Having lunch was a very unique experience at Atlas, at least for me. Kat explained it all to me the first day we spent together, but since she's so busy now, I've been eating lunch alone for two days. Honestly, I don´t mind it, it's a time I can spend daydreaming and just have a little time for myself. Even in a room full of people, I can always go to my own little world in the back of my mind.
Basically, Atlas has three main dining rooms: one for newbie trainees, one for high-rank workers like instructors, and the last one for the leader and his right hands or team that was really close to him. Kat told me that Olivia and Robert were both part of that select team along with a few others.
I was only familiar with the newbie room, which consisted of four walls covered in bay windows and around thirty booth diner-style tables. The system was fairly simple, when you sat at a table a large hologram was displayed before you, showing the menu of the day. Then, you picked what you wanted and a basket containing your picked food would come to your table. The basket had small wheels, and when you emptied its contents it returned to the kitchens for another order, there were about fifteen of them in operation.
It took me two bites of my potato salad to realize something wasn´t right. I took a glance across the entire room and quickly found the reason for my sudden uneasiness. At the back of the dining room sat a young guy, probably around my age. He had charcoal curly hair and piercing emerald eyes, which were looking directly at me. He didn´t look away when I spotted him, and we kept eye contact for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, I felt uncomfortable and stared back at my meal, confused.
Why was he looking at me? Ever since I got here, no one really paid much attention to me, so that intense gaze took me off guard. I forced myself not to spiral about it, finished my lunch, and got up to leave, choosing to ignore him and that whole affair. It had already been an intense day, so my feet were rapidly guiding me to the library, where I could hopefully have a chance to continue taking my mind off things.
. . .
Narrow stone corridors lead to the main library, most of them empty at this time in the afternoon. I had already memorized most of them, at least the ones I had gone through. Although childish curiosity urged me to go further and explore this whole place, my brain advised me not to, for now.
I stop abruptly when I see a little marble plaque on the floor I hadn´t noticed before. It showcased a message I didn´t understand; "B.A.E-1". It wasn´t the message that startled me, but the material it was engraved in, white marble with gold accents. The same material covering Victor Atlas' office. The same office I was going to be in by the end of this week. I kneel down and my arm instinctively goes up to the rectangular plate. It was odd to find this in the middle of the corridor, I was going to pick it up, thinking it had fallen down somehow. However, I was incapable, it was firmly glued to the ground, my fingers graze the silver symbols as they start to shake and my mind goes blank…
I finally come back to reality, shaking and gasping for air. I was not expecting to have a vision, not here, not now. It had been so long since I experienced such a clear one as well, I could almost understand what they were saying, which had never happened before. I quickly recover and get up, scared someone would find me there, suspiciously on the floor. I didn´t recognize any of the men but one; Victor's tall figure staring down at the end of that vision gave me goosebumps as I continued my way to the library, not looking back.
. . .
Very few students remain at the main library when the later times of the evening come. The sun was about to go down and I was still surrounded by about twenty works of ancient literature, submerged in the great coverage these books had about the art of the past. Olivia's words of advice sounded very appealing as my eyes took in the interactive texts and pictures page after page.
"Kock, knock."- I flinch at the words softly uttered in my right ear. My head turns that side and those hypnotic green eyes meet me again. I few moments pass and I can´t get words to come out of my mouth. He keeps staring at me, it feels like he's looking deep into my soul, with no hesitation or will to stop.
"You have beautiful eyes, has anyone ever told you that? They're mesmerizing"- The stranger says.
I slowly say no with my head. I hadn't even realized he had been able to look that closely into them. Shit.
"Wow, well they are truly unique, you should know that. I see you're new here, right?"- He continues talking nonchalantly and proceeds to sit next to me.
"Yeah…"- I finally manage to say with a weak thread of a voice.
"Cool, I'm Aiden. Have you chosen what you'll do yet? - He asks. Aiden... interesting name. I stare at him and say shake my head.
"Don't worry, you still have plenty of time. Meet me in the running field tomorrow at this same time, when the sun goes down. I wanna show you something."-He drags the sentence and I notice he wants me to say my name.
"Bianca. Why should I trust you Aiden? I don´t know you."-I respond. He smirks, leans in until he's almost touching the tip of my nose, and says;
"You don´t have to. Come tomorrow and find out or you'll never see me again. It's that simple darling."- He blows me a kiss and leaves me in the library, alone. We were completely alone.
I look up at the crystal dome above, which is now demonstrating its impeccable ability to clearly show a navy, star-filled sky.
"What a mysterious encounter, a rather intriguing one in fact."- I think out loud, stifling a restless laugh.