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Alex touched the separate circles for blueberry pancakes, maple syrup, and a glass of apple juice. Her selection appeared immediately, steaming hot and smelling delicious.

“This seems kind of… impossible,” she said. Nevertheless, she spread the syrup over her pancakes and took a bite. Mmm. Sugary heaven. “How does it work?”

“No idea,” Jordan said around a mouthful of food.

“Helpful,” she mumbled, taking another bite.

“Bear can explain,” Jordan said after swallowing. “He’s a complete whiz at Chemistry. Epsilon level—unnaturally smart.”

“Why do you always manage to make what should be a compliment sound like an insult?” Bear grumbled.

Jordan shrugged and started on his massive stack of pancakes. “It’s a gift.”

Alex cleared her throat and looked at Bear, waiting for an explanation.

“Firstly, you have to remember that everything is different here, Alex.” Bear spoke quietly, careful not to gain the attention of those seated near them. “Our technology is really advanced. Most of the cool things we can do are because of the different kinds of TechnoConnectivity Devices we have. Some TCDs are readily available to the public, like ComTCDs, which we use for instant holographic communications.”

He paused to pull a small black object out of his pocket and placed it into the palm of his hand before touching the screen and saying Jordan’s name. A chiming noise sounded, and Jordan pulled out a similar Device, his coloured silver. Alex wasn’t sure what he did next, but she gasped when a miniature real-time hologram of Bear rose up out of the screen Jordan held—as did a live version of Jordan appear above Bear’s Device.

“Awesome,” she breathed, watching the holographs mimic Jordan and Bear’s movements perfectly.

“Pretty neat, huh? ComTCDs also make it easy for us to check in with our families—and anyone else—while we’re here at Akarnae,” said both the actual Bear and the miniature version of him. He ended the connection and both boys pocketed their Devices again. “Other TCDs can do all kinds of things—I could spend hours talking about some of them—but to keep it simple, this one here—” he pointed to the menu on the table “—is linked to an offsite food station where people are employed to prepare meals for residents of Akarnae. When we make our selection, they place the food into an out-tray of sorts, and the networked connection transfers it through to our end.”

After seeing the holograph Devices, Alex had kind of expected something more…detailed. “That’s your explanation?”

“Pretty much,” Bear answered. “Add to that some intellectual Techno-babble about particle transference and regeneration, and you’ve got the answer you’re after.”

She took a sip from her juice and said, “It sounds an awful lot like magic to me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jordan said, his amusement clear. “There’s no such thing as magic.”

Alex looked at him incredulously. “I beg to differ.” She pointed to herself and raised her eyebrows. “Exhibit A.”

“You’re a special case,” Jordan replied, and her eyebrows just rose higher. “Not special–special,” he amended quickly. “Just, you know, uh, special.”

Alex had to fight a grin at the uncomfortable look on his face.

“What Jordan means is that you’re an anomaly,” Bear interjected. “But you being here is still not magic.”

Alex looked between the two of them. “Well, I’m sufficiently confused. But whatever. If you say it’s not magic, then I’ll believe you. New world, new rules. We’ll leave it at that.”

Both Jordan and Bear smiled at her.

“You’re taking this pretty well,” Bear said.

She shrugged. “It’s not like I have a choice. I’m stuck here for better or worse until your headmaster gets back from wherever he is. I just have to deal with this as best as I can until then. And once I get home, I’ll book myself in for what I anticipate to be some much-needed therapy.”

“Don’t worry, Alex,” Jordan said. “We’ll make sure you have an unforgettable time while you’re here. That therapy will be well worth it.”

Alex had a hard time trusting their matching grins, but before she could warn them that she didn’t want any trouble, a loud gonging noise filled the food court.

“Time to see what you’re made of, Jennings,” Jordan said, pulling her from her seat and dragging her towards the doors. “If you can survive the next two hours, you can make it through anything.”

She looked sideways at him as she followed them both outside. “Care to explain?”

“You’ve heard of PE, right?” Bear answered for him. “Physical Education?” At her nod, he continued, “Well, here we call it Physical Exhaustion, mostly because of the instructor, Finn. You’ll understand why soon enough.”

Wonderful, she thought.