TCOTRB: The Case of The Red Bubble

🌱 Chapter XVII: Emprós

Chapter XVII: Emprós

[September 6th, 2055 Monday]
Creative Arts Institute.

* NOTE:

The chapter title, emprós, translates to "forward" in Greek.

•••

Five years have passed since the RFA fiasco as Milo and his friends are all preparing for college. Just as Jasmine told him last time, he wasn't going to be accepted into "The Big Five."
They consist of the remnants from the University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, De La Salle University and College of Saint Benilde-University and the new Central Dome University at the heart of The Capital.
To think that all of them looked forward to attending CDU together as they are a lot open to international students.
Milo may have passed three of his entrance exams, but he is still blacklisted. He was instead accepted into the Creative Arts Institute despite never having any prior experience in art. He had no other choice and really wanted to get into a good college.
It may not be related to his skills as a budding detective, but at least he gets to learn something new. To enter CAI, one must create a unique masterpiece under the prompt of 'unpredictability' and post that on their portal website.
If it had not been for the mentorship under Chirag, his piece would not have been accepted. Milo spent hours studying digital art courses online, anatomy and consulting with him throughout the summer.

At 6:30 a.m.

It was difficult getting around the campus as it's built to be a vast network of buildings. Milo knows that he can't always rely on Kaira's brother to help him out. Chirag will be graduating soon. Surprisingly, he met a friendly classmate who also happens to be heading to their next class.
He was a little taller, slender and had ashy-brown hair with bangs reaching his temples. His ivory face is decorated with freckles. He wore a dark green artistic beret and carried a colorful, painterly envelope by his right hand. His brown uniform is slightly disheveled and leather shoes look grubby

"My name's Oliver Zuñiga and I'm also from Class 117," the boy said.

"Oh ... Oh-ho-ho! My name's Milo Sidaris."

The two agreed to walk together until they reached the building. It was time for Art History class. The room was barely occupied aside from one girl asleep on her desk at the far corner near the inner windows. Milo already felt overwhelmed by the unfamiliar setting.
The sight of those high-grade masterpieces along the hallways made him doubt that he would ever survive art school. Not to mention they were all made by freshmen. To his surprise, Oliver was already warming up to him and showing off his list of crime documentary podcasts on his phone.

"They say that Miss Odval was hiding somewhere on this secret island just south of Circa VIII!" Oliver exclaimed "Whereas Omar's body got washed up in the South China Sea."

"No way! I thought those were just rumors," Milo could not believe it.

"Unless it's coming from one of the country's iconic online sleuths, Amandi. Quite a controversial one."

According to Oliver, Amandi is an anonymous figure known for their raw takes on society and people's beliefs.
It is unknown who is actually running their podcast channel, with their gender being ambiguous. The name is of Nigerian and Hebrew origin which means "Trust no one."
From uncovering secret government brainwashing methods to proving the pagan origins of Christmas, it's no wonder that he is often met with public ire. The hate mobs struggle to track him down and often get misled. Still, Amandi had a massive audience on his podcast site alone.
About half an hour later, the other students arrived. Milo is once again on edge by the unfamiliar faces around him.
There were these two boys who seem to have already known each other judging by their interactions. A triad of girls were constantly giggling behind them and kept looking everywhere just in case somebody caught them gossiping.
Of course, there were others who never talked and quietly entered the room.
Five minutes later, their professor stepped in, fixed his tie in front of them and suddenly slammed his hands on the desk. "Guten Morgen, alle zusammen! Good morning, everyone! My name is Professor Fritz Dietrich and I will be handling Art History for the entirety of three semesters," he spoke in a heavy German accent, "I have very little patience for mediocrity and lack of discipline so either you 'passieren' (pass) or 'SCHEITERN' (FAIL)!"
His rambling session was momentarily interrupted when someone walked into the room then sat behind me and Oliver. "What's your name, young lady?" Professor Dietrich asked sharply. From the wavy brunette hair to that snooty expression, Milo quickly knew who this girl was.

"It's Irene!" the boy thought.