Joseph Rex's Story

Crash! Crunch! "2-2-'BZZZRT-1-3" Zap, Crunch.

A cacophony of metallic crushing and electronic buzzing sounds just barely reached Joe through the haze of his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes, the sunlight burning as it met with his vision. After a few moments Joe found himself where he last left himself going to bed last night: A bench out on school grounds, Frank wrapped around his area. His summon, a rather significantly large trash dragon named Frank, had just swatted a robot who had made the time old mistake of walking up to a dragon without loudly announcing itself. Then again, to the untrained optic sensor his dragon looked like little more than a trash heap when prone.

"Ah heck. They're probably gonna charge me fer that." Joe shrugged. "Ah well, don't matter none too much.
Never had much a need for money. Just means I'm gonna need ta find some meals fer a bit." Lazily he picked himself off the bench and stretched. The remains of the robot were pulled into Frank. The pieces that weren't completely crushed into slag in the first hit were ground into pure junk by the shifting wood, steel and stone that comprised of it's body. Raising it's head Frank was about the size of a small warehouse in both height at the shoulder and length from nose to tail tip. With the robot slag pulled into it it was now at the cusp of it's maximum mass limit. It was not an inconsiderable creature but Joe felt it could use to be bigger, something he hoped he would figure out how to do at this school.


Despite having had barely woken up Joe recalled the numbers the flattened robot blurted out in it's last moments.
"That probably somethin' important. I'd better do some sleuthin'." He concluded, walking on his way to find something corresponding with the numbers. Given their arrangement they seemed to relate closest to room numbers. Either that or it was a phone number it didn't get to finish. He'd find out soon enough.

Joe hadn't had any missions since the last teacher died and quite frankly he didn't mind all that much. The free time gave him plenty of peace and quiet but there was always those rumors that buzzed around about inactive students getting booted. He wasn't really scared of that but getting tossed out would be inconvenient. He wanted to find out as much as he needed to know from this place before ditching it like his last place and taking to the road.


When he got to the entrance to the building he looked up to Frank. The dragon's face was expressionless as it was just a bunch of garbage arranged into a dragon shaped head but he could still tell it wasn't happy with him going somewhere it couldn't fit. It was just a knack Joe picked up after all these years of living with Frank.
"Look buddy, I swear I'm not going to be too far out of reach. I think the room probably has a window you can look through.
I'll call 'ya over when I find it alright? Try not to wreck anything alright?" He reassured Frank. The dragon sat down and simply waited, a clear enough signal for Joe to go through with it.

Eventually he found the door with the number the robot had blurted out in it's death throes.
"Well, hope I ain't wrong here." He spoke mostly to himself as he pushed his way in through the door. Inside was a rather eclectic gathering of the more unusual students. There was a teacher he didn't really know anything about and well, that was about it. He'd of cared more about the details but he didn't think it was of much importance. Simply striding through he went over and opened a window, sticking his head out. He gave a loud sharp whistle which rang out across the general area.
"Yo, Frank! I found the right place!" He yelled out hoping Frank heard him. He turned away from the window a moment over towards the teacher. "This is the right place, right?" He asked, hoping he didn't just walk into a classroom uninvited and disrupt everything. That would be mildly embarrassing, nothing too bad for him though. The biggest nuisance would be having to explain himself.

The whole room shuddered with each step of it's large feet. It was a gentle rumble at first but as it got closer the room shook quite a bit as Frank parked himself right outside the window, causing one last big thud as it sat. Though it didn't seem to have eyes of any sort it's head was looking in through the windows at Joe. "See Frank, I told 'ya it was gonna be fine." He told Frank through the open window. It's blank emotionless mass of trash that he calls a head didn't change at all but Joe was sure it got the idea. With that said Joe grabbed the seat closest to the window, always welcoming a chance to sit and rest whenever he gets the chance.

---

---

For the first time in a while, the thought came to him again.

“Well, these things happen.”

Months had passed, and Lev still couldn’t think of anything more than that apathetic phrase when the image of their former teacher, killed in a mission, appeared in his mind. Admittedly, this somewhat worried him.

It had been the first time in his life a person close to him – at least in the sense that they saw each other almost every day – was taken by Daemons and, contrary to what he had initially expected, it didn’t affect him that much. It did take him by surprise when he heard the news and even got him wondering how such a tragedy could have occurred to a Huntress he had always perceived as careful and reliable, but minutes later he was more preoccupied with how he would face his numerous fees with the limited budget he received from the Academy and the following weekend he hadn’t spared a single second of thought on her.

He didn’t appear to be the only one though. Fellow Hunters seemed at a loss during the week when she died, wondering if the incident had occurred due to a malfunction, a mistake or an irregularity of a different sort, but eventually people ran out of curiosity on the matter and it was as good as settled. It made sense; they were at war and even if they didn’t have access to the exact numbers as they were still in training, students in the Academy could figure out many men and women died each day. Daemons didn’t rest or mourn, and there was no noticeable sign that their numbers were decreasing, so how could humanity spare time and resources for those who had fallen?

Still, this woman had shared wisdom with those who would become the next generation of humanity’s vanguard against Daemons to ensure its survival in the future, and in her spare time joined Hunters in the field to fight like a soldier. There was no way that such a lifestyle had left her any time to form a family of her own or pursue any ambitions. Almost her entire life, from late childhood to death, had been sacrificed to fight for humanity, which was more than the overwhelming majority of people could say, and still it was most likely that a decade from now no one would remember her face or even her name. No; that was a privilege that was saved only for those who knew when to die, made beautiful speeches to earn a cozy seat in one of the major cities’ government or, even better, were willing to print their faces on pop magazines so that a new generation of teenagers could grow up with propaganda-fueled dreams of unrealistic glory.

But “these things happen” indeed.

Maybe what bothered Lev was the acknowledgement that, as selfish and despicable as this society that ignored the genuine devotion of a brave woman resulted to him, he would still prove exactly the same as them.

Perhaps, despite his attempts to convince himself that he was fighting for mankind and not for himself, he was scared of facing the fact that his efforts would still make him no more than a nameless soldier in history at most.

Or maybe he had too much free time to spend thinking on pointless trails of thought.

“OI! OI LEV! FUCKING OI!”

Suddenly, the surrounding background he had been pushing back in his mind brusquely recovered its colors and life; the sound of heavy machinery at work and raspy voices of middle-aged men and women screaming obscenities at each other echoed in his eardrums again and demanded his attention, prompting him to wonder how he had been able to space out in the first place. He sought the voice that called his name through the framed visor of his face shield and soon spotted a short-haired and generously bearded man he recognized as Gene, one of the more experienced workers and student supervisors.

“Sum n’droid ‘ere s’got a messige for ya or sumthin’. It’s in da way, so go lissen to it so it leaves awlready!” he said, not bothering to hide his irritation or the fact that he was in a hurry.

Lev freed one of his hands to signal an ‘ok’ to his boss, who stormed off expressing his distaste for androids in mumbles to no one in particular, making an exemplary use of the word ‘fuck’ and all its known variables plus a few others. Good guy though. Occasionally.

Putting his tools away, Lev made his way to the entrance of the Academy’s arsenal, where he had been spending all his mornings for the past few months. All Scholar students in their last obligatory year were required to complete a certain amount of hours of actual work in their discipline, among other tasks, and seeing as he already visited the arsenal with some frequency, it was no surprise he ended up resorting to it to complete his academic duties. He had actually fulfilled this requirement some time ago, but since he had no morning classes ever since the death of his home room teacher, he preferred spending his time there helping with the avalanche of work the mechanics found themselves underneath of due to the increased frequency of Hunter deployments.

Every single day there were new jeeps, tanks, boats, swords, guns, androids and ammunition to repair, upgrade or manufacture, and they were always running late. Able hands were never missing and there were no restrictions on going over the minimum service hours, so Lev’s presence was always welcomed and appreciated. Besides, this way he got to see all sorts of newly developed machinery, even if he wasn’t allowed to actually work on the most expensive ones.

He opened the entrance door and, sure enough, an android waited with infinite patience on the other side. Standing uncomfortably close to Lev, it seemed to instantly identify him.

“Keisting, Lev. Your home room has been changed to second floor room, 2-2-1-3, you will now report to Superior Professor Asher Donovan during your mornings here at Anthemia. Do you have any inquiries?”

Expecting a less relevant message, it took the young man a few seconds to process what he had heard. He checked his ancient wristwatch and briefly wondered why he would be notified in such a short notice of his new schedule, but figured his intercom, which he had left in the locker room, would be filled with messages of failed attempts to communicate with him a while ago.

“No, you can go.” He finally answered the android’s question as he remembered it was still waiting for his response without the slightest sign of apprehension, and instantly closed the door on it. The last ad Lev had heard consisted on a jingle with choreography included, which only made him feel ashamed on the robot’s behalf. Besides, some of the mechanics in the armory had taken to vandalizing the robots as a way to express their discontent when they showed up merely to promote their commercial, and if any of them saw it, it could only mean trouble for everyone.

Having no time to waste, Lev broke the news to Gene and left for his dorm, where he had to fight a mountain of broken machinery and spare parts to get to the bathroom. He showered, changed into his uniform and saved the disassembled parts of his firearms into a wheeled bag in record time, taking special care with his ‘Stingray’ sniper rifle.

Even with the heavy additional weight, he managed to keep a good pace and found his new classroom in only a few minutes despite being more concentrated on trying to remember where he had heard the name Asher Donovan rather than keeping track of where he was going. Before entering, he stationed and chained the large bag outside the class, seeing as it was too large to keep inside without it inconveniencing people. Though he did notice Noel appreciating the view through a window with a distinct air of nostalgia around her, he had no words of encouragement to share, and decided to go straight into the unknown.

As he stepped into the classroom and took in the image of his new teacher and classmates, he waited a few seconds to gather his thoughts. He finally remembered why Asher’s name seemed so familiar, and recognized his face from the cover of one of those magazines some girls around the Academy always seemed to have at hand. Although he was sure his new professor was a reliable and capable Hunter, the idea of learning under a pop idol didn’t fascinate him, and for many reasons. He then turned his attention towards the students; most of them seemed to be busy doing their own things, one of them was asleep, and there was a dragon sculpture made of trash peeking through a window… good vibrations all ‘round.

“Mornin’” he greeted the room with an unenthusiastic tone, briefly noticing in terror that Gene's dialect was slowly rubbing off on him. “Lev Keisting.” he added when he noticed the checklist on top of Asher’s desk.

With nothing to add or comment, Lev scanned the room for a free seat and headed straight for the last row. The only ones close to being neighbors to him were Caesar and Lorelei, both having already taken the corners of the classroom and each sitting a distance of two or three desks away from him. Having nothing more to do, he sat back and patiently waited for the rest of the students to show up.

---

---

"You really have no clue how to be patient, do you."

Nico responded to the voice of her teacher with an exaggerated moan as she flopped belly-first onto her bed that lay against the wall of her dorm room. Since coming to the academy a year ago, she'd only spoke with the man who took her in on certain occasions. Or rather, when she had something she needed to complain about. This particular occasion centered around the three months that she'd gone without a single mission, despite having confronted the moderates multiple times.

"Three months, Master Mako. THREE! How much longer does she have to be dead before they start giving me my well-deserved missions?"

"You shouldn't say that about your late teacher. It's a sad thing to have lost a fellow hunter."

Nico turned onto her side and lifted her head, resting it on her palm with her elbow pressed against her pillow. Mako's face was displayed on a screen that floated above Nico's desk placed beside the bed, the window above it just barely letting the weak light of sunrise shine through the curtains that hung over it. Her teacher was a young looking man, despite being in his late thirties, with bright green eyes and sandy hair that had grown long enough to be pulled back into a loose pony tail. Behind him was the desert home in Ura that Nico had lived in for four years.

"I guess her class wasn't too boring, but I don't see much of a loss here."

Mako gave a sigh, knowing that no matter what he might say, Nico would just brush it off. She wasn't the type to be effected heavily by the death of others. Even if it were someone close to her, she'd be able to move on quite easily. Being broken up over every loss would just hold her back as a hunter anyway. Besides, it's not as if she saw that woman as anything more than a teacher. Just someone who was there to aid her in her way to becoming strong enough to survive. Clearly she wasn't fit for the job since she just went and got herself killed.

"Where's J. and Fawn?", her teacher asked curiously, though he had already guessed why the two familiars weren't present.

Nico narrowed her eyes slightly, an awkward frown showing on her face. She wanted to avoid the subject of the two fae that had decided to follow her when they fled her old home. She never did get along with them well, even when they belonged to her mother. They were stingy and bossy, always telling Nico what was proper and what was improper for a lady to be doing. Especially Fawn, with her prissy attitude.

"Hmph! I don't need them around. I'll summon way cooler familiars. Just watch me!"

Actually, she'd tried multiple times in the past to do just that, but hasn't been very successful. Mako opened his mouth to reply, a look of annoyance being a clear sign of a incoming lecture, however there was a loud ping at the door and Nico quickly jumped to her feet. "Looks like I got a visitor! I'll talk to you again soon!", she said with a smile, closing down the screen before her teacher could reply. She hurried to the door and opened it to find one of the school's androids standing there. Ever since she'd accidentally broken her comm, she'd had quite a few of these guys stop by to relay messages. She really did mean to go get that thing fixed, not that the androids bothered her.

"What can I do for ya?"

Erenheart, Nicolla, your home room has been changed to Second floor room, 2-2-1-3, you will now report to Superior Professor Asher Donovan during your mornings here at Anthemia, do you have any inquires?

Her eyes widened slightly, a tremor of excitement running over her as she listened to the androids words. She turned around and grabbed the chair from the desk, dragged it across the room to the doorway, and then stepped up onto it to pat the android on the head as she finally replied. "That'll do. You have a nice day, Thomas!" This is what she called every android. A fitting name, indeed.

She then leaped from the chair and closed the door before the ad that she knew would follow could begin. She thought they were actually pretty entertaining sometimes, or at least when they included music and dancing to go along, but right now she was too preoccupied with her excitement. It was about time they assigned her a new homeroom teacher. The name of the professor sounded familiar for a second, but it escaped her as she hurried to shower and get dressed.

Next step, finding out where this room 2-1-2-3 was. 'Or wait..was is 2-3-1-1? That doesn't sound right eith--' "2-2-1-3!", she said as she passed by a door with numbers that caught her eye. With a deep breath, she raised her foot and kicked, causing the door to fly open as she hopped inside. Stopping just far enough away from the door so that it wouldn't hit her as it shut, she raised her hand up in a quick wave.

"Yo! Nico Erenheart, reporting for duty!", she lowered her hand and gave a more or less sloppy salute, her teeth pressed together as she gave not only the teacher, but the rest of the class a bright smile. She let her hands rest at her side and she gave a small, quick bow before turned to find her seat, her eyes scanning over each student, plus the strange-looking dragon, before her eyes locked onto where she decided to sit. She hurried up to the back row and flopped down into the seat right next to a girl with the black and white hair that had caught Nico's attention.

"You're really pretty!", she said cheerfully, crossing her arms on the desk in front of her and lowering her voice just slightly so not to shout.

---

It was very strange, even still, to be this far from his sandy homeland. Cuddy, although thrilled to be at the Academy could not help but desire to see even an inch of sand once more. Just think of the sandcastles! But he'd put this behind him for now. There was more important things at hand to contend with. Such as the particular android that had been hunting down Cuddy that morning, with a supposedly important message for him, and unfortunately had found the boy hiding in an old closet. Why? Well why not dude! Where else you gonna hide?

"Vann, Cuddy, your home room has been changed to second floor room, 2213, you will now report to Superior Professor Asher Donovan during your mornings here at Anthemia, do you have any inquiries?" The android spoke in a matter-of-fact soulless voice.

"A-Ah don't think so! But if I eva' do then I'll be sure to let you know." The blonde boy answered cheerfully, his purple-y orbs glancing curiously over the talking-thing. What was it again? Android. Cuddy was still coming to grips with all the gizmos that the academy had, least of all the androids. It wasn't like he was completely oblivious to them but the little chit-chatty things were something of an annoyance to him now and again. Especially since they always managed to find him. "Oh well, ta-ta for now I guess. Next time tho' I'll win that round!"

Grabbing his things together and throwing a bag halfheartedly over his shoulder the boy made sure to be prepared for whatever came his way that day, taking a moment to double-check once more, before finally continuing on his way down the hallway. The android took it's leave and rushed off past him, Cuddy merely huffing with a shrug before walking just a little bit quicker. I better not be late or I'll look bad yo!

His hurried walk gradually shifted into a panicked run as the boy made his way to the designated classroom. Naturally, what with all the hurrying and mad-dashing, Cuddy arrived in time. With a deep breath and forced coolio demeanour the blonde lad sported his commonly used smile and stepped into the room. By the looks of it there was already a bunch load of people there before him, but he wasn't worried. Promptly walking over to the desk of Mr. Donovan the boy thought best to let his attendance be known. He sure-as-hell wasn't getting marked as absent!

"Oh, hello Mr. Donovan, sir! I'm Cuddy Vann. I hope am' not late or nothin'." With a somewhat chilled approach to his teacher Cuddy merely widened his smile in hopes of things getting off to a good start. "Well, I best be gettin' to my seat and all, a-- Oh yeah, your thee Asher Donovan? Wow-oh-wow I can't believe it! Hey I'm a real fan a--" Beneath all the rambling a quiet little inner voice deep in his head was telling Cuddy to shut-up. Needless to say it took a few more minutes before the boy took any notice. "Ah, sorry I best be goin'!"

Turning on his heel the student moved along and sat himself down on one of the seats towards the front. He hadn't really took the time to notice who exactly was in his class, but after spinning round on his seat the blonde lad eyed up all the faces near and around him, only really vaguely knowing a few. Oh well. He figured he'd get to know them soon enough anyway. For now he'd just behave himself at least.

Throwing his bag to the floor and chilling in his chair Cuddy waited to see what happened next. However, the whole lookin' cool and doin' not a lot act didn't last long. Before he knew it the boy dug out an old what-dah-call-it and was fiddling around and tinkering as always.

---

---

Lorelei had been a little less successful at ignoring the world than she had hoped. The good news was that, aside from a rather short, nondescript boy with a red scarf who had seated himself fairly close to her, for the first few minutes, nobody seemed to even notice she existed. The bad news was that, with a rather loud young man a few rows down shouting something out the window to his giant dragon made of garbage, it was getting a little difficult for the young woman to not notice certain things about her new classmates, like the fact that several of them seemed to be bloody lunatics. Naturally, the grinning girl with the giant rainbow hammer who tossed herself into the seat right next to her seemed to be no exception, since her only response to finding herself right beside the infamous bitch of the NHP was to give a cheeky smile and a most... unexpected greeting.

"You're really pretty!" She said with enough enthusiasm to give an entire city a headache. Lorelei had to wonder if that was her normal speaking voice, because if it was, she seriously pitied... well, anybody this kid interacted with on any sort of regular basis. Saying a silent prayer for the dearly departed eardrums that must have been left in the manic hammer girl's wake, she turned slightly, raising an eyebrow in equal parts confusion and annoyance.

"Er... What?" She asked, her usual eloquence completely failing her as she tried and failed to come up with a coherent response to being complimented out of the blue. Was this girl just messing with her head? She had to know who it was she was talking to, and what kind of reputation the two-toned Magus had. Why was she even bothering to start a conversation with her? "I'm sorry, I seem to have missed the part where I'm supposed to get the point. Why are you talking to me, exactly?" Lorelei asked stoically. Somehow, she found it difficult to believe that somebody would just compliment her out of left field. Whoever this girl was, she must have wanted something. Why else would she have seated herself next to one of the most infamous and reviled students in the entire academy and started trying to flatter her before she even gave her own name? Maybe she was just trying to suck up to the powerful. Well, it was either that or she was some sort of idiot who either didn't realize who she was talking to, or didn't care. Either way, in Lorelei's opinion, this conversation was pretty much pointless. But, her attention already drawn back to the class around her, she found the unwanted thoughts of those nearby beginning to fill her head. The girl's consciousness seemed to consist of a nigh-unintelligible stream of emotions and images, befitting an energetic loudmouth such as herself. If she had to compare the sensations of reading the hammer girl's mind to any sort of sound, an explosion would be the natural choice - an explosion of rainbows and unrelenting, mind-crushing energy. Lorelei grimaced, placing a hand on her now-aching forehead and giving a rather annoyed glare to her unwanted conversational partner. "Ugh... would you be so kind as to take your enthusiasm down a few hundred notches? Your very presence is like shouting," Lorelei asked sharply, a statement that probably wouldn't make much sense to anyone who didn't recognize her as the psychic that she was. Given that this girl seemed to fall into this category, she fully realized that this was probably just going to prompt even more questions, but it would at least allow her to hopefully confirm whether or not this maniac was simply toying with her or not.

Joe & Frank

So far the class had been pretty standard. People were starting to fill into the classroom while the teacher waited for them. Right now Joe was sitting at the desk by the windows near the back of the classroom, leaning on his elbow upon the window sill halfway glancing between the room and Frank. While many faces he might or might not of recalled filtered in the door was suddenly kicked right open and he knew exactly who it was. It was quite hard to mistake her for anyone else.

"Yo! Nico Erenheart, reporting for duty!"

She introduced herself as almost everyone had done, only more vivaciously. He looked over as she took a seat nearby next to the girl with the two toned hair. He was distracted for that period of time only to have his attention grabbed back as he heard a bit of movement back outside. Frank had moved it's head a bit, a clear sign to Joe that it was growing a bit restless. "Oy, come on now buddy, I'm not gonna be stuck here forever. Try being a bit more patient for me, okay pal?" He reassured Frank through the window which had a pleasantly calm breeze blowing through.

He looked back over. Nico was chatting with the girl with two toned hair, nothing exactly unusual about that. He just turned around, setting his elbow on the head of the chair for comfort, and gave a short wave to Nico. "Yo." He greeted her.
"How's it goin'?" He asked, curious as to what she's been up to since the last teacher bit the dust. His tone didn't exactly sound overly excited nor did it sound dull or monotone, just the perfect blend of casual pleasantness like a clean lake on a cool spring morning. That was just how it was for him, never really much too bothered or overly happy.

---

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---

"F*cking crying out loud, leave me alone dammit!" A voice cursed, as various of slapping noises followed after it. The violent set of words echoed in the hallways, and students began to murmur among themselves, wondering how crude a person could get.. clearly they never met her.
"But Ms. Qrow why are you so angry?" A robot replied, its robotic voice underlined with curiosity, somehow ignoring the fact that it was being being slapped...

The said Ms. Qrow swiveled on the soles of her feet, before gritting her teeth at the damn robot. "Because its way to early for this and don't call me Ms!" With that she charged off, not wanting to hear the robots very last words of 'But its the afternoon..' She resisted the urge to pull at her purple hair, 'That robot is going to be scrap pieces one day.' She thought, enjoying the idea of pulling it apart one by one- "You have been assigned a new home room teacher, please report to..." Vivian blinked out of her fantasy, before pulling out her Comm. She stared at the screen for a moment before grinning. "Finally." Stuffing the piece of tech into her pockets, she looked around then trotted off. She's been sick of these afternoon courses, and it made her realize how grateful she was for an assigned class.. well not really, but it was nice to be in something more meaningful.

Hopefully the professor wasn't a prick.

Walking down the destined hallway, she pulled on her headphones and began to listen to a list of her favorite tracks which was surprisingly classical- not anything crazy and wild which would suit her appearance far more. Vivian never explained to anyone, but the kind of music she listens to is the kind that makes her feel relaxed and calm.. not the 'sh*tty' ghetto stuff. No one would believe her though since the students saw her as a rebel, and thug- someone you should stay clear of. And this isn't exactly true, for she does have a temper and her appearance doesn't scream proper either. Even with policy, she wears her usual shorts and black midriff that shows too much skin, but she claims that the lack of coverage increases her skill and agility. No one questioned her.

Otherwise, Her rep was quite apparent, seeing how students eyed her wearily in the hall, backing off in fears of triggering her ill temper. But she doesn't even give a damn, a waste of her time it is. (But she does admit, it was fun to play around with the fearful in the beginning) She snickered at the memories of screaming kiddies who saw a glance of guns. Good memories.
Yawning, she checked her comm once more, before looking at a door. The corners of her lips twitched, before she opened the door. Inside she saw a few familar faces, but its been a while so her memory was a bit hazy.
A total lie. If anything, Vi knew most anything about anyone of the students here, this knowledge may be due to the fact that she got some connections on the streets or the fact that she was a scholar. (Shocker) It doesn't matter however, she just likes to have the comfort of knowing the people around her. "Morning!" She grinned wickedly, eyeing the teacher for a moment before leaning against a desk. She gave him a polite smile, or the best she can sum up, "Nice to meet you, Im Vivian Qrow." Her eyes twinkled before she headed towards a desk to sit down.

[Little rushed, but ill fix it up]

Hector wasn't anti-social. Close, but not quite. He wasn't seen too often in class, but he did know his classmates, more or less.

It wasn't too odd, being back in class. Everyone was similar to how he remembered them. Robin was as dutiful as ever, Willow as kind as ever, Kenji and Joe being as relaxed as ever, and Frank as loud as ever. The others came in, as Hector began to remember their names.

However, there was one student Hector had barely seen. Her hair was black and white. If Hector was correct, she was of the NHP project. She designated herself as number 17 of the project. Lorelei. Hector did not know much about her, other than rumous from some other students.

Supposedly, she was created in a lab so that she would be an effective Hunter. Apparently, some people were also irritated that she was allowed admission to the academy due to her being designed to fight daemons, rather than having worked the way most other students did.

Hector didn't know much about her, but Hector didn't believe others should be so disapproving of having another ally to fight daemons with. Hector may have been slightly biased, since he did not attend Anthemia Academy out of choice, but he believed that personal glory was not something students should aim for. Being upset that Lorelei seemingly made it into the Academy as a matter of course seemed childish. Besides, a human was difficult to perfectly replicate. Especially a Hunter. If she wasn't cut out for the Academy, then she would not be here. It would be foolishness for an artificially-produced Hunter to not be prepared to keep up with naturally-produced Hunters.

Hector next saw Vivian Qrow enter. She was one the students that caught Hector's interest. She was brash and violent, but he still found her to be a pretty tasteful person. To a degree. If the violent behavior wasn't something to go by. Although Hector detested needless cruelty, he still enjoyed her friendship. She was a great person to go drinking with.

And next, came one of the worst shocks Hector had in the school. Another student came in. She was one of the female students, and, despite her imperious aura, Hector did not remember much about her. Thinking deely, he remembered something about her. Her father was an important person. Maybe. Maybe Hector was just thinking of a different student. He didn't even know where he saw or read that information. However, she was hardly the surprise that Hector noticed.

Hector was a highly-skilled exorcist. His grades did not show it, out of design, but he did know his stuff. Anyone who knew him personally knew that he knew his stuff. And when Hector felt a small chill down his spine, he knew he had sensed sonething. It came with being a soldier for so long. Not a sixth-sense, but a combination of existing senses. Although it was not logical, Hector had learned to listen to it. He listened, and he opened his eyes towards the area he had confirmed there was something visible. To his side, also in the front row, sat that student that just entered. But near her was a magical disturbance. Something that blocked the flow of air, but could not be seen. Something invisible. Hector felt the malice pouring off of it in waves. Hector tended not to glare at anything. But, this was something he was sure of that caused him to glare for a short moment. His snake-like eyes focused on where the disturbance came from, glancing to it from the side as Hector kept his face rested on his hand.

There was a daemon in the classroom. Hector immediately relaxed, then. Daemons came in a lot of sizes and shapes, but Hunters possessed widely varying skills and magicks. Hector briefly wondered why a daemon would come to the middle of the Academy, Hunter central, before he decided to relax. That daemon, if it caused trouble, would probably not last long.

Hector opted to relax, but remain vigilant. Something bad happening would be able to be stopped, the daemon would be able to be stopped if an incident happened, but at the same time, it was better if an incident was avoided.

The girl seemed to be decent, though. Hector was not good at reading people, but the girl seemed to be very professional. She carried herself like the soldiers Hector had fought with when he was younger. The daemon entered when she did, though. She was definitely someone to watch for signs of trouble.

The wind around the school always tasted like lemons. It was one of the few universal constants of this world. The sun rises in the east, water is a liquid and Anthemia air tasted like lemons. Altam licked his lips, trying to savor the sweet breeze. It was a nice change from the sandy gusts of Ura, where he'd spent his whole time out of class. He reached behind him and patted his treasures to make sure they were still secure in the bag. Though not nearly as fruitful as his previous foray into the desert, he had stumbled upon an abandoned village and picked up some neat souvenirs for Cuddy and a few others. Honestly Altam was amazed the school's robot was able to find him. He wasn't exactly a technomaster but they had to be rocking some pretty good locating software to find him in the middle of a desert.

"Hey Shamal, you don't think the teacher's gonna be mean, do you?" the boy asked, his voice as light as the cloth they were riding on. The wooden staff shook in his hands.

'I still can't believe I know who he is and you don't. I'm a million year old wind spirit and even I've heard of the incredible Asher Donovan!' The boy shrugged and fell backwards onto the quickly moving sheet. Though the air had changed, it would still be a good ten minutes until they arrived at the school. Altam squirmed with excitement. He had so many stories to tell and songs to play that he didn't even know where to begin.

It wasn't long before the landscape gave way to stone walkways and large buildings. He peered over the side of his carpet and marveled at the sheer lack of people outside. "Everyone must be in class." He said matter-of=factly. It was about a minute of aimless flying later that it dawned on him. He wasn't in class! With as much speed as he could muster Altam raced towards the largest building, looking through the windows at a breakneck pace for Cuddy's cute face. However, what caught his attention wasn't his B.F.F but a gigantic metallic dragon hovering in front of a window. Altam yelled in relief.

"Frank! Am I glad to see you!" The dragon turned and acknowledged the boy before turning back to observe his master. Sliding up beside him, Altam lifted the window up just enough to fly through and floated into the room, quickly followed by a swift breeze.

"Sorry I'm late, I flew as fast as I could!" He hopped off his turban into thin air, hovering above the ground as the blanket wrapped itself back around his head. he floated into cuddy at top speed, embracing his friend in a hug and whisking them both higher into the air. "Cuddy! I missed you so much! I have sooooo much to tell you about what I found!" A small grunt emanated from the front of the room. The new teacher no doubt. After placing his friend gently on the ground Altam reluctantly landed and weakly strode to the celebrity who was now teaching their class. It was a difficult journey to say the least. It had been months since Altam had last touched solid ground and his legs threatened to buckle at any moment.

"Hi there sir, I'm Altam Haytham! Nice to meet you!" He bowed respectfully and pushed himself off the ground, turning it into a frontflip and zipping over to his bag of treasure.

"Where is it...." He mumbled, digging through his sack. "Ahh! Here it is!" A small wooden idol emerged from the bag, completely covered in markings and carved into the shape if a giant toothed beast. With a small gesture the idol floated beside Cuddy.

"I told you I'd bring you something didn't I?" Altam smiled and looked around the room. He had met almost everyone there some time in his life. Almost. With a look of intense curiosity he floated over to the girl with two shades of hair. There seemed to be no joy in her eyes and that was something that Altam could not stand for. A small bronze box the size of a baseball drifted slowly out of the treasure bag and onto the desk in front of her.

"When I get sad or lonely, I play myself a song. Maybe it can help you too." He smiled brightly at the strange girl and flew back to his seat, hovering upside down over his desk. "This is going to be a great year, I just know it!"

---

---

The supersoldier gave a silent groan, turning her eyes to the window as her momentary focus on the annoyingly loud hammer girl caused countless other voices to come flooding into her mind.

"Maybe you should try to be less of a total bitch!" Snapped one angry voice.

"Did I do something wrong? Did I offend her somehow? But all I did was talk... Was she actually reading my mind? If so, for what reason?" Wondered another, sounding hurt.

"If she's not cut out for the academy, then..." Lorelei gritted her teeth, shutting her eyes as she desperately tried to drive out the countless disgusted voices that seemed to follow her everywhere she went. Of course, actually paying attention to somebody else had been a mistake. She knew that, and yet she'd been so annoyed by that girl's perky attitude - She had to have been mocking her. Why else would she start a conversation with someone like Lorelei? - that she'd been unable to keep her calm and had snapped at her. And look where it had gotten her. Now she'd made another scene and blown her one and only second chance at starting over here. Why did it always have to be this way? It would be so much easier if people would just mind their own business and leave her alone. They hated her - that she knew - so why didn't they just ignore her and go about their own lives?! It didn't make any sense to interact with someone you despised, so why did people still choose to even come close to her? She was a freak, she knew that, everybody knew that! If they didn't want to have their thoughts read, then they should have just stayed away from her! Yet, even knowing about what she was, people still kept on trying to get reactions out of her... be they positive or negative.

With a dull clank, a small bronze box about the size of her palm landed on the desk in front of her. Her eyes snapped open and upwards to see where it had come from, only to find a young boy - she would have said he looked like he was only 11 years old or so, but his physique told a different story. Was he a midget or something? - floating above her, riding on what looked to be a disproportionately large turban. The image he presented was so comical, even she, the legendary ice queen, probably wouldn't have been able to stifle a laugh if she wasn't so confused by who he was, what exactly he had just given her, and what he thought he was doing.

"When I get sad or lonely, I play myself a song. Maybe it can help you too," Said the childish young man, grinning as though this non sequitur statement explained everything. With a knowing smile, he turned and flew away, leaving her opening and closing her mouth a few times, still not really sure what exactly had even happened. Pocketing the strange box in one of many small slits in the lining of her tabard, she then realized that the teacher had already begun speaking. She mentally slapped herself. If she didn't pay more attention to class and less to her classmates, she'd ruin herself - well, even more than she already had, anyway.

Unfortunately, things weren't exactly looking good for her regardless. Just her luck, she was being assigned to team up with some other students who would probably make it their lives' goals to drive her insane, assuming they weren't incompetent idiots. And, even worse, she couldn't even tell who she was going to be partnered with, since she didn't know even one of her classmates by name, and, even if she did, the announcement was in writing, and she couldn't read. She glared angrily at the list for a few seconds as though her sheer determination to understand it would mystically grant her the ability to both comprehend the names of those written on the sheet and pick them out from the rest of the class, but at last she gave up, sighing as she turned her gaze back out the window, trying to see the blue sky beyond the giant, hulking dragon made of trash in the courtyard. Considering most people in the school knew her simply as NHP-S17 - the numbers in which, which she could at least recognize, were pointedly absent from the sheet - the other members of her team probably wouldn't be able to recognize her, either. She supposed the only thing to do would be to wait until everybody had found their partners and then look for one group that was missing a person. Resigning herself to her need to utilize her powers, she kept her mind trained on the crowd around her, focusing intently on the word "Lorelei" and searching for any thoughts that might involve her in some way. She'd find her team one way or another. She just doubted she'd enjoy it.

Hector felt the concentration of wind magic. It barely created a torrential vacuum that messed up everything in the classroom, but it did seem to be lifting the young kid around the classroom. What was he doing here, so young...? Wait, that was Altam. Playful enough, but Hector had sensed how strong his wind magic was, before. For an instant. If not for that, Hector would remain off his guard.

...Hector really should stay off his guard around his classmates. It was no wonder why he didn't have as many friends.

On second thought, that wasn't it. It was because he was a reclusenior who only came to class just enough to not fail.

Duran had come in as well, being his usual boisterous self. Hector needed to see his notes sometime. It was in Hector's nature to be sensitive to details, and with Duran's detailed notes, that nature could be fulfilled.

When Professor Donovan addressed the class, Hector straightened up, slightly. His team, his path to a mission.

The two others on his team were students Hector recognized. Joe, a slayer and a summoner. Hector recalled what he knew about Joe. Let's see. Joe was fairly smart, and enjoyed tinkering with things. He was also quite strong, and his wrench held a sort of brutal appeal to Hector. Also, there was Frank, a great source of heavy support. Joe was also mild mannered. Hector wou almost certainly get along with Joe.

And Amurel Sarcadia. She was quiet as well. A medic and a summoner. Hector hardly knew a thing about her. All he knew was that she was quite calm, and quite an effective healer. She had two fae as her familiars, a wolf and a dragon. Hextortion had the feeling that they would get along well. Every one on the group seemed to be a decent, calm person. Maybe this wouldn't be too stressful.

Beneath the face of this group, beneath how smart each of the three were, was one flaw Hector hopes will not be too much of a problem. It may even be a source of strength. None of them were mediums. There was no quick way to convey their tactics to each other. This set them behind where quick reactions were required. And, while this was a problem, it could be circumvented. But there was a problem that, if Hector's psychology was good, which it isn't, then the group may come to hate each other for all three of them being too similar in that none of them enjoy leading. But, this could be a boon as well. Without a leader, and with three intelligent people on a team, they may not require a leader or medium among them to see what their squad mates are planning.

While lost in the specifics, Hector realized something crucial. Without a medium on the team, Hector's thoughts would not be a danger to any of his squadmates. Finally. A group that worked for Hector. Looking in his row, he saw Joe, and he then located Amurel. It was best to say hello.

Hector spoke to Joe.

"Yo, Joe. My name is Hector Kazuhira, and we should talk to our other squad mate to prepare for the training exercise."

---

---

"Er... What? I'm sorry, I seem to have missed the part where I'm supposed to get the point. Why are you talking to me, exactly?

Nico wasn't quite sure how to reply to the girl. She only stared quietly, blinking in slight confusion. Had the two-toned girl never been given a compliment before? Was there ever really a point to giving a compliment besides pointing out something you like about someone? Had she done something unusual? This state of confusion only lasted a few seconds before Nico leaned a couple inches towards the girl and tilted her head. "Hehhh?! What point?", she said, her smile once again lighting up her face. "I said you're pretty!" She said this a little louder this time. Maybe the other girl just hadn't heard her properly the first time and that was why she seemed muddled.

"Ugh... would you be so kind as to take your enthusiasm down a few hundred notches? Your very presence is like shouting."

Nico let out a small chuckle and sat back in her seat. "Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Am I right?", she mumbled loud enough for the girl to hear, placing a hand over her mouth in a failed attempt to hide her grin.

"Yo. How's it goin'?"

She turned her head away from the two-toned girl as a voice was spoken in her direction. It took her a second, but her eyes quickly lit up as she recognized the male student, Joe, whom she'd had previous classes with. The most noticeable thing that lead her to remember him was the lovely trash dragon that was always with him. The moment she'd seen the beast she was memorized by how cool it was, aside from the familiars she got stuck with thanks to her mother.

"Hey! Good to see ya!", she said, giving a quick wave with one hand and a thumbs up with the other. She probably would've jumped from her seat to go to the window and greet his dragon, but just as she was about to stand the teacher finally began to speak to the class. Her attention shifted away from her classmate and her eyes rested on their teacher however her mind ever-so-slowly drained out his voice as he went on with some sort of speech about their late so-called teacher. There really was no reason to bring her back up again, and Nico had never been one for long speeches anyway.

She sat with her elbow planted firmly on the desk in front of her and her chin resting in the palm of her hand while she stared at nothing in particular until the word 'teams' caught her ear. She raised her head to listen as the teacher presented a list of team numbers and names. 'This should be interesting..', she thought to herself. She'd never been appointed a set team before. Sure, she'd worked in larger groups, but the members of those groups were always changing.

Reading the names of her teammates, her eyes began to scan the room as she tried to identify which people those names belonged to. After a short moment she realized that the only ones who hadn't been approached yet were the NHP girl and another boy sitting just a seat away from her. She rose quickly and, with a big smile, reached over and took hold of the boy's sleeve and practically dragged him out of his seat.

"That makes you Caesar, yeah?!" Her voice was full of friendly excitement as she pulled him over to the corner of the room and raised her finger to point at the two-toned girl, her fingers still firmly holding Caesar's sleeve. "I bet you're Lorelei! Right? Right?!" She didn't wait for her to reply as she roughly released Caesar from her grip and placed her hands on the top of her desk. "Guess we're a team, huh? What should we call ourselves? It's gotta be something cool, like Super Death Team! Er..something like that."

Joe & Frank

It seemed that Nico tried to make conversation with the two toned hair girl before acknowledging his greeting

"Hey! Good to see ya!"

She waved and gave a thumbs up. He put on a mild smile and a wave back. "Good to see 'ya too." He met her greeting with a similarly positive albeit far less enthusiastic one.

All in the meanwhile people were filtering in, milling about and such. A wind mage zipped past Frank, eliciting a mild shifting noise as it moved it's head a bit out of the way as to not bar his passage. Most of the people were either doing little to nothing like Joe was or just talking amongst the peers they knew until the teacher spoke, the conversations dying down to hear what he had to say.

After the teacher introduced himself there was little Ash said that Joe would actually take to memory. Most of what he was going on about had to do with their prior teacher which he neither knew very well nor cared much about. The homeroom teacher would give him assignments and stuff to learn but besides that there wasn't much else to it. His relationship with the previous teacher was much like his relationship with everyone else: Distant at best. As such, Ash's voice was for the most part tuned out.

There was one thing Asher mentioned that caught his attention. Most particularly was the mention of agendas. While Joe didn't speak much he definitely thought about much. Most of his thoughts were more directed towards matters of his purpose and just why he did what he did. He knew that when he was given tasks to hunt demons as many hunters do he's not just doing it to learn for knowledge's sake, he's fighting a war for them. He knew there was more to the school than just humanity's survival, there were corporations and the government who had their own interests in them. While he didn't suspect they were being manipulated as of current time if he were to become more successful then he'd have to start watching out for such insidious dangers. If he wasn't successful, likely chances would be because he would die at the hands of the daemons. He didn't need to worry as much about what happened beyond that.


More of his concerns were aimed at just what the future held for him. If he were to pursue the path of the hunter the most probable outcome would be his death. After all, humanity had been fighting these things for a long time and it was a war they were losing. What if he were to succeed though? If by some miracle if he were able to thwart the demonic forces and drive them back, ensuring humanities safety... Then what? Humanity throws a big parade for him, whoop dee freakin' doo, and then that's it. No more daemons, no more need for hunters. Failure was it's own punishment but what reward would there be in victory when the only reasonable conclusion is that he, along with all the other hunters, would be thrown out just like trash.

But he was nothing if not true to his word. As a student it's his obligation to carry out these tasks so long as until the period he's agreed to do so has expired. So, true to his word he shall do what is asked of him but come the time that he's served the time he's agreed to and the school has nothing left to offer him and Frank then just like that he would resume being his own man, free to set his own destiny. He saw no point in exhausting himself and risking Frank's safety in a futile effort for nothing of any real value if he didn't give his word that he would.


The teacher announced the teams and it informed Joe of one important thing. 'Yep, I'm in the right class.' Hearing his name listed confirmed his suspicions. For a bit there he was almost worried he just waltzed into a class he wasn't even supposed to be at. Would of been bothersome having to talk his way out of that.

As far as who he was partnered with he had little clue who either of these guys were. Quite frankly he didn't care who he was teamed up with. It would all be the same deal as it usually was. Typically on any mission where he needed to work with someone or in a group of any kind he'd just sleep until somebody woke him up and told him to do something at which point he'd do it. Rather simple stuff really, nobody really depended on him for anything really technical because he wasn't a scholar or a medium. Most of the time his job in groups were either manual labor or bashing demons up. He was quite proficient in bashing demons up but his approach would work best when it's just him and Frank against whatever they're told to hit. Most of the time he'd just follow the groups command rather than fight like he'd like to fight. It was boring but at least he'd get plenty of sleep between bouts of violence. He figured this would be no different.


Though he was immersed in thought he was still aware enough to see one of the other students approach him, likely his team mate though that was just an assumption he was still on the fence about.

"Yo, Joe. My name is Hector Kazuhira, and we should talk to our other squad mate to prepare for the training exercise."

The other classmate who introduced himself as Hector mentioned. Joe was a bit puzzled really. As far as he heard, the only thing they needed to do was to head down to the training room. It was quite quizzical why he'd need to talk to either of them.

"Talk... About what?" His tone was definitely an honest representation of how he felt about what Hector just proposed. That was about as much as he was going to say on that matter however as he soon turned his attention to the matter of the training room.

"I'll head on down to the training room." He informed his new team mate. He did not see any point in talking and unless he did he would much prefer to avoid doing so. At the very least this way it looked a little like he's just being proactive about the exercise Ash's got planned for them. Anyone with even a reasonable ability to read someone could tell his more honest intention however. If there was one thing Joe was not any good at it was hiding things using his words.


Without conversing any further he went over to the window and started to climb out. "Hey Frank!" The trash dragon simply lowered it's head, allowing Joe to climb on. "Now that wasn't all that long now was it?" He teased Frank a bit. It didn't really respond, it's silence serving as an answer in and of itself. "So yeah, it's the right class. Teacher guy said we gotta head on down to the training room."

Not needing to hear much more it raised it's head up high, the strength of the winds blowing against him as it brought it's arms up to start trudging forward. With his goggles shielding his eyes and his tool box held firmly in his grasp he directed Frank over to where he roughly estimated the training room would be. He might not know all the rooms in this school by heart but he knew enough to have a vague idea of where the training room would be. Loud thud after loud thud could be heard as they made their way towards where he believed their destination to be.

Amurel sighed as she pulled a rolled up book out of her back pocket. Her eyes crossed while she read as she tried not to fall asleep. Occasionally she would look up at the professor, waiting, wondering when he planned on beginning the class, but he didn’t seem in a rush to do so. Looking around again she spotted a couple of people that she had seen in her previous years at the school. Not lingering on anyone particularly long, not wanting to make it awkward.

There were several people talking amongst themselves, in particular to a girl with different colored hair. As she stared at her face she tried to place it… Where do I know her from? she thought. After several moments it hit her, that’s the “girl” that is being used in that project…what do they call her? Laura? Lorie? Lorelei…yes. I should probably steer clear of her. I’ve read enough to know when to stay away. Still, she felt somewhat bad for the girl. Her life must not have been that of ease and Amurel could relate (even if it was on the most basic level, there was no way she had suffered quite to the extent of Lorelei) but nonetheless she felt for her.

Just as she was finding her way back to her book Professor Donovan began to speak. Shoving her book back into her pocket Amurel slid her eyes to the front of the class and sat up straight. He spoke about teams, and named those that were to be paired with Amurel.

She groaned in frustration, not because of her teammates, and not because she had to be on a team, rather that she was socially inadequate, usually preferring to spend her time with a book or training. This was a good chance for her though – she could get a mission, and the two names that had been spoken didn’t conjure up horrible memories for her so they couldn’t be that bad to work with.

Sliding slowly out of her chair she tried to pair their names with the faces around the room.

“Joe…and Hector,” the whisper not audible to anyone but herself.

Across the room she heard someone speak just the beginning of the sentence. “Yo, Joe. My name…” that was all she caught but she wiped her head around to the sound of the voice.

The faces were somewhat familiar but not enough for Amurel to make a fair assessment of how this pairing was going to go. She knew they were both rather quiet but that made it even harder for her to gauge them. As she began to walk towards them Joe began to leave and she rushed to catch up. Reaching Hector first she nodded her head.
“I believe were in the same group?”

It was more of a question, not at all how she had intended to introduce herself. The toughness she wanted to exude came off as very meek and shy and she cursed herself under her breath.

Hector was slightly perplexed by Joe. Hector knew the uselessness of general communication, especially when their goal was so clear to them, but to completely throw it out the window, Hector believed was rash. At the least, small talk could give knowledge and information. Well, that was Hector's chief approach to things. Maybe Hector shouldn't take it too seriously. Watching as Frank and Joe got going, Hector turned to the sight of the commotion in the back of the room. Lorelei had begun a demonstration of her powers to her team-mates, it seemed. The change in demeanor was amazing. but that was not what drew Hector's attention.

What truly drew it was the demonstration of her powers. Hector could feel the flow of magic through Lorelei's water blade. The flow of magic was smooth and precise. An untalented Magus may end up performing spells with a great degree of inefficiency, magical energy spilling everywhere. But with Lorelei, the magic was fine-tuned to the water blade, and had little excess used. Hector wouldn't say that it was to his own level of efficiency, but he was definitely surprised and delighted to see his ally was so skilled with water magic. The manner of her change in demeanor, however, was a little concerning. Hector didn't know whether this was the madness seen in soldiers who lose their minds in the heat of battle, or the madness of someone who was driven insane by some other venue. Or, alternatively, she wasn't insane, and her team-mates, situation, or something in her life has led her to become unhealthily unconcerned with her own actions. Hector believed the archaic term, "200% done," was the name for it. Whatever it was, Hector knew enough from browsing old databases that this was not too serious.

Smiling, Hector got up and slung his bag over his shoulder, ready to head out. His squad mate, Amurel, had caught him, and mentioned that they were in the same group. Hector didn't notice much about her, but she seemed to be awfully shy at this moment. Hector himself looked away, and scratched the back of his head before replying to her and cursing his own shyness at the same time.

"Yes, we are. Are there any concerns you have about your team? I could wait for you, if you want to switch teams. Do you have any concerns about operating as a team? If so, I could meet you halfway, so we could make it easier to be a team. . . Sorry, I'm not a good speaker. But, I think we should do whatever we can to operate well, as a team, in spite of how each member of our squad doesn't like social situations."

Hector waited to see if she had any concerns, before he extended his hand in a hand-shake.

Hector then spoke in a voice even quieter than his normal, calm voice, but just enough that Amurel could hear him.

"Also, I am not sure if you know, but I am a Scholar and Exorcist. I'm good at magic, and great at building and repairing things."