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blurred as her surroundings morphed into the immediate area of the source of the surge.
    Fighting the nausea that always followed teleportation, Mirim scanned the data banks for information on the building in front of her. It seemed this was a place of learning. There were only certain circumstances that she would be able to take the boy out but first she had to find out his name. Again connecting through the cables above, she was able to access the school computer system easily. She almost felt contemptuous of the security measures she met. Using the street name she had first teleported to, she searched through the list until only one pupil matched her search - Jake Richards.
    Mirim looked deeper into the records. His parents were dead. They died last year in a car crash. He had no siblings. There would be no real ties to this place for him. His guardians were Ben, his father’s brother and his wife Emma, who worked for the local government. Mirim nodded. It was all perfect.
    Back on the Internet Mirim quickly found the local government website. Eventually finding a picture of Emma Richards, she smiled. Excellent; time for an illusion.
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    A few yards down the road, an old lady sat patiently waiting at a bus shelter. Bored and uncomfortable on the hard plastic seats, her gaze wandered aimlessly. Idly looking across at the old private school in front of her she spotted a young woman dressed in jeans and a sunflower yellow t-shirt vacantly staring at the brick wall surrounding the school. Curious, the old lady watched the younger woman as her features gradually morphed. As the psychic field reached the old lady she saw the girl change shape. Her long blonde hair shriveled to make a neat bob, its color darkened to become a dark chestnut brown, almost black. Her cheeks became plumper, while her lips thinned. The jeans and t-shirt blurred to become a calf-length green dress. The woman gasped. The girl twisted to look at the startled old lady and grinned. Patting the creases on her dress, she walked through the gates of the school.
    *************************
    A short driveway led up to the main school and the first door she tried opened into a reception area. A young chatty receptionist with a ready smile greeted Mirim as she stepped in.
    “Mrs. Richards? We haven’t seen you in a while, have you come to pick-up Jake? He’s in the Headmaster’s office at the moment. He’s been in a fight, I’m afraid.” Without waiting for a response the receptionist continued. Her voice turned quizzical. “I didn’t realize the Headmaster had phoned you himself.”
    Further up the hall, the door to the headmaster’s office opened and Jake walked out in a daze.
    “Good timing.” said the receptionist turning to her computer.
    Mirim tentatively reached out to sense his thoughts. She had to be careful. As the son of the last High-King, he would have the powers of the air element as well as the others. He would easily be able to sense her intrusion if she wasn’t discreet. Luckily he was too wrapped up in something that had just happened.
    Mirim watched the drama unfold in Jake’s mind. So that was the source of the power use. Great timing indeed, she thought. I couldn’t have planned it better. Striding up to Jake, she took his hand and walked him outside. Still lost in his own thoughts he didn’t notice something wasn’t right about his guardian - or even that it was strange she had come to pick him up.
    They stopped at the corner down the street and Mirim turned to look fully into Jake’s eyes. Making sure that he could see her clearly, she began little by little to drop her disguise. Jake gasped. Her hair was growing, her face thinned... she was getting younger! There was something eerily familiar about her, but he didn’t recognize her. Jake snatched his arm back. It felt like something in him was tugging towards her, telling him that she was to be trusted... but another part was screaming that he