The youngest member of the royal family, Alicia, watched from a distance as her sister, Vivian firmly shook hands with her father, the King. They were in a beautifully decorated ballroom, packed with important-looking people. Classical music played in the background. The chandelier above sparkled like stars in a clear night sky. Everybody was in a happy mood. Everybody, except Alicia.
Vivian was the next heir to the throne which meant Alicia would have to wait another ten years for her to become the next heir. She didn’t really want to be queen –it carried too many responsibilities– but it would be better than being invisible in her home.
As Alicia stifled a yawn, she felt an electric buzz from her smart watch. She looked down at her wrist and saw her AI friend, Knightly smiling at her. Knightly was Alicia’s greatest invention. He was a bot that had real emotions. He could understand his surroundings or situations and displayed emotions based on them. He was Alicia’s best friend and faithful companion.
“Feeling a bit bored, Miss Alicia?”Knightly asked in his British accent Alicia had programmed for him, “Need some adventure, innit?”
“Desperately”, Alicia whispered back, “This whole event is just a constant reminder that I’ll never be as great as my sister”
“Nonsense!”, Knightly said a bit too loudly, “you are far more intelligent than Miss Vivian”
“Yeah, but she’s the one becoming queen”, Alicia sighed, “She’s the one ruling a kingdom”
“That’s true”, Knightly said, “But trust me, Miss Alicia, wisdom is greater than power”
Suddenly, the crowd rippled into cheers. Apparently, Vivian had just finished her long, probably boring speech.
“That’s enough motivational speaking for one day, Knightly”, Alicia said, “let’s get out of here”
***
As soon as Alicia left the ballroom, she went to her Studio Lab and immediately changed into a t-shirt and black jeans. She hated the pink, scratchy dress she was forced to wear to the ceremony. Seriously, the amount of glitter on that dress should be illegal.
“What now, Miss Alicia?”, Knightly asked, his face now on the monitor. Alicia was an artist and inventor, so her Studio Lab –as she liked to call it– was filled with gadgets and blue prints as well as art supplies and comic books.
“I’m not even sure”, Alicia said, flopping down on the soft couch. She began to daydream. “Wouldn't it be amazing if I was an adventurer rather than a princess? I’ll take going on adventures than ruling a kingdom anyday”
“Definitely”, Knightly agreed. He paused and said, “Miss Alicia, an email from the Young Inventors Club had arrived…and it’s not exactly what you expect”
“The Young Inventors Club contacted me? Why didn’t you say so?”, Alicia jumped and ran to her desktop computer. She opened the email and her face dropped when she read it.
Dear Alicia Maxwell,
We regret to inform you that your gadget entry has been rejected by the club. We encourage students to express themselves but your application wasn’t the type we want at the club.
We are sure you are an elegant young lady capable of doing many things, but being in the Young Inventors Club isn’t one of them. We hope that many other great opportunities will come your way.
Sincerely,
The Young Inventors’ Club
“I am so sorry, Miss Alicia”, Knightly said, picking up the sadness in the air, “those hooligans don’t know what they just missed”
“It’s okay, Knightly”, Alicia said, fighting back her tears, “I’ll get over it. Disappointment is my friend”
***
The next day, at the breakfast table, Alicia was still sulking as she ate her lumpy, sweet oatmeal. Vivian, on the other hand, was angry at her for leaving the ceremony.
“Do you know how EMBARRASSING it was? I called my sister to come join us, to introduce her to all my future advisors and loyal subjects, but –POOF!– she was nowhere to be found? Do you know how shameful it felt?”
“No, please tell me how”, Alicia muttered to herself but Vivian had sharp ears.
“You’re so unserious with your life! How would you ever become a good queen?”
Alicia glared at her and said, “thank God I have another ten years to practice! Mind your business, Vivian!”
Vivian wiped her mouth with a pure white napkin. “Whatever. I have royal duties to attend to. Goodbye and God Bless”
With that, Vivian left.
In the afternoon, after lunch, Alicia was in her Studio Lab, drawing a comic. She was wearing a black t–shirt and blue jeans. Knightly was on the monitor, updating his software.
“Why didn’t I get accepted to the club?”, she said, her pencil shaking in her hand, “was my invention really that bad?”
With a completely updated software, Knightly showed her the blueprint she’d submitted along with her invention.
“You invented a new energy source! Made entirely out of trash! Do you know what good it could have brought to the world? The end of pollution, deforestation, industrial waste…”
Alicia couldn’t help but smile. Knightly was always trying to make her feel better and it usually worked.
“So why did they reject it?”Alicia wondered out loud.
Knightly’s monitor beeped as the screen showed Google search results of the Young Inventors’ Club. There were many news articles and pictures.
“Boys of Tomorrow! The YIC strikes again!”
“Magnificent Males! The YIC never ceases to amaze!”
“Why a tech-driven boys-only club is the future of tomorrow!”
Knightly also went to their website and showed the list of all the club members.
They were all boys.
Not a single girl.
“This is shameful…I signed up for a boys-only club”, Alicia said sadly.
“Not exactly”, Knightly corrected, “the terms and conditions didn’t state anything about being a boys-only club. From the records of last year, boys and girls submitted their entries with no one stopping them. Only the boys got accepted”
Alicia stood up angrily. “Stupid people, always being gender-biased”, she said, “I bet the entries submitted weren’t even that good! Prince Henry applied and he got in…”
“Please do not speak of him, he makes my keyboard stutter at the sight of him”
Alicia smiled again. She was glad for Knightly and she shared the same hatred for the prince. Prince Henry was the type of boy who wore arrogance like an expensive cloth. He was only fifteen, just a year older than Alicia, but he thought he ruled the world. With his hair that looked like a combed bird’s nest, he never failed to act like a prideful idiot.
“How can that boy get in the club, and not me?”, Alicia sighed.
“I advise you to forget them, Miss Alicia”, Knightly said, “they won’t know genius if it slapped them across the face”
Suddenly, a cryptic message appeared on the screen. It was written in strange symbols but the only thing legible was: To Alicia Maxwell, From the RSS.
“The RSS?”Alicia asked, intrigued, “what’s that?”
“I’m not sure, Miss Alicia”, Knightly replied, slightly panicked, “the thing that is bothering me is that the message didn’t appear in the inbox, it just came out”
Alicia went stiff and said, “have you been hacked? Do you need help to reload your system?”
“No, no”, Knightly assured her, “there has been no hacking, I have just renewed my security software, I am unhackable”
“O-kay”, Alicia said, a little suspicious, “if you said so. Now, back to the message. Initiate protocol Latin-2”
“Affirmative”, Knightly said and in a series of blinking lights and beeping, he deciphered the message. It read:
Dear Alicia Maxwell,
We are delighted to inform you that you have been selected as the newest member of the Royal Secret Society (RSS), a secret association dedicated to training young royals to become the protectors of their kingdoms.
In order to keep the RSS secretive, parents/guardians of members are told that their children have been accepted to a prestigious boarding school called Woodland Academy, an institution that prides itself on its advanced curriculum and unique extracurricular opportunities. We know that it is very dishonest of us but it is the only way to train you without worrying your parents/guardians about their child’s safety..
So, pack your necessary belongings and leave the rest to us.
We assure you, Alicia Maxwell, that your unique talents have not gone unnoticed and we believe you have the potential to contribute greatly to our cause. We seek individuals of unique skill and character, and your recent invention has demonstrated just that.
We eagerly await your arrival and the contributions we know you will bring to our esteemed community.
With anticipation,
The Royal Secret Society.
“Wow!”, Alicia said when she finished reading the letter, “this is…surprising”
“Indeed, it is”, Knightly agreed, “Seems like the RSS is just the kind of adventure you were waiting for”
“Yeah, but I don’t like the idea of lying to Mum and Dad, the guilt will kill me!''Alicia joked.
“That is true but they have good reasons for it. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Miss Alicia! You can’t miss it!”
“O-kay, if you say so”, Alicia stared at the screen, rereading the letter, “so…now what?”
“Pack your belongings and leave the rest to them”
To be continued...
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