No words could express the emotions that whirled inside Josh's head as he stared at the short girl who almost gave him a heart attack. He was starting to regret even joining their group, if he had known she'd be like this.... But then again, he's not the type to jump into conclusions.
Siam was reviewing Bernard's work, reading into the information he collected. She held the mouse as he watched her organize each subject. As each key was pressed, her fingers moved with familiarity, a contrast to Bernard's typing style—heavy, purposeful.
"What are you guys typing?" Josh finally asked, moving his body towards them instead of his neck. Siam noticed this as she shifted her gaze, causing her to let out a short laugh, "You're neck's not broken, y'know?"
Bernard tilted his head to look at Josh since Siam was in front of him, "Making a recipe for a sandwich." He answered Josh without much thought, making Josh even more confused.
"You'll know. Patience is key, Josh." Siam ended their conversation.
Josh stood up, walking up to the mirror near the entrance door, moving his head carefully, his neck is fine.
"How did you manage to cut through it without harming the vein?" He asked out of curiosity. His eyes drifted to her once again, and as he expected, she remained unreadable.
"Prediction." She answered simply before meeting his eyes, there was a hint of warning in them. "Let's talk about hams later, how about you go find Meljasher? He went to get Kurt but they haven't returned yet. We need them." She stated before returning to her work. Josh looked at Bernard but all the guy did was gesture for him to follow her words.
Josh hesitated to leave but took hold of the doorknob despite himself. Outside the Tech Club was far more peaceful, as if mocking him about the cruel nature of the sick game he's trapped in.
He made his way to where Kurt and Meljasher would usually stay in—the cafeteria, but he's not sure which part of the cafeteria.
As he made his way, the sound of his footsteps echoed throughout the empty hallway, catching the attention of the two girls chatting. He recognized them right away—Stachy, and Angel.
"Josh!" Stachy greeted me with a warm smile. She had tan skin, brown eyes, and dark brown hair, while Angel was a contrast—her skin is pale, her hair is black while her eyes are dark brown, and she's far taller than average, even taller than Josh. It explains why these two are popular.
"Hi girls, long time no see!" He smiled slightly, though his neck still hurts. "How are you ladies?" He asked, wanting to start a conversation before asking them where Meljasher and Kurt could be.
"We're fine, though we're not sure about you. Are you okay? I heard you got dragged into trouble." Stachy paced near him, Angel followed along with a sigh. "Guess he forgot about contacting us." She crossed her arms above her chest.
"Hey come on, just because my friends are in the student council doesn't mean I have to depend on you guys, imagine what people would say..." He laughed awkwardly, as much as he missed them, he couldn't afford to let them know.
"Right... Anyway, what are you doing roaming around here?" Angel asked.
"I was looking for Meljasher, have you seen him?" Josh finally asked. Stachy pointed in the direction to the right side of the canteen where the lunch tables are. "Saw him there with that tall gamer guy."
"You mean Kurt?"
"Yeah, whatever his name is."
"Alright, thanks." He nodded, ready to leave but Stachy pulled his sleeve.
"Hey, Josh? You know you can still hang out with us, right? You're welcome in the Student Council anytime." She smiled hopefully. Her words made him stiffen on his track but he masked it with a polite smile.
"I will."
Inside the Tech Club
Silence roamed nonstop, constantly disturbed by the soft tapping of keys on the laptop's keyboard. Every touch of the key is somehow fast yet gentle, as if it were not far from familiarity.
Bernard kept his posture straight—as usual, formal. He was hesitant to ask but curiosity took over him, "Why did you ask for help when you can clearly gather it yourself? I spend too much time looking for info... Only for you to shorten it and erase details."
The typing stopped, her dark eyes shifting to the vice president of the student council. It was as if she knew he'd ask, and that showered him in discomfort.
"Because the details should be known. By you." She simply answered, returning to her work before continuing to speak, "You'll know soon. Patience isn't your strength but it will be."
Her words made him hold his chair's arm, it felt uncomfortable and suffocating—her words. They were spoken casually but he could somehow feel the weight of each syllable.
A stumbling noise from the entrance door sharply broke the silence as Josh barged in. Meljasher and Kurt followed behind him.
"We're here. Oh and... Will it be alright for you two to hurry? It's urgent." Josh said, his words careful as he awaited their response.
"Alright, you four get going, I'll follow after this." Bernard nodded, gesturing for Siam to follow the three boys.
Their footsteps began to fade as Bernard turned his attention back to the laptop in front of him.
"What's the urgent matter?" Siam asked as they set foot outside the main building, making their way to the garden by following the gravel, each step heavier than the last as she waited for their answer.
"We found an aifam." Kurt finally broke the tension since none of the two wanted to. Siam paused on her track as she watched the boys turn their heads to her while they waited. Josh was the first to speak, not letting another awkward silence settle in.
"And I have a recipe for the sandwich you're looking for." He said with a smile, as if reassuring her.
Garden
12AM
"Jared?" Siam took note, yet she seemed far more surprised than she usually should be. Josh let out a small hum as he saw the people around him with grim expressions. "I knew since day one anyway." He thought to himself.
"Kurt, Bernard, Jared, Stachy, Reneth, Aliyah, and Angel." Josh spoke, drawing attention to himself while he grabbed a broken branch on the ground, drawing a square in front of them.
"Those seven people are my friends. Jared—as far as I know, is a mafia." He took a deep breath.
Josh's POV
I'm getting tired of following whatever orders I get, I don't know if I can fully trust these seniors, but I can try if I know the whole truth. The knowledge that one of them could be a mafia only makes me feel more uncomfortable.
"If we just keep on testing the waters rather than just taking action, I don't think we'll ever succeed—" just before I got to finish my sentence, Fred cut me off.
"Look, kid. If only you knew about this AI, then you'll understand—"
I stood up before he could finish, it pissed me off how he could say such words when he never talked about anything in the first place, my hand curling into a fist as I kept my anger in check.
"Then explain to us. How long have you been in this academy? Why are you still here when you knew about this sick game, have you not done anything to stop this stupid AI—"
As Fred was about to stand up, to possibly argue with me, a knife flew out of nowhere, moving almost like the breeze as it landed on the tree behind him, just enough to make him freeze.
Kurt was the first to stand up with me, his head still yet his eyes scanned the area before he kept his gaze on whatever is behind me. Shit, did we get caught?
Slowly, I turned around, my eyes taking a sight of a familiar figure, wearing the same uniform us freshmen wore. Curly black hair, eyes as brown as honey. He was tossing a knife on one hand as he frowned at me, as if disgusted by the very sight of me.
Kurt raised his hand, pointing his metal water bottle at him. At first, we thought he was joking until Jared took a step close to me. Kurt immediately grabbed the back collar of my shirt, shielding me while Meljasher stood up and stood beside Kurt. I looked behind me; Siam was already standing as she gave Jared a glare while Jazzi and Blanche hid behind her, but I could also see Fred and Iresh standing in front of the three girls.
"Oh, did I interrupt the picnic?" Jared smiled, almost smugly as if he enjoyed us glaring at him.
We waited for Siam to bite back at him with words but she kept quiet, even Fred as he shared the same glare Siam had on her face, this isn't the first time. I realized.
"I was thinking of arranging a date with Eshi (Iresh) and I but I guess he has his hands on someone else, I thought of ignoring it until I heard my name and the word mafia in the same sentence." He shrugged, as he isn't outnumbered, as if this is all casual.
"Jared V. Dena penis- I mean Denapien," Kurt stated, causing Jared to glance at him. The cover of the water bottle dropped on the floor as Kurt pointed the revolver at Jared, eyes filled with determination as he's pointing at an opponent, not at a friend.
"If your purpose here is to hurt a citizen or two, I'm afraid that won't be possible. You are hereby—" Jared threw the knife he had towards Fred.
-Dan's POV-
Six years in this wretched place yet still no cheese powdered chips, man I hate this school.
After spending sixty-thousand years (six minutes) looking for my children (chips), I lost my hope in life (gave up) and headed to my lovely home (technology club) only to see the four-eyed Vice Pres (Bernard) pomeranian (Iresh) told me to worry about, and shit-face (Siam) told me not to worry about.
"What are you doing here, kid? Doing your homework?" I asked, he's probably a new member since he looks like he sleeps well. He just looked at me and went back to typing. Rude.
How could he? Ignore? Me? How mysterious...How interesting... How—
"Where are Josh and the others?" He finally spoke, and he knows Josh? How interesting... How—
"Ahem, they're probably near the three again." Ah, now that he's mentioned it. "Why are you here? Shouldn't Siam bring you into the gang already?"
He didn't answer and just glanced at me, then typing again. Seriously, kids these days... Before I could think of lecturing him, my phone vibrated in my pocket, I took it out to check— huh? Bernard's checking his too? Why does he look like he's in distress?
I shrugged it off and looked at the notif—
"Dear Doctor, a detective has been harmed by a mafia, sending coordinates to all students."
"Shit, we have to go." Bernard pressed enter and closed the laptop, placing it in its bag before rushing out of the clubroom, he looked at me, worried. "What the fuck are you waiting for?!"
Garden
3rd person's POV
"Oh my, showing me some skin? I must be in heaven." Fred chuckled as Iresh tied the piece of his shirt around Fred's bicep.
"Shut the fuck up." Iresh trembled, his breath growing heavy each second as he heard Jared calling out his name while he struggled to get off Kurt's grip, Kurt prepared to pull the trigger until Jared kicked his groin and slipped off his gasp, taking out his phone and pressing a red app.
"Shit." Fred's eyes widened as he saw what app Jared pressed, he exchanged glances with Dan who was running towards the garden. Without hesitation, Fred shook off Iresh and pulled him so he'd be behind. Siam reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, she and the girls waited for Fred's words.
"Iresh, shield the girls!" he shouted before revealing a revolver similar to Kurt's.
Iresh hesitated but Josh grabbed his arm and ran as he followed the girls who were heading to the trackfield—where the signal is stronger.
"Girls, form a circle! Siam, do what you must! Blanche, what was that app Jared pressed?" He asked with urgency, pulling out his gun—similar to what the detectives had.
"That was an alert button, it sends a signal to the AI, the AI will send security robots to that area... And possibly start the game earlier than usual."
The information grew a dread in both boys' minds, they exchanged glances before Iresh cursed under his breath, his eyes back to the garden in front of them.
"I'm a mafia." He revealed, "I'm telling you this because if I were to join that bastard's team, I'll be fucked— literally." He stubbornly confessed.
Josh hesitated for a moment, panic almost taking control until he took a deep breath. "Alright. Just don't hurt us." He sighed.
"I won't. By the way, your timid persona is gone." Iresh reminded Josh, though his tone was vague—concern, disbelief, reminder, and amusement.
"I know."