Mel had done quite a bit of modeling over the summer, in the process shedding her former frumpy appearance entirely. So recognizable was she, that she actually had to sign a couple of autographs for admiring classmates while making her way to the girls' dorm.

Arriving, Mel found her room in disarray. Her roommate, Jasmine Said, had already moved in and was working intently on the electrical wiring. The young Virtual Adept explained that she was looking to more effectively disguise the amount of power her various gadgets consumed. The two girls chatted about their respective summers; though both had been regular visitors to the home of fashion mogul Ryan Elliot, they hadn't run into each other. More importantly, neither had seen *Tyler* Elliot -- Jasmine's best friend and Mel's boyfriend -- all summer. He'd been on some kind of world tour; both girls had received postcards from diverse locations, but no explanation was forthcoming.

At that point, a shower of sparks announced that Jasmine's tinkering had begun to present a severe fire and/or electrocution hazard to anyone foolish enough to stay in the room. Mel, being a smart cookie, decided to relocate.

Meanwhile, Kerry Gilman was helping his sister Tenna get settled in at Huntington. Kerry, a 14-year-old Son of Ether in thrall to the bizarre dictates of his grandfather's will, had started at the school the previous spring semester. Since his travels -- and Scientific training -- had begun nearly six years before, he had seen his parents and twin sister only on holidays. In addition to being the world's sole example of mixed-gender identical twins, Kerry and "Ten" shared an almost supernatural bond that made separation hard on them both. So as soon as he'd saved enough money -- with a little assistance from his less ethical classmates -- Kerry had arranged to pay his sister's way into the boarding school where he'd found himself ensconced.

The Gilman twins arrived on the proper floor of the girls' dorm just as Melanie was vacating the hazard zone that had been her room. Kerry introduced the two girls, and Mel was forced to blush once again as Ten recognized her from various magazine covers. Realizing that Kerry needed to tend to his own unpacking, Mel offered to show Ten around. Though reluctant to be parted from his twin again so soon, Kerry was overruled by Ten herself, who mistook his reaction for protectiveness and assured him she'd be fine. Before moving along, Kerry stopped in to talk to Jasmine; they'd spent much of the summer collaborating on various scientific projects, and had become good friends.

(In the course of both these conversations, Kerry -- who had spent the summer living in one of the Elliots' guest rooms -- happened to mention that he *had* seen Tyler, who had in fact been back for more than a week. Naturally, both Mel and Jasmine were rather miffed that Tyler hadn't visited either of *them*.)

A little later, everyone headed to lunch at the usual table, where a few more familiar faces were spotted. Ivan Neville was there, now entirely bald and notably athletic of build. He too had spent the summer in mysterious doings overseas, of which his friends as yet knew nothing. Naturally, upon returning to school he had immediately hooked up with his girlfriend, Corinna Marks, and the two were busily exchanging smoldering glances and steamy innuendoes aplenty. Their friends just sighed and rolled their eyes; the trouble-making pair's penchant for indulging in Freaky Circus Sex at every opportunity was well known.

Next to arrive were Simon Price and Mary Smith, a cute but geeky couple who'd been together since Ivan had gotten Simon drunk at a party the year before. Simon, who was Ivan's roommate, wondered at the absence of Ivan's things in their room. Ivan explained that he had largely moved into the gang's off-campus farmhouse headquarters, and encouraged Simon to make full use of the room. Taking the other boy aside so Mary wouldn't overhear, Ivan hinted at some of the things one could do with both a private room and a girlfriend. Simon blushed and stammered that Mary wasn't that kind of girl -- making it obvious that he had at least broached the subject with her. "Let me tell you a secret, Simon," said Ivan with a shit-eating grin. "They're ALL that kind of girl."

Shortly thereafter, Tyler Elliot finally put in an appearance at the lunch table. Clad in sweats, he looked (and smelled) as though he'd just come from a workout. That did not, however, prevent most everyone at the table (especially Mel and Jasmine) from being rendered speechless by Tyler's new look. He was at least three inches taller, and severely muscled. He'd let his hair grow to shoulder-length, and had cultivated a goatee. And, fortunately (given the "badass" effect of all the other changes), his voice had changed over the summer. Most astonishingly of all, he was *calm*, in a way the old Tyler had almost never been.

After greeting everyone, Tyler immediately ensconced himself *very* close to Melanie and began an intimate conversation. Naturally, Jasmine was most displeased with this turn of events, as *she* was still lacking a personal greeting from her best friend despite her clear seniority over her roommate. Always a snoop, she decided to listen in on the happy couple's chat . . . and heard some mighty confusing things. Tyler thanked Mel for saving his life; she seemed startled, and said "You mean that was REAL?" Several confusing references to unknown events and a person called only "her" followed. Growing more confused (and more resentful) by the second, Jasmine finally decided to ignore the whole thing and scooted down to introduce herself to Tenna Gilman.

Eventually lunch ended. Ivan and Corinna slipped away to perform deviant sexual acts with the aid of Ivan's "magic suitcase" of paraphernalia; Simon and Mary headed off to the library; Tyler sought a shower; the Gilmans continued Tenna's campus tour; and Mel and Jasmine returned to their room.

Jasmine was still mad that Mel had gotten all of Tyler's attention so far, and didn't take much prompting to say so. Mel was sure that Tyler would make it up to Jasmine later -- but of course, the actual problem went far deeper than that. Despite her well-known crush on her friend, Jasmine had encouraged Mel to get involved with Tyler the year before, to keep him away from less worthy rivals (among other reasons), but now she was beginning to realize that she was going to have to watch Tyler and Mel act all romantic and snuggly every single day, conceivably for the next several years. Mel reminded Jasmine that things weren't so great from her end either; various bits of foreknowledge the group had collected made it a near-certainty that Jasmine and Tyler would get married someday -- meaning that *Mel* had to spend every single day knowing that she might be Tyler's first love, but she would not be his last.

Next, Mel turned the conversation to her strange exchange with Tyler at lunch -- suspecting (correctly) that Jasmine had been eavesdropping and would want to know more. She explained that about two weeks before, she had had a strange dream which carried with it a certainty that Tyler was in deadly danger. Calling upon the one real resource available to her, Mel had invoked the name of the angel Andrael, whom the kids had rescued from sorcerous imprisonment the year before. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened after that, and intended to ask Tyler for a fuller explanation herself, but apparently in some sense she really had saved his life.

The rest of the afternoon passed without notable incident. Later that evening, the gang reluctantly gathered for a lame "welcome to new and returning students" convocation in the auditorium. Ivan and Corinna showed up slightly disheveled, having come straight from their carnal adventures. Tyler arrived and greeted Jasmine with a hug, making up for his earlier inattention, then plopped himself down between her and Mel.

Once all the students had taken their seats, the ostensibly "hip, young" headmaster, Bob Sims, took the stage to make the usual welcome speech. Afterwards, he introduced several new faculty members. Among them was Ms. Andrea Peace, a new English teacher whose appearance seemed to startle Tyler. His friends made mental notes to ask him about her later.

When the speechifying was done, the collected Huntington population relocated for the traditional post-convocation icebreaker dance. Tyler immediately corralled Ms. Peace for an intense conversation. Both Ivan and Jasmine listened in, and between their eavesdropping and Tyler's later explanation, learned that "Andrea Peace" was in fact their old acquaintance, the angel Andrael, now bound to Earth once again for some violation of the Heavenly code of conduct, apparently connected to her rescue of Tyler a couple weeks earlier. It seemed she intended to watch over the boy assassin and his friends, and had already arranged for Tyler to be in her English class. Ivan, always a self-interested neutral in the war between Good and Evil, started to berate Tyler for putting himself (and possibly all of them) in debt to the Heavenly Host -- whereupon Melanie broke in with the realization that *she* was the one most directly responsible for the angel's current situation, since Andrael had been paying back a favor to her. Mel hurried off to learn more from Ms. Peace herself. Tyler, bereft of his girlfriend for the moment, took the opportunity to dance with Jasmine, further atoning for his perceived slight to their friendship.

After a couple more hours of the dance (dominated by Ivan and Corinna, whose flamboyant, steamy dancing drew everyone's attention), the HALF gang decided to adjourn to "headquarters" for their own first meeting of the school year. The presence of Kerry's sister presented a slight problem, until Corinna (also mundane, but with just enough knowledge of her friends' weirdness to know when to make herself useful) offered to keep Tenna company while the others took care of business. (Given Corinna's penchant for strongly influencing other, less worldly girls left too long in her orbit, one wonders whether Kerry actually thought this solution any *less* of a problem than the alternative.)

Gathering in the HALFway House, the mages began by catching each other up on their summer activities:

Early in the summer, Ivan had read in one of his father's books about the "Ars Cupiditae," a roguish magickal paradigm popular in the Renaissance. He'd been casting about for a more disciplined style that better fit his personality than his father's teachings did, and this sounded about right. He had thus spent the summer traveling between the fencing academies of Europe, where the surviving masters of the Ars Cupiditae plied their skills. In addition to becoming a much better fencer, he'd begun studies in alchemy, sacred geometry, and the Seven Liberal Arts of classical education. His personal room in the house was now filled with boxes of equipment in the process of being unpacked. He'd brought all the stuff back into the country with the aid of a band of North Korean smugglers and their military-surplus submarine, paying them with a truckload of Coca-Cola and blue jeans arranged by a reluctant Jasmine, who was sure her chances of going to prison increased with every day she knew Ivan.

Ivan went on to explain that he was in the process of scouting out a new path in life. His brief visit to the future the year before had soured him on the idea of going into law, and though he loved acting, he doubted that was where his future lay. Instead, he told his friends, he intended to become a Fool. After the obligatory snide comments died down, he explained that the Fool is the one who can freely and fearlessly mock those in power, show up the absurdities of established institutions, and generally broil up sacred cows for dinner. Exactly how he was going to translate that into a career, he wasn't yet sure, though the exploits of guerrilla journalist Michael Moore provided one possible model.

As previously noted, Melanie had spent a good bit of the summer doing modeling jobs. In a jarring contrast, she'd spent the *rest* undergoing Celestial Chorus training in a local convent, having explained the oddity to her Methodist parents as an interfaith workshop. What little free time she'd had, usually squeezed in around the modeling jobs, she'd spent in Corinna's company, with the result that the vast gulf in personality and experience that had once separated the two girls had been largely overcome by shared experience.

Tyler had a story to rival Ivan's. Having ended the previous school year in a state of questionable sanity after falling in with a Nephandi cult, he had been sent on a Bruce Wayne-style training trip, gaining both fighting skill and increased self-knowledge under the tutelage of a variety of Akashic and Thanatoic masters. At the same time, he'd searched the world for Mala, the cultist he'd been lured into impregnating with the reincarnation of his evil, evil grandfather. He'd finally caught up with her in Calcutta two weeks before, only to find that her allies had captured his mother in an attempt to force his cooperation. They needed him, it turned out, as host for the newborn monstrosity, and had been expecting his pursuit all along. Faced with the choice of "comply or die," Tyler had calmly chosen the latter option, taking his mother's gun from its extraspatial hiding place and blowing his own head off. He didn't know exactly how he'd managed to come back from the dead *this* time, except that it had somehow involved Andrael and another ally he wasn't at liberty to name. He *did* report, though, that for the first time since his previous visit to the afterlife as a child, he'd been utterly unafraid at the prospect of his own death. That made Jasmine uneasy, since *she* was still quite uncomfortable with the thought of her friend's (and future husband's) mortality, but Ivan reminded her that Tyler's existential fear had been the basis of many of his other personality weaknesses, including the ones the cult had latched onto to corrupt him. Tyler's becoming less of a "coward" -- in Ivan's words -- could only be a good thing for him and everyone around him.

Jasmine's summer activities, while not nearly as intense as Ivan's or Tyler's, had not been lacking in adventure. As previously mentioned, in Tyler's absence she'd latched onto Kerry as a pal and Scientific Colleague. In addition to arcane research projects, the two had taken an idea originally proposed by Kerry as a website for reuniting separated twins, and expanded it into a full-fledged Kid Detective Agency. Of course, having the usual weirdness-magnet tendency of mages, the pair had encountered mysteries and menaces that would have made Encyclopedia Brown wet himself, from a ghost who thought herself still alive to a youth-stealing pediatrician. [Compiler's Note: The Casebook of Agents J and K should be making its way gradually onto both Pete's and Jimmy's websites, as it is compiled.]

In addition to the aforementioned collaborations, Kerry reported that his work on the organic security and surveillance systems for the HALFway House had come into (literal ) fruition. As an additional protective measure, theorizing that the psychedelic effects of certain fungi were side effects of the organisms' own ability to sense the spirit world (the better to locate dead matter on which to feed), he had managed to cultivate a strain of mushrooms that react with bioluminescence in the presence of ghosts.

As mentioned earlier, Kerry had spent the summer living in the Elliot home while studying with Tyler's stepfather, rogue Progenitor bioengineer Dr. Mikhail Rodochenko. Despite (or perhaps because of) the vast differences in their philosophies of science, the former Technocrat and the young Etherite had learned much from each other. Tyler broke in to mention that his stepdad had commented on Kerry's "interesting mind," probably the highest compliment anyone had ever received from the notoriously taciturn scientist. Noting that his mother and younger siblings also liked Kerry quite a bit, Tyler half-jokingly suggested that he'd been replaced in his own life. "At least my dog hasn't turned on me yet," he observed.

Turned out Tyler had also heard some interesting things about Kerry from Corinna. The well-developed young lady had been recruited into Kerry's "Female Investigation Project," a Highly Scientific means of learning more about girls by interviewing them and then examining them with their clothes off. Tyler seemed highly amused to have confirmed that Kerry possessed the typical lecherous impulses (even if expressed in a "demented and sad" way) of his age group. Kerry, for his part, maintained his dignity and scientific detachment, mentioning simply that Corinna had been an excellent subject for study.

Kerry then got a chance to turn the Tables of Discomfort on Tyler by mentioning his final summer project: aiding in the education of Caitlin Summers Mark II. The original Caitlin had been an ex-girlfriend of Tyler's and a hanger-on of the cult that had ensnared him; she had wound up dead at Tyler's hands. Wanting to spare her parents grief, Kerry had persuaded Dr. Rodochenko to clone Caitlin, even though the "new" Caitlin would have none of the old one's memories. Once the adults had arranged for Caitlin to be "found" and returned to her parents, Kerry had begun visiting the Summers home regularly to help Caitlin learn about the world anew. He reported that she was doing about as well as could be expected, and had demonstrated the old Caitlin's artistic talent, though of course she would never actually regain her memory. As Kerry had hoped, Tyler seemed somewhat discomfited by this reminder of his near-corruption, but he also seemed glad to hear the (relatively) good news.

Ivan finally broke up the mildly hostile Tyler/Kerry interplay to refocus the group on current business. For one, the campus was now home to both a body-hopping demon (Charissa, a spirit of repressed impulses who particularly enjoyed amplifying teenage hormones) and an Earthbound angel (Andrael/Ms. Peace). Someone should probably warn them about each other . . . or alternatively, arrange for them to run into each other accidentally and observe the sure-to-be-amusing results. Reminded about the lust demon, Kerry took the opportunity to ask Ivan to make sure that Tenna would be included in the group's contract with Charissa, which specified that she not use her powers on them without express permission. Ivan agreed to see it done.

Mention of Tenna turned the conversation to the group's mundane friends, both old and new. Corinna was still stubbornly refusing to let herself notice the weirdness that surrounded her, and the group's informal agreement to leave her to her ignorance was occasionally an obstacle to getting things done efficiently. Happily, Ivan reported that Corinna, while not yet Awake, showed signs of "rolling over in her sleep." Of course, then the question arose of just who really wanted to be around to deal with Corinna once she was finally smacked upside the head by the reality of magick. No one volunteered.

As for the New Girl, Kerry explained that one of his reasons for bringing Ten to Huntington was his desire to let her in on his other life. He intended to do so gradually, preferably without Awakening her at first, but was quite willing to start immediately, before some obvious supernatural disaster came down on the group's collective heads and *forced* him to explain things to his sister. Kerry also explained that Tenna possessed an unusual talent for reading body language, making her seem very nearly empathic at times -- all the more reason to begin her "education" shortly, before she started asking uncomfortable questions about her observations.

After the HALF meeting was adjourned, Tyler corralled Jasmine alone for a talk. Having heard Corinna's amusing tale of participation in Kerry's research, he inquired into the nature of Jasmine's collaborations with the Etherite, and after some effort dragged out of her an admission that she'd been a subject in the same study -- which, she insisted, should only go to prove that it really was a scientific investigation and not a cover for voyeurism, since she was hardly of age to be an object of lechery. Much to her surprise, Tyler agreed to trust her judgment in the matter, and reassured her that he wasn't going to go kick Kerry's ass. He then asked if she and Kerry were "an item." Jasmine assumed he must be joking, since he surely *would* have kicked Kerry's ass if he had really been harboring suspicions like that. He seemed entirely serious, however, and Jasmine began to worry that her close association with Kerry over the summer had won her a place on Tyler's "everyone but my dog" list. She assured Tyler that he could not be more wrong, explaining that while she was not at liberty to reveal details, she had learned "which way Kerry's kink kinks" and it was nowhere close to being in her direction.

Jasmine then changed the subject, asking about the "new, improved" Tyler that had apparently resulted from his summer training. Tyler commented that even *he* was still getting to know himself again, but that he was certainly more at peace with himself, and hoped that he could manage to win back his friends' trust after the business the year before. He also explained a bit more about his newfound peace with mortality that had so distressed her earlier. It wasn't that he cared to *seek out* death, merely that he had finally begun to understand the Euthanatos teachings about the Wheel of Reincarnation and how death was merely another chance at life -- for those he killed, and when the time came, for himself. Tyler went on to apologize for putting Jasmine through hell the previous year, and for seemingly ignoring her earlier that day. He did ask, though, that she try to be less upset with Melanie for dating him. Jasmine already felt bad about that, because Mel *was* a good friend, and promised to try. Finally, Tyler explained (after making Jasmine promise to tell no one else)that the unnamed other person who had helped save his life had been none other than Jasmine's mother, the centuries-old Virtual Adept known as Scheherazade. So powerful that she could no longer set foot on Earth without disastrous consequences, Scheherazade didn't want the story of her interference bandied about, but she had asked Tyler to give Jasmine her love.

Meanwhile, Kerry had hooked up again with his sister, who fortunately seemed none the worse for wear after spending an evening with Corinna. Knowing of Kerry's scientific curiosity, Ten mentioned that she had managed to observe each of his friends with her uncanny perceptions, and asked if he would like a report. He eagerly agreed. Ten had found both Tyler and Ivan difficult to read, and suspected that each boy deliberately kept parts of himself hidden. She had managed to see enough to ferret out each one's connections to others, though. Tyler had a strong tie to Jasmine, and Ivan to Corinna -- stronger perhaps than he himself realized, Ten thought. Melanie had a "glow" about her, which Ten guessed (correctly) indicated strong religious devotion. Corinna was an easy read, revealing a nearly-unshakeable self-assurance; she also returned Ivan's deeper-than-she-admitted feelings. Jasmine had the expected connection to Tyler, and also one to Kerry himself; Ten also thought Jasmine more mature (at least relative to her age) than the others. Simon, she reported, had an odd greyness about him, possibly associated with death.

Kerry decided that was a good enough opportunity to start instructing his sister in the realities of Weirdness. He explained, using _The Sixth Sense_ as an analogy, that Simon could see and interact with the spirits of the dead. Ten claimed not to believe in ghosts, but Kerry countered by pointing out that a great many people would not believe in *her* abilities, either. Quoting the Hamlet "more things in Heaven and Earth" line, he hinted that the world wasn't as predictable as Ten might expect, and challenged her to figure out what *else* he and most of his friends had in common. The twins had always shared an odd ability to manifest each other's personality traits and talents, and Ten took the opportunity to slip into "Kerry mode," subjecting her observations to rigorous logical analysis. Much to Kerry's surprise, she hit upon a largely correct line of reasoning almost immediately. Apparently, the theory of subjectively-determined reality had occurred to her before. Putting together Kerry's comment with her observation that most of the HALF gang looked oddly "brighter" or more "real" than normal to her senses, she hypothesized that sufficiently gifted people could mold reality to their wishes. Kerry confirmed the guess, and said yes when Ten asked if the ability were something she could learn. He warned her, though, that those so gifted faced unusual dangers -- the reason he had not previously told her the truth about himself.

The Gilmans then exchanged gifts. Ten returned to Kerry the pocketwatch that had been the "down payment" on his inheritance from his grandfather, now inscribed to "the best brother in the world." Kerry objected at first, because he had left *her* the watch as compensation for their grandfather's failure to include Ten in his will, and as something to remember him by. But Ten persuaded him that the watch was more his style than hers. In return (and as a subtle demonstration of magely potential), Kerry presented Ten with one of his weird-biology inventions, a self-photosynthesizing flower that glowed in the dark with psychedelic patterns. Naturally, he cautioned her not to let just anyone see it.

Finally, Ten asked Kerry for *his* impressions of his various friends. He proclaimed Ivan untrustworthy on certain issues (but entirely reliable on others). Tyler, on the other hand, he professed to mistrust completely. Everyone else was, to greater or lesser degrees, OK. Surprised that her brother would hang around people he didn't trust, Tenna took a closer look at *his* emotions, and realized that one of the things he didn't trust Tyler and Ivan with . . . was his sister. She teased him about being overprotective, and he grumbled at her about reading him without permission -- thus establishing that their sibling relationship was intact and unchanged despite their long separation.

* * * * *

And that's it for this time. Next week . . . just *how* protective is Kerry of his sister, and why? We'll find out.