A few days passed, and Leon was now dressed in an appropriate attire: a simple white t-shirt with shorts.

They constantly regulated the temperature outside to ensure that it wasn’t too warm or too cold for his attire, and they used sprinklers to simulate rain, eliminating seasons. Such was life in the lower colony.

Rose looked at Leon. “Are you ready?” She dressed in a simple tank top and shorts, like Leon. Nervously, Leon nodded in response to going outside. Since entering this world, he hasn’t been outside until now. Rose stuck out her hand and Leon looked a little awkwardly at it.

“Leon, where we live is a little sketchy. Just hold my hand for a bit,” Leon was very nervous hearing Rose and nodded as he took her hand.

Rose opened the door and let him outside. His eyes hurt a little from the outside light, as it was just powerful lamps simulating daylight.

Leon looked around and saw dilapidated houses, identical to their own. A few people were walking around with sombre looks and some were even sitting outside their houses.

“Don’t stare at them, Leon. Come along, it’ll get better after a short walk,” Rose warned him and started walking.

Leon kept his eyes on himself as he followed Rose. The few glances he took showed more than enough to him. The people all had faded looks as if the world meant little to them anymore. Leon thought he had it rough, but seeing this made him aware that some had it even worse.

The people looked at them before returning to their original looks. It was clear from Rose and Leon’s complexion that they lived around here. Leon was unsure of what would’ve happened if he had come here with his old body, probably nothing good.

Nobody engaged in conversation, which was actually a point that Leon liked. He didn’t like sizeable crowds or busy areas. His senses would get overwhelmed if he hung around such a place for too long. Rose also didn’t speak and moved along like normal.

After walking a small distance, they came to an open road with stretches of open land next to them. Rose let out a sigh of relief. “We should be good from here on out. The people from the slums don’t like strangers, but they know me, so now they should know you’re with me.”

“Is it that dangerous to strangers?”

Rose looked at Leon. “There was an incident once where someone from the wealthy side of the colony came to the slums. He thought to play a stupid prank, thinking he could make people grovel for him because of his wealth.” Annoyance filled her voice.

“What happened to him?” Leon was interested in the story. Rose sighed.

“The people got insulted, and they assaulted him to rob him of his possessions. His friends that he had with him quickly got him out and they ran before it got worse.”

Leon thought it was the end, but Rose surprised him by continuing the story.

“Those rich guys wanted revenge and the police suddenly came in droves. Everyone in the slums banded together and a civil war nearly broke out. After seeing the resistance and deciding it was too much trouble, they just swept everything under the rug and left doing nothing.”

Leon didn’t expect that even the police would back off, as it didn’t seem like there were that many people in the slums, but it seemed like his previous assessment was completely inaccurate.

They walked for around 15 minutes before coming to a new area. This one looked just like his past world to Leon.

“Same as before. Just ignore them.” Rose whispered as she led the way again. Leon was a bit confused by what she meant, but soon understood her.

People noticed them, and everyone seemed to react differently. Some looked at them with pity, and others looked at them with annoyance and scorn.

They didn’t receive a warm welcome here and as Leon walked, he quickly became uncomfortable. He kept his eyes on the floor and walked, hoping that it would soon be over.

We’re just dealt a rotten hand. Was this really a way to treat us? Leon thought, but he didn’t voice his opinions.

Rose noticed how uncomfortable Leon looked and almost regretted taking him here, but she continued onward. She knew deep down that she couldn’t keep all of this a secret and that Leon had to experience this one day. It was best that she was with him and that he didn’t sneak out.

They walked through the streets, ignoring the surrounding people. Rose looked around to see if there was a shop that was hiring workers.

Leon didn’t look around and he knew it would take a long time for him to get used to this if he had to go through here every day for work.

Work was nothing new to Leon, which is why he put out the idea of working. He didn’t account for the public ostracization, making this a very uncomfortable.

Something that followed them even as they tried to get Leon a decent job. Some shops were hiring, but they all turned them away when they saw how they looked.

Rose and Leon continued to search for work, but there was no luck involved. Leon hadn’t expected this, so he was a little dejected at the situation. It also didn’t help that every rejection was like a thorn in his mood. They stopped looking for work and go get some groceries.

Rose had a special address where she would get groceries, so it was another small walk. They exited the streets and came to other open fields like before.

It wasn’t the same as Leon noticed that these were farmlands with many crops growing. Growing crops without sunlight was difficult, but not impossible.

Many fruits and vegetables needed sunlight but there were many which didn’t need it. Mushrooms immediately came to Leon’s mind, and he noticed them growing along the way.

Soon they came to a fairly large house and Rose opened the door only for Leon to discover that it was a shop, a shop that only sold vegetables, he noticed as he looked around.

As he looked, he noticed small jars of ground herbs and sprouts, along with beets and turnips. Despite the lack of sunlight, Leon was pleasantly surprised by the wide range of choices.

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There was an elderly woman at the counter who smiled as she noticed Rose. “Ah Rose dear, are you here to buy groceries again?”

She looked like a typical old woman dressed in simple purple overalls and some worker’s boots. She was also a little hunched over. Overall, Leon didn’t have a poor impression of her. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“Yes, Ms Palmer, I’ll have the usual if you have it,” Rose replied with a kind tone of voice. She was really grateful for this place, as this was one of the few people who didn’t treat her with scorn.

Ms Palmer nodded. “Of course dear, Oh, who is this with you?” She asked as she noticed Leon.

Leon was immediately uncomfortable by being put on the spot like this. Luckily, Rose was here to bail him out. “This here is Leon, my little brother I’ve told you about.”

“Ah, out shopping with him?” Mr Palmer said as she remembered their earlier conversations, her hands busy preparing Rose’s groceries.

“No, we… were looking for work,” Rose said, a little hesitant and guilty. It sounded awful that Leon had to work for them to live a little better.

Ms Palmer also got a little sad hearing that. She wasn’t stupid and knew some people had it rough, which is why she was never mean to Rose.

Ms Palmer had enough luck to grow up nicely and avoid poverty. She even inherited the farmland from her parents and could live well with her husband.

Suddenly she stopped, as she had an idea. “You say you’re looking for work?” Leon nodded at her question.

“Could you wait a moment, please?” She said as she disappeared through a back door. Leon and Rose stood there, equally confused, as they waited for her to return.

They didn’t wait for long as she quickly came back. She didn’t come back alone, as there was an older man with her this time.

Leon thought it was likely her husband, but he was completely unlike his wife. The man looked incredibly fit for his age and he was much larger than Leon thought possible for a man his age.

The man looked sternly at Leon and Leon felt like he was unconsciously standing up straighter, “So kid, you want to work?” Rose wanted to answer when the man told her sternly, “I asked him, not you.”

Rose quickly held her mouth and looked a little nervously at Leon. She knew Leon had trouble with social interactions.

There was another thing Leon had overlooked: it was his autism. In the past, he grew up with autism, but it was a vastly unfamiliar situation than he had now.

Now I’m certain. The original Leon has influenced me. Leon mentally griped as he struggled to respond. In his previous life, he worked on developing stronger social skills and boosting his confidence in communicating with others.

He had got a job in his old life, which was arguably one of Leon’s top moments. He had even gone to populated events and very crowded areas on his own.

This all took years of continued uncomfortable situations and slowly getting better at it, but since he took over Leon’s body, it felt like he had regressed to a time when he didn’t handle it well.

All of this passed in a flash, but the man’s intense look caused a ton of discomfort for Leon.

“Y-Yes, sir,” Leon stammered out a little hesitantly, not daring to look the man in the eyes. A moment of silence seemed to hang out, and Leon felt like he only wanted to curl into a hole and hide. Rose could almost feel Leon’s uneasiness as she stood next to him.

The man grunted, “Come here tomorrow morning,” and with that, he left, leaving the others there. Leon and Rose were stunned again, but Ms Palmer just shook her head.

“Always like this, so I guess we’ll be seeing you here again tomorrow.” She said to Leon, who just nodded his head numbly.

Rose paid for their groceries and left quickly thereafter. Ms Palmer didn’t chat too much with them. Leon and Rose walked back to their house in silence after what transpired.

Only after they arrived back home did they break the silence. “So, I guess you have your first job?” Rose said, still a little uncertain.

Leon simply nodded. “I guess so.”

“Are you sure you want to go there? He was a little intense, wasn’t he?” Rose asked Leon when talking about Mr Palmer. Leon was a little silent as he gathered his thoughts.

His sudden regression with autism wasn’t good, luckily he knew exactly what to do.

“I’m sure. I can’t keep dodging social interactions and the more frequently I experience them, the better I can get used to them.” Although there was no cure for autism, it was possible to learn and handle it better.

Rose found her brother’s maturity surprising, but she acknowledged he was correct. If he couldn’t handle social interactions here, how would he cope with them at college? College was a busy place and students had to take action themselves.

She hugged him in a warm embrace, surprising Leon. He didn’t feel thrilled about the unexpected hug, but let it slide for a few seconds. Rose released him after a few seconds and they continued with the day as normal.

The next morning came and Leon wore his old rags. He had little choice as he only had that and his ‘nice’ clothes. Rose walked with him for a bit to the farm and soon split off to go to her work.

The shop was still closed and Leon didn’t see a doorbell anywhere as such took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It didn’t take long for the door to open and Mr Palmer was standing in the door opening.

A gruff voice came out. “You came.” Leon was a bit confused. Didn’t he tell him to come?

“Yes?” He replied a little hesitantly. The man grunted a little and went inside. Leon was once again confused. Was he meant to follow him? Leon shook his head and cast aside his hesitancy. It wasn’t easy for him to communicate with someone like this.

Leon followed Mr Palmer as he went through the shop and the backdoor, Leon came to a nice cosy home that felt warm and nice.

Leon silently sighed at his and his sister’s situation, but still followed Mr Palmer as he went through another door that led outside. Outside was a massive field that had many vegetables growing.

There was also a small shed that Mr Palmer walked into. Leon followed and saw a vast array of tools. Hoes, spades, rakes, all the tools you’d need were in the shed.

“Grab two baskets and a hoe,” Mr Palmer said and Leon grabbed the items. The hoe was a little heavy for him, but he didn’t complain.

Mr Palmer also grabbed a hoe and a basket. He went to the fields and walked next to the growing crops. The crops were all placed in a neat line, and there was enough space to walk alongside them.

“Look for any weeds and use the hoe to unearth them and throw them in a basket. Look for rotten produce and throw that in the same basket. Any good ripe produce will go in the other basket.” Mr Palmer explained the job in short.

Mr Palmer started working, and although it was brief, Leon found it easy to understand. It wasn’t long before it was his turn. With some simple guidance from Mr Palmer, he got it under control quickly.

It was backbreaking work for Leon’s malnourished body. It didn’t take long until he started sweating and feeling slight pains in his body.

Although Leon slowed down a little, he didn’t stop, and he didn’t want to be a bother to Mr Palmer, so he said nothing. Mr Palmer also didn’t comment on his decline in speed as he got to work.

“Once the baskets are full, drop them inside and get another one.” Mr Palmer said as he saw that one basket got full.

Leon hauled his heavy load to the house and went back to the shed. It was just the start of the day, but he was already exhausted.

He had underestimated just how much work was in maintaining a farmland and now he also understood Mr Palmer’s physique if he did this alone every day.

Still, he didn’t complain. This wasn’t only for his benefit, but also for his sister’s. He had a lot of time to think during this time.

One such topic of thought was Rose. Rose was technically his sister, yet he only knew her for a little over a week. It was odd to go from an only child to a younger brother in the blink of an eye.

But that didn’t mean that Rose didn’t have a younger brother for her entire life. Leon understood this, but ‘acting’ as the little brother was going to be exhausting if he kept that up.

So Leon had decided he was going to embrace the fact that he had a sister now. He would act normally around her like he would with his own family from his previous life.

Leon’s thoughts kept him busy as his body continued to work. “Kid, why do you want to work?” Mr Palmer suddenly called out to him. Leon didn’t think about it and said.

“For my sister, she’s helped me so much and I want to help her, too.” A moment later he realised what he had said and got a little embarrassed saying that.

Mr Palmer said nothing and Leon was too busy to notice a small smile on the man’s face. They continued their work until the entire field was done.

“Well done kid, come back here tomorrow.” Mr Palmer said and Leon just nodded, exhausted from the work. He still had to walk back home, but that was nothing compared to the hard work he had just done.