Once Again

Chapter 2

It didn't take long for the results of her spontaneous checkup to come. A private note enclosed within the email sent to her read:

"We send our deepest condolences as we could not find any irregularities about Merle Albeon. Please, come back soon!"

Fantastic news, right there. Merle's father read the letter, caterpillar eyebrows climbing higher up his forehead.

"Aurey! You have got to take a look at this!" Her dad looked somewhat irritated. "Thirty million dollars and this is what we get!" Merle's mom, who by this point had hurried to her father's side, cooed reassuringly like the good wife she was.

"That's okay," she said, smiling with bright teeth and precise lips. "Remember that paycheck, hon', the one you got yesterday." Dad rolled his eyes, only slightly appeased, but shut up about his unfortunate thirty million dollars.

"Of course," he replied, sending a suffering look at the sky.

"Exactly. And your daughter doesn't have anything wrong with her then. We don't have to worry too much."

Merle sighed inwardly, preparing to slip away after her parents stopped being so stupidly perfect, but before she could, she caught sight of what her father was holding. It was a unique object, green, and gold with gelatinous circles of stuff bobbing inside its translucent innards.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"What is that?" Merle pointed at the object, and her father gave a barely perceptible wince.

"Just something I got from work," he said, shifting it awkwardly in his suddenly sweaty hands. Merle raised an eyebrow, not believing her father and whatsoever but deciding to drop it. It wasn't as though her dad would tell her even if she nagged him.

Turning around, she slipped away like she had planned to do, a quick glance behind revealing that Merle's dad was staring at the object, flipping it around in his hand. A closer look showed no lid, no seam, nothing that could've been opened. Such an unusual object, wasn't it.

And awfully suspicious too.

.........

The next day of school had her realizing that, crap, she hadn't downloaded the textbook she needed yet. The school's WiFi had an overly paranoid firewall, and anything not accessed from the school's homing page was blocked.

She sighed. And yet any student could contact someone outside the school to come and murder a couple hundred people. She checked the time, realizing that if she hurried Merle could probably get home and back before school began, but it was a bit of a stretch.

The question was, would Merle rather risk being late or risk getting in trouble with a teacher.

Such a difficult choice.

Merle pivoted on her heel back to the closing transport behind her, sticking her arm in and triggering the stop of the closing doors. Her first finger was frantically shoved into the indent next to the wall, the speaker stating, "Hello Merle Albeon. It is almost time for school. Make sure you hurry. Education is important." Merle scowled at the ceiling, fingers tapping out "Home" on the keyboard.

"You wish to go: Home? Please clarify."

Merle gritted her teeth, typing in her house's address. Some of the more sophisticated transports could bring you to your home without you entering your address, but the school always wasted their money on fancy crap for kids and didn't upgrade the thing that would make life easier.

The transport made a distinctive flash, and suddenly the feeling of traveling very quickly enveloped her senses, her body somehow staying in the same position as before. After a few moments, it stopped before a brick mansion: the Albeon residence. She expelled a breath, scowling at the time and quickly swiping and pinching to get to the textbook page.