Isabella’s icy expression this time was not just a facade.
At that moment, the one in control was the heiress of the Vance Group, just as Evelyn Vance and her various tutors had taught her since childhood.
While Julian Neal desperately tried to regain control of his terminal, he didn’t realize he was trying to regain control against the heiress of the very group that had financed and installed the college’s technological infrastructure.
Isabella had "Overseer" level access to the campus security system as a guarantee for her own safety.
Sure, just as this was a guarantee of her safety, if she used it with malicious intent against innocent people like Julian had just done, those rights would be revoked immediately.
Despite having a good friendship with Halon, Isabella wasn’t some puritanical saint who couldn’t stand to see injustice; the Vance Group was built on blood and corpses too, so even when she saw such injustices against other students in the past, she didn’t care and simply ignored them.
The problem was that Julian had touched someone she cared about...
"Did you really think the security system would ignore a concentrated release of chemical agents outside the maintenance protocol? Or that your prank in a crowded classroom wouldn’t have consequences for everyone else nearby?" Isabella’s voice cut through the silence of the room, as cold as ice, so authoritative that it made even Dr. Aris turn pale.
She slid her finger across the golden screen, sending the final command. Instantly, Julian’s wrist projector, already damaged by Lohan’s interference, emitted an audible signal of total shutdown.
[USER STATUS: SUSPENDED]
[REASON: ATTEMPTED BIOCHEMICAL ASSAULT AGAINST A CITIZEN UNDER ACADEMIC PROTECTION]
"Isabella... I... I was just calibrating!" Julian stammered in disbelief, looking at her with a pathetic plea.
"You were trying to suffocate a fellow student, Julian." She retorted, her golden eyes gleaming with such contempt that it made him cringe. "And now, since you have violated the terms of use for Vance infrastructure, I have taken the liberty of revoking all your priority access credentials to the labs. I believe your father will have an interesting conversation with the board of directors regarding the misuse of corporate privileges."
Dr. Aris, realizing that Isabella was defending Lohan (or at least punishing Julian), changed his stance instantly. He wouldn’t dare contradict the girl whose surname supported the funding of his research.
"Security! Escort Mr. Neal out!" the professor ordered with impeccable fury, as if he were genuinely enraged by Julian’s attitude. "Your conduct is unacceptable, boy!"
Immediately, three men entered the classroom and, with an image projected onto the holograms in front of them, they asked no questions and took Julian away.
As Julian was dragged out, shouting about how his father would sort this out, Lohan hesitated for a moment.
He felt the last remnant of the chemical smoke being digested by his integrated lungs, converting into a tiny but satisfying amount of biomass, but people were staring at him in shock at how he was withstanding it.
’Shit, great, I’ve drawn the attention I didn’t want...’ He thought worriedly, considering trying to feign a cough and discomfort, but knowing that would be useless, he wasn’t an actor, and pretending might raise more suspicion than simply not bothering to act.
Fortunately, the students from the Lower Zone didn’t sit close to each other, so the seats around Lohan were empty, with students far enough away not to be directly affected by it, but it was still possible to see their discomfort as they inhaled that gas.
’What do I say? Do I say this doesn’t affect me? Do I pretend I have a nasal filter like the people from the Upper Zone? But how could I explain or prove that? Do I pretend to have a special constitution?!’ Lohan was completely lost, even unconsciously activating his parallel thought process to try to find a way out, until a sound of heavy inhalation followed by a familiar voice rang out near him.
"By the smell of that... I think you’re lucky the gas had passed its expiration date; otherwise, you wouldn’t even be able to stand like that." A cold, feminine voice sounded.
Lohan was so focused on thinking of the excuse he would use to get out of that situation that he didn’t immediately recognize where he knew that voice from, but he was sure he knew it.
Isabella, whose voice in the real world was slightly different from that of the fox Lisa, wore an expression as cold as ice, looking at Lohan in front of her as if she didn’t know him, feigning a slight concern as if she were more worried about the fact that the gas wasn’t working than about his actual health.
For a moment, their gazes met, and Lohan felt an even greater sense of familiarity with that.
Even though her gaze was as cold as ice, a gaze that would ward off any stranger, for some reason it just seemed even more familiar to him.
--BA-DUM
A powerful thud resonated in both their chests with that eye contact, with Lisa quickly looking away naturally, showing no reaction to it, and Lohan also realizing that his gaze had been dangerously rude and quickly sitting down in his chair.
"Dr. Aris, I’m sorry, but I believe this class will have to be moved to another room, since safety measures have been compromised and confirmed to be in a state of disrepair." Isabella Vance said in a cold voice without asking, simply commanding the professor, who was several times her age, with ease, while typing something on the floating golden screen and walking quickly to her own seat, grabbing her backpack, and leaving the room.
The professor was confused, but he didn’t hesitate. "Students, you heard Miss Vance. Come on, everyone, grab your things and let’s go to room H301."
Lohan was even more confused by this series of events, unable to form a logical thought even with parallel thinking activated, and he glanced to the side, noticing that the boy with the Rare Base was smiling discreetly at him.
’What’s going on? Could she be...’ Lohan thought, feeling the Mana coursing hot through his human veins, a possibility forming in his mind. ’Shit, could Isabella Vance be Lisa?!’