It was the early morning as Shane, Luciana, Fernando and Ava walked towards the Psionic Biology room. As they neared the building, they saw that the most of their class had assembled by the classroom.

When they arrived, Liang and Adrian were talking together. Hanako gave Shane a small smile. Grayson stood apart for the group, silent. Shane frowned to himself. Grayson seemed like a bit of a loner, separated from his classmates. He promised himself that he would reach out to him at some point. As Headmaster Farmaris came out of the Psionic Biology room and opened his mouth to speak, Ethan and Nyla arrived.

"Please do come inside," he said, "your uniforms are waiting for you."

They all walked inside. Folded neatly upon the desks were ten uniform sets, one for each student in the class. Each one had a small slip of paper with a name on it. Shane's uniform consisted of black dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a navy blue jacket. Below the pile of clothes was a bag.

"Please remember, this is not your entire uniform," the Headmaster said, "you may come and select a psi-band from this box."

Placing the uniform in the bag, Shane went over to the Headmaster. In the container were twenty or so bands with small screens on their front.

"What is... this?" Shane asked.

"It's a psi-band. As a student of this school, you must wear it everywhere you go," the Headmaster said, "not only does it track your location, but it is also vital to when you gain your Psionic abilities. It measures how much Psionic energy you use."

"Sorry for asking," Shane said, embarrassed at his ignorance, "but... why is that important?"

"No need for apologies," the Headmaster laughed, "you've got a lot to learn, but there's no need to be ashamed of that. We use the psi-band to keep us safe. If you strain your abilities, you may get a headache, so this technology warns you to avoid mental pain. But if you go far past your limits, the band will sound a loud alarm."

"What happens? When you go past your limits?"

"Permanent brain damage. Or even death."

Shane nodded, shuddering.

"Thanks for helping me, Headmaster Farmaris," he said.

"Any time, Shane. Any time."

The container was full of psi-bands, each a different shade. Shane selected an emerald psi-band and put it on. Luciana's was a violet purple psi-band, Fernando's orange like a fresh tangerine, and Ava's was lemon yellow.

"Now, everyone, please go to the examination room for the announcement," the Headmaster declared after everyone had tightened the psi-bands around their wrists.

Inside the examination room, the students sat down in front of a the Headmaster. Next to him was a middle aged woman with wavy brown hair and wild hazel eyes.

"This is Mrs Hallowgrove," he said.

"Hello, everyone, pleased to meet you," she said. Her voice was kind but controlled, like she was talking soothingly to a dangerous animal.

"I will be your Bondling Care instructor. And that is the reason why you have been summoned here. It is time to receive your first Bondling!" she said.

Shane beamed with joy, hardly believing his ears. He could barely contain his excitement to get a Bondling. Around him, his classmates smiled, glancing at each other with wide eyes.

"Please follow me," Mrs Hallowgrove commanded. She walked out of the building and the students walked behind her, talking excitedly. The teacher lead them through the Academy's woodland and to the Conservatory. Outside the giant glass structure, she fished a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. With a flourish, she pushed the door wide open.

"Welcome to the Conservatory!" she said.

They stumbled inside, staring wide-eyed at the strange and exotic land they had just entered. They were in a jungle, a tropical rainforest. Shane strode forward through the dense, suffocating undergrowth. He inhaled the warm air, which hung still and heavy with moisture.

"In this Conservatory we have eight rooms, each with advanced climate technology that allows a different ecosystem to exist: desert, grassland, tundra, temperate, coniferous, wetland, ocean and rainforest, which you are in right now."

She held up her hands to acknowledge the constructed wilderness around them.

"Now, for receiving your first Bondling. This Conservatory is a complete Bondling menagerie. We have every single species of Bondling that has ever been created, right in this building. In each of these rooms are dozens of types of Bondlings. These genetically modified creatures can connect with a Psionic, using something called a Mental Link. Each Psionic is compatible with a different animal in this Conservatory based on their personality, abilities and behaviour, so I invite you to wander through the rooms. When you get close enough to the Bondling that best matches you, the Mental Link will be established and your Bondling will run to you. Now, off you go. Find your Bondling!"

Some students had already began to walk off anyway, pulled by some unseen Bondling force, so Shane struck out, setting off into the jungle. The humidity pressed on in his skin, and he could only see the vibrant green of the trees, peppered with bursts of colorful orchids. He meandered aimlessly through the room, but felt nothing. He heard a cry of excitement and realised a student must have already established a Mental Link, but he decided to ignore the distraction and keep moving. Eventually, he came to the end of the jungle area. Opening the door, he stepped into the next room.

Suddenly, he was assaulted by the heat of the desert. The harsh sun beat down on him as his feet stepped into searing sand. He managed to walk forward, traversing the dusty dunes, which were covered in tough cacti. After walking past a giant rock formation, he made it to the next room.

He was instantly standing in a conifer forest. There were pines and fir trees everywhere, and the ground was covered in a soft carpet of pine needles. The trees muffled all sound, and the only thing he could smell was the constant scent of resin. Side-stepping a small pond, Shane watched as white wings flashed through the treetops, but he still felt no Mental Link.

The next room was grassland. The savannah was covered in dried yellow grass. There were stunted, pointy trees and shrubs every few steps, and termite mounds taller than Shane was. Far away, he could see feline creatures eyeing him warily as they stalked across the grassland, but he already knew that they couldn't be his Bondling, because they didn't make any effort to move towards him.

Shane was frustrated, but he calmed himself and let his mind probe everything around him, searching for a Mental Link.

The dry, arid feel of the savannah was replaced by an extreme amount of moisture as he wandered into the wetland room. He stepped in tall, lush grass and his feet were instantly saturated. There were warm, sunlit pools covering the expanse of the room, where small aquatic creatures darted back and forth. Graceful wading birds with iridescent feathers and sword-like beaks walked elegantly from pool to pool, skewering unlucky fish. Still, there was no mental pull.

The ocean room put the small pools of water in the wetland room to shame. Luckily, there was a solid, stable-looking bridge which he could walk across, high above the water. Far below the bridge, rolling waves scattered the sunlight like sequins. Shane could see forests of seaweed inhabited by schools of stunning fish. A giant whale-like creature came up to breathe and sprayed a plume of sea water high into the air.

Shane sighed. There was still no sign of a Mind Link. He was beginning to wonder if he was going through the rooms too fast. Should he double back and try again? Or could it be that he wasn't even capable of having a Bondling? After all, he hadn't even known he was a Psionic until a few days ago, so maybe he wasn't ready for a Mental Link to a creature from the Psionic world.

Disheartened, he walked into the temperate room. His feet crunched on fallen amber leaves and dry twigs. Tall, magnificent trees caught the golden sunlight in their expansive branches and shone it upon every vibrant leaf. Shane stepped past gnarled, twisted roots and over small, crystal clear streams that glimmered like liquid crystal.

And then he felt it. An urge. An irresistible desire to turn to his right and run and run and run until he found the source of the feeling.

So he listened to the instinct.

And he ran.

He tore through the forest, ferns grabbing at his legs. Leaping over a fallen log, he came rushing into a glade.

And it was there.

The animal that he knew was his Bondling.

It sat gracefully in the glade, glowing. It looked like a fox, but it was no fox he had ever seen in the human world. It was larger than a fox, even bigger than a German Shepherd, but it was slender and lithe. Muscles rippled under a glossy, lustrous coat. There was a crest of beautiful feathers on its head, that trailed down its neck. When the light hit the iridescent feathers, it sparkled like a thousand diamonds. Colors flashed in Shane's eyes. Aquamarine, emerald, blood red, coral pink. Its back was covered thickly with the same feathers feathers, but they vanished lower on its body, replaced with velvety fur. Its tail was long and supple, ending in a glorious plume of feathers.

Instead of paw, all four of the animal's legs silver talons that belonged to a bird of prey, with sharp claws that gleamed like daggers.

At the sight of Shane, the creature flicked its tail from side to side. In a second, the feathers moved ever so slightly to reveal a razor-sharp point, gleaming silver and sharper than a knife-blade. Shane gasped at the sight. What an amazing Bondling! The canine creature surveyed Shane with wide, shining eyes, the color of which swirled alternately emerald and azure. A second later, the Bondling padded gracefully towards him. It seemed to smile at him, exposing long and sharp teeth, the color of ivory.

Suddenly, Shane was aware of so many things about his Bondling. He could tell that it was young, an adolescent animal, that it was male, that it had eaten a hare-like creature that morning.

Then he heard a thought in his mind. And it was not one of the projections from Headmaster Farmaris.

Friend?

At the same time, the fox tilted its head. Shane couldn't believe his senses, couldn't believe his mind. He was receiving a thought from an animal! He realised that it had to be the Mental Link, channeling their thoughts directly to each other's minds. He had established a Link with this Bondling!

Yes, friend, he thought slowly.

The fox let its pink tongue lol out, and wagged its graceful tail.

Shane smiled at the fox, whose fur sparked like a fire, about to bleed into a colorful inferno.

Spark, the fox thought.

What? What do you mean? Shane asked through the Mental Link.

Spark. Pretty name.