It was near dawn when Astral was escorted back to her room. Noland had remained in quiet reflection after their long discussion. The skepticism of magic and other spiritual practices had been promptly replaced with the unsettling worries that humans were actively involved in whatever was going on at the Academy.
His aura had dimmed, dominated by dark blues and purples with spikes of red as he worked out his own version of how best to approach the dangers ahead.
As they entered the administration building, Noland finally spoke up. “Tier 1 project.”
Astral arched a brow. He had spoken so fast that she wasn’t sure he had said anything at all. His aura flared with rich purples turning to fuchsia. He knew on a subconscious level that he was onto something.
“You want to unpack that, sarge?” Damien requested.
“I don’t know much about it to be honest, just some talk among the locals I caught once upon a time. If I understand it right, people like Our Lady can qualify for a Tier 1 rank at the school, that will free up her schedule because she’ll be a self-directed learner. That’s a perk, but the reason I’m mentioning it is because of the data. As a student you’ll have legal access to everything we don’t. I don’t know how far back the archives go, but it’s something isn’t it?”
“Right.” Damien tapped his fingers to his chin. “That will help.”
“The thing is, our Lady will need to qualify first. The Tier 1 project, as far as I can tell, is pretty much anything you want as long as it’s handed in before the Fall term. I think we should build something we can use, even if the project itself is a decoy,” the sergeant said.
“I’ll need hand drawn maps,” Astral said, “can your people provide that?”
Noland nodded. “Hand drawn?”
“My stigma prevents me from seeing most digitally produced content. Someone has to be at the creation wheel,” she explained.
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“Will you be able to forecast that Augmentation field if we provided the data?” The Sergeant asked. He was no dummy, though she didn’t know if he had caught on to her ability to see souls.
She nodded. “If you’d allow us to do so.”
The sergeant smirked. “Well, that’s on you this time. In theory once you register your project, you’ll have to list the assets you’ll need. I don’t know that for sure, mind you, but if I were deciding on these things, I’d like to know up front what needed from the institution. In our case, access to the student forums, committees, journals, groups, whatever is student based, as much one-on-one content as we can download. Given the security protocol, you’ll probably be given a digitized data dump instead of a sweeping access to all of the student areas. That will be yours to go through, and technically legal if they give it to you.”
“And if not?” Damien folded his arms across his chest.
“I’m pretty sure there are public profiles that we can legally access and arrange communications.”
“Or hope that they published photos on their socials,” Astral added. She might be able to tap in William’s memories if she involved him in small ways with her project. His personal connection to these students and activities might make a strong focal point for her to peer into the past. She had to be careful though, William’s interpretation of events was not necessarily based in reality. With William, truth was subjective.
“What do you have in mind to do?” Damien asked, leading her to the staff elevator.
“As Noland has stated, I’ll be doing a forecast, but I think I’ll present it publicly as a popular culture trend among various student demographics.” She waved her hand dismissively, “Something inane and superficial that will satisfy egos and provide no societal value. I’ll position students in the relevant locations based on chosen activities, as opposed to mandatory classroom learning.”
“I can set up the framework for the application,” Damien offered. “We’ll just have to make sure that delegating is part of the project requirements.”
“And if it isn’t?” Noland mimicked Damien.
“Basic animation software is a viable option,” Astral said. “I want to turn the photos in audio clips too, but I’m sure there is existing software that will let me do the conversions.”
The men squinted in confusion. “Energy makes sound,” Astral said and left it at that.
She’d make a point of asking about the Tier 1 rank and its parameters during the tour, though she was sure that the headmaster would bring it up himself. With the rough groundwork of a plan started, she was better equipped to probe the headmaster for better options to work her plan.