Speaking of...

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Your support shows me more than anything that you value my work. Thank you. And if you are not able to give anything, you are still welcome here and I would be very pleased if you would like this chapter. Thank you again. Finn 0815.

New message from the author: I rewrote this chapter on December 9th, 2024 and expanded it to take into account various questions, suggestions, and criticism (mainly from me) about this chapter. It would be best for everyone to read the chapter again and pay particular attention to the beginning and the end. That's where most of the action took place. Especially at the end. Thank you all for sticking with me, even when I screw up a chapter like this one.

Now, please enjoy... maybe again...

---

Chapter 21

With a friendly smile on her face, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes clear and invitingly directed at me and Sage, Miss Webster doesn't have a hard time making me feel comfortable. When the last student has left the room, the three of us are standing there, me with an open posture, Sage with her arms folded in front of her chest.

"Thank you for your time," says the teacher and begins to pack up her things for the next lesson. "But I need to talk to you both."

"Whatever," grumbles Sage and looks at me briefly. I just nod at my favorite teacher, Sage rolls her eyes at that.

"Sage, I know your life isn't easy and..."

"Pfft..."

"And I appreciate that you still try to come to class on time and get good grades. And Finn. Well, your attendance is flawless as always, but I noticed that in the last few weeks you were never in my class mentally." She looks at me as if it hurts her to tell me that.

"Yes... so... Shouldn't we discuss this separately?" I ask a little cautiously. Not everyone needs to know that I'm suffering... have suffered because of my family. But Susan... Miss Webster is right, of course. And I think she knows why. "I've just had a rough few weeks, that's all." I don't want to get off topic in front of this gentle, patient woman, but what can I say? My family is hell, but I saved a crazy billionaire's life and now I can change the people around me one by one? You too, Susan, by the way.

"Look, Finn, Sage." She looks at us both warmly. I like Susan's smile, even if her warm demeanor doesn't resonate with Sage as much as it does with me.

"That's why I wanted to talk to you both. I've known you for a long time and I hope you both know that I really value you as students."

"Thanks, Miss Webster," I say kindly.

"Sure," Sage pouts. But she is honest enough to show that she takes the praise seriously. That way Susan can continue to look after her students.

"Please, call me Susan."

"Of course Susan."

"Kissass," Sage grumbles, but has to smile.

"I know that you both lead a difficult life," Susan continues. "Finn, your family is... well... not known for being interested in your career and your future. And Sage. I respect that you want to stand on your own two feet and don't need your family." I didn't know that. Sage is alone? Where does she live then? And does she have a job? I look curiously at the rebellious girl who backs off a little at Susan's words, but continues to listen to her. "If you continue to act like this, both of you will fail my course. And you know the politics of this school." Susan sighs and states the bitter truth that Sage and I are ready for, but our lives are too hectic to be able to handle. "Both of your lives mean that college is something you have to fight for, and you're both about to lose that fight." She waits a moment, letting the seriousness of the situation sink in.

"Now it comes," Sage finally bursts out when she can't take it anymore. I can understand her, her short fuse, after all, I had to pull myself together for years not to explode. Maybe that's why I enjoy putting Tammy, Mom, and soon Jasmine in their place so much. "You're failing us."

"No, no, Sage. Please," Susan says quickly. "I want to make you a suggestion." Sage is quiet, looks angrily out the window, then at the floor. She can't look us in the eye.

"What suggestion?" I finally ask. I'm not too fond of it either, I admit that to myself. My life is just starting to get exciting, warm and heartfelt with a healthy dose of righteous (and mostly restrained) **** in it. Susan is right. I really don't have time for school. But I'll play along for my nice teacher.

"Well..." Susan begins and takes a deep breath, looking at Sage worried

---

"No. No!" What's wrong with Sage? It's not like I'm raising her to be my child. She's behaving almost like Tammy.

"I'm in," I say and look at Sage, who shakes her head. For me, this actually could be a chance. "Although I don't quite understand why this is even necessary."

"It's not about your knowledge, Finn," Susan explains with the patience that I appreciate in her. She should actually already be on her way to her next class. "You're good enough in history to do well. You too, Sage. It's both of your circumstances that worry me. And the school administration..." She frowns and whispers the next words quickly. "Who didn't think it necessary to be present at this meeting or to take both of your special circumstances into account..." She sneers at me. "Ask for proof that you can both fit into the system of this school." She sums it up succinctly. "You are outsiders who have no support and... well... you are not welcome at this school. That's why they gave you this task."

"That's not the problem," snaps the rebellious student. "But why Tana? She's such a mean b..."

"Sage," Susan reassures her. I find it easy to call her by her first name. Interesting. "That's the best way not to fail this class. I want to see you next year. One year closer to redemption for you and a success for me." She smiles. "And Finn can talk about history."

As long as Tana lets me have my say, I think, but I don't say anything against the plan. It would kill Lisa if I had to leave school, only because the other students don't care about me.

Maybe it's just my personality. When I look at Sage, we both fit the bill. Injured and, as far as school is concerned, potential school shooters. Well, maybe we're just dragging down our GPA... But Susan is right, even if she doesn't say it. She doesn't have to. Sage and I aren't welcome here because we have trouble with the system at this college. And as for Sage, I don't think she even wants to be here, which is weird, since she seems to live alone and, potentially, could leave any tie. So why is she staying in this mess?

"That sounds good to me," I agree that Tana, the valedictorian, will give us tutoring, only to prove that we fit in the system.

"Whatever," Sage grumbles again, and it's up to me to lead her out of the classroom.

---

"It won't be that bad," I tell her standing outside in the hallway, trying to make the girl in the leather jacket feel better. "Susan is right in a way. And maybe it won't be so bad. We know the material, so it won't be a problem. We'll simply talk to Tana and..." With a dull thud, Sage presses my back against the wall. Amazing strength for such a little girl. I almost have to laugh at her small and angry frame, but her expression negates that.

"Now listen to me carefully," she growls, looking up at me. "Tana is a fucking cunt and I don't want anything to do with her and her fucking circle of cracy bitches."

"We must," I say calmly, grabbing her arm. She lets me do it, but looks at me angrily as I gently push her away from me and stand in front of her. Anger or not, she's a girl and I'm a boy. I'm stronger. And I can allow myself to grin. "I don't want to have to leave school. All my friends are here. And I don't know why, but you had enough reasons to leave school long ago, but you're still here. So..." Sage tries to push me against the wall again, but this only leads to the angry girl throwing herself at me and becoming even angrier.

"My reasons are my reasons, shitface," she growls at me and I raise my hands to appease her. "I don't want anything to do with you and your loser friends either, got it?"

It's amazing how much humiliation I can endure when her name is on my list. And this time it's not even ****. More like curiosity. I don't mean Sage any harm, I can understand her anger. But I want to stay at this school, with Lisa and Ryan. And yet I'm surprised at how easy it is for me to fend off the girl's verbal attacks and put her on the right path, with or without the help of the MCD.

No matter what happens to Sage and Sofia and the others, I've already changed.

"I'm talking to Tana"I suggest. "Yes, Susan could have chosen someone better, but that's exactly the reason for this task. The school wants it from us and I think Tana's parents are so rich that she has enough influence to help or hurt our cause."

"If she messes with us, I'll kill her." Talking of school students.

"Calm down," I say nicely and kindly and get the middle finger. I have to grin. As mean as Sage is, she's kind of funny. But I'm careful not to say that to her. Talking of school shooters... again. "I'll do the talking and you just have to... not blow up the school. Okay?" Sage looks at me, probably really considering whether she wants to blow up the school. Then she nods.

"I certainly don't have to tell you what happens if you mess with me."

"Then you'll kill me," I say, actually sounding bored. "Get in line." Then I look at her and hold out my hand. "Friends? For now?" Why does she have to think about it for so long? Boy, does she have trust issues.

"Partners," she finally says. "Friends up my ass." Yes, Sage, I'd love to be. She really does have a killer body. Speaking of school shootings. "And wipe that fucking grin off your face."

"Yes, yes," I grin even wider and take her amazingly warm and tender hand. For someone like Sage, I expected her to be cold and emotionless. This, actually, feels good. Kind of a new kind of messed up relationship. "But you're with me, okay? I'm not your errand boy."

"Yes, okay," she grumbles. Why is she always so angry? Little devil. "I said wipe that grin off your face. You look gay."

"Gay?" I raise my eyebrows. "My little sister has better insults." God I can only hope that MCD made a mistake mixing her and {Sofie} into one path. Some software bug or something. There will be deaths if I activate them both together. Speaking of... well...

"Fuck you," she growls. "Now let's find that bitch and kiss her feet. Fuck, I need a smoke."

She smokes? That's getting better and better. Hopefully Tana will be a bit more sociable.

---

“No.” Never mind.

Standing at her table in the mensa, we don’t kiss her feet, but that would be pointless anyway, given how vehemently the Asian girl resists my request.

“See Finn?” Sage asks angrily. “I knew it. That little…”

"Tana, you are the best student I know," I say, trying to ignore Lakota's cheeky grin as I submit to her friend. "We really need your help. And Susan..."

"Don't be so disrespectful to our teacher," snorts Tana. What's going on today, I wonder.

"Miss Webster would also appreciate it if..."

"We already have enough points with her," Lakota interrupts me. "You? Probably not."

"Now listen to me you..." But again I interrupt Sage. Arranging peace in the Middle East would be easier than this.

"What do you want from us, Tana?" That's the problem with this college. The most intelligent girls here are just extremely pretty, at least in my eyes, and in the eyes of most of the boys... and some other girls. Otherwise, you can always convince the nerds to help others in return for favors. Tana and Lakota can hardly escape from suitors and are also pretty and arrogant. The girl looks over at her friend, then they whisper. I can see Sage tensing up next to me. Do they know that it's not about our grades? I don't know them well enough to know more about them. Tana's family is rich and in the industry or something. Lakota? No idea. But the two are always together and if Tana knows that we need their blessings to stay in school...

"Say that you need my help," says Tana finally.

"I need your help, Tana."

"Sage too," grins Lakota. The girl next to me gasps.

"She needs your help too, Tana," I try to help Sage while my anger at Lakota grows ever stronger. Shouldn't she be the leader of our class? On my side, just like on Tana's? At least that seems to be enough for the clever and cold Tana to give us her help. Ahe opens her mouth and...

"Admit that you're dumber than her," says Lakota suddenly. "Both of you." And Tana grins. She didn't see it coming, but doesn't do anything to prevent it. And I'm too shocked to stop Sage from an outburst.

"You fucking bitch!" she snaps. "Fuck you and fuck Tana! Fuck this system and fuck your help!" The whole cafeteria watches us while Lakota just grins and Tana seems annoyed. "Fuck them, Finn," Sage turns to me. "Fuck them! We don't need them. You're smart enough. We can do it on our own and..."

"But you need someone to protect you with Miss Webster," Lakota grins wickedly. "She wants this... animal to learn how to work in a team." Sage is about to grab a knife from the table, I fear. School... stabbings. So I intervene.

"You should learn that too, Lakota," I say coldly. In the past, I would have begged for their help. Now I know that I have their name on the MCD, just like Tana's. But they're not evil, they're just... cold? Distant? Bored? "We will lose our place at school if you don't help us. We don't want that. Please help us."

"Finn you... stipid loser," gasps Sage, pale with anger.

And Tana... laughs...

"She's not wrong," grins the Asian girl. "Finn, it's not Sage's fault," she says quickly before Lakota can breathe fire again. "We've been watching you for a long time. You're always so... sad and..." Her cold gaze dissects me. That can't be. Is she now accusing me of having feelings? "Unmanly..." Fuck. And Lakota grins while Tana just seems uncomfortable with the whole thing. As if she had to explain something bad to a dumb child. "It would be a waste, you understand? You won't get our halt. It's already decided."

"Exactly," grins Lakota. "We would have helped you in the past, but look at you. And Sage too. You just don't take college seriously enough. You just don't fit into this world. It wouldn't do any good to help you."

Okay, that's... unbelievable. Unbelievable that the two of them react so harshly. It's unbelievable that they don't see that they have a chance to do something for everyone. Or... is there actually more to it than I initially thought?

It's also unbelievable that I manage not to get angry. Maybe it's because of the small but nice device in my pocket and the names Tana and Lakota that are now on my list. Maybe it's because of my new-found joy in life. But all of this isn't just about me. Sage doesn't have all my new-found advantages. She stands alone. And yet Tana and Lakota still treat her as harshly as they treat me. Either because they don't know that I've gotten stronger... Or because they have a plan? This can't be... right?

On the other hand, I can certainly understand why it's too much for Sage. She doesn't even say anything, doesn't look at me, but simply turns around and disappears from the cafeteria without even looking at anyone. I look at Tana and Lakota one last time, but only get dismissive looks. And Lakota smiles as if she has won. So I turn around too, see where Sage is, but can't find her anywhere.

Then I see my friends looking at me curiously.

---

"We should have warned you," says Ryan as I sit down next to them. "Miss Webster was worried about you, the two witches don't seem to like that." I can only nod my head.

“What they said…” My voice is quiet, thoughtful.

“Did they hurt you?” Sofia asks, looking questioningly around the group. She probably wants to make sure she doesn’t cross any boundaries by interfering here, but I shake my head.

“I just have no idea why… It was like… I don’t know… Too much. Yes. That was way too much... For a simple mean girl to be mean.”

“Don’t take it to heart,” Sofia says, not realizing that Lisa wanted to say the same thing but didn’t dare.

“How is Sage?” my best friend finally asks, showing once again how social she is outside of her anxiety.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sofia murmurs quietly, but then presses her lips together when she sees my look.

“It really took a toll on her,” I admit. “I’m worried about her.” My fingers dig furrows into my forehead. I really have better things to do than clean up the mess of these two super clever witches but maybe I must. The way Lakota smiled at me... The wy Tana was uncomfortable talking to me, my future and this school... "I need someone that Susan sees as a replacement for Tana" I say. "Someone who proves to Susan that we fit into this god-forsaken school."

"Why exactly?" asks Ryan. "History is your thing." I just shrug my shoulders and explain that Susan is more concerned with fitting me and Sage into the class.

"All because I left you alone for so long. I'm sorry folks." I look at Ryan out of reflex. He has always been the social one of us, at least in these moments. With Rose, I'm only just beginning to learn that I can show myself ****. At least in front of most people, I admit to myself. But before I can finish the thought, something magical happens.

Lisa puts her hand on mine.

I almost flinch, but I can still control myself when I see her lovely expression. It takes a lot of effort for her to show this intimate gesture in Sofia's presence and that's what makes it so special when her hand flinches away briefly, but then, almost calmly, rests on mine.

"It's okay," she says so quietly that you can barely hear her over the noise of the cafeteria. But for me it's a clear bell ringing that heralds a new era. "We're not mad at you." And then she forces a smile onto her face.

"I could teach you."

The smile disappears again and only now does Sofia seem to realize that she's done something wrong. Lisa pulls her hand back and puts it in her lap while she lowers her head and her cheeks turn red. Kind of cute but of course it's a shame that this moment had to end.

But I can't blame Sofia. She's really doing her best and...

"It's okay, Sofia," Ryan says quickly and nudges the girl. "You're still new here."

"Yes... thank you..." I don't think Sofia understands what went wrong that Lisa doesn't even show herself to be so open to someone when she's in public. I think hard to find a solution. And like with Lisa, I know that from this moment on, with the MCD, it is my responsibility to look after our little group of friends. Maybe it's not just about my pleasure, **** and happiness, but the happiness of us all.

“Oh come on folks,” I call out and sit up a little straighter.

And then I put my hand on Lisa’s shoulder.

And she lets me.

And I smile at Ryan and Sofia and get a good response in return.

“Let’s not sulk now. I’m finally smart enough to be back here. I want to enjoy that. Sofia?” She looks at me questioningly. “But you do know that you’ll have to teach Sage too?”

“Do I have to?” she asks, tormented. “Oh boy… Okay.” and she looks me in the eyes. “For you, Finn.”

“And Lisa.” I pull her gently and carefully to my side. She still hides away a little and lowers her head, but I sense the hint of a smile on her lips as I try to fill the group with a good mood again.

Finally Ryan helps me and when he realizes what I'm up to he tells one of his stupid but somehow nice jokes that you'd think Siri had written.

"What does an optimist say when he falls out of a plane?" he asks.

"What does an optimist say when he falls out of a plane?" Ryan can hardly control himself.

"Great. At least I have a parachute... ... .... Do you understand?"

Sofia looks at me questioningly.

"Shit Ryan..." And then I laugh. And then Sofia laughs. And then Ryan laughs, even though he's a little offended that we don't understand the joke ourselves. It can't be because of his sense of humor. Shane Gillis has nothing against him. But I've got one eye open just in case...

Click!

"Now I've got you," I exclaim and Lisa flinches. Then I hold the MCD in front of her nose while the other two look on in amazement. "Lisa Moreau. Smiling."

And Lisa looks up.

Lisa Moreau. +1 (PS -81)

It's a small step forward, but what's even as much important is that Sofia feels accepted into the group and begs Ryan with her hands raised not to tell another joke. And Lisa and I grin at us and when I nudge her with my shoulder, she returns the gesture.

---

The day wasn't that bad, I decide later as we pack our things for the next class. Then I say goodbye and take a detour to the restroom and get the MCD out.

It feels good to accompany Lisa on her way and I still have to think of a plan to speed things up a bit. She seems to be fine with it and...

Ping!

I open the message she wrote me.

Lisa Moreaa +4 (PS -77)

No text. Just her smile, recorded in a brief moment. The recording is shaky and a bit blurry, maybe she doesn't even know how to hold her phone. But she's smiling. **** but somehow... proud. And I don't need a text from her, that's probably too embarrassing for her. I know what she wants to tell me anyway.

'Nice to be back.'

That would mean that I'm going to make Lisa an e-girl. What now?

Well, first of all, shopping.

Too many questions have arised today. Jasmine and her comments about something she can't tell me. Tana and Lakota and her sideway glances at the truth. Besides, I can't afford to be weak in my lousy Volleyball job and **** Honesty can help me with all of that. My situation is getting more complicated and I don't want to get caught in the line of fire of a crazy woman. Speaking of shool shootings one last time. From now on I have to be careful. At home they notice what I do to them... And I'm far from finished. Afterward, I have volleyball again and I want to deal with Rania. And then I want to help Lisa and find out the secret about Sage and Sofia. I can use all the help I can get.

Yes. Of all the perks, this is the most useful so that I don't encounter unexpected resistance like today again.

Click!

**** Honesty

The subject must always tell the User the truth if he asks her to tell the truth.

I can't wait to learn all the secrets I crave and...

"What... Oh that's... new..."

Update: Click to download!

From the games I play at Ryan's house, I know that it's always important to keep your systems up to date. And as for the MCD... I think it's better to update than to make the fate of so many nice (sometimes stupid) but always sexy girls... and Ryan... dependent on an outdated system.

Click!

---

"Finn?" Ryan sticks his head in the door. "Where are you?"

"Yes, I... I'll be right there..."

"Don't take too long," I hear his amused voice. "Lisa already misses you."

"Yes... okay..."

But actually, nothing is okay... or maybe everything is okay. More than okay. It's just a bit overwhelming.

Welcome to the MCD. Beta. V. 0.8.35 (Lighting II)

Our team is proud to present the new features of the MCD. Have fun with it.

1. The performance of the MCD has been increased (unfortunately this also increases the battery life. We're working on it). The lock on activating a single subject has been lifted. From now on, the user has full control over which subjects he wants to activate. Have fun with it.

2. Each subject has been assigned a subgroup (as already introduced). When activating a subject, the groups are now presented from the start. The conditions for the perks must be unlocked by the PS of the individual group members, as before.

3. The MCD team has increased its efforts to ensure a balanced sexual and social experience and is now working on a list of male subjects that the user will meet on his journey, in addition to expanding the list of female subjects. Further updates are to be expected.

4. Under certain conditions, the user can now be made aware of so-called "challenges". This involves increasing the PS by a set number in a set period of time and is rewarded with rewards in the form of tokens.

"Holy shit..."

"What?" asks Ryan, startling me. "That big?" He giggles. "No wonder, given your diet."

"No..." I mumble. "Not that..." But big is the right word.

I have things to do.

---

New message from the author: Okay. I hope that with the update of the MCD and the rewriting of this chapter, I was able to address most of the points that you all gave me here. As for the last poll...

With 85 participants, this is the most visited poll of my career and I still find it hard to accept that one of my stories has so much resonance with people. That is unbelievable for me. Thank you so much. And I have to say that I was very surprised to see Ryan so high up. But it's great that you're giving me the opportunity to include Sage and Sofia, they will be very happy about that (not at first, but surely soon...). Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

With the new update of the MCD, it is now possible for me/us to activate several subjects. I now feel confident enough in terms of timing and flow to justify this decision. Of course, I still have the option of awarding points as quickly or slowly as I need to in order to create a good story and please understand that I don't let Finn activate every subject immediately. I still want to leave polls and discussions and, above all, anticipation in the story. But as soon as we have worked through the current subjects (usually at the beginning or end of the chapter), Finn is free to activate someone as soon as they appear on the MCD. To do this, the subject has to spend a certain amount of time, reach a certain level of intimacy, or reach a certain threshold of intensity. So they either have to spend time with Finn, be particularly valuable to the MCD (me and I), or draw his attention to themselves in some way.

The groups will be introduced in the next chapters and will also be expanded and improved using the PS tokens. The only difference is that I have now decided to reveal the group immediately when a subject appears on the MCD.

Then I have opened the door for potential male characters. I haven't completely decided how we will proceed here yet and I give my word that I will handle this via polls and your input. I will probably create a separate chapter with these polls or something. But first of all, male names will also appear on the MCD as soon as I have integrated them.

And as for the challenges, these are a way for Finn to get more tokens so that he can better control this aspect of the story. As I said, I see it as a kind of game. Bring Lisa's PS down to -50 in under two days. Something like that as an example. But with certain conditions. Maybe different perks will be activated or deactivated especially for this challenge. Or it will depend on the status of the PS. This will of course be a big challenge for Lisa but if Finn has a subject where he doesn't care about comfort then you can definitely make something out of it. I just have to come up with these challenges. We can talk about that too. Something of a dungeon situation or that kind of stuff. It could also be that I combine two subjects in one challenge. Not like Sage and Sofia, they count as one subject. But subjects that don't really fit together and Fnn has to make sure that he achieves his goal anyway. That could bring more variety.

And lastly on this chapter. I hope I've managed to make it a bit more logical now. I didn't like it that much myself but now I'd say I'm happy with it. And by chance I've added another secret about Lakota and Tana. That's a good thing, especially since we now have **** Honesty.

I sincerely hope that you are all happy with this new upgrade and promise to continue to work closely with my readers. Thank you for reading this chapter again and I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

Old message from the author: I have now introduced almost all the girls I want to include. And Ryan. There will certainly be more, but for now I think we should concentrate on increasing the progress score, activating more subjects and answering the questions you have asked me over the last few chapters. I have already found a path for Ryan as soon as we activate him, but the question is whether there are other boys the MCD can activate. I was thinking of some friends of girls that Finn is interested in. Then we could also include families. Susan seems to arouse a lot of interest and I suspect that this is due to her somewhat more mature age. This aspect could be expanded.

And the question is how we will deal with more boys if we decide to activate them. I think Ryan is a good guy, even if there is a little rivalry brewing over Sofia, but there are enough bad chicks who can have boyfriends. The idea of ​​crossdressing has come up, basically forcing the boy to act like a girl until he likes it (or not). I have some other ideas along these lines, but I still have to work them out properly. In any case, I will hold a poll on this and are glad of your help.

Then I will turn a little more to the family, Jasmine and Tammy in particular, but don't forget the volleyball ladies either. And Bella will also appear again. I suspect the next chapters will therefore be concerned with working through my questions and moving the story forward. And the last question I have to answer for myself is how I will deal with the limitations of the MCD. In other words, how many subjects we can activate at the same time? That depends on the poll in the last chapter. I have a lot to do, but I'm happy to hear if anyone has anything else to say.