Chapter 2
Jon Harister woke with a start, sitting up in bed, whispering Loxy’s name. It took a moment to orientate, but he soon realized he was at 2nd Home. The bed was empty. He turned to snoring and found the source coming from someone sleeping on the floor. Lester. Jon’s first question was ‘why is he still here?’ but instead of following it to its conclusion, he found the urgency to pee driving him to the bathroom. There were other people sleeping on the floor and it became a dance not step on folks. ‘Why are all these people here?’ he asked, and then the memory was available. Loxy had rescued a good portion of the student body and though most of them were magicians capable of traveling to their home world, the Safe Haven staff had quarantined everyone to planet Bliss, just in case someone had carried a demon off. Whatever Fribourg had unleashed on Safe Haven was too dangerous to be allowing free range, and the staff was still in a quandary about how Loxy had managed to save everyone by busting through Safe Haven’s own quarantine barriers.
He slid the door open to the bathroom and found Keera drying off. He hesitated. “Don’t be silly,” Keera said. “Come in, close the door. You’re letting the heat out.”
He entered and closed the door. As soon as he did, Keera dropped the towel and was on him, hugging him and kissing him. He just accepted it, a little confused by the intensity of her attack, and feeling uncertain of his response.
Keera eased up. “You okay?”
“A little confused,” Jon admitted.
“World surfing disorientation, or concern that someone might hear the commotion if we get it on?” Keera asked.
Both of those sounded plausible and he added a third. “I needed to pee and now I am not sure I can.”
“You want to be alone?” Keera said. “No,” he said.
“Oh, good,” Keera said, locking the bathroom door. “I don’t know why, it feels like ages since we last played.”
She took him to the wall and his urgency to pee switched tracks to the other urgency.
निनमित
A cane tapping on the door caused Jon to open it. He was showered and dressed in clothes fitting a magician, jeans, a t-shirt, and an army jacket. Keera was dressed in a simple red romper, and was applying makeup, looking at Lester in the doorway through the mirror. She smiled. Lester gave them both a suspicious look.
“What’s taking so long?” Lester said. “I need to pee.”
“Toilet’s over there,” Jon said, passing out past Lester.
“I hope you cleaned the shower when you were finished,” Lester said. “I don’t want to be stepping in your stuff.”
“Find another place to live,” Jon said. “Soon enough,” Lester said.
“You boys need to behave,” Keera said. “Umm,” Lester said.
Jon made his way to the kitchen where he found people, human sorts and non human sorts, and even in between sorts, everywhere, some sleeping, some enjoying breakfast. Fersia rushed him with a cup of coffee. The intensity of her eyes revealed a playful affection that would be very suiting a loving pet, or someone who was particularly pleased about something secret.
With cats it could be either or both, and with Fersia, there was no telling. Jon inspected the coffee to make sure his ‘cat’ wasn’t bringing him a bird she had caught in the yard. Cats, even the human kind, did have a tendency to want to participate in their social groups by bringing gifts. No feathers, he sipped the coffee.
“Nice,” he said. “Thank you.”
Fersia hugged him then she surrendered him to Esfir, who paused to provide a passing hug. Fersia went to trade out with Loxy, giving her a break from the duty she started. Loxy took Jon’s arm and led him outside. It was cool and the morning sun was just breaking over the trees. Harister Hall was prominent in the background, a new feature of planet Bliss, but it seemed perfect, as if it had always meant to be there. In between the home and the Hall were an assortment of tents, individual size to group size.
“Trelinda has asked that we speak with her this morning,” Loxy said. “She wanted to speak to us each individually, but I want you to go with me.”
“Okay,” Jon said. He sensed worried and simply asked: “Are you worried?”
“Yeah,” Loxy said. “I think they may expel me from Safe Haven for breaking quarantine.”
“Nonsense,” Jon said. Wasn’t there like a no fail policy? “They’re likely to give you a medal.”
“Jon, breaking quarantine is serious. I could have endangered the whole Universe. I wasn’t thinking big enough. I was being selfish,” Loxy said.
Jon put his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her in to kiss her forehead. “Your selfish is the appropriate selfish, if everyone was equally selfish the world would be a better place. You were saving people and doing what you thought was right, and if it so happens that they kick you out, they’ll have to kick me out, too, cause I would have done the same thing.”
“I love you,” Loxy said.
“Now, hearing that’s better than morning coffee,” Jon said. “When’s this impromptu meeting?”
“Now. They’re waiting for us. Apparently, they have to settle us before they can move onto the next project,” Loxy said.
“So, we’re off to see the Wizard,” Jon said.
“I don’t think Trelinda is a wi… Oh. Yeah, I guess we are,” Loxy said. “A song and a skip dance then?”
“Not with coffee,” Jon said.
“A leisure morning stroll, then,” Loxy said.
“That’s about my speed,” Jon said, allowing Loxy to lead. “By the way, I don’t like the sheets on the bed,” Jon said.
“The white sheets with the overlapping red flowers?” Loxy asked. “Oh, they’re flowers?” Jon asked.
“Yeah, what did you think they were?” Loxy asked. “Blood splatters from enthusiastic period sex,” Jon said,
“Oh,” Loxy said., not disgusted as much as curious. “Oh! Maybe we should save those sheets just for that time of month.”
“Okay,” Jon said.
“And if we could spin the bed while playing, we could have tie dye patterns on the sheet,” Loxy said, jokingly.
“Do you know how fast we would have to spin the bed?” Jon asked.
“Just saying,” Loxy said, amused. “And, by the way, it is that time, and I am ready when you are.”
Jon stopped. “I had the strangest dream you were pregnant.”
“I am, in the other world,” Loxy said.
“I am finding it difficult to keep it all sorted,” Jon said.
“Oh, well, it gets easier with practice. By the time you’re a senior, you will be jumping worlds as easy as frogs go from Lilly pad to Lilly pad,” Loxy said.
They made their way to Trelinda’s tent. There was no guard, but the entrance opened as if an invisible guard was granting them passage. On entering, they were greeted by Trelinda who was considering the surface of a floating table, holding a prominent map of the world, and discussing the lay of the land with several professors. Emerson, Misty, and Shackleford acknowledged Jon and Loxy with eyes. Only Misty smiled. The table top offered a bird’s eye view of the local terrain, an active map on a giant floating ‘tablet’ of a table. Trelinda drew the two of them to the chairs arranged in a circle, and the professors joined them. Loxy took a seat, but Jon continued to stand.
“So,” Trelinda said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get down to business.”
“If you’re intent is to punish Loxy for breaking quarantine, you and I are going to have a problem,” Jon lead.
“Stop being defensive and sit down,” Shackleford said.
“It’s not defensive,” Misty corrected. “He’s being protective.”
Shackleford reassessed her reading and nodded. “Stop being protective. Loxy is quite capable of caring for herself.”
“Please, sit,” Trelinda invited.
Jon sat, gripping the coffee cup with both hands, hovering it close to his chin so the heat and aroma might soften his perception of the world. Had he led with defensive because he was worried that Loxy was worried?
“You have a nice world here, Jon,” Trelinda said. “It is clearly filled with love.”
“Love for rodents,” Shackleford said.
“They’re the care takers,” Jon said. “The raccoons help out a great deal, too. And the otters. The dolphins and the otters. Actually, everyone here is symbiotically helping the whole.”
“Like I said, a lot of love,” Trelinda said. “And, so I would like to lead with asking your permission to establish a satellite Safe Haven Campus here on Bliss.”
Jon blinked. He looked to Loxy. She seemed as surprised as he, but clearly appeared as if she liked the idea. His world was changing, and becoming increasingly more populated.
“What’s wrong with the original Safe Haven campus? I thought you said it was reset,” Jon said.
“It is. Everything was restored to just prior to the emergency quarantine, and the situation was contained before becoming a situation,” Trelinda said. Jon had a quick visual image of magical astronauts taking the ‘Fribourg Box’ containing the demon and tossing it into the black hole, the only way to be sure. “However, everyone that Loxy rescued is now experiencing a situational multiplicity event. They exist on Safe Haven and here simultaneously.”
“Well, maybe if you had informed people that Safe Haven would reset so they wouldn’t worry and try to escape quarantine, we wouldn’t have this problem,” Jon said.
“Again with the defensiveness?” Shackleford said. “He’s being logical,” Misty corrected.
“Are you going to side with him on everything?” Shackleford said.
“Pretty much,” Misty said. “I mean, we are hoping to be able to stay on his planet.”
Jon sorted her statement and was certainly willing to let Misty set up residence on his planet. Would their others selves share their private planets, or was they all in need of a permanent home?
“Jon, if we told people that Safe Haven would reset, they might be too cavalier in their approach to magic, and even more lackadaisical in stopping the escalation of magic gone bad, and people can learn a great deal through the experience of a crisis. We did. We now know we need a new layer of quarantine procedures to block future Loxy equations.”
“No one has ever tried that before?” Jon asked.
“Safe Haven had never experienced that level of emergency before,” Trelinda said. “So, you want to open a campus here because if they return to Safe Haven prime and meet themselves the Universe blows up?” Jon asked. “You’re being overly dramatic,” Shackleford said.
Jon sighed. “Why do you keep trying to box me?”
“She’s not happy that we have to establish a new campus,” Misty said, and then provided confirmation. “And find a new home. Sometimes, starting over sucks.”
“No, she is projecting blame, and I feel like I am the recipient,” Jon said. “You helped Loxy escape quarantine,” Shackleford said.
“You could have stayed behind,” Jon pointed out. “Didn’t know there was a reset!” Shackleford snapped. “Wait wait wait,” Jon said. “I helped Loxy?”
Jon looked to Loxy. “Your tulpa you,” she explained. “That counts?” Jon asked.
“You is you, even if a derivative, tangential branch,” Shackleford said. “It’s in your unconscious and you can have your present personality updated to hold the information if you want it.”
‘How much can my head hold?’ Jon thought, nursing his coffee.
“The two of you are a powerful team,” Trelinda said. “It’s another reason we would like to establish the second campus here. Once the school is commissioned, I intend to offer Loxy a position as head dean.”
“So, you’re not kicking me out of school?” Loxy asked.
“Of course not. We don’t punish people for extraordinary displays of magic. On completion of your practical, Loxy, we will be graduating you,” Trelinda said. “Your recent display of magic puts you at the Doctorate level. You will have to still earn your Doctorate, so once we graduate you from the master’s program, we will expect you to start your Doctoral studies.”
Loxy beamed. “Wow.”
“We’ll be graduating you, too, Jon,” Misty said.
“Really?” Jon asked. Then he displayed doubt, doing math on his fingers. How long had he been bouncing Universes? “I haven’t even completed a full year. Have I?”
“Don’t be absurd. We’re graduating you to sophomore,” Shackleford said. “You have to be graduated to each level?” Jon asked.
“Think of it like leveling up,” Misty said.
“Oh, that’s kind of tedious,” Jon said, considering. But then, it kind of made sense. “That could be fun. Do I get all shiny and hear bells when it’s time to level up? Do I get a list of traits and attributes from which I can choose to upgrade? And can I hold the level until the next level so I can make huge leaps in progress and like be suddenly amazing? Oh, and I would like to upgrade emotional intelligence and charisma, if that’s possible.”
“You are being ridiculously silly,” Shackleford said.
“You didn’t like defensive and protective, now I can’t be funny? What do you want from me?” Jon asked.
“Try being serious. This is serious. The Universe is serious,” Shackleford said. Jon turned to Loxy. “I thought I was being serious.”
“Seriously funny,” Loxy helped.
“Is that why you never laugh?” Jon asked.
“Because you’re being seriously funny?” Loxy asked. “Am I too serious and less funny?” Jon asked.
“Too often,” Loxy said. “Oh,” Jon said.
“Don’t worry. I like all the flavors of you,” Loxy said. “Wow. That’s seriously hot,” Jon said.
“Want to go add some flowers to the sheets?” Loxy asked. “OMG, yes,” Jon said.
“Whoa, we are having a meeting here,” Shackleford said. “Jealous?” Jon asked.
“Want to join us?” Loxy asked.
“OMG, that seriously funny and sexy,” Jon said.
“But I can get away with it because I am funny, and serious, and seriously sexy,” Loxy said.
Only Misty and Trelinda seemed amused. Emerson chewed on his fingernail, stared at it, chewed some more. Shackleford was not usually embarrassed or caught off guard, and yet, she seemed unprepared for the level of play that was offered.
“So, how do you feel about hosting a Safe Haven campus here?” Trelinda said.
Jon considered. “I would like to know more about the Safe Haven situation. With all those duplicates running around, isn’t it going to be confusing and all?”
“No. The Universe is a huge place,” Emerson said. “The odds of running into yourself are so astronomically large as to be comparable to shooting a single atom through the Universe and expecting it to hit another atom. Not likely. In fact, you could shoot single star through the Universe and still not hit another equivalent size object.”
“That, and Safe Haven reset is on the other side of the black hole, in a different multiverse,” Trelinda explained. “It will take some serious Astral, magical effort for anyone to get there from here, or go from there to here, which is a good thing because the prestige of the college just skyrocketed. The Bliss campus will deal mostly with Freshman and Sophomores, and only on the Astral Levels.”
“So, you’re saying I don’t have to worry about running into a second Loxy?” Jon said. “You would like that,” Loxy said.
“Oh, I would,” Jon said. “Together or individually.”
“Focus,” Shackleford said.
“I am okay with establishing a campus here,” Jon said. “If it’s okay with Loxy.”
“Wow,” Loxy said. “That is hot.”
“It is?” Jon asked.
“You just confirmed this is my home,” Loxy said.
“Of course this is your home,” Jon said. “How could you ever think it wasn’t?”
“I have never had a home before,” Loxy said.
“OMG, Loxy, that is so not true. When I met you, you had a home with friends living in a rose, and since I met you, you’ve had a place in my heart,” Jon said.
“OMG,” Loxy said. “Do you realize what you’re doing to me?”
“OMG, I think I am going to be sick,” Shackleford said. “Maybe we should move this discussion along to the practical.”
“Oh, I love practicals,” Loxy said. “Can I opt for a thesis?” Jon asked.
“No. You’re a freshman. You will do a practical,” Shackleford said.
“I have experience with your practicals and they are unreasonably tough,” Jon said. “Builds character,” Shackleford said.
“Umph,” Jon said.
“With your permission, I would like to initiate the practical,” Trelinda said. “You mean assign it?” Jon asked.
“We don’t assign practicals. I will have Doctor Shackleford induce a hypnotic state and invite your unconscious to provide the criteria that needs to be met in order for you to feel successfully validated in earning your progress,” Trelinda said.
“I can’t be hypnotized,” Jon said.
Loxy laughed. It was a strange laugh that was almost a snort because she had tried to contain it. Jon looked at her peculiarly. “I am sorry. That was funny.”
“I wasn’t being funny,” Jon said.
“I know. Which makes it funnier,” Loxy said. “Shall we begin?” Shackleford asked.
“If you want to waste your time, feel free,” Jon said.
Shackleford drew her necklace up out of her cleavage and just the simple act of drawing Jon’s attend to her breast, the small emerald crystal tapping her chest, sent him deep. He went so deep so fast, that Loxy had the presence of mind to take the coffee cup out of his hand. She placed it under the seat, which was hardly more than lawn-chair folding type chair, with his name on the back like you might find on a Hollywood set. His hands remained in place as if he was still holding the cup. Loxy lowered them to his lap.
“Wow, that was quick,” Loxy said.
“I’ve been working with him,” Shackleford said. “You ready to join him?”
“We can help each other?” Loxy said.
“Absolutely,” Misty said.
Loxy settled back, took Jon’s hand, and turned her gaze towards Shackleford’s emerald pendant. It sparked and she was gone. A moment later, they were both back, awake, and present, and Shackleford’s pendant was safely stowed between her breasts.
“I told you I couldn’t be hypnotized,” Jon said. He became aware that he was holding Loxy’s hand. There was evidence of tears on her face. “Are you okay?”
Loxy nodded. “What?” Jon asked.
Loxy stood up, drew Jon into a hug. The professors stood, and a group hug commenced.