Hostage in a Happy Place

“So, who called you?” Anise spoke over Rumia’s shoulder. She had just received a call from someone she hadn’t talked to in quite a while.

She felt comforted that Adelyn was safe, and that her resolve was still strong even after everything that happened. However, Rumia didn’t want to sit around and wait for her either. Especially with Adelyn doing so much already. The least she could do is meet her halfway.

“She’s a friend of mine,” Rumia responded. “She’s not in the capital right now, so we’re keeping in touch.”

“Ahh,” Anise responded. “I… don’t really have many of those, but it’s good to see that you do!”

She felt a little bad at that statement. Though, she didn’t have much time to as Anise quickly changed the subject.

“Though, today is a very important day!” Anise responded. “Do you know why?”

“Why?” Rumia asked.

“Well, first off, you should keep up with your schedule. That’s what any good student does,” Anise immediately scolded her plain response. “But second, today Governor Rebecca is coming to our school to grant rewards to gifted students that deserve recognition!”

“So…?” Rumia continued to look at her with a plain expression.

“It means, me! I’m going to get something!” Anise puffed her cheeks in an indignant expression. “Come on, you have to realize that right. At the very least, Grimace promised an expansion to my lab, but I’m hoping I can snag a few other scholarships too!”

“Oh yeah, I suppose he did do that,” Rumia thought. Her mind was still tied to her talk with Adelyn, so she wasn’t trying too hard in this conversation. But, after a few seconds of thought, she realized something.

“So, you mean the governor is coming to the school, right?”

“Yes, I’ve already said that a lot. It’s like you don’t even listen to me sometimes, hmph!” Anise crossed her arms.

Rumia thought for a second. This was an opportunity. A chance to get more information on a way to get out of here. If she could approach the governor, she might be able to figure out some secrets to this place.

“When is she going to come?” Rumia asked.

“Uhh, after classes are finished for today,” Anise said. The two of them didn’t have anything scheduled for this block, so they were remaining in their room for now. “As I said, with my work and Grimace’s proposal, I’m expecting at least two scholarships. Maybe I’ll share some with you as a reward!”

“Cool,” Rumia said. She didn’t really care all too much for the money itself, though she thought the expanded lab for Anise could be useful. One thing she was hoping to get out of this experiment was latent magical abilities. Unlike Adelyn, Rumia was never good at magic at all and she never tried to learn.

So, she was happy if she could get anything out of this arrangement at the very least.

***

The school auditorium was quite spacious, with a large number of students gathered in the wide row of seats. PASCAL had projected a body to stand in the center of the stage, presumably using herself as a placeholder for now.

“Please take your seats and quietly wait until the speaker arrives,” PASCAL announced throughout the auditorium. Rumia and Anise sat next to each other as they waited.

“So, how does this work?” she asked Anise.

“She’s going to give some kind of speech, then she’ll call up the students who have earned a scholarship,” Anise explained.

“And then after?”

“She’ll probably stick around, take some questions. Then we can go home, it’s not really a complicated ceremony.”

Rumia nodded. She shouldn’t make a scene about her situation while everyone else was still here. She would need to wait until most people left, at least.

“The speaker will be appearing, please remain quiet and in your seats,” PASCAL announced again. The auditorium went quiet, and two footsteps can be heard walking onto the stage. A tall woman with long red hair stood in the center of the stage. She had one hand in her pocket and the other hand pushing up her glasses. She stood behind a microphone and began to speak.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,” her professional sounding voice resonated throughout the room. “I take it you all are doing well?”

A collective nod came across the stadium, Rumia looked around her. It seemed like the kids here were quite well-taught.

“Today is the day we announce our annual sponsorships to the exceptional students who have attended the Lunar Academy. This is the most prestigious academy for young, gifted minds who will proceed to advance Lunasa to heights we’ve never thought before.”

Rebecca raised her arms.

“Before we do that, I would like to congratulate all of you for attending in the first place. Your journeys haven’t been easy. It has been an honor to witness the brilliance and strength that will eventually become the future of our world. To everyone in this room, we hope to facilitate each and every one of you to become the best you can be!”

The auditorium began to clap at the speech. Anise seemed to be the most impressed out of everyone, as she looked like she had glitter in her eyes.

Rumia wasn’t as optimistic at least. She obviously wasn’t subject to much academic rigor compared to the other students, so she was looking at this from an outsider’s point of view.

“We know that times have been tough recently, with the capital being on lockdown. However, I know the students here are strong. Even throughout this, they will continue innovating, and continue creating. Technology will advance many years into the future, and a better world will be upon us.”

Rebecca finished her speech, and then pulled out a sheet of paper from her pocket. Pushing up her glasses, she spoke once more.

“Now, I stand here to announce those that have made exceptional strides in their studies. There are three tiers of scholarship depending on your merit. Five thousand lunar, ten thousand lunar, and twenty-thousand lunar. These efforts will go towards your living situation, research projects, and tuition. Now, let us begin to honor those that have achieved five thousand lunar. Starting with Odessa Alaina!”

Rebecca began to list off the names of various students. While she was doing that, Rumia looked over to Anise.

“They really like to pump you guys up, huh?” she said.

“Of course! I think it’s well-deserved anyways. It’s not like this is some public school off the street or anything,” Anise responded. “If you go here, as long as you put in the work, you’re basically guaranteed an internship at the government or in some top research facility. It’s getting here that’s the problem. With all the tests and applications and everything, only certain kids in the capital can get in.”

“I see,” Rumia said. She supposed that made sense. “So, it’s just a lot of positivity, then?”

“Of course,” Anise said. “I think it’s shown that kids feel better under positive reinforcement, and also the exams are coming soon and they don’t hold back on those. So, they want the kids to feel as confident as they can.”

“Exams?!” Rumia exclaimed, immediately realizing that she has not paid attention in class at all during her time here.

“Oh, yeah. I don’t think you have to do those, since you came in so late and all. Lucky you!”

Rumia sighed in relief, as she returned to watching the ceremony. She could see students of all kinds walking up to accept their gifts with large smiles on their faces. They were proud of themselves.

She thought it was nice to see them happy, but this reminded her how out of place she felt. Everybody dreamed of going here. They wanted to spend their life in this school. She wanted to leave, she knew she couldn’t stay here at all.

“For the twenty-thousand lunar award. We have an engineer who has always put her mind into her work, constantly innovating and creating whatever she believes in. I see a bright future for this girl, and as a bonus I have announced an expansion to her laboratory as well,” Rebecca announced. Anise’s eyes seemed to light up at the preamble. “I would proudly like to pronounce the winner of this award as Ourania Anise!”

Anise immediately stood up amongst the rising applause and began to walk to take her award. Rumia watched the girl as she walked up onto the stage and received a letter, as she bowed down and accepted it.

At this point, Rumia had a small smile. She couldn’t help herself, even in her situation she liked to see people happy. It reminded her of a certain girl who always had big dreams for the future.

***

“I’ll see you at my lab later?” Anise asked, holding her letter by her chest as she and Rumia walked out of the auditorium.

“Yeah, I’ll drop by,” Rumia responded. “I just need to ask the Governor some questions first.”

“Got it!” Anise gave a thumbs up, before heading off. The auditorium was mostly cleared out by that point, with only the Governor remaining. She was answering some leftover questions from the students.

Rumia turned back to her, and it seemed like she was talking to the very last student. Now was probably as good of a time as any to approach her.

The glowing girl waited in line for the student in front of her. When they finished, Rumia walked up to the governor, and looked directly at her.

“May I help you, miss?” Rebecca looked down at her with a smile, keeping the same face she kept for every other student.

“When can I leave?” Rumia responded.

“Not until the lockdown is over.”

She expected that response. She already knew why the lockdown was occurring, but it still frustrated her. Especially when she didn’t ask to be here in the first place.

“Why is it so important that I have to stay here until the lockdown is over? I’m not even from here anyways,” Rumia crossed her arms.

“You think that a glowing girl can fall from the sky in a massive beam of light and not draw any interest?” Rebecca patted her on the head, to her frustration. “We’ll be taking care of you until the lockdown is over, that’s all you need to know.”

Rumia gritted her teeth. This was annoying her. Though from her phrasing it felt like it was clear that she wasn’t being kept here solely because of the lockdown.

“There has to be something else,” Rumia thought aloud. “You assigned me my own personal guard and a roommate that’s constantly experimenting on me. There’s something up with that.”

Rebecca did a small laugh, as if the notion was ridiculous on its face. Rumia knew that she came here in an unexpected circumstance, but she felt like the hand she was being dealt was not normal. There had to be something that explained her presence here.

“Well, I suppose I can tell you that you’re more important than you think. Just, stay safe until we can let you go, okay?” Rebecca said. “I have to be somewhere soon, so good luck.”

That was still annoyingly cryptic. It felt like she had gained very little information from this entire exchange. However, at the very least her suspicions were confirmed that this wasn’t just a safety measure.

Rebecca began to walk away from her, leaving the glowing girl with many unanswered questions about her place in this world. She kept on looking at her until Rebecca had fully disappeared from her vision.

With Adelyn’s call, and everything she knew so far. She needed to start working on a way to get out of here, and soon.

Though, she still had a promise to fulfill with Anise, who was probably going to electrocute her again. At the very least, she could give the engineer that one thing.