[Fall] Chapter 1: Re-Placement

Near the Track Stores - Jonathan, Minsoo
"Let's talk over at my office." Coach Corbin had dismissed the rest of the sports people back to their training or their packing duties. It was already past 5pm, and school was winding down to a close; no one had extra training so early in the term for it wasn't sports season yet. Nurse Heather had gently taken Sarah away; it seemed like she was busy two days in a row, yesterday with Joe's fainting spell, and now this more serious matter. Corbin did not attempt to explain what had happened to the students, but neither did he come across as dismissive of the fact that something did happen.

The 'office' that Corbin mentioned wasn't the staffroom in the main block, but a set of tables in the equipment store next to a wall of lockers, this was where students could sign out for sports equipment. Interestingly, they weren't alone; their classmate Kirk Kallum was there, sorting out a box of newly arrived weights. Corbin did not seem to mind nor explain his presence. "I wanted to see you both because your hearts' in the right place." Coach gave Jonathan and Minsoo his familiar encouraging smile. "You're first to step up when something goes wrong. You look out for others, and their well-being. We need more of that."

"And it looks like something's going on with you, personally. Easier to explain it if you experience it for yourself. Come, tell me what you see. What you really see." Corbin turned the both of them towards the track and pointed at exactly the spot where Minsoo tackled Sarah.

Back of the Hall - Joe, Kyle, Myra, Wren
While reacting to Glitches alert and directing a more passive approach he scanned the area to try an sense the entity or force driving Glitch away. A quick scan of the area revealed some traces leading back to a cluster of students, and he is slightly surprised to see some of his recent acquaintances (friends or allies?) talking with Cass. Having finished up the work he heads over to see whats new and whats up with them talking with Cass?

Coming from the Back of the Hall - Kyle, Joe, Myra, Wren
"Are you spying on me Kyle? If you got something you want to know, ask me directly." The retort from Cass sounded cross as she stomped up to Kyle, but belied what she was doing moments ago, which was to sensitively explain what she knew to Myra, Wren and Joe. This was Cass putting on her bossy public self again,

"Back to work, we're almost done everyone! Let's pack up so we can go home!" She hollered with the authority as student council president. The clock was showing just past 5:15pm, classes had all ended, the rest of school was winding down, and even here in the hall the seniors were largely done restoring the venue to its original state.

"I wanna hear more about that missing girl, let's find a time to talk." Cass did realise the seriousness of the matter, but perhaps hadn't comprehended the urgency that the others felt. And the fact that school was closing made her shorten their conversation. "Lily might know something about that symbol, she knows everything." She was talking about their classmate, Lillian Silverton, who always had a story about talking to things, and them talking back.

Coming from the Back of the Hall - Kyle, Joe, Myra, Wren
"Whoa, what? I'm not spying on anyone. I was just testing out some survey and analytics software and figured the school would be a good starting sample set. Any why would I spy on you? " Kyle is surprised and a bit offended. He's no Peeping Tom; "Honestly I wasn't trying to spy or anything like that. The AI code probably tried something it shouldn't have. Sheesh, sorry if it seemed that way." he finishes with a half apology, figuring it would be better to back off from Cass's attack then to try and stand up to her assault.

Minsoo & Jonathan
Minsoo puts on the very same act, if you could call it that, that she had pulled in the counselor’s office earlier that day. She nods her head in all the right places, listens intently and does her best to not give the teacher any reason to have this conversation go any further than these four walls…

And yet… her eyes narrow at the implication in the teacher’s words. Was he…?

She turns to look at Jonathan. That, in and of itself, was probably more of a tell than she should have shown. She resorts to playing dumb. That had always worked…

"What do you mean ‘really see’, Coach Corbin?" she asks, smiling inoffensively. All the while, her eyes search the man’s face…

Wren let the others drift a step ahead as Cass stomped across the hall toward Kyle, so that she could catch up with Joe. Just enough for a conversation.

"What did you find?", she asked him in a low voice - her face still working through what Cass had said. "I at least got a name for where Alex might be and where Daniela might be searching for him - the Blackwood Sanatorium."

"Ever heard this name before?"

Minsoo & Jonathan
>>>Not the first time Jonathan had been in the locker rooms but this was under decidedly different circumstances. He felt Minsoo's glance at him and cut his eyes towards here to let her know he felt the same trepidation at Corbin's odd behavior.
>>>"What we really see?" he asked flatly, echoing Minsoo. His glance shifted from Corbin out to the field where Sarah had nearly killed someone. He felt a pull towards the spot, like a ball settling into a groove, following it to where Corbin indicated. "Is this like one of those 'Magic Eye' images from the 90s?" he quipped, but his voice fell distant and flat, his attention was cast elsewhere .

Coming from the Back of the Hall - Kyle, Joe, Myra, Wren
I think I'm going to go home - To House Lockwood. Swing by if you want to talk some more.
Myra is struggling with some internal dissension, which she finally makes.
I'm going to look through my parents' rooms. Their study and such. Find the truth of what Cass is saying

Joe, grateful for Cass’ distraction, replies softly to Wren; Myra is probably close enough to hear… "I got several things; a brief sense of Emily’s Life itself, but also of Spirit power; something that was causing the multiple Emily’s to appear. Don’t ask me how that works, I don’t know. I also got a sense of magick; both Emily’s own, whatever it was, and Myra’s; that’s what led me straight here! From what I just heard, we’re not the only ones with magick here; but everyone else who has it seems to know about it already; they just didn’t tell us. Means we might be able to get some help and explanations so long as we can work out who to trust and what to ask… but at least it means that we’re probably not going crazy. Which is good."
He ponders. "Blackwood Sanatorium? Never heard of it; but then, I am new in town, so I might well have never heard of an old name for something here."
To Myra; "Thank you for the invitation. That sounds like a good idea, because this is changing fast, and I have a feeling we may not have time to spare."

Near the Track Stores - Jonathan, Minsoo
Minsoo's expression was a well-practiced one, teenagers were good at that. Unlike the morning's session with Veritas and Nixon in the counselling office though, this situation didn't make Minsoo feel cornered as if she were being interrogated. For one, Corbin wasn't gaslighting them about a particular 'version' of an incident. His tone sounded like the question was an open-ended one, and in fact he gave a small chuckle at Jonathan's wisecrack about Magic Eye images. Perhaps the truth was closer to home than both of them dared imagine.

Jonathan was ready to give it a go though, to use his second sight to see exactly what it was that Coach was hinting for him to see. Even Kirk in the background looked up, curious.

Coming from the Back of the Hall - Joe, Kyle, Myra, Wren
Cass might've been too defensive, judging by how she had responded to Kyle, not necessarily because Kyle had been intentionally intrusive. It was interesting for Joe, Myra and Wren to evaluate how Cass had instinctively jumped at surveillance. It was a dead giveaway as to how wary Cass might typically be regarding issues of magic; no wonder none of them suspected anything about the magical goings-on around them, at least not until now when their eyes were open. It might be worth taking a cue from her in terms of how to safeguard themselves.

Cass shrugged, not intending to make a big deal out of this, ever mindful to set a good example as council president. "You oughta be cautious..." was all she replied. "All of you." She did look troubled when she was told about Emily, an incident that she didn't pick up on despite its major significance and impact. "Talk again, let me know if you find out anything." She scooted off, back to her next responsibility, leaving the four to determine what to do next.

Myra had offered the other three a gathering place to talk and plan. Minsoo and Jonathan weren't around though, Jonathan had told Kyle he had headed out to see coach Corbin, and Minsoo was around somewhere helping her track teammates. Torrance was in and out of the hall, but hadn't left word with anyone where he went. He did seem singularly focussed on getting back into the counselling centre at the Burned Wing. It was something that they spoke about this morning, to stay back after school and break in. Although other things might now feel more urgent, with Daniela uncontactable so soon after she mentioned looking for Alex.

Wren reminded them of what she found out, a non-existent place called Blackwood Sanatorium. The question was how long it would take before it occurred to any one of them that it might or might not be a coincidence that their headmaster's surname was Blackwood, Nathaniel Blackwood!

Near the Track Stores - Jonathan, Minsoo
Jonathan had always considered his artistic expression to be arising from the creativity within him, the way he saw the world around him and interpreted it accordingly in his art. With Corbin's encouragement, he attempted to look with those eyes again, and saw through a veil to a different world. The first image in his mind was something that looked like a reflection of himself, as if he existed on another plane. He would learn eventually that that was his avatar, or soul, or spirit, for there were as many ways to describe it as there were cultures. Now, looking further at the spot where Sarah behaved irrationally, he could see what he could only understand as a road, or path, leading from the hall where she came, across the tracks, and fading out of campus into the Ashford woods. The path seemed to phase in and out, between the real world and the spiritual world. Jonathan felt that if he concentrated harder, he might just be able to break through to connect with something on the other side, but what held him back was the terrifying sense of death he had been perceiving yesterday and today.

And finally, even though he wasn't focussing on her, Jonathan inadvertently cast his senses at Minsoo and nearly jumped out of his skin, for tethered to Minsoo was a dominant presence, not in terms of size, but in power. Whatever it was seemed to glare back at Jonathan, but made no other action. Minsoo of course wondered why Jonathan was staring intently at her.

Corbin looked at Jonathan expectantly, a slight smile on his lips.

Wren was still perplexed by the thought of her parents being part of the world she had just been thrown into — and yet they had never spoken openly about it with her.

But slowly, she pushed that back. She'd get a chance to talk to them soon enough. She focused back on the present, and on her newfound "friends" - were they friends?

"Wait. Nathaniel Blackwood..." Wren said in a low voice, looking at the others. "How could I have missed that."

"Let's talk later, at Myra's - but I think I need to head home first and talk to my parents."

The hair in Minsoo’s arms stand on edge, and goosebumps begin to dot the athlete’s arms and legs. She rubs her palms onto her arms, as if suddenly very cold. She knew something was at work amongst the three people here in the space.

If the two new staff members were to avoided, perhaps the Coach was someone they could rely on. Perhaps he was locked in some struggle against the new comers. Or perhaps they were all one and the same and wielded forces so powerful and complex that no new Mage could hope to untangle or decipher them.

"Jonathan, are you alright?" she asks, looking between the young man and the teacher.

Near the Track Stores - Jonathan, Minsoo
This boy has seen the Presence. You shall eliminate him. Again, Minsoo heard the urging voice in her head, not just disdainful this time, but more commanding. Was Jonathan able to perceive the voice in her head, but in a different way? Were things about to escalate? And did Corbin know what was happening between the two of them?Leaving School - Joe, Myra, Kyle, Wren
Myra headed home, ready to do some deep research. There was still some deep secrets about her family she did not know about, and she was determined to find out. Joe tagged along, he needed some more concrete things first before returning to commune with his own mentor. Wren wanted to accompany Myra, but felt she needed to speak with her parents first, that couldn't wait. Kyle still needed to spend his night working on the code he wanted to use to insert into his classmates' socials, but Myra's invitation was open to him as well.Outside the Burned Wing - Torrance

Near the Track Stores - Jonathan, Minsoo

>>>"'Alright' is kind of a subjective term..." Jonathan muttered in a low tone, sounding as if he were far away. "There's shit out there. Hard to explain. Ways and Paths and...Things. I don't understand it, but yet I do." The big senior tried to reel his senses back into the mundane, swiping a few stray black hairs hanging in front of his eyes. "...woah..." The vision had definitely made an impression on the usually unflappable highschooler. He looked at Minsoo, or rather towards her, his gaze focused on something just behind her.

Kyle agrees to Wrens suggestion "Yeah, I need to check in with my uncle but we should definitely talk. I keep feeling like were being watched here" and glances around a bit nervously. He makes sure he know the time and location of any plans before heading off.

Kyle want to make sure he can pull off the upload with as little as possible to trace back to him or Glitch so decides he want to do some simulations and tests. He still has a bit of time so once he finishes checking out from club responsibilities he plant to head to his workshop (Larbratory) to try and work out how to blend coding, network hijacking, and using his new abilities, to the best effect for untracability.

Myra sends out a text, inviting everyone to the Lockhouse Estate
Myra: Swing by if you want to talk. Here is the address...