"The courtyard was fairly convincing, it had an illusion sky, but it didn't, you know, smell like outdoors. They're meaning to improve it but most of the enclave spare resources right now are going toward the power sink, which is supposed to come in with the freshmen my junior year when we finally, hopefully, have coverage in all the years to do upkeep."

"I guess that's not cheap even on the outside. Well, having a power-sharer when it's alliance time is probably worth more than having it now."

"That's the idea, it's a little harder while we're waiting but Suze'll have it in time to get out wearing one and it's less likely to just stop working and need to be replaced if there's enough people to keep it in operation."

"Is New Orleans a newish enclave?"

"Yeah, they built it in like, the late sixties."

Malak returns and sits back down.

"OK, so Alexios says James is - harmless, probably, after the thing last year he decided that students weren't talking enough and needed more kumbayah and now he stands on a table once a week and announces all the gossip he's picked up for everyone to hear."

"What the fuck was the thing last year."

"Who still talks to him after he appointed himself the town crier?"

"Yeah, I was getting to that. Apparently one kid went hardcore maleficer and poached an enclaver and killed a bunch of people. And then one of his victim's brother went hardcore maleficer and killed him and a bunch of other people. And then one of their friends went hardcore maleficer and poached someone and killed... most of the rest of his own enclave? And then before this could happen a fourth time all the rest of the big enclaves got their seniors together and put a stop to it, but - I can see how some people could get messed up by all that."

"Is that kind of thing... common?"

"My older siblings didn't make it but I am pretty sure it was just, you know, regular Scholomance death."

"Well I don't think it was before last year, but apparently we've got a lot of people getting a head start on it this year so who knows???"

"It can't be common for so many enclavers to go maleficer. I wonder why it happened."

"Why would an enclaver ever go maleficer? And conditional on having done so why kill his own enclave? And why would a person poach from an enclaver? And -"

"I... guess I can see how something like that might lead someone to respond by just yelling everything that might be happening? Although it doesn't explain the - I guess probably the mana storage was a joke?"

"Maybe he will yell 'and Naima, from Cairo, has no mana storage, anyone want to help her out?'"

"Naima didn't give her name, I think she's safe from that." Clever Naima.

Oh thank God, that was absolutely not intentional but she's so relieved.

"If he's hoping to get it out of the graduating seniors' stashes - would they leave behind mana storage, that seems questionable - then yelling it probably wouldn't even help much."

"Even if he's a bit funny in the head, helping can't possibly be his motive, it'll be almost entirely lies people fed him..."

"He could've noticed which direction the school is heading and want a headstart on building ties with all the vulnerable freshmen."

"Maybe he's playing dumb so people let things slip they otherwise wouldn't? But that just brings us back to wondering what his real game is." 

"Maybe your original read is right and he's just got some screws loose at this point."

"I lean toward the screws loose theory but I'm not going to spot him a drop of mana, for sure."

" - Yeah especially as he has no real cause to ask, he's a Seattle enclaver."