Chapter 99
"In addition I have one more person to introduce a new transfer student." Crowley announced turning towards the door.
"A new transfer student?" Grim asked as someone appeared.
"Hello again." Ortho greeted with a smile. He had a new designed, a black suit like body that was sleek and looked like a the school's uniform. "As of today I, Ortho Shroud will be
transferring to NRC as a freshman in class C. Happy to be here."
"What!" Everyone in the room gasped.
"Ortho!" Odette whispered as she went over and hugged him and he hugged her back.
"Well, I wasn't expecting that." Vil confessed but Rook just smiled at him.
"I think she's just happy everyone finally made it back safely." He whispered back.
"Ortho but you're an android right?" Epel asked once Odette released him.
"Yup, the technical term is technomantic humanoid." Ortho informed them.
"And a humanoid can enroll as a student?" Ace asked looking over to Crowley.
"Ahem, Ortho Shroud is not strictly human as you say but he's the world's first self-aware technomantic humanoid." Crowley corrected Ace.
"He's self aware? Then that means he,... what does that mean?" Kalim asked.
"Basically I possess the same emotions and sense of self that humans do I've always had an artificial consciousness and personality that were programmed into me but something possibly the lighting bolts you all hit me with permanently altered my on board technomantic circuitry which created a bug inside my core it gave me a heart." Ortho explained as he placed a hand to his heart where the blue flame flicked.
"I still don't get it but this is a big deal right?" Kalim asked.
"Yup, 'I don't get' is a perfect encapsulation of my current state. My brother and I haven't identified the cause of my circuit alterations yet, so since Idia's my creator I was accepted int the school as his research subject as things stand I'm the product of coincidence but if future research efforts finds a way to reproduce what happened to me it would be a significant contribution to the field of technomantic engineering." Ortho explained happily.
"Magnifique, you are truly a marvel Ortho or should I say Monsieur Wonder!" Rook cheered.
"Monsieur Wonder? Is that me?" Ortho asked wide eyed and pointing to himself.
"Indeed, your acquiring a heart is surely no coincidence it is a wonder brought about by the love you and your brother hold for one another I'm honored to have borne witness to this beautiful miracle." Rook continued.
'Why does this remind me of the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.' Odette thought with a smile as Ortho went over to Idia who was still mostly hiding behind Crowley.
"Many of our students aspire to a career on technomantic engineering especially in Ignihyde. I'm sure Ortho's presence will be an inspiration to them all not to mention the Shroud family has covered the repair bill for the buildings Styx destroyed as excepted and they've made substantial contributions towards expanding the school's facilities. So when they asked for Ortho to be formally enrolled as a student how could I say no?" Crowley explained.
"Surprise, surprise." Jamil mumbled.
"It's hardly our place to object if it's a win win for all parties I suppose." Vil remarked.
"Ahem! Given Ortho's humanoid status he'll be limited in which exams and classes he can take but he'll be a NRC freshman just like Odette and Grim I do hope you'll all get along." Crowley announced.
"First a dire-beast and someone from another world come into our class now a humanoid? Are you for real?" Ace muttered shaking his head.
"I bet there's not another arcane academy in the world that offers this kind of experience." Deuce chuckled.
"Well isn't that something? I'll be." Epel commented.
"It doesn't matter who else joins our class I'll be sittin pretty at the top it." Grim gloated.
"Congrats on getting in." Odette said as she held her hand out for him to shake.
"I hope you, me and my brother can all be friends." Ortho replied as he shook her hand.
"No really, s'cool just think of me as a bug or something and pretend I'm not here." Idia mumbled still staring down at the ground.
"Come on Idia, not this again. Oh right! We still have to give Odette and Grim the thing we brought." Ortho exclaimed as he took a bag out of Idia's hand and handed it to Odette.
"Oh yeah uh you guys can have this if you want." Idia said quietly.
"What's this big bag?" Grim asked as he crawled on to Odette's shoulder as she pulled a large box out of the bag.
"Hey, that's a Wonderlink!" Ace gasped.
"Okay and what's that?" Grim asked as he looked over the box.
"It's the latest game console! They're so popular people line up at stores to try and snag one whenever a shipment comes in." Deuce exclaimed.
"Not for nothing but, I'm sure if the troublemakers hadn't put up such a fight the floors and ceiling wouldn't have gotten those giant holes to start with but anyway this is basically a token of apology for you guys having to crash somewhere else while your dorm was being rebuilt but uh if you don't like it feel free to sell it to a secondhand shop or put it up for online auction or whatever." Idia complained finally looking up.
"Thank so much for this! I'm not gonna sell it geez. It's a gift that would be rude. I appreciate this." Odette said meeting his gaze head on.
"It comes with enough points to buy any 10 games you want from the online store." Ortho explained Odette put the box down on the table.
"Whoa! Really! Now I'm jealous Odette." Ace exclaimed.
"We've already loaded up some of our own recommendations go on and try them if they pique your interest." Ortho continued.
"Oooooh Odette I wanna play something right now." Grim whined as he bounced in the air.
"Then Idia and I will hook it up we all might as well help you break it in." Ortho announced as he pulled Idia closer to the table.
"I believe that's my cue to exit you wouldn't believe the amount of paperwork that's piled up in absence." Crowley said heading towards the door. "Oh and Grim?"
"Mrah?" Grim gulped as Odette pulled him closer to Crowley so the others wouldn't overhear.
"How have you felt since coming back from the Island of Woe?" He asked.
"Hm? I ain't been feeling bad I'll tell ya that in fact I feel downright great my hospital exams didn't turn up anything wrong either. I've got grits for days, these other dudes got nothing on me." Grim gloated again.
"I heard you received cutting edge blot treatment at Styx HQ. I was worried a little while there but I'm truly glad that you ah that is all of you made it back to the school safe and sound now if you'll excuse me." Crowley said then left.
"What was that about? The headmage sure is a real weirdo." Grim muttered.
"Okay everything's good to go!" Ortho announced distracting Grim from the weirdness.
"Well, well, I see you included all the retro games we played on the Island of Woe." Vil said as he sat down on the couch.
"I thought it'd be nice to play em together again." Ortho giggled.
"You know at the time we were the ones playing you two didn't even pick up a controller." Vil pointed out.
"Well yeah, we've already cleared everything in those games on hard mode even the secret stages and hidden bosses." Idia sighed.
"Hmmm, in that case might you provide us with a game play demonstration today?" Vil suggested gesturing towards the console.
"Good idea, it's faster to watch someone else than play through a tutorial." Ace said.
"I wanna see this Star Rogue game it looks the coolest outta all of em." Grim cheered as he handed the controller to Idia.
"On that case how about we get Idia to do a no death run on the Meteor Mode? It's even harder than hard mode." Ortho explained.
"Really? I dunno it wouldn't be very useful for them." Idia said.
"But a regular play through wouldn't be very entertaining either you should give them the kin of demonstration only you can provide let's get this started!" Ortho said as he sat down on the couch and patted beside him.
"Al-alright." Idia sighed as he sat down.
He began the level and everyone gathered around the couch and TV to watch him destroy the level. 'This feels so much like my old life yet it's different. But that's okay. I want to enjoy this.' Odette thought as she stood behind the couch.
"Wow how are you avoiding that barrage of laser beams?" Deuce asked.
"So, uh, the different colored lasers always come in set of numbers and at specific times it's easy enough to plan for when you memorize the pattern." Idia explained without looking away from the screen.
"Mrah, I'm getting dizzy just watchin." Grim groaned.
"Idia's fingers are flying." Epel exclaimed.
"They certainly are they're going so fast it almost looks like he has twice as many." Vil remarked as his eye bounced from the screen to Idia's hands.
"Boy I could never do that." Ace sighed.
"Star Rogue only supports two players at ta time so once he's done how about we all play the racing mini games in The Hydra Strikes Back? That supports up to six players." Ortho said.
"Shall I draw up a competitive bracket?" Rook asked as he looked around the room to see if everyone agreed.
"Great idea we should probably make Idia play holding the controller backwards or something through He's super good." Ortho teased.
"I see what you're doing Ortho trying to skate by without any handicaps for yourself huh? YOU'RE the one the one who needs extra restrictions like no items allowed." Idia shot back.
'Oh so they do have some sibling rivalry.'Odette thought as she fished out some paper and pen from the table by the entrance and handed it to Rook.
"I wanna get some food in my belly before we race." Grim cheered as he began to dig through the Sam's bag again.
"Good call, hey Odette is it cool if we bust out the snacks we brought?" Ace asked he picked up the bag, Grim and all.
"We should cut up the tart too. Through cutting slices for this many people might be tricky." Deuce said as he looked over to tart on the table.
"I'll handle that. You can take over tea duty." Jamil said to Deuce.
"Jamil I wanna help." Kalim volunteered.
"You just sit tight and actually why don't you get plates and forks for everyone." Jamil suggested cautiously.
"Sure, I can do that." Kalim grinned.
"Oh I brought some apple juice too would anyone like juice instead of tea?" Epel said as he pulled a large bottle out of his bag.
"I'll take some." Vil said.
'It's not the same but that's okay I think I might enjoy this life even more. I know I'll try to appreciate it more.' Odette thought as she looked around the room.
Thanks for reading and sticking around. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See ya next time.