Skythunder System

Meeting a weird scientist

Azraf first expressed his desire to join the expedition to his friend Jackson who told him what to do then he informed his aunt who vehemently disagreed with his decision.

She stood in front of the exit and blocked his way as she tried to convince him not to join the expedition.

“no you can’t do this to me, you can not go on that dangerous journey.”

“you are staying here with me safe from any danger.”

“Aunt? listen to me, even if you want to, you can’t keep me safe forever. I cannot always hide in here like a coward. The world is endangered and I am one of the people who can do something about it, do you think that I will be allowed to live a normal life under the eyes of the people who strive for the survival of the world?, how are you sure that I am saved from everything just because I hid in here?, even if you tried to hide it from me, do you think that I wouldn’t realize we are constantly under secret surveillance by the governments?.” Azraf replied to her refusal with a logic of his own.

“do you have any idea how I felt when I thought I lost you?”

“do you have an idea of how it feels to have no one to call family for two years?.”

“ Andrew, you are not going to leave me the second time, I will not allow it. those two years have already been hard enough.”

“ God, what did I do to deserve this? Wuuuuuuu!!”. Clasping him strongly, his aunt soon started weeping, making Azraf feel kind of bad for his decision but it can’t be helped, he has to go there no matter what.

Unable to endure seeing her like this, Azraf hugged her back and consoled her in a soft tone. “ Aunt, am sorry but I must go there, the earth is endangered because of that crack which leads to that world.

There’s no way the world’s governments will let me live in peace knowing that I am familiar with that unknown world. Moreover, if I stand here and do nothing, I will never be able to live with myself. Just let me go, aunt. I promise I will come back alive and save ok?”

“ahh, I know that I can’t stop you from going. You are a grown man now and can make your own decisions, but you must keep your promise.” His aunt sighed sadly and finally relented after five minutes of persuasion.

A few minutes later, Azraf waddled out from the house and boarded a flying car under the watchful gaze of his teary aunt.

“pleas come back home safely my boy.” She whispered underneath her breath, her hands clamping her chest.

“requesting passengers destination” a mechanic voice sounded in Azraf's ears when he entered the flying car.

“Glorious virtual Cooperation.” Azraf asserted.

“destination acquired, taking flight in 3…, 2…, 1….”

After the countdown, the car suddenly flickered into the air at a quick pace.

An hour later, the flying car appeared in front of a towering skyscraper illustrated to the high of seven hundred meters and decorated with luminous, transparent glasses that reflected the bright sunlight.

On getting there, the flying car came to halt and descended gradually to the ground before the door automatically opened for Azraf to come out.

Gently striding out from the vehicle, Azraf peered at the surrounding. A cue of dozen people, all in black, lined up to a short and plump man neatly dressed in a blue uniform who addressed them.

“These guys must be those who have signed up for the expedition.” Mumbled Azraf.

All around the place, Azraf caught glimpses of about fifty security personnel who were spread across the perimeter holding sophisticated weapons and numerous surveillance cameras which monitor every corner of the place.

“since when did the glorious virtual cooperation have such a tight security.” Azraf thought, feeling surprised by the transformation to the company. As a virtual reality gamer, he had come here various times before but there was never this much security. Who would have thought that the once-bustling and free place for virtual gamers all over the world would turn out like this. “maybe it’s because of the recent events that have been unfolding” he thought.

The plump man will allow each person into the company after he scans their faces with a face scanner to confirm their identities then let them in. The procedure did not take long. It only took one second for each person.

Azraf joined the cue and moved along with the line. One after the other, the individuals were allowed entrance after the little screening. Only a few were barred from entry. Finally, it was Azraf's time. The man scans his face for a second before calling out his full name and letting him in.

Just when Azraf entered the building, a soft flesh suddenly clashed behind him.

Startled by the happening, Azraf turned around to see who bumped into him. His eyes suddenly opened in pleasant surprise as he saw the person who bumped into his back. It was the same girl who he almost knocked over two days ago.

“ah, we meet again miss,” Azraf said with a cheerful smile.

“I... I am sorry, I didn’t mean to..” The girl shyly cried out as a red hue was formed on her cheeks.

The last time they met, she had cautioned him to look where he was going so that he should not pump into people but now she was the one who defied her advice. She felt so shameful as if to find a hole and hide in. Out of shame, she instantly averted her gaze from him and stared below.

“Don’t worry, it’s not your fault, it’s the fault of destiny that decreed we always bump into each other when we meet so there’s no need for you to feel wrong about it.” Azraf tried to ease her tension remembering full well why she got like this.

“Alright,... Thanks ” her meek voice sounded again as she stole glances at him.

“ok, since destiny has brought us together for the second time, I guess we are no longer strangers right?.”

“right.”

“ Since you agree, why don’t we complete everything by introducing ourselves. am Andrew, what about you?.” Azraf was inaugurated as he brought his hand forward for a handshake.

“Lisa” She answered back and shyly blinked her eyes and took his hand.

For a second, Azraf was fascinated by the smooth feeling of her hand then snapped out of it and asked. “miss Lisa, from now on, we aren’t strangers. So where were you rushing off to?.”

“I have an appointment with someone”

“an appointment? looks like you didn’t come here to join the expedition. who is that lucky person?”

“can't tell, I... I have to go now, am running late.” Lisa asserted then stepped forward.

Azraf watched as she left feeling unaccustomed to the way he acts whenever he sees her around. It was an inexplicable feeling that drives him to want to be closer with her.

This is something that has never happened to the once-proud young master of the Skythunder lineage who always shunned beautiful young girls who liked to flock around him. Perhaps this was only because of the glory in the old moments of his past life but not presently.

“are you Adam smith?.” A sharp voice suddenly interested his melancholy.

“yes, can I help you?.” Azraf said placidly, to be honest, he felt a little displeased by the guy who just interrupted them and was about to say something like, ‘where are your manners' but after seeing the appearance of the guys which looked like serious business, he immediately lessened his resentment.

Standing before him was a bulky man who was garnished in a black suit and black sunglasses. His face was stiff. Tailing him were two other men who stood respectively like his subordinates. They both dressed similarly to him. However, what made Azraf take them more seriously was the serious domineer that loomed around them.

“greetings mister Smith, you are needed elsewhere. Come with me if you want to join in the expedition. we can’t talk much here.” The man said and turned around stepping towards the elevator that was not very far away.

Azraf stared at the man's back with confusion which did not last long as he figured out the reason for this. Before coming here, Jackson has informed him that everyone here who cue up is a candidate to join the expedition and they will shortly be sent into the virtual lab for preparation however, of all people here, the only reason he speculated that he is being specially called away must be because of him being the only survivor of the last stage of the curia online.

“mister smith. it’s said that you are the only survivor of the final stage in curia online.” Azraf nodded. ‘as expected’.

“by the way, I forgot to introduce myself to you. I am Agent Franklin, the new manager of the glorious virtual cooperation which is now EDS. (The Earth Defense Station.) You can call me mister Franklin.”

“ahhh, so there’s this kind of change.” Azraf blurted, acting surprised but in reality, ever since he saw the alteration outside the building, he expected there to be this change.

“yeah, presumably, the creation of Curia Online has to lead to the appearance of a great threat to earth by linking earth to a more prominent world.

The glorious virtual cooperation has become a weapon that serves as humanity's only hope to survive against that impending threat. do you think that the world’s governments will allow such an important place to be run by none governmental body and by some computer programmers like before?.”

“Azraf nodded as if he just understood after listening to Agent Franklin. “What mister franklin just said is the logical thing that should be expected, I understand now. After the appearance of the threat looming on earth, The world government will surely take over the charge of anything that has to do with Curia Unline due to its mysterious similarity with the world beyond the space crack. Is that what you meant?.”

“it's good that you learn fast mister smith.” Mister Franklin admitted in a roundabout manner.

The elevator came to a halt and the entrances unraveled revealing a narrow path that contains two rows of doors on both sides.

“ahh, we are finally here,” mister Franklin said as they came out from the elevator.

They walked across the rooms for some time before they stopped in front of a particular room which has a sign ‘General Lab'. written on it.

Mister franking placed his hands on a green screen on the wall beside the door then the door slowly crept open, giving access after his fingerprints were scanned and identified.

Azraf immediately became immersed in studying the inside of the lab which had a very complex and complicated structure. His gaze traced a network of tangled wires all leading to a set of robots that specialized in some kind of operation.

“come on, follow me.” Mister Franklin voiced.

“ah, it’s Andrew smith. I have been waiting for you a long time ago.”

Following the sound of the sudden exclamation, Azraf gazed at an enthusiastic man in a white lab coat who had shaggy funky gray hair and strange over-exerted lips which drew a very wide smile. He seemed to be working with a microscope before he called out.

“Ah... Who are you?.” Looking at this enthusiastic crazy-looking scientist who passionately spoke to him, Azraf was lost in reflection on how to properly address him as the whole scene kind of weirded him out. Not that he hasn’t seen anything worse in Naria, just that this looked very different from his experiences.

“Lab freak, I got him here as you asked. You better keep the end of the bargain otherwise, I will come back to bite you.” Before Azraf could say anything additional to the weird dude, mister Franklin snapped with a grumbling voice.

“ahh, Agent Franklin, I will do as you say, don’t bother yourself with such a portable issue.” Extracting himself from his workplace, the mad scientist stated confidently.

“wasn’t that the same crap you told me last time and failed to meet my demands? are you trying to double-cross me? you don’t want me to expose all the suspicious activities going on in this lab of yours do you?.” Mister franklin stamped his feet as he proclaimed.

“calm down agent. You’ll get what you want, I promise” The scientist hastily replied. this time, a little panic was clear on his weird face.

“Ohh, you better do so or I will blow the whistle on you.” Mister Franklin finally stopped stressing the scientist.

“toke good care of mister smith.” Mister Franklin said. he slightly shoved Azraf forward. After doing that, he made a turn for the exit.

“mister smith, you're with him now, you don’t have to worry about the freak doing anything harmful to you. You have already been marked by the world's governments.” His voice sounded from behind.

“well, well, well. If it isn’t the young man who survived by a miracle. Or, we shall call him the miracle itself.” The crazy scientist said to Azraf with a creepy smile.

“who the hell are you?.” Azraf asked, changing his domineer and getting straight to the point. He kind of doesn’t like being around this freak so he quickly wants to get on with everything.

The scientist upon hearing what Azraf said, placed his palm on the chest proudly and proclaimed. “this is Doctor Eddy Mathew, the present director of virtual programming in the earth's defense station and the chief of consciousness research and development. also the former partner of Timmy stark. Now, are you honored to meet my modest self?