Metropolis - Goldilocks: Capsule Bay 237 - Unit 2

Thursday, May 14th, 2089 | 09:12am

[Status: In-Game]

“I’m assuming that means you guys know each other?” asked Serving Time’s new, non-tattooed arrival.

Aya looked at the flame-haired girl. There were too many of Yaz’s features beneath the orange surface for Aya to be able to deny the girl’s identity.

“Yes!” Yaz’s avatar squealed before Aya could get a word in. “She’s the one I was telling you about!”

Aya definitely couldn’t deny knowing that very memorable voice.

[Do you wish to accept Cazcade’s friend request?]

[Yes | No]

Uncertain of how to respond to the request, Aya pretended she hadn’t seen it and instead focused on the conversation .

“Interesting,” the man said, “and here I thought—”

“Pleaseeee?” Foot suddenly interrupted, “we still have one more fight to win. I want to fight him. Let me, let me, let meeeeee!”

“And you are?” the tattoo man asked, looking derisively at Foot. The fact that Foot was just a kid was plainly obvious, and the fact that the man hated kids was just as obvious. It was one of those things you could tell, like the way dog-people looked at cats.

“My name is Foot!” Foot said happily oblivious to the man’s contempt. “What’s yours?”

“Nemis.”

“Cool, you ready to fight?” Foot asked, introductions apparently over. “If I win then it’s over, right Aya?”

“…Yes,” Aya said, “the score is still 249 : 248.”

“See! It’s just one more point to 250!” Foot said proudly. “I just gotta beat him. That’s one point.”

The man’s eyes were unreadable to begin with, but a shiver of annoyance at Foot’s childish antics slipped through them.

“And what if I win?” Nemis asked in the same tone that you would if you were helping a child with homework. That is, if he were a very stupid child you’d been teaching for hours, had given up on and were about to kill, cut up and feed to the sharks before his mother came home.

“But, I’m gonna win.” Foot said simply, completely oblivious to any murderous intent.

Nemis’ back straightened and Aya could tell he was trying to control himself. Apprehension coursed through Aya’s body and she wondered if she was doing the right thing, having Foot around all these convicts, especially the men. It might be sexist of her to think this way, but female convicts were one thing, and male convicts were something completely different, especially around children.

“Hey, Kid,” Nemis said. “Why don’t you let the grown-ups talk for a sec? We’ll get right back to you.”

“But I—” Foot began.

“Hey, Foot,” Aya said kindly and waited until she had the boy’s attention. “If you give us a minute, I’ll play with you as much as you want later.”

“… You promise?”

“I do.”

“Are you going to give me a Contract?”

Aya raised her eyebrows in surprise and then twisted them into pretend hurt.

“I thought we were friends,” Aya said. “Don’t you trust me to keep my word?”

Foot opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it and looked down, kicking at the ground.

“You’re right,” he said, and Aya almost felt bad for pulling the friend card. She was going to comfort him, but a moment later, he bounced back and said, “But just one minute!”

Aya smiled and was about to turn back to Nemis when she remembered who she was dealing with.

“A real life minute,” Aya added, knowing the boy was planning on taking her very literally.

Foot pouted, “Fine,” he said.

“Interesting friends you have,” Nemis said. On the surface, his tone was polite, but Aya knew he was using it to mock her.

“I do, don’t I?” Aya said with a bright smile.

Nemis smiled back, just as brightly.

“You sure you’re not up for an upgrade?”

“Of friends?” Aya said, acting interested. “And what kind of upgrade would that be?”

“I dunno, a couple odd hundred convicts at your disposal and complete control of the regional Guild-branch.”

“You mean—”

Cazcade, who’d been uncharacteristically quiet until then, spoke up.

“Wait a minute!” she screamed, real-life volume carrying over into Era. “You told me the Eastern Plains were going to be mine!”

“Were,” Nemis said. “But then I found something better.”

Nemis nodded at Aya. Aya didn’t like the spotlight he was casting on her one bit.

“Better? How is she better!?”

“Well,” Nemis said. “She’s only at level 15, you’re at level 21, and she’s already ten times more impressive than you.”

“Level FIFTEEN!?”

Cazcade’s orange skin started changing color to become as red as the streaks in her hair. Her clenched fists were rigid beside her.

“I’m six levels higher than her!” Cazcade said. “And she started the exact same minute I did.”

“That’s nice and all,” Nemis said, the corner of his lip pulling into a smirk, “but levels are just a number. She’ll catch up eventually, and when she’s at level 21, she’ll be a hundred times more impressive than you are now.”

“That’s such bullshit!” Cazcade screeched. “I bet her rank is shit too!”

“I sorta already have my own guild—” Aya said, trying to diffuse the situation. It was information that could be had at any guild registry and Cazcade was taking the man’s obvious provocation too seriously.

“I have a proposal…” the non-tattooed man said, ignoring both Cazcade and Aya’s words.

Aya was wary of proposals.

“Why don’t you two fight it out?” he asked

“Fight it out?” Cazcade said.

“Well, the way I see it,” Nemis said. “There’s at least one fight left until this ordeal is over with. If Aya wins, she’ll be in charge of everything anyway, but I’ll add a cherry on top and pass on the official baton of the Serving Time Guildmaster for the region. Imagine just how many convicts you’ll have under your control.”

Aya could feel the trap. It wasn’t even set for her, but she couldn’t help envisioning hundreds of people under her command. It would definitely help boost her Goldilocks rank and fell in the precise direction Suerte had wanted from the beginning. Shaking her head slightly to dispel the image, Aya glanced at Cazcade to find the girl completely furious. Her whole skin had turned red and she glared at Aya. The trap had worked.

“It’s so on,” Cazcade said.

“Wait,” Aya said.

“Your minute is over!” Foot yelled. “Can we fight now!?”

“Yes,” Nemis said, with a sadistic grin. “We can.”

Before Aya could stop the man he was walking off with a hand slung over Foot’s shoulder. Frank, ever the vigilant bodyguard, walked two feet behind the pair, keeping a close eye on the boy. Assured that the kid at least had one person watching his back, Aya turned to Cazcade.

“Are you ready?” Cazcade asked, a glare still burning in her eyes.

“No, wait. Yaz…”

“Only my friends call me Yaz, you little bitch. My name is Jasmine,” Cazcade said. “And in here, you can call me Cazcade.”

The Contract appeared in Aya’s overlay. Nemis and Foot had both signed a duel slot and Cazcade had already signed her name to the final one below it. Cazcade looked at Aya expectantly, waiting for her to sign as well.

“Wait a second Y-Cazcade!” Aya said, seeing how the girl was spiraling out of control. “Don’t you see what Nemis is trying to do?”

“Yes, I do. He’s trying to give you everything!”

“No!” Aya shouted, taking a step toward Cazcade, trying to reason with her. “He’s trying to play you!”

“Oh, Like you played me, Miss Level Fifteen?”

“Wh-No! It’s not like that—”

“Isn’t it? Because I heard that you were conned on your first day here, like a total noob.”

“That’s not,” Aya said, struggling to find a way out. “Haven’t you seen all that I’ve done this week? Even your boss is impressed.”

“Oh, so now he’s not trying to play me anymore? Which is it?”

“Wh— That’s not what I said!” Aya floundered.

“Isn’t it? Because that’s what I heard you say. Doesn’t matter anyway,” Cazcade said with a bloodthirsty smile on her face, “because I’m going to burn you to ashes.”

Cazcade threw her hands down and they were both suddenly engulfed in flames.

“Mmmmm,” Cazcade said, a manic grin of pleasure appearing on her face. “Can you feel that heat?”

Aya’s eyes widened. Cazcade was a fire mage. If the girl wanted to, she could set fire to everything. The area was so dry that her shop would burn down as well. Aya crouched defensively as she tried to figure out a way to buy some time. She cast a glance sideways to see Foot and Nemis already fighting. Their movements were too fast for Aya to be able to see anything, much less which side had the upper hand.

“Oh!” Cazcade said, noticing Aya’s defensive stance. “You ready to fight now?”

Aya looked back at Cazcade, who’d completely misinterpreted the situation.

“No, I—”  

“Good, ‘cause I’ve decided I don’t really care about your Contract. Nemis never said our fight had to be recorded in it.”

Cazcade lifted her arms and threw her hands forwards, pelting Fireball after Fireball in Aya’s direction. Aya instinctively lifted two arms to shield herself, but other than the heat she felt from them dissolving a foot in front of her, they didn’t affect her in the least.

“What the!??! Arghhh!” Cazcade screeched. “Stop cheating, you little shit!”

“Me?” Aya asked innocently. “It’s in the Era combat rules. A player can’t attack another player if his or her level is five or more levels lower than his or her own.”

Cazcade’s hands went back down and her skin turned yet another shade darker, a lot closer to red now than its original orange.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Just because you know some shitty rule, doesn’t mean shit.”

Aya watched the girl and sighed. Pure hatred was burning in Cazcade’s eyes and it was obvious the girl had reached a point of no return. Reasoning with her would be as productive as talking to a rock.

“Well,” Aya said, “it does mean I know the rule.”

Cazcade frowned and her hands went up in flames again. Aya wanted to feel remorse for inflaming the girl even more, but she couldn’t. The girl had gotten on her nerves so many times and her current total inability to see reason just took the cake.

“Fight me and I won’t tell Serena what you’ve been up to this last week… Miss Fifteen,” she mocked, as if readying to tell on Aya to her mom. “I’m sure she’ll be very interested to know how useless her newest acquisition is.”

“Given the level difference, this is a bit unfair,” Aya said, “don’t you think?”

Aya knew she was going to have to give in eventually. The moment Cazcade realized she could just burn Aya’s shop to the ground, Aya would be forced into combat anyway, even if it meant death. At least if she went with the original Contract agreement, she’d be protected by the 10% clause. However, Cazcade didn’t know exactly how much of a corner she’d backed Aya into, so she’d postpone the fight as long as she could.

“Given the fact you’ve had the same amount of time to prepare, and the fact you claim to be such an experienced player who hasn’t played me, I don’t think so, no,” Cazcade retorted.

Aya pursed her lips in thought and rested her hands on her hips. Pretending to take the moment to deliberate, Aya opened the Slither-venom vial she’d stashed in her waistband and poured its contents into one of the rags from Furia’s dress. To this day, it had the highest thread-count of any of her rags and would hold the liquid better. It was also more durable, another plus. Part of her wondered if this preparation counted as cheating, but she once more invoked her internal Donovan and appeased her conscience.

“So,” Aya said, “All you want to do is fight me and win, right? So even if I lose, you won’t tell Serena?” she asked, pretending Cazcade had been right about Aya’s biggest worry.

“I won’t have to,” Cazcade said. “People will find out on their own soon enough.”

Aya nodded, just as aware of tomorrow’s significance as Cazcade.

“All right,” Aya said with finality before she took her blades out and signed her name to the Contract.

It turned out to be a good thing Aya took out her daggers before signing the Contract because Cazcade was already hurling Fireballs while Aya put it away. Ducking and rolling out of the way, she evaded the first set of Fireballs. A moment too late, she thought of the foliage that would catch on fire. Aya looked frantically at where the fire had hit, but, other than a small scorch mark, there was no sign of the fire spreading. The entire duel area was so trampled by dozens of feet that the brittle leaves had all fallen to the ground and mixed with the dry sand. There wasn’t enough fuel to carry a fire anywhere.

Caught up in her flammability analysis of the ground, Aya almost got hit by the next volley of Fireballs, but made it out of the way just on time, feeling the painful heat of the fire as it grazed her left cheek. Taking a deep breath, Aya calmed herself and tried to focus on a strategy. Cazcade was the first mage she’d been up against and Aya feared her usual retreat-and-attack strategy was not going to work. Cazcade’s attack range was much larger and if Aya wanted to get any of her own hits in, she’d have to get much, much closer. Five more Fireballs came her way and she barely avoided them, ducking and weaving as they came her way.

Getting closer would mean less time to evade the Fireballs. Cazcade was at a much higher level and much faster than Aya. The only reason Aya wasn’t dead already was because of the distance the Fireballs had to travel to reach her, and yet here she was, thinking of ways of cutting that distance. Aya considered throwing her blades, but immediately decided against it. She’d been working on her aim, but throwing blades severely decreased their damage output, which, in Aya’s case, was already very low.

Evading another set of Fireballs by flattening herself on the ground, Aya wondered if she could continue the fight until Cazcade ran out of mana. However, as she watched the girl’s manic eyes, Aya had the gnawing fear that Cazcade was a bottomless pit of fire. Aya dashed around a bit, pretending she was working on some kind of evasive maneuver while she put the blades behind her back and wiped them with Slither-venom. Without Aya’s Poison Resistance, even touching the cloth could have been deadly and Aya hoped that the blades would have the same deadly effect on Cazcade. All Aya had to do now was use the Bleed skill on Cazcade with the poisoned blades.

Aya tried getting closer multiple times in the next few minutes, but each time she thought she’d managed to break the perimeter, Cazcade would unleash a Flame Blast. It had a much greater area of effect than Fireball and hurt Aya every time she got too close to it, but fortunately, its damage was low and only took 8-11% of Aya’s health at a time. By running around and dodging Fireballs for minute or two, she was always able to heal back up.

Aya was sweating and panting when she heard a loud commotion from the site where Foot’s and Nemis’ fight had been taking place. Aya’s curiosity almost had her looking over, distracting her from the fight, but if Aya knew one thing, it was that Cazcade would look over, leaving an opening for Aya to exploit. After a week of being around Yaz in real life, she knew the girl’s curiosity wouldn’t let her ignore the commotion for long. Keeping a close eye on Cazcade, Aya circled the girl until Cazcade unleashed a particularly explosive display of fireworks. It was obvious that she was buying herself a moment to look over. Aya readied herself to attack.

The instant Aya saw Cazcade’s eyes glance over in Foot’s direction, Aya used Stealth, hunkered down, grabbed a handful of sandy dirt and ran all-out toward the girl’s right side, avoiding a head-on collision saving herself the need to change directions.. By the time Cazcade looked back in Aya’s direction, Aya was only five feet away and by the time Cazcade spotted Aya, it was already too late. Aya ran by and slit her throat with a poisoned blade. It was a Critical Hit and the Skill itself did a lot more damage than it had on Furia, taking 15% of Cazcade’s health in one strike. Aya fell to the ground, avoiding Fireballs that sailed past her by a hair’s breadth. Aya took the opportunity to drop her handful of dirt. She hadn’t used the trick, and there was no need to show her hand just yet.

“YOU BITCH!” Cazcade shouted and unleashed unholy hellfire upon Aya. Luckily, it had taken the girl a second to react to Aya’s attack so she was out of the immediate strike zone when the Fireballs, Fire Blasts and what looked like an intense fire-beam arrived. Aya hid a smirk as she backed off as far as she could within the agreed-upon duel perimeter. She weaved and bobbed, but generally tried to conserve her breath as Cazcade continued her all-out attack. It was the exact reaction Aya had been going for, and she prepped her blades to go in for another attack. Aya had to choose the correct moment to strike, right when Cazcade’s attacks peaked, before the girl regained her composure. Once more, Aya leaned down to grab a handful of dry dirt when the expected Fire Blast arrived. Using the moment of blinding cover it provided, she jumped to the side, entered Stealth mode and once more headed on a trajectory straight toward Cazcade’s right side.

Cazcade noticed Aya’s move, but it was already too late. Cazcade only had time to readjust her hands for one Fireball, which she missed in her hurry. It allowed Aya to get two more poisoned Bleed strikes in, one on Cazcade’s right arm and one above her right hip. By the time the girl turned around to direct fire at Aya’s retreating back, Aya had already regained her footing, pivoted and jumped back a few more feet for added distance.

A notification suddenly appeared, distracting Aya for a moment.

249 : 249

Foot had lost, but instead of being freaked out by the pressure the new scoreboard put on the outcome of her match, Aya used the notification to stage her next attack. Running a couple steps to the right, Aya pretended she was about to start another set of evasive maneuvers, but the moment the expected shouts went out, she pivoted toward the distracted Cazcade. Aya activated Stealth, coated her blades with even more poison and attacked her on the right. By the time she’d finished her third poison attack, the girl was absolutely livid and at 42% of health. The Bleed, poisoning and Critical Hits were all stacking like Aya had never experienced before. The poison was also having a much bigger effect than Aya had allowed herself to hope for.

“ARRRRRGHHHHHHH!” Cazcade shouted out.

Aya turned and was distracted by one of the wounds she’d delivered the first time. There was a bubbling, greenish vapor sizzling off the wound. An idea hit her at the same time as a Fireball. Luckily, it hit her in the shoulder, which blew her back, out of the next Fireball’s path. Her health immediately fell to 46%. It made her painstaking effort to get Cazcade’s down to the same level seem useless. Grunting in pain, Aya rolled to the side, trying to ignore the unmistakable pain of a burn wound. She smelled burned skin and hair,  it made her feel sick to the stomach.

Gritting her teeth, she got back on her feet and readied herself for Cazcade’s next attack. Aya got her blades ready on her belt for quick retrieval once more and circled Cazcade until she neared her trusted and luckily forgotten friend, Henry. Aya noticed that her own health was regenerating much faster than Cazcade’s, but it was probably only because she also had a lot less HP. Aya didn’t have the luxury of waiting around to heal. She needed to kill Cazcade before the mage healed as well. Aya got close to Henry, making sure Cazcade’s eyes were on her when she stepped on Henry’s foot.

The bird squawked loudly and Cazcade jerked in surprise. Aya used the moment to bend down, grab the bird, grab some dirt, dash in Cazcade’s direction, activate Stealth, throw the bird at Cazcade, grab a dagger with her free hand, duck past two Fireballs, get close enough to throw dirt in Cazcade’s face, grab the other dagger, use the girl’s distraction to get around Cazcade, stick both blades hilt-deep into her neck, let go, reach for the poisoned rag and gag the girl from behind, jumping on her back and pulling her as close to herself as she could.

That last action was her only mistake.

The moment Cazcade’s skin touched Aya’s, she felt an unbearable, blazing pain wherever they touched. Fire, Cazcade could make her skin as hot as fire. She was a squishy avatar, just like Aya, but she had this one barrier of defense Aya had been unaware of.

48% : 40%

Aya watched her HP versus Cazcade’s. If Aya wanted to get away, now would be her only chance. Instead, she decided to gamble on it, stuck her forearms further out before bringing them back in to stick the daggers’ hilts in deeper. Then it was a waiting game, enduring the pain until Cazcade breathed in the poisonous fumes bubbling up from the rag. Cazcade tried to shake Aya off and when she couldn’t, she tried to squirm out of Aya’s grip, but Aya held on like a tick, going as far as wrapping her legs around Cazcade’s torso.

The seconds ticked by in agonizing slowness. Aya’s skin was burning; she could feel it charring and flaking away against Cazcade’s. At some point the girl began laughing maniacally, but Aya ignored it and focused solely on their relative HPs.

39% : 25%

For now, Aya was ahead. She had more stacked attacks that were still dealing Cazcade damage, but with each passing second, the burn on Aya’s skin also stacked.

30% : 18%

The damage was starting to stack quickly and Aya wasn’t sure if she’d be able to hold out long enough. Her ears started registering the cheers around them. Were people expecting her to win or Cazcade? Did it matter? She had no idea if she could survive and no idea if the pain would defeat her, those things mattered.

20% : 14%

Four more percent, only four. Aya’s skin burned and she felt her clothes start burning. Cazcade had given up on fighting Aya’s chokehold and had instead resorted to touching all that Aya wore.

15% : 12%

It looked like it was going to be simultaneous annihilation. Aya growled; she had not just gone through all the pain to lose in the end. She refused! Gritting her teeth, she waited until Cazcade’s health dropped to 11% and waited another painful beat before she stuffed the sizzling rag into the girl’s mouth, jerked Cazcade’s head around and bit deeply into her neck before jumping off her back and retreating as fast as she could.

With the coppery taste of blood in her mouth, Aya scrambled away. Weaponless and defenseless, she’d played every single card in her hand and the deck was empty. She turned just in time to see a Fireball dissolve right before her face.

11% : 6%

Duel goes to Aya.

250 : 249

Aya coughed and tried spitting the bloody taste out of her mouth. She couldn’t have cut it any closer if she’d tried to.

“You piece of shit!” Cazcade screeched as she registered her loss. The girl seemed to be completely oblivious to pain as blood squirted out of her neck where Aya had bitten her. Cazcade’s health continued to plummet and Aya decided not to waste her breath warning the girl. After all, Cazcade was still shouting death threats and insults at her.

And just like that, Cazcade pixelated out of existence moments later.

Not wanting to commit the same mistake, Aya looked around, trying to find a friendly face, but her unfriendly blacksmith was already right beside her.

“Here, take this,” Xavier said, handing her a light potion. “Should be enough to get you back on your feet. You did good.”

He patted her awkwardly on the back.

Aya nodded and gratefully gulped it down, bringing her HP back into the 20% range. It still dipped occasionally as she recovered from her severely stacked burn wounds, but she was already regaining health faster than she lost it. Basically, it wouldn’t kill her and that’s all that mattered. Aya sighed, and slumped to the ground.

As she tried to process things, she watched Xavier walk back to the shop. Like a good shepherd, he managed to herd most of the accumulated crowd into the shop. Aya wasn’t too surprised to see even some Serving Time members amongst them. She also wasn’t surprised to see that Nemis had mysteriously disappeared, along with many other Serving Time members. She was, however, surprised to see a trio composed of Donovan, Frank and Foot approaching her.

Sluggishly getting to her feet, she dusted herself off as they came into speaking range.

“I woudda won if Frank hadn’t stopped me!” Foot glared at Frank.

“No, you would not have,” Donovan said in his usual simplicity, arriving as if he’d been part of the conversation from the get-go.

Foot frowned and crossed his arms, trying to look stern and grown-up. Frank was definitely rubbing off on the boy.

“You’re really not cool, man!”

“I do not see why I should be,” Donovan said. “‘Cool’ is a subjective term, but I doubt many would consider 37 degrees Celsius to be ‘cool’.”

“…What?”

“Let’s go,” Donovan said tonelessly, completely ignoring Foot’s follow-up question. “This business is done and you owe me a quest. You’re still weak, but it should be enough to get by.”

Apparently, the morning she’d just had didn’t even merit a ten-minute rest.

“A quest!?” Foot shouted beside Aya. “I love quests! Can I come with!? Frank! It’s a quest! Do you want to go?”

The large man rolled his boulder-like shoulders in a shrug. Aya didn’t even bother arguing or commenting; this was Donovan they were talking about.

They gathered their things and prepared to leave. Meeting up in front of the shop, they were about to set out when MageSlayer and Emry suddenly showed up. Aya sighed, not wanting to deal with the annoying mage after the day she’d already had.

“Can this wait, MageSlayer?” Aya asked, another sigh leaking into her voice.

“Are you heading East, up the hills?” Mageslayer asked.

“Yeah…” Aya said, wondering who he’d heard it from. No one in their small group was on friendly terms with the guy.

“Then no, it can’t wait,” MageSlayer said. “It’s our right,” he gestured between himself and Emry, “to go check out the guild’s new property with you.”

“The guild’s?”

“Yes,” MageSlayer said. “Have you not familiarized yourself with our new assets? We must go and perform a valuation.”

Aya rolled her eyes, “Of course we do.”

“YES!” Foot said, “The more the better! Can we go now! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s gooooo!”

MageSlayer smirked as he went by, patting Foot on the head.

Emry bowed her head and tried for an apologetic smile.

Chris watched the rest of the party take off and pinched the bridge of her nose. She really didn’t want to be in the company of the annoying mage-accountant all day, but it was better than being dead, though not by much. From what Donovan had said, most of the day would probably be spent traveling. They’d have to go cover quite a bit of ground to reach the destination for his quest. Aya sighed, wondering if her time would be better spent categorizing her Layhens and working on the system she’d be using for their Contracts in the future.

Her eyes followed the retreating group until Foot turned around, spotted her and waved, shouting for her to join them. Aya couldn’t stop the smile from forming on her lips.

“Ah, screw it,” she said out loud. “At this point, if I didn’t make rank, they can all go fuck themselves.”

The rest of her last day was spent traveling, killing mobs and generally interacting with a mismatched group of individuals. Even with MageSlayer’s insulting presence, it was probably the most carefree fun she’d had in years. Afraid of which one would win, Aya didn’t want to outright compare any of her memories with Rin with the memories she was making in game. Aya wondered if she’d ever have the chance to play with them the same way again. If her resulting rank wasn’t high enough, she’d be limited to two real hours a day. She knew now that it was nowhere near enough to keep up with any serious Era player.

By the end of her final day, she’d leveled up to 16. She’d gained most of the EXP through her two kills and combat and spent the rest of the day working on her stats. However, it was still nowhere near Sid’s advised minimum. Aya shrugged in resignation; it was out of her hands now. If what the Warden really cared about was earning potential, she’d get a spot. Her only worry was his ability to see past her still mountain-high debt. Aya sighed and logged out, never going back to check her pending friend requests.

Fortunately or unfortunately, there were none.

P.S.: No Henrys were irreparably damaged in the production of this chapter.