Although Aiden had often envisioned victory over Devon in many forms (many of which included Devon on his knees conceding in hiccupping sobs that he had been a fool to ever think he could goad Aiden into submission), he had not expected anything close to this sweet of a success.
Not only had his team had eliminated Devon’s from the semifinals to move on in the intramural tournament, Devon had broken his collarbone in three places and suffered severe bruising on his back and shoulders. Best of all, Aiden was completely off the hook for it; the reg-AI had not intervened, and even if it had, the match had officially ended after Aiden scored the winning goal, making it very difficult for anyone to prove him of any wrongdoing.
Of course, that had not stopped Devon from trying. Once again, Aiden found himself sitting before Principal Pakkel, who looked on the verge of murdering somebody. His shriveled, prune-like nose wrinkled in distaste as he perused the report in front of him.
“Premeditated assault, disorderly play, intimidation —” Pakkel shook his head. “I don’t even know where to start with this! A student is attacked by another outside class, and then a week later, in what seems to be another targeted assault, that same student is yet again victimized by his perpetrator in a recreational ziv-ball match. What a coincidence.”
“Huh,” said Aiden agreeably, scratching his head.
“Do you have anything you’d like to say?” said Pakkel irritably.
“Where is Mr. Shin to deliver such allegations face-to-face?”
“You’re walking a thin line with that attitude, young man. Devon is currently undergoing treatment for his injuries as we speak. If you’re found to be responsible for his suffering, it’s your enrollment here that’s on the chopping block. He says you used him to break your fall.”
“It’s hard to say who used who,” said Aiden. “Given that we were both upside down at the time. I was just as powerless in the situation as he was. We humans aren’t born with wings, after all. The fact that he ended up on the bottom was entirely by chance.”
“So you didn’t you pin him down?”
“He was probably the one to grab me.”
“Did you, perchance, happen to grab him first?” said Pakkel sarcastically.
“Maybe for a little mid-air smooch, in the heat of the moment. Falling together like that is a bonding experience, you know.”
“You’re not as clever as you think, Mr. Huang. There will be an investigation into this matter, effective immediately. And if the disciplinary committee finds you guilty of conspiring to inflict grievous injury upon Devon Shin, I will make sure you are swiftly ejected from my school.”
That ended up not being the case. It was concluded that Aiden’s actions were well within the rules of play, and after it was noted that Aiden’s team captain had broken his leg in a similar incident by the opposing team (during the same game, no less), a filed motion from the Red Team pushing for the disqualification of Aiden’s ziv-ball squad was quickly dropped.
Needless to say, Aiden’s mood was markedly improved since the match, despite his parents’ continued absence and the vestiges of their announcement removing from the running of future CEO. He was in such good spirits that he almost forgot to thank Natalie afterwards for her stellar performance, despite how irritating she had been as a substitute. After the game ended she had disappeared in the girls’ locker room for quite some time while the rest of the team cleaned up in the locker room, only stopping by for a few minutes to congratulate them on their way out the ziv-ball facility to celebrate.
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“Do you wanna come with us to Bonifacio’s Pizzeria?” Mateo had said, his face flushed. “Their arrowroot cheese is the best — and they got a new synth-sauce coming out!”
“I can’t,” said Natalie apologetically. “I’d love to, but I gotta go.”
“What’s the rush?” asked Aiden.
“I promised my mom I’d go to this black-tie event with her for her company. It’s really boring, but my dad can’t make it and she’ll be lonely.”
“Oh, okay,” said Mateo, looking crestfallen. “Maybe another time, then. Like next Friday?”
Natalie laughed, not unkindly. “Maybe. I’ll see you around, goons. Good game!”
She walked out the gate, and Aiden hadn’t seen her around campus since. He sent her a net-message the next day inviting her to come play with them again anytime, but the message failed to send and rebounded to his account. Strange, but it could’ve been a systems admin issue; she was a transfer, after all, and Terminary was a big place with a lot of different extracurriculars. And who knew? Maybe playing ziv-ball might have just been a one-time thing for her.
--
Word of Aiden’s last match spread fast, and while it was rare for there to be physical audiences, ziv-ball was a popular sport. Add the fact that two team captains had sustained major injuries amid conditions of play that were unusually dramatic for the game, and it became obvious why viewings of the replay skyrocketed. Aiden found himself the center of a great deal more attention. He was already fairly known as the hacker troublemaker that got a black eye from Devon Shin, but after distinguishing himself in the match, his reputation had grown to accommodate the additional title of “honors-student athlete”.
Humming cheerfully, Aiden was walking down the hallway to physics when a hand tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to find Shelby Li smiling nervously at him. She was an athletic girl on the swim team with dark hair that fell to her waist. Normally Aiden saw her surrounded by a gaggle of friends, but right now she was quite alone.
“Hey, Aiden! Did you get my net-message yesterday about the Spring Dance Extravaganza?”
Aiden glanced behind her around her and saw several whispering girls hastily duck behind the hallway corner. He swiftly regained his composure. “Uh — yeah, I did see it…!”
Auxy’s voice kicked into his head, speaking in discreet mode. Three days ago, asking if you had a date yet for the ball next week.
“…just today,” continued Aiden. “Sorry, my messages were getting backed up.”
“Oh…” said Shelby, flushing. “And do you…er… want to go with me?”
“Yeah, that sounds great!” said Aiden. He decided not to mention he’d already agreed to go with Dorothy Ramirez, but if he timed it right, he could probably get two make-out sessions in one night. “One thing, though…I’ll be getting there a bit late — have to drive my little sister to her track and field meet…”
Shelby looked confused. “Your family doesn’t have staff to do that?”
“Oh, we do. But Tancy wanted me to drive her there. She gets nerves before she competes.”
“Ahhh, that’s so sweet. I break out into nervous sweats before competitions, too…I mean, I don’t sweat sweat, but…”
Hey Auxy, thought Aiden, still in discreet mode. Give me a line that doesn’t just compliment her looks.
I love how socially inept you are, supplied Auxy.
“I like your chromagraphic hairpin, by the way,” said Aiden instead, gesturing to the mobile flower hologram just above her ear.
“Oh, thanks!” Shelby tugged at a strand of hair nervously. “It’s a limited edition piece. I got it by private auction months ago. Two times retail price, but this type is so rare now that people will pay even more.”
“Private auction, huh? I’ve entered one of those. It’s how I got my Nova Force Mark VI’s with the tri-weave ziv.”
Shelby wrinkled her nose. “Boring, aren’t they? But they have neat stuff to give out before anyone else can buy it, and it’s so convenient…”
They stood awkwardly for a few seconds, and then Shelby said, “Anyway — well, I’ll see you at the dance then!”
She turned bright red once again and walked off hurriedly, apologizing profusely after bumping into a trio of students chatting by a pillar.
“A lot of help you are,” said Aiden to Auxy, once Shelby was out of earshot. “Remind me to update your personality matrix soon.”
“Duly noted, sir,” replied Auxy, now defaulting back to regular audio mode. While they could communicate telepathically (they shared the same cyberware, after all), talking out loud reduced the miscommunication errors of wayward thoughts. “Perhaps adding target nodes simulating the liveliness of a synth-potato would be more to your liking.”
“Yep, I’m downgrading your sarcasm weightings for sure.”