Sad Poetry

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Cord knocked on Sirius' door.

Cord (In Japanese): "Sirius, are you awake?"

Sirius opened the door.

Sirius (In Japanese): "Good morning."

Cord (In Japanese): " Good morning, Sirius. How did you sleep?"

Sirius noticed a kid older than him standing behind Cord. He then took a look at him.

Cord (In Japanese): "Oh, this is Ahr! He will be responsible for showing you around the school."

Ahr: "Hi!!! Nice to meet you!"

Sirius doesn't understand what ahr said and continues talking to Cord.

Sirius (In Japanese): "School?"

Cord (In Japanese): "Yes."

Sirius (In Japanese): "Here?"

Cord (In Japanese): "Yes, sir. Now, here's your uniform. Go dress it up in your room."

Sirius went inside the room and changed his clothes, realizing it was the first time he dressed himself without help. When finished, he walked to the door, opened it, and said:

Sirius (In Japanese): "I'm ready."

Cord (In Japanese): "Alright, do you have your translator?"

Sirius realized he must have left his translator in the aquarium and tried to find an excuse.

Sirius (In Japanese): "Oh, it must be inside my room."

Sirius went inside his room with Cord while Ahr waited outside. After five minutes of searching, Cord and Sirius gave up.

Cord (In Japanese): "Well, I don't know what you did with it, but it will surely show up eventually. I'll get you another one."

Cord went to his office to get another translator, crying comically.

Cord [Thinking to himself]: "Little does he know that this technology is worth thousands of dollars, ah."

When Cord was out of sight, Ahr entered Sirius' room and handed him his translator.

He also showed him his own and spoke into it.

Ahr: "I think you dropped this."

Sirius was surprised and very politely said:

Sirius: "Thank you so much! How did you know where it was?"

Ahr: "Neveah noticed you dropped it in the aquarium and picked it up, but in a rush, she forgot to give it back to you, so she handed it over to me earlier this morning."

Sirius: "Ahh, I see! Thank you one more time."

Ahr: "No worries, but now you owe Neveah a favor."

Sirius: "A favor? What do you mean?"

Ahr: "I mean, she helped you, and now you also have to help her when she needs it, you get it?"

Sirius: "Oh, I see. I will always help her! Promise!"

Ahr: "Alright, It's a deal then!"

Ahr taught Sirius how to do a handshake and then proceeded to do it and laugh it off while Cord returned with a new translator machine.

Cord: "Oh, I'm glad you two big guys are already friends."

Ahr: "Hey Mayer, he found his translator. There's no need for another one anymore."

Cord: "Ahr, I already told you to call me Cord."

Ahr: "Ok, Mr. Mayer."

Cord [Sighed]: Anyway, where was the translator?

Ahr: "Oh, I came to look, and it was wrapped in his bed sheets."

Cord: "Ahhh, the bed sheets! I knew I was missing a spot."

Margaret approached Cord and the kids as they spoke while heading toward Sirius' room.

Margaret: "Hey, guys! Hi, Sirius. Hope you slept well."

Ahr [Blushed]: "Hi, Miss Margaret."

Cord: "Hey, Margaret, going to feed Tes?"

Margaret: "Correct. By the way, can I take him for some fresh air later?"

Cord: "Sure. Well, we're in a hurry. It's Sirius's first day in our school, so we must go now. See you later!"

Margaret: "Okay, see you later."

Cord proceeded to take Sirius to the same elevator he was in with Isabella the previous night and clicked on the -4 button.

Cord: "Well, Ahr, I have to go to work. I will leave Sirius in your care now. He already knows the girls, so you will probably be fine. Don't forget to show him the school."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Ahr: "No worries, Mayer. He's in good hands."

Cord: "Call me Cord."

Ahr: "Alright alright... Mr. Mayer..."

Ahr grabbed Sirius' hand, and they rushed out of the elevator when its doors opened. As the doors closed, we see Cord clicking on the -6 button, going to another level. In the meantime, Ahr started showing the "school" to Sirius. He showed him his classroom, bathrooms, gym, cafeteria, science lab, and the, most impressive of all, a giant library. The library was so extensive and diverse that Sirius' first impression was that it looked more like a museum, as it had everything - books, fossils, mummies, ancient artifacts, coin collections, and almost everything he could imagine from the little he had seen of the world.

He then proceeded to look around with Ahr, unknowingly admiring everything. He was particularly drawn to Egyptian writings carved on a stone. Those symbols were like a hundred beautiful drawings in his eyes, all sharing a story. Ahr noticed how much he admired it and asked him:

Ahr: "Do you like it?"

Sirius: "It's beautiful."

Ahr: "Ain't it? It's my favorite among all these."

Sirius continued to admire the hieroglyphics.

Ahr: "Do you want to know what it says?"

Sirius: "Yes, yes, please."

Ahr: "I don't know the exact translation, but it goes something like this: The inherent energy imbalance begets contrast, necessitates change, and leads to the emergence of new rulers defined by the conditions of their existence within the fabric of space-time."

Sirius: "It sounds different from what I had imagined."

Ahr [Laughing]: "What did you think?"

Sirius: "Something about birds."

Ahr [Laughing]: "Good one!"

Isabella and Neveah entered the library.

Isabella (Not using the translator): "Oh, here they are! Ahr, the teacher, is looking all over for you and Sirius. You're late for class."

Ahr (Not using the translator): I lost track of time. Quick, Sirius, let's go.

Ahr grabbed Sirius's hand, and the four of them rushed into the class, knocked on the door, and entered, revealing they were the only students in that class. Noticing their delay, their teacher asked:

Teacher: "Ahr, where have you been?"

Ahr: "I'm sorry, Miss Fletcher. I lost track of time showing Sirius the library."

Miss Fletcher: "Well, at least you were doing something productive. Anyway..."

The teacher grabbed a translator out of her pocket.

Miss Fletcher: "Hi! You're Sirius, right?"

Sirius nodded yes.

Miss Fletcher: "Hi, I'm Miss Fletcher, Jenny Fletcher. I will be your teacher in the meantime. Hope we can get along!"

Sirius politely thanked her with body language (a tiny bow).

Miss Fletcher: "OK, well, kids, time to sit down. Sirius, you can sit there next to Ahr."

Sirius sat next to Ahr; he already had a pencil, a pen, and an eraser with a blank sheet of paper on his desk.

Miss Fletcher: "Anyway, kids, I think you already met each other, but let's introduce ourselves again just in case. Please tell Sirius your name, age, where you're from, and something about yourselves. Please remember to use your translators while talking to him. Also, remember to pause briefly after talking so we can ensure that he listens to the translation. He's very young, but he will learn English quickly."

"Ahr, you can start first; please introduce yourself."

Ahr: "Hi, my name is Ahr, Ahr Bengali. I'm ten years old, and as far as I know, I've been here almost all my life, but I was born in Egypt. Also, like Neveah and Isabella, I was adopted by Mr. Mayer."

Miss Fletcher: "And something about yourself?"

Ahr: "I already said it, but my favorite food is chicken wings."

Miss Fletcher: "Thank you very much, Ahr. Neveah, you're next!"

Neveah: "Hi, I'm Neveah Ceban. I'm five years old, and I was born in Moldavia. Dad told me I came here when I was two years old."

Miss Fletcher: "Thank you, sweetheart. Isabella, you're next."

Isabella: "Hi, I'm Isabella Ceban. I'm six years old, and I'm Neveah's older sister. And something about myself... ah... hmmmm. I'm always hungry."

Miss Fletcher [Laughing]: "Thank you, Isabella! Now you, Sirius. You don't need to rush; try your best!"

As the class continued and Sirius began his presentation, the scene shifted its focus.

Cord stood with another man and some scientists in a lab, monitoring the class with hidden cameras, which gave them vision and audio from every angle of level -4. The unknown man started speaking with Cord.

Unknown Man: "Cord, I gotta say, this is amazing. We are so close... once we get the final piece, we will unlock one of the world's craziest powers."

Cord: "I look forward to it, Mr. President."

The unknown man is revealed to be President Nixon himself.

Nixon: "Anyway, how are the boys adapting?"

Cord: "He's doing well, sir. As requested, we already gave him the vaccine, so it's a matter of time before it manifests."

Nixon: "Do you know where another of those kids may be?"

Cord: "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, sir."

Nixon [Looks at the scientists]: "Gentlemen, please give us the room for a few moments."

The scientists leave the room, leaving only Nixon and Cord in it.

Nixon [Looks back at Cord]: "So? What is the news?"

Cord: "We got a match, but we have a problem."

Nixon: "And what seems to be the problem?"

Cord: "Our match is a female sir, and she is currently pregnant."

Nixon: "Great! That means we just have to wait for the boy to be born."

Cord: "That's the thing, sir. She's not pregnant with a boy. She's pregnant with a girl."

Nixon [Suprised]: "Wait, a girl? Are you sure about this?"

Cord: "I couldn't believe it either, but I triple-checked. It always came back positive."

Nixon: "And is there any chance of this girl, this baby about to be born, being the final piece of the puzzle?"

Cord: "I doubt it, sir. As you know, one of the 42 books of knowledge we found last year states many conditions to control the powers. The most effective one is the presence of a receptor-type soul within the group. Unfortunately, receptors are born mainly male, and the odds of a female being born are almost impossible. We also have to consider that even if a male receptor is born, his blood will kill him over time if he doesn't meet the correct requirements. And these are requirements that we are still unaware of.

[Cord breathes heavily once] This means that, unfortunately, without the appropriate final kid, we can't guarantee the other children a natural, safe way to control their powers."

Nixon: So you're telling me that this giant operation will be on hold until this match, or at least the kid of this match, is pregnant with a goddamn boy?

Cord: Yes, Si-- [Gets Interrupted by Nixon]

Nixon: "And even if it's a boy, there's a chance he's not a chosen one? [Nixon takes a deep breath] You see Cord, I don't have the years to wait for this type of crap. [He then screams] WE NEED RESULTS! I think you should start coming up with a solution. And think about it fast! Cause I guarantee you that this project will end on my presidency."

Nixon starts walking toward the door.

Cord: "But, sir, we can do nothing for now. We need an appropriate group- [Gets interrupted by Nixon again]."

Nixon: If you can't come up with a solution, I will simply have to start without the final kid.

Cord: But, sir, if things go wrong ---

[Nixon walks back, facing Cord]

Nixon: "No 'buts.' I'm not going to wait 20-something years for some goddamn kid. This project has been active for 12 years Cord, 12 fucking years...So this is what we're going to do. We will start the trials next month on the kids we have, and if you don't show results, I'm shutting it down."

Nixon walks out of the room, leaving Cord with a look of shock.

A few seconds pass, and Cord slams his fists on one of the tables, screaming mentally to himself.

Cord: "AHHH, What do I do now? The kids can get seriously hurt or even die if a receptor is not present... We have no way of balancing their awakening. And I'm not willing to risk their lives or this project for Nixon's impatience.... ah Mary... the things I do for you... are killing me from inside...."