“No. Your body and soul are bound. It’s a phenomenon, really, but try to think of it as your soul’s mind wandering along the border between realms.”
Hailey’s hand shot up.
“Yes, Miss Hartley.”
“What happened to all these Envoys after they came here? Where do they all…live?” If that’s what you called it.
“Anywhere they want. Anybody else? No? Continuing, then—”
“Well, Professor,” Hailey persisted, “where are they all?”
Dr. Woodfork sighed heavily.
“A good question for your laboratory period, Miss Hartley. Continuing then…” Dr. Woodfork flicked the switch on what looked like a document camera.
Nothing happened.
He flipped it again. And again. Then he tapped it with his pen, and when the thing jittered, half the class cringed, with several students letting out a whimper.
Hailey giggled. This was nothing compared to life with Giselle. And the thing merely threw an image on the screen anyway.
Woodfork cleared his throat.
“There is a theory,” he began, “that if a man had a sufficient amount of energy, from a very large stick of dynamite, for example, he could force the flow of energy to reverse in case of another tear in the barrier, so that an Envoy might escape the pull of the Earth and return to his home in the Aether.”
He drew a picture of a crude cartoon explosion, and some of the students snickered, but Woodfork continued unabashed.
“Over the centuries, many of the Envoys have attempted to tear the barrier, but none have succeeded. In fact, this university was founded with the express intent of piercing the veil between the realms. However, not even the Tsar Bomba of 1961 could do it.” The professor removed his glasses and set them aside. “And that has left us perplexed.”
Woodfork clapped his hands together and turned on the lights. “Now then, let’s hear some of your theories on how a man did the impossible and tore the barrier in the first place. Who wants to start?”
The room went silent.
Looking at his watch, he sighed his disappointment. “We’re almost out of time anyway. Questions anybody? Yes. Miss Hartley.”
She couldn’t believe nobody’d asked the obvious and winced slightly as she shifted her foot. “Dr. Woodfork, could the tear still exist?”
The professor blinked. “What did you say?”
“The original tear in the barrier—you said it’s impossible to tear the barrier. Could it be that nobodytoreit? Is it possible that this man simply found a flap or a…a door that already existed? And if so, wouldn’t there still be a flap in that very spot? Maybe it’s more a matter of precision than explosive force…”
He stared at her, blank-faced, and she couldn’t tell if he thought she was a genius or a moron, so she continued, speaking much faster than she could control.
“And as far as reversing the flow, what if we thought about Aethereal energy more in terms of gravitational force than, say heat energy? Maybe you don’t even need to reverse the flow. Maybe the Aether is like the Earth, and, I mean, could it be that the Aether, being so huge, would naturally attract an Envoy? We need data, and I feel like we need to interview the Envoys and find out every detail theyremember from—”
“—No way!” shouted one of the students, and a commotion of hisses and protest followed along with a few very disgusted, “you-idiot!” looks from the class.
Hailey shrunk in her seat, and Dr. Woodfork patted the air. His jaw opened, and he stared at her thoughtfully for several uncomfortable seconds while the class settled.
“Now, well, that’s very interesting…” his voice trailed off as he gazed into the distance.
“Ah, here they are,” he said, blinking rapidly as four gentlemen made their way to the front of the auditorium. Woodfork nodded to them.
“I would like to introduce your Section Leads. Overseeing Section Two’s practical lab is Rakesh.”
Looking far too young to be a grad student, a man with jet black hair and flawless bronze skin waved unenthusiastically from the aisle.
Behind him, walking with a familiar swagger and holding his metal coffee cup, Fin turned to face the class when he reached the front of the room.
