Pride x Familiar

by Albert Ruckholdt

  The point I’m trying to make is that the actor who portrayed the Count bore an uncanny resemblance to our resident researcher, from the long straight hair down to the round glasses he wore. I had a sneaky suspicion he had modeled his look after that actor from a bygone era.

  As a side note, I should point out that Caprice’s fascination with vampires and vampire movies was one of the reasons I picked up on Simone’s name – Alucard spells Dracula in reverse.

  Dr. Van Deeman – whom I affectionately called Van Demon behind his back – supervised our training regimen. By this I refer to the physical training, not the combat training, but he also monitored our progress with our Fragments. Whatever insights he gained into us Familiars he kept to himself. I wasn’t privy to the data, except when he chose to comment on our development.

  That’s the part that worried me.

  Our development, as he put it.

  To me it felt like a word with hidden connotations whenever he used it within the context of Familiars.

  However, every night he would nod approvingly and successfully sidestep most of my questions.

  Caprice rarely spoke to him. It seemed she’d given up trying to get a straight answer from Van Demon. Instead, she would confront Arisa whenever she needed an answer.

  Speaking of Arisa, I hadn’t seen her in weeks. She attended the university in Island Three, Habitat One, and was majoring in business. Needless to say, her absence troubled me a little, but I did my best to shelve away my concern.

  However, her recent absence or involvement in my life as a Familiar had left me feeling somewhat abandoned.

  In fact after each training session I was left with lingering feelings of disillusionment.

  Disillusionment not only toward myself, but mostly toward the Lanfears.

  For some time now I’d noticed the disparity in emphasis they were placing on Caprice’s training and mine. For the first few weeks while I bonded to the Fragment – the shield-blade – the Lanfears had expressed genuine interest in my development as a Special. But then it all petered away and though I was still training diligently and being regularly monitored by medical technicians, I didn’t feel the Lanfears were all that interested in what I could do anymore.

  My resolve to confront Arisa over this inequality was growing steadily with each passing week.

  #

  (Caelum)

  Lunch break.

  First Semester, Week One. Day five – Friday.

  I sat across from Caprice at a table in the cafeteria on the second level.

  First level was allocated to the first year high-schoolers.

  Second level to the second year students.

  Third level to the white blazer wearing seniors.

  The good thing was the table was beside the panoramic windows overlooking the sporting fields of Galatea Academy to the south. I was munching on fries while admiring the girls from the Track-and-Field team running laps during the break.

  I found their dedication admirable.

  Their skin glistening with sweat.

  Their running clothes moist and clinging tightly to their young nubile bodies.

  Their firm, bouncing breasts held securely by the latest in sports bra design.

  I reached out for my drink and found it missing.

  Unable to tear my gaze away from the sight of so many well developed female bodies, my right hand was forced to fend for itself, searching about blindly for the drink cup.

  Then a sharp pain stabbed it.

  “What the—?”

  I cradled my hand with my left, studying the puncture wounds that were quickly healing. I looked sharply at Caprice.

  The fork in her hand was tipped in red.

  “What was that for?” I asked in astonishment.

  “Your hand was wandering over my tray,” she replied flatly while wiping the fork clean.

  “Oh…I’m sorry.”

  Spotting my drink cup I reached for it and took a long sip through the straw. I dare anyone to allege real men don’t drink through a straw. Anyway, I turned back to the view out the window. “I’m surprised they’re training so early into the year. School started only this week.”

  Caprice didn’t bother looking up from her tray. “Most of them would have been first years that are now on the team as second years. Galatea has won the Pharos Inter-Island Championship four years running. They’re favorites to win this year too.”

  “You ever compete?”

  “That’s a stupid question. The sports teams are dominated by Aventis. The Regulars play too, but when it comes to competition time there is simply no place for them. All they can do is cheer and keep the benches warm.”

  She sounded bitter.

  I knew what she meant.

  A Regular human teenager possessed far less than half the physical prowess of a teenage Aventis. There was no point in competing against one. As a result, the Regulars that joined sporting clubs did so without any intention of competing in the various championships. They played sports for the fun of it, and more often than not teamed up with other Regular humans. You could say there was no fun playing against a ‘superior’ species and getting your ass handed to you in a ‘friendly’ match.

  Everyone had a place in society as governed by the Prides. For Regulars, that place was one long step below the Aventis.

  For Familiars like Caprice and I, our place was somewhere in between the two benchmarks.

  When compared to a Regular teenage male of my height and body build, I was clearly stronger and faster by more than half – perhaps as much as three quarters. This was courtesy of the changes my body had undergone at a genetic level.

  But in comparison to an Aventis of near age, height and weight, Dr. Van Demon was prone to point out I fell well shy of what the weakest male in that category could achieve.

  In other words, I was stronger than a Regular, but weaker than an Aventis.

  Looking at Caprice, a girl with exceptional stamina, strength and co-ordination, I wondered how she would fair against someone like Haruka whom I knew was a complete klutz. At least, that was before she joined a Pride and left the lowly ranks of being a Regular.

  I had no idea if her co-ordination had improved.

  Thinking of Haruka made me sigh inwardly.

  I had no idea how I was going to deal with her, and my lack of a plan was killing me slowly.

  Suppressing a second sigh, I rephrased my question. “Sorry, I meant to ask, did you ever hope to compete?”

  “Yes. Even after I became a Familiar, I still had hopes of competing.” She shook her head slowly. “Then I learnt about Fragments and Artifacts and what we could do with them. Arisa hijacked my school life.”

  I glanced around. I didn’t feel comfortable talking of Fragments and Artifacts with so many Aventis around.

  I sipped the remainder of my drink through the straw, then placed the empty cup on my tray.

  I’d eaten very little of my food.

  I just wasn’t hungry.

  You could say I had too much food for thought.

  No, that analogy didn’t sound right.

  I felt the urge to change the subject. “Caprice, what do you think of Cee Cee having an interest in the Academy?”

  “Cee Cee? Oh, you mean them.” She put her utensils down. “I agree with the Countess. It’s disappointing to think Familiars are working with them.”

  I frowned slightly. “Who’s the Countess?”

  “Simone,” Caprice explained. She sipped her diet soda.

  I had no idea why she drank the stuff. Considering the after school training we were subjected to, it was unlikely she was going to gain weight from drinking a regular soda.

  I glanced away for a moment.

  Come to think of it, I’d never seen a fat or overweight Aventis.

  I glanced around the cafeteria, looking for a heavyset student and not finding one.

  Caprice’s voice garnered my attention. “I don’t relish the prospect of having to face Fa
miliars in battle again.”

  I wondered if she was referring to the time she fought that Familiar the Raynars had sent to apprehend me.

  I shivered inwardly.

  Seven months later and I still found it hard to accept how closely my life had been monitored after Celica’s death. Yet I’d lived my life as an orphan of the state completely oblivious to it.

  Before my thoughts could turn to Prissila Ventiss, I forced myself to relax.

  I planted my chin on a palm, and said, “I guess knowing that Familiars are working for the enemy doesn’t help our case very much. The Primatriarchs and the Prides are just going to trust us even less.”

  “True.”

  I looked out the window. “I wonder what other Fragment Cee Cee has in its possession?”

  “I’d like to say it’s not for us to worry over,” she said softly, sipping the last of her soda and then placing the cup on her tray. “But I fear we’ll be the ones on the receiving end of those Fragments.”

  I harrumphed under my breath. “You’re probably right.” I glanced at her. “Have you spoken to Arisa?”

  “No.”

  “I get the feeling she’s avoiding us….”

  “Arisa has her own troubles to attend to.”

  That may be, but I was starting to feel she’d cut us high and dry. In fact, I felt like she’d deliberately dropped us into the hands of the Student Council.

  Into the hands of Simone Alucard Raynar.

  My feelings of disillusionment resurfaced. “I get the feeling Arisa’s not interested in me anymore.”

  For a long moment Caprice stopped moving, maybe even breathing. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, look at how much work they put into your training, and how little they put into mine.”

  She was quiet for another long moment. “It’s not what you think.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. From what I understand your progress is being carefully monitored.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Caprice. “I’m classified as a Special, right?”

  She nodded. “Yes, you’re registered as a Special affiliated to the Lanfears.”

  I already knew all that.

  I was just leading up to a point.

  “How am I expected to operate as one with so little training?”

  I saw the unease flicker across her eyes.

  I decided not to put her on the spot anymore, and glanced away.

  Looking about the interior of the cafeteria, I caught a glimpse of Haruka leaving in the company of two girlfriends.

  I pushed past the empty feeling in my chest.

  How could I have been so stupid to think that I was over her?

  Suddenly my palm-slate vibrated in my pocket.

  I pulled it out and looked at the message on the screen.

  REPORT TO THE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S OFFICE – THE COUNTESS.

  “We’ve been summoned,” Caprice stated softly.

  I glanced at her. “Why does she call herself the Countess?”

  Caprice stood up from her chair. “Count Dracula. Countess Alucard. Something along those lines.”

  I stood up slowly. “Oh, I get it now….”

  We had to hurry. Afternoon classes would resume in twenty minutes.

  We arrived at the President’s office a few minutes after leaving the cafeteria, and the doors opened for us before Caprice could knock on either of them. I realized the corridor was being watched from inside the room.

  Just how extensive were the surveillance systems inside the Academy? Did they spread to every nook and cranny in the school grounds?

  The Countess was waiting inside. She was lying sideways on the president’s desk, her head propped up on one arm. She smiled and gave the two of us a little wave.

  I caught the scowl on Caprice’s face before she grew expressionless once more.

  The three other occupants were the Severin Kell, Maya Khayman, and Rina Sayen.

  The latter gave me a shy smile, whereas Maya didn’t even glance my way; her expression was as frosty as an ice comet.

  As for Severin Kell, he simply nodded at our arrival. Clearing his throat politely, he said, “I’d like to thank all of you for coming. We’re short on time so we’ll begin right away.”

  He waved his pen remote like a sorcerer.

  The lights in the room dimmed, and the holovid projection system came into play.

  I crossed my arms and studied the images that appeared.

  It looked like a collection of buildings of various rectangular dimensions. Some were wide, others taller. Walkways and bridges connected the buildings to each other. As the image slowly rotated I noticed it was possible to get from one building to every other building by using these bridges.

  Maya sounded confused. “What is this? A new commercial block being planned inside a habitat?”

  Severin shook his head faintly. “No, this is one way to represent our Academy’s information network.”

  I laughed. “This is the school’s computer network?”

  “This is one way to look at it. These buildings represent domains and sub-domains. The floors can be considered levels of data storage. Databases, files, folders, all of it represented as rooms, cabinets, shelves, lockers, and so on.”

  I studied the collection of buildings and noticed one of them lacked windows and floors. It resembled a featureless black box. There was a single bridge connecting it to a larger building.

  I pointed at it. “That black one—the one that looks like a box. What’s in there?”

  “We don’t know.”

  I looked at Severin, and spared the Countess a glance. Now she was sitting on the edge of the desk, swinging her legs slowly. “How can you not know what’s in there? It’s your network, isn’t it?”

  “It’s our Academy’s network. However, we’re not responsible for it. We didn’t design it, and we don’t maintain it. Nor are we in a position to make changes to it.”

  “Huh?”

  Severin enlarged the area around the featureless building. He focused on the point where the lone bridge connected to the black wall. Seven doors stood like dominos on the bridge, as though to prevent access to the black building.

  He said, “These doors represent the seven security layers that prevent access to this part of the network. So far, five of them have been breached. Based on past experience, we expect that Crescent will have little trouble getting through the last two doors.”

  I shook my head, feeling frustrated by the questions beginning to well up in my head. “I still don’t understand how it’s possible that you don’t know what’s in there?”

  Severin sighed. “I said it before. We don’t run the network. We have very little authority over it. That includes the way it is protected, and what people choose to put inside.”

  I pointed at the black building. “But can’t you just ask someone what’s in there?”

  “We did but they’re not telling us. In fact, we’re not getting any support from the network administrators nor any answers from the private consulting firm that implemented this security model.”

  Maya asked, “Why not?”

  The Countess slipped off the desk and walked over to Severin.

  Student Council President and Vice-President stood almost shoulder to shoulder. They regarded each other for a short while before facing us. It was Severin who answered Maya’s question.

  “Everything the Student Council is doing here…is not sanctioned by the members of the Prides responsible for managing the academy.”

  I heard the mixed reactions from my fellow Familiars.

  The Countess said, “The Powers-that-be are aware of the problem, but they’ve chosen to leave us out in the cold. They’ve chosen not to involve us in the matter. As a result, we’re not able to get any support from them.”

  Severin added, “Everything we’ve done has been without express approval. This includes enlisting the help of various trusted clubs within the academy, and bringing
the four of you together.”

  I asked guardedly, “Then why do it?”

  Severin answered, “Because it’s our academy, and the Student Council has a responsibility to ensure that our academy is safe, and that its students and teachers are not placed in harm’s way.”

  I muttered bluntly, “That’s rather benevolent of you.”

  Severin arched his eyebrows at me.

  The Countess cut in smoothly. “However, while we don’t have their express permission, the Powers-that-be haven’t done anything to stop us except refusing to answer our questions, and refusing to supply us with the resources we request.”

  I frowned. “That’s a little odd. It’s like they’ve put you in a box but are letting you run around freely inside it.”

  Severin and the Countess looked bemused at my remark, then shared another long look.

  The Countess shrugged. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

  Severin looked uncomfortable but appeared to agree. “To all intents and purposes, the Powers-that-be have decided that there’s little we can do about the situation. So for now, all we can do is wait and see how they react to the four of them being brought together.”

  The Countess looked uneasy. “Perhaps they’re waiting to see what solution we come up with.”

  Maya asked, “You mean this is a test? The people in authority over this school are using this situation to test us and the Student Council?”

  “Quite possibly,” Severin said, “or they’re simply ignoring us because they’re too busy with matters on their end. Put simply, we don’t know what they’re thinking or what they’re doing to stop Crimson Crescent.” He shrugged heavily. “For all we know, they could have given up.”

  The Countess spoke quickly. “However, we of the Student Council have decided we’re not going to let them have their way. Neither the Powers-that-be nor Crimson Crescent. We will not tolerate Crescent setting foot in our academy—period.”

  I shared an uneasy look with Caprice.

  Going it alone against Crimson Crescent?

  She gave me the faintest of shrugs.

  Severin’s next words caught me by surprise. “That being said, while we have the consent of your Guardians to enlist your help, we cannot order you to help us. We can only ask for your help.”