Luna 1: Drafted
Chapter 5
Freshers
A Whateley Academy tale
By
Irvine
This is fan fiction for the Whateley Academy series. It may or may not
match the timeline, characters, and continuity.
If you would like background information on the 'cannon' characters,
see:
http://crystalhall.wikia.com/wiki/Table_of_Contents
For a copy of the campus map I am using, see:
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130114152730/crystalhall/images/d/
de/Map_v052.jpg
Author's note 1:
In this chapter, I run into a small problem: When writing in a Universe
like Whateley, I think it is best to stick as close to the cannon
characters as possible. If nothing else, the fans expect it. The
problem is that the second generation cannon authors haven't quite
reached this point yet. In addition, they have only introduced three
characters that, are definitively in the 2007 fall fresher intake.
Roulette, (Amy,) Maka, (Martina,) and Ribbon, (Alyss,) (Note for heavy
duty fans: The existing time line leaves open the possibility of Envy,
Camille and the Silver Ghost arriving in either Fall term or the term
preceding the vacation.) To get around this continuity problem, and
still allow for the possibility of a fan's favourite cannon character
making a guest appearance in Luna's story, I am going to fudge, waffle
and be deliberately vague during the Poe freshman induction. I humbly
ask for your indulgence and understanding in this regard. For reasons
of my own plot, I will introduce a few new freshers, so, apart from the
above mentioned, any freshers that Luna meets are strictly non-cannon.
Author's note 2:
I make some mention of federal gun laws in the Whateley Universe. There
is a fairly extensive article in the wiki about this. On the other
hand, there is no information in the wiki on UK gun laws. For the
purposes of this story, I'm going to translate 'current real life' gun
laws and politics in the UK directly into the Whateley universe. Some
people may find what I suggest about the reality of gun and knife crime
in the UK surprising, but a quick internet search will reveal extensive
corroboration. For my self, in addition to working for over 10 years
in France as the handler of a team of police trained SWAT attack dogs,
I also have many years experience living close to the edge in: the UK,
around Europe, the Caribbean and South Africa.
Freshers
When I rushed into the common room, a tall Asian woman had already
started to address the assembled new Poe intake. With every eye in the
room turned towards me, the woman said with a sneer in her voice: "So
good of you to deign to join us sub-Leftenant McCloud. Perhaps now that
we are all here, we can proceed without these unseemly interruptions."
Dismissing me with a wave to join the other freshers sitting in small
groups dotted around the room. She waited with barely restrained
impatience until I was seated in a solitary chair at the back, opposite
her, yet out of everybody else's direct line of sight. Launching into
what was obviously a stock speech delivered so many times she probably
recited it in her sleep, the ogre continued: "Well! As I was saying,
before I was so rudely interrupted."
Pausing to give me another withering glare, she went on: "Welcome to
Whateley Academy! Now, you'll get the formal Welcoming speech from the
Headmistress along with all the other Freshmen, but this little talk is
just for you. The reason that you were all told to come here a day
ahead of the other freshmen, and the reason that you're being put up in
this dormitory is that you all have something in common that sets you
apart from the other students, even beyond your individual mutations.
You are what is currently called 'Alternative Lifestyle' types. You are
gay, lesbian, transgendered, or so aggressively bisexual that it is an
issue......."
Okay, I zoned out, sue me! If you are that curious, ask some other
student what she said. Me I had so many other problems to deal with,
having gender identity issues didn't even make the 'Hot One Hundred.'
I was brought back to reality with a bump when I heard a short haired,
good looking punk girl shout out 'Fiona McCloud'. Since she hadn't
thrown in the 'sub-Leftenant', that alone had already made her number
one in my book. What made me do a double take was, I recognised her
from my visions as one of the resistance leaders I had seen trying to
fight against the GOO. When she saw me give a start of recognition,
there was momentary panic in her eyes, and her facial expressions said
clearly: 'I know about your pre-cog talent and understand the
significance of your reaction.'
Gathering several others together, she wanted to escort us on a tour of
the campus. Of course, this meant I had to ask everybody to wait as I
ran upstairs to drop off the charger and spare battery in my room. The
embarrassment factor wasn't helped by the look of disdain from the ogre
talking privately off to one side with Mrs Horton who gave me a
friendly, conspiratorial wink.
When we finally got under way, we made a very disparate group, the
three I really took note of were: A young girl of maybe 10 or 11 in
pig-tails wearing a blue party dress with a big bow on the back, the
dress was decorated with a plastic, skull shaped lapel pin with glowing
eyes which matched the skull shaped hair clasps on her pigtails. There
was something really freaky about this little girl. I mean, even apart
from her unusual choice of decorations. The other two I noticed were, a
boy, of maybe fifteen, who was really ripped and what was either a very
masculine girl or a very feminine boy dressed in heels, mini skirt,
halter-top and what I was sure was an extremely empty bra.
When we reached a fairly secluded spot with a good view of the Campus
we stopped, and the punk girl introduced herself as Ayla Goodkind. At
the questioning looks, she added in a pained voice: "Yes I am one those
Goodkinds."
This meant nothing to me, but from the gasps of horror from the others,
it was some kind of big deal. Realising a few were obviously working
themselves up to leave not just Ayla, but Whateley, probably New
Hampshire,and maybe even the continental United States, before I could
think I butted in: "Listen I don't know who or what a 'Goodthing'
is..., sorry, I mean Goodkind...."
Dam and blast Vamp!
While unintentional on my part, the snickers and smiles meant they
weren't immediately heading for the hills. The big problem was, now
that I had their attention, I had to finish what I had started : "What
I am trying to say is: I have a bit of a pre-cog talent and Ayla is not
a hungry monster who is going to eat us for lunch. Just give her a
chance and get to know her before you pass judgement. Okay?"
The little gothic lolita, who I would soon learn was called Alyss and
had already chosen the codename Ribbon, had pulled a thick Churchill
cigar and a box of matches out of her backpack. Making quite a show of
lighting it, she blew an expert smoke ring up into the air with the
satisfaction of a heavy smoker, before saying: "She's right you know,
you can't choose your family and you shouldn't be judged on what your
family does. We should give Ayla a chance."
I think it was the total incongruity of this little kid and the big
cigar she was smoking with obvious relish that left the others were too
busy gaping to head for the hills. Capping off her little display, the
young girl dived back into her pack, pulled out a silver hip flask, and
after another toke on the cigar, took a swig. With a satisfied smack of
her lips and another smoke ring: "Ah, that's better, you can't beat a
shot of bourbon to go with a good cigar, why don't you go on with the
introduction Ayla?"
With a grateful look at the both of us, Ayla continued: "The groups we
have spit up into aren't accidental, the other two groups are gay and
bisexual boys, and lesbian and bisexual girls. Us, we have all crossed
the gender divide. Some willingly, some of us unwillingly."
Saying this, she gave a sympathetic glance to the boy/girl in heels and
mini-skirt before continuing: "In my case, when I first manifested, my
parents disowned me and handed me over to Dr Emil Hammond...."
More gasps of horror, and a few sympathetic looks from everyone,
including me. I didn't really know who Dr Hammond was, but I remembered
the MCO goons when I first manifested telling me details of the
gruesome experiments he did on mutants. Holding up her hand's for
quiet, Ayla told us the rest of her story: "My estranged sister, who
had been disowned for being transgendered, managed to get a writ of
habeas corpus and rescue me, but by that time my BIT had started to
remake my body into this."
Waving her hands down her sides, she paused for a moment before
finishing: "There is something wrong with my BIT, its like a hodge-
podge of different BITs spliced together. I am a fully functional male,
but look like a hot girl. I don't like it and would pay a billion
dollars to get my male body back, but I don't think it is going to
happen. At least not in the near future."
There were nod's of understanding when Ayla said she would pay a
billion dollars to get her male body back. Not like in the sense of a
shared situation, but in the sense they understood Ayla meant exactly
what she said, she would literally pay a billion dollars. Vamp's
comment about being as rich as the 'Goodthing', suddenly made a lot
more sense.
It wasn't any of my business, and I suddenly had more important things
to worry about when Ayla asked me: "Okay, we don't have to like each
other, but things here at Whateley can be pretty intense, and having a
support group who understand what we are going through really helps.
Why don't we tell each other a bit about ourselves. What about you
Luna, you've been here for 24 hours, why don't you start off?"
She, (sorry he,) called me Luna!
Just exactly how much did he know?...
Seeing it as an opportunity to get out my side of the story before
people had already made up their minds based on gossip, I gave the
basic cover story about my parents accident and me being kidnapped.
This lead into my joining with Selene, waking up as a girl and being
transferred to the corps of breeders. There were gasps as I said this
and the boy/girl demanded in shock: "What did you do? How did you
escape?"
From the reaction, she was definitely a girl turning into a boy.
Taking it slowly, I explained about being a weapon created during the
war that lead to the Sundering and my bonding of Blackstar squad. I
could see a bit of scepticism about something that was straight out of
a Lovecraft novel, but luckily Ayla helped out by telling them about
Fey, who I had yet to meet, and Aunghadhail. Finally, I explained how
headmistress Carson had decided to take steps to redirect anyone deemed
to have 'Kimba potential' and, because I was a weapon who had already
bonded my own private army, I had been drafted into security with my
subaltern rank in Baron Blitzen's forces.
It seemed to go quite well, everyone wanted to know what I meant by
'Kimba potential' and Ayla, with an embarrassed grimace, told them:
"During the tour, I will show you the combat arenas. They are like
Whateley's version of a normal school's sports stadiums. They give us a
chance to really let rip with our powers and learn to control them with
a degree of safety. People do get hurt, sometimes seriously, sometimes,
(rarely,) even killed, but it beats the alternative of us not learning
how to get our powers under control. A lot of students get together to
form training teams, they might want to be super heroes, (or villains,)
after they graduate or do it for protection from some of the more
obnoxious super powered bullies. Like I say, the school can be pretty
intense... Anyway, when we arrived last year, the transgendered
students from Poe formed 'Team Kimba' , it was more force of
circumstance than by design and it's a fairly long story, but we have a
bit of a reputation....."
Ayla said this last with a shrug of embarrassment, and there were a few
appraising glances as we sized each other up. That is, until the little
brat with the cigar blew another smoke ring and looking directly at me,
demanded: "You say you are a weapon and you bonded a private army, what
do you mean? Exactly what kind of weapon are you?"
Blast it!
This was exactly what I was hoping to avoid. Sighing I told them the
truth: "I'm a succubus...."
Holding up my hands to stop the incredulous gasps and anxious looks, I
went on: ".... we were created as a type of magical special forces'
warrior who could infiltrate behind enemy lines to mount insurrections,
assassinate or subvert their leaders and gather military intelligence.
We are not demonic, though our true form gave rise to the racial memory
of the demonic temptress. Before we volunteered we were sidhe, and are
still recognised by the majority of the other sidhe as such."
There was an implicit acknowledgement to a bit of good old fashioned
racism amongst the sidhe in what I said. Racism of which I had
previously been unaware. It had happened before, and would happen
again, sometimes knowledge would pass directly to me from my mum. If
the others picked up on what I was implying about the sidhe character,
they didn't get the chance to latch on to it. The little brat was way
too astute for a 10 year old and had the bit between her teeth.
Demanding even more forcibly: "You're speaking as if you 'personally'
volunteered, and earlier you said you are a pre-cog, but if what Ayla
says about the GOO is true, they were defeated millions of years ago?
Have you seen something?"
Ayla interrupted at that point, saying: "Listen, if Luna has seen
something, I don't think this is the right place to talk about it. In
fact, if there is a war coming between us and the GOO, it would be best
if we all forget about this conversation. Unless of course you would
like to see your families and loved one's sacrificed in demonic rituals
or being fed to powerful Old Gods. If that's the case, I'm sure the
GOO's agents would do 'anything' to find out everything 'you' know
about Luna."
Okay, I will give the little brat this, she was quick and realised
straight away what Ayla was implying. Without batting an eyelid, she
jumped from being a potential recruit eager to sign up to a sceptic who
thought I was feeding them a story made out of whole cloth; in the
process, turning me into an object of pity and derision by announcing
in a dismissive voice: "Ack!... It's just all this garbage took me by
surprise. Fortune telling? It's a trick used by shysters to separate
fools from their money, I mean who here has ever even heard of the GOO
before. And really! What kind of name is 'The GOO', it's too crass to
even make it into one of those 1950's Hollywood monster movies."
With a loud, very adult male harrumph, followed by a smoke ring, she
reached into her sack for another hit of the bourbon.
So far, my telepathic gift was not something I had learned to use; and
strangely, even if it wasn't a serious breach of Whatley's cannon of
psychic ethics, (on which I had had a full-throated pre-breakfast
lecture from Chief Delarose,) my talents seemed, like Starlance's, more
attuned to combat than simple mind-reading. That being said, without
trying, I got a strong sense that the little girl was seriously
concerned about what she had heard. Concerned in the way a parent or
grand parent might be. The others though, snickered a bit and a few
eyeballs rolled while Ayla helped the levity along by saying with an
amused smile: "The cover story of 'Poe Cottage' is it's where they put
all the loonies, so our little Cassandra is going to fit right in."
Of course the rest of them bought right into what she had said with
relish, and the sniggers became giggles and outright laughter. Once she
was not the centre of attention however, Ayla caught my eye and gave me
an apologetic shrug and mouthed sorry, as did Alyss.
I understood why they had done it, but it still put me in another funk.
It didn't seem to matter what I did, a new set of rumours about me not
only being a borg queen, but a flake to boot, was already warping its
way into the campus's hyper-spatial grapevine.
I didn't really pay attention to what the others were saying about
themselves, I was too busy wallowing in self pity. Apart from that,
their story is really their own private affair, and if you are that
desperate to know, you should ask them not me.
You never know, they might even tell you.
Having said that, since a couple of them figure in the story of my time
at Whateley, I should maybe give a brief introduction to a few of the
more important ones.
Since we were both pre-freshers, the brat and I would be under the
guidance of a Mrs Grimes who ran the Junior High program. For the most
part, the pre-freshers, like many/most mutants, had way above average
intelligence compared to baseline children, and, as a result, were able
to share classes with the older students. To give us a support group we
had a compulsory home room which, because Mrs Grimes was a Mystic Arts
instructor, doubled as 'Basic Mystic Concepts 050'. Alyss, whose main
power was to manifest lengths of ribbon, put it about that she was the
love child of a notorious super villain called Lady Havoc.
Tim, the hunk, who had just turned 15 two day's previously, was a TK
brick and exemplar from a small town in south eastern Washington state.
Before manifesting, she had been a fat, ugly, lesbian, (his words not
mine,) who had been the target for every bully in her old school. When
he manifested six months previously and discovered he was turning into
a guy, it was like a gift from heaven. He suspected from the way he had
embraced his change, (a change which was more or less complete,) he
might have been latent transgendered rather than a lesbian.
By coincidence, the boy/girl in skirt and heels who was called Julie or
Jules, had been a cheerleader at the same junior-high and had
manifested around the same time as Tim. She was a high level
manifestor, which she could live with. What she couldn't live with was
being a mid level exemplar; which, because of her BIT, was slowly
turning her into a guy. Living in denial, she was desperately unhappy
about what was happening to her; and, in my opinion, close to being
suicidal. An opinion that the others, especially Ayla and Alyss seemed
to share.
Complicating things, Tim and Jules had not been close in school. In
fact, from all the crying and apologising, I got the impression that
Julie had been one of the ringleaders tormenting Tim.
With them both manifesting at the same time, in the same junior high-
school, this had drawn the attention of Humanity First, and they had
had to make a hair raising cross country escape from an H1 lynch mob.
The chase ended with their parents leading the H1 mob off on a false
trail, while Jules and Tim hid out together for three weeks in the
back-country forest on the western side of the Cascades. Being thrown
together like this, by the time their parents could finish getting them
to the comparative safety of relatives in Seattle, Jules had latched
onto Tim like a limpet. I was sure the only thing holding her together
was Tim's ongoing, fraternal support.
Listening to Jules, I realised how rough my own change could have been,
and it made me feel a bit better about some of the crap that was
happening to me. Not much better, but it did help me to put it in the
context of how I was not the only one that the fates seemed to be
having a dump on. As it was, the rest of the tour was, as far as I was
concerned, perfunctory, and I paid very little attention while I tried
to work through the tangled skein of emotions buzzing around in my
head.
Oh, before we get into the subject of my new room-mate, I should
mention one thing.
Maybe because any time I had been around guys other than Blackstar
squad there was too much else going on for me to notice, but I could
sense and taste the essence from Ayla, Tim and Jules. It was nowhere
near anything like as much as I got from my bondsmen, and anyway, in
Ayla's and Jules's case it tasted funny: Ayla's tasted sour, like the
way fresh milk does when cows move from summer pasture to winter
silage, while Jules's taste a bit like a bland, unripe gooseberry.....
Tim's, on the other hand, tasted delicious.
Still, it was only tiny little appetisers, and, asking my mum, she
replied:
Gulp! Me, battling Gods?
On a basic level, I knew this was where we were heading, but I hadn't
really put it together as a conscious thought. Mum gave me a quick
embrace me saying:
Double crap!
I must have stumbled or tripped when mum embraced me. Ayla had a
supportive arm around me, while the others were looking on with a mix
of emotions, ranging between concern and: 'Oh my god, what's the loon
doing now?'.
Okay, I was in a difficult position here. I obviously needed to explain
why I had zoned out, but my esper situational awareness was, along with
the requisite klaxons and flashing red lights, screaming: 'Warning,
danger be careful, be very , very careful!'
My usual glib explanation would just reinforce the notion I was one of
the campus crazies. On the other hand, thanks to the brat, having a
reputation for being a flake might be preferable to the alternatives.
With some reluctance I told them: "I am okay, I was just being lectured
to by my mum and wasn't looking where I was going."
By the rolling of eyes, I could see the updated rumours taking off.
'Watch out she isn't just a flake, she hears voices too.'
Thankfully, we were arriving back at Poe, but before she let me go Ayla
leaned in and whispered: "I'm sorry about what happened, but I think we
really need to talk. I will try to find a way to speak to you without
drawing undue attention, okay?"
With a silent nod of agreement, I added for the benefit of the others:
"Thanks Ayla, I think I will be okay now. It's just, you know what
pleasure a mother takes in lecturing her children about imagined
shortcomings."
Mum gave a snort of indignation but left it at that, which left me to
return to my funk at the general way life was conspiring to ostracise
me. Once we entered Poe, I didn't hang around downstairs. Instead, I
immediately fled to the safety of my room.
Room-mates
Looking at my unpacked purchases from the midday shopping expedition
brought a smile to my face. The first thing on the agenda was to get
out of the security uniform. Plugging in the charger, I called in to
sign out of the radio net, and placed the radio in its cradle with the
ear bud and the sapphire choker, belt and bracelet off to one side.
Then, stripping off the uniform and hanging it in the closet with the
combat boots beneath, I made a snap decision to play up the loon angle.
Turning back to my bed, I quickly found the strappy sandals, red
suspender belt and a pair of the silk stockings. After sitting at my
desk and rolling the stockings up my legs, I felt better, much better.
There is just something about real silk that affects me the way other
girls go calf eyed over chocolate. Anyway, I didn't have time to wallow
in extravagance. Slipping on the sandals, I stood and adjusted the
suspender belt and straps, before heading over to my wardrobe mirror to
check the seams were straight.
With the typical ill-chance that seemed to be dogging me, my new room-
mate chose that moment to open the door and walk in. She was alone,
thankfully, although there were a few girls passing by outside who took
the opportunity to ogle. By now, I was immune to my almost perpetual
state of near nudity and calmly pulled out the dark blue velvet gown
from its carrier bag. The buttons were already open, and I was able to
jiggle directly into it while sensuously pulling the long, loose
sleeves up my arms and over my shoulders. This was the reason I was
going to play up the loon angle, much though I loved it, the gown could
have belonged to Morticia.
My new roomie was still standing in the doorway gaping while more and
more girls who, unable to resist the chance to ogle my deliciously
jiggling bod, were gathering behind her. She looked to be about 14 or
15, maybe 5ft 5 tall, with a full figure, jet black long, hair loosely
tied back with a ribbon, and a gorgeous, lightly tanned mediterranean
complexion. She was 'HOT', but not in the exemplar way, which, even
though my human form is a low level exemplar, always strikes me as
being a bit artificial. What I mean is, to me, high level exemplar
babes look like glossy magazine models after they have been photo-
shopped beyond recognition. My new roomie, was pure, natural, wholesome
'HOT' along with capitalised letters and underscoring.
Mincing over to the door, I offered a friendly, limp hand shake and
introduced myself with a breathy: "Hi, my name is Fiona... I think we
are going to be sharing together. Do you think you could button me up?"
Tongue tied and blushing furiously, she managed to lightly take my hand
and reply: "Huh... Sure... em... my name is Cassie...."
With a visible effort, she pulled herself together and, much to the
disappointment of my growing crowd of admirers, after dragging her
large suitcase fully into the room, she firmly closed the door behind
her.
Wrestling her big 60 litre rucksack off her shoulders and onto the
empty bed, she turned back to me with a kind of really sweet, lost
puppy look in her eyes. Feeling impish, I turned my back and, with a
coquettish over the shoulder smile, reminded her: "Buttons please."
Once she got me buttoned up, we got down to serious introductions. For
those of you familiar with Poe Cottage, you may be aware that there is
an informal rule that transgendered students normally room together.
This is not strictly true. More accurately, the rule is students likely
to be facing similar issues room together. In the view of the powers
that be, this was the case with me and my new roomie.
Cassie's story was, I suspect, one many young girls could identify
with. An only child, her father was a police sergeant, her mother a
school teacher, and both were pillars of respectability in the small,
Oklahoman bible belt town where Cassie had been raised. They were also
devout fundamentalist christians. Upon entering puberty, Cassie had
discovered masturbation and they had given her the expected 'it's
sinful and evil speech'. Much to her parents concern, Cassie had
ignored them. What became even more of a concern was her developing, in
her parents view, an unhealthy curiosity in boys and their 'thingies'.
The boys of course had loved her interest and she quickly gained a
reputation.
There were a great many rumours about her floating around the community
she lived in. The vast majority of them were untrue, but, because
people preferred to believe the gossips, she was finding it
increasingly difficult to say no to any boy, (or man,) who asked. The
previous November, while still in her final year at junior high, she
was caught naked in the senior high-school showers along with the
football team's entire line up. Each for their own reasons, both the
school and her parents decided to hush it up, but agreed that Cassie
needed medical help. This lead her to a quack endocrinologist who
diagnosed her as having a slightly elevated level of testosterone
which, in his opinion, was causing her libido to go into overdrive. As
a result, she was prescribed testosterone blockers.
At this point in her tale, Cassie broke down, and we ended up sitting
on her bed with my arm around her as she cried her eyes out. Apparently
the side effects from the blockers, like excessive fatigue, weakness,
and lack of concentration were extremely unpleasant and her school work
was suffering. Her concerned parents, looking into alternative
therapies, had been seriously discussing with their minister and the
quack, a treatment popular as recently as the 1960's and 70's which
involved surgically removing the little button considered to be the
source of the problem, (I jest not.) In the quack's opinion, her
condition was a 'medical necessity' covered by section 116 subsection
(B)/(1) of the 1996 federal law banning the procedure in minors under
the age of 18.
Luckily for Cassie, towards the end of February, she manifested as a
fairly powerful Healer with her own regen. This made that particular
option, along with the continued use of testosterone blockers,
unviable. Her parents, and their minister, then decided to send her off
to a good christian, girls only boarding school. At least that had been
the plan until about three weeks ago, when she had been caught
flagrante delicto in the old woodshed behind the church with the head
of her old junior high cheer leading squad. Since, in her parents, (and
their ministers,) view, they were now out of options, with only 24
hours warning, she had been packed off to Whateley as a lost cause.
There was more: Her parents, professing to still love her, had, with
the aid of a scholarship to help cover Whateley's heavy fees, agreed to
support her till she was 18. However, before she got on the bus to
Whateley, it was made clear to her that, unless she got her promiscuity
under control, it would be best if she made a new life in the god-
forsaken, liberal North East where the servants of Satan had created an
environment more tolerant of alternative lifestyle choices.
What a bloody mess, it made my own problems seem trivial in comparison.
To cheer her up, in return, I gave her the light-hearted version of my
own story. Concentrating on the juicier bits, like arriving naked in
the middle of the quad and how security saw me as demonic borg queen
intent on seducing them into my collective, I soon had her laughing,
gasping and clasping her hands to her face in maidenly shock.
While Cassie did a quick unpacking, I was putting away my mornings
purchases. Since there weren't all that many and they were loosely
arranged in carrier bags, things went fairly quickly. That is, until I
laid my armour over my chair in preparation for tonight's enchantments.
Up until now, probably because she was telling her story and very
nervous about how I would react, Cassie had been fairly restrained. Now
that we were taking the first steps toward friendship, she released the
internal damping controls that normally held back her very childlike
enthusiasm. Seeing my armour, she cried out: "Oh my god, what's
that?... Its scandalous!..... Is that your super-hero costume?... I
haven't got a costume, do you think I should get one...... What kind of
costume should I get?...."
There was more, and it all came out in staccato like, short fire bursts
which didn't leave any room for a chance to reply.
Finally, I was able to get out: "I'm not a super-hero, it's my armour
for my succubus form. At least it will be after I put an enchantment on
it tonight."
"Succubus form?... Enchantments?... Oh that is so cool, can I see?...
Do you look like a demon?... Can I watch you doing magic?.... Oh that
is so cool, who would have imagined I would be living with
Hermione?.... Can you fly around on a broomstick?.... Do you play
Quidditch? Heh, heh, heh.... The armour looks like it should belong to
a warrior queen, are you a savage barbarian queen in disguise?......You
look like a queen, is that your crown you are wearing?..."
Holding up my hands, I managed to stop the torrent and quickly filled
her in: "Firstly succubi are not demonic, we are sidhe and I am not a
Queen, just a Princess. Harry Potter? Yeugh! Hated the books and the
film both, and I don't need a broomstick, I've got wings. Seeing my
true form and magic, yes but not now, later tonight. For the moment,
can we 'please' finish getting ready? My human form is basically an
exemplar and it burns up a lot of calories, this means I am really
hungry......"
You may have noticed that her short fire burst way of speaking was
contagious. I didn't have to say any more though, with a shrieked
apology, she rushed to finish unpacking her worldly belongings.
Since I had now put away my purchases, I was free to replace my bed-
linen with the nice soft satin-weave that Cecilia had made for me. Of
course, when Cassie saw what I was doing, I had to explain about my
delicate skin, which lead to a friendly, burst fire ribbing about how
everyone knows about the 'Princess and the pea' and it proves I must be
a real Princess.
Quickly returning to her frenzied, but highly inefficient method of
unpacking, I was able to take care of the most important stage of
getting ready for dinner: Jewellery and make-up. Deciding I needed a
change of accessories, I pulled out what served me as a jewellery box.
This, of course, resulted in a gasp of horrified shock from Cassie,
before she staccato fired another apology and dived back into unpacking
everything she owned. Me, I just resolved to get another jewellery box
at the soonest possible opportunity.
Selecting the aquamarine belt, I chose a shiny transparent blue stoned
pendant which, with the aid of a thin gold chain, dangled just at the
entry to my cleavage and a bracelet with similar shiny blue stones.
They didn't match in the way the sapphire ensemble did, but they were
close enough.
Sitting at my desk, I took one of the dark blue chokers Cecilia had
given me and attached a moon cameo that was just starting to wane,
before fastening it around my elegant neck. Then, examining my
reflection in the vanity mirror, I realised I would need to redo my
hair.
I mean, what is a girl to do? The delicate maiden's braids I had woven
that morning just did not go with the sultry Morticia gown I was
wearing.
Not having a lot of experience in the way of hair styles, I opted for
putting it up in the loose bun I had originally mastered and after a
quick brush, re-attached the bindi before pining my hair up with loose
natural ringlets framing my face. After that, it only took a few
minutes to touch up my make-up. Cassie, who having stopped unpacking,
was looking at me strangely and asked: "When we were getting our tour,
they told us all the other girls in Poe were some kind of boy/girl
changelings?"
"Yes?"
"You can't be a boy your just so natural, and when I saw you naked, you
obviously didn't have a boy's 'thingy'."
Okay, she deserved an explanation so I resisted the urge to sigh, and
launched my standard reply #1 to questions abut my gender: "It's the
magic of becoming a succubus, it's re-writing my outer personality to
make me more effective as weapon. At first it really freaked me out;
but now, it just feels right, like breathing air or like a fish
swimming. I still have a lot learn about make-up hair and clothes you
know. Like, I only know how to do two hairstyles and the only make-up
style I know is what I am wearing. As for clothes!.... I was naked when
I arrived and had to go to a couturist in town this morning to
commission a wardrobe, this was all her choices and creativity."
"Couturist?... Commission a wardrobe?.... Are you rich?"
This time, I did sigh: "When my parents died in the accident, they left
me a trust fund. The daughter of one of the school trustees is my
guardian and she acts as the trustee to my fund. I can't touch the
capital till I am 18, but I get an allowance and can buy clothes."
Seeing her getting worked up about my parents dying, I quickly re-
directed her by asking in a hopeful voice: "You know I could really use
your help with learning about clothes, make-up, hairstyles and all the
other girly stuff?"
"Oh yes!...That would be so cool.... I would love to do that.... It
would be like having a little sister.... I always wanted a little
sister.... What have you got in the way of make-up?.... Let me
see?...."
Oh man, I was doomed! If she kept up this staccato speech, by the end
of the year I would be as crazy as her.
I think Cassie's real problem was that she had never had any friends.
When she was younger having a father who was 'the policeman' and a
mother who was 'the schoolteacher', made the other kids avoid her. When
she found out that, by being nice to boys, they seemed to want her as a
friend, the opportunity was too good to resist. At least at first, by
the time she found out that everyone and their uncles were just using
her, it was too late. I never got the full details of what exactly
happened, but she mentioned how she overheard some of the men who were
using her talking about pimping her out and making hardcore internet
porn. From hints she dropped, this was more than just talk, and she did
actually turn a few tricks and make a few films.
At the end of the day though, there was something really irrepressible
about her nature. Sure she could be annoying as hell when she dived
enthusiastically into something new, and the occasional crying jag,
along with the associated guilt trip, about her parents disowning her
could be a real downer; but in her soul, she was just a bubbly friendly
teenage girl who, for the most part, was completely unbowed by a
nightmarish introduction to real life.
A little digression there, like I say she could be annoying as hell,
but we were becoming friends and I felt the need to defend her.
Anyway, holding up my hands again, I pleaded: "Food please!"
With another anguished shriek of apology, she dived back to finish off
unpacking.
Actually, she was more or less finished, she was holding in her hands
what looked like an aluminium 30cm square toolbox. Bearing in mind my
own recent tool purchases, I curiously asked: "What kind of tools do
you have? I have some of my own, maybe we can share?"
Looking at me as if I was dum and placing the box on her desk, she
opened it for me to inspect its contents, while replying with some
pride: "It's a .45 calibre, Kel-Tec P-3AT semi-automatic pistol. It was
my dad's back up gun for when he was on duty. He gave it to me when I
was packing to come here....."
She nearly broke into tears again at the mention of her father.
Apparently he had made a sarcastic comment about her needing the
protection if she continued on in the way she had been going.
While getting Cassie calmed down, and helping her securely put away the
weapon. She went on to explain that her father had checked with the
school and she only needed to complete the range safety course before
she could carry it around campus. The firearms training was something
she had already done succesfuly in Oklahoma, so she didn't foresee any
problems here at Whateley.
This got me thinking, I had done basic fire arms training with the
Barron and, at close range, even a short barreled .45 calibre weapon
would make really messy holes in human flesh. Because of the UK's
restrictive firearm laws, back in Edinburgh knives and needles were the
usual weapons commonly found on the streets; even, on occasion, making
an appearnce in fights at my old inner city school. In fact, knife
attacks were common enough that, in the same way Northern Irish
surgeons were leading experts at repairing damage from punishment
beatings, Scottish A&E surgeons were considered to be world leaders in
repairing the damage from a frenzied knife attack. In one of those
bizarre twists that demonstrate human insanity, the reputaion of our
surgeons in this regard was a source of national pride.
One of the more disgusting aspects was, the thugs and morons seemed to
be in an arms race with the surgeons. Developing improvised special
purpose knives by fastening two, or more, blades together seperated by
pennies. When used in slashing attacks, these improvised blades made
deep tramline wounds that were too close together for the surgeons to
easily sew up.
As bad as the improvised knives were, because of their concealability,
weaponised needles, (occasionaly from syringes deliberately tainted
with HIV or Hepatitis,) were becoming increasingly common. The wide-
boys would thread them under their collars and into their hair with a
twofold purpose: If someone grabbed them, for example a policeman or
security guard, then they got a fistfull of needles, which would be
quickly followed by a needle in one, or both, eyes.
To add complications, if you had the connections not avaialable to law
abiding citizens, guns were freely available. It was possible to rent a
gun for the weekend from an underground armourer for ?100 with, if it
was returned unfired, a ?50 rebate. Some of these guns even made their
way into the school-yard. In the last couple of years there had been
tabloid stories about school kid shooters, and I knew from second-hand
rumour, certain kids in my old school were reputed to have flashed a
gun hidden in their school bag. Further, even as I arrived at Whateley,
the shooting of 12 year old Rhys Jones was being attributed to school
kids, one of whom was slightly younger than me.
So, you may understand why I didn't really know what to make of this
development. A 14 year old carrying a gun, albeit in a case, thousands
of miles across the country and upon arrival at her destination being
issued a carry permit. On the other hand, as I made clear above, there
were more than a few people in Edinburgh who, in my opinion, if some
good samaritan happened to shoot them dead, then they, [the samaritan,]
would have been widely considered to have done the world a great
favour.
As I was thinking this through, Cassie was telling me that her dad was
an outdoor sportsman and she had been accompanying him since she was a
little girl. She had been riding her own horse and camping out since
she was seven or eight years old, caught and landed a trophy trout by
the time she was nine and taken her first trophy buck when she was
eleven. A real Calamity Jane in more ways than one.
The Boys
This was all relatively unimportant though, we were ready to leave and
I ran into a major logistics problem, rather several logistics
problems. I needed to pee. Badly!
The first problem was that some of the girls had discovered the
Hydroflux equipment but failed to realise the significance of the sound
cancellation system. Threading my way through a crowd of curious boys
while being forced to shout: "Desperate Lady coming through. Desperate
Lady urgently needs to use the rest room." was, I must admit, pretty
embarrassing.
Of course, it got progressively worse.
I finally made it into the Ladies toilet block only to encounter
problem #2: A crowd of anxious lezzies urging those lucky enough to
already have a shower cubicle to hurry up and finish so that they could
have a shot with this marvellous invention. Suggesting that maybe they
could figure out how to turn on the sound cancellation, I threaded my
way through this second crowd only to encounter problem #3: Given the
figure hugging tightness of the dress, the only way to complete my
business, was to unbutton and step out of the gown. Okay I did get a
bit of help with that, but this lead onto problem #4: Due to
inexperience, I had put the straps from the suspender belt on the
outside of my bikini briefs. The result was, I was back to being naked
in semi-public before I could finally get into position to relieve the
pressure.
I really loved that gown, as did most of the campus males and lesbians,
but it was the most impractical piece of clothing ever dreamt up by the
mind of what was undoubtedly a man.
By the way, you may be wondering about why I am referring to some of
the girls as 'lezzies'? Well, you see, when I was in the shower block,
I realised I could taste the heightened flow of essence. It tasted weak
and watery, and the flow from individual girls was even smaller than
what I had tasted from Ayla, Tim and Jules, but it was noticeable,
especially in the charged atmosphere resulting from the Hydroflux
equipment. When I asked mum about it, she suggested the only reason I
could detect it at all was because they were turned on by my delicious
bod. Since it looked like I had my own built in Lez-Dar, I took to
calling them lezzies. Curiously, although Cassie was sexually
adventurous and she did admit to finding my bod attractive, like the
straight girls, I never could detect any flow of essence from her.
Anyway, after getting re-dressed, I worked my way back outside to find
the girls had taken my words to heart about the sound cancellation
system. The crowd of boys had disappeared and the only two left were
talking to Cassie.
Achmed had already been rated as level 6 exemplar and level 4 coercive
telepath. Just shy of his 15th birthday, he was a non-practising Sunni
muslim who came from the Iraqi city of Basra. Over the last thirty or
forty years of near constant warfare, most of his extended family had
been killed in the fighting or related outbreaks of disease, leaving
him, a Sunni orphan in a predominantly Shiite city, scavenging for
whatever food he could find. When he manifested, he had come under a
lot of pressure to join a jidhadist group. Not liking this idea, he had
explained to them at some length what he thought about both religion
and nationalism before making his way to a UN base where a sympathetic
aid worker had arranged for him to come to Whateley.
Estimated to be about 14 or 15, Justice, (that was his real name,) had
a similar story to Achmed. From a remote region of north eastern
Nigeria, he too was a non-practising Sunni muslim who had a psychotic
hatred of any kind of religion or national government. Rated as a level
5 gadgeteer and level 4 devisor, he had been discovered by a UN worker
hiding out in the bush, where he was using his talents to wage a one
boy guerilla war against both a local jidhadist group, and the Nigerian
military. One of which had been responsible for the death of his family
and the kidnapping of his sisters. While he was able to salvage some
electronic and mechanical parts to wage his war, many of the gadgets
and devises he had created had been pure bush tech.
They were room-mates in room 210 and if you think putting people with
similar 'issues' was foresighted, consider this: They both despised
religion with a passion that, in any other context, would have been
described as 'Holy'. It was a situation that had the potential for
genuine catastrophe. Funnily enough, their hatred for any form of
religion was closely echoed by Cassie. (I never got the full story of
that one, but I believe that some of her church elders, possibly even
the minister himself, had been both her greatest accusers and her
greatest abusers.)
Joining them, the first thing I noticed was that the small amounts of
essence the boys were radiating, tasted flat and lifeless. If you like,
although they were male, their fantasies and drives were less than
invigorating for a heterosexual young succubus.
Putting a ll that aside for the moment, the reason they were talking to
Cassie was: Due to deep rooted cultural prejudices, they were so far
inside the closet I was surprised they made it into Poe; and, since in
muslim countries that permitted dating, a common practice was for
lesbian and gay couples to double date, they were wondering if they
could take Cassie and me to dinner. Neither of us had any objection,
though Cassie wanted to collect a 'nice boy' she had been talking to at
the station and arranged to meet.
When you bear in mind the nature of Poe, and the fact Tim and Jules
were probably the only heterosexual boys currently in residence, you
shouldn't really be surprised who the 'nice boy' was, (and yes, I'll
get to Jules/Julie being heterosexual in a moment.)
Tim and Jules had been put in room 208, and when we knocked on the
door, we obviously interrupted a tear filled rant about the many
injustices of life. Jules was sitting puffy eyed on the bed, while Tim
was standing nearby helplessly. Looking to us for support, he asked: "I
was just trying to explain to Jules that if he turned up at Crystal
hall for dinner dressed in girls clothes, the other students would tear
him to pieces. Do you think you could help explain..."
Then, pausing to give a shrug, he went on: "When we were in Seattle the
shrink his parents sent him to explained it. With his BIT and regen,
there were no viable medical options.... I don't even know where he got
the girls clothes, when we arrived in Dunwich, he just disappeared into
the toilet and came out dressed like that."
Hearing himself being referred to as a 'he', Jules burst out: "I am not
a boy, I will never be a boy and don't want to be called a boy."
After being with Cassie for nearly an hour and still being close to
her, my power mimic trait must have picked up a bit of her power. It
was the first time I had ever really felt it, but I was sure I could
sense an echo of Cassie reaching out from the doorway to try to 'heal'
Jules. It didn't work of course, the problems Jules was suffering from
were mental rather than physical and I'm not sure if any healer can
cure a purely mental illness. Me though, after tasting both 'lezzy' and
the 'gay' essence, I was certain Jules was now a heterosexual boy,
immature and not yet all the way there, but definitely heterosexual.
Trying a little experiment, I directed a tiny little blast of my aura
at him; and yes, I know it was wrong, but it was really tiny, not even
enough to make him tractable. More like just enough to make him give me
an appreciative second look. Which, of course, he did.
It was all the confirmation I needed. Bundling Tim out the door, while
surreptitiously signalling Cassie to follow my lead, I explained:
"Look, Cassie and I need to have a girl talk with Julie. Could you give
us a few minutes?"
More than happy to oblige, Tim joined Achmed and Justice in the
hallway, leaving us alone with Jules. Turning back to him, I gave him
another very tiny blast and said: "You know you are very lucky you
know,....."
At his indignant interruption, I held up my hand, and with another
little blast, started to wiggle my cute little bod over to him, saying:
"Yes of course you are, when your ready to start experimenting with
your new body, you're going to know all the little secrets that drive
the girls wild with passion."
Cassie, picking up on what I planned, started to seductively move to
his opposite side. Saying: "Oh my yes, I never thought of that. I am
sure by this time next year you will be the most popular guy on campus.
When I think back to some of the guy's that have fucked me and how
totally clueless they were to what a girl really likes, I wouldn't be
at all surprised if the girls don't start fighting over you."
Okay, I wouldn't have been quite so brazen and I was nowhere near ready
to even let a guy touch me, never mind 'go all the way', but this was
Cassie we are talking about; and anyway, I didn't really want Jules to
focus solely on me. Just to keep his interest up, I gave him one last
tiny little hit of my aura, before sitting down beside him. Leaning in
so that one of my titties was lightly pressing against his arm, in a
husky voice, I almost whispered: "She's right you know, you must
remember how your dates would grope at you...."
Sitting on his other side and leaning into him in the same way I was,
Cassie picked up the thread: "Oh yes, I used to think that they had
more hands than an octopus, and if they would just slow down and take
it easy, I would do anything they wanted."
We tag-teamed Jules like that for a good 10 minutes.
With two hot babes leaning into him and his new found masculine drives
erupting like Vesuvius, the poor guy never stood a chance. By the time
we stepped out back into the hall to let him get dressed, he had agreed
to hand to over his stash of girls clothes to Cassie. Surprisingly, he
did this fairly quickly, with Cassie being able to dash off to hide
them in our room and return before he had finished dressing in male
clothes.
Real men are so easy to manipulate.
Training teams
Now that we were ready to go, I needed to exercise a Lady's prerogative
and make them wait as I returned to our room to pick up the blue velvet
bag along with my wallet, hair brush and makeup. As I walked off, I
clearly heard Achmed suggesting in heavily accented English: "Man, a
booty like that is almost enough to make me wish I liked girls."
Justice, Tim and Jules evidently agreed.
Weren't they nice boy's, you can see why I liked them.
Oh, maybe I should point out that before arriving at Whateley, both
Achmed and Justice had benefited from a six week intensive language
course sponsored by the UN. Prior to this Achmed had spoken Arabic and
a bit of broken GI and Squaddie English. Justice, on the other hand,
wasn't sure what his native tongue was and spoke a smattering of
Yoruba, Marghi, Ngizim, Kamwe and Mada, along with a few others.... His
primary language in the remote area of Nigeria he lived, had been a
hybrid pidgin of English and French.
We now hit yet another problem in a long litany of complaints about
what was otherwise: 'Simply the most adorable gown imaginable'....
Getting down stairs in a lady like fashion, without breaking my cute
little neck.
Achmed solved the problem by throwing me over his shoulder; and, with
much screaming, kicking and giggling on my part, along with a few
friendly smacks to my tush, I safely arrived at the bottom, (of the
stairs that is.)
It was almost a shame he was gay, but thoughts of what might have been,
were rudely interrupted by the audience who, drawn by my frantic
screaming, were awaiting our arrival. Blushing again, I could see
running through there minds: 'Definitely a flake.'
Mrs Horton poked her head out of her door, took one look, and before
ducking back in, commented: "Nice dress Fiona. A trifle overdone maybe,
and definitely very impractical; but still, it is a very nice dress."
She didn't even have the decency to warm her hands at the intense heat
from my blush.
Quickly leading the way to the door, I realised that walking with
anything other than mincing little steps was impossible, and, at my
maximum speed, we would be unlikely to reach Crystal hall before it
closed. Given how hungry I now was, I had two possibilities: Either
unbutton my dress and bra, change into my succubus form and fly, or get
one of the boys to carry me.
Once we were outside, the red border to the flag put flying out, which
left being carried. Undignified maybe, but the situation was desperate.
Looking them over, we had two exemplars and a brick. I was fairly sure
that Cassie, who had managed to sandwich herself between Jules and Tim,
had a 'thing' going for Tim, and seeing Jules looking a bit forlorn, I
decided to cheer him up. Sidling my way up beside my target, I hung
onto Jules's arm so that my titty was once again pressing gently into
it, (well, it worked before didn't it.) Gradually working my way around
to introducing the idea, it didn't take long until he himself proposed
that carrying me might be a good idea by manfully throwing me over his
shoulder caveman style.
Like I say, 'real men' are so easily manipulated, especially when they
are also exemplars who were probably as hungry as I was.
It was a lot of fun, and for all he wasn't anywhere near to completing
his change, he had muscles like you wouldn't believe!
After arriving at Crystal hall, we quickly filled our trays and took a
table close to the food line so that we could easily go back for
seconds and maybe thirds. By way of explanation, remember we were
novices and didn't yet have the experience to know that, for some of
us, using a tray as a plate was not only perfectly acceptable at
Whateley, but an absolutely necessity if one expected to fit in a
hectic class schedule with important things like gossip.
Getting down to business, we exchanged stories about our previous lives
and how we ended up here. Some things I couldn't avoid coming out, like
being a weapon and being drafted into security with the rank of sub-
Lieutenant. Being a succubus was probably unavoidable, though it did
raise a jolt of fear from Achmed and Justice. In Arab-African countries
the 'qar?nah' were greatly feared and tied to many local superstitions
linking them with black magic rituals and curses. I think it was their
shared hatred of religion that got them over that particular little
prejudice. Though I did make a note to be very careful about what I did
or said if I ever found myself in Africa.
Cassie, in another bought of enthusiasm, helpfully pointed out that I
was a sidhe princess, which also helped our superstitious muslim
brothers get over their initial shock/fear/terror. Then we got down to
what was going to be the main subject of conversation for not just
Posies, but all the freshers set to arrive tomorrow: Team Kimba and
training teams!
After the subject was brought up, it didn't take long for Cassie, in a
fit of exuberance, to propose that we form our own team. A suggestion
that everyone quickly agreed to, well, everyone except me. I was
keeping very quiet at this point.
As to the question of team leader, Tim suggested that, since I was an
officer and getting special training in military stuff, it should be
me. Achmed and Justice, more out of principle than anything else,
objected to having a woman in command; but after a combined assault by
Tim, Jules and Cassie, they quickly capitulated. Admitting in the
process, by the way, that if I hadn't been female, there would have no
question about who was the best choice.
Now that they had decided to form a training team and chosen me as a
leader, they got down to the really enjoyable part: Choosing a team
name.
They were having a lot of fun; but as I pointed out, I had not yet
agreed to anything. It was only when Jules suggested: "Since Luna is
our general and she is a princess we should have something imperial
like... mm...."
Snapping his fingers, he blurted out: "I know, we should call ourselves
the 'Praetorian Guard'"
I felt a quite a bit of satisfaction about this. From my original
visions, I didn't really know the full details but I knew that somehow,
the Praetorian Guard, along with Blackstar squad were going to be very,
very important.
Leaning back in my chair, I steepled my fingers in thought and studied
them all intently. Noticing me and realising that so far I had been
keeping my silence, they all turned to look at me expectantly. After a
moment, I asked: "Are you really sure about this, you should be aware
of two things before you commit yourselves: Training teams are not a
game at Whateley, they are taken very seriously and require total
commitment..... The other thing you should realise is: I'm a pre-cog
and this might end up somewhere you never expected to go?"
Tim and Jules, remembering our introductory tour, exchanged a look,
before Jules replied: "We already discussed this earlier and we're in."
Justice replied, with Achmed nodding in agreement: "Wherever we end up
it won't be any worse than where we came from."
Cassie just laughed and said: "Well, if it's that bad you're going to
need a good healer, and at least I can shoot straight..... Which is
more than I can say for any 'boy' I've ever met."
She said this with a dismissive toss of the head that was just too
pretty for the 'boys' to object too.
Seeing they were serious and while they might not know the full extent
of everything I had foreseen, they were well aware it was more than
just a game. I replied: "Okay, I will see Admiral Everhart tomorrow
about registering the Praetorian Guard as an official training team."
When they nodded agreement I added: "Cassie, you said you were going to
sign up for a range safety course tomorrow. From what I read in student
handbook, the main team training classes don't start until winter term.
This would normally be a problem for us, but I think there is a way
around it."
With them looking at me with wide puppy eyes, confident that 'Mummy'
was going to make the problems go away, I internally sighed at my first
taste of the real the burdens of leadership.
Biting the bullet, I told them: "This morning, I had an unfortunate
meeting with the Admiral, and she told me: In order to get new JROTC
recruits up to scratch with the arena and range safety rules, they run
an extended version of the 'federal conceal carry course' during
fresher's week. I think the Praetorian Guard should join the JROTC. I'm
fairly sure it's the only way we are going to be able to make it as an
official training team. At least, it is the only way of doing it before
winter term."
Amazingly, they all quickly agreed, even after I had explained to them
the amount of work involved and what it would do to their plans for
fresher's week. Probably the real surprise, or maybe not when you
realised where they grew up, Tim and Jules, along with Cassie, already
had extensive firearms training and various carry permits, with a lot
of hunting, fishing and general back-wood camping experience thrown in
to boot. In addition, while Achmed and Justice didn't have formal
training, they had grown up in an environment where military grade
firearms were even more common than in the US.
This left the even more fun subject of code names. I had already chosen
mine, and since they had been through power testing with the UN, so had
Justice and Achmed.
Their code names alone should probably have set off alarm bells.
Justice had chosen to be referred to as 'Spear of Tseode', Tseode being
a legendary king from Borno state who, during the middle ages,
temporarily overthrew the rump Yoruba Oya rulers of Nigeria. Needless
to say in common speak, his code name was quickly shortened to 'Spear'.
Achmed's chosen code name of '?????', or in English 'Deluge', may at
first seem innocuous until you remember that he grew up in the region
of Gilgamesh and Utnapishtim, the biblical Noah....
Cassie, who had evidently been thinking furiously since she saw my
costume, quickly suggested Chira, a feminine form of Chiron, the
legendary Centaur healer. Later, if you know your Greek mythology, we
would find out that there was a special significance to the name she
had chosen.
Tim and Jules, who had obviously spent quite a bit of time discussing
me, and coming from rural Washington state, had already decided to call
themselves respectively 'C?pin?-k'?plac' and 'C?pin?-teq?'s'. Which
roughly translates from Niimiipuut?mt as 'He who walks out of the
forest with a hammer', and 'He who walks out of the forest with a net'.
Of course, in common parlance, that mouthful was quickly shortened to
'K'?plac' and 'Teq?'s'
Once that was settled, we agreed to meet up at lunchtime tomorrow to
head over to Kane hall and finalise all the details. Then we got back
to more light-hearted gossip about what we had heard about life at
Whateley.
Or at least, they did. Making apologies and promising to meet up later
in my room to show them my armour, I had to mince over to security and
take care of my responsibilities as Blackstar's commander.
To be continued,