The Unskillful Thaumaturge

XLVI

Lillian hurried to catch up to Angela, falling in step with her classmate at the top of the stairs. "Angie?"

"Hey, Lillian, what is it?"

"Do you know when the homework is due?"

"As of right now, I think it's due Monday."

Lillian relaxed. "I thought it was due Friday."

"No!" Angela scoffed. "Thankfully, or I probably wouldn't be able to do it either." She peered into Lillian's face. "Although you do seem extra-stressed. What's wrong?"

"Amandi told me yesterday that I could get credit for the intro thaum lab, but I'd have to make up all of them after my appointment with Kern."

"Kern?"

"Some assistant professor in the thaum department. He's going to teach me how to do thaumaturgy. I've been having some real problems with it."

"I'm glad you have a solution, then," Angela said seriously. "How long will it take to make up the labs?"

"I have four to make up."

Angela winced sympathetically. "When?"

"Probably right around the time I get it all figured out. Sometime in the week after my appointment."

"That's awful."

"Honestly, Angela, it's not that bad. I'm lucky that Amandi is even letting me make up the labs. She could have just said no."

Angela seemed to reflect on this without responding.

"Did you do anything over the weekend?"

"No, just stayed here and studied. You?"

"Leslie and I went to the museum. Otherwise, I didn't do anything."

"Oh, the museum. How was that?"

"Pretty standard." Lillian was acutely aware that, though she had tried to change the subject, the conversation had now returned to something she had done. "Leslie spent a long time in the barriers exhibit, and some of the history was super interesting."

"I haven't been in a year or two," Angela realized. "I should go back."

"Honestly, I don't think it's changed that much since I was last there," Lillian remarked.

"Hmm," Angela commented, then immediately changed the subject. "What do you think of Intro Thaum? Easy, right?"

Lillian chuckled. "Maybe for physics. But I know for a fact that some of my classmates are having trouble."

"More business for you!" Angela crowed.

❦

Dakota dragged the cardboard box into the center of his newly cleaned office and blindly reached for his desk drawer, patting the wood until he found the handle and slid it open. He wormed his hand in and fumbled for something, withdrawing a pocket knife a few seconds later. He flipped it open and began sawing at the tape holding the box shut until there was a large enough gap. Setting down the knife, he pushed his fingers into the box and ripped it open, revealing a layer of bubble wrap.

Are you sure this will fit in your office? The voice commented as Dakota removed the bubble wrap.

"Ashley helped me clear out some space." He indicated a blank area on the wall to the left of the file cabinet, then carefully lifted the mirror out of the box and set it gently on the floor. "I don't want to put it there until the night before, though. I don't want a student or someone-"

Just give it to Ashley until then, the voice interrupted.

Dakota nodded and pulled the remainder of the bubble wrap out of the box. "She told us to give it to her anyway." He began peeling the thin film of protective plastic off the surface of the mirror.

Do you need to do all this right now?

"Think about it. If Ashley didn't know about the plastic, she would get it ready, and it would fall, and all of a sudden our cover's blown. It's definitely safer this way." He blew on the surface of the mirror to clear off any dust.

You should ask her where she's planning to put it.

"She probably hasn't figured it out yet. It has to be out of view of the tower but still solidly inside the dump sphere, and there can't be any Sphinxes nearby. There are a lot of factors to consider."

Why aren't you going to look?

"Sphinxes." He shuddered as he wadded all the plastic into a ball and began to unfold the box.

Leaving the mirror on the floor, he left the office, heading down the hall to place the plastic and cardboard into their respective recycling bins.

The mirror was gone when he returned.