Why the GNA sent coordinates and didn't just say 'go to the Alvis Wiseman Memorial High School cyberworld' was a mystery, as CourseMan would simply wind up in the cyber version of the school's main foyer. It looked like a rather typical school foyer, with links to the office area, the main hallways, and several shelves worth of trophies, all strongly resembling the real thing. Strangely, if one took a moment to check them out, they'd notice that, despite being named after a man named Wiseman, almost all of them were for athletics, particularly in baseball and softball. Most of the awards looked fairly old, though there were a couple of new plaques: '20XX Second Team All-South Netopian HS Softball Defensive Team - Sabrina Jetto, Catcher', and '20XX South Netopia High School Programming Challenge Winner - Brendan Jetto'. Whoever those were.
Also there was a Navi impatiently waiting, and looking at some of the trophies out of boredom. He was fairly tall, with a black Navi suit, and torso armor with blue and white stripes. In the middle of that was his emblem, two cutlasses forming an X shape. His feet were clad in standard Navi blue boots, and while his left glove, which came up half his forearm, looked a bit tattered, it still managed to completely cover his hand. His right glove actually didn't exist, as instead of a right hand was a built-in sword, strongly resembling a pirate's cutlass. Unlike a regular cutlass, though, it glowed an unnatural blue.
Atop his head was a bandana-like helmet. As for his face...well, just about everything besides his eyes and nose was covered with a large black beard. Strangely, it definitely wasn't made of hair...it looked more like it was a big piece of metal someone welded to his face. A brief inspection would reveal that his left eye, if he even had one, was covered by an eye patch. Overall, it was probably a safe assumption that this was RaiderMan.
"Arr, where be that CourseMan fellow! If he don't appear soon, I'll have to be doing this job on my own, and that's just askin' to be keelhauled!"
...Very safe assumption.
Alvis Wiseman Memorial High School Cyberworld
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((From -> Jenny's Home))
"As much as I think you look stunning, Jenny, I really do have reservations about you going out at night dressed like that, at least, not for a couple more years." Courser was weighing up the relative value of spoiling her opinion of him against cautioning his operator on her final outfit choice. It was a tough decision to make, but in the end he could tell she was dressing for a look that she wasn't actually ready to play up to. Jenny herself was less convinced.
"Oh it's just for show, everyone knows that. Besides, I'm a grown woman, I can dress how I want."
"I suppose that's why you felt it was important to hide the whole outfit under your coat when you told your parents you were going out?"
"Shush. I just didn't want to worry them. You know they'd get all flustered and concerned; I'm just saving them that worry." She was pulling her PET out of her coat pocket a moment later, and Courser got a decent look of where they were; a park bench not too far from Wiseman Memorial High. He cast a glance to his operator, then sighed and rolled his eyes. There wasn't much sense pushing it, after all. It didn't look like she was going to end up in a red light district or a strip club or anything like that, either, so, her fashion choice was probably safe enough.
What she'd finally decided on, after a flurry of clothing changes, looked... well, in an older time, it might have been called libertine rave. Either that, or possibly something far less charitable and related to prostitution. Whether it was actually trendy or not, Courser really had no idea.
The hair had gotten pair of short pigtails, directed more backward than to the sides, and while she had forgone any overt makeup, he could tell she'd gone and slipped some light coloured lipstick from her parents room to pink up her lips just a little. Far from her normal, more casual wear, tonight she'd gone for a shoulderless pink top that bared the greater part of her chest, rising up to black-frilled cups that only actually held her in because of gravity. The rest of the top was tight, cutting away to black lace corseting at the sides and ending well above her navel. Along with it, she had a long-sleeve denim half-jacket; the sort that was never intended to be closed but just covered the arms and shoulders, with a back and front that seemed more vestigial than functional.
Below that she'd gone with a skirt that barely covered her thighs, made of soft fabric in bright shades that fanned through the spectrum all the way around, one colour per pleat. He'd also noticed on their way out that the silly girl had opted for a racy black thong, and her choice of top meant she probably wasn't wearing any bra at all; she only had one strapless bra that he knew of, it it covered more than her choice of top did. At least she still had the full coat with her, albeit stuffed away in a shoulder bag that also held her purse and a few other things; stubbornness was one thing, but he was sure she was going to begin to regret her choices before long.
"So... Um..." Maybe already. Her voice sounded, quite suddenly, a lot less certain than it had moments ago. "It was around here somewhere that the coordinates sent, right? It's a bit chilly out. I didn't realise while I was walking, but now that I've stopped it feels quite cold." She rubbed her hands together, setting the PET in her lap for a moment. "Hopefully we can get inside soon, whatever they want."
"Sorry I can't offer you anything to help with getting you warm, Jen. It would be my pleasure, otherwise. This should do, though. I'm not sure exactly where the co-ords will send me, but it's somewhere around here, and I can get a good signal on the high school's wireless from here, for a start. Send me in and I'll see where they actually want me, then maybe we can get you out of the cold." Looking up from where she'd rested the PET, Jenny's face was mostly blocked by, well, her chest, but she seemed more focused on blowing on her hands than him.
"The request said stuff about the operator as well, but it didn't really say that I'd be needed for anything. Maybe they'll just want you, and I can... you know, go to a coffee shop or something while you're busy?" She was sounding less and less sure of herself, now that she was here. Courser wasn't surprised; she'd gotten very headstrong initially, but the little he'd seen of Jenny so far told him that she got nervous without a group to be a part of, and being out on her own like this, without organising a handful of friends to go out with, was probably going to start doing a number on the poor girl, now that her initial stubbornness was fading.
"It's possible. Don't worry, ok? If the client has things that they'll need you to do to, at least you're here. They probably won't, you're right, but as much as you didn't want to listen before, now we can chalk it up to being prepared, alright? No harm done." He shrugged, though he knew she had no was of see, looking about as she was. "You probably made the right call, in the end, Jen. If the posting made mention of the operator specifically, then there's bound to be some level of interaction needed, I'm sure. Now, hang tight, and I'll find out exactly what we're in for, ok?"
Jenny picked up the PET again and looked at the screen, nodding to him. She grinned, at least, so she wasn't too worried yet. That was a good sign. He winked at her as she connected to the high school's wireless net and she looked back waiting until she remembered and a slight blush crossed her cheeks. Though that might actually be from the cold.
"Oh! Right, hehe, sorry. Jack in, CourseMan, execute." Her tone was quieter, more subdued, but he grinned and inclined his head to her in thanks before slipping into the school's net and activating the coordinate link they'd sent him.
====
As it turned out, the data made an almost seamless loop, dropping him back right where he'd first arrived to begin with, and it was a slightly confused Courseman that slipped out of the shadows between the various scholastic shelving and trophy cases, and into the main foyer.
He checked the data again, but it wasn't a broken link or a mis-direct; just a link that happened to send him right here anyway. Maybe Jen could have stayed home after all, unless they actually did need her for something. Dressed as she was, he would be concerned if it was anything even a little adult, especially if anyone tried to call her age into it, but there would hopefully be time enough to think on that later. First, there was the navi that must surely be his contact waiting, and apparently growing more agitated by the moment. He approached with a casual walk, hands behind his back and under his coat, with just a hind of the traditional admiral's swagger. It wasn't exactly conscious, so much as an inclination he found he'd been designed with.
"Evening there, captain. You look like you've found yourself tacked crosswise to the luff. Need a hand?" He raised one hand in a casual salute, keeping the other neatly behind his back as he did, then put on his best disarming grin. "RaiderMan, am I right? Call me Courser." He tilted his head, taking a moment to eye the other navi up and down quickly, then nodded to himself. "So, tell me the swell and the blow, and we'll get underway."
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"So, ye've finally arrived..." As he turned around, RaiderMan's gaze grew steelier and steelier, since in a shocking twist, dressing like some sort of naval officer was not a good way to impress a pirate-like Navi. "...What's the GNA thinkin', sending out someone like YOU? An insult to me buccaneer pride, 'tis what it is!"
A pop-up window appeared next to him; the figure was in a very poorly lit area, but the silhouette strongly resembled someone wearing a pirate captain's hat. "Arr, RaiderMan! Has the GNA sent a Navi yet?"
"Aye, cap'n, but-"
"But what? Does he not fit the criteria you gave?"
"Technically, he does, but-"
"Ya don't have to be drinkin' buddies, if they ruffle yer sails! But yer short on time, so if they fit, then say hello to yer temporary partner!"
"...Hmph."
"What was that, RaiderMan?!"
"...Aye aye, cap'n!" The pirate Navi saluted with his non-razor sharp hand, causing the man in the window to nod, then close it. He looked over at CourseMan, and took a good look. He clearly was still less than impressed. "...If the cap'n says yer me mate for the mission, then yer me mate for the mission. But don't be thinkin' we'll be best buds!" He let out a sigh, then started walking off...only to stop before the other Navi lost sight of him. "Our mission is simple! Apparently, someone's set up some hidden cameras in the lasses' swim team's locker room, and peepin' on 'em. The school wants someone to find out who it is, and fast, and that's us, tonight! And I know yer wonderin', why're a couple of outsiders handling this. A couple o' lasses on the swim team are from an absurdly wealthy family, that's made quite a few contributions the last several years. The principal's worried that if they knew this, they'd pull out their kids and their money, and that would be a major problem. So this is a hush-hush mission, it is! Don't ye forget that, or I'll run ya through! Now, I've been informed from security that the culprit tends to gather the footage data shortly after it's taped, so it's sittin' there as little as possible. The swim team should be finishing up shortly, so we'll need to head there right away, and then we'll set up an ambush for the scallywag responsible for this!"
"That's enough explainin' for now. If ye've got any questions, ye can ask on the way over!" RaiderMan motioned to CourseMan to follow. He still wasn't exactly giving him a friendly look, but he had at least softened a little. Hopefully he was, if nothing else, getting used to the idea of this particular team up.
A pop-up window appeared next to him; the figure was in a very poorly lit area, but the silhouette strongly resembled someone wearing a pirate captain's hat. "Arr, RaiderMan! Has the GNA sent a Navi yet?"
"Aye, cap'n, but-"
"But what? Does he not fit the criteria you gave?"
"Technically, he does, but-"
"Ya don't have to be drinkin' buddies, if they ruffle yer sails! But yer short on time, so if they fit, then say hello to yer temporary partner!"
"...Hmph."
"What was that, RaiderMan?!"
"...Aye aye, cap'n!" The pirate Navi saluted with his non-razor sharp hand, causing the man in the window to nod, then close it. He looked over at CourseMan, and took a good look. He clearly was still less than impressed. "...If the cap'n says yer me mate for the mission, then yer me mate for the mission. But don't be thinkin' we'll be best buds!" He let out a sigh, then started walking off...only to stop before the other Navi lost sight of him. "Our mission is simple! Apparently, someone's set up some hidden cameras in the lasses' swim team's locker room, and peepin' on 'em. The school wants someone to find out who it is, and fast, and that's us, tonight! And I know yer wonderin', why're a couple of outsiders handling this. A couple o' lasses on the swim team are from an absurdly wealthy family, that's made quite a few contributions the last several years. The principal's worried that if they knew this, they'd pull out their kids and their money, and that would be a major problem. So this is a hush-hush mission, it is! Don't ye forget that, or I'll run ya through! Now, I've been informed from security that the culprit tends to gather the footage data shortly after it's taped, so it's sittin' there as little as possible. The swim team should be finishing up shortly, so we'll need to head there right away, and then we'll set up an ambush for the scallywag responsible for this!"
"That's enough explainin' for now. If ye've got any questions, ye can ask on the way over!" RaiderMan motioned to CourseMan to follow. He still wasn't exactly giving him a friendly look, but he had at least softened a little. Hopefully he was, if nothing else, getting used to the idea of this particular team up.
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Courser had been at hedged bets whether the other navi would receive him well or not; appearance might put them at odds, but he had hoped their common mistress, in a world of much stranger things, might help. Still his reaction made it fairly clear which way the coin had fallen. Oh well. He moved with the pirate navi, keeping pace.
"I agree; if the wind's against us then best move while we talk." He walked alongside the other navi, but made sure he stayed just barely a half-step back, letting RaiderMan lead. "No questions as yet. It's your ship, so I'll follow your lead." He let a few moments of silence drift before glancing across to his new friend. "I can understand why you'd not care for my look, but I'm no law-man, if it helps. Better, perhaps, to think of me as, ah, a privateer, of sorts." He shrugged his shoulders and let his hands settle behind his back, under his coat again, as he walked. "Besides, you know what they say: 'The net is vast, and infinite'; anyone with salt in their blood is friend of mine, at least until they show otherwise."
While they walked, Courser received his own communication as well, though Jen's visual was as poor as RaiderMan's operator had been, getting late as it was.
"Courser? Have you met your contact yet? Where'd you end up? Somewhere warm? It's freezing out here, now that I'm sitting still." He fought off a small grimace. It wasn't exactly that she sounded her age, per se, but the manner of her delivery was quite indicative of enthusiastic youth and he couldn't help but think of the stipulation against children. Their client seemed edgy enough already.
"Yes, Jen. I'm travelling with our contact now; we're in the school itself. The task is something a bit covert though, so, for now, perhaps it would be best if you'd switch our communication to text only and private."
"Oh. Ok then. You'll let me know if you need me for anything, though, right? Can I at least wander in to the school's lobby while you work? It'll be heated. There's still late and evening classes going on, so it's not like it's deserted. No-one will notice me." At that question, Courser thought for a moment, then looked up to his companion.
"Would that be a problem? My op is close by, and to hand if she's needed for anything, but if her presence would be problematic I can ask her to stay away."
"I agree; if the wind's against us then best move while we talk." He walked alongside the other navi, but made sure he stayed just barely a half-step back, letting RaiderMan lead. "No questions as yet. It's your ship, so I'll follow your lead." He let a few moments of silence drift before glancing across to his new friend. "I can understand why you'd not care for my look, but I'm no law-man, if it helps. Better, perhaps, to think of me as, ah, a privateer, of sorts." He shrugged his shoulders and let his hands settle behind his back, under his coat again, as he walked. "Besides, you know what they say: 'The net is vast, and infinite'; anyone with salt in their blood is friend of mine, at least until they show otherwise."
While they walked, Courser received his own communication as well, though Jen's visual was as poor as RaiderMan's operator had been, getting late as it was.
"Courser? Have you met your contact yet? Where'd you end up? Somewhere warm? It's freezing out here, now that I'm sitting still." He fought off a small grimace. It wasn't exactly that she sounded her age, per se, but the manner of her delivery was quite indicative of enthusiastic youth and he couldn't help but think of the stipulation against children. Their client seemed edgy enough already.
"Yes, Jen. I'm travelling with our contact now; we're in the school itself. The task is something a bit covert though, so, for now, perhaps it would be best if you'd switch our communication to text only and private."
"Oh. Ok then. You'll let me know if you need me for anything, though, right? Can I at least wander in to the school's lobby while you work? It'll be heated. There's still late and evening classes going on, so it's not like it's deserted. No-one will notice me." At that question, Courser thought for a moment, then looked up to his companion.
"Would that be a problem? My op is close by, and to hand if she's needed for anything, but if her presence would be problematic I can ask her to stay away."
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As he walked, RaiderMan looked back with his one definitely good eye at his mission assistant, though he didn't say anything until asked about whether Jen could warm up inside. The half open eye just screamed 'are you kidding me', but fortunately, he just let out a sigh instead of getting angry. "...Aye, so long as she doesn't go bringin' attention to herself, she can go in the lobby. Shouldn't be an issue. ...Turn to starboard here."
Before long, there stood two large doors, which happened to strongly resemble giant lockers. Each was labeled as the respective genders' locker room. ...Subtle, it was not. "There it is. Now, let's head in and-oof!" And thus did CourseMan watch a pirate Navi walk into a door. "...This is an outrage! They must not've given me that special clearance, 'cause yer SUPPOSED to be able to go right through that door, ye are! ...But here's not enough time to get it now. I'm gonna start a hack program so we can get inside. I figure the school can't get mad considerin' it's their fault I have to do it to begin with! 'Course, it's gonna look suspicious if someone walks by and sees me doin' it, so you can go keep an eye for anythin' walkin' by, and try and get 'em to go somewhere else! And remember, only a few know what we're really up to, and we have to keep it that way, so don't blow that, or I'm doin' this mission by meself, even if the cap'n doesn't like it!"
Fortunately, there was a short alcove separating the locker room entrances from the hall, so someone would have to get fairly close to see RaiderMan, who already had a hologram screen in front of him, working on getting in. The problem was, there was a Navi in the distance, and he appeared to have no intentions of not moving by. The Navi appeared to be clad from neck to toe in a pitch black robe...though once he got close, it'd be more evident that the robe was actually entirely thick Navi armor. On his chest was his emblem, a gavel tilted 45 degrees to the left. His arms extended just past the waist, with a gloved hand coming out of the left sleeve...and a rather large gavel-like hammer coming out of the right, that looked like it could seriously hurt if hit by it. As for his head...he appeared to have a long white wig worn by judges of yore, though in this case, it was a less a wig and more what was attached to his head. A long mustache extended down past his neck, but it didn't look real, like it was made out of plastic or something. His face wasn't much better, consisting of two somewhat large, but irisless eyes, and a mouth that looked like it'd be better suited on an old nutcracker than a Navi. It was extremely unlike he hadn't noticed CourseMan, but he didn't particularly pay him much heed, so if nothing else, he wasn't suspicious of him. For now, at least.
Before long, there stood two large doors, which happened to strongly resemble giant lockers. Each was labeled as the respective genders' locker room. ...Subtle, it was not. "There it is. Now, let's head in and-oof!" And thus did CourseMan watch a pirate Navi walk into a door. "...This is an outrage! They must not've given me that special clearance, 'cause yer SUPPOSED to be able to go right through that door, ye are! ...But here's not enough time to get it now. I'm gonna start a hack program so we can get inside. I figure the school can't get mad considerin' it's their fault I have to do it to begin with! 'Course, it's gonna look suspicious if someone walks by and sees me doin' it, so you can go keep an eye for anythin' walkin' by, and try and get 'em to go somewhere else! And remember, only a few know what we're really up to, and we have to keep it that way, so don't blow that, or I'm doin' this mission by meself, even if the cap'n doesn't like it!"
Fortunately, there was a short alcove separating the locker room entrances from the hall, so someone would have to get fairly close to see RaiderMan, who already had a hologram screen in front of him, working on getting in. The problem was, there was a Navi in the distance, and he appeared to have no intentions of not moving by. The Navi appeared to be clad from neck to toe in a pitch black robe...though once he got close, it'd be more evident that the robe was actually entirely thick Navi armor. On his chest was his emblem, a gavel tilted 45 degrees to the left. His arms extended just past the waist, with a gloved hand coming out of the left sleeve...and a rather large gavel-like hammer coming out of the right, that looked like it could seriously hurt if hit by it. As for his head...he appeared to have a long white wig worn by judges of yore, though in this case, it was a less a wig and more what was attached to his head. A long mustache extended down past his neck, but it didn't look real, like it was made out of plastic or something. His face wasn't much better, consisting of two somewhat large, but irisless eyes, and a mouth that looked like it'd be better suited on an old nutcracker than a Navi. It was extremely unlike he hadn't noticed CourseMan, but he didn't particularly pay him much heed, so if nothing else, he wasn't suspicious of him. For now, at least.
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As soon as she got the all clear from Courser, in the form of silent text, Jenny picked herself up and made quickly for the, hopefully much warmer, entrance of the school. It was only a short walk, thankfully, and she was already beginning to regret her bold choice of clothing. Maybe something a bit plainer, more covering, and, most importantly, warmer would have been fine. Oh well.
A beautifully warm front of air greeted her as she made it through the doors, and she paused for a moment to revel in it before beginning to look about for a place to sit. Maybe she could find something to read that would help cover her being here, in case anyone asked? Jenny began to ponder what her cover story might be if she was questioned. CourseMan had said the job was a bit secret, after all. Maybe she could say she was thinking of changing schools? Not really something you'd come to inquire about late on a Friday evening, though. Another thought hit her as she looked around. That would do... it might even be something worth taking seriously, come to that.
--------------------
As grumpy as the old pirate seemed, Courser managed to keep a straight face as they encountered some slight technical difficulties. In truth, the first thought that occurred to the navi was how very immediate and concise the pirate's reaction was. His instinct said it was strange that he'd jump to such immediate outrage, and so swiftly then to a solution with no hint of surprise or shock at the turn. It made him wonder. The GNA didn't condone illegal activity and the client had promised that it wasn't, but... Courser did begin to wonder. There were a LOT of things that, if you looked for the loophole, were technically not illegal, after all.
Still, a mission was a mission, and whether his colleague and his operator had ulterior motives or not, one thing that the posting had been clear about was their ability to pay up. Since Jenny wasn't going to be watching them too closely, that was all that really mattered for now.
This brought Courser to the issue of covering RaiderMan's access hack. The best way, usually, to avoid attention was not to go out of your way to fend it off. Trying too hard to deflect suspicion was usually how people got caught out after all. Or so he had heard and read. He nodded to his ally, confirming the instructions, then moved a short way back up the hall, putting some distance between himself and RaiderMan, and incidentally moving closer to the arguably more imposing other navi. He put on a puzzled expression and looked around, then brought up a data screen in front of himself, leaving it transparent; anyone looking on would be able to see that he was looking at the high-schools public information pages, or links thereto. He looked tot he screen, then about himself again, before allowing his first decoy to slip out of a shadow on the wall opposite him.
"Did you find what she wants yet?" The clone spoke like he was impatient, and though his tone was muted, it was loud enough that the judge-looking navi would probably be able to catch the drift of what they were speaking about, just, if he was listening. Courser shook his head in response.
"No, sir. I can't make head nor tails of it. I don't know. See, if you look here..." He gestured to the screen but moved his head to look at his decoy as well. Amusingly, he had brought the screen up fixed to his line of sight, so it moved with his head and the decoy waved an annoyed hand, ducking around to his other side to get a proper look.
"Will you never learn?"
"Sorry. Force of habit, but look..." He pointed again, beginning to talk about how he couldn't work out where he was in relation to the site-map, but every twitch of his head or glance at his clone led to a brief, and slightly annoyed repositioning of the other. After a while, the decoy raised a screen of his own, for comparison, and the debate continued. It was another few moments before Courser concentrated and pulled out his second decoy, making three devilishly handsome rogues in the hallway now. It was more or less the limit of his illusion strength at the moment, but it was enough.
"Would you two hurry up? If we don't get her signed up to something tonight, you know we'll catch hell for it... Or at least, I will." The discussion shifted then from one of difficult path-finding, to exactly what they should try to sign their apparent operator up for, out of what the high-school apparently offered in terms of evening classes. Screens were closed while they spoke, then more were opened again for different reasons, now debating the merits of different evening and night-time fitness courses. Amongst the moving and shifting as each tried to point to different things one each others' displays, it very quickly became impossible to follow which one was the original Courser... even forgetting that each one would sometimes talk as if it were the original, and the others would respond correctly.
Between the three of them, caught up in their discussion about courses and where to sign on for them, and their various information screens, the CourseMan collective ended up creating a rather accidental barrier in the hall, and even if the rather severe-looking navi got intrigued enough to approach he would have to stop and interrupt them to go any further, if he was determined to do so; where they were now was well out of sight of RaiderMan's work, so even a worse-case outcome would still but the pirate what was, hopefully, enough time. Now, here was to hoping Raider would let him know when he was done with the hack in a way that was both silent and private, just in case their unwanted friend did make a pest of himself.
A beautifully warm front of air greeted her as she made it through the doors, and she paused for a moment to revel in it before beginning to look about for a place to sit. Maybe she could find something to read that would help cover her being here, in case anyone asked? Jenny began to ponder what her cover story might be if she was questioned. CourseMan had said the job was a bit secret, after all. Maybe she could say she was thinking of changing schools? Not really something you'd come to inquire about late on a Friday evening, though. Another thought hit her as she looked around. That would do... it might even be something worth taking seriously, come to that.
--------------------
As grumpy as the old pirate seemed, Courser managed to keep a straight face as they encountered some slight technical difficulties. In truth, the first thought that occurred to the navi was how very immediate and concise the pirate's reaction was. His instinct said it was strange that he'd jump to such immediate outrage, and so swiftly then to a solution with no hint of surprise or shock at the turn. It made him wonder. The GNA didn't condone illegal activity and the client had promised that it wasn't, but... Courser did begin to wonder. There were a LOT of things that, if you looked for the loophole, were technically not illegal, after all.
Still, a mission was a mission, and whether his colleague and his operator had ulterior motives or not, one thing that the posting had been clear about was their ability to pay up. Since Jenny wasn't going to be watching them too closely, that was all that really mattered for now.
This brought Courser to the issue of covering RaiderMan's access hack. The best way, usually, to avoid attention was not to go out of your way to fend it off. Trying too hard to deflect suspicion was usually how people got caught out after all. Or so he had heard and read. He nodded to his ally, confirming the instructions, then moved a short way back up the hall, putting some distance between himself and RaiderMan, and incidentally moving closer to the arguably more imposing other navi. He put on a puzzled expression and looked around, then brought up a data screen in front of himself, leaving it transparent; anyone looking on would be able to see that he was looking at the high-schools public information pages, or links thereto. He looked tot he screen, then about himself again, before allowing his first decoy to slip out of a shadow on the wall opposite him.
"Did you find what she wants yet?" The clone spoke like he was impatient, and though his tone was muted, it was loud enough that the judge-looking navi would probably be able to catch the drift of what they were speaking about, just, if he was listening. Courser shook his head in response.
"No, sir. I can't make head nor tails of it. I don't know. See, if you look here..." He gestured to the screen but moved his head to look at his decoy as well. Amusingly, he had brought the screen up fixed to his line of sight, so it moved with his head and the decoy waved an annoyed hand, ducking around to his other side to get a proper look.
"Will you never learn?"
"Sorry. Force of habit, but look..." He pointed again, beginning to talk about how he couldn't work out where he was in relation to the site-map, but every twitch of his head or glance at his clone led to a brief, and slightly annoyed repositioning of the other. After a while, the decoy raised a screen of his own, for comparison, and the debate continued. It was another few moments before Courser concentrated and pulled out his second decoy, making three devilishly handsome rogues in the hallway now. It was more or less the limit of his illusion strength at the moment, but it was enough.
"Would you two hurry up? If we don't get her signed up to something tonight, you know we'll catch hell for it... Or at least, I will." The discussion shifted then from one of difficult path-finding, to exactly what they should try to sign their apparent operator up for, out of what the high-school apparently offered in terms of evening classes. Screens were closed while they spoke, then more were opened again for different reasons, now debating the merits of different evening and night-time fitness courses. Amongst the moving and shifting as each tried to point to different things one each others' displays, it very quickly became impossible to follow which one was the original Courser... even forgetting that each one would sometimes talk as if it were the original, and the others would respond correctly.
Between the three of them, caught up in their discussion about courses and where to sign on for them, and their various information screens, the CourseMan collective ended up creating a rather accidental barrier in the hall, and even if the rather severe-looking navi got intrigued enough to approach he would have to stop and interrupt them to go any further, if he was determined to do so; where they were now was well out of sight of RaiderMan's work, so even a worse-case outcome would still but the pirate what was, hopefully, enough time. Now, here was to hoping Raider would let him know when he was done with the hack in a way that was both silent and private, just in case their unwanted friend did make a pest of himself.
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Fortunately for Jenny, there were a few chairs in the lobby, for those waiting for whatever. There were some magazines on a table next to one of the chairs, mostly old science periodicals. Boring. There were also what appeared to be a few old yearbooks, dating from between last year to over 20 years ago. And that was about it for entertainment options, aside from watching CourseMan's mission.
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Speaking of which, the wall of CourseMen seemed to intrigue the strange Navi more than anything, and he moved forward. If he looked closely, the aquatic Navi could see that he wasn't actually walking, or floating for that matter. More like an invisible hand was sliding him forward. He definitely wasn't a member of any cybersoccer teams. "Greetings! I see you seem to be having some trouble with something. Is there anything I can do to assist?" Well, if nothing else, he sounded nicer than he looked...in a booming, authoritative way, anyway. Even RaiderMan probably heard him loud and clear. "Ah, where are my manners. I am CourtMan, a Navi of a student here. I know a thing or two about this school, so if you have any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them!...You may proceed."
On the plus side, he had no intentions of trying to plow forward. On the minus side, he also had no intentions of doing a 180 and sliding away.
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Speaking of which, the wall of CourseMen seemed to intrigue the strange Navi more than anything, and he moved forward. If he looked closely, the aquatic Navi could see that he wasn't actually walking, or floating for that matter. More like an invisible hand was sliding him forward. He definitely wasn't a member of any cybersoccer teams. "Greetings! I see you seem to be having some trouble with something. Is there anything I can do to assist?" Well, if nothing else, he sounded nicer than he looked...in a booming, authoritative way, anyway. Even RaiderMan probably heard him loud and clear. "Ah, where are my manners. I am CourtMan, a Navi of a student here. I know a thing or two about this school, so if you have any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them!...You may proceed."
On the plus side, he had no intentions of trying to plow forward. On the minus side, he also had no intentions of doing a 180 and sliding away.
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As much as he was aware of the other navi beginning to approach his self-directed conference, CourseMan waited until the imposing figure actually spoke before seeming to notice. When the judge greeted him, however, all three of his selves looked up at the newcomer in unison. Of course, this resulted in an immediate headache of clashing view-screens right in the face of the poor navi. They immediately shut them down, and two of the Coursers ducked back a step, half-hiding behind the third one who looked up to greet the judge-navi with a smile.
"Hi! Sorry about that, hello! RiptideMan, nice to meet you, please, call me Rip!" His tone was surprised and vaguely jovial and he put out one hand to offer a shake. "You're a student's navi? That's great actually, maybe you can help. See, the school my operator goes to doesn't run any of the evening courses she wants to do, and..." As he began to explain his supposed situation, the other two CourseMen went quiet and mostly passive. Their eyes drifted and their movements settled into something more or less resembling a listless standby. The front Courser was still talking in a far more animate manner though. "So, she was thinking to get me to check out what evening and night options some other places had, but I think I've sort of gotten myself turned around. I blame these guys." He nodded to the two behind him, and they perked up, each immediately decrying the unfairness of the accusation.
"Hey, don't blame us, boss! We're only as smart as you are, after all!"
"Or as stupid, as the case may be!"
"Hush!" The lead Courser glanced back for a moment, and they both settled into silence again.
"Anyway. I do hate to be an imposition, but since you offered, maybe you could show me the way back to the main reception, and then, if you've got the time, perhaps tell me a bit about what's on offer? If you know that is, I mean. We can chat while we walk, if you like. I think I came from this direction..." He turned with a small gesture up the corridor back towards the main foyer, and away from where RaiderMan worked. "...Right? So, do you know if they offer any language courses as night classes? My kid loves playing with words, but her folks thinks she should be studying more. So I figure maybe a language would be a good middle ground and make them all happy, right?" Provided he'd managed to catch the apparently friendly judge up in his stream of though, the lead courser began to walk with him, chattering enthusiastically all the while. "Anyone ever tell you you look kinda imposing? Severe, I think might be the word I'd use. Is your operator a good kid, mostly, or do you find you have to keep them in line a lot?"
The other two began to follow, after a moment, moving with a docile slowness, as though forgotten about.
"Hi! Sorry about that, hello! RiptideMan, nice to meet you, please, call me Rip!" His tone was surprised and vaguely jovial and he put out one hand to offer a shake. "You're a student's navi? That's great actually, maybe you can help. See, the school my operator goes to doesn't run any of the evening courses she wants to do, and..." As he began to explain his supposed situation, the other two CourseMen went quiet and mostly passive. Their eyes drifted and their movements settled into something more or less resembling a listless standby. The front Courser was still talking in a far more animate manner though. "So, she was thinking to get me to check out what evening and night options some other places had, but I think I've sort of gotten myself turned around. I blame these guys." He nodded to the two behind him, and they perked up, each immediately decrying the unfairness of the accusation.
"Hey, don't blame us, boss! We're only as smart as you are, after all!"
"Or as stupid, as the case may be!"
"Hush!" The lead Courser glanced back for a moment, and they both settled into silence again.
"Anyway. I do hate to be an imposition, but since you offered, maybe you could show me the way back to the main reception, and then, if you've got the time, perhaps tell me a bit about what's on offer? If you know that is, I mean. We can chat while we walk, if you like. I think I came from this direction..." He turned with a small gesture up the corridor back towards the main foyer, and away from where RaiderMan worked. "...Right? So, do you know if they offer any language courses as night classes? My kid loves playing with words, but her folks thinks she should be studying more. So I figure maybe a language would be a good middle ground and make them all happy, right?" Provided he'd managed to catch the apparently friendly judge up in his stream of though, the lead courser began to walk with him, chattering enthusiastically all the while. "Anyone ever tell you you look kinda imposing? Severe, I think might be the word I'd use. Is your operator a good kid, mostly, or do you find you have to keep them in line a lot?"
The other two began to follow, after a moment, moving with a docile slowness, as though forgotten about.
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"Well then, greetings, Rip!" With that, CourtMan proceeded to carefully listen to the other Navi's problem, though he did something akin to raising an eyebrow when he blamed his clones. He probably wanted to mention that he was, in effect, blaming himself, but took the polite option and stopped himself. "Night classes, eh...this school does have a few of those. Fortunately for you, most of them are language classes. Actually, I believe the Whazzapian teacher should still be here. She's clear on the other of the campus, but that shouldn't be a problem for either of us, for my other task is not pressing! Now, let us go!" He eagerly slid alongside CourseMan, pointing out when and where to turn. He still made sure to listen, though. "Yes, I was created specifically with such a look, so that none would dare attempt to deceive me! And I would sincerely hope that my operator wasn't impish, seeing as how she wishes to someday become a judge herself!"
As if on cue, a hologram window popped up in front of the judge Navi. CourseMan didn't have a great angle, but she appeared to be right around Jenny's age, with shortish brown hair, and matching eyes. She also appeared to wear glasses. "CourtMan! Haven't you given Marcia my message yet?"
"Ah, hello, May. I've stopped to help out a Navi whose operator is interested in taking a class here."
"Seriously...? ...Ugh, I'm never gonna be able to catch Sabrina at a decent hour at this rate...I guess I can just tell her in person, but..."
"But...?"
"...You're going to make me say it out loud, aren't you? Everyone on the swim team just has a super awesome physique, and you know that makes me feel...inadequate!"
"Yes, I'm well aware of this. And you shouldn't, considering how much weight you've lost recently. I'm sure Sabrina will be shocked when she sees you!"
"Well, yeah, but I don't have an amazing figure or anything yet."
"Perhaps you should consider joining the swim team, then!"
"Honestly, you know I can't swim!"
"Yes, I do. Now, I have company, so I really must be going. If Marcia must get the message now, just head for the pool and do it yourself."
"Ugh, fine..."
The hologram vanished, leaving the Navis to themselves. "Sorry about that. That would be my operator, May. She's a delightful operator, though sometimes she has...rather willful moments."
Right as the conversation reached a stopping point, the aquatic Navi could hear something in his ear. Considering CourtMan entirely failed to have any sort of reaction, it had to be set so only he could hear it. "I've hacked into the door security, I have! Now get back here, I don't see ye anywhere! And step on it!" Yep, it was unmistakably RaiderMan. Now, how would the water-based Navis reunite?
As if on cue, a hologram window popped up in front of the judge Navi. CourseMan didn't have a great angle, but she appeared to be right around Jenny's age, with shortish brown hair, and matching eyes. She also appeared to wear glasses. "CourtMan! Haven't you given Marcia my message yet?"
"Ah, hello, May. I've stopped to help out a Navi whose operator is interested in taking a class here."
"Seriously...? ...Ugh, I'm never gonna be able to catch Sabrina at a decent hour at this rate...I guess I can just tell her in person, but..."
"But...?"
"...You're going to make me say it out loud, aren't you? Everyone on the swim team just has a super awesome physique, and you know that makes me feel...inadequate!"
"Yes, I'm well aware of this. And you shouldn't, considering how much weight you've lost recently. I'm sure Sabrina will be shocked when she sees you!"
"Well, yeah, but I don't have an amazing figure or anything yet."
"Perhaps you should consider joining the swim team, then!"
"Honestly, you know I can't swim!"
"Yes, I do. Now, I have company, so I really must be going. If Marcia must get the message now, just head for the pool and do it yourself."
"Ugh, fine..."
The hologram vanished, leaving the Navis to themselves. "Sorry about that. That would be my operator, May. She's a delightful operator, though sometimes she has...rather willful moments."
Right as the conversation reached a stopping point, the aquatic Navi could hear something in his ear. Considering CourtMan entirely failed to have any sort of reaction, it had to be set so only he could hear it. "I've hacked into the door security, I have! Now get back here, I don't see ye anywhere! And step on it!" Yep, it was unmistakably RaiderMan. Now, how would the water-based Navis reunite?
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As the leading CourseMan sauntered along with his new companion, hands behind his back, he nodded, then grinned as the judicially-flavoured navi confirmed the deliberate intention of his looks.
"Well it certainly does its job, I'll say. A man would have to think twice before fibbing to you, sir." As they took one turn than another, the two following coursers, with their docile slowness fell further behind until, with a small glance back, the lead Courser paused to wave a dismissing hand back at them. Only one had made it around the last corner so far, but it faded away into shadow and disappeared. He glanced back to JudgeMan. "Sorry, the brothers can be a bit slow when I'm not concentrating on them. Don't much need them now that you're showing me the way, either."
The second 'clone' had not, in fact, made it around the corner, or been dispelled as it seemed, however. He was, rather, standing a short way from the turn fully alert and concentrating. After another few moments, he nodded and began moving back the way he had come at a quick pace, not quite dashing, but almost. Two clones might be his limit for calling up, but one he could maintain all day... even if the split in his awareness that came of actively guiding it took effort, it was probably something he ought to practice more anyway.
RaiderMan's message came through to him just as he got back to where he'd first been posted, and he dashed the last few paces down the hall and back to the alcove.
"Right here, Captain. Our friend is taking my mate across campus somewhere, so we're clear sky and open water now. Don't worry, unless he gets assaulted I can keep him playing the part for as long as we'll need." He nodded to his real ally for the mission, features serious. "The wheel's yours, lead on." Courser blinked a few times, trying to find that comfortable groove for dealing with split awareness. He was still warming up to it and had to stop himself from letting out snatches of how his clone was responding to JudgeMan as he spoke. More practice and it would get easier.
Meanwhile, moving steadily further away from the covertly-occupied pair, another CourseMan, who in reality had no real thoughts of his own, listened with half an ear to the conversation taking place between his guide and the girl with the cute glasses. After a moment he let his eyes drift away, looking to the other side of the hallway, and ahead of them, in a show of polite privacy, even if he could still hear the whole exchange. Once it was finished, he looked back to JudgeMan and nodded to his explanation.
"Not a problem. She's kinda pretty, if you don't mind my saying so." He paused for a moment, the quickened his step to catch up again. "Listen, it's very kind of you to show me the way like you are, but I'd rather not get your rigging tangled on my account, if it's a both. If you've got other things you need to be doing, I'd rather not inconvenience you. I'm sure the boys and I can..." He raised one hand, as though to call more clones up again, then stopped, visibly reconsidering. "On second thought, I'd probably do just as well without them." He shook his head softly. "Just saying, if it's a hassle, that's fine and don't worry about it, but so long as it's no trouble, then the wheel's yours, lead on."
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Jenny was having no fun at all reading the various science articles while she waited. There had been one or two interesting pieces so far, but nothing that really grabbed her. She was much more inclined to the more hermeneutical classes, rather than the hard sciences. That's what she said anyway, even if, in her heart, what it really meant was she preferred to spend time reading fantasy and romance novels. Oh well.
At least she was warm again. She stood to stretch her legs, even though it had only been a few minutes. Ok, it was because the chairs were probably the least comfortable thing she had sat on in a long, long time. CourseMan seemed busy, but it couldn't hurt for her to wander about a bit, surely? She had her cover story all ready to go in case anyone asked, even.
As she started to wander into the school proper, she weighed her options. Classrooms were boring, even if it was during the night at a time when you didn't normally see them, so it only took Jenny a few moments to decide to head towards the sporting faculties instead, following the directions pointing towards the gymnasium, pool and sporting grounds. Maybe she could get a glimpse of some cute boys wrestling, oh, or lifting and throwing heavy things? Oh, or maybe swimming! That would make it a good use of a Friday evening!
"Well it certainly does its job, I'll say. A man would have to think twice before fibbing to you, sir." As they took one turn than another, the two following coursers, with their docile slowness fell further behind until, with a small glance back, the lead Courser paused to wave a dismissing hand back at them. Only one had made it around the last corner so far, but it faded away into shadow and disappeared. He glanced back to JudgeMan. "Sorry, the brothers can be a bit slow when I'm not concentrating on them. Don't much need them now that you're showing me the way, either."
The second 'clone' had not, in fact, made it around the corner, or been dispelled as it seemed, however. He was, rather, standing a short way from the turn fully alert and concentrating. After another few moments, he nodded and began moving back the way he had come at a quick pace, not quite dashing, but almost. Two clones might be his limit for calling up, but one he could maintain all day... even if the split in his awareness that came of actively guiding it took effort, it was probably something he ought to practice more anyway.
RaiderMan's message came through to him just as he got back to where he'd first been posted, and he dashed the last few paces down the hall and back to the alcove.
"Right here, Captain. Our friend is taking my mate across campus somewhere, so we're clear sky and open water now. Don't worry, unless he gets assaulted I can keep him playing the part for as long as we'll need." He nodded to his real ally for the mission, features serious. "The wheel's yours, lead on." Courser blinked a few times, trying to find that comfortable groove for dealing with split awareness. He was still warming up to it and had to stop himself from letting out snatches of how his clone was responding to JudgeMan as he spoke. More practice and it would get easier.
Meanwhile, moving steadily further away from the covertly-occupied pair, another CourseMan, who in reality had no real thoughts of his own, listened with half an ear to the conversation taking place between his guide and the girl with the cute glasses. After a moment he let his eyes drift away, looking to the other side of the hallway, and ahead of them, in a show of polite privacy, even if he could still hear the whole exchange. Once it was finished, he looked back to JudgeMan and nodded to his explanation.
"Not a problem. She's kinda pretty, if you don't mind my saying so." He paused for a moment, the quickened his step to catch up again. "Listen, it's very kind of you to show me the way like you are, but I'd rather not get your rigging tangled on my account, if it's a both. If you've got other things you need to be doing, I'd rather not inconvenience you. I'm sure the boys and I can..." He raised one hand, as though to call more clones up again, then stopped, visibly reconsidering. "On second thought, I'd probably do just as well without them." He shook his head softly. "Just saying, if it's a hassle, that's fine and don't worry about it, but so long as it's no trouble, then the wheel's yours, lead on."
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Jenny was having no fun at all reading the various science articles while she waited. There had been one or two interesting pieces so far, but nothing that really grabbed her. She was much more inclined to the more hermeneutical classes, rather than the hard sciences. That's what she said anyway, even if, in her heart, what it really meant was she preferred to spend time reading fantasy and romance novels. Oh well.
At least she was warm again. She stood to stretch her legs, even though it had only been a few minutes. Ok, it was because the chairs were probably the least comfortable thing she had sat on in a long, long time. CourseMan seemed busy, but it couldn't hurt for her to wander about a bit, surely? She had her cover story all ready to go in case anyone asked, even.
As she started to wander into the school proper, she weighed her options. Classrooms were boring, even if it was during the night at a time when you didn't normally see them, so it only took Jenny a few moments to decide to head towards the sporting faculties instead, following the directions pointing towards the gymnasium, pool and sporting grounds. Maybe she could get a glimpse of some cute boys wrestling, oh, or lifting and throwing heavy things? Oh, or maybe swimming! That would make it a good use of a Friday evening!
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"...Indeed. Of course, on occasion, it's led to problems, as it intimidates the fainter hearted...a double-edged sword." As the pair moved on, CourtMan slowly nodded. "This may surprise you then...until recently, she was quite overweight. But, not too long ago, her best friend moved to Electopia to study NetBattling without warning. It completely shattered May, to the point where she could hardly eat. But she decided to make the most of it, and used it as motivation to lose weight. It worked wonderfully, and now the boys in her class are practically fighting amongst themselves just to ask her out! She's rejected them all thus far, though...she's still rather upset at getting teased over her weight in the past."
CourseMan's question simply made him shake his head. "Worry not, May's just getting used to not having to be self-conscious of herself. Giving that message to her sister will be good for her, I think. Besides, I cannot leave a troubled Navi behind...that simply isn't in my programming! Besides, we're nearly there. I certainly shall not take my leave now!"
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"Arr, good! Perhaps I've underestimated ye a tad." RaiderMan nodded approvingly, then started...to walk right through the door? He stopped halfway, though, creating a look that would only have looked weirder if it was the real world. "C'mon! My hack program removed the solidness from the door, so we can walk right through it, we can!"
After getting through the door, the real CourseMan would get a look of the locker room's cyberworld...though it really wasn't much. Just some lockers and benches. It looked rather spic and span, though since Navis didn't really need a place to store stuff and change clothes, that probably wasn't overly surprising. "Since we're in here, I seriously be doubting we'll be spotted. Navis very rarely use this area, so I've heard. O'course, the real problem comes now...the feed for the hidden cameras has to be in here somewhere. The program has to be near the cyberworld equivalent of where the cameras are in order to run properly without giving off a detectable signal. But, to record that much footage, the program needed to hold it must be rather large. Too large to even fit in one'a these lockers. So, where is it?!" ...That was a good question. There were two rows of lockers, one on each side of the room, and two long benches next to them, with just enough space for a regular sized Navi to walk through comfortably. Aside from that, nothing. "...Ye got any ideas?"
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Thanks to how the school was arranged, Jenny would first run into the pool...where she'd see the interesting sight of a girl around her age pulling and pushing on the entrance door, occasionally stopping to wave, like she was trying to get someone's attention. Her outfit was pretty simple, just a red short sleeved blouse with black jeans and sneakers. While she could only see her from behind, she could still see that she had fairly short hair, not even quite making it to her shoulders. She appeared to be saying something, but she was speaking too softly to hear from that distance. Jenny would have to get closer to listen in. Or, she could keep on walking and see if she could find any boys athletics teams doing anything. Her call.
CourseMan's question simply made him shake his head. "Worry not, May's just getting used to not having to be self-conscious of herself. Giving that message to her sister will be good for her, I think. Besides, I cannot leave a troubled Navi behind...that simply isn't in my programming! Besides, we're nearly there. I certainly shall not take my leave now!"
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"Arr, good! Perhaps I've underestimated ye a tad." RaiderMan nodded approvingly, then started...to walk right through the door? He stopped halfway, though, creating a look that would only have looked weirder if it was the real world. "C'mon! My hack program removed the solidness from the door, so we can walk right through it, we can!"
After getting through the door, the real CourseMan would get a look of the locker room's cyberworld...though it really wasn't much. Just some lockers and benches. It looked rather spic and span, though since Navis didn't really need a place to store stuff and change clothes, that probably wasn't overly surprising. "Since we're in here, I seriously be doubting we'll be spotted. Navis very rarely use this area, so I've heard. O'course, the real problem comes now...the feed for the hidden cameras has to be in here somewhere. The program has to be near the cyberworld equivalent of where the cameras are in order to run properly without giving off a detectable signal. But, to record that much footage, the program needed to hold it must be rather large. Too large to even fit in one'a these lockers. So, where is it?!" ...That was a good question. There were two rows of lockers, one on each side of the room, and two long benches next to them, with just enough space for a regular sized Navi to walk through comfortably. Aside from that, nothing. "...Ye got any ideas?"
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Thanks to how the school was arranged, Jenny would first run into the pool...where she'd see the interesting sight of a girl around her age pulling and pushing on the entrance door, occasionally stopping to wave, like she was trying to get someone's attention. Her outfit was pretty simple, just a red short sleeved blouse with black jeans and sneakers. While she could only see her from behind, she could still see that she had fairly short hair, not even quite making it to her shoulders. She appeared to be saying something, but she was speaking too softly to hear from that distance. Jenny would have to get closer to listen in. Or, she could keep on walking and see if she could find any boys athletics teams doing anything. Her call.
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Still trying to focus on keeping his thoughts straight, and not say the wrong thing to the wrong navi, courser followed RaiderMan through the doorway, pausing to look about as he passed through. If one corner of his mind was suspicious of the methods or motives of his companion, the rest of him was quite content that a reward was a reward, either way. He glanced back at the door.
"Wonderful... though Captain, if I might suggest? Think you maybe it's worth locking the door down again, get it turning away all suitors, like? It'd buy us a few moments warning at least, if someone does happen along when they shouldn't." With the suggestion made he cast an eye over the space; whether RaiderMan thought it a worthwhile suggestion or not didn't bother him overly; it was just an offered comment after all.
Scoping the area proved a quick business. Normally, a large program would have made finding the thing a breeze, but what to do when the place it ought to be simply didn't have anywhere to hide such a thing? His brow drew down as he thought for a moment.
"Well now, let's see... If I were a man of the smuggling persuasion, and I had a fine space like this all neat and simple, where no-one often goes..." He began to pace the room slowly, tapping his toe point hard enough to make an audible tap on each panel as he passed, walking first up the sides of the room, between each bench and its row of lockers, then, if that yielded nothing, back through the centre between the benches. If he still didn't come across a sound that was different from the rest, he intended to begin checking the panels directly underneath each of the benches as well.
As he checked for a hidden compartment in the flooring, he glanced back to RaiderMan. "May be worth checking the lockers too, Captain. It mightn't fit in one of them, perhaps, but if no-one ever really checks the place, the rat might have scuttled the interiors of a few of 'em and converted them into a single space, perhaps.
Across campus, another Courser, who was not the real Courser, and was, in fact just a clone Courser pretending to be the real Courser, pretending to be a completely different Navi named Rip, all the while being guided by a subroutine of the actual Courser... was, as one might imagine, causing headaches of his own. At the moment he was chortling with mirth alongside his much more severe companion.
"Ah, so it's the one-time wallflower blooming into her own now, is it? Aw, that's Wonderful. But you say she's turning away all suitors, hmm? I wonder if maybe she's got an eye on some pretty chap in particular perhaps?" He glanced across to CourtMan. "May be worth checking her locker at some point, eh? In case she's scuttled the interior and converted it into a shrine to some devilishly handsome hunk?" He winked along with his grin, just to make sure the atmosphere remained jovial. With any luck they'd reach whatever destination the unfortunately chivalrous and well-intended navi was taking him to soon... before the overlay of his thoughts made him slip with something he couldn't work around.
"Anyhow, if it means anything to you, seems to me that you're a real gentleman underneath, friend. So, anyone as gets scared by your features only needs to chat to you for a minute or two before they find out what top notch navi you are." He nodded to the other navi once more, then returned to facing forward as they walked.
====================
With thoughts of fit boys working up a sweat filling most of her mind, Jenny wandered quite close to the entrance to the pool complex before she noticed that there was someone else nearby. Despite herself, she snapped out of the idle reverie with a blush that more than matched the light shade of lipstick she'd slipped on before leaving the house. She ducked her head, hiding her cheeks as she made sure the other girl hadn't seen her, then used the moment cooling her cheeks to take a look at her properly.
She blinked a few times as the girl's behaviour distracted her from appraising her outfit. There were clearly others in the pool and the door couldn't possibly be locked. Along with the waving, it looked like she might be trying to just make noise rattling at it like that, trying to grab someone's attention... but why not just go in, in that case? Her curiosity piqued, Jenny wandered over, putting thoughts of pretty boys on hold for a moment.
When she was near enough to make herself heard without speaking too loud, she cleared her throat quietly.
"Ah, excuse me? Hi there?" she smiled, though mostly from her own nerves. It wasn't that she struggled socially, not at all, well, not really... but, she had her circle of friend,s and meeting other people outside of that was always a bit weird for her. She tried anyway. "You, ah, you look a bit anxious there. What's up?"
"Wonderful... though Captain, if I might suggest? Think you maybe it's worth locking the door down again, get it turning away all suitors, like? It'd buy us a few moments warning at least, if someone does happen along when they shouldn't." With the suggestion made he cast an eye over the space; whether RaiderMan thought it a worthwhile suggestion or not didn't bother him overly; it was just an offered comment after all.
Scoping the area proved a quick business. Normally, a large program would have made finding the thing a breeze, but what to do when the place it ought to be simply didn't have anywhere to hide such a thing? His brow drew down as he thought for a moment.
"Well now, let's see... If I were a man of the smuggling persuasion, and I had a fine space like this all neat and simple, where no-one often goes..." He began to pace the room slowly, tapping his toe point hard enough to make an audible tap on each panel as he passed, walking first up the sides of the room, between each bench and its row of lockers, then, if that yielded nothing, back through the centre between the benches. If he still didn't come across a sound that was different from the rest, he intended to begin checking the panels directly underneath each of the benches as well.
As he checked for a hidden compartment in the flooring, he glanced back to RaiderMan. "May be worth checking the lockers too, Captain. It mightn't fit in one of them, perhaps, but if no-one ever really checks the place, the rat might have scuttled the interiors of a few of 'em and converted them into a single space, perhaps.
Across campus, another Courser, who was not the real Courser, and was, in fact just a clone Courser pretending to be the real Courser, pretending to be a completely different Navi named Rip, all the while being guided by a subroutine of the actual Courser... was, as one might imagine, causing headaches of his own. At the moment he was chortling with mirth alongside his much more severe companion.
"Ah, so it's the one-time wallflower blooming into her own now, is it? Aw, that's Wonderful. But you say she's turning away all suitors, hmm? I wonder if maybe she's got an eye on some pretty chap in particular perhaps?" He glanced across to CourtMan. "May be worth checking her locker at some point, eh? In case she's scuttled the interior and converted it into a shrine to some devilishly handsome hunk?" He winked along with his grin, just to make sure the atmosphere remained jovial. With any luck they'd reach whatever destination the unfortunately chivalrous and well-intended navi was taking him to soon... before the overlay of his thoughts made him slip with something he couldn't work around.
"Anyhow, if it means anything to you, seems to me that you're a real gentleman underneath, friend. So, anyone as gets scared by your features only needs to chat to you for a minute or two before they find out what top notch navi you are." He nodded to the other navi once more, then returned to facing forward as they walked.
====================
With thoughts of fit boys working up a sweat filling most of her mind, Jenny wandered quite close to the entrance to the pool complex before she noticed that there was someone else nearby. Despite herself, she snapped out of the idle reverie with a blush that more than matched the light shade of lipstick she'd slipped on before leaving the house. She ducked her head, hiding her cheeks as she made sure the other girl hadn't seen her, then used the moment cooling her cheeks to take a look at her properly.
She blinked a few times as the girl's behaviour distracted her from appraising her outfit. There were clearly others in the pool and the door couldn't possibly be locked. Along with the waving, it looked like she might be trying to just make noise rattling at it like that, trying to grab someone's attention... but why not just go in, in that case? Her curiosity piqued, Jenny wandered over, putting thoughts of pretty boys on hold for a moment.
When she was near enough to make herself heard without speaking too loud, she cleared her throat quietly.
"Ah, excuse me? Hi there?" she smiled, though mostly from her own nerves. It wasn't that she struggled socially, not at all, well, not really... but, she had her circle of friend,s and meeting other people outside of that was always a bit weird for her. She tried anyway. "You, ah, you look a bit anxious there. What's up?"
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RaiderMan gave his fellow Aqua Navi a slightly annoyed look. "Yer brain's spent too long in the crow's nest if ye think I didn't think of that!" The pirate Navi...snapped his fingers, causing absolutely nothing to apparently happen. "It's solid again now. Any other...suggestions? No? Good!"
With that, CourseMan started checking tiles for things that didn't sound like tiles. His partner in maybe-maybe-not-crime looked a bit sour, but the locker idea did seem to soften his gaze a bit. "Aye, that's an idea worthy of a true buccaneer, it is!" Fortunately, the lockers were unlocked, so it was easy for him to check the lockers. There weren't too many, so it didn't take too long. "...Urgh, there's nothin' in any of 'em!" The 'privateer' Navi had about as much success, as none of the tiles were anything other than ordinary tiles.
Needless to say, RaiderMan was less than pleased at this. "Where IS it?! I don't see the blasted thing anywhere! It HAS to be here, it does! Nothin' else makes sense!"
===============
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. She's never particularly wanted for boy attention...though, I imagine the fact that she comes from a wealthy family helps with that." Despite 'RiptideMan's' remarks, CourtMan seemed mostly unfazed by them. "...And unless she's completely altered her locker in the past 4 hours or so, it should be as it always is: incredibly neat and tidy, no trace of worshipping anyone."
With that, the judge Navi suddenly stopped. "We're here. If you'd be so kind, please wait while I ensure the teacher isn't pre-occupied." He opened the door and walked in. He then closed it, so the clone wouldn't be able to see inside. Question was, did he want to hang around, or did he want to become a single entity again? This would probably be his one chance at fleeing, if he was so inclined.
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Aside from a growl, the girl made no other sounds as Jenny walked up, until she cleared her throat...
"Waaahh!!" She jumped about a foot in the air, before turning...and sighing. Most notably, she had brown eyes, and glasses with dark red frames. She was also reasonably well-endowed, if the other girl felt like noticing. "Well, you sure know how to sneak up on somebody...hmm? Oh, what I'm doing? I'm trying to get in the pool area, so I can tell my sister something, but the door's locked for some reason. I WOULD get my Navi to go tell her, but he's off helping someone. But I guess I can't get too mad at him if that's why, huh?"
The girl squinted at Jenny, looking her over. "So, who are you? I haven't seen you around before. ...Oh, my bad. I should introduce myself first." Despite not wearing any sort of a skirt or dress, she did a small curtsy. "I'm May. ...May Weatherby." For some reason, she looked nervous as she introduced herself. Not so much because of what she was saying, but it seemed like she was nervous how the other girl would react to it. "Anything I can help you with? Clearly I'm not getting in there until swim practice is over."
With that, CourseMan started checking tiles for things that didn't sound like tiles. His partner in maybe-maybe-not-crime looked a bit sour, but the locker idea did seem to soften his gaze a bit. "Aye, that's an idea worthy of a true buccaneer, it is!" Fortunately, the lockers were unlocked, so it was easy for him to check the lockers. There weren't too many, so it didn't take too long. "...Urgh, there's nothin' in any of 'em!" The 'privateer' Navi had about as much success, as none of the tiles were anything other than ordinary tiles.
Needless to say, RaiderMan was less than pleased at this. "Where IS it?! I don't see the blasted thing anywhere! It HAS to be here, it does! Nothin' else makes sense!"
===============
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. She's never particularly wanted for boy attention...though, I imagine the fact that she comes from a wealthy family helps with that." Despite 'RiptideMan's' remarks, CourtMan seemed mostly unfazed by them. "...And unless she's completely altered her locker in the past 4 hours or so, it should be as it always is: incredibly neat and tidy, no trace of worshipping anyone."
With that, the judge Navi suddenly stopped. "We're here. If you'd be so kind, please wait while I ensure the teacher isn't pre-occupied." He opened the door and walked in. He then closed it, so the clone wouldn't be able to see inside. Question was, did he want to hang around, or did he want to become a single entity again? This would probably be his one chance at fleeing, if he was so inclined.
===============
Aside from a growl, the girl made no other sounds as Jenny walked up, until she cleared her throat...
"Waaahh!!" She jumped about a foot in the air, before turning...and sighing. Most notably, she had brown eyes, and glasses with dark red frames. She was also reasonably well-endowed, if the other girl felt like noticing. "Well, you sure know how to sneak up on somebody...hmm? Oh, what I'm doing? I'm trying to get in the pool area, so I can tell my sister something, but the door's locked for some reason. I WOULD get my Navi to go tell her, but he's off helping someone. But I guess I can't get too mad at him if that's why, huh?"
The girl squinted at Jenny, looking her over. "So, who are you? I haven't seen you around before. ...Oh, my bad. I should introduce myself first." Despite not wearing any sort of a skirt or dress, she did a small curtsy. "I'm May. ...May Weatherby." For some reason, she looked nervous as she introduced herself. Not so much because of what she was saying, but it seemed like she was nervous how the other girl would react to it. "Anything I can help you with? Clearly I'm not getting in there until swim practice is over."
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Nothing, nothing and nothing. Well, that was perplexing. Courser shared his companions frustration as both their searches came up blank. What else?
"If this is the only place it can be and still be close enough, then they must have done something else to hide or disguise it... Hmm... Well, you can hide a whole ship behind nothing at all on a moonless night... Let me check the walls." He started nearest the door and paused for a moment to glance at his hands. He'd have to be quick about this, is he didn't want to loose hold of his decoy all the way across campus. Quick, but thorough too, just in case. As he reached out to the wall, his hands blurred as the play of shadows around them grew, until it was far too hard to tell exactly where his fingers really ended.
"A touch of shadows and illusion... it's useful for more than just decoys." As he explained what he was doing, he spread his hands out, bending slightly so he could run one along the wall at chest height, and the other at about the knees, letting the small-scale illusion brush along and through the panelling as he went. It might look a bit daft, but if any of the walls were illusions, or in any way false at all, really, he ought to find it. He relayed what he was doing to RaiderMan briefly, then licked his lips, thoughtful, as he continued.
"If it isn't in the walls, and it's not in the floors or funishings, only other thing I can think of is if our, ah, photographer, cleared a space in the ceiling somehow." It also occurred to him that the device might simply be cloaked in a basic illusion against one of the walls or corners, but if that were the case, then he'd certainly crash into it in the process of searching the walls themselves. Not exactly graceful, as far as solutions went, but if it progressed their mission, it would do. Still, no need to bring it up unless it happened. Courser cleared his throat softly as he continued to search.
"One way or the other, I wager we'd best tack quickly, Captain. How long before the pretty young ladies are out of the pool? Certainly, we'd best not wait or we may not have everything sorted out by then." He tilted his head, still searching as he mused. "Though I suppose you did say our culprit doesn't collect his footage until later, so, just as long as we get to it before him, that should be alright, no? Better it be in our hands than some scallywags, after all, wouldn't you say, Captain?" He paused just long enough to glance back over his shoulder with one eyebrow raised to his companion.
===============
It was far easier for the fake Courser to simply keep his mouth shut and show an attentive face as CourtMan answered. He shrugged and nodded in the appropriate places, grinning with a calm and pleasant set to his features. He inclined his head when they arrived at the specified location.
"Certainly, I'll wait." As CourtMan disappeared, the clone stepped back to lean against the wall opposite the doorway. I was a good thing they'd arrive; much further and he would have begun to lose it anyway. It might be no problem to maintain a single clone indefinitely, but distance extenuation was a factor too, sadly.
The temptation to simply release it the moment CourtMan was out of sight was very strong, but he hesitated. Maybe it was just bad luck and coincidence, but his actual mission really did look a bit too neat in terms of forgotten authorisations and ready-made work-arounds. In the end, it seemed safer to him to maintain an alibi, at this point, so he steeled his focus and kept the clone firm, waiting patiently for CourtMan and his... interview? Maybe?
===============
If the other girl was startled by Jenny's appearance, she also let slip a small cry of shock at the surprised shriek. Mutual startlement passed, it left Jenny putting one hand to her mouth to smother a giggle at the silliness of it. Up close, her eyes were drawn to the other girl's glasses; she only had to wear hers for reading, but it was something she always noticed on others. The red frame complimented her eyes well, and the shape suited the rest of her features too. It was a well-appointed pick, in her opinion, quite pretty. She blinked and stopped her gawking while the other girl introduced herself.
"Locked? That's so odd... huh..." After another moment of collecting herself, Jenny shook her head softly. "Oh, uh, Jenny, hi, nice to meet you, May, hehe!" She caught herself making a similar action to the other girl; not exactly a traditional curtsey, but a small curl of one leg behind the other while she ducked her head. The similarity of their actions made her giggle again. "Umm, ya... I go to a different school but I came by to see what sort of evening classes there are here. My school has nothing." She shrugged and spread her hands wide for a moment, making a slightly helpless gesture.
"It's like... I could read about what different places offer, sure, but, the feel of it's important. Actually getting a taste of what the atmosphere at night is really like, you know? So, I wanted to come by and visit myself, just to see. I should probably have gotten a visitor's tag or something like that, but I thought most people are just going to see me as another student anyway, so, it would be ok to take a look around, you know?" She shrugged again and turned her attention back to the door.
"So, the evening swim class is in there now, but the door to the main pool is locked? That seems really odd. I wonder what they're doing... Maybe it's some super secret training, or they're working on a synchronised show piece, or..." She rattled off a few more odd possibilities, beginning to bounce on her toes the more she artificially deepened the mystery. "Oh, locked doors always make me curious. Think we can get inside some other way? I don't know how this school is configured... do the sports area and the pool share linked change rooms, like at my school? Maybe we could sneak in that way?" Apparently being faced with a mysteriously locked door was more than enough to overcome Jenny's meeting-a-new-person anxiety.
===============
"If this is the only place it can be and still be close enough, then they must have done something else to hide or disguise it... Hmm... Well, you can hide a whole ship behind nothing at all on a moonless night... Let me check the walls." He started nearest the door and paused for a moment to glance at his hands. He'd have to be quick about this, is he didn't want to loose hold of his decoy all the way across campus. Quick, but thorough too, just in case. As he reached out to the wall, his hands blurred as the play of shadows around them grew, until it was far too hard to tell exactly where his fingers really ended.
"A touch of shadows and illusion... it's useful for more than just decoys." As he explained what he was doing, he spread his hands out, bending slightly so he could run one along the wall at chest height, and the other at about the knees, letting the small-scale illusion brush along and through the panelling as he went. It might look a bit daft, but if any of the walls were illusions, or in any way false at all, really, he ought to find it. He relayed what he was doing to RaiderMan briefly, then licked his lips, thoughtful, as he continued.
"If it isn't in the walls, and it's not in the floors or funishings, only other thing I can think of is if our, ah, photographer, cleared a space in the ceiling somehow." It also occurred to him that the device might simply be cloaked in a basic illusion against one of the walls or corners, but if that were the case, then he'd certainly crash into it in the process of searching the walls themselves. Not exactly graceful, as far as solutions went, but if it progressed their mission, it would do. Still, no need to bring it up unless it happened. Courser cleared his throat softly as he continued to search.
"One way or the other, I wager we'd best tack quickly, Captain. How long before the pretty young ladies are out of the pool? Certainly, we'd best not wait or we may not have everything sorted out by then." He tilted his head, still searching as he mused. "Though I suppose you did say our culprit doesn't collect his footage until later, so, just as long as we get to it before him, that should be alright, no? Better it be in our hands than some scallywags, after all, wouldn't you say, Captain?" He paused just long enough to glance back over his shoulder with one eyebrow raised to his companion.
===============
It was far easier for the fake Courser to simply keep his mouth shut and show an attentive face as CourtMan answered. He shrugged and nodded in the appropriate places, grinning with a calm and pleasant set to his features. He inclined his head when they arrived at the specified location.
"Certainly, I'll wait." As CourtMan disappeared, the clone stepped back to lean against the wall opposite the doorway. I was a good thing they'd arrive; much further and he would have begun to lose it anyway. It might be no problem to maintain a single clone indefinitely, but distance extenuation was a factor too, sadly.
The temptation to simply release it the moment CourtMan was out of sight was very strong, but he hesitated. Maybe it was just bad luck and coincidence, but his actual mission really did look a bit too neat in terms of forgotten authorisations and ready-made work-arounds. In the end, it seemed safer to him to maintain an alibi, at this point, so he steeled his focus and kept the clone firm, waiting patiently for CourtMan and his... interview? Maybe?
===============
If the other girl was startled by Jenny's appearance, she also let slip a small cry of shock at the surprised shriek. Mutual startlement passed, it left Jenny putting one hand to her mouth to smother a giggle at the silliness of it. Up close, her eyes were drawn to the other girl's glasses; she only had to wear hers for reading, but it was something she always noticed on others. The red frame complimented her eyes well, and the shape suited the rest of her features too. It was a well-appointed pick, in her opinion, quite pretty. She blinked and stopped her gawking while the other girl introduced herself.
"Locked? That's so odd... huh..." After another moment of collecting herself, Jenny shook her head softly. "Oh, uh, Jenny, hi, nice to meet you, May, hehe!" She caught herself making a similar action to the other girl; not exactly a traditional curtsey, but a small curl of one leg behind the other while she ducked her head. The similarity of their actions made her giggle again. "Umm, ya... I go to a different school but I came by to see what sort of evening classes there are here. My school has nothing." She shrugged and spread her hands wide for a moment, making a slightly helpless gesture.
"It's like... I could read about what different places offer, sure, but, the feel of it's important. Actually getting a taste of what the atmosphere at night is really like, you know? So, I wanted to come by and visit myself, just to see. I should probably have gotten a visitor's tag or something like that, but I thought most people are just going to see me as another student anyway, so, it would be ok to take a look around, you know?" She shrugged again and turned her attention back to the door.
"So, the evening swim class is in there now, but the door to the main pool is locked? That seems really odd. I wonder what they're doing... Maybe it's some super secret training, or they're working on a synchronised show piece, or..." She rattled off a few more odd possibilities, beginning to bounce on her toes the more she artificially deepened the mystery. "Oh, locked doors always make me curious. Think we can get inside some other way? I don't know how this school is configured... do the sports area and the pool share linked change rooms, like at my school? Maybe we could sneak in that way?" Apparently being faced with a mysteriously locked door was more than enough to overcome Jenny's meeting-a-new-person anxiety.
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RaiderMan's initial response to CourseMan's thoughts was an irritated stare, but it quickly grew more thoughtful as he pondered its merits. "...Aye, it could be possible." His gaze steeled a bit as he saw the other Navi's approach, though. "Arr, check the entire wall! For all we know, it could be a giant Navi in charge of this! I suppose I'll do it meself!" He raised his sword arm high, and let it barely touch the wall as he moved along behind his mission partner.
Something very interesting happened, though, as they handled the far wall from the entrance; the pirate Navi's blade struck something. Something that, by all visual accounts, should not exist."There's somethin' here, there is! Lessee...aye, it's a cloaking program! I'll disable it..." He did so, revealing what looked like some sort of data storage box. Quite frankly, CourseMan was fortunate that he hadn't hit his head on it. "There's little doubt in me mind...this is it! This is where they're storin' the footage!"
If that was true, the mission was as good as over. ...Or it would've been, but things never went that smoothly. The two could hear whistling as someone entered the locker room. Maybe if they hurried, they could-
...Too late. A figure at the entrance had stopped cold, having noticed the two Navis. Due to the lack of lighting, it was hard to make out exactly what kind of Navi it was. Two things were very clear, however: it was a short Navi, only around 150 cm tall, and he had bizarrely large hands, clenched in fists. It appeared to be too stunned to do anything. Maybe CourseMan should do something before RaiderMan interjected?
=======================
The clone didn't have too long to wait, as CourtMan was only a minute or two before popping out. "You may enter."
Inside the classroom...almost felt like stepping into a different part of the cyberworld. The entire room was completely covered in various stereotypical Whazzapian decorations, from sombreros to piñatas. Even the floor was covered in a traditional Whazzapian rug. "Hola! Come on in!" The Navi in the room was just a standard NormalNavi, though he did have a slight Whazzapian accent. His feet were propped up on his back, as he leaned back in his chair. He had some papers in his hand, with a red marker in the other. "So, this is who you spoke of, Señor CourtMan?"
"Indeed. His operator is interested in a night class, as I told you."
"Sí, sí. Well, I'm pleased to meet you, señor! As you can see, I'm just a NormalNavi, so I have no fancy name. Most here at the school simply call me El Profesor, however! Now, I could tell you about the school's Whazzapian night class...and yet, anything I say would fall short of what it truly is. Por tanto! I shall simply answer whatever questions you might have about it. By knowing exactly what about the class you're interested in, I can better mold the class to your operator's needs!" He set the papers down; CourtMan immediately tried to get a better look at them. "If you're wondering, yes, I'm grading yesterday's homework. And no, I haven't reached Señorita May's yet!" The NormalNavi focused on 'RiptideMan', now completely attentive to whatever he might ask.
======================
"Evening classes, huh? Yeah, we get a lot of people about that, since we offer quite a few of those." May listened to the other girl about why she was there, specifically, nodding as she did so. "I hear ya. If you're gonna do a night class, you don't want it to be in some super creepy place. And about the visitor's tags...we kinda did away with that a few years ago. Instead, this school uses a state of the art security system to monitor everyone! If you feel like you're being watched, it's because the security cameras are probably focusing on you, since this is your first time here."
"Anyway, thanks to that, you don't have to worry about getting caught or anything. This isn't really the most formal of schools, anyway. Which I like, myself." This brought the attention back to the locked door. "Which is why this is so weird. I really doubt they're doing anything out of the ordinary, since you can still kinda see what they're doing. Usually we're all 'oh hey there, come on in', but here...I dunno. It just makes no sense." Jenny's question made her think a bit, but she ultimately just shook her head. "There's another door that's used for when there's swim meets and such, so the crowd can get in and out. But that's locked, too. I already checked. And those are the only ways in and out of the pool area."
"So, yeah, I'm kinda stuck. But enough about me. Any idea what kind of class you want to take? If it's something I'm taking, maybe I can help out a bit!" May's expression had soured as she talked about the locked doors, but a new night student seemed to perk her up quite a bit.
Something very interesting happened, though, as they handled the far wall from the entrance; the pirate Navi's blade struck something. Something that, by all visual accounts, should not exist."There's somethin' here, there is! Lessee...aye, it's a cloaking program! I'll disable it..." He did so, revealing what looked like some sort of data storage box. Quite frankly, CourseMan was fortunate that he hadn't hit his head on it. "There's little doubt in me mind...this is it! This is where they're storin' the footage!"
If that was true, the mission was as good as over. ...Or it would've been, but things never went that smoothly. The two could hear whistling as someone entered the locker room. Maybe if they hurried, they could-
...Too late. A figure at the entrance had stopped cold, having noticed the two Navis. Due to the lack of lighting, it was hard to make out exactly what kind of Navi it was. Two things were very clear, however: it was a short Navi, only around 150 cm tall, and he had bizarrely large hands, clenched in fists. It appeared to be too stunned to do anything. Maybe CourseMan should do something before RaiderMan interjected?
=======================
The clone didn't have too long to wait, as CourtMan was only a minute or two before popping out. "You may enter."
Inside the classroom...almost felt like stepping into a different part of the cyberworld. The entire room was completely covered in various stereotypical Whazzapian decorations, from sombreros to piñatas. Even the floor was covered in a traditional Whazzapian rug. "Hola! Come on in!" The Navi in the room was just a standard NormalNavi, though he did have a slight Whazzapian accent. His feet were propped up on his back, as he leaned back in his chair. He had some papers in his hand, with a red marker in the other. "So, this is who you spoke of, Señor CourtMan?"
"Indeed. His operator is interested in a night class, as I told you."
"Sí, sí. Well, I'm pleased to meet you, señor! As you can see, I'm just a NormalNavi, so I have no fancy name. Most here at the school simply call me El Profesor, however! Now, I could tell you about the school's Whazzapian night class...and yet, anything I say would fall short of what it truly is. Por tanto! I shall simply answer whatever questions you might have about it. By knowing exactly what about the class you're interested in, I can better mold the class to your operator's needs!" He set the papers down; CourtMan immediately tried to get a better look at them. "If you're wondering, yes, I'm grading yesterday's homework. And no, I haven't reached Señorita May's yet!" The NormalNavi focused on 'RiptideMan', now completely attentive to whatever he might ask.
======================
"Evening classes, huh? Yeah, we get a lot of people about that, since we offer quite a few of those." May listened to the other girl about why she was there, specifically, nodding as she did so. "I hear ya. If you're gonna do a night class, you don't want it to be in some super creepy place. And about the visitor's tags...we kinda did away with that a few years ago. Instead, this school uses a state of the art security system to monitor everyone! If you feel like you're being watched, it's because the security cameras are probably focusing on you, since this is your first time here."
"Anyway, thanks to that, you don't have to worry about getting caught or anything. This isn't really the most formal of schools, anyway. Which I like, myself." This brought the attention back to the locked door. "Which is why this is so weird. I really doubt they're doing anything out of the ordinary, since you can still kinda see what they're doing. Usually we're all 'oh hey there, come on in', but here...I dunno. It just makes no sense." Jenny's question made her think a bit, but she ultimately just shook her head. "There's another door that's used for when there's swim meets and such, so the crowd can get in and out. But that's locked, too. I already checked. And those are the only ways in and out of the pool area."
"So, yeah, I'm kinda stuck. But enough about me. Any idea what kind of class you want to take? If it's something I'm taking, maybe I can help out a bit!" May's expression had soured as she talked about the locked doors, but a new night student seemed to perk her up quite a bit.
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The search went smoothly enough, though by the time they were halfway through, Courser was beginning to despair of finding anything again. He jumped up with a grin the moment RaiderMan found what they were looking for. Would have been more brownie points with his employer if he'd gotten there first, perhaps, but so long as it was found that was what mattered.
"Excellent!" He was just getting ready set to work on piercing through the device's cloak, but again, RaiderMan seemed to have exactly what he needed to disable it to hand almost instantly. Courser just nodded instead adding a quick "Great work, Captain," to his other affirmative when the data store winked into sight. He looked at it for a moment, then across to his ally, raising one eyebrow.
"This it then? What do you think, shall we take a look-see at what we've got?" He raised one hand to his mouth, rubbing at his chin for a moment as though thinking. The main thing tickling away at the back of his mind as he suggested they 'review' their catch, was that RaiderMan's request had been specifically for a water navi, but so far he'd had more use out of his illusion skills than anything else. There had to be something more to this, and he hated feeling like he was in a need-to-know position.
His musings were cut short as their party was crashed by an unexpected interloper. Courser snapped to face the door, letting his coat flare with a little bit of flash as he did. In the moment he had to react there wasn't too much to learn, but he broke it down as quickly as he could, thoughts racing. Small, maybe, but appearances counted for very little amongst navis. Raider had said no-one ever came to the locker room, but he'd also said their film-maker didn't check his haul until later. How far was he trusting the pirate? It might be their voyeur, perhaps, but it might just as easily be an official of some sort, or even a cleaner.
He certainly seemed as surprised to see them as they were at being interrupted, but not acting was out of the question. RaiderMan seemed easy to anger... but maybe he was just miffed at having a partner who looked a bit too royal navy for his tastes. By the time the second second ticked by, Courser made his wager and played it.
"What's going on here?" He focused on the small navi and crossed his arms, in the way he knew made his uniform look its most formal. "No entry to this area except for those with specific clearance. What's your business here, sir?" He took a short breath, feigning a pause before continuing in a more impatient tone. "Come on man, out with it! Stand and Deliver!"
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As the real Courser had to pull more of his focus to the current situation in the locker-room, his far-astray clone had calmed into as passive a mood as he could while still seeming like the real deal. He grinned and nodded quiet thanks to CourtMan as they entered the room. The flavour of the room was easy to take in in a moment or two, but none of the details retained to any real note, cross-focused as he was.
"Hello there. Thankyou for seeing me." He paused to incline his head to the professor navi; one's level of customisation didn't detract from his status, position or worthiness of due respect, after all.
"As I'm sure CourtMan here mentioned, my operator goes to another school, but between what her parents want, and what she likes, we figured picking up a night class in a language might be a good choice for her. Only stick is, her current school doesn't have any evening classes available at all." He shrugged once, hiding the small shake of his head as his attention flicked back and forth.
"That's it then. Shall we take a look-see at what they've got here?" He raised one hand to his mouth, rubbing at his chin for a moment as though thinking then continued before the professor had a real chance to respond. "Though, if we're honest... I should probably think about convincing her to take up something more physical in the evenings as well, while she's here. Don't get me wrong, she's perfectly fit and healthy for her age, but she's not got any non-core sporting courses this semester, or next... no sense letting it slip, you know?" He grinned and shrugged again, then blinked a few time, betraying his distraction for a moment. Back in the locker room, Courser was very much aware that if it came to fighting with their interloper, holding onto this clone would be impossible, never mind controlling it actively. What to do?
"Like I was saying though, my girl loves words and languages in general, but she's never studied another culture's language directly. She thinks Electopian is interesting, but finds it too alien to study as a talking language... and I considered Sharron, but that's not one to tackle right off the bat." He managed a good-humoured chuckle. "I guess I should ask what you think it sounds like she'd fit best with? Stand and Deliver; tell me what you've got available."
======================
Perhaps May was super plussed about a state of the art security system that could automatically monitor everyone, everywhere all the time, and pay special attention to her... honestly, it made Jenny give the nearest camera bubble an uncomfortable glance, accompanied by a shiver that she tried to hide.
"Wait wait... so these camera... are they, like, everywhere? Even in the change-rooms and stuff? Isn't that a bit.. you know..." She couldn't help the small blush that crept over her cheeks, but at least it was a good enough way of finishing the sentence.
"Still, good thing you mentioned it... I was going to show you a trick I know involving a hair pin and my house key that normally resulted in locked doors mysteriously opening... It's like magic, hehe, but, ah... not the kind of magic I want to be on camera doing, especially in a school I don't go to, hehe..." She couldn't help the small, nervous glance about that followed that admission, the pushed on, jumping to something else May had said as smoothly as she could, which wasn't all that smooth.
"But, uh, anyhow... I've not really thought too much about it, you know? Mostly I was scoping the place out for the feel, but it seems pretty nice... well... cameras aside, hehe." She thought for a moment, turning her back to lean against the locked door. "I do love playing with words, and reading. Are you doing any literary courses?" The question hung for a moment, before Jenny perked up, struck by another idea.
"Oh, wait, wait, wait... other question!" She leaned in, like she was about to share some naughty or embarrassing secret. "Are any of your athletic classes mixed sex, and are there a lot of pretty boys in any of them?" She giggled, almost smothering the end of her question, a little nervous for even asking it. "I mean, it's just, you know, hehe... different school, no-one knows me, maybe I could enjoy the sights a bit while I'm here? I could even get a new swim-suit, maybe draw a few eyes, hehehe..." She broke off into shy giggles again, trying to explain herself in away that didn't seem weird. Grinning as she was though, it made her aware of something else that brought on an eye roll. "Well, maybe when I get these things off, anyway..." she grinned again, this time making a point of showing off her rainbow-coloured braces to May. "Not long now... but not soon enough, you know?"
"Excellent!" He was just getting ready set to work on piercing through the device's cloak, but again, RaiderMan seemed to have exactly what he needed to disable it to hand almost instantly. Courser just nodded instead adding a quick "Great work, Captain," to his other affirmative when the data store winked into sight. He looked at it for a moment, then across to his ally, raising one eyebrow.
"This it then? What do you think, shall we take a look-see at what we've got?" He raised one hand to his mouth, rubbing at his chin for a moment as though thinking. The main thing tickling away at the back of his mind as he suggested they 'review' their catch, was that RaiderMan's request had been specifically for a water navi, but so far he'd had more use out of his illusion skills than anything else. There had to be something more to this, and he hated feeling like he was in a need-to-know position.
His musings were cut short as their party was crashed by an unexpected interloper. Courser snapped to face the door, letting his coat flare with a little bit of flash as he did. In the moment he had to react there wasn't too much to learn, but he broke it down as quickly as he could, thoughts racing. Small, maybe, but appearances counted for very little amongst navis. Raider had said no-one ever came to the locker room, but he'd also said their film-maker didn't check his haul until later. How far was he trusting the pirate? It might be their voyeur, perhaps, but it might just as easily be an official of some sort, or even a cleaner.
He certainly seemed as surprised to see them as they were at being interrupted, but not acting was out of the question. RaiderMan seemed easy to anger... but maybe he was just miffed at having a partner who looked a bit too royal navy for his tastes. By the time the second second ticked by, Courser made his wager and played it.
"What's going on here?" He focused on the small navi and crossed his arms, in the way he knew made his uniform look its most formal. "No entry to this area except for those with specific clearance. What's your business here, sir?" He took a short breath, feigning a pause before continuing in a more impatient tone. "Come on man, out with it! Stand and Deliver!"
=======================
As the real Courser had to pull more of his focus to the current situation in the locker-room, his far-astray clone had calmed into as passive a mood as he could while still seeming like the real deal. He grinned and nodded quiet thanks to CourtMan as they entered the room. The flavour of the room was easy to take in in a moment or two, but none of the details retained to any real note, cross-focused as he was.
"Hello there. Thankyou for seeing me." He paused to incline his head to the professor navi; one's level of customisation didn't detract from his status, position or worthiness of due respect, after all.
"As I'm sure CourtMan here mentioned, my operator goes to another school, but between what her parents want, and what she likes, we figured picking up a night class in a language might be a good choice for her. Only stick is, her current school doesn't have any evening classes available at all." He shrugged once, hiding the small shake of his head as his attention flicked back and forth.
"That's it then. Shall we take a look-see at what they've got here?" He raised one hand to his mouth, rubbing at his chin for a moment as though thinking then continued before the professor had a real chance to respond. "Though, if we're honest... I should probably think about convincing her to take up something more physical in the evenings as well, while she's here. Don't get me wrong, she's perfectly fit and healthy for her age, but she's not got any non-core sporting courses this semester, or next... no sense letting it slip, you know?" He grinned and shrugged again, then blinked a few time, betraying his distraction for a moment. Back in the locker room, Courser was very much aware that if it came to fighting with their interloper, holding onto this clone would be impossible, never mind controlling it actively. What to do?
"Like I was saying though, my girl loves words and languages in general, but she's never studied another culture's language directly. She thinks Electopian is interesting, but finds it too alien to study as a talking language... and I considered Sharron, but that's not one to tackle right off the bat." He managed a good-humoured chuckle. "I guess I should ask what you think it sounds like she'd fit best with? Stand and Deliver; tell me what you've got available."
======================
Perhaps May was super plussed about a state of the art security system that could automatically monitor everyone, everywhere all the time, and pay special attention to her... honestly, it made Jenny give the nearest camera bubble an uncomfortable glance, accompanied by a shiver that she tried to hide.
"Wait wait... so these camera... are they, like, everywhere? Even in the change-rooms and stuff? Isn't that a bit.. you know..." She couldn't help the small blush that crept over her cheeks, but at least it was a good enough way of finishing the sentence.
"Still, good thing you mentioned it... I was going to show you a trick I know involving a hair pin and my house key that normally resulted in locked doors mysteriously opening... It's like magic, hehe, but, ah... not the kind of magic I want to be on camera doing, especially in a school I don't go to, hehe..." She couldn't help the small, nervous glance about that followed that admission, the pushed on, jumping to something else May had said as smoothly as she could, which wasn't all that smooth.
"But, uh, anyhow... I've not really thought too much about it, you know? Mostly I was scoping the place out for the feel, but it seems pretty nice... well... cameras aside, hehe." She thought for a moment, turning her back to lean against the locked door. "I do love playing with words, and reading. Are you doing any literary courses?" The question hung for a moment, before Jenny perked up, struck by another idea.
"Oh, wait, wait, wait... other question!" She leaned in, like she was about to share some naughty or embarrassing secret. "Are any of your athletic classes mixed sex, and are there a lot of pretty boys in any of them?" She giggled, almost smothering the end of her question, a little nervous for even asking it. "I mean, it's just, you know, hehe... different school, no-one knows me, maybe I could enjoy the sights a bit while I'm here? I could even get a new swim-suit, maybe draw a few eyes, hehehe..." She broke off into shy giggles again, trying to explain herself in away that didn't seem weird. Grinning as she was though, it made her aware of something else that brought on an eye roll. "Well, maybe when I get these things off, anyway..." she grinned again, this time making a point of showing off her rainbow-coloured braces to May. "Not long now... but not soon enough, you know?"
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The mysterious Navi jumped about a foot in the air as Courser shouted at him, but quickly regained his composure and pointed it at the assertive aquatic Navi. Well, sorta...as it turned out, his hand was encased in a large boxing glove. "That's my line!" Speaking confirmed one thing: the Navi was definitely a male. "I came in here because I heard something going on in here, and what do I find? A couple of intruders! ...Wait a sec. What's that up there?" His 'pointing' was adjusted so that he was motioning at what the pair had just uncovered. "That's a data storage box, isn't it? ...Wait a sec...I bet you're the ones responsible for making videos of the swim team's locker room! So the rumors WERE true! You pervs!"
If CourseMan looked over at his ally, he'd see RaiderMan shooting daggers at the large fisted Navi, as he raised his sword, possibly preparing to strike. If he didn't want any bloodshed, he'd need to act fast.
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"Hmm..." The NormalNavi thoughtfully stroked his chin (or what passed for it on a NormalNavi), pondering the question at hand. "Well, I don't know much about the PE department...but, my operator does head the foreign language department, so you've asked the right Navi! And if Electopian is too 'extranjero'...I'd that rules out Yumlandian, as well. Sharoian's out too, it seems...perhaps Whazzapian truly is the 'opción superior' for your operator! It has the same alphabet as Netopian, and some of the words in the two languages have the same origins. Plus, since Whazzap is relatively near, it has more immediate applications than the others. I may be biased, of course, but I believe Whazzapian would be a fine choice!" He finally got around to sitting properly, and leaned on his desk at the body double. "¿Qué te parece? Thoughts?"
"Well, it seems my duty is done! I believe I shall be off then. Dismissed!" Satisfied that everything was going well, CourtMan slid off, believing his duty to be served.
The NormalNavi waved as the other Navi left, waited a couple of moments, then leaned it even further toward 'RiptideMan'. "Muy bien. Now that we're alone...confesarse. Exactly where are you right now? Not the you I'm talking to, of course, the actual you. The one creating this body double."
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Apparently, May hadn't stopped to consider that some people would take 'everywhere' to actually mean just that, and she vigorously shook her head "No way! Stuff like the bathrooms and locker rooms don't have them, of course. Pretty sure that's a violation of privacy if they tried to pull that." And speaking of privacy, or lack thereof. "Yeah, and it's probably double bad to do a trick like that in front of me, since I plan on going into law after I graduate!" Jennie's next question made her think a bit...for a reason that became obvious. "Honestly? Not much for literature. I only take the mandatory Netopian classes, and-"
She was interrupted as the other girl leaned in, though it was more out of surprise than nervousness at being so close to someone else. "Yeah...really hate to burst that bubble, but all our athletic classes are unisex. So unless the sights you like involve other girls, I wouldn't take anything for that reason..." With a shrug and an apologetic smile, she adjusted her glasses a bit. "And, by the way...don't worry about those braces. I had them a few years ago, and they're not nearly as ugly as you think they are!"
If CourseMan looked over at his ally, he'd see RaiderMan shooting daggers at the large fisted Navi, as he raised his sword, possibly preparing to strike. If he didn't want any bloodshed, he'd need to act fast.
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"Hmm..." The NormalNavi thoughtfully stroked his chin (or what passed for it on a NormalNavi), pondering the question at hand. "Well, I don't know much about the PE department...but, my operator does head the foreign language department, so you've asked the right Navi! And if Electopian is too 'extranjero'...I'd that rules out Yumlandian, as well. Sharoian's out too, it seems...perhaps Whazzapian truly is the 'opción superior' for your operator! It has the same alphabet as Netopian, and some of the words in the two languages have the same origins. Plus, since Whazzap is relatively near, it has more immediate applications than the others. I may be biased, of course, but I believe Whazzapian would be a fine choice!" He finally got around to sitting properly, and leaned on his desk at the body double. "¿Qué te parece? Thoughts?"
"Well, it seems my duty is done! I believe I shall be off then. Dismissed!" Satisfied that everything was going well, CourtMan slid off, believing his duty to be served.
The NormalNavi waved as the other Navi left, waited a couple of moments, then leaned it even further toward 'RiptideMan'. "Muy bien. Now that we're alone...confesarse. Exactly where are you right now? Not the you I'm talking to, of course, the actual you. The one creating this body double."
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Apparently, May hadn't stopped to consider that some people would take 'everywhere' to actually mean just that, and she vigorously shook her head "No way! Stuff like the bathrooms and locker rooms don't have them, of course. Pretty sure that's a violation of privacy if they tried to pull that." And speaking of privacy, or lack thereof. "Yeah, and it's probably double bad to do a trick like that in front of me, since I plan on going into law after I graduate!" Jennie's next question made her think a bit...for a reason that became obvious. "Honestly? Not much for literature. I only take the mandatory Netopian classes, and-"
She was interrupted as the other girl leaned in, though it was more out of surprise than nervousness at being so close to someone else. "Yeah...really hate to burst that bubble, but all our athletic classes are unisex. So unless the sights you like involve other girls, I wouldn't take anything for that reason..." With a shrug and an apologetic smile, she adjusted her glasses a bit. "And, by the way...don't worry about those braces. I had them a few years ago, and they're not nearly as ugly as you think they are!"
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Well, if nothing else, their interloper's reaction confirmed that he wasn't their suspect, but at the same time, Courser couldn't ignore the potential that the most suspect individual present was, in reality, his client and by extension, Courser himself. Still, the client was the client, after all. Whichever side of the situation he happened to be on, RaiderMan and his operator were the ones he needed to keep happy.
That did leave the vexing problem of what to do, though. By his words, the other navi normally wouldn't be here either, so that was something they could play on; at the very least it might buy a few more seconds.
"'Ey, trim those sails and keep your voice down, would you man? Ain't no-one supposed to know about that little problem any more than have to, so shush, alright? We're in the middle of some important business here, and we don't need you spooking our quarry!" It was an effort to keep his features stern and serious as his thoughts jumped ahead, trying to juggle the situation to their favour. What was most important, for now was that he bluffed their right to be their firmly enough to keep the shorter navi looking at him.
Meanwhile, behind where their surprise guest had entered, shadows pooled silently on the wall. He only had a short few moments that he could maintain a second illusion and not lose his other, so far away, but hopefully it would be long enough. The image of Courser leaned out of the shadow, out of the small navi's sight and looked past him, to RaiderMan. He made a small motion, drawing a line across his neck, and flicked his eyes down to their uninvited friend before looking back up to the pirate navi with a raised eyebrow and a questioning tilt to his head. A moment later the image was gone, released as quickly as it formed.
If RaiderMan decided that talking was no good, and neutralising the threat was the best course of action, he was more than ready to back him up on that, and he hoped his employer would understand. If push came to shove, he could even provide the distraction that might give them the edge needed to deal with him quickly... if his authority-pulling bluff didn't pan out, at least.
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Across campus, the decoy of CourseMan continued to show relevant appreciation to the flow of the conversation without interjecting himself, quite content for things to continue on in their meandering way for as long as possible. When CourtMan announced his leave, the clone turned to glance at him, making sure to offer a smile and more thanks again for all his assistance.
Courser was in the process of trying to direct his decoy to a more appropriate response, in between his growing panic over the deteriorating situation in the locker room, when the professor showed himself to be far more astute than he had originally pegged. It was a bad miscalculation, but despite knowing what he did, the navi behind the desk didn't seem immediately hostile. Courser offered him a wry, slightly sheepish grin.
"Got me, I see." He shrugged and rolled his shoulders. "Not that I'm not genuine in my enquiries; I am quite interested in checking options for my operator, and I do mean to take what you say back to her to see what she thinks of it... But yes, just a double image here, I'm afraid." He tilted his head and grinned. "Would you mind if I asked what gave it away?"
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"You think?" Jenny grinned again, more naturally this time, thought the flash of colour still showed through. "My mum likes to say I've got a rainbow in my smile, but I still can't wait to get them off." Getting back on track, she sighed.
"All unisex? Awww... that's sad. I bet they don't allow on-lookers either, then, do they? Well, I guess you saved me a wander to the gym, at least." She turned to lean against the locked door, relaxing more now that she'd mentally established May as a friend and slipped back towards her comfort zone. "Law though, you say? I've thought about it, too... but I'm not sure I've got the willpower for the sheer amount of reading it takes." She paused, giggling to herself. "Well, the reading I can take, but it's all case files and case law, and tomes and tomes of dry, complicated, exhaustively-claused brain-melt. Ugh... I'll stick to fantasy, hehe."
Another unconscious glance up at the nearest camera bubble drew her eyes away before she looked back to May. "I'm thinking I might take a librarianship, though. Well, that or maybe Vet school. I don't know. Something where I don't need to speak to a lot of people often... I'm not so good at dealing with people, when it's just me, you know?" She managed a grin and ducked her head slightly. "This outing was a bit of a jump for me... normally I don't go out this late unless it's with a bunch of friends, but my navi picked up this mission, and I—" she trailed off, remembering that that part was supposed to be secret.
"Ah, never mind. You know what? We should find a way to get that message you have to deliver, delivered. I've stood here rambling all this time, let's see if we can't solve this problem. Maybe I can help?"
That did leave the vexing problem of what to do, though. By his words, the other navi normally wouldn't be here either, so that was something they could play on; at the very least it might buy a few more seconds.
"'Ey, trim those sails and keep your voice down, would you man? Ain't no-one supposed to know about that little problem any more than have to, so shush, alright? We're in the middle of some important business here, and we don't need you spooking our quarry!" It was an effort to keep his features stern and serious as his thoughts jumped ahead, trying to juggle the situation to their favour. What was most important, for now was that he bluffed their right to be their firmly enough to keep the shorter navi looking at him.
Meanwhile, behind where their surprise guest had entered, shadows pooled silently on the wall. He only had a short few moments that he could maintain a second illusion and not lose his other, so far away, but hopefully it would be long enough. The image of Courser leaned out of the shadow, out of the small navi's sight and looked past him, to RaiderMan. He made a small motion, drawing a line across his neck, and flicked his eyes down to their uninvited friend before looking back up to the pirate navi with a raised eyebrow and a questioning tilt to his head. A moment later the image was gone, released as quickly as it formed.
If RaiderMan decided that talking was no good, and neutralising the threat was the best course of action, he was more than ready to back him up on that, and he hoped his employer would understand. If push came to shove, he could even provide the distraction that might give them the edge needed to deal with him quickly... if his authority-pulling bluff didn't pan out, at least.
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Across campus, the decoy of CourseMan continued to show relevant appreciation to the flow of the conversation without interjecting himself, quite content for things to continue on in their meandering way for as long as possible. When CourtMan announced his leave, the clone turned to glance at him, making sure to offer a smile and more thanks again for all his assistance.
Courser was in the process of trying to direct his decoy to a more appropriate response, in between his growing panic over the deteriorating situation in the locker room, when the professor showed himself to be far more astute than he had originally pegged. It was a bad miscalculation, but despite knowing what he did, the navi behind the desk didn't seem immediately hostile. Courser offered him a wry, slightly sheepish grin.
"Got me, I see." He shrugged and rolled his shoulders. "Not that I'm not genuine in my enquiries; I am quite interested in checking options for my operator, and I do mean to take what you say back to her to see what she thinks of it... But yes, just a double image here, I'm afraid." He tilted his head and grinned. "Would you mind if I asked what gave it away?"
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"You think?" Jenny grinned again, more naturally this time, thought the flash of colour still showed through. "My mum likes to say I've got a rainbow in my smile, but I still can't wait to get them off." Getting back on track, she sighed.
"All unisex? Awww... that's sad. I bet they don't allow on-lookers either, then, do they? Well, I guess you saved me a wander to the gym, at least." She turned to lean against the locked door, relaxing more now that she'd mentally established May as a friend and slipped back towards her comfort zone. "Law though, you say? I've thought about it, too... but I'm not sure I've got the willpower for the sheer amount of reading it takes." She paused, giggling to herself. "Well, the reading I can take, but it's all case files and case law, and tomes and tomes of dry, complicated, exhaustively-claused brain-melt. Ugh... I'll stick to fantasy, hehe."
Another unconscious glance up at the nearest camera bubble drew her eyes away before she looked back to May. "I'm thinking I might take a librarianship, though. Well, that or maybe Vet school. I don't know. Something where I don't need to speak to a lot of people often... I'm not so good at dealing with people, when it's just me, you know?" She managed a grin and ducked her head slightly. "This outing was a bit of a jump for me... normally I don't go out this late unless it's with a bunch of friends, but my navi picked up this mission, and I—" she trailed off, remembering that that part was supposed to be secret.
"Ah, never mind. You know what? We should find a way to get that message you have to deliver, delivered. I've stood here rambling all this time, let's see if we can't solve this problem. Maybe I can help?"
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RaiderMan's eyes suddenly widened as CourseMan spoke, causing him to completely miss the decoy. "Arr, hold a minute! I just thoughta somethin'. You..." He pointed his sword at the mysterious Navi...was it too late to stop the violence? "How'd ye know about the videos? Far as I know, the only Navis that should know that, are me, this barnacle, and...the one responsible for makin' 'em."
"W-What do you mean?" The other Navi raised his fists, like he was preparing to scrap himself.
"The higher ups are keepin' this whole thing tighter 'n me cap'n's ship! Only a Navi connected to this would know about it!"
"...Shoot." With a sigh, the non-aquatic Navi drooped his shoulders, and sighed. "Fine, you got me. I'm the one that put that thing up there. But, it's not what you think! I'm not some pervert!"
"The evidence would say otherwise, ye scurvy dog!"
"Heh, I didn't install that just to see some half-naked and naked high school girls. No, the real key...is that one of the famous Weatherby family's children is on that team. I get some footage of her with nothing on, then I take it to her parents. Either they pay me a whole bunch of hush money, or I distribute it throughout the Net! I figure I could get 8 digits, easy!"
"Hmm...not a bad plan, that. But, I've been hired to stop ye, and that's just what I'm gonna do!" The pirate Navi turned around, and slashed the box, cleaving it in two, and causing it to dissipate into nothingness. "And there, I have! What've ye got to say fer yerself now?"
"...Nothing, really. You see, while I have been foiled, I also get to escape in complete anonymity. No consequences, no nothing."
"Not unless I run ye through first!"
"Oh, you have no idea how much I'd love to see you try...but I have my orders. As long as no one knows who's responsible for this, no fighting. So, if you'll excuse me, I must be going. Adieu!" RaiderMan rushed forward, blade first, but he was too late. The other Navi was fully jacked out by the time he reached him.
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The NormalNavi's expression didn't change a bit as his suspicions were confirmed. Granted, part of that was probably the lack of a human-like face. "Oh, I may not look like it, but...I've been around for a while. Over cuarenta años, in fact. When you've been around that long, and lived the kind of life I have, it's very, very hard to be fooled. And considering how humanlike you look, you seemed rather stiff and quiet the entire time. It didn't seem entirely natural."
He leaned back in his chair, and looked 'RiptideMan' in the eye. "This, however, raises a pregunta. Exactly why are you needing to be two places at once? I'd advise being honest with me...but so long as you aren't up to anything that could harm a student or their Navis, I admit that I don't care all that much."
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"Rainbow in your mouth? Heh. That's one way to look at it. And yeah, all that reading's going to be such a pain...at least I'm more of a 'spirit of the law' person than 'letter of the law'!" As Jenny kept speaking, May tilted her head a little, quizically. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed. I mean, you're speaking to me just fine, aren't you?"
The next part, however, raised an eyebrow. "...Mission? What kind of mission would bring you to a place like this? This school never has any real problems...my message can wait. You gotta tell me what's going on!"
"W-What do you mean?" The other Navi raised his fists, like he was preparing to scrap himself.
"The higher ups are keepin' this whole thing tighter 'n me cap'n's ship! Only a Navi connected to this would know about it!"
"...Shoot." With a sigh, the non-aquatic Navi drooped his shoulders, and sighed. "Fine, you got me. I'm the one that put that thing up there. But, it's not what you think! I'm not some pervert!"
"The evidence would say otherwise, ye scurvy dog!"
"Heh, I didn't install that just to see some half-naked and naked high school girls. No, the real key...is that one of the famous Weatherby family's children is on that team. I get some footage of her with nothing on, then I take it to her parents. Either they pay me a whole bunch of hush money, or I distribute it throughout the Net! I figure I could get 8 digits, easy!"
"Hmm...not a bad plan, that. But, I've been hired to stop ye, and that's just what I'm gonna do!" The pirate Navi turned around, and slashed the box, cleaving it in two, and causing it to dissipate into nothingness. "And there, I have! What've ye got to say fer yerself now?"
"...Nothing, really. You see, while I have been foiled, I also get to escape in complete anonymity. No consequences, no nothing."
"Not unless I run ye through first!"
"Oh, you have no idea how much I'd love to see you try...but I have my orders. As long as no one knows who's responsible for this, no fighting. So, if you'll excuse me, I must be going. Adieu!" RaiderMan rushed forward, blade first, but he was too late. The other Navi was fully jacked out by the time he reached him.
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The NormalNavi's expression didn't change a bit as his suspicions were confirmed. Granted, part of that was probably the lack of a human-like face. "Oh, I may not look like it, but...I've been around for a while. Over cuarenta años, in fact. When you've been around that long, and lived the kind of life I have, it's very, very hard to be fooled. And considering how humanlike you look, you seemed rather stiff and quiet the entire time. It didn't seem entirely natural."
He leaned back in his chair, and looked 'RiptideMan' in the eye. "This, however, raises a pregunta. Exactly why are you needing to be two places at once? I'd advise being honest with me...but so long as you aren't up to anything that could harm a student or their Navis, I admit that I don't care all that much."
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"Rainbow in your mouth? Heh. That's one way to look at it. And yeah, all that reading's going to be such a pain...at least I'm more of a 'spirit of the law' person than 'letter of the law'!" As Jenny kept speaking, May tilted her head a little, quizically. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed. I mean, you're speaking to me just fine, aren't you?"
The next part, however, raised an eyebrow. "...Mission? What kind of mission would bring you to a place like this? This school never has any real problems...my message can wait. You gotta tell me what's going on!"
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Despite his best efforts to hold the situation at bay and keep things calm, it all started to go out of control very rapidly. There was no way to get a word or action in edgeways as the other two navis flung words back and forth in quick succession, but Course paused in trying to when talk of an eight figure sum came up. He scolded himself for thinking that, for a cut of that figure, he could be convinced to keep quiet... but he did think it.
He didn't actually have anything on the little navi, though, and that would have to come first. He could only wince as RaiderMan suddenly decided to bisect their evidence. The urge to shout a scolding at him was strong, but he bit his tongue. Keep the employer happy. Huh, slim chance of that now... The next bit was easy, as RaiderMan lunged for the attack. He did what he could to assist, but it was clear the little blighter was simply going to cut and run, and he got away cleanly before either of them could so much as scratch him.
"Curse it!" He couldn't help the small expletive from escaping his lips. He snapped his fingers, exasperated, then glanced over to his ally. By this point it was just the two of them standing in the empty room, no record box, and no culprit. He tried to focus for a moment and think, then nodded to himself and turned towards the door.
"With the evidence shivered and no easy way to retrieve it, our only option is to track down and locate that navi or his operator, and quickly." His tone had gone serious again, and calm, the irritation of before squeezed away. "He's probably still in the school somewhere right now, I'd guess. I can't think that a plan like that, the operator wouldn't want to be close to hand to make sure everything went smooth sails." He waited by the door, looking back to RaiderMan. "You might have stopped him this tie, here and now, but unless we can get an identity on the operator somehow, there's nothing to stop him setting up again in the future." He folded his arms, thoughtful. "I may have a way to find out more about the navi, possibly. My first mate is still doing his thing, and it may just help us."
====================
After another few long moments contemplating the navi opposite him, the courser-clone nodded slowly.
"Fair enough. I'm not doing anything that might harm or endanger any student or navi at this school, quite the opposite exact. I'm actually attempting to defend their honour and integrity, as it so happens." Arms crossed, he tapped his fingers against his arm for a moment, thinking, then shook his head.
"It's supposed to be kept quiet, for the sake of the schools reputation while we help handle the problem, and I'd rather not tell you any more about the nature of it unless I must, for the same reasons; integrity of the school, and protection of its students... But right now time has gone very decidedly against us, and you are exactly the sort of navi that just might be able to help me out." Since Courser himself was less active for the moment, his focus was more thoroughly on the actions of his clone, and he spread his hands, palms up, his features beseeching.
"Cards on the table, there's a navi and operator we need to identify, and I think they must be here in the school somewhere. I split up to cover more ground, and look around, learn what I could. I'm glad I did. We've put a stop to what they were doing, but unless we can identify them, it doesn't mean much. You've been around along time, and you're very sharp, so... can you help me? I can tell you what the navi looks like. From the sound of it, if he's someone regular here at the school, you'll probably know, am I right?"
====================
Maybe she'd gloss over the whole mission thing if she just... nope, scarce little chance of that. Oh well. Jenny sighed, sheepish, and bit her lip. She caught herself unconsciously twisting back and forth with her hands at her waist, like a girl caught stealing cookies, and stopped.
"Well, it's.. ah, I really don't know much, actually. He said it was kinda covert, but here in this school. I thought it all sounded a bit shady, but, I mean... the mission wouldn't have been forwarded if it was anything actually sus., right?" She faltered, unsure what else to say about it, since that really was the limit of what she knew. "Oh, and they said we fit, because they needed a water-based navi specifically." She shrugged, adding a small, helpless grin to the gesture. "You don't think it might be related to them having the doors locked at the pool, do you? Or maybe I'm just looking for connections where there aren't any... Rach says I do that. I mean, if it was a door bug, I'm sure you've got plenty of navis on campus that could help out with that, and it wouldn't really be a secret or anything, either, especially not enough to call in outside help, right?" She tapered off into uncertain giggling at herself, her rambling having run out of things to add.
"Sorry. When I'm nervous I tend to just natter on like that, unless someone stops me. What I said about people... well, you're my friend now, right? I mean, I know we just met but you seem nice, and you're not scary or intimidating at all, really, and you have glasses, so that's a good sign. They really suit you, you know. You look very pretty in them.... Ack, I'm doing it again." she paused, taking a breath. "I'm usually fine when I'm with friends, even just a couple... but even then, I mostly just tend to go along with whatever they're doing, or wherever they're going. I don't really like being left out, or being the odd one out. Being alone is fine, usually, but I get really anxious when I'm with people, but they aren't all my friends, you know? Did I mention that I get a lot worse when I'm thinking about it? Sorry!"
Maybe it was safer to just let May direct the conversation instead, whether it be about the mysterious mission, the mysterious door, or even the mysterious message. Well, not so mysterious to May, since she was delivering it, of course, but it was still a mystery to her. Great, now her thoughts were rambling madly too....
He didn't actually have anything on the little navi, though, and that would have to come first. He could only wince as RaiderMan suddenly decided to bisect their evidence. The urge to shout a scolding at him was strong, but he bit his tongue. Keep the employer happy. Huh, slim chance of that now... The next bit was easy, as RaiderMan lunged for the attack. He did what he could to assist, but it was clear the little blighter was simply going to cut and run, and he got away cleanly before either of them could so much as scratch him.
"Curse it!" He couldn't help the small expletive from escaping his lips. He snapped his fingers, exasperated, then glanced over to his ally. By this point it was just the two of them standing in the empty room, no record box, and no culprit. He tried to focus for a moment and think, then nodded to himself and turned towards the door.
"With the evidence shivered and no easy way to retrieve it, our only option is to track down and locate that navi or his operator, and quickly." His tone had gone serious again, and calm, the irritation of before squeezed away. "He's probably still in the school somewhere right now, I'd guess. I can't think that a plan like that, the operator wouldn't want to be close to hand to make sure everything went smooth sails." He waited by the door, looking back to RaiderMan. "You might have stopped him this tie, here and now, but unless we can get an identity on the operator somehow, there's nothing to stop him setting up again in the future." He folded his arms, thoughtful. "I may have a way to find out more about the navi, possibly. My first mate is still doing his thing, and it may just help us."
====================
After another few long moments contemplating the navi opposite him, the courser-clone nodded slowly.
"Fair enough. I'm not doing anything that might harm or endanger any student or navi at this school, quite the opposite exact. I'm actually attempting to defend their honour and integrity, as it so happens." Arms crossed, he tapped his fingers against his arm for a moment, thinking, then shook his head.
"It's supposed to be kept quiet, for the sake of the schools reputation while we help handle the problem, and I'd rather not tell you any more about the nature of it unless I must, for the same reasons; integrity of the school, and protection of its students... But right now time has gone very decidedly against us, and you are exactly the sort of navi that just might be able to help me out." Since Courser himself was less active for the moment, his focus was more thoroughly on the actions of his clone, and he spread his hands, palms up, his features beseeching.
"Cards on the table, there's a navi and operator we need to identify, and I think they must be here in the school somewhere. I split up to cover more ground, and look around, learn what I could. I'm glad I did. We've put a stop to what they were doing, but unless we can identify them, it doesn't mean much. You've been around along time, and you're very sharp, so... can you help me? I can tell you what the navi looks like. From the sound of it, if he's someone regular here at the school, you'll probably know, am I right?"
====================
Maybe she'd gloss over the whole mission thing if she just... nope, scarce little chance of that. Oh well. Jenny sighed, sheepish, and bit her lip. She caught herself unconsciously twisting back and forth with her hands at her waist, like a girl caught stealing cookies, and stopped.
"Well, it's.. ah, I really don't know much, actually. He said it was kinda covert, but here in this school. I thought it all sounded a bit shady, but, I mean... the mission wouldn't have been forwarded if it was anything actually sus., right?" She faltered, unsure what else to say about it, since that really was the limit of what she knew. "Oh, and they said we fit, because they needed a water-based navi specifically." She shrugged, adding a small, helpless grin to the gesture. "You don't think it might be related to them having the doors locked at the pool, do you? Or maybe I'm just looking for connections where there aren't any... Rach says I do that. I mean, if it was a door bug, I'm sure you've got plenty of navis on campus that could help out with that, and it wouldn't really be a secret or anything, either, especially not enough to call in outside help, right?" She tapered off into uncertain giggling at herself, her rambling having run out of things to add.
"Sorry. When I'm nervous I tend to just natter on like that, unless someone stops me. What I said about people... well, you're my friend now, right? I mean, I know we just met but you seem nice, and you're not scary or intimidating at all, really, and you have glasses, so that's a good sign. They really suit you, you know. You look very pretty in them.... Ack, I'm doing it again." she paused, taking a breath. "I'm usually fine when I'm with friends, even just a couple... but even then, I mostly just tend to go along with whatever they're doing, or wherever they're going. I don't really like being left out, or being the odd one out. Being alone is fine, usually, but I get really anxious when I'm with people, but they aren't all my friends, you know? Did I mention that I get a lot worse when I'm thinking about it? Sorry!"
Maybe it was safer to just let May direct the conversation instead, whether it be about the mysterious mission, the mysterious door, or even the mysterious message. Well, not so mysterious to May, since she was delivering it, of course, but it was still a mystery to her. Great, now her thoughts were rambling madly too....