[Fall] Chapter 1: Re-Placement

Minsoo shakes the words Eliminate Him from her head.

What the hell was that? she thinks, maybe communicating with the thing whose presence she had felt only this strongly at times.

He’s my friend. Chill out. she chides further. Perhaps the thing didn’t have a good read on human relationships…

She looks at Jonathan, and then back to the Coach. Was he content with what had just unfolded?

Near the Track - Jonathan, Minsoo, (Kyle?)
"Takes some getting used to. Like breaking in a new pair shoes." When Jonathan tried to explain what he saw, Corbin observed him intently, his expression a mix of concern and watchfulness, as if ready to anticipate and act if something untoward were to happen. "If you have questions I can answer them, to the best of my ability. Bear in mind I can't do whatever you just did." His tone was easy; they didn't call him 'Coach' for nothing. Corbin was great at bringing out the best in his athletes. "Always a straight line from start to finish," he'd say, "even if it curves. So long as you can see the end."

Corbin then turned to Minsoo, "Won't nudge you if you're not ready. But I'm here to say you're seen, and it's safe if you want to talk about it." No pressure from the coach it seemed, since Minsoo had not yet attempted what Corbin wanted of them. But it also seemed like Corbin was letting her get out of their meeting if she wasn't comfortable. And boy was Minsoo uncomfortable at that very moment, with what sounded like some angel of judgement resonating in her head. Was that something she wanted to tell Jonathan about, since it sounded like Jonathan could see the voice? Or was she ready to trust Corbin? If not, it felt that Minsoo was about to be left out of this conversation.

Preoccupied with this conversation, no one really noticed that Kyle was not leaving school via the main gates. Kyle knew to skirt round the buildings, but still needed to cross the large expanse of the school field in order to reach the boundaries of the school compound. The school was more significantly walled from the front, with its historic iron gates and necessary security post, but round the north and west sides it was merely lightly fenced, enough to keep the occasional stray out. For Ashford High sat on a low-rise, beyond which its surroundings sloped to a forested copse northwards, whereas the main campus driveway descended south-east towards the town. Kyle had, in his days of trying to find less urban areas to test his droves, ventured further afield, and discovered for himself a little nook away from school, and also from home, though a convenient hole in the fence, no doubt made by some previous generation of students.

Today though, as he approached his hideaway, Kyle had the sense that something had intruded on the privacy of his space.

Near the Track - Jonathan, Minsoo, (Kyle?)

>>>"Then how'd you know what I might see if you can't do it?" Jonathan focused back on the Coach. "How long have you known about any of this?!" He was a bit more intense than he probably meant to be but let the intensity persist. The emotion came from a sense of betrayal from an authority figure. Dr. Veritas would probably ascribe his outburst to a link with the death of his parents and subsequent obfuscation of the investigation details by 'official sources'. It was sufficient to chalk it up to late-teenage hormones, no doubt, in Corbin's mind.
After a beat to regain a bit more control and clarity, he had to find out more. "What IS it I saw? How...does that exist? Is it real or some kinda schizoid episode?"

Woods behind campus- Kyle
Kyle walked his bike from the rack by the visitor parking around Founders hall towards the tennis courts. He had gotten in the habit of taking this route after finding the trails used by the cross country team were much more extensive than the routes they took around the campus. Hopping on his bike once he hit the road he started moving down it while glancing casually around. Adjusting his speed to separate from the others he hopped his bike of the road and onto a dirt track heading back into the trees behind the tennis courts.

He had actually gotten lost a couple of times when he first tried out for the team last year. It was on one of these unplanned explorations that he found a section of fence that was not secured. Where two sections of the older fence overlapped a gap big enough to squeeze through could be pushed open. While figuring all of this out he had noticed a building further back in the woods. If not for the sun glinting of a window Kyle doubts he would ever have spotted it.

Curious he slipped through the gap and checked wandered off the faint trail that wound back towards one of the back side roads away from campus. Secluded in a thicket of young and older trees the building turned out to be a great find. A small, single story building with a basement, made of cemented stonework and a dark roof it almost blended into the surrounding when the shutters were all closed. The front door was locked but a quick check revealed a garage door which was easy enough to lift enough to slip inside. Though quite old the building had been retrofitted decades past then left unused, abandoned for at least a couple years. The great part was the place has power and running water.

Kyle had slowly begun cleaning up the place and using it as a personal retreat. The place was great but after Glitch started acting up it seemed to change, becoming even harder to spot, and no matter how often Kyle visited the way to it never seemed to grow easier to spot or navigate. And then Glitch somehow uncovered a small cavern attached to the basement. Maybe an old root cellar or some such but it had oddly glowing crystal which Glitch had taken to digging up, only there always seemed to be more. Now as Kyle approached he wondered if the places peculiarity had something to do with the event back at school, the new world opening up before Kyle and the others.

Near the Track - Jonathan, Minsoo
"Just because I don't play tennis doesn't mean I'm no good at football." It's true the Corbin was a former quarterback and a mean long-distance runner in his time, and also true that as the Phys Ed head no student ever seen him play tennis. But Jonathan knew he wasn't really talking about tennis nor football, and that he was speaking cryptically, perhaps for a reason. "Question is not how long I've known about this, but how long you have. I know it's all mighty confusing. You're not seeing things, not in the way folks mean when they say someone is seeing things. But it's real all the same. Someone walked that route, left a trace of their passing, which affected the next person walking on it. Like if you ploughed a field and then someone trips over the furrows you left. That's what you saw." He explained what had happened simply, in terms Jonathan and Minsoo could grasp, even though Jonathan had reacted strongly while Minsoo hadn't said a word yet.

Woods Behind Campus - Kyle
The old Kyle would have simply assumed some woodland animal was sniffing around the abandoned house. Sometimes they did, thinking there might be food to be found when the humans were out. The new Kyle realised he had more to be aware of, apart from animals. Something or someone was in school, or in its vicinity. Did it also seek refuge in the woods, for surely it didn't march up to the main gates to enter Ashford High? But Kyle wasn't particularly adept at traipsing about foliage in a quiet manner, certainly not with his bike, and he also didn't think he needed to be cautious. He slowed his step, not entering his hideaway just yet, and hoped no one was around.

Woods Behind Campus - Kyle
While hitting the trails on foot was no big deal, Kyle understood heading there on his bike might draw some attention, something he did not really want. As soon as he drew near the trail head he became extra alert be being observed.

As soon as he was out of the line of sight of any building, facilities, courts or fields Kyel decided to also begin working on his newly developed senses. As he nears the fence he will scan it with PRIME , curious is the school boundary has any other implications. After taking of his bikes front tire to force the bike through the gap (what a pain, he will have to work something better out) he will scan the area with FORCES before walking on the trail till he is out of sight from the fence. Pausing a moment again to listen and scan the area before making his way to the building.

It was hard to meet the Coach’s gaze at times. They were speaking openly and at length… with someone who claimed almost no magical ability. Or at least that’s what Minsoo thought he was saying. She was still distracted by the angel’s words, and the sense that someone was nearby…

"The clocks, Jonathan." she says, thinking back to the discussion around the lunch table.

"There’s lots of weird stuff going on, Coach. A lot of weird stuff. Do you know anything about clocks?" she asks, making a face at Jonathan that asked for forgiveness, if needed.

Near the Track - Jonathan, Minsoo

>>>"Oh. Oh, yeah." Jonathan quickly agreed, still unsure of how much he should trust Corbin...or Kirk Kallum lurking nearby. "Lots of weird stuff with time goin' on before the convocation yesterday morning." He looked at Minsoo, and behind her at whatever it was that had been hovering over her. "And then there was the 'Death Clock' thing I saw during the blackout..."

Woods Behind Campus - Kyle
There was still just a little more than an hour before sunset, but even with the well illuminating light of the setting sun, Kyle was no outdoorsman to be able to make much out of the trail around his building. He was at least assured that no one had trespassed into his hideout. And also that no one was currently physically present in the vicinity. Whomever had come close had already left. But he was beginning to respect his sixth sense. He reached out to get a feel of the boundary of the fence which defined where the school campus ended and where the woods began, and also did the same between the trail and his little building. Faintly, he now had the impression that school was 'more magical' than the trail, although that was simply a general sense; he would have to analyse the various parts of campus to figure out exactly where and what was giving out that aura.

As for the trail, he found he could amplify sounds so as to differentiate the ambient sounds of the woods from any non-nature sounds. But he heard nothing suspicious. He could definitely tell though, based on his perception of the physical trail, that someone had come this way before recently, as recently as yesterday.

Near the Track - Jonathan, Minsoo
"Only that we can judge a good clock by whether it runs on time." Corbin had an answer to Minsoo's question. "But I think you know more about running on time than I do Minsoo." Once again, the coach was alluding cryptically rather than directly answering. He took out a stopwatch from his pocket, one of those commonly used in sports practice, and held it up to Minsoo, thumb on the start button. "Why don't you take a lap, there and back again. You'll have your answer." What an odd way to reply to Minsoo; was Coach seriously suggesting for her to do a track run now, was this some sort of test? Maybe he wanted her to replicate again the speed in which she reached Sarah, not that he was around to witness it when it happened.
Corbin did purse his lips into a slight frown though when Jonathan mentioned the death clocks in his vision, a marked change in his expression from the coach-like demeanour he had adopted with the two teens thus far. He didn't dismiss the notion nor make light of it. They had established Jonathan was able to see the wake of someone passing through, someone with enough resonance to leave a trail that affected others. Corbin must be wondering if Jonathan also meant that he was able to see something else as well. "What do you mean by death clocks Jon? Do you mean you saw the time of someone's death?"

"Yeah. It was something like that." Jonathan agreed, still a little lost at his vision being taken seriously instead of just a hallucination or figment of his imagination. "I could see a countdown clock on everyone around me. Mine and a couple of others were at or near zero...and they're not here anymore. What am I supposed to do with that kind of information?"

"If you… say so…" she says, suddenly shy that two others were about to directly witness a display of her power. A demonstration, might be a better term. One that she would feel foolish to mess up.

Corbin chuckled when the stopwatch disappeared from his hand, and appeared in Minsoo's. "So that's how you nearly caught that javelin. Check out your time." Minsoo might not have felt she ran that fast. She knew she could average a mean 12+ seconds on a 100 metre lap. She looked at the stopwatch: it read 8.49 seconds. She just beat the women's world record holder by a full two seconds, impossible! Kirk was grinning broadly somewhere behind, impressed that Minsoo managed to catch Coach by surprise. "Not bad for a second attempt, but if you want to get better at it, you'll need a ... coach." Corbin's last attempt at humour was groan-worthy, but what he advised was consistent with the man's core beliefs. But was there such a thing as an arcane coach?
He didn't make a big deal at all about Minsoo's abilities, and as Jonathan reflected, he didn't bat an eyelid either when Jonathan told him, first about the track on the tracks he saw, and then about the disturbing death clocks. If anything, that gave a further affirmation to Jonathan that someone adult, not just his peers, believed him. "I don't know what to make of that either, although someone might..." he mulled, his voice trailing off as his mind thought about the person he was referring to, before switching back with a gentler gaze at Jonathan. "The symbolism's the easy part, everyone's got a clock, and time's running out for some. Thing is, it's your vision, what's that inner voice telling you to do about it?" But what would that inner voice say?

Minsoo knew that everyone had a clock. Not a literal clock, she had thought, but the idea was there. What she didn’t like the idea of was seeing the number on that clock. Hers, or anyone elses.

"Are you saying you can teach me… us… this stuff?" she asks, forgetting the nasty business of clocks counting down for a second…

>>>"And who would that be?" Jonathan asked Corbin flatly. "Who else can understand what I saw? I need to make it all make some kinda sense..." It was obvious that he was distressed, as distressed as Jonathan-the-Unbothered ever got anyway.

"I'm not the coach you're looking for, I'm just here looking out for everyone." Corbin had implied earlier that both Jonathan and Minsoo appeared to be capable of certain things he himself had no disposition in. "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." Corbin caught himself again spouting too much Mr Miyagi platitudes, "Well, the only other person I know positively radiating your vibes is Esme, that's Mdm Silverton to you." Every student knew their long-time librarian Esme Silverton, and both of them were also well acquainted with her grandaughter Lily, who was their classmate in 4A. Corbin seemed to have picked up on whatever aura Minsoo never realised she was giving, how interesting that the old librarian was someone similar. Did that mean she could run fast too? It was hard to imagine.
"I'm not about to speculate Jon, but it sounds like something's up and I need both of you to be able to keep a level head and look out for others. Kirk here will do the same. And no loose lips. People could get hurt. As for your vision, hmm, I can think of someone. But this isn't something to discuss in school, best to meet them outside. You know Bigger Bites? It's 88th off Main Street, just after that ice cream and boba joint you like to hang out after class." The place was not unfamiliar, a retro diner that had been around for decades. "I'll get them to meet you." It was curious why Corbin thought it less safe to talk about such matters in school. He had advised Minsoo and Jonathan to keep their wits about them and stay quiet. (Which was the opposite of what Jonathan had planned to do, through Kyle!)