Clancy was practically falling asleep at his lab table as Jason travelled from table to table in the lab. He had stayed up all night working on his project. With Yoglabs gone, this was his only chance at doing any science before Star would be captured and he'd have nowhere to go but back to his hometown. While Moon Moon had helped him till around midnight, the rest of the night he was working alone. It took a lot of work and a lot of patience. He wasn't quite paying attention to what Jason was staying as he judged each of the projects, but he kept hearing, "Nice try kiddo," or, "Ooh, intriguing, but not quite."
    Since Clancy was at the back corner of the room, he was last. He actually dozed off slightly in his hand before he heard a dim, "Clancy."
    Jason nudged his arm. "Clancy."
    Clancy snorted awake, looking up. "Hah...?"
    Jason smiled a little sadly. "Lemme guess, you didn't have time to do your project."
    Clancy shook his head. "No, no I did it!"
    Jason blinked in surprise. "Oh? Let me see it!"
    Clancy looked down at the items he'd assembled and performed the experiment as he explained expertly, and a little nervously too. "So... You take three pennies; they have to be pre... 1983 I think, because they'll melt if they were after that. And that's bad. So you bring it over here to the sink and you clean two of them. The last one you leave at your station. You let it sit iI n vinegar for two minutes or so, then in the water for one. After that you put twenty-five grams of zinc and thirty-five milliliters of sodium hydroxide in a two hundred and fifty milliliter beaker, you heat the beaker on a hot plate until it's boiling. Put your two pennies into the mixture, and make sure they aren't on top of one another. Turn them over, almost like pancakes, until they're entirely a silver color. Then turn off the burner, and take one of the pennies to the Bunsen burner. Using your tongs, make it hover over it on both sides until it starts changing. Then you drop it into your beaker of water here and... There! Looks like gold! So there you have it. The three medals of honor. The same colors as in the Olympics. Bronze. Silver. Gold. And yet, all are worth less than a pound. Pound, as in, the English currency." Clancy smiled, crossing his arms proudly as he finished. In front of him were three pennies; one was the color of bronze, one the color of silver, the last the color of gold.
    James didn't seem surprised, but he did look impressed. He grinned. "Welcome to year two of Star Academy, Barlow. Class starts at ten A-M every day and goes till noon."
    Clancy grinned happily and cheered as Jason walked away.
    He hadn't felt this accomplished about anything in a long time. He was actually proud of himself, and he got the feeling Jason was proud of him too.
    Through the archway, in the magic studio above the Infirmary, Deanna stood anxiously in front of Seto as he stood leaning on his work table, reading the letter Rythian had written to him. He stared at it in disbelief. "A Witch?!" He asked, looking up.
    Deanna smiled nervously.
    He looked her up and down, actually acknowledging her as one of his recruits for the first time. "And a purebred Witch at that... Unbelievable."
    "I can't believe it either..." Deanna said softly.
    "I thought you told me your father was an Enchanter? How could you possibly be full Witch if your father isn't a Warlock?"
    Deanna looked down.
    Seto stared at her in confusion, then blinked. "...Oh."
    She sniffed slightly and Seto sighed, hugging her awkwardly. "You're very powerful, Deanna, I can feel it now... I'll teach you to control your magic. For today, just go home and rest, alright? You're Buddhist, right?"
    Deanna nodded, wiping at her eyes as she pulled away. "Y-Yes..."
    "Go home and meditate then... Just relax. And you'll come in tomorrow and you can learn with a clear mind. Okay?"
    "O-Okay..." Deanna nodded again and walked down the stairs, out of the studio.
    Seto watched her go, before he took a deep breath, putting his hand over his cheek. "Holy shit..."
    "You okay man?" General Ellis, or Ty, the Dead Division leader, sat on a desk a few feet away. The tall, thin man had no magical ability whatsoever, but he enjoyed dropping by the magic studio to hang out with Seto, who he considered a good friend, and watch his students practice.
   "Yeah, yeah, it's just..." Seto looked at him. "I've never taught a Warlock before, not even a hybrid one. A purebred Witch... I'm gonna have to do some serious research..."
    Ty smiled a little. "Well, I have full confidence in you."
    "That makes one of us..." Seto murmured, before he heard a crash and looked up. He groaned loudly. "Tell me Derek isn't unconscious again."
    The blonde boy standing beside the red-headed boy lying on the ground smiled sheepishly.
    Seto covered his hand with his eyes. "What did I tell you not to do?"
    "...Practice blunt magic..."
    "And what did you do?"
    "...Practice blunt magic..."
    "Well at least they'll be really good with blunt magic." Ty pointed out, trying not to snicker at Seto's disgruntled expression.

Most Cadets, if they had succeeded in doing the project correctly, would agree that they would spend the day celebrating, maybe getting a drink, some sleeping off the all nighters they pulled to accomplish the task. But none really fancied the idea of staying in the Lab more, without even leaving, and celebrating by starting work on a new contraption five minutes after being told they had been bumped up to second year.
    None, of course, but Clancy Barlow.
    The young scientist was still hard at work as per usual at his lab table as though it were still an ordinary day. He was bent over the table, tongue sticking out slightly as he concentrated, literally trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. He was very fixed on his project until suddenly, the top of his metal arm sparked and he yelped in pain, looking down. "What the hell?!"
    He glared at his arm in silence for a few moments. "What was that for, eh? What'd I ever do to you?"
    The arm, naturally, had no reply. He sighed and went back to work. He nearly forgot about his arm's sudden outburst when it was quiet for a few moments, but then it sparked again, this time almost explosively. Clancy shouted in pain, falling out of his chair, his biological arm shooting to the lid of the cartridge on his prosthetic forearm and opening it, flipping the small blue switch at the bottom.
    His metal arm fell limp and Clancy panted slightly. "D-Damn..." He couldn't just leave his arm unfixed, and he couldn't do it by himself, he would hurt himself. He definitely needed an extra pair of hands. He looked around, but as it had been five minutes ago, the Lab was empty aside from him. It was only midnight, everyone had probably just gone to sleep and wouldn't wake up for at least another six or seven hours. Clancy had no idea where Deanna and Andy's rooms were, or Exodus's. He could go to Sky's office, but to be honest, he was rather scared of the Commander.
    Then Clancy remembered something.
    "These are all the recruit's quarters."
    "So what's your room number?" Clancy asked.
    "Forty three." Vern said. "Although I don't see how that matters."
    Clancy shrugged. "Just curious."
    Clancy sighed. He knew Vern didn't like him, but he had no choice. He left the lab, cradling his false arm with his real one as he went upstairs to the second floor, where all the recruit's quarters were. He kept looking at them all until he entered the block where forty through forty-four were and he stopped in front of fourty-three. He could hear music coming from inside, piano. Clancy swallowed before he knocked.
    There was a sigh. "Come in."
    Clancy took a deep breath and went inside as the music continued where it had left off. He stood in the doorway, watching Vern as he played on the piano in the corner of the room. He was good, Clancy never realized he actually had a hobby. He could play with both hands, and the sounds the piano made were beautiful. Can he stared silently, listening.
    Finally, the song softly came to an end and Vern sighed. "Are you just going to stand there?"
    Clancy jumped and started to step forward.
    "Close the door, you fool."
    Clancy jumped again and quickly closed the door after him.
    Vern turned to look at him and blinked in surprise. "...What are you doing here?"
    Clancy cleared his throat. "...I need help."
    Vern sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm not letting you experiment on me, Barlow."
    "I don't mean for an experiment..." Clancy said.
    Vern ignored him. "I'm making tea. I suppose you'll be wanting coffee? Most cadets do."
    "No, Vern - I'm really more of a tea person - but really, I need help!"
    Vern looked at him in surprise at his almost desperate tone of voice. "...What did you do?"
    "I-I didn't do anything..." Clancy sighed. "My arm just does this sometimes, it, it shorts out and it hurts and I can't fix it alone..."
    Vern's gaze drifted to Clancy's arm. "...I don't know anything about mechanics."
    "You don't have to, I'll tell you exactly what to do."
    Vern stared at him hesitantly, then he sighed. "Alright, fine, sit down on the bed." He did as he said, sitting on the edge as Vern sat fully on it beside him,his legs crossed. "What do I do?"
    "Open the maintenance hatch, just under my shoulder, have the tweezers in your hand."
    Vern did as he said. "And now?"
    "This is the hard part, it doesn't get any worse than this." Clancy said. "You should see three wires attached to the root. A red one, a black one, and a pink one. Do you see them?"
    "Mhm..."
    "Okay, now just unplug each of them and then plug them back in. And be careful not to touch anything but the wires because that would hurt really bad and I would prefer you don't electrocute me."
   Vern just nodded and held onto his arm, squinting into it as he moved the tweezers.
   Clancy slowly felt one wire reactivate, then another. Then a jolt of pain shot through his arm and shoulder and he yelped.
    Vern winced. "Sorry..."
    Clancy blinked in surprise. He had never actually heard Vern apologize before until just then.
    Vern sighed and pulled away. "There. Now what?"
    "You can let go of my arm..."
    Vern blinked and quickly let go. Clancy closed the maintenance hatch himself with his biological arm and then opened the compartment where he can't his tools. He dropped the tweezers inside and flipped the blue switch again, shuddering as he closed the hatch.
   "Thanks..."
   Vern just nodded before the kettle whistled. Clancy jumped and Vern got up. Clancy stared at his back as he poured the tea into two mugs. Apparently, Vern's night clothes were no shirt and sweatpants. It didn't look bad on him, he had to admit.
   Vern walked over, handing one mug to Clancy. "Hope you like Earl Grey."
   Clancy took the mug, blinking in surprise. "Yeah, actually." He smiled. "That's a British tea!"
   "Indeed, got it in Eriport."
   "That's my hometown!"
   "Exciting."
   Clancy huffed as Vern took a bored sip of tea. "Why do you always have to be like that?"
    "Be like what?"
    "All cold and mean!"
    "Because I don't see the point in being nice."
    "It gets you friends."
    "The word 'friend' isn't in my dictionary, Barlow."
    Clancy sighed frustrated, looking away, crossing his arms. "...Is Clancy?"
    Vern blinked, and Clancy saw surprise flash past his eyes. "...Do you... Do you want it to be?"
    Clancy smiled and nodded.
    Vern looked away. "Too bad."
    Clancy groaned loudly and flopped down on the bed, but missed and flopped off the bed.
    As Clancy fell on the ground with a soft yelp, he thought he must've hit his head because Vern laughed. He looked up in shock as he saw Vern, actually smiling a little as he laughed. "I was kidding, Clancy."
    "...I didn't think you could do that."
    "Oh, please." Vern rolled his eyes. "What kind of ambassador would I be if I didn't know how to tell a joke?"
   Clancy smiled a little and climbed back onto the bed.
   Vern handed him his tea back, as he had saved it from being spilled.
   Clancy smiled, taking a sip. "Thanks."
   "Mhm..."
   "...So... Can I ask you something?"
   "No."
    Clancy ignored him. "Why do you hate Yoglabs so much?"
    Vern tensed. "None of your business."
    "C'mon, tell me!"
    "Why should I tell you?"
    "Because you're lonely."
    "No I'm not."
    "Don't lie to me, I know lonely. Trust me, I do. I haven't had a friend since I was nine."
    Vern raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? What changed?"
    "I moved into Yoglabs."
    "What, don't you have friends there?"
    "No. Everyone ignored me." Clancy cleared his throat. "So what is it you have against the facility then?"
    Vern glared at him, then looked away. A few seconds passed before he finally sighed. "I had a twin."
    Clancy's eyes widened slightly. "...Had?"
    Vern didn't answer. "Two years ago, she went on the mission to capture Star, the first time she broke out. Star killed her. She was doing it for Yoglabs, because they couldn't do their job and keep her caught. And now my sister's dead..."
    Clancy stared at him sadly. "...Rosetta Lazorso."
    Vern looked up in surprise.
    "I knew your name was familiar. She told me about you."
    Vern looked at him in confusion. "You knew her?"
    "She was my lab partner for four months." Clancy said. "There was a time when not everybody ignored me at Yoglabs... And there was a time when I was allowed inside the cloning facility. When I first joined the labs, I was fourteen. I was young, I was learning. I actually had a friend group, Rosetta was in it. So was a girl named Emily, she was a scientist in a wheelchair, and an Ilex named Ben, the security guard. We made the first clone together, a clone of Emily. But she was different. Her skin was all faded and her hair was black while Emily's was red. Her teeth were sharp, her eyes yellow. We called her fifteen. Fifteen was always scared she was really a monster but she wasn't... She was good. But professor Xephos told me to test her, try to chemically make her normal. I knew it was a bad idea but I did what I was told... Rosetta died. I couldn't concentrate because I was mourning, none of us really could. But Xephos made us work anyway. The testing I did drove fifteen mad and she... She lashed out." Clancy wiped at his eyes, then looked down at his prosthetic hand. "She killed Emily, she cut off my right arm... Ben kill her, he's still alive but he won't talk to me. I tell people that I lost my arm because I was shot..." Clancy swallowed, shaking his head. "I got into Yoglabs because my grades were really high. I didn't lose my arm till after."
   Vern stared at him with no apparent emotion for several seconds before he suddenly hugged Clancy tightly. "Let's agree on two things..." He said. "Yoglabs is shit, and I screwed up... I'm sorry I got you fired..."
   Clancy smiled softly and nodded wordlessly, burying his face in Vern's shoulder. It felt good being close to him, he didn't know quite why. It just felt comforting and... Right.
    After a moment, Vern pulled away again.
    Clancy stood, setting his mug down on a coaster on Vern's table. "Well, thanks for helping me..."
    "Where are you going now?" Vern asked.
    "Back to the Infirmary."
    Vern blinked. "Infirmary?" He asked. "Are you sick?"
    Clancy shook his head. "No, no, I'm staying there because there are no rooms available. I'm fine."
    "...You have to stay in that place?"
    Clancy sighed. "Unfortunately."
    "...You can stay here. If you want."
    Clancy looked at Vern in surprise.
    Vern was looking down. "I used to have a roommate, but he died when I first came here so I've been alone since... I guess you could stay..."
    Clancy nodded slowly. "O... Okay."
    "I get top bunk though." Vern sneered.
    Clancy laughed softly. "I don't really sleep much though..."
    "Can't fall asleep?"
    "Yeah, that's about it..."
    "Maybe it's because you don't have anything to wear to bed."
    "I don't think-"
    "Nonsense. I'll take you shopping for night clothes tomorrow."
    "...Okay."
    Vern laid down. "Now, if you would, I would like to get some sleep."
    Clancy smiled a little and laid down in his regular clothes, curling up under the covers. "Night..."
    "Mhm."