Chapter 33: Phone Number

Nekare, after the slow computer was done loading, started to enter her personal email and password inside the login page.

Not wanting to make the girl think that he was spying on her, Gray started to fidget with his hands, turning his gaze away from the computer.

He also looked at his right hand, doing a reality-check.

Like he thought, he wasn't dreaming.

‘She didn't turn around to make sure I wasn't looking. Does that mean she doesn't think I'm a Nephilim?’ Gray thought.

Well, I do hope she doesn't know.

After a few moments, he brought his gaze back to the computer's screen, noticing that she had entered her passwords without any issues.

Now she was looking on the internet for a reputable source of information about the greek philosopher named Anaxagoras.

Once she reached the right site, she started to read silently, with Gray following.

Anaxagoras, Ancient Greek: 'Αναξαγόρας, "lord of the assembly,” 500-428 BC was a pre-socratic, greek philosopher.

He was born in Clazomenae during the time of the Persian Invasion, son of an aristocratic family.

He however shunned his inheritance, deciding to dedicate his life towards philosophy and the pursuit of heavenly knowledge.

After the Persian War, of which it was possible he participated, Anaxagoras traveled to Athens.

In his stay, he became a good friend of Pericles, the Athenian statesman and general.

Plutarch and Diogenes Laërtius say that he was exiled in the island of Lampsacus in charges of impiety, possibly due to his association with Pericles.

According to Laërtius, Pericles spoke in defense of Anaxagoras during his trial.

Like Empedocles, he believed that the world was connected by small, eternal and imperishable primary ingredients.

Anaxagoras believed that all things have existed from the beginning, but into an infinitesimally small fragments of theirselves, eternal and unchanged.

All things used to exist in a chaotic, confused amalgamation of mass.

How was it possible for foods to become blood, flesh, skin and bone, then?

He thought that evidently, there was a small unit of blood, flesh, skin and bone inside the matter that people used to eat—and that all the minuscule amount of different matters in such precise order would come to create the matter they've eaten.

Because Gray was behind Nekare, her shoulders covered the screen.

If he wanted to read the seemingly complicated next part clearly, he had to move forward.

However, it would mean standing next to the girl, shoulder to shoulder.

Mustering his courage, he moved his chair forward, and now sat extremely close to the girl.

Thinking that it was the first time he had come this close to a girl who wasn't his sister, he couldn't help but feel his cheek redden quite a bit.

He shot a sneaky glance at the girl, hoping to not see anger, or rather, disgust reflected into his eyes.

And even though she was a Nephilim, a member of the species that carefully walked through the thread of death and destruction, in Gray's sight, the only thing his eyes could see was her reddened cheeks like his, revealing her own humanity.

He had to hold himself back from gaping his mouth.

'She's—She's like me…' Gray finally understood the girl, the feelings of weariness and suspect washing away from his body.

'Nekare is not like the other Nephilim I've come to fear. She's human! Even if her species doesn't dictate it, her heart is human! Her heart is awfully, tremendously human!'

His own heart was now thumping in his chest, and with all his focus, he hoped for her not to hear it.

Coughing dryly, he kept on reading the thesis, wanting to direct his attention towards something else.

'Calm down, Gray… While it's true that we may have been thrown in the same situation, I still don't know her as a person…'

Anaxagoras in fact, thought that Everything was Everything, or rather, that everything was composed by seeds of everything, of which the predominance of some seeds overwhelmed the others, thus making different objects and matters.

How was it possible for all this chaotic matter to move and separate, forming these new constructs?

Anaxagoras believed in the Nous, a infinite and divine mind, the rational mover and separator of the original mixture, dictated by its endless knowledge. And this belief was the excuse that had been used for his exile away from Athens.

He however, thought that the Nous only started the motion of creation, and that it didn't necessarily continue it.

"Should we copy paste these things into a document, to then use them as help for our powerpoint?" Gray asked.

"E-Eh?" Nekare turned around. Her hair swaying in the hair as she posed her green-eyed gaze before him. "We should…" she nodded.

'I guess she's an awkward person like me… Yes, she is, there's definitely no romantic involvement. No romantic involvement between us…'

She began to copy the most important phrases of the text. Nekare then left the tab containing the words and thoughts of Anaxagoras before opening a new document. Inside it, she pasted everything.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

After she was done, she returned to the other tab and returned to reading.

Plutarch says, "Anaxagoras is said to have predicted that if heavenly bodies should be loosened by some slip or shake, one of them might be torn away, and might plunge and fall towards the earth."

'Gravity!' Gray noted in his mind.

What Anaxagoras explained was more rather about the orbits of meteorites, and how easy it was for them to be plunged away from their source of gravitational attraction.

For example, if a rogue, massive asteroid were to enter our solar system, following its orbit around the sun, and were to be close enough to earth's gravital pull, it would feel a strong, colliding pull towards our planet, and if possible, even collide.

If it didn't collide, at most it would change its orbit, possibly even leaving the solar system.

According to Pliny, he was credited for the prediction of the fall of a meteorite in the 467 BC.

His intense studies about astronomy garnered him approval from even scientist in the 21st century. He, in fact, claimed that the sun was a giant mass of molten metal, that the moon was earthly and reflected the light of the sun, not producing it.

However, no matter his great intelligence and love for the universe, he was still a man from its time and somewhat rooted towards the ideas of his century. Thus, his belief of earth to be a flat planet, floating seamlessly around the universe, supported by a strong current of air.

He also believed in the theory of panspermia, a belief of which speaks about the presence of life throughout all universe.

In conclusion, from the research and biography that was thankfully given by historians such as Plutarch and Diogenes Laërtius, we can conclude that he was someone with a great intelligence, with eyes that wanted to scrutinize the universe, and a determination great enough to encompass all of it.

He was a dreamer, an astronomer, a mathematician, and most importantly, a citizen of the universe he so much loved.

"This should be all," Nekare said, copying and pasting the later parts into the document they made.

"Yeah," Gray replied. "We just have to do the powerpoint, and then we are done with the first part of this project,"

Nekare silently nodded.

She was about to change the tab and enter inside the power-point maker, when Gray spoke.

"Do you mind if I make it? I don't want to make you do all the job, you know,"

"Sure," she replied.

The two changed seats and Gray finally had the computer in front of him.

While it was true that he never had a personal computer, he wasn't clueless on how to use it, all thanks to Rowan.

In the past, his friend even wanted to give him one of his old computers, but since Gray didn't want to bother him and his family, he decided to refuse.

Rowan, however, aware that a computer was essential for school, decided to store it in a safe place and kept on lending it to Gray for every time he needed it, especially when the two were at his house.

After he successfully entered into the power-point maker application, he began on doing many slides.

Immediately, he gave them flashy titles to sort the themes of the pages.

The first was about Anaxagoras biography.

Knowing that the professor didn't like when too much information was stored on the page, he only added his date of birth, his death, and his exile to Athens.

In the midst of it, Gray silently hoped that the two ex lovebirds would at-least try to study at home, not knowing if the vote they would get was based on the group effort or the one of the individual.

Since he had Nekare—a seemingly studious girl inside his group, he didn't fear of doing any mistakes.

At most, she would correct him.

Gray turned around, noticing Veronica and Franco engaging in a chat, seeming closer than before.

'You're kidding, right?' Gray thought, amazed of how Franco, a guy who had gotten broken up right after buying a brand new phone to Veronica, would still talk to her.

'Rowan is not going to like this…' he shook his head disapprovingly.

He then made the next slide, writing quick notes, specifying of how Anaxagoras was exiled with the excuse of impiety, even though it was a political move caused by his association with Pericles.

On the third one, he added some of his tales.

For example of the time when he was asked of why he wasn't caring about the situation of his polis in the Persian War.

Anaxagoras replied that he indeed was concerned, but instead, he pointed at the universe, and with great preoccupation, he said,

"I honor her indeed, and am deeply concerned for her."

On the fourth slide, he talked about his thoughts, specifically about his relationship with the other philosophers like Empedocles.

On the fifth, he wrote a few buzz-words about his philosophy, specifying the importance of the phrase, Everything is Everything.

On the sixth, he spoke about his numerous discoveries in the field of astronomy.

On the seventh, he spoke about many of his fun-facts, while on the eight, he concluded the powerpoint.

While there weren't many words and phrases on the powerpoint, it was his and Nekare's job to explain them and their details profusely.

'I hope it will be those two's job too…'

Upon further inspection with the help of sneaky glances while he was busy writing, Gray was able to see the seemingly obvious truth.

Veronica didn't seem as interested as Franco did.

Or at most, she was interested in the attention he was giving him.

The poor boy however, wasn't aware it.

‘Once me and Rowan find the identity of the guy she was busy smooching with, my dear friend might have a chance…!’

'…Even though it's best for him not to have it. Hell, knowing her, she would probably use his family's riches for herself.'

‘I wonder of why she didn't do it yet?’

Gray, just as soon as he finished the powerpoint, stretched his back, and while heaving a sigh of relief, he spoke.

"We are finally done."

Nekare, without turning around, shook her head and objected, evoking the confusion from Gray's part.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"It looks…empty," she said.

'Eh?'

"The powerpoint, I mean. It looks empty. I might have to fix the aesthetic part at home."

'Ohhh…'

"Sure," Gray replied.

"Oh and by the way, tell me if you see any issues" he added.

Veronica then shot a glance towards the two and suddenly called out Nekare's name.

The girl turned around, with Gray doing the same.

"Make a group-chat. I'll study it," she said, interrupting their conversation.

"If I feel like it…" she murmured, her voice almost inaudible.

'Is she serious?' Gray couldn't help but judge her.

"Uh, sure," Nekare said.

Apparently, judging by her tone, she heard the girl's words too.

"Add me too," Franco shot back.

She nodded. And then, the bell rang.

Gray was about to go outside, to his original class, when from behind him, he heard Nekare's voice.

It sounded almost…insecure.

"Uhm, Gray."

The young man slowly turned around, confusion etched upon his face.

Nekare had her cracked phone ready in her hand, and she was pointing at it.

"Yeah?"

"Your number. I don't have it," she said.

'I didn't think of this… Well, she's a good person, right? It shouldn't be an issue to give her my number. It would more suspicious to not do so, right?'

He couldn't help but think about the real-world prophecy Genesis had given him about Nekare.

'So, this could be how it starts?' Gray asked himself. 'Even if I try to avoid something, is it possible that it could still happen?'

'Regardless, it's not like I payed much effort in avoiding her. Had I not come to school at all, this probably wouldn't have happened.'

'…I hope.'

'This makes me understand something, however. It makes me understand that, if I don't try to avoid the dreams that harbor danger with all my being, they might become my future.'

'I won't let that happen. I cannot let that happen.'

"Gray?"

"Huh?" he said as he returned to his senses.

"Sorry, I was zoning out. I'll give you the number."

He then took her phone, noticing its dire conditions with more clarity. Not wanting to make her feel embarrassed of her financial situation—especially because he completely understood how it felt to be berated about it—he quickly inputted his number.

Once he was done, he called it with her phone.

A few seconds later, a loud ringtone was heard through the class.

By then, most of the students had already left their class.

"Perfect," he said, handing the phone to the girl.

"Well, it's time to go," he continued, starting to walk towards the entrance of the class.

Just as he was about to exit, he turned around and faced the girl, who was still silently looking at her phone.

Putting the best smile he could muster, he called her name.

"Nekare,"

She silently looked at him, her eyes looking brighter than usual.

"Thank you for the help."

He quickly exited out of the classroom, embarrassed by his own behavior.

'Can't let her think I'm an asshole again, you know?'

There in the hallway, he saw Rowan’s face.