Chapter 20

By the time the workday ended, Jae had learned the basics of hacking and knew how to get into the system. More work was needed until he could go further and go undetected.

"You've made remarkable progress..." Elias trailed off; he'd never had anyone pick it up that fast. "We'll have to keep going for a few more days, but the others will probably start asking you for help soon."

Jae nodded. "Okay; I can wait, but will it?"

"I don't know. We weren't careful enough, but it hasn't sent out any alerts, so maybe it's not paying attention to our words because there's no aggression or extreme emotions behind it."

"Interesting thought. It would probably make it easier to monitor the world if it didn't have to pay attention to everything all at once. Still, it's better to err on the side of caution."

"Let's meet up with Kristie, head home, and hope no one comes for us."

Elias and Jae left their office and kept quiet as they walked down the halls.

"Wait." Elias patted his shirt pocket. "If forgot something in the office. You remember how to get to her classroom?"

"Yes."

"Meet up with Kristie; I'll only be a few minutes."

"Okay." Jae continued on his way as he remembered it, keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious, or any extra reactions from AI. Most people passing by minded their own business, with only the odd person greeting him. By the time he made it to Kristie's classroom, her last student had filed out of the class, and she was busy typing at her desk.

Knock, knock.

"Hope I'm not interrupting," Jae said as he entered, closing the door behind him.

"Hey! Nope; I just need to finish inputting some student data. I'll be with you in a moment.

Jae sat down at one of the student's desks and watched her until she looked over at him. "Almost done? Elias should be here soon; he forgot something in the classroom."

"Ah, okay; I was wondering why he wasn't with you. And I'm done now."

"Your students are lucky." Jae smiled at her. "You guys have such a high-tech school, and they have such a cute teacher."

Kristie covered her mouth as she giggled. "They're middle school students; they're not thinking of me like that. I'm just an old teacher to them."

"You? Old? If they think that, they need to get their eyes checked."

"Thank you, but I'm more than double their age, so they see me as old. I know I'm not."

"I bet there are a few students who've had crushes on you throughout the years. Maybe more than a few, but they wouldn't say it. You're too cute for it to have not happened."

Kristie couldn't stop smiling. Guess he's a flatterer! Not that I'm complaining. I could use some of that in my life.

With his eyes closed, Jae took a deep breath and thought back to his school days. "The desks may be different, and you have fancy computers in here, but I guess a classroom is always a classroom."

"So, were you a good student?" Kristie sashayed over and sat on his desk. "I'd bet you were, with maybe a bit of a rebellious streak."

"My parents were strict when it came to school. They wanted an honour student that was in several clubs and whatnot. It was stressful, but I had a lot of friends back then. I guess you're right about me on both parts; I rebelled, colouring my hair, getting piercings, tattoos, and stood up to both students and teachers. I was never one to take crap from people. All that on top of being an honour student. What about you?"

Kristie shrugged. "I did fine. Elias was the honour student. I always got in trouble for my 'crazy theories' and basically, no one wanted to deal with me. Mostly just scolded and sent for AI training."

"Elias mentioned something about that."

"He mentioned since working here, not including school time. I used to get into more trouble. Anyway, best not to go down that line. Is Elias meeting us here?"

"He should be here any moment. We can wait in the hall, though I don't mind staying here." Jae smiled up at her. "You don't usually sit on your student's desks, do you?"

"No; I'd get into trouble. On that note, I could still get in trouble if AI was paying attention to me." She glanced up at it above the blackboard. "Guess it doesn't care where there aren't any students around. Good to know."

"Must make it hard to sneak around and make out."

"What?" Her face flushed, Kristie hopped off the desk and backed towards the door. "That's not something people do at work."

"That's a shame. This AI run world..." Jae cursed at himself again. "I guess if it was always listening, I would've been taken by now. It's not hard to tell based on how I talk. There's no way around this if we talk anywhere but at home."

"It's hard to keep your mouth shut. Trust me, I know. I love to talk, and I talk even more when I'm nervous, so words just flow out sometimes. I wish I knew how to rein it in, but I seem like a lost cause at this point. Feel free to stop me at any point."

"I was enjoying listening to your voice. Guess I'm the reason you're nervous. Why do I get this feeling that despite all the daydreaming, you're a bit on the innocent side?" Jae slipped off the chair and slid around the desk.

"Because a lot of people are in this world. Things are different."

"Guess I'll have to get used to it." Jae sighed as he backed her up to the door and rested his hand on it, hovering over her. "Unless you want to test if AI will bother us for it."

Say yes! You've always wanted to, and you know it. Don't freeze. "I-I..."

Jae chuckled and backed away. "I'm sorry if I startled you, but your reactions are so cute."

"You... You were teasing me?"

"Well, somewhat. I wouldn't say no to it, but I expected this kind of response."

He's more playful than I expected.

"I'm sorry if I'm a bit much, but I'm trying to get used to things, and so far, you're the best part of my life."

"Aw..." Kristie fanned herself and her other hand landed on the pad to open the door. "Ah!" she yelped as she fell back.

"Kris!" Jae reached out to her in a hurry and caught her wrist, pulling her to him. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thank you—" her words cut out as darkness consumed both of them.

"Sorry that took so long." Elias entered Kristie's classroom. "Guys?" He looked around, but no one was there. "Weird..." They always waited for each other. Elias called her through his watch.

No answer.

"Dammit, where are you two?"