[NO LONGER UPDATED] AVEM → A Different World

Chapter 8: Hello, World (Part II)

A/N: I AM SO FRICKIN SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING AND BEING DEAD ON WATTPAD, AND NOT UPDATING THIS BOOK FOR LIKE A MONTH. I'M SO SORRY, READERS. I MADE A MISTAKE. 😔

Date: 10/12/2113

POV: Averyn

"Scan complete. A new Walker ID has been added: #71462. Please report to technical staff to complete the registeration."

The machenical voice spoke.

I was in a small room alone, and there was a couple of different machines and devices, all glowing with a vivid blue light. #14373 and a few others had to wait outside the room to let me scan things like my face and fingerprints without disturbance. 

"Please retrieve your ID card and wrist identification from this platform."

I stood up, and made my way to the small platform, picking the items on it up with extreme caution. Apprehension was filling this room up as I went for the door.

"Done," I said as I pressed the metal strip, and the door opened.

"Done?"

"Congratulations!"

"What was your ID?"

"How did it went? Was it good?"

I stepped out of the door, and immediately saw people crowding the corridor outside. I couldn't count how many people gathered here, but it was definitely more than 50 people. I tried to back down into the room again, but no avail — the door was already shut tight.

It was then I spotted #14373 among the crowd. She looked at me for a moment before stepping forward. "Sorry everyone, but we have to be away for some time. Now can everyone make a way for me?" Without hesitation the crowd backed away a little to make way for her. She signaled me to go with her and left in another direction. I followed her for a bit before we reached a certain door.

Before she even said anything, the drone granted us access and the door swiped open. Following her, I entered the room, and saw a few people gathered in front of a large screen with a hologram on it, discussing something.

"How's it going?" An excited voice sounded as a girl from the gathered people turned to face us. 

She sounded familiar in a way... was she the girl I met on the way to the meeting room? I didn't pay full attention to her features at that time, so I was not completely sure.

"Everything's fine," replied #14373. "She's registered successfully, plus the ID is #71462."

"What a pity! If she got an ID starting with an eight, she's gonna join our Eight's Gang!" The girl joked.

"Sheesh, stop it. Don't you know that the numbers are assigned randomly? You're just going to confuse her." #14373 responded with her serious attitude, with a smile on her lips, as she took a few steps forward to check the contents on the screen.

"Hehe, Chelsy the bossy always so serious." Another person joked, and they all laughed. Well, all except for #14373 herself. She simply gave them all a death stare (still in a joking manner) before returning back to reading the contents on the screen.

"So your name... Averyn. A-v-e-r-y-n, correct?" She then turned to me and asked.

"Uh.. right." I replied.

She turned over to me once again, before typing some more information onto the screen before hitting a certain button from the massive board of buttons.

"All set. It's none of my business from now on, so I'd probably be off working. Good luck!" #14373 stood up from her half-crouching position and turned away for the door, opening the door and leaving swiftly.

"My god, Chelsy's always so busy. Being in the Search Team must be as busy as hell." Someone from the group sighed.

"Agreed. And I can't imagine how busy #0 and his first team were, during the old times without so many drones. They must work all day and night."

The girl that I recognized suddenly turned over to me, and handed me a few things. "Averyn? Now these are your stuff, the ID card, the wrist identification, paper certificates, a few things really. Your resident room location is shown over here, and pretty much anything else is on here, manuals for the service drones and such. You want to work on the Drone Technology Team, right? Then you'll have to report to the room number - let me check, D28F - in the Center House some time later. There's no exact deadline for you to be there, you can go whenever you feel like. Anyways, you are permitted to have a personal drone, just ask the drone tech guys. So, you're all good to go! Potatoes for you!"

"Um, uh, okay?" I stuttered, unable to make out any more words, as I made my way out of the room. For the first time in my life, I had the focus of other people on me. I had always been the ignored one, and stood in the corners and the shadows rather than in the center and in the light. The people in the Neutral Territories never cared to pay any attention to anyone as dull as me. 

After signaling the service drone of their room to guide my way to the residential room, I traveled through a long set of corridors, before I came to a door with a small blue hologram on top of it.

ROOM LR124

FOR #14373, #71462, AND #UNIDENTIFIED

————————

"Avie, now shut off and go recharge."

My new personal drone turned itself off and went to its recharging place, which was a triangular plate floating at the balcony of my room. Speaking of my room, it seemed that I shared a room with the serious #14373, however she was so busy that I never saw her come back and rest for the whole evening.

I made the decision to not wait for her any longer as I sat upright on the bed, staring at the unmoving door, even though I didn't know whether it was right to wait for one's roommate to come back before resting. There were a lot of things I didn't know about this place and its residents, like why they accepted and trusted me so quickly, what the "AV-8" was, and finally, what does it have to do with the "Red Nexus" thing -- I despised the Red Nexus strongly, and as far as I knew, they seemed to hold the exact same opinion as well. There was so much uncertainty. Did they treat me well just because there was a bigger plan with me that no one told me about? Of course anyone who meant to do harm to me wouldn't tell me beforehand. Why did they have control over such advanced technology, when the rest of the world was just a jumble of ruins? It didn't make any sense.

I let those thoughts play over and over again in my mind as I tried to fall asleep, but couldn't at all. I knew exactly why: I was unused to such technology and luxury, laying on a comfortable bed in a safe room, with a possession over a drone that could do almost anything for me, and food that I didn't have to check over whether it was edible or not. And most importantly, people who treated me like... an ally. A friend. A... part of a family. Unlike the people back in the Neutral Territories, the surroundings I grew up with, who either ignored me or attacked me out of no reasons.

Family.

My thoughts came back to this word. Again. I never really had a true family, so I had no idea what it meant. But now... I knew a little. People treating each other kindly, trusting each other, depending on each other, helping others just to make them feel good...

At least I grasped a little of that warmth I missed my whole life.

I was still wary of those people, those people with the black clothes on, those people who are passionate with their work even though they knew won't earn themselves anything. But that might change in the future. Should I loosen up and let go of my alerted nature? Should I really become one of them? Should I say hello to this new world at all?

Just then, the automatic door slid open and a shadow slipped in.

She was back. 

Glancing at the holographic clock on the ceiling, it was already more than half past one.

Already working on Chapter 9! No need to worry, I promise it will be a more exciting chapter than this one, and PROMISE it won't take as long! Good news is that I'm out of my writer's block and finally back to writing more!! 🥔🥔🥔💖

My 2022 goal: Complete AVEM