Hailey stood staring at those lines, lips parted as some mix of disbelief and horror bubbled in her stomach.
…devoid of emotion…
That…couldn’t be right.
Asher certainly had at least anger figured out. And he cared about her—he’d said so.
“You’ll read this then and return it to me once you’ve finished,” Woodfork instructed, and Hailey nodded slowly, unable to tear her eyes from the worddevoid.
“But…Professor,” she said in a small voice, “this can’t be…” If Asher had no emotions, he could betray her tomorrow and never think twice about it. A twinge of fear in her belly robbed her breath.
She looked up at Woodfork, shaking her head.
“It’s a long story,” he said. “You’ll read the rest, yes?”
“But—”
“And return it to me once you’ve finished.” Woodfork turned his back, gathering some objects into a bag as Hailey stared, slack-jawed.
“That’ll do for an Envoy discussion for one day.”
“But—”
“And now…” He spun around, smiling. “Let’s go explore a dark tunnel.”
“Asher told me to stay out of the dark tunnels.”
“Huh,” he grunted. “He does worry after you. But! You’ll be perfectly safe. All we need is a robust spirit of adventure.” He dug around inside one of his desk drawers. “Aha! And some portable light.” He held up an Indispensable flashlight. “Our back-up will be the Indispensable Never-Fail Lighter,” he said, handing her a small bronze object.
“What is…how does it work?” The whole thing was smooth. She couldn’t even tell where the flame would come out.
“With breath,” he said, and Hailey frowned. “As if you’re blowing out a birthday candle, like so.” He took the lighter, and holding it out from his mouth, he blew a puff of air against it whereupon a giant flame popped into the air over the professor’s head, as if it belonged to an invisible torch. He handed the lighter back to Hailey, and the torch-less flame floated over her head.
“How do you put it out?” she asked, never taking her eye off the fire above her. “And where’s its fuel source?” She turned all around, still looking up at it.
“Simply hold your breath,” he told her, which she did with one eyebrow raised. To her astonishment, the flame snapped out.
“How is that possible? I mean, where’s the fuel?”
“Oh, you are a delight! A healthy dose of skepticism is always in order when one studies the science of the paranormal,” he told her. “Many of our devices work with the help of Aethereal Energy, or AE, as we like to say. Harnessing free AE and directing it into tools, devices, and alas weapons as you’ll no doubt find in your Practical Applications class… That is the mandate of the university, so to speak.”
“I thought we were trying to tear the barrier.”
“Yes, one purpose feeds the other. Our benefactors want new technologies. As long as those projects further our understanding of AE on Earth, our…eh…founder finds them worthwhile.”
“After you,” he said as he opened his door.
She adjusted her backpack, and—
Wait. He was trying to distract her from asking about Asher. And it worked!
Well, enough of that.
She opened her mouth to speak but hesitated a bit too long.
“The fuel source, to answer your question, is the Sun,” said the professor. “The Indispensable Lighter is simply a precision barrier breaker—a bomb of sorts.”
“A bomb?”
