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"Well, sorry I didn't run down to the senior floor in between running around to nine different homerooms twice to coordinate everybody," Silas is saying. No one is shouting, because that'd be unprofessional, but it's still pretty conspicuous that something is up at the New York cluster of tables; a bunch of the juniors, who should be leaving for class by now, are hanging around, and three seniors who have someone else doing their homework first hour and who would therefore generally be in the library or the workshop are still there.
"If you're committing our resources, you need to loop us in," Frank says.
"Committing your resources? We're doing you a hell of a favor. Orion'll fill the mana storage by midterms and fill all the extra mana storage we all carried in by end of year. You'll waltz out of here."
"If you don't get him killed," Annaka says.
"He thinks he can handle it," Silas says. "And I think he's right. And the rest of us will be there -"
"The rest of you are useless," says Frank. And at Silas's outraged expression, " - and you're going to stay useless if you're in denial about it. A mid-sized mal will munch right through the best-prepared freshman around who isn't Orion, and there are going to be mid-sized mals in the shop stockroom Monday morning by week eight."
"But Orion can take ten of 'em," says Silas.
"What's the plan for psychic or informational mals, anything you don't just solve with firepower -"
"Well, if you don't solve it with firepower, then I don't see how freshmen are at a disadvantage handling it."
"You don't know the spells."
"Sounds like we've got till week 8 for me to learn."
"What's the plan for if he's sick or hurt for a day."
"- we take one of you."
"Then you are," says Frank, "spending our resources, and you should have looped us in. Look, maybe this is a good move. Maybe it's brilliant. Every kid in the school will know Orion Lake's name by midterms, and everyone will want a New York powersharer like they want their mommies. If I have to spend a couple Mondays babysitting freshman shop, maybe that's worth it. But we have to make these calls in an organized fashion, and you guys can't just do the opposite of your instructions because you have Orion or at some point we will overstretch ourselves."
"Congratulations, Silas," says Silas, "here's my shopping list for you, Silas, this is a great way for me to get all the top-tier supplies I need for graduation, Silas -"
"Hey," Annaka says. "I get why you're pleased with yourself. It was clever. Most kids in here need to be clever to get out, and I bet they're all wishing they were as clever as you. But we're New York. We don't need to be clever to get out. The opposite of that. Most of us will make it out, and the clever ones often won't."
Silas glares.
Annaka waves for the juniors to go on to class. "Kid, chill. That's not a threat. You're the best strategic thinker in my kid sister's year, I'm gonna keep you alive through this, even if I have to babysit every shop class. I think we would've agreed to this plan, if we'd known about it. But we would've arranged for someone to have something they can ditch, first hour, just in case. Orion is really fucking special, he's a gamechanger, and you're not wrong to think about what we get from changing the game. But we're changing a game we were already winning, and that's something you do carefully. Get it?"
"Yeah." He's not looking at her.
She is not bothered by this. Fourteen year olds have the emotional maturity of fourteen year olds. "Okay," she says. "Great job, Silas. You want my shopping list? Here it is:"
