You Must Remember This

Chapter 23: Raindrop Prelude

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist," John said suddenly. "You're right: call him Satan, Baal, Lucifer, whatever, he exists. He's out there, lurking behind every shadowy corner with a knife in his hand, ready to plant seeds of darkness and twist the threads of fate whenever he thinks it will lead to human destruction. He pits us against each other, and all those people above us serve him. Some willingly, I bet, but many don't know that what they're doing is wrong. It's all very interesting, Ernest, thank you for enlightening me!"

"Now, I wouldn't take it that far, but I think you're getting the idea, at least in a way that makes sense to you. I can already tell we disagree on many finer points of this philosophy, so I'll leave it at this: to thine own self be true. Let's finish this lab, shall we?"

Tom was starting to discover just how much adjustment to his daily routine he could tolerate. At the beginning Frank insisted on the elite members adopting business casual dress, something he personally had adopted earlier to an extreme degree and thought would rub off onto the other members. He even led a weekend field trip to a few different thrift stores to begin accumulating a treasure trove of spare outfits, helped by a few teachers who saw this as an opportunity to clear out their wardrobes. Tom, of course, already owned the clothing required, and as soon as Regina called his outfit sexy, he went along with it. The daily meetings were more of an inconvenience, although at least now they were air-conditioned. Daily meetings required daily reading and preparation; Frank relied on his team to give second opinions on the curriculum, and thus Tom forced himself to read and take notes. For a few weeks, this was certainly acceptable, but Tom began to find editorials and essays boring. Frank frequently targeted his elite members during meetings, hoping that they would start discussions off on a bright note, and Tom found this stressful, especially as his rambling outbursts were now no longer rewarded. The cherry on top was that he had to do everything with a smile, as he worried that part of his appeal to Regina was his deep intellect. For once in his life, Tom had to work hard.

The meetings becoming air-conditioned, finally being hosted inside the MPR, was the coincidental result of a multi-pronged effort spurred by nobody in particular. The juniors were reading The Scarlet Letter in English, and Frank thought he could tap into some of that puritanical zeal with his meetings; he was succeeding admirably, so much so that Ms. Foster began to realize that her new class secretary was in charge of a radically different operation than she had assumed originally. As always occurred when they quarreled over principles in which they believed passionately, the club members would end up gasping furiously for air and blinking back bitter tears of conviction. There were many principles in which they believed passionately. They were crazy. Just crazy enough, in fact, that Ms. Foster suggested they move into the suddenly available MPR, where they could enjoy sitting in real seats and everyone else eating lunch did not feel like they were part of a non-consensual improv troupe. Frank was not willing to concede his ground immediately; that waited until the rainy season began early that year. Frank could tolerate the rain himself, and he most certainly could make others do the same, but it would be a colossal waste of money, and for that reason he moved inside. The meetings continued their fanatical fervor, much to the amusement of onlookers, who pressed their faces against the glass as if they beheld zoo animals.

"It's an interesting sight, isn't it?" Ms. Liu remarked to Mrs. Huang, who had decided not to take her TAs' descriptions on faith alone and instead come watch from a safe distance.

"Excellent leadership," she responded, and Ms. Liu agreed. From inside, Frank pointed out the many passersby in various outfits, all scurrying like ants, all engaged in conversations that were muted from inside their glass box:

"Look at how everyone comes and goes through the courtyard. My, what strange people they are! All of them—all of them have their faults somewhere, and it's our job to find them. You may think we're killing time here, snacking, gossiping, watching, but from every detail we can infer something about the whole. Now, look at that girl who seems to want to speak to us. She's turning around, she's hesitating. Will she step in? Will she run away?"