DALEK WEEK: Generations

AN: I think that this entry to the DALEK Week needs a little more of an explanation than any of the other prompts. When I saw the theme Generations, a story that has been weaving its way around my head immediately popped to mind. It's a long story, one that's unlikely to get written, but I wanted to start on its introduction here for this prompt.

It's a modern day fiction and one that is slightly strange. I have read several fictions about Leviathan being set in the modern world, but I found some a little too angst-centric for my liking. That's why I'm writing my own 'Modern-Day-Leviathan' fic.

Alek's mother had told him to have fun as he'd left for the airport. She had told him to make friends and generally enjoy himself and to 'take care!'. His father, on the other hand had told him to study hard and come back a wiser, more accomplished man. Alek was unsure which path he should follow, for it seemed that they wouldn't intersect.

Alek himself was still skeptical as to the need for him to go to boarding school now of all times. However, both of his parents had surprisingly agreed on the need for him to interact with his peers. Alek had tried to dissuade them, but the awkward meeting with the Princess of Sweden had shown exactly how much aptitude he had at people skills.

Being around children his age shouldn't have been a problem, but Alek was the son of the President of the Republic of Austria. His Father, Franz Ferdinand was very important, in the fact that he had been re-elected for three terms straight. The first term had started when Alek had been just three. Then, Alek had lost his loving Father to the cold hard world of politics. Franz Ferdinand left behind an aloof, reserved man who rarely showed displays of affection.

Alek had been isolated, tutored to be the best at everything, privately, alone. And everyone who had taught him agreed that he was bright, unnaturally so. Which was why he was now on a four hour flight to London to join the Royal Regent's Park Academy for Gifted Children. The flight itself was nearly torture. Alek had not been allowed to sulk in peace. Instead he was tormented by several air hostesses asking him if he needed anything, calling him cute and pinching his cheeks or asking him about politics, in the case of one older hostess. Alek had attempted to decline all of these, in favour of reading a large 800 page book about mechaniks. It had been written by a man called Klopp, whom his father had recommended highly as a brilliant man. It was also a large coincidence that Klopp taught at RRPAGC.

The book was brilliant, but that fact that it was written in Hungarian made his understanding of the exact terminology and specific engine types patchy at best. He was considered to be nearly fluent in Hungarian but of course, there were obvious technological terms that Alek hadn't been taught by his tutors. He would have to ask Klopp when he reached the Academy.

(X)

Alek's first thought upon arriving at the academy was of how imposing it looked. The heavily ornate wood-carved door with Latin motto, Scientia est potentia; qui novit, regnat, made Alek wonder just how fanatic about learning the people at this place would be. After all, with a motto like 'Knowledge is power, he who knows reigns supreme', it all sounded rather ruthless.

Of course, the lack of people around the area was also strangely worrying. Alek turned to look back at the taxi. The driver was still waiting, as wordless as he had been from the moment Alek had joined the white card, saying 'Hohenburg'. The driver gestured for Alek to move forwards, so lifting his four bags (for which he had been thrown strange looks at the airport for having), Alek walked up the marble steps and knocked on the old wooden door.

Nothing happened. Alek waited for a few moment s and knocked on the door again. There was no response. Alek was seriously doubting whether he was in the right location when the old door swung open to reveal a tall blonde girl with short cropped hair. The first thing that was the most noticeable about her was her bright red and yellow scarf, tied around her neck. She also wore a scruffy green jumper, of which, the sleeves rolled up and faded jeans.

"Ach, I'm sorry I'm late," said the girl, with a strong Scottish brogue as she shut the door behind Alek. "The Welcoming Committee take too bliddy long to make a decision. So I came over here without their permission."

She then truly looked at him and she took a double-take. "Blimey, you've got a lot of luggage!" she said and Alek flushed.

"Ach, I'm being rude, aren't I? Me mam would have a fit if she knew how strange I was being. Then again, she has a fit, no matter what I do. Deryn Sharp. What's your name?" she said, extending a hand towards Alek.

Alek placed his suitcases down and kissed her hand as was the manners he had been taught. "Aleksander Hohenburg. Or Alek. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

Her eyebrows rose. "Blisters, you act like a toff. All you needed to do was shake my hand. But you've got a bit of an accent there mate. You certainly aren't from England. Where are you from?" she said, taking some of his luggage as they headed towards the corridor in the corner of the opulent room.

"Austria." said Alek shortly. "It's in Central Europe."

The girl rolled her eyes at him. 'I know where Austria is! I'm not an idiot. I do know my basic geography. My brother wouldn't let me live it down if I didn't." She then looked at him straight on. "But barking spiders, that's quite a way to come. Must've cost a pretty penny for your parents."

Alek looked away. "Money isn't an issue."

Deryn nodded. "I didn't think it would be. From the way you acted….Anyway, that's just a dead end. Which year are you going into, Alek?"

Alek paused. "Year Nine, I do believe."

Deryn looked surprised. "Well ain't that a coincidence!" she exclaimed, 'I'm in third form too. Year Nine is what they call them in public schools, but we're an academy and a boarding school to put, so things are a little strange here."

"Oh?" asked Alek, "How so?"

Deryn opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by a "Sharp!" that came from a linking room from the corridor they were currently walking along.

She rolled her eyes but beckoned Alek to follow her into the room. "What is it, Roberts?" she asked a tall, bulky looking boy with black hair.

"What's the deal with walking out on us?" asked Roberts.

Deryn rolled her eyes. "I went to get the new kid, since you numbskulls couldn't make a decision quick enough." She said, gesturing towards Alek.

A blonde boy rolled his eyes in the corner. "That's against protocol, Miss Sharp."

"I'll tell you what's against protocol, leaving the poor kid out there wondering whether he's in the right place!" said Deryn hotly.

The Roberts boy nodded. "Mr. Fitzroy, she has a point. Now then," he said, referencing to a clipboard in front of him. "Mr. Hohenburg?" he asked, obviously about the pronounciation.

Alek nodded. "Right then, Mr Hohenburg, do you know where your dorm is?" Roberts asked. Alek shook his head. "Okay then, I'll need a volunteer to take him to C-Floor in dorms."

Deryn piped up. 'I'll take him, Roberts. I know where his exact dorm is, he's rooming with Newkirk. Newkirk's been excited all hols about it."

The blonde boy, who Roberts had called Fitzroy smirked. "Right, and you know where Newkirk's room is, so… intimately."

Deryn's face sharpened into a cold glare and he saw her hands clench into tight fists. Alek had no doubt that she had a very hard punch so quickly intervened. "Well then, we'll be off then. My luggage is quite heavy. I do want to drop it off somewhere. Dorm's a good place as any." He gabbled, towing her away from the room.

Deryn looked furious. "What did you do that for! He deserved to have a punch in the head!" she hissed at him.

Alek nodded. 'I'm sure he did, but you'd be the one in trouble, wouldn't you? Assault of another student wouldn't be too good, would it?"

Deryn nodded reluctantly and cooled down. "Fitzroy's an absolute bumrag. Just because his father is one of the rich toffs who benefact the school, he thinks he has the right to do whatever he wants. And the prefects let him, as well. It's absolute clart, but teachers don't catch wind of it, either. I was miserable all of First Form because of him and his mates."

Alek felt sorry for her, she seemed genuinely sorrowful, and she had been so very cheerful the whole way through their meeting. Neither had she minded about his strange tendencies. "Well," said Alek, "It shouldn't be allowed. Someone should tell a teacher."

Deryn grinned. "Nope. Not allowed. Rule One: Matters between students, stay between students. You can get prefects and the seniors involved if need be, but you smooth over and play nice around teachers. It's one of the peculiarities we apparently share with Eton. But they're a bunch of strange toffs who can go roll in clart for all this school takes notice of them."

Alek wasn't sure where Eton was, but he was aware that they were one of the best schools in the world for secondary students.

"What other rules are there?" asked Alek, as they came out of the corridors onto a plant lined pathway.

"Well…."

(X)

The rules discussion took Alek all the way to his dormitory. He was blithely told by Deryn that all the students roomed in one large building. There were six floors and he was on the third floor. He was also told that the ground floor was for congregation, not the dorms, a rule that was largely ignored, but one to keep in mind when talking to teachers. The ground floor consisted of the tuck shop, the library and seating areas for groups of friends who just wanted to chat.

Alek was about to ascend the many flights of stairs when Deryn dragged him to another room. "Take the lift, you daftie!" she said, pressing the button that motioned upwards, "You were right when you said these suitcases were heavy, because I can't be asked to lug them up the stairs and I'm supposed to be an athlete as well!"

There was a ping and Alek and Deryn entered the mirrored lift. A lizard scampered out of the lift and Alek stared in horror as it continued along the ceiling of the ground floor. Deryn on the other hand, gazed at it with envy. "Ah, what a lucky soul! To have a message lizard and be allowed to use it in school, lucky indeed."

Alek merely gazed at the spot it had been in the lift as it started its transit upwards. "What was that?" he asked, feeling horrified.

"A message lizard." said Deryn, looking at him oddly

Alek still felt horrified. "But what does it do?" he asked and mentally added, 'Why do you use it?'

Deryn laughed in relief. "Ach, I forget that you're from a Clanker country. You tell them messages and they record it perfectly and play it back to the person you want to hear it. Good for lazy people or for long distance messages."

Alek chuckled, even if it was a godless fabrication; that had been funny. Deryn, he had noticed in his short time of meeting her, had an easy wit and humour about her that Alek envied.

They arrived at door 44C and Deryn pushed it open. "The dorms are strange here," said Deryn, as she wrestled with the bags into the small alcove that led to two doors. "You share something similar to a mini apartment. These two doors lead to your bedrooms and there'll be another door at the end that will lead to a small study room with two or three chairs and a table. It's a bit odd, but it works." She then regarded the two doors with a beady eye. "Now, is Newkirk the left room or the right room?" she said, under her breath.

She looked indecisive, so Alek knocked on the right door. There was no response, so Alek pushed open the door. To his relief, the room was empty. He had picked the right door. The two moved his suitcases in next to the bed and Deryn slumped to the ground. "Barking spiders Alek, those bags are gigantic and heavy! What did you put in them, bricks?"

"Books, actually," said Alek stiffly. He'd never had any companions as a child and books had been an outlet for his imagination and creativity.

"Ooh, you're a proper reader then, if your suitcase is that heavy! What's your specialty?" asked Deryn, straightening, dramatically.

"Mechaniks, Languages and Science," said Alek coolly.

"That's brilliant!" said Deryn with a grin, "Mine's are Science, Art and Sport. Means I don't really get the time to read too many books. You'll get along with Pauline though. Which Science do you specialize in?"

"I specialize in Physics. Quantum mechanics is fascinating and so are the energy conversions. It's a lot like Maths. Very logical. And who's Pauline?" said Alek, inspecting the bed as he talked.

"Ahh, that's a shame. I much prefer natural sciences. Beasties and fabrications are ten times better than cold dead machines." said Deryn hotly

"Are we really going to get into that particular argument on the newbie's first day?" asked a cockney voice.

Alek swung around to look at a sturdy looking boy with mousy brown hair and a lot of pimples all over his face. He leant casually against the wall, wearing a thick woolen jumper and plain trousers.

"You're right, Newkirk. Which is a surprise," said Deryn dryly and Newkirk stuck his tongue out at her. Alek suppressed a smile, the two seemed to have a rapport already.

"Me name's Newkirk," said the boy, sticking out a hand. 'What about you then?"

Alek reached the boy's hand and shook it firmly. "Alek Hohenburg. I assume that you're my roommate?"

"Yeah, that's right mate." He said with a grin, "I'll have to warn you though, I snore a fair bit, which is why I haven't had a roommate since First Form."

Deryn snorted. "A fair bit, indeed. Your snores sound like an earthquake's come and hit Britain, which wouldn't happen anyway, because—"

"Because of plate tectonics. Yes, we know Deryn. You've only explained it a hundred times." said Newkirk with the roll of his eyes. "She's a right chatterer. Doesn't shut up. It's torture sitting next to her in class. So don't choose to sit next to her. She could talk the hind leg off a dog."

"You mean the hind leg off of Tazza." laughed Deryn, grinning shamelessly. Newkirk shuddered.

"What's Tazza?" asked Alek, feeling out of the loop.

"It's Dr. Barlow's godless animal that she parades around with her all the time." said Newkirk, looking vaguely nauseated. Alek felt his mouth split into a grin.

"You're a clanker?" he asked, wondering if he had an ally in his roommate.

"Not quite," answered Deryn leaning back against Alek's bed. "He and his mum are Monkey Luddites. Overly religious. Hate anything fabricated. Which is why it's stupid that you are afraid of Tazza. How many times has Dr. Barlow said that Tazza is perfectly natural? Blisters, it's only a Tasmanian Tiger."

Newkirk shuddered again. "It still gives me the creeps, wandering around during lessons….But speaking of Dr. Barlow, I have a tutoring session with her. It should have been with Mr. Matthews, but he's ill and won't be arriving till next week anyway. Sixth and Seventh Form don't have to come back for another week. Lucky blighters."

The stocky boy waved a brief goodbye before exiting the room. Deryn grinned at Alek and Alek had to smile back. "What do you think?" she asked.

"About what?" replied Alek. There was so much to be thought about, addressing just one would be tricky.

"Everything." said Deryn vaguely, gesturing wildly with her hands.

"It's okay, I guess. You know, I was dreading coming here. My parents forced me to." Said Alek conversationally, looking up at the elaborately carved four poster bed with great interest.

"Why?" asked Deryn, sounding genuinely curious.

"I couldn't talk to people." mumbled Alek quietly. Deryn still heard and looked mildly confused.

"But you're talking to me now!" she exclaimed. "And you said that one of your specialties was with languages."

"Not like that!" he said loudly, before deflating. "You saw how I greeted you. It was old and outdated. And I gabble. And I'm not funny."

Deryn snorted. Alek glared at her and she put her hands up in a passive symbol. "First world problems. Look Alek, I really don't give much of a damn about your antiquated ways. In fact, they are rather funny and in themselves, rather dashing. You're nice and you seem level-headed, which is more than I can barking claim. So don't put yourself down before I barely know you."

Alek flushed. 'Thanks Deryn."

"Ach, it ain't a problem. Now, I am not looking forward to returning to the Committee, so how would you like a tour of the school, newbie?"

Alek blinked. If Newkirk was right in one thing, it was that Deryn was a chatterer. But that was okay, seeing as Alek could barely talk. "Why not?" he asked. "After you, then."

(X)

"And this is the Science block," said Deryn, as they walked out of the Dormitorial block to the red brick building straight ahead. "We have four lessons a week. Three of them will be with Dr. Barlow, who will teach us Chemistry and Biology. We're usually in the first lab along the corridor," explained Deryn as she pushed open a bright red door to reveal the room.

It was a large spacious lab, with five large wooden desks stretching across the middle of the room. Along the sides were smaller lab tables with some experiments already set up. There were large science posters spread up all over the white walls and the front of the room had both a whiteboard and a Projector SMARTboard.

A woman with a large bowler hat on her head sat at a table with Newkirk and seemed to be explaining photosynthesis. Alek refrained from rolling his eyes, because he would have to put up with his roommate for a long time, but he'd known about photosynthesis when he was 10. The woman wore a tailored blouse, long patterned tie and fitted waistcoat, paired with a long purple skirt that fell to the floor.

"That's Dr. Barlow then?" he asked Deryn.

"Aye, and Tazza too." Said Deryn, pointing towards the sandy coloured dog with stripes. "It's very…enthusiastic. We were doing pH chemical reactions last year and we were waiting for the chemical reaction with potassium to happen when Tazza pulled down all of the curtains. We thought the reaction had already gone and we'd missed it before we realized what had happened. When all of our attention was over there, the potassium solution went off. Worst lesson ever." recounted Deryn, much to Alek's amusement.

Alek scanned the room again and nodded, the room looked like a great environment to learn in. "So who teaches the fourth lesson?" asked Alek as he closed the door.

Deryn sighed and rolled her eyes. "Dr. Tesla. He's into Physics but I tell you, he's ain't half barmy. He mostly teaches the older years, so it's the first year we've had him as a continuous teacher. Before we've only ever had him as a sub, and even then he was uber creepy."

Alek nodded, this didn't look to good for his Physics lessons. She gestured to a green door and Alek pushed it open. The class was the same size as the previous one but was filled to the brim with experiments and large metal equipment so the tables in the middle looked horribly squished together. Alek stared, most of the machinery looked just like the things he used to tinker with back at home. His fingers itched to be able to go and open up their insides, but Deryn was getting impatient, so Alek shut the door and vowed to ask Dr. Tesla another time.

"Where to next?" asked Alek as Deryn rounded the stairs.

"Upstairs is Geography and History." said Deryn, as she jumped up the stairs two at a time. Alek quickly chased her up the stairs, nearly tripping over his shiny, pointy black loafers.

Deryn pointed to a black door and rapped lightly on it. When there was no answer, Deryn pushed it open.

It revealed a neat and orderly classroom, which Alek was fairly impressed by. Instead of the benches of the science classrooms, there were five columns of paired tables, each with their own stack of textbooks on the shelves behind them all. The walls were white, but it was barely visible beneath the large timeline of history that stretched across the walls of the classroom. Examples of astounding work were stuck to the timeline using blue-tack and there were inspirational quotes lining the rest of the spare spaces.

Alek felt impressed. "That's an orderly classroom. Is that just because it's the holidays?" he asked.

Deryn shook her head. "Count Volger, our teacher is a History and Politics freak, but he is also completely absorbed by keeping the order of things. He gets uber angry when things don't go according to plan, but he's always five steps ahead, so he has another plan anyway. But he's really good at what he does. I have a lot of respect for him; fear-induced respect, but respect nonetheless. But personally, I can't stand the subject. It's just so boring and useless."

Alek bristled; History was one of his favourite subjects. "I think it's quite fascinating."

Deryn shrugged. "Each to their own. Personally, I prefer Geography, but that's due to a personal bias.", she explained as she shut the door to the History classroom.

"Oh?" asked Alek as she moved to the classroom with the shiny red door on the other end of the corridor.

"Aye," said Deryn, with a big grin on her face, "Oi Jaspert, are you in there?" she hollered through the door.

Alek's eyebrows rose. Until now, she'd treated all of the teachers with a little bit of formality even if her own opinions were a little scathing. Perhaps this teacher didn't appreciate respect and formality?

"Come on in Deryn. God knows I can't stop you…" came a mischievous voice from inside the classroom.

Deryn pushed open the door and beckoned Alek to follow her. The moment he stepped into the classroom, he understood just why she was so informal. The man who was papering the walls of his classroom with posters looked very similar to Deryn. He had the same blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was also really tall and had a mirthful grin on his face as he hopped off the front desk.

"Afternoon Deryn. Who's this then?" asked the relative of Deryn.

"This is Alek Hohenburg. He's new into Third Form. He'll be in my class. Alek, this is my brother, Jaspert Sharp. He teaches Geography."

Alek extended out a hand and Jaspert gripped it tightly and shook it. "Nice to meet you." He said. Jaspert's Scottish brogue was a little more subdued compared to Deryn's but it was still noticeable.

"Are you any good at Geography then?" asked Jaspert, as he hopped back onto the desk and repapered the half-stuck on poster about plate tectonics.

"Decent enough," replied Alek, "I know about natural geography and where all the countries are and their capitals."

Jaspert laughed. "Well then, you are better than the majority of children at public schools. Fact goes though Alek, this place is for brilliance. Do you know much about population and economies?"

Alek had to shake his head there. "No sir. There wasn't really much need for me to know much more than the basics of economy with my tutors. I was more interested politics and history."

Jaspert turned around and smiled. 'That's good. Means there isn't another precocious student in my class this year. God knows I have too many of them. Deryn, tell that Pauline girl to stop talking back in classes. It does get annoying. And you too!" he said, as Deryn's mischievous grin returned.

Alek smiled, it seemed that Deryn had a cheeky rapport with everyone.

"Okay, Jas. I'll try. Well now, must skedaddle. I've got to show Alek the whole school before dinner."

Jaspert's eyebrows raised. "Right then. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Don't forget to get your schedules from Dr. Erasmus. He has enough technology fixing to do without having to chase the Third Form around."

Deryn waved and Alek nodded as they left him to re-papering. "He likes you." said Deryn, with a grin, "I think he's just glad he can teach someone. He can't teach me, because I know more about Geography than he does. Our father taught us loads, and I always picked up on it a lot easier than Jaspert did. But, I suppose I'm grateful to him. I wouldn't be able to attend this school otherwise. It's so expensive, but I get in free because Jaspert teaches here."

Alek nodded. This made sense. He wondered if their family were particularly poor. He wouldn't know what it was like. Maybe Deryn and her friends were the key to being able to talk to people properly again.

"Where do you want to go next, Alek?" asked Deryn as they sped down the stairs out of the red brick building.

"Maths?" asked Alek, with a shrug.

Deryn grinned. "I had a feeling you'd say that. Do you do any of the arts either?"

"Not really. If what you mean by the arts is drawing, then not really, no."

Deryn shook her head as they strode towards a large gravel studded building. "No, Art and Design is part of the arts, but there are lots of others. Music, Theatre, Textiles, Crafting, Mechaniks and so many more."

Alek considered. "The only one that really sounds appealing is Mechaniks. Back home, that was one of my favourite pastimes."

"Hobbies," said Deryn as she opened the door for Alek. "It's called hobbies here. Don't want to act too toff-like."

Alek hesitated. "Shouldn't I be opening the door for you?" he said.

Deryn rolled her eyes. "Only if you want to be bound by gender-dictated circumscription. Now hurry up, this place is massive and we've only half an hour until dinner."

(X)

"And here's the Maths classroom—Good afternoon, Professor Hirst!" said Deryn, backing up a little against the purple door.

"Afternoon, Miss Sharp. Any reason you decided to barge into my classroom?" asked a man with brown hair and beard.

"Sorry sir, I was just showing Alek around the school. He's new." Said Deryn, looking a tad too apologetic for it to be true.

The man nodded. "Next time, Miss Sharp, please knock." He said curtly, before turning to Alek, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hohenburg? I have very high commendations from your tutors in your maths abilities. I hope to see you excel in my classes."

Alek nodded wordlessly. "Off with the both of you, then." said the man, returning back to his paperwork.

Deryn shut the door quietly and Alek gave her a weak grin. "Very curt, isn't he?"

Deryn sighed. "He hates me. No one else, just me. I don't know why, I've been trying my hardest and I'm pretty decent at my sums and algebra. 'Don't be pert, Miss Sharp'! What a teacher to have." She mimicked with great success.

Alek smothered a laugh. "What's English like then?" he asked as they walked further down the corridor.

"You'll see," said Deryn, knocking on a bright yellow door before pushing it open.

The room was larger than most of the ones that Alek had seen so far. There were haphazardly arranged tables all around the room and the teacher's desk was on a level with them. There was a small whiteboard but no projector, and the walls were plastered with newspaper articles.

"It's not very organized, is it?" asked Alek hesitantly.

Deryn shook her head. "No, but that isn't too bad. The teacher, Mr. Malone treats us like we're equal, which is always nice. Thing is, he goes too far. See all these newspaper articles?" she said and Alek nodded. It was kind of hard to miss them.

"He used to be a reporter in New York and now he's here because he couldn't find any good stories and was fired. So now, he spends most of his lessons interrogating students about things to see if he can find 'the next big scoop'!" Deryn mimicked an American accent for the last part and this time, Alek couldn't suppress the snort of laughter.

She grinned, but then sobered. "In all seriousness Alek, I wouldn't let slip who your father is. Who knows what he'll write if he gets into that story. You're descended from Habsburgs, aren't you? With a name like Hohenburg…." She trailed off and Alek nodded in assent. He was impressed by her historical knowledge, not many knew that his father was descended from that line.

"Not many know that. How did you—"

"Know? I didn't. Hapsburg is the only Austrian family name I know. You seemed fairly aristocratic so, I guessed. And if I can guess from what I know, Eddie Malone most definitely will. So keep schtum." Said Deryn briskly as she shut the door again.

Alek nodded, absently. "Are there any other compulsory subjects?" he asked.

"Yes, languages. You can choose between quite a few. French, German, Latin, Spanish and Mandarin, amidst some others." said Deryn. "Do you want to see the classrooms?"

Alek shrugged "Why not?"

Deryn grinned and started walking down the corridor. 'It'll be the last stop on our tour though," she said as she glanced at a watch, "Dinner will be in around 10 minutes. So ask me about anything else now, so if it's along the way, we can make a quick stop in."

"How many electives do you have to take?" asked Alek, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Three at the least. We have the 4 compulsories, Science, Maths, English and PE. Then you choose between ICT and Religious Studies; History and Geography; Music, Art or Drama; Textiles, Mechaniks, Cooking and Crafting then of course, one or two languages. You can add more, but you need to see Dr. Erasmus about that."

Alek nodded absorbing this information. "Will you show me where his office is then?"

"Don't worry; we're going there before dinner as well. His office is next to the Canteen. I need to get mine, Newkirk's and Pauline's schedules as well, so we can see about your schedule there too." said Deryn as they walked towards a wooden paneled building.

Alek grinned as they walked into the warm interior. It was covered with words from languages all over the walls for welcome. He recognized at least 8, to his credit. The windows to the classrooms were wide open from the corridor and Alek stared at how comfortable it all looked. There were the obligatory paired desks to the side, but in the rest of the classroom, there were beanbags and large bookcases of dictionaries and other language aids. There were also helpful sheets stuck all over the walls, crowding the whiteboard and SMARTboard.

"It looks very comfortable!" said Alek, looking quite surprised.

Deryn grinned. "Yeah, it's really relaxed here. They want you to be comfortable in the language so they make your surroundings comfortable. It's brilliant. I've learnt so much German in just two years!"

Alek smirked. "Oh yes? Wie heist du?"

Deryn rolled her eyes, "Ich heisse Deryn Sharp. That's barking easy."

"Just testing," said Alek, "Wo in der schule ist der Rechnerraum?" he asked, confident she wouldn't be able to answer. He was correct. Her face grimaced.

"That's easy to understand. You asked me where the Computer room was. I just don't know how to answer. I haven't learnt quite enough German to beat a native german speaker though."

"Did I hear the words Native German Speaker?" asked a voice.

Alek and Deryn whirled around to see a thin man with brown hair. He had a friendly expression on his face and Deryn grinned at him.

"Mr Bauer, this is Alek Hohenburg. He's Austrian."

Mr Bauer looked terribly pleased. "It is brilliant to have another German speaker! Will you be taking German?" he asked Alek.

"I don't think so." said Alek, "I already know it quite well, and my father sent me here to learn."

Mr Bauer nodded. "Well then, we shall have to talk another time! Good day, Miss Sharp, Mr Hohenburg!"

Deryn grinned and led him out of the building. "Mr Bauer's brilliant. He's one of the best ones there. Better than Madame Lassiter. Apparently, Pauline says that she's pure evil."

Alek was reminded of her name. "Who is Pauline?" he asked again.

Deryn grinned. "I won't explain. You can meet her yourself at dinner. I think you'll like her."

Alek shrugged as they walked up to a yellow brick building with little white columns outside the door. "Gods wounds, that's a little overboard!" said Alek, as he noticed the latin motto carved into and around the pillars.

Deryn shrugged as she held the door open for him. "It's just old. And a bit pompous. Ooh, there's Dr. Busk. Hold on a moment," she said before sprinting after the graying and balding thin man with a white coat on. "Dr. Busk! Did you get my mam's medical form over the hols?"

The man turned around. "Indeed I did, Miss Sharp. You are now allowed to leave the school premises. No doubt, you can injure yourself instead now."

Deryn flushed and Alek believed that she would be the kind to get into trouble. "Now, Miss Sharp, tomorrow, I expect to find you in my room as soon as afternoon classes are finished to collect your first aid kit. No doubt you will want it, hmm?"

Deryn nodded before smiling and waving a goodbye. "Dr. Busk can be a little brusque. You'll get used to it."

Alek nodded and paused as she knocked on the door of a sleek mahogany door with the name plate :Dr Erasmus.

"Come in," came slow dulcet tones from inside the office and Deryn beckoned him in. The room was messy, with papers and paperclips and files overflowing from the shelf covered walls. Alek couldn't even see the original colours of the walls. The desk itself could barely be seen over the stacks of bright pink post-it notes and laminated pales of paper.

"Miss …Sharp?" asked the doctor, a young man with a brown beard and warm, green eyes.

"That's right, Dr. Erasmus. I came to collect a few schedules and set a schedule up." Said Deryn quite calmly.

"Whose are you collecting?" he asked as he turned to his computer which Alek hadn't noticed.

"Deryn Sharp, Eugene Newkirk, Pauline White and Lilit Sahmaran." Deryn rattled off, counting them on her fingers.

"Mmhmm," said Dr. Erasmus, rapidly typing and clicking. "And whose schedule needs to be set up?"

"Mine," answered Alek, finding his voice, miraculously. "Aleksander Hohenburg."

"Right-o. What level of Science, Maths and English?" asked the Doctor.

"Highest." answered Deryn, evidently recognizing his confused expression.

"Language?"

"French," answered Alek. He was fairly decent at French, but he needed some practice, and the lesson would be able to provide it.

"Humanity?"

"Can I take both?" asked Alek, hesitantly.

Dr. Erasmus looked up from the computer screen. 'Sure you can. But it eliminates Art, Music and Drama from your schedule."

Alek smiled, "That's fine with me, Dr. Erasmus. I wasn't planning on taking them anyway."

Dr. Erasmus shrugged. "You have two more spaces left."

Alek paused. What had Deryn said there were? "Mechaniks," said Alek, absentmindedly. "And was it, Crafting?"

Dr. Erasmus nodded. "You can't take both, I'm afraid."

"Mechaniks then," said Alek, "And Spanish." Alek didn't know a squick of Spanish, but he knew Latin, Italian and French, which had been enough for him so far. Learning the actual language would be beneficial.

Dr Erasmus tapped a way at the keys, before Alek heard the sound of a printer, frantically swiping away. Dr. Erasmus then rifled through a few piles of laminated sheets and handed over four of them to Deryn.

"Here you go, Miss Sharp. Your schedules. And yours is just printing, Mr. Hohenburg."

Alek and Deryn lapsed into a quiet silence, the doctor seemed to have no desire to interrupt. Once it finished printing, Dr Erasmus lined it with two sheets of plastic and quickly whipped it through the laminating machine, before handing the slightly warm plastic to him.

"Goodbye," he said absentmindedly, before turning back to his computer.

They both backed out of the room, before Deryn broke into a grin. "Well that was a squick awkward, huh?"

Alek nodded and headed towards the large door that emitted noise. "So how do meals work here then Deryn….?"

(X)

Alek kept a tight grip on his plastic basket as Deryn gripped his wrist and navigated him through the crowds of chatting students. He was quite unused to seeing so many people gathered in one place in quite an uncivilized manner.

Deryn steered him to a small table in the corner with comfortable chairs. A girl with long, straight brown hair and olive like skin was sitting and eating what looked like a tub of noodles. She brightened when she saw Deryn, pulling herself and Alek chairs from the other deserted table.

"Hey Deryn! You're the first person I've wanted to see all day! Where have you been? I was waiting for ages in the library!"

Deryn laughed. "I forgot about that meeting. I was taking Alek around the school. He's in Third Form and he's new here."

Pauline smiled, and Alek saw a glimpse of green braces. "It's nice to meet you!" she said, extending a hand.

Alek paused a little. He wasn't sure which greeting would be more appropriate.

"Just shake her hand, you ninny." said Deryn rolling her eyes, "You don't need to kiss it. It's okay if you don't, you toff."

Alek sighed and shook her head. Pauline looked she was stifling a giggle. "Don't be mean, Deryn. He's just being chivalrous. In South Africa, it's considered a social fault of you don't show manners like that to a girl."

"You would know. You're so fidgety, you can't stay in one country for a year." said Deryn, rolling her eyes. This settled it in Alek's eyes. Deryn had a rapport with everybody. She apparently liked arguing.

"Well, you had an excuse for not showing Deryn, but Newkirk and Lilit don't." said Pauline, crossing her arms, looking annoyed. "I was really boring waiting there, like a bleeding serin."

"You speak French well then?" asked Alek, his mouth twitching. He'd heard the insult and plenty more from the Russian ambassador who had gotten extremely drunk at a EU conference.

"Yeah, I lived in France for around two years." She said, flashing her teeth and braces at his again.

Alek nodded. Just then a thump came from behind them and Newkirk was sprawled across the floor. Deryn reached down to him and helped him up.

"Blisters, that was a heck of a fall, you ninny! What happened?"

Newkirk gathered the remains of his taco that were sprawled all over the floor. "Fitzroy. Who else?"

Deryn seethed. "I don't know why he's such a twat. Would it kill him to leave us alone?" she said.

"He just wants a rise out of you Deryn. Not that it's very difficult to get one. If you don't react, he'll leave you alone." Said Pauline sensibly.

Deryn sighed. "Why are you always sensible?"

Pauline grinned. "It's because I've been around the world and you haven't. You haven't mastered the concept of self-restraint quite yet. Anyway, where were you Newkirk?"

Newkirk scowled. "Tutoring from Dr Barlow. It was supposed to be with Matthews, but sixth form and seventh form aren't back yet."

Pauline sighed. "You can't still be hopeless at science. Not with me and Deryn always on your back."

Newkirk sighed. "It just doesn't make sense! What is the difference between photosynthesis and respiration and plants? And why should I care?"

Deryn looked annoyed and launched into a definition of the two, talking about opposites and carbon dioxide frequently. Alek on the other hand, started on his meal of roast beef and yorkshire pudding, whatever the latter was.

"So, where in the world are you from?" asked Pauline as she polished off her noodles.

"Austria," said Alek. "Where did you originally live? Because you don't really look English, even if you sound it."

Pauline laughed and twisted her long brown hair around her fingers. "Well, originally, my dad was from Japan. And my mum was Greek. I got her complexion, as you can see. My dad was a little strange coming from Japan. If you've read any of their stories or mythology, the heroes are always ridiculously young when they achieve greatness. My dad had cancer, but he'd made a fortune in life as a business investor. He told me he'd left all of his money to me, but if I was to gain a penny of it, I had to do something great. My mum's writing job is okay, it gets us enough money, but it's not really quite enough. So I've been traveling around the world doing things that might count as great. But none of them impress the guys in charge of my inheritance. I don't really know what they are looking for."

Alek stared, she sounded quite mad. "What kind of things?" he asked as Newkirk proceeded to explain why plants were stupid and made no sense.

"Well, I've piloted my own hot-air balloon all over Africa, dropping supplies to starving people in usually inaccessible locations. I've been helping earthquake victims in Haiti. I've managed to wheedle my way onto a peace team in Iraq to try and negotiate terms. Didn't work, by the way."

Alek's eyebrows rose. "Just how old are you?"

"15." She said, unapologetically. "To my credit, my dad died when I was 5. I had a lot of time to get my intentions known. I was in all the newspapers in 2006; 8 year old girl on the quest for heroism, was one of the more memorable titles."

"And you enjoyed it?" asked Alek, skeptically.

"Sure," said Pauline, "Who wouldn't? It can be real fun, especially when the interviewers are really nice about it. The advantage of being a child. No one really dares to be too mean about it. I kind of got tired of it when they started slandering my Mum for all of it though. Blamed her for letting me be reckless; she got so much hate-mail. It was awful."

Alek nodded. His father had often complained about the bad press he got from the media. No one in Austria really believed the papers though; they wouldn't have voted him in quite so frequently if they had. Franz Ferdinand was far too good at his job and not nearly stupid enough to get caught if he really was being underhanded. Alek doubted that his father would be able to be underhanded however, his father was always noble.

Suddenly, a tall, beautiful girl with dark, asian skin and long black hair in several plaits arrived at their table. Pauline brightened.

"Lilit, you're here! I was getting worried! How was the visit to Turkey?"

The girl gave a sigh of contempt. "It was okay, but the connecting flight from Germany to Britain was delayed, I had to wait 6 hours there before the morons got themselves into gear about actually getting me onto a plane here. I phoned my grandmother and she was furious about the whole affair."

Pauline rolled her eyes. "Airport people. Honestly, this is why I prefer air balloons or ships."

"Not all of us have media fees and influences everywhere, y'know." said Deryn. Apparently her heated discussion with Newkirk was over. "Some of us have to deal with the common people. Aye, I know. Shock horror, to the lot of you toffs."

Alek laughed and the tension at the table seemed to dissolve. "So, who are you?" asked the tall girl, a smile briefly touching the corner of her lips.

"Alek Hohenburg." He said, extending a hand. She gave him a thin smile, ignoring his out-stretched hand. "You're descended from royalty," she said, disapprovingly.

Deryn rolled her eyes. "He can hardly help his family, Lilit," she exclaimed. Turning to Alek she said, "Ignore her, she's just sour. The Royalists in Turkey were very vehement about the hierarchy system. Her mother died because of them. Now she had this thing against royalty, even though the Turkish revolution succeeded."

Alek had heard about the revolution and how bloody it had been. His father had been one of the diplomats to urge for peace. But Lilit merely sniffed. "I'm not sour; royalists are a danger to society."

Newkirk, this time grinned mischievously. "I'll be sure to inform you when Alek tries to murder me when I'm sleeping."

The whole table burst into peals of laughter, and while the tension was by no means gone, the dinner conversation was much smoother afterwards.