The truth starts to emerge…

14/11/2008 by April First.

Havoc Blythe called another meeting of his “inner circle” – Binky, Janice, Bodger and myself. I must say I rather like this notion of being in a “special group”. Several teachers who would never normally talk to me at all (in that they only talk to other teachers) actually came up to me in the staff room and asked “how things were going”. I naturally gave them totally false information about concerns about collaborators during the previous regime and the need to get the school back into balance.

The meeting itself at last gave us some clear information as to what has been going on – and it is a most extraordinary tale.

It seems that the books which had been removed from the library, plus all the pictures that had been put up in the school of late, were all contaminated with a parasite called toxoplasmosis.

The idea, we gather, was to get this parasite into the pupils and students through having them touch the pictures or books, although the reason at the moment is not clear. Havoc Blythe says that he expects a report on the organism and what it does, in the near future. His view is that the books that had been removed were about to be put back and would be of interest to the more intellectual students because they had for a while been on the “do not read” list.

Meanwhile fractiousness within the school is growing. One group of teachers has been identified (by other teachers) as having been “spies” for the old regime and there are demands for their withdrawal at once. Anyone seen wearing the “smart business” uniform that Ms Bland and her team insisted on wearing is automatically ostracised. Ultra casual is now in. Teachers have started wearing jeans just to show they had no truck with the “old ways”. On one of the corridors where the rather nice (but apparently infected) pictures had so recently stood, someone put up the graffiti, “The Staff Must Go”.

Bodger reported that there has been a continuous series of attacks on the school central computer system. “Some teachers who feel they are in danger of being identified as collaborators with Ms Bland and co are clearly trying to get into the system and change the records. I’ve been offered quite a bit of money to take down the firewall,” he added with a smirk.

“Did you take it?” asked Havoc Blythe.

“Of course,” said Bodger.

Somehow I get the feeling they all know more than Janice and I. Still, it is nice to be able to drop into the Toppled Bollard for the occasional red wine without fearing that we might be spotted by Ms Bland’s Stormtroopers, and then have to face an inquisition the next morning.

Apparently the report on toxoplasmosis will be in tomorrow.

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