Crane city just like most other cities on earth was divided into three zones; the inner zone, the mid zone and the outer zone which was commonly known as the slums. The slums were a place that was present in most cities as it was essential to the higher-ups as the inner zone, it was the place where those forgotten and abandoned by the system hid themselves. The constant and ignored shadow cast by the glory of the world government.
On the outskirts of the mid zone where life was just slightly better than that of the slums were a few decapitated houses, among these houses were a few which were still well off compared to the others.
In one of these houses, a boy which looked to be around the age of 17-18 with pale skin and dark hair which seemed to grow darker in the presence of light, as if trying to hide itself was preparing to go to school.
He sat in the dining with a slight frown on his face at the thought of going to school. His father seeing the frown on his face said with a sigh
"Kieran, Miss Jenny contacted me and told me about the ME12 holoplate you needed in school for the practical class"
The frown on Kieran's face deepened at the mention of Miss Jenny
"Why didn't you tell me about it?" asked his father, Joseph.
"It's a waste of money. We have better things to spend on" answered Kieran as he played lazily with the food in front of him with a look of disinterest
"Well, I told her I'll get you one for today's class" he said as he threw a small disc towards Kieran
"Although it isn't the latest model it should work fine…. I guess" he added with a small chuckle
"You shouldn't have bothered yourself, but thanks." Kieran said as he caught the small disc
"By the way, where's mum? I haven't seen her today," he asked as he stood up to pick up his backpack
"She worked overtime, she should be here any minute now" answered Joseph while fiddling with a stick in his hands
"Oh…. I'll see you later then. I'm off" hummed Kieran as he walked towards the door which opened up to show his mother, Katherine, coming in.
"Ah…" she exclaimed in surprise at Kieran's presence at the door. She looked at him with a strange expression which quickly vanished from her face, but Kieran had noticed.
"Hey mum, I was just about to leave."
"Oh, you scared me there…. have a nice day at school then" she replied hastily to him once she had regained her composure
"Yeah…" replied Kieran as he closed the door behind him.
Kate looked at Joseph and said in slight irritation
"Have you made contact yet?"
"I'm tired of pretending, it's been 16 years now. I want to go back"
Joseph narrowed his eyes in anger and replied a moment later
"I have, we will receive the order to go back in two days time. It seems things have finally calmed down over there."
"Finally, after 16 years! We can finally go back; this human realm disgusts me!" Kate exclaimed with fear lingering deep within her eyes.
Hearing what she said Joseph looked towards the door where Kieran had just gone through with eyes filled with complicated emotions which no one but him understood.
"Haa…." with a heavy sigh he withdrew his gaze from the door.
Meanwhile…...
'She gave me that weird look again' thought Kieran as he moved deeper along the streets of the mid zone
Lately his mother had been giving him weird looks, at first, he didn't notice but it had become frequent. He also felt like she had been acting more distant to him
Even his dad occasionally had that complicated look when he stared at him
'They're hiding something from me' his eyes narrowed at that thought, but he knew better than to pry into things he wasn't called into.
Maybe it was his thoughts, but his parents sometimes gave off the vibe like there weren't in love but were colleagues that just had to put up with each other for some reason
Shaking those thoughts away, he looked at the bus station he was nearing. The city of Crane was a very large one and his school was located in the inner zone, which made it quite impossible to walk there in time so he took the zoom bus.
Due to the rapid development over the centuries humanity had come a long way technologically. The discovery of the zoom portal was one of the major discoveries of humanity. It was capable of short distance teleportation, unfortunately people couldn't step through it as the force form the void would shred them into pieces before they even realized what was going on.
The bus moved through the portal to appear on a road in mid zone close to the inner zone as the teleportation was instantaneous.
Kieran looked out through the window at the sight outside. The mid zone of Crane city was like an entirely different world compared to the outer zone. It was known as the commercial center of the city.
Tall skyscrapers with flashy lights which were visible even during the day, countless hovercars zipping between them, large holograms advertising different products…. The details of the city couldn't be explained in one breath, it could simply be qualified as breathtaking.
As the bus got to its destination and people began to get off, Kieran withdrew his thoughts and moved out of the bus. His school was just a street away, so he walked, his hands in the deep pockets of his overcoat.
Getting to the school's entrance, Kieran looked at the various students moving into the school with a strange gaze. His sighed and walked into the school with his head lowered.
He got into the class and moved towards a corner at the back to sit, before he could get there a voice filled with ridicule resounded behind him
"Are you blind or something?"
A frown appeared on his face as he looked towards the source of the voice. On one of the chairs he passed by sat a boy who had an air of arrogance around him, he looked to be the same age as Kieran. He looked towards Kieran with eyes full of ridicule and disgust as he repeated
"Are you blind, or are deaf as well? You passed by without proper greeting. You know it goes around here right? KNEEL!"
The surrounding classmates looked at this scene, some with similar expressions as the boy, others with disinterest as this was considered a normal occasion after all, the order of society in this world was based on status and as the son of a laborer, Kieran was at the bottom of the society, the residents of the slums weren't even considered as people, so he had to bow his head to those above him.
'Richard Scarlet'
Kieran looked at the guy his age who seemed to have a problem with him every time they met with anger deep within his eyes, but considering what he could do to his family, especially with his background, it was easy to ruin his family's already poor lifestyle.
Thinking about it, he didn't want to become a burden to his parents so reluctantly he bent his knees slowly, but before he could kneel completely, Miss Jenny the teacher came in.
"Alright, settle down kids!"
Richard snorted,
"Hmph…. don't think I'm done with you trash!"
Kieran looked at the teacher for a moment, then went to take his sit.
The class was a rather boring one, talking about the history of mankind and how they had advanced rapidly after the great war which happened a few centuries ago, the human exploits and the benevolence of the world government.
Kieran didn't pay much attention to the first half of the class, as someone who came from a place that just as bad as the slums, he was immune to the brainwashing methods of the government. What caught his attention was the other half about the military.
He was about to graduate from school soon and his family wasn't going to be able to further his education, so he considered joining the military. Therefore, he paid attention to anything he heard about them as they were rather secretive and information about them were scarce. After the history lessons, they took a few more classes and had a break.
Kieran who had just walked out of the restroom saw himself surrounded by some of his classmates with Richard at the head
"We were interrupted!" He called out with a foul simile on his face, meanwhile Kieran looked at him with his usual stoic face.
Seeing his unchanged expression, Richard face got red with a mix of fury and embarrassment as he pointed forward and barked the boys that came with him
"What are you waiting for? Don't just stand there! Take care of him!"
"Let's just get this done and over with, eh!"
Kieran said as he stood defenseless as if inviting them to hit him. This sight made the boys angry, as one of them rushed out
landing a solid punch on Kieran's face.
Bam!
His face was swept to the side as he moved a few steps back. He looked towards the boy who had hit him and said with a savage grin
"Don't tell me that's all you got! For the son of a noble you're rather weak!" disdain filled his eyes as he said this. This served to fuel the anger of the boys.
That was their look, that was their line and he dared to use it against them! As children of great families, they had been trained in various martial arts and self defense methods, his statement was a slap on they and their families faces.
Finally, they couldn't hold it back again as they all charged towards him
"Bam! Bam!.. Urgh! Bam!...."
The sounds of kicks and punches rang out along with the groans of the person being assaulted. After a few minutes of beating the boys finally moved away just to leave a bruised and battered Kieran on the floor with blood flowing out of several parts of his face.
Looking at this scene, Richard's expression visibly brightened with joy as he looked at the figure laying on the floor and said with a voice filled with disdain and satisfaction, the air around him filled with arrogance
"Ahh…. This never gets old! Next time you should stay down and away from me!"
Tui….
He shot one last look and spat at him before leaving with his minions.
'Yeah, it never gets old'
Kieran who lay on the floor thought as he stood up shakily, his stoic expression back in place as moved back into the restroom. As he looked at the reflection of himself on the mirror, he let out a dark chuckle
"Haha....they went pretty hard"
"Well they won't be qualified to be called cunts if they didn't" He splashed his face with cold water from the tap and went to the school infirmary.
"Just in! An explosion was seen going off in.... of the slums. The security corps have yet to make a state…."
Kieran's feet froze to the ground the moment he stepped through out of the restroom, his head slowly turning in the direction of the news reporter. He knew the place where the explosion had occurred.
That was where he lived!