<Avner Cross>

[“Can you last another day? Or do you feel like you’re seriously going to lose yourself?”]

[“I think I can last one more day. I’m I going to be alright?”]

[“You’ll be alright.”]

It finally showed up.

Which means I can assert that the first victim appeared in November.

[“Actually, how did you get it? Someone bit you?”]

[“I don’t know. I think it’s from a mosquito, I can’t think of anything else.”]

Mosquitoes shouldn’t be able to exist in a country like Alska.

It was never mentioned in the story that vectors could transmit NtBM (Nanotechnology Blood Mutation). Though logically speaking, it would make sense since mosquitoes feed on blood.

In that case, wouldn’t tropical countries be in big trouble in the near future? Or do they have measures in place to counter it?

Nevertheless, I should solve what’s on my plate first. Where will Lynda get the blood she requires? The first feeding will require a small amount of blood. It’s to stimulate the nanomachines to release its suppressive activity on cells involved in hematopoiesis.

The second feeding however will require a larger amount of blood, about 200 ml, from what Novelle wrote. There’s no further increase in the quantity needed from the second feeding onwards.

It’s better for stage two vampires to take blood from stage one vampires. Blood with the nanomachines are more resilient to stomach acid. As such, the amount of blood ingested can be reduced all the while maintaining the efficacy needed to release the nanomachine suppression.

And, stage one vampires don’t become stage two vampires if they drink blood containing the nanomachine. The reason for this is unknown. Thus why it’s important to emphasize the fact that <Cookie Cult>’s genre is sci-fi.

Nanovirus or nanomachine, both refer to the same thing here. NtBM.

I have two choices. One is to give some of my blood to Lynda to stave off the first stage, or two, I bring Lynda to the hospital to take blood from another victim.

For either option, I’ll have to consider the former if Lynda loses herself.

There are also underlying risks such as HIV, which is something the nanomachine doesn’t put up resistance against.

Of course, there was once a comment asking a question to whether one could just drink their own blood to counter the suppressive action of the nanomachines. The answer, to put it simply, is a resounding no. Reason: sci-fi genre.

“What should I do..”

[Call the health authorities to take her. It’s dangerous, Avner.]

“I can’t do that.”

I would be leading her to her death. I’m not sure if the doctors have found a way to treat NtBM the proper way. I don’t know how successful that nurse was in persuading them.

I ran my hands through my grey hair and pondered. Is there any way I can get into contact with someone from the hospital who would be willing to do an experiment?

“Maybe I can consider that.”

[“Mister Cain, do you know any angels that work in the health care firm?”]

===

The last exam of junior high school. The most important exam which determines your path for senior high school. Having thought through a number of possibilities, I realized that taking classes in science related subjects might not really be a good idea.

Main reason being time and energy. It’s a lot more lax being a student in art classes than it is to be a student in the science class. There are fewer core subjects I need to focus on, and the burden on my mind will be much lower. I’ll have more time to build my foundation as an artist, waste less time doing homework, and get to leave the school earlier.

There’s no point telling my parents about this. When the time comes, I’ll opt out of it myself. Even if that means creating conflict. I decide my life, I don’t care.

“Big bro, what is your favourite bug?”

“I don’t have a favourite bug.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Was Lia referring to my favourite bug or my favourite bug in consideration to its taste?

Lia took a spoonful of cereal and shoved it into hirs mouth.

The sound of peculiar crunching could be heard every time hirs rosy cheeks made a circle. This would’ve been a lovely scene, really. If only I could rid my mind of the fact that included in the cereal were sugar-treated mealworms.

This elf, Lia Cross, is my etler. Brownish-red hair which formed drills, worried ocher eyes with knitted brows. Xe was still in hirs green pajamas.

“You liked sago worms before didn’t you? Those big fat, wiggly ones.”

I shook my head slowly.

“You don’t like them anymore?”

“I think I can still handle them..”

I can’t. Shin can’t. Where the hell did Avner acquire the courage to eat those raw and live?

Jokes aside, aether should've woken up by this time to prepare breakfast. I wasn’t sure why xe’s still asleep. Maybe something happened last night I didn’t know about? The family situation is becoming increasingly volatile.

I dug into the cereal. The dead mealworms staring back at me.

The kitchen was quiet besides the sound of clicking spoons and plates.

“Randell, any news?”

[No.]

Randell is my AI, the avatar being a file icon.

“Innis?”

Lia called out to hirs AI too. A strawberry ice cream.

“Nothing?”

“Nothing..”

“We better eat quicker then.”

Lia nodded with concern.

===

Saint High’s uniform is a rather unique one. Instead of a tie, you put on something like a gold emblem. You also have epaulets that adorn the shoulder sides. It’s unnecessary trouble.

Not something practical in school, though, it would make sense if you look at it from a marketing standpoint. Students sometimes go around in public wearing their school attire, so attractive uniforms inform the people that there’s such a fancy place you can study at. With an increasing number of parents opting their kids out from formal education, educational institutions had to adapt.

“Big bro, I hear something.”

[They’re coming down.]

Finally.

Lia was still trying to attach the epaulets to hirs shoulder.

“Let me help you.”

The epaulet is attached at two parts. It uses a square twist mechanism to pin it to the little crease on the inner and outer side of the dark blue coat.

“Thank you.”

“Tie your hair.”

“I know.. do you think aei is angry?”

“I’m sure it’ll be alright.”

As Shin, I see it as pitiful. As Avner, I feel apologetic for not having an answer to hirs question. Lia’s concern over family is justifiable.

Lia and I made our way to the living room, we heard sounds from the kitchen.

Aether was in full blown panic mode. Hirs hair was an absolute mess, eyes red, a little scary. Lia hid behind me.

“Ui, what should I do?! What should I do?!”

Xe grabbed whatever ingredients she could from the fridge and soaked them in lukewarm water. They hadn’t been defrosted.

“Isn’t there a defrost option on the oven?”

Xe hooked the oven onto power and watched it start up.

“What other options do I..”

“Morning aether.”

“Morning. Aether. Calm down, we already ate something.

“M-Morning. You already ate? What do you mean?”

“We had some cereal.”

“Cereal?! No, no. I can’t have you just eating cereal for breakfast! I can’t allow you to go without a proper meal!”

Though xe sounded harsh, her words were with good intentions.

I nodded away.

Xe replaced the water cartridge, and threw all the ingredients into the oven. With Ui’s smart tampering, the oven began warming the food without aether having to arrange the settings manually.

Xe then made hirs way to the bathroom.

“Looks like aether just woke up late. It’s nothing bad.”

I carrassed Lia’s hair. Lia nodded timidly.

2.4

We managed to slot in a proper breakfast despite the panic. Father had pressed the snooze button a few too many times, and aether who was in such a deep sleep didn’t notice that the alarm had rang.

By the time xe got up, it was already half an hour late.

Anyhow, we got to school just fine, though slightly later than our usual time. Father was the one driving us this time around.

I spent the down time listening to inspirational material. Father doesn’t usually talk much in the car. Even if he did, I don’t need to worry about answering his conversation with ardent attentiveness.

We were dropped off at our usual location.

It’s great how the jam isn’t a thing in the <Cookie Cult> universe. Not to be mistaken with the jam you spread on bread.

The school was bustling.

[Avner, be careful. Call the emergency number if you happen upon a dangerous situation.]

“I will, thank you.”

Randell was cut off when I walked past the gate.

Now then, I need to go find Lynda ASAP. We’ve already talked about meeting at her class. Afterwards, we’ll go straight to Cain.

I said goodbye to Lia.

I’ll put my bag in class first before..

{YOU HAVE STEPPED ON A MINE}

{WARNING: YOU HAVE STEPPED ON A MINE}

===

<Pu'er Greenwood>

“Lily, do you know what happened?”

[I don’t know, don’t ask me.]

Lily is acting weird. Feigning ignorance and spinning around at such a speed, the animation of pollen being spread everywhere began to play. Cain said we angels shouldn’t tell other people about our existence, but what about the AI? Even if we don’t tell others about it, with AIs monitoring our behavior every day, wouldn’t we eventually be discovered?

That was what I wanted to know so I kept asking Lily about it. This flower kept dodging the question. Lily should’ve noticed that the trip to the function room was weird. Cain and his friend, Eugine said some odd things too.

Whatever. I’ll just assume that it’s some supernatural phenomenon. AIs can’t notice us angels, done. Don’t think too deeply about it! It’s a fact of the world!

With that experiment done, next was to see what angel powers I’ve been bestowed with.

I was supposed to go to a temple to activate my powers, but since Eugine was there, a person who holds some authority in this angel world, my system powers were activated without needing to go through the troublesome, meddlesome process of meeting with other angels.

All I needed to do now is to draw a 7 with my fingers to pull up my special abilities menu. I liked seeing the golden trail that would form on my fingers whenever I did that.

Contacts, recent encounters, class abilities, hexes and.. what’s this erosion value thing? It sounds super scary.

I selected class abilities, a different window appeared. It’s not the same as the typical AR window display I’m used to. If anything, it feels more like the image is being projected inside my mind. Everything was written in gold.

I can plant a mine, I have 2 mines that have not been planted.

Once the mine has been planted, I can pick it back up. It won’t blow up even if an angel kicks it, so I don’t need to worry about friendly fire. Eugine gave me a short lesson about it yesterday.

The mine looks just like a sea mine, the kind with spikes on it, round as a ball. When I move away, or if my line of sight becomes obstructed by a wall, the mine will appear as a little gold dot. It doesn’t matter how far away I go, the gold dot will be there until I pick up the mine or a demon steps on it.

If the mine sets off, I’ll be thrown into the astral space myself. But there’s an exception. Which is if I lend the mine to someone else, the lender would be thrown into the subspace, and not me. Eugine said I wasn’t at that level yet so he skipped further explanation on this.

The mine is a recyclable consumable which is restored each day. I can use it infinite times. Just that there is a limit of planting only two in the physical world at any single time. That’s unless I upgrade myself, which I don’t know how.

Don’t you think this is a game? I just got thrown in some game, and Avner is supposed to be my enemy.

Submarines can see other submarines, but non-submarines can’t see submarines. So for Cain and Eugine who are both submarines, I see a big golden crown floating on their heads.

For Avner, I see a baby black crown with eerie red effects. There’s also that little gold speck on top because of the tattoo on his hand. Personally, I prefer the demon’s crown, it looks way cooler.

“He’s late.”

[Any guesses to why?]

“Maybe his family?”

I looked around class and took note of each person’s miasma gauge. I wonder if this is a part of an angel’s arsenal too? If I remember correctly, both Eugine and Cain’s deep miasma gauge were moderate, Eugine’s superficial miasma gauge, high. Cain’s was moderate-low.

It’s sometimes hard to judge if someone is mad or not mad from the gauge alone. A hit or miss at times. Though, it does beg the question. What exactly are these things? What do they actually signify? Even though I can make a guess that the gauge has to do with good and evil, why can some people act kind even though their gauge is full?

“Did Avner tell you why he didn’t come today?”

“Huh?! He’s not coming?”

“No. I mean to ask, is he coming?”

“Oh. I thought he told you he wasn’t coming. I don’t know.”

Why did Julien ask me this all of a sudden? Suspicious, suspicious.

“Maybe he’s just late.”

“He’s rarely late though.”

I agree with Brunette, he might just be late. In that case, let’s set a punishment!

I walked to the main door which Avner normally uses and planted a mine there.

“What are you doing?”

“Waiting for him.”

“Ei, so did the confession go well? I forgot to ask,” Brunette whispered sneakily.

“I don’t know?”

I touched my lucky hairpin, the one which can become a humongous black sword.

I think it went well?

I went back to my seat, trying to recall what happened that night.

No longer than a few minutes later, a tug was felt and a world of black and white came into view.

{A DEMON HAS TRIPPED ON YOUR MINE}

===

dotturndot: Pfft, you can troll people with this. Provided the person you’re trolling won’t turn you into swiss cheese.