Furniture arrived in the new apartment, but everything was still packed. Hasta started moving boxes around, specifically all documents and office supplies. Even though they were in the numeric age, Kata and he suspiciously possessed a lot of prints. They all belonged to his mum. All those papers were about a strange project code-named "SP". They were gibberish to his eyes. Not only was he uninterested, but nobody could understand her code.
After their mother's funeral, his grandfather's men came to claim Doctor Fenise Kriego's working notes, and the siblings were forced to comply. Little did they know Hasta was never worried about them not returning it.
Kata was still devastated they would take away her mother's belongings without their consent at least. Fenise research was the only thing she left to her children, as well as Kata's dream. The Doctor would work here all day without a break, driven by a bigger truth, and her daughter would look at her working, sitting at a smaller desk next to her. As to what she was actually working on, Kata had some idea, but Hasta had none.
The brother only knew she was a researcher in the field of biology. Not that she kept it a secret, just that he did not understand any of it. Kata knew more because she was interested in this field. She loved science and followed her mother's tutoring. Madam Kriego liked to call her her little successor.
Hasta never showed the slightest will to claim this title, as he did not identify with the intellectual type. School was always a chore to him. His only common trait with Kata was their excellent memory.
Using it, he had secretly been working on reproducing all of Fenise's paper notes by hand. He had put in two years of work rewriting and drawing everything. He copied every last of them, imitating the professor's elusive manuscript handwriting, the strange doodling she had left on some corners or the back, as well as some dots and imperfections she left there and there.
He remembered so well because his mother insisted that he memorize them every day. He never refused to comply since he only needed to look at it once to print it in his mind. The documents were perfect replicates of the originals. He even copied the pictures and the database.
Now, he only needed to arrange them meticulously, tidy them in folders, inside cases, and shelves. He started organizing the desk and the supplies with photographic precision. To the millimeters. Sometimes, he would mumble about them not being perfect to the nanometers, but he was only human; he needed to accept it was already great.
Putting down the last pencil, he felt satisfied and nostalgic at the same time.
He had mixed feelings about recreating this place of the past, but he knew his sister would be moved to tears once she saw it.
From age three, she wanted to follow her mother's career path. He knew she would love it. She would sit at that desk to try to crack Fenise's code. She would even do her homework there, he knew it. And that made him smile. He locked the office and wrapped the key in a cute gift box he purchased for his sister's birthday in two weeks. He grinned as he hid the present in his room.
He then decided to keep tidying things up before he lost motivation. His stuff was simpler to organize. He had clothes, uniforms, shoes… and that was it! This older brother lived simply. His only hobbies? Cheap food and cheap alcohol. Only Family was important to him. Family meant Kata. He breathed to pay the bills, support his underaged sister, and bring food to the table.
His job before moving out had been as straightforward as he was. Hasta was a former security guard. These days, this profession heavily relied on AI technology. Tasks were less about monitoring the screens and more about checking for the integrity of the AI system. They were widely seen as flowerpots because even patrols were now primarily performed by bots.
They still made their rounds, but only in places where electromagnetic interferences did not allow remote control. In some situations, drones were also better to check inaccessible areas and security breaches. However, they still monitored some important screens, as even the best AI sometimes showed limits in discernment.
Hasta had been one of these flowerpots. A dedicated one, though. He would stare seriously at the monitoring wall like he was hypnotized. Maybe he brainwashed himself… or perhaps he liked this kind of job after all. What was certain was he had this job for almost six years, explaining why resigning made him anxious.
His former boss said he could return anytime, but what if it did not work with his new work environment? Worse... what if he was not up to it? What if he was fired? And what if his previous manager changed his mind?
The more he thought about it, the more he stressed out. He feared his efforts would not be enough to bring in the money. He was scared of Kata having to give up her scholarship in this notorious school because he could not pay the rent, scared of returning in their old infamous hood. All because of him.
-
On Monday, Hasta was thirty minutes early in front of a skyscraper. He thought someone would intercept him before he got to work, forcing him to meet the old man. But surprisingly, his mother's father showed restraint.
It must have come to his mind Hasta was certainly not at peace yet with the idea of working under him. Indeed, at first, when they proposed him the job, Hasta refused it. But… circumstances changed suddenly, and it became urgent for the siblings to get out of their hometown.
Hasta had his reasons, and his grandfather had to have some himself because he was obviously not the benevolent type. Proof being the fact he let his own daughter live in a dump. He wondered if the old man was after his mother's project after all. Or was he after the two siblings themselves?
Something was going on in the background. For now, Hasta was ready to bet everything on the wealthiest man in town, even if he was the devil himself. He and his sister almost fell into hell after all. And one foot on their grave, he had to admit there were different kinds of abyss. This grandfather may be Lucifer itself, but at least their jail would be golden.
An assistant guided him to an elevator, where he was abandoned. No button was installed inside, and he waited for it to activate. As he was going downward (or so he believed), he felt his heart rate increase despite him.
The double doors opened on a glass lobby above an immense gymnasium he had never seen anything like. The stadium-like place was divided into two sections, one bigger than the other. On the larger side, athletes performed runs, jumps, stunts, and more. On the opposite side, people were frenetically pressing keys, buttons, and touchscreens, engrossed in various types of mind games.
This was Hasta's new job. More accurately, the trial period. Like the crowd of small silhouettes below, Hasta would soon become a subject for a herd of blue-coated scientists. He did not know the confidential details, but he presumably had to perform various exercises in a competitive mindset.
After an observation phase, most would be dismissed as only a few could be selected for the following full-time experiment. The criteria were not revealed, but they all assumed that performance must play a role, even though they could not say how much.
A complex security check occurred, and Hasta cooperated with the armed personnel, even though he did not hide hostility during the extensive body palping. He then put on a full black suit and immediately started with physical tests.
Waiting for his turn, he observed the other participants, who all seemed to be experienced athletes. He knew he could never achieve identical scores but took the trials seriously anyway. He was paid, after all.
His results were unsurprisingly average, sometimes average, sometimes mediocre. As a natural baby, it was challenging to compete against design ones. He was indeed born with the randomness of life. For the better and the worse…
He still relatively kept up to standard and made the scientists at least neutral about him. However, the other participants were impressively performant and looked like they were specifically picked for their expertise. In comparison, Hasta only really practiced sports in school. His jobs were all about sitting all day, so he could not do anything about his low stamina, lack of strength, slow speed, or lost flexibility. He was your ordinary, everyday Joe.
The young man was fatalist about his results. Still, when he got to the other side of the gymnasium, everything changed. The analysts started to observe him more attentively the more he completed the goals.
Hasta's scores were not that great initially, but as he tried different types of games, he soon found his "thing". The doctors thought to themselves:
'His results are too inconsistent. He is going to fail. We'll soon find out his limits because they're clearly not that high.'
But they waited, and…
…The limits never showed up.