Superior

CHAPTER TEN: Raiker

My patience was rapidly running out. I don't think I can take much more of Zander's shit.

It took me some time to calm down after leaving Aisa staring dejectedly into her plate; a long, brisk walk through the campus suppressed my anger and annoyance significantly... I did feel bad about that, but I would rather not have her see that side of me. Speaking of which... she was acting really strange today.

Nervous, touchy, docile. She wouldn't meet my eyes like she did before

. Why, though? It simply didn't make any sense whatsoever. Ugh. I'll deal with it later.

21:37. Keva should still be up. I hope she's okay with me calling her. I could use a friend.

I scrolled through the contacts on my personal Receiver, and was... very taken aback by a message from Aisa.

'Apologies for Zander's behaviour today. Would you be alright with me calling you? I hope I'm not a bother'

Why would she want to talk to me?

My curiosity awakened, I replied saying yes. A few moments later, a holographic video of her popped up from the screen of the cube-like device. She was sitting on her desk, weary but attentive, her posture ever so slightly hunched. I hurriedly sat down on the desk in my dormitory, accepting the call.

"Aisa. You wanted to talk?"

"Uh, yes. I didn't expect you to accept my invitation, so, uh, I don't quite know what to say," she chuckled softly, "Please give me a minute to compose myself"

"Of course. Take all the time you need. Excuse me while I freshen up for a bit"

She bit her lip and nodded, taking a deep breath, her mind darting to a different place.

I went to the bathroom and washed my face thoroughly, combing my hair back hoping it would actually calm down for once. No such luck. I gave up and changed out of my uniform, with all of its ridiculously fancy ornaments, like the blazer, the tie, the pocket square, and many, many more, all of which cost roughly 8,000 Assets. Yes, 8,000. That was enough to clothe all the children of a small Inferior town.

Again, not the time to think about it. I have a hologram waiting for me.

Sighing, I tugged on a remotely nice random T-shirt and a pair of pants and walked out to meet her.

***

"Miss Fa-uh, Aisa, have you gathered your thoughts? I gave you quite some time, and with your level of intelligence it mustn't have taken too long"

I made myself comfortable on my desk, placing my head on my palms as I looked into the screen.

"Yeah! I mean, um, yes, I have gathered my thoughts. First things first, I would like to apologise for my friend Zander's incredibly... rude behaviour. He just isn't used to being addressed like that. His father is a Sub Governor, you know?" She watched me carefully from under her eyelashes, as if to gauge my reaction.

I stifled my urge to laugh. Sub Governor? What a joke. He just has some semblance of control over a couple of Median towns somewhere near the Inferior section. I was surprised Aisa had that much humility, though. Her father was running for Governor, after all. Just like mine.

"Apology accepted, however it would have meant a lot more if he apologized to me himself, and didn't have a third party engage in this. Anything else you need?"

"Uh, well, not really. But..." She shifted around nervously, her eyes darting away from mine, "Could you, perhaps stay? If it's not too much of a bother. Surprisingly, your presence is actually nicer than I thought it was."