Hereon held the glass in one hand, arm cocked backwards like a hammer, prepared to throw.


    A shape crashed into him throwing Hereon to the ground. The glass spilled from his hand and rolled away across the hard floor.


    Ms Amelie hurried over to safely retrieve the glass before Hereon recovered.


    His partner, Sana Tiama, stood over the toppled boy with a thunderous expression.


    “What the hell are you thinking!?” Sana yelled, straining her voice.


    The pain dissuaded her from shouting further, instead she stamped a foot down onto the floor next to Hereon’s head to emphasise the rhetorical question.


    The fallen boy began to whimper and curled up into a ball with his arms around his head.


    Sana looked to Ms Amelie who held the recovered glass with trembling hands.


    “What the hell am I supposed to do with him Miss?” Sana asked hoarsely.


    “I- I don’t really know Sana. I’m so sorry.” The teacher answered as tears began to well in her dark rimmed eyes.


    Seeing Ms Amelie becoming emotional caused Sana’s adrenaline to falter and her anger was quickly overtaken by fear.


    “There’s no way I can feel safe living alone with him when he’s like this! He’s dangerous, Miss!” She pleaded.


    Amelie agreed with her student, yet had no idea what she could do to help.


    “What’s going on? Why is there broken glass in the hallway?” A new voice spoke.


    Sana and Amelie turned to see Aeon Bounder standing in an open doorway on the other side of the hall.


    “It’s ok Aeon you can go back inside, I’ll clean the glass up.” The teacher instructed weakly.


    A girl with long dark hair and icy eyes peeked around the side of the open door; Isla Margale.


    “Woah miss are you Ok?” She croaked almost inaudibly.


    “Please, both of you go back inside of your apartments.” Ms Amelie insisted, feeling herself losing control of the situation.


    “It’s Hereon.” Isla whispered to Aeon after spotting the troubled boy whimpering on the floor.


    Aeon’s expression darkened. “Is he causing problems again Miss?” He asked sternly.


    “Who’s causing problems?” Asked a third voice from the hallway.


    Ms Amelie marched into the hall, shooing Isla back who was peeking inside for a better look.


    Outside, she found Cecil and Yaeh who had also left their apartment to investigate the noise.


    Yaeh stood behind Cecil and was slowly drinking from a food pouch which she held in both hands, her expression concerned and curious.


    “Ok, listen guys! You all need to go back inside your rooms.” The teacher urged her students. “And be careful, there’s broken glass on the ground here. That’s very sharp and can easily cut your feet so keep your distance.”


    The gathered students all turned to share uncertain looks with one another.


    “Is he being violent?” Cecil asked softly.


    The teacher hesitated, not wanting to lie to her students. That was answer enough for Aeon.


    “Alright, what can we do? Tie him up? Can we knock him out?” Aeon asked.


    Yaeh perked up and scampered back towards her apartment, struggling briefly with the door before remembering the thumbprint lock.


    “Nobody is tying anybody up!” Ms Amelie ordered in exasperation.


    “Why not?” Sana asked from behind. “I’m telling you Miss, there is no way I’m staying with this lunatic tonight. He might hurt me!”


    Ms Amelie looked back at the boy on the floor. He was ignoring the entire conversation, gently rocking back and forth with silent sobs. Sana was right, the boy was deeply troubled and had already displayed violent behavior.


    What the hell were the Managers thinking making him participate in this condition? Not to mention Lulu and Klaus, the students who were tank sick.


    She’d flagged all of these issues in private to the Coordinators who had escorted the students. However, she’d been told that her concerns would be passed along to Project Management at a later date but for now the project was to proceed as scheduled.


    She had been given no leeway or wiggle room. Just a set of clear and specific instructions that were to be carried out to the letter. Along with a threat that if she failed, the Coordinators would step in to enforce the rules of the project themselves.


    There was no way she was going to let that happen if she could help it.


    “Miss, what if Sana stayed with us tonight?” Aeon offered helpfully.


    Amelie turned to him.


    “That should be fine, no? I could sleep on the sofa and also Sana can help out with Lulu. Especially with uh, the stuff you talked about.”


    That could work.


    “I’ll have to ask if that’s possible. Sana, Aeon, can you watch Hereon while I contact Management?”


    “Sure Miss!” Aeon replied eagerly then carefully stepped over the broken glass to enter into Sana and Hereon’s apartment.


    Amelie exited the hallway and contacted the Project Managers via her ear implant.


    After a few trill rings indicating an outgoing call, she heard the chime that meant the call had been accepted.


    “Miss Blanca. What do you need?” Came a stern male voice from her inner ear.


    “As I warned, Hereon Povos has become violent and endangered his partner as well as myself. Another student has offered to house Sana Tiama in their apartment. Would this be permitted?”


    There was a pause and Amelie could hear the clacks of typing on an input board.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    “Yes, that would be permitted under the “sleepover” clause. A student was the one to suggest the idea?” The voice clarified.


    “Yes, Aeon Bounder from Room 304. You can recheck the feed, I didn’t make any suggestions for a solution. The idea was his.”


    “Very well. The maximum duration of a “sleepover” is two nights. Please encourage the students to come to a more permanent solution by themselves before then.”


    The line cut and Amelie exhaled. The immediate situation seemed to be resolved. At least for tonight.


    She took a moment to steel herself, then opened the door back onto the third floor hallway.


    “Come on Hereon, drink this. It will make you feel better.”


    Amelie panicked and raced back to the apartment.


    Sana crouched down next to Hereon and was helping him to drink a clear liquid from the glass that he had almost thrown at her just minutes earlier.


    “What are you doing?” Amelie demanded, unable to keep the panic from her tone.


    Yaeh Omalli nervously stepped forwards, holding and pointing to a small box of medicine for Amelie to examine.


    Amelie snatched the box from the timid girl and inspected it. Sleeping tablets.


    “How many?” Amelie asked sternly.


    “Just three.” Cecil answered, stepping forwards protectively as Yaeh shrank back. “The box says two is recommended, so we thought three should be ok.”


    Amelie relaxed. They were right, it should be safe.


    “You don’t know that, guys!” Ms Amelie scolded, her composure recovered. “Never exceed the recommended dosage on medication. Ok?”


    “Alright Miss, we won’t.” Aeon agreed.


    “Besides, these tablets will only help you fall asleep a bit easier, they’re not tranquilizers.”


    Sana looked down at Hereon who had stopped crying and was curled on the floor quietly. “I don’t know Miss, he seems pretty out of it.”


    She pushed Hereon with a foot and he rolled onto his back, eyes closed and breathing peacefully. The boy was fast asleep.


    The room turned in unison to look at the box of tablets in Yaeh’s hand.


    “Wow… Definitely be careful with those sleeping pills.” The astonished teacher instructed.


    The room murmured in shocked agreement.


    <hr>


    Fifteen minutes later, after carrying a comatose Hereon to his bed, cleaning glass off the hallway floor and bidding farewell to their exhausted teacher, the third floor residents of the Class VC37 student dorm were finally left to their own devices.


    They’d gathered in Aeon’s room for introductions.


    “Lulu, these are our neighbours!” Aeon introduced cheerfully. “Isla, Cecil, Yaeh and Sana!”


    Lulu still sat propped up on the sofa facing towards the apartment door. She gave a weak wave and a warm smile.


    “So that was crazy right?” Sana huffed once inside. She found a place near the window and sat on the floor with her back to the wall.


    “Oh, Sana will be staying with us for the next two nights.” Aeon explained to a curious Lulu. “She’s paired up with Hereon who has lost it a little bit.”


    “Losing it is putting it politely! That guy is dangerously unhinged.” Sana complained.


    “I never thought he would get violent.” Cecil added quietly, still shocked from the confrontation.


    “No, me neither.” Isla whispered painfully. “But remember when he brought it to class?”


    She massaged her damaged throat, then caught Aeon''s eye and mimed drinking a glass of water. Aeon understood the unspoken request and jogged to the kitchen to oblige it.


    “Yeah, of course. Who could forget? He genuinely believes it’s a person doesn’t he?” Aeon added from the kitchen. “I mean, I had an AI “friend” too when I was a kid and probably spent way too much time with the thing, but I grew out of it eventually you know?”


    “Yeah, my parents never let me have one because they’d read about what can happen. Like to Hereon.” Cecil added.


    “I mean, I knew he had a weird attachment to his AI. We all knew that. But he seemed normal enough at school for the most part.” Yaeh wrote on her tablet and showed the group.


    “Mirror mate.” Cecil stated solemnly. “It’s what they call it. Based on pet birds back on Earth who could become obsessed with their own reflections if you left a mirror in their cage.”


    “It’s a condition that occurs when someone sees something that looks and acts just like a person and that tailors its entire personality and behavior around pleasing them. It can cause that person to become obsessed with the thing. To the point where they don’t want to socialise with anybody real. Their social needs are fulfilled by the simulation and it stunts them. Just like the bird.”


    The group considered the explanation for a solemn moment. Aeon returned from the kitchen and handed Isla the glass of water. She took it with a warm smile and a mouthed “Thank you.”


    “So how do you fix it?” Sana asked.


    “Um, I don’t know.” Cecil admitted timidly. “The article I read said that for birds, you would just take away the mirror. The bird would be depressed for a while, but would eventually recover. People are more complicated though.”


    “Well, he’s lost the mirror. Without his hardports he can’t plug in anymore. At least for the time being, he’s cut off from the AI.” Lulu added on her tablet.


    “We don’t know that for sure.” Cecil countered. “People outside of Plugnet can talk to people who are inside it. We’ve done that in classes, remember? When we’ve had guest speakers. It might be possible to contact the AI remotely too, somehow.”


    The group paused to consider that implication.


    “Would that be so bad?” Sana asked, drawing a round of stares. “No, listen. I don’t know if Hereon’s situation can be fixed by this project. It’s possible but not guaranteed. However I do know that without that AI, he is dangerous.”


    “I have to live with the guy!” She continued angrily. “You heard Ms Amelie. I’m only allowed to stay here for two nights, then I have to go back. The Managers won’t let me get away from him! The next time he decides to hurl a glass at somebody it’ll probably be me!”


    “That’s a fair point.” Isla whispered, the water helping her ragged throat.


    “We can look into it, if you think that’s for the best.” Aeon offered.


    Yaeh began to write something on her tablet but hesitated before showing it to the room. Cecil saw what she had written.


    “Poor Hereon.”


    She clutched the words to her chest instead.


    Cecil pulled out his own tablet.


    “Poor Hereon.” He wrote in solidarity, and tapped Yaeh on her shoulder to show her. She looked at him then nodded.


    “Well, we will have a talk with him tomorrow. Hopefully he will have calmed down somewhat. Then after that, we do what we need to do to keep Sana safe. If he’s still unstable in two days, then we avoid him during the day and use the sleeping tablets at night.” Aeon proposed.


    “And if he won’t take the tablets?” Sana asked nervously.


    “He will.” Cecil said bleakly.


    “How do you know?” Sana asked.


    “The only time that being out of the tank feels normal is when you sleep. The closest thing to Plugnet on this side of the tank is dreaming.”


    Knowing what they knew about the mechanics of Plugnet, the explanation made sense. Sana accepted it.


    After another moment of awkward silence, Yaeh changed the topic by asking on her tablet. “I was thinking about checking out the campus superstore that Ms Amelie told us about tomorrow. For something to do. Would anybody like to come with me?”


    She held up the tablet nervously as her classmates looked at her in surprise.


    “That could be fun?” Isla whispered uncertainly.


    “Sure. It would be a good way to avoid Hereon.” Sana agreed.


    “I’m down if the rest of you are.” Aeon accepted cheerfully.


    Yaeh looked up at Cecil hopefully from beneath her uneven bangs.


    His chest tightened. He was just starting to get used to this small group despite still feeling constantly anxious. Going out on campus meant strangers, or worse, crowds.


    Why did he have to end up befriending the most outgoing kids in his class?


    Although, Yaeh wasn’t outgoing. He’d assumed she was as socially anxious as he was.


    Looking at her now, he supposed that was still true. She clutched her tablet to her chest like she always did and he could see that her hands trembled slightly.


    Was she really that much braver than he was?


    Cecil thought he heard the word “Please” whispered almost inaudibly from his side. Yaeh had turned away from him.


    Whether he imagined it or not, it helped him make up his mind.


    “Um, Ok. I’ll come too. But please can we try and avoid any crowds if we can.” He yielded.


    Still turned away from Cecil. Yaeh smiled to herself.


    “Oh, Isla, where’s Karkos?” Aeon asked, suddenly remembering the absentee partner.


    Isla chuckled darkly. “Hiding away. He’s planning on quitting the project as soon as they will let him, so don’t expect to see him around much.”


    “Really?!” Sana asked, shocked. “Mr Perfect?”


    “Yep.” Isla confirmed.


    “Wow, that’s unexpected.” Aeon agreed. “I voted for him to be Head Student last year too.”


    “So did I.” Cecil added, and Yaeh nodded her own agreement.


    “Well, I guess he left all that excellence behind in his tank.” Isla shrugged. “Anyway I don’t want to talk about it, it’s pissing me off.”


    “How come.” Aeon asked.


    “Oh, we’ve done dozens of projects together, me and him.” Isla complained. “But the only time a project has ever mattered, where we can actually achieve something important, he’s useless! He even admitted himself that he doesn’t care if he drags me down with him!”


    “Maybe he will come around.” Lulu offered supportively on her tablet.


    “Well I’m not going to sit around and wait for him to snap out of it.” Isla fumed. “I plan on acing this project even if I have to do the whole thing by myself. I’m going to Earth!” She declared.


    Next to him, Yaeh gave a small nod of appreciation.


    “Hang on.” Cecil interjected as a realisation dawned on him. “There are five doors on this floor.”


    “Are there?” Aeon asked, perplexed.


    “Between the eight of us that we know of. That''s only four apartments.”


    The group shared a look, then went outside into the hallway.


    There was indeed a fifth apartment.


    “Does anybody know who’s in this one?” Aeon asked.


    “No, I have no idea.” Isla answered and Sana nodded.


    “Well, there is only one way to find out.” Aeon decided, and knocked on the door before anybody could object.


    A suspenseful moment passed in silence. No Answer.


    Aeon knocked again, louder and this time, and after a moment the door opened slowly.


    Cecil thought he recognised the girl on the other side.


    “Oh, hi Petal.” Isla whispered.


    It was the girl who had sat on the opposite side of the shuttle from Yaeh and himself.


    “Um, hi Isla.” Petal answered nervously. Looking about the small group outside her door.


    “We’re your neighbours.” Isla explained.


    “Oh, Ok.” The girl answered simply, still half hiding behind the half opened door.


    “Did they partner you with Forger?” Aeon asked.


    Petal nodded and opened the door.


    Forger was seated on the sofa and took off a pair of headphones as he noticed the guests.


    “Didn’t you hear the commotion earlier?” Sana asked self consciously.


    “Um, no. We’re watching a media and it’s quite loud so…”


    “Ah well, we can catch you up on everything later. We’re actually going to check out the campus superstore tomorrow. Would you guys like to join us?” Aeon asked pleasantly.


    Petal looked at the group in surprise, then at Forger who gave her an urgent shake of the head.


    “Hell no, you guys are nuts.” Petal declared, then shut the door.