For June, the last three days had been filled with reluctant bliss. The initial scepticism he harboured for all academies and institutions held firm against the Principles opening speech, in fact it had even been reinforced by it. All that talk of freedom of educational choice was nice and all and most of the academy rules standard fare, but having a ban on 'sexual relations'? What the heck was that about? No June had kept his cynicism in tact throughout that little performance. The banquet had gone a little better and he had spent his time mingling here and there, nothing committed though and mostly he spent his time watching and eating. While part of him was anxious to get involved and meet some new people he had decided that it would be best to wait until after he'd explored the facilities a little more, seeing as they were the main reason he'd taken the invitation in the first place and if they weren't what he was looking for he had plans to bail off this island.
With this in mind he had left the feast early taking the hint from a few of the students doing the same, likely to avoid the inevitable rush to the administration office. June of course hadn't bothered looking over a campus map before now and had to follow the odd stray student to find the correct building but eventually made it, though while there he made certain to actually pick up a guide while getting his room number. Feeling a little stupid for thinking he could mange without the map he now had a fresh sense for the size of the place, he had seen the walls on his way in of course and the large open plain that separated the Academy proper from those walls but seeing it all laid out in front of him was something else, still at least that meant the library might actually live up to what he had been told, it was almost too good to imagine. With a newfound bounce in his step and his pessimistic slump from the orientation speech dampened he hurried to the library, the feast was still in full swing and there was light left in the late afternoon sky so he found his way quickly and without distraction to the impressive maze of bookshelves that made up the biggest single collection of written work he had ever laid eyes on. The guide had told him the library closed by nightfall and while he ached to spend the entire evening here he settled for the few hours he had left.
In the end he was asked to leave twice by staff. From here he made his way, still giddy with excitement as the library had proved more that he had ever dared hope, to his room. He was on the top floor due to his age and practically flew up the stairs with a little voice in his head telling him would come to hate them, but he didn't care. Bursting through the door to his room he found his luggage piled neatly in one corner and he left it there, plenty of time to unpack later, and went straight for the computer grinning wolfishly. He reasoned that while he had the run of the place he should get to know the hardware and that was how he spent his time until the arrival of his roommate whom he ignored for the most part and soon headed to bed, leaving his possessions unpacked and sleeping in his underwear. June slept fitfully that night, unable to rest easy in his excited state, mind always wandering to either the wonders of the 218 Library or pondering the lab he was sure to visit the next day.
The day in question came with a deafening roar that nearly jumped June out of bed and onto the floor with surprise, though soon his curses filled the room with just as much vigour as the siren wake up call. He wearily dragged himself to the bathroom taking a set of clothes and a toothbrush from his as yet unpacked suitcase with him. He wandered back out several minutes later looking halfway decent though still clearly grumpy. The sour mood soon faded with a spark of laughter as he decided, in retaliation to being woken so rudely, he was going to take advantage of that 'free learning' spiel from the day before and skip classes, the seductive laboratory was sounding much more appealing than anything the school was going to put him through and that was where he headed. Without a word he threw on a thin jacket, more for looks than any functionality, and slipped on his ornamental shades as he consulted his guide book, walking in the opposite direction to the first classroom of the day and towards the Academy's famously equipped lab. He found it easily enough and, with his tired moodiness swept away, threw himself to it with a will. He only ventured out that day to fetch his pieced together creation, the small knee-high robot that he made with the limited materials at his disposal back home. It was weak work but for the most part functional, the bot couldn't lift anything more than a few kilograms worth of weight and moved at the pace of a slow walk but it was a source of pride for June, a creation all to his own. The machine was a quadruped for stability and movement with two thin arms attached to the 'torso' of the machine. There was a rotating dome at the peak of its height in which sat several cameras. Throughout his binge at the lab he made several adjustments to improve these limited capabilities using the myriad of high grade equipment a resources that filled the space. New cameras and pistons improved its sight and mobility when he was controlling it with his powers, not to mention its load limit. His work had been interrupted by an unfortunate blackout at one stage but it had passed in time and he had managed to finish his little project. All in all he had considered it fine work when he walked it back to the room that night, stopping by the cafeteria on the way to make up for the missed meals that had passed him by while he was obsessing over his robot. He wandered into the room, made his machine scuttle under the bed to power down, and flopped onto the mattress kicking off his boots without a word to his roommate. Time enough for that later.
This pattern was continued the next day too and though he overheard students talking about some incident he ignored it. He was happy in a school for once, content with the resources at his disposal and revelling in his freedom to use them. Though... he could not contain the growing longing inside him. What he wanted was people, he enjoyed the entertainment they brought, the fun you could have with them, and with all the opportunity around to meet new faces he was beginning to decide that perhaps he should make some... acquaintances, friends probably wasn't the right word, you trusted friends. No he needed to meet some distractions, some entertainment. Maybe he'd strike up a conversation with that roommate of his? Who knows. He would start tomorrow. With that settled he slipped back inside the social shell he had made himself, for the time being at any rate.
The day June had planned for overdue socialising coincided with a Headmasters address. When he learned what the topic of this speech was supposed to cover he was shocked, then angry. In only three days a student had been killed. Dead. Under the care and watch of the academy. After only three god damned days. At that news all the wonder and bliss he had experienced wilted. Sure this place had better resources than any other academy he'd heard of but it still couldn't protect its fucking students. A popping fizz was heard from under the bed where he had been beginning to power up his machine, one of the rear mounted cameras had failed, he'd pushed too much current into it. A quiet flurry of curses streamed out under his breath and he powered the bot back down, it was no good controlling things when he was angry it just made it difficult and the more sensitive equipment suffered for it. He rose to his feet and stormed back into the bathroom, blasting himself under the shower for several long minutes until he had washed away his disappointment and frustration, leaving the cool cynicism he treated most institutions with in its place. As he walked out of the steam filled room, his electric blue hair wet and plastered to his head, his black sleeveless turtle neck and jeans damp from the steam, he ran thoughts through his head slowly. He should head to the auditorium and find out what happened if nothing else. June might not trust people much but he certainly liked them and he hated the idea of anyone being betrayed by an authority that should have protected them. And this he saw as a betrayal. He stopped mid step and chuckled dryly, at least this gave him an excuse to bump into people. Everyone was going to be at the speech so he might as well make use of it. The laugh faded into a determined grin, after that he might just cause some trouble, give the departed a little payback for the academy's failure. They might not be able to appreciate it from where they were but June sure as hell would. Shaking some of the damp from his hair he grabbed his boots and made for the door, shoving his feet in as he went. Before he turned the handle he slipped on his shades, as always.
He had looked over the guide extensively these last few days and knew the layout pretty well, meaning it didn't take him long to find the auditorium though he took a wrong turn on the way. June surveyed the building for a moment, watching the students file in either as individuals, pairs or groups and eventually followed himself, begrudgingly taking off his glasses on entering, it wasn't quite bright enough for them inside. He cast his eyes around at the setup, seats everywhere and plenty of them, and noted that some students sat and others preferred to lounge against walls. One such lounger was a thin kid nearly his height in a hoodie drinking what looked to be a soda. June placed them somewhere between sixteen and twenty, though from their slight frame guessed the younger side of that range. Curious despite his mood he took a few steps past them and looked around to see a dark skinned youth who definitely looked like he was on the younger side, maybe even younger than the sixteen he had guessed. On top of that the kid had a nose that clearly had a history of being broken, some impressive dreads and a fuck off look in his eyes. June smiled widely and plopped himself down in a chair a few feet away and looked back, bouncing his eyebrows with his grin still in place before turning back to the stage. The kid looked like he had some attitude, something June appreciated greatly.