HIDDEN ─ marvel

XXIV. Ferris Bueller

Three and a half months later...

Chapter Twenty-Four:
Alex

'And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's meant to be broken
I just want you to know who I am.'

Soroya reluctantly let me borrow her iPod. After all, she did say I had to be tortured with pop culture eventually.

I've been working with Shuri and the other scientists of Wakanda on the trains for probably three or four months now. She already has exsisting plans from the trains that carry the vibranium under the lab, so we are using those to create the new ones. We think the train will be above ground not below, so there's a team working on tracks right now. My job is to work on the engines of the trains, which is what I remember most from when I was a boy. We are almost done with the work, needing maybe only another month before everything is fully functional.

I've gotten into a really good rhythm; I wake up way too early and come down here to work, I do this until night, then I go to sleep. At least I have Soroya's iPod to keep me from getting bored. She is worse off; wake up an hour earlier and goes to help with the merging armies. She does this until night as well, but then comes to the lab and helps Shuri with the cure she's creating for Bucky. I think she's barely slept in days. Khari is in that same boat, since everyday he's going back and forth and overseeing both projects.

Shuri is in the lab all day working on fuel and the mechanics of things, while everyone else builds the damn thing outside. I tend to go back and forth between helping Shuri and working outside. Khari usually comes to check on us around lunch, where we take a break. Part of me thinks he does this so Shuri can give him a full report on what happened during the morning, but part of me also thinks he does this to see me. After talking with Shuri for maybe ten minutes he spends the remaining twenty talking to me. He does this everyday.

It's been difficult trying to open up, but Khari makes the task much easier. I bet if I murdered someone in front of him he would still look at me with the same friendliness and give me the same warm smile.

He and I have been sitting down for the past fifteen minutes, both of us sharing a sandwich and talking about movies. This is usually the topic we discuss everyday. "Wait wait wait," I say, finishing off the last of my sandwich. "So the past few days I've been explaining these movies to you, but you haven't actually seen any movies?"

Khari shakes his head. "I'm a member of the Jabari, of course I've never seen a movie."

My heart hurts. I thought I was the one behind on pop culture. "That's disgraceful! You have been deprived!"

Amusement crosses his face. Those hazel eyes crease as he smiles. "Are they really that good?"

I nod my head vigorously. "The three I've told you about: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future literally shaped humanity as we know it. I can't even fathom a world where they don't exist."

"I'll have to watch them some time."

"Do they even have electricity in Jabariland?"

He nods. "Yes, but it isn't used for leisure activities."

I shake my head. "Alright, I need to rectify the situation. What are you doing tonight?"