Note: This rewrite was years in the making, the original version is on AO3 (link in my profile,) I do not own Kingdom Hearts, and I am not apologizing for the seagull. Updates will be once every two weeks to allow proper editing time. Cover art by GravityBeams. Link to the original Mechanic chapters can be found on my profile. [May 3rd, 2016]

Radiant Garden, five years after the Birth By Sleep incident:
A private conversation between Master Aqua and an Official of Midgar

"I hate to say this, but you can't be in two places at once."

"Yes, I know. I'm looking into the matter now."

"How about taking on a few apprentices?"

"That would take time. I have to be out there on the front lines with all the others. Teaching is a full-time position; one I can't afford at the moment."

"Then how about starting a school for us? We can set it up on an empty planet and train volunteers to fight. You don't have to be there at first, but when we have enough mages to keep the Heartless at bay you can settle down and take a few choice students under your wing."

"I'll admit, that's not a bad idea."

First Arc: Beneath a Sea of Stars
Chapter One: The Stake that Sticks Out

Maunder, fourteen years after the Birth By Sleep Incident

The Universe opened with a scream. Not with a bang, but with a shriek. A drowning screech of metal as it dragged and scraped through the high, vaulted ceilings of a warehouse. It built; wavered; died, lingering in the air as an aftertaste. Air settled. Sound settled. And in the wake of the sound, a room remained.

Wires snaked across the floor, draped themselves across shelves and large opaque glass walls, winding through the many nooks and crannies of the Gummi hangar. Large, brightly labeled buckets sat scattered across the room. Their long, thin nozzles presented upright to salute the high ceiling. Sandwiched between ships and cargo, lengths of thickly insulated wire in bright colors swam across the floor. Blues, yellows, reds; interrupted by a blot of blue-gray.

Across the room, the screaming faded to a slow, awkward pause.

Staring up at the hinges, insulted, a young woman peered into the filthy room with one eye squinted forcefully.

"Hello?" she called cautiously.

The sound careened across the workshop, slamming forcefully into a small set of empty paint cans that wobbled and shook but somehow managed to remain upright.

Feet picking forward through the mess of wires littering the floor, the woman inched into the hangar with cautious eyes. She eased around a large, dismantled cockpit, eyeing the exposed chairs skeptically as she turned, glancing from ship to ship. "Sora?" she called. "Are you in here?" Her eyes roved over long coils of cording, following them to tightly wound spools clustered in a pile lining the edge of the room. Rounding another cluster of dismantled ships, her attention locked on a pair of legs slumped across the floor like a bowl of discarded noodles. They lay there, limp, and for all of a second the woman imagined the dissected hull above their filthy slacks had severed them from their greasy stump of a human.

Bending at the knee, the woman crouched beside the disembodied legs, her head tilted amusedly to the side. "Hey, Sora," she whispered. "Hey."

One disembodied leg's shoe gave a slight twitch, but otherwise remained stationary.

A manicured hand shook its way from the woman's blazer sleeve. Propping it up before the leg, she lightly pressed it to the length of greasy slacks just above one dark boot. "恋はみじかい 夢のようなものだけど," she began lightly, dragging her nail up the foreign shin.

Head snapping forward with a cry of sheer, unbridled terror, a face slammed forcefully into the sea of wiring suspended before it.

Across the room, the set of precarious paint cans clattered aimlessly across a section of unattended cord.

"Sora, you lazy bum," she teased lightly. "I knew I'd find you snoozing down here."

Hand clamping around an exposed bar peeking from between strings of brightly colored wire, two bright blue eyes emerged. Dark eyelashes fluttered sleepily. A filthy hand drew up from the floor, sliding skeptically against slanted brows. "Kairi?" Sora gaped, head wagging from side to side in disbelief. "I didn't know you were back. What time is it?"

Reaching into the satchel hanging from her shoulder, Kairi retrieved a small phone, shaking it once. The screen glowed faintly, displaying a small clock on its face. "25-64, according to my newly updated PHS," she replied blandly, tucking it back into her bag. She frowned, finger catching on the badge hanging from a lanyard on her neck. Yanking it free, she turned back to the boy with a sigh. "You shouldn't be working this late. It'll throw off your schedule."

Sora shrugged, sliding back beneath the ship. "There are three suns. I think everyone stopped caring about schedules in their first year." His fingers went still against the panel and he grimaced. Reaching behind him, he shifted forward to grab at the tie twisted in the long lengths of his hair. Drawn into a ponytail, the strands trailed along the floor, draping along wires and across the dark fabric of his uniform blazer before ending loosely at his waist. He twisted them into a wide bun, setting it beside his head with a sigh. "Besides, I have to have it done by tomorrow."

"What are you doing?" she asked lightly, settling onto a cleaner batch of wires with a dry twist of her mouth. "Looks tedious."

With a long sigh, he brought back one hand to wave a wire stripper from beneath the line of the ship. "Rewiring everything between the artificial gravity generator and the circuit boards."

Kairi eyed the wire stripper, brows drawing together. "Why?" she asked, watching as the tool disappeared from view.

"Because some idiot tried to gun it out of a critical mass zone."

Silence.

Red eyelashes fluttered with shock. "Are you telling me someone flew into a black hole?"

"Apparently," he drawled.

"Did they live?"

The mechanic shrugged. "If they hadn't, I wouldn't be rewiring their gravity generators."

"Touché." Tugging uncomfortably at the bottom of her uniform blazer, Kairi shifted in her seat. "Second year evaluations start tomorrow, right?"

"Eight days of doom? Sure do," the boy confirmed into the mess of wires in his face.

"Why are you up so late?"

He scoffed. "I told you; I have to have this done by tomorrow." Pausing to pinch the bridge of his nose, Sora heaved a sigh. It blew across the mess of wires, earning him a wash of his own warm morning breath. He grimaced.

"Fine. In that case, I won't give you the cigarettes I got from Traverse Town."

A loud clang ripped from beneath the ship, and Sora emerged with a wide grin. "What?"

Reaching into her satchel, she presented a single squashed pack of cigarettes, presenting them for observation with an affectionate twist of her lips. "You owe me."

"You are a lifesaver," he declared warmly. He shifted onto his side, pushing himself up from the rolling board at his back to reach for the pack.

Kairi snatched it away with a shake of her head. "Compensation," she insisted.

Reaching immediately for his pocket, he nodded sharply. "How much?"

"Twenty-five munny."

Sora paused. Slowly, his eyes trailed up to the girl before him, skeptical. "What?"

"Twenty-five munny," she parroted dutifully.

"Cigarettes do not cost that much."

"Cost of transportation."

"Gummi ships literally run on the energy generated by the vacuum of space tearing at its internal systems," Sora pointed out sharply.

"I'm expensive."

"You're not twenty-five munny."

"That's the cost of smuggling cigarettes onto a planet where toxins are illegal to possess without a lab license," she stated, matter of fact.

Levelling her with a dry grimace, the man reached into his pocket, digging out a few small cubes with a sniff. "Take your blood money," he drawled, smacking them into Kairi's outstretched hand.

"Excellent," Kairi announced smugly. Tossing the pack into her friend's lap, she shoved her free hand deep into her satchel. Tossing another squashed box into Sora's awaiting lap, she grinned amusedly.

"What-" Sora squawked as five more packs joined the two in his lap, landing with muffled complaints against his slacks. "What-"

Kairi giggled. "Good luck getting them back to your dorm room unnoticed."

"What the fish, Kairi?"

"Twenty-five easily covers everything I got for you," she drawled.

Abashed grin slipping from his lips, Sora huffed a laugh. Reaching for the first of the packs, he carefully slipped it into the inside pocket of his blazer. "You," he began, stuffing two in the hem of his slacks, "are officially my best friend."

"What does that make Riku? Cod liver oil?"

"Riku's not here right now."

"Then I'll just have to do, won't I?" She threw one arm over his shoulder, tugging him forward as she shifted her weight onto her knees, leaning against his shoulder. Wrapping her arms firmly around his neck, she gave him an affectionate squeeze.

Returning the favor, Sora draws back with a chuckle. Gathering up the packs that had spilled onto the floor, he set about storing them about his person. "How was your trip?" he asked, curious.

"Kinda boring, actually," she admitted, withdrawing her arm from the man's shoulder and fiddling with the neck of her dark blazer. "Although it was nice to get out of this stiff uniform."

"What? Is our anti-gravity underwear not good enough for you, princess?" he teased.

She shook her head slowly. "Don't call me that."

"Forgive my transgression, princess," he drawled jokingly.

"You had a week off, right? To prepare for finals?" Kairi segwayed loudly. "Did you remember to check in with the lab?"

Sora saluted cheekily. "Sir, yes sir," he answered sharply. "Lots of time was spent in the labs, sir!"

"Was Ienzo there?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Did he chew you out again?"

For a long moment, Sora stared blankly into space. Then, with a hand twisting in his hair, he laid back against the rolling board and slid beneath the ship.

"Sora, are you alright?"

"He doesn't chew me out," he defended softly, reaching into his pocket to retrieve a crushed pack of cigarettes. Smacking it against the board, he stared into the mass of wires before him, throwing a brief, distracted glance at the small glowing ball beside his head as it flickered, shadows reaching across the bottom of the ship. After a few uneasy seconds the light evened out, returning to its steady, reliable glow.

"Sora-"

"Let's change subjects."

Staring at the seam where the ship met Sora's disembodied legs, Kairi shrugged. "Okay… How was your Phys. Ed. exam?"

He snorted. "You have just lost best friend status."

"I take it things were… entertaining?"

Narrow blue eyes twitched. Meeting across his stomach, his hands fumbled with the cigarette carton, tearing off the top to interrupt the sudden tense silence. "Entertaining," he quoted lightly. "Yeah, I guess you could call it that." Reaching into the pack, he retrieved a single cigarette, slipping it between his lips with a light sigh. "That's certainly a word for it."

Bending forward, Kairi planted her hands on the floor, leaning down until her short red hair brushed the curve of Sora's knees. "What happened?" she asked, cautious.

Tanned fingers snapped, and the outstretched thumb burned with a small flame that glittered at the tip of its nail. Bringing his hand up, Sora carefully lit his cigarette, breathing in long and slow before shaking the flame away. Snatching up the stick, he exhaled quietly. Smoke spilled into the air, smothering the bout of a clean breeze that wound through the hangar and beneath the ship. "I tripped over the start line," he informed her solemnly, peering curiously at the side of the cigarette as the fruity aftertaste of peaches lingered on his tongue. "Fell into the jumping blocks, too. By the time I made it to the tire runs everyone had already passed me."

"So you got last place. So what?"

"I failed," he corrected her softly, slipping the cigarette back into his mouth with an amused raise of his eyebrows.

Kairi sighed. "You failed," she repeated quietly. "Which means a remedial block. It's not the end of the world."

"Not one," Sora corrected her. "Two blocks. This is the second time I've failed this class."

"A double block of remedial courses," she breathed. Rising up, she turned to face the door, eyeing the peeling yellow paint without emotion. "That's rough."

"Riku would never get double-blocked."

Peering down at the filthy dark slacks at her side, Kairi sighed warmly. "You're not Riku."

Sora remained silent.

"Look," she began slowly. "I know you're beating yourself up about this – you always do – but you shouldn't worry about it. You're a mechanic. You're training to be an on-call specialist. Phys. ed. courses aren't… You can get an exception and still graduate. Why don't you just drop it?"

"Riku wouldn't drop it."

"Riku has a Keyblade," she reminded him lightly. "He wouldn't be allowed to drop it."

"He still wouldn't have dropped it. He doesn't drop anything."

Rising slowly to her feet, Kairi reached into the pocket of her slacks, producing a small cigarette box. Popping it open, she snatched up a single stick before popping it into her mouth. "I could use a light," she requested lowly.

Feet stomping along the floor, Sora slid out from beneath the ship with a shrug. He stood with a sigh. Offering his hand, he snapped his fingers once more, the small marble of flame licking at his thumb as he brought it to the end of the paper stick.

Inhaling lightly, Kairi nodded appreciatively as it caught. "Thanks," she breathed out as his hand moved away, sending a stream of smoke billowing from her nose to flutter across her blouse.

He shrugged, bringing his own cigarette back to his mouth. "New brand?"

"Yeah." Reaching up, she mussed her red hair lightly, turning back to stare at the door. She eyed its peeling yellow paint critically.

It was a while before either of them spoke, their cigarettes burning down to the butts.

Leaning back against the ship, Sora sighed. "I've been having these weird thoughts lately," he admitted. His eyes turned to the floor, wrist attached to his cigarette drooping.

"Or really?" she asked, skeptical. "Like what?"

"Like… if I change my shampoo-"

Kairi's face fell.

"- to gysahl green scent-"

Her eyebrows rose.

"- will chocobos start finding me attractive?"

"I'll get the hair bleach," she replied in all seriousness. "Let's find out."

Sora snorted.

"That's…" Her eyes turned from the door back to the boy beside her. "That's not really what you were going to say, was it?"

"Nah," Sora relied softly. His arms fell back against the board, draping limp against the worn wood. "We were talking about home planets in Cultural Studies. How our original upbringing will never completely leave us. Those are our stepping stones. You can't build a staircase, only to go back and remove the bottom three steps."

She nodded obligingly, listening intently.

"It just got me thinking. Everything has changed since we left the islands. So drastically it's almost crazy. And it keeps changing as we meet more and more people, learning about new worlds and new cultures. And while I was listening to the class discuss things in further detail, I thought to myself… Is any of this for real? Or not?"

Kairi eyed him carefully, lips straightening into a dull, empty line as her eyes grew lax and expressionless.

"Our eyes work as receptors, reading the world the only way they can. As color and shape and size. But that's not actually what the world..." Glancing up at her expression, Sora turned away with a bitter chuckle slipping through the cynical twist of his lips. "Never mind," he murmured. "I'm just talking crazy again."

Soft, pink lips drop open to answer, but close gently. And closed they remained.

He snorted. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"I think you're Sora," Kairi replied without hesitation. "That's all that really matters."

Unbidden, a smile parted a nervous line. "Yeah," he agreed lightly. "I guess." Turning back to the ship, he fell to his knees beside the rolling board before rolling onto it.

At his side, the woman took a seat.

"I got a letter from Vanille," the mechanic murmured softly, voice carrying gently from beneath the ship.

"Oh, really?" Kairi cooed. "Does she miss you?"

"She misses all of us."

"She only dated you."

"And she was friends with all of us," Sora reprimands lightly, turning his eyes away from the wires to peer half angrily at the neat slacks just visible beneath the curve of the ship's skeleton. Shifting his attention back to his hands, he adjusted his cigarette before continuing. "She asked about Riku. He stopped writing home, apparently."

Kairi sighed. "Sounds like something Riku would do."

"Yeah, it does."

"How long has he been gone, anyway?"

Reaching up to snatch this cigarette from his lips, Sora let loose a long billow of smoke. "Twelve weeks, one day. And we've passed a Semester since then, so that's ninety-eight Maunder days."

"You've been counting," Kairi whispered darkly.

"That's just over four months, regular time. 122 and one half days – 123 on the dot including the change hours from his departure."

"Careful – your brain is showing."

"My brain isn't going to rot from a little sunlight."

Rising to her feet, Kairi's hands patted ineffectively at the rear of her slacks, attempting to bat away the fresh grime that clung to them. "Well, I'm going to get some sleep. Exams tomorrow." She waved goodbye casually and began to make her way across the room.

"Don't remind me," Sora groaned, eyes sliding shut angrily.

"Hey, it could be worse," she called over her shoulder. "You could have a keyblade."

Sora's lips thinned into a grim line.

As the door slid shut in her wake, the room echoed with the semblance of a breeze whistling through the wires.

"Yeah," Sora agreed, voice hissing between his teeth on a whisper of a breath. "I could have a keyblade." Reaching to his side, he grabbed at a pair of wire strippers. But as his fingers gripped the rubberized handle, his wrist went slack. His eyes turned once more to the section beneath the curve of the ship's skeleton where Kairi's legs had been visible seconds before. "I've been having these dreams, lately," he announced to the absent woman. "We're in a cave, and you disappear."

-T-M-

Rising above the horizon, the first of three suns peeked over the vast sandscape of Maunder, bringing nightfall to an end.

Beneath a small pile of blankets, Sora groaned. "No," he moaned. "It can't be morning yet."

"It's morning," the sun declared. Its light filtered through the thick glass walls, fluttering into the room as it did the rest of the building, setting the Academy alight.

Sora rolled over, pulling the sheet up over his face. "No," he whined, waving his hand angrily in the direction of the window. "Turn off. Close. Darken."

It persisted, as suns tend to do.

Rising from the mattress with an aborted groan, the mechanic rolled off the edge and onto the floor. Beneath the thin layer of carpet, another thick layer of glass boomed.

"Why."

-T-M-

Edging up to the mess hall doors, Sora groaned as Kairi popped up beside him, smacking him on the head.

"You have a raging headache, don't you?" she chastised him smartly. "That's what you get for staying up so late."

"I was taking naps," he argued sharply, voice a high whine.

"I'm pretty sure naps don't count when they're taken on wooden boards that roll."

"Whatever you say." Large feet navigated quickly around the frame of a wide door, bringing Sora into a vast room cluttered with neat rows of seats and tables. Plopping weakly onto a bench, his face fell heavily onto the waxed surface before him.

Kairi snickered, taking her own seat with a grin. Poking at the table, she hummed happily as a menu unfolded itself on the surface before her, digital lines glimmering to display the day's special. "Ooh, brussel sprouts a la mode."

"You've got to be kidding."

"Other glorious options include salmon and bananas, lasagna tacos, baked squid with hollandaise sauce, seagull, and gefilte fish puree."

Lifting his head curiously from the table, Sora eyed the menu critically. "That's not what it…" He paused, eyes roaming over the page. "Seagull."

"Yup."

"We live in a desert."

"Yup." Popping her P, Kairi tapped at the menu with one lazy, manicured finger.

Sora hummed. "Got your nails painted?"

"Yup." Dragging her finger along the display, she selected 'Seagull' with a curious hum.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"If it's disgusting, you're sharing your breakfast with me. What else are friends for?"

"Moral support to help you get through that seagull."

Kairi rest her hands on the edge of her seat, leaning back as the menu faded back into the table. "You should order. Get something horribly mundane. Like Miso soup."

Sora stared at her for a long, tense few seconds before announcing, "I am suddenly craving Miso soup."

Just as he finished, a small ping sounded from the table, announcing the arrival of a small exclamation mark shimmering brightly where the menu had been. Hopping up from the table, Kairi chimed, "Food's done," before jaunting happily across the room.

Attention turning to the table, Sora swiped a thumb across the surface with a grimace. Up came the menu with a gentle chime, displaying the day's specials in glittering bold. His eyes slid along the options, half mast, recognizing a few of the tamer entrees. Eggs, Sausage, Beans, Toast, Fa, Gagh, Spoo, Gargle, Rice, and finally Miso. Tapping it twice, then dragging it to the "soups" submenu, he slid his entire hand across the table to turn the page as Kairi settled in beside him.

"Going for the Miso soup, I see."

"I'm thinking of getting a shot of espresso for the road."

"I left for two weeks," Kairi complained suddenly. "That doesn't mean you get to call the D6/D12 supplement 'espresso.' It's not real espresso."

"Have you ever had real espresso?"

"Do you even know what an espresso is?" she shot back.

"It's coffee."

"Which is?"

"Tea, but with… parsnips?" He finalized his order with a particularly indignant rapping of his knuckle against the table.

Turning to her plate, Kairi shrugged. "Points for originality."

Finally, Sora's eyes laid upon her plate, widening comically. "That's-"

"Still alive, I think," Kairi mused, poking it with a chopstick.

The seagull suddenly squawked, shuffling as it woke. It peered at her angrily. Then, with another indignant screech, it took off into the air before careening into one of the wide windows overlooking the desert.

Chopsticks were unceremoniously tossed to the table. "So, looking forward to the eight days of doom, my baby Sophomore?"

"We're the same age."

"Yeah, but I entered sooner than you."

Sora frowned, but shrugged. "Not really. You've told me enough horror stories that I'm both disturbed and disillusioned by what they could entail."

"Lots of sand."

"I've heard."

"Tons of sand."

"I get it, there's sand."

"It falls out of your underwear for weeks."

In the distance, the seagull squawked.

-T-M-

"INDIVIDUALS WHO QUALIFY FOR THE ANNUAL FITNESS EXAMINATION PLEASE REPORT TO GYM-C FOR YOUR SWAB. I REPEAT-"

Shifting nervously from foot to foot, Sora glanced nervously at the line winding around the edge of the hallway. Students in various stages of dress leaned against textured glass walls. As he approached the end of the line, he fidgeted nervously with the length of his tie, rising up on his tip toes in an attempt to peer over the heads of the students, humanoid and otherwise.

"You a sophomore?"

Sora jumped, spinning in place to turn his eyes on a blond mess behind him. "Uh."

The man shrugged and his shirt tugged at his arms where the sleeves had been sloppily cut at the elbow. "You can always tell the noobs apart from the rest. Nervous. Peering over everyone else to see…" He brought his hands up, eyes going wide as he fluttered his fingers outwards. "... 'the machines.'"

"That's…" Brown eyelashes fluttered, surprised.

A large, pale hand extended before him in offering. "I'm Myde," the man announced. His voice was a high tenor, squeaking at the edges.

"Sora," he replied hesitantly.

"Sora – like Cid's Little Protege Sora?" Drawing his hand back, a disarming grin slid across Myde's face. "Awesome."

"Please don't call me that."

"It's what people call you, though."

"Please don't."

"Anyway, don't worry. You only fail the Soul Weight Attunement Biometer test if you're practically a Heartless."

Peering up at the man skeptically, Sora shifted to lean casually against the wall. "And how would you know that?"

Bending at the knees, vibrant blue eyes stared into his, opened wide to put the whites on display. "Experience."

"You are very strange."

"So I'm told," Myde shrugged. Raising a hand, he pointed behind Sora with a nudge of his head.

The mechanic turned quickly, eyes laying on the line that had drifted away from them. Striding forward, he stopped at the new end with a sigh.

"You really shouldn't stress about it."

Turning sharply, Sora's eyes turned on the man just beside his ear, staring at the provocative grin with something akin to annoyance. "Knock it off."

Myde leaned back, grinning. "I'm just messing with you. Seriously, though, there's nothing you have to worry about. They use the SWAB test to make sure you aren't going to go all dark side. You don't strike me as a dark side kind of guy."

"Then what kind of guy do I strike you as?"

A pale hand settled on an equally pale chin. "Well, you're really short and have hair down to your butt, so maybe a hippie?"

"Hippie?"

Myde waved a hand dismissively. "I'm from earth. Ignore me."

Sora's eyes widened fractionally. He turned quickly away, focusing his eyes on the far wall. Beyond it, figures moved. They hustled about, exchanging things; passing them hand from hand. The color was long in translations, leaving them as shadows against the nearly opaque textured glass.

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that. Jesus, we might as well call it 'the E word' at this point. Everyone gets like this."

Hustling forward to meet the back of the line, Sora turns his gaze to the machines looming in the distance as they round the corner into the mouth of the Gymnasium doors.

Behind him, Myde nervously ran a hand through his messy blond hair, cursing under his breath.

"Oh no."

Looking up sharply, Myde peered around Sora curiously. "What's up?"

"It's Professor Vossler."

Myde frowned. "The Phys. Ed. teacher?"

As if on cue, the line was ushered forward, dissipating in seconds. They hurried up to the front. The long line of egg shaped machines stretched along the lines of the Gym, glittering beneath the flickering fluorescent lights.

Sora looked up. "That probably needs to be replaced."

"Name."

The mechanic jumped, eyes turning on a beast of a man. "Irino, Sora," he squeaked.

Myde's face did a thing.

"Machine three is free for a humanoid," Vossler drawled, fingers picking through pages on a clipboard. He nudged his head in the direction of an open Egg down the row, near the far side of the room.

Shoulders slumping, Sora nodded before trudging quickly down the line. Egg after Egg he passed, built of sturdy, thick metal.

Myde eased up to Vossler with a sly grin. "Hey, Mr. V."

"Myde."

"What's the beef with Sora?"

Vossler looked up, confused, before murmuring, "He is the singularly least talented student I have ever had the dissatisfaction of teaching."

Blond eyebrows arched. "Don't you think that's a little harsh?"

"I'm not saying it to his face, am I?"

Down the rows, Sora stared up at the Egg with open trepidation. His fingers twitched nervously at his side, tanned digits taking hold of the hem of his jacket. He reached for the badge hanging from his neck, sliding it firmly through the car reader on the front of the Egg. A seam on the Egg popped open, and stairs drew from the inside. His eyes turned to the steps. A trail of trepidation rose along his spine. Slowly, he lifted a leg. Slowly, he stepped into the Egg. Slowly, the door began to close.

Settling into a small, worn seat at the back of the machine, Sora's eyes turned up to stare awkwardly at the small light at the top of the Egg.

"Please remain still," a pleasant voice commanded.

Sora jumped, glancing around nervously for speakers.

"Please remain still," it parrotted.

Settling further into the seat, the boy glanced nervously around the Egg, eyeing the exposed wires snaking along the walls skeptically. "Okay."

"A light will flash," it continued sweetly. "Please focus on your breathing. Assuming you are a standard humanoid, breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, and exhale for four seconds."

Pink lips parted on command. Breath hissed in and out nervously.

In an instant there was light. It radiated from his chest, brilliant and sharp. Sora's eyes widened as reds and yellows dappled the door, joined by blues, greens, and purples. They flashed and swirled around the wires, illuminating them as if Sora were a pond reflecting the light of the moon. Occasionally shapes would form in the dapples. They shifted oddly, and yet were instantly familiar as they reflected in his eyes.

And then he watched, in utter shock, as a single, malformed shadow slid across the door.

The lights silenced; replaced a single, solitary red.

Alarms sounded, and within seconds the door was falling open, revealing to him the sullen expression of Professor Vossler.

"Congratulations," the beast announced dully, tugging a thin sheet of paper from the bottom of his clipboard. "You have been deemed a liability." He passed it to Sora, who stared at it in open shock. "Report to Master Aqua's office immediately for the terms of your probation. Don't bother showing up for the exams."

-T-M-

"As you probably already know, once you are put on probation it becomes very difficult to graduate."

"Yes, Master Aqua," Sora murmured softly.

Sitting across from the boy, the distance spanned by a wide, neat desk, a woman with short blue hair sat primly in a large chair. Her eyes were sharp, hands steady as they reached for a pen. Creases dappled her eyes and mouth, betraying her age. Tapping the pen lightly against a sheet of paper, she hummed quietly in acknowledgement. "We have a class specifically for students who fail the SWAB, if you have time. It looks like your schedule is rather full as it is." Hey eyes narrowed. "It says here you have been double blocked for failing introduction to Physical Education."

The mechanic popped two fingers into the air. "Twice," he corrected.

"You failed it twice," she murmurs, looking him in the eye. "Is there any particular reason?"

"I'm just… not any good. At running, or jumping. Moving in general. I just feel like I'm..."

"Clumsy?" Aqua suggested.

"Too small."

The woman nodded slowly, peering down at his paperwork with a critical eye. "Well, how about this? We drop Physical Education until next semester, and I change that double block of Holo Room time to a single block?"

Sora's head bobbed softly, face turning to the floor as his cheeks burned red. "That would be a big help."

"Then it's settled." Her pen scratched across the paper, circling and crossing out a few choice sections before shuffling it to the side and dragging her thumb across her desk. Lines shone suddenly, program icons lining up like neat, colorful ducks. "I'll send a hardcopy to your PHS, along with the outline for your probation."

"Thank you ma'am."

Glancing up from the desk, the woman fixed him with a smile. "You don't have to worry about it too much. It's alright," she informed him sweetly, mouth curling into a warm grin. "You're not in trouble. You just need a bit of extra attention for a bit. Go ahead back to your dorm. Spend the evening how you like – classes don't resume for another week."

Rising carefully to his feet, Sora nodded weakly. "Yes, Master Aqua." Shuffling around his chair, he steps slowly up to the door. The handle is cold in his hands. Solid metal. As his fingers slip around the base to grip it, Aqua's voice rises from behind him.

"Sora?"

He turns fractionally, toes pointed firmly towards the door.

A nervous edge tints the corners of her smile. "I have a feeling you'll enjoy your new class."

Twisting the handle, Sora let himself into the hallway with a grimace.

-T-M-

"Interesting."

"How is failing the SWAB and being put on probation interesting?"

Leaning forward into Sora's personal space, forehead drawing uncomfortably close to another, a man with flat blond hair looked him over critically, sharp green eyes flicking from the boy's chin to his hair. "You bear none of the usual signs of your Light being consumed," he drawled. "Silly word, Light. A bit cheesy, though admittedly appropriate."

Sora edged incrementally away, his back sliding against the solid glass dome of a vast machine. It was ringed with curving steel and paired with a single control board. Tubed arms reached from its center into the corners of the room, leading into large metal containers drilled into the floor.

"Your hair follicles have not widened or degraded, nor has your skin become taut against your skull." The blond nodded, as if consenting. "Though, admittedly, those are long-term effects, as opposed to short-term."

Sora's eyebrows arched dramatically. "What are the short term effects?"

"Delusions of grandeur."

For a long second, they stood in silence.

"Is that it?" Sora asked, incredulous.

The man hummed. "The majority of the times Darkness exposure takes place, and is discovered at this stage, individuals involved tend to aim their efforts more towards reversing the effects rather than studying them."

"Dr. Even," a voice called.

Sora's head flew around, observing a small man in the corner of the room. Blue eyes peered from beneath thin, sharp eyebrows. A series of clips were buried into the lengths periwinkle hair, keeping it up and out of the way of a small, delicate face.

"I hope," the smaller man continued, "that you intend to allow Mr. Irino to continue his work, today."

"Yes, yes, of course Ienzo," Dr. Even drawled, tone sharp. "Odin forbid we give Cid's Protege five minutes rest."

Sliding away from the glass dome, Sora eased over to a pile of wires in the corner. "Please stop calling me that," he murmured under his breath, snatching up a set of pliers. "Please, please stop calling me that."

Across the room, a pair of blue eyes watched Sora closely as he gathered wire. But as the mechanic rose to his feet, they turned away. Focussed instead on a clipboard.

And then Sora's eyes turn on Ienzo. As if compelled, his gaze trailed along the length of the man's jawbone; a smooth line from ear to chin. Soft and oddly bare of any sharp angles. The skin, fair with a tinge of pink health, was dusted occasionally by pale blue stubble, accentuating a small, pinkish mouth. It was turned in a lazy scowl. Upper lip thick, bottom lip thin; twisted downwards at the edges as if gravity disagreed with them.

Turning away, the mechanic settled the wire spool in place before he reached up, looping his hair into a loose bun and twisting it into a tie. It came partially undone as he pulled his hand away. Entire sections falling apart, draping the side of his face and pooling across his shoulder. Dropping to his knees, he settled himself upon a board on the floor. Wheels squeaked as he slid beneath a console. His eyes squinted, adjusting to the dark underbelly of the machine from the stark white of the padded, soundproof room. His arms drew to the tool belt at his waist, snatching a perfect, compact sphere from a pocket before settling it beside his head, tapping it against the floor lightly. Light flooded between his fingers, flickering like a candle. It spilled from the small ball like a meek, hesitant promise. Turning his eyes to the machine, Sora got to work.

-T-M-

An hour passed in relative silence; the clipping and clamping of wires a melodic background to an otherwise silent room. But from the peace came an interruption. The steady "knock, knock, knock" of a hand rapping lightly against the hollow top of the console.

Settling the last of a set of wires into place, Sora's feet slapped soundly against the padded floor, dragging him out from beneath the control board. He peered around, curious, before turning his gaze to the man before him. "Where's Even?"

"He left," Ienzo replied simply. His fingers fidgeted with the edge of the clipboard.

Curious eyes followed the movement, narrowed in confusion.

"I was wondering," the apprentice continued, winning back the boy's attention, "if you would take a look at these blueprints. Double check them, you could say."

Sora opened his mouth, and out came a choked noise akin to a baby bird. He cleared his throat nervously. "Yeah. That's- yeah. No problem." Hands snapping quickly against the floor, he rose unsteadily to his feet, knees shivering weakly for a fraction of a second. He held his hand out for the clipboard, an eager grin fighting its way across his face as the smaller man passed it his way.

Ienzo tapped a section of the page, lips a thin line, before announcing, "You should pay special attention to the insulation."

"Yeah, I can see that." Long, tan fingers slipped across the page, dragging along the printed lines. A small itch formed as his hand brushed the paper, unused to anything beside smooth fabric, tools, and waxed tabletops. He tapped his pointer finger against a small tube leading out from the center of the machine on the page – a mirror of the one beside him. "You've made this really inconsistent. Whatever you have in the tanks, the dome is designed to keep it in. The tubes aren't.

"I always assumed you were going to add something in later. Have me weld in some reinforcements. Maybe even replace them. I'm guessing that wasn't the plan?"

"We didn't have the munny for higher quality tubes," Ienzo replied lightly. "Our budget here is, in a word, limited. We have unlimited access to wire, sand, and tempered glass, but that's about where the convenience ends. Dr. Even has been considering the option of obtaining a patron elsewhere."

Sora pursed his lips, staring awkwardly down at the clipboard. "I hope you don't," he murmured.

"What was that?" the apprentice prompted.

"Nothing," he replied. Tapping the blueprint lightly, he glanced up at Ienzo with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Why not just replace it with glass? Whatever you're going to contain in the dome is going to be held back by the same thing. You could detach the frame and add your insulation that way."

Ienzo leaned closer, observing the clipboard critically.

Eyes widening sharply, Sora fought to remain still as the older man stepped firmly into his personal space. White, slightly crooked teeth slipped out to clamp nervously down on a suddenly trembling lip, and lung fought for sharp, excited breaths. Instead, the mechanic pulled back as periwinkle hair drew suddenly close, soft strands gently brushing the tip of his nose. There was a whisper of scent. Something sharp. Something warm. Lashes fluttering closed, Sora took a deep, secret breath.

It almost smelled like a storm. Or part of a storm.

In an instant, the apprentice was leaning away. "It should work," he announced skeptically, attention fixed on the clipboard, "but I'll see if I can run some tests in the Holo Room later."

Sora blinked, coming back to himself, and nodded quickly. "Yeah. A simulation would probably be best. Do you need any help?"

"I'll be fine," Ienzo insisted, turning to face the younger man with a drawn look of boredom. "You should go to one of the Holo Rooms as it is. You are double-blocked, are you not?"

"Just single, now. I can skip some days," the mechanic insisted lightly. "It's no problem."

The apprentice sighed. "Just because you can skip something doesn't mean you should." Turning on his heel, he approached the door, slapping the clipboard face-down on a small desk on the way.

"What are we working on, anyway?" Sora asked as the older man dragged the door open, poised to leave the room. "We've been building this since I was assigned to you guys."

Without turning from the hall, Ienzo shook his head. "Sorry," he announced firmly, "but you don't have the clearance to know that." Before his words could process, he strode out the door and away from Sora, footsteps echoing through the empty space.

The boy watched him leave, eyes following periwinkle hair as pale fingers tugged pins from long fringe. And as Ienzo turned a corner, Sora managed to catch the sight of bangs falling naturally over half a delicate face.

-T-M-

End Bonus
A conversation between a writer and their editor:

"What does lightning smell like?"

"You don't know? … You know, it doesn't occur to me that most people haven't been nearly struck by lightning. Okay, so I was really close to a bolt of lightning once, because I love being out in thunderstorms, and one hit a tree about a dozen feet from me. There's the smell of the rain, the smell of the dirt rising up into the air, the smell of the tree, the smell of ozone, and then there's the lightning. It's like a wave of fresh heat, but in smell form."

"I don't think being nearly hit by lightning is worth knowing what it smells like."

"It was awesome, though."