The Unskillful Thaumaturge

XLIII

"I want to come visit."

"You were just here last month," Chris replied quizzically. "Is this about you being-" He cut off, clearly not wanting to finish the sentence.

"I want to look at some of my baby stuff. I want to come visit," Lillian repeated.

"You're always welcome if you can find a time that works."

"I feel like I would need more than just a weekend to look through everything, but I don't want to wait until spring break," Lillian complained.

"Presidents Day is in just two weeks," Chris reminded her. "Would that work?"

"Still, it's only three days..." Lillian sighed. "But it's soon enough, so I suppose it will have to be then."

"So you're planning to come in on Saturday?" Chris asked, as Lillian blurted over him, "Do you have any other information from when I was a baby?"

Both waited expectantly for the other to answer.

"We have your baby journal and a lot of pictures. Beyond that, I don't think there's anything we can help you with."

"Yes, I'll come in the Saturday before Presidents Day. I think the pictures and the baby journal should be fine on their own; after all, what I'm looking for is more about what I was like as a baby."

"Lily..." Chris trailed off. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lillian replied stonily. "Just thinking about it feels weird, though. The strangest thing about it is that I've never done any thaumaturgy."

"That's another thing. You were never that interested in it as a kid. These days people are recording their baby's first thaumaturgy along with their first word, first step, that kind of thing. You never did anything like that."

"Even now, with my thaum lab-" Lillian broke off. "I just can't seem to figure it out. It's disconcerting and I'm worried that it's going to damage my grades."

"Have you talked to anyone about it?"

"Leslie tried to hypnotize me at the end of last semester, but it didn't work, so on my first day I went to Dr. Hests, the chair, and she told me to go to some guy named Kern, so I have an appointment scheduled in about a week. He's good, apparently. If he doesn't have any way to help, I guess I'll ask you as a last resort over Presidents Day weekend, and beyond that, I don't know." Chris taught basic thaumaturgy classes at South Eugene High School.

"Kern who?"

"No, that's his last name. Professor Kern. He teaches some upper-division thaumaturgy class."

"Are you going to be able to last until next week?"

"I can survive one more class. I've already been through three."

"I was asking if your grades are going to be okay."

Lillian snorted. With her roommates so often asking her if she would be able to deal with Amandi and with the stress associated with the class, she welcomed Chris's more practical concerns. "I think I can last another week. The class is today."

"Good," he said briskly. "Would you like me to come pick you up that Saturday?"

"No, I think I can take the bus." Lillian winced, embarrassed by the fact that, though she was already taking upper-division classes, she still didn't have a driver's license.

"Okay," Chris consented.
"Will you start taking out some of my baby stuff?" Lillian requested. She knew the journals and photos Chris was speaking of were likely in a cardboard box crammed into a corner of the attic.

She felt his hesitation. "I can start doing that soon," he began, sure to launch into a tirade of how difficult it would be to maneuver the baby stuff out from within the tangle of sentimental detritus lodged within the attic; Lillian, not having the time nor the patience to sit through Chris's complaints, cut him off.

"Sorry, Chris, but I have to go to class. Thanks. Love you. Bye." She hung up before he could begin speaking again and began shoveling papers into her backpack.

❦

Dakota stared intently into the deep blue screen, waiting patiently for the image to resolve. Flecks of white darted across the monitor as the image faded into a video of the thaumaturgy classroom one floor below. He recognized one of his students- Amanda, or whatever her name was- standing in front of the class, describing exactly what she wanted them to create an illusion of. He almost switched off the machine, but suddenly noticed a familiar face- or rather, a familiar head- in the second row. Lillian was hunched over her desk, reading her lab instructions.

Dakota turned up the volume as her partner began to speak.

"Who's doing the illusion this time?"

"You," Lillian grunted.

"Still?" He sounded exasperated.

"My appointment with Kern is on Monday. You can wait."

Dakota flipped off both switches in the back of the cabinet before closing the door and turning the key. He sat back against the desk.

What was going on there?

"She told him to do the illusion. Could she be having trouble with thaumaturgy..."

"She's not just having trouble," Ashley began. Before she could finish, Dakota jumped to his feet and whirled around, heart pounding.

"Oh, it's you," he muttered sheepishly. "Couldn't you make some little knocking noise before you start talking?"

"I'll walk loudly," she replied sarcastically. "And no, she's not just having trouble, she's really struggling."

"How bad is it?"

Ashley leaned in. "She's never done thaumaturgy in her life," she hissed.

Dakota's eyebrows raised and he cocked his head. "Is she blocked?"

"No, she's not even..."

Dakota grasped Ashley's meaning and interrupted her. "Why?"

"If she was, she'd be powerful and effective enough to draw notice, and they'd find her."

"They're looking for..."

"They're looking for someone with a suspiciously high efficacy, which is why I suggest you try doing as little thaumaturgy as possible."

Dakota grimaced. "I'll be more careful."

"The DIAO will be looking for you the same way." She emphasized the last two words. "If I were you, I wouldn't be using any thaumaturgy at all."

"Okay." Dakota's eyes widened.

Ashley turned away and began walking around the room. "Speaking of thaumaturgy, are you all ready for your meeting?"

Dakota snorted and smiled. "Everything should be ready except for the mirror. It gets here tomorrow. Can you put it in a safe area?"

"Just let me know when, and I can take care of that for you. Anything else?"

"Do you know how I can get her to trust me?"

"You already have a plan?"

He nodded.

"Try it, then. If I get involved, it only looks worse. After all, to her I'm just Galena's mother."

Dakota laughed. "What if she breaks the agreement? I'm worried she won't believe me and she'll just go and tell the DIAO. I have to show her that I'll know if she flips."

"She always puts three fingers behind her back," Ashley said without looking at him.

"Should I-" Dakota began, but then seemed to register what Ashley had said. "Oh. That should work fine, then."

"Good." Ashley headed for the corner of the office.

"Thanks-" But Ashley was already gone.