If I want to get rid of this situation I’m in, then I’ll have to decide on the method.

One method would be to gather useful people to me. Slow enough that Stella wouldn’t notice. I already have planned out some potential targets that could bring more power to me. Once I have the appropriate assets, she would be powerless against me.

The problem is that this method would take time. One of the major assets I need for this method will only be available two years from now. Other than time, my estimate for the success isn’t as high as I’d like it to be. There are too many variables that I’m not too keen on putting my confidence in.

But, it would be worth it. I would love to see her face once she realizes that she can do absolutely nothing to me.

A second method, however, is even better. Not only could I do it by the end of the next year, but it will utterly humiliate her. It’s simple, really.

I’ll be the student council president.

The daughter of the state governor losing her position to me would show the school who is superior. I do have to commend Stella for being the student council president as a freshman. Though, I’m sure the reason she could get the position in the first place is due to her father’s influence. Students saw her name on the ballot and picked it because the name is familiar.

All the other candidates simply had lower profiles than her.

Even though I am fairly known in the school, it’s mostly limited to the first and second year students. But, getting my name out there shouldn’t be hard. Why?

Because Stella has already given me the perfect platform to get support from the students.

“Arrived at destination,” an engineered voice alerts me.

The door to my right slides open and I leave the car. The artificial voice thanked me for using its company’s services before it closes the door. Then, it slowly drives itself away.

One of the many benefits for attending this school is that most public services become free of charge or significantly discounted. Transportation, medical benefits, food subsidies, and other miscellaneous things are covered by the school thanks to its generous affiliates.

In front of my view is a high fence of ornate metal bars. It stretched considerably far before changing into a different property.

Beyond the fence is a garden that followed the length of the fence.

Hmm… I see Acer saccharum and an assortment of Paeonia suffruticosa and Iris sibirica. Damn it, I didn’t learn biology just to name plants!

A driveway runs through the garden, looping around a small fountain. A part of the driveway branches off to the right, stopping at a garage with enough doors to fit at least four cars. Two cars are parked outside of the garage. From what I can see, they are manufactured from a luxury brand. I wonder if any of these cars require someone to manually drive it?

I approach the intercom that is embedded into one of the pillars to the side of the gate and press the only button on it.

After waiting a while, I hear a familiar girl’s voice.

“Hey, you’ve made it! Come in.”

As soon as the voice disappears, the gate started to roll open.

I start walking, following the edge of the driveway. It took quite a while - 43 seconds actually – before I finally arrive at the door.

“What’s the point of having such a big garden?” I ask myself.

Though, I already knew the answer: to show off.

I wait a few more seconds before I hear the door opening. What is revealed in front of me is Liliana Forschmann.

“Hey, Kastille. Come on in,” she welcomes me.

I enter the extravagant foyer of her home. Well, I suppose it’s extravagant for me and normal for Liliana. It’s what you can expect when both of your parents work as chief legal officers for a multi-national corporation.

Liliana leads me to where the rest of the group are at.

I obliged to come to this group study session not for studying, but with the intent of gathering information. Since my information gathering network is nonfunctioning now, I must do it myself. Entering someone else’s home and being able to observe them and their environment will give me a good amount of data. I just hope that data will prove to be useful.

Liliana and I enter one of the rooms connected to the foyer. Inside it is what looks like a lounge, with multiple chairs and tables positioned in various orientations. Of course, the room is populated with Stella, Rhys, and Mia.

“Glad to have you here, Kastille,” Stella greets me.

Rhys gives me a nod.

“Kastille! Look at this place! It’s crazy.” Mia shouts.

“Oh, stop it, Mia!” Liliana pleads.

“It really is. Not even my place is this crazy big,” Stella agrees with Mia.

“Does it really matter? Their money, their decision,” I argue.

“Do you guys want to go somewhere else, then?” Liliana hisses.

“No. We’re already here. Can we get started?” Rhys answers.

Liliana and I sit down where the others were at. At the table in front of us lay some laptops and tablets. A different table to the side has drinks and snacks.

I take out the tablet and laptop from my backpack and lay them on the table in front of me. Everyone has the tablet and laptop combination in front of them now except Mia, who only has a tablet.

And with that, we begin.

---

One of the easiest ways to collect information is through conversation and observation. Thankfully, study groups are known to be plentiful with conversation.

Rhys and Liliana are both sophomores, one year older than the rest of us in the room.

Like her parents, Liliana is following the Legal Studies core track with a specialization in Law. Last year, she scored third place in that core track exam. Likewise, Stella is also in the Legal Studies core track, pursuing a specialization in Law and Government. Both had quite a bit to chat about.

Apparently, Liliana was running for student council president at the same time as Stella. After Stella won the candidacy, she offered Liliana the vice president role.

I asked her how she felt about losing, but she said she was glad Stella became the student council president instead of her.

What came to my surprise is that Rhys is functioning as both the secretary and the treasurer for the student council. He does look busy all the time. The person who was supposed to be the secretary in the first place had to suddenly leave the school due to a medical issue. Rhys volunteered to do both jobs because “I wanted to help as much as I can.”

Rhys’s core track is in Mathematics with a specialization in Data Science.

When Mia asked Rhys why he picked that specialization, he told us that his mother suggested it. Oh, and because his mother is a hedge fund manager. A very successful one. His family is one of the major sponsors for the school.

Mia did ask me about my position in the student council is. I was about to tell her that I wasn’t really in the student council, but Stella stepped in before I could.

Apparently, I’m the public relations officer. Interesting.

It’d be great if I could somehow bring Liliana and Rhys to my side. I’ll have to add this data to their profiles once I get home.

As for Mia…

She told the others only about her mother’s role as an computer technician and her father’s musical past. She didn’t tell them about her father’s current condition.

Like me, she’s in her General Education core track. The other girls asked her if she is planning on picking a core track, Mia replied with a negative. She said she’s still unsure of what to pick.

“But,” she later added, “I love to play games!”

Rhys gave her suggestions on taking on one of the game development-related tracks, but she decided to think about it in more detail later.

Even though we planned this study session as a group study, it mostly ended up as a “tutor Mia” session.

The good thing about picking a specialization is that a student won’t have to take classes that doesn’t relate to that field. For example, an art student would not have to take a class in calculus or statistics. However, trigonometry and algebra is still a required minimum regardless of the core track.

But since Mia and I are in the General Education core track, that means we must take courses from other core tracks and then some. That includes learning mathematics, science, and language arts beyond the usual minimum curricula requirements for the other core tracks.

For me, I had nothing to really learn from these people in regards to my studies. I finished reading The Brothers Karamazov, though. That’s one less on my backlog.

Mia, however, had abandoned her studies long before she arrived at our school.

Stella and Liliana helped her with language arts, Rhys helped her (and Liliana) with mathematics, and I helped her (and the others) with science.

We were all doubtful of how much Mia can improve in one week. No, it’d be impossible for her.

But, the student council were determined to help her.

I look out the windows and found the sky to be taking an orange and yellow color.

It’s that time already?

“Um, it’s getting late,” I point out.

“Oh, it’s already 7 o’clock!” Liliana reports.

Stella stretches obnoxiously.

“Yeah. I guess it’s time to head home guys,” she yawns.

Mia stands up from her seat.

“Thank you so much, everybody,” she sniffs, “I really appreciate all of this!”

Stella stands up next to Mia and places her hand on Mia’s shoulder.

“We were all able to learn today. I think it’s important to always support one another. Good work, everybody,” Stella proclaims.

All of us start packing up our things. I requested a ride on my phone from the same service I had used before.

“Ready, Mia?” Stella asks.

“Yeah, just a moment,” Mia replies before stuffing a chocolate pastry into her mouth and muffling an ‘ok’.

“Bye, guys! See you tomorrow!” Stella waves.

Mia, who is still chewing, waves goodbye and follows Stella out of the room.

Looks like they’re riding together.

I put on my backpack and start walking towards the door.

---

While I was typing on my laptop, entering in the new data I collected earlier today, a notification appeared on my screen.

It’s a message from Cain.

TheCanCan: hey kastille is this you? I got this email a few min ago

TheCanCan: it doesn’t have your email address so I checked it and it looks like the address is spoofed

He attached an image. It looks like a screen capture of the email he’s talking about.

---

Salutations student!

You have been hand-picked to participate in our growing community of knowledge! We have at our disposal data and resources from the thousands of students and other goings-on here at Goldenhill Central School. Want to know what your crush likes or dislikes? We’ve got it! Worried about that next test? We’ve got exactly what you need. Need someone to do some business for you? We know the right people.

Whether you need information or people, The Codical Company is here to serve!

Before you access our database and services, you must first add a profile of yourself and someone else and fill out all the requested information listed on the form.

CLICK HERE to start!

Regards,

Codical Robin

Please Note: Sending or forwarding this message to another person without permission is a violation to our terms of service.

---

...

What the hell?

An open-source information network? While I did think of doing that, the risks and shortcomings for such a thing out-weight the potential benefit. I only trust a handful of chosen students for information gathering. This ‘Codical Company’ is just gathering data in bulk. What if the data people add were illegitimate? While there are some methods to mitigate that, it’s still not as reliable as I’d want.

Not to mention someone else out there is trying to start their own information network like I did.

I knew the power vacuum I left would bring some trouble sooner or later, but this is foolish.

I can deal with this to my advantage.