Hall Five's Hardest Lesson Pt. 01

Hey, folks! Bit of a darker one here. (I mean, that should go a bit without saying, because we're in "NonConsent/Reluctance"...) I considered putting this in Fetish because it's pretty pretty darn Fetish-y, but I feel the "NonConsent/Reluctance" warning is the more-important one to come in here with full knowledge of. (Which fetish? Well, I hate saying for spoiler reasons, but the rosa-blanca.ru will let you know, and if you think of the intersection of "sex" and "biology," you're probably there.)

This is the first of three parts.

All characters participating in sexual activity in these stories are 18+.

* * *

And there it was.

C-

Katie stared at the two red lines that dispassionately threatened to upend her life forever. The single line of the red-curved "C" was bad enough — devastating, really. But the red line of the minus made it all the worse. It meant her grade was not the mediocre 75% of a straight C, but the 71.25% that the minus conveyed. And, in fact, it was worse than that; her actual grade had been a 71.15%... Dr. Voss had apparently been generous in his rounding. Her heart sank, the implications became gravely clear, and she felt sick in her soul.

Other students in the Hall Five corridor darted to the side as Katie sprinted to the restroom. She flung herself into a stall and started violently vomiting.

"GRLGH...grlgh...grglgph..."

Her stomach still tied in knots, Katie wiped her mouth and splashed cold water on her clammy skin. Her breathing was ragged, but she began trying to come up with any way out of her predicament.

The hesitant words from weeks ago of some upperclassmen guys echoed in her ears. "Dr. Voss? It's... a very hard class. Can't really recommend it." Still, Voss's was the only Introduction to Biology class that fit the rest of her schedule; no matter how she jiggered her other courses, there was always some other conflict, and the path of least resistance in all cases was just to take Voss's class.

Besides, it couldn't be that difficult; the RateMyProf website said that the average grade in the class was a solid B – a little below the B+ average that other Intro Biology classes at Hatherton University gave, to be sure, but not that beyond the pale; surely the difference between a B and a B+ couldn't be enough to torpedo the entirety of her schedule.

Furthermore — Katie told herself at the time — a B is the average; that must mean some students do better, others do worse. That is literally the way averages work. And Katie was never shy about classroom difficulty; she was the valedictorian at Centerdale High, and never earned anything less than an A previously. It was literally inconceivable to her as she submitted her class-request form that she would have a problem with any of her classes.

Sadly, that was not the case. Objectively, on paper, she was doing fine at the university. She had an A- in every other class... a perfectly respectable range of grades. However, the Melnik Scholarship she was enrolled under — the only way she could afford Hatherton, or any university — was very strict. In addition to maintaining full compliance with the student code of conduct, she had to maintain a GPA of no less than a 3.7... an A-. Anything less than that, and the funding goes away. And since Hatherton is a high-five-figure annual tuition bill (not to mention room/board and books), no scholarship means no university.

But the C-? That changed everything, and threatened to destroy her life. The classes at Hatherton were already unusual in that most of them were not a single semester, but two semesters graded as a single unit. This allowed for greater continuity in the education: "An Unparalleled Opportunity to Be Your Best Self!" the promotional literature proudly proclaimed. It also ensured the class could come together as a whole for the full nine months of the year, with only a three-month summer gap apart. That's the theory, at any rate.

But that also meant the stakes were higher. Biology, in particular, only had four tests the entire year. They were oddly spaced, too; the first test had been after four weeks; she got a B+ on that one, which sent her into tears. But — she told herself at the time — she didn't have to worry; if she could just get three A's for the remaining tests, then she'd have an A in the class. However, the second test had been just four weeks after that first one, and the C- (which she was now looking at) changed everything. It meant that even if she got 100% on the remaining two tests, she couldn't have any higher than a 90%... a B+. And if all her classes were A- except a single B+, that meant she couldn't possibly have an A- average or higher. She was doomed.

Unless she could somehow convince Dr. Voss to increase her grade, and help her keep from slipping any further.

She knew what she had to do... and it began with opening her Messages app.

Dr. Voss, may I ask you a question during your office hours today? I can meet at any time.

Of course. I have you scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

Fantastic! See you then.

A quick trip back by her dorm room and she had a plan of attack. She would try to charm her way out of the situation. She wouldn't do anything, of course... but she'd long since learned that a pouting lip and a flash of tears were all that were needed to sway things her way.

She admired herself in the mirror. She was 18 by a few months, and neither her round black-rimmed Harry Potter-esque glasses nor her 5-foot-1-and-a-quarter frame did anything to make her look older. Her outfit — designed with maximum calculation for her mission– consisted of white thigh-high stockings, a red pleated miniskirt, and white buttoned blouse. Her seemingly successful goal was to look as innocent as possible. She undermined this effect with a strategic unbuttoning of her blouse, revealing the barest hint of her black brassiere that matched her black cotton panties... although, at barely 91 pounds, Katie's breasts were remarkably small — little more than one of her handfuls each, and she had tiny hands.

Some mascara and a gentle touch of red lipstick complemented her long bright-red wavy Irish hair and bright green eyes. Her feet pushed into rarely worn black high heels that brought her to a statuesque (relatively speaking) 5'4". The effect was complete; she looked about as innocent and helpless a schoolgirl as could be imagined.

Wobbling in unfamiliar shoes, Katie arrived at the office door — DR. ANTHONY VOSS — at 2:57. She was just in time to see another student, a stern-faced young woman with Asian features, making a hurried an exit. "Excuse me," she muttered, moving with determined purpose down the hall.

Katie knocked. "Come in," announced the controlled baritone reply.

She opened the door to the Professor's well-appointed office. Katie was surprised at how large it was. A sturdy cobalt sofa took up most of the wall to the left of the door entry. The other three walls all had bookshelves, most of them laden with books, awards, and knickknacks.

The floor of the office — to the right of the doorway but facing it — held a large, sturdy desk. Although it had some files, paperwork, books, and other accoutrements of a professor's work environment, the oak table looked more like the sort that would belong to a CEO or Dean rather than a random professor. But, no, sitting in the large-backed black leather chair was her teacher, Dr. Voss.

The Professor was a large, muscular man. Although seated now, Katie recalled his height at well over six feet... probably 6' 4", at least. His thick, dark brown-black hair, tanned skin, and relative lack of wrinkles except for some weathering in the eyes made it difficult to determine his age, but he carried himself with the power and position of someone in his 40s or 50s. This power was amplified by his piercing brown eyes. He was dressed as he usually was: white button shirt, red-and-black striped tie, dark brown blazer, and tan pants.

He smiled at her. "Please, come in. Close the door. It's a pleasure to see you again, Miss... O'Mara? Kathleen O'Mara?"

"O'Hara," she corrected, smiling back. The door latched shut with a loud click. "But, please..." She smiled, shyly. "Call me Katie." She tried to keep her breath steady; there was a lot resting on the outcome of this encounter. As the first O'Hara in the family to have any opportunity to get to college, Katie feared disappointing her family more than anything. She had to succeed. She just had to.

"O'Hara, of course. My humble apologies. With so many students, it can be difficult to remember names. To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Well," she said, delivering the speech she'd prepared most of the day and practiced on her walk to the office. "I recently received a grade that I feel does not reflect the work of which I am capable. I was hoping to discuss with you what my options are."

Dr. Voss frowned. "I'm... not sure I understand. What options do you think there are?"

Having reached the end of her script, Katie was now much more reliant on improvisation. "W-well," she stammered, "I was wondering if I could... do extra credit, or retake the test... um..." She shifted nervously, feeling very small. "I... wasn't sure what my options were."

"Extra credit? Retake the test?" The Professor chuckled, as if he were explaining something to a child but trying to hide his derision. "I'm sorry; I don't know what was explained to you about the college experience, but it's quite different from high school. I'm afraid that the options of..." He looked around the room as if trying to pluck the right words off the wall with his mind. "... making a papier-mâché diorama or the like are– well, let's say they are incredibly limited."

"But I know that..." She shifted nervously. "...other classes sometimes allow for retakes. O-or let you drop your lowest grade, or... or... something!" Her heart rate spiked as she started to realize that this could be futile.

"I don't recall any clauses in my syllabus that indicated such was possible. Quite the opposite; I believe it's quite firm and clear about the import of each test. About how every student is responsible for taking each examination as seriously as possible, because they were so important. Did you not heed that warning? Or perhaps you didn't read my syllabus? I'm trying to understand what happened, Ms. O'H... Katie?" he corrected himself.

"I read the syllabus! I'm... I'm a good student. And I took the tests very seriously! But... I wasn't expecting them to be... so hard. I've taken five other classes — including one here in Hall Five — and none of them have been like this."

"Another class... here in Hall Five?" He smiled, then sighed. "Again, many perfectly adequate high-school students find themselves adjusting to the rigors of a colligate curriculum. You won't be the first once-promising young student to fail to live up to-"

"I can't fail! And I wasn't 'adequate'! I mean, I was MORE than adequate! I was class valedictorian! I was the president of three clubs! I got a full scholarship! I... I..."

"And yet," he interrupted. "You stand here before me, dressed in a most..." — he lightly arched one eyebrow — "curious fashion. Quite different from your usual attire, is it not? This surely cannot be a coincidence."

Katie found her cheeks turning bright red. He saw right through her, and she realized whatever solution she thought she would accomplish here was quickly slipping away.

Dr. Voss continued. "Anyway, why, exactly, are you here?"

"I... I wanted to discuss my test... See if there were any issues, or anything I could do."

"I see. And did you bring the test with you, so we might discuss it?" Again, Katie turned even redder, shaking her head. "And is this what you consider to be an example of being a good student who takes my tests seriously?" Katie was fighting back tears as she shook her head slightly again.

"Very well; let me see. Fortunately, I am prepared... unlike many," he said, to her ever-shame, and he started rustling through the files on his desk. "Let's see... This was the Unit 2 test, correct?" She nodded, and he sifted through the file. "Fortunately, I make copies of all tests before returning them," he noted as he pulled out a stapled set. Dr. Voss carefully unfolded a pair of thin rectangular reading glasses and began perusing the papers. "Hmm.. Oh, I see at least one issue... It seems I made a mistake..." Katie's eyes lit up in some hope. "...This answer here isn't correct, either." Voss reached for a red pen, and her eyes exploded in wide-eyed dismay. "Still, I suppose it's not fair to you to punish you now for my error. I try to take responsibility for my failings." He put the red pen down and she felt relief and rage. "Now, what did you have concerns about?" he said, handing her the copy.

"Well... just... some of these questions just didn't seem to go over the material we covered. Or not in this way. L-like question 7: 'A mother has two children, one of whom is a girl. What is the probability that the other is a girl?' "

"And you put down...?"

"50%! Because you specifically taught us that the chances of sexual determination by spermatozoic fertilization is independent per child, so the other child had equal odds of being a boy or a girl!"

Dr. Voss sighed. "The correct answer is 33.3%... roughly. Do you know how that answer is arrived at?" She shook her head, defensively. "In the case of two children, there are only four possible cases, correct? That is, boy-boy, boy-girl, girl-boy, and girl-girl. Surely you understand enough of biology to see that."

Katie again turned red as she felt her intelligence insulted, but she nodded as he continued. "Now, in the case of the question — a fairly simple one — we have one other fact: that one of the children is a girl. Looking at our four possibilities, we can thus eliminate the 'boy-boy' possibility. That leaves us with three possible scenarios that the woman has described: boy-girl, girl-boy, and girl-girl. Correct?"

Katie nodded as the reality slowly dawned on her. "Thus, of our three possible outcomes, the only one that allows for the possibilities of two daughters is girl-girl, and thus..."

"33.3%." Katie looked slack-jawed. "But... still! That seems like more of a logical problem... or a mathematical one!"

"So, are you saying mathematics serves no place in biology? You seemed more than willing to provide percentages when you believed you were correct."

And thus the review of the test continued, with similar results. There were more than enough similarly tricky questions that explained why she had gotten a C-.

Katie looked defeated. "It just... doesn't seem fair. I've worked so hard for so long,"

"I assure you, while not exemplary, a C- is no grade to be ashamed of. It is only slightly below average, and is more than enough to pass my class."

"But... but... I'm not below average! Everyone's always said I'm smart. And I need that grade. My scholarship depends on it! If... if I can't get my grade raised, then I'll be kicked out of the university!"

"Well, Ms. O'Hara, you will find in nature that not all members of a biosphere are suitable in all roles. Perhaps college just isn't right for you; there's no shame in that. You seem as if you could have a perfectly adequate life as a wife, perhaps someday as a mother..."

"No! I... I need to graduate. I'm... I'm begging for your help. Please, Dr. Voss, I'll do anything. Any extra projects, extra credit, I can help with... with..." She stammered and stopped, realizing how little she could offer to a man such Dr. Voss.

A long moment passed. He considered her carefully. "Perhaps... There is something that can be done. There is a special project that I have undertaken. I honestly hadn't considered you to be a suitable candidate, but I see that it is not impossible I was mistaken. Do you have a few minutes?" She nodded, her eyes brightening with the first hope she'd felt since she arrived.

Dr. Voss opened his laptop and began to type. And type. And type. After several more agonizing minutes, he seemed finished, and the sound of an inkjet printer under his desk whirred to life. He handed Katie a sheet. "Please, read this and — if agreeable — sign at the bottom."

This agreement is between KATIE O'HARA (henceforth "Student") — an academic student enrolled at Hatherton University (henceforth "University") and participating in the University's nine-month Introduction to Biology coursework (henceforth "Class") — and Dr. Anthony Voss (henceforth "Professor"), a teacher of the Class.

The Student agrees to participate in the Professor's special research project in applied biological reproduction (henceforth, "Project"), duties below.

In exchange, the Student shall receive the following consideration:

• All prior assigned grades for the Class shall be considered to be null and void.

• All future grades for the Class shall be considered without value in regards to the calculation of the final grade in the Class.

• The Student's grade for the Class shall be assigned and reported as 100% (consistent with the highest possible "A").

The Student's duties in regards to the Project shall be as follows:

• Personally accumulate reproductive samples according to the Professor's directives using standard established extraction protocols. Aforementioned accumulation shall be as directed by the Professor, and shall take no more than two hours a day, for up to one week per month, as needed.

• Personally accommodate said samples using standard established developmental protocols.

• Protect accumulated samples and resultant maturation to the best of one's ability, avoiding damage or destruction thereof.

• Allow for the possibility of unconventional sample accumulation and/or accommodation as deemed necessary by the Professor or his appointed representative.

• Project duration not to exceed 12 months or the natural resolution of the accumulation process, whichever comes first.

In addition:

• The Student shall also continue to attend all classes, complete all coursework, and execute all assignments and tests to the best of ability, although such shall not be taken into consideration toward any final grade.

• The Student shall affirm to the best of ability — at Professor's discretion — that participation in the Project is performed with full acquiescence, with ongoing corroboration (written and/or audiovisual, as determined by the Professor) provided upon request.

• The Student is to operate under the strictest conditions of confidentiality. Although certain aspects of the Student's participation in the Project may be unavoidably public (and shall not constitute material breach of this agreement), all due effort must be made to maintain confidentiality regarding the Professor's proprietary samples and research methodology.

Any failure to comply with any aspect of this agreement shall be considered a grave offense, and may result in the immediate termination of the entire agreement. In the event of such termination, the final grade for the Class shall immediately be submitted as a 0% (consistent with the lowest possible "F"), although such a breech shall not be considered to be a violation of the school's code of conduct or academic policies, nor be referred to any higher authorities at the University or elsewhere. Student agrees that any submission in such case cannot be appealed and must be accepted.