Chapter Nine - Sweet Schemes Are Made of This

"Cringe."

--the President of the United States, 2028

***

Class let up, and I took my sweet time making my way out. The prof, Rogers, actually came up to me and asked me if the lesson was to my liking and... yeah, it kind of was.

It was a bit more philosophy over more practical shit, but I could see how that kind of way of thinking might actually apply to a battlefield. "I liked it," I said. "Not sure I''d want day-after-day of philosophy, though."

"That''s fine," he said. "We''ll likely be alternating between more philosophical approaches to tactics, actual physical education classes which will eventually include live combat simulation, and also some historical study, both of more modern battles and of some older ones from centuries prior." He smiled, a little smugly. "It''s rare to find someone who isn''t interested in history when you''re looking at the most interesting parts of it."

"The big battles, you mean?" I asked.

"Exactly," he said with a nod. "Something about an ancient siege stirs the blood."

I decided that I liked Professor Rogers. He knew what good, sensible people liked.

"If you want, we could dissect some of the battles you were in," he offered. "It could be interesting, especially since we have you here to corroborate some of the tactical choices made moment-by-moment."

I decided that I disliked Professor Rogers. He didn''t know what was good for him.

"Nah, I''d rather not. I''m not a tactical genius and I''d rather, uh, study better cases than my own," I said. "Anyway, I''mma head on out. See you around."

I scooted on out of there soon after. Almost as soon as I was out of the class, I felt my unfortunate shadow slot into place next to me. Olivia, with her supplies hugged close to her chest. "Did you enjoy your first class at CIAL?" she asked.

"Uh-huh," I said. "One sec, I need to text someone."

I texted Lucy a quick ''Where''s your ???? at?'' and her reply was a quick eye roll, followed by saying she was at the mecha carrier, showing off the MEOW. The fat armoured mech which should have been sitting pretty inside of the Bastion.

She didn''t say who she was even showing it off to to begin with.

It was probably telling that I knew that Lucy was up to something from a one-line exchange and that had me walking a bit faster. Olivia started to jog to keep up, then I started to run, and I could hear her starting to pant as she kept up.

"Uh-huh," I said. "And is there someone you forgot to ask, while you were asking nicely?"

"Hmm?" Lucy hummed. She tilted her head to the side cutely and made a big show of thinking about it. "Maybe? Can''t have been someone too important."

"Oh?" I asked as I squeezed her a little closer. "Not important, am I?"

Lucy giggled, and the sound made my heart flutter. "Sorry! I should probably have asked, but Myalis offered and I figured it wasn''t a big deal? Are you upset?"

"Not really," I said. It wasn''t like I was purposefully keeping the MEOW hidden or anything. "But ask anyway, next time you do something like this, just in case? Speaking of... what is this?"

"Oh! Right! I saved one for you!"

Lucy squirmed out of my hug and ran into the Bastion where she picked something up just inside. She returned with a small tupperware container that she opened to reveal... a spectacularly ugly cat-shaped cupcake next to a cookie with... smudged frosting on it.

"They''re both kitty shaped!"

"Are they?" I asked.

"Hey! I worked hard on them," she protested. "I subhorned my cooking class and convinced them to bake stuff to give away. Then we did a whole... meet and greet kind of thing? But like, way less official. People took pics with the MEOW and have been hanging out here for like, the past hour."

"Alright," I said. "But why?"

"Eh, mostly I wanted to see how quickly I could get the class on my side," Lucy said with a grin. "Plus it''s really pissing off the school, which I think is funny because isn''t this exactly the kind of thing they wanted? Just without forms filled in triplicate first."

"They''re going to label you as a troublemaker," I said.

"Oh no," Lucy replied with the fakest gasp. "Whatever shall I do? Will I have to be punished? I''m not sure if I''m ready for that part of the school girl experience."

"I don''t think it counts if you''re enjoying it," I said. "Do you think we can head out, or do you need more time to scheme?"

Lucy considered it, then pushed the box closer. "Give me until you''re done with these? I''ve got to shake a few hands and play stupid in front of a few people, then we can head out!"

Well, if I was getting free food out of it, I wasn''t going to be inclined to say no.

***