Veridi Gothca

Chapter 1 The emerald metropolis

It was another bright and boring night in Gothca; just the thought of all those flashing skyscrapers with their neon ads was enough to keep me awake and prevent me from getting any restful sleep. I swear they use them to keep everyone distracted and docile, it's even working on me. I've started paying attention in history class, not something I thought I'd ever do. At least next week will be interesting, that's another thing that's keeping me up. We're going to the Veridian Museum of Technology for tech class. It's easily one of my favorite classes, it doesn't make me want to fall asleep like learning about all 3 world wars in history or all the different aliens that have tried or are trying to kill humanity throughout history. Dad is also going to be there, showing off some new technologies and stuff that he develops for the government. It also means I'll get to see more of what he works on, it will be a good chance to show him what I've learned about robotics and programming. 

The morning came fast as I passed out while in deep thought about next week, I even dreamt about it a little. The light neural shock from the small stim shocker on the back of my head woke me up from my deep sleep. "Ah oww! Why do I keep setting it too high?"  I'll have to fiddle with it when I get back home. I didn't want to leave the confines of my warm bed, unfortunately, school is more important than my comfort. I pushed the soft, heavy comforter off and went to the bathroom to freshen up. I touched the button for cold water and cupped my hands underneath the spout, catching the cool water streaming from it. I splashed the cold water into my face, hoping it would force me awake. Looking into the mirror, I noticed that my hair was a mess, strands of wet black hair were strewn messily across my face. I'm glad my hair is pretty low maintenance, just being a bobcut and all. I went back into my room after a quick albeit longer than it should have been, shower.      

I dressed in a dark blue pair of comfy poly mesh pants and a black hoodie with green XED lights spread across it. Can't forget my choker too. I rushed downstairs to get some breakfast. I saw that Mom was down here but not Dad or Viola; guess I'll have to ask. "Hey, mom, where's dad and Viola?" - "Your father went to work early and Viola is at the bus stop with her friends, she can get up early with no problems."  She turned around while sipping coffee from a mug. She raised an eyebrow at me. - "What is it with you kids now and bright neon lights on your clothes? Soon you'll all be lit up like Christmas trees." - "Well at least my hair isn't dyed and glowing."  She scoffed then took another sip. - "Wait...is that a thing?"  I just smiled at her in between a bite of my cereal. - "Jesus, back in my day people just had normal dyed hair and didn't have glowing cybernetics."  I just smirked when she said that, she made it sound like ancient history.- "Kids still have cybers, they're just more flashy and have a sense of style about it."   I looked at the time on my holotool, it was 8:55 AM and school started at 10:00. -"Bye Mom! See you later."  I got up quickly and went out the door   

I started running to get to the bus stop, the bus stop was a few blocks away from where we lived. I spotted my sister and her friends getting on the bus, she turned to look at me and waved.  My chest was starting to burn after running for several blocks, but I made it...just. The bus doors opened automatically and I hopped inside.- "Whoa, careful there, you don't want to slip."  The bus driver said. I walked through the glossy black aisle looking for Viola, and the bus began moving, causing me to stumble a bit. A hand grabbed me, I looked over to see it was Viola.- "Thanks."  My little sister had black hair as I did but she grew it out much longer, she also embraced her name and colored it with purple streaks. - "Sit down, or you're gonna fall on your face silly."  I sat down next to her. "What is it with you and sleeping in so much? Does it have to do with whatever you've been up to at night?"  I was hoping she hadn't heard me working on my project, I thought all of that loud music would've deafened her by now.- "It's just a little thing I've been working on to show Dad next week, I just hope I'll have it finished by then."  She looked at me surprised.- "Can I see it?"  - "I don't have it on me, but I'll let you see it when I show Dad."