Just as Hunter had predicted, the weekend flew by in what felt like a matter of hours. He hadn’t had a time to really immerse himself in his work after the competition, and he was surprised to find just how deeply he could lose himself in it without the pressures of having to work, or having to worry about the Comics showing up at his door with a potentially fatal ultimatum.
He’d had fun, and he felt like he’d learned quite a bit. Shaped forcefields were complex, and difficult, but he was starting to understand the theory a bit more intimately. He was still quite a ways away from being able to produce one himself— years away. But he was optimistic that it was just a matter of time. His synergies would advance, his experience would grow, and he would continue to innovate in ways no one else could.
It was what he was good at, and he’d be damned if he didn’t juice that for every ounce it was worth while he was at the academy.
He could already feel himself on that ship, leaving the world and its dramas behind. It was just one degree of Excellence away.
Hunter soon forgot about the academy. He forgot about Aera, Trey, the competition, and the museum. He forgot about his dream of leaving the world, and and making a name for himself beyond it. All that existed for him was the strange song that etherium sung, its shifting desires, and how to best make use of them.
It was Stewart who had pulled him out of his fugue. Hunter had barely slept over the last few days— caffeine and sheer passion, curiosity, and twice as much frustration kept his unwavering focus on his work. He hadn’t heard the man knock, or enter the room, or walk across it to tap him on the shoulder.
If the man was at all disturbed by the pale, bloodshot eyes that met him, he showed no sign of it.
“I’ve come to inform you that you will be leaving for the Pacific Shield in just over an hour,” Stewart said, glancing around the room, “would you like some assistance with packing?”
Hunter shook his head, painfully tearing his mind away from the complex matrix of networks he’d been so comfortably lost in for the last who-knows-how-long.
“I should be fine,” Hunter said. Stewart nodded, and informed him that Trey had requested to see both him and Aera just before they departed, and that Stewart and his staff would pack away all of their luggage into the van that would take them to the airport. Hunter agreed, and spent the next few minutes gathering everything he would need.
As he packed, he was informed that he would be given his own private accommodations at the Academy, warranted by his status as an Oberon. He would have private laundry, so he wouldn’t need to worry about packing more than he would need in a week or two.
Hunter brought all of his new fancy clothes, and some of the simple shirts and pants that Stewart had supplied him with after upgrading his wardrobe. He wouldn’t need to be all dressed up all the time, and it would be nice to have something more casual to wear when he was just at home, which he imagined he would spend most of his time when he wasn’t attending courses.
Hunter was nervous about having to leave, but he was also excited. If he’d proven anything to himself over the last month, it was that he could do anything he set his mind to. The academy would probably be nothing like the competition. His life wouldn’t be in danger, and apart from having to take a beating a couple times a week during the mandatory martial arts classes, Hunter was confident that his life at Barnum would be a breeze.
He met with Trey and Aera in the same room they’d received him in almost a month ago. Trey had some finger foods prepped, and Hunter attacked them with vigor. He hadn’t realized how hungry he’d gotten. When was the last time he’d eaten?
“Aera and I had a nice chat last night, and she’s quiet eager to get back to the tutoring sessions. We’ve also decided that it would be in both of your interest to addend a period of artisan tutoring in turn.”
Hunter paused, mid-bite. Did he hear that right?
“You mean, you want me to tutor Aera?”
“To learn is to teach, to teach is to learn. I expect you’ll find the experience to be quite enriching, both of you.”
Aera seemed to share Hunter’s utter lack of enthusiasm at the prospect.
“Are you sure?” Hunter asked, unable to help himself.
“Call it intuition. It’ll be great, trust me!” Trey said, his unconditional enthusiasm and encouragement causing Hunter to involuntarily smile. He shook his head.
“I suppose I’ll just have to trust you then,” Hunter said. He didn’t believe a word that came out of his mouth, but what was he going to do about it? It sounded like Trey had already made up his mind. Besides, maybe Hunter would be able to show Aera that just because he wasn’t as strong as her, that didn’t mean he was useless.
Trey fished out a piece of paper from his pocket and read it out loud for them.
“Now, a few rules I'd like you both to take account of before you leave. 1) You will be supplied with a very small allowance every month to pay for necessities which aren’t provided by the school. Beyond this allowance, the family’s money will be out of reach for both of you unless its an emergency. 2) You will both continue to attend the tutoring sessions regularly, the only exception being immanent school projects or extra-curricular events which demand your evening’s time. 3) You will each earn at least a single degree of Excellence, any extra earned will be rewarded quite similarly to our initial agreements. Last but not least, rule 4) You will have each others backs,” Trey said, folding the piece of paper and putting it back in his pocket. Hunter didn’t see Aera’s reaction, but Trey gave her her a look which might mean that she was having some strong thoughts about those rules.
Hunter was interested in hearing what Aera had been promised for earning Excellence. Wasn’t she already heiress to one of the most powerful organizations in the world? What more could she ask for?
And how was Hunter supposed to have Aera’s back?
Despite his doubt, he agreed to Trey’s rules. Before they left, Trey gave Hunter a small box. Hunter opened it up and saw a black onyx signet ring, with the Oberon family crest etched in gold. His name was also etched along the edge of the ring.
“Rings like these have been passing around the family for generations. They serve as both a gift, and a reminder. You have the authority and privilege of an Oberon, but you also have the responsibility that comes with it,” Trey said, his voice solemn, but his smile was still genuine.
Hunter tried to put it on his finger, but it wasn’t thick enough to secure the ring in place. Trey asked an attendant to find a thin, chain-link necklace. He threaded it through the ring and told Hunter to wear it as a necklace instead.
“It’s fine as long as you carry it with you. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll grow into it?” Trey said. Then he wished them good luck and bid them farewell.
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Hunter was pleasantly surprised to find Barry waiting for them at the front of the house. To Hunters delight, he led them both to the Kellese. He said that their luggage was being sent ahead of them, and that if the timing worked out, they would find it waiting for them inside their new accommodations.
Hunter was excited, and found that the sheer pleasure of riding in the Kellese, and the being able to travel in an airplane for the first time in his life was outshining the brooding shadow beside him. Aera was her usual, quiet self as Barry drove them down the mountain, through the city, and to the capital airport. Hunter was wondering if he should expect a sea of reporters to meet them there. Whenever he saw the Oberon family out in public, news would show them trailed by a long line of flashing cameras and curious pedestrians.
He was almost disappointed to find the airport to be relatively calm-- not that he had any idea of how busy airports typically got. People pooled all around them. Talking, reading, lining up for tickets. It didn’t take long for them to be recognized. And despite Hunters’ tendency to shy away from attention, he felt slightly mollified. Although he probably couldn’t take the credit as being the source of the steadily increasing attention they were receiving.
Aera stood out— her signature hair and athletic build would be eye catching enough to attract attention, but her face was probably more popular and recognizable than her fathers. He could tell that they recognized him as well, now that news of the newest member of the Oberon family had filtered out to the public.
The son of the infamous Gideon Koar, now a part of the historic Oberon family, and third in line to inherit the role of monarch. It still didn’t feel real to him. It made him something of a prince, but he hadn’t really given that thought any weight over the last few weeks. He didn’t know how to how to contextualize it, or what it meant for him. So, he didn’t lose much sleep worrying about it all. Hunter wasn’t interested in world-shaping wealth. He didn’t need it, his interests were simple and straightforward, and he was happy for that. Great influence tended to bring out the worst in people.
Maybe he, of all people, needed to avoid that sort of ambition. He didn’t know what it would do to him, down the line. It might turn him into the kind of person who could justify just about anything.
Hunter and Aera were led to a private hanger, where a small plane was waiting for them. Hunter couldn’t feel any charged etherium running through it, so his interest in the plane itself was minimal. The specifics of its aerodynamics, lift, and thrust were subjects that were lost on him. As far as he was concerned, the Kellese was a thousand times more interesting. He’d actually managed to get his hand on some printouts of the networks schematics for the vehicle. He’d learned quite a bit from studying them, but neither Trey nor Barry were comfortable with Hunter taking the car apart to study it in person.
From the schematics, he’d found a lot to be impressed by. He’d also found quite a bit that he knew he could improve. He figured he could knock down the AR requirement by at least 15 points, and could probably improve its performance quite a bit as well.
Maybe.
There was quite a bit about the vehicle he still didn’t know. What the schematics didn’t tell him were what the design philosophy behind the vehicle was, what their intention was, and what his alterations would do to negatively effect whatever ideal balance they’d managed to achieve.
It’s not something he would have thought about before had he not been forced to study what he’d missed in school over the last few years. Hunter was excited to learn more, and maybe one day he’d be able to sit down with the people at Kreig and learn about how the history and process they went through to create such a masterpiece.
Excitement blossomed in his chest. He was an Oberon now— not a nobody kid who fancied himself an industry pioneer. Maybe this is the kind of thing that kept people attached to wealth and status. The opportunities it offered were second to none. He’d pass on the head honcho’s seat, but Hunter could get used to this sort of life; where crafting dreams was as real as eating tomorrow’s dinner.
A month ago, a meeting with the designers of a Kellese was something that felt like a wisp o fa dream, a fantasy, an ephemeral lie meant to trigger him into despairing about his barren future. The sudden inversion in circumstance felt like a perversion of the natural order.
He almost laughed, but Aera was beside him. Even in his high spirits, he felt like he was always walking on eggshells around her. So he contained himself.
They sat in opposite ends of the private plane, which Hunter was fine with. Soon, the plane drove itself onto the runway, and Hunter got to experience his first liftoff. It was exhilarating, and frightening.
The world seemed to expand beneath them. Soon they were higher than the mountains, sailing through clouds. He imagined that this might be what it was like to be on a ship headed outworld. What would it be like, to keep going higher and higher? Eventually they would reach the terminus of the sky, where the world transitioned into the strange space between worlds— where the cosmos painted in the sky would end, and the true space beyond would begin. He’d heard it described like a sea of mist, which seemed both real and virtual. The mist would pass through the ship, through the crews body, yet it didn’t cause any harm. The ship would then emerge into a vast blackness, with soft grey-white suns speckled throughout. Each sun would be another world, another contained realm which appeared to have a vast, yet unreachable cosmos beyond.
Hunter was glad he wasn’t around when the first ships sailed beyond the virtual sky. He didn’t want to be one of the men and women whose livelihood was based on teaching about the galaxy they used to think that they lived in, and the universe of galaxy’s surrounding them. But it made him wonder:
Why?
What did it mean, that the sky had an end?
Hunter shook his head. That wasn't the kind of question he would ever find the answer to. It was more practical for him to stay focused on more practical matters. Just because the sky they’d known wasn’t real, didn’t mean that there wasn’t a life to be lived beyond the world they called their home, beyond Sanctuary.
The plane leveled out, and Hunter marveled at the view. The world still appeared to curve, with a horizon which constantly seemed to generate new details. More land, more sea, more trees, more buildings, more people. They flew past ships at varying altitudes, and Hunter took time to study each one that came close enough. They belonged to many different companies, some were Council Seats, some weren’t. He even saw a few Oberon vessels as well, coming in from outworld destinations, either picking up cargo or dropping it off. Soon they would leave again, headed to a realm far from here. An entirely different, self contained world.
He sighed.
Eventually, the novelty of the view wore off. It was still beautiful, but there was only so much he could see before his mind naturally lost interest. It was what it was.
It took them 10 hours to reach the Pacific Shield. Hunter caught up on some sleep during the time, and woke up to a world blanketed in night. A city was below them, lights and streets seemed to weave and cross like bioluminscent veins, reaching across the land.
Over time, the city grew closer and closer. It was so odd, seeing the tops of skyscrapers beneath him.
A flight attendant informed him that they would be landing in Costa Benne in about 20 minutes. Hunter stretched and ate a small snack which had been left for him while he’d been snoozing.
Costa Benne.
It was supposed to be a beautiful place, and he regretted that they wouldn’t be able to stay and admire it. He’d never been to another continent, and had always imagined what it would be like to visit the more scenic parts of the Pacific Shield. Costa Benne would not be their final destination, however. After the plane landed, and once Hunter and Aera had disembarked, they met with another driver who said they’d arrive at the Academy after a two and a half hour drive. Hunter asked them if they could grab some coffee and dinner along the way. To his surprise, Aera seconded his request.
Was this progress?
He glanced at her. She was staring out the window.
Probably not.
Wait a minute, Hunter thought, who cares?
The driver, Alain, took them to a small family-run restaraunt where they had a small meal which Hunter had never had before. A small, flat, bread-like disc they called a ‘tortee-ah’, with had some pork, pickled red onions and carrots, and pineapple. It was delicious, a blend of salty, spicey, sour, and sweet which had blown his mind. Aera seemed annoyed by his reaction, and Alain had laughed. He told Alain that it was like nothing he’d ever had before.
Gideon had always cooked food which, compared to what he'd gotten used to at the Oberon estate, was incredibly simple and bland. Potatoes, meets, gravy's, vegetables, those were what he'd come to expect before the Council had come and taken it all away. From then it was noodles, rice, potatoes, and even chicken if he was flush with cash. It turns out there was a whole world of flavor out here, and he hadn't even known.
Alain was overjoyed that he could introduce Hunter to authentic pacific cuisine. Hunter swore he would never go back to eating bland foods again. Their visit to the restaurant was all he could think about for a while. They found some cheap coffee on the way, and by the time he drank it, he managed to pull his mind to more practical matters.
Namely, what exactly he wanted to teach Aera about constructs, and how he was going to do so without feeling like he was trying to feed a starving lion who wanted nothing more than to bite his head off.