Book 16-3.1: Back to School

The scenic drive from Oakmont Estates to Trinity Valley skirted around the edges of Neo Prism City's outskirts. On Yuriko's Nitsuda Civilian, it was a twenty-minute drive. The direct route should have taken less time, but the early morning rush hour turned what should have been a relatively short drive into an hour-long slog. The scenic route skirted the coastline until she was roughly southeast of Trinity Valley, then circled around the mountain to enter from the beachside. There were several points along the road where the sea was merely five or so paces away. The rhythmic sound of waves crashing against rocks clashed against the sound of the engine, of course, but with the windows down, Yuriko's senses were keen enough to hear and enjoy it. 

Nodding off in the passenger seat, Scarlett had little trails of drool coming out of the corner of her lips. Yuriko smirked and snapped a photo using her smartphone, then sent the image to her friend's chat app. She didn't use her hands to manipulate the phone, of course, nor did she turn her head. Perception aura and Animakinesis were rather handy, even if she had to configure her phone's touch screen to accept her Anima's input. 

It was the 2nd Day of the Season of Air, AF 3003, or in local reckoning, 2nd Low-Air Cycle, AU 610. The year marker was called After Unification, and according to the history books she read, it meant when the Republic of Astoria was founded, though why they didn't use After Founding or something like that eluded her, but then again, it was their choice back then. She hadn't delved further into Astoria's history beyond what Lilibeth had in her memories when they merged. 

The past few weeks have been both interesting and frustrating. It had been half a Season since the events in Hotel De Lune transpired, and she was no closer to figuring out how Altered powers worked. But, she shouldn't be arrogant. She could hardly be the only one studying powers, considering the phenomenon was decades old. It started sometime in 545 AU, if she remembered correctly. It was a rather explosive reveal and had tainted human perception ever since. 

'Something called the Baneflower Incident?'

The facts she remembered through Lilibeth were a bit garbled as if she were looking at different books with contradicting facts. The primary one she remembered was that Baneflower was a type of hallucinogenic substance that insurgents used—or was it businessmen?—to gain control of one of the mid-Astorian states. It caused imbibers to be extremely susceptible to influence right after coming down from the high…or something like that. Another book claimed that Baneflower was developed by the government as a secret project…although perhaps Lilibeth had been subscribing to too many conspiracy theories. Either way, Baneflower had been created by one of the first, if not the very first Altered Human, and whatever its origins, that Altered eventually took control of the production and spread it out. The Altered was eventually hunted down and either captured or killed, but not before millions of lives had been irrevocably damaged. 

That was why Altered Humans were reviled, even if the actions of the few weren't the actions of the many. It wasn't rational, but who truly was? 

Anyway, she hadn't isolated the energy type Altered Humans used to fuel their abilities, and the more she studied, the more she was convinced that 'Altered' was not a singular method, but a catch-all term for disparate abilities and methodologies for empowerment. Each one of her friends used a slightly different makeup of energies when she examined their bodies, though it was more prevalent with Michael, whose ability involved an outward manifestation. Christine, Haley, and Zach's abilities were more internal in nature.

Christine empowered her body, somewhat like Boost Physique, but she did it subconsciously. Everything she breathed in, whether it was the minute traces of Chaos, the more abundant Elemental energies, or those that she could only perceive because they were gaps in an otherwise complete canvas, were absorbed and used to fuel her Boost. 

Haley's Alteration involved near-perfect control of her voice. It had no outward manifestation but it made her video streams quite pleasant to listen to and watch. Zach's Glass Mask—as he called the ability to take on a role he'd previously played and make use of any ability associated with it—was also an internal Alteration, although he drew just a bit more Chaos than Haley did. 

She hadn't had the chance to examine Alexis' Alteration as he was too busy to meet with her or the others, and since the production of Luvblooms was already over, there was no other avenue to take. She certainly wasn't going to stalk the man by going to where he worked. 

As for the camera crew…all of them had vanished. Well, not quite into thin air. After a while, Director Hopper received a call from Graham Lowe, as well as an email, stating that he resigned from work, effective immediately. That was poor form, apparently, leaving employment without much of a notice, but she supposed nothing much came of it.

"A poor reference for his resume," was all Michael said about it. The same thing happened to Victor and Sandra, though the latter didn't disappear for a time. 

It was suspicious, how they changed their tune after what happened, but none of them would answer calls and Yuriko didn't know where they lived. At the end of the day, it was their matter to consider and she didn't care enough about them to do anything about it. She would still keep an eye out, however, since she was sure some other organisation picked them up or gave them an offer they couldn't refuse. 

Her true body had finished exploring most of the surface area of the resource planet, and she floated atop the waves of the one ocean there. Nothing could really threaten her, and that kind of meditation was a novel experience. 

Another ten minutes of driving finally saw Yuriko's Nitsuda enter Trinity Valley. It was about ten minutes before seven o'clock, but unlike Neo Prism City proper, Trinity Valley's roads weren't jam-packed with vehicles. She entered the campus proper and drove into the student parking lot. She found a spot close to the entrance and backed into it. When she turned off the engine, Scarlett woke up with a start. 

"Huh, what?" 

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Yuriko smirked, "Such a lovely voice."

"Urgh." Scarlett smacked Yuriko's knee and she just giggled at the groggy girl. 

"Well, we're here, but you have a few minutes to wake up completely." 

"Are you going to leave me here?" Scarlett asked plaintively. 

"Huh, no." Yuriko chuckled, "But I'm going to get my bag from the trunk." 

"Oh, alright. Need coffee." 

"Huh, I'll make some tomorrow." She hadn't really gone to school with Scarlett this early before, so Sleepy Smol girl was relatively new. 

It didn't take more than a couple of minutes before Scarlett crawled out of the passenger seat. She shivered when the breeze picked up and rubbed her arms. Both of them were still clad in warm weather clothes, and the day promised to be brisk. Yesterday, the temperature rose and fell erratically, one hour sweltering hot, and the next cold enough to make her breath steam. Thankfully, the buildings were climate-controlled. 

Yuriko locked her car and both of them made their way to their classes.

"I still can't believe you didn't transfer to NPU," Scarlett muttered. 

"I see no reason to," Yuriko said. "It would mean moving to Winderfield, and while I don't mind the atmosphere there, the hustle and bustle gets tedious." 

"Better credentials when you graduate?" 

"Oh please." Yuriko rolled her eyes. "Where I graduate, or even what course I took wouldn't matter in my line of work." 

"I suppose not. I'm more surprised you stuck around. You…we both earned more than what we'd expect from a reasonable salary when we graduate." 

"Well," Yuriko hemmed, "I always wanted to graduate from school." And not just leave because she had better things to do.

None of the academies she entered as a student did she actually spend more than a term in. Besides, she was of the correct age to go to this type of school, and since she had more than one body, she wanted to experience what she missed. Whatever she studied here had absolutely no bearing on her future, but it didn't mean she wouldn't learn anything. She managed to work around her reading problem and her course should help hone her writing skills. 

"I'll see you later at the cafeteria," Scarlett said as they separated in the lobby. Yuriko's schedule was all in the mornings for Moonsday and Firesday, which repeated on Woodsday and Goldsday. It left Watersday vacant between the two blocks and was practically identical to her schedule last semester. Three of her classes were general education classes, while the other two were course-specific classes, Journalism 101 and Comparative Literature 11. She wasn't sure why the numbering system was like that though, considering the two were her majors. She also had gym class tomorrow for the last block before lunch. She didn't pick this time and just took what was available, which turned out to be a swimming class. 

'That's a basic learner class,' she thought, and would be a waste of time. 'Ah, I could just test out of it.' Yuriko thought as Lilibeth's memories surfaced. But the girl she replaced wasn't that great of a swimmer… Hmm, she supposed it didn't matter much. 

After her morning of classes, which was mostly a humdrum and a bother when some of her classmates recognised her, hence, everybody soon did. Some asked for autographs, while others asked for pictures. Some poor lad got harpooned into taking the group photo, but it ended when the professor walked in and called them all to order. The same thing happened in all three of her classes, and she bore it all with grace. It helped that she used her Mien to make sure that things didn't get too out of hand, though soon enough, everyone in her classes had latched their threads to her dreamscape domain. 

Afterwards, she met up with Scarlett and ate lunch at the cafeteria. She was recognised, of course, but this time, she set her Mien to induce a sense of awe and propriety upon those who beheld her. So they were gawked at but remained undisturbed. 

"I really don't get why the Occult Research Club doesn't count for course requirement purposes," Yuriko grumbled. 

"That's 'cause that club is actually a research group rather than an official club," Scarlett explained. "That's why you and Jenna could join last school year. And since the ORC doesn't have any official activities, it really doesn't count."

"Official activities?"

"Events, charities, competition, and all that," Scarlett explained. "I'm thinking of joining the Flowers of Wild. I won't perform, but I'll help when it comes to rehearsals and stagehand things." 

"Huh. I guess I'll see who's recruiting this year."

"Duh, it's why we're going to the plaza," Scarlett said. "They're all recruiting today. And didn't you go last Season to the invitational?"

"Yeah, I did. I didn't see any I'd like to join." 

"Join me in Flowers then." 

Yuriko chuckled. "If I don't see anything more worthwhile."

"They're a good sorority!"

"I know, my elder sis is one of them." Yuriko wiped her lips clean with a napkin. "It's why I'm reluctant, actually."

"Ah, I see."

The plaza was in Trinity University's central park, and there were booths, displays, and demonstrations happening since this morning. Incoming freshers weren't allowed to officially join, but nothing's stopping them from becoming pledges anyway. They just won't be officially part of them until their sophomore year. 

Yuriko wandered up and down the displays and nothing really caught her eye. The two of them eventually entered the sports clubs, but she was equally uninterested. At least until she heard the clack of steel on steel, jeers and yells, and finally, the sight of two people wielding blunted sabres and duelling to the crowd's delight.