Darren awoke to the alarm on his communicator buzzing, it was a day before the Genetech Academy entrance ceremony, he had only been in Moscow for a week and still wasn't accustomed to traveling by himself yet. He had a meeting today with the Headmaster to discuss the new student address having taken top spot for physical ability in the entrance exams, he was to meet with another student who had scored top marks for their intelligence. He put on a pot of coffee and considered the address, he had never done anything like this before even at his old school so he had no idea where to begin. Hopefully this other student had some experience, it would allow him to defer to them although it was a good opportunity so he intended to have some input on how it would proceed. He filled a mug and sipped at his coffee while looking over the morning paper, it seems Kurotaka Industries are still searching for the culprits responsible for the terrorist attack at their facilities on Alpha Kojo. Darren peered out the window, it was dreary, a fog had rolled in over night which had left everything damp, he made a note to bring a light jacket as he began pulling on his newly received uniform.
Darren tugged on the collar of his shirt not accustomed to the school uniform, the hotel he was staying at was nothing fancy so he had to wait outside for the transport to arrive. The relentless fog had begun to cling to his coat when the transports headlights came into view, the door slid open silently as it pulled up, Darren climbed in and located Genetech Academy in the menu of the automated computer system he pressed the button then leaned back and the door rolled shut. Darren felt drowsy as the dull concrete and steel scenery flitted past the window, Moscow was if nothing else an industrial city very little in the way of picturesque views. The transport pulled away from the city proper into the plain barren countryside the view changing from silver and grey to dull browns and oranges however off in the distance Darren spotted an oasis of lush vegetation. The vehicle made its way towards this pinnacle of nature, it was after all Genetech Academy, clean white walls surrounded a well maintained park with a large glass and stone building at its center. Darren got out at a gothic style gate, beyond the gate was a small flagstone path which led to the school itself. Walking up the path Darren paused, there was a break in the hedges which lined the walkway, he passed between the hedges into a large park which was centered by a pond, on the far side of the pond was a young woman seated on a bench next to a large birch tree.
The woman had platinum colored hair, her bright blue eyes turned towards the pages of a book an expression of simple delight upon her face, Darren was entranced, he quickly collected himself and as he was about to turn to leave the woman looked up at him and waved him over. "Hello, isn't this place wonderful? I've lived in Russia all my life and never have I found such a wonderful place to read before" she said happily. Darren walked towards her "I had given up on seeing any nature in this place," he responded "I assumed I'd spend the next few years surrounded by dull browns and greys." "Yes the capital is quite dull not all of Russia is barren though, Sviyazhsk is quite a nice little town to visit in the spring and Kirillov is quite beautiful in the winter, cold though" she replied.
The woman's communicator began to beep, "Is it that time already?" she huffed "Sorry if I don't hurry I'll be late for the meeting" she stated gathering her things. The urgency of the young lady reminded Darren of his impending meeting with the Headmaster, he rushed off towards the building trailing slightly behind.
Darren entered the building and was surprised to see how similar it was to what he remembered from home, his name was already neatly written on a locker near the entrance, he removed his shoes and placed on the ones within the locker before proceeding further into the building. The Headmasters office was towards the center of the building on the fifth floor according to the schools directions. As he was looking around for the staircase he bumped into a member of the faculty, "Sorry sir, I don't suppose you can point me towards the Headmasters office?" he asked, "Ah you must be Darren Katagiri, of course follow me, I was sent to collect you" responded the faculty member.
"Well, a little late but you are both here now, I'm Dr. Vasaliev the Headmaster of this school and CEO of Genetech, I'd like to personally welcome the highest scoring students our academy has had in years." Darren spotted the young woman he had met in the park seated across from the headmaster, he had a feeling she was the other student, "Nice to finally meet you, I'm Darren Katagiri the student from Canada." Despite meeting him for the first time the Doctor looked familiar to Darren, he tried to place where he'd seen the man before but began to get a headache so he let it go. "Hi Darren! I'm Anya Vasaliev," the young woman piped up, "Its nice to finally meet you my dad was going on and on about some genius from Canada" she said cheerily, the headmaster gave her a sharp look and she stopped chatting however the bright smile remained on her face. "I'm sure you're wondering why my academy reminds you so much of home, I decided to model our facility after the more successful school systems from history, your schools were actually modeled after them as well" he said. "Well that's unimportant, my assistant here will lead you to a room where the two of you can work on your speech," the assistant motioned them to follow "There's a workroom on the third floor near where your classroom will be, follow quickly please the doctor is a busy man."
The workroom was fairly large, it had a few computers a bookshelf and a large table in the center, there was a large picture window which looked over the park where Darren and Anya had first met, "Here you are, put everything back the way you found it when you are done." Darren pulled out a seat and sat down, "I'm not sure what to do here but I'll do my best" he said to Anya as she sat down next to him. "These are really quite simple, the purpose is to ease some of the tension the new students are feeling due to change in environment, you know welcome to the school, lets do our best, that kind of thing" Anya replied with a lighthearted giggle. Anya opened up a portable computer she pulled from her bag, "Lets get started" she said matter of fact. The two joked around as they prepared their speech, there wasn't much he could add to the actual speech Anya seemed to have a talent for this sort of thing. After a few hours they both agreed the speech was done, "I still think we should add a joke at the end" Darren insisted, "Everything you suggested was beyond awful, veto!" Anya laughed. Every time Darren began to say something more on the subject Anya continued to say veto a bright smile on her face the whole time, after the conversation had stopped for a while "I will tell a joke" Darren insisted.
"And that concludes this years entrance ceremony, all new students please follow the teachers waiting at the exits." "I can't believe you actually said it, you're such a dork" Anya said laughing, "Come on I thought it was a great joke" Darren replied, "I hope nothing lessons your enthusiasm for a great school year? so bad sooo bad" Anya laughed. The entrance ceremony went well, Anya and Darren's speech seemed to inspire the students but Anya insisted the people who laughed at his joke were actually laughing at him for telling such a bad joke. The two of them trailed behind the rest of the first years as they were led to their classrooms, "Ms. Vasaliev, Mr. Katagiri, over here if you please" an instructor separate from the rest called out to them four other students next to him.
"You six will be separated from the rest of the first years, your skills are head and shoulders above the rest so it would make little sense to have you learning at the same rate" he said. the instructor led them to a different part of the school to a smaller classroom, the room only had six desks so it seems they had this prepared ahead of time. "Hello students we are your instructors, I'm Andrei Kozlov and this is Dmitri Semenov, don't worry about the sparsity of your classroom we'll spend little time here." "Now Mr. Katagiri and Ms. Vasaliev have already been introduced how about the rest of you introduce yourselves," one of the two young men stood up a glare directed at Darren. "I'm Jon Baker, I'm gonna be the number one of this class don't forget" he spat in Darren's direction, Darren knew his type, the arrogant the I'm better then everyone else type he knew he wouldn't get along with this guy. "Ello, I'm Jeanne Badeaux, I'm pleased to meet you all," "Aleksi Ivanov, lets have a good year," "What would we need a tire for" Darren whispered to Anya, she punched him lightly, "you're such a dork" she whispered back. A young asian girl was next Darren had to listen carefully to what she said the girl was very quiet "Itami Ito I hope we can all be friends" she said barely above a whisper.