Sorry this chapter took so long to arrive. It got held up at the airport. Writer's Block has been snowing down for several months (I lost count) and all communications have been cut off. Now, it has finally arrived. I hope you enjoy.

I quickly walk away from that pinkish-looking robot with a funny feminine voice. No offense to the creator, but she just really weirds me out. I'll find my room on my own. Hana and Mitsuki have gone their separate ways, the search for their rooms a task they must do on their own. Hopefully my room is nearby to Hana's and Mitsuki's rooms. That reminds me, Hana has the laptop. I wonder how I'm going to find her?

My thoughts are rambling. I look at my key. No number, no anything at all. Just a stupid, plain key. Darn it. I think, frustrated. Does this mean I have to talk to that robot? My brain feels fried, and I feel like a piece of limp chicken. It already takes most of my strength to keep my back erect under the tremendous weight of several textbooks crammed inside my backpack. Narumi-sensei had taken me and my friends to the library, where a nice boy (his name escapes me at the moment) took our pictures and relinquished our ID cards. Mine sucked, as always, while Mitsuki's was acceptable and Hana acquired a mysterious look.

Robot, here I come. Can't run away any longer. I turn around and go back the way I just came from. To my great surprise, the pink robot is right around the corner, startling the crap out of me.

"Excuse me, may I help you?" The robot says in her robotic voice.

"Um…" I'm at a loss for words. I'm holding a conversation with a robot, for goodness' sakes, it's not natural! I thrust my key out at her. "Can you help me find my room?"

The robot plucks the key out of my fingers and examines it closely. My jaw drops when I see her consume it.

"H-Hey!" I shout. "That's my key!"

"Stay calm." The robot holds out a "hand" that was probably supposed to be reassuring, but was anything except reassuring. I watch with wide eyes as her midsection (abdomen?) vibrates, and then, with a soft clunk!, my key reappears in a little cavity that was previously covered by a sheet of pink metal. The pink robot takes the key out of the cavity gently, and hands it back to me. The sheet of metal clamps shut back over the cavity.

"Follow me." The robot whirls down the corridor. "But be quiet. Children might be sleeping."

"Right." I pad softly after her, desperately hoping that my room wasn't far. Perhaps I have a fear of moving machines that has lain dormant in my heart and my brain for many years. The fear just had to choose now, during one of the most important missions of my life, to announce its presence. I inwardly sigh.

"Not far now." The robot continues gliding down another corridor. "You're a Special Star, so we will accommodate you in one of the biggest and luxurious rooms in the Academy."

"Joy." I mutter, my shoulder beginning to ache from my poor, straining shoulder strap.

"Je-I mean, Karin!" A familiar voice just called my name. I turn around and I see Hana waving at me, another one of those pink robots leading the way.

"Hi Hana!" I wave back at her, then quickly call over my shoulder as I hurry to catch up to my pink robot, "Tell me where your room is later!"

My robot zooms through the halls, then finally stops. I lean against the wall, panting slightly. The robot turns to me and says, "We are now at the entrance to the Special Stars' rooms." She continues on at a slower pace, hopefully because she sees how worn out I must look. In a not-so-far distance, I see another familiar silhouette.

"Mitsuki?" I call questionably.

"Yeah. Who else?" Mitsuki turns around and looks at me. "Oh. You don't have your glasses on. No wonder."

"Your room is right here, Miss." The pink robot says politely.

"Oh." I look at the door. "Right next to Mitsuki's. Wonderful!" The pink robot begins to leave. I gulp, gather a deep breath, and say in a rush, "Thank you very much!"

If robots could beam, this robot would've. "You're very welcome, Miss." She says before rolling away as gracefully as a robot could.

"Now we just have to find Hana." I begin to say, but I'm interrupted by Hana's voice.

"No you don't. Because I'm already here." Turns out her room is right next to mine.

Something smells fishy here. This seems way too convenient. My instincts scream, THIS IS SUSPICIOUS! WATCH YOUR BACK! I voice my thoughts to Hana and Mitsuki, and they agree with me.

"This makes it too easy for us to communicate with each other." Hana says thoughtfully.

"Don't forget, we have all the same classes together too." Mitsuki interjects.

I yawn. "Whatever will come will come. We just have to be prepared for the worst. No one knows we're spies anyways. Anyone up for a sleepover in Hana's room?"

"Are we allowed to do that? I think they do dorm checks." Hana says worriedly.

"Fine." I yawn again. "Better safe than sorry then. Can we just change into our pajamas first? Then we'll come over to your room to do our report on the laptop, and then we'll go back to our rooms to sleep. I am so tired…"

"Wait…where's our entire luggage?" Mitsuki grins sheepishly. "In the excitement of getting to ride in a limo, I…forgot completely about our suitcases."

"You're not the only one." I say, a frown being etched on my face.

"Don't worry." Hana smiles. "I was talking with that nursery robot while she was taking me to my room, and she says that all our things have been taken care of. They're all safely in our rooms, unpacked and ready to go."

"Good." This time, Mitsuki yawns. "I don't want to unpack all my things myself. I'm too lazy."

"Me too." I stretch my arms out over my head, giving me a relaxed look. In fact, my brain's gears are whirling at top speed. If they unpacked all our stuff… that means that they saw everything that was inside our suitcases. That means…they might've seen the laptop in Hana's suitcase! And anything that can be used as a communication device is banned in Alice Academy! Well, I amended, since Mitsuki, Hana, and I have tons of spy communication devices with us, anything that they can find.

"Hana." Mitsuki and I say at the same time, while Hana immediately paled.

"The laptop." We all say together in unison. It's so nice to be with people on the same brain wave as you.