Pudding

Meanwhile, around the same time when Lia was eating her snacks, Dright was with Xion at the Headmaster's office.

Xion was instructing Dright to analyze and configure the Oblivoid detectors and see which one Lia is categorized. Xion found it weird. Lia, with Oblivoid genes, did not set the Oblivoid alarm with the city's detectors. It would be troublesome if the alarm would suddenly ring just because it detected Lia as a threat.

Dright went right away to the city's security agency, "O.C.E.D.A." with his portal, where all of the city's defensive systems are manipulated. The Oblivoid Center of Extermination and Defense Agency, also known as the OCEDA. Everything in there is controlled by an A.I. along with robots and automatons. Cannons, Artillery, and other large-scaled weapons installed all over the city are piloted here. OCEDA was jointly built by graduates and students of Royal Chaos, in which Dright played a major role on building it.

As Dright stepped out of his portal, he finds himself in a dark room. Cyan lights coming from a giant screen welcomed Dright. A screen, operated by an A.I.

The giant screen reached the corners of the room, displaying the map of the whole city. Plenty of green dots appeared on the screen, representing the people that live in the city. Soon after, it displayed several sceneries where surveillance cameras are positioned and then shifting to the surveillance cameras outside the city walls.

The next thing that the screen displayed was footage of Lia just before the time when she disappeared. The screen stopped and zoomed in on Lia. Analysis about her soon after came out of the display, and some calculations started to animate within the screen. Three '?' appeared above her picture, indicating that she isn't a registered citizen of the city yet.

Numbers also appeared on the screen beside Lia's picture. There were five sets.

As data about Lia was minimal, Dright watched the screen quietly for a while to gather some knowledge about her.

Humanity: 64%

Oblivoid : 36%

= Arachnion : 12%

= Iguanile : 8%

= Dragnapede : 16%

After this, a text appeared on Lia's picture bordered with a square-shaped line.

"Oblivoid or Human?"

"I see. So that's the reason why the alarm didn't activate. The majority of Lia's being is still that of a human's... good. It shouldn't be a problem to turn her back..." Dright thought to himself.

"Ceda," Dright said.

As he uttered these words, the whole wide screen's content disappeared. Its cyan-colored screen turned black. Then, a cyan-colored cube appeared on the screen, rotating slowly. Several smaller cubes also materialized, revolving around the cube in varying directions. A sound wave meter also appeared below it.

"What can I help you with today, Sir Dright."

The sound came from Ceda, the A.I. that is operating the whole system within the facility.

Dright often visit the security agency by the commands of his superiors, for he has been tasked many times to do some adjustments and upgrades to the system along with George from time to time.

"Ceda. I want you to register the silver-haired little girl in the previous picture on your database as 'Lia,' and register her as a human."

"Affirmative. . ."

A "Loading. . ." Pop up appeared on the screen, then the previous display before the cube appeared once again. The '???' That was once above Lia's image was now filled with her name, and below her picture was a text saying "HUMAN," bordered with a rectangular line.

"It has been done, Sir Dright. . ."

"Good.... also, while I'm here, I might as well do some tweaking... Ceda, bring me those screens."

Upon saying that, ten holographic screens appeared around Dright. Then, he brought out a black floating office chair from his portal, made himself cozy, then started moving his fingers on the screens as he made adjustments and upgrades to the system.

. . . .

. . . . . .

Meanwhile, with Lia and Raven.

Lia has now finished her snack, and now, she finds herself with nothing to do.

"Would you like some more?" Raven, who was sitting beside Lia, proposed.

"Can I..?" Lia replied with emotionless eyes but with somehow visible stars on them.

"Of course! But while we're at it, would you like to go on a stroll with me?"

"Stroll..?"

"Yep! You'll see plenty of exciting things! If you want, we'll also go to the park where you can play!" Raven strongly suggested. She is now excited now that Lia herself has shown signs of emotions.

Lia nodded in acceptance of Raven's offer. Seeing this, Raven stood up with her tail swaying energetically, as she walked cheerfully towards the door.

"But...." Lia said reluctantly.

Puzzled, Raven looked back at Lia, who was still sitting on the bed. She then went back to Lia.

"Can we go see... Big sister Quare first..?" Lia asked for permission while looking up to Raven with her Ruby eyes peeking out of her silver bangs.

This somehow gave a warm and fuzzy feeling within Raven, making her cheeks feel hot. And as though she couldn't resist anymore, Raven pounced at Lia then hugged her, rubbing her cheeks with Lia's.

"Oh Lia, you are so cute!! Of course, we can!" She said while still rubbing her cheeks against Lia.

And with that, after Raven got satisfied, the two of them went towards Quare.

Raven is one of the few friends that Quare mentioned yesterday. Raven quite often visited the Azure house in the past, and there, Dright secretly trained her. She would often see Quare by their living room, sitting by the corner of their couch, hugging her bunny-shaped pillow while staring at Raven with curiosity as she passed by where Quare sat. As time passed, Raven initiated a conversation, and they somehow became friends.

Raven took a look at her watch.

The current time is 12:10 pm.

"Hmmm... Quare should be at the cafeteria by now."

Raven led Lia towards the cafeteria.

...

As the two of them reached their destination, they found Quare dining at a table along with Rheyya.

There was an empty table behind Quare, and this gave Raven the idea of slightly surprising Quare.

Raven let out a chuckle as she placed her hand over her mouth.

"Wait here for a bit Lia."

Lia gave a puzzled look, and before she could react, Raven moved swiftly towards the empty table behind Quare. Her movements were as nimble, swift, and agile as a cat that she wasn't noticed by the people she passed by.

Lia also walked her way slowly towards Raven's location. While doing so, she unconsciously activated her invisibility.

On the other hand, Quare was happily eating her dessert, a sweet and soft looking pudding. Rheyya was there sitting in the opposite direction, drinking her lemon juice on a straw, calmly watching Quare's delighted expression as she stares at the pudding in front of her, readying her spoon for a slice.

Quare moved her spoon and sliced a piece of the pudding, gleefully delivering it to her mouth. "Yum!" Joy was seen on her face. Rheyya quietly watched Quare as she sipped through the straw on her glass of lemon juice.

Then, Rheyya noticed a black tail swaying left to right behind Quare. It was Raven's tail. By that time, Rheyya did not realize Raven's intention at that time, so she ignored her.

Raven slowly peeked out her eyes, stretched her hands towards Quare, then pinched both sides of her Quare's cheeks.

"Kya?!" Raven's actions surprised Quare, letting out a small squeal.

Rheyya was just there, staring at the unfolding event while drinking her lemon juice.

Quare knew immediately who was behind her.

"Whaa~ stop that Raven senpai~" Quare protested.

"Huehuehue! You're as open as ever, cute little Quarey!" Raven let out a weird chuckle as she played around Quare's cheeks while standing on her knees on the chair with her back bent towards Quare. Raven had her eyes narrowed while her mouth twisted to a smirk. Raven's tail was swaying from left to right, and her cat ears were twitching from time to time.

Eventually, Raven got satisfied as she hopped down from her chair. Quare then stroke her cheeks while pouting.

"By the way, you there. I'm Raven Noir! What's your's?" Raven introduced herself casually. This surprised Rheyya.

"... My name is Rheyya Holocus."

"I see. Well, it's nice to meet you!" Raven greeted as she approached Rheyya on her seat and stretched out her hand for a handshake, and Rheyya gladly shook her hand.

And just like that, the two became acquaintances.

"Now then. Quare, someone wants to see you!"

Quare let out a puzzled expression.

"Who??"

Raven let out a gentle smile as she turned to Quare, then reached out her hand at an area where nobody was around, just beside Quare.

And there was Lia with Raven's palm atop of her head.

Surprised, Quare slightly jumped from her seat. It was a natural reaction. Who wouldn't be surprised if someone suddenly appeared right beside you?

Startled, Quare breathed deeply to regain her composure.

"Whew... You surprised me, Lia."

Quare spoke, but Lia's eyes were glued at Quare's unfinished pudding, causing her to ignore Quare. Since Lia has already tasted a pudding, she begins to crave more of it since she only got to taste one pudding.

Lia then forced herself on Quare as she sat on Quare's lap. Quare did let Lia sit on her lap, but she gave a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong, Lia??"

". . ." drool slipped out of Lia's mouth with her usual expression.

"Big sister Quare? Can I have a taste???"

Lia said as she looked up to Quare, her bangs swept out of her forehead due to gravity, making both of her ruby-like eyes visible.

"Pretty..." Stunned by Lia's beautiful Ruby eyes, Quare unconsciously uttered, but soon snapped back to reality.

"O-of course! Here!" Quare sliced a piece of the pudding and spoonfed Lia. Savoring the taste, she let out a soft sound of satisfaction. Quare was also satisfied at the sight of Lia enjoying herself. Seeing this, Quare also sliced a portion for herself.

In the meantime, Raven pulled an empty chair and joined the three. While Quare and Lia are occupied, Rheyya was watching the two quietly. "Both of you look like a mother feeding her daughter," Rheyya said with a wry smile, weak enough to be heard as a mumble... Seeing the two seemed to have triggered a sad memory within Rheyya, but she tried her best to hide it.

"Yummy..." Lia said while chewing the pudding on her mouth, her cheeks a bit red, with star-filled eyes.

Both Raven and Rheyya just watched as the two shared the pudding with calmness within them. Watching Quare and Lia somehow gave off a warm feeling, making those around them calm. It was a heartwarming scene.