Olly Briggs
Olly obediently followed Sarah towards the front entrance. A small crowd of people their age appeared to be forming, so he suspected he was about to meet his classmates. Just as Sarah had said, Bowen was present in the crowd. Olly could see that he looked slightly anxious, but as he noticed them he seemed to cheer up and waved them over eagerly.
“Hey! I'm so glad you made it Olly. That was something else back at the aptitude test! How did you pull it off?”
Before Olly could respond that he actually had no idea how his magic worked, they were interrupted by Franklin taking the stage.
“Welcome!” Franklin greeted them in the same pompous tone he had used to address the crowd before the aptitude test, “I could not be more thrilled to welcome the 131st incoming class to the Elite Academy of Higher Principles. You sixty-five were alone in meeting our supreme standards, and in standing here today you have demonstrated why you stand a cut above the rest. It gives me no greater pleasure to see the newest cohort representing our world’s best and brightest.”
Olly didn’t like Franklin’s superiority complex back then, and he certainly didn’t like it now, but even he had to admit that there was a small part of him that relished in being referred to as the best and brightest.
“Now, I want you all to take a good look around. Before you stands the highest institution in our lands. It represents the gifts of both science (he gestured at the feminine statue) and magic (he did the same for the masculine statue). Without these two tenets, the very cornerstone of our teachings, our society could not function. These hallowed halls have served Flexibilis for countless generations and it will no doubt continue to benefit from your presence,” he explained grandiosely, almost taking on a reverent tone.
“Now take a good look around at your fellows, these individuals will be your first family here. You will all take the same core first-year courses together. Do be warned, however, that while getting into the Academy is an impressive accomplishment, we do not tolerate layabouts. Anyone who cannot keep up will not find that they curry favor with the administration, and may be subject to disciplinary action, or removal from this Academy,” he finished his warning in a grave voice.
Olly couldn’t be sure, but as Franklin’s eyes swept over the crowd he swore that they lingered on him for a fleeting moment. He blinked and slightly recoiled but Franklin had already moved along.
He didn’t have much time to think about it because four people, each roughly in their late twenties to early thirties, walked up behind Franklin. One of them, Olly was delighted to see, was Delilah, his second tutor.
“You’ll now be provided a tour by a research fellow from your respective Guilds. These individuals are highly respected for their knowledge and skills, and hold research posts here at the Academy. You will find that they provide a wealth of knowledge and you may ask them any questions regarding life here. With that, I’ll leave you to it!” he exclaimed jovially, before walking off without another word. It was an odd speech, and left Olly with a touch of whiplash.
He didn't have much time to dwell on it however, as the research fellows called out their respective Guild associations and the crowd began to disperse accordingly. He and Sarah bid goodbye to Bowen, and Olly watched almost enviously as he joined the Cartographers' student gaggle. He couldn't help but notice that by comparison, the Cartographers' were the smallest group, with only five new students present. The Conductors had about fifteen people, the Controllers were slightly larger than the Conductors by a few more people, and the Labourers made up the bulk with the remainder.
Before the Cartographers' set off, Olly made eye contact with Delilah. She gave him a wide grin and a wave that seemed to promise she would catch up with him later. He felt a warmth spread across his cheeks but chalked it up to being nervous about being in an unfamiliar setting. He knew Delilah already and was comfortable with her, he trusted her.
“Do you know her?” Sarah asked curiously, having watched their interaction.
“Yeah, she was my tutor! My second tutor, anyways. The first was rubbish. She was great though, I knew she was smart but I didn’t think she was quite so high up in the research world here. My uncle really wanted me to be a Cartographer, so I guess he went for the best of the best,” he explained as the Cartographers began to be led away by Delilah.
“A Cartographer? Interesting! But you chose Conductor, how come?” Sarah pressed.
He had thought about it a lot. Conductors were almost revered in society. To be accepted into the Academy as a Conductor apprentice was a great source of pride and parents pushed these hopes onto their children eagerly, thus creating a neverending hero-worship cycle. But it was different for him. His uncle didn’t push him anywhere near it, in fact pushing him had spectacularly backfired for Eli’s plans, so there was no familial prestige or pressure.
“I just felt like, when I weighed my options, this was the best one. It felt right,” he said simply, looking back at her, “You?”
“Well, no one in my family is a Conductor, but I felt like I could be the first. Nobody pushed me, but my sister really stood behind me. She helped coach me for the aptitude test, and it eventually became a reality,” she explained, also slightly guarded. Olly could tell there was more to this story, it was all over her face. She gave almost as non-commital an answer as he did.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“So, did no one in either of your families go here first?” one of the girls milling close to them asked aloud, butting into their conversation.
They both turned to face her. “No? Anyone can get in,” Sarah pointed out, politely but firmly, “It’s not like family status is a requirement.”
The girl wore a haughty look on her face. “No, it’s not, but it’s very rare that just anyone gets in.”
“We took the same test you did,” Olly said, feeling grated by the interaction already.
“Come on Olly, the tour is starting,” Sarah said, diverting them away from the girl, seemingly realizing that neither of them was going to enjoy that particular line of conversation very much.
“Ugh, to think that she’s going to be in our class for the next two years,” he muttered under his breath with a groan.
“Worse, she's going to be our peer for the rest of our careers. A lot of people here are going to think they’re better than us, we’re going to have to get used to it and prove them wrong,” Sarah said with a shrug.
Olly was curious. She hadn’t really told him anything about her family, but he was already under the impression that she was more alike to him than the others. That is, someone who didn’t come from anywhere impressive. It was reassuring and made him feel less alone. In truth, he was worried about leaving the sixteenth borough and his uncle, he had been since the beginning. But while he had come to accept the aptitude test, and the Academy, could open doors that were previously shut to him, that fear had slowly morphed into a fear of loneliness once he got here. He could still benefit from coming here, but he was afraid of the potential for isolation during the time he spent at the Academy. He saw it when he stopped fitting in back home after his bid for the aptitude test got out, and he was worried about the same thing happening here; he'd be a child of two worlds, belonging to neither. With Sarah, that seemed like less of a possibility.
He filed that away mentally as their tour seemed to be starting. Their research fellow turned tour guide, Brandon, was a very polished and articulate speaker, yet his eyes carried a sparkle that suggested he also had a hidden fun side. He described himself as a researcher who focused on techniques that could improve the efficiencies of tunnel punching.
“Right this way everyone,” he said smoothly, “In a moment we’re going to enter the atrium. We’re going to let the Labourers go first and get ahead since they’re a bigger group.”
The girl from before scoffed. “Ugh, Labourers, typical,” she said just loud enough for the small group around her, including Olly and Sarah, to hear. Olly was about to tell her to shut up, but Sarah bristled first and beat him to it.
“Take it back you insipid twat!” she hissed.
Olly couldn't help but smirk. The girl looked scandalized and there was a gasp from the others within earshot. “How dare you?” the girl asked.
“Those are our peers and, like it or not, you’re going to have to rely on them one day to actually do the hard work for you in your tunnels,” Sarah harshly whispered.
Olly side-eyed the people around them, they were gathering a slight audience.
“Whatever, they’re barely a Guild anyways. Everyone knows it,” the girl retorted hotly.
“Is there a problem over there?” Brandon asked, making his way over to them.
Olly made eye contact with Sarah and shook his head, it was better not to make a scene. “No sir,” she ground out.
The other girl shook her head daintily, changing her demeanor immediately. "No sir," she said delicately.
“Oh, you’re Odette Roberts,” Brandon said with a warm smile, addressing the girl, “Your father was my master when I was an apprentice, before I returned to academia. He’s an excellent Conductor.”
“Thank you, sir,” she purred demurely, “It runs in the family.”
“Well, we expect big things from you. Alright everyone, let’s make our way inside.” He gestured for the group to turn and follow him.
Olly tugged at Sarah’s arm, pulling her back to the rear of the group. Odette gave them a superior look as she walked by, nose pointed up.
“Oh great idea,” he said sarcastically, “You’ve made enemies with the princess of the Conductors’ Guild.”
Sarah’s jaw was still set with rage. “The nerve of her! I was warned about these types of attitudes but it's worse than I thought! My sister said they all have superiority complexes and think they’re the defacto leader.”
“How does your sister know?” Olly asked curiously, as they began to file underneath the great marble columns.
Sarah paused. “She was a Labourer,” she said simply.
“Was?” he began to ask, but the question died in his mouth as they crossed the threshold. “Whoa,” he said humbly, mouth falling open.
The splendor of the outside was nothing compared to the inside. The floors were polished so thoroughly that they were practically mirrors. Every surface was made up of the same stone as the outside, but the inside displayed intricate carvings that ran the perimeter of the walls and were placed so high up that he couldn't even make out the details.
The dome that was visible from the outside was even more awe-inspiring from the inside. The blue glow that he saw through the window was actually a huge, slowly rotating sphere. It was translucent and nested just within the dome. However, its most interesting feature was the golden web that mapped its surface. Hundreds of points blotted the sphere, and they were interconnected in an intricate web-like pattern of golden threads.
“That’s Flexiblis in its three-dimensional map,” Sarah explained in a hushed voice.
He took a closer look. Yes, he could see several larger golden points that seemed to have a much greater number of threads connecting to and from them; those were clearly the major cities. Each was connected to the others and to many other smaller points. Those threads must represent the tunnel system, he thought. He noticed that some of the points joined a continuous sequences of threads, whereas others represented a dead-end. It was fascinating; he had never thought about how it all connected together, and now he had even more questions. How were they able to map so many points and locate them in space? And nothing appeared to be at the center of the sphere, was this just uncharted land, or something else entirely?
“Welcome to the Academy,” Brandon said warmly, gesturing up with his hands.
Olly supposed he was going to find answers to his questions very soon.