System Architect

Three weeks passed quickly. Though I spent much of my time studying for exams and doing class work, I was able to take advantage of my daily and weekly quest refreshes. I sat at 94,315 experience while Mom drove me to the university two hours away.

Mom packed enough stuff for us to go there, meet with Connor, and spend a couple of days getting to know the area. If all went well, she wanted me to be comfortable and know where things were—especially for when she came to visit.

I watched the barren trees whip by along the edge of the highway. The snow banks had melted a lot recently and were looking more like mud than snow. I heard on the radio that a cold snap was coming in the next few days, but that was much too late to save the now-patchy snow.

When we took the exit for the university, I was relieved. Besides needing to go to the bathroom, my legs were starting to tingle from lack of use. We drove over back roads and up a hill before entering the university from the back. Mom drove me through the university slowly so we could both get a good look at it.

It was small—as far as universities go—but still took up an entire hillside. The buildings were primarily made of stone and brick in a Gothic style. There were newer designs sprinkled throughout that showed how much the university had grown over the years. Toward the bottom of the hill, the university and the town it was in blended together.

We passed the off-campus housing—or that’s what I assumed it to be given the proximity to the main campus—on the way to the hotel that sat at the bottom of the hill nearby to the river that split the town in half. It was pretty small as far as hotels went, there to serve the university when parents came to visit. Mom parked and checked us in.

After putting all of the items into our room—and using the restroom—Mom and I went out to wander around the town. The meeting with Connor wasn’t until later in the day, so there was time to have a gander and some lunch. The main street that ran one block away from the university and along the river had several possible restaurants to choose from. Two bars, a tavern, a chain restaurant, three cafes, and a sandwich shop.

I ended up choosing the tavern if only because it had good reviews online. We were quickly seated in a booth. The booths were made of dark-stained wood, as were the walls. These elements—and the general low amount of light—gave the place a spooky and dark feeling.

The overly-chipper server—who looked like he was one of the students—came over to take our order long before we’d had the opportunity to actually look at the menu properly. Mom had to send him away twice—with drink orders the first time—before we were finally ready to order.

“I’ll have the fish ‘n chips,” Mom said.

“And how about the little man?” the server asked.

“Shepherd’s pie,” I decided.

“I’ll put those in for you. Do you need anything else?”

“We’re good, thanks,” Mom insisted.

“Do you know anything about Connor?” she asked once the server was gone.

She was leaning over the table and talking quietly like we were planning some sort of conspiracy.

“No clue,” I said.

“Well, I looked him up,” she continued. “He’s the Dean of the engineering school. I know you’re going for a business degree, so I’m not sure how that’s going to work out.”

I shrugged.

“What’d you think of the school after driving through?”

“It looked nice, I guess. I’ll have to see it closer to make a decision.”

Mom nodded.

“I thought it looked nice,” she said. “This place looks like it’s been around a while. It’s like a castle or something!”

“I can see that,” I chuckled.

“So we’re meeting Connor at the, um…” Mom pulled her phone out to check her email. “The Langford Building. You wouldn’t happen to have an idea of where that is?”

I shook my head.

“Didn’t think so,” she said with an air of superiority. “I guess we’ll stop by the main office and get a map or something.”

I hated when Mom got like this. She was usually a great parent, but every so often she needed to be the smartest person in the room and win a verbal joust of some kind. It was much easier to proverbially roll my eyes and move on than it was to bring it up. I’d tried. It wasn’t pretty nor fun.

The food came a few minutes later while she was busy trying to find a map of the campus. Mine was a small oval-shaped dish covered in mashed potatoes. When I stuck a spoon in, I found vegetables and meat underneath. I thoroughly mixed the two halves together before digging in. Mom’s fish ‘n chips looked pretty good. She stole some of mine and gave me a couple fries along with a bit of the fish as compensation.

We talked and ate until we were finished. The server came back and tried to upsell dessert, but we were stuffed. Mom paid the check instead. She had to practically roll me out of the place—that’s how I felt at least.

I followed Mom towards the campus. The bottom streets near the river weren’t too steep, but once we were on the campus, the hill’s slope took over. The main admin building was in the lower third of the school, thankfully, so I didn’t have to waddle that far to get to it. Some probing inquiries at the front desk got Mom a link to a map for the university and directions to the Langford Building located farther up the hill.

Even if I had nearly boundless energy, I needed a couple breaks on the way up the hill. I was glad to see there were plenty of benches along the footpaths to rest on. The university was surrounded by trees. There were few truly open spaces—but the biggest I saw connected the main admin building to the library nearly a football field away.

I climbed higher after Mom had a break. Finally we reached the correct level and only needed to walk along a mostly flat road to the other side of the school. The road was cobblestone. Instead of being just a uniform gray, it was pattered with light and dark stones to show the school’s coat of arms, motto, and other such things.

The road terminated in a junction with a road that ran up and down the hill. The new road was steep—so steep that one of the stairs coming off of it looked like a stairway to heaven. Thankfully, our destination was just across the street.

The Langford building was surprisingly long considering its position on the side of a mountain. It was three floors on the top part and five floors on the lower part. In the middle—where it was four floors tall—was the main entrance. It had a solid, imposing feeling. Part of that was the stone it was built from, but the construction was built to last—down to the front doors that were made from two-inch thick slabs of wood.

Mom and I struggled to open the door when a gust of wind came whipping up and pushed the door open. I was almost tossed when Mom let go of the door! I was glad that some engineer had thought ahead enough to include a stop that prevented me from taking a tumble into some snow by the entrance. I followed Mom inside, my heart needing a minute to calm down.

I trod the well worn hallway towards one of the stairwells. There were classrooms, offices, and experimental laboratories everywhere. Our destination was on the third floor—which, due to the way the building was constructed, meant climbing only one set of stairs. I shook my head. The building was just weird.

I knocked on the door to Connor’s office when we arrived outside. The door was partially open which let me see inside. It wasn’t large and was made even smaller by stacks of papers taller than me. The plate outside the door read Connor Jackson. He—it seemed—was both the Dean and also one of the professors at the same time.

“Come in,” Connor said.

I pushed the door and entered. There was a small couch along the wall shared with the hallway we’d come from.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” Connor offered.

I sat down and Mom did the same to my left.

“Welcome!” He smiled. “So you’re the one my friend was talking about, huh.”

“Yes,” I nodded.

“Good. Good. I’ve looked over your application and I’ve seen your transcripts. All looks good there. You’re doing pretty well—doubly so for someone so young. You’re what, seven?”

“Six.”

“Wow! That’s incredible!”

The man smiled at me.

“Every year, we—the university—set aside some portion of the endowment to cover the cost of education for exceptional students. While your grades are good, there are many who do better—“

My heart sank. I wondered if somehow the information I’d been given was wrong.

“—but they are also thrice your age! You, Eddy, are an exceptional student. As such, I am willing to offer you a scholarship on behalf of the university. It will cover all classes but not the housing and educational materials. I know you’ll have many questions, but that is the standard. That said, I know even those can be expensive. With you being so young, we are also going to cover room and board at no extra cost to you.”

I let out a breath. That was good news! I wanted to accept immediately, but Mom had some questions first.

“What is the housing situation like?” she asked. “Will he be sharing the room with anyone or will he be on his own?”

“Eddy will be given a room of his own that will include his own private bathroom. It will be located in a housing area meant for families.”

“And security?”

“He’ll have a key, as will housekeeping. Given his age, he will not be expected to care for the room, so we will provide weekly cleaning and laundry service. Meals will be available in any of the restaurants and cafeterias on campus.”

“I see.”

Mom turned to me.

“What do you think, Eddy?”

“I think it’s awesome!” I said, excitedly. “Would we be able to see the room or one like it?”

“They’re all occupied right now,” Connor said with a frown. “But I can show you where they are.”

“When would I need to sign up for classes?” I asked.

“Over the summer,” he answered. “Late June, usually.”

“Ok.”

“Speaking of classes, what do you intend to major in?”

“Some sort of business or finance, though I’m not sure.”

“That’s fine. The majority of the classes in the first couple years are the same. It’s the last two years that are different. You have time to think it over.”

“Thanks,” I said, rising from the couch.

“It was great meeting you, Mr. Jackson,” Mom said.

“Same to the both of you! I look forward to seeing you around campus next year.”

We shook his hand in turns and left.

Mom and I wandered around the campus for another hour. We found the housing I’d be in next year. They were of a more modern construction looking more like condos than traditional student housing. Across the street from them was one of the cafeterias, which made Mom happy.

“You won’t have to go too far to eat,” she noted.

“Looks like it. I wonder if they’ll allow takeout.”

Mom cocked an eyebrow at me but said nothing more than a hmm.