050

As Ron went back into his room, he had a blank look. He planned to drop out so that his studies would never finish but if dropping out meant having finished them… He quickly went to check on the contract he signed. He read it once before signing of course but this time he decided to read it more carefully. In the end, he couldn't find any loophole with his knowledge. He felt like he was stuck with no options. Sure, he could fail a year and restart it but how many times could he do that before being forcefully dropped out? It was difficult. He picked up the school's rulebook and began to read it with attention as well.

After working on it for hours deep in the night, he only managed to find that he could at best stay here for six years. There was a rule preventing someone from repeating a year a third time. He was stuck. That night, he was unable to sleep.

…

At the hospital, in the middle of the night, in the intense care unit, there was a young woman in a bed. She was unconscious and had been so for days, even after her body was healed. Right now, she was linked to many mechanical devices that sustained her life. It was Laila. And next to her, sitting in a chair was another young woman. That other woman was crying.

She kept whispering: "I'm so sorry Laila…I didn't know… I'm sorry"

Only after a dozen minutes did she change tune and said: "Did you know that Ron survived too? He's being sent to the military after finishing his studies it seems…Funny, right? Considering how he hated these things…"

And she began to tear up again. For minutes, she wailed. Then, she got up. Her eyes were bloodshot and one could easily see she lacked sleep. She began to walk to the exit and as she left, she said: "I'm sorry, goodbye"

…

In front of a lake, a man was sitting at a table with four wrist-coms on it. One of the phones rung and he picked it up: "She left, Sir. Order to proceed?"

He answered: "Go ahead. I expect good news"

"Yes, Sir!"

As the call finished, he threw the wrist-com into the lake. He waited and a dozen minutes later, another phone rung. He picked it up.

The same voice as before stated: "It's done, Sir"

He said: "Good job, you may excuse yourself"

"Thank you, Sir!"

He threw this wrist-com into the lake as well.

He picked the third one and dialed a number. It picked up and it said: "Proceed"

A different voice compared to the previous one answered him: "Yes, Sir"

He threw this third wrist-com into the lake.

Dozens minutes later, the last wrist-com beeped and he picked up: "It's done, Sir"

"Good job"

He threw the last wrist-com into the lake, sighed and got up. He walked back to his car and drove away into the night.

…

The next morning, doctors found Laila dead. Their diagnosis was that her brain gave out. Natural death from unexplainable circumstances.

Case closed.

…

Ron woke up early the next morning. Or rather, since he didn't sleep, he just got out of bed. He prepared himself and then went for a small run around the campus to change his mood. He returned into his dorm, showered and so on before hurrying out to school. He would assist to his first lesson today. He had no longer much of a choice. Being absent too many times could lead to expulsion and to him, it meant being sent to the frontlines.

He needed to stay in this university as long as he could.

He arrived at the training field where the class was supposed to take place. It was 'mechanical weaknesses' which didn't sound too bad. As he reached the training grounds, he saw many other students squatting or seating around the place. There were many more guys. In fact, there were only three girls. This was the attendant department after all. Not many people would want to get in this. In total, once the bell rang, he counted twenty-two students. Considering how big the university was, this was a very small number of students.

Not long later, a burly man in a training suit arrived on the field. He waved excitedly at the crowd as he welcomed them back to school. He was surprised to see a transfer student but welcomed him as well. It was rare to find those in this department… In any case, he proceeded with his lesson as some workers brought up humanoid robots and placed them in the field.

The robots were around 1m80 and humanoid in shape with two arms, two legs and a head. The limbs and its body were very thin though. Its circumference no bigger than 2 or 3cm. The teacher began to introduce the robot as a combat unit from the Galgadin Federation and explained that the best way to end them was to shoot the head since their 'machine brain' was there.

After that, he began to use the models to show it practically. He shot one in the head and it exploded. Ron was frightened. It was his first time seeing a gun firing. It was loud and the result was scary. He could see himself in the place of this robot and cold sweat dripped down his back.

Even if he had to flunk the exams, he would learn these things with all he had. He might seriously need them after six years…