Intermediate Communication Studies 202

[pugsmuggler]

The Eldabaran Gracia campus was as industrial as its students, overwhelmingly modern, with sweeping hallways gilded in glossy white and textured aluminum, doorways shaped from frothy blue glass, and ceilings the arced up like a whale’s ribcage. Eldabaran Gracia was not a school of excessive grandiose, but it was a school of considerable wealth. It had to be. Being a reputable school of technology and science among a galaxy full of competitors required up-to-date resources and tools. Of course, Eldabaran’s far-reaching range of technological equipment were not for play, and enrolled students became increasingly aware of this their first year — several dropped out within the first semester. Everything was focused, clinical, and serious, and newcomers certainly couldn’t help but notice how remarkably clean everything was, from the pale-washed walls to the reflective, slick floors.

Calibri would have noticed on that particular day, that the halls weren’t, as they normally were, populated with students poring over notes last minute or having conversations about recent test results. The halls were instead quite empty. Class 318-C, Intermediate Biochemical Pharmacology and Toxicology, was similarly empty. A class that normally hosted around 50 students (give or take) now hosted lines of empty desks and unused lab equipment. Down the stadium steps of the classroom and sitting with his feet propped up on center desk in front of the projector screen was Garamond, reclining back in the professor’s chair with a small glass of brandy. He smiled when Calibri came through the doorway.

“Good to see you again,” Garamond said. “It’s been what? Two years? How old are you now?”

Comments

[pugsmuggler]

There were two men remaining once the guests had emptied the room. They had taken cover behind the bar, using it as a barricade to duck under in case of any oncoming bullets. Since Garamond had taken cover behind the lip of the door, they’d reached something of a stalemate. The odd shot would thunder from the barrel of the gun and whistle past Garamond’s head when he’d lean over enough to look, but that was all. Garamond wasn’t so wasteful. With a limited number of bullets, he couldn’t afford to be. He would wait until they crossed over the bar and into the big belly of the room that he’d make his move.

"Couldn't have picked a better time to show up, could you?" Garamond mumbled out.

[tactician]

"I'd like to think my timing is adequate," said Calibri, even if a little breathlessly, just as he appeared at the foot of the stairs behind Garamond. Focused on their primary target as they were, the two remaining gunmen didn't take note of Calibri's slight form at first, thinking he was just a straggling or lost guest, perhaps. That worked to his advantage - in the split second he had before recognition faded into a real threat, he reeled something over his head and tossed it into the far end of the room, where the attackers were hiding behind fallen tables and counters for protection.

It hit the ground with a dull thump and shattered, releasing a sudden yellowish mist into the air, the liquid inside whatever container he had thrown turning into gas as soon as it hit oxygen after being jostled so violently. Almost immediately afterward, strangled coughing and slightly-panicked swearing echoed from the end of the event space.

"It won't kill them," said Calibri, ducking back under the highest stair and peeking over it like a small animal. He did have his own life to watch over, after all. "The supply closet in the Chemistry wing didn't have the right tools to create something fatal."

[pugsmuggler]

“Wha—,” Garamond bristled. “I told you to leave!”

Before he could say anything else, a stray shot flying out of the doorway caused Garamond to duck. The tear gas had ballooned throughout the space of the square room, and Garamond, keeping his gun trained on the two men, used the distraction to back up to the staircase where Calibri was crouched down in hiding. He would have made a break for it then, but the gas didn’t seem enough to keep his pursuers at bay.

One of the men came clambering through the doorway. He was a mess, sputtering and coughing, but he could still somehow gather his energy enough to aim his weapon towards the staircase. Garamond’s aim was quicker, however, and unhindered by the gas. He ended up shooting the man right between the eyes before the pursuer could even line his shaky hand up with his target. The man collapsed on the ground, limp and bleeding.

“If anyone asks you didn’t see that,” Garamond flashed a quick smile. “Purely self-defense anyway, no cause for alarm.”

[tactician]

One left.

"I did leave," Calibri pointed out, scooting down a few stairs more. If his calculations were correct, either the remaining man would be too objective-driven to give up and just make an angry, panicked charge at Garamond, or he would turn tail and run for his life, the latter of which was the more intelligent option, although Calibri placed little faith on that being the most probable one. Even on Krellida, there was an absurd amount of blind loyalty between members of a sentient species.

How odd.

"He's coming," he informed Garamond shortly, before retreating to the lower flight of stairs, out of range and out of sight. Just on cue, the last man burst through the yellow haze, gun trained on nothing at all considering he couldn't see, and charged towards the stairs.

Meanwhile, Calibri undid the annoying cuff buttons on his dress shirt. These terrible human customs.

[pugsmuggler]

"Generally when someone tells you to leave it implies that you shouldn't come back," Garamond replied.

The man discharged a shot from his firearm at no one in particular. The ricochet of the bullet caused Garamond to crouch defensively. Even kneeling down on the stairs, Garamond could still pick out a good shot. He fired, an the second man came down like heavy lumber. Garamond picked himself up and, covering his face partially with his handkerchief, made his way over to the bodies.

He searched them, eventually recovering some identification. They were carrying some contraband as well, which Garamond also pocketed. With everything he needed in tow, he headed back to the staircase, pulling out his communicator and sending out a message to take care of the bodies. He removed his handkerchief, wiping his eyes once to rid massage out the slight burn of the gas.

"Unless there's someone I'm forgetting, I think we're done here."

[tactician]

Calibri, distinctively looking less put-together than he had at the beginning of the party, was waiting at the foot of the stairs, sitting on the third step with his feet resting on the first. He looked up and over his shoulder at Garamond before pointing to the left, at a nondescript door with the universal sign for 'restroom' hung on the wall beside it. "If you'd like the symptoms to go away faster, you can rinse your eyes with water."

Then, "Does this happen often?"

[pugsmuggler]

"I'll be fine," Garamond said, his glance extending out to the two bodies in the hallway. "Happens more often than I'd like it to, but not usually in this kind of scenario."

[tactician]

"I see," Calibri responded calmly, while undoing the first two buttons of his shirt collar, which happened to be conspicuously missing its silk tie. Good - so it was only a rare occasion, which would be rarer yet considering Garamond didn't visit all too often, which only meant that the rest of his school career should go relatively undisturbed. He stood up, suit jacket already slung over one arm.

"What were they after, that they would chase you all the way out here?" he asked, just as the sounds of confused shouting and the drumming of many footsteps began to echo down the hall. No one had alerted the security, but no doubt what remained of the staff on campus had caught wind of the chaotic situation by now. Of course, they were too late to catch the action, albeit they were just in time to cause more trouble should they catch Calibri and Garamond idling around on the first floor with weapons in their hands, dressed in suits for a conference that was probably not well-advertised, given its clientele.

Without waiting for Garamond's command, Calibri ducked back towards the underground tunnels that led to the other parts of campus. If possible, he would rather just avoid a mess altogether.

[pugsmuggler]

Garamond was quick to follow, ducking down the staircase. He had every intention of avoiding unnecessary confrontation. Dealing with the law was little more than a waste of time for Garamond, and one he’d prefer to avoid. With the Government’s dependency on the circle, he could be indicted under hardly public service officer, and especially not security guards. Typically his run-ins with police resulted in long questioning sessions which ultimately turned out to be a waste of time.

"Not sure what they’re after,” Garamond said. “Information, most likely."

He turned to Calibri.

"You're pretty calm for a kid that just saw two men die."

[tactician]

Calibri raised a brow at Garamond. "I had assumed that I would have to get used to-"

And then, because the body was nothing if not traitorous, the rest of his limbs finally decided that they had had enough and that the poison he had ingested would take effect right now, he suddenly tripped over his own feet and crumpled to his knees.

[pugsmuggler]

"Woah," Garamond quickly caught Calibri by the arms, lifting him into a stand. Calibri was barely stable.

"You OK, kid?" He asked, pulling Calibri into a straightened stance. "Didn't take a hit back there, did you?"

[tactician]

"What? No, I..." Calibri started, both sounding and looking a bit bewildered by the situation. His legs felt like jelly and they moved like such too, bending under his weight without him feeling the motion. He made an aborted attempt to put one foot solidly on the ground and only managed to flail the leg about. "It's the...Dicarbonide Chlorophine."

[pugsmuggler]

"Easy, easy," Garamond warned, picking the boy off the ground and continuing his descent out of the building. "Let's get you a detox."

[tactician]

Calibri had little choice but to flop along as Garamond picked him up and started moving. He couldn't feel anything past his elbows and hips. He tried once or twice to move his arms, but all he ended up doing was slapping his hands feebly into Garamond's face. "My apologies for that," he mumbled, still preoccupied with frowning at his feet, as if they would spring back into attention and into control if he glared hard enough. "Go to the chemistry lab instead of the nurse's office, please."

[pugsmuggler]

"The lab, huh?" Garamond confirmed. He saw no point in questioning it. The kid so far had proven so far that he knew what he was doing. Once out of the building, instead of hoist Calibri across a couple miles of sidewalk and back to his classroom, he hailed a cab and dropped Calibri into the back seat, joining him for the ride.

"To clarify," he began. "This isn't the kind of things you'll need to get used to. Not in your line of work."

[tactician]

Calibri's head lolled back against the headrest. He seemed to have trouble picking it back up.

"To clarify," he said to the roof of the vehicle, "by these 'kind of things' you are referring to...?"

[pugsmuggler]

Garamond smiled, his hands folding calmly in his lap. He closed his eyes briefly. He decided to pay no mind to their poor chauffeur, who, pale as a sheet, already seemed intimidated enough that someone like Garamond occupied his backseat. He was quiet, and Garamond imagined he'd stay that way regardless of what he overheard.

"What you saw," he said. "Isn't something a kid like you should see. It's not something I have plans for you to see. You're a smart kid, but a little naive about how the world works. Celga's a real company, Nathaniel. Order sanctioned and everything. No crooks can set foot in the place, let alone start gun fight there. Sure, there's the odd biochemical weapon developed there, but that's usually under Government commission. They mainly do research. Hell, I don't think we'd have half the medical knowledge we do today if it wasn't for their branch."

[tactician]

It was, Calibri thought, what off-planet human beings would have considered a moral quandary. People were renowned for having a distinctly un-Krellidae method of thinking, after all. Sometimes, the most difficult part of their interaction was parsing their words - full of so many euphemisms and idioms and dancing around the subject in fear of hurting someone's feelings, in fear of ruining someone's mindset, in fear of doing some irreparable damage to something without having raised their hand. It took Calibri a few moments to work past it.

"Allow me to clarify," he said, before noticing that a few sharp turns in succession had caused his body to flop onto the nearest car door, making for a very bumpy ride that kept on knocking his head against the window, to the point where his glasses were slowly being jostled off his face. He made a half-futile, half-too-effective move to push himself off with an increasingly unresponsive elbow and ended up ricocheting off the door and onto Garamond's arm instead.

What a mess.

"You're concerned," he said, while trying to push off of Garamond this time, "About the state of my psyche after having seen a man die by gunpoint."

[pugsmuggler]

Garamond's glance fell down on the body propped on his shoulder. Calibri wasn't in good shape. The poisons weighed down on his limbs heavily, and he was no doubt a bit drowsy. Calibri had only taken a small sampling, but the substance had been intended to knock a man of Garamond's size for days. His smile keeping, Garamond patted the kid on the head.

"You can simplify it that way," he agreed. "Go ahead and sleep if you need to, kid. We can get you fixed up back at the ship. I'll send you back to school later."

And before Calibri could even have a say in it, he went ahead and filled the driver in on their new destination.

[tactician]

Calibri clicked something in Krellidae against Garamond's arm, most of it muffled by the fabrick of his suit jacket at the shoulder. It sounded like the gentle creak of a grasshopper strumming its legs in the summer heat.

This was disappointing. He would have to build up his tolerance to the substance. He hardly ingested a milliliter in total of the stuff, considering it had been diluted into the fizzy champagne and- ...was it the alcohol?!

His head shot up, eyes wide, glasses askew. "Champagne."

[pugsmuggler]

Garamond, who had just extended his glance forward, quickly looked back at Calibri when he heard the outburst. With a blink, he straightened and leaned back against his seat.

"Champagne?"

[tactician]

Even having raised his head, Calibri could barely peek over the top of Garamond's shoulder. "It was the champagne," he hissed conspiratorially, before his eyelids drooped shut and he relaxed back against the seat, completely lax.