4.1

Haven closed his door but didn't lock it. The only ones who would come in without bothering to knock were his favourite people, and it was okay with them. He sat at the table that was still just as familiar as it was seven years ago. Popped his laptop open, it was the same old laptop mama and papa bought him when he was nine and the only difference was the OS it was running. Logged into the messenger he and his friends had created for themselves. He was the last to arrive.

[Ember]: You're here. Finally.

[Wale]: Who was it that said never be late?

Haven smiled. It was just the three of them today. And while they were right to complain, they weren't in bringing up time. He pulled up the time on the window and sent an emoticon.

[Ember]: H 1 W 0

[Haven]: All set?

They were talking business now. And they all got serious.

[Ember]: Munchkin had an emergency. Verified. Got T-Bone as replacement.

[Haven]: The rest?

[Ember]: Sash and Aboom are ready. They'll be on time.

[Haven]: Awesome.

Ember was the logistician. Ensuring all necessary ingredients were ready was something she was very good at. And when something went wrong, like Munchkin's emergency today, she would replace the ingredient in a snap. That was what she was best at. She had libraries of all sorts. Databases, really, of all kinds of fields and people specialized in those fields and their current whereabouts. And because she hated the word, she called them libraries.

[Wale]: Everything on ground is in place.

Wale was the tactician. Not in the sense that he drew the overall plan, but in that he ensured everything on the ground was ready and in place for the perfect execution of the plan. Because that was such a huge responsibility, even though he was so very good, he always ran with a partner. But this was a rather small job, considering everything. And it was such a small job that nothing could possibly go wrong even if he was running solo.

[Haven]: Fyre is on standby. In case.

[Wale]: No! And what the heck is she doing?

[Haven]: Last I checked, sleeping on a float in the pool under the clouds.

[Wale]: That awful, ugly drink in hand.

[Haven]: You have to ask?

[Ember]: I want a Twisting Tomatina.

[Wale]: You're retarded.

[Wale]: Anyway, I won't need her. We're all set. The security of the school was a joke.

[Haven]: It's not like ours.

[Wale]: I don't know what that means.

[Ember]: That's fine. You're abnormal.

[Wale]: How?

[Ember]: You just love the answer, don't you? That's why you keep asking over and over.

[Ember]: Because you grew up at Stine. Other's are not like Stine.

[Haven]: Yes.

[Wale]: Whatever. Everything is ready. Need no help.

[Haven]: Okay. Let's his start?

[Ember]: Operation Take Down SDC, go!

[Wale]: You suck.

[Ember]: You do better.

[Wale]: Operation K.O.

[Haven]: That is better.

[Ember]: {begrudgingly} Yes. Operation K.O., go.

*

A little after midnight, three shapes dressed all in black and blending into the night climbed over the outer walls of Swoy's First Academy. The security systems went offline at that precise moment. And the intruders followed the path that the guards were completely blind to.

They were inside for eighty eight minutes. On the eighty ninth minute, they climbed the outer walls again, going out. A minute later, the security systems were back online. And no one noticed a thing.

*

It was still a little before 6 am. Imhohep Thorne wasn't an early riser. He woke up at 6:30 everyday, to the alarm. Washed. Performed stretches and light exercises for fifteen minutes. Showered. Changed. Ate. And started for school. He was at his desk by 8:15 am. Well in time to be ready for start of school at 9 am. He liked his schedule and he liked everyone sticking to his schedule. And so, the ringing phone got on his nerves, as did the one calling.

He saw who it was before answering. It was the school. And that confused him. He sat up, cleared his throat, and only then answered.

"Hello."

"Mr Thorne, good morning. I'm from the security."

"Good morning. This better be important."

"Yes sir. It is. It is an emergency. How quick can you come to the school?"

Imhohep heard the urgency in the caller's voice. All sleepiness was gone. And he was already on his feet.

"I'm starting right away. Tell me what is it?"

"Um, I'm not sure how to explain it. Someone painted the walls."

"Painted the walls? Okay. I'll be over at the earliest."

He was confused. For the briefest moment, he even questioned his ears. Did he hear wrong? He washed and showered and changed quick, guzzled down milk straight from the bottle in the fridge, grabbed a couple of slices of bread and rushed to his car. It was almost 6:30 am when he drove in through the gates. And a minute later, he realized he had understood wrong. He should have arrived much earlier.

The outside of the main building had been turned into a large canvas, upon which was spray painted a dragon with innumerable feet flying above a group of tiny men wearing white shirts tucked into black pants and wearing pained expressions on their faces. And just to remove the slight possibility of misunderstanding, underneath the feet of the men were the letters painted in bright red, SDC.

Imhohep was dazed. This was delinquency at its finest. In the five years since the establishment of the Student Discipling Committee, the SDC, delinquency had been brought down to almost zero. The SDC proudly boasted about its efficiency. And the school had promoted the SDC with gusto to the city council, which inspired the council and the association of the city's schools into considering establishing the SDC as well. And then, this happened.

"That's not all, sir," the older of the three security guards on duty said slowly.

The change of shift was at 7 am. So the three were those who were on duty last night. They should have caught the students responsible, for students they were. And the three guards would be held responsible for failing in their duty.

"You're the one who called me," Imhohep said.

"Yes sir," the guard said slowly, hearing the displeasure in Imhohep's voice.

"Painted the walls, you said." Imhohep pointed at the graffiti. "This is painted the walls?"

"There's more, sir. Inside."

Imhohep clenched his hands. He was imagining a terrible picture. He prayed that wasn't how it was. And he realized he was wrong as he walked in. It was so much worse.

The tail of the dragon ran along the walls of the hallways, among clouds and stars and comets and all sorts of things of all dazzling colours. And with innumerable feet. And it was easy to imagine the SDC under every one of those feet.

Imhohep was gasping in the SDC's office. The dragon's tails ended right outside the office. And the inside was in ruin. Like a bomb filled with paint had gone off and the debris was all over the walls and the ceiling and the floor and on everything within. It was an explosion of colour. A naked assault on the SDC.

The remaining members of the SDC, all of them teachers known for their insistence on higher standards of discipline, walked in not long after. All of them filled with the same disbelief.

*

The phones began buzzing in the middle of the night. Those awake, those that had turned the notifications on in their phones, and those ambling through the bulletins as the school boards were called, saw the photographs first. And then they called their friends, waking those who were asleep, informing those that were awake but yet unaware, and discussing excitedly with those who had seen already.

The SDC had been challenged. The school was challenged. Mr Thorne was challenged.

No, it was an assault.

Who do you think it is?

What do you think will happen next?

Do you think we should do something too?

These and other such questions steered all discussion on the bulletin. It was all anyone could talk about.

And then, a ripple of excitement. A new message was posted, anonymously. A link. To public networks.

Photographs of the school, of the dragon, were on the wide web. And the discussion in the association of the city's schools, about introducing SDC in all schools, was tagged.

The discussions were fuelled by two parties. One, the teachers in favour of SDC. Two, the bigger and more populous and much noisier, the students and everyone else against. Everyone wanted to see how the SDC would handle this. And everyone was curious about the identity of the one responsible.

By morning, long before the students walked in through the gates, it was viral. The parents too had sided with one of the two parties. And the students were excited and tickled. Today was the rare occasion when everyone was early. Long before the morning bell was to ring, the classrooms were filled. Everyone was present. All had passed by the dragon. Had pulled out their phones and snapped pictures. And in the classrooms, it was all anyone talked about. Everyone wanted to know who did it.

And, from where no one could know, a new idea birthed and spread. Didn't take long before all of the students were consumed by it. A simple question.

Should they be so afraid of the SDC?

*

[Wale]: First strike seems better than anticipated.

[Ember]: Of course. We had the best on our side.

[Wale]: Of course. It was all you.

[Ember]: Us. You are so narrow minded.

[Haven]: Now that we've graduated, you two should seriously consider marriage.

The conversation ceased for a long minute.

[Wale]: Initiate second assault?

[Ember]: Everything in place. But wait. Hippo messaged.

[Ember]: Says something happened. A second wave coming, now.

A second window opened on Haven's screen. Public networks were open on it. Ember had control, and was scrolling to pull up the second wave. It was easy to find.

A thread from Asahi High's students network was shared. It started with a post by the media club that brought up examples from history of governments and monarchies attempting to stifle and control people's lives to the finest detail, and none succeeding, and then comparing those efforts with the SDC. The post ended with the question if this was something students and parents and the still sane teachers were willing to accept. The replies were all of adamant students staunch in their rejection of the SDC, and the braver ones already lighting torches of rebellion if the SDC were implemented in Asahi High. The moment the thread was shared on public networks, other schools witnessed similar discussions. Torches of rebellion were being lit everywhere. So loud were the voices expressing this opinion that the city council couldn't remain silent. Especially since there were parents among those in the council, and many of those parents were in support of the students and against the SDC. Their voices were clear. They wanted their children to experience the same kind of schooling they had, with the same freedoms and the same responsibilities. And they certainly didn't want their children growing under the fear of something as absurd as the SDC.

[Wale]: That was unexpected.

[Ember]: Only because it was early.

[Haven]: Works in favour. All that matters.

[Haven]: Perfect time to initiate second assault.

[Ember]: Okay. Go.

[Wale]: Second assault, go.