The Xavier Institute for Higher Learning

[Al hasn't finished unpacking yet. This is about the only telling information from what's on the screen, when he flicks his phone's camera on, sometime shortly after the end of classes: one of the Mansion's bedrooms set aside for faculty, suitcases and boxes tossed on the unmade bed, with the man himself tossing one arm idly over the back of a chair. The desk in front of him is likewise cluttered with papers, folders, a shot glass, and a dark, half-emptied liquor bottle.

Only half of the bottle's label is visible on screen, that portion of the text reading "RITTENH."]

Guess I gotta introduce myself all over again, huh?

Name's Al Swearengen. Owner and proprietor of Gem, finest joint in the City for any mutant who prefers to drink among their own kind.

Come the start of the new year, I'm also gonna be this place's armed combat instructor. Did something similar for a while, before the Sentinels torched it, years back. This time around, I'll be teaching those interested and capable how to handle themselves around a loaded gun...or knife or whatever else some Friends of Humanity cocksucker decides to come at you with.

[He...really doesn't even seem to register that his choice of words just then might not have been entirely classroom appropriate.]

I hope it goes without saying, that'll mean learning to handle all those weapons yourselves, too.

But, since I'm told it's late in the year for making new courses official - even ones that're gonna keep you from getting fucking killed - until next semester I'll be just be doing "tutorials." [The air-quotes are audible there.] On gun safety, for the most part. Those're mandatory for anyone keen on taking the real thing, 'cause I don't like to repeat myself. And 'cause I'll be using that time to divide up those interested into an introductory and advanced class, based on how you handle yourselves.

[That's all the actual information he needed to get across, so he shrugs, screws open his bottle, and pours himself a shot. It's not far past 3 P.M., and Al Swearengen is simply the best role model.]

That's all I've got for today. Any questions, feel free to direct'em to my faculty e-mail.

[Which he (a) does not include and (b) intends to avoid checking, ideally, for at least the rest of the week! Just asking directly might be a little more straightforward!]