Section 7: Joel Cassian

-Joel POV-

I would never imagine myself to be stuck with Aria Schneider, she's the kind of person I admire and at the same time, I thought of her as an oddball.

She talked to herself most of the time, mumbling and muttering stuff I couldn't understand. However, one thing for sure, this Aria has gone mad. The Aria who just saved me from the drone is now laughing uncontrollably inside the surveillance room.

I gulped as I saw Aria slowly break down in insanity, the quiet Aria who always gazed me from afar. I noticed the way she looks at me, the way she tried to observe me in detail as if I was her lab specimen. I once thought maybe she likes me, just like the way Emily fawned over me. Not only, Emily.

I noticed the girls in my group gazed at me lovingly, I could only smile awkwardly when they followed me and copied my hobbies. In the end, I am just a regular timid boy, who pretended to be a social butterfly.

These girls always gathered around me for my attention, not because we had the same views nor because we share the same sentiments. They just want me to become their lover, it's weird really.

"Say Joel", Aria called me out of nowhere.

"Yeah?" I looked at her curiously, waiting for her next order to get us out of here.

"Did you ever make love before?" she asked me with a deadpan face.

I could only gag at her sudden privacy invasion question, I backed away from her uncomfortably. She still gazed at me with her sharp gaze, I just couldn't bring myself to ignore that serious looks on her. I drooped my head shyly to avoid her gaze.

"No, why would you even ask that question?", I pouted.

"Well you handle my wounds gently, you didn't even flinch when you accidentally touch it", Aria sighed heavily. "I just thought that you're good".

"Wait what? What did I do?", I could felt my face gone red as I imagined which of her body parts that I touched by accident.

It's not like I didn't notice how voluptuous her body is or how alluring her groan is, I'm just scared of losing her in front of me. As a man myself, I was ashamed to see how strong she was despite her injuries.

She never complained nor showed fear, she was always calculated and cautious, knowing that she risks her life to save me. Even though it was risky, when she rescued me it made me happy and sad at the same time. It's a shame that her back was injured pretty badly, I just hope that her wound didn't leave any marks on her pale skin.

"Say how long are you going to carry that metal bat?" I asked her.

"Well, I will permanently equip myself with this" she replied sternly.

Sadly enough our conversation was cut short by my laptop loud beeping voice, I rushed over to my laptop only to realize that someone tracked my laptop location.

I looked to the surveillance screens spontaneously, the drones in the side building moved to simultaneously to my laptop position which is the surveillance room where we hid. I pulled the USB cord that connects the laptop with the PC, but it was already too late. I turned off my laptop hastily and turned around to Aria.

"This is bad Aria", I panicked "Someone track my IP address and now the killer drones are on their way here".

Aria widened her eyes in shock. However, she didn't show any indication of fear or panic in her eyes. She furrowed her forehead, stroking her chin like an old man.

"We have to hide", she answered plainly.

I looked at her in disbelief, why hide if we could run away for our lives. I grabbed her collar impatiently, I know this isn't like me but her sudden calmness and laughter made me wary of her true intention.

"You're being suicidal!", I glared at the blank-faced girl in front of me.

"That's not true Joel, or maybe do you want to escape instead of hiding?", she asked with a smile.

Her smile seems psychotic instead of genuine, was she always been like this? That reserve and quiet Aria is an oddball, but I would never have thought of her as suicidal.

"We're on the seventh floor and as we quarrel inside this room, they already made their way to the third floor", she pointed to the surveillance screens. "I'm open to logical suggestion if you do have one".

I felt powerless as she stated the fact that they already make their way to the third floor, although it didn't seem like they search the floor bellows. All of the drones were focused on reaching the seventh floor to even search each floor.

"I have an idea, so shut up and listen", she snarled at me.

I gulped as I let go of her collar, her ruby eyes shine brightly as she explained her plan meticulously. She speculated that the drones' objective was to eliminate whoever hack the surveillance system, but since I already turned off my laptop she wanted to run a test.

She dragged me to the sixth floor quickly without explaining the rest of her plans. There were lots of empty rooms on the sixth floor, we hid in a narrow classroom. In that classroom, there were lots of neatly stacked tables and chairs.

"This is a storage room, and I would like to hid your laptop somewhere else other than here", she explained. "I just want to run some test".

Does she think of this as a test? She's crazy, she is insane.

I did as what she told me, I hid the laptop next to the storage room which turns out to be a spacious classroom. I came back to the storage room, I hid underneath the stacked tables with Aria who waited patiently with a smile. She asked me where did I hid my laptop, I didn't answer her question.

I was pissed at her, but at the same time admired her calmness and cheery attitude. Not long after hiding my laptop, the drones ascended to the sixth floor. Weirdly enough they didn't bat an eye or even try to search for us, they made their way to the seventh floor without a care.

"Huh so it's a bluff", Aria said out of the blue.

"Bluff?", I looked at her.

"Well that explains their strange behavior, someone must have ordered them to go to the seventh floor but it was just a bluff. If they were serious on their search for the perpetrator they would have checked each floor instead of just passing by", she made her conclusion.

If what she said was right then it didn't make sense at all, they could have just killed us on the spot too. Aria sat next to me, still stroking her chin like an old man. I was expecting to be found out by the drones by now but even after half an hour has passed, there were no signs of drones approaching the door.

I sighed in relief, this might be a good sign that we're safe for now. I looked at Aria, wondering why she's still silent after all those nerve-wracking hides and seeks.

Aria was just dozing off to the distance, she didn't even look at my eyes. She's been staring at the wall in front of me, but there was nothing on the wall that might pique her interest.

I sat closer to her since the air is getting colder. The explosion that injured Aria happened around the daytime, after that everything was chaotic. I didn't remember much but lots of explosions happened around the city, not just our university.

I was separated from the rest of our friends, I didn't see Narita, Glass, Andy, nor any familiar faces around me anymore. I hid inside the lecturer room, it's a cowardly move but I didn't know where else to go.

I couldn't contact my parents at home, it made me nervous and anxious about their wellbeing. As I remembered all those horrifying incidents, Aria pokes my shoulder.

"Hey let's escape", Aria nudges me.

"Where?", I asked her back, annoyed that she disturbed my train of thoughts.

"I suggest we stay away from the university grounds and find a safer place to rest", she yawned.

"I also suggest a place where we can supply food or any other necessities, maybe an abandoned office near a minimarket".

She was right about that, a place where we could eat and rest at the same time would be ideal. Still, I'm not sure about her decision of moving out now, since it's almost midnight. However, Aria still insists on getting out of the University area, she looks pretty tired herself so I'm not sure about this.

"Are you sure about this?", I asked her again one more time.

"Yeah, I just can't stay here", she insisted.

I'm not sure the reason why she didn't want to stay, but she insisted so there's nothing I could do.