Episode 188 - Fraud Squad

## Synopsis

The rest of SWIM’s day went uneventfully, until they met up in the Dining Hall. As they ate, Winsler asked Integrity if she wanted help with her Progenitor problem. He suggested going into the Restricted Section to see if it had anything that could help them. He also said that he didn’t want to spend too long in the normal Archives as the modrons probably still hated him.

Integrity asked, “*What if you give them a peace offering? Maybe that’ll help?*”

“*I don’t know what they would want, other than my head. I guess I could give them something?*”

“*Maybe metals or something?*”

“*I’ll give them sheets of brass you think?*”

“*Yeah, or maybe like some screws or nails.*”

“*I wonder if that might be insulting to them though? They might interpret that as being like, run down.*”

As Winsler thought about a potential peace offering, he decided it would be worth a try, and might help his status in the Archives.

Integrity asked if they could also drop by the bookstore, as she had some things to pick up. Mira tried to ask if she meant the sweets she owed Murundeen, but was quickly hushed by her friend.

Serinepth wondered what was happening with the stuff they had left in Troisle. Mira thought he might withhold them until they explained everything they had talked about in their sending slates. They all agreed they needed to talk to him, especially in regards to Angelika and the golems.

After eating, Integrity and Winsler headed to the bookstore and Archives, Serinepth headed to Crowe’s office, and Mira tried to track down Delnys.

As Mira cast *Locate Creature*, she found her waiting in Mira’s dorm. She ran over, eventually arriving at her room. Sitting on her bed was Delnys, with her hair in a high ponytail, and wearing a strapless party hat. On her lap was a very well-made wooden box, tied with a bow. She turned to see Mira, and opened her mouth to speak.

Serinepth walked to the top of the Alchemy building, finding Kenneth Horsewangler looking awful.

He looked at Serinepth and said, “*Oh can I help you? Is there something I can do for you, do you have a meeting?*”

“*Uh something of importance came up today and I need to discuss it with the headmaster, also are you ok?*”

“*What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t I be ok, what are you implying?*”

“*No nothing, you just look fairly tired and I just wanted to double check everything was well, are you ok?*”

“*Yeah I got more sleep than normal actually over the winter break, it was really relaxing.*”

“*There’s a classroom on campus that I know for a fact people are encouraged to sleep in.*” Serinepth gave him directions to the Illusions room.

“*That would be wonderful. I’m afraid I don’t have time in my own schedule to go and take part in that kind of stuff um… In terms of meeting with headmaster Crowe, I’m afraid there’s not any openings to see him today, it is the first day of the semester and people are on campus for the first time since Winter break, there’s a lot of stuff going on, meetings all day here and elsewhere—*“

“*Is he not here currently?*”

Kenneth looked at a ledger. “*No, he’s currently off campus.*”

“*Ok. Were you in Troisle?*”

“*Oh no, I’m permanently stationed at Wildcliff now. He had another attendant in Troisle for him managing things.*”

“*I’m sure you were at least made aware of the fact that our things had to be returned to Wildcliff—*“

“*Yes, I organised the arrival and distribution of those things. Your pet if I remember, Miss Sinderman. It is Miss Sinderman now, not lady right?*”

“*No, just Miss Sinderman, if you want to just call me Serinepth that’s fine.*”

“*I don’t think I’m legally allowed to do that. The earliest I could get you in to see Mr Crowe is next week, he’s busy until then.*”

“*Ok, could you please book me at the earliest convenience. While I’m here, so yes my pet was returned to me, the other items that came back from Troisle, do you know where they were sent?*”

“*The only items that were to be distributed back to you students were your pet, the rest were stored with Mr Crowe’s personal items. I am not at liberty to talk about those things.*”

“*Just to ask, because those items belong to myself and my classmates, is there a particular reason why he’s holding them hostage.*”

“*…I don’t think I can legally talk about those things.*”

“*If they’re physically my items, and my friends’ items—*“

“*If they were left at Crowe Mercantile property, abandoned, for two weeks by the sound of it, then that does not sound like your property any longer.*”

Serinepth’s voice grew tighter. “*I’m sorry, did you just call my friend property?*”

“*I don’t know what you’re talking about.*”

“*My friend, who came back here. Might have been asleep in a blanket.*”

Kenneth averted his eyes as Serinepth stepped closer.

His voice sounded higher as he stammered, “*Well… ok, ok, how about this. He has a walk tomorrow morning that he had booked, but I could put you in to talk to him then, if you like?*”

Serinepth took a step back. “*I would greatly appreciate that.*”

“*Alright, tomorrow at 6:30am, meet him at the gardens, the greenhouses. He was going to go for a little walk about… Um, yeah, I’ll tell him about that”—*Kenneth sighed before continuing—“*Well this was great. Um, I don’t anything about what you were talking about, just to be very clear.*”

Serinepth put her hand on his shoulder and leant down, smiling. “*Thank you so much for being so understanding. And really, you should definitely try that room. I know you’re saying you got a lot of sleep, but everyone could use more sleep you know?*”

Kenneth nodded. “*I mean if he’s not here it couldn’t really hurt that much. Have a good day, Miss Sinderman, I hope your meeting tomorrow morning with him is effective.*”

“*Thank you very much Mr Horsewangler.*” Serinepth walked away.

Kenneth immediately scurried up the stairs.

Over in the bookstore, Integrity and Winsler found it full of students buying forgotten supplies. One of the attendants looked over at them, snapped his fingers, and pointed at Winsler.

“*Oh, Mr Periwinkle! You didn’t come by yesterday. All the other professors— I don’t know if you know this I know you’re new, I remember the conversation with you during Autumn’s End it was really notable because no professors really come in here except for the first day, so that was special. Um, you didn’t come yesterday for the supplies pick-up that the professors come and get.*”

They reached under the counter for a crate. He took out a red professor’s robe, and a large key ring, telling Winsler it contained keys to the Evocation Department, the faculty lounge at the base of the Transmutation Tower, as well as for restricted areas in the Archives. He also gave Winsler one of the coins to access the restricted section of the Archives. Finally, he passed over some paperwork asking what stipend he would need for the course.

Winsler realised he was in too deep to back out, so he thanked the attendant and told them he would look over everything.

The attendant looked at Integrity, asking if she was Winsler’s teaching assistant. They both told him she was, and the attendant grabbed another box. This one contained another set of keys to the Evocation Department.

They both thanked the attendant again, and told him they would just be looking around for some more stuff.

While Winsler filled out the forms, Integrity ran around to find 20 gp worth of snacks. Looking at prices, she noticed that prices had at least doubled since Crowe had taken over. She grabbed a few bags of crisps and sweets, and walked over to the counter to find a very long line. Using Winsler’s new professor powers, she was able to scam the attendant into helping her first, though she did pay for the students behind her.

As they left, Winsler told Integrity he hadn’t realised how much paperwork professors had to go through. He told her he wasn’t sure about how much money teaching costed, so he had asked for 200 gp a week, and had put her as a teaching assistant under the name ‘*Isolde Insidious*’.  Satisfied with the chaos they had just caused, they headed to the Archives to research warlocks.

Delnys looked at Mira in surprise before saying, “*I didn’t expect you for a couple more hours.*”

“*Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to— It’s good to see you, what are you doing here?*”

“*I was wait until until you’d done your— I don’t know why I was going to sit in here for three hours, it just seemed like the easiest way to find you, um… But I just wanted to… We didn’t really talk that much.*”

“*Yeah, I wanted to write you letters and stuff during the internship but then we got transported to— Oh I have a whole story, we were stuck on the Moon, and I will tell you more about that when it’s important. How are you doing, how was your winter break?*”

“*My winter break was good, it was… good.*”

Mira looked at Delnys, and subtlety cast Detect Thoughts to see what was going through her mind. Immediately she felt Delnys was anxious and not prepared for this conversation. When Mira asked if she did anything interesting, her thoughts instantly shifted to keeping the full story from Mira.

“*I mean um… I went to Ophelian with my mother, and we met with a few of the other Lady of the Wood’s attendants. There was one there we watched go through… a process, and it was quite a bit more violent than I was expecting.*”

Mira dropped the spell, and sat on the bed next to her girlfriend. “*Are you ok?*”

“*Yeah, I’m fine. After that my mother told me that— we talked about it obviously— she said that im likely not strong enough currently, and it could turn out really bad, like there’s really horrible scenarios where you can turn into a monster, or just worse if it goes poorly, so… I’ll hold off for a little longer.*”

Mira felt that she was telling the truth, but just didn’t want to say what happened to the other person.

“*Fair enough. You don’t have to tell me everything that happened, but whatever you want to do, I’d rather, you know, I just want you to be safe, and whatever choice you want to make, you don’t have to keep it from me.*”

“*I know, I’m really sorry for the way I reacted back at the Gala. Afterwards, and the more I think on it, the more I agree with you and… I just really want my mum to want me around, and maybe it was like, rushing into it for that reason. I think that you’re probably right about it.*”

“*No, I mean it’s… If someone said what I said to you, to me, I probably would feel pretty judged and stuff too. So I totally get it, and I’m sorry. I wish we hadn’t ended off winter break like that. I should’ve… at the party— at the Gala, I should’ve… I’m sorry, Delnys.*”

“*And I’m sorry for*”—Delnys looked extremely uncomfortable—“*I’m sorry for just running away, during the Gala. And after we listened that night at my father’s door, and even before that—before we were dating—anytime there was a problem, just always running away. I just don’t know how to deal with things other than doing that. And thank you for having patience for me.*”

“*It’s cool, it’s really cool. So what have you got there?*”

“*So, when we where in Ophelian— again I told you I was thinking about how I was just so sorry, so I wanted to get you something to help apologise, and it was also your birthday over winter and I didn’t get to give you anything because we weren’t together, sp I got this made for you.*”

Delnys pushed the box onto Mira’s lap. It was much lighter than she expected, and the lid slid open smoothly. Inside was a beautifully made lyre, made of a strange ashy-silver wood with silver strings.

Mira picked the lyre up, turned it over, and looked back at Delnys. “*Delnys, this is really beautiful, this is amazing!*”

“*Yeah, well I’m really sorry, and I love you.*”

“*This is really nice…*” Mira hesitated before hurriedly continuing, “*Delnys just like five minutes ago I tried to do a spell to see what you were thinking because I got so scared that you’d done it and I… I don’t deserve this, this is so nice, you’re so nice! And I just panicked again and… I am so sorry.*”

Delnys sat for a moment, eyes wide, before saying, “*Oh, so… oh. So you like, know…*”

“*I just knew that you were freaking out, and you were scared. I am so sorry, Delnys.*”

“*Ok. You should keep it anyways, seriously. But um… ok, have a good night.*” Delnys very quickly stood up and left the room.

Mira sat quietly in her room until it was time for the Event Planning Committee meeting. She put the lyre under her bed, and left.

Meanwhile, at the Archives, Winsler and Integrity walked over to the front desk. *Ava Redding* greeted them, and asked how they were. Winsler gestured for her to come closer, and asked for her to call them Professor Veriperiwinkle and Isolde Insidious, explaining how he had unintentionally became a professor at Wildcliff.

Ava looked at him in disbelief. “*I don’t get presented with moral dilemmas very much as an archivist.*”

Winsler carried on, saying they just needed to do some research, and told her about the peace offering he had brought for the modrons. Ava said they also hated her, though denied they had ever attacked her. When Winsler told her what he had brought, she suggested that giving brass to creatures made of brass might not be such a good idea. He agreed, and quickly put it onto he supplies shelf behind him. As a final request, Ava asked that he use his student coin to access the restricted section, and to not go back to her when they were done.

Winsler and Integrity scurried over to the restricted section door. Going in, they found themselves in a dark and messy hallway, absent of any Jeeds or an Ava.

In the Divination department, Mira arrived to the Event Planning meeting. Sat at the head of a large table was Bailey Blue. Behind him was written ‘*ELECTIONS*’ in large letters on a chalkboard. Below it were the sub-headers: ‘*Communications Chair*’, ‘*Treasurer*’, ‘*Secretary*’, ‘*President*’.

The other members of the committee were all sitting around the table, including Arley, Bowan, a grouchy elf with brown hair (Jakov), an anxious and disheveled looking human (Jasic Clarke), and a human with long brown hair dressed in very flowery and sparkly clothes (Efrosyni). Also in the room were three other people, Kormet, Cyndra, and a red-skinned tiefling with purple hair.

As Mira sat down, Bailey welcomed them all, then told them about his winter break before moving on. He congratulated Arley and Bowan for reaching their fifth years, and welcomed the three new students. They all introduced themselves, Cyndra seemed much more professional than usual, Kormet said he would be in the Evocation Department, and the other tiefling said her name was Whitney Tremors, and she was studying in the Illusions Department.

The elections started. After some quick votes, Bowan remained the communications chair, Jasic remained the treasurer, and Efrosyni remained the secretary. Bailey tried to say he would be remaining as President, but Mira cut him off to announce that she would also be running.

Bailey stared daggers at Mira, and told her that if she did that the others would also have to run, and wouldn’t that be inconvenient. She refused to back down, saying they would probably be running unopposed, and that she simply wanted to be more involved this year. She looked around to see the shocked faces of the other members, the two first years seemed less surprised by this revelation.

Jasic nodded. “*I mean, it’s not a big deal if someone runs against you Bailey.*”

Bailey slowly turned to look at him, betrayal written on his face. Before he could say anything, another person spoke up.

Cyndra cleared her throat. “*Yeah, actually I came here with kind of the same intention, because I saw— like I don’t know  if you know how much power you have, but it seems to be quite a lot, and you’re very useless in your position, so I thought if I became president of the event planning committee, I could actually do something for a change.*”

Mira responded, “*Oh hey that’s great, there’s three of us, I love that!*”

“*Yeah there’s three of us, that’s great*.” Bailey looked at the papers in front of him. “*So you’re serious?*”

“*Yeah! It’s not a big deal, like no hard feelings or anything, it’s just a club thing but yeah. Anyway I think it could be kind of fun right? Running, campaigning…*” As Mira spoke she continued to stare deep into Bailey’s soul.

Arley chuckled, then told Mira that having a new President would be a school-wide vote. Bailey again tried to tell her to back down, but Mira was unfazed and said it might get the other students more involved with the committee.

Bailey slapped his thighs before rambling on, “*Absolutely, this is fantastic, this is great, this is great. Uh ok, in that case let’s have the election on Sunday, that way all the students can go out and vote, everyone on campus gets a vote, everyone on campus gets a vote, that’s the way these things work. Fantastic, fantastic.*”

“*Great!*”

“*We’ll um*”—Bailey stared down the table towards the first years “*—we should probably have like uh… uh… some sort of public meeting where we talk about if we’re the*”—he started coughing and struggling to breath—“*sorry I’m like getting…*”

“*Oh hey, no worries, why don’t we organise one tomorrow evening in the courtyard? We can make out posters for it, make sure everyone comes—*“

“*Tomorrow?*”

“*Yeah why not, how about the same place where we had that public forum for the vendors*.”

“*I think that I’m actually a bit sick, so why don’t we do like Wednesday, I think I’m sick, I think I’m going to be sick. Um, yeah let’s do it Wednesday, that sounds great. Efrosyni I’m sure you can handle it.*”

Bailey got up and walked to the door. He paused behind Mira and whispered, “*You would dare do this to me, at my final year at Wildcliff?*”

Mira looked back at him. “*I’m going to fucking destroy you Bailey.*”

He opened the door and ran out of the room.