Chapter 264: Chapter 264

Alexanders took more time than Ale was sure he noticed fussing on his phone with Sapphire at the side, merely nodding at his ramblings; neither Miriam Eversoul nor Vivian Kellet seemed to pay him any attention.

"Let him be, he is in the middle of one of his weird non-tinker twitch episodes," Miriam Eversoul had said when Ale was still waiting for him to continue speaking.

"Is this something that happens often?" Ale asked, unsure if that was something normal or not. She hadn't seen something before, but she hadn't spent that much time near tinker core users.

She still wasn't that sure if that was something she should even attempt to spend time near, after all, wouldn't they notice the reality of what Ale and Alexa were? It seemed like a risk for no gain. Or almost no gain.

"Not as often as before, a couple years aog he would go in an out every two to three days, was it five years ago when it calmed down?" Miriam Eversoul said turning to Vivian Kellet, "What do you think Viv?"

"Roughly five years with two to three months as margin of error." Vivian Kellet said nodding, "He made an spectacle about finally managing to get the right hardware for something, there was no new patents or inventions filled those years, so it is still unsure what it was. And since most of our AI networks were already in place, it was not that."

... What had been what he made then? Ale wasn't entirely sure Sapphire was a true AI, she was too advanced, not that they could even argue about that fact, since Alexa herself was something like that.

No wait, was Sapphire a former test subject who also triggered a Core? That seemed... something they would need to check later, because if she was, why was she still in this weird relationship with Alexanders?

But Ale couldn't ask that, not here, not in a place that Sapphire could monitor. How much did they know about this purple-haired woman, anyway? They didn't seem to know the body they had shown in the files from before was of Sapphire, but that could be explained by them not knowing her figure or how the body looked. They could still know about the woman.

"Do you know who the main administrator of the Saintsworths network is?" Ale decided to outright ask, Sapphire was around anyway, if she didn't want for the questions to be answered she could say something.

Ale knew for sure Sapphire was paying attention to her even if she pretended to be taking care of Alexanders, it was the most simple thing for an existence like them to split their attention in two threads after all.

"Hmm... It should be one of the AI's right?" Miriam Eversoul said turning to Vivian, "Would it be ALBIREO?"

"That one manages this place," Vivian Kellet said shaking her head, "Even like that Alexanders made sure to partition the administration of his projects, in case one of them failed and to prevent leaks of data."

"Then CRADDLE?" Vivian Kellet pointed, "That one manages schools and whatnot right?"

CRADDLE? The one that Alexa spoke with during classes?

"While it manages the school and orphanage system, the Saintsworths as a whole encompass way more than that." Vivian Kellet shook her head yet again, "As such I doubt that one is that high in the totem pole."

"ISKANDER?" Miriam Eversoul said and after a few seconds of saying that shook her head, "No, that one was supposed to be isolated to only weapon systems... And I doubt that man is irresponsible enough to put the one controlling the weapons in the same position to control everything else."

"That means it should be CARDINAL." Vivian Kellet said, "By elimination, but that one... feels as if it was following orders, even though it should be at the top."

"Or near the top," Miriam Eversoul said also nodding at that, "Why are you asking?"

Ale... was sure Cardinal was not at the top, why? Because she was seeing the one that was at the top.

"No real reason." Ale said shrugging, if they didn't know, they didn't know. "What about Sapphire?"

That seemed to get a reaction from Alexanders, at least for a few seconds, before he shrugged and continued sending messages and grumbling about some things.

"That should be Alexanders secretary AI." Miriam Eversoul said shaking her head, "Or the name he stuck the poor soul that is working is his secretary/manager."

The name he stuck...?

"What do you mean by the name he stuck in their poor soul?" Ale asked, confused, "Did he change the name of someone?"

That was a very real problem that could happen, Ale had seen Alexa doing that before, like how she refused to utter the name of the director of her school, only referring to him as Mister Pig.

"He used to do that when he was little." Miriam Eversoul started speaking as she sighed, "The Saintsworths... is not a normal family, the power struggle is something they experience since little. And while it isn't as bad as before, just as he said before. A hundred years ago they got sold as slaves and needed to prove their worth by returning home... But it is still harsh."

Alexa... hadn't seen anything of the like. Granted, Ale did notice a few suspicious people in their periphery, but since they lived within a super villain zone she had assumed it was because of that.

"Yeah, I am not sure how much of it is true, but there are rumors that even today the Saintsworths' kids suffer from assassination attempts from time to time. The ones who are more likely to rise to the top suffer more." Miriam Eversoul carried on explaining that, "Alexanders, the blonde irrational bundle of ego is one of those that stands at the top of the totem pole. AS such, he also grew with those kinds of expectations and responsibilities."

He was? Since little? ?

"So after getting annoyed at the fact that his maidservants got exchanged every two weeks for safety reasons, he decided to stop learning their names and just call them with the same name all of them." Miriam Eversoul said with a sad smile on her face, "All of them after that point have been called the same, no matter if they walk with their name in a tag or not. He refuses to acknowledge them by any name besides the same one."

"And that one is..." Ale asked with trepidation, what kind of name would this man use? Alexa? Alexastrix? Alemony?

"Elizabeth." Miriam Eversoul stated evenly, "We aren't sure at what point he got a maidservant with that name, or if he just picked at random. But any secretary he had from that point on got called like that. At least till he started using that name Sapphire."

"He just liked that name," Sapphire said with a smirk from the other side, "Also, unless they have clearance level nine they will not know who I am, not really. Not even the high council from the Saintsworths has that much clearance... Not even handsome does by the way, his ends at level eight."

Who even has that level of clearance then?

Who even designed it like that?!?!?

"A very grumpy and manly blonde made it like that, and he is about to end his ramblings. Get ready." Sapphire added with a smirk.

"Aaaand done, man I hate PR." Alexanders said stretching, "Did I miss something? Sapphire?"

"Nothing too important handsome, your new sister asked if they knew me. They don't." Sapphire chimed helpfully from the side.

"Nothing too important," Miriam Eversoul answered the question too, "You were about to tell Ale what this place's goal is. And unless you decide to finally tell us why you are making it, may as well go ahead and tell her the same bullshit you told us before."

Alexanders made an understanding face as he nodded, listening to both women's answers.

"Well, like I was saying." Alexanders said, coughing into his fist as if he needed to recenter himself, "It's a school."

"... He just saw a series about a city school and thought it was cool, so he made one too." Miriam Eversoul said, facepalming, "It's stupid, highly irresponsible. And will get us at least five people suing us by the end of the week it launches."

"It's also practical and will ensure the best possible education devoid of meddling from people who only want to line up their pockets." Alexanders pointed, "And this school plan works, I tested it in a few schools. Mr Pig was one of our test subjects."

"... Mr Pig? Ah..." Miriam Eversoul had a face of understanding, "Right.... Mister Kendrick Hamilton's school, that was why you bought it?"

"If a pig comes to you talking about a school, wouldn't you help him out?" Alexanders said shrugging, "It was surprising enough that he could talk, but he was wearing a tuxedo. How could I not help him?"

... He was mad, or was finding this amusing as a joke and was just playing the bit. Ale was unsure of what would be better or worse in this scenario.

"So you... Are you making a school ground?" Ale decided to ask, she didn't want this conversation to turn into a weird direction, it was weird as it was already if one thought about a pig wearing a tuxedo and whatnot. "And decided to sink twice the annual budget on it? What is that expensive about making a school?"

Alexanders shook his head in disappointment.

"You are thinking too small, the center of it... Sapphire if you would?" Alexanders said moving his hands around as if he was tracing a drawing.

The purple woman sighed and snapped her fingers, there it was then, a holographic projection of a high rise building standing... alone.

"Thank you," Alexanders thanked that nonetheless, "So let's start from the center I guess, this is the central spire and the main administrative area (For the normies anyway), here we will have all the legal business and the people that think they rule the city, all the sponsors will get a floor and a penthouse meeting room at the top where they can pretend to be important."

The hologram showcased divisions around the floors, roughly thirteen divisions, at the ground level, one division with several floors worth, and at the top, a single floor segregated from the rest.

"Ground level and a few above for the populace, the rest for those that will pay us money to let them have a stake in what a few selected buildings within Aquila do." Alexanders said laughing, "The fools... What matters is either underground or around it."

The image expanded to a central district immediately around the spire.

"Then we have housing, several worth of apartment buildings designed for the students and workers, they will not mix with each other and will have their own districts, of course." The image highlighted a series of apartments all around, a few yellow a few blue and a couple dark. "Yellow are designed for the students and will have a higher surveillance to ensure they don't get into too many shenanigans, we will have a few teachers per student dormitory and more or less make sure they are okay-ish. Blue are for teachers and researchers while black are... well we don't need to mind them for now."

Ale very much wanted to mind them, she really wanted to mind them!

"Then we have the fun part." The projection extended to the ten pointy parts of the star design, "The branches, the immediate buildings are dedicated to pre-school, primary education, which are the first years of education, and kindergarten, basically we prepare the children so they make a better future."

"Ah, yes, the indoctrination camps." Miriam Eversoul said in a mocking tone, "I hate it, the fact that you spawned this from everything I want, and I can't help but see how people will twist it in the worst way possible."

"Are they not teaching them right?" Ale asked confused, "Is there a problem with the syllabus? Alexa's syllabus was... weirdly advanced, but the classes she got had the right amount of information from what one could need..."

"If they were highly engineered children then sure. But a normal child would not need that kind of education, and we will move their classmates to a more normal environment if I can get away with it." Alexanders said shaking his head, "Man I assure you, the heathens will probably move heaven and earth trying to find my angle and achieve nothing. These schools will not indoctrinate anything, they will teach as they should. Showing facts and nothing else, no political agenda, no twisted history. Nothing of the like."

Ale... found that highly doubtful, but she was willing to overlook it for now.

"The further you go down the branch, the more specialized the schools are, and they will have their own dorms here and there in the districts." Alexanders said moving on, "Each branch will have their own restaurant, malls, hospitals and sub administrative nodes. The important decisions will be made at the spire of course. But they will be more or less independent."

"And you will find the money for this..." Ale said, the design was ambitious, and she couldn't help but notice the blank spots that were forming on the holographic map.

"Of course from sponsors," Alexanders said nodding, "I could pay it all by myself, don't get me wrong, but people would start complaining more about me raising a private army or whatever, so they will pay for my dream."

Then small points of light started shining in the branches where there wasn't anything before.

"You want to research a new artificial organ technology? Pay me this and you get your own laboratory, in the correct branch of course. You will also have access to university students that are studying just that to have as interns, ones who aren't biased from the current trends in the world." Alexanders gave an example highlighting one of the branches.

"You want to research new theoretical types of energy? We have a branch for you." Another one was lit up, "Weapons? Artificial intelligence? Robotics? Space? The Core powers?"

One by one multiple lights started dotting the artificial star design.

"I... how much variety is there for this to even be viable?" Ale couldn't believe he could have that many specialties for each star branch.

"Well that is just the thing, we... don't really have that many options to go." Alexanders said shrugging, "Genetics, pharma, weapons, Artificial intelligence, political sciences, the amusement park branch... The psychology branch, energy, robotics and space... But each branch will probably have stuff that doesn't fall in one of those ten categories anyway."

Ale counted, those were ten branches, so he did have one for each huh.

"And what does this have to do with me wanting to learn more about my powers?" Ale decided to ask, since that had been the original question.

"Well, you wanted to learn right? Might as well go to school to achieve that. Don't get me wrong, I know Alexa is already going to classes, I get her report card every week." Alexanders said shrugging, "But you on the other hand... Could also go to school if you want, I can set up attendance online if you want that option too, but for one... I do know of a certain Bryan will attend one of my new schools, the idiots couldn't help themselves."

Alexanders laughed at that, there was this dangerous glint to him at the moment. No wait. Bryan? Wasn't...

Wasn't that the kid Ale started messaging from time to time?!?!? He was coming here?!?!?