[b][i]AAcademy[/i][/b]

The eighteen-year-old now lived on the top floor of the New AAcademy building to save up on costs; this meant extra noise from the students and faculty below, but he can live with that. He can also live with the fact that the set of rooms reserved for his living space was not as luxurious as what he had been accustomed to in his childhood and early adolescence; it was servicible and that's what counted - This was a price that was worth it to earn his early independence.

His routine was simple: Wake up, take a shower, put on some proper clothes just in case he needed to do some teleconferencing, and take some time to sort through the news - Global, Local, and finally, what was relevant to himself and his institution of learning, an institution whose original domain name and intellectual property - [i]Araska Academy[/i] - he had bought at great cost.

Ken Illustrious Ikari, the young headmaster of AAcademy, cared about his students; each of them had been chosen due to their raw talents and capacity for dilligence, and he saw in them the future of the nation, maybe even the world if he was lucky enough to live to see it. And Ken knew he should not count on luck, not when Arasaka was petty enough to sic the Tyger Claws on himself, the people he had hired to be his faculty, and of course, the teenagers, some only slightly younger than himself, who had trusted him with their education.

He was not going to stand for this, but the youth knew that the wrong move could get him and his students killed - Use too much force and the Tyger Claws would retaliate in kind, use too little and they'd think him easy pickings. Thankfully, Ken knew the right guy for the job; shame the guy did not like Corpos and he counted as one. So he was going to have to go through the offical Fixers to get [i]Nikolai's Dragovich's[/i] services and pay extra for that. Speaking of which, he had to make sure that his sources of income hadn't dried up while he had been asleep; you never knew when you had enemies with a decent Netrunner on board.

His work computer did not seem like it had been tampered with; either physically or in the software world. Thank God for small favors. His investments in Africa also did not seem to be harmed much; even better, because he needed those to pay for hiring Mr. Dragovich.

Considering how one [i]Hallelujah Pritchard[/i] had connections to the original Arasaka Academy, Ken thought he should also hire her, if only as a cheaper option if Nikolai was off the table for whatever reason. And if both of them were available, well... He can afford to splurge for the both of them.

[i]Call from... Shinsei Ikari. Y/N?[/i]

Ken always had time for his parents. He loved them, they loved him, and they allowed him to pursue his dream despite their reservations. So he can afford to press the holographic, [i]Y[/i] that appeared in his line of sight; that was the least he can do.

"Hello, Ken," [s]Shinji[/s] Shinsei Ikari's voice sounded over the Cyberaudio implanted directly into Ken's head. "How are you doing? We miss you all the way from Hakone, you know. Your mother doesn't show it, but she's worried that you might be in danger; as it is, the higher-ups don't look too kindly on [i]us[/i] allowing you to buy the Arasaka Academy name for your birthday that day - You know how paranoid they are; they think you knew the pullout was going to happen..."

Ken retorted, repeating this song and dance for any eavesdropper's benefit, "Even if I did, they wouldn't have believed me. I mean, I was... Fifteen or so when the calamity happened - No matter how high my IQ was, I couldn't have been taken seriously!"

Shinsei could not help but chuckle, before saying, "As I and Maki keep explaining to them; there was nothing we could have done." 

Then his tone changed into a sigh, "Other people died, though; some of them, we even cared about. I won't begrudge you your secrets, but Ken... Dont cross Arasaka more than you already have - You're going to need [i]some[/i] bridges with us if your dream is to come true."

[i]Huh, Dad has a spine after all...[/i] Ken thought before Shinsei continued:

"That said, one or two local bands of Tyger Claws around your territory are expendable," Ken's father continued. "You're allowed to chase them off, but make sure your students do not antagonize them; any aggression or provocation on their part and their protection comes off - Got it?"

Ken's nod was audible.

"Good, now get back to hiring your Edgerunners; if you want to be independent, young man, you'd better do it right..." Shinsei trailed off before turning off the call.

[@Thayr][@Gisk][@Deide]