SUPERWORLD

Aditya VI

Aditya had flown in private jets before, but never with so many people along for the ride. The group made their way to the airport without a problem. They were let in by a strange man who looked like he worked for the airport at a side gate that Aaron had texted Eric about.

That was when the least comfortable part of their journey began. They were then put in large duffel bags and waited an hour and a half to be loaded onto the jet; Heinrich was put in a cage below the seating. This was made worse by the still-healing wound on Aditya's side that ached so much when it was jostled that it made him feel ill. After the jet took off, they were hauled from the cargo area to the main cabin and released from their nylon prisons.

After that, it was a simple matter of waiting. Aditya had stared out the window, ignoring the musings of Mary and Eric about past events that he wasn't around for, the hushed tones of Kamaljit, and the soft monotones of Agnes' compliance to Eric's every command.

Heinrich was Aditya's only companion for a while, a silent and smelly one, but a companion nonetheless. The dog rested his head on Aditya's lap, returning his owner's looks of malcontent. Finally, the infinite blue landscape of sky and sea wore thin on him. He broke his silence when Eric once again had to check his wound.

"It's a good thing you're so damn lazy, if you moved around a lot, I'd have to keep fixing this. But you're a good little couch potato and that means you don't mess up my sutures and start bleeding all over the place. Which is great, cuz I don't have any blood packs for ya, guy." Eric quipped.

"How much longer do you think?" Aditya asked.

"What? For the plane ride or the wound? A couple more hours for Korea, a couple of weeks for this hole in your side to go away."

"I just meant the plane ride..."

"Oh, well then you should be more precise in your speech. How the hell was I supposed to know what you meant?"

"By being normal. Any regular person would have known that I obviously meant the plane ride."

"The hell do you know about normal?" Eric said, throwing his tools aside to look at Aditya with what appeared to be half anger and half amusement. "You got a freakin' bodyguard and your daddy was ambassador to the U.N. You had diplomatic immunity, for cryin' out loud!" Eric capitalized every point with a grand flailing gesture like an actor in a musical. "Guys like you don't know a damn thing about 'normal', and you better recognize that before it comes to bite you in your pompous, pampered ass!" He finished by twirling away from Aditya and storming off.

Why did I even try to speak? I was much better off as a recluse. Aditya thought, and Heinrich gave a soft snarl to the doctor as he left to support his master.

Aditya's pain was brought to an end when they landed safely in Seoul, South Korea.

The jet was luxurious, being in such close proximity to people he could in no way relate to was what made it an uncomfortable journey. However, this relief was short-lived, as the pilot over the loudspeaker instructed them all to get back in the duffle bags.

They did, with the assistance of the copilot. Aditya's world was once again shrouded by a sky of nylon, he had no visual sense of where he was. From the sounds though, he could understand.

Rattling of wheels and the roar of the engine, we're on a cart on the tarmac.

Mechanical whirring and no human noises or engines. We're inside the airport on a conveyor belt.

A woman speaking Korean on an intercom, the hustle and bustle of people, we're at baggage claim.

From there, Aditya could feel himself being lifted and put into something by at least two men. Then, it was a long drive down a smooth road.