My second chance in a strange reverse world!

Chapter 17: Nerd’s Den



"So, um, to summarize, it was all just for your biology class?” The girl, who now knew her name was Ada, rectified.

I nodded, with a slight relieved smile on my face as my excuse had worked. "Yes, you get it now?"

"Now I understand it's a misunderstanding." Ada nodded and didn't try to wink this time, so I assumed she had really understood. However, she sighed and patted her flat chest. "So you're not going to be a father huh, that's a relief."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Why is that a relief?"

"Huh... did I say relief?" She laughed uncomfortably and fiddled with the string of her sweatshirt nervously. "But it's a relief because parenting is hard, you know?"

I stared at her blankly; this girl was odd not only because she seemed to talk too much when she was nervous, but also because her gestures were awkward. However, because she was beautiful by my standards, I didn't notice those minor flaws, but to the rest of the world, she might just be weird and creepy. Having no one to talk to may have also contributed to her poor communication skills.

Maybe I was going too far here, but at least I could understand her; after all, I once lived in a world based on aesthetic standards. It sucked, to say the least

The only difference is that I had practice striking up conversations with strangers, but I still remember my first day on the job, when I couldn't look anyone in the eye and stuttered when I spoke. It was a shitty job, but at least it had some good in it. Seeing her suffer and frown when she realizes she's talking too much surprisingly strikes a chord with me, and it makes me want to help her overcome that mistake. I had no one to help me, but she could have me.

After all; Only we, the dissatisfied, have the right to progress.

Ada's eyes wandered around the room as I thought, her red locks falling in front of her face. Her body seemed to be in sync with a rhythm, causing her foot to tap the floor with a steady beat. But when I spoke, she looked up at me, and the tapping abruptly stopped.

"So this place is some kind of computer club?" I asked, resting my face in my hand as I leaned closer to Ada.

“Yes!” Ada's eyes lit up with sudden enthusiasm, and she quickly began rummaging through the contents of the desk we were seated at. After a moment of searching, she triumphantly produced a small pamphlet and eagerly held it out for me to see. “ The High Performance Software Developers Group.”

I looked at the pamphlet and saw that it was the same one I had read to come here, so I nodded, "and you chose this place for a club?" I said, implying my comment of This is a warehouse.

Ada scratched the back of her head awkwardly, recognizing my remark. "Yeah, well, um, there weren't any other rooms available, plus I'm the only member of the High Performance Software Developers Group, and they assumed I wouldn't get any more members, so I was relegated to this place." She said, awkwardly fiddling with the drawstring of her sweatshirt, before perking up and clattering her hands on the desk. "But the fact that you've come here implies that you want to join my club, right?" She looked at me with hopeful eyes, as if I were the world's savior.

I felt bad for her; I had no idea about scheduling or the like, but her puppy dog eyes brought out the worst in me this time. "I'll think about it." Finally, I said, and she nodded, so I went on. "But what exactly do you do at your club?" I inquired.

"Oh, well." She held up the pamphlet she still held in one of her hands to her eyes," we focuses on optimizing and improving software development-"

I cut her off before she could continue. "I already read your pamphlet, tell me something I can understand." I said with a half-hearted smile.

"Oh, so, " Ada slowly put down the pamphlet and put a finger to her lips. "Basically we write code, watch lectures and play video games, "She began to blush more and more as she went on explaining. " Or at least that's what we did last year when there were more members."

"That's why you don't have members." I scolded her.

"Huh? Why?" she asked urgently.

"Your explanations are too technical," I explained. "This club is basically a nerd's den."

“Hey!”

"Not to insult you," I quickly clarified, raising both hands in a peace sign. "Just your terminologies probably no one else can understand at this school. You need to make it more appealing, at least if you want people to not think it's some kind of advanced college class."

"But I did!" Ada protested, picked up the pamphlet again and pointed to a place below the text. "Didn't you see the picture of a smiling computer? What else is needed?"

I felt like slapping my forehead, but I didn't. "That's not good enough." I started to explain a little more about an attractive design, but as we talked, I had an idea. "Hey, let's pause this conversation." I said. "I have a question for you."

She stiffened. "Yes!"

"You know... how to get into a phone without a password?"

"Huh?" Ada thought for a moment. "Well, I can do a brute force attack if it comes to the case that there is no other alternative, it should be easy, why?"

"Well, I have a deal for you." I smiled mysteriously. "I'll help you improve your pamphlet to attract prospective club members and you." I pointed at her, then pulled out my cell phone. "You help me unlock this. Fair right?"

It was not fair in any way.

"You forgot the password to your phone?" Ada theorized, but then her face became confused. "But isn't that the model that the essence uses to unlock itself?"

“huh?”

"You just have to send some of your essence to the cell phone." She explained.

"O-oh, ah, well," This time it was my turn to stutter.  "I want to know what's the password I put in uh, the phone, just in case."

Ada looked at me for a moment before asking something awkwardly. "You... didn't steal it, did you?"

"What?! Of course not!"

"T-That's something a thief would say!”  She hesitantly but bravely proclaimed.

"What do you want me to say then?"

“I-I have no idea, but you have to return that cell phone!"

Massage my hundred lightly. "Listen... again."

Shit, why does this girl jump to such hasty conclusions?


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.