The Long Winter #86
Media Blitz part four
“…and after they finished checking us all out they let us go back to our rooms and that was it.”
It was not the first time Penny had told her blue-haired friend, but it was the first time she was face-to-face with Ash since the encounter. Ash listened to the whole story with her mouth hanging half open.
“Damn,” she said, shaking her head. “There's no way that will ever not sound fucked up.”
“Yes, I know. And since I was passed out on the floor I didn't even get to see it myself. Maddie and Leah fought him themselves.”
“They disarmed him like they were fucking action heroes.”
“I guess. It sounds totally scary though. I guess I’m a little glad I was, like, out of it. Or whatever.”
“Yeah, sure. Were you out because of magic?”
“I don't know, I mean, probably, but Juliet said she couldn't really tell either.”
“Damn.”
Ash sighed and closed the panel on the arm of the robot they were working on. It was an industrial-looking thing, an old piece of heavy equipment that had been used in some military application they knew little about. Ash knew Penny did not like these projects so much, but appreciated the fact that the half-Asian girl liked her enough to put up with them anyway.
“What are they doing with him?”
“Ralph? I guess he’s been transported to some facility. He’ll have to deal with Alexandria Trueheart, I guess. She’s just awful.”
“You mentioned that. I had no idea, the news makes her out to seem like some sort of hero. I guess that’s what they want her branding to be.”
“Neh. She is a professional, I suppose, businesslike or whatever, but she’s nothing like the members of The Best Defense. Whatever. Anyway, I'm so relieved things are normal again, finally.”
“Or what passes for normal.”
Penny nodded and sat back to watch Ash fire the machine up. It whirred. It beeped. Then the lab filled with the stomach-turning grunt of metal-on-metal rubbing and Ash yelped and slapped the control panel while Penny covered her ears and cringed. The machine groaned to a halt and the lab filled with thick black smoke and the revolting odor of burned grease.
“What the hell are you doing?” Lloyd came rushing down the metal steps with two professors and a security guard racing after him.
“I guess I don’t know,” Ash said. “Everything looked fine, it should have just hummed—“
“It should have just sat there turned off until I or someone else who knows what he or she is doing gives it a once-over and tells you it’s okay to turn on.”
“Rawls, go back to your work,” Professor Collins put his hand on the young man’s shoulder and Lloyd ignored him, continuing to glare at Ash.
“You’re going to ruin this lab if you remain as careless as your simulation work is,” he grumbled, then turned and left.
Professor Collins, a short, stout man with close-cropped black hair and a bushy beard and sharp dark eyes, pulled the panel off the machine and frowned. He mumbled something, shook his head, and crawled under it. He emerged on the other side and pulled that panel off and filled the room with more smoke. He coughed and staggered backward and the other professor, Tanaka, a slight man with white hair and rimless glasses on his thin face, laughed.
“This thing is an antique, I don’t know why you had these two working on it!”
“Stark is only assisting Rosedale. They work well together, regardless what Rawls says. He has no sense of humor.”
Ash glanced at Penny and they shared a giggle.
“What went wrong?” Professor Tanaka crawled under it, followed by Penny and Ash, and the two girls peered over the professors’ shoulders at the mangled interior of the industrial robot arm.
“Obviously everything,” Professor Collins grumbled. “Now I’m not sure I should have had them trying to turn it on.”
“Everything looked okay before,” Ash said. “It definitely didn’t look like that…”
The professors mumbled to themselves as they began pulling the mangled innards of the thing out and discarding it onto the floor behind them. The two girls jumped back as more and more wire and blackened metal crashed at their feet.
“Ah, here it is,” Professor Collins said.
“Lubricant pump…”
Professor Collins turned and handed the piece to Ash.
“Give this to Lyle. Tell him I want him to rebuild this. Also tell him to expect a conference later with myself and Professor Fairchild regarding teamwork and mutual respect. Again.”
“Make sure you say that last part, “Again,” with as much weight as you can manage,” Professor Tanaka said with half a smile.
“You got it.” Ash took the piece and turned to go. Penny turned to follow.
“Stark, you’re back on my project,” Professor Collins said, stopping her mid-step.
“Yes, sir.”
“Let’s go.” He paused to smile at Professor Tanaka. “See you at lunch.”
“Au revoir.”
Penny bowed at Professor Tanaka who nodded in return and then scampered after Professor Collins.
“I’m pleased you’ve landed on my project after how close you’ve become with Professor Fairchild.”
“It’s been a fun project to work on during my lab hours.” She hesitated and gave him an anxious smile. “I hope I don’t have an inappropriate relationship with Professor Fairchild.”
Professor Collins shrugged. “I haven’t noticed anything, and I haven’t heard anyone complain. Since Professor Fairchild is department head I suppose no one would really want to complain, but if they are I haven’t heard them. I just feel lucky. You’re a good student, even if you do goof around with Rosedale, and I’m glad to add you to my team this semester. I know some people at the lab you’ll be working at this summer.”
“Really?”
“They have some interesting things going on. They’re pleased to have you and Utagawa coming down to join them.”
“We’re really excited. My friend Becca found us a really nice place to stay.”
“Is Utagawa staying with you?”
“No, she has family down there she’ll be staying with. But Becca found a really nice place for us to stay. It has two floors, and it’s like a penthouse with a balcony and it’s on the beach! But I think we won’t have much time to spend there since we’ll be busy.”
Professor Collins laughed. “They’re not slave drivers, and a lot of work they do is automated. You probably won’t be on any of the really exciting work, but it’ll be worth your while to be there anyhow.”
“I hope so.”
“It will be. For now, though, let’s get you back on the polymer tests…”
***
“That’s the last of it.” Leah said, turning off her motorized suitcase. “I’m glad they let me move slowly.”
“No one wants to stay in the room alone, especially after the attacks,” Nagisa said. She glanced down at the cast on her right arm. “I am glad it’s over.”
“Me too.” Leah sighed and settled down on the couch. Her suitcase sat in the doorway of her room, waiting to be unpacked. It could continue to wait. It did not have feelings and would not mind a few idle minutes sitting there stuffed with the last of her belongings. Everything else was put away. Set right where it needed to be. She barely even needed to alter her schedule to do it. She looked at her phone. “Let’s go have lunch. Clark’s probably already down there.”
“Do you like him?” Nagisa asked as they walked out the door.
Leah made sure the hallway was empty before answering.
“He’s fine to eat lunch with.”
“That is not my question.”
Leah stayed quiet.
“I think you do like him.”
Leah frowned at her. Just a little, just her eyebrows lowering. Nagisa smiled.
“He is cute boy. And loud and funny.”
“Too loud. Not funny enough.”
“Yes. You like him. It is like, elementary school like. You two do not want to look like you like each other so you pretend to not like each other.”
They walked down the stairs to the distressingly occupied common area.
“Let’s not talk about this.”
“I like him, too,” Nagisa said, instead lowering her voice and leaning closer to Leah. “He is cute boy, and funny.”
Leah let herself glower at her new roommate. Nagisa answered with a nervous giggle.
“He’s in love with someone else.”
Nagisa shook her head.
“You have some information?” Leah asked as they walked into the dining hall. Clark was not there yet and Leah had to fight the disappointment back to save face in front of Nagisa.
“No. Just, I can see, even if you do not.”
“Why are you so interested in Clark and me?” Leah gritted her teeth at how Nagisa’s eyes sparkled at the way Leah asked her question. She swallowed her next one and scrambled for a new subject. “You have no one you like for yourself?”
Nagisa shrugged.
“I was curious about Clark, but he is in love with “someone else.” You and Penny and Maddie like him. Then he was engaged. Then the engaged girl did the thing to Penny. Then I wondered about Penny. But she has the girlfriend, and maybe my family would not be happy if I have a girlfriend too.”
“You like girls?”
“I said before, I don’t have the experience.”
Nagisa was cute, cute button nose, cute hair with cute bangs with the rest pulled into a cute ponytail, cute body, cute skirt, cute (expensive) shoes. Maybe too cute. Sugary cute, even more so than Penny. Leah was not sure how curious she was herself, however, and decided to table the discussion in case Clark did decide to show up.
And he would choose the most inopportune moment to show up…
“Are you ready for spring break?”
Nagisa hid a laugh behind her hand and shook her head. Still, she relented with an honest answer, allowing the subject to change for her new roommate’s benefit.
“It was too exciting winter. I want spring break quiet and relax.”
“Will you come with us?”
“I don't know. I wanted to stay in my room and read a book. I have many read a book for class, but I hate read a book so I… I…” She gave Leah a cute smile and shrugged.
“Procrastinate.”
“Yes! Puro-kurassu-teen-nayto.”
Their appetizers appeared.
“But it is a serious school, so I can’t pro-cras-tin-nate a long time. Just like in a high school.”
“You went to a small school in the countryside.”
“Yes. Mmm. Maybe countryside is wrong word. Maybe mountainside. Yes. Mountainside.”
“Near Tokyo?”
“No. Not so near Tokyo.”
“It’s the only place in Japan I know the location of.”
Nagisa nodded.
“Where in Japan? Can you explain it to me?”
“It is called Akita-ken, it is north part of Japan. But not Hokkaido.”
“Hokkaido?”
“Number one north island. Akita is Honshu north.”
“Honshu?”
“Japan number one big island. Tokyo on island. It is long and thin, shape is “J” and many mountain and volcano, like Fuji-san.”
“Oh, Fuji-san.” Leah nodded but thought, Who is this Fuji person?
“Yes. You can see because you are so smart, but my explain is so terrible and poor.”
Leah smiled at her. “Not so poor. You did a good job.”
“I practice English every day before I come here, but my voice is stupid in my ear. I never become fluent.”
“You have lots of homework to do, and you’re doing it all in a foreign language. That should make you proud of yourself. I can understand everything you say.”
“Thank you. You are kind.”
“And honest. I won’t lie to you.”
Nagisa nodded but her eyes were down on her food. Leah reached across the table and touched her hand.
“Even if it hurts I’ll be honest, because I think that’s important.”
Nagisa looked away for a moment, took a deep breath, and then smiled at Leah.
“Thank you. We are two friends. I am appreciate.”
“Me too.”
Follow The Long Winter into #87 Art School Girl part one here.