Everything tragic, take it away

[dr_riley]

WHO: Open to all!
WHERE: The local high school
WHAT: Opening event catch-all, centering on a Very Special Guest coming to talk to the students. Anyone is welcome to assume that role! Senator, scientist, entrepreneur, superhero - whoever!
WHEN: Event start
WARNINGS: None as yet!


On a perfectly ordinary morning, in a perfectly ordinary city, a small, blonde-haired man with a pointed, delicate looking face and sharp blue eyes rose from his perfectly ordinary slumber. He did so before his alarm, which was also perfectly ordinary, as was the coffee he had at breakfast and the drive he took to work. His name was Drake Riley; he was the Principal of the School, and always had been.

“Good morning, Mr Riley.”

“Morning, Hannah.

“Fresh coffee in the lounge.”

“Already had some, thanks.” He sat at his desk in his office, looking through the papers in his in-box.

“We have a very important guest coming today.” Hannah called.

“Yes...coming to talk to the students. Can you have the cafeteria cleared and set up after second period?”

“Yes, Mr Riley.”

Later, as Drake waited for the students to begin transitioning from their classrooms to the cafeteria-turned-auditorium, his fingers absently tapped out patterns on the cafeteria menu of the week. There was pineapple today. Pineapple. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, tapped his fingers. The Guest would be coming at 12:30. 1230, 1230, 1230, XMMU J1230. He shook his head and got up, “I think I'll have some of that coffee after all.”

“Rough morning?”

“Not as such, just seem to be distracted is all,” he said as he poured himself a cup.

“Probably just a little stress,” Hannah said, stapling together a pamphlet. “It isn't every day such an important person visits, after all.”

“No, I know. Probably all it is. I'll be outside to see the students in, all right?”

“Of course, Mr Riley.”

Mr Riley. He didn’t like that; it sounded strange just as much as it sounded perfectly ordinary.

Comments

[dr_riley]

The principal stepped up to the podium as a few of the other teachers directed students to their seats, gave them Looks for having their phones out, rolled their eyes when the phones were turned to reveal an open Notepad app and wide, innocent eyes, and finally flicked the cafeteria lights on and off for attention. The room quieted and the principal cleared his throat.

"Afternoon, everyone! It's quite a special day for all of us. No doubt you appreciate the break from regular classes, but I expect everyone to be attentive and well behaved because we have an exceptional guest speaker here today. I'm sure you'll make him feel welcome. Feel free to take notes, yes, even with your phones, provided the volume is off, but do save questions for later. Mr. Echo? The room is yours."

With that, the Principal stepped down and offered the podium, presuming Echo has finished panicking and is standing by. And if not...well, that could be a little awkward.

[on_repeat]

Strange how fast the last few minutes flew by in a snap. Off to the side, Echo looked up, hearing the principal's voice over the sound system.

Swallowing at the lump that formed in his throat, he squared his shoulders, walking up to the podium with a nod of his head. "Thank you, Principal Riley," he said, voice echoing (hah) within range of the microphone. While the sound made him more aware of how loud it was going to be, his eyes briefly scanned the crowd of students and teachers packed together for the event.

If there was a chance to back out, he missed that window ten minutes ago.

Echo cleared his throat. "Looks like all of you lucked out today, so I'll try to make this as painless as possible," he began with a slight laugh. "As you already know, my name's Echo. I'm a deliveryman. Courier, runner, what-have-you – I'm a person who delivers things. Food, for instance. I'm sure all of you are familiar with the concept if you have an app like GrubDash on your phone."

The words came a little easier now that he got rolling. "In fact, I came here today because I had to drop off some trays. Suddenly, I'm here and we're having this assembly. I digress – " he held his hands up for a second, letting them rest on top of the podium, "–it's not the most glamorous job in the world, but it's doable if you set your mind to it..."

He went on to talk about what he dealt with on a daily basis, giving enough details on how ordering worked without getting too deep into it. Although he felt like it was going on forever, he probably didn't even reach whatever the maximum length of time some speakers broke past too often. Because he really wasn't sure what else he could talk about without boring everyone to death.

"So," Echo clapped his hands together, glancing about the room. "That's about it, really. I can take questions if you have them?"

[dr_riley]

Something about this whole thing - the speech, the subject, the speaker, not to mention how impromptu it seemed (but it wasn't really, was it?) - seemed terribly off. But Drake just kept nodding approvingly, despite how wrong it seemed. Weren't they suppposed to have been expecting the president? A senator? A disgustingly rich business mogul, of which there seemed to be a few too many for one small city?

"Sanja..." he whispered to a teacher standing beside him, "...I'm not sure he was supposed to speak today."

"His name is on the list, Mr. Riley."

"Doctor."

"Excuse me?"

"It's Doctor Riley."

Sanja gave a quiet, nervous giggle. "Uhh. No, sir, you're not a doctor. You're the principal of the school. Always have been."

Drake pinched his thumb and first two fingers together, stabbing them in the air with an irritated hiss. "See there-there-there it is again. Principal of the School, always have been, why is that always...always reinforcing itself?"

Sanja looked alarmed. "Always.........what?"

"Nevermind. Useless..." he muttered, turning his eyes back to Echo. The students gave a small, scattered applause, but they looked as confused as he felt, and Drake couldn't help but think he was going to get some angry calls from parents later.

But why? He was on the list, wasn't he?

[on_repeat]

It wasn't half-bad. It wasn't half-good either, but it wasn't a complete train wreck. Also, no questions meant Echo could leave faster.

He gave the audience an informal salute as he turned to free up the podium, meeting Principal (Doctor) Riley's gaze to let him know he was going, mildly joking as he leaned in to whisper.

"Maybe the next guest will get a better reception– "

There was something about the man's expression that made him pause. He felt like he'd seen it before, but that couldn't be, not when this was the first time they've met.

–Second time?

...No. First time.

"Everything alright here?"

[dr_riley]

The gaze that Drake was giving Echo might have looked calculating, but it was, as Echo had felt, the same one he'd had on when he'd first emerged from that cave-like offshoot of the mine and been given some very concerning information to process: annoyed, confused, thoughtful, and perhaps a little afraid.

"Hey, how'd you end up in there?"

The voice popped into his head unbidden, and though it was obscured by memory and a strange, radio-transmission-like filter, he thought it sounded an awful lot like the man in front of him.

Drake frowned deeply.

"I don't know."

[on_repeat]

Similar tone, similar accents and inflections. Like they talked over the phone.

Meanwhile a fleeting image of a dirt-smudged and disoriented Drake passed after he blinked, returning to the deepening frown the principal currently wore. And something about a head injury...where did that come from?

...A coincidence. Simply a coincidence.

He tried to shake off the feeling with a halfhearted grin. "One of those days, huh?" Aware that there were still eyes watching the front, he gave a nod, stepping back so that he could leave.

[dr_riley]

"Yeahh..." Drake said slowly. "One of those days." More like several of those days. Maybe a week. Or a month. Or- who even knows? All he could say was that things had seemed just slightly out-of-phase, so to speak (where did that expression come from?), for quite a long time. At least as long as he'd lived in the city, which... He suddenly realised he had no clue how long that was. And lately, things were feeling more and more like a puzzle piece that had been crammed forcibly into the wrong space.

It was perfectly normal to have a private delivery driver make a speech before the student body. And yet it definitely wasn't.

"Sorry - uh. Yes, right this way." Drake moved aside for Echo to have some space and started walking. Hoping he sounded casual, he asked, "So how long have you been a courier?"

Are you quite sure that's what you are?

[on_repeat]

One thing was evident: Drake and Echo were functioning on two different levels. Whatever made the principal fret didn't seem to affect him at all.

Although the question forced him to think about it, not once catching onto the fact Drake was doing his best to conceal his mental restlessness. "For about...I'd say almost two years, give or take a month."

That was his answer, and he sounded sure. Very sure it was the truth.

Wasn't it?

[dr_riley]

"Two years," Drake repeated, "give or take a month?"

That wasn't a comforting answer for him, because he'd noticed that the further back he tried to remember his life, the fuzzier it got. Which wouldn't ordinarily be too unusual, especially approaching childhood, except that the fuzziness began only a couple of weeks ago, getting worse until Drake found he couldn't remember a single tangible, concrete memory beyond three weeks ago, perhaps four.

He knew certain things: He was a high school principal. He had a masters in educational administration. He enjoyed malty lagers in moderation. He had a golden Labrador named Champ. His favorite vacation had been an Alaskan cruise on a Norwegian ship. At the same time, he couldn't actually remember these things. He couldn't remember earning the degree, drinking a beer, getting the dog, or going on a cruise. They felt like placeholders for established events in his timeline that hadn't been fleshed out yet. As if he were someone else's character that had been developed just enough for a guest appearance but not enough to join the main cast.

Give or take a month. Something in him wanted to test that.

"How did you get into it? If you my mind my asking."

[on_repeat]

"The estimate may not be entirely accurate. I mean, time moves so fast you lose track of it."

It made sense to him, anyway. Echo felt like it was both long and short all at once, but it didn't particularly bother him. He moved around a lot when he was younger and that wasn't easy for his parents when they had three other boys of varying age, but they somehow managed. That at least gave him an advantage during road trips where he'd rarely bat an eye at the distance being traveled.

He found it kind of strange for the principal to have a passing interest in his life, arching a brow as he replied. "Eh, you know how it goes. You move into a new city to start a new chapter in your life, tryin' to find your footing while keeping track of the ebb an' flow of society at its finest. And after holding a few jobs, you quickly find yourself questioning why you even left in the first place before trying again."

[dr_riley]

Drake does not know how that goes. He's only ever lived in one city and had one job, so he looks at Echo a bit dubiously.

"You're a drifter, then."

[on_repeat]

Echo paused, then shrugged. "I guess I am," he chuckled. "Although I don't mind sticking around here for a while."

[dr_riley]

Drake stopped and turned and stuck his hands in his pockets with a tilted, scrutinising look.

"And - forgive me for asking, but...you don't get the occasional feeling like you're meant to be doing something else?"

He wouldn't have asked such a forward question, except that he was sure he'd met this person before, though he couldn't for the life of him place his face.

[on_repeat]

By the look of it, he wasn't offended by Drake's forwardness. The question was one he didn't hear very often, maybe because other people never bothered to ask.

He also stopped, leaving a gap between the principal and himself. "...I won't lie. The thought's crossed my mind a few times."

[dr_riley]

"And did the thought include any suggestion as to what that might be?"

Drake had almost no idea, himself, but he was sure he wasn't meant to be an educational administrator.

[on_repeat]

There was one. It was a suggestion Echo didn't want to return to...but at the same time, he did.

Instead of disclosing that much, he chose to shrug. "Nothing clear enough to pursue at the moment, sir."

[dr_riley]

Drake pursed his lips. "Sir. Mm. ... Well!" He suddenly changed tack and tone and plastered on a friendly, upbeat face. "I'd better let you get back to your day. Sorry to keep you."

Maybe he was just going crazy.

[on_repeat]

It was an odd shift, all too abrupt, all too visible and highly suspect from what they had just discussed mere seconds ago. Echo managed a polite smile with the dismissal, one brow furrowing slightly as he nodded.

Maybe it was nothing. He met strange people almost every day. This was probably no different, and the man had a whole school to run. "It's no problem, Mr. Riley," he replied easily, giving him an informal salute as he turned to go find his motorcycle. "Thanks for having me, I guess."