"Oh. Well, that's convenient, I guess."

"There are any number of people who have come to Mind Control University with no native interest in brainwashing whatsoever, simply because the general education we provide in magic, or technology, or whichever, is genuinely very good," she assures her. "And several of them have graduated in control of a substantial fraction of their class!"

"Is that a graduation requirement?"

"No. It is possible to graduate without enslaving anyone at all, although enslaving at least one classmate while retaining your own free will at the end of the school year will all but ensure graduation."

"What happens if someone 'does not graduate', does that... matter, at all?"

"Goodness, yes. MCU alumni form a multiversal influence network. Successfully graduating will open a lot of doors for you, and put a number of resources at your disposal. In fact, some teachers are themselves alumni."

"Doors and resources like what?"

"It's a very large network. What doors and resources do you want there to be?"

"I might not want a large network of inveterate mind-controllers to consider me a person of interest."

"Well, they're much more likely to respect your desire to be left alone if you're a member than if you aren't. It's too late not to be noticed at all."

"Mm."

Edie steps into her personal space. 

This situation empirically sucks! However, Edie is VERY stubborn and VERY ambitious and she has confidence in their ability to grow beyond the power levels implied by this place and someday take this whole awful structure apart, alumni network and all. 

Also she intends to take Kiri's hand and give it a comforting squeeze if Kiri would be comforted by this. 

Kiri accepts the handsqueeze.

Handsqueeze!

This place sucks but there are now eight of them who have formed a Not Sucking Group and people have the potential to be really really awful but also really really good. They definitely shouldn't let their guards down. But the world isn't just an awful place full of awful things. 

"Anything else, folks, or should we get lunch?"

"I'm in favor of lunch." Which is unlikely to include honey, particularly after that conversation.

"I will probably think of five questions as soon as we leave the office but that'd happen whenever." 

"We can always come back later, just write it down, I guess." Out to the cafeteria with them. "There's enough of us that after lunch we could split up if people want to do different things, like if not everyone wants to come to the magic teacher's office."

"I might want to go to the chi teacher's office, does anyone else want to go to the chi teacher's office?"

"I'll go with you if no one else does." 

The twins look at each other. 

"--Edie and I will go different places. If there's a third place people wanna go besides those two teachers' offices after lunch I might go to the third place depending, otherwise she'll go magic and I'll go chi." 

"We spend enough time in each others' heads that it's just efficient for us to be in different places. Gives us a better holistic perspective overall."

"That makes sense."

"I'm curious about what I need to know about chi given that I'm an android."

"--Do you want to be dropped off somewhere else before lunch. Like your room or the library."