What The Hell Is Akane Sen
What The Hell Is Akane Sen
Part 1
Paleon Singh sighs as he looks up at the sky. It was a good day on the grass lawn on Gregoria State University to laze around, after three weeks of starting lessons as a newbie lecturer. He rocks on his ass on the grass a little. Unfortunately, the bursar had just confronted him on his workload. Specifically, he was short of one class.
The rotund old lady, Mabel, had put it to him matter of factly. "Unfortunately, if you don't meet the minimum teaching hour requirement, we will be forced to report you to Population Managment in the Government and Personnel Resources at the General Faculty, and you will probably find yourself back on the next flight out of Gregoria in a matter of days or weeks without a job."
Paleon had meekly protested. "But I'm already teaching ten hours of classes, plus the administrative stuff required to support them! That's like... thirty five hours, Mabel. Surely you can't expect me to teach another class? What about work-life balance?!"
Mabel doesn't seem to care about Paleon's agony, calmly looking through some papers. "By all rights it should be forty hours a week. But you forgot the half an hour we count every teaching day for lunch, that's about 2 and a half hours. If you audit just one class, attendance plus review of your notes in private will bring you up to within an hour of the requirement, which is where we can start granting leeway provided your performance is satisfactory in your classes."
Paleon groans. It was Friday and he had not audited a class. None of them had appealed to his vibe. Fortunately, Friday afternoons tended to be reserved for 'slacker classes' - classes for 'easy win' lesson units intended to pad out students' enrolments to get them past the watchful eyes of Population Management. He badly needed the class he would choose to be that easy - teaching cybernetics-related lessons was really taxing on the brain, generally. He flips through the virtual booklet for auditable classes open to him briefly, then notices a class that runs twice a week by a guest lecturer named 'Akane Sen' on the history of electronics.
Huh. Why not? Paleon muses, it could be fun to see someone flail on ancient prehistory. It was a common unit that cybernetics students took, but nobody seriously tried hard to teach it or learn it, ever. He hit the 'audit' button and stood up to head to his choice of audit.
The lecture hall is pretty much stuffed full of students and several other auditing folks, a bit noisy too. people were busy chatting in cliques, lazing around, and just about having fun since it was the last lecture slot of the week. Paleon opens his favorite paper notebook and puts his pen on the lined paper. It is a habit that has served him well ever since he was a youngling, and he hopes that he might at least learn one or two things before the afternoon is out.
A curvaceous Nihon lady walks out onto the stage, stuffed barely into a stereotypical teacher's collarblock dress in dull pink with white collar and accents. The outfit fits mostly, but her bosom is bountiful enough that there is a hint of cleavage. She sways her hips a little as she prepares some notes, causing some of the audience to switch their attention from each other to checking her out.
"Ahem" A dulcet voice cuts into the noise of the hall, silencing it. "Greetings, my name is Akane Sen, and as I have mentioned the previous two times this week for this lesson, I will be covering a brief history of basic electronics in this lecture. This will not be an examinable subject for most of you, but I hope you will pay attention and hopefully learn something about the past that grounds much of today's human technology."
Akane walks from the lectern to one side of the stage to direct the audience's attention to a brief self-intro slide, inadvertently directing some of that attention to her rounded butt. "Just a brief intro. Again, I'm Akane Sen, Teaching Aide at the General Faculty of Payden Beach University in New South Harales. I have been teaching various subjects for... ten years."
A wag yells "WHAT ARE YOUR VITAL STATISTICS!?", earning him a rebuking glance from some of the lecturers in attendance, plus a loud bout of raucous laughter.
Akane pauses briefly and taps out a few things on her teachpad. The slide quicky switches to a reply.
Vital Statistics None of Your Goddamn Business But I'm a bit of a heavy chick, I'll admit that. The laughter gets even louder, as Akane deadpans. "You people always ask this question at least once every semester, the first time you take one of my classes. At this point, I can't even be bothered to be angry, just disappointed and prepared. Be advised this will be the last time I humor this query. Anyways!"
The laughter quietens down. This isn't going to be a taxing lesson certainly.
The slide switches back to the topic. "Well, anyway, hold on to your hats, because we are going to be serious. Yes I know it's a Friday afternoon and you want to hit the pub later, but that's why we ended with this class this week. Let's start in 1896 AD, which is a Ancient Earth term meaning Year of our Lord...."
Barely over an hour later, there is a tinge of regret hanging in the air amongst the audience, as they stare at a thick sheaf of notes amongst those with a note-taking habit, and a agitated realisation that someone is taking their job a little too seriously.
Akane taps her papers on the lectern. "And that as they say, is that. Now if you have any further enquiries on this topic, please speak to any of the lecturers in the Tech Faculty who work on the hard-material sciences. Mainly because I'll have forgotten entirely everything I've just spoken on this topic." There is an awkward pause as the crowd laughs again. "No, really, try me, I probably will really have forgotten most of it. Ta." She waves and starts making her way out of the lecture hall.
Paleon rubs his head as he stares at his notes. That talk was... intense. full of side avenues and anecdotes and stuff. One of the lecturers behind him asks "who the hell is this Akane Sen? I thought it was just a pseudonym people who didn't want to post their names on articles used at Payden Beach..."
Another asks a more relevant (at least to them) question. "What the hell is Akane Sen?"
Paleon decides to find out more himself. He knows where the General Faculty is, in the middle of Gregoria State University, but he still has to ask for directions later because he obviously doesn't know where the guest lecturers' office is.
When he opens the door to the guest lecturers' office, he finds several mostly empty tables - most guest lecturers spend less than a month on campus and usually avail themselves of the off-site working options, so their assigned table is mostly used for pre-arranged meetings and student hours. And since it's Friday evening, nobody seriously wants to do anything but go home or go knock down a few cold brews in the heat of Gregoria's enroaching summer.
Nobody, that is, except Akane Sen. She is busy working through a few sheafs of notes, typing them into a proper keyboard tied into her teachpad. Her fingers buzz through the keys like a machine gun, eyes shifting nonstop left and right. To one side is a shingle listing a teacher's website apparently belonging to her, presumably for notes and other additional materials related to her lessons.
Paleon gives a soft 'ahem' to get her notice.
Akane blinks, her hands stopping after a second or two. She looks up and smiles. "Oh, hello, there. May I help you?"
Paleon shifts a little. "Erm... I'm one of the first-year cybernetics teachers. Paleon. Paleon Singh. I just wanted to enquire about the class you just taught today as part of my audit, and also to thank you for making it so educational."
Akane grins. "it was my pleasure! Anyhow, what questions do you have? Just one though, I'm actually getting ready to go home."
Paleon leafs through his notes, again marvelling at how much material was covered in so little time. "it was very dense... how long have you had an interest in electronics generally?"
Akane replies matter of factly: "Since last Saturday afternoon, actually."
Paleon blinks hard, he did not just hear that shit. "I beg your pardon?!"
"I started reading up on electronics last Saturday afternoon after a good overnight break to forget my previous classes on... what was it again... oh yes, the chemistry reactions behind baking French pastries and breads as part of a course on cooking." Akane blinks, looking serious about what she just said.
Paleon puts down his notes. "You cannot be serious, Ms Sen. nobody learns that fast."
Akane frowns a little, looking away. "And nobody forgets that fast. yet here I am. I have a neural disorder that lets me do both. Just give me the books you need me to read up to by Friday morning and I can easily get a hold on most of it. In fact, my website is pretty much the only way I have any long-term memory or can offer any help after I forget by Saturday morning."
Paleon rubs his temples. "That is the wackiest nonsense I have ever heard in my admittedly short career in university. You're not just making up an excuse?"
Akane shrugs. "It is what it is, my mind's traded off remembering much older stuff for remembering things fast and briefly." She pauses to tap out a few more words, before tapping the screen to save off her work and slapping her portable terminal shut. "Aaaand done for the day. Ta!" She smiles as she gets up, holding a hand out. "It was nice talking to you, Paleon Singh, but I'm a bit of a homebody so I'm going to go back to my bunk now."
Paleon nods as he shakes Akane's hand. The moment Akane steps out of sight, he quickly taps out the address on her table onto his teachpad to read the site... "My god, she's not joking." He stares at a long, carefully ordered set of sections by year and topics as all across the wazoo from the history of electronics to various chemistry and higher-order mathematics and science subjects. He doesn't have the knowledge to vet most of it, but a lot of it is clear and concise, plus it is really all over the place in terms of what is covered.
Paleon shakes his head. What is Akane Sen?
Peter Sen wakes up the same time as he always has since he fought wars. 4am, to be exact. He does a few stretches, gets into the shower, has a good scrub up and shaves carefully. Nope, he still gets a nick. He laments and sighs. If only his wife were here to help him get a good safe shave down. But he HAD assigned her overseas for a semester, and she still regularly reported back by video call on Friday afternoons, so there was that.
He walks back into his room and pulls the covers off totally, exposing a voluptuous, young, dark-skinned woman in a sheer white bra and panty set, with a matching sheer robe tied together by just a thin rope. He examines his bedmate for a moment, before saying the usual words. "Six, override command: wake."
Peter calmly watches as the sybarite he just slept to for the past night slowly rises from her sleep like Frankenstein's monster, arms at her sides as her back slowly bends up to the whirr of things coming online. Once, this would have aroused him maybe a little. Sadly however, he'd been neutered by years of it happening every morning, and the fact that it wasn't his wife by his side.
The woman's eyes open slowly, her immaculate yet unmade-up lips twitching to match the words. "Acady Mark Four Teaching Aide, activating. Error: academic institution not assigned. Error: site contact not assigned. Identity: Unit Six. Awaiting command." It spoke in a richly accented woman's voice. Peter Sen couldn't quite place the ethnicity of it. As with all the previous units, he had simply rolled the dice, with very few specifics given on the appearance they would have once he'd placed the accompanying flesh shell, vocal synthesiser and hair growth unit on.
In fact, until their first assigned work location had been assigned, their names were the only first firm identity they had. No false history, no quirks, no habits. Like a puppet freshly made out of cardboard, they were.
Peter didn't think too much of the details, he just wanted a breakfast and to check anything that had happened overnight. And he did not want to leave the breakfast to Six - barely out of the box, Acady Teaching Aide androids were some of the worst cooks you could possibly have in a unit with a tongue."Six," he commands, "go to my office room and get me any printouts from the overnight printer."
Six bows slowly and walks out of the bedroom with an even pace, her wide hips swaying from side to side. Peter follows her briefly, swearing that it wasn't for that view, before splitting off to the kitchen to start up some Quinoaflakes and milk.
The smell of the flakes pouring into the milk reminded him so much of home back where they made them on Archigan, though this brand wasn't it... didn't taste as good either, he reflects, standing around in only his trousers.
One day, he would have to let go of a lot of things he could get away with right now, when the startup got too big and Berequel Customs insisted on his presence in the office on a regular basis, surrounded by such uglies as Personnel Resources, actual human colleagues who might get offended or too handy with the product, and extra people between him and the CEO who'd approved the initial idea and given him the expenses needed to get the first few units off the ground. His wife had proven quite a blessing in selling the feasibility of the idea behind Berequel EducationalAssist. (he was briefly tempted to put his name on it, but decided he still needed to keep a low profile because of bad vibes back home.
But right now, having a sybarite dressed in next to nothing standing by his side (even if it was a mere plastic doll and not his wife), a bowl of quinoaflakes, and a traditional sheaf of printout paper rather than the workpads so many people preferred in his hands, life seemed perfect. He looked down the paper and smiled at the thought... that is, until he got to the entry printed in bright red:
3. Hailey - Sumifrugattu Technical College - Attempted Physical Assault On Unit
He looks up from the printout, his morning ruined. He looks further down to check that Margot (formerly Unit 2) and Amarie (formerly Unit 4) weren't in any trouble as well (they weren't), before looking at Six. "Six, switch to teaching uniform and meet me inside the office."
He curses a little. Isabel (formerly Unit 5) and Akane (his wife) weren't due to report in till later today, but he hoped this was all the bad news that would be coming, as he decides to finish his quinoaflakes before making the phone call he didn't want to make
Part 2
Peter Sen is soon in his office chair, taking a few deep breaths. He hated red in his overnight reports. it meant that somewhere, an entire system intended to keep an android happy in her sleeper mode had failed, whether it was the android itself, the machines and staff in charge of its maintenance, or the environment of the college that had been allowed their services. That in turn would also lead to a failure in the android's ability to service its academic institution properly. He picks at his tie briefly. "Six, is my tie put on properly?
Six briefly looks at Peter's blazer and tie combo... "Your tie is about 90% of the way to full recommended practice, would you like me to redo it for you?"
Peter shakes his head, and sighs. His wife would have just chided him and forced his fingers on the tie if it wasn't done in a way she considered proper. No numbers given, no mention of 'standard practices'. He'd have to make to with this though. "No thanks... Six, what time is it locally in Sumifrugattu Tech College's location?"
Six pauses briefly. "... the time would be approximately 2.53pm."
Peter is trying not to wake someone in the middle of the night even if he really has to on this matter... "Six, dial out a video call to the Site Contact for the college."
Six nods. "Dialing.... Error, unable to reach Site Contact. Should I attempt anyone else?"
Peter shuffles his fingers together as he leans back in the chair. "Get me their backup... head of tech support."
Six nods. "Dialling... video call established." She announces, as a harried-looking dark-toned man appears. "Well I don't have to tell you twice! Get additional security in before we lose any more good people!" The man yells offstage, before putting on a faint smile and looking back at Peter over the camera. "Sumifrugattu Tech College - tech support department, Department Guy Iram speaking!"
Peter rubs his head. He is REALLY suspecting the worst here. "Iram... where is Johnoh? You know, your official Site Contact and daily maintenance overseer for erm... Hailey?"
The guy on the other side looks around, fidgeting. "I shouldn't be telling.... the principal told me not to. it's a private matter..."
Peter sighs. "Iram, Iram... I thought we had an agreement that if there was any problems with the TeachAide program in your college... we'd be honest with each other about those problems... Now, where is Johnoh, please put him on..."
Peter can literally hear a wall cracking as Iram suddenly breaks down in front of the videocall. "Is terrible! Johnoh escorting Miss Hailey to school! Bad crowd attack car! Drag him out! Drag Miss Hailey out! Use sticks on them!" Iram's command of Galactic Standard takes a tumble from the stress and upset. "Johnoh barely breathing! Miss Hailey.... Miss Hailey... how many pieces? GUYS! How many pieces!?"
Peter facepalms. "Sweet Fucking Chezratoh." This is it, almost the absolute worst case scenario that he didn't want. "Forget Miss Hailey. We'll send a team to do major repairs or replacement. Is Johnoh going to be okay!?"
Iram shakes his head, sniffling tears. "Don't know. Doctor say touch and go. Tomorrow show result."
Peter nods slowly. "Rooting for you, guys. We'll send whatever help we can. End call." The video call clicks off, leaving Peter staring at the work screen of his terminal. He doesn't feel like working at the moment though.
"Six, alert Berequel Customs of this incident. They may need two teams in. One for medical trauma on the Site Contact, and one for major repairs... no, add a third team for forensics work." Peter doesn't want to doubt Sumifrugattu, but he needs to be absolutely sure of the situation and frankly, just one guy sobbing on a video call frantically and one final transmission isn't going to cut it.
Six nods. "Acknowledged. I have sent the message. Sir, if I may say something to reassure you?"
Peter sighs. "I don't think you have sufficient programming yet to pull that kind of thing off, but feel free to try."
Six pauses. "Sumifrugattu is a tribal zone with an exceedingly high rate of misogyny and low quality of life due to its backward-going policies on women and technology. Sumifrugattu Tech College is an outlier in both regards. This attack, if true, may have been a backlash by outsiders against the, quote, heretical, unquote, behaviors of its staffers and students, especially in regards to having a mechanical woman be involved in their education. We should assess any penalties as a result of this occurrence fairly, both as a result of their carelessness as well as their otherwise progressive efforts to improve women's rights and embrace of technologies."
Peter blinks hard and glances back at Six's stuffed pinafore bosom, then at her face. "That was... an incredibly nuanced summary of this shitstorm. Have you been reading up?"
Six nods slowly. "Mikipendium must be read with caution and paired with other sources of information, but I have found it useful for a first exploration of anything, including the environment surrounding our client colleges. Inference and merging of data to create information of relevance is also part of your design of my intelligence, Peter."
Peter sighs faintly as he watches the final seconds of Hailey in first-person, looking at people beating up a guy next to her while lying in down, camera crazed over with heavy static from severe damage, before cutting out totally. He quickly shuts down the video before it loops yet another time. "That was a decent run. but I don't think you could tell me if I did wrong sending Hailey to Sumifrugattu."
Six tilts her head, as if in sympathy. "It is not my place to criticise if my masters have failed in their decisions in any way. I was just offering a read of the situation."
Peter glances at Six and goes back to typing out the incident report. "I would have appreciated that however harsh it was..."
Part 3
Akane Sen walks into her assigned bunk in the dimness of the evening, pausing to pull the curtains and check that doors are properly locked before walking into the kitchenette, slowly stripping her pinafore off, followed by her dainty little lace panties and bra, before checking herself into the nice large cylindrical shower cubicle next to the bathroom. She briefly paused, thinking about doing something else as well... "Phone, dial home to Peter." She waited a little impatiently, feeling the rainwater splash her silken skin.
The phone call came through at a pretty late hour. Unlike the other persons involved in the EducationalAssist program, Peter had a special fondness and had specially required Akane to call home. It wasn't just the excuse of a husband missing his wife, he'd reasoned. The cubicle was also fitted a little differently to ensure Akane remained in good health until she came home to his arms. "Hey hun," Her dulcet tone comes down the line. "Y'sleepy right now?"
Peter Sen drowsily lifts himself up, having slept in his chair specially to wait for this call, his fingers typing something out by habit. "Always dear, always when you wake me up at 2am in the morning..."
Akane ohs. "... well, should I call back later? I didn't mean to wake you up from sleeping."
Peter Sen laughs. "Oh goodness... no, let's do it now... are things okay at Gregoria right now for you?'
Akane would have given the world for a camera to be available right now. even though it might show much more of her than decorum should allow. She smiles mildly, going "uh huh. The usual things are happening like they do every semester. immature idiots pestering me in class about my bust, hips and waist, people falling sick from the summer coming in full force, the eyes roaming all over me.... I'm getting fed well in the library and the cafeteria. Two books a day, and two bowls of rice a meal, plus great meats and vegetable stuff. I might get fatter if I keep going like this."
Peter Sen deadpans. "Oh, my sweet angel. I don't think you'll gain weight eating all that food if you burn them exercising... like reading lots of books." it was true, he thought, once you accounted for the food and drink in her stomach, it would be impossible for her to gain or lose more than a few grams on a weighing scale. She was perfect like that... He reads the results of the cubicle scanner and leans back satisfied. Just a few minor niggles and problems, nothing that couldn't wait till she got home to New South Harales to get fixed.
Akane rolls her eyes. "Oh you cheeky- hehehehe.... maybe you should try that diet too."
The daily books also helped keep a certain quirk with her mind under control. It was a bad day when she had a headache from not getting enough input from everything she saw and felt around her, a worse day when that led to her having very nasty thoughts.
Peter protests. "Well it doesn't work for me! I got a slight beer belly even after downsizing my meals and reading lots of work material." He seems a bit upset by this.
Akane Sen suggests something. "Well, when I get home, we could go for a long ride and help you burn some of it off."
Peter rolls his eyes, knowing he's about to set himself up for something he should know better to avoid. "What are we riding?"
Akane points at herself, before slowly rubbing the finger against the glass of the cubicle, wishing she could see him. "I'm. Riding. You."
A yelp of mock disgust comes back through the phone at Akane. "URRRGH... ... okay, fine, I set myself up good for that. It's on me." Peter notes softly, not a trace of anger left in his voice, in fact, he's feeling something different right now.
Peter Sen glances down at his pants, now tenting at the thought of doing precisely that with Akane. Given the current setup, that's a problem. "Erm... listen, I really show get to bed now."
Akane Looks up. "yeah, me too. The rainwater tank in this shower won't last forever while I talk to you. *faint kissing noise* Sweet dreams, hon. Ta."
Peter grins. "Yeah, Akane... see you in December."
Peter Sen hangs up on Akane Sen, relaxing in the warm glow of a good phone call with a loved one. He'd decided in the end against letting Akane know of Hailey's possible fate until he was fully aware of the details. It might have poisoned the call.
But this erection of his... he had to deal with it. After all, as the Ancient Memeticists would say, if it lasts longer than four hours...
"Peter, are you alright? it's getting very late." Six's differently mellifluous voice comes on from behind him.
Peter turns his chair back to face her, and is momentarily startled. He knows to expect this but it still shocks him: Six is currently half-wearing a sheer white lace robe, panties, and bra, the same kind she was wearing in the morning. THIS IS NOT HELPING MATTERS.
Peter shivers a little and leans forward, his mouth slowly opening before he whispers the six magic words he thinks will resolve the issue for him. No, it's not "I am going to fuck you".
One shower later in the bathroom with a handscoop and a bucket of ice partially topped up with water from the shower, Peter eases his tired form into a pair of sleeping shorts and lies down next to Six in bed. He is still feeling a little sore down there after standing at attention for several minutes, but at least it's calmed down enough that he can even look at Six's silken form without feeling the need to put himself in there.
Six lies in a sensual manner next to Peter for several minutes in silence, before she suddenly speaks. "The way you spoke to your wife, is this common to married couples?", Six asks, a slight look of puzzlement on her face.
Peter Sen is surprised by this query, but then sinks a little into his pillow. "Well, it differs from couple to couple. Some fight hard but make up later, some are all lovey dovey all the time till they induce nausea in surrounding folks. Some... just sit together and share silence in each other's company. Akane and I... well... we love having little pillow fights like that. Nobody hurt, just lots of fluff flying. And sometimes, we shift between all those other ways of talking as the mood changes, same as everyone else."
Six blinks quizzically as she thinks about this. "This seems a most inefficient way of handling such communications." She observes. "Why do it this way?"
Peter Sen gives a loud ugh. "I'm not a relationship expert. But if I had to guess, I'd say it was never about efficiency. Heck, I'm just telling you what I know. Just go to bed..." He sighs and looks away from Six, turning his back to her.
Six falls silent... for maybe just a few minutes. "... but then, why do you tolerate me sleeping next to you, but won't go any further?"
Peter hasn't really fallen asleep. "I don't know, Six... maybe I just hate being alone." He pulls the covers up more over them, curling a little as he does so.
Six considers this... slowly, she slides over to Peter's back and cuddles up. "Does this help?" She asks.
Peter finally gives up and sighs. "Six... you may have a pretty strong similarity to my wife, but... you aren't my wife. Go back to your side of the bed, please?"
Six nods and just backs away, going to sleep on the other side of the bed.
After a while Peter speaks up again. "I'm just saying, I'm accounted for... you'll find your own back to cuddle."
Six opens her eyes, she hasn't slept fully. "But when will I find it?'
Peter Sen glances back. "Well, I'm helping you with a good first try in a couple of weeks, but it's not guaranteed... and besides, I don't even think you'll remember we had this discussion when that happens." He shifts back to facing away from Six. "Now I'm really going to sleep now... don't bother me till it's breakfast."
Part 4
Paloen Singh sneezes extremely loudly yet again... The onset of winter had caught him off-guard. This, paired with the strain of preparing students for their first exams in the first week of December, had allowed a flu to tackle him down. He felt miserable. He had a mask on in class to avoid giving anyone else his misery, but that wasn't doing anything to make him feel better at all, as he swayed through the corridors like a wraith - a wraith wrapped heavily in wool stuff and sneezing ever so often. Just... two more hours and he could crash and burn quietly in the peace of his bunk... if he didn't crash and burn in the sick bay first.
He almost crashes into Akane Sen instead. "Kyaa!... Paloen, what are you up to?"
Paloen curses himself for thinking Dayquil would help him fight his illness. "Please, don't mind- AHCHOO.... have a cold... trying to finish my workday..." Another sneeze issues from his miserable face as he looks blearly-eyed at Akane. "I look miserable, don't I?"
Akane Sen nods. "I can see that... have you seen a doctor for it?" A look of concern crosses her face even as she rests the back of her hand against his forehead. "I mean, you do have a bit of a fever coming on."
Paloen sways a little. "I can't stop. Just... two more... hours..." funny, why is the floor sliding sideways?
Paloen comes to inside a sickbay, still blearly eyed but slightly better feeling after a little rest. He finds a small note tucked under the pillow:
"Hey sleepyhead, you are CLEARLY in no condition to continue trying to finish your schedule. A friend of yours agreed to handle your tutorial. I'll be coming around to help you back to your bunk after I'm done with my tutorial too. SO STAY IN THE BED AND SLEEP."
Paloen rolls his eyes. Akane Sen was just TERRIBLE when she insisted on having her own way. At least most of the time she preferred to yield to others, so most never got to see this side of her. Paloen had, once. It was like trying to cope with a child. A big, chunky child who could flatten you with her own weight.
Paloen decides not to escape and possibly face that wrath later, instead sinking back into sleep in the bedding. This lasts quite a bit until...
"Has he gotten any better?"
"Only a little. *swish* Are you sure you want to carry that burden, m'am? we could always just call the medical centre and get him warded overnight."
"Please, I think he would be better off with a friend."
Paloen widens his eyes. omg, help, Akane is just a colleague, she's NOT a friend yet. Stop her! Somebody.... Anybody...
Paloen doesn't get his wish, being half-herded back to his bunk room by a cheerful Akane Sen, a small bag of groceries in her other hand. At least, it looks like groceries. "I borrowed a few goodies to fortify you from the kitchen staff... please say thank you to them when you get better." Ugh, she is INSUFFERABLE.
Akane Sen helps him through the door after borrowing his keys to unlock the door, gently nestling him onto his bed. "And there we go... Now we just need to get you a little chicken soup and honey lemon, just like i used to give my godsibling..." She purrs softly as she fishes an apron out of her satchel, tying it on as she drags the groceries into the kitchen.
Paloen groans and flops onto the bed. He just wants to recover alone from this malady of his, and now he has to put up with the weirdest woman on campus. Although... the smell of soup does smell good.
Akane briefly comes back in and notices something... "Heater's not on." She quickly rushes over to the walled heater and taps on the nearby controller dial. a few more times later, she looks up. "The heater's not working. sorry."
Paloen sways his head from side to side. "Don't be. That's on me, I kept putting it off because damned place wasn't exactly cold..."
Akane looks around from side to side... suddenly, she does another shocking thing, as she wraps herself against Paloen, sweatered kittens squeezing against him as she wraps them up together. "It me. I now your mommy." She childishly squeals as she rubs cheeks with Paloen.
Paloen whimpers. From bad to far worse in a hurry! although... it does feel nicely warm now... soft too. He realises briefly just how close he is to Akane and panics. "Isn't this a bit too much?"
Akane grins. "it's okay, if you aren't warm, you'll stay sick like this... Let's just hang out together a bit till your soup boils." She makes two very good points, digging them into Paloen's side. "Besides, it's only till you get a little better."
Paloen sighs and yields, realising this is going to go HER way and not HIS. ..
One bowl of soup later, Akane starts unwrapping Paloen entirely and getting himself off of him. "There you go, feeling better now?"
The soup had tasted a little weird though... was Chicken and Vege soup supposed to have lemon and honey mixed in? Still he did feel a little better.
Akane leans in and rests her head against his for a bit. "Yup, temps gone down a little." She gives Paloen a close eyeful of her buxom assets as she does so, before leaning back to gather her things. "I'll be just downstairs reading in my own bunk room if you need me, okay?" She says, as she opens the door.
"Will do, Akane. See you back at school when I get better..."
Akane gives him a happy sort of smile. "That's the spirit. a grin will break that flu in places for you!" With that, she shuts the door and leaves the bunk kind of... quiet.
Paloen has a weird dream. In it he's shivering badly in a dark void... suddenly he hears the loud boom of someone going "Itttt meeee.... I'm yourrr mommaaaa noooooow" before he is wrapped in someone squishy... it feels strangely warm... and nice... and lemony smelling... He lets out a soft sigh of pleasure as he wraps himself more tightly in the blanket.
Akane is a little pleasantly mystified on Monday afternoon when she walks to her table in the guest lecturers' office and notices a small thank you note tied to a jar of honey. She looks around, and shrugs a little. But as with her lessons on Friday, she's mostly forgotten who might have reason to thank her. ".... did I do something nice for somebody nearby?" She dips a finger into the jar and licks it. "Mmm. Manuka. The best."
Part 5
Akane Sen looks at the clock again as she sits at her table for what might be the last time she has a lecturer's hour at her desk, watching as the other staff start clearing their desks and talking to each other about the holidays, seeing loved ones... Occasionally a student comes by and drops a small gift. The manuka honey from when she had set down. A small tin of biscuits. Some flowers. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, just little tokens. She still feels a little warmer than usual inside as she watches them pile up in the box the bursar had passed her with a wink. By the time it's 5pm, it's filled to the brim, making her trip to the porch more awkward than normal.
She puts the box down, breathing deeply as she waits for her trip back home to start. Someone will be in shortly after to help her ship her luggage home, so it's a light travelling experience with just some clothes, a boxful of goodwill, and a light heart...
"Akane! Wait up!" Someone yells, panting as they run up to behind her.
Akane Sen turns around. "Ah, Paloen... good to see you've gotten much better."
Paloen Singh pauses to catch his breath. "Hey, listen, it was great working with you... is there any chance we could keep in touch after... you leave?"
Akane grins. "Well, you know my personal noosite address, it's got a contact page to go with all the stuff I publish..."
Paloen looks up. "How about a communicator? could we swap communicator codes?"
Akane erms and looks away. "... sorry, I don't use a communicator. I know, I know, I'm a forgetful girl, AND I'm living in the past. and I'm hard to get."
Paloen looks forlornly. "Well... okay... thanks for helping me out that time when I really needed it."
Akane kisses Paloen suddenly on the cheek, before passing him a card. "Here's my noosite, and some of my other contacts, okay? You're a good guy, I'm sure you'll meet someone else who's nice to you..."
Akane looks away as she waves to the eko-van coming in to fetch her as agreed. "... check my noosite, okay? at least there's that." She yells, before the van swings its doors shut and pulls away.
Paloen watches the van pull away slowly, before sighing. "Why did I think I was gonna get the girl for a change?" He looks at the card he just got and sighs... then notices the smell of lemons and honey on it. At least he has a token of memory of sorts...
Akane is fast asleep on the living room couch when Peter Sen comes back from a workplace meeting. He creeps up on her, before asking softly. "Akane... are you home?"
Akane opens her eyes a little. "Yeah... just a bit... sleepy... trip home was long... not very restful." She looks clearly drained, not struggling or protesting as Peter proceeds to princess carry her into the bedroom and rest her on her usual spot of sleep at home. He thinks briefly about it, then decides to help her get her sweater off, but has a second thought when he realises she's wearing only a white bra underneath it. "Jeez, Akane, you could have worn a bit more..."
Akane drowsily laughs. "I wanted to surprise you... guess you got the d-d-drop on me." She continues giggling as Peter decides to help her out of her trousers as well, shifting her limp body a little till she gives off a faint beep. "it was such a busy... semestuuurr..." she slurs, her power reserves clearly about to go out.
Peter smiles and chuckles. The old Akane Saito had run out of memory space for any new memories just after they'd arrived in New South Harales on their supposed 'exile'... Fortunately he'd figured out a way to give her even more space by transferring her memories to a new teaching aide model that could cope with the excessive memory demands of her co-processors, but it had been tricky to justify the purchase to the dealer without the backing of a academic institution until an old friend stepped in and laid out a plan to use them to service underprivileged colleges and universities around the galaxy. Of course, they'd had to keep appearances up and before he knew it, he was sitting on a public service of sorts by accident. Not that he'd minded.
"Did you meet any nice guys who could fit our EducationalAssist Programme?" He asked.
Akane nods drowsily. "There were quite a few assholes, but I also met some nice guys... I'll pass you their details after I have a nice long naaaaap...." She closes her eyes totally, finally exhausted to zero.
Peter grins. "Hey... I'll just grab them myself. Have a good sleep, honey." He gives Akane a small kiss. "Akane, override command: end of semester servicing." He stood back up and left Akane to do her thing while he went to close the day's work in his office... Code: Select all
ACADY MARK 3 TEACHING AIDE SHUTTING DOWN
EXPORTING MARKED DATA TO FURTHER RESEARCH DATABASE DELETING DATA IN ACADEMIC PARTITION BACKING UP PERSONALITY DATA PARTITION BACKING UP FURTHER RESEARCH DATA SHUTTING DOWN .... GOOD NIGHT, PETER