NVAE, GIRLS’ DORMS (Dennis, Otso [via phone]; NPCs: Beatrice)
“Can I come in?”
Beatrice held the door open and stepped aside. “Is zis going to take long?” she asked. “I ‘ave plans to meet my boyfriend for breakfast…”
“Hopefully not,” Dennis said, letting his own voice slither out, rather than Robyn’s. Still, he maintained the visual illusion. Still guised as Robyn, he took the door and closed it behind him. Once it was shut, he leaned back against the door.
“Move Dennis,” Beatrice said firmly.
“Dennis?” she heard Otso ask as he raced from his room. “What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing!?! Did Robyn put you up to this?”
“Otso’s on that phone call, isn’t he? That’s fine. Better to have him listen in and avoid any misunderstandings.”
Beatrice took the phone and put it on speaker. “Get ze ‘eadmaster, love. Tell ‘im Dennis is ‘olding me in my room.”
“Dennis? What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing!?!” roared Otso across the phone’s speakers. “Did Robyn put you up to this?”
“I was hoping you would just listen in, Otso… and no.” The Esper gave Beatrice a level look. “Who taught you magic, Beatrice? And don’t say ‘no one’. We both know it doesn’t work that way.”
“Jason Lamperouge,” Beatrice said simply. “Now leave.”
Dennis dropped the disguise and then put up another sphere of illusion to prevent their conversation from being heard from outside. “There probably is no good way to say this:
Martin and I believe that Beatrice learned her magic from someone—be it the Faustians or a third party—that were involved in the recent removal of a number of seals the Aurelius had placed to protect the school. And that she herself possibly may have been involved as well.”
“I asked you to leave,” Beatrice said as her beau argued, “So what? Whether any of what you just said is true or not, nothing changes for me. I’ll still stand by her side no matter what, and if she’s broken something, I’ll help her fix it.”
“I’ve broken nothing,” Beatrice growled, “but I’m about to. Leave, Dennis. Now. Final warning.”
Vestige will try and see through the illusion:
Vestige - Will:
1d20+10 24 That’ll do it.
NVAE, FRONT QUAD (Lex; NPCs: Kirstie, Steven)
Kirstie looked helplessly to Lex. “What the bloody hell is going on?” she asked.
Steven grabbed her hand. “I love you, Kirstie. I always have. If it took losing everything to find you, it will have been worth it.”
Lex looked at his little brother incredulously. “Uh, I think he’s lost his ever-loving mind? Uh, Steven, don’t you already got a girlfriend in England? And, ya know, hate Neos?”
“I hate you,” Steven said matter-of-factly, “but how could I hate my Kirstie?”
Kirstie looked from Lex to Steven, then back to Lex and back to Steven. “I don’t know what your game is, but if you’re messing with me, I will pummel you worse than your brother will.”
Steven grinned at her. “Fine, but we should probably come up with a safe word first.”
NVAE, MAIN OFFICE (Violet; NPCs: Lillian Murphy, Newton)
Violet lost control and snickered loudly, but not before she got a good picture of the proceedings. “Do you, uh… heh, need a hand, Mister Newton? Er, I mean, another hand?”
Newton flashed Violet a glare and made his way to the door. “I fear something has come over Missus Murphy.”
“Violet, dear, I’m afraid the headmaster is occupied.” The secretary flashed her a devious grin. “Be a dear and close the door?”
Violet detected someone behind her and turned to find Doctor Yavorshak standing there with someone she had never seen before. “Good morning, Violet,” the school’s counselor said hastily. “Headmaster, this is Dwight Kowalski—Otso’s uncle?”
Dwight offered the man his hand. “Hello, Mister Newton.” He smiled pleasantly at the man. “My grandson is absolutely flabbergasted that I was going to be meeting you. I tried to tell him that you couldn’t be
the Isaac Newton, but I’m not sure how convinced he is.”
As the man laughed nervously, the headmaster gave a yelp. His administrative assistant had snuck up on him and planted a hand on his rear. “I’m afraid the headmaster was getting debriefed,” the woman said, reaching around him for the door. “If you’ll excuse us?”
The headmaster darted out into the hall, shutting the door behind him. With Missus Murphy locked in, he rounded on Doctor Yavorshak. “Stephanie,” he said, his voice dripping with urgency, “be a dear and fetch… anyone. Missus Murphy has taken leave of her senses and I dread some sort of psychic tampering.”
As she ran off, the smile left Dwight’s face. “Psychic tamptering?” he asked. “Sir, this is precisely what I was telling you: I don’t feel that this… ‘school’ is safest environment for my nephew.”
NVAE, BOYS’ DORM (Jack; NPCs: J.R.)
“You wanna be pissed at me because your ‘mom and dad’ ain’t together here, because she’s dating me? Fine, that ain’t how it went down! Though you oughta try talking to us—all of us—to find out why. Keep up what you’re doing and I’ll give you a reason to be pissed at me!”
“Dumbass,” snapped J.R., “I ain’t pissed because you’re with my mom! I’m pissed because I’m not going to be born! I’m pissed because I’m never going to get to know them! My folks died when I was little! I never got a chance to know them—just what
you told me about them! Even if I talk to them now, they’re not going to be the same people! They’re not going to be my parents!
“Hell, look at that little girl—your daughter? Her mom wants nothing to do with her. She keeps insisting that she’s not her mom, right? She’s someone completely different from the woman who gives birth to her? Well, what’s to stop them from saying the same thing? From deciding they’re not
really my parents? I came here with a group, Jack. Tara and Bart went to the States to look for Tara’s parents. I have no idea where they are or how to contact them. For all we know, they’re dead—kids Tina and Bianca and I grew up with and they’re just out there somewhere. I came here—we came here—because my parents were here and if you’re with my mom and she’s a different person, then what the hell was this all for? What if I just ruined my friends’ lives over this? Chasing two people who will never be? Who will never have any emotional connection to me? Who will never be able to tell me about how dad proposed, or what their wedding was like, or how they reacted when they found out they were having me, or what they were going to name me if I had been a girl, or…? My entire identity is gone, Jack! I tried—I really tried to be happy that someone I look up to was making my mom happy—but I just… I can’t get past feeling sorry for myself, and I hate that. I do. I know I’m being selfish, but… I grew up in a nightmare, just like you did. I thought this was going to be the light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s not. It’s just a big freaking joke.”
NVAE, CAFETERIA (Tamati; NPCs: Robyn, Shelby)
“What the… how did you do that? That’s ba—I mean… can you reverse it?”
Robyn shrugged. “Probably.” She looked back to Shelby. “So, want me to meddle?”
I’ll pause to give you a chance to respond, Gilliam.
NVAE, GIRLS’ DORM (Martin; NPCs: Tatjana)
Martin’s second phone buzzed with a call from an unknown number. The only time the phone Dewhurst had given him ever rang was when Dewhurst was calling.
Love Potion Victims
- Roger Murphy > Stephanie Yavorshak
- Lilian Murphy > Isaac Newton
- Steven Murphy > Kirstie Arnett
- Royce Brown > Patrick Brown