((Britain, Death Valley, close enough x3))

((Lol. I guess. xD

I.

Don't.

Know.

What.

Coar.

Should.

Do.

D:)) 

I sighed, now all the fun was over. Grandmother and Auntie One were always trying to tell me to quell my violent desires. Auntie One was all ‘Go for it dearie!’. You can probably tell who I listen to more often.

‘Mmm…I’m Zhang Chao-xing Li. But seriously, please call me Chao-xing. Not Zhang. I come from China…or did. Trust me, this guy drove me all the way from China, I tell no lies.’ I offered him a grin. ‘Eh, but I was knocked out for most of it. Damn anaesthesia. I think he used Diprivan on me. So, what is this place anyways? And why’re you called a number?’

I pursed my lips and tapped my chin thoughtfully with one finger. ‘I dunno what you’re thinking, but this place seriously reminds me of a Spy Academy. Am I right or is this some sort TV show and I’m being filmed right now. I hope I don’t get sued for kicking that guy then.’

((I might start War Day in a couple of posts, and that'll mostly be a horrible monologue, feel free to join in then, beating up kids/sneaking around/ throwing knives at skulls :D Great fun ))

"As I said, the Hawthorne School of Espionage and Clandestine Services, so spy would be about right. And while there's plenty of cameras- believe me, plenty- watching you, none are for television. You are quite"-I looked at the kidnapper-"...alone here."

And I thought, quite alone, Ms. Li. 

"I'm a number because we're all numbers, we all must be numbers, and our names, Lacune, for instance, aren't real either. You are here because you were found to be good enough to be a spy, Ms. Li, or rather, Chao-Xing, and when you are good enough to be that, you are noticeable. Numbers kill that off, they reduce our personality to a minus. I'm 147 because I liked 147. And don't worry about him, he'll be alright"

"But call me Charlie.", I said, started toward the mansion, and hoped she would follow me.

I shrugged indifferently and followed him dutifully, frowning with distaste as I had to trot to keep up with the taller boy. 'So, do you choose your own number or is it chosen for you?' I asked curiously, desperately hoping it wasn't chosen for us. I had a hankering to name my self 777, since it was just such and epic number. And I like triple sevens, they're good luck...or are they evil? Either way, there was no beating such a cool number.

'And you're a spy, or training to be one? And why does it involve kidnapping? I mean, asking would have worked a bit better. Ooh, I forgot to untie the guy. I hope he's not mad at me.'

((Oh snap, Pirate. D8 I totally thought I'd replied to you!))

Nathaniel started walking after Bryn, but continued past her after she had stopped. "Nathaniel Mandrake." his first impression was that this girl's family wasn't any near as influential as his own, and as such he didn't particularly care about her. But manners are manners, "And yours?"

I was somewhat nervous, and hoped it did not show in my laugh.

"I suppose you could say that I chose my number. Us Agents, by the nature of our profession, come and go. So, to preserve the integrity of our identity and the meaning of our number, we choose proteges, to carry out the number's legacy after neutralization. Agent 147 is a concealed firearm specialist and marksman. Agent 147 will always mean that, just like the leader of the Chinese detachment is always Agent 8. I know the active 147, and I chose him as my mentor. You want a number, don't you- something pretty, maybe- I can see it in your eyes. Unless you plan on finding out that agent- and such numbers aren't easy to track down- don't plan on it."

I walked up the glinting gray steps up to the main door, an overstained mahogany. "I am a spy in the sense that I commonly commit espionage and intelligence operations- but seeing as I'm 16, no *censored*ociation would ever hire me. So I do jobs for... private entities."

 "And as to why we kidnap people, the number of skilled potentials in the world is finite, and many have likely been approached by other schools. Asking- it would kill us all flat."

'Kill us all flat,' I repeated in confusion. This boy sure spoke fancy. The way mother did when she was entertaining father's business partners. Acting a polite and proffesional. Not something I was familiar with, not with two older brothers and three older sisters to inherit the company before me. Short of murder, I wasn't actually going to be the owner of it. Not that I wanted to.

'I was actually thinking something more along the lines of 777. It's a nice number, it looks cool and I'm pretty sure it means something, good or bad.' I gave him a cheerful wink. 'Not that it matters. So, have you ever heard of Agent 777? Or am I casting my hopes to high?'

((Gah sorry D:))

"Hmm. Agent 777. I have heard of her, yes, co-leader of the Unconventional Warfare division, I believe, and casting hopes high would be the least of it.  Unconventional warfare is everything from sabotage of the enemy to subversion to guerrilla warfare, and I'm not sure"- I looked her  over, before putting my key into the door, and letting the system scan my eye- "if you'd be up to it." 

"You can't lead a village armed only with rakes and fists and the will to destroy oppression against an army contingent when you can't first shoot  a quarter from 100 yards or infiltrate an enemy stronghold or gather intelligence. And that's why we're here". I was surprised with my defense of this school- we weren't nice people- and it had left its mark much deeper than I had thought.

The screen that looked down upon us from its perch on the door's overhang blinked into life, and Craw, the leader of security, in his bull of a voice, asked who my guest was. I replied, and immediately, "We'll take care of her, Charlie, and I do believe you have a WD to begin."

And the door opened, and behind it, vulpine,  the Dean of Admissions, obviously anxious to drag Chao-Xing's arm along into her dusty lair.

"So I guess I'll see  ya," I smiled, and left her with the crow, and walked on, for I had work to finish.

I coughed delicately. 'Alright then. I can see you're eager to drag me somewhere private and I a.ssume you wish me to go quietly. 'Cause I...eh, don't know if I'll comply.' Glancing around nervously, I nodded at Charlie quickly. ‘Umm...gosh, I’ve never been in this kind of situation. Maybe I ought to go with the flow? I’ll just follow you then, I guess. This place is rather big, isn’t it? How many students are here anyways? And what are these other spy schools you’re speaking of?’

Feeling my anxiety get hold of me I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was full-out babbling. And even farther along the road I might start babbling in Chinese, a nervous trait I’ve picked up from Auntie One. She tends to start tying knots on anything when she gets nervous, and speak in really fast Chinese or Mandarin. Unfortunately I spend too much time around her so I’ve picked up a few of her habits, luckily a few good.

((Pirate~ ;w; Where'd you go? All the other Innarine peeps forgot about this place. D8 Posting a random little thing on Rine.))

High up in the academy, a gloved hand pressed again a window. Its owner looked down at the arriving students, all making their way towards the building, from the darkened room. The owner of the hand was dressed head-to-toe in pirate captain style clothing, her long blond hair tied back in a ponytail. Spymaster Rine grinned broadly, the action somehow feeling boredline insane. With her other hand, she shooed a spy that had been about to speak. The spy blinked, then quietly left the room. Rine already knew what they had been going to tell her: Vague signs and clues were pointing at Hawthorne building up its resources and spy levels, yada yada. The same things she and Innar had been being told for years.

The same sort of semi-false information that she and Innar had been feeding the Hawthorne Spymasters for years.

"Not this time, aye," she whispered to the window, eyes flitting from student to student- briefly stopping on Bryn and Nathaniel, "Fer once, all this information be true as a seawind." Why was that? What seperated this seeding of false information from all the others? What was so different about this school year that the false information was suddenly true?

Rine adjusted the eyepatch that was under her gold-rimmed glas.ses. "Thar be things that me thinks I shall have to wait on me mate Innar ta figure out," she said aloud, raising one arm. A blue of blue, silver and purple shot out of the shadows, and the hyacinth macaw landed on Rine's offered arm. Before much longer now, the Opening Ceremony of the school year would be starting. Perhaps the students would have learned something that she could overhear. At the very least she'd be able to ask Innar after wards.

"Polly," Rine whispered to the macaw, "Thar be a few things I be needin' ta get done afore the Openin' Ceremony."

((/no idea where I was going with that))

((Ahh! Sorry I neglected this. DX I'm here now! ))

"Bryn," she answered, not bothering to tell him her last name. He didn't need to know that. Bryn smiled a plastic smile at Nathaniel, as she spoke, politely, but emotionlessly. "Nice to meet you, Nathaniel." With those words, Bryn began walking again to the supposed entrance to the building. At the large black door, she paused, staring up at it. Taking a deep breath, Bryn opened the door...