Prodigy Eternal (book 2)

Chapter Eleven

Nightfall came and Alex still wasn’t feeling any better. Her brain was still working as it normally did, but was slowly regressing. In time, her synesthesia would fade away and she would lose her super computation abilities. For now, she was operating at around eighty percent of her normal capacity.

Despite her reluctance, Alex had been convinced to go out and experience the first annual Alexandra Gray Day — as ridiculous as that seemed to her.

Before the six-person group even emerged from the underground subway, they could already hear the music. Loud bass thumped, creating a rhythmic backdrop for the joyful cheers that also filled the air. They pushed their way up the long set of stairs, single file. When they arrived at street level, fireworks exploded and sparkled in the night sky. The group stood in awe, taking it all in.

“Well, what do you think?” Yuri asked, shouting over the noise.

“It’s… busy,” Alex said, feeling a tad overwhelmed.

“Are you going to be okay?” Aris asked.

“I grew up in Megalopolis, remember? I’ll be fine.”

The downtown core was packed as millions of people funneled in from all corners of the city to gather in celebration. Camera-mounted drones hovered overhead, capturing footage of the crowd and displaying a live feed of the action on several large projections. Many of the giant balloons from the daytime parade still lingered above. One such balloon was a massive caricature of Alex, which floated blissfully in the breeze and ricocheted off the tall buildings. The atmosphere was truly electric, resembling New Year’s Eve at Times Square.

With so many people around, Alex figured she could blend in without the risk of being identified. As such, she opted not to wear her head wrap, but still wore a pair of vision-enhancing glasses — a type of eyewear that people wore at night. Underneath the night-vision lenses were a pair of beautiful green eyes. Her hair colour would not change until the next growth cycle, but that didn’t matter much anyway since her naturally blond hair was already dyed chestnut brown.

The guardians were on patrol, but were only there to keep the peace and diffuse any problems that may arise. In situations like these, the guardians were vastly outnumbered, but their presence helped keep things from getting too out of hand.

On one of the giant screens, a large projection of Zane — the famous dreamcaster — suddenly appeared. “What’s up, Tokyo!” he greeted from some remote location. Nearly every teenage girl in the audience screamed in unison.

“Oh my gosh, it’s Zane!”

“He’s so dreamy.”

“We love you, Zane!”

Zane had over ten million subscribers and was one of the most popular dreamcasters in the world. His dreams were very romantic, or at least those were the only ones he uploaded to his channel, and this caused women of all ages to become crazed with desire for him. Since he had become famous using technology that Alex had helped to create, he had been asked to give a message that was broadcasted to the world in honour of her.

“Happy Alexandra Gray Day, everyone! Party responsibly and have sweet dreams!”

After Zane blew a kiss, the feed cut out and the thunderous bass kicked in. It pounded against everyone’s bodies from all angles.

“I don’t get what the big deal is with this Zane guy,” Aris said.

“WHAT?” Alex asked, shouting back.

“NEVER MIND.”

Aris wanted to make sure Alex was okay, so he grabbed her by the hand and followed behind Glitch. They penetrated the dense sea of people who were gyrating and behaving recklessly. Navigating through the cluster was a bit hazardous, but the men tried their best to keep Alex protected. The muscle-bound Glitch led the pack and tried to clear a path as they slinked through the crowd. Even then, Alex was getting jostled about. It became considerably less condensed the farther away they got from the train station. The group continued westward until they reached one of the many beer gardens. Aris was still holding Alex’s hand.

“You want a beer, Aoki?” Aris asked.

“Sure,” Alex replied.

“Alright, stay here.”

“Don’t worry,” Glitch said, “I’ll stay with her.”

The event was unlike anything Alex had experienced, especially considering the entire celebration was for her. She looked around at the sea of people and all the happy faces. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Alex looked up at the tall buildings, which reminded her of how small she was. It was still unbelievable to her that she had become so famous.

Aris and Yuri returned shortly, each carrying six beers. They passed them around to the group and everyone said ‘cheers’ before taking a sip. It was a tradition that dated back hundreds of years and had managed to remain throughout the revitalization of society after World War III.

After some drinking, Alex began to relax a little more and started to enjoy herself. It was undoubtedly an extravagant party predicated on one person and no one in history had ever been more celebrated than her. She was cognizant of not letting her fame go to her head, but at the same time, it was a little flattering.

“Can you believe this?” Aris asked. “This is all for you.”

“I didn’t do it alone, this is for us,” she replied, taking another sip.

As the night progressed, they both became more intoxicated, and were not acting like themselves. The entire time, they never left each other’s sides. Aris made a special point to hold Alex’s hand under the ulterior motive of keeping her safe.

“Alex?” Aris said, slurring his words.

“Yeah?”

“I think you’re beautiful.”

“Wait, my name’s not, Alex, remember?”

“My name’s not ‘remember’… Alex.”

By this point in the evening, the effects of the alcohol had fully kicked in, causing both of them to act a little silly. Without any inhibitions getting in his way, Aris finally summoned the courage to do something he always wanted to do. He pulled Alex closer and the two shared their first kiss. They began passionately making out, slobbering over each other like a young couple in love. Aris peeled Alex’s glasses off to connect with her more. In that moment, nothing else mattered to them.

While the two paid no mind to the millions of people around them, unbeknownst to them, they had attracted some unwanted attention. One of the drones happened to capture them kissing and projected it on one of the fifty-foot screens.

“It’s Alex!” someone yelled out, recognizing her immediately.

Various people throughout the crowd made the same discovery, and as the murmurs spread like wildfire, soon everyone began to point up at the screen and shout.

As the people around them began to move in for a closer look, Alex pulled away from Aris. They had yet to realize what all the commotion was about. Then they looked up at one of the giant screens. Alex was now staring directly into one of the cameras. No matter the hair style or eye colouring, it was not enough to disguise her universally recognizable face. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that it was her. People started going crazy. Although she was embarrassed by having her kiss publicized, she was even more concerned for her safety.

“We have to get out of here, now!” Aris said. “Come on.”

The remaining drones swarmed in and before Alex and Aris could disappear into the crowd, the pair were being broadcasted on every screen, from every angle, in 4K resolution. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause as they could not believe the famous Alexandra Gray had graced them with her presence. Within seconds, a mêlée had ensued as mobs of people surrounded the young couple. The flashing cameras were the least of their concern as thousands of intoxicated people were all clamouring for a piece of her. If the two didn’t get out of there soon, it could turn disastrous very quickly.

Aris was less drunk than Alex, so he took charge. Slipping through the crowd was made even more difficult with all the people touching them and pulling on their hair and clothes. Through her blurred vision, everything blended into one chaotic mosaic of lights and distorted faces.

“Hold on, Alex,” Aris said. “I’ll get you out of this.”