Chapter 81: 81 | The Bubble-List Candidate and the Post-Exam Steak Dinner

Sloane’s eyes widened, and her cheeks turned pink again. She looked away quickly. "D-don’t say embarrassing stuff."

"It’s true."

"Whatever." She pulled me faster toward the car. "What about you? How many points did you get?"

"Twenty-one. Plus whatever they counted for assists."

"Assists?"

"I spent most of my time helping other applicants take down robots rather than soloing them. Seemed more efficient."

Sloane stopped walking and stared at me. "That’s...actually smart."

"Don’t sound so surprised."

"No, I mean it." She tilted her head. "Most idiots just charge in, trying to rack up points. They forget Halloran is looking for brains, not just a bigger explosion. Your assist strategy... it wasn’t dumb."

I shrugged. "That’s what I figured."

"Huh." Sloane started walking again, pulling me along. "Maybe you’re not as dumb as you look."

"High praise."

We reached Sloane’s car, and she finally released my arm to dig out her keys. I rubbed my stomach where she’d punched me, feeling the bruise already forming.

"Did you really help someone when the zero-pointer dropped?" she asked suddenly.

I looked up. Sloane was watching me with an unreadable expression.

"Yeah. Girl with a Mirage Aspect was helping an injured applicant. Zero-pointer was about to crush them both."

"So you ran toward the giant robot." It wasn’t a question.

"Had to."

Sloane’s expression softened. "Of course you did."

She unlocked the car and we both climbed in. The air conditioning hit me like a blessing, cooling the sweat that had dried on my skin during the exam.

"Think I passed?" I asked. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Sloane started the engine. The car rumbled to life beneath us. "I did for sure. They’d be crazy not to take me."

"And me?"

She glanced over, her expression shifting into something more thoughtful. "Honestly? I don’t know. You scored above the minimum, but it’s never just about points. Not at Halloran."

"Great. Very reassuring."

"I’m being realistic." She pulled out of the parking spot with the kind of confidence that suggested she’d never failed a parallel parking test in her life.

"They’re looking for potential as much as current ability. Late manifestation complicates things. You’ve only had your Aspect for two weeks, which means your control is good, but your raw output is still developing. They’ll factor that in."

I nodded, acknowledging the point. My telekinesis was weaker than it should be for someone with a Rare-tier classification, at least according to what the diagnostic scans had shown. Of course, that was because it wasn’t actually telekinesis but a fabricated cover for Spectral Reach, but Sloane didn’t know that part. Nobody did.

"Then there’s the publicity angle," she continued, navigating through the parking lot traffic with more patience than I’d expected from her.

"Taking Vanguard and Reina’s son as a student is guaranteed media coverage. Diane’s probably already fielding calls about it. That’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s free press for Halloran, which they don’t technically need but won’t turn down either. On the other, if you fail or wash out, that’s also going to be news. Probably bigger news than the acceptance."

"So I’m a high-risk, high-reward admission."

"Exactly." Sloane nodded, her ponytail swaying with the motion. "If I were on the committee, I’d put you on the bubble list."

"The what?"

"The bubble. Students who could go either way." She accelerated onto the main road. "They’ll probably discuss your application specifically rather than auto-accepting or auto-rejecting."

I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. Great. My future was going to be decided by a committee debate rather than objective metrics.

"Hey." Sloane’s hand found mine across the center console. "You did good today. Really good. Especially for someone who’s only had his Aspect for two weeks."

I turned my head to look at her. Sloane’s eyes were fixed on the road, but her expression was soft. Genuine.

"Thanks. That means a lot coming from you."

She squeezed my hand, then released it to change gears. "Don’t get used to the compliments. I still think you’re an idiot for tackling that giant robot."

"Noted."

"And for staring at that blonde girl’s ass."

"Also noted."

"And for patting my head like a dog."

"We’ve established that was a mistake."

Sloane smirked. "As long as we understand each other." She glanced over at me. "Now, where do you want to eat? I’m thinking that steakhouse downtown. You’re paying."

"Am I?"

"Yep. Consider it payment for me not killing you today."

I laughed. "Fair enough."

Sloane turned her attention back to the road, but her lips curved into a small smile. Despite her outburst earlier, she seemed almost...happy. Content. The competitive edge that always drove her was still there, but it had softened.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out to find a text from an unknown number.

Hey bestie! It’s Felicity from the exam! Just making sure you gave me your real number and not some fake to get rid of me. Cause that would be SO not it.

I stared at the message, torn between amusement and alarm. The Oracle Feed helpfully informed me that Felicity’s temptation gauge was now at five percent after our interaction at the exam.

Sloane glanced over. "Who’s that?"

I put my phone away without responding. "Nobody. Just a tweet from Halloran about the exam results."

"When do we find out?"

"A week or two, supposedly."

Sloane nodded, apparently satisfied with my explanation. "A whole week of waiting. That’s going to be torture."

"We’ll find something to pass the time."

She rolled her eyes, but her cheeks turned pink again. "You’re the worst."

My phone buzzed again, another message from Felicity, no doubt.

I shoved it deeper into my pocket. Beside me, Sloane was humming quietly to a song on the radio, her hand resting inches from mine on the console.

The easy peace of the moment felt like a trap. One wrong move, one answered text, and it would all come crashing down.

Diane. Sloane. Felicity.

The System wanted a story. It looked like I was the one who had to write the damn thing without getting anyone killed.

Starting with myself.