Thirty minutes after the phone call ended, I found myself rolling around in the dirt and grass just to punish myself.

I even burped for some reason.

Thirty five minutes after the phone call ended, I got up and started walking with my head to the ground.

One hour after the phone call ended, I've already taken a shower while laying on the bathroom floor. And I didn't worry about hygiene for that regard because Anshur waxed it this morning after breakfast already.

The showerhead sprayed down on the flesh of mine as I turned side to side like a kebab making sure water got everywhere. I melt away into the purest form of human existence; non-newtonian fluid. That's liquid when handled gently and solid when tossed around.

I didn't have the mind to use soap or scrub today, of course, I just decided to pour shampoo on my hair, rubbed it, release all the foam and used that said foam to scratch my body, basically smearing the said shampoo on my body and cleaning it, probably.

It's quite frustrating how important hygiene is in life, and how if I plan to rejoin modern society, I have to abide by it.

One hour and five minutes after the phone call ended. I clothed up, if that's even a real phrase.

For some reason, I've grown quite fond with the Sonders' dresses, I feel more confident when I walk around the mansion with these on, my favorite so far was the dark blue one with gold-yellow linings. It fits so well, these two colors. And I picked it today, too, because it looked the least goofy and childish, which would be needed for the occasion.

Bra on and shorts on behind this dress, of course… Not because I was expecting visitors to my domain, but I was hoping it'd make me feel more bonita, and it sure did.

One hour and fifteen minutes after the phone call ended. I sat on a luxurious set of sofas in the main hall of the estate, where most traffic happened, and if someone were to leave or enter this Sonder's mansion, they would come through here.

It was around… Six thirty in the afternoon? I thought maybe some random maids, butlers, chefs, maintenance workers, gardeners, security guards would walking around and goofing off around this hour, but it was awfully quiet.

Ann's plan should be in motion any second now, perhaps already thirty minutes ago. And it would approximately take the mods and admins around an hour or two to notice the problem, and probably three to to six hours to troubleshoot.

But since it's not work-hours, the only one on emergency call would likely be some random intern with barely any experience.

That means, Eirlys probably's gonna need my help with whatever this is. So while I sat and waited, hoping that she'd leave the mansion and make her way to the Sonder Interactive headquarters (about two hours drive from here with normal traffic) and deal with the situation.

But, someone came that I didn't expected at this hour.

I heard sound of wheels, squeaky small wheels against the marble floor, approaching from the hallway. I turned to look, and it was our precious angel Hailie, with yet again, Gerald pushing her wheelchair from behind. His presence sometimes make me wonder why they couldn't use an electric wheelchair, wouldn't it be way more convenient?

"Oh! Is that you, Cory?" Hailie Sonder cheered like a bright sunshine immediately upon seeing me, before turning around and slightly tugged on Gerald's sleeve, asking him to speed up so she could be aside me sooner.

"I'm so worried about you!" She said as she got pushed towards the set of sofa, both arms spread trying to hug me, "I haven't seen you all days! Are you okay? Oh my days I'm so worried, I'm so glad you seem well!"

She started repeating the same few phrases over and over in a slight panic as I leaned forward on my seat and embraced her. Hailie's seat was taller than mine so naturally she wrapped my arm against my neck while I fidgetted around her chest, and she actually leaned forward a bit to let my finger squeeze through the gap between her and the backrest of her seat.

Hugging while both of you are sitting down is very awkward, I should've knelt or stood upright and let her press her face against my stomach or something similar, I thought.

"I'm just a bit tired, you know… Don't you feel the same?" I asked as we began to release each other.

"Um, not really? I make sure I go to sleep on time everyday, I think I can go to sleep without even knowing it by now when the clock strikes exactly eleven!"

We were on different topics, so I giggled as I stretched out my arm and patted Hailie on her fluffy soft white hair.

Then, I suddenly realized something… It was Hailie's free time! She has two hours of gaming each day ranging from 6 to 8PM, yet right now it's half past 6 and she wasn't in the gaming room with her pals.

"You're not playing today?" I asked Hailie.

She shook her head.

"I thought I'd wait for you and we can level up together again, you know, like before! Because um-" Hailie paused sheepishly for a second, almost blushing it seemed, "Oh… Um- I… I've noticed that you've been increasingly distant ever since I've spent most of my time with the Freedom Group."

I paused for a long second.

"The what?" I asked.

"Oh! It's the group that Marc named for us! You know, Marc, Mei, Akira, Rina, Pearl, and me!"

Of course that white swordsman guy would come up with such a name, I thought as I shook my head.

Then I took a deep breath, taking in what Hailie said, and leaned forward, before lightly tapping both her cheeks with my palm and cupping her face, squishing very gently as her little-to-no face-fat.

"You dum dum." I said as I started kneading much to both hers and Gerald's confusion as he stood behind the wheelchair. I can tell that he was very on guard, not knowing how to appropriately react.

"Dum dum dum dum dum." I repeated.

"Oau oau ou ou ouchh, what are you doing, Cory!" Hailie endured my bullying without any complaint, her eyes closed tight for more damage control.

"I'm not sad because you didn't spend time with me! If anything, I should be the one asking if YOU are getting sad when I didn't spend time with you." I said, still squeezing her meaty cheeks up and down like a stressball, "I'm not sad about it, I'm being honest, Hailie. It's just that-"

I sighed, looking into her innocent eyes, before admitting.

"I just… I am not fond of playing with other people, especially less experienced players… I'm sorry that I never told you this before, Hailie. Nothing against you specifically, but I'm just the loner type in game, but hey, maybe we could hang out more outside?"

"Uowa Uuaa Uoooawuhuoah" Hailie was unable to respond as I began to smushed her cheeks in and out with a very slight tug.

Gerald showed a concern expression as a sweat ran down his cheek, his hands partially raised, on the verge of pulling me away from his young mistress.

But I know my limits, because after a few seconds, I released my hand to see that her cheeks had basically swollen and turned bright orange, the butler quickly took out a hankerchief and began wiping.

"Oh… Oau…" Hailie mumbled a bit, "Promise you're not sad?"

"I promise." I smiled.

Deep inside, I do not know, actually, am I actually sad that Hailie'd rather spend time with some strangers? Right now, no, but like… I would rather that be a question for a sunnier day.

"Oh- um… Then if you're not sad," Hailie started rubbing her own cheeks after Gerald finished wiping as she asked. "Are you going to play today, Cory? We still have more than an hour left until I need to get back to class!"

I uncharacteristically dropped my smile out of instinct as my voice lowered.

"Not today, Hailie."

Realizing the sudden change of nature and tone, I faked a smile, before standing up and spin around in my beautiful dress.

"I was going to take a walk around the block. Some fresh air, you know! It's a gated community so I think it'll be safe, right?"

I could not let anyone know about the scheme that I was trying to cook up, especially those blissfully unaware like Hailie.

"That sounds nice, fresh air!" Hailie giggled as she turned around to Gerald, "I want to go around the street too, can we fit that in my schedule tomorrow? I haven't been to that bakery near the square in a while!"

"You have an hour of free time before lunch, indeed." He answered.

A little "yay" from our little angel echoed, I was grinning ear to ear just looking at how… Dumb? No, that was not the word.

I was feeling genuinely joy seeing how "bright" Hailie Sonder was.

She suddenly grabbed my hand with both of hers.

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