Before we start the adventure with Alice and Cecilia, I want to thank you, for how awesome you are, and for every comment, rating, and review. They truly mean a lot to me.
Today’s chapter is the final chapter of Rising Stars, which means there won’t be a chapter tomorrow, but I felt that only two chapters a week was a bit too little, and after doing a daily sprint, I’ve learned I can sustain a faster pace. So going forward, Hoqalo will be updated three times a week.
Since each chapter has a higher word count, it’s roughly the same amount of content as four or five chapters per week of some other stories.
I’ll do my best to keep the quality high, and if you ever catch something off, I’d really appreciate you pointing it out in the comments. Your feedback genuinely helps make Hoqalo even better.
And a quick plug: we’re about 200 pages ahead on Patreon, where supporters can vote on story decisions, like how a gig plays out, which plugins or runes to choose, and even help create new ones. If you’d like to be part of that, the link is below.
Thank you for being with me during this launch month. I love all y'all. ??
“Our quarterly commemorative galas honor Goddess Aurelia’s enduring legacy, offering students and families opportunities for reflection while strengthening the bonds of our devoted community.”
— Aurelia Academy, Parent Relations Handbook
Alice paused, glanced at Cecilia, then back at me.
“So... you know any fixers who could, like, hypothetically get someone to break into Aurelia and maybe delete some files? Hypothetically?”
We kept walking, Alice and Cecilia moving closer to me as the rain hammered down, their protective bubbles of steam and deflection creating a weird dry zone that I somehow got pulled into.
“Is it that bad?” I asked, glancing between them.
Alice nodded, her usual manic energy dimmed to something more subdued. “Mom’s a perfectionist. Like, not normal corpo perfectionist. Totes corpo who optimizes everything, including her daughters.” She laughed, but it didn’t sound happy. “If she finds out I torched academy property because some bitch provoked me? She’ll actually kill me. Well, not literally. Probably. But close enough that the difference doesn’t matter.”
Cecilia let out a sigh. “Why did you let her provoke you?”
Alice’s jaw tightened, and I caught something flash across her face that looked almost like shame.
“Who’s ‘her’?” I asked.
Alice turned to me, and I saw anger flash on her face. “Claris. The heir of Orion Conglomerate. The rising star of Aurelia Academy. The best lightning mage.” She loaded every word with so much sarcasm it could’ve stripped paint from armor. “You know, just another trust fund brat who thinks her lineage makes her special.”
“What did she say?” Cecilia asked. When Alice kept silent, she pointed at me. “Tell us both.”
Alice looked at her sister, hesitated, then sighed. “You know me. We were out in the field for applied magic practice, and she kept talking about her lightning, you know, that display she did at the autumn celebration?”
Cecilia nodded, her face darkening. “Well, she kept being a bitch about it, showing off, and then she said...” Alice glanced at Cecilia, clearly debating whether to continue.
“Alice!” Cecilia’s tone was warning.
Alice sighed, her shoulders slumping. “She said you’re a cripple, and our dad’s a cripple, and that’s why we need subsidiz—”
Cecilia’s sword was out before Alice finished the sentence.
Not the AR version from the game. Her actual blade, pulled from that space-warping jacket in one smooth motion, the steel gleaming even in the grey rain-soaked light.
“Subsidized. As if Lunaris couldn’t afford its own operations. She’s dead,” Cecilia said, her voice completely flat in a way that was significantly more terrifying than any amount of shouting.
“Wait—” Alice grabbed her sister’s arm. “Ceci!”
Cecilia’s teeth were clenched so hard I could see the muscle working in her jaw. “She. Is. Dead.”
“That’s why I didn’t tell you!” Alice protested, still holding onto Cecilia’s sword arm. “Because I knew you’d react like this!”
“What? Who?” I took a step back, my hand unconsciously moving toward where my sword would be.
The bodyguards materialized shortly, closing ranks around us. The lead one, chrome jaw catching the neon reflections, stepped forward with his hand on his holstered weapon.
“What’s going on?” His tone was calm, but I got the feeling he was ready to shoot.
Cecilia took a breath, her grip on the sword loosening slightly. “I apologize. I learned someone had insulted our father’s condition and couldn’t hold myself.”
The bodyguard’s hand moved to his weapon… then stopped. His posture shifted instantly, tension bleeding out. “Understood, miss. Family matter.” He nodded as if that explained everything, which apparently it did, because he just gestured for us to continue and fell back into formation.
We kept walking, turning into a smaller alley between buildings where the rain fell in sheets off overhanging balconies. The bodyguards moved closer, their triangle formation tightening in the confined space.
Silence.
Alice was quiet.
Actually quiet, not talking, not bouncing, not making commentary about literally anything, and the absence of her usual energy felt wrong in a way that made my chest tight. “You don’t need to tell me,” I whispered, keeping my voice low enough that maybe the bodyguards wouldn’t hear. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you.”
Cecilia’s shoulders relaxed slightly, and she sheathed her sword in a smooth motion that made it disappear back into her jacket’s impossible storage. “I’m sorry,” she said. “For the outburst. It’s just...”
She paused, glancing at Alice, then back at me.
“Our father and I were touring a Lunaris manufacturing facility a few years ago. Routine inspection, fabric manufacturing quality protocols, everything by the book.” Her jaw tightened. “There was a mana reactor malfunction. Cascade failure in the primary containment system. The explosion—”
She stopped, took a breath.
“Healing the physical damage was easy. System-enhanced recovery, we were back on our feet soon-ish.” Her hand moved to touch her thigh almost unconsciously. “But mana damage is different. I didn’t even have a mana subsystem back then, and it took me a full year to recover.” She looked down at the rain-slicked pavement. “My father still hasn’t recovered.”
Alice was still quiet, which was somehow worse than any amount of talking.
Cecilia turned to her sister with a weak smile. “Still,” she said, a hint of teasing creeping into her voice, “you could have just told her that her dog stinks.”
Alice squinted at the sudden change, and a giggle escaped her lips. I blinked and Cecilia added, “It does though! It absolutely reeks!” Alice kept giggling uncontrollably, and Cecilia pouted at that. “It is true. I have witnesses.”
“Exactly!” Alice was grinning now, energy flooding back into her voice. “It was so bad I had to call a janitor to our class! Like, summon cleaning staff because the smell was a biohazard!”
The alley opened up ahead, and I caught sight of our destination.
Busaba Eathai wasn’t impressive from the outside.
A narrow storefront wedged between a chrome augmentation clinic and what looked like an unlicensed electronics shop.
The sign was old-style neon, actual gas tubes instead of LEDs, flickering slightly, which looked like it had been there for decades. Thai script glowed in warm orange above English letters that had seen better years.
The windows were fogged from interior heat meeting exterior rain, creating a barrier that turned the inside into mysterious shapes and movement, which probably added points for TagoEats atmosphere, and Cecilia confirmed it, as she smiled for real when she saw that.
Through the condensation, I could make out maybe a dozen tables, half of them occupied, the space lit by hanging lights that cast warm yellow light over everything.
We pushed through the door, and the smell hit immediately. Not synth-spice trying to approximate flavor, but actual cooking.
Also, the interior was cramped.
Mismatched furniture that looked like it had been collected over years rather than ordered from a catalog. Walls covered in photos, family snapshots, celebrity visits, random customers, all crammed together with no attempt at aesthetic organization. The floor was worn tile, cracked in places, patched in others.
A woman appeared from the kitchen, probably in her fifties, with her hair in one long ponytail. She wore an apron stained with what I hoped was chili oil, and her smile was the kind that came from genuine hospitality rather than customer service training we saw back at Neon Vault.
“Welcome, welcome!” She gestured toward an empty corner table. “Sit, sit! I bring menu!”
The bodyguards stationed themselves near the entrance, professional enough not to crowd our table but close enough to intervene if needed.
Damn, they’re so cool.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Alice bounded toward the corner spot with her usual enthusiasm restored, leaving trails of steam as rain evaporated off her clothes. Cecilia followed with her characteristic grace, and I took the remaining seat, feeling distinctly out of place in a restaurant that was clearly the real thing.
The woman returned with menus that were laminated paper, not holo-displays, their edges worn from handling. She set them down and disappeared back toward the kitchen, already shouting orders in rapid Thai.
I should learn another language; it would be so cool to order in Thai.
Alice picked up her menu with both hands, studying it with an intensity as if she were making life-or-death decisions. “Everything looks preem,” she said, her eyes scanning the options. “How do we choose?”
Cecilia was already pulling up her holoband, cross-referencing the menu with her database of reviews and ratings. “The pad thai has forty-seven verified positive reviews. The tom yum soup has—”
“Ceci.” Alice reached over and gently pushed her sister’s holoband down. “No research. Just vibes. Pick something that calls to you.”
Cecilia looked actually distressed by this suggestion. “But how will I know if it’s—”
“Trust me.” Alice grinned. “This place has a good vibe. Whatever we order will be preem.”
I glanced between them, then down at my menu, and realized I had absolutely no idea what half these dishes were.
I scanned the menu for the safest option I could find, something that looked like plain noodles with vegetables, no mysterious ingredients, nothing that would make my stomach revolt tomorrow, and set the menu down.
Alice and Cecilia could help me with my drain problem; they for sure know healers. And if I helped them here, they then could help me back.
I glanced up. “So, guys, about the—”
“Aurelia job,” Cecilia said, not even looking up from her menu, still focused on her decision.
“Yes, that. So, I know a fixer. I mean, kinda? Not yet, but will... it’s complicated. But I was thinking I could do it?”
Alice blinked, looking up at me with confusion. “I thought we’d get a netrunner, or someone good with computers. Getting there isn’t that hard for me. It’s the stuff on the server that’s the problem.”
“Oh.”
Cecilia glanced up, her expression shifting to more analytical. “Actually, that could work.” She set her menu down. “A lot of guards know us because Alice is… creative with curfew.”
Alice nodded eagerly. “Hate curfew. Also, you need to get him in.”
They kept talking between each other as if I wasn’t there, building on each other’s thoughts, finishing each other’s sentences. It was kind of cute, actually, watching them work through the problem together with the ease of people who’d been doing this their entire lives.
Cecilia fell into thought, her brow furrowing slightly just as the Thai woman returned, pad in hand, ready to take orders.
“Bishop’s ball!” Cecilia said suddenly, her face lighting up.
The woman laughed. “Apologies, dear, we don’t do dances here. Just food!”
Cecilia flushed instantly, realizing what she’d said. “No, I meant—”
Alice jumped in, grinning. “She’s talking about a school event. We’ll have the—” She rattled off something in Thai that involved way too many words for what I assumed was a single dish, her pronunciation probably butchering half of it, but her enthusiasm making up for it.
Cecilia ordered something that sounded slightly more restrained, and I pointed at my safe choice. “Just the pad see ew, please.”
The woman nodded, collected the menus, and disappeared back toward the kitchen.
Alice turned to me, practically vibrating with emotion. “The ball’s perfect! Nobody will question why you’re there!”
Cecilia nodded, her tactical brain clearly engaged. “Exactly. Hundreds of people, security spread thin trying to cover everything. You’d blend right in.”
“Guys,” I said, raising a hand. “Fill me in? Like, the one who’s actually going to do the job?”
Alice laughed, looking apologetic. “Right, sorry! So at Aurelia, every quarter there’s this massive ball to commemorate Goddess Aurelia’s feats. It starts with a sermon from the Bishop, boring corpo propaganda stuff, and then it turns into this huge social thing. Dancing, networking, all the families showing off their heirs.”
I felt my enthusiasm deflate like a punctured balloon. “I’m in for a heist, but a ball?”
Cecilia nodded, completely serious. “Perfect cover. You’re the appropriate age for me to invite as a guest.”
Alice shook her head. “No. I’ll invite him.”
Cecilia’s glare could’ve cut steel. “No. Me.”
Alice’s grin was pure mischief. “Wanna bet?”
Cecilia groaned, slumping back in her chair. “I’m not betting with you again. You always win.”
“Exactly why you should just let me—”
The food arrived, cutting off their argument.
The woman set down three plates, steam rising from each one. Alice’s dish was an explosion of color and chaos, bright red curry with vegetables I didn’t recognize, garnished with things that might’ve been edible flowers, the whole thing looking like it had been designed by someone who thought “subtle” was a foreign concept.
Cecilia’s was some kind of stir-fry with seafood and basil that smelled incredible with actually thoughtful presentation.
Mine was... safe. Flat rice noodles with chicken and Chinese broccoli, dark soy sauce coating everything in a way that looked completely unphotogenic for Pulse stories, but smelled like comfort food.
Alice immediately dove in with chopsticks, taking a bite and making a sound that was probably inappropriate for public consumption. “Oh my god, this is SO PREEM!”
Cecilia ate with more restraint, but I caught the small smile that meant she approved, and I took a bite of my noodles.
I set down my chopsticks, the weight of what we planned to settle over me like the rain outside. “Okay, so... practical question. I don’t have formal wear for a Fortune 15 ball.”
Alice waved her hand dismissively, still chewing. “Easy fix! We’ll get you sorted. Ceci knows like a hundred tailors.”
“I also can’t dance,” I added. “I mean, I know something, but that was years ago.”
“Neither can half the people there,” Alice said with a grin. “Just stand in corners looking mysterious. Very preem strategy.”
Cecilia gave her sister a look, then turned to me with a more realistic assessment. “You’ll stand out if you don’t know basic formal protocols. The dancing isn’t mandatory, but you should know how to navigate the social space without drawing attention.” She paused. “We can help with that. Brief you before the event.”
“Brief me,” I repeated, feeling my stomach sink. “On how to infiltrate one of the most secure academies in Tago.”
“It’s not that bad!” Alice protested. “Security’s gonna be spread mad thin during the ball. Everyone’s watching the main hall, the sermon, the dancing. Nobody’s gonna notice one rando slipping away to use the bathroom.”
“Except I’m not going to the bathroom,” I pointed out. “I’m breaking into your server room.”
Cecilia leaned forward, whispering. “Administrative building, third floor, east wing. The disciplinary records are stored on an isolated server cluster that’s not connected to the main network.” She pulled up her holoband, projecting a small holographic map that showed the academy’s layout. “Here. The Bishop’s sermon happens in the main cathedral, which is here.” She pointed. “Walking distance is maybe ten minutes if you’re not running.”
I studied the map, already trying to plot routes and calculate timing. “Security systems?”
“Biometric locks on the server room door,” Cecilia said. “Cameras in the hallways, but they’re on a standard rotation. Guard patrols every fifteen minutes during events, but they’re focused on perimeter security, not internal building access.”
I looked at her, something clicking in my mind. “You know a lot about the security layout. Almost like you’ve planned this before?”
Cecilia’s cheeks colored, a flush spreading across her face that was visible even in the restaurant’s warm lighting. She looked down at her plate, suddenly very interested in her food.
“Ceci?” Alice leaned forward, eyes widening with delight. “Oh my gosh. What did you DO?”
“I tried to adjust my grade,” Cecilia muttered, barely audible. “From a B- to a B. Last year.”
Alice’s jaw dropped. “You WHAT?”
“It went back,” Cecilia said quickly, her blush intensifying. “I got in, changed the file, but I didn’t know about the cache system. It reconstructed automatically within an hour and flagged the modification.” She finally looked up, meeting my eyes with visible embarrassment. “I got three weeks of mandatory ethics counseling.”
Alice was laughing now, wheezing with it. “Perfect Cecilia tried to hack her grades! Oh this is PREEM! This is the best thing I’ve learned all week!”
“It was one B-,” Cecilia protested weakly. “In Advanced Tactical Theory. The professor graded on a curve I didn’t understand—”
“You hacked the school servers over a CURVE?” Alice was practically crying with laughter.
Cecilia glared, but her blush lingered. “It seemed logical.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “So that’s why you know exactly where to look.”
“Yes,” Cecilia admitted, her voice small. “That’s why I know.”
“So I need to bypass biometrics, avoid cameras, dodge patrols, access a server I’ve never seen before, delete specific files without leaving traces, and get back to the ball before anyone notices I’m gone.” I looked at them. “That’s... that’s not exactly a simple job.”
Alice grinned. “That’s why you need a netrunner! Someone who can ghost in, slot the files, ghost out. It’s gonna be preem, trust!”
“Right,” I said slowly. “About that. I don’t actually know a fixer yet.”
Both of them stopped eating.
“Yet?” Cecilia asked.
“I mean, I will. Soon. Probably.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “There’s someone I’m supposed to meet, someone who does this kind of work, but I haven’t actually made contact yet. So I can’t exactly promise—”
“When?” Alice interrupted.
“When what?”
“When will you know?”
I hesitated. “Maybe in a week? Maybe tomorrow? I’m not sure. It’s complicated.”
Alice set down her chopsticks. “Okay, nova. I’ll find a backup fixer. Easy. Just in case yours falls through.”
Cecilia turned to her sister with a flat look. “You have zero contacts outside family.”
“I can make contacts!”
“You can’t use family connections for this.”
Alice glanced at the bodyguards stationed near the entrance, her enthusiasm deflating slightly. “...I’ll try?”
“We’re relying on Dash’s mystery fixer,” Cecilia said, then looked at me. “No pressure.”
“Great,” I muttered. “No pressure at all.”
Alice recovered quickly, her grin returning. “Don’t brick it by overthinking! We’ve got three weeks. That’s tons of time! You find your netrunner, we get you prepped for the ball, you walk in looking nova, do the job, walk out. Simple!”
“Nothing about this is simple,” I said.
“Not with that attitude!” Alice pointed her chopsticks at me. “You gotta commit to the vibe, Dash! Confidence is like half the infiltration!”
Cecilia was studying the holographic map again. “The disciplinary records are filed by student ID and date. Mine is—” She rattled off a number. “Alice’s incident would be logged under property damage, recent entries. Your netrunner needs to delete the file and any backup logs in the cache system.”
I felt my head hurting. “Okay, so not just delete a file. Delete a file and its backups from a system I don’t understand using tools I don’t have with skills I don’t possess.”
“You’ll be preem!” Alice insisted. “We believe in you!”
“You barely know me,” I pointed out.
“Exactly!” Alice’s logic was absolutely baffling. “Which means you haven’t disappointed us yet! Perfect track record!”
One of the bodyguards stepped forward. He tapped his holoband, and I saw Cecilia’s device light up with a notification. She glanced at it, and her expression shifted immediately. “Academy curfew in thirty minutes.”
“What?” Alice checked her own holoband, groaned. “Are you serious? We just got here!”
“We’ve been here for forty minutes,” Cecilia corrected, already standing. “And if we’re late, it’s an automatic disciplinary report.”
“Which would be ironic,” I said, “considering what we were talking about.”
Alice snorted, then stood with visible reluctance. “Ugh, fine. But this was preem, Dash! We should do it again! Without the time limit!”
Cecilia was already pulling out her credit chip, but the woman appeared from the kitchen and waved it away. “Already paid! Your friend was fast!”
Alice had paid for all of us without me even noticing.
“Alice—” I started.
“Nope!” She was already pulling on her jacket, steam beginning to rise from her hair as her heat aura activated. “I invited, I pay! That’s the rule!”
“We’re already connected on Pulse,” Cecilia said, moving toward the door. “We’ll send you details about the ball. Dress code, timing, what you need to know.”
“And I get to invite him!” Alice added quickly.
“We haven’t decided that yet,” Cecilia said.
“I decided! I called it!”
“That’s not how this works—”
They were still bickering as they reached the door; the bodyguards flowing around them. Alice turned back, grinning through the argument with her sister. “Three weeks, Dash! Don’t forget! And find that person!”
“No pressure!” Cecilia called over her shoulder, her tone suggesting she was absolutely aware of how much pressure this actually was.
Then they were gone, disappearing into the rain-soaked street in a blur of steam and protective formations, leaving me standing in the warm restaurant with the woman who was already clearing our table.
I walked back out into the West Corporate District alone, pulling my hood up against the rain that started soaking through.
My holoband buzzed.
[AliceOnFire_real: btw the ball is SUPER formal so like actually formal not fake formal]
[AliceOnFire_real: ceci will send you tailor info and said something about sword training]
[AliceOnFire_real: DON’T WORRY you’ll be preem!!!]
I stared at the messages, then at the rain-slicked street stretching ahead of me, neon reflections pooling in puddles that rippled with each step.
I’d just agreed to break into Aurelia Academy.
I didn’t know a fixer.
I didn’t have formal wear.
“What is my life right now,” I muttered, starting the walk toward the train station.
The rain kept falling, and West Corporate District kept glowing, and I kept walking, trying very hard not to think about how many ways this could go catastrophically wrong. I even forgot to ask for the healer's contact. Next time then.
I checked the time: 8:47 PM.
The rain kept falling.
I kept walking.
And somewhere in the back of my mind, a small voice that sounded suspiciously like my great-grandfather’s asked a very reasonable question:
“What exactly are you doing, Dash?”
I didn’t have a good answer.
TODAY’S CHAPTER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY Aurelia Academy Guards
Join me on or
On Patreon you can read 2 months ahead (~200 pages)