"You don't have to agree with everything I say. Mother said what she said to convince me to prioritize myself at the expense of everyone else. It's possible she lied or distorted things."

"Uh, right. It does - seem like that's sort of how things are done here." Which sort of makes sense but that doesn't mean Shannon has to like it. 

"I'd like to change it, I'm just not sure how."

"Mmm. It - seems hard." She giggles a little, even though it's really not even slightly funny. "And I guess the prerequisite is, you know, not dying in the first term." 

"Well, hopefully we can both do that. On a less heavy topic what projects are you working on at the moment?"

"I haven't properly started anything yet - I need to make a run to the alchemy supply room before I'll have much in the way of reagents to work with. I think first priority will be making up a gallon or so of my mouthwash potion - it keeps your teeth in perfect condition without needing to brush them, and it's quick and easy to make, I just couldn't spare the weight to bring in any." For herself. Raleigh is set for the next six months, if he sticks to 5ml once a week. 

"That sounds useful, I'll have to think about trading for that. I expect a lot of people didn't bring toothpaste or else ran out."

"Yeah! That's part of why I prioritized inventing it. I could probably muck with it a bit to get a toothpaste consistency, but why bother, if you can skip the actual annoying brushing part and, like, needing to make a toothbrush last four years. ....Huh, though I wonder if an artificer could make a magic toothbrush? Probably not the highest priority for healing-related equipment, I guess. I do want to talk to the nurse about what sorts of potions she thinks would be handy." 

"I'm not sure how much she'd know right now. You might be better talking to an upperclassmen about what kind of healing people usually need, though maybe an upperclassmen has already talked with her."

"Maybe! Yeah, I should ask her. Uh, do you actually - know any upperclassmen? I guess I could ask for an intro to the Sacramento enclave older kids but I haven't actually seen them around anywhere." 

"I've said hello to a couple but they didn't seem interested in long conversations. Being associated with an enclave is definitely an advantage there."

"Well, maybe I can make friends with some kids in our year who have older siblings, or something." 

"That's also probably a good route. I didn't think of that."

"I...feel like it's awkward to ask if people have siblings, though. At least when I don't know them very well. Because they might've, uh, had siblings before, who, you know. Didn't make it." 

"That's a good point, I expect it'll come up if you know someone for long enough."

"Yeah, probably." 

Shannon fidgets with the hem of her shirt. She's feeling pretty out of small talk openings, at this point. 

"Hopefully I'll see you in class or at least in the cafeteria."

"Yeah! It was nice meeting you. It's good to know another Canadian." 

"It's been good meeting you too."