Season 1, Episode 5 - The Boxtops LII - "The Family Photo"

Last Friday, soon after the last bell of the school day rang. The first few hours after school let out usually meant training or clubs, but since the members of Rddhi Theory Class 2-C had the combat simulation tomorrow, the Academy let them off the hook. Well, very nearly let them off the hook. The powers that be assigned the students of that class to a school picture session after school.

“It’s for the memories!” Ms. Mogami explained, standing behind a large photography camera, the powerful kind that required the photographer to bend over and throw a black curtain over their head while using it. Mr. Shokahu stood next to her, sighing as Mogami used him as her hatchet man.

“Put Lionel on the bottom row,” she called out, trying to get the best picture possible. The session took place in the school gymnasium; the ten members would stand in two rows, the shorter members in front, the taller members in the back.

Coleridge, standing firmly in the back row, crossed his arms. “The front row is embarrassing,” he said into the back of Lynn’s head, since that’s how tall he was (and Lynn wasn’t very tall). “I’d be the only guy there.”

Mr. Shokahu just rubbed his temples.

“What’s the hold up, Coleridge?” Piper called out, Oksana standing there with her. As the only members of Class 2-C not participating in the photo, they still nevertheless attended to show their support (and to get out of training). They stood next to Ms. Mogami, recommending her orders to give to Shokahu.

“Alright, Cole, alright,” Dan said, standing next to him. “Babs, we’re just about the same height. Why don’t we switch?”

Babs, who had her arms crossed and stood at the far end of the front row, rolled her eyes. “If it gets us out of here faster,” she muttered.

She and Dan traded places. Having another guy in the front with him convinced Coleridge to swallow his misplaced pride. When Mogami - via Shokahu - positioned him dead center in the front row, that’s when he realized it could’ve been just him and four other girls in that row.

“Pride goeth before the fall,” he mumbled, feeling sorry for himself. He felt someone tap on his shoulder, but when he looked that way, he heard Reed snickering from the other side. Coleridge stifled a long sigh. “I’ll be famous one day, but for now I’m stuck in high school with a bunch of morons.”

“Life’s a real pisser,” Dan supposed with an easygoing smile as Shokahu finalized the assembly. The front row went Audrey-Dan-Coleridge-Reed-Lynn. The taller back row went Babs-Demetrius-Mackenzie-Alfie-Isaac.

“Everybody smile!” Mogami called out, then ducked below the shawl.

“Are we throwing up signs or looking serious for this?” Coleridge mumbled to Dan.

“Just give her your best smile,” Dan answered, so he did. Most of them did, anyway. Reed managed to smile, just a little bit; you could see it in the corners of her mouth. Babs gave a cocksure grin. Coleridge ended up blinking when the camera went off.

Mogami stuck her head out. “Alright, everybody join now! Memories are important!”

On cue, Piper and Oksana joined the assembly. Oksana stood next to Lynn, while Piper stood next to Isaac.

“Isaac, you ever been to a Turkish prison?” she asked.

Isaac just groaned. He enjoyed the photography session, but the longer the actual session took, the more his attention drifted over toward the food the Academy had provided them with for after the session. On a long buffet table, Isaac could see turkey clubs, BLTs, ham sandwiches, roast beef subs, Ants on a Log celery sticks, carrots, and even cookies.

Earlier, he frowned as he noticed some Free Corps mercenaries and Technical Servicemen stroll by and take their fill. Then he noticed that Ms. Mogami always seemed to have a sandwich in her hand. Even Piper and Oksana had just finished some before joining their classmates in the photo.

“Now, isn’t this a good looking class!” Osip called out, sub in hand, as his “patrol” with his mercenaries took him around the table.

Even Shokahu took quiet bites from a BLT.

The food on the buffet was rapidly diminishing, and judging from the look on some of his classmates’ faces, they also noticed it. To put it mildly, this was going to be a bloodbath.

Once Shokahu got Piper and Oksana into place (and finished another sandwich), Mogami called out, “Everybody smile!”

Everybody made the same facial expressions as in the first place, but with Piper and Oksana there, the class felt complete. Isaac (and quite a few classmates) would frame their copies of the photograph later on.

But right now, once Mogami stepped out from under the camera shawl and clapped her hands to signify they were done for the day, it was every student for themselves. The second the session ended, the students dashed for the buffet table. Being almost the farthest way, Isaac prepared to make a break for it, but Piper successfully boxed him out at the starting line, delaying his start. And then, before he could even try to start again-

“U-um, hi, Isaac.”

Isac stopped and looked back. He saw Esther standing off to the side. Once she made eye contact with him, she timidly approached him.

“Oh, hey,” he greeted. He enjoyed seeing a friend, but his stomach rumbled when Coleridge, Demetrius, and Dan started chanting “B-L-T!" next to the buffet table.

“I-I was just passing through,” Esther explained, crossing her arms to hug a textbook held close to her chest. “And…um…I just wanted to wish you good luck. Everybody, I mean. But you…you were the closest, so, um, I guess I started with you…”

Isaac nodded. He spoke genuinely. “I see. That’s awfully nice of you-”

“Esther!” Audrey called out with a muffled voice. She pranced towards them, carrying sandwiches in either hand and a cookie with her mouth. Once she arrived, she tossed the cookie up into the air; she opened her mouth wide and let it land inside her mouth.

“Mmmgggghhh!” Audrey choked out, since it was a big cookie. She fell to one knee; Esther immediately started patting and rubbing her back.

Isaac scratched his head. “Is she, you know, going to be alright?”

Esther nodded, looking with gentle eyes at her struggling sister. “This isn’t the first time she’s done this. I can take her from here.”

“...right. Well, see you, Esther. Thanks for wishing me luck!”

As Esther smiled, Isaac dashed off, hoping there would still be some roast beef left-

“Hey, Isaac!” A broad-shouldered soldier called out. A smaller one with a wispy mustache stood next to him.

Isaac stopped in place. He vaguely recognized them from somewhere.

“It’s us!” the smaller one called out. “Privates Axelman and Loper!”

“...oh, yeah. I remember you guys.”

Broad-shouldered Axelman held several turkey clubs in his hands. “I feel like we used to run into you a lot more.”

Isaac snuck a glance past them; he saw Babs stuffing dozens of cookies into her pockets.

“That’s just life, I guess,” Isaac said, scratching his head. “What brings you to the Academy? I thought the soldiers were leaving soon.”

“Just filling out some paperwork,” Loper explained, a half-eaten wrap in his hand. “Since we worked with some of the Academy’s Rddhi users sometimes.” He leaned in close and spoke quietly. “And somebody got a pretty good review for his service.”

Isaac felt immensely hungry, but also touched. “Thanks, guys.”

Axelman shrugged. “It’s the least we could do. We’ll be around for some time, so if you ever need anything, let us know.”

Isaac grinned and nodded. “Same here.”

The duo headed off. That left Isaac, who immediately locked onto his target - the last remaining cookie on the table. Muscles in his legs flexed, his heart felt pure, he wanted that goddamn cookie-

“Hey, have we formally met yet?” a bespectacled kid asked.

Isaac had seen enough movies to know that this kid oughta be stuffed in a locker. But that wasn’t very nice, so Isaac just sighed. “No, I don’t think so. I’m Isaac.”

“Abel,” he greeted, shaking Isaac’s hand. He gestured at three other students standing next to him, conveniently blocking Isaac’s away. “We’re the Rddhi Detection Network.”

Isaac stifled a groan. As he went through the motions of introducing himself and being introduced to the other three members, glancing past them to see Lynn comparing the roast beef subs to the ham sandwiches, he resisted the urge to cry.

“We were the ones who found those smugglers in the sewers,” Abel said. “And we’ll be monitoring everybody’s performance in the Combat Simulation tomorrow.

Isaac noticed all four of them had sandwiches in either hand. “That’s…thank you for your service.”

“No need to thank us,” a girl - her name went into one of Isaac’s ears and right out the other - said. “It’s just what we do. Did you know we all grew up in the same mill town up north?”

“...no, I-”

“We used to get into all sorts of wacky shenanigans up there!” she continued. “We fought a sewer clown, defeated a rabies dog, and-”

Isaac could only watch the contents of the buffet table gradually empty as the girl continued rambling.

The buffet table.

Roast beef scattered like blossoms.

Empty, forlorn hope.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Isaac!” Abel explained.

Isaac snapped out of his trance. “Oh…oh yeah, you too.”

The four members of the RDN went off to hound Mackenzie. With a deep sigh, he glanced at the empty buffet table-

Not quite empty! The last cookie was still there!

As angels sung hymns of salvation, Isaac power-walked over to the table. Nobody stopped him. He reached his hand out-

A slim hand grabbed the cookie ahead of him. Isaac looked up and saw the happy face of Piper, smiling as she ate it.

“Hello, Piper,” Isaac said dryly.

“Hello, Isaac!” Piper answered, finishing the cookie. “I hope you got to try some, they were really good!”

“...yeah.”

Piper pointed at a camera around her neck that she retrieved from somewhere after taking part in Class 2-C's photo session. “I haven’t gotten any pictures of you yet!”

“I hope it stays that way.”

“Nonsense! Pictures are the best way to remember the present!”

Isaac pointed at his head. “The best camera in the world is up here.”

Piper looked at where he pointed. “Your skull?”

Isaac had enough and blew his top. “No, goddamnit, your brain! I swear, there were literally only the two options of brain and skull, how’d you guess wrong?”

Piper laughed. Isaac felt bad for yelling and went to apologize, but considering they knew each other for years, she paid it no mind. In fact, it only amused her. “Wow, Isaac, need a massage or something? You’re so tense around me.”

Piper reached down and grabbed the last turkey sandwich off the table before Isaac could reach it.

Isaac sighed. He knew that she really was just oblivious to her own destructive tendencies, but still…he loved turkey sandwiches.

“Anyways, let’s get your picture!” Piper exclaimed. “Hey, Audrey!”

A fully-recovered Audrey, in the middle of explaining to Lynn and Esther her big business idea about socks that were attached together like pants so you wouldn’t lose one of them, heard her name, saw the camera and excused herself. She bounded over to Piper and the nearby buffet table, taking the last Ants on a Log celery stick as she got there, unaware that Isaac’s hand was closing in on it.

“Audrey, you want to get your picture taken?” Piper asked. “I only got a limited amount of film, so I thought a picture of your terrible trio would be nice.”

Audrey saluted. “On it! That’s a great idea.”

She went back over to the group, unknowingly taking the last carrot off the table as Isaac reached for it. She then explained the situation to Reed. With a shrug, Reed tossed her barely-eaten BLT into the trash and joined them.

“Well, as the leader of the trio, suppose I can’t miss the picture,” Reed supposed.

“That’s the spirit,” Piper said. She stepped away and lined up with her box camera, motioning with a hand to get them into place.

A photo with his friends lifted Isaac out of his doldrums. He put his right arm around Audrey and his left around Reed, who didn’t complain for once. Audrey brought her spare hand up with her fingers held in a V for victory pose, while Reed, as if she tried to hide it, slightly raised her arm across her stomach, the fingers extended into a V with the back of the hand facing outward. Isaac and Audrey smiled wide, while the smallest hint of a smile could be detected on Reed’s face, in the corners of her mouth.

The photo of the class would be framed on their fridges. The photo of the trio would be carried around in their wallets and pockets for the rest of their adventures.

With the photo over, Isaac dashed for the table -

Dan grabbed the last food item, a chicken wrap, off of its tray. He took a bite, then noticed Isaac.

“What’s the matter, Ike? You look like you’ve given up on life. You just took a photo with two good-looking girls, and now you get to talk with an even better-looking guy, I don’t see what the big issue here is...”

Dan put his arm around Isaac’s shoulder in friendly camaraderie. “You know, when all this - you know, the wars and conflicts and things of that nature - is all said and done, let’s go on a road trip, you and me and the rest of the gang. Coleridge was telling me about this place out west. I want to paint a picture in your head, Ike. What I’m about to describe to you may very well blow your mind, or, at the very least, make you sit down. I hope you’re ready.”

Isaac, just the barest flicker of hope still in him, followed Dan’s finger as he pointed it at the ceiling.

“Imagine this," Dan said. "Out west, there’s this colossal quarry with every single dinosaur bone you can think of. Stegosaurus, the famed T-Rex, raptors, those long-neck guys. Imagine their primes, Ike. Roaming the fields and whatnot, sleeping under the stars. This quarry is gonna be the go-to spot, the highlight of our trip…”

Dan felt the life leave Isaac.

“...Ike, you’re looking kinda tense after hearing me say that...anyone ever tell you that you could use a massage? You’re so tense sometimes...”

Dan started rubbing Isaac’s shoulders.

Isaac just sighed, but despite it all, he let out an amused smile.

“Ain’t that just the way…”

Later that weekend, on Saturday night, Ms. Essex would take a long drag of her cigarette as she took an even longer look at the twelve stars above the city.

“You stood me up, Osip,” she said with a sigh, knowing the truth.

Smoke drifted away into the night sky.

IT AIN’T EASY LIVING LIFE LIKE THIS…

WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO BE RIGHTEOUS.