TheRoseShadow21: Oh wow, high praise indeed! I was a little worried that Pat would come off a bit bland and typical of other stories (There are plenty of stories that have a shy/awkward protag, written by far better writers than me) but I figured that it made sense for them considering their talent and what it is they are walking into. I make no pretence of it, I mostly wanted to just have three siblings in this for a reason that should be very obvious when you find out what their talents are. XD. William seems popular, and I can see why, he is the character I enjoyed writing most. I have fonder memories of the DR3 anime than most, but one thing I did find a little aggravating was that for the first time in Future Arc, you had a whole spread of characters of differing ages and personalities and barely anything was done with most of them, especially considering what we learn about the academy in SDR2 and ESPECIALLY ADG, there could have been a lot more done with that (Looking at you, Miaya!) So hopefully you get that sense here, there is a lot to unpack. Thank you very much for the kind words!

ThePLOTHand: Oh wow, this is great! Most of these really suit the characters as I presented them thus far (I say most, because the Harvest December tracks are rather hard to find at present so I can't exactly make a judgement on those), and I am very curious to see what you will come up with for the last lot. Also, yes, thank you for noticing that, I quite heavily redid the first part of the prologue, but the 'she' bits were left in despite my best efforts. Apologies, but it has been edited and hopefully it won't happen again! Though if it does, feel free to point it out. William is a lot of fun to write, but then I suppose one could say that about most of the more overtly quirky characters of the series (I know that whenever I've practised writing Gundam, I've had a lot of fun with it). And HALLIE's exact purpose will be explored more in the final part of the Prologue, so I will answer that question when we get to it, if you don't mind. Thanks for reading!

So here we are once more! The last ten of our participants introduced here, and while I had originally planned to end with the reveal of the mascots for this fanfiction, I've decided to hold that off for the last part of the prologue, cause I just think it works better. That way, not too much in the way of overwhelming details. With that in mind, let's get under way!


On later reflection, the staff room was warm, cosy, everything that the reception area wasn't. The red plush chairs looked firm, but not to the point of being uninviting. Along the right hand side of the room, the one that was accessible, was a series of white cabinets and cupboards, a bit like a kitchen. And also like a kitchen, there were various apparatus resting on the sideboard, a kettle gently simmering, a state of the art microwave, a toaster that seemed to be powering down and so on. Already making themselves at home, Jamie and Chelsea were preparing some more tea.

"Come come!" William, suddenly behind Pat once again, patted their back. "Rest your weary feet, chair's fine. No need to stand on ceremony."

Gratefully, Pat sat down and nearly gasped in delight at how comfortable the chair was. A sudden rush of nostalgia hit them, memories of happier days in make-up chairs with their sister, and they tried very hard to fight the feelings of homesickness that had, already, begun to sweep over them. Get a grip. You have been here for literally...I don't know, an hour? Not even that! You can't show any weakness here, they'll walk all over you! Sides, this is what you wanted.

This didn't quite make them feel better.

A slight cough interrupted their recollections. With a slight self-deprecating nod, the bespectacled woman offered them a flask of tea. "I can imagine that you're a bit overwhelmed by it all. The names and such. I work here and I still need a flowchart to work it all out." She offered an apologetic glance. "We spoke on the phone? Aisha Grayson, Reception."

Aisha Grayson: Ultimate Secretary: Reception

"Oh…hi…and thanks!" Pat dutifully took the tea, and realising that they should really take advantage of all the free stuff, finished off the pastry that Martin gave her before taking a sip of it. "This is good stuff. Thanks."

Aisha curtsied. She was dressed fairly modestly, a red sweater and a light brown plaited skirt, with black heels completing the get up. She wiped her lime coloured hair aside. "Oh, er, I feel I must apologise profusely!" She held a hand to her chest and looked to be on the verge of tearing up in an almost ridiculously cartoony way. "I was busy making sure that no one was trying to hide in their classrooms from you, I should have probably come out and greeted you personally! HALLIE is good, bless her, but at the same time...she is just a machine, and it can be a bit impersonal! And-And I was really hysterical on the phone, you must have thought us all mad!"

"It's fine! It's fine!" Pat tried to laugh, but it didn't quite come out as one. Truth be told, they were rather surprised. There had been some information on the receptionist that they had looked up with all the phone calls and letters (Professional, hard-working, diligent, friendly) but some of it hadn't quite gelled with the frantic conversations they had had. So to receive an apology, not to mention such a gushing one off the bat, was odd.

There's an Ultimate apologising to me? Huh...not many egos here, clearly. Never expected it would be like this.

"OI! NEWBIE!"

Now that is a more bog-standard reaction.

A rather muscular looking man strode forward, stepping over the seats in a single bound. He looked down at Pat and gave a smirk that he clearly thought was charismatic and friendly. It was not.

"You're a little shabby looking, but I've seen fucking worse, let me tell you that now. Wanye Pryce, PE! Course you may know me from a variety of other things, give you a free autograph now if you want!"

Wayne Pryce: Ultimate Footballer: Physical Education

Hmm, how to respond to this? And not immediately piss off the altar to masculinity in front of me?

Wanye was probably the person most famous to a general audience. Unlike the others, he frequently made the tabloids and even some of the more supposedly respectable papers due to his skills with a football, his intense dedication and the fact that he fulfilled a lot of negative stereotypes about footballers off the pitch. He was quite recognisable, a thin layer of brown hair covering his head and blue eyes that stared deep even from a picture. Rumours had mostly been the substance of these stories, but they were rumours that did not particularly strike people as being far off the truth of the matter.

He looked as though he had just stepped from one of the big games he was famous for, a yellow jersey with the word 'Barrowsfield' emblazoned on it in a white, blocky font, a few others symbols of companies that ranged from recognisable to almost iconic on them. His navy blue shorts didn't quite cover his long, rather battered looking legs, and given his pose, that was probably intentional. As too was the fact that he had one foot resting on the armrest, as if striding atop a grand mountain. All that was missing was the cawing of an eagle in the background.

"Get your foot off of the chair." A rather sedate and familiar voice said. "I'm sure they really don't want to find out the intimate details of what's in your pants just yet."

Oh, Al's sister. Well, that's good, I guess. I really don't want to have to argue with this...person.

"Ahhhh, you're a fucking laugh, aren't you?!" Wayne scratched his cheek. "Tell you what though, pet, there's something weird going on outside."

"Call me pet once more and you'll find out what it's like to have a heel in your sack."

"Oh, y-yeah? Outside?"" Pat wondered if this was the right thing to do, or if they were opening up a fresh can of worms. But all the talk of Wayne's pants were getting to them a little bit, and anything to get back on track.

"Yeah, fresh meat, weird stuff. There's some daft shit going on with the student houses, bunch of Roidy's guards gathered around there. Maybe we should send fucking Moore off, it's late and he's got a lesson with me tomorrow." Price glanced at Roy, who looked as though he'd rather take the lesson with the kettle instead. "He's going to blown out as it is, really don't want to give him any excuse for it!"

Judy muttered something under her breath. Pat wasn't close enough to hear it, but something about glass houses caught their ear. Wayne shot her a glance, a strange one mixed between amused and annoyed.

"Would you mind showing me, Mr Pryce?" Aisha piped up, a look on her face that screamed 'I'm going to regret this' as she did so. Instantly, Wayne turned towards her and smiled, all syrupy sweet.

"Course, darling. Anyone outside?"

"Only Mr Hammond."

"Bloody Scots! I'll drag him back." He barely glanced at Pat, waving at them dismissively, but he winked somewhat theatrically to the woman, who scoffed. As they headed off, Aisha turned back and winked, before giving full attention to Wayne bragging. "Now, I ever tell you about the time that I scored a hat trick, by myself, at the World Cup? I have? Well, you'll be able to correct me, won't you!"

"Patience of a saint, that one!" With a grimace in the direction of Al, the woman bowed and then grasped Pat's hand in a tight embrace "At last, got a moment to myself. Nadia Bowman, Physics. Don't listen to Al, I don't bite. Much."

Nadia Bowman: Ultimate Rocket Scientist: Physics

Pat was just about to say something in return (Something like "Oh, I'm sure he wasn't insulting you" or something else equally as trite) when a loud, snickering laugh echoed around their ear. "Hm-hm-hm-hm! And I am Robert Bowman, brother, doctor, Biology teacher and all around decent bloke!"

Robert Bowman: Ultimate Surgeon: Biology

What? What the hell? That laugh...

"Robert, remember that talk we had about 'personal space' and 'boundaries' that I keep having to bring up?"

"No." Robert, looking remarkably more cheerful, impressively managed to sound like a little kid with the voice of a twenty five year old. "Don't remember it."

"Well we had it, so how about you…back off a little?" Nadia shot them a sympathetic glance. "He's not good with new people."

"I am too!"

"So…um, he's a doctor?" Pat said those words, but what they really meant was 'This is your Doctor?'

Nadia nodded, an odd expression upon her face. "For all our sins."

"Of which there are many!" Robert giggled, a slight high-pitched cackle.

The two of them were about the same height, though Robert was perhaps a little taller if only thanks to the large clump of uncombed, dyed purple hair on his person. They were, however, like chalk and cheese when standing together.

Robert was gangly, in that awkward area between average sized and stick thin. His arms and legs were equally as awkwardly sized, covered by a peach coloured, button shirt and a grey labcoat over that, which all looked like it was practically hanging off of him. His bottom half appeared to be actual surgeon slacks, sterile green trousers and rather uncomfortable looking shoes. As he turned his head on his side, he stared at Pat through yellow Lennon-like specs, his pale skin almost sparkling like a crappy young adult novel's take on a vampire.

Nadia, on the other hand, had little in common with either of her brothers. She was Indian, with a mop of dark red hair and brown eyes. Like her brothers, she was wearing a lab-coat also, though this one appeared to be shorter, going only to just below her waist. She wore a ridiculously glittery blue sweater, and blue-green joggers, with similar shoes to her brother's. Around her wrist was a small charm, red and yellow in colour, though looking at it in any depth was impossible at this time.

"O-Oh, so the three of you work here?"

"Yes." Nadia smirked. It wasn't a happy one. "The three sciences. It's just as fun as you'd think it would be. If not moreso." She shook her head. "Ah hell, you've probably already been scared off from meeting this group of….well-"

"Oddballs! Weirdos! Nutjobs!" Robert threw out, all with a cheery smirk.

"U-Uh, I w-w-wouldn't go that far. I've met weirder." Pat smiled, though they could not help but add mentally to that: Not many, though.

"…..Yeah." Nadia gave them a quick look, so quick that they couldn't quite register, before glancing back to Al. "Well, anyway, no offence, but I'd be surprised if you lasted long. Lot of people can't."

"…Well I'll just have to prove you wrong!" Pat paused. Ohhh, I've just backed myself into a corner here.

"Oooooh, fancy! Last person who said that was a real goer, too….left here in a straitjacket, or so I was told." The surgeon sneered and then let loose a quieter, if still privately amused, laugh.

"Stop trying to scare them off!" Al called from across the room, for the first time letting a note of annoyance creep through.

"Make me!" Robert clicked his tongue. "Oh, might as well introduce to you to the potential fourth Bowman!"

"Please don't call her that…"

"Theresa! Come on, meet the new person!"

A woman, looking to be maybe a little younger than the siblings, stumbled over in heels that were a little too high for her and glanced at Pat, awkwardly. She offered a slight smile towards Robert, who clamped a friendly arm around her shoulders.

"This is Theresa Woodward! She's the Religious Education teach, and she is probably the smartest person in the room!"

Theresa Woodward: Ultimate Philosopher: Religious Education

Immediately, the entire room stopped their conversations and turned towards Robert, audibly shouting that he was wrong, so wrong, the wrongness of his statement could not be understated. He snickered, and Nadia punched his shoulder, trying to hide a slightly amused smirk.

Theresa, by contrast, looked more than a little lost. She stuck her hand out and Pat shook it. They had to stop themselves from starting, so cold was her hand to the touch. The second the handshake was over, Theresa's hand retreated into her sleeves.

Theresa was pale. Ridiculously so. Perhaps that had been what had attracted Robert to her in the first place, but if possible she was even paler. Her eyes were wide, a pale blue colour, and her hair, blonde with a few pink highlights coming through, was arranged in a pixie cut. White was the prevailing theme of her clothing, a white hoodie that seemed far too big for her small frame and white leggings, hidden under a long grey skirt.

"Ah, hello! It's nice to meet you."

Theresa nodded, shyly, a chain with a crucifix on it bouncing up and down as she did so. She pointed to her throat, then to her mouth, then shook her head.

"You…can't speak?"

A nod.

A philosopher who can't speak? No wonder that Aisha was so panicked on the phone.

Robert coughed. "She can usually, and how, it's just that her vocal chords need time to recover from a rather important operation. I imagine your first job will be covering her very fun lectures!" He patted her on the back, a little vigorously, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Oh, er, in that case, I'll check with you about timetables and…and what you've been doing?"

Theresa considered this, then gave a thumbs up.

Nadia was watching this with yet another one of those curious expressions. She shook herself. "Oh, and from the one who can't speak to the one who can't shut the hell up!"

"That could be any one of these people and you know it!" Robert protested, lightly.

Another woman had moved forward, 'accidentally' shoving Nadia out of the way to grab Pat's hand.

With every word, the woman offered a sharp pose and a quick click of the tongue, all to a cheery smile. "Salut! ¡Hola! Salve! And hullo! Jean Atois, teacher of all foreign languages! Charmed, I am sure!"

Jean Atois: Ultimate Linguist: Languages

Jean was wearing, of all things, a floral yukuta. The main colour was yellow, with the flowers being red, orange, gold, purple and other such colours. Underneath that, the angle of which the yukuta had been positioned (Almost deliberately, Pat was sure) showed a dark green tank top and a smaller dark red miniskirt. Her ginger hair looked a little slapdash, as though it had only just been put into place, and her eyes still held the faint hint of sleep. It made for quite the contrast with her speech and upbeat introduction.

Pat's head was getting a little light with the amount of introductions they had made, but they pressed on. "Oh! Hello?"

"Encantado, I am sure!" Her eyes alighted on Pat's attire. "I like the look, muy fantastico!"

Pat blushed. They count the number of times someone had said something non-judgemental about how they dressed on one hand."Th-thanks. L-Lovely to meet you! How many languages can you speak?"

Jean smirked in a smug manner. "At least fifteen. Depends how good I'm feeling!" She suddenly laser focused in on Pat. "And you? How many languages do you speak?"

Pat, put on the spot, decided to go with a technically true answer. "….Not that many."

"Ah." It was as if someone had Then we will not be interacting much. Goodbye."

And with that, she left.

"Ooooh, someone's in a good mood today! Must have been caught mid-thrust, if you catch what I-"

"Robert." Nadia sounded weary, yet again. Her brother raised up his hands and shut up. "She's just got back from Japan, probably looking for a break. Or something. Or maybe she's just being a bitch." She sighed. "Look, if I've got this right, there are three people left, Elton. How about we leave you to it?"

"Yeah, it's getting boring anyway." Robert practically dragged Nadia off. "See ya later!"

Theresa paused, then mouthed "Nice to meet you", and then followed after them.

Oh...uh, sure. Okay. Bye then.

Pat was alone. But not for long.

"Come come, Barty, no need to get antsy."

"E-E-Easy for you to say! I was in the middle of something important!"

"As was I! Flipping cheek of our headmaster. Still-sugar?"

"No thanks."

"Still, we best introduce ourselves to them. Get it over with for all of our sakes."

So saying, the speakers headed over to join Pat. Oh my- What even is that man wearing?

The slightly flamboyant figure they were thinking of took a bow and snapped their fingers in faux-delight "Sam Kennedy, Art! They/them pronouns, got to get that out of the way! Windbitten, weary, with a spark of optimism left!"

Sam Kennedy: Ultimate Painter: Art

Eccentric appeared to be the key word for Sam, who looked like a clown car given human form. The top half of their face was covered with a faux-marble, white mask. The side of their face showing was rather drawn, bony, with eyes containing burning yellow contacts in them. His hair, short and improperly cut, was a deep blue with hints of green speckled throughout. A large beauty mark, looking like a splotch of paint against a white canvas, broke up the pale white skin. As for their clothes, they appeared to be wearing a purple, bordering on pink, suit over a orange waistcoat and white shirt. They was also, for some reason, barefoot.

Kennedy was a name that Pat recognised from some of the art discussions, as a result of making a series of rather bizarre, trippy drawings, like Picasso on coke with the backgrounds of Yellow Submarine, as one particular critic had described it.

Besides them, the other figure looked positively normal. Then again, so would nearly anyone else. The contrast between the somewhat stuffy tone of his voice and the stammer was hard to miss. "Ah, you're h-h-here! You took your time…Music. Bartholomew Stansfeld!"

Bartholomew Stansfield: Ultimate Conductor: Music

The second these words were out of his mouth, he closed his mouth like a steel trap, as if afraid that if he kept it open for any longer, something might get out and run rampant.

"Barty here-" murmured Sam "-is what call a bit of a introvert. Trust me, you'll get used to his ways. Telling you this now to avoid any problems."

"I c-can speak, you know!" protested Bartholomew.

"But you didn't. So I did it for you." Sam's lips quirked slightly, and then returned to their normal position.

Well that's helpful to know. Glad I'm not the only one currently having a really awkward time with all this.

Barty looked as if he was in great pain. There was a significant amount of white makeup upon his face, like a run of the mill Georgian aristocrat. Similar to that was his clothing, of a similar period. On his head, he wore a white wig that seemed to hide curly, almost colourless brown hair. His shirt was certainly frilly enough to be of that period, as was the off-brand gold brocade waistcoat, though the bottle green britches, and the pair of riding boots did offset the image quite a bit.

"Oh, I went to one of your concerts!" Pat smiled, recalling. "At Cardiff, you played most of the Odes to the Hammer! It was wonderful!"

No one could be sure, but one could almost say that Barty blushed underneath the makeup. "I…That is….it is gratifying to meet a fan, I am sure!" He coughed. "Not that I am un-used to such a f-f-feeling of course!" He thought. "The…O2 arena, yes?"

"That's it! It was amazing!"

"I'm thinking...two years? August. ...Yes, it was a good reception, befitting such a maestro like myself."

Sam, listening to this with dwindling interest, suddenly started. "Hang about. I think we're starting!" With one last nod to Pat, they steered Barty towards one of the seats.

"Y-You're not jealous, are you?"

"Me?! Pah! As if!"

Oh so they're a thing. Well that's nice.

Peter had been practically marched back into the room, scowling and looking grimly down at the floor. Seconds later, Aisha and Wayne came back, the latter looking annoyed and the former with an attitude of reluctance. Everyone began to gather around, taking seats and looking impatiently at HALLIE, who was tilting her head in a rather bizarre fashion.

Pat stayed where they were, looking anxiously around. They glanced down at their outfit, was it a bit unprofessional of them to come like this?

"It's all right." A slight, lilting Irish accent cut through her thoughts. "As I'm sure you've noticed, none of us are dressed as, quote, normal people, unquote."

The last teacher sat besides her. A tiny smile graced the face of the androgynous figure, before he waved in a fairly disconnected way. "You are not too tired, I hope? Welcome to the rest of your life. Taylor Livingstone, Media Studies...oh, and a few films too. But you probably don't care!"

Taylor Livingstone: Ultimate Auteur: Media Studies

Taylor looked odd, thought not as bad as Sam or William, and seemed to know and revel in it. His hair was quite unrestrained, though compared to William it was practically neat as two pins, and fiery red in colour. A large scarf drifted around their neck and right arm, over a black leather jacket and practically glowing yellow t-shirt. Jeans that looked as though they had seen military service finished the ensemble off, with black leather boots that looked severely worn and scuffed.

"Oh, thank you?" They wasn't sure if that was a joke, a statement, a sarcastic jab, or what. Meeting so many people had sort of fried Pat's ability to perceive things. They glanced forward, and their eyes alighted on a framed portrait, slightly smudged but still looking relatively well kept. "Is that-?"

"Gordon Flynt. Headmaster. Kennedy painted it, in case you are wondering." He wrapped a hand around his wrist. "Good enough, if you like self-congratulatory pats on the back like he clearly does."

"...Not a fan?"

"A fan. Just not a worshipper." He paused, and then offered up that smile again. "Sorry. First day and you're being lectured at. That sucks."

"Y-You would honestly be surprised how much that's happened already." Pat laughed.

The two of them went quiet for a bit. A conversation rose up among the other teachers, as a sudden rush of the air conditioning swept through the figures all there.

Well, conversation was a soft word for it. Another word for it would be 'argument'.

"So, nothing outside, Wayne?"

"You can stop with the fucking smugness, Rob, it's not a good look."

"The fact that I am currently in a relationship with a really gorgeous AND smart woman, and you are, well, you, suggests otherwise!" crowed Robert. Theresa offered up a rather wider smirk at this.

Laura coughed. "So if you two are done bickering? Nothing outside at all?"

"We saw a few of the guards moving towards Building One, but they were in before we could catch them." Aisha shrugged. "Might just be that they thought they saw something."

"I hope so. Cause if they wake up any of the kids-" Jamie groaned. "Those brats talk back at the best of times."

"Yes, because keeping our mascot up all night is better." Sam muttered.

"I'm fine!" Roy shouted in a rather high pitched voice. "I can...I can take it-" He paused, grabbed for the nearest coffee and began to drink it.

"That's Chelsea's cup! There's a system-"

"Ach, to hell with ye system." Peter glared at Barty. "Bad enough yon flickery woman not letting us prepare for lessons, the boy's going to need to miss a few lessons."

"Yes, as opposed to falling asleep in your lessons for an entirely different reason." Nadia offered a predatory smirk.

"Anyone need another snack?" Martin piped up, perhaps sensing as Pat did that things were about to get rather ugly.

"I'll take one!" Maria offered, though she did shoot a dirty look at Peter before taking the pastry.

"Same. Accursed vending machine has screwed up at this end." remarked Taylor.

"Do, ah, the security guards often make checks around the students at this time of night?" Al asked to Judy. She shook her head. "No, didn't think so, it's a bit...off, isn't it?"

"Yep." Judy bit her lip, and glanced towards the door.

"Because what's happened so far is biyasa." Jean hesitated, as she . "Sorry, I did not mean to...slur my words there. It's too late for this stuff"

"Even with my particular...vernacular-" William groaned "-ugh, I would struggle to form words at this late hour." He blinked. "Tiredness does creep up, does it not, like a...predator on it's prey. Oh, see, even I can't make the correct metaphor that I desired."

"Maybe try and get some kip now." Chelsea offered. "I mean, what are the odds-"

But before they could converse further, HALLIE straightened up.

"Our headmaster will make an announcement via the tannoy, and then arrive for personal briefing!" She chirped. This was met with lackluster declarations of "Yay" at best and groans of frustration at worst. At least Pat assumed so, things were getting a little out of focus for them.

With a loud crackle (And a loud "Come on!" from most of hte others), a speaker jolted into life and the warm, deep voice filled the room.

"Greetings all." Mr Flynt said. "Now, to business."

And then everything went black.

...

"-they're not-"

The first sensation to return to Pat was a dull, throbbing sensation in the back of their head.

"-try not to move too much, don't know-"

Wait, who was that speaking? He sounded….far away.

"Hello! Oi, newbie, focus!"

Should…probably answer that.

"A-wah?"

"Not quite the reaction I was hoping for, but it'll do!" Robert moved a portable flashlight up and down, right in Pat's eyes. "Hmm…don't seem any more dazed than the rest of us, which is something. Motor reflexes are-" He jabbed their leg.

"Ah!"

"-satisfactory for someone of your age…no fractures, and you're not coughing up blood or mucus or bloody mucus so...yes, you are good to go!"

"Far be it from me to critique your style, Robert, but give them a chance to breathe." Al looked down at them, concern on his face. "Are you okay? You may have, ah, taken a bump, we're not sure yet."

"Yeah, yeah." Pat sat up, feeling their head. "Okay, wait, no, actually..." They swallowed. "Aside from this headache, I'm peachy. …What happened?"

"Fraid we're not sure." Al gestured around. "Um...Headmaster started speaking and then-" He let his hand drop to his side "We all blacked out. Apparently."

Pat hesitated. "Is this…some sort of entrance…thing?"

"What schools have you been in where that's what happens to new teachers?"

"You would honestly be surprised."

"I wish we had rituals as fun as this one!" It was hard to tell how genuine this statement was, considering that Robert was being…well, Robert. "We usually just get really drunk and make the new kids pay for our drinks." He glanced to Theresa, concern flickering across his face for the first time. "You doing okay?"

Theresa nodded, and gestured to Sam and Nadia, both of whom appeared to be locked in conversation. Martin, recognizing that they were being watched, ambled over. "Well, counting Pat, we're twenty in total. HALLIE'S gone AWOL, so we should probably find her ASAP."

"OMG, LOL." Robert grinned. No one else did. "Wordplay, anyone? William, you appreciate it, right?"

"Aaaaargh." groaned William, as he furiously rubbed his head.

"You're no fun."

"We've just been knocked out, our deputy head has gone walkabout and yer being yer usual prattling self!" Peter growled. "Fun is nae something on my mind at the moment."

"Ooooh, touchy."

The reactions varied. Some, like Al, Nadia and Jamie, seemed to be keeping it together well but with clear signs of nerves. Others, like Chelsea and Martin, were keeping themselves occupied with something, though they were less clever about hiding their fear. Some, like Roy, Aisha and Barty, were on the verge of a full blown panic. Not far from her, they could hear Maria muttering furiously. "Can't shut down HALLIE, no one should, why isn't she here, are we under attack, oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh-"

And of course, Robert was looking on with thinly veiled amusement.

Suddenly, Laura's voice rang out, temporarily silencing the teachers. "We'll get nowhere staying here. We need to try and head to…I'm not sure, the headmaster's office? There should be something there that'll tell us what's going on. And there's a bank of security cameras there, if there is a problem, we'll have a good chance there."

A low level of murmuring sprang up, most of it in agreement with the old woman. Wayne, however, piped up. "Those fucking security guards outside, maybe we can get them together and smash some heads if we need to!" He scoffed. "i mean sure, they're probably off their tits with alcohol considering the way they were a moment ago, but still. More the merrier!"

"Crude as it may be, Mr Price does have a point." Taylor remarked. "It would be helpful to have some form of backup in case there's…something wrong."

"There isn't." snapped Judy. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, there's no way a security breach could have happened. I checked the systems before we got here, and all the guards are in their normal places."

"And yet here we are. And there the guards were. It's not fucking rocket science!" Wayne turned and winked at Nadia. "No offence."

"Oh, how original."

"Enough!"

Laura once again got everyone's attention. "There's no point in arguing." She glanced to Judy. "I don't doubt you've done your job as great as always. However, maybe you and a few of the others should head out to make sure things are all right. For the students sake."

Judy opened her mouth, thought for a minute and then reluctantly closed it, nodding. "That's fair." She muttered, grudgingly.

Laura looked around the room. "Right, so if you can take Mr Price, Ms Bowman and…Mx Livingstone, Judy, on the incredibly vague chance that things aren't going well, you should be well protected." She massaged her temples. "If you can make sure the students are okay, that would be great."

Pat spoke up, shakily. "Should…um, should we not try and get the boat back? If something's going on-"

"That's not going to be something we can do." Jamie looked glum, even more so than she had been in her introduction. "The boat has a very specific schedule, it's not going to be back until…I don't know, 4 in the afternoon?"

"Anyone got the time?" Martin remarked, suddenly.

Automatically, some reached into their pockets. And then the cries went up.

"Well, blow me down-"

"Fuck, where did I-"

"It's gone!"

Chelsea swallowed. "That's…that's not a co-incidence, right? I had my phone with me when I came here!"

Robert glanced down at his watch. "It's two in the morning. So about two hours since the head man upstairs started talking?"

There was a long silence, as every possible connotation of what that meant entered into the staff's heads.

"So….the boat's not coming." Pat said, more to confirm than anything.

"Yep." Sam looked at Laura. "Maybe some of us should stay here. In case there's any message that we need to hear?"

"Fair point. I think it best that one group head's for the headmaster's office, the second deals with security and then the third group stays here. So…Pat, are you all right to stay here?"

An odd question to be directed towards me, but I guess...well I am a newcomer here, I'd probably just get in the way. "Perfectly!"

"Good. Mr Moore, can I trust you to keep your cool in this situation? I'm sure Pat won't mind."

"N-No, of course not." Roy looked at Pat, who offered a shaky smile, which at the very least drew a tiny one from him.

"So, let's see….Miss Harding, Miss Waterson, Alphonse and Miss Pritchard , if you could stay as well." Nods went around from these three, even as Robert raised his voice to protest. "Rest of you, with me. Aisha, I'm going to need you to help us get in especially. Think it's time we sorted whatever this mess is out."

"Onwards!" Sam shouted, waving their hand around in a suitably dramatic fashion.

And with that, the room emptied.

"She's quite charismatic." Pat remarked.

"You have no idea." Al chuckled. "But she's been here the longest. Anyone deserves respect, it should be her."

Pat was about to say something else, when they saw Roy shaking a little. Quickly, they whipped off the coat and handed it to him. He took it, gratefully, and mumbled a "Thank you."

"No problem." Pat let out a long breath and then offered what they hoped to be a more confident smile. "We can sort this out, it's going to be fine. It might just be...a power cut or some sort of gas leak. We can deal with it."

"That's the spirit!" Al looked to Maria. "Come on, buck up, we'll get her back online soon."

"Y-Yeah. Course."

"No time like the present!" Chelsea remarked, clapping her hands. "So, might as well give you a tour while you're here!" She smiled, and though it was smaller than it had been in the meeting, it was still cheery as always. "Got any ideas where to start, Pat?"

"….Uh, reception? Maybe we can see if the computer's working."

"I've got a password for it." Roy coughed. "The extra-curricular stuff I've been doing, Aisha showed me how to use it."

"Long as you haven't been altering your test scores." Jamie's lips almost, almost looked like they were trying to smile. "Like someone I know."

"One time." Maria protested. "One time! …It's a good idea, Pat, might as well get our bearings, first." She bit her lip. "I hope HALLIE's okay. She's not supposed to..." She paused. "Sorry."

"It's fine!" Al clicked his tongue. "Let's get this over with."

First day and things are already kicking off. This is going to be fun.


Ominous last line is not ominous at all, what are you talking about? XD. But yeah, quick thing, Sam being referred to as a man by Pat as they come to them is just the result of not being explicitly told their gender straight off, not an accidental mistake. I'm fairly certain that's okay, but yes, Taylor will also be referred to by them/they for the future. If I've got that wrong, feel free to tell me. If this seems a little shorter than the previous part, I apologise, but I think this works out rather nicely. Hope you enjoyed, and can't wait to continue this next time!