Catalina and the 31

Chapter Four- Sherlock Holmes and Copper Bots

"Nope," said Mr. Hershel. She heard him shake his head.

"Now it's time for my next question," Catalina began. "Who owns the school and who's in charge of it?"

"Well, the school is owned by the government. And the man who is in charge of it is Mr. Tyro," the pilot said as he clicked a few more buttons.

"Which government?" Catalina asked innocently.

"The -" Mr. Hershel stopped himself. He clicked his tongue. "Nice try, but you're not going to get anything out of me, Miss Catalina! Anyway, you probably want to know about the campus, right? Well the dorms are quite nice, overlooking the lake, but separated by genders of course! And you can't forget how exclusive the school is, less that 200 students! You are quite lucky to have made the cut."

Catalina sighed, but she had not yet given up trying to learn as much information as she possibly could. He was obviously changing the topic on purpose. "Well, the hologram - "

"Mr. Tyro," interrupted the pilot.

"He's the owner of the school?" wondered Catalina.

"Well, he wasn't originally, but then-" Mr. Hershel stopped himself. "I've said too much."

Catalina grinned. She hadn't even arrived at the school yet, and she was already in on some secrets! She'd read a few mystery novels from the OKU, and she'd always thought it'd be cool to be like one of the ancient detectives, like Sherlock Holmes.

"Just pretend you didn't hear me say that," begged Mr. Hershel. "Promise me." He sounded frightened and helpless. As if he would get in trouble for relaying the information that he had just told her.

"Okay," Catalina said, as if she had already forgotten. "I promise." But inwardly, she thought, I am going to find out what really happened, and who was originally supposed to be the owner of the school. And if she set her mind on something, nobody or nothing was ever going to stop her. 

They were silent as Mr. Hershel flew their helicopter to the campus of the hidden TREASURE Academy.

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Soon they were almost to TREASURE! Catalina almost couldn't stand the anticipation. When a few more minutes passed, which she thought felt more like a couple of eternities, Mr. Hershel said in a kind voice,

"I can remove the EyeBlind now, as we're getting close."

She heard movement near her, then the whirring of the robotic arms. She felt pressure on her eyelids, and after a few seconds it retreated. A few more seconds passed before she cautiously tried to open her eyes. Although her eyes were a bit sore for being shut for so long, they opened!

She saw the inside of the helicopter, but through the windows, there was only white. It was incredible, as if she were flying through a sea of white sheep's wool!"

"We're flying through the clouds!" she said with excitement.

"Not for long," Mr. Hershel said.

Just then the helicopter dipped down, slicing through the clouds like an arrow. Catalina felt her stomach drop, although she didn't know if it was from the flight down or her nervousness. The clouds began to part as they flew through, revealing blue sky. Then...

"Welcome to TREASURE!" Mr. Hershel exclaimed, with a grin spreading across his face. The helicopter slowed it's decent, and time seemed to stand still as Catalina got her first glimpse of TREASURE.

The first thing Catalina saw was the color! From the lush green canopy of trees, the rainbow of colors making up the meadow, to the dark depths of the lake. The whole campus was like the ancient painters took their brushes with the most vivid colors, and smeared them across the campus. Her eyes couldn't pick one just one thing to focus on first! Oddly enough, when her eyes did focus, it wasn't on the array of flying bots, or the huge assortment buildings. It was on the mountains and forests to the west that drew her eyes. The peaks were so tall; like a giant's hand reaching towards the sky! The forest was wild, growing this way and that way, not yielding to any other force except nature. It seemed that anything could be hidden beneath the lush foliage even those extinct tigers Olivia loved so much! They were so different to the trees she was used to, growing in neat, straight lines, just trying to produce enough oxygen for us to live off. And the Lake! Next to the ocean, which she had seen just hours before, this was the largest body of water she had seen in her life, and the sight of it took her breath away. Covered with mist, and surrounded by forest, it seemed like something out of a story book! It stretched out as far as the eye could see, which in the mist hovering over the lake, wasn't the farthest.

And the buildings! With their faces of glass, and sunlight streaming in, they looked like they belonged there. Their unique shapes and positions were placed around the campus, perfectly in balance with the monuments that nature had already placed. There were buildings of every size and position, with the one in the center reigning over them all in its position of glory, smack dab in the middle. Near the lakes, there were two identical buildings, on opposite sides. Those must be the dorms, like Mr. Hershel had mentioned, Catalina thought. The rest however, she knew nothing about what they could hold. Or... she thought, what secrets they could be holding.

The helicopter had been continuing at its slow decent, until it got far enough down for a little copper bot to fly up. It flashed twice, then returned flying so quick, it seemed almost seemed to just re-appear to its original position near the ground.

What Catalina didn't understand were the little copper bots. They went in and out of buildings, stopped at specific people or places, then continued their zipping pattern. She could hardly see them from her position in the sky, except the one that had come near the helicopter, but she was curious all the same.

She was about to ask Mr. Hershel, but the moment the bot had left, he took the helicopter into high gear and flew down toward a landing pad in the meadows. The meadows were to the right of the majority of the campus, a blanked of what appeared to be short grasses and flowers. As they neared their destination-a helicopter pad a considerable distance from the main campus- she noticed a building made by what appeared to be actual wood, surrounded by a fence, also wood. In Buenos Aires, where she had lived most of her life, all the buildings she had lived in or spent the majority of her time were made by industrial level metal, generally the cheapest available that could support many levels of building. In the Eye and surrounding areas, there was much more diversity in building styles and materials, but never wood! It would be a colossal waste, when the trees we have barely support us as it is. Plus, wood would never be able to support the layers necessary to fit such a large population into such a small space.

They landed on the helicopter pad, and she disembarked, the chopping noise of the blades continuing, until slowly coming to a halt. She removed her SoundBlocks, and found that Mr. Hershel had already removed his.

With a smile, he gestured to TREASURE.
"Welcome to your new home!"