Curse the Mainframe! 379 Alex Fields' Camp

That night, Nicholas didn't move a single inch, while Alex slept peacefully.

Listening to Alex's peaceful breaths, Nicholas felt tumultuous feelings swirling inside him, the main feelings being fear and worry.

Just what was happening here?

Nicholas couldn't make heads or tails of it. Everything had been going swimmingly until that night.

He had only been here for a week, but now that Alex had intruded into his life, he was suddenly in a situation that he didn't think he could get out of any time soon.

He knew that this place wasn't as innocent as it seemed, but it never occurred to him that it went so much deeper than he originally thought.

When he'd heard the door creak open, along with the ball that rolled into the room, he had immediately held his breath.

Five minutes wasn't too long, but any longer than that, he would have effectively succumbed. But since he didn't know what the gas that was coming out of the ball was, he didn't dare to be relaxed. For all he knew, it was poison.

Nicholas had made sure not to keep his body relaxed so he could quickly make a move while they were caught off guard, but the following situation surprised him so much that he had no chance to open his eyes.

He thought that they would 'take care' of him first since he was the weaker link, but to his surprise, it was someone who had a hand in authority at the academy itself instead of being another student here.

This… shattered the logic that he seemed to have understood while he stayed here.

While he knew that Alex Fields had been strong from the single day that they spent together, this was the first time that he felt such acute fear and confusion.

When the woman had crashed into his bed post, it had taken all his control to stop the flinch that wanted to surface.

It wasn't a conscious decision or anything, but his instincts had always been good, and they told him to keep his head down, to pretend that he wasn't awake.

Luckily, he had been facing the wall, so even though his brows furrowed, it wasn't visible. Of course, having his back to them had the added effect of making his back feel cold.

His heart thundering in his chest, but he could still hear the conversation between the two people as clear as day.

The woman had clearly been confrontational against Alex earlier, but now she was calling him 'master' and answering his questions with the utmost reverence.

It left him terrified and doubtful.

He didn't understand. Wasn't Alex like them?

Was that really how they determined that transmigrators appeared?

Did that mean that there was a whole other world out there that had no idea about the existence of transmigrators on their planet at all?

Were all the things that had been taught to them from the academy lies?

What was the so-called brand that she was here to strengthen? What did it do? How did it affect them, if someone had to enter in the middle of the night while making sure they were asleep to do it?

What did he do to that woman, that she was acting like this all of a sudden?

Hypnosis? Or something worse? Mind control?

Had he already been affected by Alex as well?

Nicholas was so confused and lost.

He had never experienced a life-threatening situation like this before, and he didn't know how to react to it. Especially when the perceived threat was so near to him.

The door opened and shut again as the woman walked out on her own two feet, leaving them in silence.

There was the rustling of sheets as Alex stood up, and Nicholas almost held his breath from the tenseness of it.

And when Alex had brushed his fingers across his nape, he felt chills run up and down his arms. His hair was standing on end. For some reason, he felt like death was touching him from behind.

His fingers were so damn cold!

"Make sure not a single word gets out of your mouth," Alex said, his cold fingertips brushing against the back of Nicholas' neck.

Nicholas couldn't stop the shiver that wreaked his body, and he nodded just the slightest amount, not even doubting that the other teen knew that he was awake.

How he knew, he had no idea, but he had no intention of ending up like that woman who had snuck into their dorm room.

Alex had some sort of mind control powers that could cause a person to change their entire being – the woman even acted like her religion had been converted to Alex Fields, for fuck's sake!

Would Alex do the same thing to him if he even placed a single step out of line?

What was he trying to do here?

Nicholas came from a planet where everything was peaceful. There were wars, sure, but they were far from his everyday life, leaving him ignorant.

And you all knew what they said about ignorance. It was bliss, of course, and Nicholas felt that way keenly right now.

It took him hours to drift into an uneasy sleep. Every time he heard the rustling of the sheets, he jolted back awake.

The next day, when he woke up, his eyebags were worse than ever. His eyes were dry and flaky, and his mind was dull.

In comparison, Alex Fields woke up like he hadn't had an entire secret interrogation the night before, looking as fresh as a daisy.

For a moment, Nicholas felt a stab of anger at that before he deflated hopelessly.

He couldn't even beat Alex in a fight. What was he going to do? Tell the instructors?

He valued his life, thank you.

More than that, the interrogation that Alex carried out made him terribly curious, an emotion that was familiar to him. Very familiar.

He had allowed that curiosity to burn him more than once.

They all said that curiosity killed the cat. But satisfaction brought it back.

There was a chance that Nicholas was playing with his life here, but he couldn't stop himself.

That was why, before they left the room, Nicholas spoke up.

"Alex…" he trailed off, not sure how to put it into words.

"Hm?" Alex said, looking in his direction.

Nicholas hesitated slightly. "Will you include me in your plans?"

Alex's eyes narrowed, and Nicholas wondered if he'd made a mistake. He hurriedly backtracked. "Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to-"

"Sure," Alex said, cutting him off.

Nicholas almost couldn't believe it.

"Really?"

Alex raised a brow, smiling at him. Nicholas shivered, feeling like there was an inexplicable sense of something under that gentleness that Alex showed. Especially after the last night, where his voice had sounded so cold.

"Yes. Why not?" Alex said.

"But… why? Aren't you afraid that I'll tell the instructors?"

Alex smiled mysteriously. "Maybe. But I don't think you will, will you?"

Nicholas shook his head hard, his hair flying in random directions, slapping his cheeks. "No, no! I won't!"

"Then what's the problem?"

Alex strode out the door, leaving Nicholas staring at his back in stupefaction.

"Huh? Just like that?"

Nicholas hurriedly caught up with the other teen, making big strides.

He thought that the other would put some sort of mind control on him to prevent him telling anyone.

At this point, Nicholas gasped loudly, causing even more eyes to be drawn to him, but he didn't notice.

Could it be that he was already under mind control?! Then… he didn't have anything to worry about, right?

Anyway, he was already in Alex Fields' camp!

Of course, he was scared of death. Who wasn't? But this was a rare chance for him to be able to satisfy his curiosity, and he wouldn't let it pass up.

He wanted to see what else this world had to offer. It couldn't just be this academy, with its barbaric rules and strict instructions.

The people here had all degraded to a point where Nicholas wondered if they were really transmigrators like him as well.

They were all like savages who only knew how to go after someone else like a shark smelling blood in the water.

There had to be something that was causing them all to act that way.

He didn't believe it was all normal.

Luckily, Alex Fields seemed like he had some of the answers.

Chapter end

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