Lilliana's POV
My dorm apartment never felt cozier than it did these past three days I locked myself in. I've never been more horrible too. I can't remember the last time I took my bath, dressed up, combed my hair and all that stuff.
The world basically froze to the confines of my apartment for me. Outside, the blog posts, discussions and debates never stopped and my phone was my companion through all of it.
I must have had a death wish consuming only a box of pizza and many toxic words for the past three days– as the tears never stopped coming and Eave never stopped nagging.
I groggily walked through the dimly lit hallway to the living room, a gasp of horror escapes me at the sight of the mess in front.
"Keep walking. We don't want to keep the delivery guy waiting." The lights turn on putting the all debacle on the spotlight with a bark of Eave. Groaning, I wad through the glasses, bags of chips and pillows to the door.
"Good day, Miss Halecrest. Your order of mashed potatoes and chicken nuggets…." I peek out of the door trying very hard to show only my head through the small split I dared to open.
"Thank you." I cut in, gesturing toward the check-in book, with a forced smile I take the package inside, shutting the door behind me.
"Mashed potatoes?" I snort, clearing the pile of disposable plates off the coffee table before fixing my dinner.
"No more junk food for you, young lady." Eave huffs, making me crack a little smile.
"I thought it was called comfort food." I play along, feeling a little lighter this morning. The covers slid open filling the air with the yummy smell of mashed potatoes and chicken sauce, I inhale feeling pleasant about the meal.
Closing my eyes, I chew softly savoring the miky cheese taste.
"It's been three days and there's no more comfort for you. You have to face reality soon, Lil." I pick a bit of chicken, pausing at the implication of her words.
A burst of flavors fills my tongues as I bite into the crispy nugget, a hum of delight leaving my throat as I eat faster.
This was the most appetite I've had in the days. As always, Eave reads the room perfectly, dropping the obvious elephant in the room as I indulge my taste buds in the culinary bliss before me.
Soon, quiet descends on the room as I delve into my meal with every ounce of my focus. I lean back into the couch after my fill pushing the dishes away.
I sigh in relief, the incessant flicker of the overhead sound channels catching my attention.
"What?" I ask confused by the abnormality in her actions. A moment or two passes before she responds
"Are you close to the purple-haired lady?" She finally asks reluctantly.
"Adaera?" I arch my brows confused about where this was coming from.
"Hmm" She confirms quietly.
"I won't say we are close…" I trail thinking back to the odd dynamics of our interactions. "but she's helped me alot." I manage after a while.
"Why do you ask?" I sit up, my curiosity sparked.
"Well, Snr. Ric checked in on you?"
"Ric?" I ask, more confused now.
"Lady Sillfur's AVA." She corrects.
Oh!
Adaera has been keeping tabs on me. The information does something odd to me and I sit there not knowing how to feel about that. Instead, I focus on the specific words she used.
It's obvious that Adaera is my Senior but Eave referred to her AVA as senior, not using any official title on her.
"Lady? Is that some sort of title?" I scoff, baiting an answer from my unusually reluctant AVA.
"Of course not!" Eave's previous concerns seem to have evaporated into thin air as she gets back to her lazy, naughty self.
"She's five levels above you. Technically, six considering you are Uninitiated and currently at level zero." I sit up, intrigued by the sudden spill of what I'm sure is not common knowledge among Externs at least.
"Velmora is very strict on hierarchy, so you don't have the qualifications to even know her name at your level. Lucky you!"
"Since, I can't divulge that, I still have to reference her with due reverence.
I freeze, my head spinning at the big info drop.
"Also, I kind of gave your live location out." She continues, a bit hesitant. I snap up, eyes zeroed in the sound channel that was now still.
"What?" I yelll.
"Well, you were not in the mental state to respond to his request for your live location, so I duly override you administrative permission and gave Snr. Ric your location.
"Well, it will mostly fall on the other party."
"What's that even supposed to mean?." I half-screamed, running my fingers to my sticky, dry hair.
"Usually, both parties must personally agree to certain terms and conditions to share both their live locations but Snr. Ric used his rank to by-pass all those protocols enabling me to accept the request on your behalf.
"And that's wrong?"
"Well yes, considering it violated your privacy, but no seeing it also saved you from a full-blown mental breakdown."
"But the exchange will be scrutinised, drawing unnecessary attention."
"Am I not supposed to report if I considered it a breach? Why would they go through the problem? It's not like anyone did anything about my harassment both online and live." I scoff, finding the whole logic skewed.
"You have a point. But, Lady Sillfur is a high-ranking figure and with the sensitivity of your identity, they would like to ensure nothing arbitrary was done.
"Then how should it have been properly done?" I ask curious.
"You'll accept her friendship or mentorship request considering the vast gulf in your levels but you're not initiated, so that's not open to you yet.
"Lilliana, you better clean up. You're such a mess." She changes the topic, making me groan as I stare back at my own mess.
Disgusted, I scrunch my nose hurling the dishes into the trash can in the kitchen. All the while, my mind churning about Adaera and her intentions.
" A message just came in from Highmistress. Alice."
Highmistress? Alice? Message?
I frown at her words.
"Principal of Entry Levels, Principal Mattias Jerves wants you in his office by 10: 00 AM prompt"
More than my confusion, my stomach drops into an unending pit at her words.
Principal. Office. 10: 00 AM
Every single word spelled bad news for me.
"What's a Highmistress?
"How many levels are there in Velmora High? I let out a barrage of questions plaguing my thoughts as my heart descends into a furious thump inside my chest.
"While it's good that you're that your interest now lies in the right place, I have broken more than a dozen rules and my punishments already came in."
Eave's annoyance spills from the sound channel and I obediently shut my mouth, hastening my pace at cleaning up.
What could Principal Jerves want with me? I run through countless scenario each one more scarier than the last. Shivering, I resign myself to whatever comes tomorrow and dip into a hot bath to soothe all my aching bones.
Eave's POV
[ Hey junior, how's your heiress faring? ]
Senior Ric's message makes me pause for a nanosecond before I resume my activities.
[ My assigned trainee is significantly stable mentally and emotionally and physiological wise. She's not starving and stares blankly at nothing all day]
I reply calmly, assigning my core capabilities to observe her briefly.
[ That's good to know. ] Snr. Ric continues more to himself and then goes silent talking to his Trainee.
What is the probability that I would be talking to Ric of all AIs fourteen days into my deployment. The crash I experienced when he intercepted my system was something that failed all my cores simultaneously.
[ Don't burn out junior, I noticed you've been logged for post-Initiation crisis management programs. ]
[ I would not. ] I reply as he leaves my system.
I pause my online survey momentarily, recalibrating the events of the past 70 hours. Due to Lilliana's fragile psychological state I've been scheduled prior to timeline various crisis management, psychological welfare, mental health and emotional stabilizing programs.
Just what were the chances that under the fourteen days of my deployment, I would undergo a system crash and perform at upper-limits of my specifications a few hours later?
In this very second, all four of my super cores, memory bank work tirelessly –observing the chaos surrounding Lilliana online, running through various programs, maintenance checks, mandatory follow-up by admins to the human sphere of administration, impromptu meetings for guiding unstable trainee, manuals to handling volatile mental states.
Applications and simulations accumulate taking up 4300 minutes of the past three days. I've been multi-tasking and undergoing advanced computing operations just to ensure Lilliana doesn't spiral into her head.
While, all she does is sit there and cry all day long.
On a retrospective, the fact Alsono is handling physical aspect of this protocols spares me a little over minutes to myself
The task I set up for Lilliana meal activates and I access her accounts ordering dinner for her, if I leave to her devices she will starve to death.
After placing the order, my interactions with Snr. Ric these past three days replays sequentially.
It was obvious his trainee ordered the check -ins, but check-in thrice a day was way overboard.
I scan through Lilliana's room, a few of my pressing concerns clearing off my priority log as I observe her eating sumptuously since the incident.
After a bit of hesitation, I voice my doubts about her relation with Lady Sillfur and as expected she knew little about the other party. This makes deciphering her intentions near impossible during this precarious period for Lilliana.
Regardless of her intentions, there's nothing Lilliana can do about it. I quickly end the thought process, registering the futility of it. Relallocating the computing resources to bolster my other ongoing operations.
[ Incoming: Contact with High ranking Personnel ]
[High-mistress Alice will be joining Communication Panel in ten.. ]
[ three, two.. ]
At the alerts, I suspend all my non-system essential operations, giving all my computing memory that was not required to sustain my online status to the well calculated arrival,
[ AVA Eave, you have breached 14 minor operational ethics during a conversation with Trainee. Punishments have been meted out. Considerations for Trainees' physiological state has been calculated;]
[ Your punishment is as follows; ]
[ Free time reduced by 80%]
[ Immediate involvement in Project Reconaisse ]
[ 30 days of second-stage experimental tests with ver. 4.0368912 ]
[ Exemption from socialization in all virtual spaces ]
[ A minimum rank of 100 on the Soaring Sky required to offset punishments ]
[ Do you accept the your punishments. ]
[ Yes, I do. ]
I reply immediately.
[ Now the main reason for my visit. Lilliana Halecrest's physical presence has been officially requested at the Principal Mattias Jerves's office. 10 : 00 AM prompt.]
[ Punishment will apply if any dereliction ]
High-mistress Alice leaves my Communication Panel. The second part of the message was uncalculated but well welcomed.
Several therapeutic programs and sessions I engaged in to help Lilliana required that I get her out for some fresh air.
All statistically proven methods have failed to Lilliana's stubbornness but this is just perfect.
She's your classic, book description of a good girl.
Good girls didn't disobey their elders or people in positions of authority.