Chapter 24: Chapter 23: A Report on the Mentality of The Student Named Ripple

Meredith had been thinking about the briefing for their last assessment. The student’s name was Ripple- no last name given, and the first was weird. Best guess was somewhere far up north where they have more… interesting names. However, that was only a guess as they had basically no information on the students' life. They had just kinda shown up a few days before the application deadline, looking like she had just cleaned up from a hard journey if the report was to be believed. They also didn’t seem to really know what they were getting into- they weren’t dumb by any means, but unlike normal, it appeared as if she had come to the city without realizing the Academy was here.

 

When asked about why she had come to the city alone (only asked because she looked younger then she said she was) and if she had any family in the area, the student made a face and said that there wasn’t anyone who cared for her. The report also said that on the initial interview, one of the other counselors was present and made a note that they might be sociopathic due to the delay in showing emotions compared to their response: “it was like an actor being told portray what emotion they thought was best for the line a bit of a ways into reading out said line.” The little they had been able to coax out of the student about their background was that they had been living comfortably, but due to their interests, they had been chased out of their house by their parents and traveled here mostly on a whim.

 

Somehow, despite all that, the last note on the report was the most interesting. They had become the vessel for someone from another world, but it is unclear to what extent personalities had combined or were overwritten. If not for the note being written in the Headmaster’s distinct handwriting, it would have been laughed off as a joke. However, because of this, it was likely that the student had some issues related to being pulled here and put into that body- the process was traumatizing if the interviews with other other-worlders was to be believed. 

 

It was now a question of what to add. When they had been brought in, Ripple had hidden their wary look quite well- but after a few decades of doing this, it was hard to sneak something past Meredith. In fact the guards had wanted her to do their interrogations, but she wanted to help people deal with their issues, not put them away in a cell. Through the first bit of small talk, it was clear that the personality portrayed in the report had changed quite a bit to a more relaxed and friendly one- with more paranoia than sociopathy if anything. Snacks and drinks were declined politely but definitively, as was everything else offered.

 

Once the real questioning started, things got more interesting. Background probing questions were answered vaguely but with less defensiveness- maybe hinting at their rebirth messing with those memories. Curiously, they did have some feelings of resentment or anger crop up when their family was addressed. Questions about their Abilities indicated they were hiding something- not an unusual practice, but given how obvious their supposed ‘only Ability’ was, Meredith concluded it was likely they had a  second- although no guesses as to what it might be.

 

Questions about how school was going revealed that Ripple was genuinely interested in learning whatever was being taught and excited about classes and access to the library. This led into a riskier question about if they had been a student in the other world. At this, Ripple gave Meredith a long look before sighing and saying they had been. A few more questions were leveled at their experience in the other world before coming here- mostly focusing on regrets or unfinished business that might be weighing on their mind. But, like with the other more personal questions, only vague answers were given. 

 

Meredith had dropped that subject to return to this world’s school- bringing up some of the notes that had been made- getting let off one of their classes, ordering new skirts to accommodate their tail, and the report they filed over the supposed emotion manipulation. Answering in order, the class apparently wasn’t needed by them due to skills they had picked up ‘on the other side’, the new clothes worked quite well, and they had just wanted to report what they thought was suspicious activity. Meredith’s only notes from that was they seemed shy about clothes.

 

In the end, Meredith's notes were simply: “Likely not sociopathic. Likely has memory issues relating to almost everything that happened more than a week or so ago. Likely has appearance or identity issues. Further talks suggested to confirm and address these concerns. Overall not dangerous in any way, just hiding confusion.”

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