On the platform: Meet the new characters!

[utopiamods]

As you all crowd onto the platform and peer through the thick fog that chills the air, you are met by four girls and five boys. One of the girls is a somewhat humanoid grey-skinned, finned alien, but the rest all seem human. All nine are in uniforms that would match if not for the colour differences - skirts and trousers, waistcoats, and light summer shirts that seem totally inappropriate for the dense fog. They're all sodden and cold, and most are irritable. Each has a beret with a crest pinned to the front - three depicting a shield on green, the other six a sword on red.

At the first lull in the chatter, one sickly-pale, shield-crested girl speaks up, cutting through your conversations with her cold, soft voice.

"Attention, please."

She explains that the nine of them are the current prefects of Rakuen, representing the two schools on the island. Nanami, she points to herself, Yuri and Lelouch of Fortitude; and Santana, Flynn, Feferi, Gino, Nephenee and Kevin of Conquest. She doesn't care to explain why the prefects in red and white outnumber those in green and black two to one.

Santana interrupts, "Yeah, yeah. Look, come over when your name is called so we can all get inside." They all move to stand in two groups some distance away from each other, and the two that spoke read off names from their clipboards.

Comments

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[The empty stare didn't bother him too much anyway. He tended to make little eye-contact as it were.] W-well, I guess that's g-good. I've g-got enough scars. [He laughed a bit, nerves still evident in his laugh.] A-asking me ta n-not be using i-is like asking m-me stop b-breathing.

[overthroen]

It's curable, I think. It'll have to be, anyway, since you're required to fight here. [ She frowned. ] Where did you get scars from?

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[Alex is quiet for a moment before saying,] My father.

[He changes the subject fairly quickly,] I'm sure we'll both manage with the fighting somehow....

[overthroen]

[ She says nothing about the first one - he'll reveal more if he ever feels ready - but gives him a smile. ] I expect a formidable challenge. It's a thrilling thought, really.

Are you living in Fortitude or Conquest? I can take you there if you want.

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[Alex smiles back, forgetting that she can't see, but his voice carries the smile as well.] Fortitude. I'd a-appreciate it.

[overthroen]

I can't accompany you beyond its gates, but I can show you where they are. [ She offers the elbow that isn't occupied with a cane. ]

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

[Alex stares at the offered elbow for a second, but then decides to take it.] Th-thanks!

[overthroen]

[ She knows the paths a little better now, and when she doesn't, the GPS in her PDA sends her a little beeping tone and she veers in the right direction. She spends much of the walk in silence, pointing out a couple key locations and shops. ]

What is the world like, that you're from? [ Gonna just. Ignore the dangling clause there. ]

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

Hm... [He thinks for a moment.] W-well, we have cars, an' c-computers, and things l-like that... It's 21st century earth, n-not that I think that p-probably helps much. Stock market crashed a few years back, job market crashed more. C-computers do a lot of w-work fer people, but n-not all... An' of course there's that issue with the C.R.P. and shadow eaters l-like me.

[overthroen]

[ It all sounds familiar until - ] Sorry, what's the C.R.P.? You lost me there. And I don't know what a "shadow-eater" is, either.

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

They're this p-program that says they're h-helping kids for... I think it's s-some sorta mental disorder, b-but really they d-did something to us, an' it made use s-start to see negative e-emotions as shadowy f-forms. We haveta e-eat those to survive.

N-not here though. I'm a n-normal human here, b-but it feels off, almost l-like I'm blind, [He stiffened and looked at her with a bit of horror, realizing the faux pas.] -- n-no offense.

I-I just, it's hard t-ta figure e-emotions w-without seeing them. I n-never went without, s-since I w-was brought in b-before I c-could remember.

[overthroen]

I sympathize. Sensory deprivation is no small obstacle to overcome. Maybe it's just a memory you've lost, and it'll return to you somehow. Though personifying the worst of your mind doesn't seem like a pleasant experience.

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

If it was j-just a memory, I'd starve, s-since I need ta eat those shadows normally to live, b-but it's not a typical ability t-to have in m-my world, so I think I l-lost it, but I'm not c-complaining.

[overthroen]

I wouldn't, either. Ingesting insubstantial negativity doesn't sound like much fun.

[ They have reached the gates of Fortitude. She gestures towards them. ] I can't accompany you beyond here, but this is where you'll be staying for the duration.

[afraid_of_my_shadow]

Y-yeah, they're not f-fun at all. You l-learn ta deal though.[He wrinkles his nose a bit, but smiles as she indicates his dorm complex.] Th-thanks a lot!