A Courier for Kivotos

by Unknown Sixth

I'd been many things in my travels. Courier, prospector, trader, mechanic, assassin, lobotomite... you name it. But I never expected to become the teacher of a bunch of bulletproof, trigger-happy angels in a city untainted by the horrors of the Wasteland.

23. Lessons to Be Learned

"Some more shots, boss man?"

"Hit me."

The Gomorrah bartender deftly nabbed a bottle off the glass shelves and juggled it to his other hand with an elegant flourish. He spun off the cork and tilted the bottle forward, allowing just the right amount of alcohol to trickle down into the series of shot glasses in front of me, spilling not a single drop. The mark of a meticulous bartender… or perhaps one that was instructed to be meticulous for the sake of Gomorrah's VIP. Not that I cared much; sure, theatrics are nice, but I didn't come here to admire the bartender.

"Enjoy. Lemme know if you need more. All you can drink; after all, it's on the Omertas' dime."

"Sure."

With that, the bartender walked off to the other end of the counter, giving me some space. As he only had only one customer, all he had to do was merely look busy until I required his services once more.

Meanwhile, my eyes began to gravitate toward the far more tantalizing sight on the room's stage - what many of Gomorrah's visitors considered to be the centerpiece of the casino, above even the games.

The lead dancer, a fair-skinned brunette wearing several scraps of black clothing that could maybe count as lingerie if one squinted hard enough, took the lead as the trio on stage sultrily swung their hips in rhythm with the classy music blaring on the casino's speakers. The women were quite beautiful, and they only looked slightly chemmed up compared to Gomorrah's usual performers. Probably handpicked by Cachino; I had to wonder what angle he was playing this time.

I downed one of the five shot glasses, relishing the aftertaste of the rum, which had a hint of agave in it.

Ah, well. Wasn't gonna complain when I was getting good service.

"This area is reserved for VIP guests only," one of the two hulking Securitron units I'd assigned as bouncers gruffly warned from just outside the room.

"Yeah, well, can you tell your boss that I'm here? And while you're at it, kindly let him know that his choice in venues leaves much to be desired."

The pair of Securitrons blocked the doorway menacingly, letting the new arrival know that his quip was not appreciated in the slightest.

"Let him through, Yes Man," I said loudly over the music of the casino.

Both of the Securitrons shuddered and their faces shifted from the standard MK II appearance to a simplistic smiling face as Yes Man assumed direct control of the units. "You got it, boss!" he chipperly said, both of the Securitrons wheeling out of the way.

The tall, somewhat lanky man with short blonde hair and glasses arched an eyebrow at the Securitrons then walked through the doorway cautiously. After he passed, Yes Man moved to obstruct the entrance once again with the intent of keeping out unwanted guests.

"Arcade, pal!" I greeted, downing the second shot. I scooted my helmet, which rested on the bartop, to the side to clear up the space next to me. "Have a seat and grab a drink! More than enough to go around!"

"Good to see you. And, er… I'll pass on the latter. I don't drink."

"Suit yourself," I said as the man, clad in his usual Followers doctor attire, pulled up a stool next to me and sat. "Have a complaint about my choice in fine establishments, do you?" I held a hand to my chest in mock hurt.

"Fine establishments… Right…" Arcade Gannon looked around our surroundings and wrinkled his nose in distaste… or perhaps he picked up a scent he didn't quite agree with. "As far as meeting places go, this has to be among the more questionable places you could've picked in New Vegas, barring the Atomic Wrangler… or a random junkie's house, for that matter. Remind me again why we couldn't just meet at the Old Mormon Fort or the Lucky 38 like we usually do?"

"Too many prying eyes and ears among the Followers… no offense," I answered. "And the Lucky 38 is great. Probably the best in terms of privacy. But it's a bit overkill. We're not diplomats here, just friends having a chat. Right?"

"And your solution to that - and I hesitate to call it as such - 'conundrum' is this den of debauchery and vice," Arcade deadpanned. "Perfectly understandable."

"Hey, what else is a guy to do?" I said defensively. "Not a single casino in Nevada is stupid enough to let me gamble anymore, so there aren't a lot of ways to stay entertained around here. And speaking of entertainment… " Arcade followed my gaze as it turned to the stage. "See anything you like?" As if on cue, the foremost dancer shot us a wink and arched her back with a quickness that caused her rather sizable assets to undulate in an appealing fashion.

Well, appealing to me, anyway.

"... You know perfectly well the answer to that question," Arcade flatly replied, turning back to me with a blank face.

"I know, just kidding," I said, snorting slightly. "Hm, maybe next time I'll ask Cachino to… diversify the performers a bit. You know, get some Y chromosomes in here?"

"I'll pass. As much as I relish the idea, venereal diseases would be detrimental to my work, to say the least."

"Just what are you implying about me?" I scoffed. "I'll have you know my interest in Gomorrah's… services doesn't extend past the aesthetic."

Arcade looked at the shot glasses before me doubtfully. "Aesthetic, huh?"

"You know I don't mean the drinks." I rolled my eyes, gesturing at the fine display on stage for emphasis. "I can peruse the store all I want; doesn't mean I'm gonna buy, you get what I'm saying?"

"Truly, your restraint is a sight to behold," Arcade said sarcastically.

I merely smirked at Arcade as I downed another shot right in front of him. Two more to go.

"So, what did you want to discuss this time? Westside? Freeside? Or maybe the Strip? I may not have much of any hand in the Strip's governance - that's entirely your domain - but I'll help in any way I can if that's what you need."

"Strip's fine, same as always," I replied. "Omertas have been awfully nice lately but I'm not one to give in to dealings under the table. At least, not the kind of dealings they're probably thinking of."

"Right."

"So just gimme the skinny on Freeside. What's been happening this past week?"

"It's been going alright. Julie's just about rehabilitated another batch of chem users; we're trying to get some handymen to teach them a bit of carpentry so they can stay busy and out of trouble."

"Mhm. And the new squatters? Heard a group of them came on down through the I-15. What's that about?"

"Some NCR border towns seem to be having some issues at the moment so that's causing some of the disenchanted to flock to Vegas and, by extension, Freeside… ironically enough, considering Freeside's rocky history with its treatment of NCR squatters."

"When does the NCR not have issues?" I muttered. Well, not like we didn't have our own share of problems, but at least Arcade and I were here trying to work them out. "Any complaints from the locals about the new arrivals?"

"They're integrating surprisingly well. The Kings have been quite helpful in that regard. After all, whenever the King speaks, Freeside listens."

"Good man." I downed another shot, eyeing the last one pensively.

"You're pretty out of the loop, huh? How long was your recent business trip?"

"A week, give or take."

"I see. Are you planning on telling anyone where you keep disappearing to?" Arcade said, peering at me over the top of his glasses.

"Nope." I grinned.

Irked, Arcade replied, "How would we know where to look if, one day, you don't come back? Forget that, what would we tell the Three Families who would suddenly find themselves with nobody to keep them in line?"

"I've got it all worked out, don't you worry." I crossed my arms and shifted in my seat. "But I'm not going anywhere. Sure, I miss the freedom of the open road, but we've got a good thing going here, right? Why would I want to cut and run?"

"... I suppose the implication is that you may not have a choice in the matter," he said dryly.

"Yeah? And what's gonna do me in, do you think? Monster of the East couldn't do it, what more a gecko or a junkie with a switchblade?" I leaned in furtively. "Unless… you think someone's just gonna whisk me away aboard a magic carpet to another land?" I joked. "Pfft."

"..."

Arcade's annoyed frown told me everything I needed to know about how he felt about me making light of his words.

"Refill, boss man?" the bartender asked once I finished the last of my drink.

"Yes, please!"

I rubbed my hands together in anticipation as all six shot glasses were topped off. Arcade watched in disinterest as I grabbed the sixth shot glass and held it between my fingers in contemplation.

"Besides, if you're worried about the Three Families, isn't that why Freeside's been building up a militia? The New Vegas Defense Force, right?"

"That's true. But I'd rather we sidestep the whole 'internal turmoil' fiasco to begin with."

"Every person, every civilization reaches a possible breaking point eventually. The Three Families, by nature, will rush to fill any power vacuum you leave for them." I looked at my distorted reflection in the shot glass. My hair had grown just enough to obscure the two points where Maria left her mark; time for a trim soon, maybe. "The only question is whether you power through. Preparation will get you far, don't get me wrong, but there are just some things you can't prepare for."

Let Vegas, not just the Strip, build up its forces, gain a bit of self-sufficiency. It's not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do.

… And if that resulted in me no longer being needed to keep the peace, well and good. I could finally return to the open road, where I belonged.

"I don't have a problem with helping Freeside defend itself, but are you really okay with that?" he asked, slightly skeptical.

"Okay with what? Letting a bunch of Freeside citizens arm and organize themselves, creating a force that could potentially rival the Strip's if left unchecked?"

"Well… yes. Mr. House certainly would've been frothing at the mouth at the prospect."

"I'm not House," I replied with an unintended terseness.

"That much is eminently clear, yes. But you cannot deny that many a man throughout history, thrust into a position of power, cannot resist the temptation of wanting more of it. House was merely one of them. Can you blame me for being wary of another replacing him?"

"Arcade, haven't we traveled together for long enough for you to figure out I'm only here because nobody had a better solution for Vegas? You know my moral compass boils down to 'don't steal, don't kill, unless they're assholes'."

"It'd be preferable if we didn't have to kill or steal from anyone, frankly."

"Yeah, well. The world's a cruel place. That's what you Follower types don't seem to get. Scratch that - you get it, but you just ignore it. But I suppose that's just a part of your charm." I downed two consecutive shot glasses, clearing my throat afterward. "Anyway, that's the gist of it. If Freeside is taking care of its people, I don't care much how it chooses to do so. My concern here is keeping New Vegas running and safe. Let its people live as they please, and find their own way in life - that's what I always say."

"To my knowledge, that's the first time you've said that," Arcade pointed out.

"Shit, really?" I cursed, leaning back to peer over Arcade's shoulder at the Securitrons guarding the entrance. "Yes Man, commission Michael Angelo's for a decorative plaque printed with what I just said, pronto."

"Wow, what an amazing idea!" Yes Man agreed, living up to his moniker. "Should we get it in tin or aluminum? Ooooh, or maybe even… silver?"

"Go with the least expensive option; I wanna prove a point but not that badly."

"Oh, that's really smart, not to mention economical! Because lavish displays of wealth are only so useful so long as they're within a reasonable price range, am I right? Nevermind the fact that you're literally the richest person in the entire Wasteland and a small-time purchase like a measly little plaque wouldn't make even an atom-sized dent in the estate you 'inherited' from Mr. House!"

"Get to it, Yes Man," I said tiredly. If I didn't know any better, I'd have construed his cheeriness as a smidge passive aggressive. But no, that was just the way he was, even after the modifications he made to his programming.

"Right, this is me getting to it!" The Securitron turned its attention back to guarding the entrance while Yes Man remotely diverted another Securitron halfway across the Strip to the task I gave him.

"... Really?" Arcade squinted at me.

"Hey, can't get on my case for irresponsible spending. These are my caps, not Vegas', and I'm even supporting a local business. You should be thanking me."

"Can we get back on track?"

"Right, right. Don't be a tightass." I sat up, becoming as businesslike as I cared to project. "While we're on the topic of supporting locals, how are your projects going?"

"Expanding the Followers' medical repertoire is… going," Arcade answered stiffly. "While our number of medical personnel has stagnated a bit, owing to the lack of proper medical education facilities in Vegas, we've been training assistants to utilize certain equipment under supervision. Meanwhile, our medical supplies are okay for now… but those Saturnite tools you supplied to replace our old ones have been raising a few eyebrows."

"What, not good enough?"

"More like too good. Specialized medical equipment utilizing diamond tips were the gold standard in the Old World, but Saturnite performs just as well with seemingly less wear." Arcade furrowed his brow. "Now, I'm pretty sure I know what you're going to say to this, but where-"

"So, about your greenhouse project…" I interrupted, changing the subject.

Arcade sighed, resignedly switching topics. "The new greenhouse structure we're building to cultivate crops not native to the Mojave is progressing well. We have supplies and the know-how; all we need is time. Many of the parts we need to create the climate regulator simply don't exist in the Wasteland. No existing interchangeable parts to work with really sets us back, but we're making do."

"Good to hear," I said, then leaned in slightly. "... Arouse any suspicion?"

"Thankfully not," Arcade lowly replied. "I've done what I can to remove anything that could be traced back to the Enclave from the schematics. But it's only a matter of time someone stumbles on a clue and links it back to me."

"Rather than dance around it, why not own it? You acquired the schematics for something that can help people, and it just so happens it came from the Enclave."

"In case you haven't heard, the Enclave is reviled practically everywhere on the West Coast. The NCR will most likely be looking to prosecute me and try me as a war criminal."

"I'd like to see them try."

"I'm touched by your readiness to sic an army of bloodthirsty robots at my prospective prosecutors for my sake. Truly, I am," Arcade said, his face completely blank. "But the NCR isn't the only thing I'd have to worry about. The Followers expelling me would also be a foregone conclusion. Being affiliated with a fascist paramilitary organization bent on cleansing the Wastes will do that to you."

"And? You don't need the Followers. If anything, they need you," I said, quickly continuing before Arcade could prepare an indignant response. "Julie's nice, yeah, but everyone else? Nah. You can continue to help people in Freeside with or without the Followers, and the locals won't give a hoot. Reality is, most people that aren't affiliated with NCR or its surrounding territories don't give a damn about the Enclave. Too far back and too far away for anyone to care."

"... If that's true, then what about you? You've spent a good amount of time traveling through NCR as a courier. Shouldn't you care?"

"Maybe I should… but I don't. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad someone stopped them. But they've never wronged me or anyone I know. And the atrocities they committed happened so long ago, they'd be in history books, were they still being printed," I answered. "Do you think I'd have been so quick to accept the Remnants' help if I did care that much?"

"..." Arcade's mouth thinned in agitation but he said nothing.

"So, hey. With Hoover Dam and your help in Freeside, some good came out of the Enclave in the end, huh?

"... Really?" Arcade said, exasperated.

"Isn't it true? You, Krieger, Johnson, and the others were a huge help at Hoover Dam."

"We've been over this ad nauseam." Arcade sighed. "There is no net positive. The Enclave killed a lot of people, did very bad things. And that's only the start of what they were about to do before they were stopped at the Oil Rig. We can't even begin to make up for the mistakes we made in the past."

"But you're trying anyway," I noted.

"... I am."

"Despite your only 'crime' being that you were born to an Enclave officer on an Enclave base. You're choosing to shoulder a burden that has nothing to do with you, that nobody is saddling you with but yourself. Why?"

"Because…" Arcade began, seemingly struggling with finding his words for once. "... it's my responsibility."

"To whom?"

"... I've wondered the same thing, many, many times. To my father? To the Remnants?" Arcade mused. "But since my father is gone, and the Remnants are either gone too or have moved on, it can't really be them, now can it? No, I suppose my answer would have to be… the future."

"The future?"

The Follower simply nodded, staring at one nondescript portion of the wall in front of us.

"Huh," I said, remembering the other gig Arcade had taken up. "So that's why you're teaching a bunch of brats in your spare time?"

"I'll thank you not to refer to them as brats," Arcade replied, frowning.

"Okay. Ankle biters?"

"They're certainly not young enough to be gnawing at ankles, either," Arcade said. "They're my students; what say we leave it at that?"

"Sure," I ceded for the sake of the conversation. "So that's why you've taken students?"

"I won't deny that's part of the reason," Arcade replied. "Dum vita est, spes est."

My slightly booze-addled mind took but a few milliseconds longer to decipher the phrase Arcade uttered.

"While there is life, there is hope?"

Arcade nodded, eminently pleased that there was someone in the Wasteland who wasn't a Legionnaire that could understand his nerdy Latin phrases.

"The way I see it, children are humanity's future; the culmination of our hopes to rise from the mistakes of our ancestors. But this will only come to pass if we teach the new generation. Help them be better than us. Guide them to a better path, one free from the hardships we've wrought by our own hands."

Arcade smiled slightly, looking down at the bartop.

"And… if that can make up for the atrocities my people committed, even just a little bit, then I'll do it as many times as I need to."

"... Huh."

I got the gist of what he was trying to say, but I couldn't exactly empathize at that moment. After all, I didn't have anyone to guide me while growing up, and I turned out alright.

Relatively speaking.

We sat for a few moments, letting the sultry music of the casino fill in the silence. I was about to pick up another drink when Arcade spoke up.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever thought about it?"

"I think about a lot of things, Arcade. Be more specific."

"Really. And here I thought ethanol and 9mm bullets were the only things going through your head."

"Ouch. Never heard that one before," I replied blandly. "Ass."

"Heh." Arcade briefly snorted in amusement before becoming serious once more. "I meant teaching, by the way."

"... What about it?"

"Have you ever thought about trying it yourself?"

"Never in my life," I answered honestly.

"Why not?"

"Don't got nothing to teach, I reckon."

"Do you really believe that after everything you've been through, everything you've experienced, you have nothing to teach?"

"Unless kiddos wanna learn which part of the leg to shoot to cripple somebody for life, or how to get the best high out of a dose of Jet? Nah."

Arcade shuddered from the mention of Jet but recovered quickly. "You might not have much, if any, formal education compared to a Follower, but the matter still stands. Experientia docet, Courier."

"Experience teaches."

"Exactly. It was often said that experience is the best teacher. While I consider myself a proponent of formal instruction, I can't deny the efficacy of empiricism."

"Again, I don't think the stuff you and I had to go through out there is stuff we should be teaching kiddos, Arcade."

"Maybe not those sorts of things specifically," he admitted. "But what's just as important as overcoming adversity are the lessons we take away from it after the fact. Your insight may just be more valuable than you might realize."

"Hrm," I grunted noncommittally, waving off the topic.

The very idea was absurd.

"Sensei."

Most times I stepped into an abandoned schoolhouse I had the intention of looting it. And Arcade was suggesting I might make a decent teacher?

Knock, knock.

"Sensei."

Seriously. Me? A teacher? Of all people? Hahaha.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Sensei. Are you in there?"

Ha…

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!

"Mn. I know you're in there. I'm going to bust down the door in ten if you don't answer. Ten, nine… fivefourthreetwoone-"

Oh, for crying out loud…

---

"Shiroko?! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Getting a running start."

"For what?"

"The door is locked. I'm opening it."

"Wait, you can't just go around breaking doors open just because!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"No, of course not!"

"Yuuka-chan, we shouldn't be so quick to condemn others, guests especially~"

"And we shouldn't overlook senseless damage to Millennium property either, Noa."

"Senseless? My. There may be some hitherto unknown motive behind her actions, no? What do you say, Shiroko-san? Why are you trying to break down this door?"

"Sensei's in there."

"Wait, Sensei?" Yuuka said. "He can't be in there. He hasn't come by to pick up the key."

"Indeed." Noa jangled a keyring that was apparently the only way of getting in. "How curious."

"Locks are merely a suggestion for Sensei," Shiroko said proudly.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Yuuka demanded.

"{Explanatory beeping}."

"Ara, ED-E-san, was it? I was quite curious about you; Yuuka-chan speaks very fondly of you, after all - like how one would their child, almost."

"Oh…?" Shiroko said, in a painstakingly deliberate fashion.

"I-I-I have no idea what you're talking about, and neither do you, Noa!"

The door slid open, and I stepped halfway through the frame.

"What's all the ruckus?" I asked, looking at the three students in the hallway - Shiroko, Yuuka, and a girl with straight stark white hair that nearly reached her ankles and a small notebook and pen clutched in one of her hands. She half-wore a white Millennium jacket over a white blazer with a tie, and obscuring her ears was what I assumed was a pair of headphones or some related piece of tech. Ushio Noa, the girl I heard Yuuka speaking to over the phone that one time - I'd also seen her name on many official documents from Millennium Science School. Her purple eyes fixated on me, and despite her bright, personable smile, I got the vague feeling I was being picked apart and analyzed, like an exotic insect under a magnifying glass.

"Sensei? How did you get in-" Yuuka began, only for Shiroko to interrupt as she walked up to join me along with ED-E.

"Millennium doors have weird locks, Sensei."

"You don't say…" I said, noticing the pile of broken bobby pins at the foot of the door.

Upon arriving in the district, Shiroko quickly took an interest in Millennium's fitness center, so I told her she could take a look at it while I took care of some business. I had ED-E tag along with her, as I didn't really need backup in broad daylight. Nobody would mess with her as long as ED-E was around - Schale's logo plastered on the side of his chassis was enough to deter people from getting too close to him, from what I'd seen. This also gave me some space to do some of my own scouting of the district.

As for my first impressions?

Well… There was really no other way to put this - Millennium Science School was nothing short of magnificent.

Despite not being built with defense in mind, the school, which boasted automated defenses such as turrets and drones around nearly every corner, could almost compete with veritable fortresses like Vault City and New Vegas. When taking logistics into account, however, it was no contest. Any society with the ability to manufacture skyscrapers and monorails far outstripped any Wasteland civilization in terms of sheer resources and technological capability, barring the Big Empty (though the brains were much more efficient at destruction than construction).

Though Millennium's monorail system seemed to be over twice as fast as Camp McCarran's monorail system, I wasn't eager to use it without first verifying it wasn't sabotaged beforehand. Thus, I spent a good portion of the early morning on foot locating the building where I would be teaching later in the day.

I found myself in a relatively small building whose interior had several rows of intersecting hallways, each hosting several, seemingly unused classrooms. The classroom I'd been assigned was near the end of one hallway - classroom number six; I'd have thought this was a joke on Yuuka's part were it not for the fact that most students weren't aware of that particular moniker. The door to classroom six was locked; I recalled Yuuka mentioning that I should pick up the key first thing in the morning, but why wait if I was already there?

"You two got back a lot earlier than I expected. Millennium's fitness center isn't up to par?"

"No, it's fantast-" Shiroko stopped, giving the side eye to the two Millennium officials present. "... it's okay, I guess."

The wolfgirl leaned in conspiratorially, whispering, "We need to build one in Abydos. But bigger, and better."

"Start saving, then."

Noa giggled slightly while Yuuka rolled her eyes, arms crossed.

"{Explanatory beeping}."

"Wait, you made a friend there?" I asked Shiroko, surprised by what the robot told me.

"Yes," Shiroko replied, nodding feverishly. "She can actually keep up with us, unlike Serika."

"Huh." I felt a twinge of sympathy for Serika, as she was the de facto pick when Shiroko wanted to drag someone else along for training and I wasn't available. Knowing the kind of training Shiroko liked to do in her free time, it was impressive that someone out there, from Millennium no less, had the [Endurance] and the moxie to keep up.

"I think I know who that might be," Yuuka commented offhandedly.

"Fufu. It seems Otohana-san's reputation precedes her," Noa said, wearing a seemingly ever present yet subtle smile. "In any case… Sensei, please allow me to formally welcome you and your companions to Millennium Science School. I am Ushio Noa, secretary to Seminar, our academy's student council. You've already met Yuuka-chan-"

"Can you drop the -chan? This is technically official context," Yuuka interrupted with a nitpick and a scowl.

"-but regardless, this is Hayase Yuuka, our meticulous treasurer," Noa introduced, flashing Yuuka a wink while the treasurer in question pouted. "Now, I understand this is not the first large academy you've visited, as Trinity General School has that honor-"

Yuuka huffed at that but said nothing.

"Technically, Abydos was the first," Shiroko murmured, also conspicuously discontented.

"-but Millennium is a very large academy, with a myriad of amenities and clubs. You seem to be the type who prefers to explore on his own - which is perfectly respectable, as we at Millennium place a great deal of stock in personal discovery, scientific or otherwise - so we will leave you to explore at your leisure. But should you find yourself overwhelmed, just seek out Yuuka-chan-"

"There you go again!"

"-or myself at the Millennium Tower so we may assist you. You may locate the Millennium Tower quite easily as long as you're outside; it is the tallest building on campus, where the majority of clubrooms are based. Simply take the elevator to the highest publicly accessible floor and from there representatives from Seminar will be able to direct you to one of us in short order." Noa brought up her miniature notebook, opening it to the bookmarked page as she held her pen to her cheek, smiling. "I believe that covers it. Do you have any questions, Sensei?"

"Just one." I brought up my Pip-Boy, flipping to the Maps tab, the data I downloaded from the General Student Council archives quickly rendering, then held out the Pip-Boy for her to see. "It's about this map."

"I see." Noa's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she looked at the map. "How may I help?"

I zoomed out from our current location, focusing on the Millennium school district as a whole. Near countless grayed out squares representing unvisited locations populated the area in and around Millennium Science School, with the bordering districts in the periphery also grayed out - all except for one large area to the north, which was nearly the size of an entire district. Said area wasn't grayed out, but rather, there was nothing there at all; like there simply wasn't any data to load in.

"What's this place to the north?" I asked, pointing at the empty space on the map.

"Ah." Noa's smile faded somewhat. "Those are the Ruins."

"Ruins?"

She nodded. "An abandoned, dilapidated urban area slowly being reclaimed by nature, believed to be the remnants of a civilization long passed. The General Student Council has forbidden anyone, student and drone alike, from venturing inside, hence the absence of any data on the Ruins in your map."

"Surely you can map the place with satellites," I suggested, masking my suspicion.

"To a limited degree, we have. But anything beyond superficial scans seems to fail, as a result of strange electronic interference permeating through the area." Noa rapped her pen against her notebook pensively. "It's a matter most vexing, especially for us; imagine having as-of-today unexplored terrain just within your backyard and being forbidden from investigating it, much less unearthing its secrets."

"Sounds inconvenient." I switched back to the Status tab and lowered my arm.

"Yes, isn't it?" Noa agreed. "That's not to say that some students haven't tried. But more than a few intrepid students from our school would have tried to enter the Ruins, even risking prosecution by the General Student Council… were it not for the automated defenses patrolling the Ruins."

"Defenses? From the General Student Council, I take it?"

"Evidently not, as they've fired on Millennium and General Student Council personnel alike." Noa shook her head. "Perhaps there is a factory built by the ancient civilization that is yet operational, as their defenses seem inexhaustible, judging from the few excursions that were attempted. This fact alone has been enough to deter anyone since; not to understate the abilities of our students in combat, but a good majority of our students fancy themselves thinkers and innovators, not fighters. And as these mysterious forces have not made any moves beyond defending their territory, we have, for the time being, deemed the Ruins an acceptable, if temporary, loss to the common academe."

"That's for the best," I said.

… Outwardly.

Seminar would have doubtlessly had the foresight to place surveillance devices and automated defenses to guard the border between Millennium and the Ruins. Once I found a way through, it would then be a matter of scoping out the opposition in the Ruins. Stealth was probably the safest bet, in the face of an innumerable enemy force. And from there…?

Who knows what kind of goodies would be in an ancient, unexplored ruins?

Keystones?

New, unseen types of guns?

A new variant of Power Armor?

Swords that disintegrate people?

Vaults full of gold?

The anticipation was killing me, and I had to restrict myself from devilishly rubbing my palms together like a Grognak comic book villain.

Yuuka squinted at me, as if trying to catch a hint of my emotions through my visor. "You're thinking of trying to get in there, aren't you, Sensei?"

"Pshhh, me? Of course not."

"Sensei is an upstanding citizen," Shiroko said, jumping to my defense.

"Uh-huh…" Yuuka replied, her expression conveying exactly how convinced she was. As in, not at all.

"I'm sure Sensei is the picture of discretion, Yuuka-chan," Noa said cheerily, opening her notebook.

"Well, I'm not implying that Sensei makes uninformed decisions, but…" Yuuka trailed off as she noticed Noa jotting something down in her notebook. "... What are you recording this time, Noa?"

"Just some observations," Noa answered, gesturing at my wrist with the slightest of tilts of her head. "Sensei's Pip-Boy 3000 is not of Kivotos make, after all, so I wish to record my observations." Noa smiled at me candidly. "Merely for posterity, you understand."

"What kind of observations?" I asked, partly out of curiosity and caution, though I seriously doubted Noa, being a friend of Yuuka, would be a corporate spy for the likes of someone like Kaiser, who'd probably jump at the chance to get their grubby mitts on Wasteland technology.

"Observations pertaining to functional characteristics, primarily. You see, I am in charge of reviewing the bulk of patents proposed by Millennium's various clubs. So evaluating schematics and novel pieces of technology is an inevitable facet of my job - one that I've come to enjoy, even outside of the office. And as the saying goes - if you find a job you enjoy doing, you'll never work a day in your life." Noa paused for a second, turning her attention to her notebook as she considered what next to write. "Interesting map interface. Standard topographical data eschewed in favor of emphasis on points of interest, significant landmarks, and real-time locator functions."

"Add radio reception and record playback functions, too," Yuuka offhandedly contributed, evidently used to Noa's eccentricities.

"Oh? How curious…" Noa hummed.

Speaking of eccentricities, I noticed that both Yuuka and Noa, though personable, had certain fixations. One on calculations, and one on documenting. Was this common amongst Millennium students in general or just Seminar, I wondered.

"By the way, what were you doing in there, Sensei?" Shiroko asked, looking toward classroom six. "You weren't responding."

"I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Something a friend told me a while back. Guess I got reminded of it just now."

"Friend? From the Mojave?"

"Yeah."

"Want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Gnnn…" Shiroko's face scrunched up irritably.

"Pout all you want, you little ankle biter. I'm not spilling."

"I don't bite ankles."

"Shiroko-san, I believe that was an expression in regard to your age, not to be taken literally," Noa cheerily informed, looking up from her notebook.

"Her age? Aren't we all the same age, though?" Yuuka asked, cocking an eyebrow, unsure if she should be offended. "What are you trying to say about us, Sensei?"

"Don't read too far into it," I said. "More importantly, let's get out of this hallway."

I slid classroom six's door open fully and stepped through, with a confused wolfgirl, disgruntled walking calculator, and Noa in tow.

The place felt odd, to say the least. The whole building's architecture, inside and out, was notably not like the sleek, futuristic look of the other buildings I saw, but was almost… familiar, in a way. Like a mixture of Abydos' classrooms and how I imagined pre-War schoolhouses looked before the bombs fell, just with the occasional piece of tech serving as a reminder of where we actually were. Thirty-seven pairs of seats with desks lined up throughout the room in neat rows, with the teacher's desk and a whiteboard facing the class. Despite the lights being off, the room was well-lit by the morning sunlight flooding into the room via the large horizontal glass window on the wall opposite to the entrance. Advanced electronic lockers, likely for students to store their personal effects, of Millennium origin were pushed up against the back of the classroom.

"This place looks different, almost like a normal classroom," Shiroko commented.

"This satellite school building was rendered defunct after Millennium Tower was constructed to shoulder the school's academic needs," Noa explained. "However, the building has since been refurbished and reinstated, largely serving as backup for student extracurricular use… and for guest speakers who prefer more… old-fashioned environments."

Noticing as Yuuka averted her eyes for a split second, I said, "I'm guessing you picked this place out on purpose?"

"Well… yes," Yuuka admitted. "I thought you might find a more traditional setting to be more agreeable."

I was reminded of the discussion I had with Arona about my world's technology and how some of its principles were apparently antiquated in comparison with Kivotos'. With this in mind, it made sense how Yuuka came to the conclusion she did… But I still wasn't happy with being relegated to being 'old-fashioned'.

Shiroko reached over to one of the desks and picked up the folded paper resting on it.

"Hayase Yuuka: Millennium Science School - Seminar?" she read off the simple text handwritten in Latin script. Shiroko put down the piece of paper and moved to the adjacent desk, reading off the paper on the new desk. "Amau Ako - Gehenna Academy, Disciplinary Committee? Why are these names and titles written on these desks?"

"I'm assuming they're assigned seating…" Yuuka answered, holding a hand to her chin as she looked at the nametags on each of the desks. "... in the order of registration, from the looks of it."

Shiroko began walking around the classroom reading the names on each desk, while Noa tilted her head, tapping her pen against her cheek.

"I see. So that's what you've been up to, Sensei," Noa said. "Knowing names beforehand would help you get to know your students more effectively, yes?"

"Something like that."

Honestly, I just saw the nameplates on our desks during the GSC summit and thought they were a good idea, since they saved time that was normally spent on lengthy introductions. Since everyone here almost certainly knew who I am already, all that was left was giving names to faces among the student body.

"Hmm…" Noa leaned closer as she stared into my visor for a few seconds, as if picking up something amiss with my words.

"Don't bother, Noa. Trying to get Sensei to divulge something when he doesn't want to is a fool's errand," Yuuka flatly said.

"Hm?" Noa returned from her thoughts. "Oh, don't mind me, Yuuka-chan. I just find Sensei interesting, is all."

"... Hah?!" Yuuka, flabbergasted, made a throaty sound not unlike the throes of a dying Mole Rat. "W-what do you mean, interesting?!"

Shiroko's ears twitched, and she looked over to us alertly.

"It's nothing of import," Noa said with a bright smile.

"On the contrary, I think that's pretty important!" Yuuka retorted, to deaf ears. Or headphones.

Huh. Maybe Noa's headphones filtered out extraneous sounds? Would be useful for one who didn't want background noise getting in the way of documenting events.

"Now then, Sensei." Noa snapped her notebook shut and cleared her throat, her tone becoming serious, in contrast with the ill-tempered Yuuka. "I hope these accommodations prove conducive to an enlightening experience, for both you and your students. The Millennium Seminars have always allowed its guest instructors to take the reins, so feel free to approach your classes however you like. In less formal parlance, go crazy."

"Should you really be encouraging something like that?" Yuuka commented.

"Of course, 'within reason' goes without saying, Yuuka-chan."

"I'll keep that in mind, Noa," I replied. "Are you sticking around?"

"As much as I'd love to, I am not. We are, after all, expecting a full house, and I was not able to register in time, myself," Noa said. "Alas, it would've been quite novel, being able to record Sensei's first formal teaching experience at Millennium Science School… but I suppose Yuuka-chan's account of the event will more than suffice."

"While I'm fine with that, don't expect a 1:1 recount. My memory's not quite as good as yours, Noa," Yuuka said.

"Ah, but while biased accounts are not optimal, examining the biases therein is a gratifying experience wholly worth recording on its own!"

Yuuka crossed her arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing of import," Noa replied with a wink, while Yuuka bristled at her rage-inducing choice of wording. "Enjoy your time with Sensei, Yuuka-chan~"

"Did you have to phrase it like that?!" Yuuka indignantly said, her face flushed, but Noa was already making her way out of the classroom.

"Until we meet again, Sensei. You too, Shiroko-san and ED-E-san." Noa smiled and briefly waved, exiting the room.

"... Honestly, that girl…" Yuuka covered her face with a palm, sighing in exasperation.

"Sensei," Shiroko suddenly said.

"Huh?"

"Why is my name not written on any of these desks?" she asked, frowning.

"You didn't register."

"But I'm your assistant for the day."

"And who's the one who refused to take no for an answer when I said I didn't need an assistant today?"

"Then why is ED-E here?"

"He's not picky about where he waits. Once this thing starts, he'll be waiting in the adjacent room," I said, not mentioning that he'd also be monitoring movement throughout the building. The walls here were thin enough that I'd hear any alerts he made; one of the first things I did once I got here was test the thickness of the walls.

"This room will be at capacity once everyone arrives, so you can stay here until then, Shiroko," Yuuka said, the Abydos student subsequently scowling at her. "You can wait with ED-E or in the reception room, if you'd like. The fitness center is also open to you, as long as you're on Schale duty."

"Gnnnn…" Shiroko huffed, evidently not placated by Yuuka's suggestion.

Personally, I didn't see much of an issue. The classrooms around here all had enough desks, and there was definitely space to fit one more in here. Maybe I'd tell her to grab a seat from the other room once the classroom filled up.

After checking the time on my Pip-Boy, I said, "We've got about thirty minutes until students start showing up. I'm gonna continue getting things ready."

"That would be prudent," Yuuka said as she walked over to her seat in the very front of the class, depositing her bag and gun onto the desk and taking out her laptop. "You should also take this time to set up your slideshow, Sensei."

"... Slideshow?"

"Yes, you should be able to upload the slideshow you've prepared to the computer on your desk."

I looked at the computer in question. It, like all Kivotos terminals, was a flimsy little thing with a thin screen, but there was no corresponding projector in sight. But that wasn't even the main issue.

"I didn't make a slideshow."

"Didn't make…?" Yuuka trailed off, before realizing what I said. "But how will you deliver your lecture?"

"With [Speech] and chalk," I simply answered, checking the board's chalk holder for any chalk I can use for emphasis, only to see there was none. "... Where's the chalk?"

Yuuka sighed. "Sensei, that's not a real chalkboard. It's electronic, so you can't write on it."

Deciding to see for myself, I inspected the blackboard closer. Sure enough, the underside of the blackboard was composed of some kind of synthetic material, with the occasional metallic bit, likely technology.

Son of a…

"... Seriously? You went through all the effort of making a chalkboard that's identical to a real one, down to the scratches and eraser marks, but you chose to make it a glorified TV screen?"

"You're talking as if I'm the manufacturer! And I could understand where the manufacturer was coming from with the scratches - ambience is an important piece of any classroom environment."

My disappointment must have been palpable from the long stare I gave Yuuka, because she quickly added, "F-furthermore, it's only natural that instructors would use digital means to teach students. Did you forget that almost all students' curricula are taught via Blu-rays?"

"Abydos uses Blu-rays, but they have chalkboards," I pointed out, while Shiroko puffed out her chest in pride.

"Yes, but Abydos is…" Yuuka began, only to change course once she saw the withering look the lone Abydos student gave her. "... beside the point. Look, we have chalkboards, but we only really keep them as backup in the case of technological failures. You'd have to trek halfway across the academy to the storage area, and I don't think doing that in thirty minutes is feasible-"

"I can run and get one for you, Sensei," Shiroko quickly volunteered.

"H-hey!" Yuuka protested as Shiroko stepped in the way of her and me. "Even if you could make it, do you think they'll just let you in? You need proper credentials to access the storage area!"

"ED-E can come with me."

"{Inquisitive beeping}?"

"I don't see why not," I answered, giving the green light. As far as I could tell, ED-E liked Shiroko and the Abydos crew, but not quite enough to take orders from them or hold his fire if they did something he perceived as threatening to me.

"I suppose that would work…" Yuuka muttered after a moment of thought. "Just make sure to mention you're only borrowing on behalf of Schale, though. Do you know where the storage room is?"

"The little building next to the Tower, right? I can get there from here; I have good sense of direction."

"Well, alright…" Yuuka conceded. "I'll stay here and help Sensei prepare, then. Don't be too long."

"Mn."

Shiroko already had one foot out the door when she turned back toward us. Gears turning in her head, she looked at Yuuka.

Then to me.

Then back to Yuuka.

Then at me again.

Finally, her gaze rested on Yuuka, where it lingered for a few more agonizing seconds. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Can I help you…?" Yuuka asked, looking unsettled when she noticed the Abydos student staring.

"Actually, I don't know where the storage area is. Come with me, Yuuka," Shiroko said, her face blank.

"Weren't you just saying you have a good sense of direction?!"

"I lied. Let's go."

"But it's quite a distance between here and the storage area…" Yuuka hesitated.

"I see…" Shiroko said, adopting a look of false pity. "I guess I expected too much from a Millennium student…"

"Excuse me?" Yuuka bristled at the comment. "I'll have you know I've increased my effective stamina by approximately twenty-two-point-fifty-six percent in preparation for the upcoming Halo Festival!"

"Oh?" The mention of the Halo Festival sparked something resembling excitement in Shiroko. "Then I look forward to beating you. Miss twenty-two-percent."

"It's twenty-two-point-fifty-six percent! You could at least round up if you're going to use just two significant figures!" Yuuka insisted to the unimpressed Shiroko. "And don't underestimate us athletically just because we're a science-focused school-"

"Do I need to go to the storage room myself?" I interrupted.

"No!" both quickly responded in tandem.

Yuuka quickly joined Shiroko outside of the classroom, checking her phone urgently. "We have twenty-eight minutes and five seconds to make it there and back. We have no time to lose."

Shiroko watched as the Seminar student briskly walked out of sight, then she began to close the door. "We'll be back, Sensei."

"Hey," I called out.

"Mn?" she stopped.

"Be nice," I said in English, just in case Yuuka was still in earshot.

Shiroko pointed at herself questioningly. "I is nice."

Shaking my head in amusement from her baffled expression, I said, "Keep practicing."

"Okay."

The door shut, and soon after, the sound of running echoed in the hallway outside, followed by the distant sound of stern reprimanding from Yuuka; probably telling her not to run in the halls.

Pretty good manipulation on Shiroko's part, goading Yuuka into going with her, presumably because she didn't trust Yuuka with me for whatever reason. Shiroko might not be the most charismatic individual, but it seemed that, without her classmates to rein her in, she had ways of getting what she wanted.

My attention turned back to the board. So much for preparing; I wouldn't be able to get anything written down for the class until Shiroko and Yuuka returned. Deciding to use this time to page through the Big Book of Science Ui printed for me, I walked back to the teacher's desk right as ED-E shrilly beeped twice.

"Already?" I said, while he bobbed up and down in confirmation.

I sighed as I sat down at the teacher's desk facing the entire classroom. Were these… nerves I was feeling? This was an easy job, easy money. I'd fulfill my obligation to brush up on beginner science to those who attended - nothing more, nothing less. Despite this, however, my old companion's words to me in Gomorrah back then echoed in my mind unbidden. Try as I might, I could not shake them.

ED-E silently floated next to me, his ever watchful eye alert and judgmental… though I was probably imagining the latter.

"Not a word to Arcade, you hear me?"

---

Midori was all nerves.

Not a single past embarrassing social gaffe nor humiliating instance in PE class could adequately measure up to how the Millennium student felt as she pushed open the double doors leading into one of the school's auxiliary buildings - the one Sensei would be in. And she was only barely starting to figure out why.

Though the Game Development Department was threatened by complete closure at the hands of Seminar, this was a threat that could be faced by her, Momoi, and Yuzu, together. Even in harrowing situations in the past, like with bullies, schoolwork, and otherwise inhospitable social situations, Midori could always lean on Momoi for support, as her elder sister was always the more extroverted and outgoing of the two, despite their respective ages being literal minutes apart.

Given that they ate together, slept together, worked together, played together, and party wiped in raids together, the times in which she couldn't count on Momoi for support were few and far in between, leading to her current state. It certainly didn't help that Sensei was… well… kind of scary. Even the slightest mention of him sent Yuzu retreating into her cabinet.

How in the world was Midori supposed to, in her sister's words, charm somebody like that?

Midori gasped as, in her inattention, she nearly tripped on a nearby chair leg, cautiously righting herself after.

"Hey, are you alright? Try not to trip!" a student sitting on one of the chairs warned in concern. She had pretty red eyes, a red gear-like halo, and long blonde hair that was braided toward the end. Over her gray school uniform she wore a heavy-looking fur coat that looked utterly unfitting for the current climate, and embroidered on the coat was a cute-looking bear with '227' patched underneath it. Midori was willing to bet her Flystation that that was a Red Winter club.

Her suspicions were immediately confirmed the moment she saw the object occupying the seat to the student's right: a large telescope bearing the emblem of Red Winter.

"S-sorry, I was distracted…" Midori replied sheepishly as she glanced around the area.

Midori had happened across what seemed to be a lounge-slash-study area. Dispersed around the medium-sized, carpeted area were several tables and chairs outfitted with electrical outlets for charging devices, and against the wall were a few high-tech vending machines and multiple cushioned seats. Sitting nearby were two students enraptured in what seemed like a rather one-sided conversation. In front of one of the vending machines was a blue-haired student wearing stylish white kimono who bore reddish horns atop her head; Midori recognized her as Waraku Chise from Hyakkiyako's promotional TV ads. Imagine that, a bona fide celebrity, here!

"If you're here for the seminar, we should be able to go into the classroom soon," the presumptive Red Winter student informed as she went back to what she was doing - that is, stuffing her face with the snacks that were handed to her on the way in. "Whyf notf hfave a sheet til thfen?"

The student patted the vacant seat next to her, and Midori, not wanting to appear rude, accepted.

"Mmph. Ahhhh!" The student sighed dreamily after she finished most of the prepackaged mini powdered donuts. "Actually having real, undiluted sweets for once really hits the spot!"

"... For once?" Midori cautiously asked, watching as the girl completely emptied the plastic package, tilting her head back and shaking any residual contents into her mouth. She looked like she was about to start licking the encrusted sugar off the wrapper, only stopped by the fact that Midori was there and was expecting an answer.

Licking her lips, the girl nodded, displeasure etched on her features. "Our allotted rations aren't always nutritionally complete… and they sometimes skimp on the pudding. And store-bought stuff is too expensive." Her eyes widened. "Oh, I'm Nodoka, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Midori," she introduced herself. So this was a Red Winter student? Midori heard they were supposed to be a lot rougher - more than Nodoka was, in any case - but Midori wasn't complaining. It was after a few seconds that she noticed that Nodoka was staring at the snack Midori was carrying. Truthfully, she had forgotten about the snack she was given in the reception area the moment she received them. "Um… do you want them?" she offered.

"Eh? But aren't you going to eat them?" Nodoka asked, conspicuously trying not to drool.

"Not really," Midori replied. She doubted sugar would do any favors for her current anxiety, anyway. "Here, you can have them."

"Whoa, thank you so much! Don't mind if I…" Nodoka halted right as she was about to tear the package open, then relented, slipping the package into her coat. "... On second thought, I think I'll save this one for my friend. She couldn't register in time."

Her too, huh… Midori thought.

Midori placed her hands on her knees as she sat upright next to Nodoka, thinking about what next to say. In RPGs, giving someone an item makes them more likely to divulge information they might not otherwise share. Surely the same holds true for social settings?

Eventually, Midori worked up the courage to ask, "So… what brings you to Sensei's class?"

"I heard there would be free snacks!" Nodoka cheerfully replied, a hungry gleam in her eye.

"Eh…? Really?" Midori said. Just what was Red Winter feeding its students…?

"Well, that's half the reason."

"What's the other half?" Midori asked curiously.

"It's… kinda complicated? But I guess it would be fine telling you since we're not in Red Winter, and that chibi dictator isn't around…" Nodoka contemplated, looking at the room's other occupants. The three other students didn't look like they were paying attention, as each was consumed in doing their own thing, whether it was conversing or… whatever Chise was doing. "I'm here to see Sensei."

A pang of anxiety surged through Midori. Could it be that Nodoka was here for the same reason Midori was? If Sensei was piled with unreasonable requests just like hers, that meant he probably wouldn't be as likely to accept…!

"Do you… need his help with something?" Midori asked, already dreading the answer.

"Eheheh…" Nodoka giggled, cupping her gloved hands over her cheeks, face aflush. "In a manner of speaking…"

Midori blinked. That reaction was… unexpected, to say the least. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just kinda difficult getting a good image of Sensei all the way from Red Winter."

"Image?"

"Yeah! I mean, you have snowstorms and other inclement weather getting in the way. There's a bunch of other factors influencing image resolution, even from the highest point in Red Winter district, so a lot of times I just end up with a spotty image. Plus, Sensei is hardly ever in his office. The Schale building has windows everywhere, yet it's like he just disappears. Where does he go? Underground? Does the Schale building even have an underground portion? They really should install windows there too. Or everywhere, really. The architects of the building were kinda inconsiderate in that respect. I mean, what if something were to happen? In the blind spots in Sensei's office, or the study rooms, or the gardens, or even the… showers… The showers…" Nodoka wiggled in her seat, drooling, but from a different kind of hunger. "Heehee… Sensei in the shower…"

This girl is… a dangerous person…!

Midori found herself unconsciously scooting a few centimeters away from the Red Winter student. She also caught the concerned glance of one of the room's other occupants, an ambiguously-eared girl in black robes and a veil that could only belong to a Sister from Trinity… or a cosplayer. The Sister appeared to have caught the tail end of Nodoka's words as she was trying to listen to the student speaking to her.

"... and besides, being mailed pipe bombs is among the least egregious things those snakes have done to us," a well-endowed blue-haired student with accentuating… windows in her uniform said, crossing one leg over the other. "Why, there was one time the Pandemonium Society arranged for adzuki beans to be shipped to our headquarters instead of our normal shipment of coffee beans."

"O-oh dear…" the Sister replied, wincing as she turned back toward the Gehenna student. "Did you resolve the misunderstanding?"

"Yes, though I wish I could say we did it promptly. Head Prefect Hina prefers to get her morning cup of coffee before tackling work of any kind, you see, and when her coffee tasted like red bean soup… Well…" the student smiled in a manner that was at least half smug. "Let's just say demolishing the Pandemonium Society's greeting room in righteous retribution took longer than was ideal, had the head prefect had her caffeine beforehand."

"Oh my…" The Sister clasped her hands together, as if in ardent prayer. "I hope the Prefect Team and the Pandemonium Society will soon be able to put aside their differences for the common good."

"I wouldn't count on it." The other student shook her head pessimistically. "They're always seeking to undermine us, looking for any possible weaknesses to exploit, those parasites. Honestly, I would be more surprised if they didn't send somebody here today to spy on Sensei."

"S-spy?" The Sister blanched. "Surely they wouldn't…"

"They would. It might even be more apt to ask who wouldn't. Hyakkiyako's Yin-Yang Club certainly did-"

"Baked chips… Chocolate chip… cookies…" They turned to see Chise listing the vending machine's contents with a floaty expression as she lightly pressed the tips of her fingers against the glass of the machine. Chise tilted her head slowly. "Baked… cookies?"

Turning back to the Sister, the Gehenna student continued, "... And even Trinity saw fit to send one of their Sisters to judge Sensei…"

"J-judge…?" the Sister meekly said. "I-I'm afraid you misunderstand, Ako-san. Sakurako-sama recommended I attend, saying it would be an enriching experience, and I agreed… and technically I'm still just a Sister-in-training…"

"If cookies are baked, then why aren't they called bakies…?" Chise pondered.

"Is that what they told you, Mari-san? Really?" Ako said doubtfully. "Well, no matter. The point is, every academy will jump at the opportunity to curry favor with Schale, and it falls to me to make sure nobody tries anything."

"I'm sure the head prefect is happy you're taking the initiative," Mari said diplomatically.

Ako scoffed slightly. "Please. Head Prefect Hina doesn't need to trouble herself with trifles like Sensei or Schale, so I went ahead and-" she began, before stopping herself. "Wait, why am I telling you any of this? You're from Trinity. From the Sisterhood, no less."

"I… I don't see why that has to affect how we interact…" Mari replied uncomfortably.

Ako scrutinized the Sister for a few more moments, then sighed. "Well, I suppose it doesn't have to. You don't really strike me as a spy, anyway; perhaps that's why I felt I could air some of my frustrations around you."

"I don't know about the 'spy' part… but do I think one of my few strong points is listening to others," Mari said, to which Ako shot her a questioning glance. "Er… that is, Sisters have to be able to lend an ear during confessionals, so it's a skill we have to develop."

"She is… an honest fox." Chise suddenly joined the conversation.

"... Fox?" Mari repeated with a baffled smile. "Are you referring to… me?"

Chise nodded slowly. "An honest fox and a…"

The Yin-Yang club member squinted at Ako, her eyes particularly lingering on the bizarre cowbell accessory Ako wore.

"... puppy?"

"Puppy? Really?" Ako griped, irritation in her eyes. "Couldn't you have chosen something a bit more… dignified?"

Chise stared blankly at Ako for a few seconds, before something - Midori, being an artist, recognized it as a creative spark - shone in her eyes.

"I feel… a verse."

Ako and Mari stared at Chise for a few moments, then shared an identical glance of confusion between each other.

"Chise-san, what are you-" Mari began, only to be interrupted.

"The fox…" Chise said, enunciating each syllable slowly.

"I beg your pardon?" Ako asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The fox and puppy,

A Sensei for Kivotos,

Lessons to be learned."

"Was that… a haiku, Chise-san?" Mari asked, quietly clapping her hands together. "That's lovely!"

"Did it have to be about us, though?" Ako said.

"I-I certainly don't mind…" Mari said, then noticed Ako narrowing her eyes. "... Ako-san?"

A few students had begun to walk past them in the adjourning hallway. Ako's attention seemed to be focused on one of them; a student with disheveled curly red hair wearing a Gehenna-looking coat and hat. Also pretty high-ranking, from the looks of it. She barely gave Midori and the rest of the students present a passing glance, sighing, before she diverted her gaze back to the book in front of her.

"As expected…" Ako sighed as the student trudged out of sight. "The classroom should be open by now. I suppose I'll reserve my seat before it's snatched away from me."

"I-I think the seats are already reserved, though?" Mari said, though Ako had already gotten up and followed the new arrivals down the hallway.

"Time to… go?" Chise asked, and upon receiving a nod from the Sister, began to meander out into the hallway. "Okay."

"Er… Chise-san… You're going the wrong way…" Mari said.

"Wrong way…?" Chise blinked at Mari slowly, stopping mid-step.

"Yes. Here, the classroom is this way." The Sister flashed a kind smile and gingerly extended a hand to Chise, and the student accepted.

"Welp, I guess it's time!" Nodoka got to her feet and slung her heavy-looking telescope over her back. "You coming, Midori-chan?"

"Uh, yeah." Getting up, Midori walked next to Nodoka as they followed Chise and Mari down the hallway.

It didn't take long until classroom six was in sight. Midori gulped nervously, trying to keep up with the high-spirited Nodoka, until she noticed classroom five's door open halfway.

"... Hare-san?" Midori said, recognizing the lab coat and silhouette in the dark room.

"Oh, Midori. That's right; you were on the roster too." Hare said.

"Wall integrity is weakest around this point, Hare," Hare's floating spherical drone informed.

"Thanks, Athena-3. Kotama, you got that?"

"Loud and clear. So the RF transmitter can go… here." Kotama reached behind the electronic board in the dark classroom and began to affix something to the back.

"Uh… What are you guys doing?" Midori asked, choosing to give the Veritas members the benefit of the doubt in case this wasn't what it looked like. If she recalled correctly, recording devices were strictly prohibited unless a student was granted special permission by the instructor themselves.

"Midori-chan, where'd you go?" Nodoka's voice called from outside the nearly empty classroom. "Are you in here?"

"Y-yeah! I'll be right there; I was just saying hi to my classmates!" Midori replied.

"Midori." Kotama turned to Midori, the light trickling in from the hallway refracting off her glasses and illuminating the lenses kind of like those crafty anime characters. She made a silent shushing gesture with her index finger.

"Uh… huh…" Midori said, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead. "Then, see you guys in class, I guess…"

Midori backpedaled out of the classroom, rejoining a somewhat confused Nodoka.

Maybe she was too quick to judge Nodoka for her eccentricities. After all, they had a few oddballs at Millennium themselves…

---

Sensei was reading a book.

It was the most harmless of things, really. He looked like he wasn't paying attention at all to the students walking in and taking their seats, though admittedly it was difficult to discern anything behind that helmet he wore.

And yet, there was just something about his presence that terrified her. Maybe it was knowing that he stopped entire violent gangs by himself? That she was going to have to petition him for his time, that surely was better spent elsewhere other than on some backwater club? Or maybe she felt guilty that she was here, taking a spot from a student who may have sorely needed it? It was no secret what Sensei did to students who were guilty of bad things, after all…

Midori felt a chill run down her spine, and her tail twitched accordingly. She couldn't keep going like this. Maybe she needed to look at things differently. She sometimes looked at things in game terms when she needed to destress, so perhaps…

Momoi always did say he looked like a video game protagonist, come to think of it. Midori didn't really see it, however. Sure, a lot of the stuff he had, like the rifle on his desk along with the…

… Was that a sword?!

… Anyway, the stuff he had certainly screamed 'endgame gear', but she couldn't get past the fact that Sensei's armor and helmet kind of reminded her of a certain character from Resident Devil 2.

… The game she was too scared to play when she and Momoi were little…

… The game that made her cry and throw a fit whenever Momoi even tried to load the disk into the Flystation…

… That game…

But that had absolutely nothing to do with her perception of Sensei.

Absolutely nothing.

"Midori-chan, snap out of it," Nodoka whispered to her, leaning in. "You can get a better view with a bit of distance. Trust me. It makes all the difference."

This girl is still thinking about that?!

"Sorry," Midori murmured back. "Uh… let's see… Where am I sitting?"

The room had filled up quickly even though they had about ten minutes until class started. Almost half the class were already seated, and more continued to file in, placing their personal items into the lockers toward the back before locating their assigned seating. As there were students from a variety of different academies, talk amongst most of the students was minimal, with most of the class either on their phones or waiting expectantly for Sensei to begin. Ako and Mari had taken their respective seats, with the former in the front row and the latter in the middle. Ako produced a clipboard and leered suspiciously at Sensei, scribbling something down, while Mari put her hands on her lap and patiently waited. Chise, who sat close to the window, stared with wide eyes at a bird that had perched on the tree outside.

"Let's see… Saiba Midori… So you're seat number thirty-six, Midori-chan," Nodoka said as she glanced over the nametags around the room. "I'm thirty-seven, so it looks like we're sitting together!"

Midori looked toward the seats in the very back, squinting as she saw that Nodoka's words were true. The Red Winter student had really good eyes; it was a shame she used them to… well…

They made their way to the lockers corresponding to their seat numbers. Midori pressed the central button on the locker, causing the locker door to retract in on itself, opening the door.

"Fancy…" Nodoka said, awed, as she opened her locker.

Were automated lockers really that impressive? Midori thought they were pretty commonplace… or maybe that was just Millennium? Who knows; the Game Development Department hardly stepped foot outside of Millennium, unless it was for 'research' purposes.

Midori deposited her backpack, choosing to keep but a single notebook, pen, and her gun on her. Guns were commonplace in the classroom, but as this was Sensei's classroom, she would've thought he might have a problem with them being carried openly. But seeing that around half the students here chose not to put their guns in their lockers, that was probably not the case.

Nodoka, for her part, chose to stow her gun in her locker. She looked like she was internally debating whether she could fit her telescope in there too, comparing the locker space to the comparably massive instrument.

Huh. There was a joke to be made there, but it certainly wasn't one Midori would be comfortable making in front of this many strangers. And that kind of crass humor was more Momoi's thing, anyway.

Ah, I wanna go home… Midori thought as her loud, sometimes obnoxious sister came back to mind.

When Nodoka gave up trying to fit her telescope in her locker, she joined Midori as she took her seat.

Letting her gun lean on the side of her seat, Midori anxiously watched as the rest of the seats to the classroom filled up one by one. She recognized a few faces such as Hare, Kotama, and Karin, while others she could only recognize by school - the militaristic-dressed Gehenna, the formal, dainty Trinity, the familiar lab coats and jackets of Millennium, and a smattering of various smaller academies. She even saw a pair of twins - from that one train-based academy, it seemed. It made her a bit jealous that they were both able to attend, and sit together, no less.

Sensei put down his book and got up, and every student stopped what they were doing to watch. He walked over to the door at the front of the classroom and opened it, letting in an Abydos student carrying a large chalkboard by its sides.

"Here, Sensei," she said, handing over the chalkboard and a small box of chalk, the latter of which Sensei promptly pocketed.

"And with a minute to spare. You'd make a good courier."

"Thanks," she said, her tone level but her expression preening.

"... Where's Yuuka?" Sensei asked, right as the student herself hurriedly opened the door just as it was closing.

"I-I'm here…" Yuuka panted, drenched in sweat. "Still have over forty seconds…"

"... You alright-" Sensei began to ask.

"Later," Yuuka quickly said, dabbing at her forehead with a towel embroidered with a school insignia that certainly didn't match Millennium's; did the Abydos girl lend it to her? "Proceed, Sensei."

Yuuka straightened her tie and tiredly approached the back of the classroom, briefly meeting eyes with Midori along the way. She nodded in acknowledgement, and by the time Midori had gathered her wits enough to reciprocate, Yuuka had already retrieved her laptop from her locker and taken her seat.

By now, students stopped trickling in and vacant seats all were filled up except for one - the desk in front of Midori, which was assigned to one Shimoe Koharu from Trinity's Justice Task Force. Midori had heard about them; they were supposed to be Trinity's peacekeepers, weren't they? Must have a lot on her plate if she wasn't able to make it on time.

"Hold this end for me, Shiroko," Sensei said.

"Mn."

Holding the chalkboard against the electronic board, Sensei withdrew a roll of duct tape from his pocket (who keeps duct tape in their pockets…?) and taped the chalkboard over the existing one. They swapped sides and repeated the process, then stepped back, making sure the board was secure and even on both sides. Sensei gave a thumbs up to Shiroko and went back to his desk, while the Abydos student looked around the classroom. Her gaze settled on a spot close to Midori.

"What are you doing, Shiroko?" Yuuka flatly asked as the Abydos student deposited her things on Koharu's desk and slipped onto the seat.

"Saving her seat until she gets here," Shiroko replied, looking right at home.

Yuuka looked as if she wanted to reply, but refrained from doing so, as Sensei had taken up a piece of chalk and had begun to write on the board.

Any of the sparse chatter among the thirty-seven students died out as Sensei finished writing. 'Introduction to the Natural Sciences' was scrawled in rather rough handwriting. Midori got the impression he wasn't used to writing in Japanese; while the characters were legible, the stroke order was somewhat off, and the strokes themselves were rather stiff.

"Now, we will begin with an overview of physical phenomena starting at the sub-molecular level. Using the Rutherford-Bohr model as a baseline, we can illustrate-"

A student's hand shot up from the back row of the class, interrupting Sensei's sentence. Midori wasn't sure if she was imagining the look of sheer confusion on Sensei's helmet.

"Do you have a question?" he asked.

The student, whose tag identified her as Asagi Mutsuki from Gehenna Academy, asked with a smile, "No roll call?"

"Everyone except one person is here - there's no need," Sensei succinctly said. True to his word, Shimoe Koharu's seat was unoccupied - by her, that is. Shiroko was still happily poaching Koharu's seat.

"But what about introductions? Aren't you supposed to introduce yourself first, Sensei?" Mutsuki continued with a mischievous smile.

Murmurs of agreement throughout the class indicated that the sentiment was shared.

"I'm certain that everyone here knows who I am by now," Sensei blandly replied.

"But we don't know specifics, such as your interests," Hare said.

"Or what you did before becoming a teacher," Kazemaki Mai suggested, jotting something down on a notepad. Wait, her name looked familiar…

"Or even your name," Kotama said, adjusting her headphones.

Sensei stared at the class in contemplation before sighing. "Okay. My name is…"

Nearly every student unconsciously leaned forward in anticipation.

"... unimportant. I'm just a teacher."

A collective groan followed by some heads hitting desks echoed throughout the room.

"I did a lot of things before coming here, none of them being all that relevant," Sensei continued, the topic obviously not one that he was entirely comfortable discussing.

"So why pursue a position at Schale?" Ako asked.

"I didn't pursue it, I was k-" Sensei stopped for a few seconds, then resumed slowly. "... just… following a recommendation from a friend."

"Is that so…" Ako said, writing something down on her clipboard.

Another student raised her hand. She was a Millennium student with round glasses and a lab coat; Midori was certain she'd seen her before, but couldn't quite remember her name.

"So if your previous work is not relevant, how did you acquire the proper credentials to teach?" the girl asked, a bit of suspicion in her voice. "Surely the General Student Council wouldn't pluck somebody out of nowhere to serve as Sensei…"

"Sure they would. They were basically going door to door asking if anybody knew any teachers. I said 'Look no further!'" Sensei said, a bit too cheerily.

"... Seriously?" Kyouyama Kazusa said flatly, looking as if she were wondering if coming here was a mistake.

"They asked me if I knew anything about teaching Millennium Science School students. I said, 'As much as anyone I've ever met!'"

"I knew the General Student Council made questionable decisions, but this is unprecedented…" Ako commented.

"They asked me how well I understood theoretical physics. I said I had a theoretical degree in physics. They said, 'Welcome aboard'."

Yuuka's mouth hung open, a part of her seemingly dying inside.

"Theoretical degree in physics…?" Karin repeated doubtfully. "Is that…?"

"No, it isn't a thing," Hare answered, just as perplexed. "Not even President Himari would make up a degree like that."

"Sensei… this has to be some kind of joke, right?" Yuuka asked, desperately not wanting to be disappointed.

"Of course it's a joke," Sensei said plainly, causing Yuuka and several students to sigh in relief.

"Then why deflect the question?" Ako asked, not even bothering to hide her suspicion now. "Trying to cover up a sordid past with humor, perhaps?"

"Ako-san, please…" Mari attempted to get Ako to stand down, to no avail.

"Sensei doesn't have to tell you anything," Shiroko retorted, with Midori, being the student behind her, immediately sensing the enmity practically radiating off the Abydos student.

Sensei watched the arguing students for a few moments, then sighed. "Okay. I suppose it's fair I give you minimal background, since I know all of your names and clubs. If you really must know - which you don't - I held a supervisory position amongst a group of the top scientists in my entire nation, right until I was hired here."

The room erupted in hushed whispers, with the predominating sentiment being tied between amazement and skepticism.

Top scientists…? That had to be a lie. Or at least a massive stretching of the truth.

"Top scientists…?" Ako scoffed as she echoed Midori's thoughts. "Do you really expect any of us to believe that?"

"Believe me or don't. It makes no difference to me or the reason I'm here." Sensei shrugged. "The General Student Council president handpicked me out of the other schmucks where I'm from, didn't she?"

"He's kind of got a point…" Kazusa said, causing Ako to glare at her.

"If I may ask, which scientific subdisciplines were your colleagues versed in?" the student next to the bespeckled one, a gray-haired girl wearing a lab coat several sizes too large for her, inquired.

"Acoustical engineering, animal physiology, beastology, mineralogy, meteorology, medical science, robotics, and more," Sensei listed matter-of-factly.

"Beastology isn't an actual field," the same Millennium student pointed out.

"Because they founded it, and many others, themselves," Sensei replied.

Most of the class looked impressed, likely from the plethora of fancy-sounding titles. But Midori, and likely most other Millennium students present, understood the gravity of what he just said.

Putting it bluntly, a single group, no matter how accredited, having that many specialties under their belt was incredibly unlikely. Or perhaps insane was a better word for it. After all, even the brightest clubs that Midori knew of, such as the Engineering Club or Veritas, specialized in merely a handful of the ones Sensei listed. And there were more?

If this was true, then those rumors of Sensei having built some kind of mech suit wouldn't be so far-fetched after all…

"If this supposed group of researchers of yours is so accomplished, why did you say that nothing you did before being hired at Schale was relevant to your position?" Ako pressed, to the annoyance of a growing number of students. Shiroko in particular was already audibly grinding her teeth in irritation.

"Because…" Sensei began, his tone even becoming a bit reticent, much to Midori's surprise. "... our first meeting wasn't a good one. At all. … I don't really like to think about it all that much."

"Wow, real smooth," Asagi Mutsuki remarked in Ako's direction.

Many in the class shot Ako frowns of disapproval. Ako, to her credit, at least had the decency to bite her lip and look guilty for making Sensei talk about something he was clearly uncomfortable with.

After a moment, Yuuka spoke up. "While I can't speak for his credentials, as documentative proof of his former position can't feasibly be obtained at the moment, I can, as a member of Seminar and a fellow scientist, vouch for Sensei's scientific acumen."

"Huh…" the bespeckled Millennium student whispered to her classmate. "I guess if even the Ruthless Arithmetician herself says Sensei's telling the truth, then he's gotta be…"

Yuuka turned around, scowling at the student, who was immediately cowed the moment Yuuka cast her baleful gaze on her.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't slash my budget…!"

Yuuka sighed. "I'm not going to slash your budget. I just wanted to clarify that I'm not confirming he's telling the truth, just that you can listen to Sensei on scientific matters, that's all. Moreover, I would politely remind attendees-" Yuuka said, not-so-subtly giving Ako a stern side glance, "-that Sensei's lenience does not give you carte blanche to pester him into revealing personal information-"

"Yuuka, it's fine," Sensei said. "I'm not bothered."

" Understood, Sensei," the demon queen herself immediately acquiesced, which was awfully uncharacteristic - further proof of the influence Sensei had over her. Momoi was right; it was like she was a different person around him.

Sensei walked in front of the desk to more closely address the class.

"I may not relish thinking about some of the things that happened before I came here. For a time, I even blamed what happened on science itself. After all, it can be easy to see science as evil, technology unchecked as the source of all ills, all misfortunes."

Must've been some heated disagreements he had with his colleagues… Midori thought.

"Science is a long, steady progression into the future. What may seem a sudden event often isn't felt for years, even centuries, to come," Sensei mused, as if he were thinking about something someone once told him. "But these are events ultimately wrought by our hands. Thus, it's important to keep in mind that the knowledge we attain, the power we gain from said knowledge, and most importantly, what we do with said power can have lasting impacts beyond anything imaginable."

A student with brown hair who wore a white cap and a uniform bearing the emblem of Trinity's Tea Party raised her hand to speak. "But how does that apply to the rest of us who aren't from Millennium?"

"Because nearly every school has a science division, even if it's dedicated to things like weapons development, civil engineering, and medical sectors," Sensei answered without skipping a beat. "As such, the responsibility falls to every academy, not just Millennium, to use such power responsibly. To ensure that science is a beacon for the future; something that brings people together, not divides them."

The entire class was silent as Sensei looked about the room. He hummed.

"I think we're on the right track. We have students from many different academies here, and you're not shooting each other for once. I don't know about you, but I think that's a mighty fine thing."

This elicited some laughs from several students. Midori was still a bit too apprehensive to follow suit, but even she had to admit that she didn't remember the last time she'd seen such a diverse gathering of students except maybe the last Halo Games. And the last Halo Games definitely had more explosions and violence.

"I know that several of you may not be here to learn," Sensei continued, while Midori blanched. "But nonetheless, I hope you'll be able to take something away from these lessons, academic or otherwise."

Sensei cleared his throat and made his way back behind his desk. It seemed his words inspired even the students who didn't seem intent on learning anything academically - such as Ako, Nodoka, and Mai - and the students who seemed more inclined to slack off - like the Natsume Iroha and the green-haired twins - to actually pay attention.

All with just one Charisma check…

"Now then, let's outline what we're going over today," Sensei said. "We will begin with a brief overview of introductory chemistry and integrated physics - just the basics of what you need to know to form a foundation. Afterward, I will distribute handouts with practice exercises to help you retain what you've seen. After lunch, we'll be going outside for a bit. And for our last topic, we will be going over basic cell biology- yes?"

"Why are we going outside?" Hare asked after raising her hand.

"Bird watching?" Chise speculated.

"Not quite. We'll be reviewing some physical processes through hands-on demonstration."

"May I ask what that entails?" Ako asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sensei reached behind his desk and pulled out a bundle of what almost looked like a…

"That's a bomb!" Yuuka and Mutsuki cried out simultaneously, though in dread and excitement, respectively.

"Correct. We will be using powder charges to demonstrate the relationship between a fuel and an oxidizer."

Wasn't he just discussing using science responsibly…?

"I already know the answer to this, but did you even ask permission first before making such a destructive lesson plan?" Yuuka asked, aggravated.

"Can I have permission?"

"That's not how this works!" Yuuka facepalmed. "Why couldn't you ask to reserve a proper laboratory instead…?"

"Labs have their place, but I want to start with something students will immediately relate to," Sensei answered. "Plus, explosives are fun."

"I agree," Shiroko said.

"Ditto!" Mutsuki exclaimed, happily propping up her cheeks using her palms. "IEDs are a personalized experience!"

"... They're fun." Natsume Iroha, the Gehenna student from earlier, nodded slowly.

"They are, indeed," Himuro Sena, a Gehenna student with short white hair, agreed.

"Boom," Chise said, gaining a slightly whimsical glint in her eyes.

"You heard everyone~" Tachibana Nozomi, one of the two green-haired twins from Highlander, taunted, smirking. "Clear majority."

"Don't be a fun burglar," Tachibana Hikari said, pouting.

"I'm sorry, I must've missed the part where Seminar's decisions were determined by mob rule," Yuuka sarcastically retorted.

"Seminar? What's that?" Hikari asked, squinting.

"It's Millennium Science School's student council," Ako answered, eyeing the twins quizzically.

"Oh, their student council, huh?" Nozomi said mischievously. "That's convenient; we have a complaint."

"This is really not the place for that, but let's hear it," Yuuka said, clearly irritated.

"Your monorail sucks," Nozomi said. "Like, big time."

"... Excuse me?"

Every Millennium student present turned to the Highlander duo, not believing their ears, while everyone else watched in interest, dread, or both.

"You heard me! Build a proper intra-district train system, you cowards!" Nozomi doubled down.

"Two rails! Two rails!" Hikari chanted, making an odd pose with her hands diagonal to her head, like the bunny ear pose but lamer.

"Millennium's infrastructure is none of Highlander's business," Yuuka tersely replied.

"C-can't we all just get along?" Mari softly attempted to mediate the conflict, only to be ignored.

"Sure it's our business! Heck, we've done business with your president before. Just commission Highlander again and we'll take care of everything down to the construction, lickety-split," Nozomi boasted, wearing the most punchable grin Midori had ever laid eyes on.

Yuuka bristled. "I know you're from CCC, but don't think for a second that you two can just barge in here and-"

"Are you all done?" Sensei dispassionately said, crossing his arms.

"Sensei, surely you don't condone such unprofessional behavior!" the treasurer said.

"I don't. But I also don't expect you to give in to petty taunts."

Yuuka breathed deeply, calming down. "I understand."

"You two." Sensei faced the Highlander students.

"Ah?" Hikari blinked.

"If you're just here to antagonize people, then you show yourselves out."

"Uh… we're not…" Nozomi stammered as the red glow of Sensei's visor intimidated her.

"Then raise your hand if you wish to speak. Got it?" He leaned down, looming over them. "Tachibana?"

"Yes…" both of them quietly murmured.

Sensei grabbed a piece of chalk out of his coat and turned to write on the board.

The twins petulantly looked down at their desks, obviously unused to being reprimanded. Mere seconds later, they decided to vent their frustrations by making mocking faces at Yuuka, who was trying her best to ignore them.

"There are a great many ways to describe the field of chemistry, but it can be loosely defined as the study of the properties of matter, and the way the elements that make up matter interact. But before we get into how elements interact, we must first understand the individual element."

Sensei finished drawing on the board and stepped aside. Midori recognized the model as that of the element of hydrogen.

"So we'll start at one of my personal favorite subjects, one that I and many others have a long history with: the atom."

---

"Are you doing alright, Midori-chan?" Nodoka asked as she voraciously tore into her lunch.

"Huh?" Midori looked up from the half-sandwich she'd been nibbling on. She wasn't very hungry, so she decided to give half of her provided lunch to Nodoka, who had gleefully accepted. "Why do you ask?"

"Dunno. You just seem like you're worried about something," she replied, her red, unusually perceptive eyes glancing over the Millennium student before refocusing on her lunch.

"I guess you can say I am…" Midori sighed. "But I don't want you getting wrapped up in my problems, Nodoka-san."

"Hey, everyone has problems. It's up to friends to help shoulder the burden, right?"

"Friends…?" Midori dumbly repeated. "You think we're… friends?"

"Well, duh! You shared your food with me!"

"I don't think that's how it works…"

"Oh? It isn't like that in Millennium?" Nodoka cocked her head. "In Red Winter, sharing food and kompot is a sign of friendship and hospitality towards guests."

Ah, Nodoka is technically… no, literally the guest in this case, huh…

"Um… I guess if you're fine with that, we can be friends…" Midori shyly said, to which Nodoka cheerfully nodded. She and Momoi didn't have very many friends in Millennium, much less outside of the district. And the friends that they did have, they had bonded over their love of video games.

Having a friend that was neither from Millennium nor was into video games was kind of scary… but also made her a bit giddy for some reason.

Well, Nodoka probably wasn't into video games…

…

… I guess if we're friends, then it's okay to ask…

"Nodoka-san?"

"Mmm?"

"Do you like video games?"

The Red Winter student thought for a moment, then nodded enthusiastically.

"They're really neat!"

"R-really? Which ones have you played? Have you kept up with the new Legend of Zinda releases?" Midori asked, finally back in her comfort zone.

"Legend of… Zinda?" Nodoka blankly asked.

Midori's hopes deflated like a popped balloon. "Oh… er… what kind of games does Red Winter have?"

"Usually, games made outside of Red Winter have to go through the Secretariat first for approval, I think…" Nodoka said after a moment of deliberation. "But it's been awhile since I've been in the main campus, so I don't have internet to download any more… All I have now are the ones on my phone. Like this one where you stack fallen blocks a certain way to clear rows of blocks, and you have to last as long as you can as the blocks start falling faster!"

Well, it's something… Midori thought, debating whether they still had that old Game Girl SP so that Nodoka can play something a little more recent, then realized something. "Wait, what do you mean it's been awhile since you've been in the main campus?"

"Yeah," Nodoka sullenly said, looking down. "We're basically, kinda, sorta exiled from the main campus? Ehe."

Midori knew Red Winter was extreme, but not to the point where it couldn't afford to feed its own students. This explained why Nodoka would be so happy about free food.

"But why?"

"We had some disagreements with the student council," Nodoka said, averting her eyes somewhat shiftily. "But… it'll be fine! We're petitioning the Secretariat to let us back onto campus. President Cherino has to notice us… someday… Maybe with twelve more letters…"

… Twelve MORE?

"Um… It might not be my place to say, but why not transfer to another academy?" Midori asked.

"Transfer?" Nodoka's eyes went wide. "Oh, nonononono. At the end of the day, Red Winter is still Shigure-chan's and my home. We couldn't imagine living anywhere else - not for a long period of time, anyway."

"I see. Sorry for suggesting that," Midori quietly said.

"It's fine," Nodoka said, beaming. "I know you're just concerned about me, but like I said, Shigure-chan and I will find a way. We're resilient!"

Midori and Nodoka resumed their lunch break, the former watching others as they went about their respective breaks. Some students had left while others chose to remain in the classroom for lunch. Sensei had excused himself from the room around ten minutes ago, with Shiroko following him. She wondered what they were up to.

The first-year looked down at her notes. Cramming the fundamentals was all but a prerequisite to pass the entrance exam to Millennium, so much of what Sensei was going over was basically review content.

Still, it was actually not a bad refresher. Midori would've struggled a lot less with cramming for the entrance exam had Sensei been the one teaching it. It was much more memorable, learning from a living, breathing person as opposed to a recording. Double points for that person being a heavily armed, armored, endgame protagonist with high enough Charisma and Persuasion stats to entrap even the feared treasurer of Seminar, and had a tendency to relate more complicated scientific concepts with guns, explosives, and, in a few cases, bizarre anecdotes.

Like that time he was hired to exterminate ants. Or when he helped an elderly lady take her medicine on time. Or when he filled in for the head chef for a five-star restaurant since the chef was still recovering from an impactful psychology session and tested out an experimental new alternative for a signature dish.

… Kinda mundane, at least to students, but then again, side quests aren't always fight scenes or emotional romps with close allies or unearthing mysterious, malevolent conspiracies.

… Oh no, she was thinking like Momoi now!

"I'm just saying we should take things up a notch, is all," Nozomi said, waving a gloved hand to the side in emphasis.

"I think the lessons are fine where they're at," Yuuka argued with the two pests that had latched themselves onto her and refused to let go, metaphorically speaking. "It's a good review for Millennium students, and we should stay within the scope of what other academies will feasibly test students on."

"Laaaaame. Bring out the big guns!" Hikari exclaimed, her voice a mocking monotone, causing Yuuka to tremble in suppressed anger.

"Aren't you supposed to be good at math or something, Seminar lady?" Nozomi smirked. "Poor show."

"Are you two seriously advocating for more advanced content?" Ako asked doubtfully. "Have you even been paying attention to what's being taught so far?"

"Of course!" Nozomi claimed, laughing. "But the basics are nothing new to us."

"Trains ARE physics," Hikari chanted, doing her stupid pose again.

"That may be so, but railway engineering is a bit too specific for the scope of this class," Yuuka countered.

"Nah, just give easy problems!" Nozomi replied.

"Calculating the continuous tractive effort of a moving train with respect to friction and the normal force given engine specifications, train and cargo mass, slope, and the current weather conditions!" Hikari eagerly suggested while her sister nodded triumphantly, causing several others to look at them in either surprise or irritation.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound like something they'd test us on at all," Kazusa said flatly as more students became embroiled in the conversation.

Those Highlander students were perfectly quiet while Sensei was speaking - they probably just want to annoy Yuuka. Or maybe they're bored, Midori thought, suppressing her own feelings of irritation towards them. Which was definitely not because she was still jealous that they could both be here but she and Momoi couldn't.

The door opened, and Sensei and Shiroko walked back into class. Sensei took a seat at his desk, leaning back and opening a book while giving only neutral, minimal responses to some students trying to drag him into the argument.

Shiroko retook her seat; it seemed she deemed it a certainty that Koharu would not show up, as she had already crossed out Koharu's name on her desk's tag, scribbling 'Sunaookami Shiroko: Abydos High School - Countermeasures Committee' in its place.

"Maybe she's only the theoretical treasurer of Seminar," Hikari mocked, referencing Sensei's words from earlier, while Nozomi giggled.

"... Would you like for me to clean up their act, Yuuka?" Karin offered, frowning at the pair, her hand already on her rifle. "Pro bono."

"Please don't. We just refurbished this building," Yuuka said, sighing as the twins thumbed their noses at Karin and Yuuka.

"Sensei, may I selfishly request that you share with us another one of your past jobs?" Mari asked with a smile that teetered on desperate.

"If it helps keep you all from killing each other, sure." Sensei set down his book, sitting up. "So, fun fact: that theoretical physics line wasn't used by me to begin with."

"I figured as much. It doesn't sound like something you'd say," Yuuka said.

"I sure hope it doesn't. But what's surprising is that it actually worked for the person using it."

"... Is this one of those cases where context only makes it worse?" Kazusa asked.

"Pretty much. Some years back I offered my services to a certain organization to help fix their power plant. The guy in charge was a fantastic piece of work."

"Don't tell me he got his position by…" Ako trailed off.

"Yep. They were going door to door asking if people knew anything about power plants. You can see how it went from there."

"Just what kind of organization was this?" Yuuka said, recoiling slightly.

"A very large, and very powerful one," Sensei answered, while Shiroko held a hand to her chin in thought. "They have lots of good people, many of whom I respect. But a lot of their higher-ups don't see talent or merit; they see statistics, at best. With an organization that large, that thinly stretched, something's bound to slip through the cracks eventually. Call it a willfully ignorant misallocation of resources."

"Happens all the time, everywhere," Iroha sleepily murmured, her face emerging from the sea of red hair she was using as cushioning for a nap.

"Speaking from experience?" Ako said.

"... What do you think?" Iroha cracked one eye open, glancing at the other Gehenna student.

"So… what happened next?" Sumi Serina asked.

"Some clueless recruiter probably hired the guy thinking he's a good choice, but it was immediately clear to the grunts of the organization that their 'scientist' was anything but. When I got there, I was directed to speak to the 'idiot in sunglasses'."

"That tracks," Kazusa commented.

"Right. So, with the power plant running at one percent efficiency, something had to be done. As it so happened, one of the people in charge was an actual scientist, who spent most of his time trying to make sure the other guy didn't press anything dangerous. From him, I was able to get some leads on what steps to take next…"

As Sensei continued his story, more and more students started listening in. Soon, their allotted lunch break ended, which Yuuka tried to bring up, only to be quickly shushed by half the class. The treasurer sighed but resumed listening anyway.

Sure, fixing a power plant was rather mundane, as were a lot of the odd jobs he claimed to have taken in the past. Any competent engineer at Millennium would've been able to do the same.

But… it was humanizing. Sensei was obviously someone who traveled a lot, experienced the ups and downs of life on the road, as he worked sometimes tedious freelance jobs. Eventually he worked his way up to a high position in academia, which gave him the credentials to come to Kivotos as Sensei.

Someone with a wealth of experience like Sensei might even be able to help with our game…

Midori shook her head, derailing her fanciful train of thought. She was getting ahead of herself; they still needed to survive the imminent threat of closure at the hands of the treasurer.

But still…

Maybe Sensei isn't that scary after all…

---

"Today was a lot of fun, Midori-chan!" Nodoka smiled widely, slinging her telescope over her back.

"Yeah," Midori agreed, smiling, while students around them departed one by one following Sensei's closing remarks. Creepily enough, several students kept the nametags with their handwritten names. Midori picked hers up, intending on throwing hers out; she didn't see the point in keeping it.

In the end, they weren't able to go outside to test Sensei's homemade explosives, so he instead chose to hand out powder charges to interested students; an action that Yuuka protested, but since it was in his class and therefore his domain, she couldn't do much but grumble.

By now, there were only a handful of students remaining, two of which, Kazusa and Karin, who remained at their seats working on some practice exercises; it was pretty clear which of the students actually came here to learn. The rest were lined up in front of Sensei, asking questions.

Midori sighed, some guilt creeping into her.

"You're not leaving yet, Midori-chan?" Nodoka asked, already standing.

"No, I've got some… stuff I wanna ask Sensei."

"Okay." Nodoka nodded. "Well, we've already added each other on MomoTalk, so feel free to text me if you ever feel like it! I'll reply as soon as I have reception!"

"Oh, uh… Sure!" Midori managed a shy wave. "Good luck with your student council. Don't give up hope."

"Thanks!" Nodoka beamed. "And hey, maybe you can visit Red Winter during our next Ivan Kupala! We should be cleared to go back to the academy by then."

"T-thanks, I'll keep that in mind!" Midori replied, not wanting to let Nodoka know that she had no idea what or when that holiday was. She made a mental note to look it up later.

Nodoka trotted out of the classroom, leaving Midori alone at the back of the class.

Despite Midori finding Nodoka to be good company, she felt some slight relief at the solitude. Trying to be extroverted was hard. She truly didn't know how Momoi managed it.

Midori packed up her things and got in line. The line in front of Sensei's desk finally petered out until only one other student remained. Natsume Iroha stepped forward.

"Sensei."

"Yes?"

"Join the Pandemonium Society."

A brief silence ensued as Sensei presumably processed the Gehenna student's request. Or maybe her sheer audacity.

"No."

"Okay. Bye."

Iroha nonchalantly walked out of the room, leaving a jaw-dropped Midori in line behind her.

How could she do that to me?! Midori internally screamed, her dread from earlier avalanching back down onto her. Iroha outright propositioned for Sensei's favor then left Midori to pick up the pieces! And it wasn't some random club, but for the Pandemonium Society, one of Gehenna's most important groups! And he turned her down!

It was kind of like being the last one in class to give a presentation, especially if the second to last one was amazing; it'd be hard to impress the teacher with anything less.

There was no way her request would even register on Sensei's radar…!

"Saiba Midori, right?" Sensei asked, his tone neutral. "Do you have a question?"

"U-um…"

"..."

"I…" Tears began to form in the Millennium student's eyes.

"..." Sensei's judgmental eyes leered at her.

"I-I had a question about page 23 of the handout!" Midori blurted out the first number that came to mind, clenching her eyes shut.

"The biology section?"

"Y-yeah."

"Which part?"

"The… last part with… the diagram?"

"About the mitochondria?"

Midori bit her lip, nodding.

"The mitochondria is the chief energy producer for the eukaryotic cell. If it helps you, think of it as the generator."

"I… I see… It's really that simple, isn't it?" Midori murmured in shame. Of course it was; everybody in Millennium knew about the powerhouse of the cell. But the content wasn't what she was referring to.

After all, Sensei was right here, but she still couldn't work up the courage to ask him for help.

I miss Momoi…

"Is that all?"

"Y-yes…" Midori whispered, looking down. "Sorry for bothering you…"

The Millennium student sullenly trudged out of the classroom, when Sensei called out to her.

"Midori."

She stopped in her tracks, not having the gall to turn around.

"I've gotten a lot of weird requests today. But I can tell when someone is in dire straits," he said. "So, if you need help with anything, at all, you can just visit Schale. No appointment needed."

"R-really…?!" Midori turned around hopefully. It couldn't be that easy, right? Midori thought visiting was only for bigger clubs. It didn't help that Momoi's calls didn't go through when she tried, like he wasn't even there to pick up the phone.

"If the reception gives you any hassle, just tell them I asked for you."

"I-I understand! Thank you, Sensei!" She bowed deeply.

Sensei waved his hand dismissively. "None of that. But you're welcome."

Exiting the room, Midori heaved a sigh of relief and exhaustion.

She didn't quite get Sensei on their side like Momoi wanted, but she got them halfway there. Visiting Schale may have seemed like entering the lion's den, but now Midori knew that even though Sensei looked kind of scary, he wasn't a bad person. He wouldn't have offered to help them otherwise.

… Midori decided to keep the nametag after all.

---

I leaned back as the last student, Kyouyama Kazusa, departed.

"Good work today, Mailman-sensei," Arona cheerily congratulated from my Pip-Boy.

"Hm."

I didn't quite have it in me to protest the nickname. For some reason, I felt more exhausted than I would have been if I ran consecutive laps around Ivanpah Dry Lake. The students weren't even that bad; probably the most difficult thing was keeping the others from strangling that unruly Tachibana duo.

So, what was it that made this so exhausting? The students who were clearly here for political reasons? The fact that I had to continue pretending to be something I'm not?

Alas, if only the latter were as easy as slipping on a disguise.

The sound of ED-E's buzzing drew close, and a few seconds later, Shiroko opened the door and stepped in, followed by the robot.

"I brought ED-E, Sensei," she said, looking around to see that everyone was gone now.

"Thanks," I replied, knowing that ED-E had trouble opening certain kinds of doors due to his lack of opposable thumbs. "Good work on those bugs, by the way."

"{Proud beeping}."

It was thanks to the little guy we easily located the multiple bugs placed by Kotama before class and during lunch; were it not for him, I might have missed one or two.

I didn't know why Kotama was bugging the areas around where I was holding class, but I doubted it was anything good; she was from Veritas, a group of the best hackers in Kivotos, according to Yuuka. Since I didn't know what they were after, I had to be especially wary around them.

"Okay, ED-E. Access audio logs from the past ten hours. Flag anything that's suspicious and begin playback."

"{Affirmative beeping}." The robot quickly shuddered and gave a low whine.

"What do you mean, there's thirty-four instances?" I sighed. "Start with the earliest."

"... influencing image resolution, even from the highest point in Red Winter district, so a lot of times I just end up with a spotty image. Plus, Sensei is hardly ever in his office. The Schale building has windows everywhere, yet it's like he just disappears. Where does he go? Underground? Does the Schale building even have an underground portion? They really should install windows there too. Or everywhere, really. The architects of the building were kinda inconsiderate in that respect. I mean, what if something were to happen? In the blind spots in Sensei's office, or the study rooms, or the gardens, or even the… showers… The showers… Heehee… Sensei in the shower… I wonder, does the helmet stay on…?"

"Stop. Stop playback." I massaged my temple; useless, given my headgear, but it nonetheless made me feel better.

Despite Shiroko finding most of the recording objectionable, she commented, "I have to admit, that's a pretty good question."

I ignored her.

If all the logs were going to be like this, it'd take a while to go through all of them one-by-one. We could go over them later.

I tapped my Pip-Boy screen twice, a gesture I used when I wanted to get Arona's attention without saying her name in front of other people.

"We need to amend the work orders we put in for replacing Schale's windows with bulletproof glass."

"Adding tint?" Arona asked knowingly.

"Adding tint."