Hard Wired Trilogy DeAnna Pearce (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

Even with Ari’s top grades, she only caught about half of what Professor Speltman said regarding his programming class. She knew how to program, but not in VRs. It couldn’t be that different, but from what he was saying, it obviously was. She turned on the auto-record on her interface and hoped she could make some sense of it later that night.

The lecture lasted over an hour, and when it was over Ari sat there stunned for a minute. The homework he gave would fill her entire evening, and she hadn’t gone to second period yet. As someone walked by, they smacked her tablet to the floor. Ari’s head snapped up in time to watch Wake and his friend walking towards the door.

“Rand, you should be more careful.” Wake’s voice dripped with insincerity. “I bet scholarship girl doesn’t have money for another one. She’ll have to take out a work loan.”

Laughing, they left the room. Ari didn’t have the energy to be angry anymore. She bent over to pick up the small flat tablet and prayed it still worked. It appeared unharmed, so she shoved it in her bag.

She stood up and found Tessa watching her. “No one ever said this program was gracious or obliging.”

Smiling, Ari narrowed her eyes. “I never asked it to be.”

Second period proved to be easier. Professor Tollingston taught History and Interactive Storyboarding, two things she knew about. He had a gruff personality that matched his gray hair and thick mustache, but the homework was simple enough.

Her next class, Biological Psychology, was on the second floor of their dorm. Taught by the only teacher who was a doctor and a woman as well, Ari looked forward to it.

“Welcome to the study of the human mind.” A thin woman stood before them with a serious expression. Her hair was wound up in a tight brown bun, but a few curly hairs fought themselves free. “I’m Dr. Cox. In this class, we will delve into the study of human behavior, to help you create realistic portrayals of humans in the virtual world. In programming, you may be given scripts by the writers, but you need to know human behavior inside and out to realistically portray the emotion and behavior needed in all types of situations.”

Ari hoped she’d learn something helpful about herself. If she could kick this fear, she might be able to graduate. Dr. Cox gave her a good chunk of homework as well, but Ari looked forward to it.

She stayed in the building for their lunch break, eating from the vending machines. The HUB on her wrist gave her permission to purchase food from anywhere on campus. The machines were well stocked with a wide variety of everything from meal bars to steaming fresh pasta. She sat in the lounge on the first floor and reviewed her notes. Even Speltman’s lecture made sense the second time through it.

Her HUB vibrated on her wrist, and Ari noticed she had a message from Garrett.

Survive your first day? He really wasn’t joking when he’d said he had her number.

Her hand hovered over the screen, deciding what to write. I haven’t been eaten alive by implant wearing monkeys if that’s what you mean.

Good to know you’re safe from exotic animals but watch for those domestic guys though. They can bite.

Thanks for the heads up.

Thankful to have one friend at the school, she headed upstairs to her next class: VR Lab.

“Welcome,” a younger woman, maybe in her twenties, greeted her. “If you’ll give me your name, I’ll find your assigned virtual.”

Ari nodded as her gaze traveled over the room, full of larger chairs set up next to their individual VR machines.

“Your name?” The girl repeated, snapping Ari out of her state of awe.

“Ariana Mendez.”

“I’m Mica, the teaching assistant.” Mica was tall and slender with ink black hair, cut pixie short, barely reaching her ears. “I have you up front.” She directed Ari to her chair, a comfortable recliner with the monitor and wires connecting to the computer next to it. A small portable desk hung from the side.

Ari tensed, as every cell in her body told her to run.

“Have a seat,” Mica told her impatiently. Ignoring Ari’s frozen stare, she continued, “Pull out your tablet. I’m sure Dr. Coleman will have you take a few notes first.”

“Notes,” Ari repeated. I can do notes. Sitting down, she exhaled not realizing she had been holding her breath. She opened her tablet and tried to ignore the machine to her left. She stared at her screen and opened up a game to keep her mind occupied.

Her mind kept drifting back to her nightmares. Corpses floating through virtuals, talking and dancing, unaware that their bodies were decaying while they lived a half-life inside a machine. The smell of death poisoning the air and amidst it all, her father.

She reminded herself, it was only a dream. I am not my father. Graduating in this concentration would provide for her family in a way her father had never been able.

After losing at cards for her fifth straight time, she realized the classroom was full. The professor appeared in front and cleared his throat. He was young, which surprised her. His dark skin was rich and black, and his hair cut short.

“Welcome to the virtual programming lab. I know many of you come in here with an expectation of getting to hang out in virtuals for free, but this isn’t rec hour. There will be nightly homework, reports, and tests just like any other class. It’s not easy. Ask around.”

He jumped right into the syllabus which gratefully distracted Ari from the inevitable. They spent the first half of their two-hour class going over the long list of rules and expectations.

“Now, I have the address of all of your ports from the student tech store. I will be able to access each of your systems individually, or we can connect as a group for particular assignments.” He came towards