The cafeteria was a few hallways away from the rooms behind the auditorium. It was gigantid had massive windows c one side. The lights above all had vines growing on them. Despite all the students arriving, it retty empty, with just a few people sitting scattered about.
“First, I need a coffee,” Diast said. “My head is killing me. So we’ll start our tour of this fabulous establishment at...this vending mae! It has everything you need, if what you need is coffee or pop. And if the cafeteria is closed like it is now. You’d think they’d have that going with everyoing here, but that’s how it goes.”
After getting us all snacks (a move which I think put Kalei firmly on team Diast), Diast took us from the vending mae at the cafeteria outside to a nice field area. All of Rising Shards’ buildings were ected in a sort of loop, and the big field in the ter was fym stuff.
“Alright, I don’t feel like doing a full tour so I’m just gonna point everything out from here.”
“You get me,” Kalei said. “I hate school tours.”
“I dunno, I think they’re fine.” Oka said. “This is a pretty big school, after all.”
“It is.” Lillia ce said. “I had received my tour with the Rising Shards Gold Tour, so I suppose I wouldn’t mind a trurip.” Lillia was the would-be Rising Shards model girl. She noticed me staring while Diast took a big gulp of her coffee and I busted out a “pretend I was just turning as they look my way” move as soon as our eyes met.
Dr. Diast’s wristband projected a checklist of locations. She sighed as she quickly scrolled down and up the list with her other hand.
“Behind us of course is the cafeteria, which is ected to the auditorium. o that are the dorms, which again are pretty self-expnatory, one firls on our side, one for boys over oher side, and then the Kanibari dorms are separate from the others behind the school. I don’t know why they think tours o be so plicated.”
Diast checked off boxes on each line of the list as she went.
“Let’s see, there are the buildings. They’re kinda divided by grade and kinda divided by subject. Over yonder Falling Shards is there with the same yout, but that’s for boys so don’t worry about it. There are some buildings betweewo schools that are shared like the auditorium, the fields, and this cafeteria. It’ll make sense by the time you’re a senior. OK! Any questions so far?”
Aira, Laenie, and Oka raised their hands.
“Where’s the nurse’s office?” Laenie asked. “I get sick easily...also, where are the designated disaster areas in case of an emergency, be it weather or another sort of crisis? How exactly are the buildings divided? If the yout of both Rising and Falling Shards is the same, are we penalized for actally entering Falling Shards? Are there any csses shared betweewo schools? Why did the annou at the start only mention Rising Shards? Is there an indym for when it rains? How a tour of a i school be plete without any of the specifically i reted areas?”
“I uh,” Diast said.
The proje from Diast’s wristband ged.
“For direal, emergency, or other facility questions, please refer to your wristguard and oint markers will be shown.” The wristband voice said.
“Uh, yeah, do that,” Diast said. “That stupid voice feature is good for something after all. Does that cover it?”
“I suppose so,” Laenie said.
“And the other questions?”
“I...think she covered my question.” Oka said. “I think.”
“I was going to ask why you still need a wristband,” Aira said. “If you’re an adult, don’t you have trol over your i powers?”
“Yeah, I do, but they’re required here for school stuff,” Diast said. “They’re synced up with the school work. So I do attendan them, mute you guys like you saw, stuff like that. Oh, and lots of stuff in the void.”
“Oh,” Aira said. “I was going to guess the wristbands were from some evil glomerate using dark tech magic to trol all of us, but that makes seoo.”
Lillia ce rolled her eyes so hard I thought for a sed that she’d fainted.
, we went into the oldest looking building on campus, in the er of the fields. It looked like a stoemple. I caught Oka with a strange look as we walked up the stairs. She looked distant, far from the bubbly personality she had been showing before. I figured I was reading into things too much.
The inside of the temple-like building was filled with a reddish colored sand. There didn’t seem to be any rooms in there, just lots and lots of sand. A few scattered metal objects jutted out. Diast led us to ohat looked like a big crystal ball on a pedestal.
“Here’s one of our specifically void reted areas,” Diast said. “This is the more retro one, as you tell by the exterior and interior being all old. There is another building nearby that we'll mainly use to get into the void that's a bit more modern. When csses start, at least once a day you’ll have to go into the void. Sometimes for research, sometimes fhting. Mainly, you’ll have a sequence you’ll have to gh that is geed by your collective group mihat we’ll take care of during Jump Fifteen. It’s totally mostly safe, but as a precaution we have to test if you will actually be able to go before we really start. Uh, Laenie?”
We turo see Laenie was still at the frorance, rog bad forth on her heels.
“I’m gonna stay back here,” Laenie said. “I don’t want to get sand in my shoes.”
“You’ll be fine,” Dr. Diast said. “You really o do this, or you ’t do any csses.”
Laenie relutly joined us.
“Get in line, and one by one you each touch the thing and I mark down that yood to go for void time.” Diast said. “How about, Zeta first?”
Now it was my turn to nervously step forward. I could hear a low hum ing from the sphere. It didn’t have any fingerprints or anything on it, and something about that made me unfortable toug it. Maybe I just wasn’t able to go there at all. Maybe they’d kick me out already. But if that happened, I’d go to Wildfire Hearts.
“Just touch the thing, Zeta,” Diast said.
“But...what is it? What does it do?”
I knew I was holding the css up and my face got red thinking about everyone being annoyed with me. Except maybe Laenie. I couldn’t see someone who was even more anxious thating mad at me for this.
“The obelisk sends aromagic pulse into your fiips and tell if your natural bioelectric frequency matches that of the wavering pocket dimension, or ‘void’ dimension. Which it will because only i have that frequency. And you’re a i.”
“Oh.” I said.
I worked up the nerve and poked my finger forward. And missed. I touched the pedestal and cursed my hand-eye coordination sug so bad when I was scared. I tried again and actually touched the thing. The hum got a little louder, and I felt a light tingle in my fiip. The sphere turned pink.
“Pink?” I asked. “Is pink good?”
“Pink is good,” Diast said, cheg my name off on a proje list. “Alright, .”
Oka pced her palm on the sphere, looking as though she’d dohis a huimes. Kalei grabbed it with both hands, looking like she was trying to test its weight and maybe lift the whole thing up. Lillia ehow looked like a majestic ballerina just like poking a magic void sphere, and hers even seemed to light up with a beautiful pink hue. I felt less bad about my nervousness because it took Laenie even loo agree to touch it and cried in the few seds until it turned pink like it did for the rest of us. Last was Aira, who immediately licked the obelisk without prompting.
“Well…that’s…” Diast said as the sphere turned pink. “Well, alright then.”
It really felt like my i journey was starting now. The window to bail was getting smaller and smaller.
“This makes my job a lot easier, it’s such a pain to fill out the paperwork for kids who get e.” Diast said. “e means you ’t go in the void. Don’t get me started on what happens when it turns white with purple dots.”
Diast brought us back to the auditorium.
“Alrighty, just the principal’s speed then that’s it for today,” Diast said. “I’m looking forward to css with you, you all seem , yadda yadda and good luck.”
“Why good luck?” I asked. Was the principal gonna be mean? I pictured a terrifying monster of a man looming over the auditorium screaming at us. Diast just ughed as she left.
