[REND] B2. 2.1 - Campus Shenanigans

I stood straighter, drawing my full height of five feet. There were baseless rumors that I was just four-eleven; those were spread by haters. I looked as confident as possible while weighing how to answer the question. What lesson was Professor Gallagher, an it’s-different-in-the-real-world type of guy, aiming to demonstrate to the class?

Ramello, to my left, leaned closer to me. “Erind,” he whispered, “say that—”

I lightly kicked him before moving sideways, toward Deen. This idiot was risking the ire of Professor Gallagher. “Sir, if I were the President…” I slowly said, buying time by repeating the question.

Of course, I couldn't mention the real answer—I’d enslave the American people to build a pyramid in my name. Just kidding. I wasn’t narcissistic like that. I’d probably concentrate the efforts of society to make large-scale sugarcane farming viable in the country. We had to switch to using sugar instead of corn syrup. Sugar is life.

Instead, I said, “I would work with the Corebrings.” It was the easy answer, and the one that Professor Gallagher expected me to give. And then, he could bring out his ‘realistic’ take on the situation.

“And why is that, Ms. Hartwell?” asked the professor.

I see what he’s going for. A normal person would answer stuff like unity and cooperation and crap. Might even say something like the Corebrings were the good guys, no doubt. It was logical to accept their help. But I went with the answer that I thought Professor Gallagher would prefer, but didn’t expect me to give.

“Because it’s the safest thing to do, sir,” I said.

Professor Gallagher raised a brow. “Elaborate.”

“The Corebrings have destroyed the Purple Blooms. Humans couldn’t defeat a single one, even with the rushed nuclear bomb the Allies made back then. With that power gap, it’s best not to make enemies of the Corebrings. After they defeated the Adumbrae, who knows who they’ll target next?”

My statement caused a buzz in the classroom.  Deen shifted in her seat, though she didn’t say anything. Ramello muttered something like, ‘What are you saying?’ It bordered on taboo to suggest that the Corebrings might do something bad. They were the superheroes after all. But I wasn’t being controversial here—that’d attract too much attention for my timid law school face. I just wanted to off-balance Professor Gallagher for picking me for recitation first.

“Enemies? Didn’t the Corebrings save humanity, Ms. Hartwell?” asked the professor, walking to the edge of the platform in front of the lecture hall.

“They did, sir. But I, as the President of the United States of America seventy years ago, don’t know much about these super-powered beings. I’ve witnessed their power. I know my country can’t do anything to fight them. Plus, I have to focus on rebuilding and so on. Working with Corebrings is the only option. That and praying the Corebrings aren’t the bad guys.”

With that explanation, my classmates calmed down. It was a logical answer. Their short classmate, Erind Hartwell, wasn’t a conspiracy theorist.

“There was a lot of praying going on at that, alright,” Professor Gallagher said with a smile, apparently pleased with me. “The overwhelming force of the Corebrings was what impelled the Allies, heading the newly formed United Nations, to sign the Paris Accords. They pledged to support the formation of the Corebring Central Hive; in return, the Corebrings will fight the Adumbrae. A simple arrangement. Countries bankrolled the facilities of the Hive because of fear… Fear of the Adumbrae. And of the Corebrings.”

Professor Gallagher just can’t help himself with these hot takes, I thought as whisperings rose again. He wanted to whip this out with a disagreeing student, but found that we thought the same. I probably gained a bit of his respect.

“We have various international institutions funded by the United Nations,” continued Professor Gallagher. “But they are all under the control of humans. One can view it as donating to a cause that benefits all of humanity. Yes, that is true. For more than seventy—seventy-five years, to be exact; more, if you count the entirety of the Adumbrae Wars—the Corebrings have protected humanity. But the minds of the actors on the stage of international law do not take this into account.

“Force, be it military or economic, is the factor most considered when states interact with each other. Our country has several rulings of international courts against it, some of which we have discussed. What does the US do? It ignores them. Straight up refuses to comply. An embarrassment, really. Other powerful countries do that, as well. It’s a perk of being powerful. It is in that context that our country and many others signed the Paris Accords.”

If I become powerful enough, I could ignore other people, too. That sort of did happen during the docks mission—my own solo mission. When I turned into a giant werewolf, no one could do anything to me. Spooky Erind was right that I should get stronger. It feels good.

“If you think about it,” Professor Gallagher said, tapping his temple, “the countries are essentially paying protection money to the Corebrings. Now, couching it in those terms may not sit right with many of you. But you shouldn’t forget that states are not the individual people. Do not impose the values and morals of individuals on the states.”

A hand shot up.

It was Adrian, a guy who liked Deen. He had the looks to be the suitor of someone as beautiful as my best friend, and the social standing to match hers. His family were politicians. Could they be Adumbrae? Dario had mentioned that some of our classmates were connected to clients of the 2Ms.

Deen and Adrian had gone on a couple of dates before, from what I’ve heard, but nothing developed from that. Deen had rejected his offers for dates the entire time I lived with her.

“Mr. Elmwood.” Professor Gallagher gestured for Adrian to stand. “What is it?”

“Sir, states may be entities without morals or values, but the humans running them do. Respectfully, I argue that it’s not wholly about power dynamics when it came to the Paris Accords. The President at that time had things he stood for—cooperation with the Corebrings—in the same vein that President Goodwin stands for the opposite today.”

Oh, yeah. Adrian’s family was with the President’s party. Time for a conspiracy theory.

Maybe the country wanted to limit the presence of Corebrings so our experiments, like the artificial Core thingy, wouldn’t get discovered. But since Corebrings weren’t allowed in the country, Adumbrae were also making their move.

There must be some connection to all of these. Wow, I was turning into a detective.

Professor Gallagher raised a finger. “If such were the case, then the Hive wouldn’t have put to sleep their strongest members. Wouldn’t everyone feel safer if the High Overseers remained active? Alas, we did not feel safe because they were around. How can we feel safe if beings that could turn cities into dust are flying around? Isn’t that right, Ms. Hartwell?”

“Yes, sir,” I said, nodding. Nice callback to our lesson a few weeks ago. Little by little, I was evolving my timid law face into someone who wasn’t scared of the strict professors.

“Now, I’ll argue with my point, Ms. Hartwell. Doesn’t the unilateral decision of the Corebrings to hibernate the High Overseers prove a gesture of goodwill and cooperation? Maybe power wasn’t the driving force for the decision?”

I pondered the question. If I were inside the cynical head of Professor Gallagher, how would I view the situation? “Sir, it wasn’t a gesture of goodwill. It was a trade. The Corebrings had a bargaining chip, and they used it.”

“How so?”

“Countries will allow Corebrings access without complaints, so long as Corebrings hide their big sticks. Plus, the United Nations funded their buildings and so on.”

My answer made Professor Gallagher laugh. “Very big sticks, indeed. You always have an interesting way of couching things, Ms. Hartwell.” He pointed at Adrian. “Back to you, Mr. Elwood. Another proof of my point is the Washington Protocol—the reverse of the Paris Accords. Our government isn’t abandoning the Paris Accords, mind you. Adopting it to modern times is the official reason. But the effect is barring the Corebrings from the country just the same. Why now, Mr. Elwood? What changed after seventy-five years?”

“Uh…” Adrian looked left and right. “Sir, our country is now asserting its sovereignty.”

“What has the Corebrings got to do with that? They only care about killing Adumbrae. We should be thankful for their help, shouldn’t we?”

“It is our country’s duty to protect its own citizens. Outsourcing it is diminishing the government’s standing in the eyes of its people and abdicating its responsibilities.” Adrian was repeating the lines of President Goodwin.

“That’s all well and good, Mr. Elmwood. But it doesn’t answer my question. Why now? Isn’t it because our military is stronger? We have the BID? We have bioscanners that aren’t maintained by the city?”

Some of the students laughed.

Adrian hesitantly nodded. “Ye-yes, sir. We don’t need the Corebrings anymore.”

“Then it all comes down to force,” said Professor Gallagher. “As most things are in this world. Sit down, you two. Let me share a few things before moving on.” He went on with tidbits about the negotiations for the Paris Accords that were supposedly not included in most history books.  

If I hadn’t turned into an Adumbrae, I would find this discussion boring. Corebrings and Adumbrae were… there. Just like any other issue going on in the world. Things were different now. Most of my classmates were probably thinking the same thing. Before the attack on the subway station, Adumbrae were a distant thought. But now, everyone in class was listening intently to Professor Gallagher.

“Let us discuss matters that we, as lawyers, can do something about. Mr. Staten, the Duerr case, please. Let us focus on the facts because they are interesting.”

“Thank the Mother Core I read that one,” Ramello muttered under his breath as he stood up. “Wish me luck,” he added, glancing at me.

“Okay,” I dryly replied.

Ramello narrated about how a Corebring captured an Austrian family vacationing in the country. I bet the Corebring was on vacation, too. These Adumbrae didn’t have any visible mutations. Rather than outright killing the family, the Corebring turned them over to the authorities for some reason.

The US authorities executed the family. The Austrian government found out. Chaos ensued.

“The holding of the case,” said Ramello, “is that the US government was under no obligation to inform the Austrian Consulate that the US has detained Austrian nationals suspected of being an Adumbrae.

“Not mere suspicion, Mr. Staten,” Professor Gallagher said. “Confirmed Adumbrae.”

“Confirmed Adumbrae,” Ramello repeated. “Apologies, sir. The Duerr family was summarily executed after the required tests under our laws. Austria sued our government before the International Court of Justice and argued that under the Vienna Convention, they should’ve been informed so they could’ve extended consular assistance to the Duerrs.”

“Thank you, Mr. Staten. Ms. Leska, what were the two main reasons given by the ICJ why they favored the US?”

Kinda unfair he’s calling students on our side only. I had closed my notes because I no longer expected to be called.  

Deen jumped to her feet. “Sir, the first reason is that Adumbrae didn’t have the right to consular assistance. Secondly, the US has an obligation to quickly execute the Adumbrae regardless of their nationality. It is a matter of national safety.”

“Thank you, Ms. Leska. Note that the concept of Adumbrae having no human rights wasn’t settled back then. Remember that this case was decided only a decade and a half after the war. At present, most laws in place regarding Adumbrae do not consider them human.”

The rest of the session was laidback. I let my mind wander, thinking of how to reveal my puppet mask to Deen. Or I could show her just the crystals on my palm? Probably better wait for more pills first.

“I have a question, sir,” some bitch said, around five minutes before the end of the class.

I could see my classmates reacting, some wearing outraged expressions, when one of us dared to prolong the lesson. Funny seeing everyone turned their heads to look for the culprit. It turned out that it was Shirley, the red-haired girl ranked second to Deen in terms of looks.

Professor Gallagher nodded. “Ms. Tinsley.”

“Professor, we’ve discussed Corebrings not being bound by laws,” she said. “If the Corebrings came to fight Adumbrae in the country without being called—”

“In violation of the Washington Protocol, you mean?”

“Yes, sir. Let’s say the Corebrings caused collateral damage. How would we hold them liable?”

A couple of students groaned. It was a hypothetical question. Shirely just wanted to farm brownie points for participating in class. She asked the question close to the session’s end, so Professor Gallagher couldn’t grill her too much. Everyone knew what she was going for.  

“The answer is simple, Ms. Tinsley. We don’t and we can’t. Ms. Hartwell, explain to Ms. Tinsley the rationale.”

I stood up, wanting to punch Shirley’s exquisitely carved face. “We can’t sue superhumans who can grind cities to dust. And, sir, you told me not to answer that in the bar exams.”

Deen pinched the side of my leg.

“Precisely, Ms. Hartwell. Thank you for that.” Professor Gallagher cleared his throat. “The textbook answer, though, Ms. Tinsley, is the concept of eminent immunity of the Corebrings. It is a recent formulation compared to diplomatic immunity from ancient times, or its modern conception in the seventeenth century. Chuck it up to some legal fiction to cover the fact that we are powerless before the Hive. You’re all probably tired of hearing me say that, so we’ll continue it in the next lesson.”

He rattled off our assignments while everyone pondered the weight of his words. And class was dismissed.

“Erind, Myra just texted me,” Deen said. “She wants to meet with us.”

“Sure, sure. Maybe she misses us,” I sarcastically said.

“Uh, excuse me, Erind.” Ramello patted my shoulder.

A shiver went up my spine at the physical touch. I held back a punch that would’ve drilled through his torso. “What? I’m a bit busy.”

“This won’t take long. My uncle’s waiting outside. He wants to ask you some questions.”

(Author's Notes: We have some refresher description of Erind since this is supposed to be the early parts of a new book. And I'll strive to have law school scenes peppered through each book so that we don't forget she's a law student. Maybe scenes on campus not related to school, too.

Gallagher is a bit of a cynic and paranoid. Though he could be right about the Corebrings. I'm using this chapter to present some views on the place of the Corebrings in this world and to make readers think. We might do something with Adrian and Vanessa, too (the mayor's niece in Book 1), in connection with infiltrating the 2Ms base.

I'll aim for a couple of chapters of Smite this weekend. We'll have a cover reveal of Smite Happens by the end of the month. I expect to gain more patrons once Smite Happens is publicly released. Then we'll get a cover for Book 2 with the funds. Not sure if it'll be Pino or Golden Blanchette. We'll poll that when the time comes. As always, thank you for your support.)