Fixing the AC

As I was climbing down the ladder, I had a thought, System, how do you think I can cause an epidemic when only my breath can be a reliable form of infection? 

If I can only do that I would infect 10 people at most, I persistently complained, If you have the thought that I can just touch everybody then you're wrong. I will be ostracized even more than what I do to myself.

(Quiet down you freak)

(Firstly, we need to talk about the reaction you had to the girls climbing up the ladder)

(Nobody with a head on their shoulders would freak out about people climbing up like you did)

(I got at least thirteen levels of secondhand embarrassment from that, and I can't even talk to anybody else)

That is just how I work, I said as this 'system' confronted me, Do you even have an idea to handle them? 

(I may not have to deal with them, but I have an idea of how to, and yours was fine)

(I don't find fault within what you've done with them, but I certainly do for what you were thinking as they climbed up)

(Why did you think of jumping off the roof just to avoid talking to people)

(That is the issue)

I don't know why I think like that, but you'll just have to deal with it, I tried to change the subject, You're going to be with me for a good long while, so get used to it. I won't be changing for a while.

Besides, I confidently said, I won't be dealing with them for a while after these tests because there is no way for all three of them to follow me to one Academy.

There is no reason for them to do that, and no way for them to do that, I assured myself.

Juliana could probably join me in an Academy, and maybe Kari if she uses whatever background she has that I don't know of, but Ariel shouldn't be able to join.

There was room for that to be wrong because, like Kari, I hadn't seen her at the school awakening, but there is no way that all three of them could be Blue Grade, and above.

Assuming Kari and Ariel have Indigo Grades, that would be 3 Indigo Grades in 1 school, and all of the being friends is the wild part.

That would be rarer than a purple being at our school.

(Okay then, if that's your mindset I will probably adapt, but that doesn't mean you are okay)

(Moving on to the thing you actually asked about, you can also touch things to spread your bacteria)

(Things like doorknobs and windows are pretty dirty)

(Just put your bacteria on them, and they will touch them, so your bacteria will spread on them; additionally, the thing you touch will be covered in your bacteria, but not all of it will disappear from one touch)

(Some will go, but some will stay)

Okay, I got it, I grimaced from the over explanation, I don't need a whole essay about it. I get what you mean, and I have a nasty idea cooked up already.

You have already said that not all of it will go at once, so what if I touch the ventalation system, a smirk grew on my face, Despite it not working to my liking, that doesn't mean it isn't working.

It works just fine for normal days, so I know it works, and it will spread my bacteria around while it does its job, I thought confidently.

(That would work, but you have like 20 minutes to do that, and you'll need to put a lot of your bacteria in there)

(It will take a lot of touching to get it to work properly)

(You only shed so much bacteria at a time)

(You'll need to circle the inside of the vent at least 40 times)

Don't worry, I have enough time because I can just mess with the ventilation down here, I thought as I reached the first roof.

There was a massive, cubic appliance that was letting out a loud, rumbling noise. It was bigger than me, but it also had a few holes to absorb air, and purify it before it was sent throughout the school.

I quickly pulled up the schematic of the machine on my pulsewave, and got to work finding the area where it would send air to the gym.

It took a little bit of time because the harder I looked the more confusing it got. The long steel ducts wound together to create some weird ball of thick steel yarn, but I eventually found the duct that went to the gym.

It was made of multiple segments that led up down through the floor. This machine absorbed the air at the top of the gym, and recycled that air along with fresh air from the outside to cool down the gym. 

Luckily for me, the area I needed to touch would be on the ground in an area surrounded by trees, so nobody would be watching me as I tampered with the air duct. I climbed down the duct until I got to about 3 meters of the ground, and then I jumped down the rest.

This system was founded with a no screw policy, back in the old days where people hated the idea of screwing them in. There was no legal way to automate it, so they created the python style air duct. The separate pieces of the duct would overlap like scales, and would allow for more fresh air to come in the ducts. It was a very old-school style, so it obviously has been overtaken, but this old school would be the reason for my success. A lovely feature of this system was that the parts were easily replaceable, and to highlight that feature they describe in the showcase and manual that anybody with decent strength could pull them apart.

I landed on my feet, and got to work finding the overlapping areas around the separate pieces, so I could tear them open. 

Unfortunately, I didn't have decent strength, so when I found a spot, I couldn't easily separate them. I struggled to even open the gap with most of my strength, but I still managed to create one. I could create a gap large enough for me to fit a limb in, but I had to still send a limb in, and it couldn't be one of my arms.

So I improvised.

I leaned my head against the duct, and with my arms I created a gap to stick my leg in. I was pushing with my arms, and with my head and legs I had found enough balance to be able to lift one up, and stick it in.

Thankfully this system didn't use something deadly to cut off limbs, so my leg was fine in that regard. On the other hand, I was sticking my leg into the coldest part of the machine.

I carefully lifted my leg over my the gap, and carefully stuck it in. The first thing I felt wasn't the cold metal of the machine; instead, I felt the freezing air that I could only assume was liquid nitrogen. My feet were bare because I need to spread around bacteria, but I was honestly regretting it.

I quickly started to scrape my leg along the sides of the vent, and I had done 5 laps in what felt like 10 minutes. It was impossible to not focus on the bone chilling air shooting through the vent, but I still continued scraping because I was not about to let my efforts go to waste. 

I continued to push my left foot to the back of the machine, pull it to the left, pull it back to me, and push it back to the right just to repeat the process all over again.

As I was nearing 20 laps done, my pulsewave informed me that I had it was now 12:50M, so I started to pick up the pace.

 I didn't stop scraping until I had finished what I set out to do. I didn't stop when I caught a glimpse of my foot, and saw a bloody and frostbitten mess. I didn't stop when my pulsewave told me it had reached 13:00M . Instead, I pushed and pulled until I had finished the 50 laps I could remember the system telling me to do.

When I reached 50 I quickly took my foot out put it on the ground, and slowly closed the gap, so it wouldn't shoot back like a rubber band, and create more noise than I probably had. I couldn't tell if people could hear extra noise alongside the already thundering machine, but I didn't want to take the extra risk. My foot was battered, I had a test to take, and I didn't want to be disqualified.

I quickly put on my sock and shoe, and made my way back to the gym.

I tried to not limp as I did because I didn't want to draw suspicion to me, or show any weakness because I didn't know what test it would be. If it was against Ihron, I would be fine, but if it was against other students, I didn't want to give them any false hope.