Curse the Mainframe! 6 Sub-Mission: Unlock!

The next day, Alec was woken early by his mother. Squinting with bleary eyes, he wondered why she had woken him. Usually, she left him alone since he woke up by himself, with the exception of his first birthday, which was only two days ago.

Was something happening again today?

"Mother?"

"Alec, dear, it's time to wake up. Remember that today, you must smile no matter what, okay? Remember how we practiced yesterday?"

Alec was baffled by these instructions but nodded in understanding. Looks like they were indeed going somewhere today. Had he not read the book last night, he might not have taken her advice to heart, but now, he maintained caution.

Annalise hid the relief that she felt, smiling at her son, but was not reassured. How could she say it… his smile was just… too fake! There was nothing she could do except make him practice more! They were already running out of time!

"Now, get up. Look at the mirror, and practice. I've put it next to your cupboard. I'll go get breakfast!"

At the sound of the door closing, Alec got up out of bed and rushed to get ready for the day. Thankfully, everything was placed in a position for him to easily reach. He never hated being so tiny so much, but life had to go on. He wouldn't be small forever.

Standing in front of the mirror, Alec studied his reflection for the first time.

Unlike this mother and uncle's soft, brown hair, Alec instead had a head full of black hair, though the texture seemed to reflect his family's. Similar to his mother and uncle, he held the same facial shape, high cheekbones and striking blue eyes.

Objectively, he was quite cute, if he had to say so himself. There was certainly nothing to complain about.

Then, Alec smiled… and stopped smiling.

He turned around, shocked. What did he just see in the mirror… no wonder his mother kept forcing him to smile!

But… how did a person smile!? He turned back to the mirror and tried again, utilising the muscles in his cheeks… and flinched.

How horrifying!

Not good… he tried again, and this time didn't reflexively drop the smile, staring at every detail in the mirror.

Why was it that his smile seemed so unnatural and fake…? Subjectively, he looked like a miniature version of his mother, just with black hair, but why was it that the feelings their smiles gave off were so different.

He studied his reflection. The angle of the smile was the same as his mother, just a small, soft smile… but his eyes looked like they wanted to devour someone alive.

Alec coughed, trying to decrease the ferocity that he saw in the mirror.

Mm… it was slightly better.

Alec closed his eyes and tried to maintain a zen-like state, sinking into a realm of peace and serenity. Then, he opened his eyes and smiled again, trying to imitate his mother, and finally succeeded!

The reflection in the mirror showed a soft, sunny and gentle boy, who looked like he could do no harm.

Alec inwardly flinched at the reflection, this time because he couldn't believe that was him. Generally, Alec was… how to put it. To quote incompetent System No.00142950, 'A short-tempered grump that looked like he'd never smiled in his entire life.'

The poor System practiced again and again until the smile came naturally to him. Though he could understand now why his mother had forced him to try so many times yesterday, that didn't mean he enjoyed it!

Annalise re-entered the room with two maids behind her, carrying their breakfast.

"Mother," Alec greeted, flashing his smile.

Annalise swooned. How adorable! How lethal! Was she really going to send her baby out there with this angelic little smile?! How many kidnappers would she have to fend off!?

"Good morning, Cecil, Leanna."

"Good morning, young master," both maids chirped, putting down the breakfast on their table, before leaving hurriedly without saying anything else.

Alec stared after them in confusion. Usually, they liked to linger around and chat with his mother, but today they just rushed off.

Annalise coughed, hiding her smile.

Outside the room, far down the hallway, the two maids clutched each other and gasped. "The young master… was he always that devastatingly cute!?"

"It… it can't be, right? Have we always ignored such a cutie!?"

"That smile he gave us was so sweet! Ahhh, luckily, we ran in time. I almost wanted to pinch those cheeks!"

"Right? Me too!"

The two maids shut up when the Clan Master brushed past them, bowing respectfully. Then, they left to continue their daily duties.

Both Annalise and Alec looked up as they heard the familiar knocks just heard the day before.

Right as the knocking faded, Vincent entered the room.

"Sister. Alec," he greeted shortly.

"Brother."

"Good morning, uncle."

Faced with Alec's smile, Vincent's eyes widened slightly. His nephew's smile looked almost exactly like a reflection of his sister's. Inwardly, he marvelled. Genes were terrifying.

Of course, what Vincent didn't know was that Annalise's description of Alec was 'her grumpy baby', and even if he did know, he would have wondered what was going through his sister's mind.

Alec stared at his uncle, trying his best to maintain his reflection of his mother's smile. So many questions were popping to mind. Why was his uncle here? Hadn't he come just yesterday? The man hadn't even come to visit in the whole year since he'd been born. There had to be some underlying reason why he came two days in a row.

"Done with breakfast?"

Alec nodded, and his mother stood up, going over to hug him. She sighed softly.

"I can't believe this is happening so quickly. I still thought that I would have a few years," she pouted.

Vincent laughed dryly. "I don't think anyone would have imagined that it would happen this quick. It's too bad he's not a Bright."

Annalise gave a tight smile.

Alec looked between the two adults, still not sure what was happening.

Vincent held a hand out to Alec, waiting until he took it. "Now then, we have a big day ahead of us."

Alec looked back at his mother, still unsure where this was going. "Mother?"

Annalise nodded at her son. "Go with your uncle. Didn't you learn about Societypes yesterday?"

Alec felt shocked. How?

Vincent and Annalise chuckled at the startled look on the toddler's face, feeling fond and reminiscent. They had the same reaction when they went through it themselves.

"Didn't you move to your own room yesterday? In the Neil Clan, it's a tradition for children who reach one year old to move out from staying with their parents into their own room. The door is always left slightly open at night. One, to prevent any mishaps, and two, a traditional test set by the Ancestor of the Neils."

Suddenly, everything clicked into place. The way that the door was left slightly ajar, the way his mother so easily gave into his requests to move into his own room. The way she had shown him the study several times, whilst the maid sometimes left comments with the words 'Societype' and 'Magitype'. The way the helpful books in the study were easily within a child's reach! The slight glow of the lamp in the study, even though it was already late at night, where all the lights should have been off!

Everything added up!

Seeing his widened eyes, both adults laughed. Yes, this was the feeling. They had reacted in the same way after going through it themselves.

"When a member of the Neil Clan goes out to seek information for themselves, not just relying on others to feed them information, then we consider them ready to learn more about our world, Incantix."

Alec stared at them. What a bunch of sneaky adults! But… he liked it! How interesting! This was what he was talking about! No more laying around feeling perpetually bored!

"Today's the first day those who've passed the test this year will gather for the start of their studies. I'm sure your mother was very shocked when she woke up this morning."

Annalise laughed. "Indeed, I was. You have no idea how shocked I was when I got notice."

Annalise patted her back. Luckily, she woke up early to drill her son how to smile properly! It would have been disastrous had the news that her son was a Sin got out! Discrimination that Sins faced were no laughing matter.

Alec and Vincent headed towards the door, stepping out, quickly disappearing from her sight. The worried mother hid all her feelings as she saw him off.

Alec tugged slightly at his uncle's hand. "Uncle, how old are the others?"

Vincent looked down at his nephew, slightly worried, but just as anticipatory. "Most are around seven or eight."

Alec stared at his uncle with wide eyes. Oh, boy. This was not going to be good.

Then, of course, like how the universe liked to fuck with him, he heard the Mainframe's voice in his ears.

[Sub-Mission Unlocked]

[Requirements Met]

[Character Card: Alecris Aeden Neil]

[Character Type: Gentle]

[Sub-Mission: Maintain Character Type!]

[OOC Warning: -100 points]

Ah, fuck!

Chapter end

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