Patrick remains beside Alan within the prefects’ ring, chastened but watchful. His eyes settle on the Green Prefect who captains cricket, and his expression becomes carefully deferential.
Patrick Mermagen
Alan, help me repair this. The cricket captain may decide my place in the House batting order, and I must not leave him thinking me insolent.
Patrick Mermagen
Captain, I apologize for my interruptions. I spoke after being warned, and I accept the prefects’ authority over me without reservation.
The cricket captain stands among the other Green Prefects, an older athletic boy with a polished cap and an unyielding stare. Patrick keeps his hands at his sides and bows his head.
Patrick Mermagen
Your authority is properly exercised, and your expertise in administering canings is beyond my place to question. I respect the discipline of this House and will obey it.
The Senior Prefect
Mermagen, are you submitting because you recognize authority, or because you hope the captain will favor you in the batting order? Answer plainly.
The other prefects exchange measuring glances. The cricket captain does not acknowledge Patrick yet, leaving the apology suspended between genuine submission and calculated influence while the senior prefect waits.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure the cricket captain's conditional acceptance of Mermagen
“I politely suggest to the Senior Prefect that Mermagen's new-found humility may be caused by a genuine realisation of the captain's skill in both cricketing and in administering canings; and that Mermagen's sore buttocks have probably worked to remind him of the captain's authority both in disciplinary matters and in cricketing matters; and that such a realisation can be a genuine one, not just an attempt to curry favour.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Etiquette, rolled -1)
Alan Turing
Senior Prefect, Patrick’s humility may be genuine. He may recognize the captain’s skill in cricket and discipline, and his soreness may have reminded him of that authority, without his submission being mere favour-seeking.
Alan’s careful explanation lands awkwardly. The cricket captain’s polished stare hardens, while Patrick remains bowed, unable to endorse the suggestion without making his apology appear rehearsed.
The Senior Prefect
Turing, you have connected his pain to his respect and his respect to his place in the batting order. That may be sincere, but it also sounds like an attempt to influence the captain.
Patrick Mermagen
I cannot prove my motive by insisting upon it. I will accept whatever place the captain assigns, and I will show respect through my conduct rather than through further praise.
The captain finally gives Patrick a brief, unreadable nod. The senior prefect writes that Alan’s suggestion was heard as advocacy, not proof, and that Patrick’s batting place remains undecided.
The Senior Prefect
The matter will be settled by cricketing judgment and observed conduct, not by pain, praise, or argument. Mermagen, remain silent unless recognized.
“Does the cricket captain accept Mermagen's apology and his promise of better conduct in the future?”
YES (Even, rolled 40)
The cricket captain, a tall adolescent boy with a square sun-browned face, close-cropped dark hair, and a dark wool blazer with a striped house tie studies Patrick for another moment, then relaxes his shoulders. His expression remains stern, but the judgment in it becomes measured rather than hostile.
Green Prefect 1
Mermagen, I accept your apology and your promise of better conduct. Your place in the batting order will depend on your cricket, attendance, and conduct from this point onward, not on this exchange.
Patrick Mermagen
Thank you, Captain. I understand. I will let my conduct establish whether I meant what I said.
Patrick bows his head once, but the gesture is no longer frantic. The captain’s acceptance gives him a defined way forward, while leaving no promise of special treatment.
The Senior Prefect
Record the decision plainly: the apology is accepted, and future conduct will be observed. No favour is granted, and no further impertinence is to be manufactured from this matter.
The Green Prefects settle back into their positions. Patrick remains beside Alan, silent as ordered, but the captain’s acknowledgment leaves his solidarity intact and his place in the House undecided rather than threatened.
“Will the captain judge Mermagen at cricket practice?”
YES, BUT (Likely, rolled 65)
At the afternoon cricket practice, the Green Prefects remain around The Green while Patrick is permitted to bat under supervision. Alan stays within his formal confinement, watching from the boundary.
A green prefect sends Patrick a short ball. Patrick meets it cleanly, then takes a second delivery square through the grass, his right-handed stroke controlled despite his guarded movement.
Green Prefect 1
Your timing remains excellent, Mermagen. Your footwork is cautious, however, and you will need to show that caution does not become unreliability in a match.
Patrick attempts the next stroke and checks it late, sending the ball weakly toward the square leg boundary. The captain calls the practice over before Patrick can conceal the lapse.
Green Prefect 1
You will remain in the House side, but not in your former place. Until your attendance and movement are dependable, I am putting you one position lower in the batting order.
Patrick Mermagen
Understood, Captain. I accept the judgment. I will earn the higher place through cricket and conduct, not argument.
The captain records the decision, neither rewarding Patrick’s apology nor treating it as a failure. Patrick loses his former batting position, but his place in the House side is preserved.
“I politely ask how much the replacement cane cost, and I hand over the sum mentioned unquestioningly to the prefect that bought it, without asking for proof that the amount is correct.”
FAILURE (Mediocre Etiquette, rolled +2)
Alan Turing
How much did the replacement cane cost? I will pay the stated sum.
Alan turns to a green prefect and offers to settle the cost at once. His pockets contain no money, however, and the expected sum is not available to him.
Green Prefect 1
The cane cost four shillings and sixpence. You may pay it now, if you have the money.
Alan checks his pockets again, but finds no coins. He cannot hand over the stated amount, and the failed payment leaves the purchase unsettled rather than completed.
The Senior Prefect
Do not pretend to pay. The amount may be entered as a debt and verified through O’Hanlon, or you may settle it when money is brought to The Green.
Green Prefect 1
I will keep the receipt and state the exact price to the housemaster. You will have a proper way to settle it, without relying on my word alone.
The payment does not occur, but the receipt and housemaster’s verification offer a concrete alternative. Alan remains confined on The Green, with the cost now open to later confirmation.
“Is it possible that any of the prefects or other older boys will find it amusing that I have ended up having to pay to purchase a cane that has been used on my friend and might end up being used on me too?”
YES (VeryLikely, rolled 29)
A few Green Prefects glance from the receipt to Alan, and amusement passes between them. The purchase has become another small spectacle within the confinement.
Green Prefect 1
Four shillings and sixpence for the cane itself, and now you may have to pay for the instrument used on your friend. There is an economy in that which I rather admire.
Two older boys near the boundary exchange restrained smiles. One murmurs to the other, then both look toward Patrick, as if the receipt has made the punishment into a joke shared among them.
Patrick Mermagen
It is not amusing to me. The price does not make the punishment wiser, and it does not make Alan responsible for what the prefects decide.
The Senior Prefect
The amusement is noted, but it changes nothing. The cane was purchased for an authorized purpose, and its cost must be accounted for separately from any punishment.
The smiles fade only partly. The receipt remains with a green prefect, the debt awaits verification through O’Hanlon, and the possibility of the same cane being used on Alan gives the older boys fresh material for quiet jokes.
“I meekly accept the mockery from the older boys, realising that the joke will spread further and that it will probably result in other prefects being especially eager to discover any misbehaviour that may earn me another caning.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +3)
Alan lowers his eyes and absorbs the older boys’ amusement without answering. Their joke passes between them, then toward the watching prefects, ready to travel beyond The Green.
Patrick Mermagen
You have given them no fresh impertinence to use against you, Alan. They may spread the joke, but they cannot honestly call this conduct disorder.
Alan remains still as the laughter thins into muttering. He understands that other prefects may now watch eagerly for any genuine misbehaviour that could justify another caning.
The Senior Prefect
Turing’s silence is not an offence. No prefect is to turn this mockery into a charge unless he witnesses an actual breach of duty.
Green Prefect 1
Understood. I will tell the others that amusement is not evidence, and that any accusation must concern conduct we have actually seen.
The instruction gives Alan a concrete protection: the prefects must distinguish ridicule from misconduct before seeking punishment. Patrick stays beside him, while the older boys carry their joke away from the boundary.
“Has the inspector secured Morcom’s remaining incendiary devices?”
YES, AND MORE (VeryLikely, rolled 12)
The muttering has barely faded when the senior prefect receives a folded message from the school office. He opens it beside the receipt, and the Green Prefects wait.
The Senior Prefect
The county inspector confirms that Morcom’s remaining incendiary devices are secured under seal at the county office. They are no longer exposed to interference or school handling.
The message contains more than the answer requested. The inspector has also prepared a certified inventory and attached Alan’s and Morcom’s names to the chain of custody, preserving their account for the formal inquiry.
Patrick Mermagen
Then the evidence cannot quietly disappear into a school report. The inspector’s inventory gives Alan a definite record to refer to, even while he remains confined here.
The Senior Prefect
That is correct. The devices remain the county inspector’s responsibility, and this school may not seize them or rewrite their custody. Turing’s confinement does not alter that record.
Patrick’s posture eases, though he stays within the ring. The Green Prefects can continue questioning Alan’s conduct, but the secured devices and their certified history now lie beyond their reach.
“I meekly submit to any further questions that the Green Prefects wish to ask me, as well as inviting any further criticism they have of my conduct or demeanour.”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Etiquette, rolled +1)
Alan Turing
I will answer any further questions, and I invite the Green Prefects to state any criticism they have of my conduct or demeanour.
Alan lowers his eyes and keeps his hands at his sides. His submission is quiet and complete, but the invitation places his manner before the entire ring for judgment.
The Green Prefects
Your conduct has been argumentative, and your demeanour has often seemed challenging even when your words were careful. You now appear obedient, but we will watch whether that obedience lasts.
Green Prefect 1
On the cricket ground, your silence caused no breach. I have no criticism of your present conduct, but your earlier habit of testing authority remains relevant to my judgment.
The Senior Prefect
Turing has invited criticism, and it may be given. The criticism concerns his manner and prior conduct, not the secured devices or any offence the prefects have not witnessed.
The senior prefect records the criticism beside the county inspector’s message. Alan has gained a clear account of the prefects’ objections, but his meek submission also gives them reason to treat him as a continuing disciplinary risk.
Patrick Mermagen
The criticism is now stated plainly. Alan has submitted without adding impertinence, but the record should also show that submission does not prove every earlier suspicion true.
The Senior Prefect
It will show both facts. Turing has invited examination and answered it; the prefects will continue supervised observation, without turning demeanour alone into a new charge.
Quest Complete
Secure the cricket captain's conditional acceptance of Mermagen
Skill Upgrade: Etiquette Mediocre→Fair