Sophia Jackson
Stories
11
Chapters
5,834
Words
1.6 M
Comments
0
Reading
5 d, 14 h
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Rabbit It was late when Alden teleported back home. To his surprise, Boe was hanging out on the sofa using Alden’s laptop like it was community property. “Do you just live here now or something?” Alden tossed him a bag of banana chips. “You’ll note from the price sticker that these cost less than fifteen dollars.” He’d wanted to get a fresh banana, but it was against customs regulations. “You spend the day in hero land, and all I get is,”—Boe adjusted his glasses and checked the…-
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Hannah’s service was being held in the memorial garden at her old alma mater. Celena North University was in Apex, so Alden had to wear a lanyard with a large badge hanging from it that identified him as a minor and a non-Avowed. Ms. Zhao had called it the “double squishy combo.” It looked dorky, and it came with a button he could press in the event of an emergency. “Doesn’t really go with my tie.” He was trying to position the thing beneath the striped silk fabric so that it wouldn’t…
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128 •
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Uneven Alden had been kidnapped for around a minute. His brain wasn’t handling it well yet. In fact, it was like someone had given his stream of consciousness a shot of adrenaline and then shoved it into a rave. All his thoughts were smashing into each other so that he couldn’t properly address any of them. Finally. A thought that was concrete enough to prompt an action. “System, call Clytem Zh—!” Alden spoke quickly, but at Alden inhaled a large quantity of frosting. “Don’t call…
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128 •
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For only the second time in her life, Aimi Velra was under the influence of the highest potency luck chain available to humanity. Glossed— that was what the family called it. She didn’t know who had come up with the term, but it fit. Aimi felt shiny, gleaming. Untouchable. She pressed her foot almost to the floor, and her sports car shot through the streets of Apex City at a speed that was illegal—for vehicles at least—everywhere on the island. She gritted her teeth. She was both loving,…
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128 •
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Relieved, Alden tightened his grip on his envelope and exited the teleportation bay. He stood in a long hallway filled with bays identical to the one he’d just arrived through. People were streaming out of them at regular intervals, many of them dragging small suitcases behind them. Letting a woman in a hijab pass by, Alden took a second to get his bearings then followed a lighted sign on the wall that said some version of WAY OUT in five different languages. A couple of minutes later, he’d reached…
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128 •
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“Alden, stop typing ‘What are Rabbits good for?’ into the search bar. It’s getting a little pathetic.” “I’ll stop typing it in when the answer stops being “What about that S-rank who used his floor polishing skill to create an iceless skating rink on the island? You said it was neat.” “I know! It’s cool. And I’m not dumb. I see that the power has much wider applications than you’d notice at first glance. But it’s also Boe shrugged and threw a gum wrapper at Jeremy, who was…
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“All right, y’all!” said Ms. Jensen, smiling as she took in the class full of over-energized second graders. “I’m sorry about recess, but I can’t turn off the rain for you. We’ll have read-aloud time and play some games afterward. How does that sound?” “Boring!” one boy shouted, rocking back and forth so hard his desk clacked against the floor. “Good,” a few kids said, their eyes already on the stack of board games in one corner of the classroom. “Yes, ma’am,” the class’s…
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Boe, Part Two “You’re really skipping school for this?” Alden asked as Boe dragged a chair noisily across the tile floor toward his table. Over the past hour, the bakery had filled with customers, and there was a steady buzz of conversation. Everyone seemed to be buying gooey, buttery cinnamon rolls the size of Alden’s head, and he was trying not to resent them for it. “It’s no biggie. My GPA’s so bloated from all the advanced classes they’d have to fail me for a week straight before I…
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Alden stepped out of the elevator, yawning. It was five in the morning, but a coffee shop had to be open somewhere. It would be nice to hang out in a place other than consulate basement while he researched his new class. He stopped by the vending machine to buy a fruit punch for Gorgon, then he headed toward the lobby desk. “So, I’m a pre-affixed Chainer now,” he said as he passed the alien the bottle of juice. “That is an extremely rare assignment.” Gorgon spoke in the same totally…
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Class Trader, Part Two On Saturday morning, Alden woke up to the trill of his cell phone alarm at the completely uncivilized hour of 4 AM. He crawled out of the cozy sleeping bag he’d brought and flicked on the trading room’s fluorescent lights. It should be afternoon in India and Indonesia. Evening in China. Time zones were now something he cared about. He needed to be awake when large numbers of his fellow B-ranks were, and this should be a good time to catch any newcomers. And, hopefully, it…
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