VARSITY 9 | BL

TWELVE | G407

"Name?"

"Yywen Kaihan," Wen spoke his name to the agent who helped him check in.

"Room G407," the woman relayed Wen's room number as she sorted through a selection of small boxes after searching Wen's name in the academy's database. "Here is your holowatch." Holding a white box in her hand, the agent extended the object to Wen who accepted it with a dip of his head.

"The hologram that hovers over the disk is activated by your retina. Use the watch to access your student identification information, schedule, classroom numbers, and a map of the campus. It also grants you access to your dorm, the training center, and all the buildings after hours. Any questions?" The agent read off the holowatch's features quite flawlessly and looked at Wen with big eyes as she waited for Wen to state his questions.

"No, thank you." Taking the box, Wen bowed his head quickly in gratitude to the woman before following the line of students as those who had successfully checked in began to wander about in search of their dorms.

"What dorm are you in?" Wen inquired of Lay as his friend joined him.

Wrapping the watch around his wrist, Lay answered, "G406. You?"

"G407." Wen had expected he and Lay would not be able to be roommates at the PHA, so he was surprised by how close their dorms ended up being to each other.

Now that they had their dorm assignments, the two set off to find their building and rooms. They had checked in at the lobby of Academic Building A, so they would have to make their way to Resident Building G. There were two residential buildings, F and G, and they were located on the opposite side of the campus. However, since all the buildings were connected by skywalks, all they needed to do was find the right skywalk.

Several of the skywalks merged with each other, offering various paths for students to take, so learning the routes of each skywalk and their branches would be crucial to successful wayfinding. Holographic signs running along the glass walls of the skywalks were provided to ease students' sense of direction.

Following the line of students up to the third level of Building A, Wen found himself standing in an expansive gathering space that resembled a departure gate at the interport. The entirety of the walls boxing in the large space was glass, providing 360 views of the entire campus. This central hub was the landing point for all the numerous skywalks connecting to Building A.

Each building had a similar hub where the connections merged into a large, open space. Students mingled about in the hub as they activated their holowatches and searched for the campus map to find what route to take. Looking at the holo map projected from the thin disk on his watch, Wen studied the various ways to get to Building G before determining that Skywalk G-2 was the fastest route.

Lay followed his friend as Wen began making his way through the vast hub in search of Skywalk G-2. Passing entrances to several skywalks, the two eventually found the one they needed. A few others joined Wen in entering the skywalk and leaving Building A. All four sides of the in-air connection were glass, providing views below and above.

Lay's eyes widened as he looked down to see straight to the courtyard below where they had heard the principal's welcome speech. Seeing Wen trudging on ahead, Lay pursed his lips together and kept his head up as he bravely traversed the glass passageway suspended tens of feet in the air.

G-2 intercepted another skywalk toward the center where students could turn either to the left to go to one of the training centers or to the right to head toward the third academic building. After looking to make sure no one was coming from the other skywalk, Wen continued straight on until he arrived at Resident Building G.