3.1 Initiation
"It would be best to start off this relationship on the right foot," it said.
It was a figure covered head to toe with black and gray armor. Its head was covered by a dark reflective faceplate and a voice modulator covered over any identifying characteristics of the speaker's voice.
"Look," I said, "I was helped by some people that you consider bad and want me to give more information about. Since they're literally the only friends I've made on this entire world, I'm disinclined to do so for obvious reasons. If you want, we can just pretend that I came here directly."
The figure was silent, undoubtedly hoping I would want to fill the silence. I looked at the one-way mirror on the wall behind it. It could be receiving instructions from its superiors behind that glass.
I shifted my legs underneath me on the cold metal chair. It was comfortable enough.
I waited.
"Your full cooperation will ensure that things go better for you," it said.
I rolled my eyes and waited. Ordis had been reading the PRT's SOP for dealing with case 53's and this wasn't it. It was understandable for an organization as large as the PRT to have a few bad apples and a few mishandled situations.
That didn't mean I had to be steamrolled by this asshole, though. I'd just wait for the bureaucratic wheels to turn and the right person to be sent in here with me.
It took longer than I had hoped, and wasn't in the exact for I had expected.
Asshole had left and I had waited in the room alone for quite some time before she entered. She opened the door cautiously and smiled at me. Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail and her face bore plenty of smile and frown lines.
"Hello," she said, "my name is Andrea and I've been assigned your case, would you mind if I confirm a few details with you?"
I nodded as she sat down across from me and set some files on the table.
"So you have no memories before last night?" she asked.
"No," I said.
Andrea glanced around.
"Any idea why they put you in an interrogation room?" she asked.
I shook my head.
"Well," she said, "I hope you found a good place to hunker down until you came here."
I nodded.
"I ended up at the Palanquin," I said. "It was nice."
Andrea's eyes riveted onto my face and then bounced around the interrogation room.
"Fuck me," she muttered, "have they been interrogating you about Faultline's Crew in here?"
I nodded.
"Shortsighted pricks," she said, "I'll get us into a more proper arrangement."
With that, she stood and left.
Within a few minutes, she returned, grabbed her files and gestured to me.
"Come one, then," she said.
She led me through a few hallways and into an open waiting area with a few couches and chairs. As I curled up in a chair, Andrea's eyes were drawn to my ill-fitting clothes. They were gifts from Elle but were too small, mostly.
"We'll see about getting you some better fitting clothes after this interview," said Andrea. "Before we start, though, I'd like to know how you're feeling. If you're a bit overwhelmed, which is entirely within reason, we can board you for a day or two before starting."
"Actually," I said, "I'd really like to get this part of things over with and get things started."
"Also very reasonable," she said. "The first thing we'll do is put you through some written evaluations. There are no wrong results for this, it will just help us determine your educational level and make a guess at your age. Once we have that information, we can start making decisions about your education, your options for integration into the world at large and/or the PRT and other important matters. Are you up for the tests now?"
I nodded and was quickly given a large packet of paper and a pencil.
"Would the Operator like assistance with assuring beneficial outcomes on this assessment?" Ordis asked in my ear.
I thought about it for a moment. There was no doubt that Ordis could access the system and help me game my answers to guarantee whatever outcome I wanted. It was tempting to control the impressions this institution would have of me.
"I've already decided not to hide my abilities from them," I subvocalized. "And I'm in this mostly for relationships. That starts with showing as much of my real self as possible. Me not fitting right in their molds will make it less of a surprise if I ever get to the point of bringing someone in on the full truth."
"Understood, Operator," said Ordis.
I finished a simple mathematics question on orbital mechanics only to be confronted with one asking me to identify the shape of a seemingly random ink blot.
"I wouldn't be opposed to any insight you can offer into what this test is measuring," I said.
"In addition to the educational and age assessments that were mentioned," said Ordis, "It contains elements from many different personality assessments commonly used on this world. These form the beginnings of the psychological profile the PRT will keep on you, but their results will also be made available to you as potential clues to your origin."
"That makes a degree of sense, I suppose," I said.
It took several hours to complete the test. Andrea had stopped by every half hour to check on me and brought varying refreshments. I sipped at some tea but left alone the food that I didn't really need.
Now I just awaited the results.
"I'm bored," I muttered, "is anything interesting going on up there?"
"Well, besides my always interesting interactions with the roundtable," I stifle a wince, "your PHO PRT friend has responded."
"Yes?" I prompted.
"Let's see here," said Ordis, "fairly standard encouragement to come in for questioning. Gratitude for reaching out, oh, and an inquiry as to how they're supposed to confirm the warnings you've given them about Void fissures. Reasonable of them to not take the word of someone who has only antagonized them and offered no proof to back up their claims. A good planner may have foreseen that and dealt with it ahead of time."
I rolled my eyes.
"I've been busy," I said. "I guess we can build them something to measure some of these exotic effects, the foundry will be done with Trinity soon enough."
"I will prepare some options for your perusal," said Ordis.
Before I could wander onto a new tangent, Andrea entered with a different stack of folders in her arms. She sat on a comfy chair across from my couch and laid her payload on the coffee table between us.
"I know you're probably tired of me asking," she said, "but how are you feeling?"
"A little antsy," I admitted. "I'd like to start making decisions and getting things really moving."
"Oh, then I've got just the thing," she said.
She slid a folder across the table to me. I flipped it open and saw the results of my testing.
"To summarize," she said, "you've got an odd educational background. Excellent math, science, and logical skills, but very little in the way of writing, history, or even cultural savvy. Our best guess is that you come from relative isolation, perhaps home-schooling. Maybe your guardians were influenced by some sort cultural or religious conservatism and 'protected' you from outside influence."
"That makes sense," I said.
"Going forward," she said, "there are some options. Educationally, getting private tuition through the PRT is the best option. Learning will be customized to your needs, which are quite non-standard, and you'll be able to catch up quite quickly, I imagine. Frankly, that's the best educational option for anyone that can take it.
"Your education is important, but it is not your whole life. We can also enroll you in any of the local schools. Arcadia High will give the greatest quality of classes and extracurriculars, while Winslow High due to its sheer size, has more scheduling flexibility. Immaculata will offer a medium option.
"Depending on how well the bureaucracy treats you, you may also be able to mix and match private tutoring with public extracurriculars. Unofficially, I'm sure that greater flexibility is given to those who offer their services to the Wards.
"If I were to speculate," she continued, "I might suggest that even if someone had already decided to join the Wards that it might be more prudent to hold off on signing up until that someone was offered exactly what they want. Within reason, of course."
Was she actually-
"Additionally, some people may try to push you to have or not have a secret identity. Their impulses may be largely determined by how much work it will make for them. I'd encourage you to consider the issue and make your own decision. Trust me when I tell you that hiding your non-standard body from casual detection is well within the PRT's ability.
"Oh, and this file," she pulled one off the top of her stack, "contains your psych profile. It was built off of portions of your evaluation and is restricted to your caseworker, that's me, the PRT Director, Emily Piggot, and your immediate superiors, should you join the Wards. Official policy is not to give subjects access to their own psych profiles, so don't read it. If you'll excuse me, I need to visit the bathroom for a few minutes. I might take my union-mandated break after that."
With that, she left.
I glanced down at the folder and smiled. It appeared that I already had a friend or at least an advocate.
Vote #1: Void Education
How will we Corroborate our Warnings about the Void Fissures?
[] Send Blueprints for Void Detection Equipment
[] Build a Black-boxed Void Fissure Detector
[] Stress the Seriousness of the Situation
[] Don't Respond
[] Write-in
Vote #2: Non-Void Education
What do we want to push for in our upcoming negotiations, er, meetings? Please try to be in-caharacter in your voting. Opera doesn't know about who attends what school (she hasn't even bothered to research New Wave and what schools their underage members might attend).
[] Public School
[] Arcadia
[] Immaculata
[] Winslow
[] Private Tutoring
[] Private Tuition, Public Extracurricular
[] Arcadia
[] Immaculata
[] Winslow
[] Write-In
Vote #3: Secret Identity
[] Another persona? Yes, please!
[] I have enough secret identities. Um. I mean I just want to have this one openly parahuman identity. This is definitely the only identity I am currently managing.
Vote #4: Guile(less)
[] Open the folder. Advocate for yourself and pursue your interests.
[] Don't open the folder. Be upfront about your desire to join the Wards and trust the system to take care of you.
[] Write-In
