"Ready?" I asked my friend who brushed her long ashy brown hair into a high ponytail.
"By the way," she changed the topic once putting on the shoes. "Where did you go last night?" She pointed at the soaking wet clothes that I dumped over the chair.
"Ohâ it was raining so I decided to go for a walk," I answered indifferently, yet a bit bothered by being reminded of an odd encounter with the woman.
My friend gasped. "Rain!? Why didn't you wake me up?!" she complained with a whine.
Rolling my eyes I scoffed, "Please, we both know you are dead meat when asleep, don't even start." Handing her the wallet I said, "Let's go."
"What's the plan for today?" she asked once we walked down the hallway. I appreciated the focus.
Opening the front door and letting my friend go in front I took a deep breath, which once again was much harder to do at this time of the day. "Go to our classes, locate any intergalactic beings. We need to make a list, find out as much as we can."
"I still don't understand why we couldn't take the same subject..." she grumbled displeased.
Shrugging I didn't have the exact answer. "Maybe to scatter us around, imagine if everyone did the same course. Either way, it works out. We have a wider area to search," I pointed out.
Standing in front of a large red brick building it appeared to be the one. Suddenly my eyes were pulled to the side; landing on her. She was standing by the entrance, or more specifically in her chair, with coffee and books on her lap, she appeared to be having a chat with another person.
Without the brain acknowledging the movement my body was ready to approach her but caught itself just in time.
"What's wrong?" Washu observed me curiously while following the direction of my eyesight.
"Nothing," I said simply, but she wasn't buying it. Internally groaning I said, "That human appears to require a chair in order to move. Have you ever seen anything like that?" I wondered almost in desperate need of an explanation.
"Is she faulty?" my friend wondered out loud.
Anger growing inside my heart. Faulty was used to define newborns or children with unfixable or too bothersome to fix health issues, who were sentenced to a quick and painless death.
"Maybe," I shrugged doing my best to remain unbothered. However, the question arose â Did earthians allow them to live? What an odd planet.
"Weakness must be eliminated. Remember Elina, a relatively unthreatening issue of any kind, will always be the reason behind the fall. Yours or ours." Admin's furious tone as they hissed into my ear and broke my arm for the nth time. I've made the mistake once and was not allowed to make another. There was no salvation. That day my soul crumbled for the first time.
Upper lip trembling at the memory. Pentagon knew how to break me. Going against my beliefs, my morals. I was a machine ready to do whatever necessary in order to complete the mission. I murdered people in front of their families, children, men, and women, there was no redemption for my soul. A mere tool in admin's hands and pentagon's ways, at times I wished to be dead instead, but selfishness hasn't allowed me to give up. Almost awaiting something or someone to redeem my sins.
Sudden touch coming from my friend has pulled me out of my head, her hand resting itself on my shoulder. Blinking rapidly my senses returned and eyes caught those sandy brown irises from the other night. Standing still, unsure of how to react, she watched me from afar, as she listened to the man talking about the lecture.
It amused me almost, how she pretended to listen to his chatter, yet we both knew her attention was fully mine. She must have recognized me, her lips this time in a natural shade of pink curved ever so slightly into a tiny smile. Tilting my head, the strand of her chestnut hair blown by the wind has caught itself against her nose. The urge to remove it has shocked me, brows furrowing at the thought.
"Elina," Washu's voice somewhat concerned. Pulling away from her touch, I found myself to be short of air, fighting to catch it with difficulty. "What's wrong?" she stressed out while observing me with those greyish round eyes.
Shaking my head, I peeked to the side towards the woman, only to find her occupied by more people, as she fought to check on me a few more times before having to focus on the questions in front.
"Nothing," I murmured. "Let's go inside."
Washu kept on glancing at me as we walked through the hallway, however, I told her to stop and let it go, explaining earth's atmosphere wasn't the kindest to my lungs, which was without a doubt true.
With a sigh, she stood in front of the door. "This is my classroom. I will see you later?" she showed me her phone, implying to stay in touch.
"Yeah..."
Hesitantly she observed me once more before complying under my scolding glare.
"I'm fine, go have fun. I know you are excited to be a part of whatever this is," I mocked jokingly, knowing this was indeed important to her, after being stuck at the Pentagon for most of her life.
Once she disappeared behind the closed door I rushed towards the bathroom where I splashed my face with some cold water. Again, it was hard to breathe, concentration has been lost. There was noise, so much noise. Groaning I covered my ears, but no use. The chatter of hundreds of humans buzzing through my head, a pulsing migraine getting stronger.
"I fucking hate this place!" I shouted in anger, hardly getting out of the bathroom, bumping into someone on my way out.
"Are you okay?" they asked, but I ignored them.
Pushing through the busy hallway, with a desperate need to get out, there was a breeze of refreshing air calming me down once my foot stood outside the front door. Taking a muchâneeded yet still slightly greedy sip of air the noise was still there, not easing up. Walking away towards the park the wind grazed over the leaves, creating a soothing sound.
I was the strongest cadet in my ranks, entered the military at a young age, went through tortures and mocking of the admin without as much as a gasp, and yet here I was. Breathless, defeated by the Earth.
Taking a seat on the bench, feeling the lack of my usual physical strength, only to pull myself right up. "Fuck," I swore and threw up behind the bush, not being able to keep it in much longer. A feeling of an odd relief has washed over me.
"Nice hangover, I feel you girl!" some guys cheered as they walked past.
Clicking my tongue, I frowned â Humans were so strange.
"You are new," the same voice from earlier, it didn't belong to an earthian.
Looking up from the damp ground, it was a petite tanned girl, shorter than me or Washu, you could say her appearance was that of an angel, yet expression had nothing to do with innocence.
Scowling I didn't appreciate being followed. "What do you want?" I asked feeling on edge.
Her hands waved defensively as she chuckled playfully. "Calm down, your distress was so high when you rushed out of that bathroom, I felt bad for not checking on you. Nothing personal."
I had to take it down a notch, being paranoid wasn't like me. "Arrived yesterday, what about you?"
Flipping her long curls to the side she took a second before answering.
"While ago, you will get used to it. First days are the worst, but you should try and ease up, otherwise it will be difficult for you to cancel the sounds. Anywayâ" she looked at her phone before continuing. "My class is about to start," she informed while giving me another look. "Relax and see ya."
With that she was gone, what an odd individual. Taking a mental note to keep an eye on her, but knowing there was no way princess would casually approach a new galactic being, instead of remaining cautious and in hiding, I decided to let this one slide.
Relaxing my muscles I soaked in the cloudy sky, it was gloomy and dark, yet I found myself enjoying the weather. There was no overwhelming sun, only a pleasant breeze, and grayish sky. Taking a few more minutes to calm down before returning to the building, I observed some humans walking by. Most of them were chatting and laughing, some listening to the odd sounds on their devices, and the others rushing by.
My focus shifted towards a voice of a young human, she was feeling conflicted, and angry. Getting up from the bench I curiously headed towards the source, until noticing another person standing in front of her. It was a man giving all sorts of red flags, his roughedâup hair and messy beard suited the awful stench coming from his body.
"Let me go!" little girl screamed, pulling herself out of his hold. The man wobbled, not in control of his own body. "Just go I will be fine! I want to see auntie," her voice irritated as she lashed out.
Tilting my head, I observed. The man didn't seem to hold any ill intentions, more than anything he begged the girl to stay and not go, but without success.
"I hate you!" she stomped on his foot with all the strength in her little body and ran. What a feisty little creature. The man grumbled under his nose and kicked the rock, before turning around and walking away himself.
Processing whatever I just witnessed, I decided it was time to return to the class. Entering late, the teacher told me to take a seat and catch upâridiculous. They were the ones who needed to do that, thousands of years behind.
Five minutes was enough to make me bored, focusing on the view outside I listened to the sounds of trees, which so happened to be my current remedy.
"Psst," someone tried to tap my back, but I avoided their hand without looking. Turning around with displeased expression they whistled impressed. "Me and my friends were talking, and you are quite tall," he motioned with his hand. "Have you ever considered playing basketball? The team is looking for some rookies."
Basketball?
"What's that?" I asked intrigued, keeping a neutral face.
He scrunched his brows, before laughing and shaking his head. "You're funny. Go to the open day this weekend, sport teams will be recruiting. I will catch you there," he grinned and thumbed up.
"Basketball..." I muttered to myself, taking a mental note to check it later, but quickly reminded myself that none of this mattered.
The last thing that could happen was to get fooled and tempted by the Earth. The mission had to be completed and if everything went well, I was to return with additional information about my identity. Yet a hidden urge to give in was creeping at the back of my head, a sudden possibility of what if, and not leaving ever since turning off the watches and freeing ourselves from the admins' control.
"You are beyond redemption," I reminded myselfâhope and happiness were never an option.
â