Read Online Twisted Sister of Mine (Overworld Chronicles) by John Corwin - Free Book Online
Authors: John Corwin
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backpack, a girl with geek chic glasses playing on an arctablet, and several others who looked like any other college students I'd ever seen.
A chrome-plated robot with a clear glass globe for a head stood at the front of the ship. Its torso pivoted a hundred and eighty degrees to face us. "Greetings, Earthlings," it said in a robotic monotone while multi-colored lights in the shape of a mouth blinked with each word. "Please take a seat if you are bound for the academy. We will depart momentarily."
I looked around the cabin and whistled. "It's like a budget science fiction film."
Shelton laughed. "Yeah. I'll say this for the techies—they have style."
We closed the hatch and headed back for the cottage with the cable car. A moment later, the rocket ship rumbled. Long flames licked from the nacelles, though I noted they didn't burn the grass.
"Fake flames?" I asked.
Shelton nodded. "That thing's way past using rocket propulsion. It's got some anti-grav stuff."
"What?" The sheer shock in my voice seemed to surprise Shelton. "You mean advanced scientific locomotion? Why don't the noms have this technology?"
Shelton shook his head. "Firstly, the Arcane Council would never want noms having access to this stuff, and secondly, because the Overworld Conclave forbids it."
"But think of the good it could do society! Anti-gravity cars would be so wicked."
He snorted. "Yeah, and I'd bet noms would love commuting on flying carpets. Never gonna happen."
"Stupid politics," I said, grumbling.
"There are a lot more noms than there are supers. If they had access to magic and our mad science, they'd have the edge, and Overworld politicians don't like that." Shelton shrugged. "They even have an entire division devoted to sabotaging nom scientists and recruiting those who are the most promising."
"Didn't stop them from making nukes or digital watches," I said.
He snorted.
An announcement for the departure of the cable car to the university interrupted my thoughts. We hurried aboard just before it lifted. I realized an instant later why it didn't need cables. "This is a slider, isn't it?"
"Yup." Shelton stared out the window as the spires of a castle rose into view.
I watched as a girl wearing a pink arcane robe played a game on an arcphone. Some kid in a brown robe across from her glanced up from an old book and frowned. "You're on the wrong shuttle, techie."
She wrinkled her forehead and gave him an unsure look, as if wondering if he'd spoken to her and not one of the many other students aboard. After meeting his stern gaze, she seemed to decide he was, indeed, talking to her. "The handbook said arcphones are allowed now." She shrugged. "Don't see how they can ban them anyways. Everybody has one." She looked around the cabin, as if searching for someone else to support her logic.
The guy sneered. "If you suck at magic you might need one."
"Kid, you might wanna join the real world," Shelton said. "'Cause I can think of a half-dozen things an arcphone can do better than a human brain and a staff." He pulled his phone out as though for emphasis. "It's a focus, just like a wand or staff, except it ain't made of wood, and it gives you a heck of a lot more computing power for complex spells."
"Oh, please," the guy said.
"Well, you sure as heck can't play Unicorns versus Zombies on your staff," the girl said, stuck out her tongue, and went back to playing.
The student glared at Shelton. "A real Arcane doesn't need that garbage to do magic."
"You're a lost cause," Shelton said, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. "Then again, you'll probably never amount to more than a magician."
A chorus of "Oohs" went up from the other students, some of them grinning at the argument while others held out their phones, probably recording everything.
The student's jaw dropped open, and his eyes filled with rage. "Do you know who I am?"
A burst of laughter from the crowd only enraged him even more, just as the cable car, now a dizzying
A chrome-plated robot with a clear glass globe for a head stood at the front of the ship. Its torso pivoted a hundred and eighty degrees to face us. "Greetings, Earthlings," it said in a robotic monotone while multi-colored lights in the shape of a mouth blinked with each word. "Please take a seat if you are bound for the academy. We will depart momentarily."
I looked around the cabin and whistled. "It's like a budget science fiction film."
Shelton laughed. "Yeah. I'll say this for the techies—they have style."
We closed the hatch and headed back for the cottage with the cable car. A moment later, the rocket ship rumbled. Long flames licked from the nacelles, though I noted they didn't burn the grass.
"Fake flames?" I asked.
Shelton nodded. "That thing's way past using rocket propulsion. It's got some anti-grav stuff."
"What?" The sheer shock in my voice seemed to surprise Shelton. "You mean advanced scientific locomotion? Why don't the noms have this technology?"
Shelton shook his head. "Firstly, the Arcane Council would never want noms having access to this stuff, and secondly, because the Overworld Conclave forbids it."
"But think of the good it could do society! Anti-gravity cars would be so wicked."
He snorted. "Yeah, and I'd bet noms would love commuting on flying carpets. Never gonna happen."
"Stupid politics," I said, grumbling.
"There are a lot more noms than there are supers. If they had access to magic and our mad science, they'd have the edge, and Overworld politicians don't like that." Shelton shrugged. "They even have an entire division devoted to sabotaging nom scientists and recruiting those who are the most promising."
"Didn't stop them from making nukes or digital watches," I said.
He snorted.
An announcement for the departure of the cable car to the university interrupted my thoughts. We hurried aboard just before it lifted. I realized an instant later why it didn't need cables. "This is a slider, isn't it?"
"Yup." Shelton stared out the window as the spires of a castle rose into view.
I watched as a girl wearing a pink arcane robe played a game on an arcphone. Some kid in a brown robe across from her glanced up from an old book and frowned. "You're on the wrong shuttle, techie."
She wrinkled her forehead and gave him an unsure look, as if wondering if he'd spoken to her and not one of the many other students aboard. After meeting his stern gaze, she seemed to decide he was, indeed, talking to her. "The handbook said arcphones are allowed now." She shrugged. "Don't see how they can ban them anyways. Everybody has one." She looked around the cabin, as if searching for someone else to support her logic.
The guy sneered. "If you suck at magic you might need one."
"Kid, you might wanna join the real world," Shelton said. "'Cause I can think of a half-dozen things an arcphone can do better than a human brain and a staff." He pulled his phone out as though for emphasis. "It's a focus, just like a wand or staff, except it ain't made of wood, and it gives you a heck of a lot more computing power for complex spells."
"Oh, please," the guy said.
"Well, you sure as heck can't play Unicorns versus Zombies on your staff," the girl said, stuck out her tongue, and went back to playing.
The student glared at Shelton. "A real Arcane doesn't need that garbage to do magic."
"You're a lost cause," Shelton said, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. "Then again, you'll probably never amount to more than a magician."
A chorus of "Oohs" went up from the other students, some of them grinning at the argument while others held out their phones, probably recording everything.
The student's jaw dropped open, and his eyes filled with rage. "Do you know who I am?"
A burst of laughter from the crowd only enraged him even more, just as the cable car, now a dizzying
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