(OUTDATED) Ori and the Spirits Within

Chapter 23: Lacerations

The streets are barren, completely devoid of life. Electronic signs are plastered all across the cityscapes, showing odd text on them. Ori was very confused at this sort of place. For starters, the buildings were massive, but the entrances seemed to have been made for people like him, his savior. These things could house hundreds, maybe even thousands of people, which seemed very cool and efficient. I wonder if Grom could make something like this. ... Nah, probably not. He found it very intriguing, roaming the streets of his savior's world.

He got to some form of an intersection, with a yellow contraption hanging at the center of it. It displayed red, yellow, and green lights all at the same time, blinking on and off. He wondered what that could be used for. He saw some odd looking metal off to the side of the road, crimson red in color. It was elevated off of the ground by what to him looked like four rubber circles. What could that be? He inspected the machine, seeing the inside being made of some leather and cotton. Chairs? Why are there chairs in here? He noticed a circular device hooked at the front end of the machine, with multiple gauges in front of it.

He got inside the machine, sitting in front of the wheel, and went out to touch it. As he did, he noticed a bright flash of light in his eyes, as his surroundings shifted before him. Before he knew it, the sky turned blue, and the city seemed to turn into some field of grass. The machine seemed to be moving quickly, much faster than he could ever run. Then, he noticed... there were other people in there with him. One, a blonde haired girl holding a strange rectangular piece of metal. The other, a man with brown hair, who is looking outside the window with a look of annoyance. Immediately, Ori tensed up in fear.

"Wh-Who are you?!" He shouted.

"So, Maranda..." he heard a familiar voice next to him. He turned around to see... his savior, at the head of the machine, wearing some odd looking clothing with symbols and words he's never seen before. He held both sides of the wheel firmly, as he gazed forward towards the prairie before him.

"Hey! Wh-What's going on?!" Ori asked.

"How was that test yesterday?" he asked.

Can... Can he not hear me? Ori thought.

"Man... Psych is soooo booooring." A young woman spoke behind him. "Like, I just wanted to have a fun time with our friends, going to a party, and all that. But noooooooo. I had to have a test that night, and my mother wouldn't let me."

"I can understand what that's like." He spoke.

So, is she important to him? Who is she?

"But you know the rules. If you don't do well, you'd be wasting your parents' money at college. Then your parents really wouldn't be happy with you." He chuckled.

"I know, I know. Like... how do you do it?" Maranda asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean like, you got the internship you really wanted, you're taking multiple high level courses, and you're participating in multiple clubs and events. How the heck do you keep track of all that?"

"Honestly... I don't. *chuckle* All of this is really beating me down, but it definitely beats going to the county college back home. I needed to do this... expand my horizons, if you will." He spoke with a smile on his face.

"You didn't need to do anything." The other man spoke, sitting next to him in the front. "You just wanted to do it. Why are you even here with us anyway, nerd?" He scoffed at him.

"C'mon, Jerome. You know that I can't drive, and your license got suspended. Plus, he's a great driver, and a pretty nice guy to boot." Jerome turned around towards her, and she immediately got afraid. "N-Not that you aren't better than him! I could never have someone better than you. Heheh... heh..."