[COLOR=GRAY][INDENT][INDENT][color=#ffffff]“My office, ten minutes.”[/color] Jim growled towards the two women from the Foundation while he stepped down from the podium. Turning towards Miranda, he spoke again.

[color=#ffffff]“I have a feelin’ I’m going to be tied up, can y’all meet with the House Reps and Faculty to run damage control for the time bein’ and ensure the Trials run as planned?”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“What are you going to do, Jim?”[/color] Miranda asked, placing a firm hand on the Chancellor’s arm. Jim smiled broadly before answering.

[color=#ffffff]“Gonna give that Torres woman, a big damn Pacific Royal welcome.”[/color][/indent][/indent][CENTER][COLOR=dimgray]
[sup]________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/COLOR][img]https://i.imgur.com/phNsiPE.png[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=silver][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Office of the Chancellor[/I] - [I]Pacific Royal Collegiate & University[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=silver][b]Welcome Home #1.048:[/b][/COLOR] [I]A Pacific Royal Welcome[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][COLOR=dimgray][SUP][sub]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR][INDENT][sub][color=silver][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I]None[/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=silver][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Unprecedented Whiplash[/I][/right][/SUP]
[INDENT][color=#ffffff]“I don’t know who y’all think you are, but here we usually have some damn decorum. You had no damn right to hijack my speech. That news was hard enough to deliver, the students didn’t need you usin’em as leverage.” [/color]Jim roared, his booming voice echoing about the office and through the walls into the hallway.[color=#ffffff]  “And really, we lose our damn accreditation the day that you show up and we’re just supposed to accept that’s what the hell happened. Sorry Ma’am, but that dog don’t hunt.”[/color]

Torres opened her mouth to respond. Jim didn’t give her the chance.

[color=#ffffff]“And another thing, I sure as hell don’t like bein’ bullied, I don’t like bein’ damn coerced and I don’t like bein’ extorted-” [/color]Pacing behind his desk, Jim suddenly spun on the heel of his boot, placing his Stetson down on the desk.

[color=#ffffff]“But you come for my kids, for the students and you and I are goin’ to have a problem. A big damn problem. You come here, nose up in the air like you already own the joint, but sister, don’t even pretend for a second we ain’t got a dozen of yours already transferred here to get away from you. Hell, most of ‘em are still talkin’ through their trauma even after being here for years. Our dirty laundry might be public, but don’t pretend for a second that your Foundation ain’t rotten at the core.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“I suggest you refrain from further slander lest this become a legal matter.” [/color]Torres cautioned, managing to respond while her composure remained unbothered by Jim’s tone or volume level.

[color=#ffffff]“I’m not one to kiss the ring, hell after that stunt today, I have half a mind to throw y’all off this island, but I know your Foundation has H.E.L.P.’s cajones in a real vice grip. And ain’t no bull out there that wants to be castrated. The Director asked me to play nice and for the time being, you have something I want. At the end of the day, I need my senior class to graduate with their deserved accreditation, so what do I need to do to make that happen while H.E.L.P. fights the real battle.”[/color] Taking a seat behind his desk, Jim leaned back in his chair while he waited for the response. Torres’ aid, Miss Almassian stood up, connecting her tablet to the screens in the office before sending the list of proposed changes for all to view.

[color=#ffffff]“Effective immediately, the Foundation requires that Pacific Royal begins terminating the uniform policy, the school houses and the teams. You have too many denominations that effectively provide the same experiences. Students will still dorm together and have classes together. There’s no need to sow division with artificial segregation.”[/color] Torres began only for Jim to start shaking his head.

[color=#ffffff]“That’s not a term or an accommodation, that’s a total restructuring of our school. We can remove the uniforms, but the Houses and the Teams are central to the way we run things here. To abolish the House system would be to squash the homecoming trials, the one high note the students have left after that meeting.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“If you could let Ms. Torres speak, we will hear your [i]suggestions[/i] at the end.”[/color] Maya snapped at Jim before Torres gently patted her on the arm.

[color=#ffffff]“Throwin’ you off the island is lookin’ real good.”[/color] Jim muttered.

[color=#ffffff]“Codenames, aliases and pseudonyms will no longer be prohibited on campus and if a student wished to go by such a name, then a teacher would not be tolerated for referring to them by any previous name. That name was given to them, not chosen. It’s no longer their identity. Freedom of self-expression needs to be nurtured and reinforced.” [/color]She continued, unphased by the previous comment.

[color=#ffffff]“We want to see a curriculum enforcing individuality brought in. Members of our faculty will be transported to your campus and will begin teaching courses on individuality, enforcing how Hyperhumans need to find an identity in themselves before venturing out into the world.”[/color]

Maya was nodding along enthusiastically with each word that Teresa was saying. Jim had no idea what Torres had done to earn this level of loyalty from Miss Almassian.

[color=#ffffff]“As long as I am on this campus, it needs to operate by the Foundation’s standards. Practical Ability Training will be replaced with sparring to find new potentials for the Foundation Force. Inhibitors and other power limiters will be removed from all students immediately. We will not tolerate pulled punches. There are no punches pulled beyond this island. Why train them for failure?”[/color]

Gritting his teeth, Jim took a moment, considering everything that Torres had said while he formulated his response. Tension hung in the air for several minutes before Jim broke the silence.

[color=#ffffff]“Here’s what’s going to happen. Y’all are going to give my graduatin’ students your accreditations and I’m going to allow you to teach your courses. I’m going to get rid of the academic uniforms, dress uniforms and the prohibition on codenames, but the physical training uniforms and other athletic wear will remain, along with the protective suit used during Practical Ability Trainin’ which will also continue. Y’all will be allowed to run your sparrin’ sessions, provided the safety protocols engaged.  Limiters will remain; per a case-by-case evaluation with applicable students, but inhibitors will be removed and replaced with limiters. Lastly, the inter-house teams and the house system will stay in place. These systems are too ingrained in our school to simply remove when the semester has already started.”[/color]

He leaned forward over his desk, intertwining his mechanical fingers with his biological hand, mirroring an assertive position he had seen Jonas do countless times in his years as Chancellor. Jim lowered his voice to a venomous baritone before adding his final sentiment.

[color=#ffffff]“And if y’all have any problem with it then Nakamura can get his ass to the Great White North and tell me himself.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]“This compromise-” [/color]Torres mused, pursing her lips like a person enjoying a delicious meal.[color=#ffffff] “-is acceptable.” [/color]She replied, her lips curving into a smugly satisfied smile. [color=#ffffff]“I’ll inform my staff to prepare for transport.”[/color]

Standing to leave, Torres paused, before turning back to Jim.

[color=#ffffff]“One other thing,”[/color] Torres began, [color=#ffffff]“In a show of good faith, your senior dance, I’d like it to be done our way.”[/color] She explained.  

[color=#ffffff]“A themed dance. You don’t have the uniforms anymore to fall back on, so I think it’d be a good show of faith to let your students express themselves.”[/color]

Letting out a resigned sigh, Jim nodded before speaking.

[color=#ffffff]“I do, thankfully, know just the people to put on it.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/color]