Nothing in Theo's apartment floated apart from the sofa, the Holo, and the bed. "What's the purpose of so much flying anyway?" Flying was the symbol of wealth, so he knew what purpose it served. He just didn't like the idea.
It wasn't like he was salty because he couldn't afford it or anything, okay?
Without much consideration, he went straight for the nano kit. For some reason, he always kept the kit in the kitchen. The box looked like a first aid kit from ages past. These boxes were almost extinct. Fortunately, his grandmother still had one.
Although people had fancy scanners and so on to treat their conditions- if they ever had any on their modified body- he only had nanomachines. These little critters were enough for him. They were a bit slow but not obsolete.
He injected some on his arm and bandaged his hand. The pain dulled. He sighed and looked up on the concrete ceiling. Concrete buildings were now obsolete. Hence he could afford a place with what little his family did provide.
Theo sighed. 'Why am I so ordinary?'
The Holo buzzed. He looked it over. It was a call. The call was from a rugged, muscular guy with a weird hairdo. To him, his hair was the most precious thing in the world. But to the rest of the world, it was just a buzz cut. Apparently, someone forgot to give him the memo that his style went extinct a few centuries ago.
"Yo, my man Theo, what's up?" His voice was on the deeper side.
"Aren't you the one who called?" Theo raised a brow.
His name was John: pretty solid in more than one ways. "Don't be so stiff." John chuckled. Maybe the warpnet's reception was bad here, as Theo had problems hearing. John's voice got cut off here and there. But overall Theo could understand what he said. On the other side, John had no such issues. So one could only assume the underlining cause must have been poor quality package on Theo's end.
"It's rare for you to call. What happened?"
"I got fired. Need a little booze. Wanna join?" For a guy who got fired John didn't seem all that sad. Actually, he might have even seemed happy to an outsider.
He had a good face, and a dashing a smile. A smile that only smelled like trouble to Theo.
"Again? How many times does that make this month!?"
"Twenty-seven, I think." An instantaneous reply. He actually kept count.
Theo sighed, chuckling a bit. "What did you do this time?"
"Hmm, how should I put it? I kind of smooched a cute lady."
Theo's eyes twitched. He knew what kind of guy John was. 'Even he should know to respect other people's privacy right? Nah! Not him.' "So let me get this straight. You kissed your boss?'
"You catch on quick, don'ya?" John winked.
"Was that all?" Theo furrowed his brows. Being fired was the norm for John. He was fired twenty-seven times this month. The rest of the four days were well…holidays. But being fired just for a kiss was kind of an overreaction.
"I might or might not have touched her in a little sensitive spot too." John looked away, bashfully.
"You should be in jail."
John laughed it off. According to him, it was just an accident, so it didn't go that far. But the girl was really hell-bent on sending him packing. One could say he got out lucky.
"Anyway, I'm feeling a little down too. Maybe-" Theodore didn't have the time to finish.
His apartment's bell rung. "Who could it be? Don't tell me Emily's back to bug me again!" he sighed. "I'll get back to you in a minute."
"Kay. Give her a hello from me." The call ended and the Holo floated as usual.
With a face like an angry bear, Theo went to the door. "God, why didn't I get an automatic door already?" Because he was poor.
He blasted open the door.
To his surprise, it was a middle-aged man rather than his chubby little sister.
"Are you Theodore Black?" The question came almost immediately. A deep masculine voice, with a hint of age.
"Yes?" Theodore answered as he was ashamed of showing his angry face to a random stranger for no reason at all. However, the man did look rather familiar to him.
Tidied hair, a goatee, and a very expensive suit: the man seemed rather highborn. "Don't you think you should invite me in?"
"Oh! Sorry about that." Theo didn't have a choice.
The man had a badge on his clothes and that badge gave him the right to intrude on anyone's house. He was associated with the landlord.
Theodore knew him from somewhere. But he couldn't remember him. If he did remember, he'd be jumping around right about now.
Letting the man inside his shabby yet technologically ancient apartment did make him feel a little hurt. The man looked around and then immediately sat on the sofa and didn't look too surprised. Maybe he was expecting to see this place be shabby??
"Why do you want to travel to space?" Without any delays, the middle-aged man with a sharp glare, threw the question at him.
The man was definitely more than fifty. But looked young, as in the late thirties. It must have been the work of youth surgery or some kind of expensive gene. He looked fairly handsome too.
"How do you know that and who are you?" Theodore was fairly skeptical. Normally he wouldn't let anyone like that in. But if he'd refused he might have had problems with the landlord in the future. And with the added effects of his recent rejection, he wasn't in the best of moods.
"Let's just say I'm an old man looking into potential candidates. As for the rest of your questions, maybe I'll give you some if you answer mine." He was a man of status. From the clothes to the accessory he wore, he showed off his elegance. He was rich. There was no doubt about it. But why was he interested in this sorry excuse for a wannabe astronaut? That was the question.
"Um… I... just love the idea of being free. I always admired the setting sail thing." Theodore was a little staggered so he couldn't answer properly. But when he did answer. 'The hell did I just say?'
No one had ever asked him, why he wanted to be an astronaut: Most people never even fathomed that he even had a dream. People always assumed he was in it for the money or the glory. But that wasn't quite the truth, far from it.
But now that he said it, the sweats kept on dripping. That was a stupid answer and even he knew it.
"Setting sail?" The man burst into severe laughter. He couldn't control himself. In this day and age, not many people would have shown off emotions like this. This was rare, very rare.
He might have never laughed that much in his entire life.
"Sir…Who are you?" Now that Theodore answered, he knew he needed some answers of his own. But he still tried to be courteous, after all, he didn't want trouble.
"I am, Jonathan Debreie. Pleasure to, meet you."
"Jo..Jo…Jonathan!" Theo was shaken. Blood rushed to his brain and everything just felt hot.
Jonathan Debreie was the vice president of the space academy; the very same place Theo always sent requests to. He couldn't believe that the man himself would come to his house. Did he come to stop Theodore from applying anymore? But why would he? Even if that was the case, he didn't need to come here himself! The man was the head of this planet's space association. He had no reason, no reason at all, to come here personally.
But he had said something about seeking candidates. Theo still, at least, had some hope.
"I have come here for an important discussion."
"Ye-yes sir, what is it?" Theodore couldn't hide his anxiety. His ears were on fire. His eyes glittered. He knew this was it. He was already on the verge.
Theo was a patient man.
Today though, there was no room for patience.
"How would you like to be a part of the Ainmester crew? The one which is heading for planet #777923, in Alablaster nebula of the Syntheise quadrant?" The man laid out the facts like a computer. No emotion at all. This was purely business to him. His earlier emotions were nowhere to be found.
"What!!! Me!!!?"
He'd never been so happy in his entire life till this point. And yes that was the beginning of everything. But his excitement came to a sudden halt as the man continued. "What I want you to do is to secure a specimen."
"A specimen?"
"Yes. A very rare one. I believe we've found intelligent life."