The Theory Of Knowledge (And How To Lose All Your Friends)

Chapter 8: Caramel Slices... Oh and Also, We're All Gonna Die

[y/n's POV]

"Something on your mind?"

Y/n only then realized that they had been staring into the distance - and turned around to see Mike, who had wheeled his chair over to their desk.

"It's nothing," y/n replied.

"Is it those messages that Peicheng was sending?" Mike suggested.

"It isn't that-"

"Wait a minute, where is he?"

Two vacant seats loomed at the back of the table, which were usually occupied by Peicheng and Jayden, which would explain the eerie silence of the classroom - an unusual occurrence during an early morning TOK period. Y/n did not want to reveal what they'd seen that morning, but Mike's almost hypnotically unwavering glance invoked them to respond with the truth.

"Jayden killed him."

"What?"

"I don't know, I didn't see it. But he had blood on his shirt and..."

"He always said that he wanted to kill him, but man..."

"Wait, he actually did it?!" Jax interjected from across the room.

Dr Kemp beckoned for silence and Jax stopped talking, before he continued with his lecture. Or at least y/n thought it was another lecture, until he said something that induced the interests of every student in the room.

"I'd also like to announce something very important." He began.

Heads turned like seagulls to a caramel slice being brandished from a jacket pocket. The sound of moving fabric emanated among the crowd - a sound which y/n always found amusing due to its synchronized nature. This time, however, y/n had their attention focused on Dr Kemp's speech.

"Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I am required to step down from my position as Head of the Theory of Knowledge department."

A wave of shock swept the room - y/n expected to hear some gasps of surprise from the students, but the silence which followed said more about what everyone was thinking. If anyone hadn't been paying attention from the opening line of Dr Kemp's soliloquy, they definitely were now. Y/n, at the sight of all the pairs of eyes focused on Dr Kemp in a display of unbroken attention couldn't help but be reminded of the opening shot of Children of Men, which they had studied in English. Y/n was still thinking about the movie when Dr Kemp continued his speech.

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to return, but if there's anything that you should know in my absence, it's that..."

He paused and briefly scanned his left and right, as if some entity was watching him.

"Things are changing. I... there's something unexplainable - something uncanny that... I don't know, but... something bad is coming, and I'm afraid you may not be able to deal with it on your own."

Murmurs began to circulate across the room of students - no, Knowers (as Dr Kemp had always referred to them as). A similar sound would resonate across the thousands of students in the auditorium after being shushed, before crescendoing to feral chatter. This time was no different - the whole class broke into confused conversation.

"What the hell is going on?!" Jax was the first to say anything.

"Shut up." Mike interrupted in a sharp but quiet voice. "This is what Jayden was always talking about."

"About the headmasters wanting to silence the IB people?" y/n added.

"Nah that guy was crazy... are you forgetting he literally killed someone?!" Jax responded.

"Shut up!" Mike repeated. "Yeah, I don't know what's going on either, but I think Jayden might have been onto something."

"Or on something." Jax jested.

"What's this 'bad' thing that Kemp was talking about?" y/n asked.

"Jayden would always say something about the school headmasters or the CAS trying to silence the 'growth of knowledge' or whatever, but I don't know anymore than you do." Mike replied.

Y/n thought about the image of Jayden again - standing there... blood on his arms like a reddish tattoo. They didn't want to think that he was right... their trust for him had been tainted like his skin had been.

"I know that you might be feeling a lotta different things right now, but I think you should talk to him." Mike continued. "He never listens to me but he seems to listen to you."

"I don't trust him, not anymore." Mike's piercing eyes had once again forced the truth from them.

"He's probably crying in his apartment right now or something - he probably feels as disgusted as you. He always wanted to feel like people cared and wanted him to be better, but he didn't want to listen. If you talk to him, maybe you can get him to help us figure out just what the hell is going on."

"Yeah man," Jax said, "if anyone's gonna know what's going on, it'd be Jayden. I swear before he went totally nuts he used to be as sweet as-"

"Caramel." Y/n finished his sentence.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Wait a minute," Mike started, "where'd he go?!"

The whole class ceased their conversations and turned to the front of the room. Dr Kemp was nowhere to be seen. He had disintegrated in the chaos that had been left in his wake. Y/n couldn't help but feel as if this bad thing that Dr Kemp had talked about was already starting to creep in.