Date: January 02, 2112

Time: 23:01

Location: New York City, New York

“Isn’t it nice to be under the stars, Lee?” David turned to his friend with a smile. “Lots of beautiful things to see out there, right?”

Lee nodded silently as he looked up at the stars, in awe as he felt a bit tiny in this vast universe that he called home. “Isn’t that a…” Lee trailed off as he stared at something distantly faint, but shone bright enough to see.

“A shooting star!!!” David yelled in excitement. He frantically tried to get a picture of it, but the celestial object soared too fast. “Dang.” he muttered to himself, “We missed it.”

“Aren’t you gonna make a wish on it?” Lee struck him with a confused look, “Isn’t that custom around these parts?”

“Not anymore,” David uttered, “but a century ago, that was what people our age would usually do.” Lee just shrugged it off and just kept looking at the stars.

“But,” Lee trailed off once more, “a century ago, they couldn’t go very far. All they could really do was observe the planets, stars and the milky way.”

“And now?” David asked with a confused, yet interested look on his adorable little face.

“And now,” Lee continued, “now we can. Thanks to my dad’s technological discovery, anyone with the right material can go up into the emptiness of space and discover what’s out there.”

“Someday, I’ll be one of those people.” David said with a sparkle in his eye, “And maybe, you’ll come with me.”

“Me?” Lee looked dazed, yet intrigued. “Why me?”

“Cause you’re my best friend, and I would never abandon you. Not in a million years, not ever.” David said, standing and lifting his friend up.

“Are you serious, not ever?” Lee said, still a bit confused.

“Not ever,” David claimed, “but are you seriously leaving for Hong Kong tonight?”

Lee nodded solemnly, while David ran over to hug his friend. “Promise we’ll see each other again?”

Lee nodded and hugged him back, “Promise.”

Date: January 02, 2130

Time: 14:30

Location: Buffalo, New York

It’s been eighteen years since David and Lee had a true moment of bonding. Of course, they meet each other from time to time, but by the time they were eighteen, they moved out immediately to join the prestigious astronomy course in Buffalo’s “Lord Heffter’s University”. They started their year with a bang, meeting new friends, even making a couple enemies. They learnt new things, new forms of technology and even learnt about a bit of the exoplanets in the farthest reaches of the multiverse cluster next door. But what will be explained soon enough, would change the course of their existence, forever. Want to find out more? Keep reading this episode, and find out…

“Yo, Lee!” Lee turned around to see his energetic friend David run towards him from the end of the hallway, “Where were you all this time?”

“In the cafeteria,” Lee mumbled, “eating my lunch. The better question should be ‘Where were you?’”

“Never mind that,” David grabbed him by the wrist, yanking him across the hallway and stopping at “Room 203”, “You see that?”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Lee squinted for a moment and looked back at his friend, “Yes, it’s a block of Titanium. You don’t have to go that crazy over it.”

“But, that’s a rare specimen of metal,” David whined, “No one has seen real and pure Titanium in over a decade!”

“Shouldn’t we get back to class?” Lee nudged David gently and directed him over to “Room 208”.

David nodded solemnly, his mind still focused on the legitimate Titanium left in 203.

………

“Okay class, listen up,” the teacher, Mr. Chivinski looked up from his computer, “your final assignment before the test tomorrow is…”

“Excuse me,” David announced, “there isn’t going to be a test tomorrow.”

Mr Chivinski groaned aloud to himself and spoke in a stern voice that felt like an earthquake. “What is it this time, Mr. Aurinko?”

“Tomorrow, it’s the official start of the winter break, and so no one will be in class for the next two weeks.” he confidently spoke.

“Wow,” Mr. Chivinski looked up once more with a devious look on his face, “good job Mr. Aurinko. Thanks to you, the entire class is doing the test today.” he slowly began to applaud, sarcastically smiling.

The class erupted with the sound of annoyed groans, angry mumbling and straight up pencils aimed directly for David. He dodged them all thankfully, as Mr. Chivinski slowly handed out papers for the upcoming test.

………

“And this is why you need to keep your mouth shut.” Mr. Chivinski said, pointing to the mess of papers, files and homework on the floor, “You’re going to cause the janitor a nightmare this christmas.”

“It feels like you’re trying to make a movie reference.” David smirked at his teacher who just sighed another heavy sigh.

Lee nudged his arm, as David tried to process what happened. “Look, Mr. Chivinski.” Lee continued, “I know my client, friend and your student, might be a bit of a handful,” he turned to see David trying to lick his elbow, which was both amusing and a bit unappealing to him, “but believe it or not, he’s actually one of the bravest, smartest and most charismatic people I know.”

Mr. Chivinski looked at David, still comically trying to lick his elbow and back at Lee, “He’s the only person you know.”

The room flashed with ear-piercing silence as Lee continued his rant, “Yes, true, but I’ve got proof that he’s a pretty smart guy.”

Mr. Chivinski's eyebrow flew up, “Go on.”

Lee slid a pamphlet across the desk, a pamphlet containing the most prestigious job offer in the known multiverse. Mr. Chivinski jumped up out of his chair once he saw the pamphlet, “How, how do you have this?”

David looked up from his unfruitful attempt at licking his elbow, looked at Mr. Chivinski, back at Lee, and back at his elbow. “So,” David muttered, “what’s happening?”

Lee slapped his forehead in frustration, as Mr. Chivinski raised his eyebrow again. “Lee, David,” Mr. Chivinski replied, “Do you want to explain this?”

“To say the least, sir…” Lee continued, until he was interrupted by David who was eager to share his new job acceptance.

“You see sir,” David bubbled with excitement, “I got accepted as the captain of an exploration crew ready to explore the stars, planets and the multiverse itself. Doesn’t that sound amazing?”

Mr. Chivinski looked at David with his cold, dark eyes, still unamused. “Sir, if I may?” Lee continued. “I’ve heard and seen enough from you two.” Mr. Chivinski continued, “I can already tell that both of you have extreme potential, but don’t you think you should stick to the typical schedule before moving on to something more professional?”

Lee looked puzzled for a second, looked back at David who just shrugged with a silly look on his face, and back at Mr. Chivinski still with that cold and firm look on his face. “I would like to try.”

Mr. Chivinski stood up, “Very well, only if you both agree not to suspend your classes for the rest of the semester. I want all of my students to be just like me in terms of knowledge; calculated and wise. So, while you’re on your trips, in your free time, do your work, finish it and don’t forget, always keep the class notified on your adventures.”

Lee agreed, they shook hands and exited the room. “Wow,” David remarked, “that was surprisingly easy.”

Lee sighed and looked at his comrade, “I know,” he replied, “but right now, we should probably head over to the job interview.” he pointed at the pamphlet in his hand, “It’s in two hours, and we should probably get going.”

“Wait,” David pointed at the pamphlet in Lee’s hand, “how do you still have that? Didn’t Mr. Chivinski keep that pamphlet?”

Lee shrugged and nudged him, “I made a copy just in case someone was extremely crazy.”

David laughed hard at the sound of Lee’s bad joke. “Are you being sarcastic?” Lee muttered.

“Are you kidding?” David chuckled, “That was the best joke you’ve had! You should be proud.”

Lee’s cheeks turned a slight shade of pink at the sound of the compliment, “Yeah. Thanks, David, but we don’t have time for compliments, we’ve got an interview.”

Lee snapped his fingers and a helicopter came hovering down to his location. David stood in astonishment, “How? How do you have this? I thought they stopped producing these models.”

“Elementary, my dear David.” Lee smirked, “I had friends in high places.”

“You really have to stop reading Sherlock Holmes, those books are older than both of us combined.” David muttered.

Lee shrugged and hopped into the cockpit. “You comin’?” David grinned and hopped in the back. “I’m coming.”

Lee turned the key and the engine whirred back to life. “You ready, David?” David nodded, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

The helicopter started to hover high above the ground, elevating itself high up above the bright lights and loud noises of Buffalo. The pair stared down at the city as it grew smaller and smaller. “Where to?” David wondered aloud. Lee looked at him with that familiar grin of his. “Toronto.”