Slap. Slap. Slap!
Nancy slapped her cheeks as she stared at the bathroom mirror.
Why were they so red? And why couldn't she get her thoughts off of shirtless Samuel overnight?!
It was so embarrassing. She had no idea how she was going to step out of her room at all.
But Laura liked her daughter as more punctual.
Of course, Nancy heard countless knocks on her door.
Not the great-great Grandmother's spatula!
Nancy ran out of her room before her mother could break in.
"I'm awake, I'm awake! Geez!" Nancy's hands were up as if she was the culprit.
Her mother had a frown of anger which suddenly changed into a frown of concern.
"Why are you so red?" Laura reached her hand to her daughter's forehead, suddenly gasping upon touching it. "You're burning, Nancy!"
"I am?"
So it wasn't about the shirtless Samuel…?
"Go lay down in bed. I'll call Roth." Laura ordered before going downstairs.
"What about college?" Nancy asked as she saw her mother walk down.
Laura brushed her hand in the air, indicating to her to let it go.
Wow. Her mother allowed her to stay at home.
Overnight thoughts about shirtless Samuel turned out to work in her favor. She shook her head and went straight to bed.
Ah! Let's catch up on that sleep! She didn't feel sick, so it was even better.
Lying down in the bed, her head was filled with unwanted thoughts. She was wondering what Samuel was doing. The more she wanted to avoid him, the more her curiosity would drive her crazy. She hated that, yet she felt like she wouldn't have the slightest drive to live without it.
She remembered how she wanted something new in her life before her accident.
Samuel was her something new.
Her mind flooded with all sorts of thoughts, so she slowly found herself falling asleep.
In a state of subconsciousness, she heard people talking around her bed. But she couldn't open her eyes or get back up from sleep.
Almost as if a lucid dream.
"She was super red in the morning, and her temperature was high, too," Laura told Roth, who had arrived to check on her.
Roth checked her pulse and then her temperature. He then grabbed his phone and entered into the app they used to administer her.
He narrowed his eyes on the screen before going through his contacts and making a call to Samuel.
"Samuel, did you change Nancy's code?" Roth asked through the phone.
"No, Sir. I did not." Samuel replied.
"I need you at her house right now."
Laura narrowed her eyes in utmost suspicion. Why did they have to call Roth instead of a normal doctor? Was it not just fever?
"She'll be fine, right?" Laura asked worriedly.
Despite having tried their best to keep it from Laura, it was only a matter of time before she would have to be informed.
But that time wasn't right now as Samuel rang the bell to their house.
Daniel escorted Laura out of the room under Roth's request when Samuel was allowed inside.
"What did you guys do in Russia?" Roth asked as he narrowed his eyes while walking towards Samuel as he watched him close the door. "Other than whatever happened with Sebastian, what did you guys do?"
"We ate pelmeni outside. However, after seeing Sebastian there, Nancy no longer wanted to step out." Samuel diligently replied.
Roth exhaled sharply, narrowing his eyes further.
"She's been programmed. There's a new feature that's blocking my login code." Roth explained.
"I forbade her to self-program the chip."
"I know. But, her fever here is a side-effect of your opinion to let her know."
"What is the feature?"
Roth shrugged before passing a sigh. "Can you log in?"
"I am logged in by default."
Samuel handed his phone over to Roth. He was already logged in. Roth wondered why he couldn't log in, but Samuel could.
Roth checked it for new features but found absolutely nothing.
"Sebastian could not have gotten the password encoded, right?" Samuel asked.
"We should change her administration code. I have a bad feeling about this." Roth muttered. "And once she wakes up, strictly tell her not to focus on live programming. It's dangerous. It started with fever, but it could've been worse."
"Yes, Sir." Samuel nodded.
For the time being, Roth tried normal remedies for her fever which brought it down.
Nancy woke up late at night when everyone had gone to bed. Her fever was down, and she felt thirsty after staying in bed since the morning.
She quickly walked out of her blanket. Why was she feeling so cold?
She opened the fridge and took out a cold water bottle. Despite feeling cold, the water needed to be chilly.
While sipping it slowly, she stared at the bottle, reading the label.
Strange blue things floated around her vision. She pinch-closed them for a moment and they disappeared.
When did floaters in the eyes start to change color?
And why were they words?
She put the bottom down on the table and rubbed her eyes. Why did she suddenly have synesthesia?
She opened her eyes again. It was clear. Just imagination?
Grabbing the water bottle again, the same signs appeared back. This time she narrowed her eyes, focussing on the little floaters.
….
"What?!"
Was it a perk? Why was the chemical composition and bonds of the water molecule hovering in her eyes?
She blinked a few times, wondering what exactly she did to receive this information.
She just looked at the water bottle. She narrowed her eyes. Did that mean she'd receive all possible information about anything and anyone?
How did her chip get programmed anyway? She couldn't remember anything that could've programmed it.
If her actions were to program it, then she wondered how many perks she had already gained.
Though Samuel was very reluctant to stop her from live programming, she subconsciously programmed the chip anyway.
Landing a smirk on her face, she giggled throughout the night at the thought.
Her curiosity had no end. Subconscious programming? Gotta find more!