***Alastair***
A red-haired boy grinned as he jumped through the gate.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing on a patch of dead grass.
Why did he land in the middle of a park? His Gatekeeper was supposed to be waiting for him. Why would she send him to a park?
Should he go look for her? He furrowed his eyebrows. He might wander off if he did that. En, their cub, and the others always got really scared when that happened. Not that En was one to talk.
The boy walked over to a nearby tree. He smiled as he squeezed into the hole on the bottom of the trunk. The tree kept the wind off of him and the tight space was like a hug.
A couple held hands as they walked by. The girl had blonde hair and a brown jacket. His eyes widened. Whoa! Those jackets were so shiny!
Some parents walked by with two children. Their clothes were very shiny, too.
Was he on PR now? Cool! He wasn't going to complain about it. He might not get another chance.
Someone was sitting on a bench with a white pad. Ooh! His shirt was red. Alastair wanted it.
He got out of the tree. He ran over to the person. "Hey, nice shirt! Where did you get it?"'
The person slid across the bench. "At Amy's..."
"Oh, where is that?"
"You must be new here, huh?"
The redhead nodded like a bobblehead. "I just got here today."
Red shirt smiled. He motioned in front of him with his wrist. "Go through those trees, cross the street, and take a right. There's a giant mall. You can't miss it."
"Thanks! If a lady asks you about a Star, can you tell her I went shopping?"
"Sure." The guy waved with the pad. "Have fun."
Alastair waved back before running off.
Red shirt wasn't kidding when he said that it was impossible to miss the mall. Glass windows were really shiny. Alastair would never miss that.
He walked through the sliding doors. People in shiny clothes scurried about. None of them had shopping bags. Were they just window shopping?
The redhead blinked before ruffling his hair. He should have asked Red shirt where the store was in the mall.
He walked over to a nearby display. Would this tell him where it was?
When he turned on the display, a map showed up. He found the name of the store Red shirt told him, but he didn't know what to do with it.
"Alaric?" Someme threw their arms around Alastair. "Is that you?"
Alastair yelped, stiffening at the strange man's embrace. "Who are you?"
The man with bloodshot eyes gasped. "You look so much like him."
This was weird. All Alastair wanted to do was buy a shirt.
"I just want to get a shirt, mister."
"What are you looking for?"
He blinked.
The man looked at the display. "You're looking for Amy's?"
He nodded.
"It's upstairs. Take the elevator, take a right, walk to the end of the path. It has purple letters."
Alastair did the sign for thank you.
Wait. Why would this guy know that?
"If you're trying to say thank you, then you're welcome."
Alastair waved at the man as he ran away. He wanted to get to the store as soon as he could.
A woman in a white top with a blue blazer and red tie said, "Welcome in," as he ran past her.
He grinned when he saw the red shirt at the back of the store. Found it!
When he tried to grab the shirt, his hand went right through it. He gasped. A hologram?
The lady giggled as she walked over to him. "You must have come here from afar, huh?"
Alastair nodded.
"That's not a real shirt, so you can't buy it, unfortunately." She gestured to a nearby set of blue curtains. "You can pick out clothes in here. A computer with AI in it will help you."
Did the lady say AI? Was Alastair dreaming? Did he fall and hit his head on his way here?
"AI?" the boy parroted.
She smiled. "That's right. The one in there has a male voice, so you would probably prefer to ask it for help instead of me."
En certainly would if he was here. He liked computers a lot more than people, and he loved to build things. If he could, he would dismantle the Ai, so he could make his own when he got home. Alastair didn't really care. He was too big for them to come into the dressing room with him, but his sisters and Hannah still helped him pick out his clothes. As long as he got to say he didn't like something, he didn't care.
Alastair ruffled his hair. Wait! None of them were here! how was he supposed to know what size shirt to get? He didn't need to before.
"Are you alright?" the woman asked.
Uh...
"Is this your first time going shopping by yourself?"
The boy nodded.
"That's alright." She opened the curtain. "The computer will help you. It will shoot out this red light, so it can scan your body. That's how it figures out what size clothes you need."
He blinked. The computer could measure him? Wasn't that straight out of a sci-fi movie?
"After that, you can tell it what you want. Whether it be a shirt, some pants, some shoes, or all of the above. That it should be red, blue, green, or purple. Or if it fits loosely or hugs your body."
He could get exactly what he wanted? "Cool!"
The lady giggled. "Let me know if you need any more help."
Alastair waved as he went into the booth.
The lady closed the curtains behind her.
As soon as she did that, a holographic screen appeared in front of him. A black screen with white eyes and mouth popped on the screen.
It was also wearing a bowtie. "Hello, sir. How may I assist you?"
"I want a shirt."
"What style of shirt?" Several images appeared on the screen.
Alastair found the shirt he wanted and clicked on it.
"What color?" Several swatches of color popped up.
Alastair went straight to the reds and found the one he wanted.
"How do you want it to fit? Tightly? Loosely? Just right?"
"I like baggy clothes," the boy replied.
"Loose fit then," the AI said. "Would you like some pants or maybe some shoes to go with your shirt? Or maybe another shirt?"
"No, I'm good."
The AI tipped his non-existent hat. "Thank you for your patronage. The cashier has your purchase and will collect your payment. Good day."
Alastair ruffled his hair again. Ah! What am I going to do? I don't have any money!
The woman was standing behind a steel counter when he came out of the booth.
He hung his head. He couldn't buy his shirt when he didn't have any money. Maybe he could get his GK to buy it for him later.
"Sir?" the woman called out.
Alastair dragged his feet as he walked out of the store.
Where was his GK anyway? She still wasn't here. Could it even be called late at this point?
Alastair sat down at the nearest bench and took some fish crackers out of his backpack since he was starting to get hungry.
A girl with long brown hair ran over to him with a bag in hand.
"Oh, good!" she said. "You're still here."
Alastair blinked. Was this girl really talking to him?
"Take it." She smiled as she held the bag out to him. "It's yours."
Alastair blinked as he took the bag.
"Well, I better get going," the girl said. "I better finish my own shopping, too." She waved as she walked away.
Who was that girl? She was weird. Why did she decide to give him of all people this bag?
Alastair opened the bag. He at least wanted to know what was in it if he was going to be carrying it around with him.
His eyes widened. It was the shirt he wanted to buy. Why did she give it to him when he never paid for it?
Wait. What was that girl's name? He was so surprised she approached him for no apparent reason that he forgot to ask her for it. If he ever saw her again, he should ask her for it. He didn't get the chance to thank her either.
His GK might not be coming. What should he do now? He peeked at his phone to check the time. It was still morning. What could he do when he didn't have any money?
He could go back to the park, but when would it get too cold or boring to do that? How did his Gatekeeper expect a boy who wasn't a "high-functioning" autistic to fend for himself in a land full of strangers?