Part 1

The clerk looked up from the readout. "That correct?"

Susan nodded. "Yes, sir."

The clerk looked back at the readout. "Says here you were enrolled by your foster parent. A Robert Galeran, wasn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"I met him a long time ago. Nice guy." The clerk's fingers were rapidly keying in the relevant information into the database. "How old is he now?"

"Sixty. Human years, that is."

"I see." The clerk finished the entry. "There, that should do it. You'll get your room assignment later. For now, proceed to Class 2233 for your first lesson. Welcome to the Guardian Academy."

It was not very big, or grand. Simply a room, divided down the middle with an interesting symmetry. Two beds, two cupboards, two personal organizers on their respective stands. Two of everything including....

Susan reached out for the small device on her bed. It was a keytool, which seemed to be almost alive. Which was ridiculous, Susan knew. Keytools now were merely mechanical devices, nothing more. This must be her sentimental streak at work.

She turned it over. On the back, was engraved the name: Flash.

Susan stared at the name for awhile, then shrugged. Ah, well, people have gotten keytools with more cliched names than this.

She inspected her organizer. It was the same as all the organizers she had ever seen, with the sole exception that this one was new.

Susan glanced at the opposite bed. Another bed meant a roommate. Susan had nothing against roommates in particular.... provided they were human. She wasn't sure if she could handle an Anthro or sprite roommate.

Susan lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. The day had been fairly short, with the teachers mostly introducing themselves, and pointing out the various facilities of the Academy. After that, they had received their room assignments. Susan's room was at the farthest end of her hall.

Susan again wondered about the nature of her roommate. Was she a human, an Anthro, a sprite? The name Kathy, engraved on the headboard of the bed, held no clues. It could well be an Anthro's name as well as a sprite's.

Slowly, almost without realizing it, Susan fell asleep.

Susan blinked groggily for a moment, then sat bolt upright.

She didn't HAVE an alarm clock. So what....

Susan's eyes focused on the opposite bed and study table. A small alarm clock sat on the table, blaring away.

Susan blinked again. Then her brain finally kicked in, and she looked around for her new roommate.

However, apart from the gray duffel bag lying somewhat forlornly on the bed, the room was more or less vacant. Apparently, Kathy had come and gone, without waking Susan.

Susan got out of the bed, and picked up the alarm clock. It was a simple affair, not even digital. Susan tried to read the clock face; eighteen hundred hours.

Which meant that most of the other cadets were doing their own things. Susan vaguely remembered the teachers mentioning a gym of a sort.

Ah, well. Seems as good a place as any to start.

Susan opened the door, and walked out of the room.

It was sometime during this when Susan bumped into another cadet.

'Bumped' appeared to be too mild a word; the other cadet almost knocked her over.

"Oh, sorry, miss," the cadet apologized. "I didn't see where I was going."

Susan looked at the cadet. He was tall and gangly, with a mop of unruly hair. Most interesting was the fact that in front of his eyes were large square opaque goggles.

The cadet adjusted his goggles. "Lessee..... Susan Gwyndel, right? From... er.... Freymarind?"

Susan stared at him in amazement. "How did you know?"

"I have my ways," the cadet said mysteriously.

"Don't give me that. You're a hacker, aren't you?"

The cadet deflated somewhat. "Foiled again." He adjusted his goggles again. "Nicholas Connelly, at your service. Nick for short."

Susan pointed at his goggles. "Let me guess, these help you access the database."

Nick grinned. "You're fast. Where were you most of the day, anyway? I didn't see you anywhere around."

If this was a pick-up, Susan wasn't buying it. "Somewhere you weren't."

Nick grimaced. "Ouch. Straight to the heart."

"Anyone ever tell you you're full of bad jokes?"

"Twenty-seven times that I can remember," Nick said calmly. "Probably more. As I was saying, I didn't see you at either the gym or the cafeteria."

"So?"

"If so, then I think you missed most of the socializing. Come on, you're not too late."

"Whoa, hang on," Susan said. "Why this sudden interest in me?"

Nick pondered for a moment. "For one thing, I think we're in the same classes most of the time, as are a few others. For another, your roommate told me about how you slept through most of the afternoon."

Susan blinked. "My roommate? Kathy?"

"Yeah. I don't think you've seen her. Wanna do so now?"

Susan thought for a moment. Even if this was just some weirdo, at least she would be able to actually meet some people. Even if this Nick was the only person she would end up meeting.

"You're on," she said.

"Right, let's go."

On the most part. Susan could see several dirty looks exchanged between isolated individuals. The racism mostly stopped there, though.

Susan was suddenly pulled to one side. "What's the big idea?" she asked her guide annoyedly.

Nick simply drew himself up, and gestured extravagantly. "Madam, I would like to introduce Katherine Demarco, your new roommate for the evening. Or the rest of your stay here, for that matter."

Susan looked at the girl Nick was gesturing to. She was a human, of medium height and build, with red frizzled hair. The girl simply turned to Nick, and stuck her tongue out.

Nick grimaced. "Shot through the heart. Well, I'll leave you two to be acquainted. Ta for now." Humming, he sauntered off.

Kathy turned to Susan. "Irritating fellow, isn't he?"

"I noticed."

"I take it you're my roommate. Susan, right? I'm Kathy, as you might have guessed. Nick there's my friend from way back."

"Guess so. My full name's Susan Gwyndel, by the way."

"'Gwyndel'..... that's not a common name, is it?"

"It is, where I came from."

"I see."

They stood there for a while, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Kathy said, "I heard Nick's organizing a study group of some sort."

"So soon?"

"He's the sort who plans so far ahead, he loses track of what's happening at present. Anyway, we're up to six people now. I think Nick's out recruiting or something."

Susan knew what was expected of her. "Mind if I join in?"

Kathy grinned. "Welcome aboard. I'll introduce you to the others later." A bell had started to go off. "For now, I think that's the bell for dinner."

Susan grinned. "Thanks a lot."

"No problem."

"What is this?" A Khatran asked in disgust. "Looks like worms."

"It's spaghetti," Nick said, his mouth full.

"Spaghetti? Never heard of it."

"It's a human delicacy of sorts."

"Ugh." The Khatran pushed his plate away from him. "I don't want to eat anything I don't know. Why don't they serve Khatran food?"

"Good question," Kathy said. "I think we should tell the kitchen staff. In the meantime, though, you'll have to take whatever's there."

The Khatran grimaced, but ate a forkful anyway. He masticated furiously. "It's edible," he concluded.

Nick, in the meantime, had been adjusting his goggles. "Let's see..... you're Kavi, right?"

The Khatran didn't blink an eyelid. "What's it to you, hacker?"

Nick looked disgruntled. "Did they announce it over the PA or something?"

"Very probably," commented a female sprite, who just came with her tray of food. She looked at Susan. "I don't think we've been introduced yet. My name's Crysta. Crysta Xandi."

"Susan Gwyndel," Susan replied. "Pleased to meet you."

Nick suddenly coughed. "Um," he said, recovering, "never mind. Just something I suddenly thought of."

"And what would that be?" Kathy asked.

"Nothing important. Nothing important at all."

"With your brain, you wouldn't be capable of thinking of anything important," said Kathy good-naturedly.

"Very funny. Your food's getting cold."

"Point taken."

They finished the rest of the meal in silence.

The screen first showed only static, then an image coalesced on the screen.

"Hi, Susan," Robert said. "Everything go fine?"

"More or less," Susan said.

"I'll take that as a yes. How're your new accommodations?"

"They're okay. At least my roommate is human."

"Susan, you've got to get over your fear of other races. It's not conducive to being a Guardian."

Susan looked away. "I can't help it. Every time I see a sprite or an Anthro, I get this weird feeling. Like-"

"Like you're scared of being hunted down? Susan, I know what you mean."

Susan smiled weakly. "I guess I bored you too much with that, right?"

"Not really. At least now you can face other races. When you first saw a sprite after that.... ordeal, you freaked out."

Susan sighed. "I guess I'll have to learn to control it."

"Not just control it. Overcome it."

"Robert, you've been giving me this same speech for the past nine years. I can recite it word for word if you want me to."

"Guess I bored you too much with that."

Susan grinned. "Well, I guess my time is up. Bye."

"Bye, Susan."

Professor Charles Wong slowly paced the classroom. "We see deaths, destruction, and plain hatred. Once again we must ask: why?"

A hand went up. The professor glanced towards it. "Yes, what is it?"

A sprite stood up. "With all due respect, sir, what does this have to do with being a Guardian?"

Professor Wong smiled. "Good question. Anyone know the answer?" When nobody volunteered, he continued, "The reason why we have to study the why's of history, is that history often repeats itself. If we can understand the factors that caused past battles, we are better prepared to face future ones."

Susan found herself daydreaming. She thought about what Robert had said the previous night. She wondered how she was to get rid of her lingering suspicions about other races. Every time she saw a sprite or Anthro, she could still faintly hear the flames burning the village-

"And so," the professor said suddenly, startling Susan out of her reverie, "the thing we must all do is to find out just what mob mentality is like. You do realize, though, that mob mentality is not like normal thinking. A mob is a separate creature in itself; it has a different way of thinking. For today, I want you all to go back and read up on cases when the mob mentality caused a tragedy. By tomorrow, each of you must be able to present a case before the class. Until then, goodbye."

"You know you do a very good disappearing act?" Susan panted. "I couldn't find you after class."

"People always say that. I wonder why." He thought for a moment. "We, that is, the study group, are meeting in the cafe during lunch. Table four. Be there."

"You sound like some sort of secret agent."

"It's a knack of mine."

"Let's begin the introductions, shall we?" Nick said. "I'm Nick Connelly, the one who brought you all here."

"We know," Crysta said dryly.

Nick looked slightly pained, but carried on stoically. "This is Kathy Demarco, my-"

"I can do the introductions myself," Kathy said irritably. "As he was saying, I'm Kathy, Nick's longtime friend."

"There is nothing between us," Nick announced. Kathy kicked him in the shin.

"My name's Susan Gwyndel," Susan said, to avoid further violence.

"Kavi," said the Khatran. "Unwillingly dragged here by the hacker."

"Crysta Xandi," Crysta said. "This's my brother, Peter."

"Charmed," Peter murmured, flashing a quick smile.

Down the line - "Nar il'Wathi," said a F'Val. "And my friend, Ril al'Tana."

Ril gave a bright smile. "Pleased to meet you all."

The last member of the group, a sprite, simply nodded her head. "Sarah Descan. Likewise."

"Okay now," Nick said, "our first assignment is to find out stuff about mob mentality. Where shall we start?"

"The library, you dolt," Kathy said mildly.

"We'll continue this discussion there," Nick said, without batting an eyelid.

"Of course."

"Let's get ourselves organized," Nick said. "You, you, you and you," he pointed out Kavi, Kathy, Peter and Susan, "look under recent history. The rest look further afield."

"Recent history?" Susan inquired.

"You know, within the last ten years or so. Now move it."

"What I wouldn't give for a chance to wring his neck," Kavi muttered.

"He's always been like that," Kathy informed him. "Learn to live with it."

Susan was appointed coordinator. She sat down at a table, and waited for the others to come back with their data disks.

Idly, she opened her organizer and tried to think of cases of mob mentality. Slowly, then with increasing speed, she began to type.

Susan jerked out of her reverie, focusing on Peter's concerned face. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm okay." She looked at the screen of her organizer. It was filled with words.

Kathy looked over her shoulder. "Seems you've been busy."

"I've been thinking about something else," Susan apologized. She looked at the pile of data disks in front of her. "I guess I'd better get started."

"That may not be necessary," Kavi murmured, looking through what Susan had typed. "I don't think you need to do any more work, Susan. This should be sufficient."

Susan looked at what she had typed. Her eyes grew wide.

Peter had been judging her expression. Now he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you go back to your room for awhile? When you're ready, you can continue helping us."

Numbly, Susan complied.

Kathy paused for dramatic effect. "The sprite defenders were helpless against the much larger force of humans. The system soon fell, and it was not until three months later that the Guardians were able to restore order to the system."

The class broke into applause. Professor Wong allowed it to continue for a moment, then silenced the class with a wave of his hand.

"Next, Miss Gwyndel. You may begin."

Susan stood up. "Nine years ago," she began, "a group of renegade sprites and Anthros attacked the peaceful human village of Freymarind. They had no motive, other than pure plain hatred for humans. Usually, individually, sprites and Anthros would not have committed such an act. In a group, however, their racism increased tenfold."

Susan swallowed once, then continued. "The theory of mob mentality dictated that the mob would lose its morality, and be as insentient as automated killing machines. Such it was with this renegade group." Susan's voice began to waver. "They killed most of the villagers, regardless of the fact that the village had done no offense, except for being a human one, and torched the village to the ground." She blinked back tears. "Only one child survived."

"Perhaps this is not a very good example," she continued, her voice stronger. "Maybe the fact that the renegades were in a mob changed nothing about them. However, I believe that the mob mentality played a large part in what was a great tragedy." Susan stopped, unable to continue.

Professor Wong broke the silence in the class. "Well, I think that's all for today. Class dismissed."