The Gray Area || Korrasami - The Legend of Korra

Back up Plans

I spent the better half of the evening walking around the dorms, making a brief map, marking down routes to move through quickly and to reach my room.

While I had received a map of the campus, they unfortunately did not have a map of the dormitory itself, and the easiest way for me to get around this problem was to create my own map. 

I reached the top floor and realized that the terrace was perpetually locked, making it impossible to travel in and out via that route. And even though the dorm was shaped like a doughnut (the only thing I could think of to describe the shape), with a really big space in the centre for a lawn, the top of the dorm was covered with, what potentially looked like a really thin metallic net with holes that let sunlight in, but not large enough for a person to squeeze in and out of. 

I remember reading it somewhere that the net once had live electricity going through it, to prevent anyone from sneaking in and climbing down from the top. Unfortunately, it also meant that it became extremely dangerous during sudden downpours, and they eventually had to shut down the electricity for the safety of the students. 

Duh!

This led to them increasing the security significantly in the dorms. Any use of Bending post curfew that occurred outside of the dorm rooms, instantly triggered security to arrive at the spot, preventing any potential attacks. After all, we were part of the future!

The dorms were also located on top of a small hill, which made the students travel to and fro from the campus to the dorm, having to exercise and build their muscles over time.

All this to say that if I wanted to protect the city at night, I had 2 potential options of entry, with my current bending skills, if I was ever caught outside the dorms post-midnight - 

1. Figure out a route from my room's window to the streets below, via the hill, which I will have to trek in the middle of the night, with low visibility. This could be a tad bit dangerous, especially if I have had a fight where I am injured. However, it was the safest route without me getting caught, either by Asami or other officials. I would have to track Asami's sleep patterns and keep my windows open at all times to ensure that no one gets suspicious.

2. Create a tunnel from the bottom of the hill to one of the sheds in the back of the dorms. This will get me in and out as quickly as possible, unless they find out the secret tunnel, I will be safe. Only issues? 

I will have to figure out the best structurally sound way to build out the tunnel as well as ensure that I do it in a way without getting caught by security. And that wasn't even the difficult part!

I will have to depend on Asami to open the dorm door after midnight. Even if I used the key, the door would make significant noise and could lead to Asami finding me out. Which means, that if she catches me, I am kicked out. I know I have 6 chances for that to happen, but considering the rocky start to our friendship, I doubt she would give me, a bender, the benefit of the doubt. Sneaking in through the window is the safer option for the time being.

The university did have an option where you can stay outside the dorm but with prior permission, in which case they are not responsible for your safety. If you do happen to stay outside without prior permission, you have to call in and let them know as soon as you can, to ensure that they don't set up a search party for you.

Yeahhhhh, they took security seriously here.

Which would make things difficult for me.

All this along with setting up other provisions. 

I had to call up the restaurant I was working at that I could no longer pull night shifts, and now could only do evening shifts from 4 to 10. That left me with only 2 hours of patrolling every night, before heading back to the dorm.

I also had to create a mini cave near the river where I burnt the letter. The cave had to be well hidden with boulders around it to make it look natural.

Internally though, I had to start setting up my current equipment, any weapons I had, an extra set of clothes, first aid kits for big injuries, and dried food and water to heal the small ones. I also had to ensure that I had enough space to practice my bending, especially water bending, on a regular basis. 

The dorms did have a gym where people could work out, which I plan on doing daily, but I needed a safe space to practice the other elements, aka earth and water. 

This would potentially take a few days to set up, if not a few weeks, but there was no rush to make it perfect. 

Perfection was stupid, and I realised long ago that it was better to take it one step at a time than bend over backwards trying to make sure everything was perfect.

Now all that was left to do was set these things up, and head to dinner.

Where Asami, Mako, and Bolin were waiting for you at the dorms. Freshening up quickly, I get ready to head out, the allure of a warm dinner surrounded by people who could potentially become my friends, pulling me towards the canteen.