Bonds

Paul And Estelle Take Control

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jackson, but we're in not much better shape. While New Rome has a lower population of demigods, a lot of first and second generation legacies have succumbed to this madness just as easily. What remains of the senate declared Senatus consultum ultimum and- Martial- declared-"

"Hold on a second, Reyna! You're breaking up again!" Paul cried at the rapidly pixelating image of the praetor on his laptop. "Just- one moment!" He spun around on the stool he had commandeered from Dionysus' office -his precious, life-sustaining coffee in hand- to face his newly deputized IT guy. "Leo, can you boost the signal strength?"

"Aye, aye, captain!" The son of Hephaestus saluted before pouring more gasoline into the mess of wires, bolts, and tubes that was somehow a functioning router. "Let's see them argue with installing signal boosters after this mess," Leo muttered as he twisted a pair of wires together- only for the router to stutter and belch out a cloud of ozone-infused smoke. "Uh... That was supposed to happen?" The head of Cabin Nine nervously chuckled before diving headfirst into the contraption and muttering something about capacitors.

"Thanks, Leo," Paul chuckled before taking a moment to savior a sip of lukewarm coffee.

Leo Valdez was an interesting character. He lacked a brain-to-mouth filter just like his stepson, making him say whatever popped into his head, but adding his own personal blend of pop culture references and ego. The latter sadly the result of some childhood trauma that Paul was rapidly learning was all too common in demigods. Leo was the kind of kid that he would both love and hate to have as his student. Love, due to his sense of humor that could help keep a classroom entertained and engaged (along with the technical knowhow to keep said classroom equipment running), and hate, because it was guaranteed at some point he would need to punish the boy for a joke going too far and he would have to act like it wasn't funny (and he would fail).

There an audible "pop" and Leo emerged from the mess just as the computer screen unfroze. "I think I've developed the black lung, pop." The boy said before bursting into a coughing fit.

"Hello? Can you still see us, Mr. Blofis?" Hazel's eyeball seemingly asked. The girl having apparently leaned into the webcam when he stopped responding.

It's nice to know there is someone younger than me who sucks at tech, he thought with a smile. "Yes, Hazel, I can see you. Now, Reyna, what were you saying about becoming dictator of New Rome?"

The daughter of Pluto was wrenched way from the webcam by the praetor so that both girls could be seen. "It's a temporary measure I assure you, Mr. Jackson," the sleep deprived young woman sighed. "But with nearly three-quarters of the population affected, the chain of command was in shambles, which made the sane members of the senate vote to give me supreme power before they hightailed it out of here." Reyna scoffed and muttered a curse in Latin. "Really wished they would've asked me first..."

Hazel clasped the older girl's shoulder and smiled up at her. "You're doing a great job, Reyna!"

"Remember, Reyna, as the Bard of Avon once wrote, "some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them"," Paul offered with a scholarly grin. Despite the dire situation they were in -or perhaps because of it- his classroom persona was active and trying to offer any kind of emotional or moral support he felt these young people needed. He was positive he would be murdered for it.

Reyna arched an eyebrow on the screen. "No offense, but I think I've had enough greatness."

Like Leo, Reyna trying-and-failing-to-remember-last-names was an interesting character. In the classroom she would be simultaneously a teacher's dream and worst nightmare. A dream, because her natural leadership skills and intimidating presence would keep the class engaged with stimulating conversations and keep her peers in line (saving him a lot of work). Plus, her assignments could be used as the answer key (saving him even more work). A nightmare, because if he ever did deduct a point, she would be at his office hours explaining why he was wrong and would refuse to leave until his mistake was corrected and her 4.0 GPA was once again spotless.