Middle Group: As you were. Waitin' on Chandaman for that update.
Left Group: I'm fine with you guys finding whatever standard weapon you want on those shelves. Feel free to take or leave the other items that were more specifically mentioned as well. Just make sure you add whatever you take to your inventory.
Right Group: ...Not much to say, unless you guys have questions for me?
Staring with a look filled with awe and aversion in equal parts, Felicia tore her eyes away from Noi's exposed 'chest' to take her water skin back from Jaege once he had finished. She smiled coyly in thanks for his concern and set to work cleaning up her own array of bite and scratch marks. Several bandages later, she took a deep breath and nodded.
"I suppose we should continue...?" she said hesitantly, once again refusing to take the lead even as she made the suggestion.
Left Tunnel Group
Nearing the end of the narrow hall, the group stumbled upon what appeared to be a dead end in the form of a room. The room was filled with skeletons in various forms of imprisonment and torture. Four spacious cells lined the back wall while three large cages, each housing skeletons with several long spears and arrows sticking out of them, occupied the front left corner. Hanging from the seemingly nonexistent ceiling, the cages swayed to a breeze with no apparent source. Two large iron cabinets suggesting shoulders and a large eye where the head should be filled the space between the hanging cages and cells. One of them laid open on its side, revealing rusty spikes and broken bones.
A dirty old table laid on its side to the right of the room, along with chairs and several shelves packed with questionably filled bottles, pots, broken baskets, and a few rusted weapons. A search of the shelves would further yield two small round bottles of red health potions, several blue rupees, a glass flask of blue fire, and a handful of Deku Nuts. A single torch in the center of the room barely provided enough light to investigate.
Hay coated the floor of each cell in the back, but the left-most cell seemed to contain a larger mountain of hay than the rest. The mass seemed to shift ever so slightly in the dim torchlight of the room.
Beyond the mysterious wall lay a room of incomprehensible size. A platform barely large enough to accommodate the entirety of the group provided them with something to stand on as they observed their new surroundings. This time the ceiling as well as the floor seemed to go on forever, shrouded by darkness. Two small brown and white striped pots sat on either corner of the platform, each containing three dirty, but sturdy arrows-- what appeared to be blood was caked all over the sharpened tips.
The walls of the room made up a large rectangle-- nearly the size of a race track. On the far end of the room, directly across from the group, lay another platform as well as another wall with a skull alcove and two torches. Between the two platforms, floating high above their head, lived three floating statues, each connected to a swinging blade. The statues each resembled a dark, hunched over and hooded figure and were evenly spaced out as they swung their massive scythes across the room. In spite of the pervading dinginess, the scythes were perfectly polished-- reflecting the dimly lit figures on the platform briefly as they swung by.
Each member of the group would see a different version of their own warped reflection in the mirror-like scythes. For Lethe, she appeared as a fairy once more, bathing the other members of the group in her purple glow. Jillian would see herself as a typically dressed hylian child with dead, vacant eyes and blue lips. A stream of thick red liquid appeared above Zephyrus's head, drenching his scalp and running down the length of his figure until he was completely covered. Perhaps the starkest difference, Naviela would see herself as a larger-than-average man with red hair, faintly green skin, and a long nose. The figure was menacing at best and anyone who had ever picked up a history book would very likely recognize that the man was none other than Ganondorf himself-- smirking with sinister amusement.
Looking past the disturbing images, one would see the faintest suggestion of a path laid out before the group in the mirror.
Callan stared at the massive hamburger plush that had been placed on her desk alongside the phone. Falling asleep after her heroically embarrassing adventure with Lawrence yesterday night hadn't been as easy as she'd hoped. Her attempt to fill the sleepless void ultimately undermined her plan to fall sleep at a reasonable hour.
She'd awoken that morning with even less grace than usual and would've gone about her day with her hoodie on backwards if Siena hadn't commented on it. Slumped in front of the bathroom mirror, Callan glanced at the simply stylized print on her new cool gray hoodie. In simple hipster-esque font, there were three large Z's. If only. Evening out the pant legs on her black leggings, she'd proceeded to the hallway.
The guard had prodded her in the side as she shuffled out the door. For the briefest of moments, she considered snatching the gun out of his hands, snapping it in half, and trudging straight back to her bed. Of course, that wouldn't have been the heroic thing to do, but her commitment to that mindset would fair much better after breakfast. A meal she would soon learn wasn't on the agenda for the day.
Callen immediately found an indistinct seat in the second to last row, in front of Siena, diagonal from Marcus, and far enough away from the windows that she wouldn't have to worry about the sun blaring at her. Barely processing anything in her morning haze, she did manage to feel genuine excitement upon seeing that Siena had requested a dog, but her mind shunned the emotion almost instantly. It was too early and she was too tired for 'excitement'.
She returned her attention to the plush. Two black eyes with little sewn-in white twinkles and a happy little smile. It was soft as all get out, she observed, running her hands over the top before picking it up. Eight little yellow corners of fabric stuck out above a strip of brown and red wrapped around the entire plush-- cheese, the burger, and tomato. Were they trying to butter them up after having put them through that terrible fight? Or maybe they were just trying to make them feel better about it? Perhaps it was both? Regardless of the reason, she was ashamed to admit how nauseatingly cute the gift was... she loved it.
Holding it out in front of her, Callan felt her stomach rumble. Her lips pursed into a straight line and she slowly set the plushie under her desk.
No, Cal. Not food.
Mr. Francisco's speech turned out to be the only thing she heard in its entirety before lunch time rolled around. They would all get to train together? The idea sounded like a good one to Cal-- up until she remembered how her fight with Kusari had gone. How were they going to train someone like her? Noting the conceitedness of the thought, she wondered if there was anyone here that could go toe to toe with her in a fight. She was strong for an arbiter and she knew it-- maybe not as strong as Shane Alkana, but still.
Remembering her run in with Brent and Zoe at the gym, she wondered if they'd have things heavy enough to test herself. Flag Football and Capture the Flag... fun games for normal people. Or... more normal people anyway. So far she'd been able to mostly keep her overabundance of strength in check when it came to interacting with others-- even in regards to Kusari, who had told her not to hold back before she punched through her guts.
Callan frowned and buried the bottom half of her face in her arms on the desk. She didn't want to think about that disaster again. As Mr. Francisco exited the classroom and the much less interesting (and tall) Ms. Rivera took over, Callan sighed through her nose. Why hadn't she requested snacks on that requisition form? Hunger and exhaustion permeated her mind as the teacher droned on. Unable to satisfy the first, her body was more than willing to humor the second. Within seconds, Callan was rocking in and out of sleep-- only lifting her head long enough to accept a paper passed to her by a guard or catch the name of whatever new teacher came scuffling through the door.
Throughout the night, guards were reassigned to positions around the main dorm buildings, bulking up the security slowly and quietly. By the time the sun rose, there were enough guards in the main campus quad to look like a battle would break out.
Something was clearly wrong, and the evident tension did little to help the foreboding sensation.
At roughly nine in the morning, more guards swooped in on the new students, waking them from sleep and interrupting anything else they were doing. It was the customary escort method of USARILN East, again, and the guards gave the students barely enough time to get ready before the barrels of rifles were once again leveled at their heads.
They were led into a building across the street from the hospital sector, the plaque on the building's main entrance displaying a simple "Lecture Building Z" designation. Inside, several corridors branched off from the main hallway and several other students quickly ducked into those paths at the sight of the large group of students escorted by guards. It was treatment somewhat like a Precursor's, but for what appeared to just be regular subnaturals--an oxymoron in this day and age.
The other kids peeked curiously at the group, but ventured no closer.
As they led the batch of students towards the double doors at the end of the hallway, one of the guards busied himself checking and relaying information through his phone.
"We've got the rest of them here, sir."
"Yes, sir."
"No, sir. Response to the cuff alarm was immediate."
"Yes, sir. We have guards stationed around the site, but there's not much evidence. Several pairs of footprints, but we lost the trail beyond the city outskirts."
After a quiet response from the other end, he tucked the phone back into one of the many pockets on his slate-gray combat uniform.
Were anyone in the group awake enough to notice, they would catch that Aaron was distinctly not present.
The classroom was in pristine condition with higher-than-average ceilings and large square windows on the far wall.. Other than a paper detailing exit routes in case of emergency, the walls were mostly bare. In the far corner of the room across from the door was a large mahogany desk, a file cabinent, and a book shelf full of textbooks covering various different subjects. A white board on the wall nearly extended across the entire length of the room from the door to the desk. The desks were neatly arranged in a five by five pattern with each of them being fairly standard by design. A metal compartment for books and whatever else along with a smooth, thicker board covered in a generic fake wood design on top made up the body of each desk. A schedule sheet, two black notebooks, and several pens and pencils were neatly arranged inside each desk, prepped for the incoming students. The front board was covered in a large printout of the same schedule. The chairs were just as standard-- a dark navy blue seat with three long slits in the back standing on four silver metal legs.
Four guards stood in the room's four corners, guns out and ready, their expressions impassive as they trained careful eyes on every incoming student.
In the far front corner seat, a boy of relatively tall height sat staring out one of the large windows with a bored expression on his face.
A tall, lean figure leaned up against the mahogany desk donning polished dress shoes, dark khakis, a midnight blue vest, and a crisp white shirt. Draped over the man's shoulder was a brown suit coat, which he held by the collar with one hand while the other held a clipboard and open manila folder propped up against his side. The man looked up from the papers and smiled with a thin, toothy grin that wrinkled the corners of his stormy blue eyes beneath a casually slicked over head of thick, raven-black hair. A smattering of freckles littered the bridge of his nose. As he turned and nodded, welcoming each student as they entered, a splash of white beneath his eye became visible-- a staff mage. He patiently waited until everyone was seated.
Behind him, a mousy looking woman with muted brown hair and a seemingly never-ending compulsion to keep picking at what was left of her satin red nail polish sat at the desk. Every so often she left her nails alone to straighten the papers, binder, and mug full of pens laying out before her-- anything to avoid looking at the students or the man leaning up against the front of her desk.
"Good morning, beautiful young people," he chimed in a warm tenor once everyone had found their seat, "The name I'm s'pose to give you is Mr. Francisco, but feel free to call me Fred."
An inaudible whisper squeaked from the woman behind him. The man leaned on his clipboard to turn and face her, whispering something equally inaudible. When he turned back to face the class, the woman was visibly pale. "This lovely woman is Ms. April Rivera-- your math teacher. She's thrilled to be here, don't worry. Just a touch nervous, but I'm sure you all can relate," long legs carried him to the center front of the classroom before he'd even finished his first sentence, "Anyway, I know this isn't what any of you were expecting and I'm sure Lawrence here could tell you that this isn't how we usually set up our classes, but I'll get to that."
"Good morning all!" Rosa chirped as she strolled into the room, accompanied by a dozen soldiers carrying boxes of varying sizes, "I know it's a little early for Christmas, heck it's not even Halloween yet, but look at all these wonderful presents!"
A tablet was pulled from one of the boxes and Rosa began scrolling through her list.
"Well if it isn't Daisy," Fredric smirked, stepping out of the way. His eyes narrowed at her and the parade of soldiers that followed, "You're late, so we started without you."
"Aww. Ever the gentleman aren't you, Freddy?" Rosa laughed, unperturbed, "Ah, this is a pretty big list we've got here. Let's see if we can get through it all without missing anything."
"Electronics first."
Four identical boxes with HP laptops were handed out to Sander, Marcus, Sophia and Savannah. Five boxes containing black Samsung Galaxy S10 smartphones were also handed to Callan, Sophia, Brent, Savannah and Allison. Marcus was given the sixth phone, which was painted in a deep brown hue.
"Heard you like chestnut," the staff member grinned, before turning to the rest, "Waterproof and shockproof! Great battery life too, perfect for those long, tough missions you'll be going on. Complementary earphones and SIM cards are in the box with your phones. How about you guys share your numbers while you're at it, maybe set up a group chat? Don't text in class though." Rosa chuckled through the last part before walking over to Marcus.
She bent forward and spoke to the scarred boy in a low voice, with the intention of keeping some privacy.
"We've delivered your message and she's definitely received it. Since you have a phone now, why don't you try calling her in your own time?" she said and slipped him a piece of paper with a phone number on it, "Oh, and nice try with those extra funds, kiddo."
She returned to the front of the class.
"Gregory's stuff!"
A guard marched over to the blond and deposited three separate groups of items in three trips: a gig bag with a Fender Deluxe bass guitar inside, a bundle of ten 800g, 100M carbon fiber javelins and box of thirty carbon-shafted, 1500 grain arrows.
"This is the best we'll give you for now. Once you develop your abilities, we'll see if we can get you the more customised equipment you asked for. I asked a student for bass recommendations and she said Fender would be good. The Amazon reviews were very positive too! The amp, cable and other musical things should have reached your room by now. The sewing machine and bike too. Wait, one more thing."
From the same soldier who delivered Gregory's requested items Rosa obtained an eight-pack box of heinous rainbow guitar picks emblazoned with a glittery "COOL". She handed them to Gregory with a slight giggle.
Rosa checked her list again.
"Oh, the violin!"
A violin case was placed on Savannah's desk. Inside was the instrument and its numerous accessories, as well as the sheet music for a difficult looking song named Zigeunerweisen by Pablo de Sarasate. Scribbled in the top right corner was a barely legible "Hope you can learn this and play it for me someday! I love the Zig Zag Song!"
"It's a Cremona, good for intermediate players. The rosin and cleaning cloth is in the case. Sorry, we couldn't get a Stradivarius on short notice!"
"What's next... Right! Clothing, cosmetics and all that fancy personal stuff."
Eight suitbags were draped over Kusari's space. They contained her requested clothing items, expertly cleanpressed and neatly tailored to her washboard body. Emma was given a heavy duty backpack with a dull green exterior and a red shopping basket filled with the snacks she had requested, as well as an iPhone charger still in its packaging. Inside the backpack was a rather feminine makeup case that clashed with the muddy canvas of the backpack. She would find her makeup inside, as well as bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Zoe and Allison were given similar travel packs sans the makeup. If the girls were to compare their shower items they would find that they were all the same luxury brand. Zoe's backpack also contained her needle and thread, matches, a thick notepad and a box of coloured pens. Included in Allison's bag was a thin folder with a blank black cover containing the group's basic one-page profiles (just the bare bones of names, age, height, weight and a single photograph) including a page for the newest student, Ernest Mars.
Siena received numerous packs pens, stamps, and a pencilcase to keep them all in. Angel was given a thin folder similar to Allison's but with a blue cover. If she were to look at the inner cover she would find a sticky note that read: "No backgrounds or powers, sorry!!! It's all classified super secret stuff because I wrote in so many spicy notes. Try asking Freddy or your classmates. Build those friendships!"
A gargantuan package was plopped onto Sander's desk. From a distance it could have been mistaken for a large bulk pack of toilet paper. It was a pack of bandages. The outer plastic indicated that it was jasmine scented, an oil that was known for its calming and revitalising properties.
"Hope you don't have to use those too much," Rosa smiled, "Ooh, these next ones are fun. Pets!"
Three animal carriers were brought into the room; two cats and one dog. Sophia received a young female Tonkinese while Savannah was given a female American Shorthair. Siena's dog was a male Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The paperwork attached to each cage listed personality traits, dietary requirements and numerous other pieces of information about the animals' conditions. Siena's paperwork mentioned that her new pet was also a trained therapy dog. The pets were named Billary, Spreckles and Chief Tater Tot respectively.
"Feel free to rename the little ladies. I would've given them to you without the cages but," the mage shrugged, "I didn't want to risk ruining your supervisor's nice footwear with animal pee. Right, Freddy?"
Hardly paying attention and totally engrossed with his clipboard, Fredric's voice was perfectly energetic. "A man is only as dapper as his shoes," he chimed cryptically.
Rosa returned with a solemn nod.
"Words to live by. Hm, the hardware for the girls next."
Sophia and Zoe were provided with a hefty survival kit each. In addition, the two girls were given survival knives, a Bushmaster for Zoe and a smaller folding knife for Sophia.
"I know you didn't ask for the survival kits but I thought they'd come in handy."
Rosa checked the tablet once more, eyes widening with delight as she read the next category.
"Oh my gosh, I think these next ones are my favorite part! Jasper, send in the Squishables!"
Three Squishable plush toys, a manatee, a Nessie, and a hamburger, were given to Christmas, Siena and Callan respectively. Rosa practically squealed in her joy.
"Aw man, I don't wanna let them go! At least I know they're going to good owners. I know only Christmas and Siena had asked for them but I saw the burger on the website and I just couldn't resist! But Cal, you wanted pillows and a Squishable's basically just a really nice looking pillow soo..."
Her smile suddenly grew mischievous.
"You'll find plenty of normal ones back at your suite. I made sure to get all sorts for you. Oh yeah, Blood Bag!"
The previously borrowed copy of Meditations was placed on Christmas' desk while Lawrence's stitched up jacket was tossed unceremoniously at the older boy. With the flare gun still in the pocket, the jacket was slightly weightier than usual.
"I meant it when I told you to take care of yourself, dear," she reminded the boy, casting the briefest of glances at Sander as she spoke, "Make good choices!"
As she passed by Hazel's desk, Rosa paused and knelt by the girl. She seemed apologetic.
"I'm really sorry, sweetie. Grumpy was kinda shifty about your request and..." Rosa sighed, "even if your armor got approved it would take some time to design and build. But I promise, I'll keep trying and we'll see what'll happen."
The staff mage's pep returned as soon as she saw that there was only one remaining category of items left. She looked towards Brent with a glint in her eye.
"Quite the aspiring little troublemaker, aren't you?" she mused.
A robust-looking sheathed machete, infra-red night-vision goggles, gas mask and body armor vest were dropped onto Brent's desk. Lastly, two holsters carrying a Desert Eagle pistol each were pulled out of the box and handed to Angelique and Brent. Two boxes of appropriate ammunition were also given to the two.
"I gotta say, they seem like pretty hefty guns for beginners. Ah, but what do I know? I just do the paperwork!"
Another round of chuckling before she turned to Brent again. If there was condescension in her tone, it was extremely difficult to pick out.
"When I read 'rail gun pistol thing'..." she shook her head, "For a second there I thought you meant one of those sci-fi railguns, not a pistol with a rail on it."
Indeed, the gifted Desert Eagles had a serrated-looking surface on the top and bottom of their barrels, signifying a 'rail' to attach sighting devices to.
"We could probably send that request to good old Hephy, but that'll take a long while--a long while. He's got...a lot of work on his hands right now,"she finished enigmatically.
A teasing smile crossed her expression.
"But maybe good old Hephy has made one before..."
She suddenly snapped straight, returning to her original task.
"Oh right! As for the rest of those requests..."
As she did a quick skim of her tablet, Rosa let out a low whistle.
"Semi-automatic rifle? Right off the bat? Not yet. Sniper rifle? Pending. No previous training in firearms anywhere we checked. Plus, I've got some other plans for how your firearm training is gonna go. Flamethrower? No freaking way, Jose. And a motorbike?"
The mischief returned to her face.
"A lot of requests are denied or put on hold for a period of time because sometimes handing a vehicle to a student who may or may not be able to drive one isn't the best idea. Just like how we turned down someone else's request some time ago for medieval torture instruments. Some ideas just aren't worth the trouble. We've poached a mage who can repair some things, but we already put the poor kid to work enough as is. Maybe you can ask Gregory to borrow his bike sometime?"
With that final note, she returned to the front for the class-wide announcements.
"To everyone here: the armory is off-limits for now. Nothing personal, it's just that almost all of you are really new and untrained and it's probably best to not trust these sorta things with newbies. After all, you're all collected here because Grumpy's got plans for you, and those plans involve a lot less dying from here on out. We'd rather not have you kids shooting yourselves in the face too easily with the grenade launchers and rotary cannons. Sorry about that. However you are totally allowed to visit the gun range at the training grounds and practice there with any weapons we've given you. Same goes for Ground Zero."
A glance at Lawrence and Angel.
"I noticed that two of your classmates were having some gun practice the other day. What a fantastic way to build camaraderie! Just take it with a grain of salt. A lot of DC's finest don't give two hoots about the weapons we're packing. Anyway, since big ol' Grumpy has put me in charge of this group's requisitions and I'm allowed to do whatever I feel like if I think it benefits the group, from now on Lawrence is your official firearms instructor!"
She did a small whoop and cheer before continuing.
"You'll have Nicholas on the side in case anything comes up with your gun training. Lastly, for those who requested mini fridges, you'll find them installed when you return to your dorms. If you requested any items to go in them, they'll be in there. That includes the second part of your request too, Hazel."
"Phew, that was a big chore! I guess it's time to get back to making sure Grumpy doesn't make another Precursor cry. If you guys have anymore questions about your requisitions I'll be in my office. Or somewhere else. Seeya!"
Rosa and the soldiers left as quickly as they had arrived.
"Alright then!" Fredric stepped back into the proverbial spotlight as the parade of soldiers marched out the door. "I know you're all stoked about your new toys, but try not to tune me out too much. I haven't got a whole lot left to say-- promise."
He pointed briefly to the large schedule on the board to emphasize his next point, "Your schedules should all say Experimental Unit B at the top-- most of you've already had the pleasure of seeing the former Unit A in action. You all met Mr. Alkana, of course. Yay high? Pink hair? Bit of a drama queen? He was from Unit A-- as well as Mr. Sonnino, Mr. Richardson, and Ms. Dalbesio and Ms. Harper. Cool cats-- the whole lot of 'em. That experiment sorta fell through, but 'if at first you don't succeed'-- right?"
A moment of silence passed as he flipped to another page on the clipboard, eyes sliding down the sheet rapidly before he continued.
"Even so, seeing them at work is a pretty fantastic sight to behold, as I'm sure you all noticed. Organizing and training capable teams and the like is something the lady upstairs has been trying to pin down for a while now. Speaking of training! You might want to reconsider skipping out on that afternoon combat training!"
"You'll be learning a lot of skills I'm sure you wish you had yesterday," he said, his voice softening slightly, though the words were still brazen enough, "If you'd like to survive and help ensure your teammates do so as well, I would suggest taking the time to show up. There aren't many students who get this sort of supervised training opportunity where we've reserved the entirety of Ground Zero just for you. Any Aberrations with problems will just get the tranquilizer shots during this period-- that's how much we value you guys."
The guards around the room noticeably bristled at the usage of more mage-centric terms, but a quick look and a quirked eyebrow from Fredric silenced any protests.
Sufficiently pleased with their response, Fredric smiled kindly at the most perturbed guard in the back right corner of the room, making sure he caught the man's eyes with a wave of his hand. The guard looked away, fixing his eyes on a desk instead--the one with the giant package of bandages, to be exact.
After a quick chuckle, Fredric resumed his explanation.
"Some of you may've also noticed there isn't a history class-- we had to cut something for that combat training block, so if that really bugs you for some reason, I'll be happy to point you towards the library."
"Today's combat training is going to be particularly interesting, so I hope you'll all be there on time-- and that you like Flag Football and Capture the Flag, because that's basically what it is. If you don't show up, your group is gonna suffer and that's no way to build camaraderie. If you aren't used to working with a team, you'll be the first to die against any serious threats."
As he finished, he gestured grandly at the large bookshelf behind him.
"Most of you soundly failed your placement exams, so we're catering to the lowest common denominator here. But anyone who thinks the material is too easy have free rein to self-study from any of the textbooks here. You're just not allowed to leave the classroom except for designated breaks and lunch. For reasons," he finished with another wide smile.
"I'll explain more about your training when you've all eaten and come back. No one wants to hear about exercise on an empty stomach, right? Do come back, by the way, or we'll have to resort to rather drastic measures...for your own safety."
Fredric bowed out of the room gracefully, but the lingering smile on his face indicated he wouldn't be leaving them alone for too long, if he was even going to be far from them in the first place.
With that, lessons began, with the trembling Ms. Rivera gesturing for a guard to hand out basic algebra textbooks.
"If-if you're interested in self-study, j-just grab a book," she squeaked, jerking her hand at the bookshelf in an awkward gesture.
As math class ended, the woman practically fled the room after grabbing her bag. Minutes later, the next teacher arrived, a pasty, gangly man sporting thick spectacles and thin, blond hair peppered with graying strands. He handled high-school level physics, opening with a chapter on vectors and scalars. His reaction to the classroom of guarded subnaturals was significantly less uneasy than Ms. Rivera and with an almost bored tone, he droned through the day's lesson.
The last class before lunch was taught by a small, unassuming Hispanic man in an argyle sweater vest and a neat combover. He rummaged carefully in his pockets before pulling out his own pens, apparently very particular about his choice in writing utensil. With a grimace at the prospect of needing to use something as inelegant as a marker and whiteboard, he started a lesson on sentence diagramming, measuring out lines slowly and carefully with his personal ruler.
None of the teachers had bothered becoming friendly with the students, launching into their lessons after they had introduced themselves while the guards handed out textbooks.
As the class before lunch ended, Mr. Lasseter seemed to be leading up to something as ridiculous as homework when Fredric entered the room again. The man's mouth, in the middle of a sentence, clapped shut.
A quiet chuckle from Fredric was all the acknowledgment he gave the reaction before he glanced at his watch.
"Aaaand," he snapped his fingers, "lunch. Off you go now. Eat things. But not the shrubbery. Landscaping is, not surprisingly, more expensive than just ordering more raw ingredients. I'll have something fun to announce to you cats when you come back."
You have have free rein to write in reactions to Fredric's announcements, Rosa's presents, the lessons and lunch.
[@everyone]: All students will find a black card stuffed somewhere noticeable in their dorm room. The card is an invitation to the new Death and Taxes website, which has been revamped as a chatroom. The black card has the url (discord.gg/Uu5HqYR) to the new chatroom. To players joining the DnT Discord Server, we ask you to change your server nicknames to whatever your character would use. The chatroom format is a way for for characters IC to keep in touch with each other EASILY off-screen without needing to write in interactions all the time. So your future IC posts can just reference some convo from the chatroom rather than do the whole song and dance when it comes to character interaction. It's also more a way to keep track of messages from Semo, Rad, and Frisbee for IC referencing purposes. The admins/other students don't often respond due to paranoia from the last issue.
@VampireOracle: Suite 226 now has a cat bed, scratching post, cat bowl and large bag of cat food on the kitchen floor. There are cat keeping supplies such as various brushes on Sophia's desk, the most noticeable of which being a shoddily designed pamphlet titled 'Petkeeping at USARILN East'.
@RedDusk, @January and @Piercing Light: Suite 317 now has a mini fridge. Inside is one solid red, cylindrical canister of human blood in the quantity Sander requested, as well as various bottles of tomato juice and red kool-aid. Included instructions for Sander tell him to pick up his supplements weekly from one of the hospital buildings ("Bring your ID and the canister!"). Kusari's sketchbook has returned to her desk, albeit in a more disheveled and bloodstained state. Inside the front cover is a shakily scrawled "Thanks."
@GreenGoat, @Diggerton and @Snagglepuss89: Suite 318 now has a mini fridge. Hazel's medicine is inside along with further instructions for Lawrence. Inside the pantry are more of Emma's requested snacks and junkfood. Extra bottles of the same shampoo and conditioner she received earlier are in the bathroom cupboards.
@Baklava, @Chasers115 and @PapiTan: Suite 430 now has a mountain of pillows of all shapes, colours and sizes in Callan's sleeping area. It's impossible to tell that there is a bed under all that fabric and stuffing. Included in the pile are three beanbags, one in aquamarine, one in pink, and one in chestnut. A dog bed, dog bowl and large bag of dog food is on the kitchen floor. There are also poop scooping and dog keeping supplies such as a leash and various brushes on Siena's desk, the most noticeable of which being a shoddily designed pamphlet titled 'Petkeeping at USARILN East'.
@Lasrever: Room 201 has two more notepads and two more identical packs of pens on Zoe's desk. Extra bottles of the same shampoo and conditioner she received earlier are in the bathroom cupboards.
@canaryrose: Room 203 now has a music stand for violin sheet music by Savannah's desk. An electric metronome is on her desk. Extra rosin and cleaning liquid can be found in the desk drawers, as well as a set of tuning forks. Room 203 also now has a cat bed, scratching post, cat bowl and large bag of cat food on the kitchen floor. There are cat keeping supplies such as various brushes on Savannah's desk, the most noticeable of which being a shoddily designed pamphlet titled 'Petkeeping at USARILN East'
@VarionusNW: Room 301 has extra bottles of the same shampoo and conditioner she received earlier are in Allison's bathroom cupboards.
@Zombehs: Room 302 now has a guitar stand and music stand by Gregory's desk. On the desk itself is a sewing machine, a case of numerous bobbins with various colours of thread, an electric metronome, a guitar amp, two instrument cables for the amp, and another pack of the rainbow guitar picks he received earlier.
@banjoanjo: fukkin loser getting no presents. do you even know where your dorm room is? what a nerd.
Using a what are basically the equivalent of invisible, elastic reigns, Callan can partially control her shadow. Most notably, she can send it back into her shadow when she wants.
Dervish
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