"You?"
With the sudden intrusion of Crey in the room, The tech guy who was handling his Watch was startled to see him standing in front of him. There was a mild surprise on his face but he quickly got over it.
"Oh, Crey! Man, you scared me."
He deposited the Watch back on the table as he continued,
"Ah, yes! I was going to call you anyway. See your Watch ID is too….umm, outdated. So why don't you go for a newer version ID since it is essential to manage AI and several other operations in Academy? In my opinion, you need to get at least a two or three-year-old device? Yours is pretty much ancient in comparison."
Crey narrowed his eyes like he was in deep thought as he picked up his Watch ID from the table. All the while his eyes fixed upon the tech guy. On the front of his shirt, he read his name as Bradd. He paused for a few seconds like he wanted to say something….But upon giving it a little more thought, he ultimately sighed while giving up.
"Ok, but I don't have much money right now. Will it be cool if I could bring it later?"
Bradd looked away from his holographic computer display, towards Crey and nodded with a chuckle,
"It's all right but remember to bring it here as soon as possible. Because without a connected ID not only you, even my job will be in danger, right? "
Crey nodded as he walked out of the room while putting up his watch back on his wrist. He tried to fiddle with it but as expected he wasn't very tech-savvy to see if that Bradd guy had done something wrong with it or not. While he was getting anxious with his watch, he missed a step and almost stumbled to the ground.
"Oh heck! "
He hurriedly stabilized himself by grabbing the railing. He stopped to sigh in relief while suddenly realizing that maybe he was getting too paranoid.
'What… am I doing? '
It wasn't like him, at least not like him in recent years. Crey took a deep breath as he stopped and sat down on the stairs to give a thought about it seriously,
'Something is wrong. Why am I so worked up? Am I suspecting the Academy or that tech guy? Damn! For reacting like that, is there even any sensitive info on my Watch? Probably not! Then why…..'
Crey shook his head vigorously and knocked hard on his head with his knuckles like he was trying to refresh common sense in it. After some quick introspection, he breathed out to loosen himself up,
"Ugh ...it's the result of that test, revoking all those memories for no good. It had led me once again in those shoes which I have long abandoned in the past.
*Sigh*
I was even suspecting that poor tech guy who was actually looking out for me."
Crey acknowledged the oversight he had committed this time. Like someone from the ol'internet said,
'Accepting the mistake is the first step for ignoring the subsequent ones'.
"Listen Crey. Relax, you aren't there anymore. Don't forget your goal to finish these years without any unnecessary trouble?
Now focus on important things - first money for the new Watch. Hah!..looks like I have to visit General for the help."
While Crey was re-evaluating his life principles and future actions, in the tech room office lady burst in. She was carrying an apparent sour expression on her face. Bradd lifted his head from the screen and finding her annoyed asked in concern,
"Hey, what happened? Why so down? "
The woman shook her head but soon began to complain like she was waiting for him to ask her from the start. She slammed her hand on the table,
"I am irritated because of that kid! First, he said,
'I have already chosen my elective, no need for any guidance.' "
She said while trying to mimic his voice. But suddenly realizing that probably it is not fitting to act in such a manner about someone younger than her, she straightened and continued seriously,
"Ahem!.. Anyhow, I understand that it is okay to not attend guidance. Therefore, he should then sign up for his electives immediately. But you know what he did? "
Bradd who was enjoying her angry yet cute side(in his eyes) co-operated as he asked,
"What?"
"He fled away!.....can you imagine?
He ran away without even registering. I mean, come on! You don't want to listen, it's okay but at least complete the procedure before running away. He was already two weeks late and now…." She nearly pulled her hair in irritation.
"Hey, hey! Chill…chill.
Listen, there is no loss since in any way you would not have been able to register him today.
Have you seen his Watch ID?
Man! it was so cheap and old that it could not operate today's tech? There wasn't even enough storage to upload AI.
Therefore, I told him to buy a new one before coming here again. And as you know, without an ID you can't even finish his registration. Therefore no need to get upset, we can finish work when he returns."
The woman was surprised but still, her mood didn't improve a bit. Work aside, she was feeling grumpy because of the irresponsible and careless behavior of that student, not to mention he is one of the merit students of this 'First generation.
Terra Academy, once a prestigious military institution in the world, now was even struggling to maintain its status quo on earth. With such students, the future of the Academy…..
She didn't want to think more about it as she 'hmphed' and got on her chair to continue her office labor.
While Bradd, who was grinning at his corner, slowly relaxed and leaned back. On his screen, data decryption was underway with sixty percent completion. As for, to whom does this data belong? there was no need to even guess. He smiled as he mumbled under his breath,
"Ah, this time I didn't want to commit any data fraud, but what to do - old habits die harder.
Still, such a weird reaction. It has definitely piqued my curiosity, is there something he was hiding? "