Shiro Academy

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21

Although the little he know about Pax makes him see them as enemies, Heinrich sympathized with her, since they seemed to have the same trouble regarding Shiro.

“Yes, i think i could say i was assigned here by my government too… But even if i wish to be somewhere else, at least i have to admit i already learned much in the few days i spent here. And i guess the uniforms are optional, since i never wore them and no one complained.”

As she didn´t seemed to be hostile, Heinrich started picking stuff at random in the refrigerator, and putting between two slices of bread until he got something that looked more or less like a sandwich. Then he turned back to her and said:

“Well, i said mine, but you didn´t said me your name yet…”

22

Mathematics Lecture Hall, several hundred yards from Dorm C-10

“And that ladies and gentlemen, is how you derive De Moivre’s theorem, using induction…”
Sha’la looked around the hall. The students looked as bored as ever, although some were obviously enjoying themselves, soaking up Sha’la’s more entertaining way of teaching, compared to the drier nature the course professor may or may not have used.
“OK, for your assignment for the lecture next week, you are to complete questions 1 through 5 in handout 22-B as Professor Thompson has advised. I’ll give you all a hint for the first question. The diagram requires you to try working it out in both Cartesian and Polar coordinates. Keep that in mind. Any more questions?”

Silence from the other students.
“OK then. I’ll see you all next week then.”
Sha’la allowed the students to exit first, then she left, switching off the lights behind her.

Sha’la Hasegawa-Am’ara is one of the people who you could consider to be the “rich bitch” stock character, if this was a TV sitcom. Her mother, being a nekomimi (catgirl) from Infinite Loop provided her looks, albeit unlike the anime stereotype of the cute, submissive half-feline woman, she had, for one thing, drop dead supermodel looks as opposed to most nekomimi who have a more “cutesy” look (Although she prefers to keep the tail and ears tucked away, partly for looks, partly for practicality) and for another thing, had a very domineering, somewhat smug personality. She wasn’t entirely unjustified in having such an attitude. Unlike most people of her ilk, however, Sha’la was more than happy to chip a finger nail and get her hands dirty in rough physical labour. In fact, it was precisely the boredom of a spoilt life that drove Sha’la to follow in her fathers footsteps and signed up for the Dannistrian Army. There, she quickly proven herself as a one (wo)man army, showing surprising amounts of physical strength and mental dexterity. Sadly, her general attitude didn’t improve. Arguably, it got worse with the army training. One of her instructors once commented “She is a brilliant soldier and tactician, but sadly her behaviour is very asinine and could be a liability…”

Nonetheless, Sha’la stayed on in the army, finding the job provided her with the excitement she was looking for. She even made it into the Army’s elite Armored Core mech piloting section, known simply as the “Ravens”. Being a Raven isn’t the easiest job in the Dannistrian Army and can be very dangerous. It has a high attrition rate that makes it an unappealing choice for many, but for those daring enough, the pay is good. Though for Sha’la, she joined the Ravens more for the adrenaline rush than any monetary reward. That and is suspected Sha’la enjoyed stomping on things with large robots. Though her recent role being a Teaching Assistant to the students in the Advanced Mathematics 101 Recitation showed she did have brains behind the beauty. Indeed, she was one of the fastest learning recruits in her class back home at the Army Academy.

Sha’la strode confidently into C-10 Dorm and took the stairs up to the floor where the commons was. Inside she could see a few people in there, including some faces that she hadn’t seen in a while.
“Good day, fellow students,” she announced as she made her way to the sofa, dropping her pile of folders and papers onto the coffee table before slouching into the sofa.

23

“I am Noi. No last name.”

24

Kester waved back at the nekomimi girl. “Good day.” He didn’t feel like introducing himself further. It just didn’t seem…appropriate, somehow. And she seemed like the sort who would take it the wrong way.

“So, um…” He asked Matt, nervously, “Just who else is there from Kandarin at the academy?”

25

“A girl named Anna Khaz,” Matt replied, completely lost as to what was happening around him, and especially confused as to why he’d been led into the hallway. “She’s nine, lives right down the hall from here. We’re best friends…normally, anyways. Honestly, I haven’t seen her in days, thats why I was asking around.”

The young boy shrugged. “I take it you’ve not met her?”

26

“No, I haven’t. I’d, uh…like to.” Kester made a few mental connections the moment the name ‘Khaz’ was invoked. Most of them were unpleasant, but it made him curious. What would he…why would…nevermind, I’ll simply need to find out. “So you think she’s left the Academy?”

27

Terrus raised his hands, palms up, in the universal sign of mystification. “No one has seen her around, which would make you think she isn’t, but I can hear her…pet…clawing around inside the room. And I feel like she wouldn’t just leave him alone.” The young boy froze suddenly as a thought crossed his mind.

“My God. Should I be checking hospitals?” Matt crossed himself at the thought.

28

“I don’t know…say, did you say her name was Khaz?”

“Yes.” Matt replied.

“As in, Vire Khaz? Crazy, evil mass-murdering Eldar warlord who hates humans? She’s related to that Khaz?”

“I’ve, um, never heard that version, but yes…”

“That’s strange. I don’t think you have to worry about her being sick. After all the things they do to themselves…overlords just don’t get sick. But it can’t be good to leave a pet locked up in a room. It can’t hurt to check again.”

29

Terrus raised an eyebrow. “I’d actually never heard anything about that, but, I’ll take your word for it.” In all honestly, he didn’t believe Kess at all, but he also didn’t want to get into an argument over it. “Can’t hurt to knock again, right?”

A few moments later, Matt grimaced, pulling his hand away from the door. “Okay, maybe it can hurt to knock, just a tad.” Especially if you knock repeatedly for several minutes. “You want to give it a shot?”

30

“Sure.” Kess put up his hand to knock, but likewise pulled it back. “Tidama khalla ko mollaia?” he said in a loud voice.

There was a rustling noise from inside the room, followed by a scuttling sound, a pitiful whimper, and light, almost imperceptible footfalls. The voice inside was high-pitched and frantic. “Ko dona maleldria faralha?”

“Khalla tomigo tohamlara.” Kess said, a hint of laughter in his voice. “Morito.”

The door edged open. The room inside was pitch-black; even the windows let in no light. From what little Kester could make out, some sort of tape had been applied over the curtains. The room itself was very messy, with books and clothes strewn everywhere, and papers he couldn’t make out were taped randomly to walls or other surfaces. There was a faint smell of acid in the air, and that of something unpleasant but implacable.

“H-hello?” The girl who answered the door was very small, perhaps four feet tall at most, with very long, dirty-blonde hair tied into a pair of badly frayed braids. She wore an ankle-length black dress intertwined with intricate blood-red sigils, as if trying futilely to offset the room’s messiness with her own personal attempt at military formality. The black leather boots and gloves only complemented the look. Kandarinese naval uniforms were designed to look imposing, but on someone so small it looked…bizarre. Kester stifled a smirk. “Did- did my aunt send you?”

31

“No, I did,” Matt stated quietly, staring past Anna into the room. He glanced at Kess for a moment before looking back to the girl behind the door. “Anna, what happened? Your room is a mess. And where you been? No one has seen you outside of this place in days.”

Terrus took a breath. “And no offense, Anna, but whats that smell?”

32

“No last name? Does that mean you… ah… look you really don´t have to answer this, but… Does that means you don´t have a family?”

Before Noi answered, another cat-like woman announced herself on the adjacent room. While at first Heinrich got a little worried thinking he was about to be overnumbered, he really got worried when he realized who she was, the Advanced Mathematics 101 Teaching Assistant, a class he had just skipped this morning…

33

“I’m sorry, Matt.” Anna’s expression at this point could not be described properly without several colorful analogies to puppy-dog eyes. “I haven’t been feeling so good the last few days. I didn’t want anyone to have the same problem, so I stayed here.”

Noticing that Matt’s glare hadn’t gotten any less accusatory, she continued. “Since I wasn’t well, Mark sort of ran around and made a mess without me keeping an eye on him. He managed to bump himself on the furniture. The smell is blood. Kinda. Whatever they have.”

“Mark?” Kester asked, curious.

As if on cue, a serpentine creature, about one meter long, wrapped itself around Anna’s ankles before scurrying to a wrapped position that left its head resting on her shoulder. Its genus was unplaceable: It was covered in a gleaming black carapace, save for a dull slimy green flesh between plates. It had far too many appendages, each of which ended in some manner of sharpened claw. Its head had compound jaws and tiny, beady black eyes. “Mark Two. I did tell you I named him that, didn’t I?”

34

Sha’la, still sitting in the sofa, looked around. She was slightly miffed that no one seemed to be paying attention to her. In fact, Matt and a new student disappeared off out of the commons. Sha’la then noticed one of the students was looking at her with a worried expression on his face. Sha’la gave a mischevous smile, but decided to do nothing and turn back around to face the TV in the commons.

“Annoyed at the lack of attention?”
Sha’la spun around to see the sight of Nee’la standing behind her.
“Oh…it’s you, Nakamura-sama. What are you doing here and how did you appear behind me?”
Nee’la simply smiled.
“You never paid attention to something unless you showed some interest in it, do you?” Nee’la said as she sat down on a chair beside the sofa.

Nee’la Nakamura-Dam’acie was another Dannistrian/Loopian nekomimi girl who was in the Academy. She looked more like the anime stereotype of a catgirl, albeit with darker tanned skin that came with the Dannistrian climate. Her personality, however and like Sha’la’s, was far from the submissive stereotype, although she was a lot more compassionate than her more assertive compatriot. Nee’la is a calm, softly spoken but very determined nurse in the Dannistrian Army who is known for her expertise. Due to the nature of Dannistrian medical doctrine and training, Nee’la had the sort of training that would in other countries have her qualify as a doctor. This was due to the fact that sometimes casualties could be a long way from a field hospital and hence a proper doctor and needed urgent medical care and often the nurse would be the first medical personnel to reach the scene. Many years of medical experience has shaped Nee’la’s personality to the point where she hardly loses her cool in stressful situations.

Outside of this, Nee’la was the straight man in the Nee’la-Sha’la pair. A long time friend of Sha’la, stretching back far to their school days, Nee’la is also the long suffering victim of Sha’la’s antics and often has to deal with the consequences of Sha’la’s drinking habbit. Nee’la herself used to be quite a party girl but eventually mellowed out during and after her medical training, a fact much lamented on by Sha’la. The result is somewhat similar to a comedy double act, with Sha’la’s prima donna attitude versus Nee’la’s more down to earth nature.

As Nee’la sat down, Sha’la frowned at her friends comment.
“Hmpf! Just because you aren’t a TA,” Sha’la pouted, hand on hips in mock annoyance.
“Well, I’ll concede that. And I will admit you do seem to know what you are doing, despite the personality.” Nee’la said as stared out the window. Sha’la simply smirked.

35

OOC: Sorry I haven’t been around. Tossing my same character in.

Selina was in her room unpacking her things. She was glad to leave her country for once. With all the propaganda, sometimes it was hard to have a normal day, especially if you’re the daughter of the President. Yes, Selina Joseph was her nam, her father being Alexander Joseph. She wasn’t ashamed of it, nor was she proud of it. Due to her position, she had to maintain a proper aura all the time. This time she was thankful of her father, because he forbad the media to report on her sojourn to Shiro Academy. The one time he listened proved that he still cares.

On the wall, she mounted a picture of her family, not one cooked up by the Ministry of Information, but a private family picture. She also set up her computer. Although to many, she seemed like a timid person, on the inside she was an avid gamer, but she rarely showed it. After she unpacked, she explored the hallways of the dorm. She heard that there was a bath, making a mental note to visit it later. What she was looking for was the public area and the kitchen, for she wanted to put her favorite drink in the fridge (she made sure to label it). She consulted the map and saw that it was down the hall from where she was. She walked down the hall, but when she approached the communial area, she saw a group of people conversing and enjoying themselves. Being the timid person she was, she walked into the communial room and sneaked past the group of people and sucessfully put her drinks in the fridge. She was making the best effort not to be seen, so hopefully no one saw her…

36

“Uh, yeah, right.” Matt replied, suppressing an involuntary shudder, and doing his best to cover up any fear with a false smile of friendliness. Despite regular encounters with the creature, Terrus still found it extremely frightening, something he was trying to hide from Anna.

Looking for anything to change the subject so he could succeed in that effort, Matt suddenly motioned to Kester. “Oh, sorry, Anna,” he said. “This is Kess Ekirin. He’s from Kandarin as well.”

37

-Meanwhile to stall the whole process of the story and to generally annoy you-

Stark Lászlo was the son of the recently promoted Field Marshal Stark Frigyes, the Commander in Chief of the Lazlowian Air Force. He sent László to the academy to learn before he joins the army, and becouse Frigyes is an idealist and he thinks that László will form a “bridge” between Lazlowian and the other imperialistic nations. Of course at the end, László will get corrupted and will be the bad guy of some wester film, but that’s another story.

László is just returning from his tiring History lesson and arrives to the commons room, where he sees some other students. He greets them and sits down, while he listens to their conversation.

38

“Oh! Good morning…Kess, is it? It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Anna offered a gloved hand. Kester shook it, but as he did so he couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong. Stiff. Mechanical. Different.

He stood back and looked at the girl again. There was something about her that was just not right. He sniffed. There, it was the same. Connected to- no, under the smell in the room. It was a vague, uneasy feeling. For a moment, just a split second, he got the impression that she was not alive. A puppet perhaps, a preserved corpse long dead, but made to move by some malign and alien intelligence. The feeling vanished as soon as it came, but he still felt queasy. “I, um…have to go settle in. I’ll see you around.” And with that, Kess stalked off in the direction of his own room.

“Odd.” Anna turned to Matt. “I’ll have to get to know him later. I…think I’m all right now, but I can’t spend another minute in that room. Are you going anywhere?”

39

Heinrich relaxed when he noticed Sha’la smile (but wondered what he should expect from her next class…), and turned himself to Noi again worried if he had asked somthing too personal, as she seemed at a loss for words…

Seconds later, Heinrich turned himself sharply as he heard a noise from the fridge, but stopped before seeing who was there as he noticed László greeting them and nodded in acknowledgement, as he was one of the few friends he made on Shiro so far.

40

Noi had to think about the question. She hadn’t seen wither of her parents since she was conscripted at age three.

“I have a family, and its name is Pax. We are linked in ways deeper than most could understand. Being here cuts you off though… I have to use a long range transmitter to access the Hive Main. Not enough of my ‘family’ around to bounce thoughts off of. Litteraly.”