Wonderboy and Mr. Perfect

Chapter 4

When I wake up I'm laying on my back with Fitz next to me. We must've fallen asleep and toppled onto our backs. I yawn and feel him stir. He rubs his eyes and sits up.

"Darn it. I feel asleep. I meant to go back to my room. Sorry, I just didn't want to leave."

"It's fine," I mumble as I roll over. I still haven't even opened my eyes yet.

"Are you not a morning person?" He asks me.

"No." I grumble as I scoot under the covers.

He chuckles to himself before I hear his footsteps leave the room and the door close.

I only get a few extra minutes of sleep before Mr. Forkle barges into the room and practically drags me out of bed. "You kids would sleep all day if I let you."

I groan as he tells me to get dressed.

Once I'm dressed I go downstairs to the common room where Keefe and Fitz are sitting in the rock beanbags.

"I think Mr. Forkle wanted you to work on the Twiggler," Fitz tells me as he hands me the gadget with sticks in it.

I try to figure out what it needs for human technology but I can't seem to figure it out. Humans are so weird even my technopathy can't work it out. I try to fix it for hours while Fitz and Sophie do Cognate stuff and Keefe reads a book and Wraith helps Biana with her Vanishing. But even after trying everything I could think of, it still won't hack into the files we need.

After about four frustrating hours of work with no compensation, I need a break. It looks like all the others need one too. We head over to the girls common room and relax a little. It only takes a few minutes for the tension and worry in the room to build up again.

Sophie starts talking about how Exillium is our best chance at finding out what's going on with the plague. I want to help in anyway I can. The gnomes were the ones that found me and Sophie when we got kidnapped. They saved my life.

Mr. Forkle and Granite walk in with trunks full of black cloaks with large hoods and leggings and tunics and masks to cover our eyes. They also included ability pins. We have to wear them on our clothes. My Technopath pin is a hand with wires and circuits all over it.

They tell us that our new school starts bright and early tomorrow and to use the single leaping crystals they gave us to get to the campus.