Chapter 4 - An Old Acquaintance

The following day came in a flash. I woke up early in the morning as always. As I opened my eyes and looked at my new window, my heart beat excitedly.

Yesterday was not a dream!

I got up from the bed quickly and ran to the bathroom to quickly prepare myself for the day. After I took care of my needs, I started to brush my teeth.

I wonder how is it going to be? The life here is scary yet exciting!

I washed my mouth and then went back to my room to change my outfits. I quickly put on my sports and then left my room. As I was coming down the stairs, I saw Alaric sitting on the couch.

“Good morning-!”

I was interrupted when I tripped myself on the stairs and fell. When I was about to hit my head, Alaric’s hand held my forehead.

“Please be careful,” he said calmly as he helped me to get up.

“Sorry,” I said, embarrassed. Alaric made me sit on the sofa and look at my body.

“Did you hurt anywhere?” He asked. I shook my head.

“Not really.”

He sighed in relief and sat next to me.

“Please be more careful when you are using stairs.”

“Okay,” I approved. Alaric nodded and continued to talk.

“We are going to register you for your new school today. After that, as we discussed yesterday, we will start your education about society and technology.”

“Will we continue our training?” I asked. “And I meant sparing.”

“Yes, but we will prioritize common knowledge, such as technology, how to act in front of others, human nature, and so on for now.” Before continuing, he looked at the clock. It was showing at five a.m.

“It is still too early. Since you also prepared, let’s walk around and familiarize ourselves.”

“Okay!” I agreed cheerfully. Alaric smiled and gently patted my head. There was something in his eyes that I couldn’t understand.

“All right, take your glasses, and then we can go.”

“Okay!” I said again and ran to the stairs. When I tripped again, Alaric called behind me.

“What did I just say!”

“Sorry!” I said and entered my room. I quickly grabbed the glasses and wore them.

“Now, I will press here, and it will open,” I mumbled as I pressed the little button on its left. Last night, Alaric showed me how to open and close it and, again, told me how important it was for me to wear it.

“You will see most of the things when you are wearing this,” Alaric said. “So, never forget to take it with you when you go somewhere.”

I took a deep breath as it opened.

“All right, let’s go!” I mumbled to myself and ran down the stairs, this time more carefully, then went to Alaric’s side, who wore his glasses already and was waiting for me. He smiled at me gently.

“Let’s go.”

I quickly nodded, and together, we left the house.

“Wow!” I exclaimed the moment I looked outside. What Alaric said was true. The outside was colorful and bright. There were many images of different people, and there were now grey sticks that were holding something rectangular that had the colors red, yellow, and green.

“It’s so different,” I whispered, mesmerized. “Why is it so different?” I asked as we started walking.

“After losing the Second Decent, humanity started using all of its resources to fight against the voidspawns. The governments decided to lower all unnecessary constructions and gave everything to the Third Wave. This technology started to develop at that time. The traffic lights, billboards, and everything that seems unneeded moved to this technology, helping humanity to have more resources for the battle. That is also how we won the third fight.”

“You told me jewelry is not important or helpful too. Why are they still creating them?” I asked. Alaric shrugged. “I don’t know. When I was young, they were only making rings since it was an old tradition for engaged and married couples. It is a good thing, I believe; it shows that things are getting better for humanity.”

I nodded. Then asked my next question.

“I was wondering,” I started. “There was First Decent, Second Decent, Third Wave, and First Loss, right? The namings, though, why not Third Decent but Third Wave? Or why not First Wave and Second Wave?”

“I don’t know,” he accepted. “I never thought about the namings of the wars.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised. “Okay then.”

As we walked, the number of people around us started to increase. Alaric introduced me to the ‘apartments’, ‘parks,’ ‘cafes,’ and ’libraries,’ and even though I was excited, I also felt discomfort under people’s gaze.

“Why are they looking at us like that?” I asked Alaric. Alaric, as if he just realized now, looked around us.

“I believe it is because of the First Loss,” Alaric responded.

First Loss, I thought. It was an event not caused by voidspawn but by a human. They said someone knowingly shut down the shield of the safe area of my hometown, causing a big massacre. Alaric always told me that we were lucky because when that happened, we were already away from there. “That is also one of the other reasons why we didn’t live in human society. After the First Loss, humanity went through chaos. Everyone started to discriminate against outsiders, even forcefully sending the newcomers to the outside of the safe areas, causing them to be killed or turned,” he said, then sighed. “What a stupid thing to do.”

“Will they,” I gulped. “Do that to us, too?”

“It was a long time ago, and peace is a must. If the chaos continues, we will lose the next time the voidspawns attack. So, I doubt that it is still continuing, but I also don’t think that we will be living peacefully either.”

“But the lady that gave us the glasses yesterday was nice to us,” I said.

“That was her job. She needs to act friendly to the customers in order to sell things,” Alaric said, then smiled at me.

“You will learn these slowly; there is no need to rush. But be careful. Don’t do anything reckless when we are here, ok?”

I didn’t know what he meant by ‘reckless’, but I nodded anyway.

“Good. Now, let’s buy us breakfast, then go to the school, okay?”

I nodded again, and together, we entered a cafe. Under people’s uncomfortable gazes, I asked again.

“How come they know that we are ‘outsiders’?”

“It is a small place. Most safe areas have at least five to seven cycles in them, each representing a social status. Here, there are only three cycles, so everyone knows everyone,” he explained as he asked for a scrambled egg for us. The man behind the counter smiled at us and told us that it would be ready shortly. After Alaric put his hand on a table, like yesterday, a text showed up saying, “PAYMENT COMPLETED.” Alaric nodded, and we sat at a table.

“What now?” I asked.

“We will wait. The waiters here will deliver the food,” he explained. I nodded and looked around. Some looked in our direction and whispered to each other. Some didn’t care about us, and others only glared.

“Is there a way for them to stop looking at us like that?”

“I don’t think so,” he said. “But don’t focus on them too much.”

I nodded again and decided to look outside. The buildings here were taller, and the population was higher. Another thing I noticed here was that there were fewer trees than our home in the forest.

“Why no trees?” I asked this time.

“There are trees outside.”

“But not as much as the forest we lived in.”

“You gave the answer yourself. We lived in the forest. So it is normal for there to be a lot of trees. Here, they cut the trees to create houses, schools, hospitals, and roads. That is also the reason why you can’t see grass either.”

“Then where did the food come from?”

“They grow them, just like we did in the forest.”

“But there is no soil here.”

“How do you know?” Alaric asked. He seemed to be enjoying our conversation.

“I mean, look around. All we see so far is roads and stones and buildings.”

“You didn’t see everything yet. How are you sure about it?”

I didn’t answer his question because I didn’t actually know about it.

“You can assume things, Bumble. It is normal human behavior. But you can’t say that they are the truth without solid evidence, understand?”

I only nodded as the ‘waiter’ came towards us and put our eggs in front of us.

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“Enjoy,” he said and turned his back. I could only look at the egg. I felt my mouth started watering. It smelled delicious and looked delicious, but under others’ gaze, I felt my stomach twisted. There is also a chance for it to be poisoned, too! I gulped and looked at Alaric to see how he was doing. Seeing him that he was enjoying his meal made me surprised.

“How are you able to eat?” I asked. Alaric slowly cleaned his mouth before speaking.

“Why shouldn’t I?” He asked.

“It could be poisonous! Or they could put something funny in it to make you weak! Also, the people around us look at us like they are about to attack.“

Alaric smiled at my response.

“Like I said yesterday, it is good to be cautious, especially in a new environment but I am sure the food we are eating is not dangerous.”

“How are you so sure?” I asked but realized that I interrupted him when I saw that his mouth was left open.

“Sorry,” I mumbled while looking at my plate.

“It’s okay. As I was saying, they couldn’t add poison because if they did, the number of customers here might be decreased.”

“Customers?” I asked.

“Humans who pay for specific items. For example, they serve food here, and we bought it, so we are the customers right now.“

I nodded to his words.

“So it is safe?”

“Most likely, but if you still have doubts, don’t eat it.”

I looked at the food again. It smelled really delicious that it made my stomach grumble.

Come on, Bumble, I said to myself. Even Alaric is eating it. It must be safe.

I took my fork and knife and carefully cut it, then ate it slowly.

“It is delicious!”

Alaric smiled at my words, and we started to eat in silence. About fifteen minutes later, we were finished. Alaric looked at the clock and said, “Looks like they will open soon. Ready to go?”

I nodded as I wiped my mouth with a napkin. We got up, left the cafe, and started walking again. The number of people increased as we walked. Some were relaxed, some looked worried.

“They don’t look disturbed,” I mumbled.

“They have more important things to handle. We are not their first concern.”

“Like what?” I asked this time.

“It can be many things: money, job, social life. Who knows?”

This answer didn’t satisfy my curiosity, but I decided not to ask any further and decided to analyze only. A couple of minutes later, we reached our destination.

“Here we are,” Alaric said. I looked at the building in front of us and was mesmerized by it.

“So huge!” I said. It had very long, metallic black fences, and behind those fences, there was a huge grey-red colored building and lots of people with a specific set of clothing. They all looked cheerful. I looked at Alaric excitedly, I couldn’t believe that I was going to enter there, but seeing him looking at me, troubled, surprised me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It is nothing for you to worry about,” Alaric firmly responded. His gaze shifted to an emotion in his eyes that I couldn’t understand. It was my first time seeing it.

“All right, let’s register you at your school,” he said with a smile and walked closer to the gate. A man with a blue outfit came to us, a questioning look in his eyes.

“Can I help you?” He asked.

“Yes, I am here to register my daughter,” Alaric responded as he showed me. I nodded to the man as he looked at us with suspicion.

“She doesn’t look like your daughter at all, and it's almost the mid-semester.”

“I am adopted,” I said this time. “My parents died on First Loss.”

The man’s gaze softened the moment I said First Loss, but his suspicion didn’t go away fully.

“Miss Hanna knew that we were coming.”

The man looked at Alaric for a second as if he was trying to understand if Alaric was telling the truth.

“Oh, then please give me a minute. What was your name, sir?”

“Alaric Lovett.”

The man nodded and quickly went inside something little, which was holding only a table and a chair. The man wore his glasses and headphones and then started to talk to someone. A few seconds later, he nodded and came back to us again.

“Miss Hanna is waiting for you on the second floor.”

“Thank you,” Alaric responded as we entered. I didn’t know what to do, so I continued to walk, glancing at Alaric and the man in blue. Eventually, I tripped on something but, luckily, gained my balance before I fell.

“Look in front of you as you walk,” Alaric said firmly.

“Sorry,” I responded, and we continued to walk in a big, grassy area.

“What a strange place,” I said. “I can’t say it is a forest, but it does not look like outside either.”

“We are walking in the school’s front yard,” Alaric said.

“Front yard,” I nodded. “Why is everyone wearing almost the same outfit?” I asked this time.

“Dress code,” Alaric responded. “It’s meant to promote discipline and create a sense of equality among students, so there’s less focus on social status or wealth.”

I nodded but only understood half of what he was saying as we entered the building. I wanted to look around me so bad, but I was afraid to trip again. I sighed and looked at only Alaric as we continued to walk. After Alaric asked for a direction a few times, we finally arrived at ‘Miss Hanna’s office, at least that was what Alaric asked for direction. He softly knocked on the door three times and opened it when someone said, “Come in.” There was a woman inside, sitting on a desk and looking at something through her holographic screen. She had a big, blonde bun on her head. She was wearing black glasses, a white blouse, a purple skirt, and purple heels. When she looked at us, she smiled.

“Alaric! It is so good to see you again,” she said as she got up from her chair and walked towards us.

“It’s been a while, Hanna.” Alaric nodded.

“You know her?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes, she was the one who prepared the house and the car.”

“Oh, it was nothing, I am just happy to see you,” Miss Hanna responded to Alaric, then turned her gaze towards me.

“I heard lots of things about you. It is nice to meet you, Bumble. What a unique eye color you have,” she said with a bright smile and extended her hand to shake hands. My hand immediately went to my left eye. Unlike my right eye, which was brown, it had a green color in it, but it was mostly brown.

“Yeah,” I nodded, and we shook hands. Miss Hanna smiled and then looked at Alaric.

“Please sit, let me call for a tea.”

“We don’t want to trouble you. We are just here to register Bumble.”

“What are you saying, Alaric? It’s been almost 20 years since we last saw each other.”

“You met her 20 years ago?” I asked, surprised again.

“Yes, Bumble,” Alaric sighed. “We were friends at high school.”

“How, but, wha-?”

I was so surprised that I couldn’t create a proper sentence. Miss Hanna only smiled at me, then called for two tea and one orange juice.

“Please sit,” Miss Hanna said again as she showed two comfortable chairs. Alaric and I sat on the chairs while Miss Hanna sat on hers.

“So,” Miss Hanna said. “How old is she?”

“She is 14 years old,” Alaric responded.

“And her education?”

“She was homeschooled.”

Hanna smiled as she typed something on the screen. Didn’t she say that she heard a lot of things about me? I thought. How could she not know this then?

“And what she will be? Hunter or technician?”

“What are these?” I whispered to Alaric, but Miss Hanna heard me and smiled.

“In our school, there are two classes: Hunter and Technician. Hunters specialize in fighting against voidspawns or any other threat that can be met outside of the barrier. Technician’s jobs are to aid Hunters. Create the tools that they need, improve and upgrade it to help them at their battle.”

I nodded, then looked back at Alaric.

“So, I am a hunter?”

“Yes,” Alaric responded. Miss Hanna typed it on the screen again while someone knocked on the door. Miss Hanna softly said, “Come in,” and an old man with our drinks entered the office. He put them in front of us, and after Miss Hanna thanked him, he nodded and left.

“Okay, so as you might know Alaric, we would run two tests for your daughter, Bumble. One for knowledge and one for your fighting, and according to her responses, we would have to decide her class. However, we are in the second semester and almost in the middle of it. The school was already not happy to take her because of her outsider status and the timing, but with the generous donations you made and the fee you accepted to pay, they accepted it. However, the school council wanted her to start from the lowest class, E. They will monitor her and might upgrade her class if she does well in her lessons. Is that okay for you?”

Alaric nodded to Miss Hanna’s question. Miss Hanna smiled gently and continued to write on her screen. A few minutes later, she got up happily from her seat.

“Okay, let me show you around.”

Before getting up, I quickly finished my juice.

“There was no need for you to hurry. You could have taken it with you,” Miss Hanna said, but I was already finished with it.

“It was delicious,” I said while we were leaving the office. Alaric led me to Miss Hanna’s side before we started walking around.

“Our school building has four floors and they are divided by function and grade. The lower ground floor is where the cafeteria, swimming pool, and laboratories are. The entrance and the floor above belong to the classes. The entrance hosts 9th and 10th-grade students: the right side of the floor belongs to the 9th grade, which is where you'll be, and the left side is where the 10th grade is. You can also find the teacher’s office on the left side of the corridor. The floor we are on belongs to the 11th and 12th grade students, and with the same plan, the left belongs to the 11th, and the right belongs to the 12th grade. Grades are organized by age, and classes are organized by students’ success. Currently, we have five classes: A, B, C, D, and E. You are in the Eth class, which is accepted as the lowest class, but don’t let it discourage you. If you study hard enough, you will rise in no time. The higher the rank, the better. Graduating within the top 2 rank, not depending either on hunter status or technician status, allows you to join the military, which is considered an honor.”

“Okay?” I said and looked at Alaric. He whispered, “I will explain at home.” I nodded and continued to follow Miss Hanna.

“The top floor belongs to the student councils, school council, principal, and assistant principal. Our school is also monitored by visible and invisible cameras 24/7. Bullying another student or hurting them consciously is not allowed and is punishable,” she continued as a sudden strange noise came from the corridors.

“Looks like the lessons are starting now. Let me show you the cafeteria, pool, and the backyard of the school.”

Alaric and I nodded as we continued to follow her. We went down the stairs and eventually reached the lower ground floor.

“The right side is where our cafeteria is, and the left side goes to the canteen and where our pool and laboratories are. You can also access the backyard through here.”

We first looked at the cafeteria. It was dark green with lots of windows and tables. Then we turned to the left side, where we saw, I assume, the canteen. There was a woman with dark hair in it, and she looked bored. There were also a few tables scattered around the area and three windows, too. There were two corridors, one next to the canteen and one between the stairs and one of the canteen table.

“The corridor you are seeing next to the canteen is where the laboratories and backyard gate are. The other corridor is to the swimming pool.” She said and walked towards the corridor which was the one that she said for laboratories.

“Since you are in hunter status, you won’t spend so much time in the laboratories but outside,” she said as she opened a big door. Outside was bigger than the front. There were lots of grass and benches around the area.

“The left side, behind the trees, is the 'cyber' part. It is a part where the students integrate themselves with robots,” Miss Hanna stopped and looked at Alaric.

“This is a new technology that is still under development. After the First Loss, we started to work on cybers, as you might have heard when we were still in high school. About five years ago, we finally made this technology work. We used our professional hunters first to test them, and it was successful. Our area now is currently on the lead of it. About a year ago, we added this to the curriculum, too.”

“So, I can learn it?” I asked excitedly. Miss Hanna looked at me and smiled gently.

“You, like most of the students, are forbidden to enter and learn. We only allow certain students to take this course, but you can also learn if you are-”

“Successful enough, I understand,” I mumbled, interrupting her words. Alaric looked at me as if he was warning me.

“Don’t be rude.”

“Rude?” I asked, surprised. I thought being rude was pointing at people, burping loudly, and making gas when someone was there, but not sentence.

“Why is my sentence rude? I don’t understand. How can a sentence even be rude?” Alaric sighed and apologized to Miss Hanna.

“Let’s just continue,” she said and started to walk again.

“If we continue to walk forward from here, we will see an arena. Every year, we do various events there. It is also used for hunters to practice to fight against voidspawns. On the right side, you will see the library and the gym."

I nodded, and then we walked back inside, and she showed us the ‘swimming pool’ and ‘changing rooms’.

“This will conclude our tour. Your syllabus will be sent to your glasses, I just need the ID of it.”

“ID?” I asked, then looked at Alaric. He sighed and gently took my glasses. Suddenly, everything felt a bit darker and pale. As I was adjusting it, Alaric said a sequence of numbers and then gave it back to me.

“Thank you for giving your time,” Alaric said to Miss Hanna. She smiled.

“Don’t mention it. It is my job anyway.”

Alaric nodded to her and together, we walked upstairs.

“It was good to see you, Alaric. It had been so long.”

“Yes,” Alaric approved her as we started to walk to the gates.

“I hope you can finally reach your peace here.”

Alaric looked at Miss Hanna and shook his head. I couldn’t understand what was going on. Miss Hanna quickly cleared her throat and looked at me with a smile.

“I hope you will enjoy your time here, Bumble. I can’t wait to see you at our school. Your school outfit will be shipped to your house.”

“But what if the outfits get big?” I asked.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. MAI took care of it as we walked around.”

I frowned and looked at Alaric.

“It’s okay; not all MAIs can do that,” he said to me and looked back at Miss Hanna as we reached the school gates. That was not what I was curious about, I thought as the man with the blue outfit quickly opened the gate.

“Thank you for today, Hanna.”

“Don’t mention it. I hope that we can see each other again.”

Alaric smiled softly but only said, “Goodbye, Hanna.” Then he pushed me on my shoulder gently, and together, we left the school.