“What is this bullshit?” murmurs rang out, but nobody was stupid enough to say it too loud. Turns out, the school did enrol only the brightest.

The campus security wasn’t thrilled to play along, but these lesser muscleheads didn’t argue either. It was painfully obvious how easily anyone could be disposed of. Elaborate spectacle like this wouldn’t even be necessary.

I saw in the grim expressions of these intelligent, sheltered youths that they were promptly reshaping their worldviews. Most of them won’t ever be anywhere near the military elites to experience such blatant, drastic double standards.

With newly-minted prisoner carted off, stupefied crowd has begun dispersing as well. The window was empty. That meant I had very limited time. Gripped the strings of the backpack tighter and jogged off.

Having spent a lot of effort trying to avoid all the prospective highborn trouble, I was somewhat aware of their schedule. He’d be attending a physics lecture shortly.

In the place of teaching I tried to get somebody to do suspicious things for me. I was really missing the dead girl, whatever her name was. She was so great at errands and asking no questions. A good friend was so hard to find!

“Speak up, I can’t hear you,” a third person I hassled insisted. He probably wasn’t trying to be a jerk. Probably. I was speaking softly to minimise my stuttering. The noise of a milling crowd wasn’t helping.

“The K-kalantan lord dropped this. Can you put it on his desk?”

“Oh, hell no! Didn’t you hear what happened earlier?”

Word has spread too fast. It was irritating.

“So why not get into his good graces?” I whispered directly into guy’s ear. In all likelihood, whoever drops it off will be hauled off for questioning. At best!

Unfortunately, the student I chatted up was smarter than he looked.

“Yeah, sure. Why don’t you do it then?”

This was taking too long. This guy will remember me now. However, that was but a consequent problem in a longer list of things on fire.

I was tracking a dubious heavy in workout clothes in my periphery. Ascertaining to whom this badly hidden legion belonged to was next on the list. They could have been admitted here as students, but it was much simpler to enter as a part of entourage.

I masked a frustrated sigh and decided to push on with this interaction. The least I could do was add another layer of confusion for when he’s inevitably questioned.

“Look. That chick asked me to do this, but I just c-can’t. Help me out? I’ll give you a fifty.” It was all my remaining money – until I got back to my cache, anyway.

“Yea? Where?” The guy started looking around, intrigued. I picked him because he seemed like he was struggling, but entirely different aspect caught the himbo’s attention. “Is she hot?”

I gave him a no shit, as if I’d have agreed otherwise expression. My cheeks probably were too stiff, but at least most of it was in the eyebrows.

“Damn. Really wish I could help ya out,” my quarry said after setting his eyes on a random girl, looking genuinely regretful. That didn’t help me at all!

I could see Raktkalis outside.

I bent in to whisper again, “Can you open a window near his seat?”

“Well. I guess I could…”

“Do that and I’ll introduce you to her.”

“But what…?”

I left the happy fool to do my bidding and darted off to the back of the building. That took a while, as I was avoiding the cameras. Otherwise, I’d have simply walked in and delivered the message myself. Did not want to prematurely alert the lordling to the change of my appearance.

The window was blessedly ajar. I felt the tension recede.

Went some ways off into the trees, and chucked the bulky phone case – and the note – in. I heard it land, as well as the exclamations of surprise, but didn’t stick around to find out if it reached the desired recipient. There was absolutely nothing I could do about that now. I just needed to not be here anymore.

Got myself ready for the long wait. Or very brisk one, if Raktkalis sent his goons instead. I’d see them leagues away.

A construction site. The perfect spot for shady meetings.

This technological wonder of an academy was in a state of constant upgrades. Construction on the new lecture hall kept being cancelled, then resumed with a fresh twist. Trenches, bare frames, half of roof, piles upon piles of old materials, tarps. It would be hard to locate anyone here, even if I did entrench here.

I took apart the trophy phone still in the dorms, searching for trackers and cutting it off from network completely. With some time to kill, I worked through the combinations, trying to unlock it.

This acquisition was nothing short of a golden thread pulling me upwards from the deep ravine of manure. After all, even if I didn’t get my computer back, this state-of-art gadget realistically could cost more.

No commoner would ever have this. Not when they could trade it in for an apartment meant just for themselves. Maybe two. A highly skilled engineer lovingly crafted this thing. Several, perhaps. Even I have never held something like this. The case of this phone not only closed fully – it wasn’t even thick. Each component just fit, as if crafted for this specific purpose.

If I cracked the code, some highly prized secrets would be mine to sell, too. However, peddling business of the General’s household was dangerous. In fact, I’d have loved to avoid that whole family altogether – but my back was to the wall. The likelihood of peeking inside was low, in any case. I needed my computer to crack through the code.

Screen changed.

It unlocked. Just like that. To a combination so basic, I didn’t need to write it down. I stared blankly as though missing the joke. Security was very lax over there. This fuck-up can’t even be blamed on anyone else.

Didn’t anyone prey on the top echelon anymore? My own reluctance aside, there had to be skilled thieves and murderers who’d want to try their luck for the highest returns. Did the projection of power render everyone incapable? Did they leave the saviours of humanity unmolested out of respect?

As I was browsing the menus, the reason for a weak passcode became apparent. There was not a lick of information stored on it. Several phone numbers, a very sparse call log, photos of the blackboards that he didn’t bother writing down. That was it. Not even any significant network history. He had only connected to the school’s server for some administrative business.

How exceptionally dull. That ruthless lordling didn’t appear to have much of interest in anything. Having been groomed to become an outstanding military leader must have come at a cost, and the cost was personality.

All I can say is that I approved of the dedication. Sucks to be him, but this seemed somehow appropriate.

Steps.

A single person was approaching. I glanced around and saw no troopers scurrying to surround the grounds either. He didn’t even bring the customary bodyguards.

The fully-armoured man carried a chunky rectangle under his arm. This meet-up couldn’t have gone more perfectly even if my love letter had gone into an excruciating detail.

I stayed absolutely still in my cover. Hardly even breathed. He had noticed me in his rooms somehow and I was still not sure of the means. Did not need this golden opportunity to end with a bullet in my peeping eye.

Raktkalis stopped at an entrance to a clearing, suspiciously glancing around and finding nobody to make the promised trade with. The idea was for him to leave what’s mine here and I’d figure out how to return his property at a later time.

He might not be the trusting kind, but apparently he did want his expensive phone back enough to show up here. He’d cave. I was sure.

The youth devoid of personality hopped up atop a stack of bricks and kept scanning the construction site.

“Coward,” scion grittily called out. It sounded like he’s been furiously howling at everybody in his long-winded path today, which probably wasn’t far off from the truth. However, an amused tone gave the exact opposite impression, “I know you’re here.”

How? That was all I wanted to know. This could be a ploy or a mental trick, as well as a missed tracker in the phone. I was not coming out regardless.

“I came to return your obsolete junk,” he announced indignantly as if he had actually expected to be greeted, bowed to and thanked. Quite reasonable for a highborn, all in all.

I seethed. First of all, all tech was precious. Secondly, that was far from junk, and not nearly as obsolete as he thought. Looks like the pompous brat did not get to peek at the contents, or the tone would be much different.

Or not. The smugness suggested he hadn’t even bothered opening the damned thing. Why take it then?! None of this would have happened! This entitled, irritating brat.

He then did something worse than hurl insults. After all, words were just that. Words. Actions, on the other hand, packed the real punch.