Just before we stepped into an elevator, she spun to ask me a question. “You said you needed to visit the administration building, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah,” I started. She jumped into the elevator before I could finish. In a rush, I hurried to join her as I continued. “But I am sure it can wait until later.” The sooner she showed me to one of the rooms, the sooner I could see what I had to work with. Which meant that I would be able to see what I needed to make and what I had to buy.

  “No need.” She waved off my concern. “I need to make sure that you have permission to enter the room anyway.”

  We needed permission to enter a workshop? “What about Bert?”

  “People can enter as guests, but they are not allowed to use any of the equipment.” She made a point to state that. It was almost as though she wasn’t quite sure if I was allowed to use the equipment.

  Of course, if she was so worried, I had to wonder why she was only now getting my permissions checked. Or was it that she was going to let me see the room, but that was it? Honestly, with her, I had no clue.

  Neither of us spoke as the elevator raced toward a middle floor. Which was odd, as I was sure that the administration building was a standalone building at the entry to the academy. Not in a tower somewhere.

  Our silence continued as she led me out of the elevator and into a small tube. With a jerk and a stumble, the outside turned into a blur. Curious and unable to contain myself, I finally asked. “What is this and where are we going?”

  “This is the academy tram system.” She gestured to the display above the window. Sure enough, it said Academy Tram – Destination: Academy Entrance. “It allows for fast travel between each of the various buildings.”

  Was the place really that big? Wait, there was a bigger question here that I was missing. What was it? What about this situation was poking at me? It wasn’t all that odd for a train to be traveling underground, was it?

  Wait, that was it. What the fuck were we doing underground? Surely this thing should have been hanging high in the sky, given the tower we had just left. Unless the tower wasn’t really a tower in the sky, but dug into the earth. It would explain why I hadn't seen the damned things in the sky.

  But the whole idea was absolutely insane. How could anyone think this was a good idea? One earthquake, one tunneling monster, one issue and a whole tower worth of people would be crushed. Sure, towers above ground were just as weak to such events, but those inside wouldn’t be buried beneath a mountain’s worth of stone.

  “Finally put it together?” She smirked. “It does take a bit to get used to, but it isn’t all that bad. And while there have been a few issues, they are not as common as you think. Nor as catastrophic as you are imagining. Though that is probably because of the design and magitech working to keep it that way. And even if something does happen, we all have powers and training on how to get out of such situations. After all, who knows when you might end up buried while out in the field?”

  She made a good point, but that didn’t mean I could just accept this. Even if I did, I was going to be fighting many of my instincts. The same ones that were now screaming at me to run. To get out of this place. To get above ground and to stay there.

  A sudden shift outside the tram caught my attention. The sight outside allowed me to breathe without an issue as the dim tunnels shifted to the bright glow of the city. A bright counterpoint to the sky above. So bright that even the nearly full moon was all but drowned out.

  Less than a minute later, the tram came to a smooth stop. It wasn’t inside a building. The doors opened up to a set of simple stairs. It wasn’t the only set either. Trams came and went from various points. Switching on and off the various tracks with such speed and efficiency that would be impossible for any human.

  Together, we shoved our way through the crowd of people and into the nearest building. The moment my eyes adjusted, I found myself at the other end of the administrative building. Maybe if I had been just a bit taller I could have seen the other side and the place where buses dropped off their passengers.

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  My guide didn’t bother looking for a line. She just stepped up to a teller and started to speak. “I need to verify if a student has permission to use a facility.”

  “Name?” The man sounded bored. “And facility type?”

  She turned to look at me. With a roll of my eyes, I spoke. “Eli —“ I didn’t get time to say my last name.

  “Ah,” he looked up from the terminal hidden behind the screen to look at me. “We have been waiting for you to come pick up your drone for the last day. I will have one of the boys bring it out back.” Well that answered where the drone was and how I could get it.

  “Engineering and meta—“ I had the distinct impression he really didn’t like us because she didn’t get to finish whatever she was going to say.

  “Eli here has been cleared to use all the facilities.”

  “Even the fighting simulation rooms?”

  “According to the information provided by his advisor, he is highly encouraged to use any and every facility and resource related to fighting. Something about him needing to build up some muscle and skills.” He looked me up and down. The fact that people were constantly doing that was getting a bit annoying. “I can’t say I disagree with the professor. Now,” he flicked his hand at us. “If that is all, shoo.”

  “All the facilities?” She sounded a bit shocked by that fact.

  I honestly didn’t care if I had access to anything more than a workbench. And even that was iffy. Still, I asked her a question more as a way to pull her out of the little rut of confusion that she found herself in. “What?”

  “You have access to every facility.”

  I still wasn’t getting what the issue was. “And?”

  “And? And?” She threw her hands up as we exited the building. “I have been here for a full month and have connections yet I haven’t managed to get access to some of the more exclusive facilities this place offers.”

  So, she was jealous. Well, that was a first for me. Most of the people I knew back in Lionsguard were either those that looked down on me or didn’t care one way or the other. The only ones that seemed to care about what I had or could do did so only because I was working on something for them.

  “The whole thing makes me wonder just who your advisor is, as they must have quite a bit of pull to even try and get you access. Let alone succeed. Something my advisor has failed to do since I got assigned to them.” She sounded annoyed. Either at me or her advisor, I had no idea.

  “It is a professor both of my parents knew when they came through the academy.” I tried to figure out if the professor had said or did that would imply that he had any power. But the only thing I could think of was the fact that he knew all the rules and regulations. A lucky thing too, as I didn’t want to know what the security people would have done to me if not for his intervention.

  Before I could say or ask anything else, a cart forced its way through the crowd. On top of it, a very familiar drone sat. Powered down, but otherwise none the worse for wear.

  “Is that a drone?” The note of curiosity mixed with a touch of avarice surprised me. “Where did you get it?”

  “I made it.” I realized a touch late how that made me sound so I quickly added, “with my parents' help.”

  “What motors did you go with?”

  “Hybrid fans.” She shot me a look that told me she thought my answer was bullshit. “No, really. I went with four Lancer Bladed Turbines.” Her eyes lit up at my mention of the motors. Honestly, they had been one of the coolest finds I had made. In fact, they were the reason I had even considered building the drone in the first place.

  “You mean the ones with variable geometry? The ones rumored to be able to go completely silent?”

  I waffled my head back and forth. “While they have the ability to change their output, I haven’t had time to work on the software required for such control.” I had been busy getting the drone to work at all. “I haven't even added in the ability to transition between modes.”

  “Then what have you been doing?” I couldn’t tell if she thought I was an idiot, lazy, or simply incompetent.

  A bit annoyed and needing to correct her, my response was a bit harsher than it probably should have been. “Considering I had to design the entire system by hand, which isn't something I recommend by the way, and that was while I was still finding things. Some of which caused me to change the design. Then I had to build the damned thing, only to realize that I didn’t have a control system. A control system that I had to program during the train ride to the academy.”

  I was glad that I had kept the control device attached to my pad as I pulled it out. With a dozen swipes, the drone came to life as all four of its motors pulled it off the cart and into the air above us. Oddly, the drone was a bit sluggish as I maneuvered it up and to the side so that it stopped kicking up dust.

  As I returned to looking at my guide, I realized that she had an odd look on her face. Whatever it was, I couldn’t quite place it. And for some reason that bothered me more than it should have. Eh, it didn’t matter what she thought. The sooner she showed me where this workshop was, the sooner I could get to work. So much to do and not enough time.

  She stayed quiet as we moved toward the tram. Even as she tapped on the controls to tell the system where to take us, she didn’t say a word. Thankfully, she did wait for the drone to join us before she confirmed the destination.