Everyone at breakfast is staring at me.

"I think you're in trouble," Magdalene whispers to me.

I give her an annoyed look as she giggles.

"I don't think the admins want to talk to you, but you clearly did something to catch their attention," JJ mumbles.

"Like... what?"

Shrugs.

"People all know you want out, and I recommend you keep tight about it from now on."

"What, you don't want to?"

"No. And for your sake, again, keep it shut."

"Like you care."

"Hey, I'd rather not see you get chased by Jackals or just disappear, but if you insist, how can I stop you?"

He makes me squint.

"Pick a lane, dude. You're either against me or with me."

"And this is why everyone's staring at you. But whatever," JJ puts his hands up, recinding, and walking away. Magdalene looks at him, then me, and follows him, skipping.

"Bye, Cory!"

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

I retreat to the library to catch up on a few episodes of Jackal Hunter. Lori's not as coordinated as she used to be. She's been making more mistakes than usual. Still head and shoulders above probably anyone else in the world, but even demigods like her are fallible.

But this doesn't shake my fandom. My eyes remain pinned to the computer screen, my ass glued to the seat.

Until, a finger taps my shoulder. I flinch so quickly I fall out of the chair.

"I'm sorry, what was your name?"

I look over to see that lavender-haired MP girl that I talked to yesterday.

"Corvus, or... Cory," I mutter, embarassingly trying to stand on my two feet again.

"Elena," she looks me up and down. This time, she's not wearing her vest and accessories. "Thank you for your consultation yesterday. It really meant a lot."

"Yeah, uh.. no problem."

"I see you really like that Jackal Hunter show?"

I roll my eyes. I never thought I'd be so tired of repeating myself. "Yeah. Quite so."

Elena tilts her head. "That's... interesting."

"Is it now?"

"No, the show." She turns to the screen, while Lori climbs up the oversized Jackal. "I guess it's especially so since I spend half the day staring at those things running around outside the Fence."

"I mean... cool?"

"From what I see, most of them just try to avoid humans unless they're really hungry. I don't know where they get these bloodthirsty Jackals to fight Lori."

"I think the UWWA has a ton of shit they won't tell us about."

She pauses.

"Yeah, no kidding, especially in my job..."

"Like, how do they find this giant Jackal in the wild? It can't be. They're all skinny. There's nothing for them to eat outside in the wasteland beyond to grow that big."

"Maybe it's EVAcorp?"

I shrug. "The show's still amazing, but nonetheless."

Elena's radio starts scratching something unintelligible. "Oh, damn. Well, uh, nice talking to you, Cory. I have to go now."

"Okay. Take care. Bye," I wave. She grins at me as she runs off.

On the screen, Lori blows up Olga's head and sloppily lands while it rains blood.

I sigh. Going off of the pictures that the news circulates, I'm really not a fan of the Cynthia girl that's going to stand up to Lori. The original is always better.