42 The Master Plan

That night, Saye and I had talked for one hour, placing both our heads together and creating The Plan. Her emotional power over people and my brains came together to make something I never imagined I would have been able to do alone.

"So," I had said that day, dipping my legs in the pool, "Let's go over it one last time."

"Phase One," Saye had started, leading me on. 

"Side 1, I become Adrien's girlfriend. Side 2, you lead Ethan on."

"Right," she had agreed, smiling, "That's going to be easy as Adrien seems to like you more and breaking his heart in Phase Three will work perfectly since you won't have feelings for him. He's not human after all. On top of that, you're aromantic."

"What?" I had looked at her in shock, "I'm not!"

"Oh come on. You're 16 and you haven't even had one love interest."

I had looked the other way and folded my hands, "It's not compulsory to like someone. And even if I did, what makes you think I'll tell you?"

Saye rolled her eyes, "Whatever, robo-girl. If you do get feelings for Adrien, which is unlikely, tell me, okay? So I can hit some sense into you."

I had silently nodded then, because I thought she was right. It was highly unlikely I'd fall in love with a folder. 

I made my way up the stairs now, up to Kai's and Adrien's room and peeked inside to see what the both of them were doing. Kai wasn't awake yet. 

Adrien was sitting by the window sill with a live squirrel in his hands. He stroked it and I looked at the floor under him to see another dead squirrel on the floor, dark brown blood splattered all over the ground. The sun shone in brightly through the room and it made the squirrel blood on his lips glisten.

My heart tightened at the miserable sight.

The clouds in front of the sun moved away and the room glowed brighter, making Adrien groan in pain and cover his face with his elbow. He tucked the squirrel in his pocket and pulled the curtains close. 

Turning around, he saw me standing there.

Without a word, he looked the other way and kicked the dead squirrel under the bed before walking past me and out of the room. 

I stared in shock at the spot where the dead squirrel had been. He was a monster. I clutched the door frame as my stomach started to revolt at the gory sight. Why was he sparing the other squirrel then? 

We both ignored each other and I walked inside the room he had walked out of. Adrien must have thought that I had come to see him because when I stepped inside the room, I saw him turn around to look at me in the corner of my eye.

Confusion flashed across his face before he went back down the stairs. 

I closed the door and knelt on the floor to stare at the squirrel blood. I crouched down lower and looked under the bed. Its bushy red tail flapped one last time before it went still. Dead. 

I looked up at Kai and sat on the bed next to him. 

At least we both were friends. He was really good looking, I've got to admit, and really sweet, but I don't think I'll ever like like him. I smiled despite the situation and tousled his hair.

His hand moved and he placed his palm on top of my hand and I froze in surprise. "You're awake…" 

He smiled with his eyes closed and mumbled a 'Yes.' 

"How are you feeling?" 

He nodded his head again and mumbled something in agreement again. 

"Wait, I'll get you some orange juice," I said and tried to get up but Kai didn't leave my hand. 

"No," he mumbled with his eyes still closed, "Don't leave me again, Fiyona." 

My breath got caught in my throat, "What did you just say?" I whispered in shock. 

Kai's eyes fluttered open and met my terrified brown eyes. Realizing that it was just me, he retreated his hand in embarrassment and sat up like a lightning bolt, his face flushing red. 

I looked up at him, waiting for an explanation. 

"I'm sorry! I was half asleep and thought you were someone else…" he said, looking around in confusion.

"How do you know Fiyona?"

Kai's eyes met mine, "What? You know her too?"

I gulped, "She's my best friend…"

Kai was at a loss for words. And so was I. 

Kai shook his head laughing, but there was a sadness behind it, "No, it might be a different Fiyona. What's the full name of your best friend?"

"Fiona Styles," I said, really confused. Darren had given each of the six boys very vivid backstories that were not even in the movie. For what joy? Why bring Fiyona in it? Ugh, I hate you so much, Darren Hermann. 

Kai narrowed his eyes, "It's fine then. She's not the same Fiyona I know." 

"Is she…someone special to you?" 

Kai was silent and looked away towards the window. He sniffed the air and looked around, "What's that smell?"

"Oh!" I let out in surprise and stood up, walking away from the bed, wishing that the blood on the floor and the squirrel under the bed would disappear.

Kai got up and moved me out of the way to look past me. "Huh," he sniffed the air again, "The smell's gone now. Man, was it horrible."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and slowly turned to look at the floor. 

What the hell.

The blood was gone. I crouched to look under the bed. The squirrel was gone too. 

This was just like that sink and Romeo incident. I wished for it, then it happened. I gritted my teeth. This wasn't normal…it felt like an in-game skill. I closed my eyes shut and tried to remember the game walkthroughs I had seen since I was a kid. 

Ph…the word was almost at the tip of my tongue…Phan…

I opened my eyes as I got the word.

Phantasm. That's it. 

The tight feeling in my heart deepened. Why did I, out of all people have that skill? I felt my neck to feel for a latch but then I realized that VR IRL Translates can't feel their own latches. 

But there was no way I was a VR IRL Translate. I was human! I was the only daughter of James Hermann and Bridget Hermann. I even had my birth certificate as proof! 

But still, I looked up at Kai, "Kai."

"Yup," he looked down at me.

I touched the back of my neck and turned around. Lifting my hair to expose the bare skin on my neck, I asked, "Do you see something here?"

"On your neck? No. Why?"

I glanced up at the ceiling, "You sure? Can you touch it and see if there's nothing weird there?"

Kai let out a nervous laugh, "Ashe, you're scaring me," he said, not sure what to do with his hands. 

I let out a nervous laugh too, "Just do it and we'll be done."

"Okay."

Kai lifted his hands and I felt it on my neck. He ran his fingers across the tender skin and retreated it after he did what I told him to. 

"Nothing." 

I let the hair fall back down and turned around to face him. I smiled at him, "Okay then. You look pale, want to—"

I stopped midway when I saw Kai lift his head back as if he was about to sneeze. I stepped back to avoid the germs to fall on my shirt.

He sneezed alright, but what came out of his mouth wasn't germs.

It was bright red fire. 

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the smoke around us in the room, "What the…"

Our heads whipped up to look at the ceiling as a loud annoying sound filled the mansion. The smoke alarm went off and I pulled away the curtains to see guards running towards the mansion. 

I looked back at a surprised Kai and he pointed at himself in fascination, "Did you just see that?" he laughed before coughing on his own smoke. 

I saw the tattoo lines on his neck glow dimly. 

I pointed at it, "Kai…your neck!"

He understood what I was hinting at and took his shirt off and turned around to look at his back in the wardrobe mirror.

The tattoo of the seven dragon tails wasn't an ordinary tattoo anymore. It was a beautiful glowing maze. 

"Oh damn…if there's one thing I missed in the game. It's this skill," he laughed in joy and made his way out of the room. I laughed and grabbed his shirt from the bed and threw it at him, "You forgot your clothes again!"

He lifted his hand and caught perfectly, "And you're always there to give it to me, robo-girl!"

I smiled and looked down at the ground floor. Adrien was standing in the middle of the hall drinking his orange juice. He looked over his eyelashes at Kai and me. Scoffing, he walked away to meet the guards outside, Kai following him. 

Was it just me or was Adrien already starting to get jealous?

I never imagined I'd say this but oh my God, Saye was brilliant. 

...

Starred Point #112 from Hermann's Notebooks

VR IRL Translates depends 32% on the earthly food they eat for fuel to run, 12% on the invisible dark matter around them and 54% on the game code. Like skills, player stats and what race the character belongs to.