Chapter Forty-Eight – La Blue Lucy

Chapter Forty-Eight – La Blue Lucy

“–But my combat drones are purring as they patrol your floor…
Each Missile-Launcher’s Whisker-Triggered
That’s what they’re for
And every Mech suit’s got Cat Ears
But wait, there’s more…”

–Lyrics to Meow-aggeddon, by Kuroi, 2057

***

I had class again the next day, but I couldn’t remember what it was until we landed. Pol Sci. Again. I was thoroughly bored with the class before it even started, but Lucy had a growing girl-crush on Professor Roswell, and I was always there to support Lucy.

The old bat did have some weird charisma to her. She clearly didn’t have a solitary fuck to give about the students or whether or not they could keep up, but at the same time, she loved her subject and was the sort of weirdo that didn’t mind yapping on for hours on end about their special interest.

I stifled a few yawns throughout, but the lesson was still kind of interesting, it’s just that I cared so little about the subject that it was hard to keep up.

Lucy followed along, though, and even asked a few questions that didn’t set Roswell off on rants.

There were, apparently, two schools of thought with it came to political science. How things were according to the books (which is usually how they were in reality for like, a majority of people) and then the truth.

I didn’t need an expensive course to be told that politics ran and hid under the bed the moment someone with a gun walked into the room.

There were some attempts, apparently throughout human history, to formalize and create rules around violence, but the people who were really bothered by that were also the sorts of people who couldn’t take a punch to the jaw.

“So, you think she’s hot?” I asked as I leaned to the side.

Lucy smiled. I think she wanted to giggle, but also didn’t want the teacher’s attention. She leaned in a little closer as well. “Yeah. She’s got that hot teacher with a crop style going on.”

“Mhm,” I agreed. “And you wouldn’t mind if she used it on you?”

“Cat, we both know that I’m the one that does the cropping,” Lucy said.

I cleared my throat and sat back up while trying not to let my face look too warm. I did pay some more attention to the class after that. Professor Roswell answered one of Lucy’s questions about gangs and interference in the political system from small grass-roots organizations by going on a long rant that only ended three minutes after the bell rang.

I ran off to Professor Roger’s class right after. We had a lesson when I arrived that was entirely classwork and theory, no physical exercise. It was, however, split up by a wargame.

The professor had us play some combat game in teams of two versus two. It was something like one of those real-time strategy games, but super simplified. A top-down view of coloured circles moving on a simple geometric battlefield with controls so easy a toddler could figure them out.

Not quite checkers level simple, but not too far from it. Still, I got the idea he was trying to convey, and I figured something like this was a good way to show things to people that had no experience with games like it. Which… I was kind of included in. I knew about RTS games from cultural osmosis, but it wasn’t my kind of thing.

It was pretty fun, despite the teacher trying to hammer in the lessons we were supposed to be learning. I did like the more hands-on-ish aspect of it. It at least made class slip by faster.

When I was out, I found Lucy–and about twenty hangers-on–waiting in the corridors just outside. It seemed like she’d decided to make use of the time where I was busy with class to spread her evil tentacles around.

We said hi, did some PDA that was probably against some rules, then started back towards the Bastion. “What’re you up to next?” Lucy asked.

“I’ve got some time to spare, I was thinking maybe I’d go and check up on Tankette,” I said. “I have no idea what she’s up to, but the others have found ways to get into some trouble so maybe she needs help? Or maybe she’s minding her own and doesn’t need it at all, but still…”

“Aren’t you going to check up on Princess and Knight too?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, sure,” I replied.

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Lucy bumped her shoulder against mine. “Are you avoiding doing that because you’re secretly nervous about Princess and her weird obsession with you?”

“No,” I said. I might have said it too quickly, though, because Lucy had one of those clever grins on. “Don’t look into it too hard. I’ll visit her tomorrow. Or the day after if I’m busy. Or this weekend, if there’s time for it.”

“You’re cute,” Lucy said.

“Oh, shut up,” I grumbled. I wasn’t afraid of Princess. I could fold that girl with one punch, and she wasn’t scary besides. Just… very, very awkward to talk to.