Thinking more deeply about it, was it more like teamwork? I doubted everyone here could cook, would everyone want to sacrifice for strangers? That might remain to be seen. I think I'm starting to get an idea of what is expected of us here.
"With that being said the van will be outside your lodgings every evening at 4pm and return to your lodgings at 8pm. We will never be in the same place consecutively, so keep that in mind." The van finally had entered the city down below there was so much going on around us it was hard for me to keep paying attention. I wanted to explore to see what I could learn from this city. "You are free to do whatever with your free time before, during, and after those allotted times."
That whipped my head back at attention did she say during as well? Freedom was now overbearingly being emphasized. Everyone else was acting normally, was I the only one that found this strange? Even so, no one spoke up. Probably for fear of being reprimanded like Talib was.
"You are not confined to your lodging as well, if you want to go out you are free to do so, however I would stress- WILL YOU GET OUT THE WAY YOU MJINGA!!!" suddenly a commoner floated above the van looking to wash the windshield and sunroof for cash. We weren't going especially fast anyways with all the traffic around us, but I was starting to see that the Professor, no matter who it was, didn't like to be impeded.
"Christ, people never change. Ah, that reminds me." She tapped her temple twice and all the sudden my Air Contacts started to go fuzzy for a second before refocusing. From the look of it I wasn't the only one to experience the same sensation. Talib was frantically tapping his temple trying to figure out what just happened.
"No need to worry, your networks have been kept intact however your communications have been limited to a certain extent. Additionally, I now know the location of your air contact at all times." At this, I felt Sekai tried to catch my eye. She didn't dare speak but she was deeply disgusted at this.
"Try all you want, hacking or disabling these settings would not be wise or easy. I'm proud of my work." She smiled as she looked at Talib getting frustrated as he tried to probably gain full control over his phone. With that Professor Mirembe fell silent as we drove in and out of traffic. Every so often she would mumble some angry gesture at the people and drivers around her but she didn't address us at all.
I wasn't complaining about it though, any questions I had I didn't think she would answer it to my liking. Rather than experience that annoyance, I rather find out on my own. I think this was the time to observe not force things. Once I got the full scope of things would I set a goal for myself.
Sekai finally caught my eye, and I could tell she was thinking the same thing. It looked like Imari was the first to bite after giving a worried look to Talib. He raised his hand and waited for the Professor to notice him. It took a minute or so but she finally nodded, prompting him to speak.
"When you say 'limit our communication' what do you mean?" The professor again had that same small smug smile on her face as she answered. She must be really enjoying this.
"Well as you should already be aware, being that you are underage royals, all social media for you all is already forbidden. The only way for you to freely enjoy it was for it to be under an alias and there should be no reference to being royalty on any post. You probably knew this but your phones and network are constantly monitored to make sure of this."
Most of us were surprised to hear this. I only knew that our phones were swept every week because my brother noticed it while checking foreign networks in and out of touch with our IP addresses.
"What I just did was go a step further in shutting down any social media use. All profiles still exist but direct messaging within an app or directly through the actual phone, anyone not in your contacts is now impossible. That being said during this fellowship, contacts will be added and deleted freely by me. If now you check, the only people on your contacts are the people in this van and Queen Mariam. You cannot contact anyone, not in your address book. You are able to add anyone to your contact list and in return we can delete those new contacts. However, you cannot delete the contact list currently in your address book. Depending on the new contact that you add, you are free to contact them in any way you want. Assuming we approve for you to keep that contact but know that all conversations will be monitored."
Interesting, it insinuated that we would come in contact with many people but how we interacted with them was put on a leash. Sekai was now the one raising her hand, she seemed perplexed. The professor gave her permission to speak.
"Excuse me Professor you made a comment earlier saying that if we slacked on our responsibilities that you would know. Could you elaborate on that?" The smile didn't disappear from the Professors face. She even seemed a bit impressed by Sekai.
"Good catch Sekai or I could say that I didn't expect anyone to comment on that. What that means is that we were monitoring you while you are here. There are monitoring devices in various places. You may or may not notice them without me telling you. You may think you have privacy in the most sacred and secure places and you may be right or wrong."
"How many people are watching us? Is this like a creepy reality show or something?" Amara spoke up now, disgust and irritation in her voice. I understood her attitude, something started to feel off about all this. The smile did not disappear from our professor's face though and there was an added cheerfulness to her tone.
"I don't know who told you to speak out of turn Ms. Amara, I don't take too kindly to that." Looking annoyed, Amara raised her hand but the Professor ignored her. This just made Amara more irritated. Sekai decided to step in, raise her hand and ask the same question after being acknowledged by Professor Mirembe.
"I don't feel like answering the first question to be honest Ms. Sekai, so I would encourage you to use any deductions skills you have. The second question doesn't deserve a response. This is not a joke take this serious please." I guess that took out the thought we were being filmed for entertainment purposes.
If you believed her that is. It was quiet for a minute or so while we drove through traffic toward our destination wherever that was. There was now a question that was burning in my mind now but I wasn't sure if I wanted to ask because I doubted it would be answered. Surprisingly, Zalika was the one to raise her hand and ask the question that was on my mind.
"Thank you for patience Madame Mirembe, but I couldn't help but wonder that it seemed that everything you have told us is ambiguous and contradictory. Why is that?" She offered us freedom but also control in the same hand. It was making me rethink this whole thing. However, the Professor smug smile just widen.
"Well, I wouldn't overthink it that much, I-ah, looks like we're here. Get out, take your bags and ask the front desk for 'Songhai' they should take care you from there. Bye." With a wave and biggest smile yet she dismissed us. Zalika didn't look too upset about by being left hanging she just got out and followed directions.
A man dressed in very clean and pristine wear came through the front doors before we could enter with our luggage. Femi approached the man first assuming he was apart of the buildings staff.
"We are here on behalf of Songhai, Can you help us?" The man stood still and looked at Femi for a moment while his eyes narrowed. He then looked to the front seat of the Van where Professor Mirembe was arguing with a passerby about blocking the road. His expression then changed with a smile.
"I will now show you to your suit, if you will follow me."
The building was far more luxurious than I expected. There were people in the lobby but they didn't seem to pay too much attention to us. This was one of the advantages and/or disadvantages of keeping royal offspring's identity secret from the rest of the empire. We weren't in danger of being treated any differently by regular citizens rather it being with respect or disrespect. I didn't mind, the least hassle the better. In my mind, how you were treated by anyone should be earned. Whether it was negative or positive.
As we all piled up on the elevator the attendant pushed the button for PH. I couldn't tell if the attendant knew who we were or not but he just acted like taking a bunch of teenagers to the Penthouse was a common occurrence. Nothing was said in the elevator but I had a strange feeling that someone was watching me. Looking around I saw no cameras. To assume none was there was foolish though.
I told myself that as long as I was in this building, that I would always assume that I was being watched. It didn't matter if I believed the professors or not. When the doors finally opened, I was surprised to see my expectations exceeded. It was the size of the entire lobby. There was more than enough space in the living room for us all to sit and not have to squeeze in chairs.
"My name is Penni, room service will be at call if needed, just press the black intercom button by the entrance. Whatever you all need that's within the limits that have been set for you all, we will try our hardest to accommodate." We all looked at each other after these words. To me it pretty much meant that we were on our own. "If that's all then I will be taking my leave I hope you all enjoy the rest of your evening."
At that, Penni left without saying anything more. Once the doors closed on the elevator, no one said anything and just waited in silence. As I tried looking at my contemporaries they all averted their avoiding any eye contact with others. Talib was the first to speak up.
"Well, I know we all already introduced ourselves but that doesn't mean we know anything about each other." This made everyone look up and look at each other awkwardly and expectantly. I was surprised; my brother wasn't the social type. Talib continued.
"Honestly, I'm fine with that. We don't have to be friends, just people that look out for mutual interest"