"...With your permission, of course." The polite young man dipped his head.
Noble felt his unbridled excitement beneath the pleasant facade.
"By all means." She nodded. "What do you need from us?"
"While not entirely necessary, I would appreciate the use of your chamber, just in case." Kakuja nodded.
'Just in case of what?' Noble's curiosity was certainly piqued.
"Be my guest. Bee Two can monitor everything that goes on in there, so we will be able to collect any data you provide." Noble noticed the young man's smile widen.
"Excellent." Kakuja opened the chamber and sealed himself inside. "I assume you can still hear me?"
Noble floated over to the opposite side of the polymer, still holding her datapad. "There's an intercom system, so yes."
"Good. Now, allow me to explain." Kakuja pushed back his flowing sleeves.
"I have an Innate Ability that gives me a notion of what is to come."
"Like a seer?" Noble raised her eyebrows. Her track record with seers had been less than stellar.
"No, nothing of that level, more like a nudge about the fate that is about to come. It's hard to explain and very vague. I've never had the words to describe it properly. That alone, I think, will help me when dealing with unfamiliar Memories. If I sense things will go sideways, I will have time to react."
Noble nodded. Having an intuition that could warn of danger was invaluable in a classroom where unpredictability was often the order of the day.
Kakuja held out his hand as sparks formed in it.
"My dormant ability centers around what I call contracts. I can set conditions or parameters in a certain area, be that between humans or between objects and humans. I can only do it on people of equal or lesser rank, but an object's only limit is the essence I want to expend. As for my Awakened Ability…it's easier if I show you."
The item finished forming in Kakuja's hand. It was small and fit neatly in his palm.
"This is a charm. It only has one use, which is truly a shame when it comes to Memories. But let's pretend that I did not know what it did. How would I normally go about finding out its purpose?" Kakuja tilted his head.
"We would do an analysis here and give you the raw data. We can read the runes and give information about the enchantments."
"And if they did not shed light on the situation? Then I have another way." Kakuja smiled.
The air around the Memory changed subtly, shimmering with what Noble could only assume was some kind of sorcery. The man cracked the charm in his fist, releasing its power and letting the Memory turn to dust.
"Oh!" Noble was stunned for a moment.
Kakuja's body shivered, and his lithe physique suddenly grew dense muscles. His flowing robe filled until it was too tight for the Awakened. All at once, Kakuja could put any bodybuilder in history to shame.
"It would be good to know about this in advance," the man's gentle voice seemed so incongruous with his appearance. "Otherwise it might be a bit of a shock that I can suddenly do this."
The young man punched the chamber, causing it to warp slightly and the wall beside it to shake. One hit did not cause damage to the resilient chamber, but many would certainly bring down the classroom around them.
'I can see why it would only be able to be used once!'
"You've used your Memory. Now what?" Noble wasn't sure where he was going with this. What did the contracts he mentioned have to do with using up a Memory?
"Well, it's more like what did I already do. I set parameters surrounding my usage of the Memory before I began, so when the effect of the charm runs out, the conditions will be met and…"
Kakuja shut his eyes.
The muscles faded, and his normal, delicate build returned. He held out his hand, and in it was the charm he had just destroyed.
Noble pressed her face up against the polymer, unwilling to believe her own eyes.
"How?!"
Kakuja smiled. "The parameters were fulfilled when I stopped funneling my essence to maintain my strength. That triggered a loop which brought the Memory back into my possession as if I had never used it. In essence, I have created an 'undo' button."
Noble had only seen one other person who could bend time and space. In Queen Bee's Dreamscape days, Thorai had been able to manipulate the duels to make it so hits did not land, and injuries were not incurred. This worked on a fundamentally different principle but yielded a similar result.
Noble opened the door to the chamber and allowed the man to exit. "That was amazing! How many times can you 'undo' the usage of a Memory?"
"As many times as I need to for the person to get the desired result. If you are asking how many times in a row, it really depends on the object. If the item is mundane, it uses almost none of my essence. For Dormant Memories, I can do it around twenty times before my essence becomes exhausted. For higher Memories, it really depends."
"You're hired." Bee Two surprised both humans with the declaration. "I read that you are supposed to be decisive in the hiring process."
"Be that as it may, you don't have the authority to do that, Bee Two." Noble pinched the bridge of her nose. She really needed to cut off Bee Two's access to forums.
"If he is to be my assistant..."
"He is my associate..."
"Then I should be able to hire who I see fit." Bee Two barreled through despite Noble's objection. "And I say he is hired."
"We need to ask him more questions." Noble shook her head.
"You looked through his resume and saw he is qualified. He can contribute to research and assist in class." The android held up three fingers. A fourth alloy finger lifted into the air. "And I won't pick anyone else."
Noble pressed her lips together. The nerve of her android! The provost had half a mind to wipe her assistant's memory and start fresh. How could Bee Two change positions so quickly?
However, Noble would never do that to her faithful companion. At least, not without a very good reason.
Kakuja was an excellent candidate, the best one that she had seen.
That left Noble with few options.
She could deny Kakuja and face the unending trial of looking for someone else, with Bee Two chasing everyone off until Noble eventually hired the original choice.
Or she could cave now and save herself a lot of time and energy.
Taking a deep breath, Noble motioned for the group to return to their seats.
"Awakened Kakuja, what is your opinion on technology that has gotten too bossy for its own good?"
"I would say that in that case, careful observation and notation need to be taken to make sure the situation is well managed by the governing authority." The Awakened man smiled knowingly.
Noble gave him a subtle nod. That was the answer she needed to hear.
She held out her hand.
"You're hired!"