It was an early morning just like any other when Zahid woke up. He was in a little chamber right next to Hektor’s room. Upon getting up, Zahid went to the bathroom, washed his face, looked himself in the mirror and said “Good Morning Handsome!” with a grin on his face. However, unlike all the other mornings, this particular one was filled with anticipation because Hektor had promised him something truly extraordinary.

Zahid left his small cramped room and headed to the hallway where he started walking around. The guards from the other day saw him and tried their best to stay away from him for they could now see that he was wearing a Silver ID card stating that he wasn’t’ someone they can trifle with anymore. Zahid also walked with a newfound confidence as he knew that he could potentially have a life where he’d be regarded as a person of great importance; a life in which words hold actual sway and power.

Zahid admired the hallway as he made his way through it. It was only yesterday that he was sneaking through this place in order to avoid any unwanted attention but, now, he could walk with his head held high, however, this still didn’t stop people from giving him strange looks.

Zahid then headed to the cafeteria to get his morning rations and he was excited because it was his first time going there and when he was in the slums, well let’s just say that it was different there and leave it at that.

Although the line to get to the cafeteria was quite long, Zahid saw no other choice at the time and decided to take his place in it. The entire wait felt long and tedious but, all of a sudden, a girl wearing a red ribbon on her neck and with blue eyes and blond hair bumped into him and that would be the start of a very interesting scene.

Zahid caught unprepared fell flat on his behind and was shocked to see the girl still standing in front of him like nothing happened then she gave Zahid a look of disgust and said.

“Oh I'm sorry, I didn’t see you there and what are you doing down there, surely you didn’t fall from being by little ol me did you?”

Zahid was rendered speechless by this and could only stare at the girl and then she said something that she shouldn’t.

“You’re a man aren’t you, instead of looking like an idiot you should at least apologize to this lady”.

Zahid rolled his eyes and said, “A lady? where can I find this lady you speak off and I was here first you just appeared out of nowhere and I’m hungry so it’d be best for you to get out of the way”.

The girl shocked by this went red in the face and started pouting and said before leaving, “This is an enormous mistake on your end, we’ll see who gets the last laugh when I’m through with you!”.

Zahid looked at the departing girl with a ribbon on her neck and decided to give it no more heed and get something to eat.

Zahid was in the line for a good 10 minutes before he heard someone screaming at the back and this is what he heard.

“Father, this is where I last saw the scoundrel who said that I wasn’t a lady and took my place in the line. Oh, and he bumped into to me and didn’t even say he was sorry and just look at my blue dress it’s in a mess thanks to him”.

The father she was referring to was a big hulking man clad in a black suit and had eyes that were both intimidating and kind but what made him stand out was he had ten people behind him all formed in a straight line and looked like some sort of private army awaiting commands to strike. All this clearly implied that the father was someone truly important.

The father looked around for a bit and with a smile on his face said to his daughter, “Amy, I’m sure it was all a misunderstanding but fret not I will see to it that the person you are referring to will get what he deserves if proven guilty of course.”

Zahid felt his scalp go numb at this and thought that his day couldn’t get any worse.

Zahid started to back up and was waiting for a chance to slip away when all of a sudden he saw the girl looking straight at him and she started pointing and screaming that it was him thereby causing Zahid to become frozen in place. He was in the midst of devising a plan to get out of this mess when the father walked up to him and inspected him from head to toe and noticed that Zahid had a Silver ID card on his neck and so the father lifted an eyebrow and asked.

“Boy, who are you and how did you acquire a silver ID card?”

Zahid, jolted to his senses by the questions, answered.

“My name is Zahid and it was given by my master Hektor. Sir, may I ask what seems to be the problem?”

The father looked at Zahid and said,

“My name is Quantus and my daughter Amy said that you bumped into her and, instead of apologizing, you said some distasteful things.”

The father had squinted eyes when he looked at Zahid and was waiting to see what his answer would be when all of a sudden Zahid started walking away.

One of the men standing behind Quantus yelled at Zahid and said.

“Stop right there don’t you know that this is the Great General Quantus who led the escapees here to the Last Hope and fought off the rebels that wanted to destroy us?!”.

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Quantus was certainly surprised by Zahid’s actions and, upon being asked for an explanation, this is what Zahid said to him.

“Sir, I overheard you and your daughter but I don’t think that there’s much to be explained since this was all a big misunderstanding in the first place and, while it is true that I didn’t apologize, it was only because your daughter didn’t give me the chance to and immediately resorted to threatening me so I dropped the matter entirely and focused on getting something to eat because I have important business to attend to afterwards so if you would excuse me.”

Zahid walked two steps forward then stopped and looked at Amy and said.

“Dear Lady, I truly am sorry for the incident that happened earlier but I implore you to take no heed of my lack of manners as it is early in the morning and I haven’t had my morning sunshine so I was just a bit grumpy but you need not worry because I give you my word that I’ll make up for what had transpired here now if you would excuse me I have urgent matters to attend to”.

 Quantus and Amy looked at each other and Quantus said in disbelief.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone talk his way out of trouble, I’d like to know who his master is”.

Zahid started to walk away when all of a sudden he stopped in his tracks and remembered he hadn’t gotten his food yet but knew that if he stayed any longer he might not be able to get out of this mess anymore and so he decided to just soldier on and go back to his room.

Quantus saw this. Quantus could only give out a bittersweet smile at this point because he knew that he could no longer go after the kid but, all things considered, he knew that the whole incident could have been avoided had his daughter held her temper. Nonetheless, though, he promised to make it up to her daughter.

While Amy was certainly annoyed by the events that just took place, she stills seemed to have developed an interest in the boy. She was truly intrigued by how someone so young could carry himself in front of her father.

The entire scene, to an outsider, felt like a good show before breakfast and

Zahid on his way back felt weak and hungry, he is used to being hungry but this time what made him feel bad is that he had a chance at getting to eat ‘REAL’ food and at the main cafeteria at that but alas with how things turned out he could only hope that trouble doesn’t find him again.

Zahid decided to pay his master a visit, perhaps he could at least get something to eat if he did.

Hektor was in his room working on his notes when someone knocked on his door, he slowly stretched his arms back and got up and opened the door to see Zahid standing in front of him with eyes full of reverence and so he welcomed him in and offered tea and biscuits as refreshments.

Zahid loved the idea of tea and biscuits for as he had never had tea for it was actually something very hard to get these days and was quite pricey too but looks like Hektor had quite a stash for himself so he got to it and when he finished he asked his master what he could do for him today and Hektor said.

“Zahid, for the time being, you should relax and have your refreshments. I’m currently working on something and it’ll take me a little while. I have something to show you so just sit tight and wait for me, okay?”

Zahid nodded and went back to eating and savoring his tea and it seemed like this would be his new favorite snack.

Two hours later, Hektor closed his notes and put them in his side pocket. He then got up and went up to Zahid and asked him to follow him and so they left.

To Zahid, it seemed like they had been walking for miles upon miles and there seemed to be an eerie silence in the air as well but Zahid thought better of it and decided not to pester Hektor with unnecessary disturbances by asking what’s going on.

They soon arrived at a big laboratory and, before entering, they were stopped by guards asking them what they wanted and Hektor just flashed his Gold ID card and the guards immediately stepped back and apologized for questioning them. Upon entering the facility, Zahid was amazed by all the different gadgets and machinery. Noticing Zahid’s gleeful and illuminated eyes, Hektor said,

“Zahid, welcome to my laboratory, today you are going to experience something extraordinary and I’m sure that you will never regret doing it.”

Zahid lost in a daze almost didn’t hear his master and just started walking around looking at everything. Since he was from the slums, this was all clearly a new experience for him but, perhaps the most exciting thing about the place was the fact that everyone seemed to approve of him and were giving him compliments and sometimes even engaging in conversations with him. Hektor laughed at Zahid and knew exactly why he was so happy and decided to leave him be while he looked for his assistant and asked a nearby scientist.

“Excuse me Roger, but do you know where I am to find Dr. Elbert?”

The man looked at Hektor but didn’t recognize him and pointed to the back room and went back to work, the man didn’t really take notice of Hektor and thought that the only reason he knew his name was because of his name tag but what he didn’t know is that Hektor personally hand picked his team and so knew a lot about them.

Hektor went to the back room and found his apprentice Elbert working on a computer and said.

“Dr. Elbert, why, aren’t you a busy bee”

“Oh Hektor, you’re just in time. I’m just adjusting something here for the simulator and then we can start with the initial dive run”, said Elbert who was excited about the thought of testing out the thing that he had been working on for such a long time. It was a dream of his to make something like this and save the world and was very happy indeed to be a part of it.

Hektor smiled and went to fetch Zahid from his shenanigans.

Zahid was intrigued why Hektor dragged him into a back room that only had two beds in them, but also confused when he saw the beds looked a bit weird and had some sort of glass casing around it and so asked what they were planning to do and Hektor just looked at him and asked him to lay down in one of them while he entered the other one.

Zahid tilted his head and wondered if they were going to take a nap, I mean it is still early and he couldn’t fall asleep now even if he wanted to.

And so they both got into the bed and Elbert then said.

“Ok, gentlemen we shall now start the initial dive run operation!”

Zahid got spooked when the glass door suddenly closed and he felt trapped but saw that Hektor was completely calm and so decided to do the same but of course, it was only to a certain extent that he could do so, he was, in fact, shaking a bit.

Then some sort of gas filled the bed covered in glass and Zahid suddenly felt dizzy and passed out and when he woke up he saw that he was in a very weird place filled with green poky things on the ground and felt something hot on his face and when he looked around he was so shocked that he started screaming.

“HEKTOR!!, where are you! are we dead? Is this what they call heaven?”

Hektor was next to the screaming boy and felt a tingling sensation in his ears and tried his best not to cover his ears and make Zahid feel embarrassed and so he said this.

“Zahid, you are now in the Wolrd of Terra, the world of cyberspace and the new home for humanity and the place where dreams come true and hope is not an impossibility!”.

Zahid dazed at the scenery looked up and saw a red shining thing and passed out again.

Hektor just shook his head and smiled.