Stops in front of the school: So this is HSA? I wonder if I’ll make any friends while I’m here… uh. Iguess I should go in and sign in at the front desk.*walks to front desk*Samcat: Hey, can I sign in and get my room?Front desk: Yeah yeah. Name?Samcat: My name is SamcatFront desk: Your room is 405 on the 4th floorSamcat: Ok thanks!*on the fourth floor*Seneca: Erie, get out of the bucket.Erie: (human form, still in the mop thing) make me.Seneca: why are you like this?Erie: yes.*walking in 4th floor hallway**stops and stares*Samcat: uhh… hello there fellow students! I’m Samcat! Can I get you two’s name?Erie: *uses the mop as an oar, pushing himself towards Samcat* yes, I am Erie, and miss grumpypants over there’s SenecaSeneca: “I’M NOT GRUMPY!”Erie: “thanks for the proof. By the way,” *erie says, turning back to samcat* “like my tactical assaultvehicle?”Samcat: assault…vehicle? *moves back* so like are you two related or something?Erie: *tries to get out of the bucket, but fails* “ssseeeennnniiicaaaa, would you help me out of this?”Seneca: *shakes her head, and lifts the human Erie out of the bucket, and sets him down*Erie: “thanks!” *he reaches up around he neck, takes off the necklace, and there’s now a dragonstanding where Erie was* “I’m her uncle.” *the dragon says, and he is Erie*Samcat: what the! You can shape shift? *pulls out sword* I have a sword! I call it The Cat Sword!And don’t get me started on how much power it has when I’m angry. And when I’m angry my lefteye glows blue like my uncle Sans. Erm… ARE you to related?Erie: *wraps his wing around Seneca* “yep! She’s my niece!”Seneca: “not preferable though.”Erie: “apologize, please,”Seneca: “no, not in front of another student!”Erie: “i will do it.”Seneca: “you won’t.”Erie: “I enchant Sen…”Seneca: “OK! I’M SORRY! JUST, DONT!”Samcat: “Enchant? What’s that?” *puts sword back in… nvm.*Erie: “oh, I’ll show you!” *erie says, grabbing the mop thing* “I enchant this… whatever it is… tobecome a second sword.”*like that, the mop thing becomes a sword for Samcat*Samcat: “WOAH THAT IS SO COOL! So you can like…morth things into other things? And thanksfor the sword but I only use 1 sword style. I’m training for two sword style and then hopefully threesword style. Oh also I don’t use common swords, only cursed swords like my hero Zoro.”Erie: “I can do anything except for raise the dead.”Seneca: “yep. I can back him up.”Samcat: “well… that’s very interesting. Can you two show my bri’ish ash to my room? I barely knowthese halls as you can tell, I’m new. Uhh… it’s room 405”Erie: *laughs* “howdy neighbor!”Seneca: “we have room 406!”Erie: “c’mon.” *erie says, leading Samcat to his room* Samcat: *walks with Seneca and Erie* “So while we’re walking, can you tell me what exactly we doin this school? Like, I’ve read the website and everything, and I asked around, but it seems that thisschool is like… secret.”Erie: “eh, school stuff. Did you know, I once came face-to-face with a murderer here? I didn’t trustmy animus at that time, so… yeah.”Seneca: “you never told ME that!”Erie: “oops.” *he says, with a shrug*Samcat: “There’s murderers here?” *almost trips*. “Anyways I see that these are rooms 400 and401. That must be our rooms up there”Erie: *whispers something under his breath, and hands Samcat a necklace* here, if you say ‘I needto go back. Back to the dorm!’ You should just teleport there now. *erie says, calmly* oh, and notanymore.Samcat: *Takes necklace* “Ok thanks!” *opens dorm room* “uhh- can I consider you two asfriends?”Erie: *looks at Seneca, who’s nodding slightly* “I guess. If you need therapy or anything, you cancome to our dorm.” *before walking to their own dorm, which is right across from samcat’s*Samcat: “those two seem to be a good pair. But why therapy? *Samcat walks into his dorm andshuts the door**erie and Seneca’s dorm door shuts. 10 minutes later, it opens, Seneca quietly walks out, andcloses the door again. An hour later, she returns, and a letter appears outside samcat’s door. Theletter reads: ‘this may seem abrupt, but I like you. Signed, you know who.’**Samcat after reading the note*Samcat: “uhh… *samcat blushes and puts the note in his top drawer **in the morning, Seneca knocks on samcat’s door, and sets down a tray with breakfast on it. WhenSamcat opens his door, Seneca asks*Seneca: “sssoooooooooo… get any mail last night?”Samcat: “yeah I did… it said “Signed, you know who” but I don’t know who this person is *samcatlooks into Seneca’s eyes* was it you by any chance?”Seneca: “no! It wasn’t meeee…… *she says, declining the accusation, even though it WAS her, andErie walks out of his room*Erie: *yawns* hey Seneca, who was the person you sent mail to last night?Seneca: shut up, Erie!Erie: ok, I can tell when I’m not wanted. *he walks off, finding something else to do**Having the the IQ of 263, Samcat squints at Seneca and blushes quickly*Samcat: “So when is our-“ *freezes for a second* “f-f-first class?”Seneca: “oh, I don’t know, but there’s one class we can take right now…”Erie: *comes back, holding three sausages on sticks wrapped in pancakes* who’s hungry?Seneca: *stops her flirting* uncle Erie, could you please leave us alone?Erie: *sighs* this was exactly how Niagara got me reeled in. *he smiles gently* ok, I’ll go.Samcat: “what was that about?” *samcat moves to a more comfortable position*Seneca: “well, my uncle… he… erm… married the princess, she started it, and now I’m related toroyalty.” *she says, ruffling her wings*Samcat: “royalty eh?” *samcat bends down and to bow down* “ma-lady”Seneca: *blushes* “shut up…” *she says, in a joking manner*Samcat: *smirks* “so where do we eat breakfast?”Seneca: *shrugs* I don’t know. By the way, I have a serious question. Would you concider me aprincess, or not? I’m the niece of the king and queen. *she says, stepping out of the dorm*Samcat: “well…yep! I would. Your related to royalty so… yes.”*there’s an engine turning over outside, and through the blinds they see a dark blue pickup truckdriving off.*Seneca: “sooo… whatcha wanna do?” Samcat: *smiles* “can you give me a tour of the school! The time I’ve been here has kinda put me inquite of a… it’s already been interesting.” *samcat blushes for a few seconds and standsawkwardly*Seneca: “errr, nooooo. If you want a tour, you’d have to ask Erie….” *seneca says, drawn out*(Btw, the pickup truck leaving was Erie’s truck, so…-irl qibli)Samcat: “well since Erie is gone…” *Samcat scratches his head* “I actually don’t know what to do.Why do you want to do?”Seneca: *attempts to wrap her wing around Samcat, but she flinched her wing back* “I dunno, hangout? Maybe when Erie gets back we steal one of his truck’s tires?”Samcat: *laughs* “steal his truck tires!?” *stops laughing* “yeah I’ll add that to my list. Also-”*samcat’s phone rings the Star Wars theme song* “oh let me just take this call…” *samcat answeresthe call and his girlfriend answers. Samcat turns away from Seneca* “Yeah. Ok. It’s been great Imade some friends and-… no. Now why would I do that to you? Yeah. Ok. Love you too.” *samcatturns back to Seneca* “…”*seneca’s wings droop slightly* “oh…” *she ducks her head Down, slightly* “I…I… nevermind.” *shesays, walking out the door, taking a glance back at him* “I like you…” *she says, a whisper, barelyaudible.**While Seneca walks away, she says “I like you” which sounds barely audible. But hence Samcatbeing a British Stick Figure cat, he was able to hear what she said. This brought Samcat to a dreadlike feeling and for a slight moment, he considered ending the relationship between him and hiscurrent girlfriend. But Samcat then said to himself, “ I barely know Seneca… I’ve know my girlfriendfor 2 years! I can’t end it for someone that I met today!” Samcat goes into his dorm and sits on hisbed. Thoughts running through his mind, bringing him to unravel tears in his eyes. Then he thought,“while I’m here, I won’t get to see my girlfriend! Maybe I should leave.” Samcat came to aconclusion… he stood up, whipped his phone out of his pocket, and began texting something to hisgirlfriend. And just like that, Samcat smiled and nodded. “Time to restart” he said softly. This, wasthe start of a new chapter in Samcat’s life. He grabbed a towel and wiped the tears off of his face,then walked to Seneca’s room. He hesitates to knock on her door, but succeeds anyways. Senecaopened her door and said…*“No.” *she slams the door shut, and there’s gravel crunching outside, as Erie’s truck pulls up**samcat runs outside and talks to Erie*Samcat: “Erie tis is an emergency! I made a huge mistake and- when you see Seneca can you tellher to read this…” *Samcat gives Erie a note that reads: I’m sorry señora. I broke up with mygirlfriend to be with you -samcat*Erie (human form): “woah, woah, what happened?” *he says, opening hsa’s doors, and bouncing upthe stairs*Samcat: “My girlfriend called while I was- my FORMER girlfriend called while I was talking toSeneca and I she kinda… I didn’t know that she liked me.”Erie: “ok, so… wwaaaiiiitttt… exactly WHO did you say liked you?” *he says, pausing mid sentence*Seneca: *slowly emerges from the dorm, and runs to Erie, enveloping him in a hug, crying.*Samcat: *stares at Erie and moves his eyes back and forth from Seneca to Erie, signaling to Erie togive her the note. Samcat then walks into his dorm, and closes the dorm*Erie: *nods, and pulls away from Seneca. He hands her the note, heading back to his dorm, andtaking off his disguise necklace. He calls samcat*Erie: “I gave it to her.” *he says, laying down*Samcat: “ok, thank you. Could you possibly tell me what she says after she reads it?”Erie: “yep. I w-“Seneca: (yelling) “ERIE!!! YOU IDIOT! YOU UTTER BUFFOON! YOU FORGED THIS TO MAKE MEFEEL BETTER!”Erie: “well, now you know.”Samcat: “Let me talk to her Erie. Bring her to me…” Erie: “I can try…”Seneca: “i’ma kill you!”Erie: “WOAH! NO! GO ACROSS THE HALL AND TALK TO SAMCAT!!”Samcat: *waves at Seneca*Seneca: *angrily, but gently pushes past Samcat, and sits down* “stupid Erie.” *she says, under herbreath*Samcat: “Soooooo… I’m sorry. I should have told you that… I didn’t know that you liked me. I meanwhy me? Of all living things me?” *Samcat stares at Seneca intensely*Seneca: “just cuz.”Samcat: “‘cuz’ what? I can say that I like you too but…why?Seneca: *mumbles* “you’re cute, and I wanna spice my life up.”Samcat: “then let me be your spice.” *samcat does that cute eye thing that puss in boots does tomake people do what he says* “you know what Seneca? Do you work at a library? Because I’mchecking you out like a book”Seneca: *lets out a snort of laughter* “I don’t work at a library, but sure.”Samcat: “now tell me Seneca, how do you feel?”Seneca: “better, still angry, but better.” *she says, ruffling her wings*Samcat: “you know that I didn’t mean to hurt a cute little princess like you right?”Seneca: *chuckles* yeah right.Samcat: *samcat smiles* “it appears that her majesty is feeling better yes?”Seneca: “yeah. Please, just call me Seneca. I don’t FEEL Royal.” *she says, with a small nod.*Samcat: “Seneca, your Royal to me. Ok? Do you understand?” *samcat gets closer to Seneca,keeping a steady smile*Seneca: *returns a smile**suddeny, there’s a knock on the door*Erie: “hey, I’m running to a nearby store, do you guys need anything?”Seneca: “can you pick up some soda?”Erie: “soda, got it.”Samcat: “can you get me tea bags?”Erie: “ok, tea. What brand?”Samcat: Bigelow yes? Uhh, ginger tea also. Orange tea and lemon ginger. Also- ok I’ll shut up.Erie: “got it!” *he walks downstairs, and starts his truck*Samcat: *stares at the doorway for a few seconds, then looks back at Seneca* “so… it’s just youand me now.”Seneca: *in her best impression of erie* so it shall seem.Samcat: “I shall ask… do you still like me?”Seneca: Yee. *she says, ruffling her wings*Samcat: “And you know that I like you, right?” *he says while grabbing Seneca’s talons *(Talons, but)Seneca: “yes.” *she says, looking into samcat’s eyes*Samcat: “then you know what I’m about to do” *samcat leans towards Seneca’s face*Seneca: “do what?” *she says, pulling her head away, as she’s slightly claustrophobic.*Samcat: “well we have to make this official right? Kiss me Seneca! Kiss me like it’s the end of theworld!”Lionstrike: “Alright lovebirds! Stop your blabbering and get to class!” She roared. “Don't wanna belate on your first day!” She added cheerfully.Samcat: *samcat leaped to the ceiling and hissed* “WHAT THE! WHO IS THAT RUBBISH!?”*the human form of Erie hops up the stairs, balancing a bag on his foot, and fumbling for his keyswith his free hand*Erie: “Seneca! Come help me!”Seneca: “one sec!” *she helps Erie put the groceries away, and gives Samcat his tea* Samcat: “YESSSSSSS TEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!”Erie: *still balancing on one foot, laughing* you truly are British.Samcat: “yes mate. Have you watched halfasleepchris? He is one of my favorite bri’ish YouTubersyes?” *PAID AD*Erie: “I think I heard of him. What about tommyinnit? He’s British, isn’t he?”Samcat: *stares at Erie with a quite disappointing look* “we don’t talk about Tommyinnit.”Kazuko: *enters the room* …what the f###- what’d I just walk in onLionstrike: “Oh this isn't rubbish.” she hissed. “First class is Science and I heard the teachers evil.”Erie: *laughs* “guys, do you think I’m evil?” *btw, he’s still in his human form, and only Seneca andSamcat know what he truly looks like*Samcat: “If I were another person I would say that you are evil but that’s besides the point here. Wehave to get to class!”Erie: *looks at him with a glare, and runs off towards the science room. When the group gets there,Erie, in either form, is nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, the walk in closet door opens, and a ‘dizzy’human Erie in a suit walks out, stumbling* “woah! How’d I end up in there?”Samcat: “so what are we doing in here?”Erie: “today, mein class, we’ll be learning about quantum physics, but that’ll be in a bit. I need to getto know you. I know Samcat, so… yeah.”Samcat: “Hey I’m pretty good with quantum physics AND quantum mechanics.”Erie: “t-that’s good. Now where was that sign-up sheet? Where is it? *he says, looking around, andsomeone in the back of the class snickers*Samcat: “Uhm… Erie? It seems that someone at the back of the class has taken your sign upsheet.” *Samcat’s ears whirl around like little satellites as he listens to someone at the back of theclass laughing silently*Erie: “aha!” *he says, holding up what looks like a post card* “you, check that sheet you have.”*everybody looks back at the person who stole the sheet. The paper changes from a replica of thesign up sheet, to a detention slip, filling itself out*???: “please, no! I was just trying to be funny!”Erie: “you should’ve thought of what could’ve happened. Now, everybody, take notes of this,because it could happen to you.”Samcat: “HAHAHAHAHAHA LOSE- I’ll shut up meow” *samcat says with a weak smile*Erie: “detention for Samcat.” *he says to himself*Samcat: “Wait what” *samcats ears ruffle with fear* “I heard that! Please give me another chancemate!!”Erie: “I only have three rules. 1. Listen. 2. Be kind to your peers. 3. Be kind to me. I run a tight ship,so shape up, or ship out.”Samcat: “sorry Luffy…”Erie: “… I have 4 rules. Number 4. No one piece, in any way shape or form.”Samcat: “THE ONE PIECE IS REAL!”Erie: “and another detention.” *he says, and whispers something, before a metal box surroundsSamcat, muting him*Samcat: *samcat tries to talk* “mmmm mm mmm hmmm mmm”Lionstrike: “Get your little box off a Him, or I'll claw your face off.” she snarled.Erie: “you aren’t even in my class!!!”Lionstrike: “You aren’t even gonna be alive in five minutes.”Samcat: “MMMM HMMMH MHMMHMMHHMHMHMMHMM!”(lol -irl qibli)Erie: *removes the muting factor* what was that?Samcat: “THE ONE PIECE, IS REAL!”Erie: “hey guys, Erie here! Today I’ll show you how flex tape can be used to take hostages!”Samcat: “You bet’er not ma’te!” Erie: *slaps the flex tape over samcat’s mouth. (Btw, he’s still in the box)* flex tape!(Rando VO) flex tape does not condone criminal activity, if you do that, please use scotch tape.Samcat: “MMMMMMMM M M M M” *samcat pulls out his phone and types in “Cat FM Radio, andthen plays the video *“You’re listening to, Cat FM Radio”Samcat: “MMMM. mmm… *falls asleep*Erie: “NO PHONES IN MEH CLASSSSSSSSSSS!”*casually starts floating, and yoinks the phone, muting it, and then t-posing, before sliding throughhis desk, putting the phone inside*(BAHAHA HE T-POSED LOL-SSamcat irl)Samcat: *wakes up* “bro I can’t have anything”Erie: “mayhaps” *suddenly, Samcat becomes a pickle, with his phone beside him* (btw, he’s still t-posing)Samcat: “I TURN MYSELF INTO A PICKLE MORTY! BOOM BIG REVEAL IM A PICKLE! MORTYLOOK IM A PICKLE! PICKLE CAT! PICKLE RICKKK!”*a voice says: “simulation ended.” And the classroom reverts back to its normal state, Samcat goingback to his normal form. Erie’s leaning against a button, and walks over to Samcat* welp, how’d youlike that simulation of weirdmageddon?(Bill cipher !?)Samcat: “rubbish. It was absolute RUBBISH !Erie: “ok, how could we improve it?”Samcat: “wait let’s take a step back here. You, Erie, put me in a simulation without my consent, andI suffered through most of it, and now you’re asking me about feedback on it? You wanna know myfeedback!? MY FEEDBACK, IS THAT THIS SIMULATION SUCKS! but it is rather good for uhh…learning purposes.”Erie: “here, have a 30 ounce bag of Doritos I picked up at the store.” *he throws the Doritos bag atsamcat*Samcat: “thanks lil bro- I MEAN, Erie”Erie: “I am a well respected adult, why’d you call me ‘lil bro’?”Synthia: * she walks into the room looking for her seat * ( are we talking in third person? )(Yes) Erie: “ah, synthia, you’re late, but who wasn’t today?” *he says, with a kind smile.* (oh, btw,Erie’s the teacher of the science class.jSynthia: “ Sorry. I have a pass “ *she said as she handed him the pass. Then walking to her seat*Erie: “I was saying you didn’t need to turn this in…” *he says, trailing off*Synthia: “ oh okay. “ *she sat down in her seat*Erie: *clears his throat* (btw, he’s in human form and only his niece and Samcat know about hisother form.) “well, it seems this class isn’t gonna go anywhere today, so do what you want.”Lionstrike: “mk, well, don’t bother me or you know what will happen.” *surprises everyone bypicking a book*Erie: “you aren’t even in my class, why’re you here?” *he says, fiddling with the necklace he’swearing. (Yes, Samcat, that necklace)*Lionstrike: “I’M a **hired** spy but just pretend i’m not here.” **she used her magic to make herselfinvisible, leaving the book floating.Erie: *whispers something under his breath, and lionstrike reappears* “who hired you?” *he pushes,not allowing her to slip back into the invisibility.*Samcat: “what’s… going on?”(Irl ssamcat: what’s going on)(Irl qibli: M U R D E R *maybe*)Erie: “an interrogation.”Samcat: “Lionstrike are you ACTUALLY a spy? Because I can launch an Alpha Warhead strait tothis location, and end us all. Right here, right now. Erie: “stop bluffing, Samcat. I’m the one who can actually do it.” *he says over his shoulder*Samcat: “lil bro, I’m the one with a Level 5 Keycard and O5 access here.” *samcat smirks* “but ok.Whatever you say. Can we just get back with the lesion? I have a lot of things to do with Sene- Imean, I have a very long schedule.”Lionstrike: “No, I’m not a spy. This classroom has the best book selection.” she waved her tail at thebookshelves around her. “In my favorite genre too.” she held up her book, titled, ‘101 ways to k!llyour enemies.’Erie: “there’s a 102nd way, they don’t tell you about; animus.” *he says, figiting with his necklace.*“wait, I don’t remember putting THAT in there…”Lionstrike: “My race is a type of leopard that is descended from a dragon. Our origin story is quitelong, but, in short i’m an animus. No new information for me!”Kazuko: *randomly walks in on them like the last time they met* Hola éstupidos- what’re y’all up toSamcat: “1, I’m not stupid. 2, just talkin’. Hey why don’t we all go to the city- oh wait nevermind I’mplanning something already.”Erie: “shush. Du bist kein klug. Now, lionstrike, what kind of dragon did you descend from?”Synthia: “ yes a descendant of who “ *she thought vigorously. Realizing she can’t read her mind,she looks for and object that block mindreading*Lionstrike: “1. I’m NOT stupid. 2. Descendant of Whiteout. 3. I repeat, I’m not stupid, I enchantedmy earrings, but I’m NOT telling the spells, except that one is mind-blocking.Samcat: “what’s ‘mind-blockong’?”Erie: “Samcat, I think she meant she can block mindreaders. And, WHITEOUT?!?!”Lionstrike: “Mhm.” *casually sets fire to the book she’s reading* “Better go out out the fire. Bye.”*goes into the hall to the teachers lounge*Erie: *puts out the fire, restores the book, and follows lionstrike* “whiteout was said to only relate tosunny!”Lionstrike: *rolls eyes* “Yeah, no. She had more than one dragonet. Sunny is descended from atleast one. One of her dragonets is my ancestor.” *sits down on a throne in the teachers lounge*Erie: “We don’t need another darkstalker!” *he yells, revealing that he truly is dragon, just in a humanform* “oh… no.”Lionstrike: “Never said I was going to be one,” she replied calmly. “Pretty sure Darkstalker wasn’tpart cat…” *turns into Dragon form, appearing as a sort of BeetleWing with leaf-shaped wings. “Ican use my magic to look like one, but I’m not. You’d be most likely to be Darkstalker ll.”Erie: “n-no. I-I-I can’t. I can’t be the second darkstalker.” *he says, looking down, and collapsing tohis knees.*Lionstrike: “Don’t… die? I guess?” mutters to herself: “This could be bad.” “SAMCAT!” she yelleddown the hall.Erie: *rips his necklace off, the links bending and bouncing on the floor. He turns back into hisdragon form, his wings barely not touching the floor, his head hanging low.*Lionstrike: “where is Samcat,” she hissed through her teeth. “Um- Erie- you probably won't be thenext Darkstalker. Maybe. Samcat will let you know if you are.” *she gritted her teeth*Erie: “no. I know I am. I-I feel it.” *he says, still averting his gaze*Lionstrike: *laughs* “Darkstalker was convinced he was good. If you think you're bad, you'reprobably good. Watch,” *clears throat* “I enchant this apple to a, l on Erie’s head when he’s evil.”*waits 10 minutes* “See. Not bad.”Erie: *looks around the room, and finds a telescope, an hourglass, and some tape. He starts makingsomething and points it at himself. Nothing happens.* “probably needs an enchantment…” *he saysto himself, then, the sand splits into red and green piles, the red rising to the top, and he points it athimself again. A lot of red sand falls to the bottom, the green rising, but some red staying up* “ok,could be broken, or malfunctioning.” *he points it at lionstrike, the whole mass of green sand falls tothe bottom*Samcat: “what the what is that?” Erie: “soul scanner.” *he says, flicking the hourglass*Samcat: “what does it say?”Erie: *still pointing it at lionstrike* “look at the bottom. Mostly green, with some speckles of red. So,she’s mostly good, with some bad.” *he turns the sound reader on himself, and there’s a noticeablymore amount of red*Lionstrike: “Huh… green is good, red’s bad… Darkstalker’s was worse.” she lookeduncharacteristically nervous.Erie: “but it started like this. Animus is a slippery slope.” *he says, pointing at the red in the sand*Lionstrike: *she backed away slowly* “So… my animus magic hasn’t made me bad, but you mightbe a homicidal maniac?” *her ears flattened against her head* “I know Albatross’s story…” she saidslowly.Erie: “so it shall seem.” *he says grimly, pursing his lips.*Lionstrike: *she bared her teeth and hissed* “Is there a way to fix yourself?”Samcat: “oh can you scan me!?”Lionstrike: “that isn’t the point Samcat.” *tail is lashing*Erie: “I… don’t know.” *he says, fiddling with the scanner*Lionstrike: “so… do we find a way, or bind your wings together and leave you on a deserted islandforever?”Erie: “we do what we must.” *he says, looking up towards the others.* “until this changes.”Samcat: “what do-“ *samcat’s phone rings* “uhh… can I take this call?”Erie: *nods his head slowly*Lionstrike: *walks over and listens to the call*