Playing her way - Chapter 4

© 2014 D.L.

It was with some trepidation that Emily followed Anna down the corridor. It was Thursday and they had just finished supper. They now had a club or activity slot before the evening prep period.

"Where are we going?" Emily asked, "I don't like surprises."

"Don't worry; we are simply going to Mr Connors classroom to watch some videos. It’s a small club and you have already met all the girls who are going to be there. He supervises what we watch while marking coursework. You'll enjoy it, it will be both entertaining and educational."

Emily was busy imagining some awful edutainment as she entered the room.

What she was not expecting was the normal chairs and tables to have been moved back to allow room for a collection of bean bags to be scattered around. She immediately recognised the two bean bags from her room. Her own was rather plain in appearance, while Anna's had been embroidered with several large daffodils. It appeared that each girl had their own personalised bean bag. She had see several girls walking around with them over the past couple of days and wondered what was going on. She knew that the girls often grouped together in their rooms and had assumed that some took their bean bags with them so they had something to sit on. Wendy had popped by earlier asking to borrow the two bean bags from her room.

Emily had suspected a set up.

The final clue as to what they would be watching was provided by a very excited Jane bouncing up and down in an electric blue wig and a black t-shirt with a full moon across the chest.

"I thought you would be in pigtails today," Jessica said to Jane as she walked in behind Emily and Anna, “After all that is what Jenny was sporting in London."

"I was going to, but Mrs Appleby wouldn't let me dye my hair the right colour, so I decided to stick to this," Jane replied.

Emily took a seat on her bean bag between Wendy and Anna, as the familiar rendition Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement played on electric guitar filled the room.

"Good evening, Moonlighters, Generation2K here again," Emily heard her own slightly distorted voice ring out around the room as she watched the other girls stare intently at the screen.

"Welcome to another episode on the Moonlight server. I know most of you were expecting another pre-recorded episode of Theme Hospital. That will now be tomorrow. I wasn't sure if I would even be able to record at school, so this is mainly a test video to see how well things are working. I must thank the Head and my House mistress for arranging for me to have a place to record. Only a couple of the students here know my identity, and I would like to keep it that way if possible. If you suspect I'm going to your school, please keep it to yourself. I don't want to be the cause of discomfort for anybody wrongly accused of being me. You all know my views on bullying, so I won't talk about that again."

"This is mostly going to be a caving episode. I need to restock my redstone supply after using it up helping The Viking Man set up the automatic sugar cane and cactus farm. I know we will probably have an infinite supply once the witch farm is operational, but Tango is still sorting out the item elevators and sorting mechanism."

Speaking of Mr Viking, I must thank him for what happened yesterday. At least its yesterday for me, you might not see this for another day or two, depending on if I can get the video rendered and uploaded. The server ping isn't too bad. It’s not as fast as at home. It’s enough for playing online, but I don't think the connection will cope with uploading, at least during the week. I don't plan on doing any streaming anyway as that is not an issue. While I can disappear for an hour, my fellow students might become suspicious if I vanish for several hours coinciding with a live stream.

Anyway, if I have bandwidth issues I can pop the video on a DVD and post it to my cousin for her to upload. Never underestimate the bandwidth of a Royal Mail van.

Those of you who follow my tweets will know I made an appearance at Liverpool Street station. I'm sorry I couldn't talk too many of you; I was a bit worried about homophobic reactions so was a bit cautious. Thankfully my worries turned out to be unfounded, so next time I might actually stop to chat. I'll have to check the dates, but I might be able to attend the Minecraft convention this year in London. I did attend last time it was here, but that was before I joined the Moonlighters and I was just another anonymous face in the crowd. As my regulars will know, I won a competition to be a guest of honour at a pre-panel dinner with the other Moonlighters, and it was there that I hit it off with the others and they decided to risk letting me on their server. If it not being for them already knowing they were going to be starting again with a new world a few weeks afterwards, they wouldn't have let me on. Luckily for me they decided to let me stay beyond the reset, and the rest is history.

"So, anyway, back to yesterday. I want to thank the musicians. In no particular order we have, Jonathan, Edward, PD496, Abby, Xylophone girl, Chioma, I hope I said that right, Jessica, Mandy, Tom, Rocker449 and Smithy. Viking man was also there and spoke with some of the fans on my behalf. Special shout outs go to Buzzbee, MQc567, Shiran, DocZee, MissQ, CutieKitten, EmilyB, and Panther."

Emily silently giggled to herself as Jane squealed and bounced at the mention of her name. The other girls had also reacted, but not as much.

"I also want to apologise to the group of school girls in light blue uniforms; especially the tall one with the short hair who looked particularly embarrassed. Everybody was on the lookout for boys dressed as school girls, so if I made any of you uncomfortable I'm sorry, and I hope my tweets cleared up any confusion. Two of those girls I've already mentioned, as they were playing instruments, and because of that I know which school they are from. If anybody is watching from that institution, I arranged it so that my website will issue vouchers to anybody using a student or teacher email address from there."

The conversation on screen was interrupted by a large green shape falling into shot on the far left of the screen. Jenny barely had time to block before the creature exploded sending her flying into a lava pool, sending her health bar tumbling. The player on screen acted out of instinct and instantly selected the splash potion of fire resistance on the hot bar, smashing it on the ground as she climbed out of the deadly liquid.

A slow motion instant replay followed.

"Wow, half a heart. That was close. I'm going to pause for a moment to catch my breath and recover some HP. I'll be back after a commercial break. Good luck with the random number generator; hopefully it isn't one you've seen a thousand times before."

Most of the eyes in the room had fallen on a very embarrassed Wendy.

"Wait; was the tall embarrassed one you?" Anna asked.

"Who else do you know who was at the station that fits that description," Wendy replied, "I had no idea that was going to happen, the first I heard was when Jessica pulled her phone out and showed the tweet."

"Well, Svetlana is also tall and often looks embarrassed to be with us, although I don't think we arrived until after Jenny had gone," Anna replied.

"Svetlana looks more disgusted than embarrassed," Wendy countered.

"Disgusting more like," Abby added.

"No name calling please, even if it is for the Ice Queen" Mr Connor interrupted, having paused the video at the end of the advert seeing Wendy's distress.

Emily couldn't help but laugh, drawing the attention of the other girls, "isn’t that like the pot calling the kettle black? How come you get to call her names and we don't?"

"Because she gave permission for the name to be used," Anna replied, "being compared to royalty sits well with her vanity."

Mr Connor gave a brief reminder on the bullying policy, mainly for Emily's benefit. He felt the need to make sure the new student was aware of the rules, something of which he shouldn't need to remind the existing students.

The video resumed to a short montage of sped up footage of Jenny running back to base, depositing the collected resources into chests, and repairing her tools, weapons and armour, that had taken damage. The montage ended with the run back to the cave currently being explored.

"Welcome back, I decided to take the time to run back to base to clear my inventory, and my armour was almost on the point of breaking, especially the legs, as they have fire resistance, so took the brunt of the lava damage. Now I said previously that I didn't know how well I could record at school, and this is a test of the setup I now have. I have reviewed the footage, especially the sound, and everything seems fine. I was worried about the possibilities of echo's or picking up background sounds. One worry I had, was if I could be overheard by other students, but I had a friend stand outside the door listening to me talk, and as long as I don't shout, you can't hear me.

The next few minutes of narration continued to describe the new bedroom. While a lot of the details were true, many things had been changed to prevent Emily being found out. The most significant was stating that as a male student, she had a room to herself for obvious reasons. This was no longer the case for Emily. Also, she led her audience to believe she was recording in her room. She had actually been assigned to one of the soundproof solo practice booths in the music department. Her cover was that she was learning to play the guitar, which was true. However, she was more proficient than what was being let on, and didn't need as much practice time as allotted.

"Now I know from the comments on previous videos that a lot of you are wondering how I would be able to record without others finding out. The answer is simple; there is a slot on the timetable for personal activities. Each student gets time during the day for pursuing personal interests. It generally has to be something educational or worthwhile. Foreign students can have extra English lessons, while the native English speakers can learn languages not on the main schedule. A lot of girls have music lessons, either as part of an orchestra, or individual music tuition. Some go in for acting or additional sports. I've signed up for elocution lessons, so if I start talking with a posh accent, that will be why. I think one of the teachers is even offering lessons in Klingon if enough girls are interested.

"Some of my activity slots have been designated as recording sessions for YouTube, although they are listed as organ practice on my timetable.

"That is something I will need to get used to. I've always had the flexibility to record when I feel like it, although in reality I often used to time my recording sessions to when my parents were out of the house and couldn’t hear me. My time now is much more controlled than before. Last term I used to try and get all my homework done during school time, spending as little time as possible on it. I would then do recording as soon as I got home, as I would have about an hour and a half before my parents got in from work. I would then spend the evenings doing my editing and off-camera work, and then finish off any leftover homework.

"My day is now a lot more structured. There are dedicated slots in the evening reserved for doing homework. There is very little time to go off and be by yourself. Even during the few hours of free time, you are encouraged to be engaging in group activities. I knew this before I came here, but it is still a culture shock to be here.

"In many respects this is a good thing. The reason I wanted to go to an all-girls school was to see if I fitted in as a girl. I have always felt more feminine than masculine, but the whole gender issue is always something that bothered me. Am I genuinely transgendered, or am I just imagining it? This is the acid test. If I can cope here, and actually fit in with my peers without appearing strange or out of place, then I can confidently say I'm a girl. That is why I don't want the other girls to know about me. I want to be accepted at face value, not have the nagging doubt that they are only humouring my presence.

"Some of the girls have been coming here for years, but already I seem to fit in, and honestly, I think for the first time in my life I'm making friends without having to constantly worry about saying the wrong thing. I can be as tomboyish as I like and get away with it, and I can let myself be as girly as I like and nobody is going to think it odd.

"Anyway, I need to head back to base and bring this video to an end. I'm due back in class in ten minutes so need to get a move on. I'll have to see how well this new schedule works out, as I have very little time for recording. I certainly don't have hours I can spend playing off camera getting ready to record like I normally do, so I may end up doing a lot of videos like this where I'm just pottering about talking. I'm probably not going to be able to do any collabs either, as scheduling will be a nightmare. I did get to participate in the new series of Ultra Hard Core. It was filmed in one session last Saturday and episodes of that will be released over the next three weeks, I think the first one is due out on Friday. I also have a challenge map recorded with Tango and Viking that we will upload after UHC has finished airing. I have plenty of pre-recorded episodes to keep my channel going for the next month or two, so you will have plenty to watch.

"So, from the Moonlight server, this is Jenny wishing you all a good night, and don't let the bed bugs bite!"

~o~O~o~

Susan was suspicious. It was nearly lunch time on Friday and she had yet to hear anything from her Aunt and Uncle. When they had stormed out the night before with the impression that their son was in Taunton, she expected them to come back either that evening, or first thing in the morning.

With her phone confiscated, she couldn't contact Emily to warn her of the situation. She had rectified that first thing this morning by sending an email using the school computers. She had warned Emily that her parents were back and on the warpath, but not to worry as the situation was under control. Susan didn't feel in control. In fact she was concerned that something may be happening.

Half an hour before, Tim had been called to the office. She had also seen David walk past her classroom door a few minutes later. She didn't think it coincidence that the two people Jason regarded as friends were called to the office in such a short time span.

It was no surprise when the school secretary came to the classroom door, and requested that Susan accompany her to the office. Collecting her things, she packed her bag and started to follow the older women to the front of the school.

Entering the headmaster’s office as instructed she found four people waiting for her. Sat round a small coffee table were a female police officer and her uncle. The headmaster was sat at his desk and her mother was sat off to one side, presumably to act as witness but not taking part in the conversation.

"Susan, I'm PC Clarkson," the police officer introduced herself. "I'm sure you know why you have been called here."

"Yes, my aunt and uncle have forgotten to which school they have sent my cousin, and I'm guessing they haven't remembered yet. I'm surprised Aunt Marilyn isn't here actually."

"Your aunt is waiting at home manning the phone in case Jason calls home," her uncle answered.

"Why would you be expecting a phone call during school hours? It is technically possible to phone at morning break or lunch, but it’s not really practical for holding a long conversation as there isn't time," Susan asked.

Arnold was about to speak, but the officer signalled him to remain quiet.

"Susan, Jason is now classified as a missing person. I am trying to ascertain what has happened to him, and you seem to be the only person to know his whereabouts. If you know where he is, now is the time to start explaining what is going on. If you refuse to co-operate then I may have to charge you for obstruction of justice. Where is he?"

Susan checked her watch, it was nearly noon, "At this precise moment I believe he is in Mr Jennings' Science class."

"Which school?"

"The one he," Susan pointed to her uncle," signed the paperwork for."

"I have the supposed confirmation letter from the school here," the officer stated, "I have reason to believe it is fake. The logo appears to have been altered, and the return address is missing. Also, this is not the logo for St. Mary's."

Susan looked at the paperwork. Being familiar with the logos of both the schools in question, she could easily see how the letter had been changed.

"Actually, I've seen the original. That is the correct logo, but some parts of it have been redacted, along with the address, as you mentioned. You will note that this is a general circular letter that all parents and guardians receive, reminding them of the term dates. There is actually another letter that would have addressed acceptance in more detail."

"We have spoken to your previous school and the Local Education Authority. According to them, Jason is being home schooled," the officer stated.

"Did Uncle Arnold not explain that? When it was originally decided that the situation at his previous school had become unreasonable, they signed the paperwork to remove him from school while they worked out where they transfer him too. My uncle wasn't keen on the idea of having to find a new school, so left it up to Jason to do the leg work researching his own schooling. However, Jason's preferred option was rejected, and instead it was decided to send him to St. Mary's. The application was made and accepted. I guess there has been a delay in getting the paperwork up to date with the L.E.A."

"This is where we have a problem with what you are telling us. Jason is not at St. Mary's."

"You think I'm lying? How do you know he is not at St. Mary's? Have you considered that he might not be registered under the same name? Simply asking the school might not be enough to find him."

"Do I take it from that he is using another name? After speaking to your previous school, we travelled to St. Mary's and spoke to them. We took photos with us, to make sure. None of the students or teachers had seen him. We also did the same at the Taunton International School."

Susan chuckled. "Now it is my turn to have a problem with what I'm being told. It is not physically possible for you have to been to all three schools this morning. The earliest you could have spoken to anybody in Westbury is eight o'clock this morning when the school first opened its doors. Assuming you were only there for a few minutes, even if your squad car is a Bugatti Veyron, I don't think you can make a four hundred mile round trip in the space of a little over three and three quarter hours. The journey takes at least four hours by car, one way, and I happen to know that there is major road works en-route. That doesn't even take into account taking a detour to Taunton for the school you mentioned there, which would be in the opposite direction and add at least another two hours."

Silence filled the room as Susan's declaration sank in.

"Looking at Google," the headmaster stated, having called the site up on his computer, "There are quite a lot St Mary's around the country. Ignoring schools that obviously cater for the lower ages only, I'm seeing possible candidates in Cambridge, Ascot, Hampstead, Chesthunt in Hertfordshire, one in North East Derbyshire, Colchester in Essex, Wymondham in Norfolk, Croydon, Maidenhead, Hull, somewhere in Lancashire and the list goes on. There are plenty more. We can obviously ignore the Girl's schools and concentrate on the co-ed and Boy's schools, but even then, there are a lot to choose from. Mary is probably the most popular saint to name things after."

"It is a bit confusing, isn't it," Susan declared, "With so many schools with similar names; I can see how easy it is to get them in a muddle. Especially if the brochures and forms get mixed up and you don't read the paperwork properly before signing it, something Uncle Arnold has done on many occasions. Really, you should have learned to read things properly by now. Is the deed poll changing your name to Mickey Mouse still up on the wall at work?"

Susan grinned at her uncle before adding, "Jason filled the forms in and placed them on Uncle Arnold’s desk to be signed, which he did. Jason didn't need to forge any signatures; he simply put the form alongside the brochure for the St Mary's in Taunton, with the form opened to the right place to be signed. As far as the school is concerned, Jason is attending with full parental permission. It might take you a while, but you now have enough information to find him without further help from me. However, I would be perfectly happy to tell you exactly which school, but before I do that I want to know what you plan on doing with the information."

"Our primary concern is Jason's safe return home. It may be he can continue at this school, if it can be ascertained that his placement is genuine and his parents agree," the constable declared.

"It can't be genuine, Jason can't afford to pay the school fees for a start," Arnold stated.

"That is complete bullshit," Susan replied, her swearing shocking the adults. "Look, I'm not going to deny it was a struggle to raise the funds, and it’s not one hundred percent certain if the fees for next term can be met, but Jason isn't as poor as being made out. He is independently wealthy and not financially dependent on his parents. Unfortunately he isn't old enough for legal emancipation by the courts; otherwise the application would have already been made. Also, I have serious concerns of Jason's safety. I don't think his parents would directly attempt to harm him, but he is already exhibiting all the signs of clinical depression, and if that buffoon storms into the place causing a scene, then we could easily have a suicide on our hands. At least at the moment Jason is never alone, and while not an official suicide watch, it’s unlikely he would be able to make an attempt without being noticed. Uncle Arnold, have you told the police why Jason has reason to run away? If you know anything about your only child, it would be easy to work out which school in the correct one."

"That is no way to talk about your uncle," Molly called over to her daughter. She could see her brother-in-law getting annoyed, and although Susan was in some ways correct, it was still rude on her part.

"I simply want my son back, safely, and hopefully without massive debts from whatever stunt he's pulling."

PC Clarkson then suggested, "Susan, you obviously know how to contact Jason. Can we at least establish he is safe and well be getting him to contact us. Perhaps, if we can speak to him, then we can persuade him to come home."

Susan looked at her watch again, "Jason's timetable is slightly different to this school. His lunch period will start at 12:40. If I email him now, it might be possible for him to phone, of even video conference, before he heads to the canteen. The boarders usually dump their books back in their lodgings before heading for lunch, and Jason is in the habit of checking for messages. I'll need an internet connection to access my web mail."

The headmaster offered the use of his computer. Susan went to his desk and called up her Gmail account. She quickly penned a note to Jason, including the phone number the head gave her.

Subject: Proof of life required.
Hi Jason,
I'm in my headmaster’s office with a police constable and your father. They would like proof that you are safe and well. If you get this before lunch, can you phone us immediately on the number below? It is direct dial through to us.
Thanks.
Love Susan.

The police officer noted down the email addresses in use, and then stepped out of the office to make a call to the station while they waited for the message to be received. Susan asked to be excused, and was told she could use the disabled bathroom opposite the office, usually reserved for specific students. The adults suspected she may try to contact Jason by other means, so made her leave her schoolbag behind, in case she had a second phone.

Susan did have a backup pay as you go phone in her locker, but didn't bother to sneak away to use it. She knew she didn't need too. Simply by using the name Jason, she was indicating that the communication wasn't secure. The fact the adults had let her explain the situation in her note was an added bonus.

The five people reconvened in the office to wait to see if there would be a call. All eyes were on the clock. Susan explained that it may take a couple of minutes for Jason to get back to the room and respond to the message. If they didn't get a call before ten to one, then chances are he would have gone straight to lunch and may not pick up the message for another half an hour.

At exactly 12:42, the phone started to ring. The head had a special phone designed for sitting in the middle of a table for use at teleconferences. The device didn't have a handset, and instead was a large circular device with a speaker in the top and several direction microphones.

Susan pressed the button to answer the call, and said, "Hello".

"Hello, please may I speak to Susan Bishop, this is her cousin, I had a message to call her on this number," came a familiar voice from the other end. Susan noted that he didn't say his name. She realised that might mean he was worried about being overheard at his end.

"Hi Jason, this is Susan. I'm here with a PC Clarkson and your father. They want to speak to you."

"Hi, I've only got a few minutes before I need to be in the canteen, so I probably can't answer many questions."

"Hi Jason," Arnold stated.

"Hi Dad, I guess you haven't completely disowned me yet, so I might be able to come home for half term. Has Susan told you where I am yet?"

"Jason, this is Constable Clarkson with the Wiltshire Police. Susan tells us you are a four hour drive away at one of the many schools called, St. Mary's. Are you willing to tell us which one?"

"I'm willing to tell you where I am. Dad, I'll tell you if you promise not to go ballistic, and more importantly, not jump in your car and insist you drive straight over here to collect me. If not, then I'm not saying anything further until Susan confirms that you are out of the room. The national newspapers are already camping outside the school gates due to one of the other students. If you cause a scene, it will be on the front of the tabloid newspapers come the morning. I suggest you take my request seriously. I know how much Mum hates making a fuss."

"Ok, I promise to discuss things before doing anything rash. Besides which I don't fancy an eight hour round trip. I didn't get much sleep last night, wondering where you were."

There was a pause while everyone waited for the response from the other end of the line.

"I'm at St. Mary's Academy in Windham. Please don't try to contact the school, as I'm here under a different name, and they don't know about my deception. I'll phone home tonight at nine to talk further, but I have to go now. Susan, full disclosure if needed."

~o~O~o~

Emily hung up the phone and was then laying it down on her desk when the door to her room swung open, catching her by surprise.

"I apologise for failing to knock," Mrs Jackson stated as she entered the room, closing the door behind her, "I was just on my way to see you and the door was ajar. I couldn't help but overhear the end of your conversation; specifically school and deception."

"Oh, shit," Emily quietly swore to herself before taking a deep breath. "Well, I guess the gig is up anyway now the police have become involved. I tricked my parents into signing the applications forms for me coming here. For the past week they think I've been staying with my Aunt and attending St. Mary's in Taunton. My father has been away on business, and coincidentally, my mother has been away looking after a sick relative. She arranged for me to stay with my Aunt; however my cousin intercepted the message, so my Aunt didn't know I should have been staying there. They only worked out I was missing yesterday evening when I didn't come home from school. I was talking to my father and a police officer after my cousin emailed asking me to phone."

Mrs Jackson stood in shock, "You are here without your parents knowing? How in hell did you manage that?"

"Easy," Emily replied, "I wrote to Mrs Rogers and asked if I could be a student here. When it looked likely that I would be allowed to come here, I filled the application forms in myself and then left them for my father to sign. He never reads things properly. I think he may be slight dyslexic, but he would never accept that as he doesn't think the condition exists. He believes it’s just a label given to thick people to make them feel better. Once I had the paperwork in place, the rest was easy. I'm paying for my place here out of my YouTube earnings. My parents are vaguely aware I post clips on the internet, but they have no Idea I'm making money from it. They watched some of my original videos before my channel took off, decided it was fairly harmless and haven't bothered since."

"I think we need to speak with Mrs Rogers," the teacher stated.

"Sure, but could I go have lunch first? I suspect this will take a while, and I'm starving."

"Um sure," Mr Jackson stated, slightly dazed by the weight of the situation. Emily walked past the teacher and out the door, apparently unfazed by the encounter. It wasn't until she was alone in the corridor that the adrenaline spike subsided and she had to lean against the wall for a moment as her knees went weak.

"Are you ok," Wendy asked, as she came out of her own room further down the corridor and spotted her friend.

"Armageddon has begun, both ends," was the coded reply.

Wendy nodded, "So what happens now?"

"We go eat," Emily replied, grabbing her friends arm and pulling her in the direction of the canteen.

~o~O~o~

Anna was already sat at a table by herself when her roommate and Wendy joined her. She had watched the two girls enter and had seen the worried glances as Mrs Jackson had followed them into the canteen and whispered something into Mrs Rogers’s ear. The headmistress had immediately left the room with the teacher. Both of the adults had returned shortly afterwards, Mrs Rogers returning to her lunch, and Mrs Jackson heading for the back of the serving queue.

"What's going on?" Anna whispered to the other two, "Has somebody stumbled onto information they shouldn't?"

"Sort of, but not the secret you are thinking of," Emily whispered back. "Mrs Jackson has just found out I lied on my application to come here. I may be about to be expelled. I'll explain later."

Any further discussion on the subject was cut short as Jessica and Abby joined the table.

~o~O~o~

As soon as Emily hung up, the phone started ringing a second time. PC Clarkson pressed the answer button, stating her name.

"Was that the call you were after?" The caller asked.

"Yes"

"Okay, the trace back on the number indicates it came from a call centre owned my Microsoft."

"Skype to landline," Susan stated.

"Okay, thanks for trying," PC Clarkson stated, "We think we have the location we need anyway."

After the police officer hung up the call, the headmaster interjected, "I've just been trying to find Windham on Bing maps, the only place I can find is somewhere in America."

"You had the school website in the list you read out earlier," Susan declared. "Windham isn't spelt as you might imagine. Its w-y-m-o-n-d-h-a-m and its south of Norwich on the A11. The boarding school isn't in the town itself, but slightly to the North."

"That can't be the right school," the police officer stated looking over the headmasters shoulder at the screen having walked round behind him.

"What is the problem?" Arnold asked, unable to see the screen from his seat.

"What did you actually bother to tell the police? You obviously didn't mention Jason's gender issues," Susan asked her uncle before turning to the people looking at the computer. "Yes, that is definitely the school where she has been for the past week. St. Mary's Academy for Girls, Barnham Broom Road, Wymondham, Norfolk."

"Jason is at a Girls' school?" Arnold asked in surprise, a slight edge of anger creeping into his voice.

"Yes, and if you hadn't banned her from talking about her feminine side, after the shrink suggested it; and also banned her from further discussion on where she was going to school after you rejected her initial suggestions out of hand and told her she was going to other St Mary's, she might have talked to you about it. Well, she's done what you told her to do, she's gone to St. Mary's, just not the one you wanted her to go to," Susan let rip into her uncle.

"Let's calm down," PC Clarkson intervened, "now, Mr Bridges, exactly what is the medical status of your child. Are we dealing with an individual who is transgender, or intersexed?"

"Neither," he replied through gritted teeth. "There is no medical issue with my son. I don't know what ridiculous flight of fancy he has decided to go on this time."

"Oh get real," Molly interrupted. "Just because you won't accept Jason has issues, doesn't mean that they don't exist. He's always been on the effeminate side. The reason you had to swap his school in the first place was due to bullying related to his sexuality. It became apparent to the other students that Jason had a crush on another male, and this unfortunately led to some harassment."

"My son is not gay; he's simply shy and get's tongue tied at inopportune moments. The whole thing was blown out of proportion. If he's gay, how come he’s been dating your next door neighbour’s daughter for the past few months?"

"Wendy Spencer?" Molly asked in surprise. "I didn't think Audrey allowed her daughter to date. She seems to keep her on a tight leash. I'm guessing they probably didn't go out much and spent most of the time at my place."

Susan started laughing, attracting the attention of the others, "Mrs Spencer has never met Jason as such, at least never as a boy. She thinks Jason, or more accurately, Emily, is a girl, and therefore there is no problem with her being around Wendy. The three of us have hung out together both at our house and theirs without it ever being an issue. In fact Mum, you’ve almost seen Jason en femme on several occasions. Emily tends to dress neutrally when there is a chance you are around, usually just covering her wig with a baseball cap. Although since letting her hair grow out, she hasn't needed to use the wigs as often."

"I thought you said you provided us with an up to date picture," PC Clarkson stated.

"It was taken last week," Arnold replied.

Susan glanced at the photo on top of the officers file. It showed Jason sat on a garden swing reading a book on a tablet. "Oh, that is such a cute shot of Emily. I assume she didn't know you were there. It’s a pity she's wearing her wig, she looks much better when she lets her hair down."

"Wig?" Arnold asked.

"She's been growing her hair out in anticipating going back to school, have you not noticed she has been hiding her head whenever possible. Silly question, of course you didn't," Susan stated. "I can call some photo's up on the internet taken Monday lunch time if you want to see a comparison."

Having been offered the control of the computer, Susan called up her email and opened the private gallery link she had been sent from John's wife. Susan had looked over the photos and chosen which ones to tweet on Emily's behalf. Scrolling through the gallery, she came to the shot showing John Larking and Emily on Liverpool Street station, clicking on it to make it full screen.

"Well, if it wasn’t for the spot on the left cheek, and small scar above the right eyebrow, I would think these are shots of two different people," the police officer remarked, "I assume this was taken on the way to school as she is wearing the same uniform as the students on the St. Mary's website. That looks like Liverpool Street station in the background."

Susan nodded.

"Wait, I know that man," Arnold stated, "He's the auditor we have visit us at work."

"I doubt he will be back doing much auditing this year. He went full time as a YouTuber six months ago," Susan stated. "He was there doing a promotional stunt for Rampaging Squirrels. The game went live on Steam on Wednesday."

"Isn't that the game I keep having to drag you away from," Molly asked her daughter. "If it’s only just gone live, how come you've been playing it for weeks?"

"Jason’s been glued to it as well," Arnold stated. "He explained the concept to me last week. Can't see the appeal myself, but then I can't see why Angry Birds was a success either."

"I have early access due to being a beta tester," Susan admitted, "Wendy is as well. It’s one of the perks of being related to one of the developers. If this thing sells as well as everyone predicts, then Emily won't have to worry about the rest of her school fees, and can possibly take herself through university as well."

Having heard about the game, and who was producing it, the headmaster made the missing connection. He immediately called up YouTube and went to his subscriptions. Hitting the last posted video the sound of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement played on electric guitar filled the room followed by a voice saying, "Good evening, Moonlighters, Generation2K here again. Welcome to another episode on the Moonlight server. I know most of you were expecting another pre-recorded episode of Theme Hospital. That will now be tomorrow."

"Is that who I think it is?" PC Clarkson asked. "I somehow doubt there is more than one transsexual boarding school student starting at a new school this week. Does this mean the school is fully aware of her being male? I was going to ask earlier, but got sidetracked."

"Yes and yes," Susan replied.

"That can't be Jason, it sounds nothing like him," Arnold stated with annoyance. "You all heard him on the phone earlier. That is not the same person."

Susan quickly explained the voice modulation software used for the recordings to disguise the voice.

"I think I have enough information here," the police officer declared, "Mr Bridges, I will drop you back off at home, where you can discuss this turn of events with your wife. I suggest you might want to watch some more of these videos, they may prove insightful. Afterwards I will return to station and phone the school to verify that your child is present."

"Only speak with the Headmistress, Mrs Rogers, or Mrs Milligan, her secretary," Susan instructed, "None of the other office staff know about Emily's dual Identity. It’s being kept on a very strict need to know basis."

After thanking the headmaster for his time, and the use of his office, PC Clarkson led Arnold out of the school. Molly informed her daughter that she would deal with her after school, allowing Emily to catch the tail end of her lunch break before having to return to afternoon lessons.