Popularity Certainly Sucks

Quagmire was surrounded by people who took an interest in him, something that hadn't happened to him in a long time.

He had just arrived in the classroom, the first signs of dawn passing through the cracks in the curtains attached to the windows in the wall of the huge classroom of the Veritas Classroom. The boy almost never dressed properly by the standards of the young nobles who attended the pilot's academy, but he continued to take pride in the way he dressed — most of his clothes were made from second-rate materials he had bought himself, and he sewed them a few years earlier —, but when he wore like that, it was certainly more for the comfort of the fabric than to look good or to keep him warm.

After all, despite now living in the same world as the highest ranking people in society, Quagmire didn't seem to mind and lived the way he wanted to, whatever the matter, serious or not. Despite everything, perhaps that event that happened in the morning where several colleagues gathered around him was a sign of change; indeed, that morning, the boy also felt more refreshed than he had in years (at least what he could remember from his former self) as he enjoyed the fresh air that streamed into the crevices along with the sunlight.

The boy looked to the side, taking quick glances in the direction of those around him in large numbers, sighing in concert with his mind completely full of matters more serious than his unwanted popularity. Quagmire took advantage of the fact that no one was pestering him — though they were clearly interested in asking him questions —, and pulled a headset to his ears, turning to his friends and nodding his head while yawning a yawn that lasted for a while, leaving everyone there uncomfortable (on purpose).

Professor Ana, responsible for Class Veritas and a renowned researcher at the republic's technological institute, had not yet arrived in the room, being on the other side of the academy — just over 25 meters away from where Quagmire and the others were located. —, and the room she was responsible for, was completely filled with assorted sounds that didn't stop at anything, many of which were people talking or joking with their friends on all sides of the classroom, a veritable disorganized pandemonium.

People noticed that Quagmire didn't mind all those presences around him, and they turned their full attention to the other special individuals who represented the genius and skill of the Veritas Room as a whole — Alice, Mary, Samuel and Olivia —, after a few months together, struggling to stand out and prevail over the other ordeals in company with their classmates, the group did not feel intimidated or bothered by the constant questions asked by their classmates.

And, as if just to prove this fact to who knows who, Alice bent down and took a notebook from under Quagmire's arm, opening it and showing some calculations, notes and drawings that explained the devices shown in the mirian competition. Quagmire didn't seem to mind, even though he felt the touch of the warm, soft hand that reached for the elbow of his right arm.

A loud creaking noise spread through the room and at the same moment, everyone who was dispersed in the classroom quickly sat down in their seats, despite it being only 2 and a half months, the pilots in training had already got used to the usual sound the class door made when opening. As if it were no surprise to anyone, Professor Ana entered the room waving, pulling Quagmire and the others in the room out of the trance they were trapped in.

The Landra boy, who had his headphones turned on at full volume, took the device from his head as a sign of respect for the class teacher. Quagmire realized that everyone's gaze had now fallen on Ana, and for this reason he took the opportunity to nod his head at the Professor who had so far treated him with benevolence.

"Sorry for the delay, there were some unforeseen issues in material handling and I ended up getting stuck in the admin room." The red-haired woman said, sitting down in her chair quickly and rolling up her shirtsleeves.

''As many of you already know, the mirian competition came to an end the day before yesterday in a spectacular way. First of all, I want to congratulate everyone who participated and went out of their way for our class." The woman looked at Quagmire, who was already beginning to grow more alert from her awkward speech.

''Also, taking advantage of this moment of congratulations and everything else, I would like to give my heartfelt congratulations to Alice who took us to first place in the ANONS virtual competition!'' The woman clapped her hands and many people around the room followed the example, ''And also to Mary who took us to second place in the physical dueling competition, you girls are certainly talented.''

The girls were a little embarrassed but thanked the compliments by saying 'thank you' and waving to everyone who looked in their direction. And as Quagmire's dire predictions dictated, that situation would soon get to the topic of the mechanical competition, in which HE had participated and from which HE wished attention had been diverted.

''And finally,'' Ana resumed her speech and all the people in the room already premeditating what she would say, started to look in the direction of the boy with slightly long black hair and who had beautiful eyes similar to a red beryl, ''Above all, I would like to say that prejudice will certainly get us nowhere. Society may dictate that the Landra are inferior, or whatever they are, but this boy... this boy has proved us wrong!" Ana finished, pointing in Quagmire's direction.

Quagmire had no idea whether to smile, cry or bury himself alive right there, after all his situation was similar to Layla's, there was no way to escape. For a wrong decision he had made in his prewar plan, he was now having to pay too much, with dire consequences that made him shudder.

''Thank you very much. Thanks for the kind words, professor.'' Quagmire replied, giving a fake smile that stretched from cheek to cheek.

''Taking advantage of the opportunity, Quagmire, today we will have a class related to some articles by the ingenious Mir and other subjects related to technology and robotics.'' Said the woman.

''So please come to the front of the class, you will help me explain this topic. Because you are clearly much more than just a master at this.''

"Of course, no problem." Said Quagmire, rising from the chair he was in and moving to the left side of the board beside Professor Ana.

''Great! Let's start class then! " Ana said with a genuine smile that made Quagmire break out in cold sweat.

'I wanna die.' He thought.

The boy spent the next few hours in the classroom supporting the Teacher with explanations and resolutions related to the articles presented.

--------------------------

"I fucking hate my life." Quagmire said, completely dejected and lying down on the table in the academy cafeteria, as if he were a walking corpse.

''Why do you insist so much on complaining about it? I think it's a great opportunity, you've been a great help to everyone in the class." Olivia commented with her honest opinion.

"What…" Quagmire said, his voice rising; but Catarina cut him off, taking a seat at the group table as she drank something from a plastic cup.

"I'd like you to give me a good reason why you risked your life by telling me this." Quagmire completed, growling like a wild animal in the direction of the group.

''Hi Cat! How long has it been since we saw each other? I missed talking to you.'' Alice commented excitedly, ignoring the boy's speech completely and diverting the group's attention from his threats.

Catarina continued to stare steadily in Quagmire's direction, but as if it were a simple task, she responded to Alice at the same time, not losing focus even for a second from the boy lying on the table.

''It's been quite a while since we last saw each other, as a matter of fact. Perhaps a year and a half since we last worked together?" Catarina said, smiling but not taking her eyes off Quagmire.

The boy didn't seem to mind as he made a few finger movements for who knows what, probably just to pass the time.

''By the way, Samuel, Olivia and Mary, it's a pleasure to meet you guys here too. I see from the competition results that you didn't procrastinate after being discharged from the preparatory military academy." Catarina finally looked back toward the group of the four.

"Although I don't know how to express my emotions very well when I'm focused on something, know that I'm really happy to be able to talk to you after a long time."

"So, do we." Mary answered for the group, squeezing Catarina's hand.

''I watched your presentation during the mechanic competition! It was definitely innovative, I didn't expect more from the brilliant Katran family heiress." Alice said, giving a few laughs.

But before Catarina had time to reply to her friend, the laughter was interrupted by a strange sound, something none of the students had heard for over a year, and which they certainly didn't expect to hear again, at least not now and not in this place.

The sound of alarms, which were accompanied by some other sounds. Sounds of machines flying in the sky.

The thunderous and unusual noise shook the academy's facilities from top to bottom, leaving everyone scared and immobile, with the exception of Quagmire, who seemed to already know it all. A few gusts of wind came in through the cracks in the cafeteria's half-open windows. A continuous, resounding sound spasm went through everyone's minds, from Alice's group and the others, to the site staff who covered their ears desperately.

Everyone began to follow the workers' example, plugging their ears until the sound faded enough not to shake the place anymore. While some of the group wasted time doing this, Quagmire and Catarina were already on their feet and making their way to the academy's entrance door before anyone else could properly process what was going on there. Mary followed them quickly, with the others following right behind them.

No one said a word until they were all on the side of the door to the outside of the academy, the bright morning sun now sinking as afternoon was already approaching. Quagmire tried to spot something, putting his hand up to shield his eyes from the still-dim glare of the sun, as he searched the sky and ground for the source of the noise.

"It's a government aircraft," announced Catarina nonchalantly. "What the hell is going on, that this is here?"

Many other people began to crowd outside the academy, surrounding the group that had arrived before anyone else. Some looked impressed, others scared and others just didn't show any emotion on their faces.

It was the first time that Quagmire had seen one of those huge aircraft outside the design papers that he was able to see in some of his vague memories, and the sight was certainly shocking, surprising him and leaving him more than excited by the advancement of technology that he was witnessing in the moment.

Catarina and the others couldn't think of any reasonable enough reason why a Stern — let alone one under the jurisdiction of the investigating team and the noble government council —, should so suddenly fly over the academy. But right or wrong, here it was, huge and shiny and somewhat flat in a round shape, jet thrusters accompanied by noisy floats, landing in the huge open space at the entrance to the academy.

"What's this thing doing here?" Mary asked, putting a finger to her mouth, indicating she was intrigued with the situation.

What was once a small group of people, including Quagmire, Catarina, Mary, and the others, had now become a huge flood of people who squeezed into the academy's small crowded space, distancing themselves from the Stern's trajectory.

"Maybe it has something to do with the murders of those unknown people?" Commented a girl with tied blond hair.

'No. They've come to recruit some of us. Probably to investigate Layla's issues.' Quagmire thought to himself, trying not to laugh at the intellectual mediocrity of everyone in the room.

"No way," Sneered Samuel, as if that was just an idiotic assumption. ''If they wanted to, they would have done something about it a long time ago.''

Many people nodded in agreement with the boy's statement, making the poor blonde girl self-conscious.

Quagmire said nothing and contented himself with silently following the group, still impressed by the massive Stern's sudden appearance. The others in the room continued to theorize and refer to the mysterious individuals inside the Stern, although no one knew who they really were.

There have been some rumors that have been around the academy for some time now, that some sort of central council of the noble government organization has organized itself to deal with the problems that have occurred on the academy's campus — but with the veracity of the other rumours, especially the ones that involved the Landra boy, who had now become a fad among the academy students, no one cared about the rumours —, but no truly reliable news or official notice had been published or discovered. Of course, it was true that they had been involved in similar cases that had taken place at the academy in past years, but nothing officially confirmed.

The Stern finally came to a stop, its thrusters now pointing down toward the ground as it hovered about fifty feet above the Academy Square — the name they gave to the empty, checkered area at the entrance to the academy.

The group quickened their pace and leaned against the walls and supports of the place, all the people looking up at the flying machine as if it were an omen of bad things or a mythical beast. Most of the crowd was academy students, their faces filled with anticipation, fear and excitement at the same time. Everyone had come to the same conclusion after the discussion that had taken place a few minutes earlier: the Stern was there to sort out some outstanding issues, or at least to give them some good news.

Just as the Stern hit the ground and the screeching of thrusters and gears stopped ringing, Mary tugged at Quagmire's shirt sleeve, leaning over to speak to him.

''What are they doing? Do you have any idea why they landed here so suddenly?"

''I do not fucking know. There's no sign that tells us what they want to do here, other than the information that we know that the Stern belongs to the government."

Quagmire shrugged in response to what she'd said, feigning uncertainty about the information. The boy was still stunned by the beautiful vision of the advanced technology right before his eyes, almost on a par with his fascination with the ANONS.

And the instant Quagmire turned to the side, he was able to see out of the corner of his eye; The boy noticed the presences coming out of the huge metal doors that had opened, followed by a metallic rumble and a high-pitched screech from the hydraulic system. A thick fog quickly dispersed through the scene, and 3 breathless people appeared, mouths half open, probably preparing to say something to the crowd who were raising fingers and pointing in their direction.

"Now that's a warm welcome." The shorter, blue-haired, dark-skinned man commented.

"Did you guys by any chance think it was God in there?" He finished, smirking, as if he was trying to keep from laughing at the faces of the "hillbilly" in training in front of him.

''Ezekiel, that is not the objective of the mission. Refrain from joking, please, we came here for something serious." The woman in a lab coat, with hair that looked like a glittering emerald and eyes as blue as the sky, answered back seriously.

Ezekiel — the dark-skinned man who had made the *unfunny* joke earlier —, shut up instantly, no one knowing if it was out of fear, respect, or maybe the two in an odd combination. However, no one had time to think about it any further, when the woman smiled towards the crowd and the 3 individuals started to come out of the Stern.

''Hello, ladies and gentlemen pilots in training, hope of the republic!'' The woman said excitedly, accompanied by Ezekiel and a man with tied black hair and red eyes, in short, a Landra who had been completely silent since their arrival.

''I know it may seem strange and sudden, and I imagine you will be startled by the news I have to share.'' The woman said, as Quagmire looked at the name tag hanging on her lab coat, where the name 'Chiara Holda J. ' was written in bold.

''We received information about the disappearance of a student from the pilot academy. Miss 'Layla Mina Caseste', you probably know her as Mir's most likely successor. The person who is held to be the hope of the republic's research and technology institute is gone." Chiara clasped her hands as she walked straight toward the academy's entrance door.

''I fear that we will have to take drastic measures and that is why I ask everyone to go back to what they were doing. Don't bother with what we're doing, at least not right now. Thanks for understanding!" The woman gave a low yell as she and the two men made their way through the crowd and into the academy without a hitch.

Everyone in the crowd ignored the woman's advice to return to their activities and started following Chiara, with Catarina leading the way alongside the woman, trying to get information from her.

"Things are about to get better than ever." Quagmire grinned strangely, watching the group as they drifted further and further away from him.

''The pawns are all in place. And the war will finally start, this time it's for real."

''Let's have a lot of fun.''