Junker's Remorse

[Shush Muppet]

OXFORD II UNIVERSITY
NEW LONDON, 11.27.816 A.S.

The young man stared in disbelief at the paper in his hand. Around him, students made their way through the commons in search of food, their next class, or the daily post. Nobody noticed him as his frown slowly shifted into a blank look of numb shock.

He was being expelled.

No, this had to be wrong. He had tried so hard to bring his grades up, clawing his way through piles of makeup assignments. He had studied late into the night, delving for the source of knowledge that remained locked inside his books despite re-reading the same paragraphs eight or nine times.

But no matter how hard he tried, the words always jumbled together into meaningless masses of text. He might as well have been trying to read an alien language.

His hands began to shake in rage as he balled up the note. But all too soon, his anger left, and all he felt was a deep, vast emptiness. Why bother? This was supposed to be his chance to make something of himself; the gateway to the beginning of his life! And now that gateway had seemingly slammed shut in his face leaving him stranded in a barren wasteland. All that money. All that time. And once the loan companies received word that he was no-longer enrolled, they would come calling for their money, plus interest.

He stood rooted in place for what seemed an eternity as his mind raced, feeling as if the floor were clawing at his legs.

And then, seemingly out of nothing, a rock-hard resolve solidified in his breast. No, this wasn't fair. How was a student supposed to pay back that massive amount of money in their lifetime? Most of his fellow classmates were projected to earn wages far less than their predecessors due to 'market saturation', and yet the school rates continued to climb each year...

Screw 'em. Let the lenders come calling for their money. They'd have to find him first. He'd at least had the foresight to refuse any co-signing of his loans by his parents. If he went 'missing' the lenders would not be able to go after his family. That, at least, he had done right.

The crumpled paper fell to the floor as the young man made his way to the large glass doors, pushed his way through, and disappeared without looking back.

---

Characters:

Cory Walsh - Unknown
Ari Kova (Yaroslava Ivanov) - Active
Declan "Owen" Quinn - Active
Agent 1854 - M.I.A.

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