All righty then. To commence. . . .

 The Avatar appeared shortly, and Ivan had to chuckle at the apropos nature of the manifestation -- this Devil was Corinna in her Mephistopheles costume. After a bit of opening banter, the Avatar announced that she had no test for Ivan this time around -- that he had, in fact, already been tested. Ivan understood that she was referring to his glimpse of a particularly unpleasant personal future. Had he learned anything from the experience? she wanted to know. After going over the obvious factual knowledge he'd gained -- about the possible fate of his father, his professional dissatisfaction, and the state of his future love life -- Ivan moved into the more abstract realm. He had seen that somewhere along the line, his future self had lost sight of the ultimate purpose of making Subversion his life's work. It wasn't just about petty pranks and shocking behavior -- or thumbing one's nose at government lawyers in the courtroom -- but about showing up the flaws and rigidities in people and institutions, and encouraging them to consider alternatives. In order to pursue that more complex goal, Ivan was going to need to tame his powerful ego and urge toward instant gratification with a healthy dose of self-discipline, a virtue he'd always derided. Satisfied that Ivan at least had his eyes on the proper goal, even if he hadn't achieved it yet, the Avatar pronounced the test passed, and Ivan awoke.

 Some time later, the group came together for breakfast as usual. There, HALF got the announcement it had been waiting for: the previous headmistress, Helena Cutworth-Chase, had resigned, and her successor -- younger and "hipper" former assistant headmaster Bob Sims -- intended to discontinue most of the strict behavioral rules that had been instituted in the latest push for increased campus security. Satisfied that their primary goal had been achieved, the members of the Huntington Academy Liberation Front agreed to disband the group and never speak of it again -- unless and until it should be needed to combat tyranny in the years to come.

  Also at breakfast, Kelli reported rumors of a new student's impending arrival -- part of the administration's ongoing effort to re-populate the school following the massive post-murder exodus. Details were sketchy, but she'd heard that the new boy was to be some sort of foreigner. Of course, what with the HALF victory, Kelli's gossip passed almost unnoticed by the magely students at the table.

  Afterward, the gang broke up to attend their usual morning classes -- with one exception. Thanks to the work of her future self, Jasmine no longer had to sit through her usual computer class, but would be taking private instruction from Mr. Northram on the high school side of the lake. She found the lesson infinitely more interesting, but regretted the loss of goof-off time. Now she would have to spend her mornings in actual work.

  Meanwhile, in drama class, Ivan's classmates were abuzz with rumors of a "theater ghost." A number of them reported hearing about, and some claimed actually to have witness, manifestations of the entity -- strange sounds, slammed doors, mysteriously moved objects, even spectral apparitions. Ivan was condescendingly dismissive toward the tales, while privately resolving to investigate the "ghost" later.

  Then class got started, and Ivan was paired with a jock named Eric to perform a scene. In a class full of bad actors, Eric was perhaps the worst, reading his lines from the script with no inflection or emotion. Asking the teacher if they might be excused, Ivan took Eric outside for a little talk. By drawing analogies with violent sporting events, he was actually able to get Eric into his character's mindset and delivering the lines with feeling (if not exactly with skill). On their way back into the theater, a door slammed for no apparent reason, and a trepidatious Eric was quick to credit the theater ghost. Ivan again derided the superstition, but definitely planned to return later with Simon and his other friends.

  At lunch, Caitlin conspiratorially asked the others if they could keep a secret. They allowed that they could (while every mage at the table smirked inwardly at the silly mundane). It seemed that Caitlin, as a freshman, was privy to certain secrets about the school that were not generally shared with mere seventh-graders. However, she would break the rule, provided everyone promised never to let word get back to her own classmates that she had done so. So assured, she explained that a network of fallout shelters had been built beneath the various campus buildings in the Fifties. Now abandoned, they were regularly used by upperclass students for all manner of carrying on. The mages at the table decided that the silly mundane might have something going for her after all. Secret underground chambers, unpatrolled and usable for nearly any purpose? This would have to be seen to be believed.

  So, for the remainder of the lunch period, Caitlin showed off the shelter network to her friends. Most of the shelters were seriously filthy, with walls covered in graffiti and ratty mattresses on the floors that were covered in . . . worse. Caitlin pointed out the various hidden entrances, and the means used by students to indicate that a particular shelter's occupants did not wish to be disturbed. She also mentioned which shelters were completely blocked off and hadn't been entered in decades. The mages took special note of those, and Ivan was particularly intrigued to learn that the shelter under the theater building was one of the inaccessible ones.

 After that it was time for afternoon classes, and then the _Faust_ cast had its latest rehearsal. During a scene that did not feature the title character, Ivan was sitting in the auditorium looking for some way to amuse himself. He happened to glance at the doors to the room, and saw an unfamiliar face -- the ghost? -- peering through a windowpane. Dashing to the door, he attempted to corral the mysterious figure, but by the time he got out into the hall, it had seemingly vanished utterly.

  Following the rehearsal, Ivan collected his ghost-hunting team: Simon, who could see the dead; Shannon, the local friendly ghost; Jasmine, who could easily explore the blocked-off shelter beneath the building; and Tyler, as muscle in case the "ghost" turned out to be all too solid. The group converged on the theater building. After an uneventful (but spooky) exploration of the darkened basement costume shop, they heard a noise from the stage area upstairs and headed back up to investigate. Shannon was the first to catch sight of a figure lurking in the rafters; she reported the being as corporeal and apparently unable to see her . . . but still not quite human.

  Attempts by the kids to draw the figure out only made it flee backstage. Pursuing, they found a trapdoor that seemed to lead into the otherwise inaccessible shelter. Jasmine opened her laptop and tried scrying the place, only to find her efforts blocked by a fairly old -- but still quite serviceable -- magickal ward. She wondered aloud if Ivan's dad had used the place for an orgy or something during his long-ago speaking engagement at the school -- which earned Ivan a puzzled look from Simon and Jasmine a glare from Ivan.

  So the group went down the trapdoor and found themselves in front of a rusted-shut door that resembled a submarine hatch -- the entrance to the blocked-off shelter. Neither physical nor magickal attempts to budge the door succeeded. Various magickal senses confirmed, however, that their quarry had come this way and was likely behind the door. They tried once again to reason with the mysterious entity, who finally invited them in provided they sent Simon away. The young medium was only too happy to go, having gotten way beyond his comfort level in dealing with the supernatural. The door then opened to admit the three mages.

  The shelter was obviously a mage's sanctum of some sort. Shelves of books lined the walls, most obscure works of black magick and demonology. Tables were stacked with the remnants of alchemical equipment and other tools of magickal experimentation. And in the center of the room sat their quarry, an attractive young woman in casual modern dress. She introduced herself as Andi, and seemed quite happy to meet a group of "wizards."

  Andi explained that she had been the servant of the magus who had once used the sanctum. She had been told to call him "Master," and knew nothing of his real name or his life outside this room. Some twenty-five years before, the Master had gone away and had never returned. Andi had spent most of the time since in the sanctum, though she could roam the outside world freely and had thereby acquired her clothing and name. What Andi wanted most was to know her own origins. She believed she was a spirit of some sort, ensorceled into a golem body constructed by the Master. Despite a quarter-century of access to the library, she had not yet found the means to escape her captivity -- but then, she was no wizard. Denied Quintessence on which to feed since the Master's departure, Andi had learned to sustain herself on the creative energies produced by students in the theater above and the attached art building. The recent arrival of mages on campus -- especially Ivan, who frequented the theater and occasionally supplemented his acting with empathic magick, providing Andi with a tasty snack -- had piqued her curiosity, inspiring the roamings that had given rise to the "theater ghost" story. Now that she had attracted the local mages' attention, Andi hoped they would be willing to help her rediscover herself and get free. Being naturally helpful and heroic youngsters, the gang agreed to do what they could.

  A search of the library seemed to be the first logical step. Though the books were in no logical order, Tyler and Ivan made good use of entropic magick, pulling random books from the shelves and finding just what they needed. Wanting to narrow down the time of the magus' departure, Tyler sought out the book published most recently; his random choice bore a 1974 copyright. Ivan sought the books which the Master had used to entrap Andi, and got one on the making of golems and another on the ensnaring of spirits. Both were in old, obscure tongues, of which Ivan had only fragmentary knowledge.

  Next, the kids asked Andi what sort of tasks she'd performed for the Master, hoping to ferret out the nature and function of the spirit she had been. Andi said that she'd mostly been employed as a menial servant, but had occasionally been asked to help with the capture, containment, and dissection of other magickal beings. Witnessing or participating in such acts had always disturbed her, which gave her hope that she was not innately of the same evil bent as her former Master.

  The kids realized that additional research and investigation would be needed, and took their leave of Andi for the time being. They promised to get in touch with her once they learned more.

  Meanwhile. . . .

 Vincent White had arrived on the Huntington Academy campus. The offspring of a British father and an Egyptian mother, one an archaeologist and the other an Egyptologist, Vincent had spent his childhood traveling from museum to dig site to museum and so forth. His knowledge of ancient cultures and languages was astounding, but his social skills and appreciation for the normal activities of youth had suffered. A few years back, his parents had tried to give him stability by sending him to live with a grandfather -- who turned out to be a mage. His grandfather had Awakened Vincent and taught him the magickal practices of ancient Egypt. Somewhere along the way, his parents had noticed that their son wasn't exactly becoming more normal, so they decided to try sending him to school in the United States . . . and here he was.

 Finding the boys' dorm, Vincent was met by Nate, a senior and the RA of the seventh-grade floor. Nate showed Vincent to an empty room and invited him to make himself at home. Vincent was glad to see that his late arrival meant he would have no roommate, but he couldn't help but notice that Nate seemed scared to enter the room. Opening his magickal senses, Vincent noted a dark aura about the place -- something evil had dwelt there recently -- and resolved to perform a full-up cleansing ceremony at the first opportunity. He was tired and jetlagged, though, so for the time being, he merely carved a few protective hieroglyphs into the furnishings, and went to bed.

Meanwhile . . . .

 Tyler and Ivan had both taken time out from the Case of the Subterranean Golem to satisfy their carnal urges, while at the same time taking care of situations built up during their trip into the future. Ivan finally had sex with Corinna while both were the same age; since each had recently gotten a lesson in the sensual arts from the other's adult self, the encounter proved most satisfying. At roughly the same time, Tyler managed to bed Caitlin and thereby burn off the suppressed desire he'd built up from having to look at Jasmine's future body. That was quite a vigorous romp, too.

  Next morning, the two couples came to breakfast half asleep, having clearly had more important things than rest to occupy them the night before. Tyler and Ivan exchanged a thumbs-up at their mutual state of Getting Laid, while Mel and Jasmine looked on disapprovingly and planned to have another mutual bitch session in the privacy of their room later. (Mel: "Since the school year started, two different guys have proclaimed their undying love for me. Now I'm single and they're both screwing other people. You wanna know why that is? Because guys suck, that's why.")

  Morning classes followed breakfast as always. Vincent found his way to his art class and was introduced as a new student. Unused to the company of his peers, he tried to avoid conversation by getting deeply involved in work on his latest sculpture, a statuette of the goddess Bast. Unfortunately, his work attracted the attention of a classmate, a sleepy-looking older girl who introduced herself as Caitlin Summers. When asked, Vincent told Caitlin what he was working on, and she seemed to perk up some. (She'd noticed Tyler's Anubis pendant the night before, and figured the new guy might have some interests in common with her boyfriend.) She said she wanted him to meet her friends, and invited him to join their lunch table. Not wanting to seem rude, he agreed.

  So Vincent met the gang at lunch. He was shy and soft-spoken as usual, but explained his discomfort by describing his upbringing. Hearing of Vincent's talent for languages, Ivan wondered if the new kid might be any help in deciphering the books he'd taken from the Master's library. The chances of Vincent's being completely mundane, given his weird-ass background, were low, but none of his comrades had given any signal to indicate that Vincent might be Awake. Ivan decided on a test. He copied out the Hebrew inscription that had been carved into the clay neck of Andi's golem body, and asked Vincent to translate it.

 Vincent took one look at the inscription -- obviously a magickal binding sigil of some sort -- and immediately became curious about these folks he'd fallen in with. When he demanded to know where Ivan had seen the sigil, the other boy grinned (having had his own suspicions confirmed) and suggested that they speak later in private. Realizing that he was likely talking to another mage, Vincent agreed.

  Later, after classes had ended, Ivan decided to visit Vincent, who had moved into the old Bryce/Mefford room. Getting no response to his knocks (but knowing that Vincent was inside), Ivan picked the lock . . . and got a bit of a surprise. A brazier burned in the room. Hieroglyphs were carved or painted on various surfaces. Vincent himself was sitting on the floor, clad in ceremonial Egyptian garb, with the implements of his craft laid out neatly before him. He was in meditation and did not seem to have noticed the intrusion. Clearly Ivan had interrupted a ceremony of some sort. Magely etiquette dictated that he leave quietly -- but Ivan had never been one for magely etiquette. He found a seat and waited for Vincent to finish.

  Some time later, Vincent completed his ritual and opened his eyes to find Ivan sitting there. Shocked and offended, he threatened violence if Ivan ever did such a thing again. Though he made it clear that he considered the response an overreaction, Ivan did apologize, and introduced himself (by his real surname, which Vincent of course recognized). He confirmed that several of his friends were also mages, and mentioned that their little cabal had recently unearthed a mystery that Vincent's talents might help to solve. Vincent was intrigued, and Ivan laid out for him the troubles of Andi the golem. Vincent agreed to try his hand at translating the books Ivan had retrieved from the library, and was interested in seeing the rest of the collection when time permitted.

  That accomplished, Ivan next visited the school library and found the yearbooks from the 1970s. Andi's Master had likely been someone connected with the school, probably a faculty member. Comparing the 1974 and 1975 yearbooks, he found one teacher who had left the school between the two years. Checking obits under the man's name, he found that the fellow had been fatally struck by lightning -- a magickal strike by a rival sorcerer? Quite possibly. The In Memoriam section of the '75 yearbook noted that three students had died together in a fire around the same time. The Master's cult? Just maybe. He copied the pictures of the four to show to Andi.

  Ivan then called Jasmine and asked her to research his suspect more thoroughly, just in case the guy had killed his own lackeys, faked his demise, and was still out there somewhere. He also wanted her to snoop into Vincent's background. He offered to pay her for the work in ice-cream sandwiches, a currency which Jasmine found acceptable. Unfortunately, when Ivan showed up with the frozen treats, Jasmine had only negative results to report. The deceased teacher and students seemed Really Most Sincerely Dead. There were no mysterious younger relatives or other indications that the Master might have body-hopped. Even looking for rumors of occult activity on the part of the dead folks had produced nothing substantial. As for Vincent, his full school records were still in transit from overseas; she could find nothing on him that they didn't already know. Ivan decided to delay visiting Andi again until they had more tangible results, perhaps from Vincent's translation work, and returned to his room to puzzle over the mystery.

  Later that evening, Vincent visited the art building so that he could work on his sculpture in the solitude he preferred. He immersed himself in his work -- and a bit later, for the second time in one day, was unpleasantly surprised to look up and find someone else looking back. It was Andi, attracted by the presence and creative energy of another "wizard." The golem apologized for the intrusion on Vincent's privacy, but he graciously invited her to stay and watch him work. They sat in silence for a long time, until Vincent's scholarly curiosity overcame his shyness and he began asking Andi questions about herself. Getting much the same answers the other kids had gotten, he hypothesized that Andi's original form was some kind of guardian Earth spirit. He wasn't sure how to get her out of the golem body, but did have one additional line of inquiry to pursue -- though it would require Andi to strip. She did so, and as he had suspected, Vincent found a whole row of sigils inscribed down her spine. Some were binding inscriptions like the one on her neck, while others seemed to be there to enforce her amnesia about her origins. Figuring out how to remove those sigils safely would clearly be a key element of any effort to free her. After that, Vincent returned to his sculpture, and Andi continued to watch him. She didn't bother to put her clothes back on, but did ask if Vincent would procure her some additional things to wear and bring them the next time he visited. He was happy to comply.

  Several hours later, Vincent finally felt sleep beckoning, and headed back to the dorm. On the way to his room, he heard muffled sounds of a struggle from behind one room's door. One of the roommates seemed to be having a particularly violent nightmare, and the other was desperately trying to get him to calm down and snap out of it. Finally the door opened and a grim Tyler emerged, wearing only a trenchcoat over boxers. He made for the exit stairs without a word. Brandon, peeking his head out of the room, was surprised to see Vincent there, and tried to downplay the situation. Vincent was intrigued, however, and followed Tyler out into the cold night. His spiritual senses told him that the other boy was in the grip of a serious battle against the darkness within his own soul. From the Anubis pendant, Vincent guessed Tyler's affiliation with the Euthanatos, and surmised correctly that his new acquaintance had recently been slapped across the face with the real meaning of his role as one of the holy assassins of the magickal community. When asked, Tyler confirmed these impressions (in a curt and distracted way), and Vincent resolved to help the other boy if he could.

  Around that time, Ivan showed up outside, having been awakened by the noise earlier. Noticing that Tyler wasn't really dressed for the weather, Ivan suggested that the other two come back inside and join him in his room for hot chocolate. They were amenable. Vincent stopped by his room to brew up a different kind of drink, a sort of contrast dye for the soul that would help him more precisely diagnose Tyler's problems. The stuff was foul, but Tyler was willing to try anything that might help tame his demons -- and Ivan was on hand with plenty of hot chocolate to wash it down.

  Soon the boys' conversation turned to the mystery of Andi and the subterranean library. Ivan and Vincent both reported their findings from earlier in the day, and the three tried again to puzzle out Andi's origins. More than once, she'd mentioned her aversion to the more evil doings of the Master, so she likely wasn't a demon. Vincent's hypothesis that Andi was an Earth elemental had been based on the clay body, but that seemed to be more the means of her imprisonment rather than any clue to her true nature. Suddenly Ivan was struck with a hunch: Andi was clearly no demon, but what if she were a member of the *other* celestial court? What more devoted servant could one have -- and what more deliciously ironic choice for a black magician to enslave -- than an honest-to-Divine-Goodness angel?

  Once the thought had entered their heads, the boys couldn't wait to test the hypothesis. They would visit the library immediately. Tyler called and woke the girls, who quickly recovered from their initial sleepy grouchiness when told the plan. (Mel, in particular, was fascinated with the idea of possibly meeting an angel, and gladly agreed to donate the clothing Andi had requested of Vincent.) Everyone got dressed, and shortly thereafter they were again knocking on Andi's door.

  The golem was thrilled to hear that they might have a solution to her captivity. Shown the yearbook photos Ivan had gathered, she confirmed that the deceased teacher was the Master, and the three students apprentices of his. Then the gang got to work combing the library for books containing lists of angelic names; finding Andi's true name would no doubt be a key part of any ritual designed to call her forth from her prison. After listening to Vincent and Ivan recite numerous lists in Hebrew, Latin, Arabic, and Enochian with no recognition, Andi finally perked up at the mention of the Hebrew name "Andrael." (Explained her choice of human name, anyway.)

  Deciding to assume they had the right name, Ivan and Vincent next worked together, combining their own background knowledge with the library's resources to construct a serviceable ritual of unbinding. Meanwhile, the other three sat along the wall, impressed with the scholarly Brits' erudition but starting to feel rather ignorant as the magickal jargon grew thicker and thicker. Tyler, at least, got something to look at when Vincent had Andi take her clothes off again so that he and Ivan could study the sigils running down her spine. Vincent prepared a circle around Andi, setting out candles and other accoutrements, while Ivan cobbled together an incantation that he hoped would work. Shortly, thereafter, the girls got an eyeful when *Vincent* stripped naked for the ritual. (Get the boy caught up in Business, and that shyness goes away real quick, it would appear.)

  Then it was time for the ceremony to commence. Ivan intoned his invocation, pausing at significant points while Vincent carefully erased each of the inscriptions on Andi's body in sequence. The golem seemed to be in increasing pain as this continued, but she insisted that the boys finish the ritual. At last, Ivan called out his final command to the spiritual forces, and while Andi steeled herself for whatever came next, Vincent wiped away the final sigil.

  A brilliant flare of light filled the room, blinding the kids for several minutes. When they could see again, Andi -- no, make that Andrael -- stood before them, wearing a semblance of her golem body but still glimmering with divine radiance. At Vincent's suggestion -- and much to Ivan's chagrin -- she annihilated all the most depraved books in the library's collection with a single gesture. Then she thanked the assembled young mages for their help, and offered each a small token of divine gratitude. Mel seemed to be in a state of religious ecstasy, and was far too distracted to choose a gift for herself, so the angel announced that she alone would remember Andrael's true name, and could call upon her if necessary in the future. Vincent, the gifted linguist, asked for knowledge of the angelic tongue; while no human mind could comprehend the real thing, Andrael did grant him immediate and full apprehension of Enochian, the closest human equivalent. After asking a few pointed questions to be sure he wasn't signing up for divine service, Ivan asked for the gift of discipline, and was told that the angel would provide the seeds, but he would have to develop and strengthen the virtue on his own. Andrael already knew what Tyler wanted most, and while she couldn't simply eliminate his troubles, she did bestow on him the strength to battle his demons on more even ground. Seeing the relieved look on Tyler's face, Jasmine allowed that she had already received her gift, as well. With a final beatific smile for her benefactors, Andrael faded away.

 Afterward, the kids decided to work on making what remained of the library into *their* sanctum. But for the moment, it was time to return to blessed sleep. Then they realized, amid much groaning, that it was already morning and nearly time for classes to start.

 And so we leave our sleepy Awakened . . . and there's the first of my "catch-up" summaries. Next, sessions 13a and 13b, as the kids find themselves beset with Techno troubles and aided by some unexpected new allies.