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“What do they say?” you ask Ida.

“Well, some say she’s the daughter of Admin Vanitas, and she was trained from a very young age to be a powerful technopath, so of course she’d be better than any of us contractors...”

“Is that so?” you say, looking up at 7, her pale skin, augmented magenta eyes, and hair dyed light blue. “I’ve never seen any of the Admins, but then, can’t even guess at her natural appearance.”

“But others,” Ida says, lowering her voice, “say she isn’t really her child, but Admin Vanitas found her someplace, and then… experimented on her, untested technopath augments, genetic modification…”

“Where do you hear these things?” you say.

She looks around before answering softly, “Disjointed whispers in the ætherglow.”

Your eyes go wide and snap to her direction at this.

“Or not, I really heard it from Kaj.” She points to a boy across the room. “He knows something about everyone.”

“Oh really, what does Kaj say about me?” you say.

“That you’re secretly dating a second year girl.”

“I see… Then maybe regarding 7 he’s picked up a few details but not the whole story,” you say. “The second half is a little out there, but maybe she is an Admin’s kid and had special training.”

“Aydan.” 7 looks down at you expectantly.

“Okay...” You pull yourself to your feet, still a little lightheaded. “Again?”

“Ready,” 7 says. She’s at the edge of your mind before you have a chance to answer.