Secrets. Reasons.

[ Initialising advanced synchronization … ]

MenMen was so lost in her thoughts, she almost missed the words. It was the very different silence that attracted her attention.

{ What's going on? }

There was no answer. The dots continued blinking, alternating colours between the red and the blue, until disappearing along with the words. But they didn't seem to have disappeared. More like they just dissolved into her consciousness. As if they had become a part of her, as if the dot had become indistinguishable from her. And an entirely new channel had opened up, one that allowed for communication without the need for words, only intent.

The numbers were the reason. Lucidity at 100%. Rejection at 0%. She had accepted and opened herself up wholly, and thus the system was fully opened to her.

Suddenly, she felt bigger. Stronger. Awake. The strain was gone. The pain was gone. Instead, there was a strange coolness. Not pleasant, but not unpleasant either. Just different. She wondered if she was changed in any way, and the answer showed itself in her head. Her bodily functions were unaffected. Brain activity was heightened. Previously inactive parts of her brain were now highly active. The blood flow was increased to accommodate for the brain's greater demand. The blood sugar levels were falling more rapidly, requiring greater intake of food on her part to remain stable. The body's metabolism rate had increased by a factor of 2.5. The only visible change was the lightening of her eye colour, from a dark black to a light grey.

She nodded in understanding. It was an unconscious action, but she was now able to perceive it. Just as she was able to perceive every little action. The flow of information was continuous. That she was able to bear it all so easily was worthy of award.

Could she access the cameras of the academy in real time? The sudden burst of information required her to close her eyes, concentrate. A second later, she felt like she had returned to the school grounds. All of her senses were responding as if to real stimuli. How was this possible? It was more than just a mental image. The information was being processed in her brain at a physiological level, so her brain treated the information as if it was gathered by the sense organs. She felt the soft earth under her feet, smelled the grass, tasted the air. She moved into the school, and that motion was the only difference from reality. She wasn't walking, more like floating at a high speed. Maybe this was how ghosts experienced the world.

She went into the building which housed her class. She went past the classes, with the students sitting at their desks listening to the teachers at varying levels of attention. She didn't particularly care for anyone. She headed deeper in, to the administrative block. It was a four story building, with the physical copies of the records stored in a sealed room on the second floor.

She needed access. Why? She needed the records. But she didn't need to go into the sealed room for those. She didn't need the physical copies. All information was stored in the academy's private server. That was a lot simpler to access. She agreed. She reached for Maue's records. The next second, she was sitting in the school library. An entire corner was cleared, to make space for her. She was nestled comfortably in the large grey chair. Maue's records were floating at eye level, extremely easy to read.

Maue was the second son of the Frine family's main branch. He was the pampered prince, who got whatever he asked for. Nothing was too much. His parents were Mikrava and Emili. He had an elder brother, Javi.

There was the answer. Why was Javi so nice to her? Why did he make it seem like she was special? It was all for his dear brother. To protect his pampered little brother.

When was the last time they spoke? Earlier in the morning. What was their conversation?

She saw Javi and Maue standing across each other, speaking with each other. Sure, they were actually very far apart and speaking through their phones, but a little liberty for the sake of greater clarity could be afforded.

"Brother, you must help me," Maue cried.

"Give him some time," Javi said, in defense. "Dad's angry right now. Give him some time to cool down. A week is enough. You can wait a week."

"Why? A week to cool down. Another to convince. And then another to place the order. I want it custom made, who knows how long that will take. Feels like forever. Can't you help me? Dad will never say no to you."

"That's because I'm a responsible son."

"Yes, that's right. You're the good son. I'm the one running around causing trouble. Which is exactly why I should get a new car. So I'm driving too fast to stir up trouble with anyone."

Javi laughed heartily. His eyes were filled with love, his expression pampering. He truly loved his dear little brother.

She'd had enough. The conversation stopped. The brothers were wiped out. The scene changed. She wanted to see what Maue and his friends were doing now. She was outside the classroom, looking in through the window. Maue, Shiv and Tuck were sitting together near the back of the class, listening with as much attention as could be expected of them. It was math class, and it was no mystery that they were bad at math.

She was then outside her class. Nana was a better student. She was nearer to the front, and her grades were in the upper half of the class. It was history class, and she was listening closely.

MenMen had seen enough. She was back in the hospital room. She knew grand uncle had arrived. She wiped the sweat off of her face with the long sleeves of her dress. Rubbed her eyes clear. Sat up comfortably on the bed. She was ready as the door opened and grand uncle walked in.

The morning after taking her away from the orphanage, while having breakfast at the hotel they were staying at, grand uncle discussed the choice she had to make.

"I don't want to tell you what happened back then," he explained. "Not yet. First because I don't want it to affect your decision. And second, I want you to be stronger before I tell you. What you have to decide now, is between two choices. One, I'll take you back to the ancestral home, and introduce you to the family for who you are. Two, I can adopt you and introduce you to everyone as my daughter."

She stayed quiet. She understood the words, but not what they meant. Kira wasn't expecting for her to understand. He only wanted her to know what the choices were. When he saw that the words registered, he continued.

"I don't expect you to make the choice immediately. I will make sure you are aware of what the choices mean. And to help with that, I will arrange for you to study at The Noble Academy."

She heard him to the end, and nodded. "Give me a year," she said. A year would be long enough. She would be ready.

In the hospital room, she smiled in greeting. Kira froze. She seemed different. In a good way. She called him closer. When he sat by her side on the bed, she moved close and whispered into his ears.

"I've made my choice grand uncle. I'd like to go with you. Also, can we leave immediately? I don't want rehab here. I want to get better somewhere else. Somewhere better."

Kira was astonished. He had always hoped this would be her choice, because this would allow him to continue protecting her. As for her wanting to leave the hospital, that was a small thing.

"Alright," he told her, smiling warm and wide. "Let's go home. You can get better at home."

She nodded, returning an equally warm smile.