Chapter 6 - Dad, Who is this?
Year 3001, Saturday. 23 days until classes start. Dormitory
I shut the door behind me as the circular light in the middle of the room slowly brightened, illuminating my room.
I glanced at my watch. 8:23. One of the seniors in the dormitory wanted all of us to meet at nine. I quickly made my way over to the mini fridge next to the desk and slipped the little box of leftover chicken I had from lunch with David. It would probably be enough chicken for two meals? Probably.
I took a seat at the desk and placed the little white cube in the middle of my palm. It was kind of cute to be honest. I tapped the top of the cube twice and a golden light spun in a circle on the top of the cube as the corners of the cube broke away from a bright silver sphere in the center. Multiple golden specks orbited the silver sphere and seemed to move faster and faster until multiple golden rings formed around the sphere.
Pretty.
A voice reverberated in my skull, “Boot sequence complete. Connection established.”
What should I do? I had a little less than forty minutes until the dormitory gathering. I remembered Larry telling me that a short list of important things to do before classes start could be found in the top drawer of my desk. I fished out a little paper card.
-----
Choose Advisor
Look At Classes
Check Campus Map
Ask Questions On Academy Forums
Access Academy Webpage
-----
I looked down at the spinning object in my palm, “Hey guide, how do I choose an advisor?”
“Kaiser Fritz. Searching. Found. Your mother has already assigned you an advisor. Would you like to see their information?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“Acquiring. Sorting.”
A projection appeared on the wall in front of me.
-----
Athena Snow
Sex: Female
Race: Human
Categorization: High Druid
Post: Personal Advisor to Kaiser Fritz as ordered by Aria Fritz
Specialization:
Mechanical [7/10]
Rifles [7/10]
Corvettes [7/10]
Command [7/10]
…
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
-----
“Guide… Who is she?”
“You do not have clearance for any files with the name Athena Snow.”
I leaned back in my chair, “Well. That can’t be good.”
I quickly grabbed my phone and punched in father’s number. Rin-
“Kaiser?”
“Hey dad?”
“Yeah?”
I glanced up at the name on my wall, “Who’s Athena Snow?”
A moment of silence followed by some rapid tapping came across the call, “Where did you hear that name?”
“That’s my advisor?”
“What?”
“I have a panel saying they are a high druid. What is a high druid doing here?”
A sigh came through the phone, “It’s mom?”
“Yeah.”
A few more clicks came through the phone until a heavy breath came through, “Do you want to know who this person is?”
“Should I know?”
“There’s no reason you shouldn’t know.”
I frowned. Did I want to know? Eh. Does it matter? I shrugged, “I’m a little curious.”
“Athena Snow was in command of the fourth lunar battalion and has achieved mastery of every specialization. Let’s see what her record is.”
“Every specialization?”
“Yup. Seven hundred and sixty two blood golem kills, fourty true apostle kills, twelve hundred and thirty two half apostle kills, and a little over seventy thousand cultist kills.”
My hands gripped the chair’s armrests, “Why is such a person being sent just for me?”
Dad exhaled a deep breath, “She worries more than me.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? She’s literally not been on the same planet as her son for over a decade.”
I sighed, “Why did she send such a soldier to babysit me?”
Dad gave a little chuckle, “This might be good.”
“Good? You want me to die from exhaustion?”
“You won’t die. You’ll just be a little tired.”
I nervously laughed, “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. You saw what happened last time mom visited home.”
I shuddered, “No.”
“You won’t die. Pain is temporary. Hurt now to hurt less later.”
I rolled my eyes, “Sure.”
“So, how’s the Academy been? I didn’t expect you to call a second time today.”
“It’s been good.”
“Good?”
I shrugged, “Yeah. Good.”
“What has been good?”
“Me and David looked around the campus a little.”
Dad’s mood seemed to lighten, “So what’d you explore?”
“We met a senior in the Square who leads the Academy’s frisbee team.”
“Frisbee? How many people where there?”
I scratched my head, “Maybe like twenty or so? I don’t really remember.”
Dad seemed to be grinning through the phone, “Good to hear that club is still going.”
“You know about the frisbee club?”
“I started it my senior year.”
“What?”
I heard some papers shift on the other side of the call, “That was back before Lua joined the Republic. Anyway, what else did the two of you do?”
“The leader of the club showed us around the campus and helped us pick up guides.”
“Guides?”
With my tablet, I took a photo of the cube and sent the image, “Did you or mom give me this Guide?”
A little chuckle came through the phone, “Did I get caught already?”
“I figured.”
“What do you think of the colors I picked?”
I looked at the golden rings around the silver sphere with pure white corners of a cube rotating around the cube’s corners, “You do have a good taste for design.”
“Heh, I used to forge my own weapons.”
“I heard grandpa talk about your forge before.”
I heard a kind of wistful sigh, “Yeah. Those were some fun times. Anyway, you should make the most out of the time before the main courses.”
“Why?”
“Once all the students arrive many of the more unique mission opportunities will be taken.”
“Mission opportunities?”
“You don’t know about missions?”
I tried to remember what Larry had talked about while we watched that frisbee game but couldn’t remember it all, “I might have forgotten.”
“So, you know how it costs merit points to get military equipment and attend certain courses? You get merit points in the academy by doing missions because students aren’t deployed and can’t earn merit through combat.”
“Ah.”
“The Academy gives some great missions that you can learn from while earning merit.”
I scratched my head. I didn’t get it, “And why do I need to earn merit?”
“I can’t give you merit. If you need gear I can buy it for you, but I can’t buy courses for you.”
“Wait. What?”
Dad whispered, “Technically I’m not allowed to give you gear either, but the inspectors have been very lenient towards me and your mother.”
I sudden realized, “How will me and David get our corvette?”
“I’ll get the two of you setup in a workshop on Sunday.”
“Where?”
He tapped his finger on his tablet a few times, “That person your mother sent will show you the workshop. If you want the workshop you should send a message tonight.”
I shivered, “Why would I talk to her?”
“Your mother probably sent her to help you. May as well gain something if you’re going to go through hell.”
I smirked, “You’re just gonna throw me into it aren’t you?”
Dad laughed, “I’m powerless against your mother.”
I looked up at the clock, it was almost time, “I have a meeting with some seniors in my dorm in a few minutes.”
“It was nice being able to talk again. Make sure you call mom.”
“I will.”
“See you!”
“Bye.”
I stared at the phone and frowned. Why would mother send one of her closest aides if not to wip me into shape just like she did to dad a little over ten years ago? I shivered. She better not be expecting me to do that.
Yo. How you doin? Good? That's great. I'm beginning my move back to college so we're chomping through that backlog. Wait a sec. Did I say that yesterday? Ugh. I can't remember this crap anymore. Whatever. It's aight. Like seriously, does anyone even read these notes? Like I can type up a whole ass essay here and probably nobody would read it. I mean who would read a random college student rant about weird crap at the bottom of another random sci-fi story? Well. I would. Maybe that's weird. What was I trying to say? I forgot. Never mind.
Oh, and thanks for reading. The past chapters have been on the shorter side. Still, the average chapter length is 1.5k so these are just shorter than normal. If you want to support this idiot in continuing his hobby of writing, consider supporting me on for $10 a month where you get 5-10+ chapters ahead of RR.
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