Jayden's Cybermountain

by Katrina Cope

  “Sounds good,” Dryden said, and they all agreed.

  ~~~~~

  TAYLOR, BEN, DECLAN, and Jessica followed Charlie out of the dining room after finishing their first breakfast at the Sanctum. They made their way across the common room and headed toward a room full of large, overstuffed lounge chairs that gave the appearance of a luxurious hotel lobby. Exiting through the glass door, they entered a perfectly beautiful day with a clear, blue sky that was dotted with a few puffy, white clouds gleaming radiantly in the bright morning sun. Charlie led them down a grass path off to the left. While they were walking, the group passed a couple of bushy trees when a tall, lanky man who was wearing glasses appeared.

  “Ah, Professor Showden. Come and meet a few of our new students who arrived last night,” said Charlie.

  The man halted and ran a hand over his comb-over to smooth it. “Oh. How lovely,” he said and smiled, showing off his straight, large teeth. He peered through his oversize glasses at the four students. “Whom do we have here?” he asked. His voice had a pompous tone.

  Anxious to give a good impression to their future teacher, the new students introduced themselves.

  “Wonderful, wonderful. So splendid to meet you all. I can’t wait to have you in my class. Unfortunately, though, I have to run. See you soon.” He turned on his heel and continued down the path.

  The group continued walking. “He seemed nice,” said Declan.

  “Professor Showden teaches the most popular subject in the whole school,” Charlie told them.

  “What does he teach?” asked Declan.

  “He teaches video tech.”

  Jessica wrinkled her nose. “What’s that? It sounds hard.”

  “I don’t know the details, but from what I’ve heard from the students, some of it is hard, but at the same time very interactive and interesting. Professor Showden’s students say their favorite part is at the end of the week. The four students who have received the best results get to play video games on the large screen for all of that lesson.”

  “Wha’ sorta video games?” asked Ben.

  “I believe they are war video games or spy video games or something like that, played with high-quality machines and with much more interaction than any other consoles currently on the market.”

  “Awwwesoome!” exclaimed Taylor.

  “Yech,” Jessica spat. “Of course. What else would it be but violent video games?” Sarcasm seeped from her voice.

  “Now, now,” Charlie said, teasing her. “Professor Showden tailor-makes those games himself. Perhaps you can ask him to make some princess ones for you.”

  “Oh, Charlie. How sweet of you to put me in the category of a princess,” she teased him back. “You’re such a gentleman.” She reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Does he really make the games ’imself?” Taylor asked in disbelief.

  Charlie nodded. “Yes, he does.”

  “Wicked,” said the three boys as they glanced excitedly at each other.

  Charlie smiled. “He’s also responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the programming and reprogramming of Scarlet, the main computer system. He does all this in his own private lab, away from the main building, which he was probably just leaving.”

  “Jeez! He must be really smart,” Ben said.

  “Yes he is,” Charlie agreed.

  Continuing toward the detox apartments, they were feeling the heat from the sun and, having had no drugs in their bodies for nearly a day, they were breaking into a sweat. Irritability was setting in, too, even though they’d only been walking for a few minutes.

  Jessica reached out with her shaking hand to touch Charlie on the arm and asked, “When’re we gonna get there?”

  Charlie had felt the slight tremor from her hand and looked toward her face, which was now glistening with sweat. “Not long now,” he said sympathetically. “It’s just up ahead!”

  Taylor, hearing the conversation, added, “Yeah, this heat is killin’ us.”

  “I’m feelin’ really sick,” Ben said. “Where exactly is it?” He looked around to the front, sides, and then back to where they had come from. “What the…?”

  They all glanced around to where Ben was looking. “Where the ’ell has the buildin’ we jus’ come from gone?” Taylor cried out in astonishment.

  “Oh, great!” Jessica exclaimed. “Jus’ as I thought. I’m in a dream that’s fast becomin’ a nightmare.”

  “No, my dear! It’s real. Trust me—the building is still there,” Charlie said, smiling.

  “Where?” snapped Taylor. “There’s nothin’ but a mountain behind us. I can’t be seein’ things already. Is that what everyone else is seein’?” He gazed at the group.

  “That’s what I see,” agreed Declan.

  “You’re not seeing things,” Charlie said. He was trying to hide the smile on his face as he turned and pointed to the small mountain ahead. “And this mountain over here is where your detox apartments are, and where you’ll spend the next few days or weeks—depending on how long you need to detox.”

  They all looked in the direction where Charlie was pointing to find a pile of dirt, rocks, and shrubbery covering the mountain in front of them.

  Jessica turned to Charlie and placed a trembling hand on his shoulder. “Charlie, it’s just a mountain.” Her voice was riddled with sweet sarcasm. “What ya gonna do? Are ya gonna turn this mountain into a buildin’?”

  “Actually,” he said, grinning at her and gently touching her hand, “I’m going to do something exactly like that.” By this point, they’d already walked to the edge of the small mountain and were approaching its sheer face. Charlie placed his hand on a rock, and immediately a quick flash passed over the rock under his hand. The new students jumped as the sheer rock face slid back, revealing a doorway and passage into the “mountain.”

  “Ahhh, Damn! I so need a fix!” Ben rubbed his eyes and then his forehead.

  “Now, now, Ben,” Charlie chastised him. “That’s not a good way to start the first day.”

  Declan threw his arm over Ben’s shoulders and said, “Come on, buddy. I know this place is pretty trippy, but look how awesome it is. It’s gonna be worth it. And just like on the streets, we’re gonna stick together.”

  They stepped into what was going to be their new home for the next few days.

  “Come on, babe,” Taylor said to Jessica, hooking her trembling arm through his. He looked at her with eagerness. “Let’s enter into our future lives together.”

  “Aw, darlin’.” Jessica’s blue eyes sparkled at him sweetly. “Let’s do that.” She settled into a one-arm, side-of-waist cuddle. “But, hon…”

  “Yeah?” Taylor responded, looking hopeful.

  She leaned closer, reached her mouth up to his ear, and whispered, “I’m not ya babe.” She touched his nose with her finger cheekily and gave it a friendly push. “Babe.”

  - Chapter Six -

  The Letter

  It was a beautiful summer day—hot, but not too humid—and they were already halfway through the summer vacation. The postal carrier pulled away from one of the many houses on Lightcrescent Avenue. It was a street filled with ordinary houses that were typical of the majority of working families in Kensington City, Alamania. Out of one of the homes came a thirteen-year-old boy. He walked down the path, which was surrounded by the typical, manicured gardens and lawns of suburbia, toward the letter box that was set in a brick post. He pulled out a small bundle of letters that were held together with a rubber band. He took the rubber band off and flipped through the letters. One in particular caught his eye.

  Mr. Liam Honeywell

  23 Lightcrescent Ave

  Kensington City 6994

  Liam’s heart skipped a beat when he saw that the letter was addressed to him. In the top, left-hand corner of the envelope was an emblem he’d become familiar with over the years. It was the government’s emblem of two stags who stood facing each other, with a coat of arms between them. Two
swords crossed over a shield. It was the emblem of the country of Alamania. Next to this emblem, however, was another—and it was so similar that it almost looked like the emblem had been printed twice by mistake.

  The second emblem had a shield with a large, blue E in the middle, on top of the swords. It was the emblem that Liam had memorized and dreamed about for most of his life. It was the symbol of Ernest State College. Liam’s heart skipped a beat again because when he saw the double emblems, he knew who the letter was from, without even having to turn it over to look at the address on the back.

  Without causing too much damage, he hastily opened the envelope and pulled out a brochure, a letter, and a form. He began to read the letter:

  Dear Mr. Liam Honeywell,

  Thank you for taking part in the exam called How Smart Are You? at the Kensington Youth Festival a few weeks ago. You have answered all questions with outstanding accuracy. Due to the fact that your results were excellent, we continued to investigate your performance at your current school, Towertop School, from your results from year one through year six, as well as your behavior.

  Towertop School has confirmed that your grades are outstanding and are matched by your behavior. They’ve also given us an impressive report of your overall performance and say they are confident that you will perform exceptionally well at Ernest State College if you wish to attend.

  Therefore, we would like to offer you a full scholarship to Ernest State College, which is well known for helping to shape the country’s future geniuses. There will be no cost to you, your parents, or your guardians while you attend this college, and all your food, lodgings and uniforms will be supplied. However, you will have to keep your grades at an outstanding level.

  If this is an offer that interests you, please discuss it with your parents or guardians. If you and they accept, please have them sign the agreement form and return it in the enclosed envelope.

  We look forward to your response.

  Regards,

  Dr. Graham Ernest

  Principal, Ernest State College

  Excitement filled his limbs, and his stomach did hurdles as he gripped the letter tightly, making sure he didn’t lose the other pieces of information.

  Running into the house, he yelled, “Mom! Mom! Look at this. Mom! Where are you? Come quick!” He ran through the entrance, past the living room, and into the kitchen. He found his mother standing at the counter, chopping vegetables.

  “There you are. Look! Look!” Breathless, he handed her the letter and then fidgeted as he waited for her to read it.

  Her kind face changed expressions as the meaning of the letter slowly registered. At first she seemed confused, then shocked, and then, of course, delighted. She looked at her son, her face glowing with pride.

  “You really have been working hard, sweetheart,” she said, giving him hug. “It’s a huge achievement to be recognized by this school.” She hesitated, and her expression turned sad. “We’ll have to ask your father if you can go and, if we agree to this, your poor mother will miss you.” She squeezed his shoulders again. “But then again, do you even think that you want to go? You know, with it being a boarding school and all?” she asked, grinning.

  “Mom, you know I want to go. It’s the coolest school on the planet. You get to do all kinds of awesome things—like making robots and mini planes and stuff.”

  “All right—I guess you do want to go.” She smiled. “But we still have to check with your dad.”

  “All right, but you’ll put in a good word for me, won’t you?” he pleaded.

  “Of course I will, but it won’t be easy for me to have you be away for most of the year. Besides, you’re only eleven.”

  “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll stay in contact. I will email and Skype all the time.” He paused for a moment, then continued. “I’m going to tell Matt!”

  “He’s out back, practicing on his skateboard.”

  “Thanks.” He wandered through the house and out the back door and found his brother where his mom had promised, practicing his skateboarding. Although the yard wasn’t that big, it was large enough for him to practice and perfect a few of his complicated moves.

  He glanced up as he saw Liam approach. “Hey, bro. Wassup?”

  Liam knew his smile stretched across his face. “Do you remember the exam that Jarrod told you I did at the Kensington Youth Festival?”

  “Yeah, I remember—, the one that nearly made ya late for me comp.”

  “Yeah, that one,” he agreed, feeling the sting of guilt. “Only because yours started a little early because the guy before you, well, you know, injured himself. But I still made it.” Liam handed him the letter and blurted out, “I’ve been offered a place at Ernest.”

  “Whoa, bro! That’s awesome,” he said. “I guess if you’re a nerd an’ all.”

  Liam frowned and placed his hands on his hips. “It’s not a school for nerds,” he said, getting louder. “You should put a helmet on that head of yours while you’re practicing to stop knocking all the sense out of it. It’s a really cool school. You get to make all sorts of technical things that fly, or walk, or glide—”

  “Like I said, it’s a cool school if you’re a nerd,” Matt said, smirking.

  Liam went to cuff him on the back of the head, and Matt ducked, holding his hands up in defense.

  “Whoa! Take a chill pill! I was jes’ kiddin’ with ya.” He ruffled Liam’s hair. “It’s a really good school if you’re into that stuff. It’s a shame I won’t have ya with me at Towertop High for the next two years. Not!” He grinned and started speaking in a strange voice. “Ya had to be the geek and got into a smart scholarship school.” He returned to his normal voice. “Ya will have to learn martial arts though. It’s also one of the top Tae Kwon Do academies in the country, and we all know how good ya are with your two left feet.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he said and sighed. “But if it means I can go to my dream school for technology, I will give it a try. Although, Mom said I still have to wait for Dad to approve my going.”

  “Don’t worry. Dad will let ya go. Ya know how much he raves about getting a good education. I hope ya will get time off when I have my next skateboarding tournament, though.”

  “Yeah. Me, too. I’d love to watch.”

  That night when Liam’s father, John, came home from work he also brought home Liam’s sister, Gemma, after her electric violin lessons. They sat around the dinner table when Liam’s mom, Renee, said, “John, your youngest son has something to tell you.”

  All eyes turned to Liam. Gemma and his dad looked at him with curiosity. He pulled out the letter that was tucked into his pants pocket. He wasn’t willing to part with the good news at all, so he’d kept the letter with him all day. He knew that even though Matt thought that his dad would say yes, there was a possibility he’d say no. So he began cautiously. “Well, Dad, today I unexpectedly got this letter in the mail.” He held up the letter. “And it’s a dream come true.”

  “Who’s it from?” his dad asked, reaching for the letter. His gray eyes were filled with interest. Liam gave it to him.

  “It’s from Ernest State College, and I’ve been offered a place there for next school year,” he announced.

  “Oh, you lucky duck! That’s where I want to go,” Gemma said, pouting.

  “Not another one,” Matt said in disbelief. “And besides, Gemma, you’re too young.”

  “Yeah, but next year I won’t be.” She tilted her chin up.

  Matt rolled his eyes. “Well, keep studying.”

  Their father finally managed to cut in. “That’s really good, Liam. You should be very proud of yourself. Do you want to go?” He raised an eyebrow and a fleeting glimmer showed in his eyes.

  “Do I want to go?” he asked in disbelief. “Do I ever! Can I, please?”

  John looked at Renee while running his fingers through his dark hair that was starting to show signs of gray. “Do you have a problem with him going, dear?”

  Rene
e’s face showed a mixture of emotions. “Only that I will miss him so much! It’s a great achievement at his age, though, and I don’t want to hold him back. Who knows what good fortune it could bring him?”

  “Then it’s agreed,” he said. “But you’d better stay in touch.”

  But Liam didn’t hear this last part of what his dad said because he was jumping out of his chair and yelling, “Wahoo!”

  Then he ran around to his mom and dad. He gave them each a big hug and said, “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Over and over again. His parents laughed as they joined in their son’s celebration.

  “Wait!” Liam suddenly burst out. “Hayley and Dryden took the exam, too. I wonder if they were also accepted. That’d be awesome if my smart buddies were coming along to the school as well.”

  “After dinner, why don’t you announce it on Facebook and find out?” John suggested.

  “Great idea, Dad! That way all my friends will find out.”

  Beaming with excitement, Liam went online after dinner to update his status on Facebook.

  “I took a mystery test at Kensington Youth Festival with,” he tagged, “Hayley Meyers & Dryden Compton. Results were very successful. I’ve been given a scholarship to,” he tagged the place, “Ernest State College.”

  The response was almost instantaneous with several congratulations and likes from many friends, and comments such as, “ur such a geek, but u no I luv ya, man! And LOL congrats!” from his less scholarly friends.

  Not long after Hayley also commented, “Yay! I also got accepted. Looks like we’ll still be school buddies.”

  “Me, too,” Dryden commented. “Got the letter today. Can’t wait to get started. Looks like we’re the three smart musketeers.”

  When Jarrod commented, “Looks like I have to find more buddies at school, but good luck to you guys,” Liam added a sad face.

  He then “liked” all the congratulatory comments. He told his parents, “Hayley and Dryden got in, too. So I’ll have friends there even on the very first day.”

  “How perfect is that?” His mother smiled.