Outsiders might be astonished by the revelation, but students of the National university were students too, young people with active imaginations that needed the occasional indulgence. And so, Whispers was extremely important.

Late in the night, around the time today was transitioning to yesterday and a new day was dawning, a gossip was posted to Whispers.

- An angel joins NU? 3 first years fighting over one girl, first year too, at TS tonight. Is this lighting the torch for a new era of war?

Angel was the term for an extremely beautiful girl that could incite a war between the hordes of boys vying for her affection.

NU was National university.

TS was The Second.

In Whispers, acronyms were in so large a count that the legend was the length of a novella. No wonder, initial entry was an uphill challenge for the new users.

***

It was the last thing Akira did before sleeping.

First years were told about Whispers and given access on the evening of the first day, as a gesture of welcome by the seniors. Some first years, who had family or friends currently studying or past graduates of the university, came with the knowledge of Whispers. Students weren't allowed to reveal the existence of Whispers. But the free world wasn't the military, rules weren't adhered to with the same strictness. One thing unchanged, however, was that all new students got access the same, the evening of the first day.

Akira was the exception. She wasn't merely a first year. Not only did she know about Whispers, but even had a private node for accessing the network. She had it for a few years now.

Whispers allowed for users to keep their real world ident.i.ty secret. It was the preferred option. Masking the real world ident.i.ty allowed for users to share gossip with greater abandon. And wasn't that what made gossip such fun? Reckless abandon?

By sunrise, the new post had a view count equalling the senior population. The user who posted it was quite famous, after all. Akin to a superstar.

Everything BigMouth shared turned into a whirlwind. And so, it certainly did seem like the torch of war was lit.

Akira was pleased by the result. She beamed as she showed Robin and Min the screen.

"We've had a good start," she said to Min.

"Yeah, well, you've got an advantage there," Min readily conceded. "Thanks. For giving me a boost too."

BigMouth had turned the attention not only toward Akira's and Robin's candidate, but also Min's candidates.

"The game can't be too boring," Akira said, shrugging away the words of grat.i.tude.

Min smiled in reply.

Akira saw the grat.i.tude in the smile.

Robin saw a shadow of something else. Maybe it was the angle, he thought. But he couldn't shake off the notion that what he saw was a threat. Maybe, the game wouldn't be boring. Maybe, it would actually turn quite challenging. A spark flew in Robin's heart.