Tan stepped from the train platform to the interior of the VR train. The moment he passed the doorway, the kaleidoscope of colors ended. The train interior was almost a perfect mirror of reality with dark rich woods and an eloquent stylish décor. A door with an ornate handle separated the entrance from the passenger area. Tan pushed through the door and was greeted by an open area with tables set between bench style seats. The tables were stacked with books, papers, notes, and other typical school supplies you might find in any classroom. Tan stopped at the first table to read the title of the textbook on top of a short stack of other books – Quantum Locking and superconductors. Tan raised a brow and slid the book aside to read the cover of the next book – Wave Equation. The next textbook was - Astronomy and spectroscopy. The last book was as startling as it was interesting – The Law of Relativity and Interdimensional Travel in Relation to Time. Tan flipped the book open, but the pages were blank. The A.I.’s disembodied voice spoke from a speaker somewhere. “I’m sorry, Mr. Tan, you will not be permitted to view any science above your world’s level of technology.” Tan frowned and shut the book. It wasn’t like he would be able to understand anything in the book, he’d just been curious. He stepped over several stacks of books and found his assigned seat. He looked down at the seat in annoyance. “There is a dissected frog in my seat.” “I apologize, Mr. Tan, I’ll remove it,” replied the A.I. “Do not remove it,” said Tan. “This place is a mess. I want you to put a trash can in here. Jack is to start picking up after himself.” “That is not an efficient use of his time,” protested the A.I. “Do you pick-up after him in the real world?” asked Tan. “No, that is not possible.” “Then you won’t do it here either.” “Yes, Mr. Tan.” “I need a new seat.” “Seat 14a is available.” Tan found the new seat and settled in. The train pulled away from the platform and a virtual screen appeared in front of him – Introduction to the History of Aeden. Tan listened to a boring presentation of CGI planets being formed, and a rather large world covered in spectacular lava explosions. Tan sighed, this was a little too basic to be useful. He could watch this on Public Access TV. The A.I.’s voice came over the speakers again, and sounded urgent. “Mr. Tan, I apologize for interrupting, but I didn’t expect to be able to make a connection. I have a connection with the Aeden Secretary of Schools.” Tan sat up and combed his hair back with his fingers. “Go ahead, put the Secretary on.” The virtual screen changed from an image of rolling primordial oceans to a man sitting at a desk in an office. The man looked up. “Can I help you, young man?” Tan realized the man thought he was talking to a 12 year old boy. “I’m not an Aeden. I’m what you might call, a lesser human.” Tan held his hand up in a gesture for the man to be patient and not break the connection. “I own a food stand, one night as I was closing up, a half-starved child came out of the dark. I fed the child, of course. One thing led to another and the child convinced me of what he really was. My world is sufficiently advanced enough for me to understand and easily accept this new reality.” The man smiled and nodded his head to Tan. “I thank you for caring for one of our lost children, and though this is rare, it does happen. I urge you to keep the child’s origins secret until we can send a rescue team. What is the child’s name, so I can get the rescue protocol started?” “Jack Aestar.” The man’s face drained of blood until he was as white as the wall behind him. The man finally stuttered, “Please hold,” then pressed a button on his desk. Tan’s eyes flicked up in the general direction of the A.I.’s speakers. “A.I., be ready to break the connection, this might have been a bad idea.” A moment later another man materialized next to the man behind the desk. Tan’s first thought was to wonder if they had teleportation, then realized it was another VR connecting to this one. Tan repressed a grin, it was the Aeden’s version of three-way calling. The new man was a powerfully built man with a salt-and-pepper beard and piercing eyes. The new man shoved the secretary aside and pushed a button on the desk. “Do you have Jack in your care? Is he safe? Does he need medical attention? Where is he?” Tan held both hands up. “Sir, he’s safe, I promise you. I’ve been taking care of him for about a month now, I also have a second Aeden boy with me. His name is Luca, he was the son of the Gatekeeper on a world being invaded by the Eroden. Jack was fearless and faced down a whole squad of those Eroden battle drones to rescue Luca.” The man with the salt-and-pepper beard gestured at the Secretary. Tan guessed presumably wanting the Secretary to look up Luca’s name. “What is your name, Sir?” the salt-and-pepper man asked. “Tan.” “Mr. Tan, my name is Lord Aestar of House Aestar. We are one of the oldest Dynasties on Aeden. Jack is my youngest grandson. We thought he would be safe at Gate Command. Has he told you how the accident occurred?” “He said someone slipped a one-way bootleg key into his pocket. He fell through an open gate during his rounds,” explained Tan with a shrug. “That’s what we suspected,” said Lord Aestar. “It proves this was a deliberate attack by a rival House, and that there is a traitor at Gate Command. I won’t be able to open a gate to come get Jack until we find the traitor.” Tan nodded. “There are Sherata chasing us.” Lord Aestar said something in a language Tan didn’t understand. Apparently, the translation software in Jack’s necklace couldn’t translate everything, but Tan could make a good guess what the man had said. “Those are not official Sherata of the Aeden Gate Command,” replied Lord Aestar. “I don’t know who they work for, yet.” “Is there anything you can do from your end to help Jack?” asked Tan. “I have people on thousands of worlds looking for Jack,” said Lord Aestar. “We’re out on the Fringe, an outpost world from what Jack says.” Lord Aestar furrowed his brows. “The Fringe? We’ve been looking in the wrong place. Hmm… the Fringe is a big place, can you tell me the name of the world you’re on?” Tan shook his head. “We only arrived this morning, I don’t know.” “Here’s what I need you to do, Mr. Tan. Don’t call again from Jack’s A.I. This connection is safe only because they didn’t expect this call. But they won’t make that mistake again.” The man next to Lord Aestar said something Tan couldn’t hear. Lord Aestar nodded, then turned back to Tan. “We’ve got Luca’s A.I. information, give me a day to figure something out, then call from his A.I. They don’t know about Luca yet.” Tan held up a finger. “I can do that, but one other thing, I don’t know you, I need something I can ask Jack that will verify you are his grandfather.” “He’s my youngest grandson, I haven’t spent a lot of time with him, but he was with me for two weeks once when his parents were away. We spent those two weeks at the Beach House alone. He was always running everywhere. I would say, ‘where you going, Jack Flash?’ It was the only time I ever used that nickname.” “Good enough for me, I’ll ask Jack,” said Tan. “Tell Jack I’m doing everything I can to get him home safe.”