Instead, the school system of Yakima was destroyed by a store in a mall. Said store was actually supported by the schools in fact. It was a great idea. A small videogame corner over here, with plenty of bowling and tennis for everyone. And the way to it was through the very polite and kind tutors that knew a great deal about a great deal.
The student would be passing by the store and immediately desire to play the videogames. The tutors would offer help for classes, even offering to pay the student.
All the student had to do, was pass a test on a nearby computer. If they did the work asked, they could get paid. The money would go directly to the videogames or something. But the tutors offered to help the student make even more.
What no one really saw, was that the problems and questions being asked on the computer was actual work. The tutor was outsourcing the student's skills.
A project needed the exact measurements for a building, what amount of lumber, what amount of logs. The tutor would contract the information, and the student would answer it with pleasure.
The games were fun, and the students enjoyed going to this place. It was easy to study, when everything you needed was right there.
The teachers never saw it coming. They even recommended the store. It helped the slower students graduate, and the good students stayed to finish work. The store began to grow in size every month.
By the time the store had announced that it had gained accredation for classes, it was too late for the schools. All of the students had been using the store before hand, and no longer needed the schools.
The teachers began to throw strikes and parades in demand of help. People wrote large letters to everyone. Yet, it didn't help. The school system was torn apart before the teachers could even scream.
The truth be told, the store had been expanding, it needed more room anyway. It hired out the buildings at the schools, and even hired out some of the teachers. Only the contract was different from anything anyone had tried.
Each teacher would make a tenth of what a student made. The teacher would choose out different projects to outsource. A larger school such as Davis was actually an asset to several companies. The school had a full drama class, stagecraft, film students from YV-Tech and writers for the entire production. All that was really needed was for the lead actor to appear, and for the money to be put in. Davis made billions because of this.
It became a very important thing for a student to learn everything correctly. Screwing up would mean losing a job, which meant actual money for everyone involved. The leveling system the store had created allowed a student to build up to better paying contracts.
The stress levels went rampant, as did the science classes. Every other week a new weird or strange monster, or zombie would be created by the student's very boredom.
The schools began to transform the Yakima Valley into a set of city states. All of Eastern Washington followed. No one in the green part of the state of Washington even noticed. They were too busy trying to figure out where their jobs were going to.
The store had already prepared for this. A new form of sport had begun. The schools each had pendants, protected by the noblest of warriors. The size of the school would determine how many pendants the school had. Davis and Ike had four pendants each, where as little Zillah had only one.
Vyska had never known about this. She was able to count her age on one hand, and did, when the battles began. She took it all in as a normal part of life. The air drills, the shooting practice, the science projects, and the work schedules.
She had made a good name for herself in art, and was asked for by many companies wanting a picture for a wall. She obliged of course, it got her credit in art class. No one really explained how much she was making off of all of this.
Her first year in Highschool was quite ordinary, if it hadn't been for her brain surgery. This happened halfway through the school year, and didn't end perfectly.
Her family worried about her night and day. Her oldest brother spent more time at home to help her recover. He even built a portal between his house, and home.
The real story didn't even start off until the second year.
It started with a crush on a phillipino. Vyska pined for him and didn't know why. Finally it began to sink in, that Asian boys were obviously the hottest thing in the world. It was firmly set in her mind on this matter, so much so, that she actually told her brothers about it.
She was being put to bed one night when she admitted this to Ceitalaatohaun her eldest brother.
"I think I like guys," she said.
"Well that makes life easier," said Ceitalaatohaun.
"I think I like Asian boys," she said.
"Well, that makes it a little more complex. Could you explain why you know this," said Ceitalaatohaun.
"Well," she said, "all the boys on my list are asian, or remind me of them."
"I see," said Ceitalaatohaun, "so you do have a list of boys you like."
"Of course I do," said Vyska, "There's Bruce Lee, Anakin, Wotan."
"You named them after mythological figures," asked Ceitalaatohaun?
"And Ichiro," added Vyska.
"Thats a strange Pantheon of boys," said Ceitalaatohaun.
"It's not their real names", said Vyska, "It's who they remind me of."
"Couldn't they be more modern," said Ceitalaatohaun, "like Renny or Hillderface?"
"Neither of them are asian," said Vyska.
"Wotan was a German God," said Ceitalaatohaun, "Anakin was from some weird cult, neither of them came from Asia."
"So what," said Vyska, "I like them as nicknames Caith."
Ceitalaatohaun smirked. His sister had such strange logic. She also mispronounced his name. The 'I' wasn't as strong. She had grown up saying both his full and shortened name, but never learned to say them right.
Vyska was asleep before Caith could reply. Which was good, she had school in the morning, and he didn't.
Caith walked down the stairs of what used to be his home. He looked over to the left in the dungeon area. One of his old computer systems filled a wall. Then slowly, he walked over to the storage area on the right. Inside of this was a portal, of which Caith never told anyone about. It lead directly to his home, and his crazy roommates.
As he entered Der Casa from his hall closet, Tuan and Harod were talking about the wonders of marrying Dwarvish Women.
"They know their way around a fire," said Harod.
"And they can shave if needed," said Tuan.
"You would never have dragon problems," said Harod.
"Which is good," said Tuan, "Because the family would demand you live in a cave."
"The best part," said Harod, "is that we have no idea where they came from. So that means very little chance of ever dating a cousin."
"I can agree to that," said Tuan.
"It's all listed in the holy book of Silmarillion," said Harod.
"Which puts me at odds with your future in laws," said Caith.
"Well, there are many things to be said of the Elves," said Harod.
"Wait," said Tuan, "I thought your Mom was a dwarf?"
"No," said Caith, "she is hobbit folk."
"So your entire family is elves and hobbits," asked Harod?
"I think Dwarf is in there somewhere," said Caith as he reached for the highest shelf to grab a snack.
They all laughed.
Caith went to bed, but listened to his roommates talk about the different groups worth marrying. The Norse like Caith and Harod, or maybe the Prits like Tuan. So many different groups mixed in to everyone. It was surprising how many there were.
Caith fell asleep dreaming of ninjas and demons. Work would have plenty of those the next day.
