This kid is definitely some kind of weirdo outcast! He's African by the look of it, wearing absurdly mismatched clothes and worn plastic flip-flops. He's currently pacing the perimeter of the room, eyes moving constantly in a scanning pattern - corners, floor, ceiling, ventilation grates, walls, back to corners. He has the vibe of a malificer, but none of the physical signs; his nails are normal. Also some of it might just be the literal whiff of garbage-dump scent that trails in his wake. 

Perfect.

Mal sidles up near him -- not trying to approach from his blind spot, keeping a respectful distance.

"Someone payin' you to patrol, or you givin' it away for free?"

Masozi isn't startled because he felt the other kid coming. He is, however, very confused. "- What? Nobody's paying me, I'm just not stupid." And no one else here seems to have nearly enough practice at keeping a lookout, though to be fair there are ten times fewer mals here than he's used to. 

"Seems like you're gettin' the short end of the stick a bit. Keepin' watch for the whole room while they get themselves all orientated an' stuff."

Masozi's expression says clearly that he thinks this is a really weird attitude to have. He'd be keeping a lookout for himself anyway. 

"S'not like I want them to die," he points out. "They'll learn. ...I hope." 

"Sure. But you're providing a service, you oughta be seein' some appreciation for it, that's all."

.....Such a baffling attitude to have! And this is the SECOND person who's approached him and said something vaguely appreciative in that space! Which would be less confusing if not for the part in the middle where he tried to be helpful and keep the careless kids from getting themselves killed, and then the senior from New York threatened to murder him for being a 'maleficer', which he still doesn't really understand! 

"- Well, you're appreciating it," he points out. "So - thanks, I guess." 

"I know which side my bread's buttered on. I'm Mal, by the way."

"I'm Masozi. Pleased to meet you." 

What does this guy WANT from him. This entire social interaction is just so different from anything he's experienced before and he has no idea what to make of it. 

"What track are you going? I'm languages, officially." And thus of course maintenance, unofficially.

"...I don't know yet. I didn't know I'd be in this school at all until a few days ago. Maybe artificing?" 

"Slot open up last minute?"

Nod. "In Johannesburg. I'd - heard about the school - in time to travel down. And then a space opened up, yeah." 

"Lucky you. Spent the last four years angling for a Tejano spot, myself. Ain't a walk in the park to come by anywhere."

"I guess not." 

...Masozi decides to take a risk, because at the very least this boy's response might be informative. 

"If I survive," he says calmly, "I'm going back for my baby sister. Left her with a mundane family back in Malawi. Our parents are dead. She's four so she won't be - much of a target for mals - for a while." 

"Smart. Mundanes'll help. Specially if it's a big family, lotsa kids around all the time."

“That’s what I hoped, anyway.”

"Well. Supposin' you care to make it as long as that -- my crew an' I are fixin' to stake out a spot in the library tomorrow, while the gettin's good. Want in?"

"- Sure, all right." Masozi pauses. Frowns. "Why'd you gotta stake out a spot? Do people have territories there?" 

"Way I hear it, yeah, and the library's where you wanna be at."

"Does sound useful." And he still needs to look for books on what maleficing does to people. "Who's in your crew?" 

"It's up-an'-coming."

This is the world's most cheerfully confident bullshit.

- ah, which means he's improvising and has no idea. Masozi thinks this is a pretty reasonable strategy. 

"Well, what sort of skills do you still need? I met some people earlier. Could introduce you if you wanted." 

"Sick. Could use some folks who know their way around the classwork, an' some muscle. Not to mention a pretty face never hurt nobody."

Masozi considers this. 

"...Did you see the girl who showed up naked 'cause she was so big and strong she had no leftover weight allotment? I mean, I dunno if she's already in an alliance and I figure she's got lots of offers by now but you could ask her. ...Oh, and I met this other kid, Ghassan? He seemed to know his way around. Um, I mean, he - came and found me and said some things about how I was good at keeping lookout, like you. Bet he's been looking for people - maybe you should ask him?"