[So, Rica just warned Emily off against spell casting and Emily had just said the protective spells should work just fine. Rica's still leaning back in a chair with her feet on the desk, but looks slightly pensive at the moment, her eyes resting on the sword above the chalkboard.] [Emily's watching Rica.] [Start!] 'So, Rica, why don't you tell us a bit about student life here?' 'We haven't really heard much about that so far.' * Rica breaks her glance with the sword for the moment. "They stay on campus in our dorms, divided by house and gender. Outside of classes we have a range of recreational activities. The students tend to work magic but sometimes you'll see people flying around on broomsticks above a normal football game." * Emily nods. "Inside, there's common rooms for each house, as well as the banquet room which is often used for socializing with students in different houses. Again some magical games but also some board and card games." She then grins. "Although if you believe no one ever goes for some magical help, I've got a bridge to sell you." * Ben grins. * Rica then glances up at the sword again for a moment before looking back to Ben. "That about cover what you were asking? The kids also sometimes play computer games or hang out all around the castle depending on cliche, or just study a lot if they're the bor-- studious type." * Ben follows Rica's glance up at the sword. 'Nice sword. Is it dangerous?' * Rica nods. "Yeah, and it has some of the same defenses as the other sort of items you were asking about earlier. A hands on demonstration is always better for these things. I'm trying to think of a good one to give." * Emily also looks quite interested. Well, if you like, you and Emily are welcome to have a go for it. So long as Emily stays away from truly nasty spells, the deterrents on it aren't too bad. And... * Ben turns to look at Emily. If you'd prefer to check the magical defenses yourself, you could borrow my wand and I could coach you through it. ::She then grins wider.:: But break it and I'll kick you ass, unless you intend to hide behind those hordes of American lawyers of yours. * Rica's tone is quite friendly, however not so light as to make you think she's bluffing. 'You use a wand? Like the ones the children here have?' Yeah, I don't need it, but it's good to practice with. The wand affects how you cast spells some and if I forgot about that, I'd be a less effective teacher. * Emily nods slightly when Ben's looking and then proceeds closer to the sword, studying a few small runes on the plaque the sword rests on. 'I'm sorry. I don't understand. It affects them how?' (Emily is about to go boom, isn't she?) (Maybe... :P) Think of it like having your car- you've got a car, right?- given some extra horsepower, switched from manual to automatic transmission, and being given a hybrid electric brake system. And don't worry, you shouldn't really be following just yet. * Emily glances back to Rica. "Mind if I try a few simple spells?" Sure, just nothing fancy. 'Oh. So, even once you learn how to cast spells, the wands... make you more powerful?' 'Emily? Since I don't know much about this magic stuff, can you do me a favour and explain what you're doing before you do it, so I can follow along?' * Rica looks back to Ben. "Yeah, you got that part of it. Although if you're a lot more powerful to begin with, it won't make much of a difference. The powerful ones who need to learn use the hybrid brakes more." Certainly. First I'll try a simple telekinetic spell. Presumably, that won't work so I'll then follow up with trying to knock it off with air or a few solid objects. * Rica nods at Emily's comment. "Go ahead." * Emily makes a few motions and nothing happens. She doesn't look surprised. "There's the telekinesis." 'Magical telekinesis,' Ben mutters absently. So the hybrid brakes. Essentially, powerful but untrained mages bleed extra energy, often enough to throw off whatever they're doing. Until they learn to control their power, the wands absorb the parts they don't need. Eventually, they'll need to learn to do it on their own, but because they have a wand it means all the rest of their training doesn't have to wait on that. * Emily then makes gestures as the wind skirts around her dress and hair a bit and even Ben can feel a slight breeze. The sword doesn't move in the slightest though. 'What was that last spell, Emily?' 'And Rica... This extra energy... What happens to it?' That was the wind, let me throw in some fog, might clarify things a little. * Emily makes a quick gesture while saying "Cloud." Wisps of fog pick up, not enough to obscure vision but enough to show air currents. The air is clearly going around a half cylinder that extends just a bit out from the magical sword. Some of it is used to power the wand, like the hybrid brakes I was using as a metaphor. The extra is safely disposed of. There's some proprietary techniques involved there, so Alvar would be most annoyed with me if I went into details, but suffice to say the wands aren't ticking time bombs of power or anything. * Ben has apparently become distracted by the sword. 'Amazing. How's that sword work?' It's actually not the sword. That's the protection I was telling you about. 'Uh, could you explain that?' * Emily then points to a few fairly durable items around the room, trashcan first, pencil, and a chair, and with a wave they're tossed at the sword; nothing penetrates. Protective magical field: prevents spells or physical objects from getting through, unless you know the key like I do. 'The key?' * Emily gives up on tossing things and returns the objects to their original positions. Not a physical one, but to save magical theory, suffice to say that I can get to it but a student, not even one with a nice disguise spell and my sense of fashion, can't. Surely it can't resist powerful attack spells or dispelling magic. (Boom!) 'So... This magical field, would it stop me from just walking up and picking up the sword?' Quite. You're welcome to try if you like though. Similarly, Emily, give it your best shot, just trying not to hurt the rest of the room. Ben and I will be quite safe, but I'd hate to have to find an excuse to give some Drake student detention just to clean up the place. * Emily nods. She looks thoughtfully at the sword, although it doesn't really seem to have the whole of her attention. * Ben watches Emily for a second, trying to figure out where the rest of her attention actually is. (And thus, I am guessing, what she will actually try to cast a spell against...) * Ben, meanwhile, makes an attempt at walking up to the sword, still watching Emily. [Ben notices incidentally that Rica, while standing up to get a better look at what Emily's doing, and smirking, has adopted a position far better suited to defense if necessary.] * Emily makes an elaborate series of gestures while muttering a few words in an unrecognizable language. (Uh, is Ben still in the way?) ('Cause Ben walked up to the sword a second ago, seeing if he could reach it...) (His being in the way isn't key here.) (Yeah, but even if he knew that, which I'm not completely sure he does, his cover identity definitely wouldn't.) (So he can react as if he was worried about being in the way.) [The cylinder around the sword shimmers for a moment and then goes invisible again. You can't tell if it's still there. However, while it was shimmering, a heavy lead shudder rotates down to cover the sword completely. Ben doesn't think he could have made a grab for it without use of some sort of speed enhancement.] * Ben tries to make a grab for it anyway. [Ben isn't even close by the time the shield's down and while he thinks he could have definitely been faster, he's not sure if it would have made the difference.] * Rica smirks but doesn't drop the stance. "Well done. Didn't think you'd--" (Where's Ben looking at the moment?) (I already said that even as he makes his attempt to walk up and grab the sword, his attention stays on Emily.) [Emily doesn't make any more gestures, but there's a sudden small flash of light by Rica. The light is bright blue and startling but not blinding. However, it also appears by Emily a moment later in a far closer to blinding form. Ben needs a body roll to resist flare damage.] [Ben's having a little trouble seeing but is still able to make out Rica suddenly making a rather skilled kick at an object that appears about a half a meter to her right. Object is no bigger than a fist but it appears in another flash and then moves quite quickly so you'll need an awareness roll to get a more exact description.] [It flies towards Emily as a sudden puff of green smoke appears around it. The object itself, Ben manages to determine, seems to be some sort of grenade. Emily looks panicked for about a half a second and tries to make a gesture but then passes out.] [The smoke is actually fairly contained and seems to be dispersing fairly quickly. Ben can easily avoid it and does not even need a roll to do so.] (Is the grenade gone now, or still flying around?) (Gone.) 'What in the world was that?' Ben shouts. * Rica comments quite calmly while watching Ben like a hawk, "Ah, Emily, I told you to check spells by me first. That could have been avoided." 'What happened?' Ben demands. * Rica keeps a slightly jaundiced tone. "Emily apparently decided to check how well we defend our students and teachers with a direct and an indirect magical attack." 'She what?' Ben appears incredulous. * Rica smirks. "She cast a blinding light spell then made an object appear. Don't suppose you'd know anything about it." Rica stays where she is for a moment, still looking quite wary. 'I have no idea what you're talking about. So, that thing... Emily made it? What was it? Was it dangerous?' * Rica eyes Ben for one last moment and then smiles. "She did, and it was. Nothing fatal though, which was quite a good choice on her part. It appears Emily dearest was not what she appeared to be." Rica's still standing still. She seems to be waiting for something. 'And you... kicked it back at her?' Ben grins, though he seems shaken. 'I have to admire the directness, though I didn't think that would work against a magical attack.' 'Good to know it does. Means even I can defend myself.' * Rica smiles slightly. "I wouldn't try it against a fireball, but then if she'd tried a fireball, the school wards would have done the job for me. So." She then smiles a good deal more broadly. "Magic's back, shall we proceed with the tour?" 'Uh... Are we just going to leave Emily lying there? Shouldn't she be... turned over to the police or something? The, uh, magic police?' (You have two of them on site, after all! Yes, cross-thread continuity to screw everything up! Nyah-ha-ha!) * Rica shakes her head. "Oh no. I wouldn't leave her, but you needn't worry about that." Rica then walks over to Emily and looks down. "Aperio." Emily doesn't show any obvious effects but Rica gets a slightly enlightened look. (Ben watches Rica very carefully to see if she's looking at him at all differently now that she's apparently read Emily's mind.) 'Hm? What did you do?' * Rica then waves a hand with a bit of showmanship and Emily's body is lifted into the air and floats upright. "Interio." Just checking something before I send her off. ::She's not looking at Ben differently:: * Rica then gestures again and Emily's body then floats up out of the room and down the hall. Rica then smirks. "She'll deliver herself. No need to waste your valuable time." 'Checking...?' What her true form is. ::Rica then blinks, she hadn't meant to be quite that descriptive:: 'Her true form?' [Emily's meanwhile gone off to be delivered somewhere. And possibly be a valuable object lesson to a few students.] I figured she was disguising herself. Suffice to say Emily wasn't born with that hair color or complexion. ::Rica turns her head slightly, causing her hair to move in a fairly dramatic and attractive manner. She also grins.:: Many witches do that sort of thing but I assure you I'm quite natural. * Rica then walks up to the sword and turns her back slightly towards Ben while turning to look at him, and presumably makes a few gestures but he can't see the specifics. 'You ARE going to turn Emily over to the proper authorities, right?' Ben sounds concerned. * Rica smiles. "And now the alarm's off. And yes, we've got a creepy basement but it's just for show. I'll be sure some secretary drops you a note later so you can follow her case." 'The alarm's off now? So I could just pick up the sword?' [The lead shield is still there.] 'Say, why *is* this sword so well protected, anyway? Just because it's dangerous?' If you could get through the lead; that'd take a while. And it's not that dangerous but it can cut through some enchantments and we prefer to keep such things safe from the students, as you understand, I'm sure. 'Indeed. Say, out of curiosity, is this some sort of Ancient Mystic Relic,' Ben says, his tone becoming melodramatic for a beat, 'or just a standard item?' * Rica then takes a few steps through the door. "And we'll need some cleanup work in here soon enough, so if you'll follow me you could perhaps meet a student or two and be on your way in time for dinner." * Rica smiles. "Nothing's really standard in magic, but that's not an ancient relic. Just don't tell the kids; they'd be disappointed." 'Thank you.' Ben follows Rica out. 'So, I haven't had much in the way of an actual tour. Anything of interest you want to point out as we walk?' Certainly. * Rica heads down the hall a bit. There are the magical sconces and pictures which watch your movement as the main adornment. "Here's our library, not the largest arcane one in Britain but still among the top fifty in the world." (Is the door open or closed?) * Rica keeps walking down the hallway, the doors ajar as two male upperclassmen leave and Ben can see a few students studying (Including one Jessica Winslow)... [The library itself has a definite slightly claustrophobic mystical feeling. Seems like it wouldn't be too hard to get lost if it were larger, although the study section he sees Jessica in offers some clear space and windows.] * Ben lingers by the library door, looking in. So if you had any cool adventures, you'd take me along, right Jarrett? Yes, yes. Look it's not all like in the books, Jess. You don't need us to have fun. I've know. I've had my own adventures, y'know. Yes, you've told us about it at every available opportunity. Now get back to studying. * Jessica sighs and looks at one of her books. * Ben catches up with Rica. [Ben also overhears a bit of a conversation about Manchester United's line up next year from a kid that's claimed to done some scrying on it. If Ben knows anything about football, he's dubious.] * Rica keeps walking, making a turn to the central hall and heading down a stairway while it's still swinging, easily jumping to the landing. It'll arrive a second or so later so Ben can proceed down without any showing off if he so desires. * Ben does not show off. So, are you staying for supper, Benji? 'You know, I'd like to, but as it happens I have a couple of friends who live near here, and I promised I'd meet them for supper in town. I didn't expect there'd be so much to see.' * Rica snickers. "Did you expect a magical school to be dull?" 'Touche.' Well, why don't you go into town for supper, then come back out here for another hour or so? I might be busy ::Her tone indicates that she thinks she actually does have better things to do than show him around forever.:: but there are plenty of other teachers here. * Ben grins. 'Foisting me off, are you?' * Rica grins back. "Hey, if I have to suffer, everyone does. What time are you supposed to be in town?" 'Not for another hour.' Well, it's almost suppertime here, but I think we can squeeze something else in first. * Rica takes Ben down another hallway, this one more brightly lit by a good number of arched tall glass windows. So, any particular sorts of students you'd like to talk to? 'Whoever you think can give me the best insight into school life here.' Hmm... I'll think about it. If you see anyone you want to talk to along the way, just tell me. 'Okay.' 'Though it would probably be best if we avoided any of the troublemakers. Alvar told me a bit about them...' [The hallway then no longer has windows on the left side, apparently because the cast has a tower room jutting out in that direction. Rica leads you to the door.] * Rica smiles slightly. "Well, that takes all the fun out of it. I'll take you to Dustin, I suppose. He tends to impress the parents." [You get from her tone that Rica has a definite preference for troublemakers in general.] 'Sounds like you prefer some other students yourself,' Ben says with a grin. * Rica shrugs amiably. "Nothing wrong with some trouble while you're a kid. I was certainly in enough." * Rica then waves dramatically at the door. "And here is our broom closet." 'The broom closet.' Ben's voice indicates he gets that this is no ordinary broom collection. 'Cause they're witches' brooms. Yes. * Ben chuckles. 'Sure, a few scrapes are okay. I meant the real bad seeds, not the kids with a healthy spirit.' * Rica then opens the door. It's a fairly large tower room with a side that's completely open although supported by columns and some iron grating that would do nothing to keep someone from just running out. A large number of brooms line the walls, most of which are locked in to the sides. Most could pass for a conventional traditional broom, although a good number seem fancier, shabbier, or more personalized. I don't really think we have any of those. We have had to expel a kid or two, a few years ago, but that was more for their unwillingness to seriously pursue classes. Luther, Dennis, and I are all quite skilled at straightening out anyone who just starts to get out of line. 'Luther? Dennis?' Dennis is our groundskeeper; he's a centaur, can't miss him. Luther is the normal protections and abjurations teacher. He's got a good deal less tolerance for trouble than I do. 'So, it's just little bits of mischief your kids get in mostly?' [About now a student you recognize as Isaac Maddox comes in along with a taller male you don't recognize. Both have a Unicorn emblem on their robes. Incidentally, Jessica had a Lion.] Quite so. And hello, Isaac. Need the room? We can clear out. 'Hello,' Ben says to the two kids. * Isaac blushes slightly. "Thank you ma'am." He seems a bit nervous. C'mon, bet you can get it by your second try this time. 'What are you two up to?' Trying to make a half decent flyer out of Isaac here. ::He pats Isaac on the back.:: * Isaac stumbles slightly and glances at Rica, looking embarrassed to have done so. He says with an obvious false confidence, "Tony's offered to help me. Think I can master it this time." 'Good luck with that.' * Tony seems amused. "Well, we'll see if I can succeed where both Mallory and Dustin have failed." * Rica then heads out of the room, and Isaac looks grateful about that particular decision. * Ben follows Rica out. 'Is learning to fly those dangerous?' * Rica shakes her head. "No worse than a roller coaster, but that's because we've got the safeties on. Once you become skilled, you can jump from a room without the protective spells beneath it. Takes a real master to take off from just the ground. Sadly Isaac is a ways from either." 'I assume something similar is used to keep people from just falling out of the room? I couldn't help but notice it was open to a sheer drop.' * Rica nods. "Oh yes, even someone with no magical ability could just step out there and land safely. The trick is the spells let you fall a little, giving you time to get your gliding spells going. The rest of flight is comparatively easy." [Rica leads you back to the hallway and down to the second floor, before going off down a hallway with a good number of pictures of mythical beasts, particularly dragons. You notice down a different hallway the dragon slayers are quite prominent. However, on the hall Rica has chosen, the knights often fared less well.] 'Isn't it dangerous to depend upon magic for your safety precautions? What if the spell failed or was cancelled out somehow?' There's a net, and a gate that'd close to make sure people can't jump if the spells are weakened in the slightest. There's also a few tests that we drill into the students' heads that they should perform before jumping until they master the starting spells. 'Good to know. Interesting paintings, by the way.' [Walking out of a door at the end of a hall, a fairly heavy elegant oak door with brass hinges, is a girl with dark hair with highlights a few shades of orange and blue. She's accompanied by a gaggle of smaller girls, probably first years.] * Rica gives an odd smile. "Not ones I'd choose, but they have their merits." (Do I recognize the girl?) (No) [Gaggle of girls. "C'mon, Crystal I want a Griffin." "And a flying dragon!" "And a Cthulu!"] * Crystal addresses the girls in order. "Have some house pride." "Flying isn't cheap y'know, but I'll see what I can do." "Maybe when you're older." [The flock moves past the two of you.] [Crystal looks to be about sixteen, plus or minus. Her robes are fairly kempt though not of the highest quality. She along with the rest of the girls have dragons on their house badges. Crystal is slightly tall for a girl her age, a bit gangly, and takes fairly long steps, causing the first years to hustle to keep up.] [At the end of the hall is an exceedingly high quality oil painting of a dragon sitting in its lair on a large bed of gold, jewels, and treasure. The dragon watches you as you approach.] 'Do you have older children supervise the younger ones, then?' Ben asks Rica. The older children have more privileges and can take younger ones to areas they couldn't go to alone. However the young ones can move on their own through most areas. [You get to the picture. The dragon speaks in a rather deep rich voice.] Forgotten your house, Rica? Is Dustin in there? I need to speak with him. Perhaps... ::A curl of smoke rises from the Dragon's nostrils.:: Don't think I'm incapable of slaying a painting. [The dragon settles back into a resting posture, apparently unconcerned. Incidentally though, the door does swing open.] 'Do you have those paintings throughout the place? I imagine they make an excellent security system. Put a few in the off-limits areas, and you can both control movement and keep an eye on things.' That we do, though some are smarter, and more obnoxious, than others. [From Rica's tone, you're quite certain that Ben was right in his guess.] [And while the smart ones likely provide extra security, even the dumb ones are at least worth a camera.] (Okay. Hm. Wonder if that's what Katherine ran afoul of...) [Inside is Dustin sitting at a table with a few other Drakes. They seem to be working on math problems. The room is quite neat and well organized, with a good deal of brass and a quite large globe on a pedestal at the bottom of one of the stairways to the rooms in the back.] [Someone's pinned a note beneath the globe that says in shimmering letters "Visualize World Domination."] * Dustin looks up to see Rica and scats away the rest of the kids. "Hello Ms. Oakley," He looks to Ben. "Sir." He then just looks to the two of you. "How may I help you?" * Rica walks down into the room, pulling back a chair at the table for Ben. "We have a parent of a potential future student visiting, Dustin. Thought he'd appreciate the chance to ask a student a few questions before he had to finish his visit." * Dustin stands up and holds out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Dustin Amherst." 'Benji Ward.' Ben shakes his hand. * Dustin has a fairly good handshake, nothing strong, but not limp either; he seems practiced at meeting people. * Rica finds a comfortable place to sit and puts her feet up on some of the brass fixtures. Dustin cringes for a moment but covers it quickly. 'So, Dustin, I was hoping you could tell me a bit about what it's like to be a student here.' * Dustin sits down. "Well Mr. Ward, I quite enjoy it and have been able to learn much about the arcane arts while still keeping up with my conventional studies." * Ben grins. 'Glad to hear it, but I was hoping for a less... formal appraisal. Hm. Rica? I think perhaps your presence here is worrying Dustin.' * Rica smiles. "I'll just wait outside then. Come when you're ready to go." As she heads out she mutters something under her breadth that a hearing awareness check (mind) would reveal. * Rica had muttered, "Not to worry, Benji, he's quite capable of brown nosing without me here." * Rica is out of the room and the door is shut by now. Well, it's great fun really. I've been to a few academies before, even had private lessons on magic, but they were all rather plain by comparison. 'So, you were into magic even before you came here, then?' * Dustin nods. "It runs in my family, although a lot of us, Drakes in particular, didn't come in with any talent to start with. And everybody knows Maris is the best mage we've got." 'Maris?' She's a Unicorn, quite studious. ::He then pauses for a second and makes a mental u-turn.:: Of course Bethany and Phillip, both Drakes, are also terrific mages that learned it all here. [He says the Drakes bit with obvious pride.] 'I had heard that someone named Mallory Corbin was the most powerful mage here,' Ben says, and his error on the last name was deliberate. * Dustin frowns and continues in a different tone with slight anger under the surface. "Corwin, and I didn't say most powerful, I said best." He then controls his tone again. "But yes, he is quite powerful. We're all quite proud of him." 'Doesn't sound like the two of you are friends. He push you around or something?' * Dustin actually smiles, almost smirks, bit of pride there. "On occasion. He occasionally gets bothered when I remind him that he isn't the main character in the world." 'I don't follow you.' * Dustin again calms a bit and loses the smirk. "He's not a terrible guy, just full off himself. He hasn't had the greatest life but that doesn't give him carte blanche for being a jerk." [Dustin would likely use a stronger word, if he wasn't fourteen or so.] 'I think I know the type, people who think they're the heroes and try to slot you into some other roll accordingly, like supporting character or even villain.' * Dustin nods. "Exactly." He then relaxes his tone a little and almost sounds like he's parroting someone else's words. "But it's probably just a phase. He'll likely grow out of it." * Ben snerks. 'Well, that's a good thing to hope for. But some people don't. They stay that way their whole life. I work with a few myself. Sorry to be the one to break it to you.' * Ben's voice sounds more sincere than normal as he says that. Not that he's been obviously lying before, but this seems to have touched an actual nerve in him. * Dustin nods and smiles slightly. "Well, maybe it'd help if he felt more secure." He then snickers. "And if it doesn't, well, then it's just his fault and nothing to be done." 'He's insecure, is he?' Ben leans casually against a chair. * Dustin shrugs. "His parents were, well, murdered." He then does another one of those mental u-turns. "Not that he's really worried here, we're quite safe, but someday he'll graduate." 'They didn't catch the guy who did it?' * Dustin looks puzzled slightly. "I think it was never solved, but they think they caught the woman behind it. Or at least that's what I heard." 'Oh? You don't sound certain.' * Dustin shakes his head and gains more confidence. "Just rumors, you know." 'I guess so.' So anything else I can tell you about? 'Sure.' Ben grins. 'This is just making conversation, Dustin. I'd like to know more about the school. What do you think of the professors? Are there any you particularly like or dislike?' I do like them all. Ms. Kinsley is quite knowledgeable and while she teaches things a lot slower than some people would like, it's important that people don't learn things before they can handle them. Ms. Ockley's on the other end, but she's definitely a lot of fun. I know the Lions all swear by her. 'Who's your favourite teacher?' * Dustin looks thoughtful. "Well, Mr. Hurst is our house leader, and he really looks after us. But aside from him, probably Ms. Theobold. She does a really good job making the normal stuff fun. Even if a lot of the students don't appreciate it." 'No patience for the non-magical?' * Dustin nods and snorts. "Some of the kids seem to think that if you can do magic, that's all you need to know." 'You don't agree, I take it,' Ben says approvingly. * Dustin nods. "Magic's a really special skill to have, but that's not all the world is about. I mean, sure we can break the rules sometimes." He then grins. "But like Mr. Hurst likes to say, even poker cheats know the rules." 'Indeed.' 'So, any professors you particularly dislike?' * Dustin shakes his head and smiles. "Not really." 'If you say so.' 'So, what else can you tell me about life around here?' Only real downside is that we can get a little self-absorbed. Some students forget that there's a real world out there and think it can stay storybook all their lives. 'That's going to be a problem when they graduate. It's not all storybook out there. You're right about that.' * Dustin nods. "Well, my mom manages to keep my head on straight most of the time. If you keep reminding your child he or she should be just fine." 'Good advice. I'll keep that in mind.' * Dustin glances at his watch for a moment. "Oh, is there anything else Mr. Ward? I hate to rush, but it is almost dinner time." 'Speaking of keeping the students here in line... Would you say the teachers here are up to keeping an eye on the students?' * Ben grins. 'I won't repeat what you say. I just want to know if my daughter will have to fend for herself here.' * Dustin nods and grins slightly. "Mr. Hurst quite prides himself on that. Not even Mallory would risk pushing him too far." He says some of the others are a bit too lenient. Maybe he's right, maybe not, but so long as he's here, your daughter has nothing to worry about." 'So, a bit of mischief is allowed, but the students here couldn't really get away with anything too unacceptable?' * Dustin nods. "Exactly, though aside from Ms. Oakley, none of them would admit to really allowing mischief. But there's nothing big going on that the staff doesn't know about." 'Good to know. Thanks for your time, Dustin.' * Ben heads out of the room. * Dustin goes to gather stuff for dinner. "You're quite welcome, Mr. Ward." * Rica's waiting outside, talking to a different Drake student. "Ah, you're slightly confused, I'm afraid. The point of that lesson wasn't that enlarging ogres in general is a good idea... Ah, Ben, well, let's get you on your way then. We'll talk later, Terrance." [Terrance, who is barely out of his teens, nods, looks oddly at Ben for a moment, and then runs off to dinner.] 'Who was that?' * Rica starts you walking towards the stairway. "Terrance. He'd misunderstood a story I'd told to a different class. Long story short, an ogre that was protected against everything but enlarge spells, so I got him stuck in a small room using one." 'Ah. So, you've spent time out in the field, then? Dealing with ogres and so on?' * Rica nods. "Luther and I have the most field experience that way. He worked with the British government. I'm more of a freelancer." 'A freelancer?' 'So what made you decide to settle down and work for a school?' * Rica grins. "Oh, Alvar convinced me that there's a good amount of adventure to be had in academia. I can keep my dangerous activities to between term breaks and hopefully greatly increase the lifespan of any students that decide on field work." 'Do you think many of your students are suited to that sort of field work?' Not straight out of school no. Some show potential, though they'll likely pick different paths. 'Like who?' Freelancing, just taking contracts for anyone who needs their ancestral property cleared of ogres, is troubled by rogue mages, and the like, isn't really for just anyone. Mallory is probably well suited for it, but not until he gets over his self-destructive streak. Several of the Lions, none you've met, would likely enjoy it, but I'd want to make sure they had a lot of additional training first. 'What are the rest missing? Ability or inclination?' * Rica gets you down to the first floor, had to wait a bit for the right stairway. "Inclination. If it's the right path the person will know it." 'So, Mallory and a couple of Lions are the only adventurous sorts you've got?' * Rica shakes her head. "Most of the Lions want adventure, as well as a good chunk of the rest. They're just sensible enough not to follow in my footsteps." * Rica turns and leads along a different hallway. It's about the same size as the main entrance hallway, which is to say fairly large. There are still a fair number of stragglers, including Dustin, heading in at this point. [The main doors are on the right side of the hall, great big gothic wooden doors that open outward.] [You can actually see into the great hall, which currently has the glamour of a bayou. There's a definite smell of creole cooking and a fine mist as well as several apparent cyprus trees spread throughout the room, and under the canopy of said trees, a starry moonlit night.] (It's as glamourous as a swamp!) [While there's no sign that the students feet are getting wet there is a fine layer of mist/apparent swamp water on the floor.] [There's a great number of students at the long tables, one for each hall. They seem to be all chatting and snacking on the first course, hard to make out any given conversation, and the ones closest to you are commenting positively or negatively on the whole swamp thing.] ('Alan Moore's run was great, and Len Wein's was okay, but as a whole, not the best of titles.') [There's a head table at the far end of the hall where much of the staff is sitting.] * Ben follows. 'Dustin spoke highly of you, by the way. And of Ms. Theobold.' * Rica smiles slightly. "Well, Lynn takes a lot of care with all of her students, so long as they're willing to learn. As for me..." She chuckles. * Rica makes the turn back down the main entrance hall. 'You're not so generous?' Well, I try to be, but unlike Lynn, most of the students want to learn what I teach. There's a lot of students that could use some extra assistance and are willing to seek it. 'Lynn's class isn't that popular?' * Rica shakes her head. "She's a good teacher, but it's hard to compete with magic when you're just doing normal subjects." 'She does all the normal subjects? Math, writing, history? All of them?' * Rica shakes her head. "We do have some other supporting staff, particularly for advanced studies, like in computers, regular computers that is, not cybermancy. But yeah, Lynn's here to make sure they have all their bases covered. She also picks assistants when she needs them." 'Still, she must be one very smart woman.' Ben sounds impressed. * Rica nods. "She is. She didn't get those awards by sleeping with the principal." * Ben gives a shudder, apparently at the thought of sleeping with Alvar. 'Awards?' * Rica snickers for a moment before continuing. "She was quite the decorated teacher before we stole her away. We wanted the best." 'She sounds like quite an interesting person. Is her classroom anywhere near here?' * Rica sighs, possibly out of hunger. "She's eating dinner, but I could give you a quick look around if you liked, but then I really must be going." * Rica heads back to the stairs. 'I'm sorry. I'm keeping you from your dinner.' Well, you have noble intentions, just keep your pace quick. * Rica does set a pretty hearty pace as she leads Ben up a few flights and over to the classrooms labeled Mundane Studies. 'At least I'm not sending flying gas grenades at you,' Ben says with a laugh, but his humour sounds strained, as if he'd reconsidered the wisdom of the joke in the middle of saying it. * Rica snorts. "I do appreciate that." (Then Ben takes out a grenade... :P ) * Rica opens the first door. "We use this one for mathematics and sciences and the like." There's lab equipment set up in the back as well as a few fishtanks and terrariums; most notably there's one frog with completely transparent skin. * Ben glances around. [The other adornments of the room are quite that of the traditional classroom, if slightly overstuffed as there's a good number of subjects being covered.] [There's sets of textbooks in the shelves along the window side, good range of ability levels, all top of the line.] [The equipment also is about as good as it gets for this level of teaching.] 'How does Ms. Theobold have time to teach so many classes at all those different levels? Does she have magical abilities to help her?' [There's an odd looking brazier on the teacher's desk, but otherwise it looks quite ordinary.] [Otherwise there's nothing supernatural looking in the room.] * Rica shakes her head. "Not a whit of conventional magic. Just a lot of natural ability and a big budget. She uses magical enhancements sometimes when it helps, but she always just thinks of it as one more form of technology to help her." From her tone you'd guess Rica doesn't entirely approve of that philosophy, but isn't strongly opposed. * Rica then leads Ben into the liberal arts rooms, which covers writing, history, arts, and the like. There's a good number of maps around the room, a few look enchanted. There's art supplies in the back and a selection of classic and current literature along the wall. * Ben glances at the literature section. [It's slightly heavy on fantasy, Latin American magical realism, T.H. White and the like, including the Harry Potter series. But otherwise an ordinary sampling.] [From the blackboard, you'd guess that the last subject discussed was the Tempest, with the assignment being to write a literary criticism piece from a mystically aware perspective.] (I wrote an essay once on the use of the supernatural in the Tempest, as compared to Hamlet.) [There's a lesson plan on the desk.] * Ben walks over and glances at the lesson plan. [The lesson plan is high quality. She's adapted current teaching theory to suit an audience that can best be reached when magic plays some part of the lesson. She definitely knows her stuff and works hard at it. There's also a fair number of snarky notes to self about things she'd like to cover but doesn't have time to.] (Ah, snark.) 'Okay, I think we're done here. Thanks.' * Rica nods and sets a fast pace out once again. * Ben follows. * Ben glances around the halls as they go. * Rica gets to the stairs pretty quickly and hurries down them, making the occasional jump. However she does wait at each landing to allow Ben a safe pace. [The halls in question do have the occasional picture watching you.] * Ben never attempts to make a jump. [They're mostly of famous historians, mathematicians, writers, and the like.] (Not wizards?) [On that particular hall, no, not wizards. Otherwise, lots of wizards.] * Rica then leads Ben once again down the main entrance hall. It has banners and sconces along the side walls, making for a nice dramatic entrance or departure. 'Thank you for all your help, Rica. Do have someone let me know what becomes of Emily. I'm curious what all that was about. Certainly something to tell all my friends about, that was. I'm not as used to adventure as you.' Ben grins. (Oh, Ben, you liar. You've killed more ogres in the last year alone than Rica's ever dealt with. :P) * Rica grins again. "Well, it'd mean you probably have a higher life expectancy. I'll keep you posted." [There's actually a wagon waiting to take you out. Once you get off school grounds it'll turn out to be an enchanted taxi, but what're you going to do.] * Ben exits the school, taking one last look around, and gets in the taxi. [The school grounds are quiet, too quiet. Well, not really, they're about as quiet as you'd expect, given everybody is at dinner.] [The taxi guy seems quite legit, a bit puzzled by the illusion but you get used to it.] * Ben gets driven to the town without incident, presumably. Once there, he takes out his cell phone and calls Ari. * Ben doesn't call Ari until he's out of the cab. [The town itself seems legit, as does the train home. But perhaps Ben never really left the school! Naw, that seems highly unlikely.] (Ben never really left SAB headquarter! Ben never really left Indonesia! Tim shot him in the jail there in revenge for the werewolf woman, and everything since has been a dying fever dream.) (Paranoid much? ;p) (Hey, just because Ben routinely calls out 'Arch!' and tries to picture Exits...) (Sadly, that went right over my head.) (So meanwhile in Indonesia, err, I mean Prep Academy, err, I mean the town..) (Holodeck.) (Well, Arch for Holodecks and Exits for BTL in Red Dwarf.) (Damn, I really, *really* should've known the Red Dwarf one. Does this mean I get my Geek License revoked?) (I'm not sure it's in the show, but it's a key point in the first two novels.) (Ah, haven't those eps of Red Dwarf. I need to catch more, wonder if it's on PBS any more. Oh, haven't read the novels, that might be it.) (Do you recognize it now that it's pointed out?) (It's been literally years since I read the novels, so.) * Ben calls Ari! (To talk about sci fi television shows! Wait, no.) (She's probably pretty familiar with them.) (Ring? Ring?) * Ari picks up. There's the faint sound of conversation and clinking silverware in the background. "Ari." 'Ari? It's Ben. I'll fill you in on what I've been up to in a few minutes, but I wanted to check something beforehand. You learned anything more about why that computer was stolen?' Nothing yet, although they have a truly amazing network here. 'Yeah, I saw that. Okay, well, you said it was a closed system, right? No network or modem?' Yes, it was completely closed. No network, no modem, no wireless card. 'It has occurred to me that the only way to gain access to data stored on such a computer is to acquire physical possession of the computer itself.' 'So the question is, what was stored on that computer? Did you check?' It belonged to the company as a sort of display piece. To the best of my knowledge, they never made much of an effort to find out what was stored on it. They were interested in it mostly because of who it belonged to. 'Thanks. That's all I was after. I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing.' Good luck with your part. * Ari hangs up. * Ben takes a second, appears to be steeling himself for something unpleasant, and calls Mai at S.A.B. headquarters. * Mai answers after a few rings. "Hello?" 'Mai? This is Ben Carmichael. I need you to get in touch with Yvonne for me.' Ben pauses, as if not quite believing he's saying this. 'When she talks to the people who had the computer stolen, make sure she asks around to see if anyone had every tried to use it, to access what was on it. Get whatever information she can about who tried and what they found.' 'Even if they couldn't manage to access anything because of the system's security set-up, that's important.' She actually has turned in her report already. Give me a second to see if she had anything to report on that." * Mai's tone slightly mirrors Ben's a bit earlier. 'So send her back out for a second look if she hasn't got anything on that topic. It's what she's being paid for.' Ah, it appears that they made occasional attempts to use it, but found it to be quite non-functional. They'd considered going through it component by component to see what did work, but given the risk of security measures that'd damage the hardware, they apparently never got around to it in the three years or so they had it. 'Non-functional meaning it wouldn't do anything at all?' * Mai nods. "Nothing, although there were no obvious hardware problems or blown fuses." 'Thanks. Bye.' Welcome. * Ben hangs up. 'I hope the other teams fared better than I did,' Ben mutters, as he heads off to meet with them. 'Still, better than my last birthday.' [End!]