"What's the update with subject one?" Darius asked in his customary gruff voice, "The last I heard, he was still unconscious."
Urisa looked at Darius, sitting across from her with a cigar in his mouth, blowing smoke that wafted and disappeared into the ceiling tiles above them.
"He's awake now and went to see First Lieutenant Valeria…." Urisa's words faltered as she seemed to have more but didn't know how.
"Dammit, woman. It's like a charade with you every time. Just get on with it, Major!"
"There seems to be a rumor going around campus that Lieutenant Valeria had an affair with subject one."
Seeing Darius about to rage, she continued, "Before you rant at me for bringing up silly rumors, I have located the source, and it appeared from one, Anthony Dire." She said, looking meaningfully at Darius, who calmed down and asked, "Is that true? That's not possible, right?"
Darius knew Ryan had fallen unconscious and had just only woken up. It should have been impossible for him to have done something so soon.
Sighing, Urisa responded, "The hub receptionist who sold the information to the gossip clubs recounted his words, and what he said only insinuated that it happened."
"However, since the possibility existed, I had the Lieutenant checked, and her test came back clean."
Nodding, Darius said, "Leak the test results to the gossip clubs confidentially. Let them think it came from one of their insiders."
Bowing, Urisa left the room to perform her duties.
"Harold, get me Dr. Rubenstein on the line." After Urisa left, Darius summoned his servant to call the second person from whom he had to get a report today.
After a few seconds, he received a notification on his heavenly screen that Dr. Rubenstein was calling.
A beautiful woman who looked in her early 20s appeared on his screen. Her white porcelain skin glowed as she basked in the sun.
"Hello, Dariussss," The Dr. said, her voice sounding like a snake sending an involuntary shiver down Darius' spine.
"Dr., have you anything to report on subject one's possible reasoning for unconsciousness?" Darius spoke as he gritted his teeth. He hated this woman, and while he was technically her superior, he knew that was anything but the truth.
Dr. Rubenstein had been hired by the grand empress, to turn Ryan into subject one successfully.
While she had been successful, after watching a session of hers, he had trouble sleeping for weeks.
The agonizing screams of pain still haunted his dreams as he remembered her torturing subject one for hours with a haunting smile plastered on her face.
"Now, now, Dariussss, issss that any way to talk to a gorgeoussss woman?" Her slithering words made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, and he pressed his fingernails into his arm to keep from showing any emotion on his face.
Seeing no reaction from him, Dr. Rubenstein huffed and changed into her actual appearance, which looked like a wrinkled old hag one step away from madness.
Her skin was dry and turning gray as her face sported moles that had hair sprouting from them.
She smiled at the scowl that appeared on Darius' face, showing her two remaining teeth.
"I have indeed figured out why subject one fell unconscious." The old lady cooed, her voice no longer like a snake but rather one of an angel.
The change in her voice caused Darius to grimace even more as his sheer delirium towards this woman showed on his face.
But he did ask, "And what's the reason?"
The uncouth hag licked her chapped lips as they widened further, the dry skin crackling and breaking, causing blood to leak out.
Seeing the mad Dr. have such a smile, Darius felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, as he knew such a thing was never good.
"He's achieved the F-Rank in cultivation, activating his heavenly screen."
===
Ryan held Emily in his arms as he stroked her hair. She had mostly calmed down and was currently resting her head on his chest.
"Do you think I'm weak for crying?" Emily asked as she wiped her eyes and looked up at Ryan.
Looking into her eyes, he smiled, "No. I would only think you were weak if you didn't fight back."
Seeing the emerald green eyes she adored so dearly and hearing his words, she couldn't stay gloomy for long.
Sitting up, she questioned, "I just don't understand. Why did she grab me like that?"
Emily had the hardest time wrapping her mind around the fact that her seemingly thoughtful friend had tried to hurt her and order her not to see Ryan again.
Ryan thought for a moment before asking, "She called me a swine. Does she insult people like that a lot?"
"She's not insulting them. She's performing the noble act of correcting commoner's mistakes," Emily responded, looking at Ryan like he should know better.
Ryan massaged his forehead and sighed.
This girl was more na?ve than he thought.
Lightly grasping Emily by the shoulders, he looked into her eyes and said, "Emily, she lied to you. She only likes insulting people."
Widening her eyes, Emily shook her head, "No, no, she said that normal people wouldn't understand and that you had to be in the know to know. And that I now know I am in the know if someone who isn't in the know says that; I should tell them no, they aren't in the know."
Ryan brained took a second to process all the o's contained in such a dense grouping of words before asking, "Emily, who does a princess trust most in the world?"
Blinking up at Ryan, Emily responded, "Her prince."
"Would a prince ever lie to their princess?"
"Never!" Emily said, gripping Ryan's shirt and staring up at him fervently.
"After being saved by her prince, would the princess defend her attacker against her prince?"
"Never!" Emily shouted passionately, now completely engrossed in Ryan's words.
"Would I not be the prince who saved you, my princess, from your attacker Tiffany?"
Widening her eyes in realization, her mouth fell open. She tried to come up with some counter, but she couldn't.
Slowly closing her mouth, Emily sheepishly said, "I'm sorry."
Patting her head, Ryan said, "It's okay. I forgive you."
"Now, let's go to a place where you can meet some real friends." A slow smile started to appear at the corners of his mouth as an idea started to form, allowing him to not only rank in the top 10 by the end of the week but get an endless amount of pleasure while doing it.
School was about to get a lot more interesting.