It was time for a biology lesson with Professor Trevor Prier. For the science periods in our schedule, there was no specified subject. One of the science teachers would take the period and deliver their lesson plan to the students, with a minimum number being expected by the end of the year. The reasoning was that most of them were still tenured researchers and lecturers with other commitments. Professor Prier was one of the few who were employed full-time by the academy, so it was no surprise that he was the first of the tutors we would meet. The first lesson was decent – with plenty of demonstrative examples and metaphors to help us understand, though that effort was wasted on someone like me.

My advanced, twenty-first-century education meant that most of it was elementary at best. The problem was that Prier had singled me out as the best option when none of the other students could answer one of his questions. I’d always answer them correctly, thus confirming his methodology and making him more likely to ask me again in the future. He had gone to the well four times during our first lesson. Talia found it hilarious. She was already teasing me about it before he entered the lecture hall.

“Time for another lesson from Professor Walston-Carter,” she mused.

“Hopefully not. Would it not be better if the others had a chance to confirm their learning?”

She just laughed at me, “We’d be here all day if that was the case. No offence, but some of the people here aren’t the brightest. Even the Professor has a schedule to keep.”

I opened my notebook and changed the topic, “You never said anything about your brother teaching the magic class.”

“You never asked. You can’t expect me to give you all of the details when you always avoid talking with everybody. He’s a real honour student, and he has a marriage lined up when he gets out of here too.”

“A marriage?”

“It’s another student, her name’s Beatrice Booker.”

The name was familiar. Booker was a surname you’d see associated with big business within the city. They had their fingers in a lot of different pies, and marrying into them would be important to anyone with a strategy to increase their influence and wealth like their Father. Arranged marriages were nothing unusual in this world. In the game, they were often the source of the interpersonal drama that drove many storylines.

“Interesting. Does he like her?”

“Well enough,” Talia responded, “I don’t think they’re going to be at each other’s throats if that’s what you mean. They’re just lucky that they can stand each other. Most arranged marriages aren’t like that at all. I think Beatrice was the one who had the final say on whether to agree to it. Her Father does whatever she wants.”

Our discussion ended with the arrival of the Professor. He was a strange-looking man with a long face, bleached-white hair and a pair of round spectacles. He liked to wear coloured sweaters and bow ties. He placed his books down on the podium and clapped his hands together to demand the room’s attention. He spoke with a jaunty and enthusiastic cadence, “Good morning everyone. I hope that you all took the time to retrace the content we covered last week, as I’d like to plough right ahead and move on to the next!”

I found the previous lesson rather dull – but I shouldn’t have expected too much. For many children, this was the first whiff of education they ever experienced outside of the home. I’d estimate that the content of the curriculum was a few years behind where I expected it to be for our age. I could coast through most of the questions and lectures just by using my memory of High School.

When the lesson was over an hour later, everyone made a mad dash for the exit. Even my dedicated fan club decided against approaching me when isolated. They didn’t want to hear another word about photosynthesis. Before I could join them and leave the lecture hall, Trevor pulled me aside and asked to speak with me. He flashed a toothy grin, “I’m very impressed with your knowledge, Maria. Did you take private lessons before coming here?”

“No. I simply found myself spending a lot of time in the library back home.”

“If you ever feel like giving me a hand wrangling these kids, please feel free to ask! I’m sure that a lady like you could hold their attention much better than I ever could.” He laughed sardonically at his own joke, “Well – it’s their loss at the end of the day. If they don’t get their money’s worth during their time here, there’s nothing I can do about it. I try to make these lectures as exciting as I can, but it’s an uphill battle.”

I recalled something minor from the game. One of the first ‘events’ that the player had a major choice in revolved around Claudius needing a tutor to help him study biology. Samantha would be approached by the teacher and asked to help, giving the player a choice between starting his route or avoiding it. If not, Maria would do it instead and cause some trouble by whispering a few lies in his ear. The biology teacher was not an important character in the visual novel, so his name and appearance were never revealed. This was clearly the first step in forcing me to give him a hand.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Is there a reason you wanted to speak with me, Professor?”

He chuckled, “You’re too wise to let me go with just that. I was hoping that you could offer a helping hand to Claudius. I’ve already asked Samantha to assist him, but she has her own studies to worry about too. I’d feel much more confident if you were to help him since you seem so ahead of the curve already.”

I didn’t hate Claudius, but he didn’t make much of an impression on me when I played the novel. I nodded and half-shrugged to signal my mixed feelings on his request, “I’ll see what I can do. But Claudius tends to be more occupied reading detective serials and crime reports than doing his assignments.”

Trevor smiled and patted me on the shoulder, “I’m sure you’ll get through to him somehow. That’s all I wanted to say. Thank you for another great lecture, Miss Carter.”

I bowed my head and took my leave into the main corridor. Talia was waiting for me by the window. She approached and quirked a brow, “Did he have something to say to you?”

“He just asked me to help Claudius study.”

“What? That’s supposed to be his job.”

I nodded in agreement, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. The issue isn’t of Claudius’ intelligence, but rather his willingness to engage with a subject that doesn’t arouse his interest.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I have a few ideas,” I said ominously.

I knocked on Claudius’ door that evening and waited for him to open it. When he appeared through the frame, I noted that he was already halfway through untying his ascot and getting dressed for bed.

“Is this a bad time?”

Claudius hadn’t expected me to show up. I was too frosty to make a friendly call to another person’s room like this. He sputtered and quickly buttoned his shirt to try and conceal his chest from me. “N-No, there’s never a bad time. A detective always has to be ready, you know?”

“But you’re not a detective. You’re a student.”

Claudius tapped his temple with his finger, “It’s training. You have to be in the right mindset at all times! You never know when a major crime is going to occur, or if a vital clue appears within your periphery.”

“The biology Professor asked me to whip you into shape,” I said, crossing my arms and giving him an impatient look. His face turned inwards like he had just started sucking on a lemon. “If you wouldn’t like my assistance, you need only say so.”

Claudius clenched his teeth and sighed, “Ugh. My Dad told me that I’ll be in serious trouble if I don’t do this earnestly. It’s not my fault that the lessons are so dull. Maybe the Professor should bring some more pictures or examples for us to look at.”

“Not everyone has a resistance to crime scene photos like you do...”

He chewed on my offer for a little longer before conceding and grabbing his blazer from behind the doorway.

“Alright. I’ll hear you out, but it better be a compelling lecture this time, or I’ll swear off biology for the rest of my days.”

I led him across the hall and into the lounge, a dedicated study and common area for the students staying in the academy. There were several bookshelves filled with content from the general courses, as well as a roaring fireplace, tables, couches and more. It had everything I needed to try and bring Claudius on side. We took one of the empty tables near the fire and I started leading him towards my desired conclusion. Claudius only cared about one thing; being a master detective. I needed to tie his love of crime stories into biology, and there was an obvious avenue for me to reach it. I gave him a second to settle in before starting my pitch.

“You know, there are a lot of moving pieces when it comes to solving a crime.”

That caught his attention. If he had the ears of a dog, they’d be standing on end.

“Yes, that there is.”

“What all of those crime serials fail to explore is the modern reality of police work. They all rely on the belief in the power of one individual, a brilliant mind unrestrained by the same strain of logic as the rest of us. But one person cannot hope to educate themselves in every field, and as time passes the methods by which the police hunt these criminals down will become more sophisticated.”

Claudius grumbled, “That’s what my Dad keeps telling me too. He laughed when I said I’d just learn how to do all of those things for myself.”

“I’m not trying to make fun of you, Claudius. I think it’s rather admirable that you have a goal in mind. I don’t even have a future that I wish to seek for myself. The point I’m making is that your effort will pay dividends in the end, and that if you wish to become a great detective, you must keep on the cutting edge of their investigative techniques. And that is where biology comes in.”

“Biology?”

“Not every criminal will leave a convenient trail of clues leading to their ultimate defeat, Claudius. When things are too difficult for the eye to discern, the sciences will be utilised to level the playing field. Biology is just one of them. In the future – biology will be an essential part of capturing criminals. It can be used to match blood samples from a crime scene, for example.” Claudius oohed at my description of this ‘hypothetical’ technology, completely unaware of the fact that this was something that would genuinely arrive in the near future.

There was not a single speck of scepticism in his response, “That sounds amazing.”

“All living beings follow a similar set of principles. If you’d like to be a detective, learning about how the human body works will be essential to determining a cause of death.” I opened one of the books I had brought with me and displayed a diagram of the human body, pointing to the veins and organs that had been helpfully labelled for us. “Each one of these pieces serves an important function. If something goes wrong with one of them, it could lead to injury, illness or death.”

While I dove into my explanation about the importance of physiology, Claudius stared at me with a surprised look on his face. I was halfway through the page until I finally noticed and paused to let him catch up, “Is something wrong?”

He coughed and turned away, “Oh. I was just thinking, you’re a pretty good teacher. I wasn’t expecting you to do all of this just for me.”

I frowned, “I’m not above helping someone when they ask.”

“I appreciate it. I was listening to the whole thing, let’s keep going.”

I left it at that and went through my lecture, I even managed to include some of the botany subjects that Trevor had gone through without totally losing him. When the human biology unit arrived, Claudius was going to be leagues ahead of everyone else. I just hoped that it would ignite a curiosity in him that didn’t need me to keep burning.