Strangers and Soldiers (Book Two of The Upgrade Trilogy)

Welcome to the Future

I could hardly believe it either. Instead of sitting in my comfy hospital bed, I had to go someplace I already hated.

But I didn't really have a choice, did I?

So, instead of whining, I got out of the bed, took some spare clothes lying around, and got changed. Hopefully in the Penthouse, they had better taste than they did in this hospital.

"How long does it take?" I grabbed a bag and randomly claimed it as my own.

"To get to the Penthouse?" Wendy turned around. She and Lola had changed into regular clothes. "About ten minutes, if we take the subway. Why do you ask?"

I shrugged, opening the door. "Just curious. Ladies first."

"Thanks, Ethan." Lola smiled, heading outside.

"Of course." I followed the two girls, but stopped as soon as I saw what was in front of me.

We were underground, that was clear by the looks of it. People were scattered across, going to and fro.

The next subway car is arriving. Please stand back. I heard a voice overhead, and my wrist was grabbed.

It was Wendy. "Come on, we gotta hurry!"

Let's make one thing clear: I did not want to ignore her.

As soon as we got inside and sat down, (Well, they sat. I offered my seat to a poor old lady.) the car took off. We were in motion for a while, when I noticed something horrible.

The man in front of me, he was typing on his phone. Then he took it, and slammed it into the back of his hand. His hand lit up neon green, and so did the phone. But that wasn't the weirdest part. Looking around, nobody else seemed to know, or care. Even Wendy and Lola didn't look.

Meanwhile, my jaw dropped.

"How'd you do that?" I asked him. He just stared at me like I was insane.

About five minutes later, we reached our stop, and got off. The man who'd made his phone light up stayed on, and gave me the darkest of glares.

I felt uncomfortable. "Did you guys not see that?"

"See what?" Lola allowed me to borrow her card, as we made our way through the underground, and to the escalators.

"The guy!" I was losing my mind over something so stupid. "He just, like, magically charged his phone, and nobody seemed to...."

My train of thought suddenly went ka-boom.

The future. A concept only thought of for years as fiction. And yet, for as long as the concept of time has existed, it's been right in front of us, we've just learned to ignore it.

All those inventions we the people of 2014 were so desperately waiting for were nothing but mere ideas.

Or at least, so I thought.

Stepping outside that subway, into the warm summer evening, machines were everywhere. Advertisements were glowing on giant electric boards, neon colors were aglow, and flying veichles were soaring through the sky.

I was in the future.

The real, actual future.

Holy shit.

"Hello, Earth to Ethan!" Wendy frantically snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Come on we gotta go, or she's gonna kill us!"

I blinked. "Guys, how long was I really out for?"

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Uh, who cares?!"

"I DO!!!" I cried, more aggressive than I meant to be.

"There you guys are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" A boy with black hair and skin the color of a latte rushed up to us. "Who is-you know what-I'm not gonna ask."

"Gordon-Ethan. Ethan, Gordon." Wendy rushed through the introductions.

I was speechless. "Nice to meet you too, dude."

"Don't call me dude. You hardly know me." Gordon grumbled.

----
So I said nothing else. Which they seemed to be fine with.

We finally arrived at a giant apartment. It was three stories long, painted red, and squished in between a dozen other apartments.

This was the Penthouse.

"We made it..." Lola sighed with relief as she unlocked the door.

"Ahem." Someone else was standing there.

My eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. A woman with brown-gray hair, that stood at 5'4, and wore a red apron that said MAMA CHEF on it, stood before us.

"So, you thought you could smuggle in a kid for the night?" Mrs. Wilberton raised an eyebrow. "Well, Hanson, I'll have you know I never accept random people off the street, young lady. Two hours on the wall for you."

I was losing it. "Ma'am, please-

"Did I say you could talk, boy?" The chubby woman grit her teeth.

My instincts pointed to running, but I had to ask her something. "Can I at least ask what year it is?"

"Are you dumb? It's 2114!" She threatened me with a spatula.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What?!"

"Hanson, Weissberg, Theodos!" Ms. Wilberton turned to my friends.
"Did you bring an insane kid in my place without my permission?!"

"I'm-I'm not insane!" I insisted.

"Then what the hell are ya?!" She shrieked.

The first word that came to my head suddenly slipped out of my mouth. "I'm a hybrid."

-----
Did I ever tell you I'm amazing with words?

No? Well, now you know I'm terrible with words.

That evening, during the first dinner I had at The Penthouse, I sat alone. I had already unpacked all my stuff, but nobody had said anything to me yet. How cliche.

"Oooh, look at me, I'm Ethan, I don't even know what year it is!" Wendy mocked me as she, Gordon, and Lola sat down next to me. "Seriously, though, what the legit hell is wrong with you?!"

Gordon groaned. "Wendy, you need to stop picking on this guy, okay?! It's his first day, he isn't used to The Penthouse rules, cut him some slack!"

"Sorry." She mumbled, looking at her mashed potatoes.

"No, it's fine." All the questions that had been bouncing back and forth in my mind caused me to lose my appetite. "She has every reason to. I've only been here for two hours, and already, everyone hates me."

Lola looked concerned. "I-I don't hate you."

"Except for you." I rolled my eyes.

"So anyways, we're thinking about going to a concert this weekend." Gordon cleared his throat. "You wanna come with us, Ethan?"

"Sure, who's performing? Panic! at the Disco? Fall Out Boy?" I offered some band names.

The three gave me blank stares. "Who?"

I'd forgotten I was a century ahead. Not that I'd bothered to explain that one to any of them. "No one."

"His name's Tyrone Van-Padilla, and he's performing for one night only." Gordon pulled up his phone. "Surely you've heard of him."

"Um, yeah, totally! What was I thinking?" I lied. I already hated lying to them, but they'd never understand. Would anyone understand?