Zack spent the next half an hour showing Drew around his new surroundings. He didn't introduce Drew to anyone yet.
"I have seen everything here except for the very place where I should sleep." Drew finally stated.
"I'll show you that too. Come with me."
Zack walked towards a double door while Drew followed him. On the other side of the double door was a long corridor with doors on either side.
However, when Drew stepped on the floor, he realized that the floor didn't feel solid.
"Oh yes, we've installed a Walker here. We'll soon have Walkers all around the facility." Zack said. "Do the honours. We need to go to Room 179."
"Room 179." Drew commanded.
The Walker responded by moving them through the long corridor, and in no time they reached their destination. The Walker stopped outside Room 179.
"Wait a second." Zack tapped the buttons on the screen besides the room door a few times. Suddenly, the screen on the door changed from showing 'Room 179' to 'Drew Nibern."
"You're all set. The door will only open with your fingerprints now." Zack stepped aside as Drew walked to the fingerprint scanner attached to the small screen. As soon as his fingerprints were recognized, the screen showed 'Access Granted', and the door automatically opened.
Inside the room was a comfy bed, a desk and chair, a shelf and a wardrobe.
"I hope you like it. This room also has Lucy." Zack said.
"The personal assistant feature?"
"Yes. What's your favorite colour?"
"Red."
"Lucy, change the walls to red." Zack commanded.
The walls changed the colour from white to red.
"Whoa! That's so cool!" Drew exclaimed.
"Lucy, turn on the TV."
In response, the front wall of the room turned into a screen displaying a list of all the latest movies and shows.
"How is it?" Zack asked.
"Th-that...." Drew was left speechless.
"I'll leave you to your room now. By the way, you'll receive money monthly and can earn extra money by completing missions, or in your case, making a useful gadget." Zack explained.
"That's nice."
"Yeah. And in case you're wondering, you are allowed to freely move in and out of this place."
"I didn't think I was allowed to do so." Drew replied.
"Yeah, you are." Zack said. "Also, be ready at 8:00 PM. You'll have to give a speech during dinner."
"A speech?"
"Yep, prepare it." With that, Zack left the room leaving Drew alone.
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Drew spent some time exploring the room. The shelf inside his room was empty but one look at it, and a million things came into his mind that he could place on the shelf.
Drew then walked to the wardrobe and to his delight found three shiny outfits hanging inside it. He loved outfits ever since the day he was born. However, his parents never approved of them, which was why he was always forced to wear T-shirt and Jeans.
The first outfit he tried was a combination of brown and dark blue. As soon as Drew touched the outfit, it deformed into small particles. The tiny participles started spreading evenly across Drew's body while his previous clothes took the place where the outfit was hanging. Once the particles had completely spread across his entire body, it solidified again into the outfit. The best part was that the clothes of 27th century could connect to the BandPhone so that one could remove the clothes just by a click of phone.
Drew checked himself in the mirror and then tried the second outfit. It was dark black with a bright blue line. The third one was shiny silver in colour. He finally settled on the second outfit for the moment.
(I don't own these images) [https://em.wattpad.com/515018cf5a28f0c0a26cf038c919eb17f27cd522/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f436c6752514f73475539577838773d3d2d313232352e313630623737623162376434646339373636363433333739323438312e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
(I don't own these images)
Other than the outfits, there was also a collection of scarfs like Zack used to wear. He tried some of them but finally settled on no scarf.
Drew then looked at the time on his phone. It was 5:00 PM. He decided to lie down for a good nap. Unfortunately, he couldn't bring himself to sleep.
As soon as he laid down on his bed, all the thoughts came to his mind at once. He found it quite hard to believe that just a few hours ago, he had lost his parents. So much had happened after it.
Before he could even realize it, his face was covered by tears. He felt guilty for those many times when he wasn't as nice to his parents as he should have been. If they wouldn't have been killed, he would be eating the evening snacks with his parents right now. It was usually the main bonding time for the family. He started feeling the desire for revenge.
Drew's thoughts then jumped to Rebels. He had a feeling that very soon he would get over his parent's death. Everyone he had met seemed so nice and welcoming, totally opposite of what Kegory, the President of Mecca, said they were.
Drew spent the next hour thinking about how his life with the Rebels might turn out. He was always an over thinker. Hence, he thought about all the possibilities. He could make new friends and hangout with them or could even make powerful enemies inside the Rebels. He always had a knack for making powerful enemies. He had made his life in school miserable after managing to take down his bully once. And now, the entire government was his enemy.
When Drew finally came back to his world, he realized that he had to give the speech in only an hour but had prepared nothing.
He opened his phone and started jotting all the ideas in it before converting them into a speech. By the time the speech was prepared, only five minutes were left.
He hurriedly exited his room and then came to the recreation area using the Walker. It was completely empty at that time because everyone was having dinner in the main hall.
When Drew reached the main hall, he realized that there were about two hundred people inside the Rebels out of which the majority were children only. They all were sitting in groups and relishing on their feast while robots were serving them.
Zack was eating dinner with Judy and a few more of his friend when he spotted Drew.
"Excuse me for a second." Zack got up from his seat and walked to Drew.
"All ready?" Zack asked.
"Yep." Drew nodded.
"Great." Zack then pointed to the stage. "You see this stage over there? Give your speech from there."
"Okay."
Drew nervously walked to the stage. Nobody noticed him when he stood on the stage. He connected his phone with the speaker in the room.
"Hello." He spoke on his phone. His voice echoed across the entire room turning every head towards him.
"I am Drew Nibern, your newest recruit. I just came here today. Like all of you, I too have lost everything I love. However, when I came here; when I met Zack, I felt an instant connection to him. There are true types of people. The first types are those who befriend you just to have fun together. Then there are people who befriend you because they care for you. I don't know about the rest, but Zack is the second type. He not only saved my life but also gave me a new life - the life of an outlaw. The life of freedom. A merry life.
Hence, I, Drew Nibern, pledge to dedicate the rest of my life to the service of Rebels. I am ready to fight and die for the Rebels because now my life has no value without you all; my new brothers and sisters,"
As soon as his speech ended, the sound of claps spread across the entire room.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.