Page 73 of Cerulean Truth
All the kids eagerly raised their hands, and I sank even lower into my chair because I didn't.
"Morgan, tell me."
"Red portals are standing portals. They are one-sided, which means you can use one to get somewhere, but you can't use it to get back."
"Very good. Can you give an example of one and tell me why one would use it?"
"In the Universitas, there are a few in different buildings, so we can go wherever we want from here, but we can't use it tocome back here. We need a personal one to return. Also, we have a few here leading into the Human World."
"Excellent. Does anyone else know about a different portal?"
"You have green ones, which are the portals you create yourself!" a boy in the front row shouted.
"Don't speak out of turn, Malec. But you are right," James responded. "Through the green personal portals, you can go as you please, moving where you want and coming back when and however you prefer. You have to create them yourself. Does anyone know how to navigate them?"
"You use the green drops on your Nexus," Malec shouted again.
James was visibly annoyed. "Malec, I just told you to wait your turn. You do not speak unless given the word. If I have to repeat myself one more time, I'll throw you through a portal without a Nexus myself."
His comment seemed somewhat pedagogically irresponsible to me, but it was nevertheless effective.
"But he's right," James continued, turning toward the other students. "You use the green drops for navigation and clearance. Are there any other portals?"
James looked at the class expectantly; it was evident there were other portals he wanted them to know about, but no one raised another hand.
"Is that really all?" he pressed. The kids glanced at each other, and I couldn't help but smile at the interaction between them and James.
"Has anyone ever seen a blue portal?" he asked in a conspiratorial tone.
The kids burst into laughter, clearly considering the idea of blue portals to be absurd.
"Aha, you all think I'm kidding, but alas, I am not. Blue portals are extremely rare and are used for time travel," heexplained. The kids fell silent, exchanging uncertain glances, as if the answer to whether or not he was joking could be found on their classmates' faces.
"Not everyone can create them. One would need a special license to do so, a license you're not allowed to obtain in your first cycle. So, for starters, you would all have some aging to do." Laughter erupted among the kids.
I tentatively raised my hand.If I’m going to be in this class, I might as well participate.
James looked taken aback for a fraction of a second but composed himself immediately. "Yes, Emma?"
"So theoretically, I could go back in time and change anything I don't like about my past?" I asked. All the kids turned toward me, and I felt my face going crimson.
"No, it doesn't work like that," he answered softly. "It's more like you would be a tourist to a certain day and age. You would visit a specific time instead of a place. One can only observe but can never influence or change the events of the chosen time."
"So it would be like visiting a memory?" I persisted. I wanted to understand the entire concept, at least.
"Well, it's certainly a possibility, but you could do more than visit subjective times. For example, you could travel back to Rome in 753 BC and watch history unfold." He paused. "It's one of the reasons most licensed magi are historians or Specialists."
“What about the future?” I pressed.
James shook his head. “There's no energy or translation that permits us to peer into the future. Not even a portal can breach that boundary.”
I nodded in understanding. James was an effective teacher; I had to give him that. Which warmed my insides for some inexplicable reason.
"Right, does anyone know the limits of one or all portals?"
I settled back into my seat, attempting to keep my nerves in check, but my hand trembled, worse than during my first class at law school.
"Magi can't use portals through the Layers of protection around a Collective, unless they're an inhabitant," a kid called Lucy explained.
