"That's right class, it's unitless. Smith, your attention should be in class" the teacher warned, before proceeding to continue his teaching.
James did not know how long he was absent-minded. He stared at Sophia, who has already had a worried look in her eyes as she stared at him. James could only smile wryly because she had already seen his tears.
During the break, James headed to the cafeteria and took out his tray and stood in the line. However, just as his turn arrived, someone rudely intersected him, causing him to almost fall out of the line.
James could only stare at Daniel as he smirked and took his food, before turning and left, shoulder bumping James in the process. James did not think much about it, for he had other matters in his mind already.
After his plate was filled, he took his tray and headed to the end of the cafeteria's section to the table he had always eaten on. As he sat down to begin munching, someone sat down opposite him.
"Alright James, what's wrong?" Sophia asked worriedly. James stared at her clear eyes and sighed, "Nothing at all, just thinking about my mom and dad" he said. Sophia's eyes were flustered with sympathy. James was about to ask about how she was doing when Sophia unexpectedly hugged him.
James emotions cycled rapidly. First, he was astounded, then mildly surprised, then emotional, then happy. He had never felt like this before. It has been a very long time since someone had hugged him like this, apart from his mom and dad, and it felt wonderful.
Sophia then pulled out from the hug and smiled. "Anytime you are sad from now on, you will receive a hug. Please don't be sad anymore" Sophia said softly. James could only nod and smile with his heart. Sophia then chatted with James for the rest of the break.
Daniel who was a few meters away from them was glaring at them with rage in his eyes. Sophia, what was special with this knowledge-obsessive dork? What makes him attracted to her? He was supposed to be the one talking to her, not that short dweeb!
Daniel was still glaring at them when one of his friends nudged him, bringing him back to his senses. "Daniel, were you not paying attention to what I was saying?" one of his friends asked suspiciously.
"I'm sorry, I spaced out" Daniel could only say. "Hmmm, Daniel, what were you thinking that was more important than my wooing story?" his friend that had been talking smirked, but James paid no attention to him. His eye was still fixed to James' table, who was idly chatting with the only person that meant so much to him.
'You'll regret this James, I promise you. You've stepped in the tail of the tiger' Daniel said with deep hatred.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
The distant chime declared the end of school. Everyone began packing their books and pen into their respective bags and headed out. "Alright make sure you study the formula written on the board okay? See you on Monday!" The chemistry teacher hurriedly said to the students, who were already leaving the class.
James was no exception. He quickly packed his stuff into his bag before heading out of the school's building. "Please aunt Martha come, please aunt Martha come" James prayed in his heart as he went to the parking lot and did not see Martha's jeep anywhere.
He watched as parents drove their cars in to pick their children and drove out until the parking lot was empty. James sighed painfully. Martha was not going to come, again.
This time, he was prepared. He brought out a $10 note he took from his savings and called a cab. The cabman rolled down his window and stared a James with confusion.
"Are you not a student of this school, where's your parent?" the cabman could not help but ask. James shrugged, "My mom forgot to pick me up today" he lied. Of course, Martha did not forget to pick him up. Even if she had forgotten, the thing that happened yesterday was enough to stop her from making the same mistakes twice.
"And how long have you been waiting for them" the cabman insisted. James could only look at him and shrug again "an hour?" The cabman face changed with understanding. "Then hop on. I hope you know your destination".
James arrived at the estate in less than forty minutes. He paid the cabman and collected his balance, before heading inside the estate. The security already knew him as a residence of the estate, and immediately let him in.
"Such a dick-ass".
James was alarmed. What was that? He thought he heard a voice in his mind, so he calmed down and shrugged, 'I must be hearing things ha-ha' James said and laughed lightly, but it was not over.
"No, no, shoot, shoot, shoot, turn left, yeah, turn right, and, fire!"
James heard another voice again, but this time, it was the voice of a young boy. James looked around, but he saw no one. The street was practically empty. What were those voices?
One of the voices was insulting a person, the other voice appeared to be playing a game. Surely a gamer would not be saying his moves out loud, unless…
Telepathy. James opened his eyes in astonishment. The first time he heard a person's thoughts was when he woke up in the hospital after his temporary dementia, and the time he wanted to hear Esther thought. Since that time, he had not made any further attempt to activate it again, and now, it has automatically activated.
One thing that scared him was as if this was a good thing and a bad thing. He tried to disable the telepathy, and all the voices in his head stopped. James heaved a sigh of relief. At least, he could control it.
James was feeling hopeful that AI would come back to life. The chip was still in his head, so automatically AI was still alive, he was just inactive, and all the modules it installed are becoming active.
Just for fun, James decided to turn the telepathy on as he stepped into his house, but just as he was listening to the frustration of the gamer boy, a voice stood out clear and crisp.
"James is the worst thing that has happened to us".
Undeniable, this had come from Esther.