«University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City»

*RIIING!*

The short, shrill burst of the alarm jolted Ren wide awake. Pink sheets and white walls greeted her as she sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She checked the time from the corner of her vision — it was already 10 minutes past 2. That leaves 20 minutes of free time left, barely enough time for a bite before her next class.

Still yawning, Ren got up from the bed and fumbled for the blue denim jacket thrown haphazardly across her headboard. She gathered her hair up in one hand as she strode across the tiled floor, her other hand pulling on a hair tie. As she did, her eyes made their way to the little envelope icon next to the clock. No notifications. Ren sighed as she pulled open the door.

Moments later, she was out on Saint Francis Street heading east. The summer wind blew warmly, slightly ruffling her pony-tailed hair. It was a nice afternoon, and the tree-lined street was filled with the low chatter of strolling students. An Ikot shuttle breezed past her, its distinct electric hum masked by laughter from within. She was about to turn the corner when a voice called out to her.

"Ren! Hey!"

She turned to find Penelope running to catch up. "I was going to go up but the guard told me you'd already left," she jabbed her thumb towards the five-story building behind them. It was the university's Ilang-Ilang Residence Hall, which they had been calling "home" for the past three months.

"What... Oh! Sorrry!" Ren's face grew red as she apologized. She remembered they were supposed to walk together, as their next classes were in the same building. "I was out of sorts when I woke up."

"Nah, nevermind that. Where were you going anyway?"

"Just heading to Allan's for a quick snack," Ren replied as she resumed her walk. Penelope sauntered by her side, her curly locks bouncing around her round, childish face. She seemed to be lost in thought.

"You know, I was wondering about that stuff Prof. Marquez talked about earlier," Penelope began. "CoreTech sets can directly access the visual and sensory cortex of the brain. Blind people can literally see and interact with content. That renders alt-texts and text-to-speech features obsolete." Before free time, they had a class in Multimedia Accessibility together.

"Well, I guess not everybody who wears a CoreTech can understand what they see, especially if they've been blind since birth," Ren intoned. A small blue LED blinked near her temple as her class schedule flashed before her eyes. The pure black band, nearly invisible against her raven hair, fired off a steady stream of pulses as she scrolled through the floating window. 

The CoreTech system was a breakthrough brain-machine interface that made hyperreality possible. Barely a decade since its first release, it was now rare to see someone without a thin, wire-like frame across their head. People used it for everything, from browsing the Internet to interpreting traffic signs, from serious scientific research to VR gaming. In fact, much of today's society has been built around its reality-augmenting features.

Ren casually flicked a hand to dismiss the window only she could see. "Also, CoreTech sets are just platforms. We need to focus on the content. We know not everyone will trust Synaptix not to meddle with their brains, so some people still prefer to browse with outdated gadgets." She kept her gaze straight, looking at the green-and-yellow eatery straight ahead.

"Maybe... but I think we can work around that. Maybe all we need is a more robust encryption scheme to make the interface hack-proof. You suppose we can make a thesis out of that in the future?"

"Perhaps," Ren responded without genuine interest. She did not notice her friend looking curiously at her expressionless face.

"Say, anything wrong?", Penelope asked as they entered the carinderia.

"Nothing, just hungry," Ren replied while eyeing a large pot of beef pares. She headed straight for the counter and keyed her order from the pop-up menu. 

"You sure?" Penelope ordered two sticks of isaw.

"Hey, I didn't know you eat that!"

"Don't you?"

"On occasion," Ren admitted. As she took her tray, a small red "1" appeared against the messaging icon in her HUD. She hurriedly opened it, and sighed as her mom's thumbnail greeted her. Yep, I'll be home early, she typed into the reply.

"You didn't answer my question," Penelope quipped. She tapped a finger in mid-air to pay for her order, and made for the nearest table.

"What question?"

"It's Cube, isn't it?"

Ren smiled despite herself. Penelope had impeccable intuition. She set her tray down on the floral tablecloth before replying.

"That idiot hasn't been found since lunch time."

"I thought he said he'd be in the library."

"Oh, library alright — trying to pawn another head, I presume."

Penelope raised an eyebrow. "He can get past the firewall?"

"He bought a lifetime VPN subscription last month."

"Huh. And found out how to install it, too. Your boyfriend sure is smart."

"You have no... hey! He's not my boyfriend!" Ren protested with her spoon in mid-air. In front of her, Penelope was giggling. "Right... classic trick," Ren sighed.

"Trick? What trick?", the other girl looked around innocently. "Seriously though, why don't you go fetch him then?"

"As if I can tear him out of his access pod. He already missed a quiz earlier!"

"Then go tell the librarian."

"I don't want him expelled."

"Then you're going to pull the sulking act until he apologizes?" Ren's friend asked as she cleared her plate.

"Maybe. Or maybe I'm just gonna grab his set and throw it under the shuttle wheels. And then I'll throw him next."

"That's harsh." Penelope watched her friend shovel in the last few spoonfuls of rice, slathered with the pares' thick sauce.

"He's going to be in so much trouble when I see him." Ren glared at the empty bowl as her friend looked on bemusedly. Then, her eyes found the clock again. Two seems a bit too long. Or maybe he's found trouble even now.