Above a city so small most
would laugh at it being called anything greater than a town, the
stars began to change one night. Despite the wide plains and
scattered homes very few noticed, the glare of man-made light and a
society which had in most forsaken looking up and forward in favor of
gossip and complaint, may have been the cause or a simple whim of
fate. Still the heavens continued to fade each star from a pale blue
to a flickering purple and lastly to a dull crimson before winking
out completely.
Beneath the center of this
darkening void lies a small school. Not the nearby college which
brought education and culture to the community. This school was an
eyesore for the community, but it was far to convenient to get rid
of. It brought commerce and cheap skilled labor in the form of it’s
students. This school was no center of knowledge but a mill to grind
and sort societies misfits. Those who were foolish, unlucky, spoiled,
infirm, lazy or, simply incompetent were sent here. They were
enclosed in this small school and made to life strict regimented
lives. They were taught to the rudiments of a trade with a dash of
experience to build confidence. They were led like cattle through
this place of concrete and plaster. Here they would be sorted by
their flaws, here they were taught the kindest cruelties of the
world.
They were taught that in
this world, you learn the rules of the system and you muddle through
the best you can. The fact that the system was crumbling due to the
short-sighted and the greedy abusing the very system the spread to
others. They were taught that they were not the engineers or even the
handymen that fix such things. They are cogs and parts in that system
and it is not the place of a cog to speak.
“Oi
Toby, going for a hike?” A scruffy youth drawled, leaning on a pool
cue.
“Nah I heard one
of the girls call it his safety blanket.” guffawed another youth,
shorter than the first. The comments drew a round of jeers from those
relaxing in the student recreation lounge. Toby stared at the two for
a moment with dull eyes, then ignored Jared and Robert respectively,
dismissing
them as irrelevant. Toby shouldered his black backpack, and headed to
the area containing televisions and game consoles. Despite being
relatively well-known among the students, he didn’t spare much
attention to those who didn’t catch his interest.
He
caught the eyes of a group clustered around one of the television
screens. A variety of low chairs were scattered about the carpeted
area, most contained people playing games, or those watching them. In
the corner his friends resembled a pack of cats sprawled over every
convenient surface, three were seated in chairs the others leaned
against the wall or rested on the ground, most lazing against each
other in comfort or to annoy each other.
A thin
smile touched upon his face, a smirking grin that turned the mousy
haired bespectacled man into something more roguish and wild than his
button shirt and slacks implied. He only had an interest in four of
the group and more often than not was simply annoyed by the crowd,
especially as such crowds invariably grew the longer he was there. He
found a nearby chair it was however occupied.
“Hey
do you mind if I use that chair so I can sit down?” He said with a
polite plastic smile ensuring first his body language was equal parts
encouraging and friendly. The young man in the chair blinked confused
for a moment, before responding,
“Uhm
sure I guess?” as he awkwardly vacated the chair for Toby. As Toby
dragged the chair over the group, using urgency and stares to
convince obstacles out of his path, his friends grinned and laughed
softly.
“You
are so mean Toby.” Teased Emelia.
Emelia
was about as different from Toby as two people could be physically.
Where he was short for a man, she was tall for a woman. His hair was
fine, brown and receding, while hers was wild, frizzy and, changed
color to often to be sure of it’s true color. He was stockily built
and carried a little extra weight around his gut as well. She was
rail thin and contained a calm grace. His face was soft and sported a
bristly van dyke for a beard. Hers was severe but, with a austere
beauty that disguised her expressive smile and fierce gaze. His eyes
were a hazel cluster of green, brown and, dark blue. Hers were a
bright fusion of blue and grey. As a matter of fact the only physical
similarity they shared was a pair of spectacles always worn on each.
Mentally
the pair clicked on a level that most could not understand. Despite
Toby’s taste for enthusiastic rants and his habit of challenging
anyone who interested him to a battle of wits. Despite Emelia’s
tendency to doubt herself secretly and to bluntly crush those who
angered her. It was rare that they could not understand the actions
the other took instantly. They each knew they could trust each other
implicitly, or at least they used to. Recently a seed of doubt had
formed between them. Each would deal with it in their own time and no
one else seemed to pick up on the change it became a quiet fact of
their relationship.
“How
was I mean? It’s not my fault people don’t say no more often.”
Toby replied with a knowing grin. The four he set his chair next to
smirked at this. Toby made an effort to avoid an irritated sigh as
one of the ‘extras’ as he called them in his mind inevitably
tried to laugh and smile like the others a beat too late for it to be
natural.
“How
do you always do that?” asked, Africa Affineur. Africa was quite
possibly the single most irritating person Toby had met, even more so
in the sense that she had yet crossed any lines that gave him enough
reason to berate her. Africa desperately attempted to insert herself
into any group that didn’t actively abuse her. Toby had realized
that she in fact seemed to be most useful in determining the
tolerance and moral standards of those she was inflicted upon. This
did not do much to improve his opinion of her.
Ignoring
Africa as he often did, after learning that she did not actually
listen to answers so much as bask in the meager attention a response
required. Toby shrugged off his thick soft coat, which much to his
bafflement seemed to be a prized source of warmth among the girls who
became cold around him. He had learned to keep it between his back
and the rest of the chair lest it be stolen by chilly fingers.
“So
are you guys ready for game tomorrow? I know you wanted something
equal parts cheesy and awesome.” Toby inquired as he settled a
place for his pack.
“It’s
going to great, although I still don’t get why you won’t let us
make character sheets yet.” responded the perky, Katy. Her
generally bubbly personality and curvaceous figure often drew the eye
of many admirers. Her position cuddled against the legs of her
partner were perhaps the only reason she avoided constant harassment
given the manners of most of the students. Her blonde hair often led
the foolish to underestimate her intelligence, which anyone speaking
to her would immediately realize the mistake.
“Yeah,
what’s the point of playing these games if you only let us make a
normal everyday person? I prefer the ones where we get to play great
and might heroes.” added, Duke the equally blonde owner of the
aforementioned legs. His even paler hair and thin figure masked the
whipcord strength and a steady mind. Despite his habit of sleeping
through many game sessions he still enjoyed participating.
“You
won’t be disappointed buddy, and as for hiding the character
sheets,” Toby grinned evilly, “That is a secret. Mwahahaha!”
His laugh full of hammy theatrics and gesturing.
“Dork.”
Laughed Emelia as she punched his arm and rolled her eyes. The last
member of the group remained silent as his focus was on nothing but
the game. Luke was intense about few things in life but video games
and an encyclopedic knowledge of weapons were two of them. His
current game pressed but obsessions at once, as he was focused on
equipping the character with an absurdly sized sword and a pair of
submachine guns with enough neon lighting to double as Las Vegas
landmark.
It
required asking twice more and a gentle nudge to receive a response.
The simple affirmative was enough for Toby as he knew he could be
just as bad when he focused on something.
As
Toby had predicted the crowd focused on his group was swelling. It
always baffled Toby, there were other cliques on the campus and in
his mind many of them had more ‘popular type’ traits than his
had. Even when he attempted to tally everything that would draw
people to his group; Luke’s game console, Duke’s Music, Katy’s
general charm, Emelia’s generosity with baked treats and goodies.
He simply couldn’t figure out why his friends drew so many
hangers-on, other groups had similar or better examples of any given
trait. Despite his skills in social engineering, he was often slow to
understand mob motivation or the subtle things that drew the
attention and admiration of others. He often failed to realize his
groups stability and general sense of content and comfort, were
desirable factors on their own. He had a deeply ingrained habit of
removing himself and his values from any such estimation, more
accurately adding in himself and his value never occurred to him.
Despite his growth into a self-confident and independent personality,
he had not outgrown all of the habits and scars earned from his
childhood.
Dark
or damaged childhoods were not a rarity among those at this
particular school, so much so that anyone complaining about such
things quickly became a joke. When the majority of a population is at
an age and culture which places self-importance as one of it’s
highest unspoken virtues, few people care about the tragedies of
others over their own.
That
being said, when a void of darkness suddenly flares into daylight
brightness and every student of the school of screw-ups suddenly
disappeared, it was at least interesting news and a boon to the city
for the draw of media and tourists. Even so, most people of the city
simply thought, “How
convenient”
and nothing more.
