As Todd and Viktor entered the cafeteria annex, they were greeted with a sea of students. The low lighting in the room flickered, and cast eerie shadows on the walls. Strange robes draped over the students, and obscured many of their faces. Todd couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.
“What is this?” Todd asked, eyeing the students.
“I don't know, this is way beyond Viltburg,” Viktor replied, scanning the room.
As they made their way through the crowd, Todd spotted an abandoned desk. “There’s a lot of unfinished work in this room,” he said as he licked his lips. “I bet if I hurry up and do it, I could get credit for the grade.”
Viktor grabbed Todd's arm. “Todd, stay with me, man.”
“You’re right, I should do it.” Todd said.
“Todd wait!” Viktor shouted, but Todd was already lost in thought, mindlessly striding through the sea of students. He bumped into a girl, who glared at him. As she turned back to her work, she saw Viktor near the door. She silently pointed, and a group of students swarmed him.
“Todd! A little help here,” Viktor shouted.
“I don’t need any help,” Todd said, approaching the desk. “The grade’s all mine.” He grabbed a pencil and started writing.
Viktor struggled to break free from the students, but Todd was focused solely on the homework in front of him. As he wrote, he felt his mind slipping into a foggy, dreamlike state. Viktor shouted something, but it was muffled. Todd frowned. “Wait, I better use my calculator just in case.” He reached into his pocket for his phone, but instead felt the deck of cards Jun had thrown across the room earlier. As he stared at the box, a wave of cognition washed over him and jolted him out of his daze. Todd looked around the room as he got his bearings and finally caught sight of Viktor.
“Hey!” he shouted as he ran over. He pulled one student off the pile, but was immediately restrained by two others. “Is everyone on some kind of steroid or something?” Todd yelled as struggled to break free. With all his might Todd attempted to wrench his arm out of the hold, “Stop!” he shouted. Immediately every student stopped what they were doing.
“Pack leader.” they chanted in unison and Todd shivered once he realized he’d unintentionally assumed a position of authority.
Viktor grunted from under the pile, “I think that’s you. Perhaps you could...”
“Right. Release him...and me. And let us depart from here. Pack leader commands all,” Todd said, his voice trembling with uncertainty.
The students obeyed, and Todd and Viktor rushed out of the annex. Once outside, Todd collapsed, completely drained. “That’s enough. I’m going home,” he said. “I’m out for the day.”
Viktor looked at him incredulously. “You can’t just walk away.”
But Todd had already started to walk home, lost in thought. He barely acknowledged his father when he finally arrived, and ran upstairs to collapse on his bed. As he drifted off to sleep, he expected his mind to race with thoughts about the strange events of the day. But before he knew it, Todd had drifted off to a deep sleep.
He awoke with a start. The last bit of sun from his walk home was long gone, and his room was pitch black. Before he went back to sleep, Todd decided to slip out of his tattered clothes and into some pajamas. As he changed a slip of paper fell from a torn pocket; Finn secretly slipped it to him during their handshake. He studied the paper for a moment then looked at his computer. Todd pulled his chair out, sat down, and booted it up.
----------------------------------------
Todd flung open the heavy doors of the school and stumbled inside. He could feel the adrenaline coursing as he rushed down the hallway. It was the first time in over three years that he had arrived to school later than twenty minutes early. He had overslept, after he fell into one of the deepest slumbers he had ever experienced; according to his dad, it had taken over twenty minutes to wake him.
As he ran through the empty hallway, Todd was acutely aware of the eerie silence that pervaded the school. It was a stark contrast to the usual frenzied atmosphere that he was accustomed to. Before, whatever you could call their state of mind, the students moved in a hyper focused manner, as they scurried from class to class. Now, the air was thick with a sense of emptiness and gloom that Todd had never felt before.
Finally, he reached his first class, with only half of the period left. Todd grabbed the door handle and paused, as he took a deep breath. He hated the idea of becoming one of the students he normally judged for coming in so late, but there was nothing to be done about it now. Todd pushed on the door but it wouldn't budge. He tried again, putting more force into it, but it remained stubbornly shut. He stepped back to confirm the right room number, and then pulled on the door with all his might, but it still wouldn't open.
Frustrated, Todd considered pounding on the door, but as he raised his fist, the door suddenly swung open on its own. He was confronted by the startled gaze of his teacher, Mr. Allen.
“Todd?” Mr. Allen asked, surprised.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Todd said with obvious embarrassment.
Mr. Allen blocked his way, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think you’re on the roster.”
Todd felt his stomach drop. “What? Advanced, but not honors mind you, Geography is like the one class I have on my schedule that close to what I was taking last year.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Had.” Mr. Allen corrected. “Sorry. It’s all that relegation business.”
“Relegation?” Todd asked, as a sense of unease grew within.
“Yeah everyone’s changed classes, got new rankings, it’s frankly a huge headache. And I’ve never seen so many distraught students since that ill-fated, extreme 90s mascot update.”
“But...” Todd started to protest, but Mr. Allen just shrugged.
“I’d say my hands are tied but the teachers seemingly have no hands.”
“You have to let me take this class.” Todd said. Desperation crept into his voice. Mr. Allen looked sympathetic but ultimately did not move out of the way. Todd couldn't believe this. He shouted out in frustration, moved left then right to juke past Mr. Allen. He rushed into the classroom , but as soon as he crossed the threshold, an alarm started to blare, piercing his eardrums.
“Academic infraction: unauthorized class access. Please report to admin offices for correction,” a robotic voice repeated over and over, blending in with the sound of the alarm. Mr. Allen closed the door and Todd began the miserable walk to the administration office. As he shuffled through the hall, Todd recognized the automated voice as the same one he had heard in Mr. Scofield's office.
----------------------------------------
“So you’ve been relegated.” A fifties cartoon style book was projected on screen at the front of the room. A smile was plastered on its face until it fell through a trap, down a chute past several increasingly shabby looking classrooms. It finally landed in a dumpster. Todd looked around the room. One of his classmates stared intently at the wall. Todd let out a deep sigh and dropped his head onto the desk in front of him.
The teacher's disinterested voice cut through the air, "Class, pay attention."
The cartoon book on the screen chimed in, "You might feel like your life is over and your future is bleak. Now let me introduce four quick tips to make the most of your new situation." An acronym appeared on the screen: F.A.I.L.
"Forget the stress of competing with your peers," the book continued with a grin. "From now on, you'll be given work that's more appropriate for someone of your lesser intellect. They're worth very few points, so go nuts! Answer assessments honestly. You will receive periodic assessments to calibrate DEN. They provide little to no penalty to your actual grade, so don't worry about getting everything right. Ignore the teasing of your peers. Your life will be a lot easier if you do. And finally, you are required to take your assignments seriously. L."
“Alright we have...ugh thirty more minutes. I’ll replay this for anyone who got lost.” the teacher said.
Todd slouched in his seat and covered his face with his hands as he tried to hold back tears
----------------------------------------
Todd angrily swept the floor of the magic shop, “It’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever seen. It was either malicious incompetence or spite. I’m also working on a theory that Ivan’s at fault.”
Frissini, in the midst of a losing battle to put a long string of scarves back into a suit sleeve, tried to reassure him, “What is the big deal? You’re still in school, yes? It sounds less stressful than what you were complaining about before.”
“You don’t understand. I thought it was bad up top, but this class is just as bizarre.” Todd replied.
“Up top?”
“That’s what we call the normal classes. Technically we’re on the second floor, but it just feels like it fits,” Todd said. “Someone got mad at me for reading too fast, said it’s only for the ‘brainies’. I’ve got to get out of there.”
“Why?” Frissini pressed
“Why what?”
“You said you think it was either a really bad mistake or you were put there intentionally. Why would you want to throw yourself back into such a system?”
“Because… because… it’s the system, okay? It’s school! You can’t just not go with the system. This is my future we’re talking about. I’ll never become anything if I eschew the system. I’d be lost and adrift and I’d have nothing!” Todd exclaimed as he rubbed his temples.
“This is my future were talking about.” Todd rubbed his temples. “It’s going to take so many assignments just to keep up. If I want out before the first midterms, I’ll have to hit every assignment with no less than a ninety-seven percent, and take on as many extra-”
“Time for the only class that matters: magic class.” Frissini cut in. He cleared several items from the counter to make space and nearly knocked Todd’s tablet off of his desk.
“Careful, I’m using that for something.”
“This is magic store not computertarium. Also, I wasn’t joking about that magic class thing. You’re my first student. Tuition bill will be in the mail.” Frissini took out a deck of cards. “You’ve been working on the card teleportation.”
“I’ve gotten pretty good at it actually.” Todd said.
“Let’s not get carried away.” Frissini cut the decks. “First you learn the sleight of hand.” He revealed a two of clubs on the top of the left pile, placed it down, tapped it, then snapped his fingers. He lifted the top card of the pile on the right to reveal the two of clubs. “Then you learn trick.” Frissini removed the top card from both piles and placed a coin on top of the pile on the right. He put a slight bend in the two of clubs and the face down card on the left. Once again he tapped both piles and snapped his fingers. He flipped over the top card on the left and revealed the two of clubs again, but the penny was underneath.
“Wow.” Todd said. Frissini held up a finger.
“Finally, you learn the magic.” He walked around the counter and gave him two quick raps with the back of his hand to Todd’s chest. Frissini returned to the other side of the counter and motioned towards his neck. Todd pulled his school lanyard out; attached to the end was a five of diamonds with a slight bend. He looked up at Frissini as the old man picked his school ID up from the pile of cards on the right. “Terrible photo.” Frissini said.
“How?” Todd asked, breathless.
“I just explained it to you, maybe you do belong in the class for stupids.” Frissini handed Todd a broom and walked off towards the store room in the back. Despite himself, Todd let out a short laugh. This time last year, he already underwater with his studies at Viltburg, with no sign of surfacing any time soon; never in a million years would have believed he’d have the time or desire to even humor some old magician, let alone learn from him. That Todd would be in the midst of a conniption over all the wasted free time, and even though the current school situation was like a hung over him like a spectre, Todd felt strangely relaxed; at least for the moment.
The bell rang as someone entered the store and Todd looked up to greet them. “Welcome to-oh Viktor. What are you doing here?”
“Is this place safe?” Viktor asked as he turned around to look through the nearest window. “Is it secure?”
“We haven’t been robbed before, that I know about.” Todd said.
“I’ve been trying to get in to contact all day, but I’ve been forced to keep my distance. Hall monitors, our large friend, everyone on high alert. Did your teacher provide any useful information?”
“Dunno. He’s not my teacher anymore.” Todd said sulkily.
“Jun didn’t say?”
“I haven’t spoken to him.” Todd said with a shrug.
“Todd, after what we saw yesterday...we need to be ready to move.” Viktor said, frustration evident in his voice. An alert chimed from Todd’s tablet.
“Move? You mean like tell someone? Or get some help?”
“Todd, things are already way worse than Viltburg and we’re the only ones who can do anything.” Viktor warned as an alert chimed from Todd’s tablet.
“I can’t risk letting something happen to Sa-students, the students, but what exactly are two honors students, albeit one with some abilities, going to do?”
“Gentlemen.” Todd and Viktor turned to look at the doorway. Jun stood with the Codex Mysterium held out towards them. “I hope you’ve got a clear schedule. We’ve got some reading to do.”