It was only two more days till the competition at Bayland, Derek was stuck in a limbo. He was not getting any answers.
Or rather, he didn't believe the one he had gotten. It was just fiction and a speculation.
For the first time in a while, he hadn't had any run ins with Lancer for the past few days. He had had enough time to think but the thinking as getting him nowhere.
While walking through the school alone in the quiet evening, he could notice some changes and a few unusual movements here and there.
It seemed people took the competition quite serious.
It's almost late and Derek climbed to the roof of the dorm to clear his head.
When he gets there, the sun is just beginning to set, he sits on the edge of the roof with his legs dangling over the ledge while he watches the setting sun.
He looks around him, partially hoping he would see Arya. But there's no one else on the roof except him and his thoughts.
Not long after the sun set. The moon began to shine brightly in the vast night sky. The sky was bright and full of stars and the moon illuminated the shadows in the darkness.
[The full moon is in four days]
[Be prepared for restraint or face the consequences]
The voice that had come to haunt Derek sliced through his thoughts making him almost jump out of his skin.
He forgot he was at the ledge and almost fell to the concrete floor down below. But his quick reflexes enabled him to stop himself just in time.
"Who are you" Derek's heart was definitely reading a hundred beats per minute.
[I am not a person, can I really be qualified as Who?]
The voice asked back. Derek was sure at this point that he was most probably hallucinating.
Whatever had caused the changes in his body had probably messed with his brain and made his mad.
'I'm really crazy' was the conclusion Derek had come to
[No, you are not]
"What" Derek was getting more confused
"Did I say that out loud?"
[No]
"You can read my thoughts too?" Derek realized how stupid the question was after it had left his mouth.
The voice was in his head, so it could definitely hear his thoughts.
[Well. I guess you have your answer then]
"Okay, what are you?" Derek asked.
[I am an AI. A system designed to assist your growth]
"My growth? I've been growing well all by myself until this moment, why would I need assistance now?
[Your werewolf transition. You really haven't figured it out up until now? And the full moon is in three days]
Derek's mouth was left hanging open.
That word werewolf had come up so many times in the last few days, but he had chosen to ignore it.
It just couldn't be real.
"So, what happens now?" Derek asked again after taking enough time to get his act together.
[It's the first full moon since you activated your werewolf genes. So, you have to be restricted]
"What do you mean restricted"
[I don't think it's academically healthy for someone your age not to know what restricted means]
"I know what restricted means" Derek said, face palming himself in frustration
"What do you mean by restriction?"
[You will experience full transformation into your new form on the full moon and you will have no control of your actions.]
[You will be in some ways similar to a wild animal whose primal instinct is only to kill and feed]
[So, in simpler terms. You must be restricted]
"You mean I will go change into a wolf?"
[Yes. That is exactly what I'm trying to say]
Derek sat in silence for the next thirty minutes, taking in all the information he had just been fed by the system.
"Are you still there?" Derek asked a while later
[Yes]
"Why play games? Why didn't you say all of this from the beginning"
[I did]
"You did?" Derek was getting angry now, recently his emotions had been getting the better of him.
"When?"
[Eleven days ago]
"You didn't, you didn't say the details"
[You didn't ask]
Derek was just plain annoyed now, this system was very annoying. One that got down to his last nerve.
He clenched and unclenched his fist, wanting to punch something.
But then, thinking about it. Derek wondered why he had not thought I talk to the system ever since.
It was the rational thing to do after hearing strange voice in your head. Anyway, the damage had been done, if he could call it that.
His new abilities and reflexes were a plus but he didn't want anything to do with the system and the ability that came with it.
He was just too overwhelmed, everything was too much to take in. This was one of the problems Derek would have usually taken to his father but none was in the picture anymore.
He only had the Headmaster who was trying his utmost best to act as a father figure and he clearly was not interested.
Derek decided to spend a few more hours on the roof. Arya had told him how she came there as her hiding spot, but she was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe she had an engagement tonight hence her absence.
'Why am I even thinking about her' Derek asked himself in exasperation.
[Because you're developing a likeness for her]
"Shut up" Derek replied almost immediately, his face almost beet red. "And don't read my thoughts"
[Humans...] The system some kind of mocking sound like it was laughing [the strangest race I've come across.]
"Strangest race? How many races have you come across"
[More than a hundred]
Derek was wowed, but that was a story for another day. He was in no mood to indulge the system right now.
The beeping sound of his watch suddenly sliced through his thoughts and cut his stay short.