Mist of Doom

2. Awakening

"You can learn about us on our official website, young lady."

The woman in office dress faked a smile; Mika knew it. Had she had an Internet access at home, she wouldn't have come to the information counter of Metaslica Faculty of Science. The sparkling marble floor, desks, and pillars in the building, in addition to the strong-smelling perfume used by the wandering scholars and staffers, made her feel like a disheveled mutt amid a pack of well-cared poodles in a dog show.

The gossip about Metaslica University accepting mostly children of rich people in the state was true after all. It made Mika wonder if the entrance exam in this university was just for show. But what could she do? The mist had rendered Central Billion and the humble Billion State University unapproachable. If only there were more universities that would let her study Seed...

"I'm sure that everybody in the state has an Internet access," the woman added, "except those from the slum."

Mika's blood boiled, but she merely returned the fake smile. "Okay, I get it. Thanks." Hands in pockets, she walked away from the counter and towards the exit.

The passersby gave her a smug look, at which she bowed with her teeth gritted and her hands gripping the fabric within her pants pockets. An indigent from the slum she was, but hey, she had fought against Seed-infected people and survived. These cocky moneybags would need her whenever this alien drug business got out of hand.

Well, she did get a lot of help from Grave, her one-eyed undead guardian, but still.

Sunlight greeted Mika once she stepped out of the building. The lavenders in the flowerbeds swayed in the breeze from the town's windmills, their fragrance wafting into her nostrils.

Walking past the row of top model cars by the flowerbeds, she sighed. Okay, she understood why she shouldn't park here, but even in the motorcycle parking zone of the faculty, the parking attendant shooed her away as soon as he saw her. She rode a random motorbike that Grave stole from his enemies four years ago, not a pricey, branded one like a Harley Davidson.

So she ended up parking her vehicle at the roadside, across the faculty of snobs.

Mika approached the sidecar of her motorbike, grabbed the helmet from the passenger carrier and put it on. Heading to the main seat, she stared at the sidecar as though her younger self sat there. Ah, how much she missed the days when her guardian could still drive her around the town. Grave was dead to begin with, and the Seed alien in his body had been keeping him "alive" in exchange for his blood; should he fail to quench its thirst, it would reduce him to smithereens. Luckily, the alien would go dormant whenever he hibernated in their trailer.

"Was it fun to sleep whenever you have nothing to do, just because you can't do anything else without risking your body?" she wondered out loud, thrusting the key into the ignition hole and twisting it. The engine came to life with a roar. "Don't you want to live more freely and see how much the world has changed, Brandon?"

Soothing warmth streamed into her chest when she mentioned Grave's real name. She had never called him by that, had she? Now was the time to change, to show him that she doted on him as though he was her biological father. Perhaps someday, she'd call him "father" instead.

She hopped onto the trembling motorbike and headed home. Her skin tingled with coolness as the wind blew against her.

Engines droned across the streets. The air was gray with the exhaust gas from the nearby vehicles, yet Mika sensed only the faint stench of burned oil. Perhaps years of direct exposure to the fumes had dulled her senses a bit.