

The monorail whizzed past, sending a flurry of flakes and a wet spray across the sky. The square below was alive with people setting up a long sturdy table and placing heat lamps all around it.

"Merry Seckramas, loves!" called Seckry's mum from the kitchen. "Can you kids give me a hand taking this food down there?"

As soon as Seckry opened the bedroom door, a rich smell of cooking butter and stew filled the room.

After a quick shower each, they began hauling Coralle's concoctions down into the open square. It took them three trips up and down the stairs carrying the dishes to the great table, though Leena complained that her back was hurting and let the others carry her last pot of casserole. They were clapped a few times by the neighbours as they brought down the food and Coralle even got a cheer as she plonked her huge ellonberry pie down with a thud.

"Well done, mum," Seckry said, staring at her array with awe. He wondered where on earth all the cooking pots, dishes and ladles had come from and was sure the cupboards weren't even big enough to have been storing them all.

Over the next half hour, the table filled up with more and more dishes from the people of the square and by the time everyone was ready to eat, it was brimming with mounds of steaming food, and the square was filled with the most wonderful smell of meat, spices, and exotic vegetables.

Tenk's mum had been busy cooking as well and had got Tenk and his brother to do the carrying, who didn't seem too pleased.

"If she thinks I'm eating any of this, she's got another thing coming," Tenk said, heaving a pot of bubbling brown stuff onto the table.

"Mum will batter you if you eat everyone else's food and not hers again," said Longo, dumping down a tray full of marinated fish heads.

While everyone was getting settled, Seckry heard the sound of snow being crushed and the hum of an engine before Mr Vance's car pulled slowly into the square.

Seckry ran to meet him.

"Merry Seckramas, Seckry," he said. "To you too, Eiya." He followed them to the table, where Seckry had saved him a seat.

When everyone was finally settled, Mr Gibsbottom, of number twenty three, tapped his fork against his glass and stood up.

"Before we eat, I would just like to give thanks to Seckraman, the son of Gedin, who was sent down to us from the heavens to save us from the destruction of the Great Meteor. When this city, and this entire world was under threat, the Lord Gedin spared us and sent us his greatest gift, his son. So I raise a toast to our Lord and our Saviour. To Seckraman."

"To Seckraman," everyone repeated, and they all toasted each other in one giant clanking of glass and metal.

Seckry tried to avoid talk of Gedin and the coming of Seckraman in most situations, due to his embarrassment at his name, and he never considered himself to be particularly religious. But Seckry had been taught the legend along with everyone else during his early years at school, and he knew the story well.

It was said that more than two thousand years ago, before time had even begun to be recorded, a meteor had been on a collision course with the planet, and had almost destroyed everything in existence, and then a miracle happened. A man came down from the heavens and told the people around him that his name was Seckraman, and nobody had to worry any more, as he was the son of Gedin and he had come to save them. Then he raised his arm into the sky and sent out an incredible force of light and goodness, which made the meteor vanish into nothing, saving the world from destruction. What happened to Seckraman after that nobody is sure of. He vanished into thin air, but there were many accounts of him being sighted again in the years to come.

Seckry couldn't think about the story of Seckraman for much longer though, as his mouth was salivating from all of the wonderful smells surrounding him. Nearest to him were platters of sausages, trays of boiled fish, pumpkin, multicoloured beans, and what could only be described as a cauldron of mullsquash soup, accompanied by huge, floury loafs of the softest bread Seckry had ever seen.

Tenk warned them that the fluffy potato dish next to the sausages was his mum's Skyfall pulp-pot pie, which was, according to her, a traditional Skyfall dish, though Tenk was adamant she'd invented it herself out of smelly leftovers, and which the glowflies seemed to be taking a particular liking to.

While Seckry and Eiya filled their plates with a scoop of everything, Tenk's parents began arguing over the fact that his dad had filled his plate to the brim with bloodboar meat, and nothing else. Mr Binko seemed utterly unaware of the problem with it.

"This is delicious," Vance said, giving himself a second helping of beet bubblepot. "Though in all honesty I'm just waiting until I can get my hands on a slice of that ellonberry pie of yours, Ms Sevenstars."

Coralle blushed.

After Seckry and Eiya had both finished a delicious helping of steam-marrow, Eiya leaned closer to Seckry and whispered, "Look at Mrs Plum's plate, it's completely empty."

Mrs Plum was seated opposite them with her hands in her lap, staring blankly at her clean, empty plate as though it was an abyss.

"Do you think we should do something?" Eiya prompted.

"Maybe," Seckry said, feeling a deep sadness for the woman.

Eiya scooped some pulsepulp into a giant ladle.

"Would you like some, Mrs Plum," she said over the din of the party.

"Oh . . ." Mrs Plum looked disorientated, as though waking up from a dream. "Thank you, dear." She let Eiya gloop a mound of the stuff onto her plate. She began prodding it with a fork, but didn't look as though she was in any hurry to eat it.

Before long, their plates were being whisked away and clean ones were being set down for their puddings. As the cellophane covers were ripped off the desserts, Seckry could smell the sweet, citrus tang of someone's lemon toppler to his right, and the rich, dairy creaminess of a double dairypie to his left. At the other end of the table, a huge mound of dough balls were dripping in thick chocolate sauce, while underneath lay an array of luminous jellies.

Mr Vance had gone straight for Coralle's ellonberry pie.

"I have to say, I think this may be even tastier than the first one," he said.

Coralle's face lit up with pride.

A few seats away, Tenk had begun tucking into some kind of sticky sponge pudding, which had so much filling inside it was oozing out of his mouth and running down his chin. Eiya opted for a lather of rhuben crumble, which she topped with a generous helping of custard.

Seckry wasn't sure where to start, and he didn't want to miss out on tasting any of the puddings on offer, so he piled his plate high with as many different dollops of desert as he could manage.

"You're going to be so sick later on," Eiya laughed, eyeing his mound of multicoloured mayhem.

"I reckon it'll be worth it, though," Seckry said, picking up an almond coated sugar-apple slice from one side of his plate and dipping it into a dollop of buttercream on the other.

Across the table, Seckry could hear Henrei's wife Marbery chatting away to one of the other women.

"I'm telling you, Winifrill, you've got to be strict with them! Henrei used to stuff his face with jam sandwiches all the time. Wouldn't eat an ounce of vegetables. Now he eats healthily every day."

Henrei caught Seckry's eye and flashed him a quick wink.

As they delved into their puddings, Coralle popped open the cork of a wine bottle.

"Here we go, my loves, have a taste of this. It's Seckramas, I'm sure nobody will mind."

She poured them a couple of thin glasses.

"Mum! You're supposed to be telling us off for underage drinking, not promoting it!"

"Oh well, a drop of wine with some lemonade in it isn't going to hurt."

The taste of the wine made Seckry and Eiya wince, and Eiya had to dilute hers even more with water before she could drink it, but after a few sips it began to taste sweet and they both felt extra giggly.

Some of the younger kids were squelching around in the mushy snow that had melted under the warmth of the heatlamps, and were throwing piles of the slush at each other.

"No snowfights around the table!" yelled Mrs Binko, and then sneakily threw a snowball at the back of one of their heads, shouting, "Got you!"

When Seckry couldn't eat another mouthful, he leaned back in his chair, thinking his stomach was going to burst.

It was only then that he realised the people of the square had brought out paintings of Seckraman from their apartments and hung them on the walls.

The closest to him was a large painterly one depicting a heroic Seckraman with an inflated chest, a wavy brown beard, and a muscular arm aimed effortlessly at the sky.

The sight of the man made Seckry feel a little dwarfed. Was this what his mum wanted him to be like when he grew up? She had named him after the greatest man in the world. How could Seckry ever hope to live up to that? How could he live up to the name?

"You know, not every depiction of Seckraman is so romantic," Vance said to him, as if he had been reading Seckry's mind. "Come with me, I want to show you something."

Seckry excused himself and followed Vance to the other side of the square, where more paintings had been hung out by the residents.

"Do you know where the name Skyfall City originates from, Seckry?" Vance asked as they walked.

Seckry shook his head.

"It's all to do with this," Vance explained. "Seckramas, and the meteor. In ancient times people had no idea what a meteor was. They only knew the sky. When they saw that the sky was becoming grey with rock and craters, they thought the sky was coming crashing down. They literally thought that the sky was falling. When the city was built they named it Skyfall, in remembrance of the event."

Seckry widened his eyes. He had never thought about the city's name before, but now it made sense. Everything had a history.

"It bothers you sometimes, doesn't it?" Vance said, stopping. "Your name?"

"People often say to me that I'm going to grow up to be this great man, like Seckraman himself," Seckry said. "Like it's my destiny because I was given his name. But the truth is, the only reason my mum called me Seckraman was because I had one eye slightly greener than the other, like Seckraman did. That's where the similarities end."

"Well, Seckry, take a look at this. I think you'll find it quite interesting."

Standing propped against one wall was a small painting, cracked and worn, with most of its colour de-saturated from age. It was of a boy with sandy coloured hair, just like Seckry's, clad in white robes and reaching up to the sky.

"Who is this?" Seckry asked.

"This is Seckraman," Vance said simply.

Seckry frowned.

"Wasn't Seckraman about thirty odd when he was sent from Gedin? And didn't he have a brown beard?"

"That's a common misconception, Seckry. Most of the paintings we see of Seckraman were painted in the sixteenth century, such as that one over by the table. Our idea of Seckraman is of the quintessential male of that time period. They often used models to pose for them. The style at the time was to have these muscular frames and big, brown beards and long hair. But look at the date of this particular one."

Seckry could just about make out a scrawl of heavily italicised numbers in the bottom right corner.

12/04/1219

"The year twelve nineteen?" Seckry said.

"That's right. About three hundred years before the sixteenth century artists began painting the iconic, older, bearded figure. The truth is, Seckry, that Seckraman may not have been that different to you at all. I have to say it is hard, being a scientist, to believe that _anyone_ was really sent from Gedin to save us all. Especially when I have trouble believing in Gedin full stop. But . . . maybe somebody saved us that day. And maybe he didn't look that much different from you."

Seckry eyed the painting closer. Had the great Seckraman really looked like this? A boy, just around the same age as him, with similar, sandy coloured hair.

As he peered closer, his eyes began to widen. There was something painted onto Seckraman's robes. A small symbol. A symbol that Seckry recognised.

He blinked and frowned, but there was no mistaking the two wings and its circular centre.

It was the symbol of Endrin's Divinita Project.

# Chapter Nineteen

# The Fall

"Are you sure this is the symbol you saw at Endrin?" Vance asked.

"I'm sure. That's it, just like that with the wings and everything. What do you think this means?" Seckry asked.

Vance wiped a chunk of snow from his jacket.

"What this means, Seckry, is that Endrin's Divinita project seems to have more religious undertones than I first imagined. If Endrin have decided to use this symbol for their project, the story of Seckraman must be somehow at its core."

"But . . . why does Seckraman have a symbol on his robes?"

"There are many interpretations of what Seckraman was wearing that day, and most paintings of him have him dressed in some sort of decorated, patterned, or symbolic robe. The fact that Endrin have borrowed this particular symbol is interesting, because being one of the earliest paintings, this is probably also the most accurate."

Seckry glanced back at the table, where Eiya flashed him a smile.

"She needs to know," Seckry said. "She needs to know what's going on, who she is, and why she was being kept at Endrin. But none of it makes any sense. The white chip, the worms, this innoya thing, and now the coming of Seckraman? What are they doing?"

Vance put his large hand on Seckry's shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze.

"Right now, Seckry, I don't know. But I promise I will find out."

Over the following few days even more snow fell on Skyfall and the monorails were temporarily taken out of service. Seckry and Eiya spent most of their time making a fat snowman out in the square.

One night, Seckry awoke to find Eiya standing at the window, listening to Mrs Plum's lullaby.

"There _is_ a nice tune to it, isn't there? " Eiya said.

"Yeah," Seckry said, yawning.

"She looks frozen," Eiya said with concern. "You can see her breath."

Seckry got up and joined her at the window.

"How about we take her down a blanket to keep her warm?" he said. "I've got the spare one under the bed."

"Yeah, we should definitely do that!" Eiya said excitedly, and her enthusiasm was infectious.

"I never use that flask that we've got, either," Seckry said. "Maybe we could put a bit of tea in there for her."

Eiya smiled. "I'll go and make it!"

Once they had filled the flask with hot, steaming tea, they crept across the square in their slippers, hauling the rustling blanket with them. As they approached, Mrs Plum's lullaby gradually came to a halt.

"Hi Mrs Plum," said Eiya, tentatively. "We thought . . . uh . . . we thought you might like something to keep you warm. You know, while you're out here."

Mrs Plum smiled. "I don't really feel the cold, dears. But thank you." Suddenly she looked flustered. "Oh my, I haven't woken you up have I? I'd hate to think you could hear me singing away out here."

Seckry and Eiya both looked at each other for a moment before saying "No, no! Of course not. We were . . . up anyway, you know, playing video games."

Mrs Plum smiled at them politely.

"We'll just leave this here," Seckry said. "Just in case you feel like it." He rested the blanket on the rim of the fountain and laid the warm flask on top of it.

When they were back up in Seckry's bedroom, shivering next to his heater, they saw Mrs Plum pull the blanket around her and have a tiny sip of the tea before resuming her lullaby from the exact place that she'd stopped.

Seckry and Eiya lay awake together more and more often, sometimes listening to music and snacking, sometimes playing video games, sometimes playing thumb war, but most often just talking.

"Seck, tell me a secret," Eiya said one night, as they were sat on the floor, wrapped in their blankets.

"A secret?"

"Yeah, anything," Eiya said.

From where Seckry was sitting, he could see underneath his bed, and the stacks of books that he stored there. He reached over and pulled one out.

"Okay, this here," he said, "is a copy of The Monster of Magoria. It's a kid's book, aimed at five to eight year olds, something like that. When I bought it back when I was little, my mum took one look at it, and thought it was horrific. There's loads of pictures of gruesome monsters in it and a big battle at the end where this pulsating mass of pus bursts all over the hero. My mum said she was going to take it back the next day because it wasn't suitable, but I hid it under my bed and told her I'd lost it. I read it and reread it and reread it again when I was a kid. Eiya, it was my favourite book in the world, like you'd never believe. And I still read it sometimes now. It's the best book I've ever read, and my mum knows nothing about it."

Eiya giggled.

"Seck, do you think I had a . . . boyfriend before I lost my memory."

"I . . . uh, don't know," Seckry replied.

"Do you think I'd make a good girlfriend?" she said ponderingly.

Seckry swallowed, slightly embarrassed. "I think you would. I mean, you like good music, you like playing video games, you're fun to be around."

"Have you . . . ever had a girlfriend?" Eiya asked him softly.

Seckry automatically started to lie and said, "Yeah, I–" but he cut himself off. "No, I've never really had a girlfriend," he admitted sheepishly.

Eiya smiled and her eyes glistened. "I wonder what it's like . . . being with someone like that. It must feel like nothing else in the world to be able to touch the skin of this person that you love so much, and to taste their lips, and to hold them so close that you can feel their body heat warming your own. It must feel amazing."

"Yeah," Seckry said in a daze, "Yeah . . . it must."

That night, once Eiya had slumped slowly to the floor and curled herself up into a small, cosy ball, Seckry got up and wandered over to the window.

The monorail glided past, sending its usual fiery sparks into the smog and momentarily lighting the metal framework of the square in a flurry of warm strobe. Floating distantly in the sky were a couple of pink, helium balloons, their ribbon tails trailing them loosely. Far away he could hear the distant sounds of sirens and construction.

A few months ago, he had been plagued with homesickness, but now, as he looked out across the city, he felt at home.

When Seckry eventually lay down, he fell straight into a warm, deep sleep.

"Seckry," Eiya said. She shut the bedroom door and put her finger to her lips.

"I thought you were at the library," Seckry said.

"I couldn't be away from you for a moment longer. I had to come back to you."

"But you wanted to find out about the innoya root," Seckry said.

"Shhh," Eiya objected, shaking her head. She was walking towards him, holding her finger to her lips, and reaching out to touch his face gently with her other hand.

"Eiya," Seckry said, smelling the sweetness of her fingertips. "Eiya, I think I'm . . . I think I'm falling in . . ." Seckry could barely speak, it was as though his whole body was floating weightlessly. It was the best feeling in the world. "What is this?" he asked. "This feeling? It's amazing."

Eiya laughed gently and Seckry felt another wave of weightlessness erupt through him.

"Don't you know?"

She leaned closer to him, her big, deep pupils looking into his.

"Close your eyes, Seckry."

"Why?" Seckry asked.

Eiya smiled. "Just do it," she said, in barely more than a whisper. "I'll close my eyes too."

"What's going to happen when we close them?"

"Something special," Eiya said.

Seckry woke with a start and immediately froze. He was sitting up in bed, his heart pounding.

It took him a moment to realise where he was and that he'd been dreaming. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. Eiya was still asleep, thank Gedin. Her chest was rising and falling slowly underneath her bedcover and Seckry could hear her breath, soft and slow.

He lay awake for a long time that night, watching her, and wondering what was happening to him.

Seckry began to find that every night he seemed to have the same dream of Eiya coming closer and closer to him, putting her finger to her lips, shaking her head gently and saying, 'Shhh," until her face could barely be any closer to his without them touching. One time he woke up to find Eiya kneeling beside him.

"Are you okay?" she said concernedly.

"Uh . . . yeah. I'm fine . . . thanks."

"You were talking in your sleep."

Seckry gulped.

"Really? What did I say?"

"You were saying that you think you're falling into something."

Seckry grabbed his bedside glass of water and took a few sips. "I must have been . . . um . . . dreaming about falling into the river. Every time I go past that thing I'm sure I'm gonna lose my balance and trip head first."

It was the only thing Seckry could think of. He gave Eiya a nervous smile. Just a few seconds ago he had been dreaming that her lips were only a few millimetres away from his own.

At lunch time, on their first day back at Estergate after the holidays, while Eiya was getting some food with Loca over the other side of the canteen, Seckry pulled Tenk to one side.

"Tenk, have you ever felt, like, as if a girl can make your insides do back flips?" he said, rather embarrassedly.

"Yep," said Tenk immediately.

"Really?"

"Yes, my friend. It's what I call The Fall."

"The Fall?"

"Yep. You're longing for her, you're dreaming about her, you're getting nervous around her, am I right?"

"Yeah."

"That's it. The Fall. It's the act of falling in love. It's a shock if you've never had it happen to you before. It's that same feeling you get when you're on a rollercoaster and you're just going over the edge. It's like you're completely weightless. Falling in love is like literally falling hundreds of feet through the air. That's why I call it The Fall."

Seckry glanced around him. "I suppose you're going to ask me who I'm talking about."

Tenk put a hand on Seckry's shoulder.

"Seck, I know who you're talking about."

"You do?" Seckry said, perplexed.

"It must be a shock to you, but . . . to tell you the truth . . . we've been kind of been noticing it for a while now."

Seckry blushed and laughed nervously. "You've all been watching this happen?"

"Well, let's put it this way," said Tenk. "Do you remember me telling you about the new gun I bought for Basher while we were in the plaza last week?"

"No," Seckry admitted.

"Well, that's because your eyes were glazed over and you were staring into the distance like a new born puppy. When I turned around to find out what you were looking at, guess who I saw?"

"Am I really falling in love with Eiya?" Seckry said, looking over at her. She was slurping a giant cup of milk, and even though her mouth was concealed by it, Seckry could tell that she was smiling at him by the shape of her eyes.

"All the evidence is there," Tenk said. "How do you feel right now?"

"It kinda feels like my legs are gonna give way or something. Just being over the other side of the room from her, it's like I want to get back to her as soon as I can, just to be closer to her, to hear her voice."

"Oh man, that's The Fall alright," Tenk said with certainty.

That day, Seckry could barely take his mind off Eiya, but one thing did jolt him out of it for a moment. As he, Eiya, Tenk and Tippian were heading to their fourth lesson of the day, they passed the headmaster's office and saw Ms Butterkins leaving the room, crying tears into her open, grubby hands.

They all looked at each other silently and decided to call in on the headmaster to check everything was okay.

"There's been some bad news," Gobbledee said grimly after they questioned him. "The board of education need to cut costs and they have told me they're closing down the animal sanctuary here in Estergate."

"What?" said Eiya. "What about all the animals? What will happen to them?"

"Some may be relocated. But others . . . others may well be put down."

"Put down?" said Seckry, aghast.

Gobbledee stood up. "Don't worry, you lot. I'm going to fight for this, believe me. I'm not going to let them just storm in and close it down. I will oppose this with all my effort."

They left the headmaster's office feeling worried. The thought of all those animals being put down was horrendous. _And what about Bubble?_ Seckry thought. They'd just have to hope that the headmaster had enough power to prevent it.

# Chapter Twenty

# Saving the Sanctuary

The following couple of weeks in school were accompanied by a growing excitement amongst the pupils and some of the staff. At first, Seckry didn't know what was going on, until he saw a poster tacked to the wall outside the musical theory department.

Estergate Annual Ball

Featuring live music from:

The Crocker Toms & Meow

Formal dress code applies.

After seeing the poster, Seckry couldn't understand how he'd been able to miss anyone mentioning it, as everywhere he went people were talking about it, especially Tenk and Tippian, who kept changing their minds about who they were going to ask on a date.

Seckry began to get more and more embarrassed and nervous around Eiya, and specifically avoided mentioning the ball when he was around her.

During the nights, his dreams had changed setting. He and Eiya were now at this ball, standing on the dancefloor and holding each other, and as Seckry was about to speak, she'd say, 'Shhh,' and all the music would go quiet for her while she moved in closer to him, her soft lips so close to his own once more.

Then, three weeks after talking to Mr Gobbledee about the sanctuary, an assembly was called and he announced that the sanctuary was being closed down.

"What happened?" said Seckry loudly, as he and Eiya stood in the headmaster's office afterwards. "We thought you were going to stop it!"

"I'm so sorry, you two, so . . . very sorry." The man looked close to tears. "The sanctuary means more to me than any other part of this building, and its closure will be a travesty. The worst thing for me is that it breaks a promise that I made to Ms Butterkins many years ago. I tried everything I could to prevent it, but the board of education couldn't care less. I don't have an option, basically. The sanctuary is being shut down, whether I like it or not."

Seckry and Eiya were devastated. Aside from putting down the animals, Butterkins would lose her job and her home. They had to do something.

That week, they learned that some officials from the board of education would be turning up on the following Monday to get Gobbledee to hand them the form which allowed them to shut down the sanctuary. Apparently Gobbledee had this form in his office and had to sign the bottom of it before anyone could do anything. Gobbledee obviously realised he had no choice but to sign it, but Seckry and Eiya decided they weren't going to let it happen. They were going to sneak into the headmaster's office on Monday and steal the form. It was the only thing they could think of that would halt the process and give them more time to think of a permanent way to prevent the board of education sending a team in.

When Monday came around, they hid around a corner until they saw Gobbledee leave his room and they slipped in, unnoticed.

"Right, we gotta find this thing, quick," Seckry said, pulling out drawers and opening cupboards.

Eiya flicked rapidly through a heap of paper on Gobbledee's desk but shook her head despairingly.

"Nothing," she said. "At least not that I can see. We don't even know what it looks like."

Seckry spotted a briefcase on the floor and picked it up, but before he could open it, they heard Gobbledee's voice out in the corridor.

"Oh no," Eiya said, scared.

"Quick," Seckry said, and pulled Eiya into one of Gobbledee's giant cupboards, taking the briefcase with him.

They peered through the keyhole and watched as Gobbledee entered the office.

"I have to say," Gobbledee raged, "that I am not at all pleased with the treatment of my school regarding this matter. My students are understandably very upset."

Two men in suits followed the headmaster in.

"We can assure you, headmaster Gobbledee, that your school will benefit very financially from the closure of the sanctuary."

" _Financially?_ " Gobbledee said, almost spitting. "Animals are going to be put down for the sake of cutting costs? My most loyal member of staff is going to lose her job and her home for the sake of cutting costs?"

One of the men tightened his tie.

"I think we should get this over and done with," he said. "Do you have the contra–"

His words were cut off from a little yelp from Gobbledee, who's eyes had suddenly popped open and were darting around the room.

" _Not now!"_ Gobbledee said to himself nervously.

"Excuse me?" one of the men asked.

"Um . . . nothing . . . it's nothing . . . I just need a drink to clear my throat that's all."

"Here, have some of my water." The man held out a bottle for Gobbledee to take but the headmaster refused.

"I'm sorry, it has to be from my own bottle . . . very aware of . . . er . . . the spreading of germs, you see. Can't have an epidemic landing on a school of this size."

The man looked at his bottle curiously as if he were now scared to touch it himself.

Gobbledee began rummaging through his desk's drawers and searching the floor as if his life depended on it.

" _What's he looking for?_ " Eiya asked extremely quietly.

" _Oh no . . ._ " Seckry whispered. " _This is bad. Really bad. He's looking for this briefcase._ "

Seckry opened the briefcase and found the blue bottle he was dreading he'd find.

" _If Gobbledee doesn't drink this right now, something really weird is going to happen to him,_ " Seckry said.

" _What are you talking about?_ "

" _Mrs Furrowfog told me not to mention it to anyone but . . . It happened on my first day here. He's got some strange medical condition that makes him go nuts if he doesn't drink this remedy. Oh no, I think it's started!_ "

Gobbledee slammed his hands onto his desk and stared at the two men as if they'd appeared out of thin air.

"Well, well, well, I never thought I'd see the day," he said disbelievingly.

"Excuse me?" said one of the men.

"Excuse you indeed. Would you like a pot of tea?"

"Tea? Mr Gobbledee, sir, are you feeling alright?"

"Who, me? Yes, of course I am. Never felt better!"

There was an awkward silence before it was interrupted by the loud slap of Gobbledee's palm hitting his desk.

"Darned roachflies!"

The men flinched and one of them squeezed his bottle in shock, making the cap fly off and hit the roof.

"Take cover!" roared Gobbledee and flung himself underneath his desk. "Ooh, there's a furry mint down here," he said excitedly.

The men were now looking at each other with a mix of confusion and nervousness.

" _What's happened to him?"_ hissed the one.

"Don't ask me. You're the one that tried to give him contaminated water. Probably sent him over the edge."

"Right! Where were we?" said Gobbledee, getting back into his chair. His face was red where all the blood had drained into it and there was a bit of string hanging from his moustache.

"Uh . . . Mr headmaster sir . . . there's something . . ." The man was poking his finger around on his own upper lip but the other man slapped it away.

" _Leave it, Hupkins!"_ he whispered furiously. _"Let's just get the contract and get the hell out of here!"_

"Wait a minute," Gobbledee said, leaning forward and narrowing his eyes. "Is that you, Fellibrund?"

"Fellibrund? No, sir, my name's Lance. Now if you could just sign the form here, we'll be out of your way."

"Of course. What am I saying? Fellibrund died seven years ago."

"I'm sure you don't want us wasting any more of your time, Mr Headmaster, no doubt you are a very busy man. Now just sign your name at the bottom here . . ." The man hovered the contract right under Gobbledee's nose.

Gobbledee sniffed the paper twice and then took a huge bite out of it.

The man gasped and let go.

Gobbledee was staring at them with uninterested eyes, chewing away now like a donkey chewing on hay. "Tastes like my aunt Dolly's roast dinner," he said flatly.

" _He's eating the contract!"_ the one man whispered desperately.

"And he's enjoying it," the other noted, with a hint of unease.

Suddenly, a wooden brush fell from the wall and hit the ground with a clank.

Gobbledee shot up and picked it up gently.

"Dolly! Are you okay? We were just talking about you! How's that bunion of yours?"

"Mr Gobbledee, sir," said the one man, with a slight quiver in his voice. "Seeing as you have consumed our contract we will have to return tomorrow with a new copy for you to sign."

"Do we have to come back?" the other said pleadingly.

There was no answer. Instead, the men got out of their seats and made to leave, but were halted by Gobbledee, who slammed the door shut with his foot and began swinging the brush around his body like a very bad martial artist.

One of the men reached for the door handle nervously but Gobbledee thrust the end of the brush up into his face so that it looked like an oversized moustache and said, "You bunch of smelly seadogs. Aren't you going to put up a fight?"

"You know what, Mr Gobbledee?" the man said, petrified. "Just keep the sanctuary, okay? It doesn't matter, just keep it! Will you let us leave . . . please?"

Gobbledee lowered the brush and said politely, "You're not staying for tea?"

Neither men answered, and they escaped as quick as they could.

Seckry and Eiya beamed at each other. Gobbledee had done it. The sanctuary was saved!

"We better give him this medicine," Seckry said. "He won't remember any of this, and he won't know we hid in his cupboard."

They let themselves out and said 'hi' to Gobbledee, and after he insisted they were both late, they gave him the blue liquid which he downed in one go before seizing up and falling to the floor.

After a few minutes the headmaster regained consciousness and blinked confusedly.

"Are you okay, sir," Seckry asked.

"Yes," Gobbledee said, standing up and brushing the dirt from his suit. "Oh dear. Seckry? And Eiya? What happened?"

"We, uh . . . we saw you collapse while we were walking past, sir," Seckry lied. "I remembered Mrs Furrowfog giving you this medicine the last time it happened, and we found it in your briefcase on the floor over there."

"Oh my . . . thank you, Seckry," the headmaster said, still confused. "Did there happen to be two men in my office when you found me?"

"Yeah," Seckry said. "They uh . . . said something about a change of plan . . . something about there being enough money to keep the building . . ."

"A change of plan? Enough money?" the headmaster said, a smile appearing on his face. "Well . . . that's tremendous news!"

# Chapter Twenty One

# Asking Eiya

For the following few days, Seckry and Eiya looked up to the headmaster like a hero. Even though the scaring off of the board of education officials had been involuntary, he had still managed it, and both the animals, and Butterkins, were safe.

"So what on earth's wrong with him?" Eiya asked. "He just went . . . insane, didn't he?"

Seckry shook his head. He had no idea. He had never seen a medical condition like it.

Eiya's question, however, was answered sooner than they expected.

As they were passing the headmaster's office once more, on their way to a double period of animal care, they saw that Mrs Cutson was inside, and had Gobbledee almost pressed up against a wall.

They made sure they weren't visible through the glass and pressed their ears close so they could hear.

"You had better sack Vance, Allon, I'm telling you now. The man is undermining me in my own lessons. And do you know that he spent Seckramas with Seckry Sevenstars? That's breaking the rules, that has to be. You can't go around socialising with pupils outside of school. Sack him, Allon."

"Cecilya . . . Jonn is a very valued member of staff and a personal friend of mine," Gobbledee said, a quiver in his voice. "I will not be sacking the man because you have a dislike for him."

"Allon, I'm not sure if you understand what I'm saying here," Cutson said viciously. "If you don't sack Vance I'm afraid I might be inclined to mention a certain word to the board of education. Do you know what that word is, Allon?"

Gobbledee said nothing.

"Chlorocalm," said Cutson, and they heard Gobbledee whimper.

" _Chlorocalm?_ " Eiya mouthed silently to Seckry, but Seckry had never heard of it.

That evening, the first thing Seckry did when they got back to the flat was an internet search for the word chlorocalm.

"Eiya," he said, devastated. "Look at this."

There was a brief explanation on an online encyclopaedia.

Chlorocalm

A substance that was injected, for a short period of time, into prison inmates who were deemed especially dangerous to staff and others. Its purpose was to temporarily calm the subject down and make them less likely to have violent outbursts, but the substance also had permanent side effects. It would cause the subject to become completely disjointed from reality and to appear as though they had lost their mind. The only known cure for this was the antidote Sanium, which had to be administered every time the Chlorocalm's side effects became active.

Chlorocalm was eventually deemed dangerous and extremely unproductive and was banned from use. The substance was only ever injected into approximately two hundred inmates around the world and only on those convicted of murder. Those that were injected with Chlorocalm still suffer the side effects today.

Seckry and Eiya's mouths were hanging open.

"Gobbledee . . . . was in _prison_?" Eiya said.

"For _murder?_ " Seckry added.

Two days later an assembly was called, and Mrs Furrowfog announced that the headmaster would not be returning to the school and that she would be acting as headmistress until the school decided on a suitable replacement.

Seckry saw Cutson licking her lips. She was clearly aiming to take that role.

With all the drama with the headmaster, Seckry had completely forgotten about the ball. He couldn't understand how Mr Gobbledee could have been capable of murder, but he just had to accept it.

"Seck, who are you taking?" Tippian asked him one lunchtime, while Eiya was off handing in some theatre studies coursework.

Tenk rolled his eyes. "Who do you think he's gonna take, Tipp?"

"Well I haven't actually asked her yet," Seckry said.

"I'm going with Curly Hetchings now," Tippian said triumphantly.

"Curly Hetchings!" exclaimed Tenk. "Tipp, you _do_ realise that Curly Hetchings, otherwise known as The Giant of Skyfall, is six foot three, don't you?"

"Well . . . she was the only one that said yes."

"I mean . . . how are you gonna kiss her when they play _With Me Tonight?_ You won't be able to reach."

Tippian shrugged his shoulders. "I'll jump or something."

"What's _With Me Tonight?_ " Seckry asked them.

"It's this song that they always play at the ball, guaranteed. And it's like an unwritten rule that you have to kiss your date when they sing the line, _'never knew how much I'd miss you, I close my eyes and kiss you.'_ "

"It's a stupid rule," said Tippian, suddenly looking quite solemn.

"Tippers had a bad experience last time," Tenk explained.

"I don't want to talk about it," Tippian said stubbornly.

"Come on, it wasn't your fault that you grabbed Mrs Flimbergloop. It was _really_ dark in there."

"Alissen Himsworth never spoke to me again after that."

"Yeah . . . well I suppose it's not great to be mistaken for a sixty seven year old with a wonky toupee."

Tippian said nothing.

"You made Margarat's night, you know," Tenk said matter-of-factly.

Tippian shuddered. "Tenk . . . please . . . do not call her by her first name. Let's just change the topic."

"Okay. The topic is on Seckry. When are you gonna ask Eiya?"

"You're the experts, when is best?"

Tenk thought for a moment.

"Tomorrow. I don't think you can leave it any longer, there's only a week left."

Seckry's stomach lurched. The thought of actually asking Eiya on a date filled him with incredible excitement but also insurmountable nerves.

"If only they'd let me invite someone outside of school," said Tenk. "I'd invite Fewgy,"

"Who's Fewgy?" Seckry asked.

"It's what Tenk's decided to call the Friction emporium welcome girl," explained Tippian. "F,E,W,G."

"Fewgy," Seckry said. "What's the Y stand for?"

"It doesn't stand for anything," Tenk said. "But you can't just call someone Fewg. Doesn't sound right."

Tippian laughed mockingly.

"She's probably, like, twenty eight or something. She'd never come to a school ball."

"I bet you she would for me."

"Why?"

"Because we've got something going on," Tenk said proudly.

"Have you ever even spoken to her?"

"Of course I have. Loads of times."

"What, an actual conversation?" Tippian pressed.

"Well . . . I've said 'Hi,' and she's said 'Hi' back."

Tippian shook his head.

"She's the Friction emporium welcome girl. That's what she does. She says 'Hi' to me every time I go in there too."

"Yeah, but Tipps, you don't understand. When she says 'Hi' to me there's like this whole unsaid conversation going on silently. I'm telling you, it's like we've got this unspoken connection."

"Man," said Tippain, dreamily. "If I could take anyone in the world to the ball I'd take . . . Alesia Tamari."

"Who's that?" Seckry asked, though he was drowned out by Tenk's sudden burst of hysterical laughter.

"Sorry, Tipps," Tenk said. "I just can't imagine you standing next to Princess Tamari. I mean. She's a _princess_."

"I'm not talking about in real life!" Tippian said defensively. "I'm just _saying_ , if I could take anyone in the world, you know, in a fantasy situation, then yeah, I'd want to take Princess Tamari – she's princess of Arivel, to answer your question, Seck. Anyway, what about you, Seck, who would you like to take, in a perfect world where you could take anyone?"

"Uh . . ." Seckry said meekly. "Maybe that singer Cinthya Blayke, or . . . that actress Lawra Seaport . . . or someone like that."

But Seckry wasn't telling the truth. If he had the choice to take anyone in the world to the ball, there was only one person he'd want to take. And that was Eiya.

For the whole of the next day, Seckry felt sick. He was so excited about finally asking Eiya to the ball and finally letting her know how he felt about her that his stomach seemed to be staging a revolt.

Eiya seemed to avoid him for the second half of the day, which he found a little strange, though it made it easier for him to psyche himself up in order to ask her when they were at home.

When it came to the evening, Seckry could put it off no longer. After having a dinner around the table in the kitchen at which Seckry and Eiya neither spoke to one another, and Coralle and Leena looked slightly perplexed as to why, Seckry followed Eiya into the bedroom and said shakily, "Eiya, I was . . . I was wondering if . . ."

Seckry stopped as he realised Eiya was crying.

"What's wrong?" he asked, not expecting it.

"It's nothing," she said, and smiled. "I just need to be alone at the moment, if that's okay."

Seckry stammered a few times but eventually turned around to leave. What was he going to do now? He'd spent all his energy on psyching himself up for this moment. And what had upset Eiya?

"I'm going to the ball with Thom Malerk, by the way," Eiya said as he was about to close the door behind him. "He's a year above us."

Seckry felt as though someone had punched him in the stomach. He almost keeled over.

"What? Um . . . I mean . . . oh," he said, his voice cracking.

"Yeah, he asked me earlier today."

It was like all Seckry's blood had drained out of his body. He felt like a dead weight, like a heavy, empty body with no life force inside of it. "I'm glad . . . you've got someone sorted," he said, and he knew he couldn't mask the sadness in his voice.

The next few days seemed like the longest days in Seckry's life. He had no idea who this Thom Malerk was, and no idea how Eiya knew him. Was this who she had been talking about at Tenk's sleepover when she said she fancied someone at school?

It was only when Seckry was washing his hands in the men's toilets one day that he heard two boys enter and one said, "Hey, Malerk, what's she like then, this date of yours?"

They continued to talk as they positioned themselves at the urinals.

"Mate, she's really young looking, and her . . ." he cupped the air in front of his chest. "They're pretty small, but I bet she's a right animal in the bedroom. These little ones always are. They got something to prove, you know?"

The other one laughed. "I bet she's never done it before, either."

Seckry felt like vomiting. How could he talk like that about Eiya? It was like she wasn't even a person. This Thom Malerk didn't have a clue. He didn't know her. He didn't know that her favourite colour was baby blue, he didn't know that when she slept she liked to hug a pillow in her arms, he didn't know that her favourite thing in the world was eating candyfloss and letting it melt on her tongue, and he didn't even know that she –

Seckry realised his eyes were wet and he rubbed them furiously with his sleeve before leaving the toilets.

Seckry spent the next few days feeling utterly miserable and trying to avoid Eiya as much as he could. Eiya looked just as sullen herself.

After dinner each evening, Seckry would excuse himself and head to the arcade. He would go and sit in one of the Friction pods and let Atoria load itself around him, while he just sat and watched the digital birds fly across the sky.

"Don't you want to play?" Henrei asked one time.

"I just like to sit in here," Seckry said.

Henrei gave him a concerned and somewhat confused look, and went back to eating his selection of assorted fruit jam sandwiches.

Seckry tried listening to The Broken Motion, but even their songs now reminded him of Eiya and the time they'd spent together at the concert. He kept thinking of all the nights they had listened to music in the middle of the night, huddled in their blankets on his bedroom floor.

Seckry couldn't work out what had made Eiya want to go to the ball with that guy, and neither did Tenk, Tippian or Loca.

"Maybe you just left it too late to ask," Tenk said.

Since that day, Seckry had found it hard to sleep at all, but when he did, he no longer dreamed about Eiya. When he finally drifted off on the Wednesday of that week, he found himself in a field that he had visited many times before.

"Dad?" Seckry said, and the man with blonde hair, picking berries, turned around to give him a big, warm smile.

"Dad, where are you?" he said. "I need you. I need you to tell me everything's gonna be okay."

"Seckry, Seckry, come here," he said, and opened his arms.

Seckry ran to him but he wasn't getting any closer. His legs were moving and the ground underneath him was moving, but he was still the same distance away.

"I can't get to you," Seckry said, and tried to run faster. As he did so, he tripped over something in the grass. He stumbled to his feet and saw that he had tripped over some kind of watch, one with a large circular face that was glowing deep red.

"What is this?" Seckry asked.

"Don't you remember?" his father said.

# Chapter Twenty Two

# Pawl Ringold

Seckry woke up with an intense feeling of dread and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His thoughts immediately returned to the watch. Somewhere deep inside him that watch meant something. Some long forgotten memory had just resurfaced, something important. Something powerful.

After he got up, he sat at the kitchen table stirring some cereal his mum had made him.

"Are you still feeling ill?" Coralle asked him.

"I just . . . can't seem to eat anything at the moment," Seckry said, continuing to stir.

"Mum . . . did dad . . . did dad always wear a watch?"

Coralle stopped what she was doing and put down the dishes.

"You know I don't like to talk about him, my love," she said apologetically.

"I know, I'm sorry," Seckry said. "I just keep having these dreams, that's all."

Coralle joined him at the table. After a while she said, "You deserve to be able to talk about your father. Yes, he did have a watch that he used to wear all the time. Every day in fact. Every single day that I knew him he wore that watch, and he used to get really funny about it. He'd even begrudge taking it off to get in the shower."

"Really?"

"Yes, hun. Why's that?"

"Why was it so important to him?"

Coralle shook her head lethargically. "Who knows? The man was a mystery. He'd never talk about it."

"What was he like, mum?"

Coralle sighed. "He was a good man. I used to think he was the perfect man. He was a great father to you both . . . and then, well . . . you know what happened. He disappeared."

Seckry continued to stir his cereal, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to eat a single mouthful.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through," Coralle continued. "I denied it for a while. I thought that it couldn't be real, that there would be some strange explanation of why he had vanished and taken all traces of him with him. But no answers came. He had gone and that was it."

"How did I take it?" Seckry asked. "How old was I, five?"

"You were six. Six years and eight months, actually. You kept asking me if it was the end of the world."

"The end of the world . . ." Seckry said, lost in his own memories.

"I don't think you fully understood what had happened at the time. But your sister was old enough. I really think it was at that point that she started to become so hardened."

After school that day, Eiya decided she wanted to spend some time on her astronomy coursework in the library, so Seckry returned to Kerik Square with just Tenk.

As he was about to use his key in the door, he heard his mum's voice through the woodwork speaking his name and he paused for a moment.

"Seckry was asking me about your father again today," she said.

"Again?" Leena said exasperatedly. "Why is he so obsessed? The guy dumped us. He left without looking back."

"Leena, love, it's only understandable. Seckry's not as strong as you are, he's more sensitive to things."

"Thanks, mum. So I'm just a cold hearted cow am I?"

"Leena, you know I don't mean that. You've got a thick skin, probably because you had to deal with your father leaving. But Seckry doesn't remember any of that. He was really young. He's yearning for a father."

"Did you tell him about the phone call you got a year after he left?"

"No I didn't," Coralle said sadly. "It'd break his heart. I think Seckry's got this image in his head of this heroic man who looked after us all, before disappearing to do some noble thing that couldn't be avoided."

"He's gonna have to know the truth sooner or later, mum. Dad was a fake, wasn't he? He probably had another family somewhere. That's why he told you a fake name when he met you, and that's why he left."

"The day I got that phone call was the worst day," Coralle said, upset. "Before that there must have still been some glimmer of hope that he'd turn up on the doorstep again, as foolish as it was."

"What was the real name that the guy asked for?" Leena said.

"It was Ringold. He said it was very important and that he was looking for Pawl Ringold."

"Ringold," Leena repeated. "Pawl Ringold. I wonder if the Ringolds knew we existed."

"I don't think we'll ever find out, my love," Coralle said sadly.

Seckry stayed outside the door, leaning against it for a little while, even though his mum and Leena had finished their conversation. He didn't know if he could take any more secrets, any more heartache. He eventually turned his key in the lock and let himself in before heading straight to bed.

The next morning at Estergate, Vance spotted him in the corridor.

"Morning Seckry, what lessons have . . . Seckry? What's wrong?"

"What?" Seckry said.

"You look . . . terrible. Is everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah," Seckry said unconvincingly.

"Why don't you come to my office for a moment," Vance said, looking at his watch. "There's a little while before lessons start."

Seckry nodded and followed Vance to the second floor.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Vance asked.

No," Seckry said. "No thanks." He glanced up at Vance's board, which was strewn with equations and labelled _Hindglubber's theory of Illusional Time._

Vance followed his line of sight.

"Something I'm teaching the sixth formers," he said. "Dr Hindglubber argued that time is just an illusion. It is something that sentient beings are given to make sense of the universe around them, and that past, present and future actually occur simultaneously."

"That's . . . quite hard to get your head around, isn't it," Seckry said, glad to think about something other than his dad or Eiya for a moment.

"Indeed," Vance said, smiling. "The example I use is that if Mrs Cutson, in her alternate universe of 7am this morning, were to walk in here and place a large bunch of flowers on my desk, those flowers will appear in front of us right now. But to us they will have always been there, because our past was changed and everything in between. Similarly the future is interchangeable."

Seckry scratched his head.

"Don't worry, I barely understand it myself. And it's just a theory."

Seckry was about to say something else, but the lump in his throat was stopping him from doing so.

"Something is hurting you very deeply, isn't it?" Vance said.

Seckry swallowed for a moment and let himself breathe.

"Things are just getting on top of me, I think. But . . . I overheard my mum talking to my sister last night about my dad. He disappeared when I was six years old and we haven't seen him since. We've never known what happened or why he left, but . . . they think he had another life, with another family, and that's where he disappeared to. It turns out this name, Sevenstars, it was fake. It means nothing, it wasn't even his real name. I guess for all these years, even though I knew he left us, somewhere at the back of my mind there was always something telling me he'd done it for a reason, that he had really loved us."

Suddenly Seckry couldn't hold it in any longer, and weeks' worth of tears began flooding from his eyes.

"Hey, hey," Vance said affectionately. He put his arms around Seckry and patted him on the back.

"Aren't you supposed to refrain from close contact with pupils," Seckry said through sobs.

"Well, Seckry," Vance said. "Sometimes common sense should come before rules."

Seckry closed his eyes. Having Vance's strong arms around him should have felt strange, but he didn't want him to let go. As he breathed in Vance's aftershave and the leather from his jacket, he imagined that it was his dad who was hugging him, and was telling him that he had come back.

As Seckry's tears dried up, Vance gave him a firm grip of the shoulder and sat down at his desk.

"Sometimes I think I see him looking right at me," Seckry said. "Like amidst a crowd or something. It's like my heart suddenly starts racing and I try to locate him again but I can't find him. And then I realise it was just my mind playing tricks on me. I don't really remember what he looks like. I've got this vague idea that must be from my subconscious but it's probably completely wrong. He took every photo of him with him when he left. Including ones with the rest of us in."

"Do they know what your father's real name was?" Vance said, sipping a cup of tea.

"They said someone phoned up looking for Ringold."

Vance paused for a moment before placing his tea down very slowly on his desk.

"Seckry . . . what was your father's first name?"

"It was Pawl."

Vance's face slowly changed. His eyes began darting from one side to the other, as if he were reading an invisible passage of text in the air.

"What's the matter?" Seckry asked.

"Seckry . . . this is unbelievable."

"Unbelievable? What do you mean?"

"Seckry, have you ever heard of Adelbert Endoman and Rikard Ringold?"

"No, I haven't."

"They were two scientists on the brink of brilliance back in the forties. They studied together at the university and began their own company here in Skyfall. It was known as the Endoman-Ringold Corporation."

"I haven't heard of that either," Seckry said.

"Oh, I think you have," Vance said gravely. "Shortly after its creation, they decided to abbreviate their surnames into a catchier company logo."

Vance was looking at Seckry intensely.

"I thought you would have worked it out by now," he said.

"They changed it to The End and Ring Corporation?"

Vance said nothing.

Seckry slowly began to fill with horror and realisation. End and Ring.

" _Endrin?"_ he said.

# Chapter Twenty Three

# A Chamber Unlocked

"They were the scientists that made those babies?" Seckry said. "The mutilated ones that died when they were teenagers?"

"Yes they were," Vance explained. "But there is one big flaw in the story that the media have chosen to believe. Within the scientific circle, we have a slightly different account of what happened. Seckry . . . the bodies of the two boys were never found. The boys never died."

"What? They're still alive now?"

"Seckry do you know what Rikard Ringold named his child?"

Seckry said nothing but he knew what was coming.

"It was Pawl. Pawl Ringold."

"My dad was made in a lab?" Seckry said, more to himself than Vance. "My mum said that whenever my dad used to hear anything about the lab baby affair, he'd have to leave the room because he was uncomfortable. That's why . . . it was . . . him."

Vance stayed silent for a moment.

"Seckry . . . what this means is . . . I think I may know why your father left you when you were six years old."

Seckry sat down, his eyes wild with anticipation, fear, and shock.

"Seckry, Adelbert Endoman and Rikard Ringold were scientists involved in very experimental procedures. _Very_ experimental procedures. They were both infertile, yet they both wanted sons. They began research into a technique that would allow them to use their own DNA to grow their own children in incubation tanks. Not many people knew what they were doing; Endrin was always Endrin right from the very beginning, full of lies and cover ups. The people who _did_ know warned them against it. But Endoman and Ringold were both convinced that they _could_ have children.

"The lab was in a secret location. To this day nobody knows where it was, or still is. All of this information was relayed to their colleagues via secure internet updates.

"Forty two years ago, Pawl Ringold and Lux Endoman were taken out of their incubators, and were born to the world. But this was '49. Technology wasn't the same as it is now, they were mavericks experimenting with things way beyond their grasp."

"What happened?"

"The boys never left the lab, probably because of the public outcry that would have ensued if the boys had been revealed at the time. We have to assume, from the little knowledge we have of its size or location, that it was big enough for a group of people to live in. It's recorded that Endoman and Ringold were also growing their own fruit and vegetables in there somehow, and they must have set up a water supply, so they had an entirely self confined existence. But the boys were ill, terribly ill. The health problems they had seemed to have no end. And mentally they were incredibly unstable.

"The thing is, Ringold's child had fared better than Endoman's. They say that Pawl, over time, began to develop more like any other normal child whilst Lux . . . well Lux, he began to descend into madness.

"It's reported that Lux would have seizures in which he'd scream and foam at the mouth until they thought he was going to choke or suffocate, and he'd thrash around so wildly that they had to restrain him with leather straps. And he used to have terrible nightmares and hallucinations. He thought that they were all tricking him, and he couldn't understand why they couldn't see what he could see. But they were just hallucinations, unfinished components of his brain, glitches in Endoman's botched experiment. His brain wasn't fully formed, it was missing things, there were things in places that there shouldn't have been.

"They lived down there for sixteen years, oblivious to the outside world. But the boys should have been told what they were from the very beginning. They grew up thinking that their mothers had died in childbirth. When Lux found out that this wasn't true, something inside him erupted. He thought he was a monster. He became obsessed with self loathing.

"The last contact that either Endoman or Ringold had with the outside world was a post in which Endoman expressed his fears that Lux was going to kill them. He said that Lux had become something else, something had changed inside of him, and he had become a monster.

"Now the rest . . . the rest may just be speculation. I don't know how anyone could know what happened after that, but there are rumours about what did. Maybe there were cameras inside the lab that were being fed to an undisclosed location, maybe there were people stationed close by, who knows? But it's said that Lux did, indeed, murder both Adelbert and Rikard, and he turned against Pawl.

"Pawl defended himself, but he was terrified by the monstrous nature of his, let's say, brother. He said to Pawl that they should kill themselves. They shouldn't have been allowed to be created. Pawl tried to calm Lux down but this just riled Lux even more.

"Pawl managed to escape from the lab because Lux was developing serious walking difficulties, and he bolted the door behind him. He survived the night in the open air but when he returned to the lab entrance in the morning there was a message written on the inside of the glass. It said:

I will kill you one day and I will kill any child you bring into this world. We should not exist, and I will not rest until we are both dead.

"That was when Pawl knew that Lux had to be locked away in that chamber for the rest of his life. There was renewable food in there, he'd survive. It would be the loneliest existence, but it was necessary. Pawl knew that he could never let Lux out if he wanted to survive himself.

"He fitted the door with the most secure lock he could find and he synced the lock to a simple device he invented that he named a xinary. While the xinary showed green it indicated that the lock was secure. If the xinary showed red, it meant that the lock had been opened."

"His watch . . ." Seckry said to himself. "That's why he disappeared, wasn't it? The xinary turned red. I've seen it in my dreams, and I remember. I remember him having this watch. And I remember it glowing green. But . . . it turned red. Lux escaped."

"It would seem so. I imagine your father would have done anything to protect you and your sister. That's why he disappeared. So that when Lux came looking for him, he wouldn't find you."

"Do you think Lux found him? Do you think my dad . . . do you think my dad is dead?"

Seckry barely remembered the rest of that day afterwards. He drifted from lesson to lesson like a ghost. His body was there, but his mind was far, far away.

His dad had disappeared because he knew Lux would come after him. He knew Lux would murder him and Leena. His dad had been . . . protecting them.

When he arrived home that evening, he sat his mum and Leena down in the living area and said, "There's something you both need to know. It's about dad."

Coralle took the information with a calm intensity, soaking up everything Seckry was saying in silence and not giving any indication on what she thought about it. Leena, on the other hand, burst into tears and started screaming at Seckry.

"Who does this guy think he is? Your teacher? How is he supposed to know anything about our dad? He doesn't know the half of it! He's making it all up! Dad left us, Seck! He dumped us for another family. You can believe all this artificial baby nonsense yourself but I'm not having it!"

She continued to cry off and on for days afterwards and Coralle remained mostly silent.

"Do you believe that's what happened?" Seckry asked his mum.

"The truth is, Seckry, my love, I don't know. I do not know the answer to that question. After nine years of accepting something, to have what you believe to be true shaken up like this, it's just . . . hard to comprehend."

Even though Seckry's thoughts were filled with his father, he had to stop himself talking about him at home because Leena was on the brink of a breakdown.

While at school, Seckry told Eiya everything Vance had said, and even though the conversation was awkward, she was still genuinely interested and concerned.

Seckry was desperate to know if his dad was still alive or not, but Vance had assured him there was no way of knowing. If his dad was still alive, he would never allow himself to be found by his children because it would put them in danger from Lux.

Seckry also thought about Lux. He had no idea what he looked like, but in his mind he saw a hooded man stalking the streets with a concealed knife, ready to slit the throat of his father and then to come looking for any traces of his family.

Over the following few days, Coralle and Leena began packing for a work trip that was going to last two weeks. They were heading down south, to Arivel, in order to research into new ways of recycling paper. When the time came for them to leave, Leena left without saying goodbye, but Coralle hugged Seckry tightly and said, "You'll be okay love, won't you? I've stocked up the fridge, you know how to use the cooker. Just make sure you lock this door at night and switch all plugs off before going to bed. See you soon, hey? And despite everything, I hope you can . . . enjoy this ball of yours."

Seckry had been thinking about his dad so much that the ball had completely slipped out of his mind. It seemed so trivial in comparison now, but he knew he had to drag himself out of his daze to carry on with life. He wasn't about to forget any of this, but he had to think about something else for a while, for the sake of his own sanity.

"Well, I've got my date sorted," whispered Tenk, during an astronomy lecture in the planetarium tower. "Poola Pinyada, from the year below us. But man, what are you gonna do? The ball is, like, two days away,"

"I know, you don't have to remind me," Seckry said.

"There's only one girl left who hasn't got a date," Tippian joined in.

"Really? Who is it?" Seckry asked.

"You're not going to like this."

"Just tell me, Tipps."

"Natania Linse."

Seckry's face dropped. He couldn't think of anyone worse. His contempt for Natania had, if anything, grown stronger and stronger since the day she had tricked him into meeting her so she could get drugs from Snibble. The thought of taking her to the ball was beyond ridiculous. He couldn't even comprehend it. He almost stifled a laugh.

"It's no wonder she hasn't got a date," Seckry said vehemently. "She's vile."

"It's either her, or you don't go to the ball," Tippian said, matter-of-factly. "They don't let you in without a date, they say it's to try to stop rowdy gangs of guys coming in together and starting trouble."

"I can't go with Natania. I can't even bear to look at her."

"Just think about it, Seck. You can turn up with her and then just hang around with us. Do you think I'm gonna be staying with Curly Hetchings all night?"

"I suppose I never thought about it," Seckry said.

"Well I'm not. I'm gonna be chilling with Tenk."

The middle of the week was plagued with more torrential rain and Seckry had resigned himself to the library where he knew he'd be able to be left alone. Mr Nebrio had given them a substantial piece of homework the day before and Seckry used this as a good excuse to separate himself from the group. If he buried his head in his homework, maybe this whole ball thing would just go away.

He was running his finger across the dusty astronomy shelf, trying to spot Milkiny's Maelstrom Mathematical, when he heard the sound of ruffling fabric behind him.

"Hey."

Seckry turned around and immediately scowled. It was Natania.

"What are you doing in here?" Seckry said spitefully. "I thought you'd never be seen dead in a library."

"I know, the place is making me sick. Look, Seckry, I know it ain't ideal, but we're the only ones without a date. Are you gonna do anything about it or aren't you?"

"You've got to be kidding me, right?" Seckry shook his head in disbelief.

"Well there's nobody else to take me."

"Looks like you're not going to the ball then," Seckry said simply. He couldn't believe she actually expected him to ask her to the ball after everything that had happened.

Natania huffed.

"Seckry, come on. Can't you just forget about that night? It was such a long time ago. And besides, I had no idea Snibble was gonna beat you up like that. I thought he just wanted to rough you up a bit. Shove you around."

"And that would have been okay, would it?" Seckry said angrily. "I get shoved around by Snibble, you get your drugs, and everyone's happy?"

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have led you on. Can you accept an apology from me, at least?"

Seckry breathed out exasperatedly.

"Sure," he said. "Apology accepted," and he turned around.

"If you change your mind, just let me know, okay?"

He heard her walk away and he let his head slump into the shelf of books.

# Chapter Twenty Four

# The Estergate Ball

"You actually asked her?" Tenk said incredulously, the next day.

"Well, if I didn't then I'd be stuck at home feeling even more miserable about the fact that I'd be missing the whole thing," Seckry said. "So I did what I had to. But I want to make it clear that this is _not_ a date with Natania. This is . . . pure necessity, okay?"

"You did the right thing, man," Tenk said reassuringly, and Tippian nodded with him.

Seckry wasn't sure what had come over him when he'd asked Natania, and nobody was more shocked than him when he did. He eventually put it down to the fact that he couldn't spend any more time wallowing in self pity any more. He had to do something. Even if it meant going to the ball with the one girl he despised the most.

On the evening of the ball, Seckry got dressed in his hired, oversized suit as quickly as he could, and tried to avoid Eiya as much as possible.

But when he saw her emerge from his bedroom, just before leaving, his whole body sighed and he couldn't look away.

He had never seen anyone so beautiful in all of his life. She was wearing a slim, silky green dress that fanned out towards the bottom and she had tied her hair up into an elaborate pattern, with a few strands falling across her gleaming brown eyes.

Seckry left the flat before Thom Malerk could arrive because he knew he wouldn't be able to face seeing Eiya greet him.

After picking Natania up from her home in a taxi, Seckry took her hand and led her into the school hall.

"Seckry, you're holding my hand too tight," Natania said irritably.

"Sorry," Seckry said absent-mindedly, lost in his own thoughts.

"So why didn't you go with _her_?" Natania nodded and Seckry saw that Eiya and Thom had already arrived and were holding hands just ahead.

"We . . . we're not like that," Seckry said miserably.

They made their way onto the dance floor and Natania pulled him to the left, whilst craning her head to see through the crowd.

"What's the matter?" Seckry said.

"Nothing," Natania replied, dismissively. "I just want to stand over this side of the room, that's all."

A few upbeat songs played and Natania danced in front of him, swinging her thighs around and gyrating thin air, whilst Seckry stood absolutely still, scanning the room for a glimpse of Eiya.

During the third song Natania stopped and dragged Seckry right over to the other side of the room.

"What's the matter now?" Seckry said, confused.

"Nothing," Natania said abruptly. "Just try to act like you want to be here with me at least." She craned her head again, as though trying to spot someone nearby.

"Gedin, Seckry!" she suddenly blurted. "Are you gonna buy me a drink or what? I'm parched."

"Oh . . . yeah, I forgot. What do you want?"

"A soursucker, but tell them I don't want any ice in it."

"Soursucker. No ice. Sure."

Seckry wandered over to the bar (which was non-alcoholic only), getting knocked a couple of times and sloshed by drinks. He passed by Kimmy and Loca, who were locked in a seemingly infinite kiss. He did a double take as he glanced at them because Loca had shaved the whole of the left side of her head, and had patterned the skin with a rainbow of colours.

"Cheer up, Seckry," said Tenk, who was also at the bar. "It just wasn't meant to be with you and Eiya, you know?"

But Seckry couldn't help but look down.

In front of them, the bartender was doing some kind of performance art with the drinks, pouring all sorts of multicoloured juices and syrups into a metal container.

"What on earth are you getting, Tenk?" Seckry asked.

"Some slipshakers. Haven't you ever had one?"

"No, never heard of them."

"Ah man, they're great! Hey!" he called to the bartender, "I'll have another slipshaker for my friend here!"

The bartender slapped the drinks on the table and they both took a sip. Seckry's taste buds went wild in his mouth. According to the bartender, a slipshaker was a mix of something named goldberry, sweetslush, limeleaf, chocomilk, honeybutter, and all manner of other delicious sounding things, but even the taste of it couldn't numb the pain he was feeling at seeing Eiya with someone else.

"Come on, Seck," Tenk said, more soberly now. "Just enjoy the night for what it is, hey?"

"Where's Poola?" Seckry asked.

"She's off chatting to her friends, which is fine by me."

Kimmy joined them at the bar, slightly breathless, and ordered a large love potion, which appeared to be a bubbling red berry juice with two spiralling, intertwining straws.

"Kimmy, when are you gonna have time to drink that?" said Tenk. "I mean, think of all the kissing you'll be missing out on while you're slurping that thing."

Kimmy just smiled.

"Come to think of it," Tenk continued. "I think this is the first time I've actually seen your face all night. I'm surprised Loca hasn't eaten you whole."

"I never imagined kissing would feel this good," Kimmy said, his face beaming with delight.

Snibble pushed past them and said, "Enjoying yourself, Kod? Must be like kissing a guy with that shaven head of hers."

Kimmy slanted his eyes in anger but Snibble wandered off.

"Don't take any notice, Kimmy," Tenk said. "Snibble ain't spoiling it for any of us tonight."

Before long, Loca had pulled Kimmy back onto the dance floor and smacked her lips on his again.

"So where's Natania?" Tenk asked.

"Oh yeah," said Seckry, feeling misery sink back into his body. "I almost forgot about her. I better take her the drink. See you later, I guess."

"Where have you been?" Natania scowled angrily, as he approached her. "I've been waiting for my drink for twenty minutes."

"Sorry. I lost track of time."

"You lost track of time? You're supposed to be treating me like a princess. It's the annual ball. Don't you know anything about how to treat a girl?"

Something inside of Seckry burst then, and he exploded with rage.

"A princess! After what you and Snibble did to me down that alleyway! You're lucky I didn't get you both arrested. Here's your soursucker." He thrust the drink into her hand and it splashed all over her dress, making her scream in outrage.

Seckry stormed away as she stood, dripping, shouting all matter of obscenities after him.

Seckry plonked himself down at the side of the stage and covered his face with his hands. Even when he had been beaten up by Snibble, he still hadn't felt as bad as he did now. For the first time in his life, he knew he was feeling heartbreak.

" _Seckry._ "

To Seckry's surprise, it was Eiya's voice. He lifted his head from his hands and tried to regain his composure.

They both looked away from each other uncomfortably.

"Things didn't go so well with you and Natania, hey?" Eiya said.

Seckry laughed feebly. "You could say that."

"How are you enjoying your evening with Thom?" Seckry felt ill just saying his name.

Eiya sighed. "Well, he told me I looked 'fit,' and then tried to shove his tongue down my throat earlier on. That's probably been my highlight of the evening so far."

Despite himself Seckry laughed, and Eiya did too.

"So . . . he kissed you then?"

"Are you kidding? I managed to dodge his face."

Seckry smiled weakly.

"You look terrible," Eiya said.

Seckry almost couldn't talk any more. His emotions had been so unstable over the past week, it felt as though everything was culminating at this very moment. The lump in his throat was ready to burst.

"Hey, wanna play the thumb war game?" Eiya said.

"Don't you have to get back to Thom?"

"He can wait."

They locked hands and had a game of thumb war, and Eiya managed to win again.

They sat for a while and played a few more games.

"You know what?" Seckry said, his voice cracked and raw. "Sitting here with you has been the best part of my evening so far."

"It's been mine too," Eiya said. She sighed and looked down. "When I saw the note, it took me by surprise how much it affected me."

Seckry frowned. "What note?"

"You know . . ." Eiya said. "The _note._ "

"Eiya," Seckry said. "What note are you talking about?"

Eiya reached into her small handbag and pulled out a torn piece of paper with typed text on it.

Eiya, I'm going to the ball with Natania Linse, I'm too embarrassed to tell you myself so I'm writing you this note. I know you were expecting me to ask you but I've been in love with Natania since before I met you. Please don't bring this up or mention it to me, it'll be too embarrassing. Thanks.

Seckry was sitting bolt upright.

"What?" he said. "What in Gedin's name is this?"

Eiya frowned. "You didn't . . . write this?"

"Eiya, I have no idea who–"

Seckry suddenly spotted Natania across the room. She was glaring viciously at a couple on the dance floor who were kissing.

"That's her ex boyfriend," Eiya said. "Apparently she's jealous of this new girl he's been seeing."

Seckry looked at the note again.

"It was her. It was Natania. She's been dragging me around all night, trying to position me in visibility of someone. It was him. Her ex. She wanted him to see her at the ball with someone. She wanted to make him jealous. No one would go with her and she knew I was the only one without a date." Seckry put his hands to his head and bared his teeth. "I can't believe she did this!"

"So . . . you never wanted to go to the ball with Natania?" Eiya asked.

"Natania?" Seckry said. "I hate her. She's the last person I wanted to come here with. Wait . . . so you didn't really want to go with Thom Malerk?"

"I never even knew who he was!" Eiya said. "He asked me in the corridor, and I was so confused after reading that note that I just said yes without thinking about it."

They looked at each other for a moment, and then burst into fits of hysterical laughter.

Suddenly, Thom appeared, having pushed through the crowds with a fierce expression on his face.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"I'm talking to my best friend," Eiya said sternly.

"Yeah, well you've been talking long enough. I invited you to this ball, not him."

Seckry wasn't sure what happened to him in that moment, but he was filled with an incredible sense of ease and confidence. He felt like he could conquer the world. He stood up and said, "You came to the ball with the most beautiful girl in the room and you treat her like a piece of dirt. What do you expect?"

Thom looked at Seckry with confusion and then anger, and made to shove him, but Seckry was quicker and shoved Thom first, so that he stumbled backwards. Thom's eyes flickered nervously for a moment. Seckry held his gaze until the large boy huffed and stormed off.

Seckry sat back down, adrenaline still running through his body.

Eiya gleamed with delight.

"You really showed him."

"Yeah, well the guy is just absolute scum, you know?" Seckry said, now shaking slightly.

"Did you mean what you said?" Eiya asked, "About me being the most beautiful girl in the room?"

Seckry gulped. "Oh . . . right . . . um . . ." Suddenly he was back to his normal self, bright as a beetroot. He had been so overcome with confidence he hadn't even realised what he had been saying.

"Thank you for that." Eiya flashed him an embarrassed smile and wiped a wet strand of hair from her face. "All this music, this noise, the heat and the lights. It's really full on, isn't it? It'd be nice to get some fresh air."

"Yeah, you're right," Seckry said.

Eiya suddenly shot up. "I know! Seckry, take my hand."

"What?"

"Just trust me. It's perfect."

Seckry took Eiya's hand in his, and felt the little beads of her sweat mix with his own in his palm. With anyone else, he'd find it unpleasant, but with Eiya, it was the opposite.

"Actually, there's something I want to do before we leave," Eiya said. "That's Natania's drink sitting over there, right?"

"Yeah, I saw her leave it there while she went off to the bathroom."

Eiya looked around quickly before hurrying over, pulling a small tube out of her shoe, and tipping half the contents into Natania's straw. They were some kind of bright green capsules, but after a few seconds they dispersed and the drink looked normal again.

"What was that?" Seckry asked.

"I bought it a few days ago. Just in case Thom Malerk tried anything funny."

Eiya handed him the tube.

Toppletang's Tongue Inflater – when you just can't get rid of that guy, put a little TTI in his drink and he'll soon be tongue tied.

Caution: only ever use one capsule at a time.

"You put five in!" said Seckry.

"Yep," said Eiya matter-of-factly, and Seckry grinned.

Eiya led him through the crowds of pupils and out of the back door of the hall, into the fresh, open air. Their ears were ringing, and the clip clopping of their shoes was magnified as they walked down the street.

She twirled around in front of him. "It's so nice to be away from that oaf."

"So are you going to tell me where we're going?" Seckry asked curiously, but Eiya shook her head playfully.

"It's a secret place," she said.

Seckry followed her around a couple of streets until they came to an old power reactor.

There was a wooden sign hanging on a chain that blocked any entrance to the site saying, 'BEWARE. DO NOT CROSS.'

"Eiya, I'm not sure about this."

"It's okay. Honestly. There's nobody here. I came across it the other day. It was abandoned twelve years ago. They just put that sign up to stop kids coming in here and graffiti-ing."

Eiya stepped over the chain and Seckry followed cautiously, glancing around him.

The only entrance to the inside of the reactor was a circular grating on the ground that led into the lower section of the main funnel.

Eiya made her way over to it, slid the grating to one side with a heave, and began climbing down. Tentatively, Seckry followed. He was so overcome by relief and joy and excitement about Eiya not wanting to go to the ball with Thom Malerk that he would have done anything for her right then.

They made their way downwards, their feet clanking on the metal rungs, and emerged into the funnel, which was radiant with the shimmering light of thousands of blue glowflies.

"Wow," Seckry said, stopping in his tracks. "What are they all doing in here?"

"I don't know. It's incredible, isn't it? It must be some kind of nest or something."

"Do you think they mind us being here?"

Eiya raised her arm and a few glowflies settled on her moist skin. "I think they like the company," she said.

"It's like we're underwater," Seckry said, dreamily. "Look at the floor."

Waves of light were ebbing and flowing beneath them and rippling over their shoes.

"Can you hear something?" Seckry said.

They both stood still.

"Is that music?" said Eiya.

"It's . . . Serenade in D," Seckry replied, reaching into his own past. "By Ingledorf Zivskin."

"Wow, you really know your classical music."

"Not exactly," Seckry laughed. "We had to learn it for assembly back in Marne. Where's it coming from?"

They held their ears close to the circular wall.

"Maybe the metal remembers the music from long ago," Eiya said quietly. "Maybe the music's been stored in the memory of the reactor, and if you listen carefully enough you can hear the echoes of it."

At the other side of the funnel was a rusty door with a wheel for a handle. Seckry wandered over and tried to turn it.

"It's rusted shut," Eiya said. "I tried it last time."

Some of the glowflies were hovering above it, and a group had settled on the wall, almost forming a kind of pattern.

Eiya took out her mobile phone and took a few snapshots of the glowflies, then she pulled Seckry close to her and took a picture of them both.

After a while, Eiya said, 'Would you like to dance?"

They held hands and swayed clumsily. It was awkward and messy and Seckry nearly tripped over Eiya's dress a few times, but he never wanted it to end.

When they did stop, they remained standing the same distance apart from each other. They were too close to be comfortable, but neither of them moved away. Seckry could almost feel Eiya's heart beating. She was so close to him that he could smell the saltiness of her skin, and the dampness of her hair. Her skin was pulsating with the reflective cyan radiance of the glowflies.

Eiya closed her eyes and smiled.

"What are you thinking about?" Seckry asked.

"Do you ever get this feeling that, the very moment you're in, you're going to remember it for the rest of your life?"

"Yeah," Seckry said. "Yeah I do."

"It's like we're in our own dreamworld down here," she said softly, and Seckry felt her breath against his collarbone, cherry scented from the cherrysuckers she'd been drinking. Seckry watched her semi-translucent lips move as she spoke.

A glowfly hovered around her face for a few moments before settling on the tip of her nose. Eiya crossed her eyes to focus on it and they both giggled, before she shook it off.

"Earlier tonight," she said. "I thought that this had been the worst night of my life. Now I think . . . it may be the best. Seckry . . . when I find out what my name used to be . . . I don't want to go back to that. I'm Eiya. That's all I know and all I want to be. Will you still call me Eiya?"

"You'll always be Eiya to me, Eiya."

They stood for a while longer, looking into each other's eyes.

"Have you heard about that song they've all been talking about," Eiya asked. " _With Me Tonight?_ "

Seckry laughed. "Yeah, Tenk told me all about it."

"Oh, Gedin, I was dreading it so much," Eiya said exhaustedly. "I thought I was going to be stuck with Thom Malerk and I wouldn't be able to get away. Just the thought of it was making me ill. Do you know what, though?"

Seckry waited for an answer.

"Now that he's not going to be with me when it's played, the thought of that song doesn't bother me so much."

Seckry looked at his watch. "I bet they haven't played it yet. It's only half past ten."

Eiya smiled. "Would you like to go back?"

They said goodbye to the glowflies, and made their way out of the disused chamber and headed back to the school under the late night air.

As they entered the hall, Tenk came rushing over.

"Seckry! My good friend Seckry. And my good friend Eiya." He draped his arms over their shoulders and hung his head in between them both.

He suddenly seemed to notice something.

"Hey! You two are . . . you two . . ."

"It's okay, Tenk, we're good now."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well that's the best news I've heard all evening." He slapped his own leg.

"Tenk, you're absolutely wrecked aren't you?" said Seckry, reeling from the acidity of Tenk's breath.

"I am indeed, if I do say so myself," Tenk said proudly, trying to puff out his chest and nearly falling backwards as he did so.

"Where'd you get alcohol from?" Seckry asked.

"Shhhh!" Tenk said, waving his finger somewhere in front of his lips. "Don't tell anyone . . . but Tippian smuggled in some of his dad's finest whistlebloo . . . he thought it would make it easier for him to kiss Curly Hetchings."

"Where is Tippian, by the way?"

"Last time I saw him he was . . ." Tenk rolled his eyes around in their sockets as if trying to locate his own brain. "Being sick in the loo I think. Seck . . . have you told her yet?"

"Told me what?" Eiya asked.

"You haven't told her?"

"Tenk . . . I'm not sure what you're talking about," Seckry said. He was pretty sure he didn't want to know, either. "Come on, Tenk, why don't we go and sit by the bar over there."

"Eiya . . ." Tenk said. "He's in love with you."

"Right!" said Seckry, hauling Tenk away. "I think you need to sit down."

Seckry cringed to himself while he dragged Tenk across the dancefloor like a limp ragdoll.

"Man, something really weird happened earlier," Tenk said, slurring. "Natania. She had some kind of allergic reaction and her tongue, like, really swelled up."

Seckry tried to stifle a laugh but failed.

"Seriously!" Tenk said. "It was hanging out of her mouth. It was like some kind of alien thing. Her ex, Bobber, he was about to kiss her, and then this tongue just came slobbering out. I thought he was gonna faint. He ended up running away. He left the party."

Seckry smiled and made a triumphant fist. He didn't often wish bad luck on people, but after what Natania had done to him and Eiya, he couldn't help but feel good after a little bit of revenge.

At that moment, Tenk's date, Poola Pinyada hopped over and said, very excitedly, "Tenk! They're about to play the song! You gonna give me a snog or what?"

Tenk raised his eyebrows at Seckry. "Duty calls," he said, and staggered after Poola.

When Seckry returned to Eiya, _With Me Tonight_ began playing, and the atmosphere in the hall immediately changed.

Seckry smiled at her and then immediately averted his gaze out of embarrassment. His whole body was tingling with excitement. He had wanted to kiss Eiya for so long, and now was the moment he'd be able to.

He felt Eiya's hands touch his sides and she pulled him towards her, gently, until their lips could almost be no closer without them touching.

Seckry had never heard the song before, so he didn't know when they were going to sing the famous line that Tenk had told him about, but he didn't know if he could wait any longer. He could smell Eiya's skin, he could feel the tip of her nose brushing softly against his, he could almost taste the sweet pinkness of her flowery, trembling lips.

"You're coming with us," came a deep voice.

Seckry was suddenly ripped away from Eiya, and was being hauled backwards.

He looked around in shock and saw that two Endrin employees were dragging him across the dance floor, towards the entrance. Seckry tried to wrench himself away from them, but they were strong, like bouncers.

"What are you doing?" Seckry said desperately, as everyone around him began kissing. Eiya was trying to run after him but another man in a suit grabbed her and held her back.

"You're needed urgently at the Endrin headquarters," said one of them.

"No!" Seckry shouted. A few people stopped kissing and saw him being dragged away, but they looked too terrified to do anything.

"Eiya!" Seckry shouted, and he heard her cry his name back before he was ripped out of the building and thrown into the back of a blacked out jeep.

# Chapter Twenty Five

# Jenniver's Message

"I've told you already, I don't know where the worms went," Seckry said. "Please let me go, let me go back!"

"It's not about the worms, this time Mr Sevenstars, there's something even more disturbing about your visit that has come to our attention."

"You can't take me anywhere," Seckry said defiantly, even though his voice was audibly shaking.

"I'm afraid you don't have an option, Mr Sevenstars. I mean, you can jump out of this car if you like, but . . . breaking into private property is a serious offence, we wouldn't want the Patrol finding out about your little visit to us now, would we?"

As they arrived at the headquarters, Seckry was led through a number of different corridors that he vaguely remembered and thrown into the same room as last time, in which Jenniver Layne was seated, almost like she had never left.

"Seckry," Jenniver said. "It's good to see you again."

Seckry said nothing. He just shook his head at her in disbelief, breathing heavily.

"The reason why you've been brought here this evening, Seckry, is that we've finally just managed to restore some of the security footage of you breaking in."

Jenniver stood up and wheeled a small TV towards him.

"I want you to take a look at this. There is something very strange about the footage we are about to show you, and we'd like you to explain exactly what is happening here."

Jenniver pressed a button on the remote and CCTV footage appeared on screen. Footage of Seckry. It was strange watching himself and he felt incredibly uncomfortable.

There he was, digging for the worms. But there was some distortion on the tape, some bright light beginning to bleach out the right hand side of the screen. He was looking at the light, moving towards it.

It was where Eiya had been.

"What is this light?" Jenniver asked.

Seckry was silent, watching the tape.

He was pulling the light with him. There was no doubt that this bright, blinding light was Eiya.

"You took something with you. Something other than the worms. What was it?"

Seckry was lost for words. Why was Eiya emitting light like that?

"Seckry, whatever that bright light is, it made our security tapes melt. It could be something incredibly dangerous."

"I don't know what that is," Seckry said, his bottom lip visibly trembling. "I took the worms and left."

Jenniver turned the television off and leaned back in her chair.

"Seckry, whatever you took with you that night needs to be brought back here. It needs to be brought back here and destroyed."

Seckry's stomach did a back flip.

"Destroyed?"

"Yes, destroyed."

Something inside of Seckry erupted then, and he couldn't stop himself.

"What's going on here?" he shouted, close to tears. "What is all this about? Why is it dangerous? I know that the white chip was a load of nonsense. You weren't protecting us from leaked toxins, there _was_ no leak. You were searching for helitonium, weren't you? What are you doing? What is the Divinita Project? And why is the logo for it the same one that's on that old painting of Seckraman?"

As soon as Seckry stopped talking, he knew he'd said too much.

"The Divinita Project is none of your concern," Jenniver snapped. "And I'm not sure what you're talking about in regards to the logo. That logo was designed by our graphics team here from scratch." She pressed a finger to her ear. "Mr Darklight, sir, the boy knows too much, permission to use the hypnosis headset? . . . Thank you. Seckry, I'm sorry we have to do this."

"You're going to hypnotise me?" Seckry said, aghast.

"You know too much about proceedings here, I'm afraid. You shouldn't even know the name of the Divinita Project, never mind be enquiring about it. The hypnosis tape will make you forget all of it, and then . . ."

"And then what? You still need me to tell you what that blinding light is on the video, and how can I tell you if you erase my memory?"

"And then we'll find out what it is you took with you by breaking into your home and searching it."

"You can't do that! You're not hypnotising me!" Seckry said sternly and made to get up out of his seat.

The four security guards stationed around the room suddenly had guns pointing directly at his head.

"I'm afraid it's not an option for you, Seckry," said Jenniver.

An employee entered the room with the headset, walked behind Seckry and fastened it tight onto him.

_Stay alert_ , Seckry told himself _. Just stay wide awake and alert and you won't go under. You can fight this._

The first sound that Seckry heard through the tape was a mellow, ambient music, followed by an irregular pattern of clicks.

But as Seckry was concentrating with all his will not to be affected in any way by it, the music stopped abruptly and there was silence.

Then came a voice. Jenniver's voice.

"Seckry, I want you to stay calm and focused. Whatever you do, do not look alarmed. Nobody knows you are hearing this, and they cannot find out. I want you to listen very carefully to everything that I say."

Seckry's eyes locked on Jenniver's. What was this?

"I have recorded over the hypnosis tape. You are not going to be hypnotised. I want to assure you of that before I tell you anything more. It is the only way I could think to get this message to you without Darklight knowing about it. If it's got to the point that you are wearing this headset then my plan has gone accordingly. Just keep looking at me and listen carefully."

Seckry swallowed hard.

"Seckry, the Divinita Project is almost at its final stage of completion and it must be stopped. I don't know if you know what it is that's going on here, but be assured that the project should never have come into existence. What I've said about the worms is true, they are incredibly dangerous, but if they're found they should not be returned to Endrin, they should be destroyed immediately. The worms that were living in the cultivation unit were serving a very specific purpose, they were consuming toxic waste produced by modified helitonium radiation in the Divinita chamber, which is situated directly beneath the soil you visited. I'm surprised you didn't get sick and collapse whilst you were digging. The light, whatever it is, may also be dangerous.

"Seckry, what I need you to do is find Ropart Sanfarrow. Find Ropart Sanfarrow, Seckry. He is the only one that can explain all of this to you, and he's the only one that has a key to the Divinita chamber aside from Darklight. He is in hiding somewhere, but he would never leave the city. He is here in Skyfall but I do not know where. If you have been looking for Kevan Kayne, you should stop now. Kevan Kayne is dead. He was murdered here at Endrin by Darklight.

"Before you leave, I'm going to give you a locket that you have to give to Sanfarrow when you find him. This locket will earn you his trust. I'm going to take the headset off you now, and you need to act as though it has worked, for your own safety, okay? When I remove the headset, ask me where you are, and pretend that you have no idea what you're doing here."

Jenniver suddenly stood up and removed the headset from him, slipping the locket silently into his pocket as she did so.

Seckry said nothing for a moment, taking in everything that he'd just heard.

Then he said, "Where am I?" his eyes still locked on Jenniver's.

# Chapter Twenty Six

# The List

"Seckry!" Eiya said exasperatedly, when Seckry entered the flat. "What on earth happened?"

He explained everything and watched Eiya's expression turn from worry to shock.

"It's kidnapping!" she said angrily. "They can't do that, they should be arrested!"

"This is Endrin . . . they do what they want," Seckry said grimly.

Eiya made to say something a couple of times, but no words would come out. She eventually punched the bed with her small fist.

"I was a bright light on the security footage?" she said after a while.

"I don't understand it either," Seckry said.

"And this Jenniver woman recorded a secret message?"

"She said the Divinita Project is almost at completion, and we have to find Ropart Sanfarrow to stop it. He's the only one who has a key to the Divinita chamber, and he's the only one that can explain all of this to us. And Kevan Kayne has been murdered by Darklight."

"What happens if we don't find him? What if the Divinita Project is activated? What in Gedin's name is the Divinita Project anyway?"

"That's the thing . . . we don't know. That's why we have to find Ropart Sanfarrow."

Seckry pulled the locket that Jenniver had given him out of his pocket. "She gave me this, too. She said to give it to Sanfarrow when we find him." He unclipped the face, and inside was a tiny photograph of Jenniver with a man, an older looking version of the man in The Broken Motion's photograph, Ropart Sanfarrow. They were pressing their cheeks together and smiling at the camera happily.

"It looks like this Jenniver Layne and Ropart Sanfarrow were a couple," said Eiya.

Seckry's mobile began vibrating in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the name of the caller.

"It's Vance," he said to Eiya, and answered it.

"Seckry?" Vance said, his voice urgent.

"Hi sir."

"Seckry, I'm sorry this phone call is so late, but are you and Eiya both free tomorrow morning?"

"Uh . . . yeah, I think so."

"I know it's the weekend, but can you come to my office as soon as you can? I've discovered something about the innoya. There's something I need to tell you."

"Okay," Seckry said. "There's something I need to tell you too."

"They were going to hypnotise you? Erase your memory?" Vance paced around his office the next morning, his eyes darting back and forth. "Dear Gedin, Seckry, it's worse than I thought. I should have been able to do something, to stop them from taking you again."

"It's okay," Seckry said. "There's nothing you could have done. You can't watch over me all day long."

"Jenniver Layne," Vance said. "She's Darklight's second in command. And she's working _against_ him?"

"Sir," Seckry asked. "How are we ever going to find Ropart Sanfarrow? He could be anywhere. What happens if we don't? What is the Divinita Project going to do?"

"Well Seckry, that's what I needed to talk to you about." He led them towards his desk, which was strewn with ancient books, scrolls and artefacts.

"Are these all from the library?" Eiya asked.

"The library? No. That's where I had been going wrong. I should have realised it sooner, but the Great Library is monitored. It is censored by the government – a government that is at the mercy of Endrin. The reason why there is no information in the library on the innoya is because Endrin have removed anything that mentions it."

"Where are these from?" Seckry asked. Now that he was close to them, he could see how old the books really were. Some were falling to pieces and some were well preserved, though even the ones in good condition were caked in dust.

"These books are from Professor Holdenbubble's private archives," Vance said.

"Holdenbubble?" Seckry gasped. "Isn't his stuff being kept locked away in his old study and sealed off from the public?"

"Well, Seckry, remember I told you that I used to be a lot like you when I was younger, sneaking into places I shouldn't have been? Let's just say a little bit of my old self returned for one night."

" _You broke in to the university?_ " Eiya said in an excited whisper.

"It was the only way to get access to this material. As soon as I found out that the library was being regulated, I knew the only place in the city that would have uncensored books would be Holdenbubble's study. And look what I found."

Vance smoothed his palm across the largest of the open tomes.

"Innoya," Vance read aloud, "possess tremendous power. They hold within them helitonic particles." He looked up. "Just as we gathered, right? We think that Endrin are trying to extract helitonium from an innoya root?"

"Yeah, that part we kind of guessed," Seckry confirmed.

"Well, we were right, except for one thing," Vance said gravely. He flipped the page, which was wafer thin and yellowed in its corners.

On the next page was a diagram of a woman, with blue and green swirls coursing through her body, like liquid smoke.

"Who's that?" Eiya asked.

Vance leaned back to let them have a better look.

"That . . ." he said. "Is an innoya."

It took both Seckry and Eiya a moment to speak.

"Innoyas aren't plants?" Eiya said slowly.

"Indeed not," Vance replied. "As is shown here, they are human beings. Human beings with one very important difference. Their bodies are filled with helitonium. It is in their DNA."

"Endrin are extracting helitonium from human beings?" Seckry said.

"It seems like all the evidence is pointing that way."

Eiya suddenly turned away from them.

"It makes sense, doesn't it. This is the answer. This is why I was at Endrin."

Vance put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm an innoya, aren't I?" she said.

"It's very possible," Vance said. "It may explain why you showed up as a bright light on Endrin's security tapes. The helitonium in your body could have been too much for the camera to deal with."

Eiya looked at her hands.

Seckry didn't know how to feel. His emotions were all over the place. If Eiya was one of these people, the innoya, then her family, her friends might be inside the Endrin complex right now, having helitonium extracted from their bodies.

"The extraction process . . ." Eiya said to Vance. "Does it . . . hurt?"

"I'm afraid . . ." Vance said cautiously. "I'm afraid it says here that people have tried to extract helitonium from the innoya before . . . and . . . the process extracts the very life force of their being. Helitonium is integral to their existence. It kills them."

Eiya's eyes widened.

"Whoever's in there," Seckry said sternly. "Whoever they've got captive, we're going to save them, okay? We're going to find Ropart Sanfarrow and we're going to save them."

Eiya shook her head slowly. "We can't. We can't find him."

"Well . . . then we'll just break our way into Endrin by force and stop this whole project."

"They would shoot us on site without hesitation, Seckry," said Vance. "Forcing our way into Endrin is not an option."

"Then what do we do? We have to do something!"

They stood in silence for a long time.

"What is he doing? What is Darklight doing? Why is he extracting helitonium?" Eiya said eventually.

"It sounds like the only person who can tell us is Ropart Sanfarrow," Vance said. "But there is one other thing that I found in Holdenbubble's study." He unravelled a curled up sheet that was inscribed with a list of handwritten names. At the top of the page was the title, 'The Society of Believers.'

"The Society of Believers?" Seckry read.

"Yes," said Vance. "It seems that Holdenbubble's whole career was devoted to the study of helitonium, now that I've looked through his books, and this idea of a believer meant a believer in helitonium. This here has to be a list of all the contacts Hindglubber had made who believed in the existence of helitonium."

"Do you think we could find one of them and ask them about it? They might know something about what's happening at Endrin."

"Eiya," Vance said slowly. "Have a look at the names."

Seckry and Eiya both scanned the list until they reached the bottom, which read 'Ederith Umbercotton.'

"Umbercotton," Seckry said. "That was the librarian who was murdered by the Rabbit Man."

"Oh my Gedin," Eiya said. "And the others. This is them, all of them. These are the names they've been talking about on the news. This is every single one of the victims of the Rabbit Man, in the exact order that they were killed."

"And Holdenbubble's at the top of the list," Seckry said. "So it was the Rabbit Man that murdered him too?"

Vance nodded grimly. "Nobody knew about the Rabbit Man back then, they just thought it was a random murder. But looking at this list, it's hard to accept anything else."

"So who is this Rabbit Man?" Eiya asked. "And why would he want to kill everyone that believed in the existence of helitonium?"

"To me there's only one explanation," Vance said. "The Rabbit Man is a hired hitman of some sort. Hired by someone who wants to keep the knowledge of the existence of helitonium all to himself."

" _Darklight,_ " Seckry said disgustedly.

Vance nodded. "Darklight fitted everyone in the city with a white chip, which seems to have been a last attempt at finding anyone who is innoya, but he must have been searching for years. And over those years it seems that anyone that has been talking about helitonium and the innoya aside from him has been headhunted and murdered."

Eiya sat down for a moment.

"There's something else I need to mention about Endrin," Vance said. "This illusional time module I've been teaching my students . . . when I was doing some research yesterday I came across some personal information about the theory's inventor, Dr Coronius Hindglubber. I found that he has not left his house for three years."

"Why?" Eiya asked.

"Nobody knows. And nobody has been able to contact him. But reports say that about three years ago a group of men visited him at his home. A group of men in Endrin uniforms."

Seckry and Eiya glanced at each other.

"I've looked him up on a map." Vance continued. "He lives in the west partition. I'm heading over there later this evening. Would you both like to accompany me?

"Let's do it," Seckry said.

It was about an hour's journey to the opposite side of the city. When they pulled up, Seckry noticed a single neon strip humming across the doorway which read, 'PRIVATE PROPERTY KEEP AWAY.'

They approached the door and Vance gave a firm rap.

"Leave me alone! Haven't you had enough fun throwing bricks through my window?"

The three of them looked at each other.

"We haven't thrown any bricks," Seckry said innocently.

"You wretched kids have tormented me for long enough! Just leave me be!"

"We're not here to torment you," said Vance. "We just want to ask some questions."

A grille on the door slid open and a pair of bloodshot eyes peered at them with intensity.

"What do you want?" came the muffled voice.

"We're looking for Coronius Hindglubber," said Vance.

There was a momentary pause.

"You're looking in the wrong place!" and with that, the grille slammed shut.

"Professor Hindglubber, we desperately need to speak to you," Vance said forcefully.

The grille shot open again and Seckry and Eiya both jumped a little.

"Dr Hindglubber is dead! That's all you need to know."

"Please," Eiya begged. "I woke up inside the Endrin compound with no memory before that point. I need to know who I am. And I need to know what they were doing to me. We know Endrin visited you and we know they were interested in your theory of illusional time. We think you may be able to help us."

There was a long silence, and then –

"You woke up inside the compound?"

"Yes," Eiya said. "In an area known as the cultivation unit. I was lying on a bed of earth that was alive with glowing red worms."

There was another silence, for so long that Seckry was about to knock again, but then came the sound of bolts being unlocked and chains being lifted.

The three of them gave each other a quick glance of hope.

The door opened inwards slowly, and a heap of masonry and dust dropped from the door frame.

Coronius Hindglubber was short and thin and looked terrible. His dank grey hair hung sodden with sweat and clung to his pockmarked skin while his white vest was stained with brown streaks and littered with frayed holes. The smell of the house hit the group immediately. It was a mix of root vegetables and rot.

"Come inside." Hindglubber said. "Hurry."

"What did Endrin say to you when they came here?" Vance asked. They were seated around the living room, which was scattered with bottles of whiskey and wet patches of carpet.

"They told me they wanted my work. My diagrams, my illustrations, my papers, everything."

Hindglubber shook his head, lost in his memory.

"I told them no and they laughed. They said that if Endrin wants something, it's not a matter that's up for discussion. When they realised I wasn't just going to give up all of my work they tied me to this chair and packed it all into their bags as I watched.

"I couldn't understand it. 'What on earth are you going to do with my work?' I said to them. That's when the one with black, greasy hair told the others to leave.

"He said to me with an excited smile, 'Is it true? Is this all true, this illusional time?' and I said, 'Of course it's true.' He smiled and there was something dark, something deep and dark behind those eyes, something menacing. He said, 'If time is just an illusion, then it would be possible, would it not, to bring something out of this illusional past and bring it into the illusional present?'

"But I told him he was wrong. Something that is within the confines of the illusion cannot alter the illusion itself. There is nothing in the world so powerful that it can manipulate the illusion. 'Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that,' he said to me.

"It was then that the gravity of the situation fully hit me. If Endrin had, indeed, found something powerful enough to manipulate the illusion, the consequences of them doing so would be completely unknown.

"You have no idea what you are meddling in,' I said to him. 'Reality doesn't work in such linear ways. You cannot bring something out of the past and place it in the present. The whole fabric of the universe would be ripped apart. Who knows what would happen?'

"But he just smiled. 'Don't bother contacting the Patrol,' he said. 'They won't be interested.' And he threw me a knife to cut myself free before leaving."

"Endrin can't just break in and steal a lifetime of work," said Eiya. "Why did he say the Patrol wouldn't be interested? I'm sick of Endrin thinking they're above the law."

"Well," Hindglubber said grimly. "Endrin _are_ above the law. The first thing I did was phone the head office of the Skyfall Patrol."

"What did they say?" Eiya asked.

"They told me to forget it. Forget everything. To go away and never come back. They told me they weren't going to help me and if I tried to take this any further I would be dealt with accordingly."

"The Patrol? Are you serious?" Seckry said in disbelief.

"I had nowhere to go. I couldn't run away. I shut my door and vowed never to open it again."

"I bet they're paying the Patrol to keep quiet," Eiya said. "The filthy pigs."

"What do they want to bring out of the past and into the present?" asked Vance.

"I don't know," Hindglubber said. "But they are fools. They cannot just bring something out of the past, no matter how they think they can do it. Time doesn't work like that."

"Dr Hindglubber," Vance said. "I think Endrin may have found something powerful enough to manipulate time. It's called helitonium."

Hindglubber reeled in fear and shock. "Hel . . . helitonium?" he said.

"The white chips they gave everybody? They were scanners, scanning people for traces of helitonium. It sounds like they found people with helitonium inside them, and they're going to extract it."

"But helitonium is just . . . a myth."

Vance breathed out slowly. "Dr Hindglubber, you can spare us the act. You know just as well as we do that helitonium exists, don't you?"

Hindglubber's lips trembled for a moment. "Yes. Of course it exists, though I've never come across it. You say Endrin have access to helitonic particles?"

"We believe so," said Vance.

"Then . . . Gedin help us all."

After Vance had dropped Seckry and Eiya off at Kerik Square, they both sat on their beds talking for a while.

Seckry couldn't remember falling asleep, but he must have done at some point, as he woke up to the sound of ruffling carpet. He lay there with his eyes closed for a moment. Eiya must have got up to use the bathroom.

But there was some other sound.

Was it breathing? It didn't sound like Eiya.

He began to sit up and opened his eyes sleepily.

He froze.

Absolute fear engulfed Seckry's body and he mouthed, "Eiya!" slowly, desperately, and silently.

Eiya was grasped firmly in the arms of the hugest man Seckry had ever seen, her eyes streaming silent tears.

"Gedin, no. Please. No." Seckry shook his head as he saw the symbol on the man's forehead.

A cracked, deformed scar, red and painful.

In the shape of a rabbit.

# Chapter Twenty Seven

# The Rabbit Man

"Please!" Seckry begged. "Let her go!"

The Rabbit Man snarled as Eiya tried to shake herself free.

"No!" Seckry shouted. "What do you want? Anything! Anything! Just let her go, please!"

The Rabbit Man held on firmly to Eiya with one hand and reached into his pocket with the other. He pulled out a compact knife and flicked the blade open.

"Eiya!" Seckry screamed.

The Rabbit Man pressed the knife against Eiya's throat.

But then something in his face changed.

He suddenly dropped the knife and let Eiya go.

Eiya ran to Seckry and grabbed a hold of him, squeezing him as tight as she could and burying her face into his chest.

Seckry was frozen, his mouth half open in mid sentence, as the huge beast of a man looked towards the window. His facial expression was slowly changing from pure malice and hatred to something of curiosity and confusion.

In the silence, all that could be heard was the faint sound of Mrs Plum outside, singing her lullaby as eerily as ever.

The Rabbit Man made his way over to the window slowly, dragging his huge frame like some kind of mythical stone golem.

Seckry was paralysed, wondering what on earth was going to happen to them, and Eiya was shaking uncontrollably in his arms.

But the Rabbit Man had lost all interest in them. It seemed as though he was . . . listening to the song.

His eyes were so bloodshot and puffed up that Seckry couldn't be sure, but it almost seemed as though they were welling up with water.

With a cracked voice, the Rabbit Man said, " _Mum?_ "

# Chapter Twenty Eight

# Into the Earth

There was a howl of agony from the Rabbit Man, and the skin on his arms and legs suddenly flashed bright blue, radiating neon light as though there were bulbs inside his flesh.

" _Mum?_ " he said, louder this time, before roaring in pain once again as his skin flashed blue for the second time.

He fell to the floor next to Seckry's window, shaking.

Seckry and Eiya were motionless, almost too petrified with fear to even think about what was going on. But one single thought was boring away at Seckry's mind through the fear.

Was this _Danney Plum?_

"Danney?" Seckry said uncertainly.

The Rabbit Man turned his head and looked at Seckry as though for the first time, his eyes wide with innocent curiosity.

With a third flash of ultra blue, the Rabbit Man seized up and arched his back in agony. This time the light was stronger. It seemed to be crippling him, electrocuting him. His gargled screams stopped dead as the light cut off, and his head hit the floor.

He was motionless.

All Seckry and Eiya could hear now was their own trembling breathing and the oblivious tune of Mrs Plum's lullaby. Danney's lullaby.

Then something happened that made Seckry squeeze Eiya as close to him as he could.

The Rabbit Man's limp body began moving, sliding, as though being dragged by an invisible force across his bedroom floor. He slid through the door and reached up a heavy arm, grasping at thin air, and was then dragged around the corner and out of sight. They heard the front door open quickly and the movement of people. Then a van door slamming shut and the furious roar of an engine speeding away.

Seckry and Eiya both stood shaking for longer than either of them could remember.

The first thing Seckry said was, "He's gone."

"Seckry . . . I thought that was it. I thought it was going to end there." Eiya's nerves finally seemed to let her emotions through and she began crying into his chest, her tears soaking his t-shirt.

They sat, holding each other all night until neither of them could stay upright any longer.

After a brief, troubled sleep, Seckry awoke to find Eiya already up.

"How could he have got in?" Eiya said. "There's no damage to the door. I've checked. Seckry, he had a _key._ "

"There's only one set of people that have keys to everybody's homes apart from the owners," Seckry said. "And that's the Skyfall Patrol."

"The Patrol . . ." Eiya said. "The force that are fighting against the Rabbit Man? Who are doing everything they can to track him down and stop him from killing again? They haven't been trying to track him down, have they? They've been giving him access. The Patrol gave the Rabbit Man the key."

Seckry said nothing for a moment.

"Eiya . . . I think the Rabbit Man is Mrs Plum's son."

Eiya nodded softly. "He's still alive. And she has no idea. And he's . . . a mass murderer."

"He looked like a monster," Seckry said. "Whatever they've done to him, they've turned him into this."

"Seckry. It's time for answers isn't it?"

"It's time we stopped this. The Divinita Project, the Rabbit Man murders, everything."

"Well, Seckry, look at this . . . I noticed it this morning. I don't think that music we heard in the old power reactor was living in the memory of the metal. I think it was coming from beneath us."

"What do you mean?"

Eiya held out her mobile phone, displaying one of the photographs she had taken of the glowflies on the night of the ball.

Seckry peered closer. It was a photo of a swarm of them on the wall, just above the rusted, closed door. Seckry hadn't noticed it while they had been there, but it seemed as though the pattern they were forming resembled something they had both been looking for for a long time.

It was the constellation, the musical note of Silversong.

"I think we've found Ropart Sanfarrow," said Eiya.

"Could it really be him? Danney Plum," Seckry said, as they rode the monorail. "Danney Plum became the Rabbit Man . . ."

"What was happening to him? His skin was going bright blue," said Eiya.

"Whoever was outside must have been electrocuting him somehow because he'd let you go. Then they pulled him out of the flat by some magnetic force."

They left the station and headed down to the reactor.

The glowflies were sparse this time, as it was daylight, but there were still a few scuttling on the wall making the faint symbol of Silversong.

"Seek refuge under the sign of Silversong," Seckry said, and put his hands on the wheel. Eiya grabbed half of it as well and they both heaved. With a nasty shriek of grinding metal, the thick door began to open, sending rusty orange flakes fluttering to the ground.

"I guess we both didn't try hard enough before," said Eiya.

The passageway beyond was pitch black.

"I can't even see the stairs. We're never going to be able to find our way down there.

"Wait, Seckry, remember what the note said."

She pulled a printout of it from her pocket.

"Those trapped in glass will light your way."

Seckry fumbled around just inside of the darkness and he felt something cold and smooth sitting on the floor.

He pulled out a glass jar with a clasp lid.

"There's nothing inside except some residue at the bottom."

As he held it in front of him a stray glowfly zipped into the jar and settled on the layer of goo. He was just about to shake it out when it suddenly hit him. He sniffed the inside of the jar.

"It's ellonberry," he said. He held the glass into the air and another two glowflies wandered in to it, settling on the bottom. "Sanfarrow put it there to give Kayne light. And that's how he got them to make the Silversong symbol. He must have smeared the shape in ellonberry juice on the wall."

Seckry wandered around the chamber, watching as more and more glowflies hovered into the jar.

As Seckry closed the lid, Eiya whispered, "We'll let you out as soon as we're finished. We promise."

Seckry held the jar in front of him and in the shimmering blue light he saw that the corridor descended into a spiral grating.

"Something feels wrong doesn't it, Seck? Only Kayne was meant to come down here."

"I know. We have to find Sanfarrow though, and this is the only way."

They made their way slowly across the grating and down the spiral steps, their footsteps echoing around them.

About half way down, a cockroach scuttled between Seckry's shoes and he shuddered, swinging the glass jar involuntarily. The light wandered around the chamber and Seckry caught a glimpse of a huge cobweb hanging in one of the corners.

As they got to the bottom there were a few control levers for the reactor and a huge gaping hole in one of the walls with yellow tape strewn across it which read, 'BEWARE. HAZARD. DO NOT CROSS.' Behind it there seemed to be a narrow, coarse tunnel which led into the earth. It was the only way to go.

"This doesn't look right," Eiya said.

"I bet Sanfarrow wanted it to look as uninviting as possible to anyone that managed to get down here. The only person he wanted down here was Kayne."

Seckry ducked under the tape and Eiya followed.

Seckry held the light as far as he could in front of him and narrowed his eyes. He held out his hand silently and Eiya stopped.

"There's something up ahead," Seckry said quietly. Something . . . red."

They waited a while until they were sure it was motionless and then they moved forward.

As they came closer and closer their fast beating hearts began to relax a little. The glowing red light was an LCD panel hanging from the roof of the tunnel, displaying a large number. The number 3.

As they approached, they realised that the rest of the tunnel was blocked by a circular, metal door. But more peculiarly there seemed to be a number of small panels in a ring around the circumference of the tunnel wall.

"Three . . ." Eiya said musingly. "What does it mean?"

But Seckry was more interested in the panels around them. He pressed his hand to one and it lit up.

"Eiya, look at this."

"How do we get past?" Eiya said. "There's nothing else on Sanfarrow's note." She scanned the paper. "Just that little logo at the bottom." Suddenly her eyes shot open. "The logo. Seck, look at it."

Seckry peered at the man in the circle again.

"There are twelve panels around the circle," said Eiya. "Just like here. It wasn't a logo at all. It was a diagram. Another instruction to get in. You have to replicate the man in the image."

Seckry placed his hand on the panel to his left. "Where does my right hand go?" he asked Eiya.

"The panel just right of the top one. And your feet go either side of the middle one on the ground."

"Here goes," Seckry said, and he put everything in position.

There was a bleep and the big red number 3 on the LCD panel switched to 2.

They both stared at it in silence as Seckry lowered his arms.

"I don't think it worked, did it?" Seckry said with a feeling of emptiness.

Eiya looked at the paper again and she shook her head. "This has to be it, it's definitely the panels in this tunnel. But you had your hands and feet on the right ones. I don't understand it."

"And it looks like we only get two more tries," Seckry said. "I wonder what happens if we fail both times . . ."

After a lot of thinking, they both decided they'd have to try it one more time, assuming that Seckry had accidentally had something on a wrong panel the first time. Seckry placed his hands and feet back in position.

There was a bleep and the red number changed to a 1.

"Gedin!" Seckry shouted, and then clasped his hand over his mouth. If they were heard by Sanfarrow he'd know there were intruders.

Eiya slumped against the tunnel wall with the paper in her hands.

Suddenly she shot upright. She began glancing back and forth from the sheet to the panels.

"What is it?" Seckry said.

"Seckry . . . I know the combination." She stepped into the ring.

"No! Eiya!" Seckry said desperately. He tried to grab her but she placed her hands and feet on the panels before he could.

The was a beep and the red number disappeared.

Seckry and Eiya were both frozen to the spot.

And then, slowly, the circular door split into two halves and slid into the cavern walls with a rusty screech. Beyond it was another darkened corridor.

"Eiya, you gave me the fright of my life," Seckry said.

"Sorry," she smiled innocently.

"How did you work it out?"

Eiya gave an incredulous, short laugh. "You know this ancient Klaxion under the logo? Emrorrim Retneot?"

"It doesn't mean a love of pig stew?"

"It's not even Klaxion," Eiya said. "When I was leaning against the wall I could see the reflection of the paper in the metal. Take a look."

She held the paper adjacent to one of the panels and Seckry strained to read the reflection.

The words Emrorrim Retneot had been reversed and read toenteR mirrormE.

Seckry read aloud. "To enter mirror me . . . mirror me to enter."

He shook his head in disbelief.

"I just put my hands and feet in the position of the mirrored diagram," Eiya said.

Once they had regained their courage, they followed the cavern slowly and found themselves at another door. But it was nothing like the last. This was a door with no locks or bolts on it, just a rectangular window. Through it they could see the blinking lights of computer terminals.

"This is it," Seckry said. "This is where he's going to be."

"What do we say to him?" Eiya said.

"We've gotta tell him we're not his enemy. That's our main priority."

They stepped closer with caution. As Seckry readied himself, Eiya pressed her face to the window.

She gasped.

Seckry froze. "What is it?"

"Oh no . . ."

Eiya turned her face slowly to Seckry. "Seckry . . . we're too late. Take a look."

Seckry moved towards the glass. He wiped away the condensation that was being made by their breaths to get a clearer view.

Lying on the floor was a skeleton. And it was wearing a white lab coat.

Seckry's stomach turned to mush. He tried to convince himself that there must be another explanation, some other person that had been down here as well, but he knew he was just kidding himself. He knew the corpse on the other side of the door had to be Ropart Sanfarrow.

# Chapter Twenty Nine

# Project Suffer

Eiya slumped to the ground and hugged her knees, staring into space.

"He was the only one that could have given us the answers."

"We've come all this way," Seckry said. "We can't go back now. Not without finding something out. We have to go in. We have to search for any information we can get."

Eiya nodded, and Seckry pushed the door open.

The chamber was full of computers that were still running, and was lit by hundreds of blinking lights on components and panels.

They made their way carefully around the skeleton. Seckry had expected the room to smell awful from the decomposing corpse, but in fact, the close air just smelled of hot computer fans and plastic.

"Seckry, look at this," Eiya called.

Around the corner was an alcove, its walls covered from ground to ceiling in scraps of paper. As Seckry moved closer he saw that each bit of paper had a different sixteen digit number on it.

"What do you think this is?" Eiya asked.

Seckry shook his head. He had no idea.

Seckry felt himself drawn to an old, square television set that was still switched on, and was showing white noise. Clustered underneath the outdated television was a mound of video tapes, and scrawled into the desk beside them were the words:

EVIDENCE AGAINST DARKLIGHT

"Eiya," Seckry said hurriedly. "Look." He picked up one of the tapes. A frayed white sticker labelled it as 'The Stolen Child.'

"It has to be Danney, doesn't it?" Eiya said, a mixture of excitement and horror in her voice.

Seckry saw that underneath the television was an ancient VHS recorder. He had never seen one in real life before, and hadn't realised there were any still in existence, having gone out of use over a hundred years ago.

He looked at Eiya and she gave him a tentative nod.

Seckry placed the tape into the player and pressed play.

There were two men on screen, one he recognised as Kan Darklight, and the other as an older Ropart Sanfarrow.

"We don't need to put him through any unnecessary suffering," Sanfarrow said.

"What are you talking about?" This was Darklight, storming around the room ferociously. The camera was shaking slightly from his pacing. "The idea is suffering. This project is based on suffering. Don't you understand?"

"It doesn't have to be," Sanfarrow said firmly.

"He needs to feel hate," Darklight continued. "He needs to be so filled with hatred that the only thing he wants to do is kill."

The tape flickered and cut to black for a moment.

Then a picture appeared again, and this time there was a young boy in the room, huddled in the corner.

Eiya squeezed Seckry's arm tight.

On screen, Darklight entered the room, walked over and kicked the boy in the arm, making him begin to cry. Then Darklight kicked him again, harder this time, so that the boy toppled over and curled up into a ball, crying into his hands.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, is our specimen. We're calling him Project Suffer. Right now he is a weak, pathetic, worm of a child, but by the time the project has been completed, he will be the perfect assassin."

The tape suddenly fast forwarded of its own accord and stopped at a different scene.

"Project Suffer log, good progression," Darklight said. "Though the drugs have got to him. Doesn't want to move today. If he keeps getting like this I'm gonna have to take some drastic action."

The tape cut again.

"Still not moving," said Darklight, now standing in a different position. "Like a slug."

The tape flickered and cut to a new scene once more.

"What day is it today, Project Suffer?" Darklight said. He nudged Danney gently. "Hey, hey. I said what day is it today? It's your birthday. That's right. We know the date you were born, and we're not monsters. We couldn't not give you a present on your birthday."

Sanfarrow entered the room carrying a tray that was covered by a red cloth. He unsheathed it, and underneath laid a heap of rabbit shaped cookies.

"Made them fresh myself this morning," he said, smiling. "You like cookies, don't you?"

Danney shook his head.

"Everyone likes cookies," Darklight persisted.

"I wanna go home," Danney said, through tears.

"Dear Gedin, Kan, what are we doing? We have to let him go. We have to give him back to his mother."

Darklight breathed in slowly.

"Ropart, I'd like to remind you who's in charge around here. I'm project manager, not you, and this little experiment is going to earn me a shot at being CEO of the whole company."

"Kan, do you really think this . . . this _torturous_ experiment is going to sit well with the Endrin governing board?"

"Well, Ropart, if it doesn't, I'm sure I'll find a way to change their opinions. Now, throw me one of those shapes."

"What?" said Sanfarrow.

"The shapes. The cookie shapes."

"The . . . cookie cutters? Why?"

"Just do it!" Darklight snapped.

There was a pause before Sanfarrow tossed one of the metal rabbit shapes across the room.

Darklight examined it for a moment, like a surgeon inspecting his tools. A peculiar smile appeared on his face.

"You want a tattoo for your birthday, little boy? Mummy's not around to stop you, is she?"

Sanfarrow said, "Kan, no!"

Darklight smiled and laughed as though he couldn't believe what he was doing, and then he held up the cookie cutter with one hand, and heated the blade of it with a lighter.

"The scar," Eiya said, and she buried her face into Seckry's arm.

Seckry could do nothing but stare at the screen, transfixed and horrified at what he was seeing.

Seckry's stomach lurched as Darklight pressed the cookie cutter against the boy's skin. The scream that was let out was so loud that the tape crackled and distorted from it. Darklight's other arm was holding the boy down by the head, keeping him still as he violently wriggled in pain.

There was a flash of light as the tape malfunctioned, and then it cut to a steady shot of the boy, looking older now. He was lying on a surgery table, completely naked, and his eyes were rolling around, deeply sunken into blackened eye sockets.

"Time to begin procedure 203, the second step of amalgamation," said Darklight. He began cutting a line down the skin of the boy's forearm. The boy didn't stir, his eyes just kept rolling around, and saliva was dripping from his mouth.

Darklight picked up a strip of metal that was dotted with the green and black nodes of an electronic chip, and pushed it into the wound.

"The glowing light under his skin," Eiya said.

"Plasmatic pulsers," said the voice of Darklight, a hint of pride in his voice. "This is where the boy becomes the slave."

The tape crackled and flickered again, and in the next shot, Danney was standing in the corner of the room, his head hung and his hair dangling in front of him.

Little balls of something were hitting him, and it took Seckry and Eiya a moment to realise that they were coming from the direction of the camera.

"Come on," said Darklight aggressively. "Aren't you getting angry?"

He screwed a piece of paper into a large ball and threw it at Danney's head. It bounced to the floor and there was no reaction.

"Come on you little piece of dirt . . . what makes you angry?"

Darklight wandered around a bit more before saying, "Hey . . . I wonder how that _mother_ of yours is doing without you."

At this, Danney lifted his head and launched himself at Darklight. In mid dive there was a loud crack and a flash of blue light and Danney fell to the floor, lifeless.

Darklight laughed incredulously, seemingly impressed by his own invention.

"Perfect," he said, and the tape distorted before cutting to black.

Seckry pressed stop on the player.

"We've seen enough of this," he said distantly. Seeing Danney, as a child, being electrocuted like that made him want to vomit. He took a moment to compose himself before switching the television off at the mains.

"He's done nothing wrong, has he?" Eiya said, pained. "They basically forced him to murder all those people, and if he didn't, they'd electrocute him from inside his own body."

Seckry couldn't bear to think about it any longer.

"Come on," he said, "let's search the rest of the place. We have to think about the innoya who Darklight have captive. We have to save them. If we can find the key to the Divinita chamber, then maybe we'll be able to."

They both began rummaging through more of Sanfarrow's things, and after a few minutes, Eiya said, "Seck, there's a door to another room here."

Eiya pushed open the door and led them into a smaller space in which there was a human sized tubular booth and what appeared to be a makeshift rope elevator.

Eiya glanced back at Seckry. "This place has more than one floor?"

But Seckry was more interested in the booth. Dozens of diagrams, charts and figures were tacked to the wall beside it, and it was connected to another formidable array of blinking computer equipment. As he peered closer at the mess of paper on the wall, his eyes widened and his heart began to race.

Each diagram was labelled with the same prefix: Innoya Detection Device V 2.3.

"Eiya, this thing detects if someone is innoya," Seckry said, his eyes scanning everything in front of him rapidly.

Eiya joined him. "I guess this must be a very early form of the white chip."

Seckry looked down at the control board of the computer. Stuck to the panel was a laminated sheet labelled 'Usage.' Seckry and Eiya exchanged knowing glances.

"This is where we find out, isn't it?" Eiya said. "I must be innoya, it all fits together. I must have escaped somehow from the Divinita chamber and that's when you found me. But now . . . now we can know for sure."

"Are you certain you want to step into that thing?" Seckry said. "It looks really old and unstable."

"I need to know," Eiya said softly, and Seckry nodded. In truthfulness, so did he.

"Okay," Seckry read. "It says that once you're standing inside the booth, I'm to slide the glass door shut and secure it with the latch provided. Then I must flick these three switches in succession." Seckry made a mental note of them. "Once the scan has begun, an image of the subject will be projected onto the wall. Humans will emanate a bright red, and innoya, due to the level of helitonic particles in their DNA, will emanate a bright blue."

"It sounds simple enough," Eiya said. She took a deep breath and stepped inside the glass tube before Seckry slowly slid its casing shut.

Seckry double checked he had his fingers on the right switches, and then one by one, flicked them on.

A deep, mechanical whirr, like the sound of a motor, filled the underground chamber.

Eiya gave him the thumbs up from inside the glass.

After a few minutes the motor wound down and everything went quiet again. Then a projector that was hanging from the ceiling flickered into life and a picture spread across the wall.

Neither Seckry nor Eiya said anything initially. Seckry narrowed his eyes in confusion.

What they were both looking at was an image of the chamber and a very faint outline of Eiya's clothes. But where Eiya should have been, there was nothing. No red light, no blue light, just blank space.

"I . . . don't think it worked," Seckry said.

"Let's try it agai–" Eiya's words died in her mouth as something made both her and Seckry freeze in horror.

The rope elevator was moving.

Someone was coming down.

# Chapter Thirty

# Sanfarrow Explains

They had no time to run, and nowhere to run to.

Eiya yanked open the glass door and hauled herself out of the tube, but before they could even contemplate what to do next, the elevator platform came into view.

There was a heavily bearded man aboard it, puffing and sweating, his eyes closed. When he reached the bottom, he opened his eyes and swore loudly as he saw Seckry and Eiya. He grabbed the sides of the elevator to steady himself, before pulling a gun out of his pocket, dropping it in his haste, then picking it up and waving it at them nervously.

" _Stay where you are!_ " he said, through trembling lips. "I will smash your skulls to pieces. _Do not_ make a single movement!"

"Please!" Seckry said, frozen still. "We don't mean any harm."

The man's hand was shaking even more violently now.

"How on earth did you get in here?" he demanded. "And who are you?"

"We came here looking for Ropart Sanfarrow," Seckry said, amazed at how calm he was managing to keep himself with a gun pointing at his head. "But . . . we were too late."

The man's eyes looked confused and were darting from Seckry to Eiya and back again.

"Who sent you?"

"Someone named Jenniver Layne," Seckry said.

At these words, the man lowered his gun slightly.

"Jenniver?"

Seckry nodded shortly, and noticed a bead of sweat drip from his forehead.

The man was silent for a long time, before eventually saying, "You weren't too late."

"What do you mean?" Seckry asked.

With the gun still held shakily in Seckry and Eiya's direction, the man elaborated.

"The skeleton you must have seen in the other room is a decoy. It's plastic. I just wrapped my lab coat in it and made it look authentic with a bit of effort. Ropart Sanfarrow is still alive, and he's standing right in front of you."

It was near impossible to tell due to the masses of facial hair that the man was sporting, but those eyes . . . those eyes were the same eyes as that young man in the photo, and the older man on the VHS tape. This was, indeed, Ropart Sanfarrow.

"How can I trust you?" Sanfarrow asked. "How do I know you're not working for Darklight?"

"We have something that'll make you trust us," Eiya said, and she nodded to Seckry.

Seckry pulled out the locket that Jenniver Layne had given him and held it out.

"Jenniver gave us this," he said.

Sanfarrow's arm dropped almost involuntarily and the gun slid out of his hand and onto the floor as he gave a whimper that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

" _Jenniver_ ," he said, and took the locket cautiously from Seckry.

He stared at it for a while, and it seemed as though he forgot that anyone else was around for those moments.

"Why has she sent you to find me?" Sanfarrow asked, coming out of his daze.

"Because you're the only one with the key to the Divinita chamber aside from Kan Darklight," Seckry said. "And we have to get in there and stop the Divinita Project before all the innoya that Darklight has captured have the life sucked out of them."

Sanfarrow looked lost for words.

"We need to sit down," he said eventually.

"No, Kevan Kayne is not here," Sanfarrow said in response to Seckry and Eiya enquiring about him. "I believed that Darklight had captured him, but I had no idea whether he was alive or not. From what Jenniver's told you . . . it sounds as though he is dead." His lip trembled as he said it and he looked close to tears. "When Darklight learned that we were plotting against him, me and Kevan had to make a run for it. I escaped. Kevan . . . didn't."

"What does Darklight want helitonium for?" Seckry asked.

"Kan would stop at nothing to cut company costs. His only concern is financial success. Endrin's biggest costs are their power reactors. He always said that he would find a more efficient way to power the city."

"So that's what he wants it for," said Eiya. "He's going to use helitonium to generate electricity?"

Sanfarrow shook his head lethargically. "It would be easier if it were that simple. But no, helitonium cannot be used to power the city. It's the wrong type of energy, it just wouldn't work. No, Kan wants something even more powerful than helitonium. The most powerful force ever recorded in history. Have you any idea what that is?"

Seckry and Eiya exchanged bemused looks. They didn't have a clue.

"In year zero, Seckraman, son of Gedin, appeared in the midst of the city and prevented the Great Meteor from destroying the planet. He raised his hand up to the sky and unleashed a great power. The power of Gedin. Kan Darklight wants this power."

Seckry almost spat a laugh.

"Seckraman? He wants the power of Seckraman? Wait . . . is that why the logo for the project is the same symbol that I saw on an old painting of Seckraman?"

Sanfarrow narrowed his eyes. "As far as I was aware, that logo was an original design by artists at Endrin. But the project is, indeed, based upon the acquisition of Seckraman's power."

"Seckry," Eiya said suddenly. "That's why they stole Hindglubber's illusional time theories, isn't it? Darklight wants to use the helitonium extracted from the innoya to create a wormhole, go back in time, and steal Seckraman's powers. Hindglubber was saying they wanted to steal something from the past and bring it into the present. It was this."

"You're almost right," Sanfarrow said gravely. "But Kan does not simply want to steal Seckraman's powers, even if there were a way to do so. No, he wants to steal Seckraman himself and bring him to the present. He wants to keep him in a vegetated state, and constantly draw the power out of him, provided it's in limitless supply, powering the city for years to come without the need of a single, expensive power reactor."

"This is just . . . insane!" Seckry said, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "This is the son of Gedin we're talking about!"

Sanfarrow kept a serious face. "Darklight has no ties to religion. Sacrilege has no meaning to him."

"But Seckraman prevented the Great Meteor from hitting the earth, didn't he?" Eiya said, confused. "If Darklight theoretically stole Seckraman from the past, wouldn't the meteor hit earth?"

"That is the most dangerous and devastating outcome of this Gedin forsaken experiment, yes," Sanfarrow said, disgust in his voice. "Of course, nothing like this has ever been attempted before. If this thing somehow works for Darklight, then he will be the first person to turn Hindglubber's radical theories into reality, and he will be the first person to alter history."

"But . . . why would Darklight want the meteor to hit? Wouldn't it wipe out everything?"

"Kan is insisting that he will be able to steal Seckraman after he has destroyed the meteor," Sanfarrow explained.

"He'd be willing to risk the fate of the entire earth for the sake of powering the city without the need for reactors?" Eiya asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Sanfarrow said.

"But . . ." Seckry cut in. "We're all talking about this as if it's possible. Is time travel even a reality?"

Sanfarrow breathed in slowly. "Most people would say not. But then most people aren't aware of the existence of helitonium, believing it to be something of myth and legend."

"You believe he can do it?" said Eiya. "That Darklight can go back in time using helitonium?"

"Yes . . . I believe so," Sanfarrow said.

"Mr Sanfarrow," Eiya said, after a while. "I think I'm an innoya."

Sanfarrow cocked his head slightly.

"My earliest memory is of waking up in the Endrin compound, which is when Seckry found me."

Seckry took a moment to briefly explain why it was that he was inside the compound himself.

"And those worms were put on a train, never to be seen again? Dear Gedin and Gainstop, it's even worse than I imagined . . . but more pressing as of right now, you say you have no memory before that point?"

"Nothing," Eiya confirmed.

Sanfarrow considered this.

"Erasing the memory of the innoya was never a part of Darklight's plan, as far as I knew. And you say you came into consciousness in the cultivation unit, above ground? I just can't see how Darklight would have been so careless as to let somebody escape."

"When I was at Endrin," Seckry said. "Jenniver showed me security footage of the night I rescued Eiya. She showed up as a really bright light on the camera. Jenniver said that the tape was even damaged from the light. She said a team of experts had to work to restore some kind of picture."

"Bright light?" Sanfarrow said, perplexed. "Innoya have certainly been captured on film before, and they are depicted like anybody else. They certainly do not emit any light. From the looks of it, you've already attempted to use the innoya detection device I have down here. What were the results?"

Seckry and Eiya gave each other a slightly guilty glance.

"We don't think it worked properly," Eiya said. "It showed nothing. There were no red or blue particles on the projection."

Sanfarrow lowered his bushy eyebrows and headed back into the room that held the device. Seckry and Eiya followed him hurriedly.

"In all the years I've had this thing, not once has it failed on me. I believed it to be unbreakable." Sanfarrow slid open the glass cylinder with a thud, stuck his one arm in, and then flicked a load of switches on the control panel with lightning speed.

The machine whirred into action and a few minutes later, a diagram appeared of Sanfarrow's arm, glowing pure, bright red.

"Looks fine to me," he said, with an air of relief. "Eiya, is it? Would you please be so kind as to step inside once again?"

Eiya stepped in cautiously and put her hands to her sides, looking nervous.

But when the projector fired up once more, they were presented with the same faint outline of Eiya's clothes, and invisible space all around them.

Sanfarrow slowly made his way over to the wall which held the projection and put his hand to the image.

" _What in the name of Gedin?_ " he whispered to himself.

"What does this mean?" Eiya asked from inside the cylinder.

But Sanfarrow didn't answer. He disappeared into the main room and began rifling through stacks of books, tossing things aside, flicking through huge, dusty tomes, and finally smoothing out the page of a particularly old looking hardback.

Eiya stepped out of the machine and slid the door closed behind her before she and Seckry followed Sanfarrow.

" _Could it be?_ " Sanfarrow muttered to himself. He flicked a few pages, and then flicked back again before looking up and getting to his feet. He surveyed Eiya with awe.

"Before I make any conclusions," he said. "I just want to be sure of the facts. You say you were found by Seckry in the cultivation unit, in the mud that was above the Divinita chamber? And you showed up as a bright light on Endrin's security camera footage? And you have no memory whatsoever of anything before that night? And nothing has come back to you since, no flashbacks or anything?"

After Eiya confirmed all of his questions, Sanfarrow took a deep breath.

"Then Eiya, the reason why you have no memory beyond that night, is that you had just been born."

# Chapter Thirty one

# A Temporary Existence

"What?" Eiya said quietly, her expression held firm.

"It is believed that helitonium, in extremely concentrated conditions, can create matter," Sanfarrow said. "I have never seen it happen, and neither has anyone since the twelfth century, I imagine. But it is chronicled. It is also chronicled that during the creation process, the object emits high levels of radiation, which is what would have caused that film footage to pick up a bright light."

"I was created that night?" Eiya said, to herself more than anyone. "I don't understand."

"There was an unbelievably high concentration of helitonic particles amidst that mud in the cultivation unit. The worms, luckily, were eating up most of the toxic, modified ones that the Divinita machine was spewing out, that's why the worms were there, to neutralise the toxicity. When Seckry arrived and started overturning all that mud, he was exposed to pure helitonium. Whatever was in his mind at that moment would have affected the particles around him. Whatever Seckry's mind was looking for, whatever he wanted right then, whatever he needed, could have translated into the morphing and modelling of something just a little distance away from him.

"Wait," Seckry said, "I was looking for the worms at that moment. That's what I wanted."

Sanfarrow smiled briefly. "Ostensibly, yes. But let's not forget the power of the subconscious. Something inside of you, something a lot deeper than the want for those worms, wanted this girl right here."

Seckry's face exploded with prickles of embarrassment.

"You mean . . . I was created out of Seckry's imagination?" said Eiya.

"That's right," Sanfarrow replied. "Which is why you can speak fluent Unilan. Your vocabulary has been taken directly from Seckry's own."

Eiya's wide eyes met Seckry's and she opened her mouth to speak a few times, but nothing came out.

Seckry was trying to deny that he had been imagining anyone like Eiya when he was digging for those worms, but . . . it made sense. He hadn't realised it at first, but from the moment he saw her he had begun to fall in love with her. Had she really been formed by his own desires?

"There is one, very important thing that I have to tell you both before we continue discussing this," Sanfarrow said, his voice suddenly grave. "The reason why Eiya showed up as invisible on the innoya detection device is because matter formed by helitonic particles doesn't exist in the same way that everything else does."

Seckry and Eiya were both silent, waiting for Sanfarrow to continue.

"It only exists temporarily," he said. "It is constantly being fed life by its original source. If the helitonic power that created it is extinguished, then it will simply . . . dissipate."

Seckry's body felt as though it suddenly weighed seven ton. "Wait a minute," he said, swallowing hard. "What are you saying?"

"I'm sorry," Sanfarrow said, looking towards the ground. "But once Darklight has completely drained the innoya of their helitonium, Eiya will cease to exist."

Seckry's mind wouldn't accept what he was hearing.

"Eiya's not going anywhere," he said. "We're going to stop Darklight tonight. No one is going to kill the innoya."

Sanfarrow shook his head, defeated.

"The extraction has already begun. Darklight will have opened up a wound in each of the innoya months ago and there is no way to heal it. Even if there were a way to destroy the Divinita machine, the innoya would still die. They have been reduced to a vegetated state. They are no longer conscious and they never will be again. The brain damage they will have suffered from Darklight's extraction is irreversible and if Darklight doesn't murder them with the Divinita machine, then they will die from their wounds."

Eiya was staring into space.

"I'm sorry . . . I truly am," Sanfarrow said quietly.

The following hour for Seckry was like watching his own body from a distance. Nothing felt real anymore, nothing felt grounded. His mind couldn't seem to comprehend all of the things that Sanfarrow had told them, and he didn't know whether he was dreaming or awake.

It was only when he closed the door behind himself in Sanfarrow's makeshift bathroom that his legs gave way and he slumped down the wall, his eyes streaming hot tears uncontrollably.

He didn't know how long he was in there for but at some point he heard light footsteps outside and Eiya's small, pink hand reached slowly out to him underneath the door.

Seckry squeezed her index finger and smiled through his tears.

When he eventually let himself out, Eiya wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him as tight as she could.

"I'm scared, Seck," she said, in barely more than a whisper. "I'm scared of never seeing you again."

Seckry swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I'm gonna find a way to fix this," he said, and he had never meant anything so much in all his life. He was going to do everything he could to save Eiya, even if it meant he would die trying.

"We need to act tonight," Seckry said determinedly, after another hour of discussing practicalities.

Sanfarrow averted his gaze.

"You know there's no way–"

"I don't care what's supposed to happen," Seckry cut in. "I'm going to find a way to save those innoya. There has to be a way."

Sanfarrow seemed to debate something in his own head for a long time, before saying, "Look . . . the only thing that could even come close to being able to heal a wound like that is the blood of this special animal over in Phary."

"What?" Eiya asked desperately.

"There's no physical way we could get the stuff onto these shores in time, never mind into our hands. It's impossible. And the samples haven't even had proper testing." He paced around the room. "Across the Phary Ocean they have a species of gimmypug unheard of over here, the long eared gimmypug . . . It's blood . . . It has very strong healing powers. I mean in theory, if some of that were to be injected into a wounded innoya . . . It's not for certain, who knows? But it's madness. There is no way of getting any of that blood. Only a few long eared gimmypugs still remain alive over there, and it would take weeks for the stuff to arrive here, even if they'd accept payment for it. Why are you looking at me like that?"

Seckry and Eiya were both gaping at him like goldfish.

"Would the blood of a cross breed between a short eared and a long eared gimmypug do?" said Seckry.

"I . . . didn't know a cross breed existed," said Sanfarrow. "I would imagine some of the healing properties would have been carried through the DNA, yes."

Seckry didn't even have time to appreciate the wave of hope that flooded his body right then.

"We have to get back to Butterkins' sanctuary," he said to Eiya, and she nodded quickly.

"There's a cross breed? Here in the city?" Sanfarrow asked, fascinated.

"Yeah," Seckry said. "And when we get some of its blood, all we need to do is get inside the Divinita chamber. Jenniver said you had a key, right?"

"Not exactly," Sanfarrow said. "It's still under construction."

"Under construction?" Eiya asked.

"This is my key," Sanfarrow said, and pointed towards the elevator he had come down in.

Seckry and Eiya's confused expressions prompted Sanfarrow to explain.

"Do you know where we are, geographically?" he said.

Seckry glanced all around him.

"When you followed the tunnel to this place," Sanfarrow continued, "did you notice the direction you were headed in?"

"I guess we didn't think about it," Seckry said.

"Well you were headed towards Endrin. And you found it."

"You mean–" Eiya said, pointing upwards.

"Yes," said Sanfarrow, "the Divinita chamber is directly above us."

"All this time that Darklight has been looking for you, you were right beneath him," Seckry said, shocked.

"I had to be," Sanfarrow said. "I knew I had to stop the Divinita Project myself and I knew the only way to access the chamber was from below. I just didn't expect that the time to do it would be now. I thought maybe I had a few more months left before activation. From what you've told me, evidently I was wrong. But that leaves us with one huge problem. The passageway isn't complete. You see, I installed the elevator recently to replace the makeshift ladder I had been using, but it still only travels halfway up to where we need to be. The rest is solid earth. It'll take months to chip away. If we use explosives, the whole place might collapse. I don't know how we'll get rid of it."

"What if we had more people," Seckry said. "Could we all hack away at it?"

"There's enough room up there for a team of about seven, I'd say. It certainly would speed the process up, but still there'd never be enough–"

"What if one of those people had some kind of very powerfully charged glove that could crumble fragments of rock within seconds," Seckry said.

Sanfarrow raised his eyebrows. "Do you have somebody in mind?"

# Chapter Thirty Two

# The Power of the Glove

Eiya insisted on heading to the sanctuary alone, which would give Seckry enough time to gather up all the people they would need to help them hack away at the earth.

As they were leaving, Seckry spotted the wall again which was tacked with hundreds of pieces of paper bearing different sixteen digit numbers.

"They are attempts at a combination for a lock," Sanfarrow explained. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box with a panel of numbers on it. "This was given to me by Kevan," he said. "He wouldn't tell me what it was or what was inside. He just told me that I would be able to open it when the time was right. It's been driving me insane trying to work out the combination, because if Darklight has murdered Kevan, I will never know."

They backtracked through Sanfarrow's tunnel and hauled themselves out into the fresh air. A young couple who were walking hand in hand across the road gave them a peculiar glance as they emerged from the out-of-bounds, disused reactor, but Seckry had no time to worry about such trivial things any more.

As Eiya headed for Estergate, Seckry flipped open his mobile and called Tippian. He realised that if he wanted help from Tenk, Tippian and Loca he was going to have to get them all together and explain everything. He needed Vance too. If anyone was going to be a help in storming the Divinita chamber from below, it would be him. The only person he wouldn't be able to get on board would be Kimmy, because he knew that Kimmy had gone on holiday.

"Tipps," Seckry said hurriedly. "Can I call at your place? You live fairly close to the school, right?"

"What? Er . . . yeah sure . . . you okay?"

"I'll explain everything soon. I need your help, and we gotta get Tenk and Loca here too. And Mr Vance from school."

"Loca? Here? Why?"

"I need her help too."

"Oh man . . . I'd better tidy up," Tippian said nervously.

"And Tipps," Seckry said before taking a deep breath. "I think I've found a use for your Glove of Destruction."

Loca agreed to meet them at Tippian's, sounding concerned and eager to find out what was going on, and Tenk, despite initially pointing out that he was in the midst of watching the entire season three of Battle of the Bots, agreed to join them too. As soon as Vance heard that they'd found Sanfarrow, he jumped in the car, asking for Seckry's location.

Seckry just needed to get to Tippian's himself now. He had taken directions over the phone, and it didn't sound too far away. In fact, it wasn't far from where he had been brought by Natania on the trick date back at the start of term.

When he emerged into Ferry Road, he recognised it straight away. He approached the alley where he had been beaten up by Snibble and glanced down there as he passed.

But a single glance turned into a double take, because the alley wasn't empty.

"Fippin heck!" came Snibble's nasal voice through a thick plume of crazydust smoke. "After all this time you've come back for more!"

Seckry couldn't believe it. Snibble was down here right now? Did he spend all his free time here?

Seckry shook his head in disbelief and continued walking away from the alley. He had no time for Snibble right now. But Snibble jogged out of the smoke and overtook Seckry, jumping about in front of him and slapping a crowbar over and over into the palm of his hand.

"Get out of my way, Snibble," Seckry said through gritted teeth, keeping his head low and his eyes turned towards the floor.

"What the fip? I can go wherever I like, you fippin freak. I can knock you out right now if I want, too."

Snibble stopped moving and stood directly in Seckry's path. As Seckry tried to maneuver around him, Snibble shuffled to the side, blocking him once more.

Seckry stopped. "Snibble, you better move out of my way right now," he said, breathing deeply.

"Why? Where you going? Off to bang that little bitch of yours?"

Seckry's next movements seemed completely out of his control. He ripped the crowbar out of Snibble's hands and swung it at his head, smashing into his skull with a dull crack and knocking him to the pavement.

Snibble was still and silent for a moment, before groaning in pain and coughing out a mouthful of blood.

"You're dead," he said, as a dribble of sticky, red saliva seeped onto the gritty ground. "You're life is over, you psycho."

A girl came running out of the alley to see what was happening and screamed at the sight of Snibble on the floor.

"We'll see," Seckry said, and threw the crowbar on top of him. "Call an ambulance," he called to the girl, and continued walking to Tippian's at a slightly brisker pace.

When Seckry reached Tippian's house, he thought he'd be feeling some kind of emotion about Snibble right now, some kind of guilt or regret for lashing out so violently, but he didn't. He was so completely consumed with a fear of losing Eiya that nothing else in the world mattered. Snibble had been in his way, and he'd had to get past him. He'd consider the consequences later.

Vance answered the door and beckoned Seckry inside.

"There's a lot to tell you," Seckry said.

"Eiya isn't . . . real?" Loca said softly. Out of all four of them, she was finding the information the hardest to digest.

"No, she's certainly real," Vance corrected. "But if Ropart Sanfarrow is right, then she is made up of constantly evolving helitonic counter-particles. It's incredible. I mean, I knew that helitonium had the ability to distort matter around it, but . . . actually creating something as complex as a human being?" Vance shook his head slightly. "And Darklight . . . how couldn't I have worked it out? The symbol from Seckraman's robes . . . the stealing of Hindglubber's theories. It all makes sense."

When Eiya arrived with a test tube full of Bubble's blood, Seckry said, "This is it. Does anyone want to back out? This could be really dangerous."

"Give up my chance to use my Glove of Destruction?" Tippian laughed. "Are you kidding me?"

Loca shook her head and her eyes met Eiya's. "You deserve to be here, Eiya," she said. "You deserve to live. I'm not letting anyone take your life, or the lives of these innoya, as you call them."

"Yeah, Eiya . . . I'd . . . kind of miss you, y'know," said Tenk, looking away from the group and swallowing a large lump in his throat.

"Let's not waste any more time," said Vance.

After they had all followed Seckry and Eiya into the disused reactor and down into the depths of Sanfarrow's refuge, they were all fitted with protective clothing which Sanfarrow had retained from his days at Endrin.

The clothes were white lab jackets emblazoned with the Divinita Project symbol.

"These jackets are made of a special substance that will keep you safe from the radiation of the Divinita machine," Sanfarrow explained.

Seckry exchanged glances with Vance.

"They even made their jackets look like Seckraman's robe from that painting," he said.

Once they were all fitted up they took the rope elevator in groups and emerged into what seemed to be another cavernous tunnel, lit by a few scattered gas lamps, this time leading upwards at a steep diagonal.

"If my coordinates are right," Sanfarrow said, "the angle of my digging will lead us directly to the left side of the Divinita chamber, where the flooring is weakest."

"Weakest?" questioned Vance.

Sanfarrow gave a wry nod. "For the last two months that I had access to the place, I would drop a splash of acid onto a small patch of the metal flooring every time I passed it. I knew that I'd have to return to the chamber one day, and I knew that without a key, there was no way of getting through its titanium walls. The only way back in would be from below, through its fairly weak, steel ground. Everyone ready?"

Sanfarrow didn't wait for anyone to respond. He threw each of them a shovel and they all began hacking away at the solid earth.

Tippian used his glove at sporadic intervals to send a shockwave through the rock, which loosened the material for a few yards, though nowhere near enough to make the task of digging an easy one. Sanfarrow took the job of wheeling all of the broken earth away in a wheelbarrow, taking it down in the lift, and dumping it in a designated dumping area that he had built adjacent to his living quarters.

After twenty five minutes of frantic digging, Seckry was sweating profusely, Tenk had already collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion and Loca was breathing fast, short gasps of air. Eiya was trying her best to dig away as much earth as she could, but her tender arms just weren't strong enough, and she was visibly shaking with every movement. Even Vance was taking deep, heavy breaths.

"This isn't going to happen, is it?" Eiya said.

Seckry plunged his shovel into the earth and ripped out a heavy clump with a heave.

"We're going to do it, Eiya," he said sternly.

"Seck, look," she said. "We've barely moved forward. We'll be here for weeks."

Seckry lowered his shovel and looked behind him. It was true, it seemed as though they hadn't moved an inch since starting.

"Guys," Tippian said. "There is one thing we can try."

Everyone looked towards him and stopped what they were doing.

"When I designed this glove I gave it an internal limiting device that controls the amount of power released to a level that's not fatal to the human touch."

"Well I'm glad you thought about my wellbeing before trying to shake my hand with that thing, Tipps," Tenk said dryly.

"What I'm saying," Tippian continued, "is that I can turn the limiter off. I'll need more power than these batteries though, can we get a wire hooked up from something?"

"The power supply for the innoya detection device," Sanfarrow said hurriedly. "That old thing generates enough to light half the city."

Sanfarrow disappeared and returned moments later from the lift trailing a long cable behind him. Whilst he and Tippian connected it to the glove, Seckry joined everyone in standing back towards the lift.

Tippian pressed the glove open palmed onto the surface of the rock in front of him.

After a moment there were a few crackles of discharged electricity.

"Oh man . . ." Tippian said worriedly. "My hand is really starting to bur–"

Tippian's words were silenced by a deep boom and a flash of ultra bright light. He yelled and shook the glove off, cradling his hand to his stomach.

As Vance and Sanfarrow rushed to see if Tippian was okay, Seckry noticed that a giant crack was ripping its way outwards from the point at where Tippian's hand had been.

"Stand back!" he called.

Everyone shuffled backwards and watched in anticipation and fear as the crack spread like a spider web. As it reached all the corners of the tunnel, it came to a standstill. But just as Seckry was about to take a step forward, the earth began to do something nobody expected. It began to wobble.

"Oh my . . ." said Sanfarrow, in horror.

The earth then collapsed like some kind of muddy, giant jelly and spewed across their feet, knocking Tippian over, and making everyone else grip the sides of the tunnel to steady themselves.

As the movement stopped, Tippian crawled to his feet, spat out a few little stones, and shook the soil out of the bristles of his hair before readjusting his glasses and putting his hands on his hips.

"Well, that seems to have done the trick," he said triumphantly.

"Oh, look!" said Loca, pointing and shining her torch.

The earth had crumbled in more directions than one, but one of those directions was forward, and above them, about a hundred yards ahead, was a small patch of metal.

Seckry threw down his shovel.

"This is it," he said. "Have you got the gimmypug blood, Eiya?"

Eiya held up the test tube to show him.

It took them all a little while to scramble through the now spongy earth, but when they reached the metal, they could see that it was bubbled with rust and acid erosion. Tippian gave it a short blast with the glove (which was now back in battery powered mode), and it melted away like silver lava.

Vance helped hoist each one of them up into the chamber before pulling himself through. As Seckry stood up, he saw Eiya's eyes close in distress.

As he scanned the room around him, he saw why.

Around the circumference of the circular chamber were about twenty or so tubular water tanks, each lit from underneath with blue neon and each containing a floating, naked human being. Seckry resisted the urge to look away and focused on the tank closest to him.

A man of about forty years old was suspended in the water, his eyes closed and his arms drifting either side of him. His body was covered in wires and at one end of the thickest wire was a huge needle, impaled into the base of the man's spine.

Each tank had a large pipe trailing from the bottom, and every pipe headed towards the centre of the room, into a large, monstrous looking mess of metal and circuitry which Seckry could only imagine was the Divinita machine.

Beside the machine was a huge, steel circle, like an empty gateway that led nowhere.

"We have to act fast," Sanfarrow said. "Darklight's probably got this place alarmed. He could be on his way here right now. First we need to–"

Sanfarrow was cut off by the sound of the large titanium entrance hissing into action and sliding open.

" _No!_ " Sanfarrow said, in anguish.

Seckry had seen Darklight numerous times on television, but seeing him in the flesh made his skin crawl.

"That was quite an entrance, Ropart," Darklight said smoothly.

# Chapter Thirty Three

# Through the Gateway

"This is over, Kan!" Sanfarrow said with defiance. "We're finishing what we've come to do, and you're not going to stop us."

Darklight sighed dramatically and stepped further into the chamber, eyeing each one of them individually.

"I see you've brought a few friends. Including our very own Mr Worm Thief, Seckraman Sevenstars. And . . . is this . . . Esertgate's head of science? Vance, is it? I suppose I should have assumed I would run into you one day. You've been teetering on the brink of topping my hit list for a long time. Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"I'd like to see you try to take me out, you corrupt piece of dirt," said Vance, confidently.

"How did you know we were here?" Sanfarrow said. "Do you sleep here now? Is that how much this sick project means to you?"

"No, no Ropart. Only tonight. I knew you were coming, you see."

Sanfarrow shook his head slowly. "How?"

"Because I've been watching your movements on a map via a tracking device."

" _Tracking device?_ " Sanfarrow said incredulously.

"Yes, Ropart. In that beloved locket of yours."

Sanfarrow was silent for a moment, before falling to his knees.

"No . . . not Jenniver," he said softly.

Darklight turned and flicked his two fingers at somebody, beckoning them to enter the chamber also. Jenniver Layne strolled in and pressed a button which closed and locked the door behind her.

" _Jenniver,_ " Sanfarrow whispered, pained.

Darklight chuckled.

"Did you really think she still loved you? I mean, Ropart, come on, look at you. She never loved you. How could anybody love you? Your own mother didn't even love you."

"Jenniver, you didn't . . . how could you do this?" Sanfarrow said to her.

"It was ingenious really," said Darklight. "All this time I've been searching for you, I should have realised that all I had to do was get somebody else to do the searching for me. This Sevenstars brat was perfect. We knew he'd stop at nothing to find out what was going on here, and if we told him that you had all the answers, we knew he'd do everything he could to find you. And here you are. You've walked right into my little trap."

"And what are you going to do with us, now that you have us trapped?" Sanfarrow said angrily.

"I'm going to kill you, Ropart. I wasn't intending to bloody my hands to this extent tonight, but I didn't realise you had invited so many guests. I'm afraid I will have to kill your friends too."

"Just like you did to Kevan," Sanfarrow said disgustedly.

"Yes, Ropart. Just like I did to Kevan."

"Just tell me one thing, Kan. Did you murder Elenya too? Did you murder his wife?"

Darklight smiled. "Of course I did. That was the best thing about it. I killed Elenya first. And Kevan had to watch. He had to watch as I stuffed this very gun into her mouth, and he had to watch as saliva drooled down her cheeks because she couldn't swallow, and then he had to watch as her brains cascaded over the wall behind her."

Sanfarrow roared in agony, his beard speckling with spit.

" _She was everything to him! Everything, you Gedin forasaken son of the Antiseck._ "

Sanfarrow quickly pulled his gun out of his pocket, but before he could even aim, the gun blasted out of his hand and flew across the room.

Seckry hadn't even seen the movement happen, but Darklight had beat Sanfarrow to it, and had fired a single bullet straight at Sanfarrow's gun.

"Ropart, you were never very quick, were you? Just another one of the things that makes you an inferior human being. This is why I'm the president of Endrin and you're living in some underground cave in exile. I'm going to kill you now, Ropart, but before I do, there's something I want you to see."

Darklight grabbed Jenniver and pulled her into him, kissing her violently.

"She's mine now," he said when he'd finished, and aimed the gun at Sanfarrow's head.

"Wait," Jenniver said. It was the first word she had spoken since she had joined them. "Let me do it. I want to kill him. I want to be the one to do it. It'll hurt him even more if it's me that pulls the trigger."

Darklight hesitated for a moment and then a big grin spread across his face.

"That's my girl," he said, and handed her the gun.

Seckry's mind was moving so rapidly he couldn't even keep up with it. He had to think of something to stop this. Something right now.

But as soon as Jenniver got a grip on the pistol, she flung it up in front of her, pointing directly at Darklight's forehead.

Darklight's expression changed from one of smugness to confusion, then doubt, then anger.

"Are you mad?" he said.

Jenniver wiped her mouth with her free arm and shook it.

"Don't you _ever_ kiss me again, you filthy pig," she said vehemently.

"Jenniver," Darklight said calmly, through gritted teeth. "What. Are. You. _Doing?_ "

"I'm doing exactly what I've been planning to do all along," she said. "I've never been working with you. Everything I've done here has been in an attempt to remove you from this company, and abolish these horrific experiments of yours. You think getting Ropart and Seckry and the others here was part of _your_ plan? Well it wasn't. It was part of _mine_. It was the only way I'd ever be brought inside the Divinita chamber, and it was the only way I'd ever get you in a situation where you'd be outnumbered by your enemies, away from all your bodyguards, and free to be handcuffed and arrested for crimes against humanity. Something that should have happened years ago."

Darklight breathed in deeply and said, "Jenniver, Jenniver, Jenniver. So I was wrong about you." He clapped slowly. "This was your plan all along? I'm disappointed, Jenniver, I really am. I thought you had more sense. I mean, do you think I wouldn't be prepared for something like this?"

Jenniver shuffled uncomfortably on the spot, still aiming the gun at Darklight's head.

Darklight pulled something out of his pocket. It was some kind of remote control.

"What's that?" Jenniver demanded. "Drop it now or I shoot you."

Darklight laughed. "Come on, Jenniver, we all know you're not going to shoot me."

"What does that thing control?" Jenniver demanded.

"Even my closest staff have to be kept in the dark about some things," Darklight said.

"Drop it now!" Jenniver shouted, but as she did, Darklight pressed a button.

A square partition of flooring underneath Jenniver flashed a blinding blue light and she seized up, dropping the gun, which fired a stray bullet into the ceiling. She dropped to the floor herself, lifeless.

"Jenniver!" screamed Sanfarrow.

"I really overestimated her intelligence," Darklight said, musingly. "Did she really think I wouldn't be prepared for revolts from my own staff?"

Seckry looked down. He hadn't noticed it before now, but the floor they were standing on was divided into a grid by very faint lines.

"I'm surprised you hadn't noticed the grid," Darklight said to Sanfarrow. "Especially since I designed it from prototypes I found in your own files when I raided your office."

Sanfarrow began to march forward but Darklight pressed a button again and Sanfarrow's square lit up, almost propelling him into the air with a loud crack. He hit the floor, motionless, just like Jenniver.

"I wanted to kill him while he was awake," Darklight said, irritated. "I wanted him to see that gun pointing at his head. I'm not going to do it while he's unconscious. It'd be a waste. I'll have to wait until he comes around. In the meantime, I've got an important procedure to attend to."

He stepped up to the podium, next to the machine in which all the wires eventually ended.

"If what you're saying is true," Vance said, "and you've worked out how to travel back to the year zero, and you've actually managed to put Hindglubber's theories into use, then you'll be altering history. Do you even understand the consequences of that? You won't just be murdering these innocent innoya, you'll be putting the fate of the whole planet in your hands."

Darklight smiled. "It's a lot of responsibility, isn't it? Don't worry, Mr Vance, I have no intention of returning here to a barren wasteland. I am going to steal Seckraman after he has destroyed the meteor, not before."

Vance shook his head. "You're going to steal the messiah, bring him back to the present and drain him of his divine powers? Do you understand what you're saying? I'm not a religious man, but if Seckraman was truly the son of Gedin, do you think the Almighty is just going to sit back and let you do this to his son?"

"Do you know what, Vance? If Gedin disapproved of my work, don't you think he would have stopped me already?"

Vance said nothing in reply.

"Now if you'll all excuse me–"

"No!" shouted Seckry. "If the innoya die, Eiya dies, and I'm not going to let that happen! How can you be okay with murdering the innoya?"

"Twelve years of hard research. Twelve _years_. Do you think I'm going to throw it all away just for the sake of saving a few creatures' lives?"

" _Creatures?"_ Seckry said. "They're human beings, you heartless pig."

"Human beings?" Darklight mused. "No, no. I've never seen a human being with this much power. No, these are something else. Something beastly. Some abomination of nature that doesn't know what to do with itself. Everything has been put on this earth for a reason, Sevenstars, and finally we have the technology to put the innoya's power to use."

"Are you listening to yourself?" Seckry yelled. "You're going to _murder_ them. You're going to pay for this. And you're going to pay for what you did to Danney Plum. How could you do that to a child?"

"I assume you're talking about our very own Project Suffer, or the 'Rabbit Man' as the press so amusingly like to call him."

"You _tortured_ a child," Seckry spat. "Don't you care? Don't you have any kind of remorse for that?"

"Remorse?" Darklight chuckled. "Why should I have any remorse? The project was a success. A great success. Have you seen what a powerful tool that weak little boy has become?" He shook his head. "Anyway, you're distracting me from my duties. See you all in a few moments, I'll be returning with a special guest."

Darklight gripped the central lever of the device and pulled it down.

" _Extraction initiated,_ " said an electronic voice.

"No!" Seckry screamed.

Everyone charged towards Darklight, but he quickly tapped a line of buttons on his remote control and a blinding sequence of light flashed underneath them, sending each and every one of them crashing to the ground.

Seckry had never felt anything like it. All movement had disappeared from his limbs. It was like he was paralysed from the neck down. He groaned in agony as he saw that inside the tanks, each and every one of the innoya was squirming, their life blood being drawn out of them.

Next to him, Eiya was laying on the floor, streaming silent tears, and clutching the gimmypug's blood in her small hand, refusing to let it drop.

Seckry couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let Eiya just dissipate. He knew he'd rather die than live without Eiya now. He used all the strength he could muster to lift his arm and reach out to Eiya. She carefully let the test tube slip into Seckry's open palm.

Seckry tried to heave himself up off the ground, but as he did so, Darklight jumped down from his podium, gripped Seckry's wrist, and ripped the test tube from him.

Darklight lifted the lid and sniffed its contents.

"Gimmypug blood," he said, smirking. "You thought that this would save the innoya?" He gave a deep sigh before throwing the blood into his mouth, dropping the empty test tube to the floor and then crushing the frail glass under his boot.

Seckry roared like a wounded animal. It was a noise that seemed to come not from his voice box, but from somewhere deeper inside of him, a primal cry of pain.

Darklight wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and a smear of blood streaked across his cheek as he grinned wildly.

"Twelve years of research and hard work. Do you think I'm going to let a bunch of misfits like you lot sabotage everything?"

Seckry sobbed and tried to pull himself to his feet. As he did so, he saw that across the room, Jenniver was raising her hand weakly and pulling her own remote control from her pocket.

"It's time you were judged by your own creation," she called to Darklight, and pressed a button.

Suddenly sirens began blazing and a red light flashed all around them. An electronic voice drowned out the noise of the Divinita machine.

" _Warning. Project Suffer vault has been opened. Warning, Project Suffer vault has been opened._ "

After a few moments there was a huge crash against the chamber door. Everyone went silent. Then it came again, a humongous weight was hitting the door, denting and buckling it.

"It's titanium, you oaf!" yelled Darklight triumphantly.

But Darklight obviously hadn't been keeping an eye on Jenniver, who had crawled over to Sanfarrow's unmanned gun and was aiming it at the door's opening button. She fired a single shot and it fizzed and sparked before the door began to slide open erratically.

Danney Plum looked even more ominous than he had in Seckry's bedroom. His face was contorted into an animal like insanity, and the veins on his muscular arms looked as though they were going to burst out of his scarred skin.

For the first time, Seckry thought he saw genuine fear in Darklight's eyes.

"Stay back!" Darklight yelled, as if talking to a dog.

But Danney walked forward, his eyes locked on the man who had tortured him.

"Danney," called Eiya weakly. "You'll be electrocuted!"

But Danney Plum didn't seem to be aware of anything that was going on around him. It seemed like the only thing in the room that he could see was Darklight, and he wasn't going to stop until he reached him.

Darklight quickly pressed a button on his remote and the square underneath Danney lit up.

But Danney didn't fall down. His body seized up, and his skin seemed to ripple for a moment, but when the light dimmed, he carried on walking.

"What in Gedin's name?" said Darklight angrily.

"You should have thought twice about using the same technology on your flooring as you did on the inside of Danney's body," Jenniver shouted. "You've been doing this to him for years, at much higher voltages. He's practically immune to it now."

Darklight pressed another button frantically and the square Danney was now on lit up, stopping him again momentarily, as his body writhed in pain. But as soon as the light faded, he wrenched himself forward.

"You can't endure this forever!" Darklight yelled. "Too many shocks will kill you!"

As Danney moved closer, Darklight pressed the button again and this time Danney fell to his knees, spreading his arms out wide as the power of the grid surged through him.

"Stop it!" screamed Eiya, through tears. "Haven't you tortured him enough?"

But Danney still wasn't done. He began to crawl forward, his face set in agony, and his eyes still locked on Darklight's.

Darklight's expression changed. Danney was almost upon him. He looked around frantically and made to run, but in his haste he dropped the remote control. Danney got to his feet and launched himself after Darklight, ripping the man off the ground and swinging him backwards like a ragdoll. With a roar he squeezed Darklight, his cracked, dirty, uncut nails piercing the flesh through his uniform.

Danney's roars were deafening as he pressed Darklight's terrified face against his own, but even through the howling, Seckry could hear the bones of Darklight's ribcage snap. Seckry was sure he saw a small glimmer of shame in Darklight's face, just before his eyes closed.

Seckry wasted no time now that Darklight was unable to hinder them. He used all of his might to give movement back to his limbs and pelted towards the Divinita machine, punching it with his fist until he started bleeding.

"We have to stop this thing!" he shouted.

Loca got to her feet and ran to help him, hammering her heel with full force into its side. Tenk managed to get to his feet also, and ran to their aid, picking up Sanfarrow's gun on the way.

"Watch out," he said, and began to fire bullet after bullet after bullet into the machine. Metal shards were flying everywhere and circuitry was snapping, but the machine continued to run.

Seckry looked around rapidly and saw Tippian struggling to his feet. There was only one thing left that they could try.

"Tipps, throw me the glove!" Seckry shouted.

Tippian didn't hesitate. He threw the glove through the air and Seckry caught it, slipping it on.

"Quick, everyone stand back," he said. "This thing could explode."

"But Seck, you'll–"

"Stand back!" Seckry screamed.

He grabbed a bunch of frayed wires that were dangling in front of him and thrust them into the power input socket of the glove before holding his thumb on the charge button located inside.

Seckry's hand seized up as power surged around his fingers. He tried to take his thumb off the button, but he couldn't. His hand was frozen into a state of seizure. He roared in agony as more and more power fed itself into the glove.

Seckry could do nothing but rip his arm away, snapping the wires and severing the connection.

He had to look at his hand to see if it was still there, as he could no longer feel it. All he could feel was white hot pain.

_This has to do it,_ he thought. _If this doesn't destroy it then nothing will._

He raised his hand up into the air, ready to slam it down onto the metal, but as he did so, the same electronic voice they had heard earlier said, " _Extraction complete._ "

With that, the circular gateway beside Seckry fired into life. Streams of blue and green helitonium flooded into the giant circle.

Seckry turned and saw Eiya running to him, reaching out to him, screaming. And the last thing he saw was a single tear fly from Eiya's large, beautiful brown eyes, before he was sucked into the gateway and everything went black.

# Chapter Thirty Four

# The Coming of Seckraman

Voices.

It was the first thing Seckry was aware of.

Voices, and lots of them.

"Have you come to save us?"

"He's been sent from Gedin!"

"What is your name?"

"Tell us your name."

"My . . . name is . . . Seckraman," Seckry said weakly.

"Seckraman."

"Seckraman, who are you? You are not of this world. You appear in a flash of light."

"Where am I?" Seckry said, opening his eyes.

"He's the son of Gedin," someone said. "Did you see him just appear like that? It's just like the prophecies foretold! Gedin has spared us. He's sent us his son! In our gravest time the Lord Gedin has spared us. He has shown us compassion."

"No," Seckry said feebly. "You're wrong, I'm not the son of Gedin."

He stood up and looked all around him. A crowd was gathering, a crowd of men and women in all sorts of multicoloured robes, and thick, bushy hair.

"Look! He cannot be of this mortal world. Look at his robes! They're not Klaxion robes. And look, he has power in his hand."

"What?" Seckry said, and looked down.

The glove.

The air around it was rippling and distorting and cracking violently, and it was only then that he began to feel the pain from it once again.

It was getting hotter. And hotter. He writhed around trying to yank it off, but his hand was still seized up. The glove wouldn't budge.

It was only as he looked to the sky in pain that he saw something he thought he'd never see.

The sky was completely filled with craters, and they seemed to be getting larger by the second.

"We are being judged," someone shouted. "Will you save us? Please. I beg of you. Remove this monster from the sky!"

Seckry couldn't believe it. The gateway had worked. But Darklight hadn't come through, he had.

The question was, where was Seckraman? If the legends were true, Seckraman would be here right now, raising his hand up to the sky and blasting the meteor away, saving the earth from the apocalypse. It looked like the meteor was about to hit.

"Seckraman," a woman pleaded, dropping to her knees and cradling a baby in her arms. "Please save us. Please . . ."

Seckraman . . .

Was he . . . _Seckraman?_

But Seckry had no more time to contemplate. The pain in his hand suddenly seared so hot that he screamed and thrust his arm out into the air. It felt as though his hand was been ripped apart as the glove released its energy into the sky.

There was a gargantuan boom, and as the sky began to crack into millions of pieces, Seckry's consciousness faded away.

# Chapter Thirty Five

# Recovery

Eiya . . .

It was the only thing, the only word that was going through Seckry's mind.

Eiya . . .

"Eiya," he said softly, his voice cracked.

Someone squeezed his hand. He opened his eyes slowly.

"Mum?"

Coralle was sitting in a chair next to him. She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

"Eiya's not here, my love. I'm sorry."

Seckry let out an agonised cry. His stomach felt as though it was being ripped out of him. He had failed. She was gone.

"Hey, hey, hey," Coralle said affectionately. "Don't worry, love. She'll be here in a moment."

Seckry shot up. " _What?_ "

"Hey, calm down. You need to lie down. She just went to get a drink, that's all. She's been in here all night with you. I told her she needed to get some water, she looked so dehydrated, the poor girl. She's been worried sick about you."

"Eiya's alive?"

"Of course she's alive. She's been reading a book to you. Gedin knows why she thinks you'd want to hear it, though. Some awful thing about a monster and a load of pus."

Seckry laughed the happiest laugh of his life.

"She's alive," he said again, and tried to sit up.

It was only then that he realised where he was. He was in a hospital bed, surrounded by beeping machines, and with a few nodes strapped to his bare chest.

"Hey, hey, lie down" his mum said. "I'll go and get Eiya for you. You obviously want to see her pretty badly."

His mum left the room.

When the door reopened, Eiya's eyes shot wide open. She threw her things down and flung herself around him, her can of pop piercing on the floor and spraying a fountain of fizz into the air.

Seckry squeezed her tight. It felt as though the life was filling back into him. Her cheek was wet from tears. She was pressing her whole body so close to him that Seckry could feel her heart beating fast against his chest.

"How are you here?" Seckry said. "The innoya all died, didn't they?"

"I don't know. I mean, they died, yes, all of them. It doesn't make any sense. But I'm here. I'm here, aren't I? I thought I was just dreaming, that I was dead and I didn't realise it."

"You're definitely here," Seckry said, and he touched her face. It was as real as anything he'd ever felt. Soft and smooth and hot and wet.

"Seck," she sobbed. "When we were in that chamber and Darklight smashed the gimmypug blood I thought that was it. I'd thought I'd never see you again, I thought I'd never see anything again. And then when you fell back out of that gateway and lay unconscious on the ground I thought you were dead."

"What happened to me after I disappeared?" Seckry asked.

"You were only gone for about two or three minutes, and then you were flung back out of the gateway and you just lay still on the floor. Vance had regained consciousness and he took you in his arms as Jenniver led you both out of the front entrance of the building where they got you into an Endrin van and drove you straight to this hospital."

"Are the others okay? Tenk, Tipps and Loca?"

"Yeah," Eiya said reassuringly. "They're fine"

"What happened to Danney?" Seckry asked her. "And Darklight?"

"After dropping Darklight's body to the floor, Danney just sank to his knees and stared into space, as if there was no energy left in him. He just remained still the whole time as everyone moved around him. Jenniver called a team of people to take him away and keep him safe for a while, away from the press and anything else. She's got a team of people working now to clean his body of toxins from the drugs Darklight was giving him, and to remove the shocking devices from underneath his skin. With Darklight, Jenniver called up a couple of patrol officers that she knew weren't corrupt and they arrived within seconds to cuff him and take him away. He had to go to hospital first too but they've released him already. He's been sentenced to life imprisonment for mass murder."

"He's already been treated? How long have I been here for?"

"A week."

"A week!" Seckry said, aghast.

"Seck, you've been in a coma," Eiya said softly, and her eyes welled up with tears again.

"And the innoya. Their bodies . . ." Seckry said. "What happened to them?"

"Jenniver's trying her best to arrange some kind of proper burial and funeral for them."

"And Endrin?" Seckry asked. "What's going to happen to them now that Darklight's been arrested?"

"It's still going to run. All of the blame is on Darklight. But I get the feeling it's going to be in slightly safer hands."

"Really? Who's in charge?"

"Jenniver. She was voted in by a senior panel of Endrin head office. And Sanfarrow has agreed to return to work. He's going to continue work into finding alternative energy supplies for the city. Eco friendly ones, that is. Also a hundred and sixty Skyfall Patrol officers have been charged with corruption. It's still going on, they're saying it's going to take weeks, maybe months to find everyone involved in the bribery scandal." Eiya took a breath. "So Seck . . . what happened? Did it work? Did you go back to the year zero?"

Seckry had been so consumed with relief and bewilderment about Eiya still being alive that he hadn't even given himself time to consider what happened on the other side of that gateway.

"Yeah . . ." Seckry said. "I went back. To the very point that Darklight wanted."

"Did you see Seckraman?" Eiya asked, fascinated.

Seckry began to speak a couple of times but his words were struggling to come out. He swallowed and took a breath.

"Eiya . . . I _am_ Seckraman."

It took a few moments for Eiya to understand what Seckry was telling her, but when she did, her eyes widened so big that Seckry could see his own reflection in them.

"The glove," Seckry explained. "It had all that power stored up from when I stuck those frayed wires in it just before I got sucked into that gateway. I couldn't get the glove off but I could feel that the power was gonna burst out of it, so I just aimed it towards the sky where there were no people in the way. Eiya, I think I destroyed the meteor. Everyone around me was asking me if I had been sent from Gedin. I tried to tell them no but they weren't listening."

"So that's why that really old painting of Seckraman had him wearing white robes with the Divinita Project symbol on it," Eiya said excitedly. "And that's why everybody at Endrin were insisting that the symbol was an original design invented by them. They were telling the truth. They had never seen that painting, had they? Seck, that was a painting of you, wearing the Divinita Project protection suit."

They locked gazes for a few moments and then burst into fits of disbelieving laughter.

"All these years I've been wondering how I'll ever live up to a name like Seckraman," Seckry said, "and that Seckraman was me!"

"A whole religion . . ." Eiya said distantly. "A whole religion that worships you."

"Well, what they worship is something that never existed. Gedin's son."

Seckry had to stay in hospital for the next three days so the doctors could monitor his condition, despite his persistence in reassuring them he felt okay.

Tenk, Tippian, Loca and Kimmy all came to visit him, and brought with them two tickets to an upcoming over eighteen's Friction match, one for Seckry and one for Eiya, which raised Seckry's spirits considerably, but they also brought news that Mr Gobbledee had been allowed to return to school as the headmaster, which Seckry wasn't sure if he was comfortable about. He had gotten on well with the man, but if what they knew was correct, he had murdered someone.

His mum was surprisingly calm about everything, which made Seckry feel uncomfortable. He kept expecting her to explode and tell him what an idiot he had been to get himself involved in such dangerous things, but she didn't. When he asked her if she was mad, she shook her head gently and said, "Mr Vance has explained everything to me, love. You did what anyone would have done. You fought to save the one person that mattered to you in the world more than anyone. Now, if I had been here to stop you then I would have done. But maybe it's for the best that me and your sister were away. Maybe it was fate, eh?"

Seckry also apologised for cutting her and Leena's work trip short.

"Oh, that's not something you've got to apologise for, love," Coralle said enthusiastically. "Your sister was doing my bleeding head in. I'm feeling a lot happier since we got back."

In fact, his mum seemed to be in a very happy mood, and Seckry wondered what had happened to her. It was only when Seckry and Eiya visited Vance that he found out.

"Your mum and I spoke about your father, Seckry. She was angry, so angry at him for leaving. But she listened to the story I told you, and I think . . . I think she's beginning to believe it's a possibility."

They sat and talked with Vance for an hour and a half, in which Seckry explained everything that had happened on the other side of the gateway that night.

"Of course," Vance said, his eyes darting around as if they were following an invisible fly. "Those paintings are of you . . . Seckry, this . . . this is incredible."

"Who would have thought it?" Seckry said light heartedly. "The great Seckraman was just an ordinary boy who happened to be in the right place at the right time."

But Vance shook his head.

"Seckry, it may seem to you that you're an ordinary boy but you are not. There is something within you, some hidden strength that kept you alive. Since the incident happened, I've been researching everything about Hindglubber's theories and . . . it shouldn't have worked. Humans aren't supposed to be able to travel through the time illusion. Travelling through time should have ripped you to pieces. But it didn't. You travelled through time and came back again. Seckry, you are a . . . _very_ extraordinary boy."

As they were leaving the school, they came across Mr Gobbledee, who was sorting out some papers in the corridor.

Seckry and Eiya tried to avoid his gaze. Seckry felt like he couldn't look at him in the same way anymore.

"Seckry!" the headmaster said. "Eiya, too. How did your final weeks of term go? I hear you've become quite the famous faces around here. You are a brave lot, I can tell you that. Much braver than I."

"We're fine, sir," Seckry said dismissively, and continued walking.

"Uh . . . I actually need to get both of your signatures at some point, to confirm that you'll be staying with us here at Estergate next year. Would you like to do that now?"

Seckry sighed.

"We may as well get it out of the way," Eiya said quietly.

"Sure," Seckry said to the headmaster, and followed him into his office.

Seckry and Eiya both remained standing. They had no intention of staying longer than they had to.

"I realise it's going to take quite some time for me to regain your trust," Gobbledee said, sadly. "Here, it's just these small forms."

Seckry stared at the paper in front of him, but even though his eyes were reading it, his brain wasn't. All he could think about was Gobbledee murdering someone.

"Did you do it?" Seckry blurted out, without thinking. "Is that why you have these outbursts? Because you were given the chlorocalm injection? Did you murder someone?"

Gobbledee sat down very carefully and took a breath.

"It's not something I want to discuss, I'm afraid, Seckry, I–"

"Don't we have a right to know?" Seckry said. "You're our headmaster."

Gobbledee swallowed.

"Would you like to sit down?" he said.

Seckry and Eiya sat down quietly and waited for an answer.

It took Gobbledee a few moments to speak.

"It was when I was a young man. Twenty two at the time. Back then I was living in a run-down area known as Heathhollow, over in the west partition," he said. "There was trouble every day. Muggings, shootings, stabbings, you name it. It was awful, but I didn't have the money to live anywhere else. I'd see things happening in the street through my window, and most of the time I'd let it pass, but one time . . . one time was different."

Gobbledee cleared his throat.

"There was this homeless girl who wandered the streets, begging for money from passers by. She must have only been around twelve at the time. I saw her every day. She looked awful. Cheekbones sticking out of her face because she was so gaunt with hunger. I could just about afford to feed myself, but whenever I could spare something, I'd give it to her. And many a time I'd take her out a hot drink to warm her up on a cold winter's day. And then . . . one night I could see her across the street, begging a group of drunken men for money. They were laughing at her and grabbing her tattered jumper. And then . . . and then one of them began dragging her into an alleyway."

"Oh no," Eiya said softly. "They weren't?"

Gobbledee sighed. "I grabbed a kitchen knife and ran after them, hoping to scare them away. But they were drunk and without any fear. They attacked me and tried to wrench the knife out of my hands . . . and that's when it got stuck in the stomach of the one who had a hold of her."

Seckry made to speak a few times before saying, "You were just defending that girl?"

"I never meant to kill anyone," Gobbledee said. "I just couldn't sit back and let them do that to her."

"What happened to the other men?" Eiya asked.

"They ran away as soon as they saw the blood. And nobody ever saw them again. Passers by phoned the Patrol and I was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison for unintentional murder. That's when they gave me the chlorocalm injection."

"What happened to the girl?" Seckry asked.

"As the Patrol were dragging me away, I told her an address to go to. It was the address of my sister, who I knew would look after her. And all my time in prison I told myself that when I got out, I would make sure that I'd help her, make sure she was never homeless again, and that she'd have a job somewhere decent."

"And what happened when you got out?" Eiya asked. "Did you ever see the girl again?"

"Oh yes," Gobbledee said, a kind smile appearing on his face. "I see Imelda Butterkins every day."

# Chapter Thirty Six

# The Innoya

From that point onwards, Seckry never again judged the headmaster by his past, and he vowed to himself that he would defend the headmaster if any other students began to slate him. What Gobbledee had done that day, in Seckry's opinion, was save someone's life.

Seckry felt much happier after speaking to Gobbledee, and his day was improved even more when they came across Mrs Cutson in the corridor, and saw that she had to pass the headmaster's office and enter her inferior office. Before closing her door, she turned to them dryly and gave an expression of someone who had been sucking on a soursucker straw for hours with ten bitterballs dropped in for extra bite.

By this time, Seckry was back in school and the one person he was petrified of seeing again was Snibble. But he was nowhere to be seen.

"Hasn't showed up for ages," Tippian said.

Seckry guessed he would have to confront him at some point, but maybe it wouldn't even be until after the summer holidays.

"I can't believe I'm sitting here with the messiah," Tenk said that weekend, as they sat in Tippian's living room.

"I'm not the messiah!" Seckry laughed. "There . . . _was_ no messiah."

"Mate, I just can't even get my head around it. It's like . . . you were named after yourself. You were named Seckraman because you had the same colour eyes as your time travelling self." He gripped the sides of his head and did a few disbelieving shakes.

"I'm sure Vance will explain it to you if you'd like him to," Seckry offered.

"All those paintings!" Tenk continued. "They were all of you! Do you realise there are people in shrines right now worshipping and praying to you?"

"I don't think he's ever gonna get over it, is he?" Seckry said to everyone.

"Nope," said Loca.

"Hey, Seck," said Tippian, pulling a tightly rolled up newspaper out of his pocket. "You wanna see the headlines?"

"Do you carry that thing with you wherever you go now?" said Loca.

"Of course," Tippian defended. "We're famous! My name's on the front page, for Gedin's sake! This is getting laminated and framed and going up on my bedroom wall when I'm finished showing it to people."

"We made the headlines?" Seckry asked.

Tippian unrolled the paper and shook it a few times before pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and clearing his throat.

"Rabbit Man mystery solved by group of teenagers!" he read, in a deeper voice than normal. "Young heroes, Seckraman Sevenstars, Tenk Binko, Tippian Furst, Eiya Tacana, and Loca Thumbsuckle last night thwarted the corrupt plans of Endrin CEO Kan Darklight, who had been secretly conducting a mad professor style experiment in his lab.

"Sources say that Darklight had convinced himself he could make a time machine by extracting certain compounds from human bodies, and kidnapped and murdered twenty people in order to do so.

"The former student of Skyfall City University had also been holding a twenty five year old man captive, and had been pumping him with performance enhancing drugs in order to use him as a weapon. This man, whose real name is Danney Plum, is more widely known as the Rabbit Man."

"You hear that, Seck?" said Tenk, grinning wildly. "We're heroes! Take that, mum! I ain't some lazy bum anymore who sits around in his underwear playing video games all day, I'm a fully fledged hero!"

Loca rolled her eyes.

"Tenk, you're a hero, yes, but that's not gonna change the fact that you're a lazy bum that sits around playing video games all day. You're still gonna be that guy."

"Well, that might be true. But I can wear a t-shirt now saying 'I'm a Hero,' while doing it if I want."

"Tenk," Loca said. "Please tell me you won't."

They sat and talked for most of the morning. The sun was shining bright and the air was warm so Seckry and Eiya decided to walk home instead of catching the monorail.

As they got closer, they saw the turning for the Blacklear, and Seckry paused momentarily.

"Do we take the dangerous shortcut, or do we take the safe, long way round?" he said.

"Hmm," Eiya pondered. "I kind of feel like after the danger we were in last week, taking a shortcut past a drug smuggling den doesn't really even compare. Let's take it."

They made their way down the alley and tried to keep their heads down as they walked past the huge, run down building on their left, but because they weren't looking, somebody leaving the warehouse bumped into them.

Seckry immediately grabbed Eiya and readied himself to run for his life, but the man they had bumped into put his hand up to halt them.

He had been carrying a cardboard box which he had dropped, and the contents were strewn across the floor. Amidst them were a heap load of books and a pink teddy bear.

"I'm so sorry," the man apologised. "I should've been look – wait, you're Seckraman Sevenstars, and Eiya Tacana."

Seckry and Eiya glanced at each other, slightly frightened and slightly curious as to how this man knew them.

"You . . . I owe you everything. My family . . . we all do, all of us here."

"I'm sorry?" said Seckry, confused.

"You were the only ones that figured out a way to infiltrate Endrin. You are the ones who got Darklight arrested, you are the ones who have saved my daughter, my family, my friends and myself."

Suddenly, a young girl rushed out of the house, the same girl from last time Seckry was here, except this time, she was smiling. She ran straight to Seckry and slapped her arms around his waist, pressing her head into his stomach.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you for not telling him where we were."

"I don't understand," Seckry said. "This isn't . . . a drug smuggling den?"

"Drug smuggling?" said the man, laughing lightly. "Is that what used to go on here? We knew this place had a reputation, and we knew the government were scared to come down here, but we were never entirely sure why. No, my friends, there is no drug smuggling going on here. We have been simply hiding. Hiding from Darklight."

Eiya stepped towards the man.

"You've been hiding from Darklight . . . are you saying you're–"

"Yes," said the man. "We are innoya."

"Seckry, this is it!" Eiya said excitedly. "This is how I'm still alive. This is how I still exist! There are more innoya!"

"How you still exist?" queried the man.

"I think we have a lot to talk to you about," said Seckry. "So that's why you were so scared when I saw you?" he addressed to the girl, who was picking up her teddy.

"I didn't want you telling him we were here," she said. "If you'd told that evil man he would have come and taken us away, like he did to the others."

"I'm so sorry . . . we couldn't save the others," Seckry said.

The man put his hand up. "Please, you don't have to be sorry. What you lot did, we are beyond thankful for. You tried to save them, we know. You tried your hardest."

They arranged to meet up with the man, whose name was Cartell, at a later date, to talk to him about Eiya and her existence. For now, though, they were going to let the innoya move out of the Blacklear and find their feet again, in the knowledge that Darklight was going to be behind bars.

# Chapter Thirty Seven

# An Old Friend Visits

A few days later, Seckry received a phonecall from Jenniver Layne, telling him that Mrs Plum would be being reintroduced to her son for the first time since being abducted, and that he and Eiya might like to provide her with some support. They had no objection, and were delighted that Mrs Plum would finally be able to see Danney, so when the doctor arrived in the square, they joined him at Mrs Plum's door.

"Mrs Plum . . . are you okay with this?" Eiya asked as they got into the doctor's car.

"Oh yes, I'm fine, dear," Mrs Plum said, "It's just another day for me."

"Do you know who we're going to see?" Seckry asked. "We're going to see your son, Danney."

Mrs Plum smiled politely and raised her eyebrows.

" _I'll tell you a secret,_ " she whispered to them. " _This has happened twice before. They said they'd found him and they took me to see him. But it wasn't him. It wasn't Danney. It was someone else's child_."

When they arrived at the facility, Mrs Plum was taken into a separate room where a doctor prepared her for seeing her son and letting her know that he was going to look very different from how she remembered.

Seckry and Eiya were allowed into the main room where there was a glass wall dividing the space into two. On the other side of the glass sat Danney.

He was sitting expectantly, dressed in hospital robes and a muzzle that covered his mouth.

"Is that thing necessary?" Seckry asked.

"Unfortunately it is," explained the doctor. "He's still having violent outbursts. It's only natural for him to do so, but we have to protect our staff. We can't afford to take any risks at the moment. Over time, as we see how he progresses, we may be able to take the protective clothing away. We'll be monitoring his behaviour over a period."

"Oh, Gedin," Eiya said quietly. "Look how much smaller he is. You can see, even with those robes on, he looks more like a human being now."

"Danney Plum had been pumped with a chemical known as Anabilo-chrominumsite for seventeen years," the doctor said. "His body is going to take a while to adjust to the change, but one day he will be back to his normal size."

The door behind them opened and a doctor escorted Mrs Plum into the room. She stopped walking as soon as she saw Danney, and stared at him for what seemed like a lifetime. Then she slowly made her way towards him.

"Danney?" she said softly.

Mrs Plum sank to her knees and touched her fingertips to the glass.

Danney's eyes were wide open like a dog's, staring at his mum's face with curiosity and recognition. He kneeled in front of the glass and put his own hand up to hers.

And then he began humming. It was the lullaby.

They thought Mrs Plum was going to join him, but she didn't. She couldn't because she was sobbing, crying a flood of tears, but smiling. In between sobs she would hum a note or two along with him, and then she'd break out into tears again.

"We're going to arrange for Mrs Plum to come and visit Danney three times a week," the doctor told Seckry and Eiya. "In the meantime we're going to be doing all we can to bring him back to his natural physical condition and we have a team of experts that will be providing him with essential learning skills. We're going to teach him how to talk again, how to eat."

"Do you think you can teach him how to love again?" Seckry asked.

They looked at Danney, kneeling in front of his mother, humming away like a child.

"Even though Darklight tortured him beyond belief," the doctor said. "I don't think Danney needs to be taught how to love again."

When Seckry and Eiya arrived back at the flat that day, they found a letter addressed to the whole household lying on the doormat. Seckry decided to let his mum open it.

Coralle, sitting at the kitchen table, frowned as her eyes scanned the letter quickly. Then she raised her eyebrows.

"Are you gonna tell us what it is?" Leena said impatiently.

"We are very pleased to inform you . . ." Coralle muttered. "Plans have been withdrawn . . ."

"Plans withdrawn? What plans?" Seckry asked.

Coralle looked up at them, shocked, then she broke into a kind of smile.

"They're stopping the construction of the Marne extraction site. They're cancelling the whole project."

"Let me have a look," Leena snapped, and grabbed the letter.

"Under the policy of newly appointed CEO of Endrin Corp. Dr Jenniver Layne, the production of the Marne extraction site will cease to operate, and all former residents will be returning to their original homes. We thank you for your cooperation in advance and wish you all the best in your previous properties. The accommodation you have resided in over the past months is being sold to Skyfall City Property Developments Ltd. and will enter the property market. Yours sincerely, the National Housing Initiative."

"They're selling the flat?" Seckry said. "How much for?"

"These are about a hundred and fifty thousand notes, love," Coralle replied. "It's lucky they're giving us back our old house, I could never afford to stay here on the rates that everyone else is paying if they cut that inconvenience benefit discount. And if they said I had to buy the place as opposed to renting it we'd be out of house and home, it's about double the price of the house in Marne, even though it's smaller, just because it's in the city."

Leena dropped the letter onto the table.

"So . . . we're actually going back to Marne?" Seckry said, more to himself than anyone.

"Looks like we are, my love," Coralle said.

Seckry scanned the letter himself. He hadn't thought about Marne for a long time now, it seemed. In fact, thinking about Marne didn't seem to have the same effect on him as it did just after he moved to Skyfall. He was surprised he wasn't more elated.

"Wow. I guess we're . . . going back then," Leena said absent-mindedly.

"It'll be strange not playing Friction anymore," Seckry said with a pang of sadness. "I was looking forward to next year's Mega Meltdown. I was planning on training really hard."

Thinking about Friction made Seckry think about Tenk and Tippian, and about Loca and Kimmy. He was going to miss all of them. In one year they had become his closest friends.

"Eiya," Seckry said. "You'll come with us, right?"

Eiya nodded. "Of course. It'll be strange leaving the city. I don't know anywhere else than this, but . . . I guess I'll just have to accept the change."

Seckry nodded. He had been excited about one day showing Eiya around Marne, but he always imagined it would be as a visit, not as their new home.

The next few days were rather solemn. It took them all a while to adjust their mindsets to the thought of returning to the village. Over the last few months, Seckry had almost completely forgotten about Marne. When he first arrived in Skyfall, he had felt ill with homesickness, but now the thought of moving out of Skyfall was giving him the same feeling, but even stronger.

The next day, Seckry arranged for everyone to get together and hang out at the rusty fountain so he could tell them that he and Eiya were going to be leaving. And not coming back.

Tenk seemed to take it the hardest; he went into an angry kind of strop, folded his arms, and refused to speak to anyone.

As Seckry was trying to explain that he'd come back to visit them often, there was a shout from across the road.

"Seckers!"

Seckry squinted and saw someone running towards him, someone he hadn't seen for half a year."

"Busbee?" Seckry said.

Busbee Knowles, Seckry's friend from Marne, stopped and placed his hands on his knees, panting like a dog.

"Busbee!" Seckry said. "It's been a while."

"I know," Busbee said, exasperated. "You've heard the news, yeah?"

"About going back to Marne? Yeah, of course."

Busbee clenched his fists and made an excited growl between clenched teeth.

"It's awesome, ain't it? No more of this Skyfall Board of Education fip. Back to good old maths, literacy and science. It'll be a fippin doddle after this nonsense. I had to come and see you. I knew you lived over this side of the city somewhere."

"Hey Busbee," Seckry said, as he realised he hadn't introduced him to anyone. "These are my friends Eiya, Tenk, Loca, Tipp–"

"Seck!" Busbee cut in, punching Seckry's shoulder too hard than necessary. "Who cares about the friends you've made here. We're going back to Marne, mate. We don't have to hang around with city losers anymore. You can ditch the freak show and come back to the boys." He eyed the group and sniggered. "I mean, seriously, look at this girl's fippin hat. It looks like she's being eaten by some kind of cartoon fish."

Loca made to swing a punch at Busbee but Kimmy held her back.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" said Tenk.

But Busbee didn't answer. He eyed Seckry and said, "I bet you'll be glad to get out of here, Seck. When we get back we'll find you a missus too. A proper Marne girl."

"No," Seckry said suddenly.

Busbee tilted his head back in confusion.

Seckry's mind felt clearer than it had for days. It seemed as though his brain had been working away at something in his subconscious without him even realising it and it had come to a decision.

"Bus . . ." Seckry said. "I'm not going back."

Busbee laughed and made to punch Seckry in the shoulder once more.

"I'm serious," Seckry said sternly. "And don't touch me again."

"What the fip?" Busbee said, shrugging.

"I guess it took me until now to realise it," Seckry said. "But you lot, you and the rest of them back in Marne, you were never really my friends. I called you my friends because I didn't know any better, but you didn't care about me."

"Mate, what are you talking about?" Busbee said angrily. "And what are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going back to Marne. Skyfall is my home now, and these are my friends. My true friends."

"Nice one, Seck!" said Loca, grinning nastily at Busbee.

"You'd rather stay with these fippin misfits than come back with us?"

"I'd rather stay with my friends, yeah," Seckry said confidently. "And misfits? You guys back in Marne didn't even like The Broken Motion. You're the misfits in my opinion."

"Yeah," said Tenk. "The Broken Motion rule!"

Busbee waited a few moments for Seckry to change his mind, before huffing and walking away.

"Losers!" he shouted down the street before disappearing around a corner.

"Dear Gedin, Seck," said Loca. "Did you really use to hang around with that idiot?"

Seckry nodded shamefully. "I'm really sorry about that, guys."

"Never mind," said Kimmy. "How are you gonna stay in Skyfall? They're putting your flat up for sale, aren't they?"

"Yeah," Seckry said. "Yeah, they are. And I'm gonna buy it."

The group did a few double takes.

"These flats cost about a hundred and fifty thousand notes and . . . well, when I stole those worms I got two hundred thousand for doing it."

The group gawped at him.

"What?" said Tenk "You never told us that! How come you haven't spent it all already?"

"I guess I was saving it for an emergency," Seckry told them. "And now one's come up."

# Chapter Thirty Eight

# Something that was Taken Away

Seckry's mum took the news of the money as even more of a shock. She gripped the kitchen unit and steadied herself, as if she was going to collapse.

"You . . . in this flat . . . the whole time . . . _how_ much?"

It took her a few days to fully grasp the situation, but when she got over the shock, she was elated.

"I _would_ say it was dirty money," she convinced herself. "But if you hadn't accepted that job, we wouldn't have Eiya with us right now, and that Danney Plum would still be a prisoner of that evil man, so it's money well earned in my opinion."

Both his mum and Leena rejoiced at the prospect of being able to stay in Skyfall. They had made friends themselves in work, and the idea of going back to such an uneventful village after the last few months in the city made Leena's skin crawl.

During the following week, Seckry and his mum made all the necessary arrangements with the Housing Initiative and Skyfall Properties to secure the flat, and on that Friday it was the Friction match that Tenk, Tippian, Loca and Kimmy had bought Seckry and Eiya tickets for.

On the way to the stadium, Tenk raved nonstop about a new Friction player named Bryon Durkamp, who he believed was the best thing since Kolda Kod.

Being back at the stadium brought back all the excitement of Seckry's first Friction Mega Meltdown, and this time, he was able to enjoy the food and the drinks and the sweet things that he had to abstain from last time due to competing.

As they were waiting to go inside, Seckry bought a sizzlingly hot hotdog, oozing with tomato sauce and mustard, and a giant cup of refreshing iced cherry pop to wash it down. Afterwards he and Eiya shared a bag full of sugar coated doughnuts, and Eiya sucked on a huge, circular lollipop that was made of swirls of ellonberry candy and cream.

Before entering the stadium, Tenk decided to grab another hotdog to take in with him and left the group waiting.

"Join the queue!" he said. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Are you kidding me?" Loca said as Tenk jogged away. "That's his third one!"

"They _are_ pretty good though," Seckry commented.

They joined the queue behind a girl who's t-shirt had been printed with the words 'Durkamp, our new champ!' She seemed to be waiting on her own.

"Oh Gedin," said Loca, "When Tenk sees that it's gonna start him off about Durkamp again."

The girl turned around, hugging a milkshake, some doughnuts, some candyfloss and a bag of chips to her chest.

"You know someone who's a fan of Durkamp?" she asked them.

"Do we ever," said Loca.

"Wow, that's cool," said the girl. "He's so underrated." She picked a chip out of its bag and dunked it into her milkshake so that it was completely covered.

"Sorry," she said before popping it into her mouth. "It's disgusting, I know."

Seckry and the others all looked at each other with wide eyes before Loca said, "This guy's gonna really want to meet you."

"Me?" the girl said. "Why would anyone want to meet me?"

At that moment, Tenk came jogging out of the crowd, shouting, "I got it half price 'cause the guy dropped it in the candyfloss vat–"

He stopped mid sentence and the hotdog he was about to bite into slid out of its bun and landed with a wet slap onto the ground.

" _Chip and Milk Girl,_ " he said.

Seckry enjoyed the game and so did the others, though he couldn't speak for everyone because he wasn't sure that Tenk actually caught any of it amidst incessantly chatting to the girl from the queue, the girl he had waited all this time to meet again.

That night, after arriving at the flat, Eiya took Seckry's hand and said, "Come with me, I want to give you something," before leading him back out into the warm spring night's air.

"Where are we going?" Seckry asked, but Eiya just smiled at him, her eyes glistening in the orange lamplight.

She led him to the monorail station and they boarded an empty carriage. When they reached the stop for Estergate, Eiya led him off and danced around in the street in front of him, just like she had on the night of the ball, and they eventually arrived at the same place they had on that night, the disused reactor.

"The glowflies will be out again," Eiya said. "The weather's warmer now too, there'll be even more of them."

She climbed down into the chamber and Seckry followed.

Eiya was right, climbing down into the chamber was like diving into a waterless ocean filled with thousands of tiny fish. As soon as they began to walk around, glowflies began settling in their hair and on their skin, making them both giggle with ticklishness.

Eiya shook her head and the glowflies dispersed.

"You know, we should never have gone back to the school that night of the ball," she said. "We should have stayed here. It was perfect."

"Yeah," Seckry said, brushing a glowfly from his cheek. "Away from reality, away from everything. Just us. What was it you wanted to give me?"

"Something that was taken away from us that night," Eiya said, stepping closer to him.

"What was taken awa–"

Eiya pressed her finger gently to Seckry's lips and said, "Shhh," just like she had so many times in his dreams. With a slight tremble, she let her finger drop and pressed her lips against his. They were so light and soft that they felt like jelly, and a sensation unlike any other spread through Seckry's body, making the hairs on the back of his neck and his arms stand on end. He had dreamed of this moment nearly every night for the past three months, and now that it was here, it was even better than he had imagined.

Seckry touched his hand to Eiya's cheek and then ran his fingers over her small earlobe and through her soft, smooth hair. As they continued to kiss, Seckry lost all concept of time. Everything that had gone before and everything that was to come meant nothing to him here and now. The only thing that existed to him was the present, and the sweet, intoxicating taste of Eiya.

Seckry barely remembered the journey back that night because all he could see and all he could hear and all he could feel, were Eiya. Every time their eyes met, Seckry had to tense his legs so that they wouldn't give way and collapse.

His mum and Leena were in bed by the time they got back, and the flat was silent aside from the distant chirruping of a few crickets outside. Seckry went to use the bathroom, and by the time he came back to the bedroom, Eiya was sound asleep.

The room was warm, so he opened the window and leaned on the sill for a while, watching the far away sparks of the monorail tracks lighting up the city. There were only a few weeks left of school before the summer holidays, and he was looking forward to them now more than ever.

In a rough pile next to Seckry's elbow were his birthday cards from when they had just arrived in Skyfall. He shuffled them so they were neat, and thought about how much had changed since then.

As he did so, a single card slipped out of his hands and onto the floor, a card he had long forgotten about.

The card with no name.

Seckry picked it up and opened it once more, running the tip of his finger ponderingly over the ink that said 'Happy Birthday.' He could feel the indentation where the pen had pressed. He let his fingers drift across it, and then he shut the card. But immediately after he did so, he opened it again.

He had felt something else. Something underneath the message.

He pressed his fingers to the page and sure enough, there were more indentations, just one or two words, very light and with no ink at all. Seckry peered as close as he could, and held the card out into the air, trying to angle it so the light would catch the text.

He tilted it backwards and stopped.

After some time, a teardrop specked the windowsill below him.

Written in the moonlight were the words, " _Love, Dad._ "

# Epilogue

# The Combination

As Ropart Sanfarrow turned a corner, he took a note out of his pocket and reread it for the fifth time.

Tilly's Cafe, Toppletod Way, 2pm, Tuesday.

That was all that was written. He had no idea who had posted it.

When he entered the cafe there was only one person in there aside from the girl behind the counter; a man dressed head to toe in robes from Arivel. He was sitting without a drink. Sanfarrow would have said he was staring into space, but, slightly disturbingly, even his eyes were covered by his robes.

Sanfarrow knew that in Arivelian culture it was considered important to cover the skin with fabric, but he had never before seen someone so entirely masked by their clothing. The only part of the man's face that wasn't covered was his mouth. Sanfarrow wondered how on earth he was supposed to see.

"May I join you?" Sanfarrow offered.

The Arivelian nodded, breathing abnormally.

Sanfarrow sat down, placed the note on the table and slid it towards the stranger.

"So . . ." he said. "I'm here. Are you going to tell me what this is all about? I have to say, I've never been summoned so enigmatically before."

Now that Sanfarrow was sitting, he could see that the man in front of him was trembling, and his mouth was twitching. The small patch of skin around his mouth looked horribly burnt and blistered.

There was no reply. Instead, the man lifted something from underneath the table; a canister or some kind of thermal flask. As he unscrewed the lid, Sanfarrow saw that his hands were even worse than the skin around his mouth. Not only were they deformed and cracked and blistered, but they were bubbling; the skin was actually pulsating like molten lava.

" _What in Gedin's name . . . ?_ " Sanfarrow whispered to himself.

The man then placed the lid on the table, reached into the flask, and pulled out a worm. It struggled violently between his fingers before he opened his mouth wide and dropped the worm into it. As he chewed, his whole body gave a few spasms.

" _Oh, dear Gedin, no_ . . ." Sanfarrow said. "You're the one . . . You're the one that sent Seckry to get the rintide worms, aren't you? Do you have any idea what you're doing? Those worms were being used as waste disposal for an incredibly toxic and unstable experiment. They're diseased, they're _contaminated_. And you're _eating them?_ "

The man said nothing.

"Look, what is this all about?" Sanfarrow said furiously. "Why are you here? Why did you want to meet me?"

The man then put his unsettlingly hideous hands in front of him and made the shape of a box with his fingers.

Sanfarrow didn't know what this meant.

The man then pointed to Sanfarrow's pocket and made the shape of a box once more.

Sanfarrow reached to his pocket and paused. There was only one thing in there. His last gift from Kevan Kayne. The un-openable cube.

He tentatively pulled it out. "This . . . ?"

The Arivelian nodded.

"How did you know that this was in my pocket?" Sanfarrow said, his skin beginning to prickle with fear. "This is something private, something that was given to me by a dear friend."

The man refused to say a word. Instead, he flipped Sanfarrow's note over so that it was blank side up and slid it into the centre of their table.

Sanfarrow laughed incredulously and without humour.

"Don't tell me you're going to write down possible combinations for the lock. I've tried almost every combination there is. I've spent two years trying to unlock it. There's only one person that could have unlocked it, and that's the person who gave it to me. That person was shot dead."

What happened next made Sanfarrow grip his seat in horror. Thin tentacles started growing out of the man's knuckles and reaching for the paper. As they touched it, they began scratching numbers onto its surface in what appeared to be blood.

"How on earth . . . ?" Sanfarrow said, his voice wavering. "What are those worms _doing_ to you . . . ?"

Once sixteen numbers had been etched onto the paper, the tentacles slid sinisterly back into the man's skin.

"How in Gedin's name would you know this combination?" Sanfarrow said, frozen still and sweating profusely.

The entire paper now seemed to be growing mould rapidly, as if infected by the hideous man's touch.

Sanfarrow swallowed and stared at it.

Could it really be the right combination?

With shaking hands, he began entering the numbers, and with the final one there was a click. He shook his head slowly in disbelief. It was open.

He lifted the two segments apart and there was just one thing inside; a small piece of card. Inscribed on it were two words.

It's me.

It was only then that the man sitting in front of Sanfarrow spoke.

"Hello Ropart," said Kevan Kayne, and lifted another worm into his mouth.

#

# Seckry's adventures continue in

# The Trinity Awakening

# The Seckry Sequence Book 2

#

# Check out the official website

# www.theseckrysequence.com

#

# Become a fan on Facebook

# facebook.com/theseckrysequence

#

# Follow Joseph Evans on Twitter

# @JosephCEvans

#

# Author's Note

First of all I want to thank you so much for reading Seckry's adventures – by downloading this book, you have contributed to the continuation of the series, and I am ever grateful to be able to carry on writing about these characters that I've grown so attached to, and in this world that has now become my world.

Some of you may already know the road I took to make The Seckry Sequence available, and some of you may not, but I have been sending it to agents and publishers, with only rejections in return so far, meaning that it is still self-published, with only social media to help me spread the word.

However, I have not lost all hope, and if you enjoyed this book, there are ways you can help me – by letting everybody that will listen to you hear about it, and by posting a review on Amazon, or the site of the company you bought the book from.

Like I said, social media is currently my main source of exposure, so please do like the Facebook fan page and follow me on Twitter if you haven't already done so, using the following tags:

#TSS

#TheSeckrySequence

#CityoftheFallingSky

#TheTrinityAwakening

I also asked you fans a while ago to come up with a name for yourselves, and the one we decided on was Seckramaniacs! So if you love The Seckry Sequence enough to call yourself a #Seckramaniac, please use that hashtag too!

#

# Acknowledgements

First of all I'd like to thank all of my family for everything; my mamgu and dadcu, my aunties, cousins, my sisters, dad, my uncle, Dr David T. Evans, for being such an inspiration, and especially my mum, Debra Carr, who gave me my love of books and who has done so much for me and my sisters over the years.

I'd also like to thank all of my friends for their enthusiasm and interest in this book, especially David Goddard. My colleagues at Waterstones have also been amazingly supportive. I'd like to give extra thanks to Victoria Hutchings and Myfanwy Hipkiss, who are eagerly awaiting the second in the series, and are a great help in spurring me on to continue writing.

Thank you to all of my English teachers over the years, who each inspired me differently: Helen Senior, the late Jo Bryant, Anthony Bennett, Ms Jones, Mr Shirley, and especially Emma Coombs, who cared about us not just as pupils, but as individuals, and whose enthusiasm for English was unlike anything I'd seen before.

There are also teachers and lecturers that I'd like to thank that didn't have a direct role in helping me write, but had an impact in shaping me as a person: Keith Allen, my head of year at high school, and Allan Kaye, my form teacher, who both always listened and cared, and fuelled our thirst for knowledge, Andre Ktori for the wildest parties in my first year of university, and Jack Beaumont for being such a great mentor in my second and third.

Thank you to my first teenage reader, Jacob Foley, and thanks to his mum, Cath, who loves to hear about my progress whilst she's cutting my hair, and who was my first paying customer. Thanks also to the wonderful bloggers who initially read the ebook version of this story and got the word out there about Seckry, and thanks to everyone that has reviewed this book on Amazon.

Most importantly, thank you to Charlotte, my soulmate and the girl of my dreams.

# About the Author

Joseph Evans grew up in Cardiff, South Wales, UK, where he spent a lot of his childhood playing video games and watching anime. His love of books originated from his love of the fantastic stories and narratives he found in both of these.

He is still a big video games fan (can you tell?) and his favourite game of all time is Final Fantasy VII.

He has a 1st class degree in Interactive Media, and alongside writing he is a freelance motion graphics designer as well as a bookseller in the Cardiff branch of Waterstones. If you're ever in the area, pop in and say hello!

