Three days later.
Eden Academy.
History Room 7A was quiet enough to hear your own heartbeat.
The classroom- a cube of steel and glass, cameras in the corners. Its walls-gray and blank. Six rows of five clean metal desks. Meant for thirty students, but there was only ever twenty-five. Nyra sat in the third row, center seat, her posture exact. Her pen hovered exactly half an inch above the desk's holo-display.
The door let out a low hiss.
The whole class turned. So did she, though she had no idea why.
A voice spoke.
"Sorry I'm late. There was… a misunderstood direction." He paused as his eyes meet hers.
The voice wasn't robotic. Not at all. There was some kind of texture to it. Low. Smooth. Like someone who wasn't used to speaking in a world that demanded silence
His eyes never left hers. Neither did hers.
He spoke again.
"I'm Kade. Just Kade.
He paused again, then continued.
"Delta sector transfer"
Delta. A lower-tier. Transfers rarely happened, and never from delta to Tier 1.
The teacher, a drone today- beeped once then spoke. "Row 4, center seat."
He looked at the seat, then back at her. The seat was to the right of her. And for a moment. Just a moment. His breath caught, lips parted slightly as if the air had gotten thicker.
And at that moment. When he looked at her, her heart began racing. She remained still. Not her heart though. A small blush appeared as he sat. Tiny. Disobedient. But it was there.
He didn't look at her again.
Didn't have to.
Something had already shifted.
Garden Surveillance System - Tier 1 Classroom 7A:
Date: [Redacted]
Time: 09:06:43 - 09:07:06
Classification: Behavioral Anomaly
(Level 2)
Subject ID: VALE-NYRA-00117
Subject Status: Tier 1. Top 1.2%
Current Emotional State: Uncomfirmed Fluctuation
Detected Biometrics:
– Resting heart rate spike from 60 BPM to 96 BPM.
– Facial blood vessel dilation detected (mild flush)
– 3.1 second visual fixation outside of instructor
CorrelatedSubject: Kade
– Sector Origin: Delta
– Emotional suppression index: Non - compliant
– Eye contact duration: 4.4 seconds
– Speech: Natural. Intonation variance exceeds acceptable levels
Recommendation:
– Moniter for cognitive divergence
– Deploy Phase-2 Proximity Filters if escalation detected
Status: Resume Passive surveillance.
Nyra kept her eyes forward. The drone instructor hovered in the front, projecting a lecture on dates, rebellions, the shift from emotional-led power to optimized order.
She could recite it all in her sleep.
Yet, today… she had struggled to focus.
A glance.
To her right.
Again.
Didn't move her head. Just her eyes.
Kade's eyes weren't focused on the display. It was on her. He leaned back. Just slightly, arms crossed. Not slouching, but enough to suggest he had his own ideas.
A blink.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
But it was enough to make her pulse respond like a jolt of electricity passing through a circuit.
She looked away almost instantly.
2 seats ahead of her, a student raised their hand to answer a prompt. The drone beeped in approval. Perfect answer.
The lesson moved on.
Her eyes started drifting again.
Kade was already watching.
Their eyes locked.
Longer.
Maybe a second. Maybe more.
She told herself to look away, but she couldn't.
He didn't either.
His fingers twitched. Risky. Did it anyways.
She bit her lip slightly. Not visible. Not to the Garden. But he saw.
There was no smile. No expression at all. Just his calm, unreadable face. Yet, it held something no one else held in this Academy. Something alive.
Then–quietly, deliberately–she did something unimaginable.
She tilted her head.
Just slightly.
She put her pen down.
Relaxed her fingers. Wrists bent, lazy, almost… carelessly.
Barely anything.
But it was not perfect. And at Eden Academy, imperfection was louder than fireworks.
Eventually she looked away.
Her fingers trembling. Not noticed by the Garden. But she felt it.
She did not look again.
But she could feel it.
His eyes.
On her body.
Her writing.
Her desk.
Beside her, Kade didn't look away.
Not even one time.