Chapter 36
Denton and Jessica froze.
Preston’s eyes were brimming with this heavy, gut–wrenching guilt.
Clutching Regina Mitchell’s hand tightly, he was overwhelmed with sorrow. “If I hadn’t ignored her today and been with her instead, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt. At the very least, I could have protected her.”
Jessica paused, then said, “…Okay, yeah, that’s true, but come on, kid–this is only the second time you’ve even met her.”
She thought he was laying it on a little thick.
Denton leaned closer to her ear. “Not surprising. I fell for you at first sight too. Must be a genetic thing.”
Jessica blinked, then cracked up. “Oh my God, you’re ridiculous! Why would you even bring that up?”
Their flirty back–and–forth was too much for Adrian, who took a couple steps back to dodge the mushy vibes. He turned to check on his own kid instead.
Preston had already stepped forward.
What was Roy up to?‘ Adrian wondered.
Before he could shoot him a look, Roy piped up, dead serious. “Ma’am, let me help you get her gurney back to the room.”
He nudged Preston out of the way on purpose. “Regina needs to rest in the ward.”
Adrian was stunned. It was the first time he’d seen his son act so proactive around a girl.
Then, it clicked. He held back a laugh as he studied Roy.
Roy, noticing his father’s gaze, frowned awkwardly and turned his head away as if nothing had happened. He pushed Regina’s bed back to her
room.
Two hours went by quickly.
The parents chatted in the lounge while the youths stayed in the ward, keeping Regina company.
Brad couldn’t stop thinking about it. “Wait, Regina blocked a bullet with a knife? How good do your eyes have to be to even see a bullet coming?”
Clive shrugged with a simple answer. “Her pure natural strength must be as powerful as those with numberous cyberwares. She’s incredibly strong.”
Roy leaned against the wall, watching Preston coldly.
Ever since entering the ward, Preston had been holding Regina’s hand, occasionally fiddling with her bangs for no apparent reason.
Roy felt annoyed.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on why.
His eyes landed on the watch on Regina’s wrist, narrowing slightly. “Is that a Humanity detector?”
Everyone froze, then crowded around to look.
One of the boys grabbed Regina’s hand. “Huh? It really is!”
Another smirked, a little too excited. “Guess her Humanity levels are so low she’s gotta keep tabs on it. Wanna hack it and take a look?”
They all spun around to the guy chilling farthest away. “Xavier, hack her system and hook us all up with monitoring access.”
Xavier Dawson, sitting on the couch, glanced up at them upon hearing his name.
His emotionless eyes were dark, almost ghost–like, as his gaze fixed on Regina’s watch, and activate a scan.
His blank, almost ceric eyes locked onto Regina’s watch. A faint blue glow sparked in his pupils–if you looked close, you could see streams of crazy–complicated code flashing through them, cracking the system fast.
Ten seconds later, the blue flipped to green. He was in.
1/2
12:11 PM
Chapter 36
Everyone’s phones pinged at the same time with a new notification.
Xavier waved his phone casually. “Tap to download, and you can keep tabs on her Humanity.”
He held up his screen as an example. “Check it out.”
Regina’s student ID photo appeared on the app.
Next to the photo was her Humanity.
[Current Humanity: 11]
The boys were stunned. “Eleven?”
Roy frowned. “Wasn’t it ten? How did it go up to eleven? Who made it happen?”
Brad looked just as confused. “Yeah, seriously. Besides Scarlett pulling some mom–love move, who else could’ve juiced her points?” A thought struck Preston, and he looked both thrilled and flattered. “Could it have been me? I mean, she bought me strawberry milk.”
