A Subtle Shift

Cas was still staring at the stage, arms crossed, eyebrows slightly furrowed. Orion knew that look. It was the same one she had when she lost a bet to Neil—annoyed but not truly upset, just calculating her next move.

Neil, meanwhile, was grinning ear to ear, his Pre-Placement Offer (POP) practically shining in his mind.

"Well," he said, turning to Cas. "Guess some of us are just built different."

Cas rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Neil."

Orion smirked. "You did get an honorable mention though. That's got to count for something."

Cas exhaled. "Yeah, I guess. Just… wish I'd gotten something more concrete."

Just then, a woman in a Prime Tech blazer walked up to their group. She was in her late thirties, with sharp features and even sharper eyes.

"Cassandra Reed?" she asked.

Cas straightened. "That's me."

The woman extended a card. "We'd like to offer you an internship with Prime Tech. Your hypothesis is fascinating, and we believe it could lead to something groundbreaking. You won't get a pre-placement yet, but with the right work, you might."

Cas blinked. Orion could almost hear her brain processing.

"So… you're saying if I impress you, uhh, I mean work hard, I might get an offer?"

"Exactly."

Cas took the card, flipping it between her fingers. Then, she nodded. "I'm in."

The woman smiled. "We'll be in touch after the festival." With that, she walked off.

Neil raised an eyebrow. "Huh. So technically, we both got something out of this."

Cas gave him a look. "Yeah. But I still hate you."

Neil just grinned.

---

A Change in Pace

With the tension of the event finally over, the group made their way out of the research pavilion and toward the festival grounds. The next major event wouldn't start until later in the evening, so for once, they had time to just relax.

Orion stretched his arms behind his head. "Okay, so now that we're done with the serious stuff, can we just, I don't know, exist for a bit?"

Neil shrugged. "I could eat."

"You always can," Rin deadpanned.

"I mean, am I wrong?"

"Not at all."

They found a food stall row set up along the festival grounds—everything from holographic menus to old-school street food carts. The smell of grilled meat, fried snacks, and sweet pastries filled the air.

Orion grabbed something simple—a skewered meat wrap—and leaned against a nearby bench.

As he chewed, his thoughts drifted back to yesterday.

Specifically, to Skye.

The moment had been brief, but he hadn't forgotten it.

She'd been looking at him. Not in a way that meant anything, but enough for his instincts to notice.

Orion wasn't the paranoid type, but with everything going on—the simulation, the weird scoreboard event, —he couldn't help but wonder if it had just been a coincidence.

Probably, right?

"Yo," Neil's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "You good?"

Orion hesitated, then sighed. "Just thinking."

Cas raised an eyebrow. "Dangerous habit. About what?"

Orion debated for a second before saying, "Skye."

Rin blinked. "Huh?"

"She was looking at me yesterday. Just—casually. Not in a weird way, but I noticed it."

Neil frowned. "And?"

"And I don't know," Orion admitted. "Something about it just… stuck with me."

Cas leaned back. "Maybe she's just curious about you?"

"Or maybe she knows something," Rin muttered.

Neil scoffed. "Or maybe Orion's just blown away by the fact that a girl was looking at him."

Rin gasped theatrically. "Oh no. Orion's finally getting noticed. What will he do?"

Cas smirked. "I don't know, guys. Maybe we should alert the factions. It's a major discovery."

Orion groaned. "You guys are the worst."

Neil patted his shoulder. "No, but seriously, maybe she just finds you interesting. You did break the simulation."

"Yeah," Rin said, still grinning, "you're like, the festival's most wanted mystery. Even though nobody knows about it. Maybe Skye's just trying to figure you out."

Orion sighed. "Whatever it is, I'll deal with it later."

For now, though, it was just another question added to an already growing list.

---

Festival Vibes

The group ended up wandering through the festival, just soaking in the atmosphere.

Live music played from a nearby stage, where a band was performing a fusion of synthwave and rock. Students moved between booths, testing out VR experiences, engaging in mini-games, or just hanging out.

Neil dragged them to a tech showcase, where he got way too invested in an experimental dream-sync interface.

Cas, still riding the high of her internship offer, challenged Rin to a strategy simulation game.

Orion just took it all in.

There was something nice about moments like this—no dream conspiracies, no factions, no mystery figures lurking in the background. Just friends, lights, music, and food.

"Okay," Rin suddenly said, stuffing a fry in her mouth, "What's next on the festival schedule?"

Neil pulled up his holo-tab. "We've got night events—a VR battle royale, a mystery hunt, and a lightshow performance."

"Any of those sound fun to you, Orion?" Cas asked, nudging him with her elbow.

Orion smirked. "You think I care? I just work here."

Rin snorted. "Bro, none of us work here."

Cas shook her head. "You know what, screw it. Let's just do whatever feels right."

Neil smiled."Hell yeah, guys!"