"I'm Nira! Nice to meet you."

"Hello."

"It's good to meet you too." 

And by now it's probably about time for the speech to start, right? 

There is a soft chime, and benches begin rising smoothly out of the floor, startling the girls standing in the center of the room. Merrin's group isn't affected, being off to the side.

Merrin's primary reaction to this is momentary sympathy for the people who were startled, rather than smugness over not being one of them. 

"Should we sit together, do you think?" 

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

Kait nods. They find a few empty spots on a nearby bench as everyone else moves to seat themselves. Once they do, the front wall fades out and a screen appears in its place.

A familiar visage graces the screen.

"Greetings, my young devotees. To begin with, let me say what an honor it is that you all have chosen to follow my path. I truly believe that together, we can forge this galaxy into what it was meant to be. You each have your own reasons for being here. In time, you will fulfill them. But first, you must learn to harness the power with which you have been gifted. That is why you have come to this Academy. Through many trials, persevere. Your goal is in front of you, and you have the strength to reach it. Now, I believe your Headmistress would like to say a few words."

The screen fades back into a wall. Another woman walks out in front and takes a position in the center.

"That's our Polemarch, impressive as always. There's really only one way I can follow her." She takes a deep breath as she rises into the air. A profusion of sparkles obscure her figure as she twirls. When she lands again, she is wearing a much fancier dress and holding a gleaming saber.

Merrin joins in the applause that follows this display. 

"So! Welcome, young sprouts, to the Academy. My name is Myra and I will be in charge of you until you graduate. During your time here, you can expect to learn everything a well-educated young lady should know, as well as how to do this." She flourishes the sword. "By the end, you will be ready to be the next generation of saviors for the galaxy." She then launches into a speech about code of conduct, day-to-day life, and class scheduling. The girls are expected to be respectful of the staff, grounds, and each other, and fighting is not permitted. Meals are provided at the cafeteria four times throughout the day: morning, midday, evening, and late night. They are encouraged to show up to at least three of these. Curfew is midnight. Initial dormitory assignments will be passed out at the end of today, if they've already made friends they would like to room with, they can submit a request at the main office before then. There will be general opportunities to change room assignment twice per year. Classes are scheduled in three blocks and the girls will be grouped according to ability. Later on, they will have the chance to sign up for electives, but the first run of classes are fixed.

And with that, they're dismissed. They have the run of the place until tonight.

Merrin turns to Kait and Nira. "So, I guess one of us could meet our soulmate in the next few hours and want to room with them instead, but I think it'd be nice to share a room with someone I've at least met instead of a complete stranger." 

"S-soulmate?"

Heh. "Yeah, I think I'd prefer that, too."

"Oh, the soulmate thing was a joke," she explains to Kait. "There's this theory that everyone in the world has one person they're meant to be with forever, and you're guaranteed to meet them at some point, and that's your soulmate. But I don't actually believe in it, it's more of a fairy tale. Anyway, so shall we go register as roommates?" 

The explanation does not seem to alleviate Kait's furious blush.

"Um. Yes. Let's go."

To the main office, then. Merrin is happy to do the talking if the other two don't want to, but all three of them should probably be there in case the office wants to confirm which students they are or whatever. 

The lady behind the desk smiles when they enter.

"Registering for three?"

"Yep! I'm Merrin, and this is Kait and Nira. We'd like to be roommates, please." 

"Okay." She makes some entries on her screen and hands over a holopad. "Thumbprints, please."

Merrin provides a thumbprint. She's glad she thought to bring the other two along; she'd have had to fetch them for this part, otherwise. 

Prints all around. Nira hands the pad back to the secretary, who waves the confirmations onto the desk display.

     "You're all set, then."

"Thanks!"

"Yes, thank you!" 

Merrin turns to the other two. "Right. Who wants to go exploring?" 

"That sounds fun. Kait?"

"Ah, yes. It would be good to get to know the environment."

Exploring! Maybe if they try hard and believe in themselves, they can get very thoroughly lost by evening meal time.