Crossed Worlds

Chapter 5: What's your Truth?

The group of friends took their seats in the hall, ready, or in some cases as ready as they'd ever be, for the Wild One Awareness meeting.

A woman in black jeans and a floral blouse looked as though she would be the one leading the evening's talk, as she was plugging wires into laptops and speakers and rearranging pieces of paper, all whilst scanning the room to see if everyone that would arrive had arrived yet.

"We will begin shortly," she smiled, and Jade felt like she would have to try very hard to dislike this harmless woman.

"She seems nice," Hunter read her mind. "At least David Lawrence isn't actually taking it. That would be even more boring."

Lily rolled her eyes. "This isn't going to be boring; it is going to be informative! Don't you want to gain some kind of knowledge about the threat that shares this planet with us?"

Jade couldn't believe that the meeting hadn't even started and she was already dangerously close to walking out.

"Let's save the Wild One chat for when the lady starts talking, shall we?" Luke offered and Hunter and Lily both sat back in their seats, like children having been told off by their parents.

On cue, the woman tapped on a small microphone and asked if everyone could hear her. The response of a few nods and grunts of confirmation seemed to be enough for her to begin.

"So, I am sure you are all here for very similar reasons. Perhaps you want to protect yourself via the power of knowledge, perhaps you were urged by the tests ran this morning, perhaps your parents forced you," she tried a laugh and Jade felt the urge to force a smile. "But what these all have in common is you're here to find out more. You are here to become aware, and, enlightened."

She let that hang in the air, some kind of dramatic statement, but it didn't seem to have anyone on the edge of their seat. Hunter let out a yawn and relaxed back into his chair, which Jade covered her mouth to smirk at.

A video was projected onto the screen – the second time that day these teenagers had to watch something the Being leaders had created – and Jade released a heavy sigh. Jack nudged her and they shared a smile, reminding her how thankful she was for her friends who came to suffer this with her.

"This video is the first of many we will watch together. There will also be interactive presentations in the coming weeks. Please watch carefully, and we will have time for questions at the end. I will conclude with a little speech, too, which I hope isn't too dull," she smiled and Jade wondered how such lovely people could have judgement that was so clouded.

The video began, a montage of young Beings just like the ones that populated the hall, and it was paired with that modern background music that old people who created things like this thought made it hip and appealing to teenagers.

A title floated onto the screen, reading 'Why We Need to be Aware'. The only interest Jade felt was at how they were going to manage making Wild Ones look like enemies to be terrified of when they were just normal.

"Hi, I am Ben Robin, and you're going to be seeing a lot more of me in the videos shown at your meetings. Lucky you!" A young man with glasses and a smile populated with way too many teeth shouted through the screen.

"Bloody hell," Hunter pulled at his hair, causing everyone but Lily to quietly laugh.

"Today, we are going to talk about why we need to be aware of the Wild One species. First, let's go back in time!"

The special effects looked ancient – colourful whirls trying to show time travel – and Ben Robin was already hard to listen to. He spoke about when the Wild Ones were banished, explaining the reasons for this (they were horrible, horrible, evil people, of course) and then talked through the coming decades after this. He said that since they left, Beings had lived in a harmony like never before, showing how crucial it is that we always view them as a threat to our peace.