It's the anniversary. Glam would very much not like to celebrate.
It’s their last day on Winslow High—they’re being transferred to Arcadia on Monday—and also their last day without a patrol schedule assigned.
And the PRT released a small announcement on its website about Glam joining the Wards. Now their wiki page doesn’t get erased, of course—they’re no longer speculative. They wonder what it’s got on them.
...ow.
"...six years ago? Seriously? They hold a grudge for—ow—that long? ...it's getting kinda hard to breathe here."
"I'm sorry!" they call from the floor, before floating up. "Are there any of them here?"
New Glam appears. "Go after Yates. Apologize. Tell her—tell her not to leave yet, tell her I'll fix this." They didn't need to give out the orders explicitly, that was for Boots' sake.
They grab their phone and look for Al's business card—there it is.
The Glam who stayed calls Al.
Copy is instantly aware of this. "I'm on the phone with the Youth Guard guy, I'll fix it!"
Copy can't feel hurt about it, but it can act in a way Glam would expect it to act, which is a wince and a nod. "I deserve that. I'm sorry. I told them not to—it wasn't your fault, you're not supposed to take the fall for it, it's not fair."
"That doesn't sound likely, and it also doesn't address the whole 'second strike' vibe going on."
"Why did Contini say you resigned? Did you? Did they make you do it?"
"I think she probably felt very ashamed of how she treated you once it was brought to her attention how serious it was, and she decided not to exacerbate the situation by leaving," says Al. "There wasn't a particular rule in place about treating transgendered people well before, but there are and have always been rules about how people can talk to and about minors they're taking charge of."
"Okay, that is completely impossible, I think I'm standing by what I said, this is going to be fixed or I'm denying it."
"No, but you can make the situation that made her resign in the first place go away, like the second strike which is definitely unwarranted."
"It's not just Ms. Yates, it's everyone here. I don't think they mistreated me or mishandled me in a way that justifies this, and this will cause much more trouble than it's worth anyway, I'm graduating in less than a year! And yeah sure you'll mention all the other trans kids, point, but why would you need a strike? Why not just change the rules in the background?"
Copy floats in, looking dejected. Original looks at them, and they shrug.
"I'm still waiting to be convinced by a sensible argument that expects me to be capable of reasoning instead of treating me as a tool exactly like the Protectorate did."