Angus Ticklewater had been the dean of Harvard University (seventeenth campus) for twenty-five years. He wakes up everyday at five AM, puts on one of his suits, his wife kisses him goodbye, he sits on his chair and he does nothing. In a way it’s the perfect job, all he has to do is make money and watch kids “learn”. Of course every once in a while one of the Masters in the school goes crazy or a kid does something monstrous to another but besides that nothing to do.

At seven AM he got an email, well that’s not really true, the message “appeared” on his computer screen accompanied by a shiny gold typeface.

At eleven AM (normalized space time for the planet), the student came into his office. He was good-looking but not in a model sort of way. Just had the kind of face that you want to look at, that you want to see smile, his eyes looked sunken and his cheekbones drew narrow lines along. He looked like shit.

“Sit. Do you want some water?” The kid nodded his head up and down. The kids always did, they never wanted to respond, always moving their heads. Angus tugged at his suit collar. It was so hot in here. Sweat pooled underneath his arm-pits, he probably stunk but he didn’t care.

Angus gave the boy a drink of water. He stared into his reflection.

“So we’ve received some news.” The boy looked at him. Sweat poured down his face, it got into his eyes, it stung.

“You’re letting me go right?” Angus nodded and then caught himself. They were letting him go.

“You’re fine with that? It’s not really under our control, you’ve always been a great student, Master Peppersbrook raved about letting you become her apprentice at the last staff meeting. Honestly.”

He paused and put his fat lips together. He moved them up and down, up and down, but a word wouldn’t escape. He wanted to say something, hoped that a word would come out of his mouth but nothing came.

“I’m fine with it. I don’t really care anyways. It’s all in the past, completely.” His cheeks were shallow, his lips were thin, his forehead was covered in yellow sweat, and yet his eyes moved, like little glistening wells.

“We here at Harvard care about our students, you know that right?” The kid nodded. Angus drummed his fingers on the desk. Angus licked his lips.

“Well I guess that’s it.”

Five minutes and twelve long pages of paperwork later, the kid left.

Angus looked out the window, the email still staring back at him from the computer screen, blinking. Toth would be mad, he’d walk into the big office building on Earth and she’d be sitting in her crisp black Armani suit with it’s gold trim, he’d tell her what happened, she’d nod, and he’d be fired the next day.

Angus looked out the window, it was a cloudless day in Amastria, people went on walks through the gardens, he should wear nicer suits, maybe tomorrow he wouldn’t even wear a suit at all, come to suit totally naked and have them all look at him. It wouldn’t really matter would it.

-

Poppy looked at the girl and smiled. She was pretty, freckles, brown hair, long muscular thighs that contorted as she crossed her legs, that kind of horse-face that he always liked in girls, at least he thought he did. He didn’t really know now. Everything was so muddled and he was so tired.

He knew that there was a before but he didn’t really know when it was, nor did he care. But yet he still had these impressions on the things that he liked and disliked. He disliked the coffee he was drinking now, and he liked the girl he was looking at. She smiled at him. Now they were both smiling at eachother, how cute.

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He remembered waking up, dusting himself off, looking around at people bustling around him on the campus, and walking right to the dean's office. These were things that he knew he had to do, inserted into his head like a little map by God, or at least a god.

After that, he took the shuttle off the planet-campus and onto the space station above. The school had paid for everything and yet they didn’t seem to want to talk to him, to tell him anything.

All that was left in his hands from his old life was a ruddy old watch and it’s ruddy old messages. None of which he, Poppy, cared about. The girl was wearing too much lipstick, or more that, the lipstick obviously didn’t fit her face or her outfit, that irked Poppy but he smiled and stared, and sipped his shitty coffee.

He had stopped in the coffee shop on a whim, or more out of having nothing at all to do and nowhere he really wanted to be. The coffee helped the tiredness, but only for a second. He probably looked like shit, his eyes probably drooped and made dark puddles in his face.

The girl got up, straightened her red skirt (it was a little too low), and walked over to him.

“You seem lonely.” She said sitting down on the chair next to him.

“I am. Well not lonely enough to be in my room but lonely.” Just talk talking.

“So uh, what brings you here. It’s hot as umm, it’s hot, and not a great time for coffee.” He said. She chuckled and brought out some more lipstick and put some on, it was purple lipstick, who wears purple lipstick and a red skirt.

“I have work, this is the only place that sells coffee anywhere close to me. So I’m here. I also decided I didn’t have anything better to do, so I’m here, talking to you.” She said the last part real slow, enunciating each word like she was talking to a child.

“I saw you looking at me. Boys always have a look when they’re looking at me. They start at the neck, then to the tits, and then to the ass, and then to the legs. Never the face first. You looked at the face first, you’re special. God it’s fucking hot today.” She had sweat stains on her shirt. Sweat dripped down her face, it stained her hair, she was covered.

“Yeah I was looking. That’s true.” He nodded.

“Yep it is true.” They both stared at each other.

“It’s my first time here.”

“Yeah I can tell.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well you just look like it’s your first time here.”

“Is that an insult?” He said with a little enunciation.

“No, not at all. It’s better not to be from here. It sucks.” She said, staring out onto the street. Poppy sipped his coffee. It was cold. He decided that he didn’t like lukewarm coffee.

“I’ve lived here my whole life and it’s just too fast for me. Like one time my parents took us down to a park on the planet below. One of those pay per day places where you can set up an old-fashioned tent and camp. We didn’t camp of course.” She smiled as she said that last bit.

“No, we stayed in one of the fancy places that they built for people who were too lazy and too modern to camp. Everyday I would go out and I would just feel an immense sense of fulfillment. The nature like all around me and holy fuck this is perfect.”

“Why don’t you leave the city? I would just leave.” Poppy said. Neither of them looked at each other. Poppy looked at a spot on the door, but he was thinking while he looked.

“Work and laziness.”

“Good reasons.”

“Great reasons.”

“What do you do?” He asked but he didn’t really care, just wanted to fill the Quaker silence that she had left in the conversation.

“I work for the oldest Master in the city. I manage his production and schedule. Among other things.”

“You’re a secretary?” She looked down and nodded.

“That’s cool, really cool. Yep cool. Totally great.” So the conversation lulled to a stop.

“You should come with me to work. I think it would do you good.” She touched her lips, prodded them between her fingers as she said it.

She was nervous. He could tell that. It was a weird offer.

“I mean, I’m not really doing anything.” He said.

“Ok let’s go.” She said, getting up and walking out. He stood in his seat. After a minute she came back.

“Get up, get up, it was an invitation.” He stood up and looked at her. They walked out together.