Last one for the day! Whew.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but copies of the seven books. And soon enough, when it comes out, Earthfall.
The four of them slowly made their way to the serving counter, taking in every detail the hall had to offer.
Mel noticed the large oval table on the platform at the end of the hall. She nudged her friends, and pointed it out.
Otto, Wing, Laura, Shelby and Nigel, decked in a lab coat and reading notes while eating, were seated there. Otto seemed to be having a conversation with Nero, who sat beside him on the long table all the teachers shared. The four girls realized that a few of the teachers from the book were missing. Francisco and Pike were gone, most likely replaced by Wing and Laura. Contessa was obviously dead. Miss Leon was absent as well.
"Wait… Hey, guys!" Nick said, poking her friends. "I think Miss Leon's gotten back to normal."
The other three looked to the teacher's table, searching, and after a while, they all grinned.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but she's hot." Andy said.
She was right. Miss Leon, now in human form, had light platinum blonde hair, which had two spikes on each end of her head, like ears. Her eyes were brown, though she was sure that they shone gold when the woman turned at a certain angle.
"Awesome." Tammy said. "I guess they got her back into her body."
"But dude, she still looks like her cat!" Mel said, snickering. Tammy laughed as well, shrugging. "You know what they say." She said. "Owners look like their pets."
After a while, they finally reached the food counters. When they got their food (there was a funny moment where Nick was about to get some bouillaisse, when a fish head suddenly rose out of the black stew, freaking her out enough to literally jump), the four of them took a seat near the teachers.
Andy was about to dig into her macaroni salad, when she recognized a familiar back of the head. As though in a trance, she dropped her fork ("Ands!" Mel exclaimed. "Watch it with the dressing!"), and slowly walked to whoever it was she was staring at.
She tapped a girl, the person's shoulder. The girl turned around, puzzled for a few seconds, before shrieking simultaneously with Andy.
"OH MY GAHD, ANDQUINO!" The girl screamed, before giving Andquino a back-cracking bear hug.
"CLADORE!" Andy shrieked, hugging the girl with equal strength.
Nick, Tammy and Mel were surprised to see that their friend's shrill squealing didn't catch the attention of the other H.I.V.E. students. Sure, a few other reunions like Cladore and Andquino's were happening around them, but none of them were as bouncy as theirs.
"What are you doing here?" The other girl, Cladore, asked, settling herself beside Andy.
"Try guessing, smarta—" Andy was cut off, when Nick spoke up.
"Hey…" she said slowly. "Aren't you that Claire girl who left Ascunsion without a trace or reason, like, three years ago?"
"Yeah." Tammy added. "Andy freaked out back then when you left."
"And it turns out, you're here!" Andy exclaimed, beaming. Claire nodded in reply.
Claire Teoxon was an old friend of Andy. They had met in Mini-Theater club, back when the school was still for girls only, and when Andy was fourth grade and Claire was in seventh. When August came around, Claire had suddenly disappeared. Her parents said it was because she transferred schools.
"I guess, in a sense, what your parents said was true." Said Mel, shrugging. "They said you transferred. It wasn't really a lie."
"True." Claire replied, smiling. "Well, I've gotta go back and eat. See y'all whenever!"
As Claire walked off, Andy was still grinning as she dug into her macaroni salad.
Mel glared at the macaroni salad for a few moments, before digging into her food as well.
After another tour around the school, they arrived once again to Plotting Room Two. There, on the table, were thirty-five Blackboxes.
"These," Otto said, holding up his sort of battered Blackbox. "Are your own digital personal assistant, the Blackbox.
"This device will help you adjust to life in HIVE, and will assist you in your school schedule, assignments and so on. It is considered a major infraction of school rules if you do not carry this around, so please do NOT lose it. This is your single most important piece of school equipment. It is practically, waterproof, shockproof, and radiation-proof and will work in a vacuum as well. It is unlikely that you'll be operating it in vacuum though." Otto considered his thoughts for a few seconds, before adding, "Anytime soon, anyways."
He showed the batch of students how to open it, though with many of them already expert in using an iPad, they opened it before he'd even said so. A chorus of hellos echoed in the plotting room, as HIVEmind greeted each new student.
"Hello to you too, Big Blue." Andy said, grinning. She glanced at her friends who were already exploring their Blackboxes.
"Updated… nice." said Tammy, using her fingers to manage her Blackbox screen. The other three followed, using the stylus that was inserted on its side.
After a few minutes with their Blackboxes, Otto got their attention.
"Now everyone," he started. "Put your Blackboxes away for now. I'll be bringing you to your accommodation blocks, which will be like your home for the next few years." He stopped for a bit, before starting again.
"Well, I'll explain it all when we get there." Otto continued. "Come on, everyone."
"This," Otto said. "Is accommodation area seven."
Everyone in their group marveled at what was in the vast high-roofed cavern that they were to call their home. There, like in the book, was waterfall in the corner, leading up to a crystal-clear pool at the bottom where some students were swimming. There were clusters of chairs and sofas scattered around the atrium, and, unlike in the book, there was a line of swanky coffee, hot chocolate and water dispensers opposite the waterfall, with small baskets of cookies and crackers between each dispenser.
The upper floors looked like they came straight out of the book, with plant life bedecked on the balconies, white doors leading to the rooms on each floor, and elevators shooting up and down each level.
"Classy." Mel said, smirking. The group approached two girls in the middle of a heated discussion.
"…I've told you hundreds of times Tony, Leon/Otto makes no sense!" a girl in a white jumpsuit argued.
"Like Wing/Otto does!" The Tony guy retorted. "Sure they're best friends, but Mister Fanchu is dating Miss Trinity, Lane!"
Lane snorted. "So? Shelby goes with Laura, Wing goes with Otto, and Nigel goes with Franz Argentblum!"
"It doesn't work, Lane! I've said hundreds of times—"
"I don't think that's an appropriate subject at this moment, don't you think?" Otto interjected, raising an eyebrow. Tony and Lane froze. Tony mumbled a quiet "I'll go now", before running away, leaving the Lane girl to her demise. The Fantabulous Four smirked, before giggling silently behind Otto's back.
Otto sighed, rubbing his temples, before introducing the girl to the rest of the group.
"Delaney Jones, these are the new Alpha recruits." He said, indicating the group of thirty-five standing behind him. Andy, Nick, Tammy and Mel stopped laughing immediately. Otto continued. "They're all residents of accommodation area seven, and if I remember right, you agreed to explain to them how life works here in H.I.V.E."
"O-of course, Mister Malpense." She replied, still nervous. Otto nodded, before briskly walking away.
Delaney "Lane" Jones let out a big sigh, before gaining her confidence and turning to the new students.
"So you're the new Alpha stream?"
And this is the last of the mass updating I'll be doing today. Enjoy and review!