Introduction!

[utopiamods]

The tram quickly arrives at the academy station, and the students onboard are ushered off and directed to the front lobby of the school. They can't miss it; there are signs up pointing toward the main entrance, reading "New student orientation" in big, bright letters. If anyone should care to move off the path, try exploring somewhere else, a teacher will conveniently appear to shoo them back toward the lobby, assuring them that "all your questions will be answered inside".

The lobby is big and spacious, looking more like a university or perhaps a fancy international hotel than a high school. There's a woman sitting at a desk ready to check everyone in, but she's not important right now; what the students should pay attention to is the large flat-screen TV set into one of the walls. As soon as everyone has gathered inside, it clicks on and starts to play a prerecorded video. A cheerful woman appears on-screen; when she speaks, she's so chipper you might just feel your teeth starting to rot.

"Good afternoon to our new students here at Utopia Academy! Thank you for choosing to enroll with us for this, our first semester of the new year. Our battle system is the best in the world, set up for you, our students! I hope that you all had a fun journey here, and that you've all made some new friends! You're going to need them soon, so keep them close, okay?

"Now, I'm going to explain the rules for you. Make sure to listen carefully, and remember, you can find all of this and more in the Exaclan manual!"

A map of the academy appears on-screen. The woman stands green-screened in front of the map.

"Our academy is fully integrated with a virtual network that includes several layers of tactile, empathic holographics geared toward the battle game Exaclan. Exaclan is a game fought between groups of Players using their respective Weapons; if a Player wins a battle, he or she takes possession of the opposing Player's Weapon. This way, Players can own many, many Weapons. Collect them all!

"As for the Weapons, you might be wondering where those come from. Well, as it turns out, only a few of you are going to be Players. The rest of you are Weapons! Players, if you equip your custom-fitted Exaclan gloves, you will be able to unsheathe your weapon from the chest of any Weapon you own."

Meanwhile, behind the woman as she speaks, a stylized cartoon sequence plays out in which a man in knight's garb pulls a sword from the chest of a woman in an elaborate princess gown.

"Now, since you're all just starting out here, you don't own any Weapons yet. In order to take possession of a Weapon, you must ask permission, and then promise to own and protect it. This is very important! Be nice to your Weapons, and in return, they will bring you to victory!

"The items you draw out of your Weapons' chests aren't real; they are part of the holographic Exaclan system. Each person's Weapon will be different, and they aren't just guns or knives, either. Their form is partly determined by the Weapon's personality, but it's partly randomized. Maybe you'll get lucky. Maybe not. It eliminates natural advantages!

"Now, like I said, the Weapons aren't real, but the damage you do in battle is real. You will feel every blow you take from an opponent's Weapon, and physical damage done to your Weapon will damage the person you drew it from, too. So be careful, or you could cause serious damage!"

The woman holds up one finger, grinning ear-to-ear;

"If you win a battle, ownership of the Weapon you fought against transfers to you. You also earn one Token, and you earn an additional Token for every five battles you fight, whether or not you win. Tokens can be used to buy Upgrades, Link Charms, Memory Charms, and Legend Fragments, so do your best to earn as many Tokens as you can!

"Oh, right, about the Memory Charms... you're probably wondering why there are some things you can't remember. That's just a little precaution we took to make sure that you would participate in Exaclan. You've each been stripped of ten memories: Some of them are very important, but some of them aren't. You can purchase a Memory Charm for five Tokens, which means to regain all of your memories will cost fifty Tokens. Ah, there's a catch, though: You can't use the Memory Charms you buy. You have to give them to other people. So get along with your fellow students and make as many friends as you can, okay?

"Now, if you have any other questions, make sure to consult your Exaclan manuals. They will tell you more about the rules of Exaclan, what you can and cannot do with your Weapons, and so forth. Following this video, the list of Players for this Round will be displayed. Anyone not on that list is a Weapon for this Round. Sorry!"

The woman holds one hand up in front of her face apologetically, but continues smiling as ever.

"In conclusion, welcome to Utopia Academy. Let's all do our best and achieve utopia together!"

The video clicks off, replaced by a pale blue screen stating the following:

PLAYERS FOR ROUND -2:
Dave Strider
Gino Weinberg
Grenn Atair
Koharu Izaki
Molly Hayes

((OOC: Feel free to post reactions and general mingling in this post. From here on, you're free to make posts, fight battles, attend class, etc.! If you have any questions, get in touch with a mod.

Edit: A mod mistook how much Memory Charms cost. They're five tokens, not ten. Oops! So the post has been edited slightly. That is all!))

Comments

[myownfuture]

"It's one of the most elite boarding schools in the world," Reiko replied to the boy's question.

A boy who disagreed with Exaclan? Maybe it was because the video hadn't mentioned the misogynistic aspect of it. Or maybe... it wasn't like that here? Most of the names on that board were foreign and she couldn't tell whether they were masculine and feminine, and she couldn't make heads or tails of the one in kanji. "It is nonsense, though."

[veepofchess]

"Elite?" Ashford itself was no slouch, though it wasn't as though he'd had any choice in the matter. It was Ashford or nothing. It was the only place Nunnally would have been kept safe.

His face still showed his disapproval, but it was tempered by the fact that he'd seemed to have finally found someone that knew what was going on. "Is it normal for this school to collect its students unwittingly?"

[myownfuture]

"No. That part's new," she said. "As far as I knew, everyone was enrolled there by their parents..."

She really didn't want to ask a boy for help, but he was acting cordial enough... and she had to know. "Er, I'm having a little bit of a problem, I think it's one of the memories they took away from me... what's the fourth name down on the list of Players?"

[veepofchess]

He looked back up at it, wondering what her problem was, but decided to be accommodating enough to comply. "Koharu Izaki," he said, with rather good pronunciation for a foreigner.

[myownfuture]

"Koharu?!" she repeated, incredulous. No way. No way? No way! "You said Koharu Izaki, right?!"

[veepofchess]

"Yes, that is what it says. Is she a friend of yours?" He decided that any information was good information at the moment.

[myownfuture]

"Yes, we're friends." Not really the most accurate word -- they were less than friends, and more than friends. Allies? Compatriots? "But she... there are girl Players...?"

[veepofchess]

"That's unusual?" he asked, with a bit less of a frustrated look on his face. It seemed he'd found a good person to talk with.

[myownfuture]

"...yeah. I wonder why they changed it..."

...and this meant Tougyu wasn't even a Player. She wondered how that would work out.

[veepofchess]

"How does this program work, as you understand it?" He tried to to put on a bit of his casual charm, to try and get her to cooperate.

[myownfuture]

She still wasn't sure she could trust this boy just because he was being so nice, but if she didn't explain it someone else would. She might as well.

Crossing her arms, she explained. "It's pretty much like how the video explained, except the stuff about the Tokens and memory loss is new. The Players own and do battle with Weapons, and if you defeat someone else in Exaclan, you obtain their Weapon. Up until now, it was always the boys playing Exaclan and owning the girls, except for Sora Himoto for some reason."

[veepofchess]

He took in this information, and nodded. "It sounds like a very unique school." This was saying something, coming from a student of Ashford Academy under the reign of President Millay Ashford. "Sora is a girl, then?"

[myownfuture]

"Yeah. She's the only girl to be allowed to own Weapons, so far. I don't know why, though," she added before the boy could ask that question.

"I'm Reiko Date. Second year high school. And you are?"

[veepofchess]

"Lelouch vi Britannia," he replied, unable to keep a note of grandiosity from his tone. He paused a moment, deciding how to best introduce himself. "High school senior," he replied. Well, he had been until recently. "Student Council Vice-President," he also added.

[myownfuture]

...vice president... A flash of someone else came to mind. Tall, dark, and handsome, or at least she assumed so, because in her mind's eye, Reiko couldn't make out Sumita's face.

That was weird. She'd never had trouble with that before...

"Student council, huh?" she repeated, her voice dark. "I wonder if you'll get to meet the student council here."

[veepofchess]

"Oh?" he asked, a bit intrigued. "What's their reputation?" Were they useless against the school's system, or were they key players in it?

[myownfuture]

"They control everything -- well, almost. They aren't as powerful as Iwahijiri, of course, but..." She trailed off, still distracted. Try as she might, she couldn't picture Sumita's face. She couldn't remember the first thing about what he looked like, outside of his general body shape and skin tone. What was this? She drew in a sharp breath without quite realizing it.

[veepofchess]

"Who is Iwahijiri?" he asked. He felt like he was grilling her, but she seemed perfectly willing to give up the information, so he wasn't about to stop now.

[myownfuture]

She might have mistrusted Lelouch's motivations -- no boy she'd ever met was ever just genuinely curious about something -- but no harm was being done by sharing. It might even do some good.

"They're a massive corporation with an obscene amount of power," she replied in disgust. "They're the ones who own Utopia Academy and made it so the girls here were oppressed. Even before they implemented Exaclan, the girls didn't have any rights at all."

[veepofchess]

Lelouch made a noise of disgust. More of the strong stepping on the weak just because they can. It seemed that he still had work to do. "Thank you very much for answering my questions," he finished. "Can I come to you if I have any more?"

[myownfuture]

"You're welcome," she replied, staying cordial the whole way through. "Yes, sure. There are a few other people here from Utopia Academy, too."

[allurprincess]

Speaking of which, there was a uniformed redhead headed straight for them. Upon reaching the two, she unleashed a bright, if slightly breathless, smile at them both, then turned to Reiko.

"Did you know everyone has trousers?" She said, by way of a hello, "And skirts! Isn't that great? What are you going to wear? I think I'll stick with shorts for now..."

[myownfuture]

Reiko turned to Sora in surprise at her sudden approach. "Er-- we do? I..."

She sighed. That hadn't been a proper greeting at all. It wasn't "Hi, Reiko!" or "Did you see Koharu is a Player?" "Did you forget my name again already...?"

[allurprincess]

"Y-yeah..." Sora wilted a little, then straighted and placed her hands on Reiko's shoulders so she'd get the full force of her recovered smile. She was, after all, very proud of her new plan, "So I figured I'd leave that kind of thing out until I remember! Is that okay?"

[myownfuture]

That was a plan? "What are you going to do when you talk to me, then? Or if you need to talk to someone about me?" Something else occurred to her. "Did you forget anyone else?"