Katalina dragged me out of the busy restaurant and straight into the alleyway. The smells of the restaurants various trash dumps caused me to plug my nose in disgust, yet Katalina seemed unfazed by the smells rotting foods.
"Before we go, I suggest you change if you don't want to attract attention towards us."
"Into what clothes?" I retorted.
Katalina snapped her fingers and instantly a peach colored shirt, grey shorts, and a pair of white sneakers appeared in her hand.
"These ones."
She tossed them to me, which I caught in surprise. It was moments like these that reminded me that Katalina was indeed a god. A stupid arrogant one, but a god nonetheless.
"If I am going to be walking with you I want you to at least look decent. Now hurry up and change." Katalina said in a slightly demanding tone.
I quickly realized that she'd probably strip me herself if I didn't comply, so I took off the Hyptatian clothing as fast as I could and put on the clothes she gave me, tossing my old clothes inside a nearby trash bin. The clothes Katalina had given me were quite soft and light, which was nice considering how nimble I liked to be.
"Alright, where is this place you want to show me." I asked as I ran my hands through my messy brown hair.
"The 1st ring."
"The 1st Ring? Why there?"
"You don't need to know, now shut up and follow me."
Katalina grabbed my hand and guided me out of the alleyway and into the bustling city of New Ragna, the capital city of the United Coalition of Northern America, or UCNA. The nation was formed during the 5th Industrial Revolution that brought about hover technology and, more importantly, Augmentation: a piece of technology that could literally create miracles.
New Ragna itself was separated into 5 rings: the 1st being where the government and all its associated buildings resided, the 2nd being the housing district, the 3rd being the restaurant district, the 4th being the working district, and the 5th being the shopping district.
After about 20 minutes of walking Katalina had brought me towards the epicenter of the 1st Ring. We kept on walking through the city center until Katalina suddenly stopped in front of the biggest building in the entire city: The Augmentation Institute of New Ragna. The building was massive, with its size nearly taking up 1200 acres of land. It was so massive in fact that there about 3 flights of stairs that you had to walk up to even enter the building.
"We have arrived." Katalina turned to me and brought out a piece of paper from her purse and handed it to me.
"Hold this and don't lose it." She said as she started walking up the long steps.
"Wait wait, hold on a second." I quickly jogged up the stairs and caught up to her."
"I thought you said I didn't need to go here because I already have an augment-"
"You call that ancient piece of garbage an Augment? A six year old with a modern augment would kick your ass." Katalina suddenly interrupted.
Her usual aloof face was gone, replaced by an visage void of any exuberance.
"As you know, the timeline has been hastened. We don't have the luxury of letting the humans of this planet take their time becoming stronger."
She walked down a couple steps until we were standing face to face. I was taller than her by a considerable margin, yet the immense pressure she was emitting made me unable to move a muscle.
She turned her head towards the building. "Augments and in a sense this building were never created on any other Earth because they simply weren't allowed enough time to develop. It is a unique creation to Earth Zero, and it's one of our only lines of defense against the Rapture. Without this place and augments as a whole this Earth would be doomed to fall like the rest."
She brought her glance back down on me.
"So for the sake of Earth Zero and my well-being, we need the humans of this planet to be the strongest they possibly can in the shortest amount of time possible. And for that to happen they need a good teacher."
She lifted her hand and pointed to my chest.
"So I appoint you, Grayson Harris, to be the newest teacher at the Augmentation Institute of New Ragna."
…
Despite the tense situation, the only words that could escape my mouth were,
"You're joking, right?"
Katalina's serious expression faded as her mouth curled into a small smile.
"Oh, I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard that phrase come out of your mouth."
She lifted up her hand and started counting things off with her fingers.
"The time I gave you your apartment, the time I gave you the augment prototype and told you to make it yourself. Oh, and the time when you were in the bath and you didn't know how to turn off the water so I had to come into your house to turn it off-"
"OK YOU DON'T HAVE TO NAME OFF EVERY SINGLE ONE!" I quickly put my hands over her mouth in an effort to silence her, but alas I was too late to preserve my image.
"He's a teenager and still can't bathe himself, what a disgrace."
"I feel bad for his mother, raising such an idiot."
"Even my 7 year old can bathe himself."
I didn't even have to look around to know that I was the center of attention. Katalina leaned in close and whispered in my ear.
"If you accept my deal, I'll erase their memories of this event. Or would you rather be known as the 18 year old who doesn't even know how to bathe himself?"
I opened my mouth to protest, but I couldn't find the words to say.
"So do we have a deal Grayson," Katalina asked as she reached out her hand.
"Tch," I groaned as I begrudgingly shook Katalina's hand. "I better get something out of this."
"That I cannot promise, though I suppose the reputation that comes with being a teacher at this school could amount to somewhat of an award."
"Surely you jest?"
"Well, there's only one way to find out."
She then turned away and continued walking up the stairs, not even waiting to see if I would follow.
'You sly devil.' I thought as I ran up the stairs to catch up with her.