A Bio-Weapon's Rhapsody

Chapter 313: The next clue.

"So?" Big Sister said crossing her arms atop her chest and looking at Miriam Eversoul, "Where does that leave us then?"Ale turned to look at Miriam Eversoul and [Eleanore] too, she was curious about it. Ale had declared her intent of not wanting to live with them, but most of her things were back at the apartment that Miriam Eversoul had provided...

"I will respect the choice and will not make an attempt to block you from becoming her legal guardian." Miriam Eversoul said with a shrug, "I do respect and will understand her choices."

"Even though you want her to live a normal childhood?" [Golem] pointed from the side, "That is contradictory to your previous statement."

That it was, wasn't it?

"I want her to live a normal life, yes." Miriam Eversoul said nodding, "I want her to go to school with friends her age. I want her to wake up late during the weekends, I want her to play video games till 3AM in the morning, and then pretend that she slept the whole night."

That last one didn't sound that bad to be honest.

"I want her to come back to her home with scraps on her knees and her shirt dirty because she fought with other girls." Miriam Eversoul carried on giving some weird examples, why would Ale return with wounds?

No wait, that would kinda match her looks, wouldn't it?

"But." Miriam Eversoul stopped speaking, closed her eyes and sighed, "We can't change who we are, nor our families."

"We can't?" Ale asked confused, she was, after all, coming out as a Shapeshifter. Changing her identity was what she was best at... Or was supposed to be the best at.

She hadn't been able to shift that far away from her base form lately, she did need to check on that.

"You are a Saintsworths." Miriam Eversoul stated the obvious, "And if that wasn't bad enough. You are the sister of Alexanders."

"Ah." Big Sister said as if she got it, "Right..."

"Even if Alexanders will let her do as she wishes, the world will not." [Golem] chimed in, "So at the end of the matter, it will still become an issue."

"You can see it like that too." Miriam Eversoul nodded, "Sadly, as soon as the world at large finds out about her, things will get messy."

"They will find out? How?" [Eleonore] was the one to ask this one, "At best they will know her as Rhapsody from Haephestus' Forge!"

How would they find out about her? Ale didn't think that Alexanders would go out of her way to tell people about Ale or Alexa. Perhaps if she got some amusement from doing so, but that was still under the premise that it came to be naturally.

Someone with a personality as rotten as that man would not go out of his way to give information like this for free, Ale did not think so at the very least.

"She will go to school too, will she not?" Miriam Eversoul pointed out, "We did get her to apply to a school too."

"Oh? Oh right, you did say something to that effect right?" Big Sister said, tilting her head, "Did you ever tell us what school you picked?"

Ale had not, Ale had in fact not mentioned anything further on that note. Mostly because she was cringing at her own choice, it was still something she think it was right. And what she should pick.

It logic still was strong, but the name... That goddamned name.

"The Saintsworths Middle School for normal people..." Ale said between closed teeth, "That's the school I am going to."

"...The what?" [Golem] said surprised, almost breaking character.

"...I understand the need to elaborate that you will go to a normal school," Big sister said nodding confused, "What with the company we have and the environment we live in, but what is the name of the school?"

Ale felt the need to facepalm at the question. Alas, it couldn't be, it was not meant to be. So, as Ale sighed at her own choices and how the world seemed to enjoy her embarrassment.

"That is the name of the school." Ale started to make another pamphlet inside her hoodie and proceeded to pull it out from one of her pockets, "The Saintsworths Middle School for normal people. That's the actual registered name, it is an average school with average syllabus and average activities."

Ale felt tired just reading aloud what the piece of paper said.

"...Right." Big sister said, nodding and taking the pamphlet from Ale's hands.

It had some of the syllabus for the first year and some of the activities they had planned out. It had a few mentions about what to expect and how they would shift the festivals and other activities would be picked up as the student's interest was gauged and decided.

It also had a small paragraph dedicated to the future student council, which would be decided as the school year progressed.

It would only accept first graders and the school would expand as the students shaped it.

So it would be somewhat desolated for the first year and would slowly fill out as the first generation student went about their daily life.

"It does not sound normal." Big Sister pointed out, "It does not sound normal at all. Why did you pick it?"

"Because it is not normal, or average." Ale said, sighing, "Besides the other ones stuck like a sore thumb, but at least this one didn't overplay what it was."

"But you are aware that it is the weirdest of all of them." Big sister said smirking, "There is no way this one is normal."

"It isn't." Ale said nodding, "It is the weirdest and probably the one that will serve the best for what I need and want."

"How so?" [Golem] asked next, "The program and all of it seem normal enough."

"The thing is that it is 'Average'." Ale said, pulling out more pamphlets from her hoodie, "These are the options I had."

One by one, she put the pamphlets on the table.

"The first one was out from the onset." Ale said pointing at it, "The Sidekick's development program."

Ale had almost done a spittake when she read it, it was a school whose whole program was dedicated to the enhancement of the human body in an attempt to generate pseudo super humans capable of contending with [Core Users].

Their idea was to increase the probability of triggering Core Powers, and then using their enhanced body to generate an even more powerful outcome.

"I can see why." Big sister said nodding at her, "It reeks."

"That one is sponsored by the First Lab." Miriam Eversoul said reading it, "It isn't as bad as you think, and I can guarantee that they aren't inherently evil..."

"But?" [Golem] asked next, "They may not be inherently evil, but?"

"That does not mean they are good people." Miriam Eversoul sighed, "She doesn't mean bad things, but her followers are not in the right mindset."

"A Saintsworths Conglomerate employee? Not being sane in the head?" Big sister said in a mocking tone, "Shocker."

"The second one was this one," Ale said moving on to the next one, "The Mercy Future Academy."

That made Miriam Eversoul sit straighter for some reason?

"Sounds stuck up." Big Sister pointed out as they opened the pamphlet, "Looks stuck up too."

"It has all the correct facilities and teaching helpers. Also the best education programs that are available." Miriam Eversoul pulled out another folder with pictures on the school in question.

It was interesting considering she hadn't shown those to Ale before when they were picking up the school that she would go to. Why now she was doing this?

What did change?

Nothing had changed from then to now. If anything, the only change had been the gift that old man Alexanders had... given... her...

Oh.

"So that's your school." Ale stated, "And if you said that about the other one, then that's..."

"....Vivi's school..." Miriam Eversoul said with a small nod, "It isn't... that much of her school, each Lab... I mean, each branch of the star has it's own directives and school's affiliated to them."

Ah.. Ale turned to look at the data of the schools she had perused, and there had been ten schools that jumped out. She hadn't thought much about it, since the amount of schools for the size did seem the normal amount. For this amount of land.

"So then the one I picked was the one in Alexanders' branch?" Ale said, turning to look at her first pamphlet, "Or is it too late?"

"It isn't too late, you can still change." Miriam Eversoul said turning to Ale, "If that is what you wish we can do it right now, just log in to your student account. Your account data should have been sent already to your email."

Ale had?

Ale sent inwardly.

Ale got a mental picture about her profile and account settings, also apparently Main Core had also set up a picture of her with a school uniform. How had she gotten that?

"... Why now and not then?" Ale asked next, "Why now that we are finishing preparations for school?"

Actually, what was the remaining things left for her to do?

"..." "..." "..."

Miriam Eversoul, [Eleanore], [Golem] and Big sister seemed to freeze for a second. The only change that Ale had noticed was the fact that Big Sister blinked very slowly, it was almost as if time had slowed down.

"...Huh?" Ale couldn't help but say aloud.

"Interesting." Ale couldn't help but say that, and the next second, everyone resumed to move as normal. "I'll remain in my current school."

"...Okay?" Miriam Eversoul nodded mildly confused, "Like I said, every district has some influence on the schools that are set up on their star branches. Vivi... didn't move that much to make hers, Alexanders tampered with the school system in his school and fully expects to be filled with sycophants."

"And he decided to get me into that one?" Ale said mildly annoyed, "Just so he can have some fun at my expenses?"

"...Your school is affiliated with Lab 5, not with Lab 4." Miriam Eversoul pointed, as if Ale knew what that meant, she had some information on the labs of course, between what she had learned and what she had access to. "You should be fine on that front."

"...Right." Ale said nodding, "Of course Alexanders would be with Lab 4."

As if that made even more sense to her. She knew a few basic stuff about some of those labs, from data she picked here and there, but even so. Her actual confirmed knowledge was limited.

"What's lab 4?" Big Sister asked.

Miriam Eversoul opened her mouth to answer only to close it and look around the room, what was she looking for?

"Lena, are there any recording devices or surveillance devices around?" Miriam Eversoul asked to [Eleanore].

Where there?

Ale asked inwardly too.

So more than Ale expected.

Ale asked next, she would need to check on those and make sure they weren't doing something nasty to Big sister's apartment.

...What?

Ale asked looking momentarely to her bracelet from Haephestus' Forge.

Ale said confused.

That was... interesting.

"...I would rather not answer that." [Eleanore] said looking slighty towards Ale.

"We are currently in the heart of Haephestus' Forge." Ale said as if taking that as a prompt to answer, "Any device within here could be used to record us, and I am not entirely sold on the idea that Alexanders is not watching."

He probably wasn't. Her life was not that entertaining 24/7, perhaps he was looking whenever she was fighting, or participating on a mission, but she doubted he was that free enough to watch her eat breakfast and decide what school to go.

Or at least she hoped as much.

"And no." Ale decided to add just for good measure, "I will not let [Eleanore] use her power on anything that affects my daily life, as a question about if this place is being monitored or recorded. The answer she comes out could be Truth in the sense that our memories are a way to record this."

More so if it was from the point of view of Ale and Alexa, whose memories could be played out on the TV, as she had shown before.

"...Then I will not answer for now the question about the laboratories." Miriam Eversoul said sighing, "I will, however, answer that if you decide to ask again when you get to Aquila."

"...I see..." Big Sister said nodding gravely, "...Do they have any relationship with those that 'Saved' us?"

"You have... seen a few of those that are working there." Miriam Eversoul answered with another sigh, "Some of those that worked with me did move there, as did a few of the medics that helped you... And a few that tried to help people in your friends conditions."

"My condition?" [Golem] said surprised, "There is a lab dedicated to bad triggers?"

"Alexanders probably stuck as many things as he could into his pet project." Ale said with a shrug, "I wouldn't be surprised, from what I managed to see, the place will be quite interesting."

"Then if each school system is tied to an school, does it mean we will go to different branches?" Big Sister pointed out after Ale said her bit.

Different housing?

Ah right, the housing problem.

"...That.... may be an issue." Ale had been planning to live with Big Sister and [Golem]...

Actually, she had a house already, did she not? The apartment that Alexanders gave her. But that one had rooms for Miriam Eversoul and Vivian Kellet.

Would... would it be wrong to get Big Sister and [Golem] into there? Would it possible? She doubted Alexanders would make an issue of it, but Miriam Eversoul moved some of her stuff there, did she not?

Same as did Vivian Kellet... And probably Alexanders if Ale was to be honest, she felt as if that was the most natural thing before. Meaning they probably did so.

Even if now it felt weird. But would this feeling extend to them too? Before it was more as if they didn't even notice the change that occurred...

This required more investigation.