[center][h1][color=f6989d]Eyrie Schemacloves[/color][/h1][/center]
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	[i]“And that will end our brief lecture on the role of mecha preceding the Valkyrie Project.”[/i]

	Eyrie hadn't reacted to the professor's concluding statement as the rest of the class began to leave the classroom, eyes still locked to her datapad up until a fellow student brushed past her seat on their way to the door. Like waking from a dream, her head snapped upward from the desk, eyes blinking rapidly as she noticed the lack of people in the room aside from a couple of students slowly packing their things and a bored-looking boy still seated in his chair. Scrambling to collect her belongings, she was one of the last to rush out the door, sending the instructor a hurried [color=f6989d]"have a good day"[/color] as she passed him by.

	As she moved through the hallways, Eyrie pulled out her datapad once more, reopening it to reveal multiple windows, each of them for every single one of the subjects in her curriculum. Eyes darted across the screen and ignored their surroundings, relying entirely on muscle memory to take her to the cafeteria as she attempted to absorb as much information as possible with what little time she had. A month was a short time for most, but to Eyrie it had been the longest month of her life.

	She knew better than anyone else that the only reason she was at Taiyōtawa at all was through her parents' efforts and not her own. Unlike the naturally gifted elite who come to Taiyōtawa because it was the best the galaxy could offer, Eyrie had to work hard for every single inch she could take on the mile-long trek to graduation. Every second she didn't spend studying was a second she was wasting.

	When Eyrie entered the cafeteria, she didn't even look to see what sort of paste they had for the day as she momentarily put away her datapad to take the offered tray. All of it tasted the same to her, no matter what sort of artificial flavoring they put in it. Goop was goop. But in all honesty, it was better than the sand-encrusted leftovers that were normal on her planet, so she didn't much care what it was.

	Though she looked for a place to sit, she couldn't find an open spot. Sure, there were seats left unoccupied, but most of them were either next to tables with friend groups, reserved, or just a single spot surrounded by crowded seats. She knew, no matter how hard she tried, she wasn't going to be getting anything done with all those people around. Too much noise. Too little privacy.

	So she left, tray in hand, headed for the bathroom. Seated in a locked cubicle, she picked at her daily dose of food paste with one hand while the other interacted with her datapad, propped up to the wall on top of the toilet roll holder. It was a sad sight, and she would most certainly die of embarrassment if anyone ever saw her, but it was a necessity. She couldn't let any of her classes suffer just because she wanted to have a comfortable lunch rather than sitting cramped on a toilet with her food in her lap.

	A loud bang of something hitting the metal of a neighboring cubicle startled her, nearly causing her to squeak with surprise. Only a hand covering her mouth kept her from making her presence known as she began to hear the sounds of girly gossip. Though she couldn't see them, she guessed it was a group of four or so standing by the sink. Silently, as she began to move her spoon slowly and gently as to not make a sound that would draw their notice, Eyrie internally sighed.

	She hoped they left soon. She didn't want to miss her next class.
	
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