The X-Project

As a heads-up: I have decided to incorporate our newest arrival into my sophomore Literature class instead of putting together a reading list for a freshman class of one. Though I will have to tailor her written assignments somewhat, I believe that Klara is bright enough to keep up with the other students in classroom discussions, and I think it would be beneficial for her to not feel any more isolated from the other students than her upbringing and lack of technological savvy already account for.

We also may want to consider a restructuring of the Flight curriculum for next term if we continue to have three Flight instructors to one flight-capable student, especially given that the student is in a position to receive X-Men training.

The "Field Trip Curse" has struck again. I've made a more complete report to Xavier and Munroe, but here are the basics:

Julian Keller won a free day in a local laser tag arena for himself plus guests courtesy of a flash gaming site called Screw Top Games. The Team 1 New Mutants were invited along, with myself, Lilian Crawley, Zanne Chan, and Amara Aquila going along as chaperons. Once we arrived at the arena and donned our gear, we were confined in an airlock, informed that our game vests contained power inhibitors, and gassed. When we regained consciousness, an unseen overseer -- since identified as Arcade -- welcomed us to Muderworld and informed us that we would be run through a series of challenges and those who did not clear them would die in the attempt. We were ushered into obstacle courses loosely patterned after reality television shows and picked off one at a time. The deadly effects of the challenges were all illusion; those who were eliminated were transferred to holding cells.

Julian, Callie, and Tatiana made it through the courses, where Arcade offered to make them into superheroes, complete with costume, team-name, and merchandising. The students turned him down, at which point he revealed that the traps had all been non-lethal and reunited them with their comrades. The compound began to implode upon itself immediately after, but we all managed to escape before it collapsed. There was no sign of Arcade at that point and any means we would have had to contact the school had been confiscated at the entrance of the arena, so there seemed nothing to do except head back.

Aside from the need for a few stitches, everyone seems well enough physically (though all who went along for this trip will need to be reissued school phones). I'm sure that some of the students will cope with the trauma of this excursion better than others, but keeping eyes and doors open where they are concerned would be a good idea nonetheless. Thinking that they've seen their classmates killed on top of having the recently deceased return can't be doing their emotional states any favors.