Platypus

Chapter Two

 It didn't matter how late Fenton was, freshmen waited for no one. Thousands of them moved about like flamingos doing a mating dance. Necks outstretched and heads darting back and forth.

Fenton continued to rub at his arm. "Come on, come on," he cursed under his breath. He didn't want to risk cutting a path through them and end up being dragged away on the current.

Finally, the last of the freshmen were trailing past. Fenton took his chances and darted through. Today was the first day of this class. He didn't want to give his professor a poor impression by being late.

Fenton was originally an art student, but he changed his major after he had gotten enough credits to get an associate's degree. Now he was working towards getting an engineering degree. It added another two years to his college work, but he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Most of the marked went after creative degrees. Entertainment, fashion design, and interior decorating, to name a few. The competition was so fierce that Fenton didn't have the confidence to keep up.

So... Now he was stuck with engineering. It wasn't something as complicated as electrical engineering, but he had a feeling that he would be forced to ask Albert for more and more help as the years went on.

What he was really aiming for was product design and development. He worried that it'll be like his last classes, which were overcrowded and taught by teachers with no passion. Maybe it'll be different though.

Fenton was only able to get into this class because it was a new professor who was rumored to have gotten his education from outside one of the marked cities. He opened the door to the class, hoping to get a fresh start and a good seat. Only this time, he was greeted by the same scene he always saw during the first day of class.

A sea of maybe two hundred strangers scattered around tiered seats. The glories of a lecture hall. Another overcrowded class where he'd be forced to follow along like all of the other drones.

No sign of a professor though. Fenton clutched his bag to his side and began to climb up the steps. He took a seat at the edge of the middle rows. Being as late as he was, he didn't expect anyone else to show up, and this spot was relatively abandoned when compared to the back or front rows.

Whispers were beginning to grow louder and louder. The other students didn't seem surprised that the professor was late, what with him having spent time on the outside. Their weaving or rumors was making Fenton feel tense.

Silence overtook the class as the door opened. It was a man with black hair and a sharp nose. He wore a long, tweed jacket, which he took off and tossed onto his desk. If anything, he seemed irritated, hastily dropping his bag down on the desk.

Suddenly, he let out a hiss between his teeth as his hand clapped onto his shoulder. He froze up for a moment, shook his head, and annoyance with the world was suddenly doubled. Turning towards the class with a piercing look in his almond-shaped eyes, he then let out a sigh and shook his head for a second time.

"My name is Caspian Song," he said as he rolled up his sleeves. "Welcome to Intuitive Design. Please give me a moment to set up and we'll begin. Take this time to log in on your tablets."

Fenton took his tablet out from his bag and set it on his desk. Most classes at the university didn't have boards to write on. The professor would transmit the entire lesson to them, where it would be saved. There would also be a forum put up where the students could talk to each other or the professor would answer questions.

Caspian fetched his tablet from his bag and set it up on the lectern. He began to write on it with a stylus, and this was immediately transmitted to the student tablets. A jab at his screen and all of them got a notification of a file being sent.