Curiosity is common within the vessels, especially between those who are viewed as 'smart' (although 'not smart enough').
Yulai Lan is curious, perhaps too curious. The researchers have noticed an uncommon pattern in the young man, one connected to his aforementioned curiosity.
Yet, Yulai Lan is not known to be a troublemaker, he's rarely seen around by his fellow year. They, in turn, also can't guess what goes on through his head most of the time — not that Yulai is any kin to share. Thoughts can be impulsive and impulsive is well past the imagined forbidden territory.
Today began the same as any morning of the last several days, but a shift in the air makes him wonder. Why are the students, who are mostly too quiet and proper, too eager to start, suddenly murmuring between one-another?
The head teacher — a robot, as the first year of the academy doesn't require any being of higher cognitive functions to teach — enters the class in the same manner as usual. After a curt nod, it forgoes the daily formalities, instead approaching with a new greeting: "The Researchers have decided to call an exception this year. As such, we will be welcoming a new student today." It states, its posture perfectly straight, hands on top of the desk, ignorant to the whispers which grow louder.
Thus, we come to Yulai's current cause of curiosity.
It is quite uncommon — one dare say unheard of — for the students to receive a new addition into their block; even more so when they joined two weeks into the lessons. Classes in the academy are divided into fixed 'blocks', a number of students specifically picked to be trained together for the next five years. The blocks are organized since early childhood, enabling everyone to become familiar with one-another. It is advertised as a tactic to ensure high level teamwork later on (not really anything else, not even basic human interactions).
Attention fully captured, Yulai is left to observe. He pushes himself with one foot, the front of his chair hovering as he leans back, a position the boy hopes makes him look formidable to some extent.
"She's two years late into the block selection, but she'll be joining us either way." The teacher continues, pressing a button near the edge of its table, a simple command making the classroom doors slide open.
Yulai taps his chin with a pen, while creating a rhythmic back and forth atop his chair.
Two years later into block selection… Oh, so she is already in her 20s? That's another point to add to the newcomer's list of oddities. The class only quiets down when the student in question enters, her flowing purple hair contrasting strongly against the gray of her uniform. The lines along the arms and zipper are white, much like the rest of the students. No one can spot a band wrapped anywhere, however.
The silenced class roars again, this time even louder.
"Are you from the Isolation Wing?"
"What's your rank?"
"Are you an outcast?"
"Do you even have a GA?"
The boy sitting on the other end of the classroom arches his neck up to try and peek over the heads of his classmates, a wrong move on his side as he loses balance and falls backwards, the loud resulting noise momentarily shushing the class. Yulai keeps quiet, looking down as he feels all eyes on him.
It didn't matter how used one becomes to the gazes or how well one blended in, they all still made him want to disappear.
It also doesn't exactly help that the prim and proper students of the academy expected someone with high anatomy scores to be… not clumsy.
Looking up towards the newcomer, Yulai's lips stretch into a small smile, catching the change in the girl's hazel eyes, her own lips pouting as if she wants to hold her laughter back. The girl had entered the class with her eyes filled with excitement, like a child being introduced to a new side of their ability.
But then as the barrage of questions returns, the light in her eyes fades like blown fire. Now, they look different, dull. Lifeless even. They remind the boy of the eyes of the researchers. The researchers he had to witness dragging his friend towards the Lockdown Wing.
"Hey, what's your name?" His call is almost high pitched, a counter-spell towards the one sided interrogation going on. The girl flinches, startled and on edge as she is.
"M-Minji." Ah, even her voice is something to admire.
"Hi~! I'm Yulai, nice to meet you!"
It's an exchange of grins and warm smiles. Minji commits the welcoming features, soft topaz gaze and fluffy looking black hair, to memory, while Yulai can't help the ever widening smirk as the look in the girl's eyes gradually changes. Paying more attention to the questions still storming around, he can only deeply sigh.
He has never seen Minji around the NVD, and without knowing her vessel code, he can't guess whether she transferred from the LCD or not. The Isolation Wing is a bit too extreme of an answer, especially so provided that Minji possesses no rank band. She is definitely a Rank 4 considering she's here to begin with, right?
Deciding to play the role of the armor in shining knight- wait… knight in shining armor, Yulai puts his hands in front of his mouth, drawing Minji's attention again. "Hey! There's an empty seat next to me."
Purple bangs fall over her eyes as the newcomer attempts to make herself as small as possible, head lowered as she navigates through the tables. It's as if she knows where everything is, the map of the class in the back of her mind. The boy follows her the entire way, smiling softly when the girl peeks at him with one hazel eye.
A few seconds later she carefully sits down on the table to Yulai's right. Another few seconds later and Minji almost falls from her chair when the holographic screen pops up from her table.
Yulai stifles a laugh, both in fear of his class and in worry for the newcomer. He begins explaining everything to the older girl, attempting to maybe cheer her up once or twice…
Still, no matter how much time passes, nor how much he whispers, Minji refuses to look up. Not to give her attention to the screen, nor the head teacher.
She is only physically with them.
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If Yulai is honest with himself, he wasn't exactly the most attentive during this class either. It was nothing new anyway, so the concept of studying Minji was much more interesting. Is her ability something mind related? It would explain how she could navigate through the class swiftly without bumping anywhere while looking at her feet. Or why she looks like she's mentally somewhere else, perhaps daydreaming.
The hologram on top of his desk starts to shiver, the vessel anatomy example picture fading slowly until the image collapses and the desks turn off, much like computers. That is their signal that class has ended. The first day of the week is always the most boring for Yulai; long lessons on otherwise uninteresting topics, less action involved, just an entire text of excessive theory.
Today is an exception however, a special day, so to say. The 1st year GMVs will be toured around the Academy's main wing, primarily to explain the new developments the researchers had made in certain technological aspects of the wing. He had heard it was a yearly thing (could be turned to monthly if the researchers were struck by a random inspiration wave), so there is no way out of it, only to resign to his fate and walk behind the group, the information entering one ear and exiting the other.
Eventually, the researchers would find a way to insert all of this information into the baby's brain during birth.
His thoughts on possible mechanics which could make his previous assumption possible are cut off when his neighbor (maybe the tour wouldn't be so boring if Minji wanted to talk?) takes a sharp turn, her body disappearing around the corner. Yulai has no time to react, only to watch her run off.
"Hey Minji, wait-!"
Yulai isn't going to assume what reason Minji has for running away, but an unsettling feeling drops onto his chest, his eyes switching between the group of GMVs and the direction the girl ran towards.
'Ah, to hell with rules!'
The head teacher is still talking, the rest of the students focused on it. Another thing he'll need to add in his notebook is the devotion some students have to listening to the same things over and over again. While the block rounds the next corner, a light breeze picks up around him, his hair flowing softly with it, breaking down into small particles as if it managed to carry him with. Thus, the boy vanishes.
For everyone else at least.
Running through the spacious corridors leaves Yulai annoyed, no sign of the purple haired girl in sight. He grits his teeth, rolls the sleeves of his uniform up and removes his black wristband, slipping it into a pocket of his pants. He already went against one rule, breaking another won't change much (maybe it will decide if he's going to Lockdown or Isolation after this, but that's a thought he'd rather leave for future Yuu). Each hall (and likely Wing) has multiple connecting tunnels and hidden passageways, built in for emergencies back when the Researchers were still reinforcing the building. Lower rank GMVs aren't supposed to know about them, and in the unlikely scenario that they do, it will lead to trouble if they are ever caught.
Good that they just can't see him.
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Minji doesn't know how she made it here, nor does she know where she is. Her mind screams at her to run as far as possible, away from humans, away from the noise. She shrinks deeper into the shadows, nails digging into the skin of her head, her fingers pulling at her hair, anything just to get the sudden rush of emotions to shut down.
It's too much, too soon. It feels like a beautiful illusion has been broken.
She wants to see that garden, meet her friends, and see what she had shown her that day.
"Micha, where are you?"
Time is something strange for Minji still, she doesn't know how long she spent there already, curling into herself, unable to stop the tears from leaving her eyes without her consent. She doesn't know why her heart beats painfully in rhythm with them. It had happened before under the scrutiny of a forceful Researcher. Ah, she was just let out. They gave her new rules, new instructions, and she already failed to adhere to them. She's so, so hungry.
Minji doesn't know how long has passed before she feels the wind pick her hair up, lazily ruffling them into a mess.
Wind?
The crying girl looks up, her hazel eyes meeting soft and worried topazes, her face scrunching in pain when she comes to recognize Yulai's features. The young boy in turn panics, sudden thoughts of Minji running away from him rushing through his mind. Why had he not guessed the girl was probably weirded out by him!?
"Minji, I'm sorry-"
The purple haired girl shakes her head violently, more tears streaming down, seemingly no end to them. Her hands try to grasp for something, breathing turning irregular as her senses just continue to get overwhelmed. Yulai can only stand there confused, his hands balling into fists as he waits for some sort of guidance, to hear Minji's voice give him permission — anything.
It isn't a common thing to cry, but Yulai has witnessed it. He has seen the clear liquid run down another's cheek as they struggled against the restraints of the researchers. He had been powerless back then, and he is powerless right now. So he does the first thing to come to mind, the first thing he can think of when putting himself in Minji's situation.
Yulai drops down on his knees, arms hesitantly moving around Minji's shoulders, pulling the girl closer to him.
Minji only wails louder, grief drowning the steady heartbeat against her ear.
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"May I?" Yulai asks gently with a hand hovering over scraped fingertips. He receives a curt answer and uncaps the small ointment container. "I grew up all tall and clumsy, so my brother is used to giving me this for any bruises." he explains, softly padding the cream over Minji's skin. It stings slightly.
It had taken a lot of time and awkward sitting until Minji finally calmed down, her tears now only random sniffles. The two are backed up against the wall, sitting closely to one another as Minji listens to Yulai's stories. The younger GMV suggested they wait a bit longer, the redness of Minji's face being a direct giveaway as to why.
Minji is amused by almost everything, but that may as well be due to her lack of experiences, everything is new to her.
"Hey," Yulai calls out softly, right after finishing another one of his stories (of his crazy adventures, he had mentioned), his attention fully on the new GMV, her hands tucked under her knees as she rocks herself back and forth. "You gotta meet my friends, I swear they're awesome."
A nod from Minji is all Yulai needs to gently grasp her hand and practically drag her through the halls. Minji tries to memorize some of the places, but they are all a mess of confusing twists and turns, lefts and rights, her brain ending up forming a mashed potato of a map.
Yulai stops every now and then to make sure no one is in sight (he still believes there are surveillance cameras around the academy, but they only ever get looked at for emergencies), keeping Minji close behind. Soon enough, the two make it into a more open space of the Wing, away from the labyrinth of a location Minji had brought herself into.
"The area you ended up in is a sort of… storage space, but also a secret getaway. Basically, being there is strictly forbidden." The boy speaks up, craning his head back to look into Minji's eyes. "We still have a bit of time before the next classes, so everyone should be in the cafeteria, the park or the training grounds."
"I'll show you the cafeteria first, we can grab something to eat and then find my friends." In Minji's place, a growl from her stomach answers instead, making the younger vessel laugh. "Food it is."
Money is not a concept within the academy. Things like food and other primal necessities are provided to all Vessels equally, no payment involved, while other things which do not fall under necessities are 'earned.' For example, the winner of the biennial block tournament will win a specific new furniture for their dorm.
Yeah, it starts lame like that when you are a first year. Equality is a practiced concept, but the rank hierarchy and privileges are sometimes too obvious.
The first thought to pop into Minji's mind as she enters the cafeteria is: huge. This place could probably fit about twenty of her home in the Isolation Wing. In the center stands a vast variety of cuisines put on display for the Vessels to choose from, while the tables are lined up against the walls and slightly inwards, still a safe distance away from the displays and the walking Vessels.
Minji's eyes widen slightly and a spark settles in her irises as her steps pick up pace. Her lips are taut in a neutral expression, but the tip of her nose draws closer to the display glass the more she stares at the abundance of food. Yulai shakes his head softly as he laughs at the faces the other first years are making, the robot by the counter staying still, the system not really registering if the Vessel in front of it has picked any dessert yet.
Minji is so utterly fixated on the food offered to her, on all the ingredients she recognizes and not, that she consciously ignores Yulai's words, nothing registering in her head. Decisions require focus.
"Where are the other two?" his voice asks, familiar, a tug in Minji's mind. She feels the other's presence right behind her.
"They were both isolated again." Another voice answers. It sounds foreign, yet not wholly unfamiliar, a bit louder than Yulai's, a pinch of annoyance layered over it. "Let's hope no lockdown this time…"
"Yulai, I-" Even awards are limited, so after sufficient consideration, Minji has decided on which part of the cafeteria options she'll consume today. With that thought in mind, Minji turns around to face Yulai, lips parted to continue her sentence, expect her jaw falls open and the words get stuck in her throat.
Opposite of Yulai stands another girl, her uniform a complete turnaround to hers: turquoise patterns running down the length of her black pants, a white band wrapped firmly around her left thigh, while the jacket is discarded, leaving the girl only in a dark blue sleeveless shirt exposing toned arms. Minji swallows as her eyes travel further up, auburn hair tied into a high ponytail, her expression sullen by lips pulled into a thin line and eyebrows scrunched into a frown.
Yulai turns around to face Minji, his friend doing the same, only for the frown to disappear as shock envelops her features.
"M-Mi-"
It happens again, then, that Minji feels an overwhelming rush in her chest and something take over in her mind. The illusory bubble bursts so that tears resurface on her eyes and Minji's legs move on autopilot. She crosses the distance in quick steps, slams her body perhaps too harshly against that of the other girl. A loud yelp mixes in with laughter, Minji burying her head into the crook of the other's neck, hugging her tightly to herself. She mumbles a thank you, mimics the words of three years ago so perfectly, preens at the feeling of arms that hold her too.
"Michaa~!"
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Vessel 71
Yulai Lan, Age 18
GMV-GAH
GA: Invisibility
Rank 3
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