An incentive to study.

"Well, Teach... Your carrot and stick strategy worked well so far, didn't it?" Liam said, successfully keeping his sarcasm to himself as he tried on an earnest demeanor. "What we students need to fully devote ourselves to this lesson is another incentive. Look... unless you keep us on our toes, some of us are gonna start nodding off here. I don't think a bunch of the guys slept too well last night," he snickered.

"Very well. I will shout at all of you every five minutes or as often as I hear a snore in order to keep you awake," Ralli offered. Reasonably, in her opinion.

"No, ma'am, I think that would only do so far as keeping people awake. I'm thinking of a reason they should be excited!" Liam continued pushing his luck, grinning broadly. "You know the content of this chapter like the back of your hand, correct?"

"True," Ralli agreed. The version she had read was in a format for the blind, and after reading it, she had retained it perfectly, like most of her knowledge. "I could recite it from memory."

"Very good. Every so often, in keeping with the pace you want us to study, why not offer a little quiz for the class? Ask a question to make sure everyone's awake and on their toes?"

"... That is not a bad idea," Ralli admitted, nodding her head behind the curtain. "I sense that your idea does not end there, however."

"Yes, well... if we answer that question wrong, I assume you are already planning some kind of punishment for us?"

"That is correct. Naturally points will be docked from the final score on your essay. For a reward, I was planning on adding points to your final essay."

"Th-that seems pretty good, fellas," the huge Harvey Dustaine interjected, sensing where Liam was probably going with this. As interested as Harvey was in the fact that his instructor was actually a secret hottie, he was even more concerned about the essay, as his writing was very, very poor. He was eager for any chance to get his score up.

"No, no, that will be of only limited benefit," Liam disagreed, shaking his head while still wearing his shit-eating grin. "I'm talking about something more exciting! Using some of those fine carrots of yours, Teach... How about, if one of us gets a question right, you raise that curtain for us just a little? Say... ten inches or a foot? All of us really want to see you with our own eyes, ma'am."

"Y-you imbecile!" Ralli growled, clearly clenching her fists behind the veil. "Do you have such low expectations of yourselves? Or do you simply not know how to measure distance?! That would mean... after a mere four questions correctly answered...!"

"Ms. Ralli, you throw that in on top of the score bonuses and you'll be seein' all of our smilin' faces real soon!" Harvey declared.

The teacher had very mixed feelings about this reaction. On one hand, if even Harvey, perhaps the worst scholar among her trainees, was excited about learning, this could actually prove to be an effective teaching tool. On the other hand... Something seemed off. Why did it seem like Harvey was aware there was something exciting to see behind the curtain? "I know for a fact Harvey hasn't seen me as a woman before. Why would that change if he hadn't seen me...?"

She decided to do something, as both a test and precaution. She tried tiptoeing as best as she could across the creaky floor to stand behind the podium. "All right... I am... considering your request..." she muttered.

Of course, with the lantern Ralli was forgetting about, everyone was able to see their teacher's amusing precautionary measure clearly. The response was half amusement, but half confusion. Only Harley and the woman herself knew that Ralli was blind, after all. This action made it obvious the sergeant thought she couldn't be seen, for anyone paying attention.

In any case, it was futile. The sergeant couldn't hear any reactions to give the situation away, and from this position, she could hardly reach the curtain drawstring. Sighing, she made her way to stand beside the cord. "Very well. However, I will add an additional condition. If nobody answers correctly, everyone in the class will be even further docked points."

"I guess we'll all have to try our hardest!" Liam spoke smugly, turning his smile on Harley meaningfully.

"Damn it. I may have given them even further motivation," Ralli admitted to herself. "I will control the pacing of the questions... Now, begin your study. Take notes as necessary. Be advised that you will have only fifteen seconds to provide an answer when asked. You either know it or you do not."

"We're all counting on you," Liam reminded Harley again in a whisper, seeming to have some perverse pleasure in forcing Harley to play along for the sake of her grade, whether she wanted to or not.

For her part, Harley simply clicked her teeth... She'd have to see if there was some way to protect both Ralli and her average at the same time, but it didn't seem likely. "It's... definitely not because I want to see Ms. Ralli's bare legs," she reminded herself. "I'm not like the rest of these perverts... A-and I can see Ms. Ralli naked any time I'm in the shower with her! Keep it together, Harley!"