⌈⌈ New Message 10:37 AM
From: Carol Reed, M.D.
No use for an escort unless you want to join us for lunch ⌋⌋
“... Dammit, Carol” Juliana Kraus, the chairman of Roan Academy mutters under her breath.
She turns to her assistant, Emilia, walking alongside her as they both head back to her office.
“Has my schedule for the rest of the day been cleared?” She asks her assistant.
“Yes, madam. I was able to reschedule most of your meetings for tomorrow to early next week. I was grateful to the parties who were willing to accommodate the sudden change since not everyone was able to do the same. For those appointments I was unsuccessful in rescheduling, have either been delayed indefinitely or outright canceled. I will send you that list. Unfortunately, this also means there are some members who are not too happy with the decision. I suggest, for the sake of maintaining healthy relations, madam chairman issue letters expressing our sincere apology for the inconvenience, and our appreciation for their continued support-”
“Noted.”
“Mr. Kozlenkov of Ostrogas, Ms. Tallon of BT Financial Group and Representative Martin Ropewell have all requested direct communication from the madam chairman to explain her situation. I was unable to relay your full message before those demands were made-”
“Of course not” Juliana sighs.
“My apologies, my lady.” Emilia bows.
“It’s expected with those three.”
“As major stakeholders in Roan Academy's expansion, I recommend the madam chairman reach out to these three members as soon as possible. If you could pencil them in some time during your open schedule that would be ideal.”
Juliana stops at the door of her office and directs a look of discontent to her assistant. It is not that her assistant has said or done anything wrong, in fact, she has handled her job as well as expected, and her recommendations are sound. The only problem, however, is one that is glaringly obvious at times such as this one.
“So, is my schedule for the of the day free?”
“Yes, madam!”
“Then why do you want to fill it up with more work?” she asks in a worn-out voice, propping her door open, and walking into her office.
Emilia blinks a few times as she comes to realize her mistake. An occupational hazard. She cannot help but think of work in every passing opportunity. In the words of the chairwoman herself, ‘Emilia is the personification of dedication and hard work that strives for nothing but perfection.’
It is that kind of natural talent that has resulted in Emilia's inability to separate herself from her profession.
“Forgive me,” Emilia feeling slightly ashamed. “I did not realize.”
She follows behind the chairwoman to her desk, standing across from her as Juliana takes her seat.
She waits patiently for instructions from her boss who is quietly mulling over a message she received some twenty or so minutes ago.
“About the new student-” Juliana finally speaks.
“Yes, Sam Holt. We have a party stationed at the hospital to escort the transfer to the academy upon his discharge today. We have also come to learn that he has been in the custody of Tillmor authorities since early morning. The hospital’s regulations allow the authorities at least two hours with a recuperating patient to be questioned, or so we have been told. We are expecting him to be released and minute now,” Emilia reports.
Juliana takes a quick glance at the clock on her desk.
“Instruct whichever team is down there to return to the academy, there is no point in them waiting at the hospital any longer.”
“... Are we not expecting Sam to be discharged today?” Emilia asks somewhat confused. She scans her device notifications to see if there is a recent message from the hospital announcing the change, but there is none.
“He will be … if he has not been already,” Juliana huffs. “Continue on with all other preparations for the new transfer student, he will be here on his own.”
“Understood. I will relay the message to the student council to handle … But when are we expecting him to arrive?”
The chairwoman takes a long-winded breath as she leans back on her. She looks up at her assistant with a faint smile.
“I'm not sure yet,” she says as if she could not believe it either. “I'm in the middle of those negotiations, apparently.”
“I don't quite follow ...” Emilia puzzled by the chairwoman's statement.
“Should I go get him now or should I make her bring him later? That kind of situation,” the chairwoman scoffs.
Emilia, still confused, shakes her head. “Forgive me, I still don't follow … Are you saying that you will personally escort the transfer?” she asks. “I would advise against taking such an action, my lady. You have your council as well as me for such menial tasks. The madam chairman is much too busy with far more important tasks pertaining to the growth and stability of Roan Academy. I, as your right hand, can handle everything else,” she says with confidence.
“As reliable as always, Emilia,” the chairwoman says with a gentle smile on her face. “But I have an open schedule for the remainder of the day. I can handle this myself.”
“But-” she tries to object,
“It's a personal invitation from a friend, and I have already promised to share a meal with her at some point,” the chairwoman interjects. “The transfer will arrive sometime in the afternoon, let's prepare to receive him then and not have kids waiting aimlessly outside these academy walls any longer.”
“... Understood” Emilia reluctantly accepts the chairwoman’s orders.
She takes a bow, turns, and heads to her desk to relay instructions to the student council.
Juliana glances at her message from the doctor and scoffs ...
“... Dammit, Carol” she mutters under her breath.
************
Carrie, Logan, and Bradley step out from a transport vehicle that has just arrived at one of the Roan Academy's drop-off zones. They are returning from the hospital after having their assignment canceled unexpectedly.
“Wow, I can't believe we wasted all that time,” an irate Logan exits the vehicle with a complaint.
Carrie lets out an exasperated sigh. “You've been saying that since we left the hospital, I'm getting really tired of hearing it” she tells him.
“You don't think it's weird that we keep failing simple escort missions?”
“You’ve said this too-” Carrie huffs.
“Because it’s true and ridiculous,” Logan raves.
“We didn’t fail, the mission was canceled. Get it right!” Carrie corrects him.
“Right, whatever. It doesn't change anything,” Logan grumbles. “I'm telling you, we shouldn't be tangled with this Sam kid, it’s bad news.”
Listening to his party member voice his frustration, Bradley places his hand on Logan's shoulder to calm him down.
“We don’t take any demerits on canceled missions,” Bradley reminds him, “but we are on standby now. Let's try not to lose our heads over things that are beyond our control. I'm sure we'll be notified as soon as a decision is made.
Logan lets out a sigh and brushes Bradley's hand off of him. “I know, man ... I'm just saying, it's our first mission in a long time and this happens. Our rep will go south at this rate”
“Then we just need to work harder on our next assignments, right?” Bradley encourages him. He looks at the clock and remembers the academy competitions. “It looks like we are back in time to watch the first-year competitions. What do you say, should we all take a break this afternoon?”
Carrie jumps up with excitement, “Oh, that’s right! Tess should be competing in mock battles right about now. I want to see how my lil' sister doing, so I'm in!”
“Who's your little sister, weirdo?” Logan ridicules her
“Shut your trap, idiot!” she snaps at him.
Bradley chuckles. “I'll go report our return and join you later at the arena,” he tells his teammates.
“Yes, captain!” Carrie and Logan salute Bradley. He takes his leave, vanishing into thin air after a few steps.
As the two members begin to head for the arena where the first year tournaments are held, they are stopped by a handful of fellow students, and among them is someone they would rather not see. One of Roan Academy's top Second-Year students, recognized for his gifted talent in the arts, charming-good looks, and for being one asinine douchebag, Joshua Falgrow.
He shoves his way to the front, coming face to face with Carrie and Logan.
Seeing Josh with a snarky grin appear right in front of them, Carrie's and Logan's moods quickly turn sour.
“I didn't realize you were released from your janitorial duties and are now back to doing escort missions outside the academy. I should congratulate you,” Joshua greets them the only way he knows how.
All the students burst into laughter, echoing Josh's mockery. “Congratulations on your promotion!” they all snicker.
Carrie scoffs and directs an icy glare at Josh that silences the crowd.
“Logan, do you have an air freshener spell in your book? There's a stench of rotting corpses all of sudden,” she immediately threatens Josh and his pose.
“Didn't you already know that I can't heal suicidal idiots?” Logan responds.
Joshua's grin widens. “Ah right, right. I forget how cool you guys are, too cool,” he says. “But let's try to play nice, huh, or you'll scare the children.” He gestures to his followers.
“What do you want now?” an irritable Logan asks.
“What we all want from you ... Answers, my friend. It's been a month, and no one has said a peep beyond what they keep feeding the public.” Josh replies in an animated fashion.
“Then just accept what's already reported by the authorities and leave us alone,” Logan groans.
Josh scoffs. “Do you think we're stupid?-”
“Yes!” Carrie with a quick response.
“We all know there’s more going on here than what they are letting on. The whole school knows. So, you need to share the details,” Josh demands. “Were we attacked or was he attacked?”
Carrie and Logan stand there in silence, refusing to answer to Josh’s demands.
“I even heard talk that the transfer crossed the rift without any protection,” he says. “And survived? … bullshit.”
Logan chuckles, feeling both amused and annoyed. “I don't know where you get these rumors from,” he says. “He's just some nobody that got involved in an unfortunate accident. So, give it a rest.”
Joshua narrows his stare, suspicious of Logan's response. His instincts are telling him that there's information out there and that these two have been sworn to keep secret. The thought of it is feeding Josh’s insatiable curiosity. He runs his fingers through his hair and lets out a faint sigh.
“Ah, you two are difficult, very difficult. If you continue being this selfish, how can we call each other friends?” he mocks them.
“We're not friends” Carrie with a quick response.
“Seriously!” Logan echoes her.
Josh scoffs, shrugging off the emotional reaction of his supposed two friends.
“See, this is why I wanted the chance to get answers from the source itself, but I see the transfer isn't here. Why? Did you fail this mission too?” he mocks them again. “You must've really liked cleaning bathrooms.”
Laughter and ridicule erupt from the other students and Josh basks in the limelight.
Carrie and Logan feel their patience being chipped at slowly.
“If you were just going to waste this assignment too, the student council should have given it to my party. After all those requests I've sent ... many, many requests ... They decided to give it to a party that's supposed to be under suspension. Tsk, how irritating.”
Carrie takes a step forward with a murderous look in her eyes.
“Hey, do you just like hearing yourself talk?” she asks in a threatening tone.
“What?” Josh’s demeanor also turns cold.
“If you are that unhappy about the assignment, go take your issues up with the student council. I have enough patience for one whiny person who happens to be in my team. Now step aside, or I'm going to consider you blocking the way as an act of aggression and just plow my way through.” She stretches out her right arm and her orange wand shoots out from the sleeve of her blouse.
This prompts Joshua's followers to manifest their own weapons in anticipation of a battle. One carried a mace, another a saber, another held a spear, dual pistols, brass knuckles, and so on. Each student with a unique weapon akin to their fighting styles.
And Joshua, unfazed, had only a sinister grin on his face …
“Tsk tsk, and here I came just to have a nice chat with old friends. If you act like this, how can we not defend ourselves?”
“I'll give you five seconds to clear away,” Carrie warns. “Five”
Logan immediately backs away, heeding Carrie's warning to Joshua and his followers. As a member of her party, Logan is well aware of Carrie's abilities and would rather not be caught in the crossfire. Confident that his partner will handle things well, he calmly pans away from the ensuing tension to watch random students and strangers strolling about.
“Those of our social standing should be willing to engage in conversation. So, if you just talk, we won't have to do this the hard way,” Josh insists on Carrie and Logan to give in to his demands.
“I have better things to do than waste time with you. Four.”
Joshua tries to take a step forward but is stopped by Carrie's wand suddenly pointed at him. His smile immediately vanishes, leaving only a cold and menacing look about him.
“... My generosity can only go so far,” he warns her.
“So does my patience. Three.”
“Hey, h-hey Carrie ...” Logan interjects as something from a distance catches his attention.
Carrie looks at Logan from the corner of her eye while keeping her wand on Joshua.
“What is it?” she asks.
“Isn’t that the transfer?”
“What?!”
“Sam.”
