Second Life: A Second Chance

Emerald Orman (I)

Everymale in the room stands up around me and begin to head out toward the exit at the front of the auditorium where the platform is at, where a bright huge light emerges from. Davis who was with us at first, was nowhere to be found by the time I exit the large room.

As I reach the outer exit of the auditorium, a huge light overcomes my sight followed by a sight I have never seen before. Clearing the blinding light away from my periphery, I spot a huge circle of males at about a few meters away from where I stand, all around my age, huddled up around something yet unseen to me, most likely waiting to get the disc that Miss Jager was mentioning about. As the large grouping of males begins to split apart, I catch a glimpse of what they are huddled up around. Several people in purple attire, people meaning males and females of an age a bit older than mine, are handing out the small discs by the dozen to the lessening crowd of males in front of me. Somehow in the disorder of the disc giving, I catch a disc that was thrown to me at random with my right hand. Immediately after receiving the disc, I notice how cold the disc is against my warm hand. Looking at the disc with full attention, I figure out the dimensions of the disc quickly. The disc thrown to me is a thin pocket sized silver square disk with an apparent thumbprint scanner on the back with sharp ridges. I turn the square shaped disc over and with a swipe, I turn the disc's settings on. Looking at the disc, I notice it directing me to a building far away from the auditorium inside the dome. Ready to find out where I am going to be led at, I head to the small grouping of buildings a kilometer away within the dome, following the direction of the blinking arrow projected to me from the disc.

Several minutes pass and I notice the arrow stopping its blinking as I approach a building with the label "5C." Following the change in motion made by the disc, I watch the disc's surface color transform into a sky blue color, with the front facing surface of the disc depicting the arrow morphing into my name in bold white letters. Startled by the change the disc exhibited, I look around from behind me to see if I am the only one who has noticed this shift in imagery. Seeing no one in sight, I face my attention to the white painted building that is standing in front of me. Full of caution and hesitation, I approach and inspect the outer walls of the white building. Curious as to why I was led here to begin with, I decide to take a small stroll around the building, passing by shrubs and a few trees as I make a circle around the building from where I originally started.

At the same spot where I began my inspection, I glance back again at the building before walking toward the door of the "5C" building via the small concrete ramp that begins from the ground floor. About nearly inside the building, standing on the small concrete platform just before the door, I notice how much the outer front wall of the building, including the entrance door that is located a meter away from where I stand, all colored the same shade of white, are much darker in hue than what it appearing to be when looking at it from afar. Nonetheless, I attempt to walk through the door, only to be surprised seconds after upon noticing how quickly the door to the building I have been led to opens in reaction to my body approaching the knob of the small door. 

Looking inside from the outside of the building through the door, I spot a huge cherry colored wooden staircase beginning from the center of the first floor of the building and on. There on the first step of the red carpet draped staircase, I spot a woman with her hair raised up like a horse's tail in blue sitting down, appearing restless and bored as if she were waiting for something. As I notice her sitting on the staircase, I catch her noticing me. Her eyes enlarge upon glancing at me, with her face appearing to be full of amazement. She looks as if she had never seen another human before. Not even a second passes before she announces herself to me. Scared almost, I ready myself to greet her as all males have to do, assuming she would like a proper greeting. However, just as I begin to greet, she interrupts even my thoughts with a single loud yell.   

"Hi young man!" she abruptly screams at me.

I look at her expression upon being surprised by her loud voice. Her brown eyes gaze at me with intense enthusiasm. She seems very enthusiastic to see me, too enthusiastic if I might add. I wonder what her motives are for being this cheery.  

"You must be the first one to arrive! How are you?!" yells she.

Looking at her face a bit closely, I observe the blue paint she has coated on the left half of her pale tan yellow face. Before I answer back, I look at her flat nose before looking at her eyes again. My eyes move along to look at her small dainty arms as they catch my attention almost entirely. She has a small, open, black colored ring on her wrist. I wonder what that marking on her wrist is for.

Answering quickly as I must in an awkward situation like the one I am in, I begin bowing with the male-to-female greeting gesture. However as I begin to gesture, she cuts me off and tells me that my gesture is not necessary, odd for a female to say that to a male.

"Please it is okay not to be formal with me. I may be a woman but I am also your friend for the day!" she yells again, but this time, gesturing a sign of disapproval toward me.

"I am sorry. I'm fine and thank you for asking," I say, taken aback by this rather odd informal phenomenon.

"My name is Ashley. Your name tag brought you to me am I not mistaken?" 

"Name tag?" 

"It shows your name silly! Do you not have your name tag on you?" she asks with a dash of worry.

"This?" I ask her as I show her the disc that was held on my hand.

"Yes! Put it on!" she yells again at me, but with a casual smile on her face.

I place the disc on my chest, surprised to find it sticks on quite nicely.

Looking at my name tag, she responds with the same eager attitude she spoke to me with before. 

"Nice to meet you Caemanor!" she yells again, with the same casual yet creepy smile she has on her face.  

"Nice to meet you Miss Ashley," I say quietly to her.

"No need to be formal I said! Just call me A.J. or Ashley if you like!"

"Okay," I say, receding away from using proper manners at Ashley. 

It is hard for me to not to be formal to her. I am not the only one to share this belief. I, like many males throughout the nation, were instilled with, during Training and at our home zones, in regards to Paradiasian manners, where we are supposed to, regardless of the situation, to address every single woman we encounter with the proper beginning title of "Ma'am," followed by a turned hand clap and a slight bow to reaffirm respect for the greater gender.

Minutes pass as I wait with Ashley seated on the first steps of the inside of this building's staircase, awaiting for the rest of the males to arrive in order to leave as a group. 

Soon enough, a large grouping of males has begun to appear from all around me, with Ashley's loud cheerful self shaking up the recurring feel of quietness that engulfs the entire room every time a male enters through the building door. She greets them all the same way she greeted me, albeit, with a scary sense of awkwardness that is infused with sheer excitement.

Upon the arrival of the last male from the group of ten or so males, Ashley stops behaving erratically, seeming ready to lead us on a tour of the dome.