RBR Chapter 18 This World, Through Their Eyes

Days rolled by, with another week starting. As usual, school was particularly boring as nothing really new was being taught. What made it worthwhile though were the afterschool entertainment activities, namely the virtual games!

Eric had enjoyed the games, much more than school time. Leah had still not spoken to him, with one of the reasons being the bunch of teens crowding her, probably seeking clarification on the headmaster's reveal, but he had managed to become closer with Elec and Mathew. The headmaster, the person he deeded and had to watch out for had seemingly vanished, his profile not entering anywhere near him...but he very much knew that a sinister plot was being planned, causing him to remain cautious.

Today was a Monday, Elec was chattering about introducing him to another of his friends, a boy going by the name of Jet, a very short name indeed! Apparently, he had been grounded to stay home due to an incident where the mother had caught him sleeping with the maid.

The more he listened, the more he found it bizarre, expanding his worldview by quite a bit. Wasn't the boy a bit too young to start having sex? Even with highly evolved bodies, that activity still drained the body.

He instantly decided to have minimal contact with the boy after listening to the tale. 

"So Leah, do you like her?" The question had caught him offguard, such that his gaze, which had been lingering out the vehicle moved to fall unto Elec. Where had this come from?

"Why would I like her?" He asked in puzzlement. He knew it was in the romantic context, but that was the last thing on his mind. It was absurd that Elec had asked that question.

"Your expression has given me the answer." Elec dropped it, with Eric spotting signs of relief in his expression. There were even some slight traces of a joyful tug at the corners of his mouth.

(Brains are always burdened with some useless things.)

Those ponderous words echoed in his mind, but he didn't ask for elaboration, instead, choosing to look out into the street. During the weekend, he had explored the city with Elec and Mathew...what he had seen had impressed him. 

The lives of the people were just so interesting, not to mention the many professions. A biotattoist, a profession where certain cells along your skin could be genetically altered to produce different colored pigments, Bio-armor that could exist symbiotically along your skin, capable of melting into your body when not in use, sentient AIs that could hold conversation, though, apparently, they had been prevalent during the prosperous Quantum age, now, a rarity. 

He had already learnt that the scarcity of minerals was what really hindered progress in this current period. The Cell collective was a tough opponent on that front, always acting to hinder any mining activity out in the wilderness.

After his exploration, Eric started finding the Quantum age intriguing. He continuously wondered what height humanity would have reached if that one crazy weirdo hadn't severed that path years ago.

Could warp travel have been achieved? What about teleportation? What about atomic disassembly? What about discoveries regarding consciousness? The possibilities had been endless. His imagination caused him some dry mouth due to the heat brought upon by excessive excitement.

The resources were abundant in this age, the problem stemmed from lacking the ability to harvest or transport them.

He had even seen some technologies which couldn't be replicated, instead, relying on parts scavenged from outside the city. This city provided him with a window into the state of the world...a world surviving on patches.

If this is what the world had become, then what about the other planets? 

He continuously pondered on these things as the vehicle moved.

(Brains are adventurous beings, relying on chance and luck. If you try to ponder too much on what would have been, you could get lost.)

It was solid advice, he knew it, but it still couldn't stop him from picturing the possibilities.

'Can you achieve the same feats as those achieved by the brains you so much look down on? My existence probably only became possible because of the amalgam of knowledge you gained from the brain cells you took over.'

(I won't deny that. But they have a flaw, emotions always take over their decision making, leading to many failures. Try to imagine how far they would have developed if they worked together from start, instead of focusing on the individual.)

(I work on improving the collective as a whole, but very few brains think like that.)

'That is true about us, but that also makes it possible for diverse ideas to sprout. My current wish is to live long enough to see where this world goes.'

(It will...depend.)

Hope sprouted within his heart at those words. At least for now, death was still not yet set in stone.

There was no further conversation until school was reached, where Eric spotted a thin tall teen next to the chubby and shorter Mathew, forming such an opposing contrast that a chuckle subconsciously managed to make it out of his lips.

"Young master Elec, what is this situation!!!" 

'What a loud mouth?!'

The moment they got out of the car, the teen wailed while making a beeline for Elec, who simply held out a hand, with the boy stopping just mere inches away from the palm. His expression suggested that this had happened many times before, and had become ingrained into his being.

"Mathew, didn't you tell him anything?" Elec asked with a tired gaze.

"It was fun this way." The other teen simply answered, a grin filled with amusement painted on his face.

"Hey! You! Why do you carry the young master's face? Mmmm?! Let's fight it out! That face should be reconfigured!" He balled his fists and jumped around, parodying the art of boxing, his face projecting a mildly serious expression.

"This face is mine, and I didn't ask to look like this. Also, address me by my name, which is Eric."

"Calm down, Jet! You are embarrassing us, mostly the young master!" Mathew finally grew tired and shouted at the boy, causing Eric, who had once again became a spectacle to the arriving students some relief.

The boy was too loud. His height was the same as his, only that his body was on the thinner side. The act of engaging in sexual activities at this age was clearly draining him...what a waste!  

'Avoiding this boy is going to be troublesome with this personality of his.' Eric reached that realisation.

"Let's go. Its better if we don't embarrass ourselves any further." Mathew dragged away Jet, who signalled with his hands that he was going to be keeping an eye on Eric.

"Couldn't you have chosen anyone else as a friend?" He whispered into Elec's ear.

"I have known them for a long time. Jet seems like a handful, but he has a good head on his shoulders, just like Mathew." Elec explained as they trailed behind the two contrasting boys.

"So, you are the copy I have heard so much about..." Someone's voice attracted his attention, not to mention the tone that suggested that he was being looked down upon. 

"Nkyima!!!" Elec drawled. He appeared to be in a feud with the person.

The teen was thin, not in the same scrawny Jet way...it was his natural build. Except that, the visual image of him leaning against the tall meaty gatepost gave the illusion of a weak body. He had a nasty grin, his pupils swimming within his eye holes, searching for something else interesting in the surroundings. Eric was vexed by the boy's gaze, but he didn't say anything as he appeared to be an upperclassman.

"Are you here to start a fight or something? Though with that light form of yours, a single punch of mine is enough to knock you over." Elec mocked with a wide grin taking over his features, balling his fist in the gesture of throwing a punch.

Eric had already reached the conclusion that he was one of the progeny from the seven spectrum clans. The name had already given him away, not to mention that he didn't harbor any respect or fear within his eyes while mocking Elec.

"Elec, are you challenging me?" The teen's expression darkened.

"What's up with them?" Eric asked the other two after catching up with them. Eric had managed to slip away only because that Nkyima guy now had Elec's full attention. The Nkyima upperclassman had come to mock Elec, with himself being used as the matchstick.

"They just don't get along. Even we don't know the reason." Jet shrugged, before catching himself and directing a glare his way.

-----

"What do you think of this city?" Eric asked as they sat down onto a table in the cafeteria. Lunch had arrived and he found it the most appropriate time to ask, since lessons had occupied the rest of the morning, those that required significant usage of the brain, like physics.

"I don't really get the context." Jet said with a pause of his fork in midair.

"Elaborate." Mathew also said, while Elec's gaze suggested the same puzzlement.

"How is life in this city? Or, would you rather go out into the wilderness?" Eric clarified.

"This city is a gilded cage, but it also protects us from the monstrosities outside. I would love to go out, but just for a short while as this cage still has plenty of entertainment." Jet spoke after thinking for a moment.

"You would have to awaken and then gain an explorers' badge to earn the right to escape the cage." Mathew supplemented.

"An explorer?" Eric echoed the unfamiliar term.

"Its a secret, but an open one among all those in the upper echelon, or those with explorers in their families. Explorers are basically those few people who have the qualifications to go out into the wild." Elec explained even as he placed a piece of his meal in his mouth.

"Yeah. To answer your question, this city is like...a safe haven in an apocalyptic world." Mathew said with much gravity.

"This world is shit! That much is already certain. Though living in the quantum age is appealing, that's only for those adults still alive from then who keep yapping about those times. We, as the new generation will have to create our own version of a prosperous age in these times." He continued sagely.

"Hohohoho...Mathew, you have a good brain on your shoulders!...(clap!)...but how are we to do that? I heard that our city is only in contact with a handful of others, not to mention the uninhabitable wilderness..." Jet said with jest. He had no intent to mock his friend, that much Eric could see.

"Jet Jet Jet. To you, this gilded prison is life, but I, want to see the wide world. What's beyond this...?" Mathew said seriously. The burning ambition to explore unmistakable within those eyes. 

Eric's own heart sped up after looking at those eyes of the teen. He was admirable. It meant that there were still pioneers here.

"Mathew, you will always stay my friend and ally, provided I am still alive in the future." Eric declared with a heart burning with flame.