Page 108 of Cerulean Truth
"Enya mentioned training for Orators isn't available here in Cyclos," I said, frowning.
Jackson nodded. "That's true. I had my general schooling if you will, here in Cyclos, but I specialized for years in Canada. The Collective there, Kanata C, offers excellent programs forOrators and Recruiters. I went there with one of my best friends, who trained to be the latter. You remember Matthew, right?"
I nodded. “So you, Matthew and James are like three little besties?”
“Ah yes, James…could he be the ranting raccoon you were talking about?”
I rolled my eyes, and Jackson let out a hearty laugh.
“Don’t tell me you guys are fighting again?”
I shrugged, not really wanting to delve into it.
“Can I ask what this fight was about, without prying too much?” Jackson asked softly.
“No,” I answered harshly, then regretted my tone instantly. This guy had been nothing but nice to me from the start, which couldn’t be said about anyone else at this point.
I sighed. “We fought about my translation,” I confessed with a wry smile. “I find it quite challenging. And not being great at something… I admit I don’t handle it all that well.”
Jackson nodded pensively. “And James was giving you a hard time about it?”
“Yes, and to be fair, his reaction was way out of proportion! I mean, I simply expressed missing home because I excelled at what I did back in the Human World and he started accusing me of wallowing in self-pity.”
“Well that’s not very nice,” Jackson remarked rather dryly.
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t think so either. And that’s on top of blowing hot and cold all the time. His mood swings are so frequent, I feel like I’m whiplashed all the time. So I got angry, which made him stomp off like a petulant child. Can’t believe that guy is going to be our president someday,” I muttered.
“Leader,” Jackson corrected me. “Not president.”
I sighed. “Right, whatever. Anyway, as I said, his reaction was ridiculous, and then you showed up, which is why I wasn’t entirely charming back there, I’m sorry.”
I thought it wise to omit the fact I had eavesdropped on their conversation earlier.
Jackson smiled and shook his head, “No apology necessary, though I do feel I should… enlighten you about James’s behavior.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Jackson’s expression grew sympathetic. “James,” he mused, “he’s been through a lot.”
I nodded, “Yeah…”
“You know about his background?” Jackson inquired carefully.
I nodded again. “He told me about his foster years.”
Jackson blinked. “Right. Well, after enduring being shuffled between various foster homes for six years and ending up at his last one where snakes were the warm-bloodiest of its inhabitants, he didn’t exactly find much happiness here either. People in Cyclos weren’t very nice to him because he was considered ‘too old’ for functional retrieval, which, combined with Stephen training him…”
“Why was Stephen training him an issue?” I interjected.
Jackson shrugged. “Because people are idiots. They couldn't fathom the alliance between a celebrated hero like Stephen and the eldest Humanborn ever.”
“He mentioned something along that line.” I frowned, not entirely grasping how James’s unfortunate background could ever be reason to hold him in lower esteem. His charming personality managed that all on its own.
“Did he also tell you it turned him into one hell of a nightmare, a magus of barely seven years old without any control over his translation?”
I bit my lip. “He gave me a quick introduction, so to speak.”
Jackson’s eyes widened in surprise. “Seems like he opened up quite a bit …”
