Notification

[utopiamods]

On the second evening of Round -2, the following notice is broadcast on the Utopia online network, and also displayed on the video screens in the lobby with an accompanying voiceover.

"Please be aware that the following facilities are off-limits to Weapons without the permission of their owners, or unless required for classroom use: The library, computer labs, swimming pool, gymnasium, and boathouse. Repeat: Be aware that the following facilities are off-limits to Weapons without the permission of their owners, or unless required for classroom use: The library, computer labs, swimming pool, gymnasium, and boathouse. A written permission slip is acceptable.

"Tonight's after-dinner dessert will be chocolate fudge cake. Please note that Weapons may only have dessert with the permission of their owners."

Comments

[leftthesafetyon]

Meryl wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that she was sent here with nothing more then a backpack and had to swear loyalty to someone, or the fact that she cared more about the gym then the cake.

"And just what if we don't have owners?" She muttered this mainly to herself in disgust.

[greennotgold]

Fletcher just happened to be passing by at the moment; he'd finished reading his Exaclan manual, so he knew the answer. "Um, that makes you a 'Discard'," he explained uneasily. He hoped it didn't make her too upset. "According to the instruction book, um, Discards have less rights than regular Weapons."

[leftthesafetyon]

Meryl didn't read the manual yet, but she remembers the tutorial vividly. She assumed that that was all there was to the system, and that the rest was all just fine print and legal mumbo-jumbo. Maybe she wasn't really right this time...

"So I can't do anything because I wasn't assigned a commander yet. Just great." Clearly, her memories of the tutorial weren't as vivid as she thought, if she doesn't remember that she needs to take an oath.

[greennotgold]

"Well-- you can find one, I think, but they have to ask you," he said. "There's a list on those, um, machines somewhere of who all the Players are right now. Um, Molly Hayes is one, and Dave Strider... and a couple other people." He hadn't met any of the others yet, though.

[leftthesafetyon]

You get to choose? The "no rights" thing kinda sucked, but rights weren't exactly a given in the military, either. The fact that she can choose who uses her, if only at first, is something of a blessing. Plus, she at least remembers that she'll go to the better commander if they end up sucking.

"Right- so I have to go look for those people and ask to be a weapon." She nodded, understanding what she needed to do. Besides, if all goes well and she gets to see some action, even as a weapon, then working out can wait.

[greennotgold]

"R-right. Um, sorry," he says, not quite sure why he's apologizing other than it's the thing he does when things are going badly.

[leftthesafetyon]

And things aren't going badly, at least not in Meryl's mind. She knew why she didn't have an owner now, and how easy it was to fix. In fact, she even smiled and nodded.

"Thanks! By the way, I'm Meryl." She was more interested in getting this kid's name then being social, but if weapons and players change as turbulently as described in the dream, then it was a very good thing to start making connections, especially when the people seem nice. Time wasn't really of the essence here, so she could afford to get to know people.

[greennotgold]

"You're welcome! Um, I'm Fletcher Tringham. It's nice to meet you, Miss Meryl." He nodded and smiled back. Well, she seemed nice enough. That was a plus to this situation: Everyone was getting along. "Ah, welcome to the school..."

[leftthesafetyon]

"Oh right, this is a school..." She kept her friendly demeanor, but seemed to drift off into thought. She would probably have to take classes or something, wouldn't she? Well, she already graduated high school, so the material can't be that hard, right? She snapped back to reality, and smiled again.

[greennotgold]

He nodded. "I've never been to a formal school before, so it's new for me..."

[leftthesafetyon]

"Don't worry, school's are pretty easy to adjust to." Unless you already graduated. Or you woke up here alone. Still, she used to move around a lot, so she at least knows what she's saying is usually true.

[greennotgold]

"I hope so. I wonder what kinds of things they're going to teach..." Maybe he'd learn some of the transmutation circles he'd forgotten. Then again, he might forget them again even if he did... "Um, so you've been to school before?"

[leftthesafetyon]

"Sometimes you read books, sometimes you learn languages, and sometimes you have to memorize what the value of x-1a is." The last one was said in a bit of a joking manner. If this wasn't a normal school, then maybe she could avoid taking math again. Otherwise, she'll probably have a lot of time to read the manual while she's already bored out of her mind.

"I actually finished, but I still got sent here for some reason..." What did she agree to, anyway? She'd have to try and figure out just why she got sent here.

[greennotgold]

"I think they care more about making us fight than making us go to class," he guessed. That was the only thing that made sense in Meryl's case, anyway. If it was just a bunch of people like him and Russel, who didn't go to school, it would make sense for them to be abducting them for school-related reasons.

[leftthesafetyon]

"So it's a school in a training program." This seemed to make the most sense; they needed fighters first and foremost, but if some people haven't been to a formal school, then literacy would be a problem. But why?

"Well, we won't know anything guessing like this. Just keep your eyes open, okay?" She'd play along for now, if only because she needs the combat experience.

[greennotgold]

He nodded. "Okay. I-I'll try to help figure out what's going on." The more brains working on the problem, the better.

[leftthesafetyon]

She nodded before starting to walk off. She wasn't exactly what you'd call a brain, but she was pretty good at drawing conclusions, at least.