Chapter 11 - Fireplace Chat
Simon Sutcliffe and Copeland Steele took seats on the floor around the large fireplace in the Suite’s common room. Peter Lomax was sitting on a chair next to the crackling fire, stretching his neck as he put another log on the flames. Suvorov was sitting against the far wall, furthest away from the flames while the others took spots and relaxed.
It had been a long first day of classes and they were all tired, the evening meal of mystery meat hadn’t exactly helped matters much either. As was customary for the students, however, they met in front of the flames to sit and talk about what they’d learned in the day.
"So did everyone enjoy their first day of classes?" Peter asked them all.
He received the expected assortment of grunts and groans. Nobody enjoyed the first days of classes in the service center. They were long and boring and for the most part very dry. It was hard to dispute the success of them, however, as they had kept the empire in existence for centuries.
"Are all these classes this boring?" Simon asked, "I had a hard time keeping from going to sleep."
"Some are," Peter explained, "Though some are interesting. This morning’s orientation was interesting."
"Was that normal?" Copeland asked him, "You looked a bit stunned."
"Not particularly normal," Peter admitted, "But different instructors handle it in different ways. I’ve never been in with Irons before."
"At least he wasn’t as boring as the ones who came later," Simon shrugged, "Do we get to go back with him again tomorrow?"
"Probably so," Peter nodded, "Usually you get a week’s worth of orientation activities. The classes tend not to be too rigid, but they have a lot of information to cram into a six month period."
"I still don’t see why we’re here doing this?" Hale Steinway asked, "Some of this we learned in school."
"The first couple weeks is basically rehash," Peter reminded him, "They’ll start getting to more things soon, things you’ll need to know. Every citizen has rights here in the empire. The point of this is to teach you what they are and how to use them."
"And the best way to teach us our rights is to keep us locked up here?" Simon asked, "Right nice of you…"
"You’re not locked in," Peter chuckled, "Would we deny you the chance to get out and around?"
"You mean…" Copeland said, looking over at Simon.
"We can go explore the city?" Simon asked Peter with a smile.
"I did the night after my first classes too," Peter chuckled, "Just don’t get back too late and be too drunk for class."
"I’m out," Hale said, "Too much to do today."
There was a general agreement between everyone but Copeland and Simon. Simon, being from this city, knew the places to go and Copeland certainly wasn’t going to let Simon go alone.
"Man," Simon told Copeland, "I know where to go. Come on, let’s go out."
Copeland shrugged and stood up. He didn’t want to stay there and spend the evening with Suvorov, especially since he still had this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach about the possibility of being chosen as Mullinix. Peter shook his head and watched them go, figuring that they’d be ok. Suvorov looked around and shrugged, slipping out and going on his own to follow discreetly behind Copeland and Simon.
The Mullinix Book 1: Ascension Page 12