The Budding Metalinguist

XXXVI

It was a surprisingly difficult decision for Lillian.

She was using a metalinguistic illusion, so there was no danger of identification by Erica if she used the levitator. However, she also felt nervous about using the levitator for the first time. The elevator was, of course, out of the question; it was broken once again.

She made up her mind and stepped forward into the levitator.

As soon as she pulled the doors closed behind her and hit the "in use" button, she relaxed the metalinguistic illusion. She had been using a fairly simple one, only increasing her height by several inches, lengthening her hair and turning it dark brown. It wasn't much, but Lillian's characteristic red hair was her most recognizable feature. Without it, most people who knew her would say that the dark-haired girl looked "vaguely like her".

She glanced around the levitator, searching for any sign of information. It was square-shaped, like an elevator, but with a single large pillar in the center of the back wall.

She'd never used a levitator before, so she wasn't exactly sure what to do. What she did know was that a levitator operated via carefully controlled telekinesis. Lillian called up the Idea of Detection and immediately noticed strong barriers encasing the entirety of the apparatus. The only portion of the levitator that didn't have a barrier was a thin slice of floor beneath Lillian's feet.

She tried to use the Idea of Motion to lift it, and found it surprisingly easy. It felt like she was only lifting about a hundred pounds, not the thousands that she had been expecting. She realized the levitator must have a counterweight. Of course. The counterweight to this levitator was the building's other levitator, the one that took passengers down instead of up.

Lillian used the Idea of Motion again, this time along with a simple telekinesis signature courtesy of the Idea of Disguise. The levitator slowly began lifting. Lillian could correctly identify the floor levels via numbers stenciled onto the inside of the pillar in the back. When she eventually reached the fourth floor, she stopped the levitator and pressed the button to signify that it was no longer in use. Then she reached out to slide open both pairs of doors.

And came face to face with Amandi Liu.

Lillian froze. This was the worst thing that could possibly have happened. If it had been a different student, one she hadn't known- or even someone she had known well, like Leslie- she could have explained that she wasn't supposed to talk about her thaumaturgy. But with Amandi, everything was different. Amandi was no friend of Lillian's. Amandi would never tolerate an excuse.

And Lillian had specifically left Amandi's thaumaturgy class once she had found out she couldn't use thaumaturgy.

Amandi sneered- as always, it was a pitiful, amateur sneer. Lillian's heart beat so loudly that she was sure Amandi could hear it.

"Pretty terrible efficacy," Amandi remarked. "It seems to have taken you more energy than if you had taken the stairs."

Then she took Lillian's shoulder in a tight hold and steered her out of the levitator, her long-nailed fingers biting into Lillian's shirt. She steered Lillian across the room until they were well away from any escape route.

Lillian listened. Patiently albeit tensely, she didn't speak or act while Amandi let loose with a torrent of anger, insults, accusations, and profanity. She couldn't let herself try to respond. It would only make things worse.

There was only one way she could think of to fix any of this.

And so, when Amandi unclasped her hand from Lillian's shoulder to provide the accompanying gesticulations for an infuriated string of abuse, Lillian took her chance. She darted out of Amandi's reach and started running down the hall as fast as she could. As she had suspected, Amandi's face darkened in anger and she sprinted after Lillian in furious pursuit.