Aidan went back to his station but his mind was occupied by the memories that started a few minutes before he died.
~
Night time.
One man that is slightly drunk from the team's party after the work that has been assigned to them was a successful deal, is currently walking on his way home since it was near in the first place.
He can still think straight but his head is aching a little for he's not a drinker. There's no problem walking with the help of railings, wall, posts to keep him safe from falling or getting on the road to be in an accident with cars. And so, he decided to do that.
While walking, breathes out heavily, thinking that it can help him from being drunk, looks up at the cloudy sky.
With the feeling of the breeze on his face, he knows that it will rain tonight and started to walk faster.
But on the junction just one block to where his apartment, he noticed a little girl holding the pants of his mother that talking to someone while holding some groceries on both hands, that made his heart gotten so cold suddenly, like his heart was punched heavily, his eyes contracts as it's staring at the little hand that clamping on the pants.
He felt the world went slow for his sight and mind.
He can see the very details of the scene on his very eyes. The little hand that slowly releasing the pants, the big bright lights that coming at the right side, five seconds left on the traffic light countdown, and the reflecting little thing in the middle of the road.
Then his mind calculated and guesses that the thingy in the middle of the road caught the attention of the little girl while there's big truck that on it's way for the last second of the green light, if nothing stops the little girl. She will die for sure.
Four seconds.
Just within these four seconds, the man in his early twenties, fresh graduate, got a good job and started only for one month in the company... Knows that he is on his way to the after life now.
First second. He is drunk, with the help of the alcohol, his adrenaline went up to boil his blood that powered up his feet and legs that runs towards the little girl that running to get the reflecting thing on the road.
Second second. He passed the woman that starting to shout after noticing the truck and her daughter on their ways to meet, while her groceries are slowly dropping from her hands in her panic state.
Third second. He pulls out the girl's right arm to get out of the truck's way while his momentum can't be stop since he is drunk. With the milliseconds left before the fourth second struck.
He saw the glimpse of the thing that reflecting the light from the six wheeler truck.
A glass marble that so diamond-like, reflecting all lights from the cars in four directions of this junction.
Fourth second. A screeching sound of tires, screams from passersby, wail of the little girl from the pain, and the last 'thud' sound, resounded in this place at the same time.
Death... Came, just as simple as that...
~
After feeling the pain for a second of being struck by a truck, he saw himself floating in a gloomy world, withered trees beside the mossy stone path with twisted light lamps that grasping a blue wisps inside while it's foggy above his head covering him from seeing the starry sky, and greenish transparent silhouettes of people that died, just like him.
Only, he noticed that they're floating forward without consciousness. And before he notice more things in this place, he heard a deep dry rough man's voice saying, "Oh... We got someone died earlier here."
He looked back to check out who said that.
"Aidan! Aidan!"
But only to be pulled out from this memories after hearing a voice that calling him out.
"Ah? Ah! Sorry, got it! The food will be there in a minute!" Aidan shouted back after glancing at the monitor that showing the orders that has been piled up in that just few seconds of trance.
Shaking his head and work seriously again until it was time for him to get off from the work.
Inside the employee room, he is holding his phone, forwarding the message that he got from the Security Bureau to his homeroom teacher to excuse himself for being absent today.
Picking up his backpack and went out of the room, just to encounter Sarah again and heard her asking, "On your way to Academy?"
"Yes." He replied without forgetting to step back away from her.
Sarah sighs and shook her head and said, "I don't know what kind of power you got, and how did you know that yourself, but... Take care of yourself, okay?"
Aidan looked at her eyes with worries that staring at him before smiling at her, "Don't worry too much, I know. And thank you for everything, ma'am. I'll be on my way now, bye." He said while turning back as he wave his hand.
"Bye." Sarah waved back and she only knows herself what she's thinking before going back to her office room.
Aidan walks faster while checking the time on his wrist bracelet. 'It will take me less than two hours, huh?' He thought while glancing at the bus that waiting for the passengers to come out and in before shaking his head.
He is already used to this kind of commuting for himself.
Yes. Walking.
He didn't dare to used the bus or any other kind of commuter transport because of his cursed physique.
Bike, he can use that. But he is still saving money to buy one, and so it only leaves him walking to go to other places. Of course, there isn't any far places that needed him to go there for the time being. So, he is not worried.
In no time, he reached his apartment and opened the package with his identity stuffs.
Changed his identity bracelet from being IMC to IMH on his left wrist. Put in the bronze blank card in his wallet, this card is needed by the Academy for something, he will be brief about this once he reached the Academy. Pulls out the device from the package and operated it according to the manual, it is for his cellphone, changing it into a smartphone.
Copying all the things inside of his cellphone before the device destroys it and moving the data into the new brand smart phone.
As IMC, he only had access or permission to buy some old stuff from 20th century. But as IMH now, he is eligible to buy electronics and some gadgets or advance stuffs from early 21st century. Then once he upgraded his identity class again, he will have permission until he reach the corresponding things or latest things in this year 2057.
This is how Mundo works. Identity. If he wants to make his life more easier, he need to upgrade his identity class.
After making sure that he didn't forgot something in the package, he went out again and in no time, he reached the entrance of the Academy of Mooneria while swiping his sweat off with his handkerchief.
Slowly walks in to relax his body with the cool winds that coming out of no where from this school.
Some students with their uniforms are coming out and in with him but he noticed that they are looking at him with weird and any kind of reaction.
Curiosity, contemptuous, ignore, kind, etc.
Well, he can't blame them. After all, he is wearing a white t-shirt, black slacks, black rubber shoes, and a black backpack. In short, he didn't care to be look more than being a simple and decent.
He nods back towards those students that staring at him with kindness and greets them with a nod too, while ignoring those negative students for his eyes.
Yes, he is guilty and he knows that he is full of negativity, his body that is, but not his mind.
And so, he slowly walks towards the couple look like students and asks the boy for the direction of the registrar.
"Thanks." He nodded again as a greeting before moving on. He didn't dare to be close with someone with more than ten seconds, or they will accumulate the 'curse' of his power and they may end up with 'bad luck'.
*Knock Knock
He knocks on the glass door carefully of the registrar and saw the receptionist gesturing for him to get inside and inquired what he needs.
"I'm Aidan Lune, I got a message from the bureau to get in touch here." He said and pulls out the bronze blank card and his smart phone to show the said message before stepping back.
The receptionist smiled and went to check the message then moved on to the bronze blank card before nodding, "This is real."
"Welcome to the Academy of Mooneria, Mr. Lune." The receptionist said and gestured for him to his right side and continued, "Please go to the registration counter for the new transfer student for further instruction."
"Thank you." He bows and went to the said counter with his stuffs.
He saw the said counter but frowns after seeing the seat that a little bit near to the person behind the counter. He greeted but didn't take a sit but instead putting the things on the table before stepping back again while standing. "Good afternoon, miss. I was told to go here."
The woman smiled and gestures him to sit but only to received a helpless smile from him and heard him saying, "I'm sorry, I can't. I mean... My power stuffs? Side effect."
"Oh... Well... Then please take the chair and sit comfortably to your wishes." The woman felt his awkwardness and infected her but went back for being professional and do her work.
Aidan saw her reading the same message again before getting the bronze blank card and put it in something like printer before looking at him again.
"Please connect your Identity Bracelet here, Mr. Lune." The woman gestures him with the connector with a smile.
Making him awkward for a couple of seconds before sighing, "How long it will take for that to be done, Miss? Or can you make the connector be longer?... My 'curse' will affect the person who's near me for more than 10 seconds..."
The woman was stunned and realized now how bad this boy is, or his power that is. She can feel that he isn't joking and took the warning seriously, "Well, the connector can be longer and the process of registration will take at least 10 minutes because we will take a request first from your school then after the formalities from both sides, we will check what class you will be transferred for your time table-"
Aidan interrupted her after hearing the time table and requested, "Uhm, can I still work part timely while I study? I'm orphan and no one can support me..."
The woman was stunned explained to him again, "Oh, yes, you can, Mr. Lune. And as I said, we will fixe your time table for the whole grade with your part time work and register that to our data base and put that information to your identity bracelet. You can check your schedules freely with your bracelet while we use that information to engrave into your bronze blank card that soon will be your Student Card, exclusive only inside this Academy..."
The woman elaborated to him how to use the Student Card, it will be used as his key to get inside the classroom, library, gymnasium, training room and as his money wallet to buy food in cafeteria, borrow books in the library, to pay the hourly cost of using training room.
The 'money' inside the Student Card is called Academy Points or AP for short, for simplicity, they will be given like how the points in Harry Potter story works.
Only, the library isn't free because some students were greedy for the training manuals and skill books, then combined them that they ended up crippled for the rest of their lives.
As the Academy of Mooneria, all skills are related to Deities of the Moon, or skills that created based on the power of Moon by some experts or old predecessors from the Invasion Era.
"Now, please go to the counter for examination for your power, Mr. Lune." The woman nodded to him and smile as she gestures to his left side this time.
"Alright, thank you, Miss." He bows and picked up his Student Card and smart phone before he followed the instruction.
After passing by the five counters, he saw the last counter that the woman said and inquired for the next step.
"Please follow me inside." The receptionist this time is a man and gestured at him and explained, "Your power will be examine and you will take some practical test to see if you have an affinity with the moon. If not, you will be tested to another city's examination rooms using the teleportation device with your examiner and he or she will explain to you further for that if that happens. Okay we're here. Please, go in."
"Thank you."
Aidan went inside and saw a wide room with a big round thingy in the center, he guessed that it might be a super computer that will help him analyzed his affinity since it is connect to a smaller orb like how the other fantasy world's tested their people for their power affinities.
"Please come here, Mr. Lune!"
He heard a loud voice and saw a woman that wearing a lab coat that appeared from the door in the opposite side.
As they both come near to the smaller orb, he was instructed to touch it and reminiscence his memories from his childhood till now.
Aidan closes his eyes and do that while the woman in coat went to the bigger ball and operated something and some keyboard and monitors appeared showing her the basic statistics of Aidan.
Then with a couple of tap here and tap there, the monitor suddenly showed a temperature like meter with percentage beside of it.
Slowly increasing like one percent for every 10 seconds, till it stops to 53%.
"Okay, give me your card and you can sit to the side, this will be finish in no time."
"Got it, ma'am."
Aidan took a sit and just watch her doing her things without understanding a thing until his bronze student card was given to him by her.
"It seems you're good with the moon power, Mr. Lune." The woman pulls out a chair out of no where and sits in front of him but with distance, making him think that she knows his thing from the woman in registration counter.
"As you can see from the monitor, you have an affinity with the moon power for 53%. Now, the 47% left is, is up to you to check what kind of affinity it is with other Academies. You can go with her-" She explained then pointed at the person who got inside at the same door where he came in. "She will escort you to other Academies if you choose to check about it, this service will be free of charge for the first time but will cost you a lot of points to use this teleportation device for the second time. Any questi- Oh! By the way, since you got 53% affinity in this Academy, you will have a 530 MAP or Mooneria Academy Points, 1% is 10 points of the respective Academy. And you will get some Academy Points too from other Academy."
She stops for a moment to breathe before continuing, "But the other APs except from Mooneria in exchange system will only be open to you once you reached your fourth year in middle school with Class C Identity. Any question?"
Aidan thinks for a moment and asks, "Can I live outside? As you know, I have some complications with my power and I want to continue working as working student."
The woman facepalm, "Yeah, I forgot, you can go to the infirmary or school hospital if your condition is severe or something. And yes, you can live outside of the Academy's Dormitory. I can suggest for you to apply for some student support financially or something. You can even use your situation to apply for that said support." She winks at him and whispers, "You'll have a higher chance to be accepted with it."
Then she claps, "And~ What else?"
Aidan contemplates if he forgot something before shaking, "Not for the time being."
"Good. If you have some concerns, you ask the first receptionist in the entrance to inquire. You can tell your decision to your escort or examiner. Then, I'll be going first."
"Thank you."
She waved her right hand as she steps back on the door where she came from.