Chapter 17: The Underground Curriculum
đ If knowledge is power, these kids are basically nuclear.
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"Okay," Junie said, pulling a twig out of her ponytail, "I know we just narrowly escaped capture, but do all secret resistance movements have to live in places that smell like burnt ramen and sadness?"
Lila snorted. "Would you prefer neon billboards and smoothie bars?"
"Yes," Junie said without hesitation. "With Wi-Fi."
They had landed in what could only be described as the haunted lovechild of Hogwarts and a server farm. The original Tempest High campusâSystem 1.0âwas a forgotten ruin, hidden under layers of deleted code and aggressive architectural denial. Vines wrapped around solar panels. Half-broken holoscreens buzzed out fragments of motivational quotes. One still flashed:
> "LEARN OR BURN!" â Principal Zephyr (Fired, 2038)
"Nice," Junie muttered. "Very welcoming."
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đ Meet the Faculty (Sort of?)
The first person to greet them was a six-foot-tall hologram of a cat in a graduation cap.
"Welcome to the UnderAcademy," it meowed. "Where we teach banned knowledge, advanced sarcasm, and the occasional life skill. Like not dying."
Junie blinked. "Did the talking cat just wink at me?"
"Depends," Lila said. "Do you feel judged?"
"Deeply."
They were led into a dim corridor lined with flickering smart-slate posters. One read:
> Today's Lesson: Don't Get Caught Tomorrow's Lesson: How Not To Die Friday: Potluck. Bring Snacks or Regret.
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đ§ Training Begins: "Boot Camp but Make It Weird"
Their trainer was an ex-council hacker named Flint who wore three pairs of glasses stacked on his head and introduced himself with:
> "I'm Flint. I teach Tactical Disobedience and Creative Lying."
Flint threw them into simulations with zero explanation.
"Figure it out," he shouted, "or perish in a tragic but educational fireball!"
Junie, stuck inside a VR puzzle that involved juggling logic gates while dodging flying homework assignments, screamed: "WHY IS THIS EVEN A THING?!"
Lila, trapped in a riddle maze where every wrong answer added another sassy AI to her inbox, muttered, "I've made a huge mistake."
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đ Comic Break: The Mystery of the Sentient Vending Machine
Between sessions, Junie wandered into the cafeteria, lured by the promise of calories.
A lonely vending machine blinked at her.
"Hello," it said in a smooth baritone. "Would you like a snack... or a prophecy?"
Junie paused. "Uh... fruit snacks?"
The vending machine whirred. Out popped a small scroll that read:
> YOU WILL TRIP OVER A LEGENDARY OBJECT IN THREE⊠TWOâŠ
"Wait, what?"
Trip.
Face. Floor. Boom.
"Ow." Junie rolled over and held up the thing she'd tripped on.
"A⊠USB stick labeled 'DO NOT PLUG IN OR DIE?'"
Naturally, they plugged it in.
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𧩠What They Found
The stick contained corrupted video files from the earliest system experiments. Children wired into code. Teachers arguing with the Council. A whisper:
> "We didn't make the system to control them. We made it to protect them from what's coming."
Lila looked at Junie. "This wasn't just a school. It was a bunker."
Junie raised her hand. "Does the bunker come with Wi-Fi?"
"Junieâ"
"Kidding. (Mostly.)"
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đ„ Final Beat
That night, under a shattered dome of stars and old code, Lila sat with the file glowing in her hands.
Something big was coming. And this old school, these glitchy halls, these strange new teachers⊠might be the only place left to prepare.
"Hey," Junie said, poking her head in. "I found a class on advanced digital mimicry and emotional manipulation. You know, fun stuff."
Lila smiled. "Sign me up."
Together, they stepped into the next simulation.
It exploded immediately.
Junie's voice echoed from inside the blast: "OKAY WHO PUT A BOSS FIGHT IN THE INTRO MODULE?!"
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đTo be continued...