“Mary, since you’re our Kin expert, why don’t you throw Reese…” The man finally straightened up and looked around at hearing his name. “...a bone and give us an example of what I’m talking about?”
Her pencil had broken in the middle of writing, and she gave him a wide-eyed stare before pulling her wits together. She swallowed and said, “I’m not, you know, an expert, professor. I just, um, study really hard…”
She had learned so quickly and spoke with such fluency that he found it hard to believe she was learning the language for the first time. He figured that she had probably taken the class before and not passed, or was repeating it for some reason. Of course, it was possible that she was just a quick study like she claimed.
He motioned with his hand impatiently, “Example? Explanation? Something.”
“Okay, well, um…” She looked over at Reese, who was smiling winningly. He had already failed to catch the pretty girl’s eye earlier in the semester, which is why he had moved to his current seat, but he was nothing if not optimistic.
Sometimes Harold wished he would just suck it up and do what it took, mostly kissing up to self important megalomaniacs, to get the postgraduate courses. Less dating and groaning. More studying and engaging, relevant discussions. Less Reeses, more Marys. But...he shivered, thinking about the department head...the price was still too high. “Continue, please. My birthday is next month and I want to spend it with my wife, not this class.”
“Yes, sir. Um, according to what I’ve read, a Kin child really wants to make her parents proud, partially to kind of thank them for all of their hard work, their sacrifices...”
“Like Human sacrifices?” Reese joked, to the amusement of his hangers-on.
“Reese, please, just this once, pretend that you care if you get culled from the herd.”
“No,” she went on as if it really mattered to her that he understood. Poor girl. “They dedicate their lives to their children’s upbringing, teaching them, giving them appropriate experiences, carefully choosing apprenticeship positions, whatever it takes to get them a successful start. So the child grows up knowing what they are going to do, and they are just, really grateful and motivated to do their best. It is actually a relief for them, to be guided from a young age, never having doubts, or insecurity. They know what they are going to do.” She was starting to notice the inevitable. It was like watching a car wreck in progress: completely mesmerizing. “It’s like having your future all ready for you, just waiting until you’ve made yourself...someone worthy of...it...Well, anyway, this is only in good families, not all of them are like that. Many Kin children get to make their own decision about what they want to do between eleven and fourteen...years...” She let her voice trail off, since Reese was already penning a note to the girl next to him.
“Good effort, Mary. At the very least, the rest of us were enlightened. That last bit, about the good families was not in the text. What is your source?”
“Oh, um...well, I’ve read a lot, professor, about the Kin. I’m just really interested, you know. So...I guess I don’t know off hand…”
“These are the types of questions you will get if you continue in Kin Studies past the fourth year, so you might make a note of it.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“All right. You have your assignment, and the language homework, naturally, will be due as well.” Pause for groaning...and...done. “Chapters eight and nine before Tuesday. Have a good night, people.” He began to gather up his things, glancing up at the clock. His eyes drifted over the only body not in motion.
Next to Mary, Karin’s shaky hand covered her eyes, her thumb and fingers pressing on her temples. Finally, she raised her head high enough to pick up her pencil with her free hand and scribble something, probably the assignment, on her paper. Her grades were good enough to pass easily, though she often lost points for not participating in the oral discussions and had missed some classes, apparently due to what looked to him to be an extremely debilitating condition. She had short episodes of intense headaches at least once a week in his class; at those times, she would have to lower her head for as long as ten minutes. Occasionally, she would take some medicine from her backpack afterwards. He had already discussed the situation once with her, but still… “Karin, can you stay after for a moment? Mary, can you wait for her?”
“Yes sir,” Mary said, sitting down and staring at her notes. Then she started rewriting them more neatly.
Karin stood and made her way to the front of the nearly empty room. “Yes, Professor Pilmer?”
“I don’t mean to pry, but your condition seems to be worsening as the semester goes on. Have you seen a physician about it?”
“Um, no sir. I’ve had it for a long time. It’s not something new, or really anything that can be cured. I’m sorry, if it seems like I’m not paying attention…”
“No, that’s not it. I’m not concerned about your progress, as long as you are learning and are able to keep up with the work. I just wanted to make sure you are getting all the help you need with...they’re migraines, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We have a clinic here on campus…”
“Thank you, I appreciate that. If it seems like it’s worse than normal, I’ll make an appointment.”
He knew she was just placating him, so he let it go. He had done what he could. “Thank you, Karin. All right then, have a good night. I hope you feel better.”
“Thank you, and good night, sir.” She turned around and returned to her desk, scooping up her notebook and text and dumping them in her backpack.
After they had gone, he gave his wife a call. “Honey, I’m heading out. Do you need anything?...No? Ice cream?...Heh, I knew it. What flavor?...All right, mango sherbet it is...Work was fine...just, you know, molding the minds of the future...nothing big.”
After he hung up, he shut off the light and locked up the room. On the way to his car, he waved to a colleague and brushed away thoughts of their discussion in the break room during his lunch. Tensions had always been high between Kin and Humans. A few little incidences weren’t going to bring the world to an end that quickly. No need to overreact. Better to think about mango sherbet, and his wife’s other, more peculiar cravings. Maybe he’d swing by the market and pick up some pickles, just to see how that would go over.
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“You need a ride?” Mary asked, frowning at her friend.
“No, I’ve got my bike, but thanks. And thanks for helping me out in class, too, Mary. You are a lifesaver, really.”
“Naw, it was nothing. Besides, you’ve really helped me out with the extra studying. I’m acing the tests, thanks to your tutoring.”
“Yeah, you’re easily the top student. Congrats.”
“It’d be you, if you didn’t get sick so much.”
“I don’t care about that, no offense. This is just a prerequisite for the classes I really want to take. I just need to pass it.”
“And learn Kin,” Mary prompted, stopping at her car.
“Yeah, and learn to speak Kin.”
“Where did you learn that about the good family anyway, in case I want to look it up?”
“Pfft. Like I’d remember that. No idea. We could do a search tomorrow, and use it for the homework.”
“Good idea.”
“What time?”
“Four?”
“Four is good. See you then.”
“G’ night. Take care on the road, okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” Mercy waited until her friend had backed out her car and then waved to the girl as she left the parking lot. Then she turned and made her way across campus to where she had left her bike before her first class. Now that she was alone, she took more time than normal to look around herself, walking along the well lit, populated paths, and carrying herself confidently.
Her hands she kept loose at her side after she had pulled her hair out of her face and into a ponytail. It was dyed black and straig
htened, which was murder on her hair, but a necessary part of the illusion that allowed her to study in the university as an exchange student from the Human city she had grown up in; of course, she hadn't grown up there, Karin had. Mercy Young couldn't go to college, because she and the rest of her family were on the run from both the Kin and the Human governments. So, with a little clever identity theft, Mercy had become Karin. The things you have to do for a good college education, she thought with a grin.
She yawned and then shook her head to keep alert. She was taking a heavy load of classes, majoring in Kin Studies as well as taking select pre-med classes. The latter ones were taught by a teacher who was doing research in the second area that greatly interested Mercy: Human powers. Between her schoolwork, her regular workouts at the school gym, her martial arts training at two local schools...a requirement from her favorite mentor...and her part-time job, she had zero free time from sunup to way past sundown, six days a week. On the seventh day, she studied.
Scythe had insisted on her promise to draw as little attention to herself as possible before he would endorse her plea to attend school like any well educated Human. She wanted to strengthen her mind, have some of the same experiences her parents had had in school, and search for the answers to some questions that she and her family had, especially about the recent development of Human powers and the status of Human-Kin relations.
Her own desires happened to coincide with her family’s need to have a legitimate citizen who could enter any of the Human settlements without a problem, access some of the Human systems that were difficult to get to remotely, acquire supplies for them that could only be obtained there, gather information when needed, and run some of Scythe’s special errands.
Naturally, it had been a big fight, one that had lasted over six months. However, once she got Scythe to side with her and give her the tools to make herself as safe as possible, her family, especially her father, who was the number one opponent of the idea, had finally come around to her point of view. In the few free moments that she wasn’t scurrying around like a rat looking for a chunk of cheese, she had the presence of mind to miss them and think about what they would be doing at that moment. She couldn’t write them, and text messages were for emergencies only, so she had to wait until she had a long enough vacation, like the one she had just returned from, to take the sizable trip out to see them.
She had been so disappointed when Scythe hadn’t returned home before it was time for her to leave. She kept thinking that he would show up at any moment, stride into the room confidently, dropping his backpack and accepting her big hug with a grin. Then she would surround him with her power and make him smile. Even if he was being stubborn and trying to stay cool, she would know, would feel it through their connection, how happy she could make him just by whispering his name with her heart. But, he hadn’t come, and she had returned deflated.
On top of that disappointment, for some reason she was having a vision marathon this semester. One of her talents was having visions of things that sometimes came true, sometimes could be changed and sometimes didn’t happen at all, as far as she could tell. She had had mixed luck distinguishing between the ones that would come true and the ones that wouldn't, so she never knew which visions, if any, she should consider acting on. Fortunately, or unfortunately...she could never decide which...she didn't really have time to worry too much about it. She wished, however, there were someone she could talk to about why they were happening so often.
Although, she had yet to find any way to stop them, she had learned to lessen them by forcing her power into the vision when it started. That way, she wasn’t completely helpless like she used to be, staring into space, living the vision, reacting to it as if she were there. That type of behavior did not fall into her “draw as little attention as possible” promise. However, the price that she paid for interfering with a vision was pretty high. She still experienced the vision, but she wasn’t lost in it. She still knew what was going on outside her mind. Unfortunately, doing it felt like being hit on the head repeatedly until the vision ended and for a little while afterwards. The visions and their side effects were the reasons why she didn’t drive a car; it was too dangerous, for herself and others.
Looking around again and finding nothing suspicious, she approached her bicycle, tapped in the code and pulled her bike off the rack. She walked it over to the street, got on and started pedaling her way to where she worked at a little diner not far from campus. It was a great job because she could eat for half price, or less, if the boss was feeling generous.
Just a four-hour shift this time, then back to the school dormitory for what amounted to a nap before she was up for her morning classes. This had been her routine for a year and a half, so she knew she could easily make it to the end of the term. Then, she’d go home for the summer and sleep. A lot.
-----------
Aorin walked right past him, letting her keys fall out of her fingers onto the edge of the table so that the ones hanging over the lip dragged their fellows over and down. She turned, cursing, right at the moment he opened his mouth to speak, and finally noticed him standing in the alcove next to her entranceway.
She screeched and reflexively stumbled back a few steps. The two heavy bags of groceries joined her keys on the floor.
“Sorry, Aorin,” he said, immediately stooping to collect the tossed items, stretching to grab a pair of oranges before they rolled out of reach. “I was about to say something…”
“Who...Scythe?” she stuttered, finally recognizing him. “Holy fibrous tumors, you almost killed me!”
“Sorry, sorry,” he repeated, stacking up the boxes in one arm and managing to get a third orange palmed before standing. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you’d notice me when you came in. I was standing right here.”
“What? In the dark?”
“I thought you’d turn the lights on. Besides, you are Kin…I assumed you'd know I was there. Where do you want these?”
She stepped aside, pointing, and he passed her on the way to the kitchen. “My hands were full, and I was busy…well, my mind was busy…I was thinking…anyway…You know, my heart is still beating like crazy! Why didn’t you just turn on the light?”
“I am sorry, Aorin, really.” He came back and began to gather up the rest, absently placing the keys on the table. “I didn’t turn on the light because I didn’t want anyone to know someone was here when you weren’t, and also I didn’t know whether or not it would scare you to come home to find the lights on. I was worried you might not come in.”
Having pulled herself together, she crouched down to help him, “Ah, well, don’t worry about it, Scythe. No harm was done, now that I didn’t die from a heart attack.” Arms full, she stood and he followed her, dumping everything on the counter in the kitchen. “I guess this means you got my message.” She grabbed a towel and held it under the newly emptied bottle of milk on her way to the trash can. Then she returned and started rinsing the salvageable things in the sink.
“I did. That was an intuitive piece of work, researcher.”
She stopped cleaning to beam at him for a moment, “It was, wasn’t it?”
He grinned, “Yes. To my knowledge, you are the only one in over four years to find me.”
“That’s not true. There have been reported sightings, and Cord was almost picked up last year, and you pulled that little stunt where you got yourself arrested so that you could get into the lockup in Geori earlier this year.”
“In all those cases, we came to them, but you were the first one to find me. It would have made a nice trap. You would have had me for sure, Aorin, which is why I came.”
“Ah, the old ‘since I didn’t get you when I could have, then I must be trustworthy’ trick? That one always works for me.” She glanced at the clock and waved him away from the spill on the floor, dumping a bunch of towels over it. “No, I’ll get it later. Let it soak up for a while. Do you want something to drink? Or eat?”
> “Sure. How about some milk?”
“That’s funny. How about juice or water?”
“Water is fine, thanks.”
While she poured the water, his eyes fell on the pendant she wore around her neck. It was a gift that he had bought and had sent to her years ago, shortly after he had escaped from jail. He had wanted to thank her for all her help over the years as well as acknowledge her work on his behalf after he was charged and imprisoned. It was an unusual piece; he had it made especially for her by a talented Human craftsman in a bordertown. On the thin but sturdy chain, a nightcrawler curled around in an artistic, flowing circle to eat its own tail. She was just the type of person to wear a worm proudly, and it only added to her satisfaction that this particular figure jabbed at the reputation of the agency that she worked for.
Years ago, a Watcher mentioned in his report that the Scere had been referred to as a group of nightcrawlers by a resentful and unwilling target for recruitment. Use of the name got out and soon became a popular way for a certain irreverent portion of the Scere’s employees to vent their frustrations with their bosses. He had seen her collection of nightcrawler comic strips in her office and, even though they had never discussed it, he was sure his researching genius of a friend knew exactly who had used the term in a moment of defiance nearly ten years before.
“How did you know about Jir Dem On?” he asked, taking a seat on the barstool at the counter.
“Oh, the books that were found in your apartment were all listed in your case report. It was a no brainer. The hard part was getting the book itself, and getting it listed in a place I hoped you would notice.”
“You bought it?” He knew that, even with her generous salary, the price of the book would have been a significant amount for her.
“Yeah. I found a guy who had inherited it, along with thousands more, and was just selling them off. Not a collector, or even a reader. He didn’t know what it was worth, thankfully. I got it cheap, for way less than what you paid for it.”
Halfblood Legacy Page 4
