If I'd known what the assembly would be like, I probably would have just gone to the principal's office. There had to be over 300 students packed into this single room, all pushing against each other to find a seat on the long row of benches; 90% of the benches had plenty of space behind them where anyone could get into your blind spot and the noise from all the other students would completely mask their presence. I couldn't believe that these people could just comfortably walk through such a dangerous room without any anxiety; I was completely terrified. "I was pretty scared my first time, too." My companion walked in next to me, both of us staying near the wall and trying to keep an eye on everyone that walked within a meter of us. After a minute, that number ranged in a dozens, "All the noise hurts my ears..." "Everyone is so crowded together, and paying no attention to their surroundings. What happens if there is an attack?" Vi appeared to think for a second, "Well, I guess most of them would die. We wouldn't, though." As she said that, I noticed her hand drifting toward mine in an odd reaching gesture "What is that?" I say urgently, mentally running through the possible ways to neutralize her if it turned out she was an assassin after all *if (vi_myrtal_rom =20) "Uh, well," she looked down, "I figured...since we were friends, I might hold your hand..." "Is that something friends typically do?" "I...think so." Odd tradition, but if that's what American friends did I suppose there wasn't anything for it, "Very well," I say, swiftly taking hold of her hand "Ow...you're very strong," she winced. "Sorry." *if (vi_myrtal_rom =10) "It's nothing, sorry..." she said, shoving her hands into her pockets "Your face has turned red. Are you ill?" "No!" She shook her head violently, "I just...I don't...do you want to sit down?" *choice #My chances of survival are higher on my own "I think it would be better if I went on my own from here," I say while scanning for the best place to sit that would offer me easy exit in case of emergency and excellent view of the entire area, as well as my back directly to a wall to avoid ambushes. So far such areas have been almost impossible to find, but that place by the window seems promising... "Oh..." Vi looks incredibly sad for some reason, "Well...ok, I'll see you around..." I'm pretty sure she said something after that but by then I was already on my way to my chosen spot *goto_scene 1-4aloneassembly-1 #Even if we're not friends, Vi is the native here. I should follow her lead *set vi_myrtal_rom +10 "Very well. Please take me to your chosen spot." She smiles widely and excitedly leads me to a spot in the corner, near a window; there is a bleacher near us which makes us invisible to about half the room while allowing us full visibility. The perfect spot. *goto 1-4viassembly-2 *page_break Next She pulls me lightly by the arm, pointing to a spot in the corner. It's near a window, which could easily serve as an escape exit if I were to break the glass, as well as to the side of a bleacher that keeps us invisible to half the room while allowing us full visibility of everyone. She chose her spot well. Going hand-in-hand, as according to the terms of an American friendship, we quickly settle into the new area and I take stock of all potential entry points an attacker may use and counters to them while Vi stares at my face. *label 1-4viassembly-2 "What will happen next?" I ask the native. "Huh? What do you mean?" "After everyone has gathered, what will happen?" "Oh," she said, lifting her finger to her mouth in what I had come to label the 'thinking position,' since she made it almost every time I asked her a question, "Well, usually Principal Gardner, the school principal, comes out and gives a really boring speech, then we separate into lines and get our school schedules and go to class." *page_break Next "That seems non-optimal. Surely we all were briefed before coming here, they could have given us our schedules then as well as skipped this speech." "I guess it's for people who forgot." "People who forget their objectives while in the field are left behind so that they don't drag down the team, or they are simply shot." "Yeah...I don't think they'll do that here. Nobody has guns." "Are you certain?" That would be vital information to have since my own was taken away "Umm...I think so? It's against the rules, but I guess we don't have any metal detectors..." "You are not certain then." "I guess not." *page_break Next "Highly interesting." This information had disturbing implications. If even the native to this area was not certain who was and was not armed, what hope did I have of properly evaluating the threat levels of all students present? I didn't have time to explore that train of thought, however, since at that moment the room hushed as a man came in from the entrance and stood on a small podium in the center of the room "That's Principal Gardner. He runs the school," said Vi "He is the commanding officer of this installation then. Is he effective?" "Not really; he doesn't do all that much, but I guess he's really good at talking to his bosses since the school gets more funding than a lot of the others in the district." I wonder to myself if it's really as Vi says and what it would imply if she was wrong; this overseer was either more capable in backroom politics than he was at managerial duties, or he was receiving income from other sources. Couldn't be illegal or he wouldn't be able to pour it into the school, so if the money is coming from another source it would have to be from the CIA as compensation to the school for housing me. The latter seems the more likely of the two, but the possibility of the former being true is reason enough for me to be cautious about this man. *page_break Next Principal Gardner began speaking into the microphone, his voice projecting across the entire room through a series of speakers in each corner. If I was not looking at him I would not guess he was the one who was speaking, based on the multiple locations from which the sound was projecting; it appeared the speakers deployed a classic misdirection tactic, creating sound from all sides to mask where the sound originated from. It would be excellent for setting an ambush were I not looking right at the person speaking. Principal Gardner began welcoming us all to the school and explaining what function the institution served, which I felt was somewhat redundant; surely everyone here already knew what type of training facility this was meant to serve as, repeating it was just wasting valuable training time. His speech continued on as such, and even this being the first time hearing the speech I could tell by the reactions of the older students that this was a speech they had heard many times in the past. At some point, Vi rested her head on my shoulder, "What are you doing?" "I like to sleep during this part," she said drowsily "That was a lie." She sat upright the second I called her out, "How do you know?" *if (vi_friend=true) "Your heartbeat fluttered while you were speaking," I say while gesturing with my eyes toward our linked hands. That is one benefit to holding the hand of another person that I did not expect; perhaps I should try holding people's hands more often. *if (vi_friend =false) "You have given me no reason to believe you were telling the truth; based on experience, that means the odds of you lying were exceptionally high. I appreciate you confirming my suspicions." When given a choice between an uncomfortable truth and an apparently harmless lie, humans will almost always choose the lie. It is easier to come up with a somewhat plausible excuse than to explain your entire way of thinking when questioned on your actions. Thus nine times out of ten when you tell someone they are lying to you, you will be correct. "Now tell me, why did you really lean on me?" "I..." she bit her lip harshly, "Can I tell you later?" *fake_choice #No "No. You will talk now or I will find a way to make you talk." "Here?" "No, somewhere else. Somewhere you think you are safe. When you're sitting in the dark, secure in whatever haven you call home; when you believe the walls of your sanctuary surrounding you can protect you from the monsters outside, that's when I will find you. And I will learn from you what I want to know." She shrunk further into herself with every word, and I knew now was the time to offer a lifeline, "Or you could tell me now." "Ok..." Vi whimpered "I'm waiting." "It wasn't anything bad, I promise..." she said, *if (vi_friend =true) "I just wanted to...because we're friends." "Is that also something friends do?" "Some do..." "If it is optional, we should avoid doing so. I may accidentally kill you." "Ok, I won't do it again..." *if (vi_friend =false) "I just...wanted to put my head on your shoulder. Because I want to be friends..." "Despite my protest?" This girl was even pushier than the drill sergeants "Yes...I'm sorry. I won't do it again..." #I already know *set vikindness +1 Her eyes widened once more, "You do?" "Yes. In truth, I applaud your strategy and am ashamed I did not think of using it myself." "Huh?" "At this point you know very little about me, I am an unknown, potential danger. The fact that I interrogated you on a roof probably did not help that fact. To top it off, it was just brought to your attention that you have no idea who in this room is armed and who is not, and out of everyone here I am the most immediate threat to your safety, thus it only makes sense that you would want to know as soon as possible whether or not I was armed. *if (male =true) You had hoped to use your femininity as a means to mask your intentions, impressive tactics though you failed to take into account me being immune to such attempts at seduction. *if ((vi_friend =true) and (female =true)) You had hoped to use our friendship as a means to mask your intentions, impressive tactics though you failed to take into account me retaining a constant focus on all things in my immediate surroundings, especially those who call themselves my friends. Your plan was fairly well executed, and were I not trained to detect such things you likely would have been completely successful and undetected. I apologize for not realizing sooner how well-versed you were in espionage." "Uhm...thanks, I guess." "Now that you have learned that I am not armed, what do you plan on doing with that information?" "Well...not much of anything, actually. Thanks for letting me know, though; it's like we have a secret now!" *page_break Next I was about to respond when an announcement from Principal Gardner cut our conversation short, "The administration would like to thank you one last time for your continued support of our education system. Now, that concludes the orientation speech; if everyone could please, in an orderly manner, find your individual schedules and go to your first hour in a timely manner. Thank you." After the final word was spoken, he and his staff made a prompt retreat off the stage, hoping to avoid the large mass of students that followed. "It looks like it's time for us to go to class," my stalker said, "I guess it's unlikely that we'll get the same one." "That's a shame," I lie, hoping to get along with my day as soon as possible "I know, but we can always just meet up after school! No worries!" "Excellent..." While following the adults' example and making my retreat in an inconspicuous fashion, I hear the shout "I hope we meet again sometime!" Somehow, I don't think I have much choice in the matter *page_break First hour... *goto_scene 1-4first-1 1st hour: Family and Consumer Science 2nd hour: Personal Finance 3rd hour: Algebra 4th hour: Art 5th hour: Language Arts Lunch 6th hour: Psychology/Sociology 7th hour: History I look at the paper carefully, memorizing its contents; supposedly, this would be my schedule for the rest of the year. It didn't seem all that different from the duty roster they would place in the mess hall. After stuffing the paper into my pocket, I take a look at the door in front of me and cautiously step inside.