"WHAT?!"
Noble wasn't sick, and the only person she knew who could handle viruses was Teddy, but that clearly wasn't what Bee Two was talking about.
The android's eyes grew brighter as a projection played out in the front of the room.
'No, no, no!'
There, Noble was in all her glory. The floating people, the rousing speech, the merciful release of the offenders…
It looked like something from a movie.
'No, really. How did someone get that from multiple angles?!'
That's when Noble realized only one of the feeds was from a communicator. The rest were from the campus security cameras.
"Bee Two, that's enough." Noble had been too horrified to stop the initial playback, but as it went on to repeat, she quickly put an end to it.
She turned to the crowd of students.
"And all of you have seen this?"
Dozens upon dozens of heads nodded.
'How embarrassing!'
These students hadn't come to learn about Memories. They wanted to see the crazy professor in action.
How could this have happened?!
Actually, Noble had a pretty good idea what had happened…
Noble's communicator buzzed.
She looked at it, and her face grew pale.
"I am very sorry to have to cut things short today, but I just received an emergency message, and I have to go. If you all will file out in an orderly fashion, I will address the 'floating people' question and any others tomorrow. Thank you for your understanding!"
Noble had half expected the students to protest, but instead they rose from their seats quite easily.
"Take care, professor!"
"A hero's work is never done!"
Noble waved at the students, her strained smile never wavering. When the door finally shut, her pleasant expression melted from her face.
"Bee Two, is there something I should know?"
"Many. You'll have to be more specific."
The professor anticipated this answer, so her communicator was already navigating to the place where the video had been posted.
"I want to know why this clip of my confrontation this morning was published by user TwoGoodTwoBeeTrue?"
"Because the original member who shared the event did not get your best side. I just took their work and added a little pizzazz to make it worthy of you." The android nodded.
"Worthy of me? Pizzazz? Where did you even get a word like that? No, wait, don't tell me. That's a conversation for another day." Noble rubbed her forehead. "How did you come across the footage in the first place?"
Bee Two gave a human-like shrug.
"I am constantly scanning for information about you, Professor Noble. It is part of my job."
"It most certainly is not!"
Noble's objection was ignored as her assistant continued.
"I saw the clip of you as soon as it was shared, and finding it subpar quality, I tapped into the Academy's security footage and got what I needed. The rest was easy after that…"
"Bee Two, how could you?" Noble buried her face in her hands.
"Don't worry, I gave the original poster credit!" The assistant assured her.
"Is that why everyone has seen it? This original person was famous or something?"
Bee Two gave what Noble thought must be a metallic chuckle. "Of course not. If anything, my account helped boost their ratings. Once my creation was completed, I exploited the system's algorithm to make sure it was the first thing anyone saw. Only a moment ago, you reached full saturation of the market. Congratulations!"
"But…why?" Noble resisted the urge to scream those words. Why had her assistant breached at least two different systems in order to post her exploits?
"You were so upset about the government award, which I am told in online forums is a completely reasonable response. So, my protocols require that I set things right. Didn't you want to be recognized?"
"What? What are you even talking about?" Noble was beginning to think the assistant really did have a wire loose, or maybe a blown fuse! The professor had been working hard to remain undetected as a secret Saint. The last thing she wanted was for all eyes to be scrutinizing her.
"According to my logs, your exact words were 'I want to garner my own recognition and conduct my own research.' You acted on your own, and not even Instructor Rock played a part. This recognition is all yours, Professor. And you have been conducting your own research as well. Both qualifications have been met, so I did not breach my directive." Bee Two crossed alloy arms to punctuate the point.
Noble vaguely remembered this conversation.
"I meant I wanted to get my own recognition because of research I personally completed!"
"Then why didn't you say that?" Bee Two scratched at synthetic hair.
"I THOUGHT I HAD!" The professor took a deep breath. "So much for not taking a side. At least half the city must hate me now. How embarrassing!"
"No one hates you. Well, there was that one comment, but he might have also been running an illegal synthpaste distribution center, so he's the government's problem now, not yours…"
"Bee Two!"
"No, really, Professor. Look at the comment section!"
Noble was already doing just that. She was shocked by what she saw.
"I wouldn't want to be judged by my family's exploits either. They're terrible!"
"Finally, someone is talking some sense. I've never liked Valor blaming Song without proof."
"Justice for Changing Star and Support the Song Sisters. We can do both!"
"Queen Bee is choosing to solve problems without swords? Is there anything she cannot do?"
"Looks like the Academy is teaching the right skills."
Noble felt her ears burning. There were so many nice comments! Granted, she was certain that Bee Two had nuked at least one negative commenter and likely cleaned out the rest, but there was still a lot of positive feedback.
The android nodded.
"Queen Ki Song announced her refusal today. She will not let Valor examine Silent Stalker and Dar of the Maharana Clan. However, your video is getting all the attention. It seems your words have swayed public opinion of the waking world away from full support of Valor. My latest poll indicates an almost even split for support on the issue. Most impressive!"
"Your latest poll? Never mind, don't tell me." Noble could guess that this was the data that the Android had been gathering earlier. Well, that and spamming Noble's face on every communicator and datapad in the entire waking world.
'Just great.'
She had intended to keep a low profile and, through no fault of her own, failed miserably.
'Sometimes I think Bee Two is out to get me…'
Thankfully, her assistant could not read her mind…yet.
This wasn't the worst situation, at least. She hadn't said anything that she didn't mean. Also, no people of Valor were involved at all, so she hadn't directly maligned any of their young masters.
Just the same, she would be quite content if that video disappeared into oblivion.
"Please do not promote that clip anymore. You have done quite enough." Noble waited as Bee Two rewrote the protocols. "I appreciate you wanting to make things right. Next time, tell me before you manipulate any system that's outside of your purview. I might be getting some nasty calls later if someone realizes what you have done."
"No one will know. I made things look completely natural…"
Noble held up her hand. "The less I know about that part, the better."
"Understood." Bee Two nodded. "One question, Professor. You said you had an emergency to deal with. What was it?"
"Oh…OH!" Noble had almost forgotten about the ominous message that had made her cancel class.
Her device buzzed again, reminding her that she couldn't escape.
She looked at the first message.
"The Provost would like to see you."
The second was much more succinct, yet filled her with fear.
"Now."