Tarry Bennett
He was still mulling over his conversation with Eli from earlier that day when his assistant rushed into his office.
“Urgent report for you, sir,” he said, “It’s from one of the satellite agricultural spheroids off of the ninth borough.”
Tarry looked up. “What seems to be the issue?”
“Well, they’ve been having unusual weather,” his assistant responded, almost sounding embarrassed.
Tarry rubbed his forehead. It had been a long enough day as it was and he struggled to fight the urge to respond with “So what?”
“Unusual… weather?” was what he managed to ask instead.
“Yes sir. Local meteorologists had been tracking it to see if it was something they could handle but, unfortunately, they've sounded the alarm that it's outside of their abilities to control. It seems like it’s steadily become hazardous.”
He fought the urge to groan. On top of everything else unprecedented weather was the last thing he needed to worry about.
“And the Meteorology Guild cannot handle it themselves?” he clarified.
“No sir. They said that they’d exhausted their efforts to try and curb it. It seems like it’s behaving in ways that they cannot control and they’re concerned about what it means for local food supplies. They're requesting the help of the Conductors' Guild.”
“Shit. I suppose there’s only one way out of this,” he conceded with a sigh. He picked up the phone with a sigh and dialed Abigail’s direct line to her office.
Loath though he was to engage with the Grandmasters right now some things were unavoidable. Operational needs took precedence and Occaigh was his responsibility; it was up to him to be the one to ask for assistance.
"Perhaps working on a mutual goal unrelated to the collapses might be helpful for the strained relationships of late," his assistant offered hopefully.
It was a nice thought but somehow he doubted it.
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Olly Briggs
“I told you Atmospheric Forces wasn’t going to be boring!” Sarah gloated as they left the classroom.
Olly only half-agreed. The subject matter was dreadfully boring in his mind. He didn’t really care about the magic that drove weather science or day-night cycles. As far as he was concerned the magic was there, it was controlled, and it was none of his business. However, he needed a final elective, and Sarah’s convincing for him to take this class with her won out in the end. Both she and Bowen were taking it and Olly would be remiss to avoid taking a class with his 'Academy Support System'.
They had started referring to themselves as such as in the last week. He was onboard until Odette pointed out that it abbreviated to A.S.S. He tried to dissuade them from using it but that only led to them doubling down harder and referring to themselves as 'his A.S.S.' He usually met them with a stony-faced look that sent them into raucous laughter. They loved that joke.
“I still think it’s boring. And besides, how can we help? The Meteorologists have their own Guild so why are they coming to us?” he responded doubtfully.
“Dunno. Maybe they found something of interest to the Guilds,” Sarah shrugged.
At the beginning of that day's class, Grandmaster Abigail was waiting in the classroom to everyone’s surprise. She was there to introduce what she called a valuable learning opportunity in the field. They would be permitted to leave the Academy to attend an onsite investigation into some unusual weather patterns taking place in a spheroid just off of Occaigh.
The excursion was in two days and he mentally took stock of all his activities. He had a lab session tonight, several quizzes tomorrow, and an essay due by week’s end. He almost excused himself from going given that it wasn’t mandatory until Abigail mentioned that it would give participants extra credit that they could apply as a bonus to their final grades.
Olly was not in a position to turn down extra credit. Besides, going back to see Occaigh was always welcome in his mind. Both Sarah and Bowen were also in. Odette didn’t immediately sign up and instead opted to think about it. Olly could see her perspective; she had been much closer to the face of danger and he didn’t blame her one bit.
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He was admittedly somewhat apprehensive. And seemingly so were some of his classmates. Things at the Academy still didn’t feel normal, nor did he expect them to so quickly after the tragedy, and they were all still reeling from the trauma. Leaving the perception of safety that the Academy provided was not high on most students’ lists at the moment. Abigail had pitched it as the opportunity to reclaim a bit of normalcy and suggested it might be helpful to everyone’s healing. She also emphasized they were taking the utmost safety precautions and that no harm would come to anyone.
“We do learn about weather patterns and how it impacts civilizations so it’s not entirely out of our wheelhouse,” Bowen chimed in, “And it’s helpful to be able to predict what local weather is like when we’re mapping out new loci.”
Olly grumbled in begrudging agreement.
“You don’t have to come if you don’t think it’s interesting,” Sarah said in a sing-songy voice.
“No, I’m coming. I need the credit. But I withhold the right to find it boring!” he stubbornly insisted.
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When he walked into the lab that evening he was somewhat surprised to find it a lot fuller than normal. Usually, he’d enter and see either Brandon or Steven waiting for him. Sometimes neither were present and he’d alone wait until one of them arrived. Today he was startled to see both Grandmasters Abigail and Franklin, Brandon, and Steven. They were in conversation but stopped as he walked in.
He wondered if he should apologize and leave but Abigail waved him inside. “Olly, come on in,” she said warmly.
“Should I come back at another time?” he asked awkwardly.
“No, no, sorry for the surprise but we were waiting for you,” she explained and pulled up a lab stool beside her.
He took the seat and looked around. Everyone looked exactly as they normally did. Franklin carried his usual look of being distinctly unimpressed, although it seemed slightly muted this time. Brandon was as affable as ever. Steven looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here but that was par for the course when he was in crowds.
Olly felt slightly uncomfortable as they watched him. He wondered if he had done something wrong because they seemed slightly expectant.
“I didn’t have anything prepared. Is this a test?” he asked half-jokingly.
Abigail and Brandon laughed. “Sorry mate, we didn’t mean to put you on the spot. It’s just that you’re a bit of an enigma. I promise we won’t make too much of a lab rat out of you.”
Olly didn’t know what that meant but didn't love the way it sounded.
“I was just admiring how you’ve matured since you’ve come here. You seem more sure of yourself. I also wanted to check in and see how you were doing since the attack,” Abigail said sincerely.
“I’m fine. I really only came in at the end,” he said. All things considered he wasn’t someone who faced that much trauma. He hoped people who experienced worse parts of the attack were offered the same courtesy.
“Don’t be so modest. It was a far greater gesture than turning tail and fleeing,” Abigail said coyly.
Franklin took the bait. “I made an assessment that was in the best interest of our Academy and the Guilds. The students were safe and handing myself over to meet who-knows-what kind of harm would have been exceedingly foolish!” he said hotly.
“Yes, yes. I’m not here to exchange barbs, Franklin,” she said a little dismissively as if she wasn't the one who started it, “Though you are probably wondering why we’re all here, Olly. Apart from wanting to make sure you were alright, I did want to run something by you. As Brandon said, you’re an enigma. You have an interesting set of abilities and I have seen firsthand how valuable they are. You have the makings to be great and I want to help you reach that greatness. To do that, with Franklin’s permission, I’ve engaged Brandon and Steven to continue helping you on a more frequent basis. I think you’ll find that the lab tests will include more advanced magic-wielding abilities than you're exposed to in your practicum but I have no doubt you can handle it. In exchange, Franklin has agreed to be more lenient with your coursework. You will need to maintain the basics, of course, but I believe your abilities more than speak for themselves.”
Olly was stunned and before he could formulate a response Franklin chimed in. “I should impress upon you that I am skeptical of the idea of savants. However, I am willing to indulge in Grandmaster Abigail’s schemes while I am serving as Headmaster if there are greater gains to be found that will support this institution and our Guilds. I still expect you to continue putting effort into your coursework, however. Is that understood?”
“Yes… sir,” he said weakly.
“Good. Then I will only say that I expect great things from you. If you are as skilled as Abigail says then I suppose I have no choice but to offer you the chance to prove my skepticism wrong.”
It was as close as Olly would get to any sort of approval from Franklin.
“So it’s settled. Olly, you’re going to be an incredible Conductor. I expect to see you rising in ranks very quickly,” Abigail gushed before getting up, “I’ll leave you to it. You’re coming out to the field trip to investigate weather patterns, yes?”
“Yes Grandmaster,” he agreed.
“Excellent,” she smiled widely, “Come along, Franklin. Let's get some of that boring official business out of the way while I'm here.”
Brandon shook his head after they left. “It’s clear whose really in charge. Alright, mate, Steven and I are going to plan your ongoing extra-curricular lab sessions. We won’t do anything tonight so just take it as a freebie. From here on out the sessions will become more rigorous but we’re here with you every step of the way. Any questions?”
Olly felt like his head was spinning. “No… I think I’ve got it.”
“Perfect, then we’ll see you on the field trip! We’ll be there to conduct some tests so don’t be a stranger. It’ll be fun, you’ll see!”
Olly exchanged a glance with Steven. It was imperceptible but Olly swore that there was some conflict behind his expression. He looked away quickly and Olly let that thought die. He weakly bid them goodbye and then made his way back to his dorm.
He realized, upon reflection, that he hadn’t actually been provided a choice in the matter.