Divine Artifact in a Scientific World-Chapter 133: Calling Katie and Samantha (1)

As Jack passed through his white room, Miranda, who was sitting on the couch, said, "Hey Jack, have you called Katie and Sam yet?"

Oh shit, I completely forgot about them!

He’d been so busy. Even though he was already dating Analise and Robin, he also wanted to get to know Katie and Sam. They were the only two girls he knew of that had taken an active interest in him, pre-Genesis Heart.

He briefly exited his soul space and added a reminder to his phone before returning. Then walked over and gave Miranda a kiss before saying, "Thanks for the reminder!"

She just smiled and gently pushed him towards his lab.

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It was Monday afternoon, and he’d just exited his last class for the day when his phone beeped at him. He looked at it and saw it was a reminder to call Katie and Sam. Once he was sitting in his Land cruiser, he called Katie.

"Jack?" When she answered, her tone made him wonder if she might not be pleased he was calling.

"Katie? Madison said you were okay with her giving me your number. Is that not true?"

"Oh, it was. But then you never called." She sounded miffed.

What’s her deal?

He didn’t make her any promises. Was she seriously expecting him to drop everything and call her right away? He took a calming breath.

"Katerina Blake, we haven’t talked in over a year, and when we did, it was strictly casual. When Madison relayed to me her conversation with you, she said that you were looking forward to seeing me at NSU and that it was okay to give me your number. At no point did she say you were expecting my call. Did she lie to me? Did she tell you I would call right away, or imply it?"

When he finished speaking, he felt like he’d been channeling Fran for a moment. Using Katie’s full name, the way he spoke to her, it reminded him of Fran when she wanted to reprimand someone without sounding like it was a reprimand.

There was a long pause, then she said, "I...apologize. No, she didn’t lie to you. I...failed to communicate how eager I was to hear from you. Can...we start over?"

She sounded properly contrite, but what surprised him was her willingness to reveal her eagerness to hear from him. Usually girls tried to hide that sort of thing and come across as aloof.

There’d been a few times when he’d returned home from school angry or upset and greeted Fran and Jacob with less than polite words.

They’d suggested he go back outside and ’try again’. And each time, the act of going back outside, then re-entering, had acted like some kind of mental reset, and he’d found it much easier to get a handle on his emotions and express himself without being rude.

So, while he couldn’t suggest she go outside and come back in, he could suggest something equivalent.

"Sure. Do you want me to hang up and call back?"

"I...Yes, please."

He hung up and re-dialed. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"Jack! It’s so good to hear from you!" she said, sounding genuinely cheerful.

"Hi Katie. I bet you were surprised when Madison contacted you."

"I sure was! And so very pleased. I was really disappointed when she told me you and her were together. And very surprised when she called to confess. Is it true that you and her are now in an open relationship?"

"Sort of. I’m open, she is not. And I’ll be blunt. I have four girlfriends."

He saw no reason to delay telling her. If she couldn’t handle him being in multiple relationships, it was better for things to end before they got serious.

"Four?! May I ask who the others are?"

"I want to get to know each girl more deeply first, before introducing them to each other. Not because I’m trying to hide something from them, but because I don’t want to introduce them until I’m certain that I want a long-term relationship with them. If I introduce one girl to the others early, then later decided things will not work out, but she’s already formed friendships with the other girls, it could get awkward."

"I see. That’s makes sense. Do these other girls know about Madison?"

"One knows about, and has met, Madison. The other two know about Madison, and that I’m dating more than one girl, but don’t yet know who."

"And they’re okay with you being with so many other girls?"

"Yes. It’s almost the first thing I told them. It’s the sort of thing you need to know about from the beginning."

"Yes, that makes sense. Out of curiosity, how many girls do you intend to date? Is there a limit?"

"Sort of. Besides you and the exiting four, I only intent to seek out one other."

"Samantha?"

"Ah, you know about her. The way Miranda described her conversation with you, it sounded like she might have talked to you and Samantha together. Is that true?"

"Yes, Sam was visiting me when Madison called. Is she the other one you mentioned?"

"Yes. You and Sam are the only two girls I’m aware of that ever showed any interest in me."

He could hear her chuckle over the phone. "Um, there were others, but apparently only I and Samantha made our interest memorable."

Huh. He was half tempted to ask who, but he already had four girls to consider and that might grow to six, or maybe seven. He wasn’t sure about Rina. Did he really need a massive haram? Could he even keep that many girls happy? Soul bonds would probably solve a lot of potential problems, but he didn’t need another Isabella.

"The way you and Samantha showed your interest was subtle compared to some of my more recent encounters."

"Oh? Care to share?"

"Sure..." he told her about the Yokorian chick, the ROTC girl and the two Club velvet dancers.

"Is it normal for girls to be so proactive with you? I don’t remember seeing anyone behave like that around you during high school."

"It seems to be a recent development."

There was a pause, then she asked, "So, are you interested in going on a date? Maybe this Saturday?"

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