The Bonding Ritual Ch. 01-05

I turned back to Aurora, "It's ok, I'm alright, and you are alright, that is all that matters."

"Fine, but you're going to need stitches based on my analysis," Aurora started to calm down.

Eric's raven perched itself on the edge of his desk, staring at him with almost a menacing glare, scratching the desk with its claws as it slowly walked across the desk. Eric looked pale as his creation turned on him, "make it stop" was all he mumbled, a far cry from his usual boisterous nature.

"Do not ever attack James again," she uttered with finality. Suddenly, the raven launched itself into the air, its claws barely missing Eric's face by a centimeter before flying straight out an open window in the far corner of the classroom.

By this time, everyone had cleared out, afraid of what could happen next. It was just myself, Eric, and Miss Carrington left in the room. I began to inspect the wound on my arm. Most were superficial, nothing more than minor scratches, but one was deeper and would need attention quickly. I applied pressure to it as I grabbed the hoodie I had worn to school, tying the injury off with the sleeve.

Now that the adrenaline had begun to fade, I began feeling a little light-headed. I noticed Eric finally got up from his seat, re-composing himself.

"You bitch! How dare you attack me!" he yelled.

"Enough Eric, leave," Miss Carrington dismissed him before turning to me, "and you, go get that looked at and immediately come see me in my office."

I moved to grab Aurora from her place on the podium, "No, leave that here. It's caused enough chaos and I need to evaluate its safety."

"But Eric attacked me with that thing of his, what about him?" I argued, not wanting to leave Aurora in her possession.

"As you can see, it is no longer here. Do not argue with me James, you are already in a lot of trouble," she seethed with cold anger in her eyes.

I turned back to Aurora, worried what Miss Carrington might do to probably my greatest creation. I had this sinking dread in my stomach. As I grabbed the rest of my belongings from next to the podium, I whispered, "Be careful, she can't be trusted," so quietly, I wasn't even sure she could hear.

I headed toward the door, taking one last glance back. Miss Carrington continued to stare, arms folded, scowling.

Chapter 3

I quickly made my way out of the engineering building, rushing across the campus to the administration building, which housed the doctor's office.

I burst through the door, nearly startling the doctor on duty. It must have been a slow day as she sat there, swiping through her phone at her desk.

"What's wrong?" she recovered quickly enough, standing from her chair and straightening her uniform. She must've noticed the makeshift tourniquet wrapped around my arm, blood seeping through the cut, "Oh my, what happened?"

She quickly rushed over to inspect the injury, I'd spent the time making my way to the office thinking of how I'd answer this question. I contemplated reporting Eric for causing the injury, but if I did, there would be a ton of paperwork to fill out and I needed to get back to Miss Carrington's office.

"It was an accident, I cut myself during a robotics experiment," it wasn't uncommon for injuries to occur in the engineering department. Sometimes, we worked with machinery that could be dangerous if not handled correctly. I'd never had any issues, but I'd seen plenty of other students get rushed over for different injuries.

She was focused on diagnosing the injury. Her fingers deftly untieing the material wrapped around my forearm. Thankfully, the blood had already begun clotting, but the main cut was deep.

"I'll need to clean these injuries and you'll need some stitches, please lay down on the bed," she grabbed her kit as I lay down.

"This is going to hurt, but I need to disinfect the wound," there was a warmth to her words. She stood over me, looking down with her blue eyes. I hadn't noticed before because of the emergency, but she was quite young and pretty.

There was a certain gentleness in her face as she began preparing the disinfectant, her long auburn hair draping down around her shoulders. She wore a white outfit, which hugged her body tightly, especially around her ample-sized breasts, which seemed to strain against the material.

In an effort not to stare, I let my mind begin drifting off to the events of the day, hoping to get Aurora away from Miss Carrington. It was a mistake to bring her to the presentation today. I should've just grabbed one of many other devices I'd created and turned that in as my assignment.

Suddenly, I felt the sharp pain of disinfectant on my arm, bringing me back to this moment. My whole body tensed up from the sensation. Then I felt a hand against my chest, "are you alright?" the doctor asked, a look of concern on her face.

Her hand felt soothing against my chest, "yes, it is feeling better now," the pain slowly seeping away.

She smiled, "It doesn't look as bad after being cleaned up. Let me stitch it up, then I'll need to check out your other vitals, and you can be on your way!" her hand rested on my chest for a few more moments before she turned around to grab what she needed to stitch me up.

I glanced over as she turned toward the small metal tray next to her, getting a nice view of her backside, her uniform stretching across her beautiful curves, leaving almost nothing to the imagination.

I quickly turned my head back up to the ceiling as she turned back toward me, hoping she didn't catch me staring at her ass.

"It'll just be a slight pinch with each stitch, ready?" she asked.

Nodding my head, she began stitching the wound closed. Within a couple of minutes, the wound was sewed shut and bandaged.

"Now that that is done, I just need to get some vitals, and I think you can go! You'll just need to replace the bandage and disinfect the wound every day for about a week. Then you should come in next Friday and I'll check things out to make sure it is healing properly. If it looks good, I'll remove the stitches and you'll be good to go." she quickly began taking my blood pressure, heart rate, and blood oxygen levels.

"Everything else looks good, your heart rate is a little bit elevated, but that is typical in this situation. Do you have any questions?"

Yeah, no kidding my heart rate was elevated. As she listened to my heart with her stethoscope, she leaned forward, giving me an eyeful of her cleavage, even catching a hint of white lace from her bra.

"N-no, thank you for your help, I'll see you next Friday," I quickly grabbed my bags and headed for the door.

I retraced my steps across the campus back to the engineering department. The sun was already beginning to set, casting a warm glow across the school. Most students had made their way inside to eat as the cool evening air began to set in.

The engineering building was eerily quiet as I stepped into the hall. I made my way up the stairs to the professor's offices on the third floor. I hadn't encountered anybody in the building, which wasn't surprising at this time of day.

As I neared Miss Carrington's office, I noticed a light coming from under her door.

Good, she hadn't left. I hope I can make this quick. I thought, but as I approached the door, I began to hear a voice. I hesitated for a moment, my knuckle just inches from the door.

"Of course, I'm taking this seriously!" I heard Miss Carrington's voice speaking to someone else. I couldn't hear the other side of the conversation.

"No, you're right, I'm sorry. I will rectify the situation as soon as possible," she sounded defeated, who was she talking to?

She then asked, "What is happening with the singularity?" and waited for a response. What was this singularity she is asking about, I wondered.

"How could it already be so efficient?" she asked, sounding slightly worried.

"Ok, I understand, I'll handle things on my side," and that was the last thing that she said. I waited a moment, not wanting to seem suspicious by knocking right away.

After several minutes where I gathered my nerve, I approached the door once more and knocked.

"Come in," I heard from the office.

Opening the door, Miss Carrington was sitting at her desk. She looked a little bit frazzled, her hair a little bit out of place compared to usual.

On the desk in front of her sat Aurora, connected via a series of cables to Miss Carrington's computer.

"Ah, James, come in and take a seat," she motioned to the seat in front of her desk.

Quietly, I sat, waiting for her to say what she wanted to say.

"Do you want to explain your little stunt in there?" she asked, a tinge of frustration in her tone.

"What do you mean by stunt?" I didn't want to give away any information until I knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Where do I begin? You disrupt my class by hacking into another student's project, sabotaging it, and attacking Eric. I have to say, having it attack you first really was a brilliant move, trying to divert blame from you, but I can see right through your plan James."

I sat there, mouth agape, she thought I attacked myself of course. I thought for a second before responding, not wanting to go on the defense too heavily, "What proof do you have that I hacked his robot?"

"You commanded your robot to stand down. You knew what it was capable of and programmed it to cause such a scene."

"Did you see me issue a command to hack Eric's killer bird? Why did his robot even need razor-sharp claws in the first place?" I argued back. I then showed her the bandaged injury on my arm, "Why would I do this to myself?"

"So if you are innocent, why don't you explain this," she turned her monitor so I could see it. Numbers, letters, and symbols littered the screen, every second flickering and changing.

"What is that?" I asked, just as confused as she seemed to be.

"That, James, is the encrypted data stream that is coming from this... thing of yours," motioning at the doll sitting on her desk, "The only other thing that seems to be on your toy here is a glorified radio. But the communication is encrypted beyond anything that I've ever seen. In fact, that is the only thing special about this creepy doll of yours."

What the hell is she talking about?

"I never programmed it to communicate in that way," I stared at the screen, hypnotized, trying to make sense of it all.

"Aurora? What's going on?" I asked, hoping she'd respond. She was deathly silent. I waited, but she said nothing.

"James, unless you give me a real answer about this or give me the key to this encryption, I have no choice but to report you to the dean. Make no mistake, I will recommend your removal from this program and this school," she said coldly, but with a smile of satisfaction, staring at me, waiting for me to argue back.

I knew she had wanted this from the beginning. Why did she hate me to this extent? There was no winning. Fighting her right here would change nothing, I knew that. She maneuvered me into this position and now she's got what she wanted.

"Do what you need to, I've done nothing wrong," I moved to grab Aurora. If I was getting expelled, I was taking my creation with me.

I didn't expect Miss Carrington to move so fast. She snatched the doll from her desk, and before I could say anything, with a scary ferocity, she threw the doll against the wall. Cables ripped away from her computer as Aurora crashed into the brick wall with a loud bang. The encryption on her monitor came to a sudden halt as I saw one of my greatest creations now a pile of scrap on the floor.

A slew of emotions overcame me. Anger, fear, sadness, and numbness overwhelmed me as I saw Aurora laid out on the floor, glass from her cameras shattered along the ground, exposed wiring, computer boards, and chipsets everywhere.

It had only been a day that Aurora was online, but her destruction before my very eyes hit me to the core. The months of work I'd put into creating her and seeing her come to life in the way that she had was the biggest joy I'd ever experienced, and now that had been wrenched away from me.

I did the only thing I could think of. I scooped the remains up into my good arm, tossed it into my backpack, and rushed out the door before I said or did anything I would regret later.

I don't know if Miss Carrington said or did anything after that, and I didn't care. I ran from the building, bursting through the door of the engineering department. A group of kids crossing the campus shouted out as I burst through their group. I didn't care, I needed to get back to my workshop as quickly as possible.

Darkness blanketed the city by this time as the evening had set in. The streets glowed with lights as I ran as fast as I could. I knew I shouldn't be putting this much strain on my new injury, but I had more important things to do.

I bolted down the street to the small antique shop. I could see the light on inside, it looked like Sam was still there. I burst through the front door, startling him as I ran into the back room with urgency.

As I was pouring the contents of my backpack out, Sam came in, startled by my abrupt entrance.

"What happened James?" He saw the carnage laid out on my workbench. I didn't even know what to do. Could I even fix this mess?

I burst out crying, "That fucking bitch destroyed her Sam!" my whole body was shaking.

Sam knew how important my creations were to me, he'd seen my passion for creating them, but he'd never seen me like this. My eyes clouded with tears, looking down at all the parts laid out on the bench.

I began picking up different pieces, trying to sort them out, but my mind was clouded with anger. Then, I felt Sam's hand on my shoulder. He looked at me with his kind eyes, and I broke in that moment, sobbing.

Sam wrapped his arms around me in this comforting way and I just let every emotion go in that moment. I buried my head against Sam's shoulder, tears streaming out at the frustration, sadness, and loss.

I don't know how much time had passed, but exhaustion had begun overwhelming me. I sniffed and let out a sigh. Finally, I let go and collapsed into my chair.

I gave Sam a brief overview of what had happened after I left his store earlier and he listened.

"I know you want to fix Aurora, and I know how much this project meant to you, but before you fix her, I want you to get some rest. It's been a long day, and your emotions are still fresh. Do you want me to give you a ride home?"

Sighing, I knew he was right. I wasn't going to be fixing anything in the state I was in now, "You're right, but I think I'm going to walk home. I need to clear my head."

"Ok, you going to be alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, the walk will do me some good," my stomach started to rumble. I realized I hadn't eaten since this morning. "Do you have anything to eat?"

"Help yourself to anything in the fridge and the cabinets in the back, there should be something there."

"Thanks," I stood up, taking one last look at the mess before stepping out of the workshop. I found a few protein bars, a sandwich, and a bottle of water, which I tossed into my backpack.

"Call me when you get home, okay?"

"Will do, I'll see you tomorrow," I ripped open one of the protein bars and scoffed it down as I made my way toward the door. As I pushed open the door, the night air hit me in the face, feeling refreshed as I began retracing my steps back home. My night wasn't over quite yet.

Chapter 4

It was late and I wanted to get home soon, so I decided to take the shortcut once again through the abandoned factory. I barely acknowledged the walk through the hallways illuminated by my phone's light as my mind was working overtime on a plan to fix this mess.

However, as I opened the door out into the abandoned alley, I realized I wasn't alone. The female voice broke my train of thought and I instantly looked to see what was happening. I couldn't quite make out what she was saying other than something about the moon and that it was almost time. She seemed completely unaware of my presence, so I ducked behind a pile of boxes and crates just outside of the factory and watched.

She must be the one responsible for that strange drawing on the ground. She stood at the edge, mumbling something to herself and pacing along the edges of the marking. She was strikingly beautiful.

Dressed in a white gown that covered her body from her neck down to her feet, flaring out dramatically with an intricate design similar to the painted markings on the ground. She had long blonde hair that draped down along her back, and the only way I could describe her face was innocent beauty.

I almost decided to step out and announce my presence to not startle her before I noticed a very long sword strapped to her back.

What the fuck is this? Some weird cult thing?

I decided to watch, not wanting to get caught up in whatever crazy ritual this woman was performing. I'm surprised she didn't hear the door from the factory open when I came out, but I didn't want to take that chance again just in case.

She just paced, occasionally looking up at the sky, then back down at the markings, then saying something under her breath. She did this for probably half an hour. She looked up into the sky once more, smiling as the full moon's light started passing straight overhead.

As the light struck the strange markings, it began to glow. The woman stood outside of the markings, eyes watching intensely at the center of the formation, her hand now resting on the pommel of the sword on her back.

The markings glowed more intensely, emitting a hissing noise that filled the alleyway. My attention turned to the section at the edge of the markings where I had spilled the paint earlier. Strangely, that area crackled and sputtered differently than the rest of the markings. However, the woman didn't seem to notice, her eyes focused intensely at the center of the design.

A blinding flash of light filled the small alley, causing my vision to blur for a moment. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands as I thought I was seeing things, but when my vision came back into focus, the woman was not alone.

Kneeling in the center was another woman. Her face was masked by her black hair. She wore a skin-tight black outfit that looked almost painted on and left little to the imagination. Where the blonde had an innocent beauty to her, this one oozed sensuality.

What the hell?

"Finally slut, let's get this over with," pure anger came from the blonde as she drew closer to the dark-haired woman. However, the sound of sputtering and sparking drew her attention to the corner section of the marking where I knocked the bucket over earlier.

"What the-" was all she could say before the entire symbol painted on the ground flared again and then sputtered out completely. In a second, the markings were completely gone, leaving the two women standing in the center.

The black-haired beauty shuddered before rising to her feet. She seemed disoriented and unaware of what was going on.

The blonde recovered quickly, she unsheathed the blade on her back and began to move to intercept the other woman as the other backed up, with nowhere to go. She stumbled against a rock, tripping and falling back against the alley wall, "Fine if the binding won't work, I'll just have to get rid of you another way."

Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I watched the scene in slow motion. I hadn't even realized I had already sprinted from my hiding spot. I had to reach her in time, I was not going to let some innocent woman get struck down by this psychopath.

The blonde barely had the chance to acknowledge my presence as she stood in front of the other, anger burning in her eyes as she raised the sword to strike. I knew my backpack wouldn't provide much protection from that blade, but maybe I could deflect it just enough.