Nothing to ask

Eventually, Alexandre arrived at the new apartment that he now shared with his friends. It was empty, as Marlon and William hadn't yet returned, so he took the opportunity for a shower. The hot water felt incredible as it rinsed away the dried-on sea salt from his skin. Even though pain was no longer anything but mere information, Alexandre was glad that he still had the ability to enjoy pleasant sensations.

Afterward, Alexandre unpacked his belongings. He dressed in clothes which fit him better than those he'd stolen, then sat down in front of his laptop.

He connected to the academy's encyclopedia database and immediately searched for information on the "karma system." However, no matter which combination of words and related phrases he tried, the search returned zero relevant results.

"I guess my theory was correct," he mused. "They're really censoring karma information to keep it as far from the students' grasp as possible."

But then why have such an option built into the Aurora system and Pip-Boy? Surely the academy could put pressure on Terra Corp to remove it if they wanted to. Maybe Terra Corp's interest in the karma system was greater than whatever bargains or threats the academy was sending their way. But even though Hunter organs were precious on the black market, surely Terra Corp had nothing to gain from Hunters killing each other. They relied on Hunters to bring back materials from the Black Zones, after all.

As Alexandre reflected, it became clear to him that he was missing some important detail among all of this. He felt like he was close to understanding the truth, but for now it remained just outside his grasp. Well, he knew how to be patient. He'd been doing nothing else for years. For now, he'd just play the role of a simple student—albeit one more gifted than the average first-year!

So Alexandre put the karma system out of his thoughts for the moment and continued to study the database, greedily drinking in all the knowledge it had to offer.

Hours passed. Evening came, and William arrived. By dinnertime, Marlon showed up also. The three men prepared a cheap meal of beef stew and crusty French bread, then cracked open cans of beer and dug into their meal.

"Did you guys make it?" Alexandre asked after taking a deep drink.

William took a bite, nodding in approval of the food. "Yes. It was difficult, but yes."

Marlon scowled. "No. I tried to link that damn thing all afternoon, but it's impossible! Here I thought they'd be teaching me some magic, but it's all just a damn trick. Fuck this school."

William sighed. "Dude, I've told you a dozen times! It's not magic. You just have to learn to concentrate on controlling your Hunter energy and it'll be easy. You'll see!"

Marlon replied, "That's easy to say when you've got a high IQ. It's a lot fucking harder for us normal people!" He turned to Alexandre. "And you, my brother, did you succeed?"

Alexandre grinned. "Of course."

Marlon visibly wilted. "Shit man, you serious? I must really suck! At this rate, they're kicking my ass to the curb!"

William shook his head. "You don't suck, and they're not expelling you. You're smarter than you think you are, and you tried harder than anyone else I saw out there. You just need a bit more practice. We're going to keep working on your technique tonight, and tomorrow you'll get the reward points Jack Blades promised!"

Alexandre raised his spoon to interject. "Wait, William, don't you have an arena fight against that asshole tonight?"

William made a dismissive gesture. "Sure, but after giving it some thought, I don't plan to go. Our classes resume at six tomorrow morning. If I go fight now, I'm just hurting my performance tomorrow. Now that I'm not so angry, the whole argument seems very stupid. I'll have to try to control myself better in the future. Live and learn, right?"

Alexandre gave a slow nod. "Oh, okay. Hopefully nothing more comes of it."

The three men finished eating. After the day's events, it was nice to sit and relax with good food and company. William and Marlon practiced for a while and then went to bed, but Alexandre had other ideas.