ACCR Chapter 2 Mawar

I felt as light as a feather from the joy that was coercing my cells themselves to jump in electrical energy, with my spiritual energy no less energetic as it circulated within my body. Even my core was getting in on the joy, pulsing in tandem with my heart as it pumped blood throughout my biological body.

With a thought, my divine sense was unfurled within its cradle, a metaphysical space within my brain, bathing the entire light green corridor. Tiny flashes of light kept it within the corridor, preventing it from permeating the walls as was par of course. If divine sense was infallible, then there would be no secrets in the world.

I wasn't trying to spy or anything, just searching for a port that would allow me to connect to the spiritual network, but I came up empty.

Though, the smooth wall in my gaze wasn't that uniform in my divine sense, instead made up of countless tiny squares that had energy running through the boundaries, transmitting it to the arrays within the squares themselves and the building.

A few of the squares even briefly morphed into light sensors which captured my image due to my release of divine sense, probably transmitting it to the building AI to determine whether I was a threat.

Within mere moments of such an action, within the fraction of a second, one of the tiny units morphed into a spiritual network node.

Upon connecting through it, only instructions to the public cafeteria where relayed through speech directly within my mind. It was the only place I could connect to the larger Federal spiritual network without a portable device.

Mine was in the interspatial handbag, but I hadn't wanted to step on any toes here. I hadn't even gotten a glimpse into any of the rooms on my way here, which spoke of the security within the place. I didn't want to come off as a threat. Mawar, had chosen the bag. She had described it with many words, though, a spatial ring would have done the same job. Though, her persuasiveness had eventually won out.

Within mere moments, my joy carried me towards the cafeteria, a large hall filled with tables and chairs surrounding them. There was nothing ostentious about them, just simple tools meant for sitting down and enjoying a meal, whether alone or in a group.

I found the nearest table, one free of occupants and sat myself down, ignoring the others. After rummaging through my handbag, now resting upon the table, I took out a gem which immediately plastered itself to my left wrist, partially sinking into the skin. It was in a diamond shape, glittering in the soft light and filled with energy and arrays so minute and complex that I couldn't even begin to understand them.

I felt a few gazes curiously pointed my way but ignored them in favour of my communication stone.

The moment it sensed my aura and blood, an illusory blue screen appeared before my eyes near instantaneously. One of the missed queries made me frown in distaste, though the excitement I felt dispelled it instantly as Mawar's contact came up with just a thought command.

It flashed as I tried to connect with her before my surroundings were all replaced by an illusion, not constructed in my retinas, but within my very mind. Though, my awareness still had plenty of connection with the outside world, ensuring that my surroundings were safe.

The illusory room was our private space, me and my sister. It was a near replica of the room we had had when we were about 5 years old.

It was small, with two beds that were separated by a small path that went from the entrance to the window.

Mawar had loved pink, while I had taken on a duller color, black. I hadn't cared too much about such a pointless thing, but she had been someone who fussed about the appearance of every little thing she had, even her toys.

A smile graced my lips as I reminisced about those days while waiting for her to show up.

I moved towards my bed and sat down, facing Mawar's. The texture of the sheets was the same as I remembered. Though, the thing appeared to be small now that I was older.

"What happened? Did they ask you for sex or something of a clandestine nature?"

A nervous voice dragged my attention from the sheets of my bed over to Mawar's side.

She had appeared, clad in a summer dress that was colored red with pink flowers woven into the red. It was a gown held up by two straps at her shoulders, and long enough to reach her ankles.

Her nervous pink pupils brought a warm smile to my face.

"They have agreed to hire me." I revealed spreading the joy to her.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

For a moment her jaw hung open before, "Yes!"

She shouted out, pumping her fists into the air, and doing a little twirly dance, like a child.

"I told you. I told you! I told you! My idol would never stoop to the same level as those cretins!" She continued.

"Then what was that nervous look from before? If I had accused him of anything, would you have taken my side?"

"Of course! You are my sister. There is a time for fangirling, and one for family. I would cease taking him as my idol if he asked for such unsavory things! Sexual favors are a big no!"

"I sense a but coming."

"...that's true. It means that I was right to become his fan girl. Trash like that whatever generation Zeus can't match up to even a single hair upon his head!"

With a light cough, Mawar regained herself and sat back down onto the bed.

"Did they contact you while I was away?"

"No. They have been somewhat quiet today. I wonder why."

"Let's not speculate. Instead, it would be better if we discussed some important things. Mawar! I am going to name you the next clan leader."

Her eyes widened the moment I said that.

"Bu-wh-why?!!! I don't think I could manage!" The words flew out of her mouth like kinetic shells.

"You will have to manage. I don't think our uncles and aunts will be capable of managing our farms, let alone dealing with others. They are good honest people who simply love to tend to the rice."

That got her into her signature posture of contemplation, where she placed a palm atop her chest, and felt her heartbeat while her mind worked.

"Mother always said that I will never be like you, a natural born leader."

That brought a grimace to my face, eliciting me to stand up and take her into my embrace.

"Mother said a lot of things. But I believe everyone has their path, their way. You have been acting as my aide for years now and I believe you are up to the task."

"Really?"

I pulled myself off of her but still held her by her shoulders with both hands and gazed squarely into her eyes, "I believe so!"

Though her smile was strained, she nodded eventually.

"Am I going to have to start now?"

"No. I think they might give me a few hours to a day, to settle my affairs. That will be the time."

A few minutes passed in relative silence before a question was hurled my way, one that I had partially expected.

"So... How is Kampala city? Is it really one of the great ten? Did you get a glimpse of that race track?"

Well... I had at least expected one.

"It would be better if I just showed you."

With that answer, the scenery around us shifted into one where we were floating up in the sky, gazing down below at the sprawling metropolis, a forest of concrete, metal and glass.

This was the memory from when I had been within an aircraft, having just arrived at my destination.

The buildings and grid-like roads started to become even clearer as our gazes were pulled downwards, a memory of the craft descending.

"Wow! Is that really the race track!" Exclaimed an excited Mawar, prompting me to pause the frame and instead zoom into the superstructure in the North of the city. It was something that inspired awe within me even though I wasn't a fan of the kinds of races taking place there.

It was like looking at a long long snake, whose length was almost endless, with coils, twists and turns. Some of its length was buried under the ground, while some of it even managed to touch the height at which clouds formed. This entire lengthy superstructure sat on a piece of land larger than even Kampala city itself.

"Its beautiful! They changed the previous blue and black stripes to full red! Wow! Bakung! Can you take me to the race next month? It's a big one! I can't afford to miss it!"

"I know about your sneaking off. Can't you do the same as before?"

"No! I want you to come with me."

I grimaced.

"You know I am not a fan of those things, right?"

"I just want to spend some time with you. I have been around what you love, administration. Can't you do the same for me?"

This put me in a very difficult position. But then I failed to conjure any real moment that we had managed to spend together in recent memory, leading to a hesitant nod from me.

"Yay!" Remember! Its on the 18th of next month."

"Okay! Can we now get back to seeing Mr. Mumaso's Giga Factory?"

As our gazes lowered towards a pad designed to be a landing spot for aerial vessels atop a tall dark green skyscraper that was bordering on black, I asked...

"How much does you idol worship go?"

My sister had always admired Mr. Mumaso, yet I hadn't paid enough attention to ask about that particular topic. Now that we had time, I wanted to at least drag out some information from her.

"If he appeared right before me and asked to take me now, right here, provided this wasn't an illusion, I would simply raise my dress and-"

"Ewwwwww! That's unacceptable! Don't ever think of doing-no! Don't ever do that!" I shouted while also flicking her forehead.

"What! We are over 300 years old. Why are you still acting like a teenager in these matters?" Asked an exasperated Mawar.

But I turned my face away, hiding the rising heat I could feel on my cheeks.

"I am not acting like a teenager! Am just... I don't want you to just sleep with any guy without getting to know them first."

"But Reed is a good person! I can feel it in my bones!"

"Oh! Now you have decided to do away with honorifics and first names! You have to know that the man is going to be my boss in a matter of hours, right?"

"What a scandal it would cause! We would become popular! Though, I am curious about how it would feel with him inside me."

"Mawar!"

"Okay! Okay!"

After the ship had landed, we had rode an elevator, one which had gone directly underground after sliding down a large number of floors, with its doors sliding open within an artificial cavern that was gigantic enough to accommodate not one, but two Giga factories!

I had already asked and they had allowed me to show this to Mawar.

"So this is where the living array, the ACLA is produced from. Its huge!" Commented Mawar with stars in her eyes.

Bots and people alike were moving things, and doing other manner of tasks as my memory played. Though, the people and the bots had had their facial features intentionally greyed out by me to prevent their whereabouts from leaking, plus the privacy infringements and all that.

Though this was a private illusion within my and Mawar's minds, we were still connected to the larger network. There were chances that someone was shadowing us through means I couldn't detect.

The hours passed with Mawar asking questions about the factory, many of which I lacked answers to, due to the fact that I hadn't been allowed into any sensitive areas. I hadn't asked to visit any, but I had been certain that even if I had requested, they wouldn't have complied.