The Skill Roulette King

Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Siska's Investigation

"Open the door, Bagas," the girl from the hallway demanded, her voice clicking like a deadbolt. "Your 'trial period' is over. Now, we talk about your subscription."

Bagas pressed his forehead against the cold, graffiti-covered metal of the stall door. His brain felt like it had been scrubbed with steel wool. "I don’t know who you are, but you’ve got the wrong guy. I’m just a student who had a very weird morning."

"Students don't kick holes in lockers," the girl countered. Her shadow stretched under the stall, still and predatory. "And they definitely don't bend steel bars with one hand. Who’s running the firmware on you, Bagas?"

"Firmware? Are you a hacker? A tech support agent from hell?" Bagas tried to stand, but his knees buckled. A wave of exhaustion, heavy as lead, washed over him.

"I’m the person who’s going to stop you from glitching out in front of the entire faculty," she said, her voice softening into a dangerous, icy velvet. "Come out. Now."

Bagas grabbed the latch, his hand trembling. As he swung the door open, he didn't find the girl with the phone. He found Siska, leaning against the lockers, her expression a mix of triumph and something far more intoxicating.

"Where’s the other girl?" Bagas blinked, swaying.

Siska smiled, stepping into his personal space. "Gone. I scared her off. I’m much better at finding things than she is."

"Siska, you really need to stop following me. I’m literally falling apart here."

"I can see that. You look like you haven't slept in a decade. Why are you shaking, Bagas?"

"I’m just tired," he mumbled, his eyelids feeling like they were weighted with gold bars. "Calculus is hard. Life is harder."

"Calculus doesn't make your skin glow," she whispered, her thumb tracing the line of his jaw. Her touch sent a jolt through him, but this time, it felt like a short circuit.

"Maybe I’m just radioactive."

"You’re a terrible liar," she laughed, though there was no malice in it. "You’re an enigma. And I’m going to solve you."

Bagas leaned against the lockers, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. The world was beginning to tilt. "You’re going to be disappointed. There’s no big secret. Just a really, really broken kid."

"Then why did you look at me like you were scanning my soul in the gym?"

"Force of habit?"

"Try again." She dropped to the floor with him, her scent—lilies and expensive perfume—filling the small space between them. She looked down at his trembling hands. "You were doing it again. Moving like you were part of a machine. It was... incredibly hot, by the way."

Bagas let out a wet, breathless laugh. "You have a very strange definition of 'hot,' Siska."

"I have a very high tolerance for danger. And you, Bagas, are the most dangerous thing in this school."

"I’m not dangerous. I’m a mess. I’m literally struggling to keep my eyes open right now."

"Then sleep," she said, her voice dropping to a low, soothing hum. She pulled his head onto her shoulder. "I’ll protect you."

"That’s... suspicious," he murmured, his voice thick with the encroaching fog of sleep.

"It’s strategic. If you’re a secret project, I want to be the one who owns the patent."

"You’re terrifying," he whispered, his eyes closing completely.

"I’m just ambitious," she replied, her fingers running through his hair. "Now, stay still. Let me see what you’re hiding in that bag of yours."

Bagas didn't have the strength to protest. The system groaned in his mind, the blue light flickering weakly. [SYSTEM STATUS: CRITICAL POWER DEPLETION. RECOVERY MODE ACTIVATED.]

He felt himself slipping into a dark, velvet void, the exhaustion finally winning the war against his adrenaline. He didn't feel Siska’s hands move to his backpack. He didn't hear the sound of the zipper.

Siska watched him for a long moment, her eyes softening as the 'tough-girl' mask slipped. She pulled out a small, worn notebook—the one he’d been clutching since the morning of the first incident.

"Let's see what’s inside, Bagas," she whispered.

She flipped the cover open.

System Log: Day 1. Skill Swap: Math Genius to Street Dancer.

She froze. She turned the page.

System Log: Day 2. Hostile Sync Detected. Emotion Integration Required.

Her breath hitched. She looked down at him—this boy who was currently drooling slightly on her skirt—and then back at the ink on the page. The words didn't look like writing; they looked like code.

"You aren't a secret agent," she breathed, her heart hammering against her ribs. "You’re... you’re a player in a game I never knew existed."

Bagas stirred in his sleep, his hand gripping her wrist with a sudden, supernatural strength that left a bruise, even in his unconscious state.

"Don't..." he mumbled, his voice a ghost of its usual self. "Don't let them... reset me."

Siska’s eyes widened. She grabbed her own phone, her fingers dancing across the screen to snap a photo of the page. "Reset you? Bagas, what the hell are you?"

She felt a strange, electric hum coming from his skin—the same hum she’d felt in the gym. It was getting stronger, warmer, pulsing in time with her own heartbeat.

"You’re going to be the death of me," she whispered to the sleeping boy.

She turned the next page.

Target Acquired: Siska. Allure Sub-Routine: Active.

The blood drained from her face. She looked at him, then at the text, then back at him. The 'Allure' sub-routine. Was that why she felt this way? Was it a command? Or was it real?

"If this is a trick, Bagas," she whispered, her voice trembling, "I’m going to make you pay for it."

But even as she said it, she couldn't pull her hand away. The pulse from his skin was drawing her in, a siren song of code and flesh. She leaned closer, her lips brushing his forehead, the mystery unraveling like a knot in her hands.

Bagas’s eyes suddenly snapped open—but they weren't his eyes. They were a glowing, piercing violet, flickering with the intensity of a dying star.

"Subject identified," he said, his voice layered with a metallic, artificial echo. "Calibration complete."

Siska didn't scream. She didn't move. She just stared into that impossible, violet light, her pulse racing. "What did you say?"

Bagas blinked, the light fading instantly, leaving his eyes brown and tired again. He groaned, rubbing his temples. "Did I... did I say something?"

"You just sounded like a computer," Siska said, her hand still holding the notebook like a holy relic. "Bagas, tell me the truth. Is this... is this even you?"

Bagas sat up, his body moving with a strange, fluid grace that felt far too smooth for someone who had just been half-dead with exhaustion. He looked at her, and for the first time, his smile wasn't a mask. It was something deeper. Something persuasive.

"Siska," he said, his voice dropping into that smooth, silver-tongued register that made the air in the room feel heavy. "I think it’s time I told you everything. But are you sure you’re ready for the price of knowing?"

He reached out, his fingers sliding under her chin, tilting her face up to meet his. The power in his touch was overwhelming, a mix of the 'Conman's' charm and something far more ancient.

"Why do you look at me like you’re waiting for an update?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Bagas leaned in, his breath hot against her ear. "Because, my dear, the update is already here."

As he pulled back, he smirked—a look of pure, unadulterated confidence that didn't belong to the boy she’d known all morning.

"Now," he said, gesturing to the notebook in her lap. "Are you going to read the rest, or are you going to keep staring at me like I’m the best thing that ever happened to you?"

Siska felt her heart stop. She looked at the book, then at him. "How do you know what’s on this page?"

"I don't," he whispered, leaning so close their foreheads rested against each other. "I just know what I wrote for you."

The system in his vision pulsed, a single, terrifying notification appearing in his peripheral:

[SYSTEM ALERT: PERSUASION SKILL ACTIVE. DURATION: 05:00. REMAINING: 4:59.]

Bagas smiled. "Let's see if I can convince you to keep a secret, shall we?"