Chapter 74| Natural Conditions

Chapter 74: Chapter 74| Natural Conditions

Zane was already up at the training grounds at 6:20 AM.

He surveyed the location and stopped at the same usual corner they spent their training regimes at.

Maren was already there which was not a surprise, she was so devoted and committed. She was hardwork in human form.

Zane dropped his bag at the edge of the pad and looked at her for exactly one second before moving to the wall.

They both waved to each other which was their usual routine but the expression became less tense as the time went on. Maren now adds a smirk or looked more profound in recent gestures.

’Three days,’ he thought. ’Nine hours. Four minutes.’ He could read the values of the second mission as displayed optically from his vision.

He pressed his palm flat.

Impact Breaker at 65%. 0.79 seconds.

The shockwave rolled through the composite surface. Clean. Controlled. The wall doing what it always did.Absorbing the impact like it was never there to begin with.

He started his reps.

’Non-academic context,’ he thought between reps. ’Natural overlap. Something that makes sense on its own without manufacturing it.’

’What does Maren do outside of academic contexts,’ he thought.

The same question from yesterday with the same answer.

He didn’t know.

Six weeks of joint activity and he still didn’t know what Maren did when she wasn’t in the training grounds or the classroom or the corridor between those two things.

’That’s the problem,’ he thought. ’I know her in one context and I’ve never thought to ask about the others.’

He pressed his palm flat again.

Thirty reps.

Maren was running burst sequences behind him. Overdrive at minimum output. Cut before the fatigue window. Re-engage. The rhythm that had been running in this corner every morning since before he arrived.

At twenty reps she called a water break.

He finished his set and walked over.

Sat beside her on the pad.

She drank. Looked at the facility around them.

He looked at her.

’Natural,’ he thought. ’Create the conditions naturally.’

"What do you do after training?." he asked. Throwing a faint smile.

She looked at him.

"What do you mean," she said.

"Outside of training and class," Zane said. "What do you do with your time?"

She looked at the facility.

"Shower first," she said. "Then read before breakfast." She glanced at him. "Why?."

"Just asking," he said." What do you read between". He added.

She held his gaze for a moment.

"Hero documentation," she added. "Field reports. NSA case files that are publicly accessible." A pause. "You’re being unusually curious today."

"Good morning energy," Zane replied.

She gave him the flat look.

Then went back to her water bottle.

’’Hero documentation,’ he thought. ’Field reports. NSA case files.’

’She reads case files before breakfast,’ he thought. ’At 7:00 AM she’s reading NSA field reports.’

’That’s completely consistent,’ he thought. ’And somehow I’ve never asked until now.’

The system surfaced.

『 System Note: Information gaps in familiarity close through questions. You are asking questions. This is progress. 』

’I know,’ Zane thought.

’I’m working on it,’ he added.

The training session wrapped at 7:20 AM.

Maren picked up her bag and headed back toward the dormitory to prep for the day. Zane watched her go then turned back to the wall.

He kept going.

Solo reps. Just him and the wall and the morning air and the timer ticking in the corner of his vision.

At 7:40 AM he finally stepped back from the wall. Dusted his hands off. Picked up his bag.

’That’s enough for a day,’ he thought.

He headed toward the academic block.

The morning session ran its usual rhythm.

Instructor vael gave theory then Notes.

Maren arrived exactly before time and sat beside him in the new seating arrangement.

At the break she slid something across to him.

Not her notebook this time.

A printout. Small. The Aldren Academy official blog header at the top.

FIRST YEAR STUDENTS — WEEKEND CAMPUS PASS INFORMATION

Issued by Principal Harrow in commemoration of your performance at the First Year Rank Trials.

Students wishing to access the Vance City commercial district this weekend should collect passes from the main office by Friday 3:00 PM. Passes valid Saturday only. Return by 9:00 PM.

He read it.

’Wow,’ he thought. ’Finally a way to get some fresh out of school air.’

He looked at Maren.

"You’re going?." he asked.

"Thinking about it," she said. "Need to get some things from the city." She took the printout back. "You?"

Zane looked at the front of the room.

’Weekend campus pass,’ he thought. ’Vance City commercial district. On Saturday. Not academic. Not the training grounds. Not the classroom.’

’Totally natural and it came at the right time,’ he thought. ’She mentioned it first.’

The system flagged it immediately.

『 Natural condition identified. Weekend campus pass — Vance City commercial district — Saturday. Non-academic context. No pretext required. She raised it independently. This qualifies. 』

’Obviously,’ Zane thought.

He looked at her.

"Yeah," he said. "Probably."

She looked at him.

Something in her expression shifted. Not the calculating stillness, something more considered. The specific look of someone who had just registered a coincidence and was deciding what to do with it.

"Same errand direction maybe," she said. Casually. The way she said things that had stopped needing ceremony.

Zane looked at the front of the room.

’Same errand direction,’ he thought. ’She said it first.’

’Natural,’ he thought.’Genuinely natural,’

"Maybe," he replied.

The session resumed.

He looked at his notebook.

The system ticked.

『 SECOND QUEST — Time Remaining: 2 days 21 hours 14 minutes 』

’So saturday,that’s the day after tomorrow.’

’Funny how just one day determines the outcome of everything,’ he thought. ’And the quest timer sits at just over two days.’

’If Saturday doesn’t go the way it needs to go,’ he thought. ’The margin disappears entirely.’

He wrote nothing in his notebook for the rest of the session.

Just sat with it.