Session Start: Wed Oct 12 19:14:32 2011 <@Ked> [The Hunt] <@Ked> [Thursday, August 9, 2490 - 0840 local time] <@Ked> [The lobby of Squeegee Hall] <@Ked> So the inevitable love note from the RA's came through yesterday afternoon declaring an all-students gathering this morning, to "Deal! With Business!" The doors of the building are locked - there's no escaping. Rachel and Sayori are waiting for you there... and they're both grinning. <@Ked> [Session start] * Farah doesn't look happy, but then again, the RAs have a way of getting on her nerves. Still, she's there to face the music. * Jaimie is off propping up a wall somewhere to the side, scowling faintly. * Tasiya is leaning against a wall in a protective clump of her Escalator- group. Takagi stalks the perimeter, alternately holding forth on her Big Ideas of what the meeting is all about and glaring at anyone who looks like they may have been the culprit of Tasi-cry on Tuesday. <@Ked> Off to the side of the lobby is a SnowFreight delivery agent, looking vaguely perturbed in his khaki uniform and protectively standing in front of a large cart filled with head-size boxes. * Sei tries to stand with the other StuCo reps at this gathering, but keeps his eye out to try to see who's present and who might be missing. <@Ked> The Student Council members are spread around, mostly looking grave. Except Santiago, who is nursing a glass bottle of energy drink. * John is hanging out near Sei, the StuCo being spread out. He's actually paying attention and looking serious. Friggin' RAs. * Sayori raises her EI in the air to do a headcount. The dodecahedron theatrically sprouts eyes on all twelve faces and spins, then subsides into geometric tranquility once more. * Sayori nods to Rachel. All RIGHT! * Farah starts to tap her foot impatiently, casting her eyes about here and there. We've got threeish things for you this morning, and I promise you, only one of them is bad! * Jaimie listens skeptically but attentively. * Sayori blinks. "Wait, I thought -" Oh, this is gonna be good. For instance! They're going to be glad to find out that the next major event on the calendar - midterm break! - which is only about four weeks away now! - will involve a whole week off from classes, rather than the two days on the official schedule! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! * Farah rolls her eyes. * Rachel would be waving little flags if she had any. Her EI does it for her. * Tasiya perks up a little at that and exchanges grins with her friends. Mmgh. * Sei looks dubious. And all the Ladies will be visiting campus. Call it Lady-Teacher conferences. Think of it as your opportunity to show off! Or perhaps hide in the tunnels. Oh, wait, Ladies drive in the tunnels. Nevermind! What my colleague is forgetting to mention is that you will not be allowed to go home. But, but, Ladies! * Farah rolls her eyes once again. Punk kids always roll their eyes. * Sei growls. So a week stuck here with nothing to do during the day? <@Ked> The rumble through the crowd is a combination of sighing, snarling, moaning, and hmmming. There are different opinions on this one. We're working on that part. That sounds like an amazing idea that will not at all go wrong. * Tasiya gets a weird mix of excited, bummed out, and trying not to appear too much of either. The teachers are coordinating not to give you much homework. Some reading, but not too much. Aren't they cool? What's that got to do with staying here or going home? *confused* And the bad news, dear RA-chel? * Rachel pouts. We'll, uh, get there in a bit. The second thing on the list is that the school has an official mascot now, and to celebrate we have hats! What? What is it!? *hops up and down, trying to get a better view* * Jaimie is leery of anything people stick on their heads after all the Swarm headbands. * Sayori points to the delivery man in the corner. "One at a time. They're fitted for each of you, so make sure you get the box with your name on it." * Farah takes a breath, but moves to collect her likely-to-be-terrible hat. * DeliveryGuy is suddenly swarmed with teenagers. * John doesn't try and get one. Even after the crowd is less crowdy. * Sei clearly wants to squirm his way through the press, but is actively restraining himself, trying to maintain some pretense of dignity as he peers at the crowd, waiting to see the hats on others' heads. He can get his own when the press is died down. Really. He can wait. Really! * Jaimie makes an expression of deep uncertainty, but shoves off the wall and meanders over to the end of the queue. Or mob, whatever. One at a time, everybody! They have one for all of us! No need to rush! * Sei is trying to restore order, a little. * Jaimie is not rushing. At all. <@Ked> The boxes are relatively light, and the hats, when pulled out, are accordingly delicate. The hat itself is a tight-fitting skullcap, made from tarpturf corduroy, with internal supports that keep a two-inch woody shaft pointing straight up, which in turn supports a flat circular faux fairy-pad the diameter of the wearer's head. * Sayori winces as she sees, then tries to pretend she didn't. ... not wearing that. * Tasiya tilts her head to the side and nibbles on her lip a little as she cranes around to try and take a look. <@Ked> The net effect, with the pad bobbing slightly and obscuring the stalk, is almost that of a beret which has met with some sort of horrible distortion of spacetime. It's a Lady Corset original design! * Sei makes a face. "I thought she was supposed to be GOOD at design!" * Tasiya still hasn't gotten a good look at one yet, but her eyes light up at the Lady Corset mention and she starts looking a little excited. * John just rolls his eyes. Well, she's good at fashion. For certain values thereof. I wish I had one! But all of you need to put yours on, so we can go outside and get a good group holo! Not happening. * Jaimie is not any happier now that she actually sees the hat. But she sighs and takes the box with her name on it, though she doesn't open it yet. Since Rachel hasn't mentioned it, you are now officially the Takeuchi Third Memorial Fighting Pads. ... welp. * Farah holds onto the hat. It does not go on her head, but it'll be worth something someday. * Jaimie just stares at Sayori in complete incomprehension. I wish I could have been a Pad. .... Seriously. You're fired. What?! Our mascot can't be a PLANT! That's stupid! * Jaimie rolls her eyes at John so hard she ought to have sprained them. Our mascot is a plant. Sadly, we must deal with this outcome. Mascots are supposed to represent school spirit and pride! Fairy pads lie there and take it! We're not lame fairy pads! ... * Jaimie raises her eyebrows a little at Murdon, but she seems resigned. * Farah doesn't say anything, but files away Sei's unknowing wisdom for later. Sure it can. There's no local aboriginal inhabitants to abuse with a mascot, and all the good animals are taken by schools in Q-City and Malletfall. If we ever get a sports program going, we'll want something original. We're strong and proud and active! We're few in number, but we make up for it with energy and enthusiasm! We don't lie around like peepmouse food! Ah, but you'll stand up straight, and strong, and make the world work! Just like the noble fairy pad! Now hurry up and put the hats on! No, we don't STAND! We RUN! We *fly!* * Sei is holding his Tessen over his head, giving himself extra height. * Farah shrugs, and waits for the icky part... which is to say, she takes the hat and warily puts it on. Sadly, it looks good on her. ... * DeliveryGuy is really trying to hide, now. * Sayori waves her hands at the front doors, which unlock. * Tasiya finally gets her box, and turns it around in her hands, sadly, after hearing the name. "Aww...why couldn't we have voted on our mascot names?" There's gotta be something awesome left we can have! Why should we settle for some dumb plant!? Come along, my little saladlings! Something around Takeuchi more than around other places. Something bold and daring and maybe a little dangerous 'cause we wanna strike fear in our rivals' hearts! ... I'm a salad. * Farah trudges on along. "At least I taste good with a proper vinaigrette." ...Sei...I don't really like it either, but...we don't *have* rivals yet. In sports, anyway. We will! And do we wanna be something they walk over!? Well, no, but... <@Ked> There's a haunted look on most of the students faces as they move outside to the steps. We should be something that makes them RUN! * Tasiya has taken the cap from the box and is turning that over in her hands now, instead. A tiny smile creeps up her face despite herself at the feel of the fabric, but she hides it as she puts on the cap, looking around at her friends' faces, which convey a sense of having to wear something deeply stupid. Like...like... no, the Chary-monster's too big... but-- I dunno, why couldn't we be the Silverdarts or something? * John hasn't even gotten his box. * Sayori hisses. That's a TERRIBLE idea! * Jaimie actually physically recoils. "No! Are you *insane*?" You want to be the enemy? ... ...no... * Sei deflates. "I just...they're something around here that's local and... well, not a PLANT." Yeah, well, plants aren't evil. Wooooow, Sei. Ballsy, but woooow. * Farah is smirking nonetheless. So? There're teams that're the "devils" and the "demons" and stuff.... * Tasiya already has her cap on, but tugs it on harder because of it. "Yeah, but they don't have students who regularly fight devils and demons and get hurt by them!" * Masako pipes up. "The SDS will oppose any attempt to name us the silverdarts. Vigorously." No one's been attacked by a demon in real life. * Masako has her hat on - it clashes awfully with the green dress she's wearing. * Sei hides behind his fan. "Fairypads are still a dumb idea." * Tasiya unclips her brightly colored spitterwing-feather and scale-encased- in-glass-bead hair extension and reclips it under her ear to make room for the hat. "Not as dumb as THAT." See! It's settled! Say Peepmice!!! * Jaimie hastily tugs her stupid hat on and just tries not to scowl. * Sei meeps and runs to get his hat. He may think it's dumb, but he's not gonna miss a school picture! ... peepmice. Ugh. <@Ked> It's holo, and it's daytime, so there's no flash. Just a moment of profound collective mortification. * Tasiya smiles, trying to make the best of it, and even attempts a half- hearted victory V. * John is not wearing his hat; and his arms are crossed in a defiant, angry fashion. * Sei seems to have worn just the right color shirt and pants to match the hat. ...of course, they didn't before he got the hat, but hopefully nobody notices. And his grin and V-for-victory with his right hand conceal any possible reticence he has about the silly-looking beret; in fact, he looks almost dashing with it bobbling over him. Anyway, and then there's the unpleasant bit. * Jaimie takes the hat off and stuffs it back in the box as soon as that's done with, leaving her hair slightly mussed. She looks up as Rachel starts speaking again, frowning. And here comes the nudity and the ice cream. There'd BETTER not be. There was an... incident during the talent show Saturday night. Some students thought it would be funny to embarrass the school. Perhaps worse, they attempted to frame another student for it. Carter... * Rachel pauses for effect. * Sei 's face grows grimmer, but any objections he has die on his lips. ... Actually didn't do it! I wanted another go with the mint chip, but it's not in the cards. Do you have a thing for covering people in ice cream, Rach? Want to try it sometime? * Jaimie gives Rachel a burning look, but clenches her teeth on whatever she wants to say. * Tasiya grins a huge grin of vindication, forgetting the silly-looking cap, and grips her friends' hands in excitement, bouncing slightly. <@Ked> The hat bounces with her! Haven't quite hit the experimental phase of my young hormonally- charged life yet, so I'll pass. * Sei glances at his fan, and shakes it to get it to stop trying to pop into some sort of weapon. He's glaring daggers at the nearest member of the guilty group. No. It was the players themselves - we think it was all of them, but in the end Jason could only prove it for six. * John ellipses again, palpably angry. * Jaimie's jaw tightens even more. It's actually possibly to see muscles flexing along her jawline. Huh. They hacked giant phalli into their own swordfight. I hear there was a portion of the student council who wanted expulsions! I wanted expulsions too, but Lady Spoon made it clear that ice cream enemas would be crossing the line! * Sayori edges away from Rachel slightly. * Sei foreheadpalms. * Farah actually chuckles. * Tasiya crosses her eyes a bit at that one. And to be fair, expulsions would be a little too much. However, you guys? You six ruined our shit. So we're going to ruin your shit. By expelling it. From the rooftop. Wait. Wait, what? * Tasiya 's mouth goes into a perfect O before she covers it with her hands. <@Ked> On cue, stuff starts falling from twenty stories up. Furniture. Papers. Clothing. Food. Posters. EI base stations. It's actually an impressive technical feat - you have no idea how they gathered up all those belongings and hauled them up five floors and pushed them out a window which isn't supposed to open, all in the ten minutes of the meeting. * Tasiya looks around at her friends, who seem to have mixed feelings about the issue as well. Sure, that group had been trying to sabotage them, but..."...even after we all lost so much stuff in the dorm fires...?" * Rachel looks up. "Uh, we might want to step back..." Most of them were boys - Combs just had smoke damage. * Farah calmly backpedals, almost moonwalking away from the point of impact. All this, while whistling at the feat. * Sei clears his throat, and stands on a waist-high retaining wall to make it easier to see him. "I, for one, would like to thank the RAs for their serious efforts in identifying the culprits, and in seeing through their efforts to frame others. Especially for restraining themselves and their unfortunately unorthodox punishments to those they could definitively prove were guilty." ... * Jaimie moves out of the way automatically without stopping staring upwards. Her face is almost perfectly blank, like she just can't decide what to think. Oh, right... <@Ked> Mini-fridges, a couple of bicycles, toilet paper, shampoo, holoprojectors, dataglasses, fake lightsabers... * Tasiya, in her crowd, backs up a little too. * Sei glares around at all those who were in the play. "If anybody else had any part in this shameful farce, I extol you to make up for it in some slight way by quietly - so as not to embarrass yourselves further - sharing your 'shit' (as Rachel-san so kindly put it) with those who have taken the punishment for you." * John can't really figure out whether to be alarmed, angry, or proud. He sort of just stands there, watching the rain. ALL of you who were involved owe Carter-san a huge apology. * Jaimie glances over at Murdon once and then goes back to watching stuff rain down. * Sei blocks a falling bicycle that was going to hit him on the head with his iron-ribbed fan, deflecting it without so much as flinching. Oh, and you can't take anything back into your rooms except what you have on you right now. We've mounted cameras. Outside and inside. And no sleeping in other people's rooms. * Tasiya wrinkles her brow. "Wait, what? Why?" I mean, I get the whole no sleeping in other people's rooms thing... Not you, them. * Tasiya blushes darkly as she says that last. Oh! Oops. * Tasiya blushes even darker as her friends good-naturedly rib her about her misparse. <@Ked> Underwear, pants, a couple of peepmice, and last but not least, the mattresses. * Tasiya catches Sei's deflect in her peripheral vision, and has a flash of a future where Sei comes out as an MG and absolutely nobody is surprised. * Jaimie's eyes go wide at the peepmice and she whips around to look at the RAs. "You threw *peepmice* off the top of the building?" * John blinks, and tries to catch the peepmice, shaking off his fugue. Even in the middle of all the other falling debris. * Sei dives to catch the peepmice as best he can, fan open to provide a cushy surface! Everything in their rooms. If they'd been hiding an off-campus girlfriend or three, they'd have gone too! You can't throw ANIMALS off! They could die! <@Ked> It's an ugly, broken pile just beside the doorway. They've planned it well enough that it doesn't obstruct foot traffic, much. They likely have. Ugh. Rach, I know you all are pissed as hell, and you don't get any blowback from this, but... seriously, geez. How bad did you all get ripped into? <@Ked> The peepmice disappear into the pile, then come scurrying out for less-stinky cover. * Jaimie didn't have time to catch peepmice by the time she recognized what they were, but she's glaring so hard at the RAs that if looks could kill they'd both be cinders. They're little, they wouldn't have gotten smashed unless the heavy stuff hit them, and most of that went first... Mmm? It's not like it was our fault. We're just doing our job. * Sei breathes a sigh of relief from the ground where he fell, and goes chasing after them. "Will they be okay out here?" *Twenty stories*. And we're not supposed to have ANY pets on-campus anymore, after all the things the 'darts get into.... But... ugh. Nevermind. * Farah waves it off and does a good job of curtailing her disgust. That's not actually a rule. And frankly given the last few weeks it's probably not even a recommendation anymore. That's true. But there's no call to be throwing them off a building. Poor peepmice. *frowns sadly* * John steps back from the pile; less alarmed. He watches for something larger. <@Ked> Braxton and the gang are looking aghast. You're not sure how much their parents had sunk into the furnishings, but it's going to be difficult to explain. * Rachel claps her hands. "That's it! Have a good day!" No, no, wait. You forgot the last thing. That was the last thing! No, we have news about the dorms, remember? Last... thing? * Rachel blinks. "We do?" * Sei walks up to Braxton-tachi, reaches up to thwap Braxton on the head - lightly - with the metal fan, and says, "You. Carter. Apologize. Go." * Sayori groans. "Whatever. The damage assessments are in for the real dorms, and you're going to be in Squeegee until semester break. That's all." * Tasiya moans along with everyone else at this news. * Rachel blinks. "We are?" Weeeelp. * Sayori walks off towards the Academy cafeteria, Rachel crying on her shoulder. Earlier than I thought... * Tasiya pouts and floats off with the rest of her group. And so much for that load. I'm going to go wipe the image I have of Rach out of my head now. * Sei glowers at Braxton and the others, expecting them to do as commanded. <@Ked> There's a lot of grumbling as the gathering disperses. A few people who got splattered by the fallout run back inside for showers. * John just glares angrily and non-focusedly, stalking off. * Braxton is a little too shell-shocked to notice the bossy little freshman. ...we didn't DO it... ...you didn't? *stands on tip-toes to eye him, trying to see if he's lying or not* * Hantsuki manifests and mutters something in Sei's ear. * Sei steps back, horrified. He mutters a hasty apology, and backs away, whispering something in Japanese back to Hantsuki. NANI!? * Hantsuki starts fake-pulling him away. * Sei is pulled, whispering frantically. * Sei nods, and is NOT about to cry. Even as he looks pityingly back at Braxton an' crew. * Braxton is crying. A little. * Tasiya eyes the Wildfire Fan Club stuff from Braxton's room on the pile and lags a little behind her friends so that she can spit discreetly on it, before catching up. * Farah is starting to move along, hands in her pockets. It's kind of hard to gauge the look on her face, but she's turned the hat backwards, so that has to mean something. * Sei looks desperately about. * Jaimie is just standing there watching people leave. She looks up at the building, then over towards the running path. Neither seem to appeal to her, so she keeps standing for the moment. * Masako is walking off towards the Administration building, her dress blending in with the green of the quad. * Sei is torn between approaching Jaimie, chasing after Tasiya and friends, running to catch up with Farah, or heading after Masako. * John is off apart and alone a ways off; head rested - or butted - against a wall. * Sei asks Hantsuki to ask Farah and Tasiya when would be a good time to talk to them about something involving justice, and heads after Masako, as she's the hardest person for him to find, usually. His disturbed countenance is not entirely gone, but he's trying to smile to hide it. <@Ked> A couple of uniformed Guards are out walking by Squeegee hall, coming from the north - it looks like the second tower may be getting some usage now. * Farah gets the bleep from Hants, and reads the message before shrugging to herself. No reply just yet, she's still a bit too uneasy about the whole RA mess. * GuardCorporal peels off from the other two and walks over to John. She give the pile of stuff on the steps a strange look and avoids the puddle of odd fluids. Lord Wind, sir? Mmgrh. * John still has his forehead docked with the wall. * Tasiya gets the message ping and routes it through her thankfully-survived- the-fire Bouyer dataglasses. She raises an eyebrow at the weird message and ignores it for now, going towards breakfast and then maybe recoordinating her outfit to match the cap before classes. I don't want to interrupt if this is a bad time, my lord, but I was given a message for you. * John lifts his head; and rubs his forehead. "Sorry. Just a headache." He smiles, amiably, at the Guard. "Alright, I'm listening." Olivia says hi, and she wishes you'd visit sometime. * John blinks. "What?" Where is she? * GuardCorporal just smiles, and tucks a strand of brown hair back into her cap. "I think she misses you." Of course. Herc, is her EI online? That's a no, boss. She's in one of the guest quarters in Zone 11. Protective custody, they told me. * John checks out something on his EI, making sure he gets a good recording of the Guard in front of him while pulling up a map. Do you have a room or building number? They didn't tear down all the resort structures in Z11 - just most of them. It's the hotel-looking thing - like the core section of your dorm - well, old dorm - here. She's got the penthouse, even. * Hercules points it out, shrinking to a mini-Herc hovering over the building in the holofield. "No prob, boss, except Zone 11 is kinda restricted." * John sort of has a deer-in-headlights look; or maybe it's shock. It's quite an odd combination with his cheerful smile. "Thank you. Just one more question. Is this on the level, or... off it?" Huh? Oh. Nevermind then. I guess I'm still a little paranoid. * GuardCorporal smiles. "She mentioned she was dating you, I mentioned I thought I'd seen you on campus. She said to tell you hi, and here we are. She's a lucky girl." * John just smiles, one of those bashful naive smiles you'd expect to see on Sei. "Yeah..." He nods, then looks at the map. "Thank you, so much." You two would be so cute together. Is there anything you'd like me to tell her? Nothing direct. Just let her know that I know. I can do that! * GuardCorporal grins and salutes. "You have a good day, Lord Wind." * John salutes back. "You too, ma'am." * GuardCorporal walks off to catch up with her fellow Guards. "Don't call me ma'am!" * John chuckles. Once she's back with her group, and he's safely alone again, he simply asks, "Herc, does she check out?" How do you mean, boss? She's not retired, not posing, she's in and current, and she looks like herself? Yes, I know I'm being paranoid. Corporal Tasha Miller - assigned special projects, which we now know is Zone 11 mostly. 23. Second-generation colonist... we've seen her on campus before, she was at a desk up in the Guard offices. If she's fakin' it, she's got the whole Guard fooled. Good enough for me. So... how bad is zone 11? Bad as in tough to get into? You've been there lots of times, boss. Perimeter security is as good as it gets on Snowflake. People moving around the base aren't obviously monitored, though. And we sure don't know what's in the hotel-thing. Well, I'm fairly sure they don't have radar up, if I take the high road. * Hercules rezzes out and pans up a holo looking out over the base grounds from shoulder height. "You see that dome off to the right? Radar. Don't know what class." * John hrms. "Okay. I got an idea. After classes." * Hercules flexes. "We gonna bust in, boss?" Maybe. Still figuring out the details. If we do it, we probably won't be able to deny it afterwards. Just sayin'. Like I give a damn! Anyways. Hush about this. Sure thing! You can trust me! <@Ked> [end session] Session Close: Wed Oct 12 21:52:25 2011