Juniper ran her fingers through her short tawny hair, not for the first time. It was far into the night, and the room was dark, illuminated solely by the light of a computer screen, giving the young reporter's skin a somewhat washed out appearance as she sat with crossed legs on the floor. This wasn't the room she'd been assigned, in point of fact the room hadn't been assigned to anyone, and with the most recent batch of students already settling in she could be reasonably certain that it would remain that way for some time yet. It wasn't the most obscure base of operations, but it gave her a place she could convert into a basic workshop, and she needed to be out of sight for a bit.

Nearly a week had passed since her interview with Vera, and she'd been busy. The desk that had been sitting lonesomely in the bare room had been completely cleared off to make way for a series of electrical components. It was slow going, cracking the lock on Vera's suite wasn't going to be an easy trick, even for someone as accomplished in the field as Ms. Modnar. Indeed, a few months ago it may well have been impossible, but while Juniper had dropped some classes in the name of freeing up her schedule, her studies had been more fervent than ever. Collecting the bits she needed was the hardest part, a mix of trading, theft, research, and junk sifting But she was making progress, however slowly.

Fortunately, she'd had a bit of a brainstorm. Vera was expecting a proposition, after all, why shouldn't she deliver one? While the idea of wasting her time with the banal drivel she could reliably get through an administration selected editor didn't appeal to her at all, it was easy enough to deliver a half-dozen columns just based on things she'd picked up while hunting for grist in the darker shadows of the campus. Her fingers danced over the keys as she fabricated a welcome to new students almost entirely from memory, retouching on some orientation topics such as where some of the best shops were hidden away, and touching on the sterilized version of the school's history that was available to the public. Then along the right hand side were a pair of articles, the top one being her dissertation on the role of Headgirls on campus, the center piece of which was her interview with Vera. She made certain not to make any mention of Kite, nor her brief tiff with Vera about the appropriateness of her methods. Off the record meant off the record with Juniper. The third was a brief dissertation of the island itself, outlining the borders of the campus and some of the beautiful places to be found within it. There's also a shot of a grotto along the coast, well outside of the campus that mentions that the school takes no responsibility for accidents incurred while traveling outside of their grounds, to bring appropriate clothing and equipment, to let someone know where you're headed, and to always travel with a partner in case of emergency. All good advice, though Juniper herself ignored all but the first point. Her "archives" were made up of a quick interview with the chefs at the cafeteria regarding how they approached the multicultural pallets of the students they're to provide for (she distinctly did not ask what the meatloaf was made from, a schedule release for sporting events coming up in the next few months from the various clubs, and struggles of a small group of girls to get horseback riding included in the school's list of extracurricular activities. Privately, Juniper chuckled at the very notion. Horses, in this tropical heat? As if the poor beasts didn't suffer enough.

Then, hidden into the code for the site, she added a small hook. A keylogger that would install itself quietly in the background as one perused the site and bury itself inside of another program's folder. The keylogger would then dump it's cache to a dummy e-mail account she'd seeded months ago specifically for occasions like this for her to retrieve at her leisure. Gaining Vera's access credentials could be a crucial coup for the young reporter . . . though, somehow, she sincerely doubted it would be all that easy. She set the program to burn her little trojan horse to a CD and reached her arms out and up as she stretched. Turning the monitor off, she let herself fall back and sprawl out on the floor. She had an early morning ahead of her, after all, and this close she didn't need to be caught be a Prefect for wandering the dorms at night. She'd wake up early to hit the showers, as she always did, and then return to her own room for a change of clothes, leaving her kit unsupervised until after class once again.

-- -- --

It would be four o'clock when her package would be meekly delivered to the Headgirl's office , a manilla envelope with the phrase "Squid Inc. - Manson" written in clean block letters with a thick marker. Inside, of course, was the disc that she'd burned, a simple silvery circle with the phrase "Shokushu Social Networking Demo" written clearly upon it in the same hand as the envelope. But, as evidenced by a slight bulge in the manilla envelope, there was a bit more.

Juniper's research into the Headgirl had been fairly thorough, though she had to admit that this particular detail had taken some backtracking through her notes. Tracing of funds through the school's allowance debit card system was harrowing, but it told her where the silver haired official shopped for her victuals when she deigned to purchase them from the shops on the island. From there, a quick stop in at the most common gave her a chance to ask about their teas, and she'd purchased a small bag. Not being from a terribly well-off family herself, Juniper had to admit that the gesture had set her back a fair amount, but if it could soften Vera's impression of "Megan" enough to get her to load that disk, it might all be worth it.

So it was that when Vera turned the envelope upside down, a plastic pouch of dried tea leaves landed fatly on her desk, the disc slipping out into her hand next, though also a simple sheet of paper with a short handwritten note.

"I apologize if, in my enthusiasm, I overstepped my bounds, ma'm. In the spirit of making amends, I offer the opportunity to review my proposal privately. Should you still mistrust my aims, at your discretion the project will never reach beyond this point. Please forgive my use of an intermediary to deliver this package, while impersonal, it struck me that you may be less than enthused to have me darken your door again so soon. Please, allow me to return the favor of a pot of tea.

- M. Manson"

The next week was rather routine for the Head Girl. She heard nothing more from Megan and no calls mentioning the student stalking the tower ever came. Vera returned to her usual duties, checking mail, reading reports, checking demerits, and occasionally correcting students. She was not one to hold grudges. It was kinda pointless to be annoyed with a woman who's only future was either becoming a slave to an alien or becoming a slave to a intergalactic military organization which would most likely lead to the first outcome anyway. It is why the constant gossip and whispers about herself and her position mattered little in the end. Those fools would graduate and find themselves in the worst possible future while Vera was still here at her desk with at least a small bit of freedom that she could claim was hers.

When a random student delivered a package to her door, Vera had let the whole interview fall to the back of her mind. She immediately recalled the name marked on the package though and carried it back to her desk to look into further. She was bit uncertain about this 'Squid Inc.' that was included in the label. Was this a play on the name of the school? Shokushu did mean tentacle afterall.

Vera opened up the envelope and took out the contents. There was a pouch of tea leaves, a CD, and a note. The note was of course from Megan and it had the apology that should have been given a week ago. This being on paper, the Head Girl's empathic senses would be of no use in figuring out if this was genuine apology or not. Putting it on the Head Girl on whether this project goes through or not was not necessary. If the staff saw its use, it would pass else it would not. But, this was perhaps a way for Megan to try and earn Vera's favor once more. The girl did have such a strong start. A pity, the girl's actual personality came to surface afterwards.

The tea was a kind gesture and the Head Girl did not really see it as a bribe. She will certainly try the tea later. That just left the cd containing the demo itself. There was no point in delaying things so she slide the CD into the tray and let the autorun kick in. Immediately, a pop up came up revealing that there was questionable code on the disc. Vera's eyes narrowed at this. Shokushu and NICE labs had tech that went beyond anything available on Earth. Naturally, they put focus on protecting their networks and systems from being invaded by hackers and viruses so catching things a student attempts was rather trivial. It could be a false positive but, one could not be too careful. Vera allowed the scan to happen to see just what was detected.

It did not take long to find what contents were on the disc. The demo was there but there was also a keylogger hidden in the code. The keylogger was put into quarantine and a report was sent to higher on the matter. Needless to say, the project was the least of Megan's worries now when the school finds her. Attempting to hack or infect school property was a major offense. This was not a matter of demerits anymore. This was an actual crime. Vera would include what she knows and wait for further orders from the staff on what needs to be done. There was little else she could do besides continue with her work. The demo was not worth looking at until more answers were gathered. Since this was sent by a random student, the disc could have been tampered with. There was no point in guessing. The staff would find Megan and a long discussion would be had.

Until then, Vera returned to her usual duties. She kept close to her computer should she receive any messages of what to do next. What a troublesome turn of events.

The days crawled on slowly. Inquiries were made, but it quickly became apparent that Ms. Manson was not a student of the campus. In fact, had never been a student of the campus. Attempts to locate her through the class schedule attached to her profile lead only to confused teachers who could not locate her name on their roles. Attempts to ferret her out at the dorm revealed that the room she'd supposedly been assigned to was instead occupied by an unrelated pair of freshmen who were none too plussed to have school officials check the room for signs of a third student hiding. Some girls claimed to have seen someone fitting that description, either at the computer lab, or taking their lunch on a bench that had a clear view to the front of the Tower, but no one seemed to recognize the name, she seemed to have no friends, no enemies, a veritable ghost lingering in their halls.

As for Juniper herself? She dedicated herself to being as inconspicuous as possible. Some people thought that the best way to do that was to keep to one's self, and, indeed, there were certainly times for that particular approach. However, people tended to notice loners, even if they didn't know anything about them, and it was practically an invitation to the island's "Guests". No, instead, Juniper stuck to the herd, engaged in the vapid gossip circles that seemed to flow through the school, spreading a few choice poisons of her own into the well to keep from seeming a mere hanger-on. She didn't make friends, exactly, but people knew who she was, and that she had a bit of a talent for putting the people with needs in touch with the people who could accommodate them.

So it was that she continued her work. She checked the dummy e-mail after a few days, sitting bored at a station in the computer lab. Still empty, either Vera had shot her down without looking, or her little barb had been detected. It was disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. She mollified herself with the notion that while she'd been working on it, she'd also been working on the electronic lock bypass, that her time hadn't been wasted that she'd simply decided to fill a slow spot in her nights with a long shot that had failed to connect. Of course, that left her with only two options, quitting while she was ahead, or attempting the unthinkable. Physical penetration of the Headgirl's suite, to search her quarters for something she could use.

Later, as Juniper screwed the case of her device securely closed, she smirked slightly to herself. She never had known when to fold. Now, she just needed to wait for the right opportunity.

-- -- --

It had taken more patience than she cared to admit. As things ever were in Shokushu, the truth was obscured behind a veil of normalcy. No one said anything, no announcement was made, but Juniper could see Prefects and security elements lingering about in their conspicuously inconspicuous way. There were more of them than usual, they were spreading the net wide and waiting for her to come up for air. But Juniper had already been the subject of Corrective Action once before and she'd learned her lesson well. Don't. Get. Caught. Even though she was ready to move, she knew that rushing this maneuver could spell the end of her. Everything had to be just right.

Finally her night came.

The hour was miserable, having just recently made the transition into morning. The murky black sky churned like a sea of ink, releasing a deluge of water which swirled in currents and eddies around her feet. The soil went soft and yielding under her feet, and the drumming sound of water hammering the earth was punctuated by the shrill wail of wind cutting through the trees. Lightning flashed silently overhead before the sky cracked sharply as though Yggdrasil had lost a bough. No one in their right mind would be out in this storm, human or monster.

Idly, Juniper considered what that said about her, using the cover of darkness to approach the Tower from the flank as she was. The dark navy poncho she'd long ago purchased from the commissary made it's finest effort to ward off the downpour. It was a fine effort indeed, but sadly her feet still squelched and squished in her shoes as she made her way on, her hair matted to her forehead, the black cloth mask she'd drawn across her lower face long ago soaked through and clinging to her face so that her lips were visible as she tried to breath through the damp cloth. If a little dampness was the worst thing that happened to her from tonight . . . well, she'd had that thought before.

She checked her watch for a moment. Three . . . two . . . one. The little distraction she'd paid for should be in play now. Nothing too outlandish, just a little case of constipation for the guard in the security station that should be hitting a particularly critical juncture at the moment. Making bargains with monsters never got easier, whoring yourself out for momentary advantages, but if you could find the right creature and keep him amiable all sorts of doors could be opened. For example, this fire door.

Juniper slid a metal plate into the door and fastened it in place to ensure the circuit that told the building's computers that the door was closed would remain untripped. This was the last night she'd consider pulling a fire alarm prank, after all. Then, she produced her hand made picks from a pouch on a belt around her waist, leaning in and squinting as she tried to use her head and shoulders to block the rain from her work. Click. Click. Rattle. Click. Rattle. Rattle. >CLAK!< And the door swung open towards her, granting her admittance to the ground floor, sodden and dripping with her face covered her hood low.

Rain ran in rivulets down the shining plastic coat as she made her way steadily through the halls. She knew the way by now, had traced it out in her head when she'd gone up to visit Vera the first time, and confirmed her route with a quick look through the building plan originally submitted to the Headmasters so many years ago (it was amazing the jewels you could find in the school archives, if you were willing to dig). She was swift, but careful as she made her way surely up the stairs . . . flight, after flight, after flight of stairs. Silently she thanked her years of track and field for keeping her from being a gasping, useless wreck by the time she reached the proper floor.

The door opened, just a crack, and she peaked out into the hallway beyond. Dark and still. No sign that she'd been detected yet. So, she pushed her way through the door, and looked left and right before she made the journey to the door in question. Crouching, she unslung a satchel from her shoulder and opened the flap, reaching inside to produce a black plastic case about the size of a hardbound book, a keypad and lights recessed into it with a simple LCL screen across the top. Dangling from a broad ribbon of wires was a slender piece of metal and magnetically sensitive plastic. Not wanting to dally, Juniper slid the card into the slot and held it there securely, her heartbeat steady and her mind focused as she watched the lights playing over the front of the screen. Resolutely, she pressed a sequence of thirteen characters onto the keypad. The light on her console flashed amber slowly for a moment. Amber. Amber. Amber. Amber. GREEN! The lock slid open and Juniper grabbed the door knob to open it before the lock could register the discrepancy.

Silently, she padded into the Headgirl's chambers, closing the door softly and turned the deadbolt with faint "click".

Vera provided what information she could to the proper authorities. Apparently the file in the database was fake. It was quite a feat that a student managed to get into the system like this. Unless they were dealing with a guest who purposefully allowed her emotions to be detected and her mistakes be found, this was most likely the efforts of a human student. That meant it was only a matter time as Megan's tricks gradually lead the school to their real culprit.

Any sign of Megan had disappeared. Some of the camera footage had picked up the woman but it would take time to sift through it all to find their target. The purpose of the virus was easily revealed. The email account was left open though a tag would be put on it for the systems to pick up the login information and what console accessed the account. That would narrow the search further to what students accessed said computers around certain times. Still, such things would take a little bit more time unless Megan decided to check her email again.

So far, it seemed that the students attempts to get into Shokushu's database had failed. The keylogger was now useless and the interview was nothing more than a front. Vera had no sympathy for the foolish girl. Her time was wasted and soon this student would be at the full mercy of the school itself. It would be a wonderful time to see all of this woman's work fall apart before her.

---

It was a fierce storm though nothing Vera needed to worry about. Even high up in this tower, there was little threat of damages or the power cutting off. The last thing Shokushu needed was their operations to be hindered by the weather. She had just finished cleaning up and had logged off her console for the evening. Wearing a barely opaque nightgown, the Head Girl headed off to bed.

The Head Girl had slept for a few hours before the audible click of the door unlocking roused her awake. Vera's body stirred at first, still half asleep only to hear a fainter click of the door locking again. Her body tensed, someone had entered her suite. The silver haired woman sat up and slowly slipped out of bed. She was certainly concerned about guests coming up here for a meal. But, what she had no expected was sensing a nervous and tense aura flickering in the other room. A student had broken in? Who would be so suicidal?

While able to sense a faint general direction, Vera could not use her empathy to pinpoint a student's location that easily. It was more a feeling than a visual cue. Quietly, the woman headed for her bedroom door and proceeded to quietly turn the knob. She would open it a crack, spreading it open further to take in more of the room. Who was in here and what were they looking for?

Juniper closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, trying to steady her nerves. Okay. She was here. The suite was supposed to be devoid of cameras and microphones and no one had seen her come up, and the school's sound dampeners ensured that she could scream bloody murder in here without anyone in the halls catching wind of it. This was the safest part of the job, incapacitating a sleeping woman, running a codebreaker program on her computer, and tossing the room. She rather doubted that the brute force approach would do the job in the time she had allotted . . . fortunately, she wasn't above opening the case and pulling the physical hard drive out of there to access at her leisure. This wasn't the stealthy approach, not any more, that particular action was as much about shock as the search. Make the Headgirl feel insecure in her own room, vulnerable, stalked and measured by an unseen assailant . . . just like the rest of them.

Quietly, she settled the shoulder bag down on the floor and opened the flap. Her motions were deathly silent as she pushed a few things out of the way and slid the bypass she'd used on the door into the carrying case. She knew how to move to reduce sound, there was no "swish" of the poncho against her clothes, no nervous heavy breathing, this was far from her first rodeo. After a moment, she produced a small brown bottle and a small hand cloth. Swirling the contents of the bottle around for a moment, she unscrewed the top and covered it with the cloth, tipping the bottle up to pour some into the folded material. There was a faintly sweet smell in the room as she recapped the bottle, chloroform. It may not have been the safest chemical to use, but it was easy to make some on her own discretely and it would do the job.

Lightning flashed as Juniper stood up from her spot on the floor, turning directly towards Vera's bedroom, her brown eyes visable for just an instant in the stark white light as she looked directly at the Headgirl, a sense of purpose filtering through her as she squared her jaw and settled on her course. Fortunately, the same flash of intense light that had picked the slicker-clad girl out in detail however briefly had similarly hidden the crack in the door with deep shadow. Putting her arm into the loop, Juniper shrugged a coil of rope onto her shoulder and took her first steps towards securing the only variable left unaccounted for.

The Head Girl had already come to terms with being stalked, attacked, and raped in her own room. She was a student first and becoming a Head Girl only deterred some attacks, not all of them. Some student invading her room? That was nothing compared to the horrors she had dealt with in the past.

The flash of lightning revealed the faint cloaked figure of the intruder. The aura revealed that the student was in that general direction. With her attacker facing towards her, she was uncertain if she had been seen or not. Vera fading back away from the now faintly cracked door. The flash of light did not reveal many details unfortunately. She was uncertain if this student had makeshift arms. Surprise was the only thing on her side at this point. She would wait until the student approached then take the initiative. Hopefully, the defensive martial arts she learned from another student will prove useful.

Vera would hide away from her bed. Whoever was here was determined. She would avoid taking any risks and wait for her opportunity to attack.

Juniper made her way towards the door at a somewhat slow but even pace. Aside from that instant, the room was dark and she was at home in it, the dark navy poncho hiding the lines of her body and any of the instruments she might've been keeping on her person that didn't fit in the bag. Whatever she was wearing under there had long black sleeves, and her hands were covered with a pair of black leather driving gloves. She wasn't wearing pants as one might normally expect, but rather opaque black leggings with a pair of dark, muddy goulashes. She'd covered the bottom half of her face with a length of black cloth as well, though her eyes were clear so that she could see easily. All in all, she supposed, she looked a little like a slasher movie villain as cast by an eighteen year old girl.

Juniper paused just a moment when she realized that the crash and roar of thunder had never come to disturb the stillness of the suite. It was only then that she realized that neither could she hear the drum of the water against the windows. It was like the room was it's own tiny world apart from the fury that was happening outside. Reaching out, she settled her hand against the door to the bedroom, noting that the door was slightly ajar. It wasn't cause for concern, it could've been a conscious effort to keep the flow of air even through the suite, or perhaps the Headgirl simply hadn't bothered to make sure it had closed all the way upon going to bed. Slowly, she pushed the door in on hinges as silent as a lover's whisper.

"Tch . . ." she clicked her tongue against the back of her teeth as she got her first glimpse into the girl's room, striking a cord of irritation. So much for the safe part of the job. Best case scenario, her target had needed to use the water closet in the middle of the night . . . worst case, she'd learned to be a very light sleeper in the years before the sash and knew that Juniper was coming. Juniper was pushing her luck far enough that she didn't think the best case scenario was really on the table, Murphy being the right bastard that he is.

"Trouble sleeping, ma'm?" Juniper said lowly, switching the cloth from her right hand to her left and curling her fingers around it. She was going to want her right hand free when the other girl made her move. "Could be signs of a guilty conscience." she teased slightly, taking her first step into the room. She didn't know the layout of the room, caution was the only thing between her and a sucker punch.

Opening the door wider did not really provide much more illumination in the dark room. The flash of lightning revealed the looming shadow of the intruder. The woman called out in a familiar voice, revealing that it was the 'Megan' from before. Apparently this girl was stupider than she thought. What did 'Megan' hope to accomplish by breaking into a Head Girl's room? Of course, the student most likely did not know just how tightly secure Shokushu truly was. One way or another, this girl was going to learn quickly how useless this endeavor really was.

Vera waited patiently as Megan stepped into the room. Unless the girl turned on the lights, it was doubtful the woman could see where Vera was right now. The Head Girl waited for a few more steps. The student had something in her hands but she could not make it out. Was it a weapon? Must be something of use if Megan was shifting it to her other hand. The Head Girl would wait until either Megan moved closer to her or in the other direction. That would decide whether she would suddenly lash out from the shadows and tackle the woman or sneak up from behind and try to grapple her that way.

Juniper let her eyes sweep slowly over the room once she was beyond the doorway. There was no sound of shifting weight, no cabinet doors moving to close, everything was still. The Headgirl's self control was as impeccable as ever, it seemed. Still, if the silverhaired woman was going to wait for Juniper to put herself out of position, the intruder was going to take the time to level the playing field. She reached over to the side and flipped the light switch by the door, a series of soft lamps turning on with that single gesture . Such darkness only helped her prey, for the moment.

"Cozy." she remarked, still prodding at the woman's nerves as she hid herself away. That was the word that came to mind . . . or perhaps "lavish", in keeping with the theme established in the main area Vera's bedroom seemed wide and open. Plenty of room to move around in, and with everything put neatly away she didn't have to worry about her footing. She shrugged her shoulder, letting the coil of rope slide down her arm and into her open hand, dropping it to the floor quietly. She didn't want to get tangled up in it if there was a scuffle.

She decided to see if, perhaps, she could goad the other woman into tipping her hand, closing the door behind her and turning the spot on the knob on the door to lock it as well. If Vera was hiding, it meant that she was uncertain about her footing against the interloper, striving for advantages. So, no hidden gifts from the Administration that would drop her like an impertinent child. That being the case, she didn't doubt that she'd much rather escape, sound the alarm, and get security to deal with her than handle the problem herself. So, she moved away from the door, opening the path to escape just enough to tempt her into action as she moved away from the Headgirl's hiding spot, moving to check a wardrobe.

Vera had plenty of gifts. Even with the inhibitors, it would only take a few words to bind this intruder in tendrils of light or shadow. But while other students may be more than willing to show of their flashy spells, the Head Girl kept her knowledge of magic a secret that only the staff and a few choice students knew about. Of course, monsters were not within that restriction and she was allowed to defend herself though that rarely changed the end result.

The lights turned on. The Head Girl's eyes were quick to adjust, seeing the soaking wet student cloaked in a poncho and makeshift mask. Hiding behind a dresser, Vera was not spotted yet. Apparently this girl was confident that she would succeed in whatever she was here to do. The silver haired woman made note of the rag in the student's hand. It was unknown the fighting experience her invader had. That did not mean Vera had doubts. She had dealt with unruly students in the past that thought they could overpower her. But, this was a unique situation that warranted ending this as quickly as possible.

Her opponent came up as Megan turned and moved away from the door. The door was locked now though she had no intention of escaping. Escape would have been difficult. In the end, it mattered little. Whether she was subdued or not, Megan would have nowhere to run after this stunt. Slowly, the silver haired woman creeped towards Megan. If Megan decided to turn around, she would be forced to lash out and try to slam her opponent into the wardrobe. Else, she will attempt to grab the woman from behind and bind those limbs immediately.

Juniper was moving carefully, she knew that Vera was in here somewhere after all. It was just a trick of presenting her the opportunity to expose herself, while not dropping her guard down enough that she could slip through her fingers. Idly, she considered that this was very much the same ploy that the school had attempted to employ against her, a tense game of cat and mouse that threatened to explode with activity at any moment.

Juniper lightly swatted the array of clothes hanging in the wardrobe back and force, for a moment, Vera's bare feet soundlessly creeping over the closet as the intruder came up on her. This wasn't the rapid dash that Juniper had been listening for, it was a measured pace that let her get just outside of arm's reach. Juniper opened the second door of the wardrobe, the flash of a mirror recessed along the inside of the door sending a bit of a thrill through the Headgirl. Juniper's shoulders tensed at the brief glimpse of another face over her shoulder.

She turned sharply on her heel to face the Headgirl, wincing as the silver haired girl lashed out with a hard blow to the chest causing her to staggered back and half fall into the closet. Juniper's hands reached out reflexively, grabbing hold of the edges of the wardrobe and stopping herself before her back slammed into the interior of the piece of furniture. Her foot came up with such speed as to be reflexive, launching a kick that should staggered the Headgirl back towards the bed and leave a cold muddy track on the delicate violet neglige that was the only thing between Juniper's eyes and the pale flesh of her body.

"Got a little fight in you, huh?" she said, following the momentum of her kick to pull herself back into a standing position as she moved to close the distance between them. That had been a good hit from the Headgirl, clean, practiced, it had form . . . but she'd drawn back when she felt the connection. A rookie's mistake, it looked like she had training but this might well be her first real fight. Quite the opposite was true of Juniper herself, who'd been in more dust-ups than she cared to count, but had had to learn every trick simply from observation and experimentation.

"Hmph, I was hoping to leave you unhurt, but if you want to scrap I won't say no." she smirked, dropping the handcloth and punching one hand into her palm with a loud "SMACK!" This was all Juniper now, not a character scripted to scare or impress, the light british lilt to her words was back in full force and a fire sparkled in her eyes.

The two women clashed with Vera having the starting advantage. But the other student managed to get a foot up between them, kicking the Head Girl away. The silver haired woman went with the attack, allowing herself to be pushed back towards the bed. With a sigh, she wiped some of the mud off her gown.

Being on this island for so long, she had plenty of real fights with creatures and beings that went far beyond mere human ability. Defense and avoidance were just better suited the island overall whether against monster or student. Defensive martial arts was called defensive for a reason.

But with the initial clash over with, Vera simply kept to a defensive stance. A nightgown was not exactly the best attire to fight in. The student started spouting out nonsense about fighting and even made a brutish gesture to show she is serious. It took effort to resist rolling her eyes at this stupid stupid girl.

"You are wasting your time," Vera stated simply, letting her arms drop as she stood up straight, "Your life ended the moment you broke into my suite, Ms. Manson. So go and try to do whatever you intend to do and get out." The Head Girl could attempt to fight this woman in some sort of catfight brawl. But, what would be the benefit in that? The only benefit would be capturing this woman a few moments sooner. The staff was already closing in the net on finding Megan's real identity and so far the woman had not gathered a single bit of sensitive information since this stunt began.

Instead of dealing with the troublesome battle, Vera will simply reveal how futile this was and surrender. The silver haired woman did not look afraid or even intimidated by the cloaked woman brandishing her fists before her. If brute force really was all it took to get secret information about the island, this place would have fallen at the hands of bullies a long time ago.

There had been an undercurrent of enthusiasm in Juniper's aura when she thought she'd get a fight. For six months, six months, she run at the first sign of danger. Oh, she used her fists, and worse, from time to time but the creatures who lurked in the shadows had proven highly resistant to such methods, if not wholly immune. For a single, fleeting, instant Juniper thought she was squaring up with someone on the other side who'd feel it when her knuckles hit home. A single, blessed outlet for half a year of frustration.

And with a single gesture, Vera had managed to bring that excited, rolling ball of righteous fury up short. Her aura shifted from a flickering purple to an even deep blue as she considered her drop of stance with suspicion, and then the colors simply came apart into a shifting smattering as she lost her direction for just a moment, shifting her weight on the balls of her feet slightly. She chuckled and shook her head slightly, dropping her own fists. It was hard not to give her a certain grudging respect, she certainly took the ice queen thing to a whole new level.

"You're a piece of work, lady." she said chuckling softly, nudging the fallen cloth with the toe of her boot, a short kick picking it up and tossing it into her outstretched hand. "And I think we can both agree that the life I knew ended when I set foot on this rock."

She closed the distance between them cautiously, that dark blue shade settling into her emotive spectrum again as she got within arm's reach. Juniper had thrown plenty of sucker punches over the course of her life, and she intended to throw a generous number more before she cartwheeled off this mortal coil, getting cold-clocked by some pretentious rich girl was not something she intended to add to her resume.

Flipping the cloth over in her hand so that the mud from her shoe was away from Vera's face, Juniper reached quickly to grab a firm hold of her cheek bones with her spread hand, pressing the cloth over her nose and mouth. Even if she didn't pass out, the narcotic fumes from the cloth would leave her disoriented and lethargic in short order. Once her legs gave out, Juniper would lean in and use her other arm to prop the girl up until she could drape her over the bed.

"The worst you can do is throw more dirt on the grave." she said, a bit solemnly.

There was satisfaction in making Megan stumble if only emotionally for a moment. Vera's eyes narrowed at the moist cloth that the woman picked up again. "Nonsense," the Head Girl replied simply to the student's claim. This place may end the lives of most but there were still options available that could lessen the fall. Breaking into a Head Girl's bedroom was not one of those options.

The intruder was kind enough to not use the muddy side of the rag as she approached the Head Girl. The cloth pressed to her face and the fumes invaded her senses. Vera recognized the scent. Already, she felt darkness closing in around her vision. Her crossed arms felt further and further away. Slowly, her arms fell limply to her side. This was not the most pleasant of situations. Vera would have been more satisfied with just being left alone and letting this student fruitlessly search her room. But Megan wished to be thorough it seemed.

Vera had little choice but to inhale the potent fumes. Her eyelids grew heavier by the breath as she began to nod off. Her body swayed as strength left her legs until finally she slumped into her invader's arm. At that point, what happened in the room would only be known by the student who foolishly broke in. The Head Girl was limp in Juniper's arm as she was gently guided to the woman's bed and layed down. The only movement coming from Vera was the faint rise and fall of her chest as she breathed slow and deep.

Juniper took a deep breath as she looked at the way Vera was left sprawled on her expensive satin sheets, her brow knit in irritation. Even as cool, as confident as Vera seemed in the futility of Juniper's actions, the British national couldn't comprehend what was going through her head. Maybe Juniper had hoped to leave her unhurt, but there were plenty of other students on the island who would not have been so generous. Juniper grit her teeth slightly at the words of Not-Sayuri which echoed softly in her ears.

"But you! You have fight in you. You have time before you're ready for slaughter. And you won't even kill a traitor!" manic words from a twisted psyche, whether they were an echo of a feral student wracked from paranoia and exposure, or the torturous corrupting influence of the gray woman who'd pulled her strings. Juniper's fingers twitched slightly at her side, thinking of the length of shale that she'd carefully worked into a cutting edge still on her belt. It would be so easy ... the knife goes in, the life goes out. Safer too, she imagined, but for all the things that Juniper was, she wasn't a murderer.

Finally, she let that breath out in a sigh. There was no sense in letting a few cutting words from a woman who'd been outmaneuvered steal away the opportunity she'd carved for herself. She shifted the Headgirl's weight slightly, lifting her shoulders and pulling the nighty up and off of her prone form, wandering off to the restroom, plugging the sink, and turning the hot water on. She checked the tag to make certain of the cloth make up before adding some cleaner to the faintly steaming pool of water and pushing the neglige into the water to soak. She admitted it was an odd little bit of sentimentality, but she'd muddied up the garment and then prevented the Headgirl from trying to salvage it . . . you didn't spend as much time as Juniper did crawling through the wilderness without learning a thing or two about cleaning mud. She quickly jotted out some care instructions and left them folded on a piece of notebook paper, rolling her shoulders as she stepped back into the bedroom.

Okay, enough mucking about, time to get to work. Juniper recollected her coil of rope from where she'd dropped it on the floor and made her way back over to Vera, pulling the rope taut between her hands. Cool disposition or no, the woman hadn't hesitated to attack her when her back was turned once, Juniper didn't intend to give her another chance if she shook off the chloroform before Juniper was finished. She paused a moment as she looked at the situation before her. Well, if the situation were nearly as dire as Ms. Matsumoto had implied, she supposed she should have her fun while she could.

Ever on the lookout for an advantage against what was going on around her, Juniper had taken to studying a wide assortment of esoteric skills in the last few months. Among them, Juniper had done a little remedial study into the field of bondage, the knots used, where it was safe to secure the ropes tightly, and most importantly to her the weaknesses of each particular arrangement. It was a roundabout way to get to escapology, but Juniper had figured she should study the kinds of ensnarement she was most likely to find herself in.

A few minutes passed, the Headgirl's ample figure loosely moving as Juniper desired as the cool leather from her gloved hands roamed against her flesh. Juniper pulled the last knot tight, having made sure to use every foot of rope and stepped back to review her work. Not bad, if she did say so herself, a harness of cotton fiber drew her biceps tight against her sides as they looped above and below her breasts, each pass above and below her bosom repeated once before she drew the line up and over her shoulders and down between her breasts to keep them separated and constrained. Another loop made it's way around her waist before the cord made it's way down between her legs, the rope grinding tightly against her sex as she tied a thick knot to grind down just above her ass. Crossing her arms behind her back, Juniper moved the rope up to lash her forearms together before working it into the harness wrapping her upper body, leading it down to bind the Headgirl's ankles together and draw them back and up, hog-tying her before she used the rest of the line to bind her legs together just above the ankle and below and above the knee, separating each leg with a knot that kept each leg trapped individually even as they pressed together.

"Heh . . . I've been here too long." she said, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead, then she gave Vera a sharp slap on her exposed rump, "You just hang tight, one of your pets should be along to let you out come morning."

She'd had her fun, now it was time for work. Juniper didn't bother being subtle, she went to the shelves and she looked through each item, tossing them and checking the space behind them as they disappointed. She pulled the bookshelf away from the wall, looking for hidden safes or passages, then shrugged and moved over to the next area. The knife came out, she gutted the upholstery of the girl's furniture, reaching around in the cushioning to make sure there was nothing concealed within. Hung pictures were taken down, their frames dismantled as she looked for passwords or references to anything hidden. She emptied the desk drawers and shuffled through the detritus on the floor, paged through the reports delivered by the Headgirl's underlings for anything that smacked of interest. She popped the case open on the computer and stole the hard disk, tucking it in her pocket for later, and then she moved on to the kitchenette. She opened drawers, checked in cabinets, opened jars and anything opaque she dumped out to sift through.

Finally, she made her way back to the bedroom and started dumping drawers, knocking against wooden panels to see if they sounded hollow, and punching through them to search where they sounded promising. She wasn't entirely certain what she was looking for, but she trusted her instincts enough to know it when she found it. The wardrobe was next, and then she made her way to the closet, she was swift, but remarkably thorough in her rampage. Idly, she wondered which violation the Headgirl would find most egregious when she returned to consciousness.