--Daycare--

Sarah

"Um...okay..." I responded, giving him a funny look. He was a weird kid.


Nike

"Eet ees a...a..." Senet gave Peter a questioning look.

"It's a continent," Peter explained. "Attached to Asia, north of Africa, east of the Americas..."

I would've been surprised that Mr. Face didn't know what these things were if I hadn't talked to him earlier. Perhaps they didn't exist on his plane. That was certainly a very odd notion, but it wasn't unthinkable.

T.Mor:

"Uhm...so. Uh." I said...Not entirely sure what to say. What could I say? What could I talk about that wouldn't cause me to fip out? "So...Play any good videogames recently?" I asked awkwardly.

Mr.Face:

"Ok...Now...You're probably going to think me a fool. What is a continent? You seem to be implying that the world doesn't degenrate into pixels about 60 miles beyond SInk Pump." I asked, at this point too baffled to even care tha there was no ceiling, or that I was essentially standing in an empty void that happened to have some people and a metal climbing structure in it.

"I didn't mean it...it's just so dang hard!" said Andrew, looking upset and distressed. He ran his fingers through his hair.
-----------------------------------------
"Do you live by yourself?" Evan asked T. Mor.

Sarah

"No," I answered T.Mor. "I don't really play videogames."


Nike

"Um, it's a big land mass," Peter told him, giving him another curious look.

"You'll have to excuse Mr. Face," I said. "He doesn't come from this world."

"Doesn't...?" Suddenly, Peter hopped off the structure and quickly walked over to us. He had a look in his eyes that...wasn't exactly eager, but close. "Worlds? You're talking about different worlds?"

"Yeah," I said. "There are like...bajillions of different worlds. They're--"

"Do you know how to find one?!"

"Um...there are Archives in my home universe...and a few others..."


Leslie

"Well, I have to find him now," I said. I sniffed the air again, taking a good whiff. I had to locate that scent!

((Where would he be?))

(IDK...In a tree, by water, over the rainbow...take your pick.)

"Why am I such an idoit?" Andrew muttered to himself. He shouldn't have yelled at him. It was just so hard to relate. They used to be best friends, and now they were six years appart and nothing could fix that.

Leslie

"I don't know why," I answered.

I went over to the door, opening it a crack and taking another whiff. Yes...he was out here somewhere. I stepped through the door and jumped into the air, flapping my wings and soaring over the playground.

T.Mor:

"Oh." I told the girl. Well...That went out the window then...And...Why did Evan keep asking me about my home? I didn't want to talk about my home. It wasn't a nice place like Dallas. "I...I don't really...Wanna...Let's not talk about home." I said shakily.

I didn't want to think about it. At all. Ever again. I just wanted it all to go away, and then I could curl up in a ball and hide for a while, and when I came out it would be normal again. Normal rations, normal school day, normal internet sacrifices. Normal. Nobody dead...No roof leaks...No...No freaking job...no coming home to a crying sister...
I hated my brain so much.

Mr.Face:

One of therm...Peter, he'd introduced himself as I think, walked over to us. I could hear his feet on the floor. His breathing. His talking. I listened intently, somewhat fascinated by this. "And these archives...What do they provide you with?" I asked interestedly.

"Hey! Wait up! I can't fly!" Andrew shouted, running after her.
------------------------------
"Sorry T. Mor...wanna see my drawling?" said Evan, picking up his drawling. It was an exact likeness of T. Mor in crayon. In the corner he had written T. Mor's name with an arrow pointing to the drawling.

((YES, VISI. THAT REFERENCE WAS WONDERFUL.

Also, I completely forgot that Nike already knew that they were bonders. Forget that she already knew.))


Nike

"They have all the information that the bonders have gathered on every known plane," I answered.

"So...I could find one in particular?!" Peter asked, more than a hint of desperation in his voice.

"It's likely," I said. "Why? Do you come from a different world?"

"I-I think so!"

Leslie

Paying Andrew no heed, I continued my search. The scent led me to a small stand of trees, and then to Tommy. I looked up, cupping my hands around my mouth.

"Get down here, kid!" I called. "I already told you it wasn't safe!"

"No," said Tommy, avoiding Leslie's gaze.

Andrew reappeared next to her, "Look I'm sorry, please...come down."

"Sorry doesn't fix anything," Tommy said, fixing his cold, hard eyes on Andrew.

Leslie

"Look," I told him, lowering my voice, "if you don't come down yourself, I'm going to make you. So either you get down now, or I fly up, knock you down, and laugh as you hit the ground. Your choice."

Tommy disapeared and reapeared a couple feet away. He glared at Andrew, and folded his arms across his chest, "Go, you don't belong here."

Andrew winced, "Tommy, I'm sorry-"

"I can't believe I even wanted to see you, you're an arse." he said, giving a harsh laugh.

Leslie

"Guys..." I said, "I hope you realize you're pretty much fighting over nothing. I mean, what's done is done. You can't change the past. And...you're both dead. There's an easy way to fix that, too. It's called moving on. You should try it!"

Andrew laughed hysterically, "You don't think I have?! You don't think I've tried multiple times?!"

Leslie

"Dude!" I told him. "There's nothing stopping you! Do you have any regrets? Any unfinished business? Anything at all?"

Mr.Face:

The boy- Peter...Seemed to be kind of...searching for something. A particular universe? I didn't know. "That sounds really useful. What operating system does it run?" I asked, assuming it would be a computerised system.

T.Mor:

"Don't...Don't apologise. It's fine. " I told Evan. It was not fine. There was no reason to be bringing that crap up. Home. I kind of twitched. I didn't want to think about it. "That is a nice drawing." I said, but he might not have heard me because I was too quiet.

"There's a main reason I'm still here and it's-" Andrew started, but he was cut off by Tommy slamming his fist in Andrew's stomach. Andrew doubled over from the blow, and Tommy threw another punch.
------------------------------------------
"Thanks, you can have it." said Evan, quickly writing his name and pushing it over to T. Mor.

Leslie

"Cut that out!" I scolded Tommy. "Don't make me hurt you. We're on the cusp of a breakthrough here! What's the reason, Andrew?"


Nike

"I dunno," I answered Mr. Face. "There are plenty of computers all hooked up to the server with the Archives...or something like that...but the Archives themselves are all backed up on paper in these reeeeeaaally huge buildings."

"So...could I find my home?" Peter asked excitedly.

"It's likely," I told him. "How did you wind up here, anyway?"

"Um, I'm not sure," he said. "There were these people in robes..." He detailed a brief history on how he came to be here.

"The people in robes would be the Sybek," I explained. "They're evil. They try to destroy universes; the bonders fight them. That big glowy thing you saw was the Center of the Planar universe. I can tell you more about that later. So that means that you and Senet are CBs now. That means 'Center bonder,' or bonder than became that way through contact with the Center. I'm an LB, or 'learned bonder.' You and Senet have powers and can see people's souls, right?"

"Y-yeah, we have powers!" he said. "But...um...souls?"

"Animals that travel with people. Like your owlet, and Senet's foal."

"Yeah, we can see those, too!"

Mr.Face:

Wait. She hadn't mentioned those earlier. "Were you lying to me then about those being there earlier? Why can't I hear them? How can you see them but I can't?" I left out the words 'hear them' because I figured by this point in time it was implied.

T.Mor:

"Erm. Thank you." I replied, putting it on top of my scary hallway drawing. Was I really that skinny?

"Why should I?" said Tommy, glaring at Leslie.

"I...I can't tell you..." Andrew gasped, his face turning a small shade of red.
-----------------------------------------------------
"Can I see yours? I won't keep it, I just want to see."

T.Mor:

"There's one on the back too..." I explained, sliding it across the table. I really didn't care if I got them back...Nothing I couldn't see every day. Actually...I did see it every day. Both of them.

Evan picked it up, looking at each side. "They're good...really good...but something happened to make you draw these...what was it?"

Nike

"They're invisible to people who aren't bonders," I told Mr. Face. "And they actually don't exist in the material world because they don't have bodies. But bonders can talk to them, and they can talk to other people's souls if the souls are making contact with each other. Bonders can even communicate through their minds as long as the souls are touching. It establishes a mental link."

"So, do you have powers, Nike?" Peter asked.

"No, I don't have any kind of element or energy control yet," I answered. "LBs don't get control until they hit puberty and their shape settles into something. But with CBs, the Center awakens the bonder parts of their brains, and they settle right away. What's your shape?"

"...A triangle," he answered uncomfortably.

"Ah. So you're a fire type." He winced, for whatever reason. "Do you know what your subtype is?"

"Subtype?"

"Your secondary shape."

"Um...I didn't know I had one." That was a no, then.

Leslie

"You should stop because he needs to talk to me!" I said in disbelief. "And because hitting people is bad! Now Andrew, just tell me what it is."