This is the Place. (Mal/Open)

[Malcomb Warhazzard]

Exchange student? That means there are other schools... but where are these other schools? what do they teach? This one teaches about the use of Qi. Well that's not very useful since I don't have Qi... I could learn about it anyway, it could help me out later in a pinch. Plus I never say no to learning... hhmmmmmm...

[Novocaine]

Wait, so it wasn't just her, then?

"Well I didn't think so before but now I'm not sure. You're not from Prota, are you?"

Just to be sure it didn't extend past Donovan, she'd look at Mal who was deep in thought.

"Nope. Don't get the same vibe from you at all..."

[Donovan]

Donovan shook his head.

"No... you came to me in a dream. Convinced me that Qi wasn't meant to be cast aside and that it wasn't something I should be ashamed of..."

[Malcomb Warhazzard]

Prota? Is that the other city? Is there another school there? Why didn't Donovan mention this place to me? Maybe it just didn't come to mind? Then again he did almost lose his mind when he thought I was a criminal and he DID say that school is required... Perhaps this 'Cabal Academy' is required in the Cabal territory? How large is Cabal?

It seemed like with each passing word more and more questions gathered in Mal's mind. He needed answers.

"What..." He Hesitated for a moment. "What happened here?" Mal seemed shaken, disturbed even. Something wasn't right.

There must have been some large conflict here... This wasn't in the texts Sidervib gave me to read... Maybe he didn't want me to know? What is the world truly like?

With each passing second Mal could feel his mental structure fracturing.

Qi... something to be ashamed of? WHAT...HAPPENED...HERE...

[Novocaine]

"In...a dream?" Nova raised a brow.

As far as she knew she couldn't do anything like that, but...

"Well, it sounds like something I'd say at least. I can't really explain the dream part..."

She would look towards Mal as he spoke up, pressing her hands on her hips.

"I don't know. Sounds like some crazy deja-vu." she'd reply, not really getting the full context of his question. But he looked kinda spooked.

"Are you alright, pal? It's probably not that ominous."

[Donovan]

Donovan tilted his head at the strange man's reactions.

"Uh, are you good?"

[Malcomb Warhazzard]

"All I know of this world is what I have read in books. I have seen very little beyond the barren desert I awoke in. I know no history other than what happened before the world ended..." Mal paused for a moment. "Qi is a completely new word to me, I know nothing about it. ...and SOMETHING must have happened to the world, because the structure of society was not rebuilt into what it was. I know of no customs, no rules." Mal started to shake a little. "I could go to greet someone and offend them by offering my hand, or worse... it could mean something else now... ALL of those books I read were useless. What do I do now?"

*fracture*

[Novocaine]

Nova would glance at Donovan, since he was the one who had been with Mal the whole time. So he had to know what was going on, right?

"Uh. Well, the good news is a hand shake probably won't get you killed."

In most cases.

"But hey, you know the world ended at least. That's a start."

[Donovan]

"Hey! Who cares if you offend someone! That'll just make them want to fight! And what better way is there to get to know someone! I know not."

He would say with a smile and a sage nod.

[Malcomb Warhazzard]

Mal would completely disregard the words of Donovan. He needed knowledge, and fighting wasn't the answer. Mal could almost see some of his father in Donovan's words. It made Mal want to vomit. Nova had a good point. He wasn't dead yet and he had been at school for less than an hour and already learned something new. The biggest lesson of all perhaps... Mal learned that he had a lot to learn. There was an immediate sense of dread that filled Mal. He WAS overconfident. He was exactly like his father. Damn it.

"I uh... I belong here." Mal's words seem to come out almost forced. It was clear he was deeply upset. "Schools are most beneficial to those that have the least amount of knowledge. I... I don't know anything..."

Mal would turn to Nova.

"Nova, where do I sign up?"

[Novocaine]

"Hmm, from what I gathered most people signed up with one of the instructors." she'd tap her cheek in thought.

"I bet you could get it done through any staff member."

A beat.

"Oh, but hey, if this place doesn't fill that void in you, let me know." she'd grin. "My territory could take care of it, easy."

[Donovan]

"Eh, don't go to Prota, friend. I've heard rumors that they mess with your brain. Stuff you into tubes and... do things to you..."

Then after a brief pause he would turn to the Girl of his Dreams.

"No offense, of course!"

[Malcomb Warhazzard]

"These words... Prota...Territory... I don't know what they mean. Let's take care of schooling first. Instructor is the first step. Do they have nametags?" Mal was trying not to think about how much he didn't know and with each work the two of his companions spoke, it just proved how much more he needed to be here, at school, learning. Mal really hoped they taught world history here, otherwise he'd be lost for sure.

Wait... Mess with my brain? My father did stuff like that...

"I can't think about that, let's find these instruc..." Mal would be frozen.

Father... Brain... What did he...

A flashback began in Mal's mind, so vivid he would think it was real. It was so hard to see what was going on, but there was an unrecognizable face behind a surgeon's mask, lots of drilling sounds, and an impending sense of doom. He was struggling. Physically struggling to move. He was tied down. To what? What kind of surface was this?

On the outside Mal would start to foam at the mouth, completely unresponsive to the world around him. He would drop to the ground and begin shaking not unlike a seizure.

[Novocaine]

Nova gives Donovan and frown and some side-eye for his anti-Prota sentiments, crossing her arms.

Her attention turns to Mal.

"I WAS focusing on the schooling." she'd say, but it mostly fell on deaf ears as the man before her started to have some kind of medical emergency.

Nova would kneel down next to his convulsing body, giving a wry smile.

"That's what you inferior humans get, I guess. Shoulda just accepted my offer. Oh, hey-" she'd look at Donovan, unsure about his level of experience with anything like this.

"Help me put him on his side."

She'd carefully take Mal's head, ready to turn it as well, assuming Donovan did as she suggested.

[Donovan]

"Hey now! This 'inferir' human has never had that happened!"

He would say as he knelt down and, with his metal arm shifted Mal to his side, roughly, and then held him there.

"Now what?"