Kaden woke up to the drone of conversation, as his roommates stood beside his bed, talking. Instead of getting up, he decided to listen in.

“Is he asleep?”

“Obviously, you dolt.”

Kaden couldn’t help but smile as he heard Derrik and Finlay start to bicker.

“Should we wake him?” Gavin asked.

“He’s smiling… probably in the middle of a good dream. It’d be a shame to take him out of it, you know?” Ewan said.

“I’m awake,” Kaden said, cutting off their discussion as he sat up and stretched his body. The nap had done wonders, and he already felt a lot better. He was still slightly sore, but the system aided regeneration rate had taken care of the worst of it.

Feeling the pangs of hunger make themselves known, he asked, “What time is it?”

“Late. We just came from Skill Theory, you missed it.” Ewan shrugged.

“That’s fine. That course seems useless anyway.” The important thing was that he hadn’t missed dinner, otherwise he would’ve had to go without food until breakfast. Or get some boring ration bar from one of the vending machines in the dorms. The cafeteria only served food three times a day, for a one-hour period each time.

“Actually, it was pretty interesting today,” Ewan said, and Kaden was surprised to see that everyone agreed with him, even Derrik.

Kaden raised an eyebrow. “Really? What was it about?”

Ewan’s words were hard to believe. From the two classes he had attended, the class was a total snooze fest.

“Well, so you know that Essence Manipulation is the only skill that can be learned, right? Every other skill comes from your class and level ups.”

“Of course.” Everyone knows that, he added in his head.

“Why is this?” Ewan asked him, and Kaden found that he only drew a blank.

“Why?” Kaden tilted his head, thinking, “Well that is because… because.”

Searching for an answer, he just couldn’t find one. It wasn’t something that he had considered before. His father had told him, and he had just taken it as a fact. It was that way, because it was. He didn’t need a reason.

This very line of thought provoked him. He wasn’t a little kid; he had lived two separate lives. Maybe it made sense that everyone else in this world could ignore this, it had been that way their whole lives after all. But it wasn’t like that for him.

Why hadn’t he questioned this more? He had longed for answers and adventure so much, that he had been willing to risk his whole life for it. But when faced with a mystery like this, he hadn’t even thought about it? In truth, he had never even considered it before.

“I see it’s just as much of a shock for you, as it was for me,” Finlay said, over from his bed on the opposite side of the room, where he was writing something down. Anyone who saw what he was doing would’ve scoffed at the fact that he used that archaic notebook once again, but no one paid him any attention right now.

“Why haven’t I thought about this before?” Kaden frowned.

Finished with his writing, Finlay had walked over. With a shrug, he said. “I don’t know. Anyway, it didn’t look like Instructor Belfor had any idea what the reason was either. I suppose he just wanted us to think about it.”

“Right…” Kaden nodded, but couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there was something more to it.

Another topic was soon brought up, and all attention shifted to that as they started heading towards the cafeteria to get something to eat.

They all chatted merrily, and Kaden brought up what had happened in the second year melee training class, and why he had missed the Skill Theory lesson.

Hovering somewhat in the background, Finlay stayed oddly quiet, and just watched them as they talked.

After dinner, Kaden lay in bed, feeling like there was something important he had forgotten. He couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was, though. And as he started getting drowsier, that feeling dissipated bit by bit. When he finally fell asleep, whatever it was that he had forgotten, simply went lost.

***

In the middle of the night, when everyone was sleeping soundly, Finlay lay awake. Sweeping of his covers, his already clothed body came into view.

Grabbing his notebook from under his pillow, he climbed down the bunk bed carefully, trying his best not to wake anyone up. Safely down, he headed for the door, and with one last look at his roommates sleeping peacefully on their beds, he shook his head and headed outside.

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Treading across the academy’s grounds in the dark of the night, Finlay felt the chill against his bones. But that was nothing in comparison to the fright he was currently feeling.

He needed answers, and there was only one person he could think of that could possibly have them.

Arriving in front of the small building that was the man’s quarters, he knocked on the door.

He waited, but no sound came from within, so he tried again, louder this time.

Finally he could hear some movement, and then the door made a swooshing noise as it slid to the side, into the recess of the wall.

Instructor Belfor appeared, dressing in his morning robe, and visibly shocked at seeing a student here at this hour. “A student? What is it?”

In answer, Finlay just flicked to a page of his notebook, and held it up so the man could see it.

Right there, underlined and in big bold letters, it said ‘WHY ESSENCE MANIPULATION?’.

Drawing in a sharp gasp, the instructor looked around nervously, trying to see if there was anyone else around.

Not finding anything out of order, he collected himself and said, “Come inside.” Before stepping aside to give Finlay room to come in.

Nodding, Finlay folded his notebook shut again.

***

Sitting in the man’s living room, Finlay took in the details while he waited.

The colors were warm, and the humble size gave it a cozy feeling. A fireplace burned in the corner, and there were two leather couches facing each other, with a small desk in between. Around the walls, bookshelves were stacked high with hundreds of thick old tomes. The smell of the worn pages filled the room and was rather comforting. Books weren’t used much these days, but they were still popular with some because of the aesthetic.

“Here you go.” Instructor Belfor came back, carrying two mugs with steam rising out of them.

He set one of them down in front of Finlay and then plopped down on the opposite couch.

Taking a sip, he hummed happily, and then cleared his throat as his expression turned serious. “So…” He looked a bit uncomfortable, as if he didn’t know how to proceed. “You remembered.”

Staring down at the warm liquid in his cup, Finlay looked up and met the man’s eyes. “You didn’t expect me to?”

“Not just you, I didn’t expect anyone to. Before we proceed, did you write anything down digitally?”

“No.” Ever since he had read those studies that said writing something down with a pen and paper was better for learning, he had solely taken notes that way.

“Good.” Instructor Belfor smiled and appeared to relax a little.

“Would something have happened if I did?”

“Normally it wouldn’t be a problem. As far as I know, the material is simply deleted as soon as you stop looking at it. And since you forget, you won’t even notice it’s gone. But since you do remember, it could bring… unwelcome attention.”

“I see.” Finlay nodded solemnly. “So, if you expected me to forget, why didn’t I?”

“That’s a good question, and one that I don’t have the answer to. What I can say, however, is that it’s a truly rare occurrence. Less than one in a million, will be able to remember. Of all your classmates, I would wager that all them forgot within fifteen minutes.”

“That can’t be right…” Finlay shook his head. “All of my roommates remembered during the entire trip back to the dorm.”

“Aha, yes.” The instructor’s eyes brightened. “An explainable occurrence. I’m guessing you kept bringing it up, which is what kept their attention on the matter. As soon as you stopped, they forgot all about it. Like poof, am I right?”

Thinking about it, Finlay had to admit that the instructor was right. On the way back, he had been the one keeping the conversation going. And then when he stopped, the topic of conversation just shifted bit by bit, until everyone stopped talking about it.

“I can see from your expression that I hit the nail on the head.”

“But what about notes, like the one I wrote in my notebook? Could they make people recall?”

“No, not quite. It’s something I’ve investigated a fair bit. Mostly it does nothing. The reader will just glance over it, consider it odd, and then immediately forget about it.”

Finlay felt a shiver pass through his body and made a face.

There was a giant conspiracy like this, just looming under the surface, and nobody knew about it? Less than one in a million could remember, and that was only if someone brought it up to them in the first place. It was a frightening thought.

“Anyway.” Instructor Belfor set his cup down. “I don’t want you delving too deeply into this… Nothing good can come from it.”

The instructor recognized that telltale expression on Finlay’s face; it was one that he too had worn in his youth. He felt like it was his responsibility to put a stop to it right here and now.

“Why?”

“It’s dangerous. People have gone missing. Whoever is covering this up, has the capability of erasing data from any device connected to the net. All these books,” he gestured around the room, ”They’re not just for show. Some of them contain my most important research into this phenomenon, and I’ve hidden them in plain sight.”

A pained expression appeared on the man’s face, and he released a sigh. ”The man who dragged me into this… he too just up and disappeared one day. No sign left behind. All his belongings, and every bit of his research, gone. Just… poof! Gone like smoke. You’re what? Ten years old? I can’t drag you into this.”

“Eleven, actually,” Finlay said, aggrieved. “And what do you want me to do? Just forget about it?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I want you to do.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Finlay stared at the man like he had said something insane.

“I don’t know, but you should do your damnedest to try. And don’t mention it to your friends anymore either. It will only bring you and them in danger.”

“But you brought it up to the whole class! It’s your fault that I’ve got this stuck in my head now. I don’t even get that part. If it’s so dangerous, why did you tell us all?” Finlay’s eyes bore into the man, and he watched him carefully. Something made him feel doubtful about the instructor’s intentions.

Under that gaze that was full of blame, Instructor Belfor felt the shame in his heart start to grow. “Well… I-I…” He stammered, his face heating up. “So hot in here… huh?” He smiled and chuckled nervously, looking around with a panicked expression.

“What are you not telling me?”

Instructor Belfor gulped. He had never been a stoic man, and now confronted with his greatest shame, the guilt ate away at him.

“I…” He took a deep breath and steadied himself. “I’m ashamed to admit it, but it’s for my research. I’ve been observing the students here at the academy, so that I could learn more about the phenomenon.”

“You’ve been using us as test subjects?” Finlay asked, enraged on behalf of all his fellow students.

“No no no.” The instructor waved his hands in denial. “Or… sort of. I mean, yes. But it’s completely harmless, I assure you. I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t. I’ve been here for ten years already, and nothing has happened to any of the students. As long as they forget, they won’t be a threat to whoever, or whatever, is trying to cover this thing up.”

“Right, and that just leaves one minor flaw in your master plan. Me.” Finlay frowned.

“Yes…” Instructor Belfor smiled sheepishly. “I hadn’t considered that.”

***

Stepping outside, Finlay let out the breath he had been holding.

It had taken some time, but he had convinced Instructor Belfor to let him participate in his research.

Whatever this was, it was big. He couldn’t just forget about it now, or ignore it and live his life in wilful ignorance.