Lauren's attention was drawn to the board in the adjacent hallway as she was leaving her mentor's room. She went over to see if the exam results had been announced.
A voice behind her said, "Not revealed yet." Lauren, who knew the voice quite well, turned excitedly and said, "Cecile!" and hugged her friend.
Her friend responded with the same enthusiasm. In fact, she didn't have much time to see her friends, as she had left the house for a few hours. That's why she hadn't told them. On this subject she was reprimanded by Cecile and then, they decided to sit and chat for a few minutes.
"You're afraid you'll fall out of the top twenty, but I don't think you will." said Cecile.
Cecile closed her eyes as Lauren looked at her embarrassed and "Part of me wishes you'd fall and join us again, but I'm not selfish enough to want my friend's failure." she admitted. Then she opened her eyes and looked lovingly, "Do you understand why I want it like that?" she asked.
Lauren laughed at her and took her friend's hand on the table. "I understand, but this is important to me." she replied.
With a sigh, Cecile said, "Students who are in the top twenty in success at school take all their lessons from home with virtual simulation. Yes, it's a very nice privilege, but taking these classes requires expensive conditions like having a simulation room."
Then, in a coy and loving tone, "Laury... are you sure you're okay?" she asked.
"Yes," Lauren said without hesitation.
After drinking their coffee, Cecile escorted her friend off campus to see her off. She sighed once, thinking about what had happened to her friend in the last four months. Lauren laughed and asked what she was snoring.
Cecile thought for a while and said, "Four months ago, you said you might be in trouble with immigration law. Then you suddenly said you were going to get married and married a rich man with a child. Even if you tell me that you got married on paper with an agreement that will cover education and housing expenses on the condition of raising his child, it sounds ridiculous when you think about it from the beginning."
Then, in a more offended tone, "Are you sure you told me everything?" she asked.
Lauren put her arm around her friend's shoulder and replied, "I said more than I could tell."
"Do you know how hard it is to keep this secret?" Cecile said in a tearful tone. This made Lauren laugh. She hugged her friend and said, "I'm fine, really." They said goodbye and left.
Cecile followed Lauren to the campus exit. Just then, a voice behind her asked, "Isn't that Lauren?"
Cecile turned to look sadly at him and her two friends, who were staring at the campus door. "Yes." she said.
One wondered and said, "It's been a while since we've seen her. We had heard that she would be deported due to immigration law. But she continues her education in the top twenty, suddenly rising in success."
Cecile pinched him and reproached, "Are you jealous of my friend's success?" and the boy objected and invited her to have lunch with them. Cecile accepted his offer, glad that she had changed the subject.
When Lauren got out of school, her first job was to call Margaret. She asked how Michelin was. When she learned that she was sleeping, she thought that she had time to walk a little until she got home, so she got off the air train a few stops before she was going to get off and started walking.
She looked up at the sky through the tall buildings. She saw the sunny sky through the air-purifying flying machines. Even though the sun was in the sky, the places she walked were always in the shade due to the length of the buildings.
Walking half a kilometer eastward, buildings began to become sparse and parks and gardens began to appear. In this era, a green settlement was known as the wealthy neighborhood. The middle class people lived in the city in cosmopolitan buildings. This was the place where Lauren lived before her fake marriage.
Passing two of the three main roads between her and the house, she saw the residence complex where she lived through the trees ahead. She wouldn't have believed it five months ago if they had told her that she would live in a place like this.
If you count the building, although it has forty-two floors from the outside, since there were duplex apartments, there were sixty apartments, two on each floor. But Lauren didn't know which apartments were duplexes. She tried to find the twenty-third circle down the hill. She didn't like this number at all.
…
Lauren was a District 23 immigrant. She was one of the few hundred survivors in an area destroyed by a biological weapon attack, the cause of which is still unknown. There were many areas that were quarantined due to attack, scientific experimentation or epidemics, like District 23, but nowhere was it as mysterious as District 23.
Lauren was one of the lucky people who wasn't at the center of the attack. However, she had undergone some sort of change, just like every other person living in that area. As if the region was branding them, everyone's hair had turned a dark blue color close to black, and their eyes had turned a hazel color close to yellow. It was also observed that they outperformed the society average in terms of physical and intelligence.
Until five months ago, the 23rd Region immigrants were seen as people with a bright future who gained a certain respect in the society, but for an unknown reason, their immune systems began to collapse.
With 22nd century technology, treatments were available to protect themselves and keep their immune systems up, but it required a lot of money. Lauren, a sophomore at the university during this time, could not find financial support to cover her medical expenses. At a time when his hopes were exhausted while searching for a cure, Brendon Walker came up with an offer.
…
Lauren was startled by the sound of the horn blowing at her. She realized that she was standing in the middle of the road closest to the house.
She had no idea when she had gotten there. The truck driver, who had pressed the brakes at the last moment, cursed at her and asked if she had gone mad.
Lauren still looked half asleep. She apologized and crossed the road, taking the opportunity to turn on the red light. That's when she saw something. In front of the building just above her, in front of the apartment she had just counted, there was something hanging in the air.
From there it seemed to her the point. When she squinted her eyes a little more, she realized that the brown object was not an object, but a being, for she saw its arms stretching out towards the windows.
She immediately started running towards the house. She called Margaret, but Margaret didn't pick up right away. She didn't hang up for a while. She was about to tell Margaret, who picked up the phone at the last moment, to stay away from the windows, when she heard Michelin's crying voice behind her on the phone. She hung up the phone and started running faster.
When she got home, she found Margaret comforting Michelin in her room. Despite being out of breath, she ran and checked all the windows one by one. No windows were broken or open.
Margaret followed Lauren without letting the Michelin down. She asked what was going on. Lauren slumped into the seat without answering for a moment. She told her what she saw.
Margaret waited a while for her to calm down. When she saw Michelin Lauren wanted to go to her, she left her and went to the kitchen to bring Lauren a glass of water.
Lauren, who drank the water and thanked her, was still looking worriedly at the Michelin. "Maybe you've seen the drone." Margeret spoke. After Lauren calmed down a bit, she said, "It-Maybe, but it didn't look like a drone at all."
Margaret offered to stay there until Brendon arrived. Lauren said it wasn't necessary.
Returning from the space workshop two hours away by jet, Brendon sat down in his office chair, elbows on the table, and rubbed his head. The trip, which took four hours in total, and some meetings that lasted longer than that, had exhausted him.
Jason, one of the co-senior managers, knocked on the door and walked in. After the insincere greeting, they began to discuss the details of the meetings.
The OTUC was a large entity, with twelve general managers at its office in the capital. Jason was one of the directors who had earned Brendon's trust, even though he was transferred to the company much later. They usually planned their future projects together.
Jason, who was observed to be sincere outside the business world and was asked about this subject, would laugh and reply, "How can you be sincere with a man like that...".
A few minutes later a secretary came in with coffee and water and placed them on the table. As Brendon looked at Jason as if to ask, "Did you tell him," Jason smiled and said, "You need some rest." I thought," he said.
Brendon sighed, "You're right." he said and leaned back. He was rubbing his aching head when he noticed the medicine left with the coffee.
"It would be nice if I married you," Brendon said.
Jason burst out laughing. "Even if you joke, it sounds terrible," de replied. Then he mischievously added, "I think you have a pretty enviable marriage."
Brandon laughed. He threw his head back from where he was leaning and turned around, "Oh, yes! You bet! Not everyone thinks I'm horny because I married someone twelve years younger than me. They're jealous of me," he said.
Jason sighed, "I wouldn't care what they said. I wish I could marry a young immigrant too…" he said.
Brendon said, "They wouldn't be wrong if the people thought you were horny."
Jason replied with a laugh, "Why would a horny person marry and commit to someone?" he asked. Then he got up and went to his room. On the other hand, "When you look at it, it's not a very bold thing. It's not a bad idea to settle on paper with someone with good genes and start a family." he was saying.
When he got to the door, he turned around and said mischievously, "If I were a woman, I wouldn't marry a workaholic like you who is too tired to satisfy me." By closing the door just in time, he was protected from the water bottle Brendon threw at him.
…
As it passed ten in the evening, Lauren sat at the living room table, thinking. She tried to recall the parts she had forgotten, straining her memory.
How did she end up in the middle of the road today? It was as if someone had commanded her. Where did she last lose herself? She remembered the last time she had walked to the intersection on the overpass.
What was the last thing she thought of? It was her husband with whom she signed a prenuptial agreement on paper. When she burned her hand with oil a few days ago, she even thought of her husband before she forgot.
She muttered that it was a coincidence. It would be better if she went to the health checkup. But she didn't think to mention it to Brendon. If the symptoms were immigrant-specific, Brendon might not like it.
The phrase "termination of the agreement if she is unable to take care of the baby" in the contract gave her goosebumps. Did she have a disease that would kill her or make her lose her mind? With calling "Lauren…" she startled, turned, and looked out the door.
Brendon left his bag in the cloakroom at the entrance. Lauren was sitting thoughtfully at the table just across from her. She was in no mood to greet him at the door like normal married couples. Neither did Michelin's mother, but Lauren at least got up and tidied herself up
Brendon suspected that she was angry about something, but then realized that Lauren was distracted. She was playing with one hand on the baby monitor on the table. He approached the living room and called out to her.
Lauren looked at him, somewhat relieved. Gathering herself, she stood up and said, "Welcome." Heading towards the kitchen, "Are you hungry? I'll put the food in the microwave." she continued.
"No, I'm not," Brendon said to prevent her from going there. "I'm going to bed right now," he added. Lauren looked at him with a pensive face and said, "Okay…" She returned to the chair she had just been sitting in. She wished good night.
When Brendon went into his room, he took off his summer jacket and laid it on the sofa. While unbuttoning the cuffs of his shirt, "Of course, the weather has warmed up... It's normal for her to dress comfortably at home," he muttered.
Lauren usually wore sweatpants at home. Today, however, he was a little surprised to see her so pensive in her tiny shorts. He thought it was the things she was wearing in her room as she was getting ready for bed. But that distraction was strange.
He wondered if she might be sleepy. He looked out the door of his room into the living room. Lauren was still sitting as he had left.
"Lauren…" he called out, she jumped. Brendon felt a little sorry that he didn't think it would frighten her that much.
He forced himself, "I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be scared," he said. He watched Lauren, breathing deeply, without letting her hand drop from the middle of her chest for a moment. Then, noticing her breathing had turned to sobbing, he hurried over to see Lauren's tears. It was the first time he had seen her cry.
He looked stunned for a while. Then he bent down and said, "Come on, it's strange that you're so scared…" Lauren tried to flee to her room, apologizing for not knowing what to say and why. Brendon grabbed her wrist and said, "You don't need to apologize. Go when you sit down for a while and calm down."
Lauren did as she was told. This time she moved to one of the sofas in the living room. She wiped her tears with the back of her hands. Then she tried to control her breathing.
Watching her from the dinner table right behind her, Brendon tried to make sense of it for a moment. He thought to himself, "Is it before the special day or something?" It was absurd that the special day before that he hadn't seen for four months came now.
He went and sat next to her. "Did something happen?" he asked.
"Today…" Lauren said, controlling her breathing for a few more seconds. "I saw something flying around the building today on my way back from school." she continued.
"Like what?" Brendon wondered.
Lauren replied, "Miss Margaret said it could be a drone, but it didn't look like a drone." Brendon didn't say anything for a while. Yes, if a drone was flying around the apartment, it was a violation of privacy. It was frightening, but he couldn't understand why it had shaken Lauren so much.
"I'll talk to the security unit tomorrow and ask if there's anything caught on their camera," he said.
"There is nothing to be afraid of, try to sleep," he added and went to his room. Lauren went to her room after calming down a bit.