The Celestial Chronicles | Book 1 | Quest For The Celestial Artifacts & Dragons

🌑 Chapter Two ☀️

2298
Milky Way Galaxy
Planet Earth
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn Public School
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The one thing Malyla Stephens hated was when people brought up the tragic passing of her parents as if it was some mistake on their part that caused their death. 

She hunched forward, her arms folded on the cafeteria table at the public school in Brooklyn as her eyes scanned the glass window cafeteria.

AI lunch ladies clad in soft artificial metallic skin, their faces held a soft, pleasant expression greeting tthe student. faces Their blue and purple uniforms made from waterproof materials to keep spills and mishaps from causing them to malfunction. They worked in unison distributing the food prepared by themselves with the help of humans controlling them from the comfort of their homes.

She twisted her strawberry blonde hair around her finger while her other hand held a fork that pokes at the extra cheesy mac and cheese on her tray.

Adel Malek's green eyes glanced at his friend, taking a bite out of his chicken strips. "Malyla," He gently said, his black hair falling out of it slicked back style. He chewed up the food in his mouth and swallowed, noticing how quiet she was. "Malyla?"

Malyla turned her head towards Adel, snapping out of her trance-like state. Her eyebrows furrowed and her expression became confused. "Oh, um, sorry, what were you talking about?" She asked, pushing the hair she had just been playing with behind her ear. 

Adel pursed his lips momentarily before replying to her question. "Well, Pedro and I were discussing what to do this weekend. He asked if you wanted to go to the beach or go to the arcade. I said I'd prefer the arcade since I wanna play some more retro games." 

Malyla's cheeks grew red, simply out of embarrassment for not listening to her friends and being lost in her thoughts. "Oh, sorry. Um, I don't know. Fletcher will be at the hospital working, I'd have to take Sammy with me." She sheepishly replied, folding her arms and resting them on the table.

Pedro Oliveira smiled, his hazel eyes seemingly smiling too as he sat back, pulling the beanie over his light brown hair. "Sammy is always welcome to join." He enthusiastically said, shoveling some mashed potatoes into his mouth.

Malyla frowned, she definitely didn't want her little brother coming along, but she couldn't exactly say no. "Only if Sammy is up for it. He'd probably rather stay home and watch cooking shows than play retro games." She huffed, giving her eyes a roll as she sipped on her drink.

Adel nudged her gently with his elbow. "Who doesn't love cooking shows? Well, except for that famous cooking show where the celebrity chefs hide behind the AIs and create the dishes. It's kinda dumb since the AIs are nothing more than robots with human features. Pfft, it's what? The 23rd century and we still don't have AIs who think for themselves?"

"Ah~" Pedro slammed down his water bottle after he had chugged the water down in a matter of three gulps. "We at least have flying cars - we'll, technically they are only used at the Space Exploration, Research and Aeronautics Institute for their aviation program, normal people like us couldn't get one until maybe another decade or two? Maybe three at most? Four if I'm being generous." 

Malyla groaned and laced her fingers in her hair, resting her elbows on the table. "Ugh, not SERA. Those liars! Blaming accidents on innocent people rather than investigating and finding out the truth about what really happened." She grumbled, hatred burning inside her and a fire dancing in her eyes at the mere mention of their name.

Adel exchanged an awkward glance with Pedro before looking back at Malyla. "Normally you'd be dismissive when we speak about SERA. Did Cheyenne bring up your parents again?"