10...
20...
30...
40...
A thump rebounded off the walls of a room shaped like a pack of gum. Most of this room was taken up by a bed, one used as a table for everything unable to be on the desk under the windows. In the small gap between the bed and the right wall was a carpet, and atop it laid an exhausted skeleton.
This 'skeleton' was barely concealed within a poor excuse for a muscle system and acne-ridden skin. After only forty seconds training its abdomen in the 'plank' position it had given out. The body's owner, a young man buried face first in the carpet, could only sigh.
"And once again, I fall short..."
He heaved himself off the ground and began his daily routine. He procured some pants from his drawers, travelled to the bathroom to brush his teeth and shower, then returned to his room to apply deodorant and acne-fighting solutions. Upon opening his blinds he winced at the sudden light.
This light came via redirection from the glass on Nelo Tower, the centerpiece of the floating city of Leil. As the mechanical underbelly of the city floated over radioactive waters Nelo regulated the bubble that covered the top. Both sides closed Leil off from the outside world's poisonous air completely.
This boy stood stone still, gazing up at a sky cluttered with other city-ships. While Leil was a mid-size carrier the others varied from small agricultural pods to towering mega-metropolises. It would be no exaggeration to say that Leil, a simple bed town, had little importance compared to its brethren within the Odyssey Grand Fleet.
Our boy stayed long enough to see three high-speed wyverns streak over Leil's bubble. The fleshy beasts were pursued by symbols of humanity's mechanical might: fighter jets. It didn't take long for the wyverns to succumb to the rapid-fire beam gatlings the jets were equipped with.
The boy grit his teeth. With a huff he grabbed his bag and exited his room, seeking to forget all about the silver guardians of Leil's airspace. He was promptly greeted by the sight of a guy double his height attempting to drag a massive case out into the living room.
"Patrick what the hell are you doing?" the boy asked.
The roommate, Patrick, couldn't stop his arms from giving out and letting the case impact the floor. "What...Does it...Look like...?" he replied, clearly out of breath.
"It looks like you're transporting a warhead to be honest."
"Screw you Samir..."
Samir smirked, but he made sure to stifle it before he came over to help. "Here, I'll help lift the other side. If this is going to the campus lab then I should be able to reach class in time."
"It's fine, I'd rather not get fined for making a guy with Watkins exert himself over the line. And don't you have statistics soon anyway?"
"You say that like I LIKE Stat."
"YOU SHOULD!" Patrick shouted back, his inner numbers-freak coming out with fury. "Our world is BUILT on data, you need to understand it if you want to get ahead!"
Samir shrugged it off. "Hey you know me, I learn by doing not by listening."
"How does a guy like you keep passing?"
"Luck and charm, mainly. Nagging parents are a boost too."
"You think you can talk to me about nagging parents? My mom is still calling to scream at me every chance she can!"
"You'd think she'd be proud of you after all those city network projects you've helped out on...Oh wait, is this thing for that new one you got last month?"
