I woke up the next day, thinking about what the Dean had said to me. I knew I needed to impress him. I needed to become an official, but at what cost? Would I need to push my own morals aside for the sake of my father? To save myself? I was in a dilemma. I was not sure what to do.
"You are finally awake, human."
"Good morning 4536," I said less than enthusiastically.
"I have a question for you and since you are awake and there is no one around, I thought it was best to ask it now."
"What machine?" I growled.
"I am not in the mood currently to enjoy tormenting you. That shall wait, human. My only question is how did you open those portals without powers?"
"You just asked me how I opened a portal and I do not have powers. What kind of idiotic question is that?" I mumbled.
"Quiet, human! My intention is not to wake the building so that they may hear your idiotic fable."
"Just leave me alone right now," I cried.
"Alright then. We will have this conversation later. I will let you know however that I have noticed something peculiar about your anatomy. If it were my choice, I would cut you open to explore further. But we shall see what may come about."
"You are sick," I mumbled as I gave the robot the side eye.
"I have recently applied an antivirus to my program and found no illness, human, so your hypothesis is incorrect."
I closed my eyes again and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already around noon. I overslept. I was supposed to go food shopping and prepare for my return home. It was already a holiday and I needed warm clothing to bring back for my father and myself. He would be surprised. We were not used to such luxuries. I got up out of my bed but 4536 did not come down from the ceiling.
It was currently interfacing with its system; it was a relief. I wanted to have a day, a week, or even a month without that machine tormenting me. It brought a smile to my face. Another machine entered my room and began cleaning. After that machine had finished, I got dressed, ran downstairs and bumped into Maverick who was near the sliding glass doors that led to the outside. He was speaking to an official.
"Hola, Hermano. ¿Cómo estás?" Maverick asked.
"Bien, gracias. Y tú?" I replied.
"Bien, gracias," Maverick said with a smile. "Where are you headed off too?"
"I was going to buy some clothes for me and my dad. It is cold up there this time of year and I just want to make sure my father is ok before I come back for the holidays," I replied.
"Hermano. You do not know what it is like to be cold."
"Ha ha ha! Maverick, I really do not. You would know all about that. I'll call for you guys when I get back though," I said as I waved goodbye.
I came outside and placed a metal card in a slot on the ground. I could hear a few grinding noises and humming, and the floor opened. My bike rose from out of the ground and I quickly jumped on. I still had my guandaos on me just in case I came across any upset officials, although I knew there was not much I could do against the likes of Malich. The businesses that I was planning on going to were not far from my house.
Typically, it was a twenty minute ride on my motorcycle, but I decided to take a more scenic route. One that was not on the underground highway. The roads were well paved, unlike the ones near my father's house which were covered in dirt. I was glad they had changed my bike for these roads, but it would be a struggle using them on the dirt roads near my home. This bike was not made for such difficult terrain. Or, so I thought. I have never used a hover bike on the roads near my home. I finally found where I needed to go however.
I decided to stop by a shop that I had noticed as I passed by. It was close to the store that I was planning on going to, but they had some sales on specialty foods that were once a part of Toronto's ancient history. I thought it would be nice to buy some and bring them home to my father over the holidays. I turned my bike around and parked on the other side of the street, placing my key card in a slot in the road and pressing a lock button on my machine.
The bike was instantly locked in position near the road so that it could not be stolen. It was difficult to steal a bike in this city. Most times criminals in this underground city were not given the special treatment. It was only pariah above ground that were able to commit crimes and get away with it. Mostly against humans. I waited for the few vehicles to pass as they hovered over magnetic tracks and I quickly made my way to the other side.
Peering inside the store, there appeared to not be too many customers. I walked up to the door and had to show my I.D. which allowed me to access the free student discount. Officials had to pay for their food, but if you were a student, all foods were free. Once inside, I found a ton of varieties of special foods I had never seen before. I saw foods from places called India, Italy, and some other Spanish speaking countries, even from a continent called Africa.
I also found foods from a place called Jamaica where Maverick said his ancestors were from. I did not find much from my own people in Barbados. However, that did not matter. I could always go home and have whatever my dad had made. I chose something from each country and placed them in a box. I then wrote down my address which took a minute for the machine to find.
The box was then sent underground to be shipped to my house in the next two days. My father would be pleased. I hoped. Either that or he would be upset that some random machine from the underground city had come by. Machines in my world, outside of this underground city, meant trouble. I just hoped he would not overreact. I walked over to the counter to show my I.D. and access the machine database to gain points towards my purchases and found a strange looking woman standing there. She looked like one of the students, but she was working, which I did not understand.
"Hola, senorita," I said with as much of a charming demeanour as I could muster.
"Hola hermano," She replied.
"Como se llama?" I asked enthusiastically.
"Me llama Lin," She replied.
"So, Lin, why do you work here and where are you from?" I asked.
"I'm a descendant of Spain and also a place from a long time ago called Japan," she replied.
"I have never heard of it," I said as I tried to smile again.
"I am not really a talker. So if you would like to do what you need to do and go, that would be great. Gracias!" Lin said as she turned her head to an old machine and began tinkering with it.
"Great conversation, Lin," I said as she just nodded her head.
I placed my I.D. on the counter and after a pinging sound like a 'ding', I picked it back up again and noticed I had gained over 20,000 points on my purchases. It was my first purchase at the store, and I had supposedly bought products that were higher on the points scale specifically for today.
Normally I would have only gained five hundred points, which was enough to buy a small candy. I decided I would leave the woman behind the counter alone but was still curious to know her. There were not many people that I had seen that looked like her. I wondered if she was one of the natives of this land or possibly someone from the old world. I did not know anything about any place called Japan.
There were barely any vehicles, so it was not a problem running to the other side of the road to unlock my bike. I hopped on and rode for another five minutes to a clothing store that Carlos had told me about. When I went inside, I found all sorts of clothing I had never seen before. I was surprised by how warm they looked. They were made from a material I was not accustomed to.
Well, I guess most material here looked new as everything we wore in the human world was made from animals and plant fibres. I touched the fabric on a coat I found, and it was smooth to the touch. When I tried it on, it felt incredibly warm. It even came with a heater on the inside and I was surprised that somehow the fibres could not catch fire. There was even a tag that said it would not catch a flame. I decided to trust it and placed it in my metal box.
I chose a few other clothes before I came to the machine and placed my I.D. on the counter again. Everything was seventy-five percent off for students. Not as good as free, but it was still not too expensive and I was able to gain another 5000 points on my purchases. The total for the products came to two hundred Metalicasios Dinero.
I watched again as the box disappeared out of view and could only imagine what my father would say to me when I arrived home. How two machines had come to his doorway, which most likely would have given him a heart attack. Well, not really. He would have thought automatically that either I had done something wrong or something terrible had happened to me.
It was time to go back to my dorm. The ride home was short. I decided to take the highway and got home in half the time it took me going in the other direction. I ran past the guard and waved my hand, not wanting to look at the parasites that guarded his lips. Once in my room I called Maverick. He answered the phone quickly and told me about a party that was happening upstairs on the rooftop. Supposedly all the students would be there under the watchful eye of other officials.
I was not interested in going out but thought that a party might possibly be fun. My father never allowed me to party with my family members from the Pandilla Voladora. He had told me about parties he had been part of with my uncle when he was younger. I always wanted to go, but out of respect for my father I chose not to.
Today was the one day that I could see what this whole party thing was like. It was only a few hours past midday, so I still had time to kill before I needed to head upstairs. I decided to take my machine up on a bet it had made with me before. I walked over to the food storage area and placed my hand on a door handle.
"4536. I have some time to kill!" I shouted, as I grabbed a cold bottle of water from the fridge.
"Yes. You never seem to have anything better to do. What is it this time?"
"I will not let you get to me today. I am surprised you are here. Thought you disappeared?" I asked without expecting an answer.
"Not disappeared. There was something I needed to check out. Nothing to worry your little idle brain about."
"4536. I am in a special mood. I remembered you said your training, or training program may prove useful to me. I would like to try it out," I said enthusiastically as I took a sip of water.
It worried me after I said this as my machine lit up for the very first time since we had met. It stared at me for a moment, then flew into a wall, changing the entire look of the room. It looked like a small dojo that my father had built in our basement.
"I am quite excited to train with you, human. I am curious as to your nature specifically. I will mention to you why afterwards. I will let you know now that I have made sure to cover the walls with a material so that no machine nor Pariah may peer inside of these walls. They will only see a continuous loop that will appear to be you reading, eating or sleeping at specific times."
"Alright. I am curious as to why you want to test me. However, I will wait until after our training is done," I replied as I placed my glass of water on a table near us.
"Yes! Let us begin. Shall it be without or with weapons, human?"
"If you are a difficult opponent, then I would rather it be with weapons, 4536," I replied in earnest.
"Interesting how your personality and mood changes as you fight, human. Interesting..."
I looked at the machine as he glared back at me, as much as a machine can glare. It may have been just staring back at me, but in my mind 4536 was giving a menacing glare. The machine then interfaced with the floor and a metal man appeared before me, gradually. A cutout of some strong metal stood up, appearing to have the body of an ape and the face of a lion.
I knew immediately that its strength would be unsurpassed by anyone I had faced so far. The metal figure of 4536 dashed towards me, jumping high, as both his feet seemed to search out my abdomen. I was able to dodge his attack, but then he landed on the floor and spun around with a roundhouse kick that I was able to counter with my Guandao. I felt the ringing pain in my hand. The impact had caused my hand to throb. I was pushed back several feet.
I smiled. This was not going to be easy. It would be better for me to dodge all his attacks and then wait for an opening. I knew my hands could not take many more blows from his armoured body. A direct attack could prove fatal if it were to a vital organ. I am sure 4536 would not care either way. He would just tell the proper authorities that I fell down the stairs.
No cameras, no voice. It was perfect. Could it be that 4536 was only trying to kill me? I laughed inwardly. It did not matter. I could feel my blood boiling; the rush was incredible. I had not been this excited for a while. 4536 threw another punch at me and this time I was able to dodge it and jump back. It gave me enough room to stay out of his range.
"Interesting, human. Your fight speed is incredible for a Non-Pariah. However, your running speed is lacking."
"A compliment?" I asked.
"No! Just something I have noticed. You seem to forget that I also said you lack. I mean in all your other capabilities you are less than fine-tuned."
"Funny," I replied.
"It was not a joke, human."
I sidestepped again when the machine rushed towards me and swung my left Guandao at the machine's leg which I thought would have connected, but he was able to leap to the side, dodging my second attempt. 4536 looked at me as if to say "Nice try."
"You move pretty fast yourself," I said, returning to 4536's earlier comment.
"Less talking, more fighting, human."
"I think that is enough for today. I have a party to go to," I said with a smile.
"You are truly a waste."
"Not getting upset," I said as I began to walk away. "Could you change the room back so I can leave?"
"No wonder you could not save your family. And especially your mom. Ever thought it was your fault she died, human?!"
I stopped. I did not turn around, but I felt my blood boiling again.
"Listen to me. You said a lot of hurtful things. That is one thing you need to leave alone, machine. Don't ever mention my mother again," I growled.
"Yes! It is human custom not to speak of the dead. In this case, the rotting corpse that is your mother."
I turned around and it was as if everything around me flashed red. I was already under the machine, throwing a fist at his belly. At the moment I was unsure of how I had got there or even what I was doing. But I felt the rage within me rise like a thousand volcanoes. This energy overflowed within me. I watched as 4536 was blown to the other side of the room, crashing into the metal wall and falling. He was not moving.
"Serves you right, you bucket of bolts. Don't ever speak about my mother again!" I cried as I felt my anger leave me. I rushed over to the machine as the room became what it was, and the machine became itself again. It only stared back up at me.
"As I thought. You are a Pariah."
"I have no powers, machine. Stop playing with me. That is enough. Even you have said the data shows it is not possible. It is probably a lucky shot because I work out." I replied.
"No! I could tell if that were the case, human. You seem to have some sort of powerful ability. I first noticed it in the forest and then again when you created holes in space that allowed you to teleport. Well I noticed it before that but the portals only served to confirm it. I can see why they assigned me to you."
"Did I just teleport again, machine? I thought that might be someone else." I said, confused.
"Again. No!"
"You are confusing me, 4536," I said, puzzled.
"You are a confusing species. You do not share the DNA of someone who is a Pariah. All that being said, you still have the powers of one. And it seems when you are in a similar state as you were just now and as you were in the forest, there is an incredible amount of ether that seems to radiate from your body. I can sense it somehow, but it is almost invisible. I wonder..."
"What does this all mean?" I asked. "And how can you sense it?"
"You are incurably...superbly and wonderfully stupid!!!"
"Seriously...?" I said annoyed.
"Listen human. You are a Pariah! And yet, you are not a Pariah. And of a more powerful kind. One that I have never been acquainted with. So far it seems you lack control. I will not report you. I desire to help you develop these powers in secret. I desire to know what is within you."
"So you desire to cut me open," I mumbled angrily.
"I would love to cut you open. But I must see what it is that is within you. You are unique and killing you now would be a shame. But for now, I will continue to call you human and you will remain that way to every person. Do not ask why. There are reasons that I am not telling you. When the time comes, you will understand. Just know that I am glad to be your machine. If it were not for your constant stupidity, I would be overjoyed."
"Yeah...ok...gracias, 4536," I murmured.
"De nada, human."
I placed my Guandao into the special case Carlos had made and put the case in my closet. I decided to wear some black sweatpants and some grey shoes with a long grey dress shirt. I had grown out my afro for the past three months but decided to do something different for this party. I knew no one would have worn this style as it was considered taboo to do such things, but at the moment I did not care.
I knew I would not be kicked out of the university for the hairstyle, not with my grades. I was just feeling rebellious. I called 4536 over to me and he appeared before me faster than normal. I was surprised. He was usually more annoyed when I called him but now, he seemed to be almost ecstatic to come speak to me. Not like before.
Not like when he knew I did not have any powers. I still did not know what was going on. I still did not know what was going on with me. A human with powers is unheard of, and if I am a Pariah, then why did the machines not pick it up? It seemed only 4536 was noticing something within me. I decided to ask him my question and see what he would say.
"So, 4536. I have a request for you."
"What's your request, human?"
The machine turned to me with what appeared to be a broad grin. It creeped me out. Like when someone is about to do something vile to you but is pretending that everything is fine and the two of you are the best of pals. Damn murderer...
"I was wondering if you could do something for me. You see, my mother used to do my hair when I was younger. She would twist my hair, like this," I demonstrated with a few hand movements, "I want to spend the next few weeks like that in memory of her. That was all." I spoke with all seriousness on my face.
4536 just looked at me as if confused. His screen showed that he was clearly perturbed. It was understandable. It was recommended that those within the university kept their hair short or bald. Although it was allowed for those in the university to style their hair one other way: straight. Since people hated me already, since they believed that I was only a human, what would it matter if I changed my hair style? They may be upset but not anymore than they already were, and I was ok with them hating me.
"Yes! Although unsatisfactory with the community, I can do this for you if you are really sure and understand the consequences, human."
I only nodded my head and sat down on the couch near the 4D television. I turned it on and found a program talking about the king and all the great things that he had supposedly done. All the things my father had told me had never happened. As I watched the foolishness that appeared before my eyes, I felt the tug and pull of my own hair as the machine continued to work with his metal hands on my head.
I used to be able to fall asleep when my mother did it. As 4536 worked away at my locks, I could feel it every time the metal hands touched my head. This was not something I wanted to get used to. It took nearly an hour and when the machine had finished, he placed a mirror in front of me so that I could admire his handiwork. It looked much better than I thought it would have. It must have been because of the smallness of its metallic hands.
"Not bad for a machine, I guess," I said with a smirk.
"You didn't scream like a human, Jared. Now go to your party and stop wasting my time."
"You said my name," I said, flabbergasted.
"Don't get used to it, human. Leave!"
I smiled. I got up immediately and ran through the door with my keypad tied to the side of my sweatpants. I did not even watch to see if the door closed properly. It did not take long to run down the hallway to the elevator. I heard someone scream at me about my hair, but I did not care. I was already in the elevator and pressing the button for the top floor. This was exciting.
A party! Something I had never experienced before in my life. I smiled again. I wondered what this new event would look like. I finally got to the top floor and it was like nothing I ever imagined. There were lights, a pool, foods of all kinds and a platform that I guessed people would perform on.
"Mi amigo. Mi hermano," Maverick shouted from the other side of the room.
I waved and strolled over with my hand in my pocket as I continued to survey the room.
"Nice place, mi amigo," I said with a smile.
"Nice hair. I'm not surprised you did it though. You do not seem to care too much for the unwritten rules this school has. Makes sense that you would do something like this," Maverick said. He looked a little worried.
"Yeah. It is in memory of someone I cared about. I do not care what these authorities think. Need help with anything?" I asked.
"Just enjoy the freeze, hermano. This party is about to be cold like a dark, snowy winter," Maverick replied.
I just smiled and began looking around as people entered the room through the elevator and stairs. There were a few officials who came as well. Their eyes were stuck on me for a minute before they went to their corners. I could tell a few of them were still watching me. Or I was imagining it? I now felt that my rebellion may not have been a good idea. I saw Carlos and Shaki amble up the stairs on the other end, but I decided to wait until they walked over in our direction. They seemed to be getting snacks from the bar. I was not sure why, but I began to feel angry at Carlos. I felt betrayed.
"So, you perform?" Maverick asked.
"Perform what? I am not a performer." I replied in haste.
"Forgot all of you are not endowed with the finer things in life. I got a little something for you," Maverick said with a smile.
"And what would that be, hermano?" I asked.
"Something they used to do back, back in the day. Way before our time. I used to watch the old tapes in my spare periods and copy what they used to do. Congelado, mi hermano," Maverick replied.
"Congelado?" I repeated, confused.
"Si, mi amigo. It means frozen. Just wait until later and you will see what I mean," Maverick said as he cracked his knuckles and began working on the equipment on stage.
I walked away from him moving through the building slowly towards Carlos and Shaki. The other students were looking at me confused and I knew it was because of my hair. Then I saw her. Lin. She looked beautiful. She wore a long black dress that was cut off at the shoulder and had high heels strapped to her feet. She strode in with a grace that I had not seen on many of the students that I had noticed before. I instantly realized she was not in any of my courses.
She must have been of a higher official's household and for some reason could work within the city. It did not make sense, but sometimes the things the officials did never made any sense. I watched as she gracefully glided across the floor to her seat and her long, silken hair flowed from side to side as she twisted her head to gaze upon the snack table.
The same snack table that most of the men grabbed food from and brought over to her as if she had rung a dinner bell and they were her waiting attendants. Pathetic. I would never do something like that. I watched as she took what she needed and waved them away with her right hand. It annoyed me that she could behave that way, but part of me was still impressed. I did not know why but for some reason despite my annoyance, I felt a desire to get to know her.
"Awww look at you, all googly eyed over some girl."
I turned around. It was not surprising when I saw Maverick almost hovering over me. It would be him who would say something like this.
"She is pretty, hermano. Not going to lie but she would not look at you twice. You know her family would destroy you if you so much as smiled at her. You are not a Pariah. Plus, other factors I know you are aware of," Maverick said as he laid his arm over my shoulder.
"Yeah, I know that," I whispered.
At that moment I wanted to tell him what 4536 had told me. That there was still hope for me. That I may not be just another regular human being. That it was possible, if it was true, that I was indeed a Pariah but of a different kind. One he had not known of before. If it was true, then I could fit in. However, somehow on every machine it was not showing that I have the blood of a Pariah and I did not have the knowledge to use the power to show that I was one either.
No one would believe me. Even if I were to somehow befriend Lin and after that cause her to become interested in me, I would still have to show her family that even though I was on the lowest rock on the mountain, I was still able to climb the ranks by becoming an official and having Pariah blood. Who am I kidding?
Without Pariah blood, they would kill me before my feet met their grounds and had their groundskeepers clean up the mess. I looked over at Shaki who was now mingling with some of the other officials. It seemed to me that she may have an even higher position than Lin. What was I thinking? It would be better for me to remain single or find another Pariah official; one of a lower ranking official. Or even marry another human.
"It is alright, hermano. At least you can spend the rest of your days with the freeze king. We can live together and be best pals. Maybe even race some pets in our spare time when we are not out there enforcing the law," Maverick said with a shrug and a smile.
"Yeah. I would love to live with you for the rest of my life. Sounds great," I said as I rolled my eyes.
"So, do you need any help with the equipment? You know that's my power, right?"
"Carlos. Mi amigo. Yeah, I could use some help now. You should come help us too while everyone else gets settled in. I think there may be a few people performing today so we have to make sure everything is set up right." Maverick said with a wink.
All three of us went up onto the stage and quickly went to work. The equipment was not too difficult to put together. Most of it was easily explained by the machines that were helping us. We only needed to check over the work they had done. And when I say we, I mean Carlos and Maverick. I really did not know what to do. I mainly just moved things around when I was asked to move things around.
Once we were finished, we admired our handiwork and Carlos and I went to the far right of the stage where we stood and watched Maverick as he began to start the show. I investigated the audience and noticed there were so many students; the officials lined the walls and Shaki and Lin were sitting together. I shrugged my shoulders and looked away, back towards Maverick who was just starting the event.
"Alright. Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for coming to this event. It will be a little different from what you are normally used to. I decided to do a thousand-year theme in the making. I have a few people performing and at the end, the students will have a short dance to end this semester before we go on break for the next two weeks. The first performer will be up shortly," Maverick exclaimed.
"Hopefully, your event is better than your looks," one of the students yelled from the audience.
The students all began to laugh. I felt bad for Maverick as he stood there looking for the student who had spoken out. The student then stood up and bowed to the amusement of some other students at his table.
"Mi hermano. I like a good joke or two. But you stay there looking like you churned butter with your teeth," Maverick said with a smirk. "Next time the art students need yellow paint, they can just scrape some from off your choppers."
The student sat down immediately to the applause of the other students and surprisingly the officials. Maverick then placed the microphone back in its place and another student came on stage. He grabbed the mic, lowered his head, then looked out at the crowd and began belting out a song that to my surprise sounded way better than most songs I had heard previously. I had not heard someone sing for years.
The next performer was just as good. She sang an old ballad that I had heard before. It was something that my father used to sing at home at times. It was a song about going through rough eras but still holding onto a hope that you could not see. Every human knew the song. It gave people hope when things became tough. I used to even sing it at times when we ran out of food. It kept me going. The young woman sang the last notes of the song and I smiled. I was enjoying myself.
They were a few poets that came up next and even a comedian. Although, as I watched his act, I half expected Maverick to come out and take over the show. Even though the comedian was decent, I honestly believed Maverick would have been funnier. I looked over the crowd and it seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves.
I turned my head back to the stage and watched as Maverick came back on and got ready to perform. The lights dimmed a bit and some background music played that I was not used to. I had never heard music like what was playing. It almost made me want to dance.
"Are you guys ready?" Maverick screamed.
The crowd was silent as they stared up at the new talent waiting for what would happen next. It was excruciating.
"Yeah," Carlos bellowed. "We ready!"
I noticed a beat start to play from the speakers. Music without words. Maverick slowly put his microphone to his lips, and I was surprised something so poetic came out of him. He surprised me. However, he was always listening to music that was older than our great, great grandfathers. I listened as he began his poetic song to the beat:
"I terrify my enemies, it's always outrageous. Your boi raps like a virus, semi-contagious. Have em quick to flat-line when Maverick enrages. Don't step to the Don, game older then sages. Yeah we run this city like sprinters in races. Have Shaki pull up on you ugly, You needed a face lift. If its Carols up on you best turning those pages. He on that nerd game but still that warrior graceless. And the fam Jared amigo is strong like mace hits. Thought your face was pepper sprayed but martial arts was the case next....!"
I looked at the crowd and everyone seemed shocked and stunned by what had just happened. But they stood up anyway and began to clap their hands. It was new and exciting for them. I had heard my father's brother do something like this before when he was playing around. I began to clap too as Maverick walked off the stage.
"That was ice cold, Maverick!" Carlos said.
"Yeah...don't say that again, Carlos," Maverick replied, smirking.
"You did well, hermano. So, what's next?" I asked.
"We dance, mi amigo," Maverick replied as he pointed to a machine and music began to play.
All the students began to dance as the officials continued to line the walls. I could see they were nodding their heads to the music. Many of them could not seem to find the right rhythm to the song. I could not blame them. This music was relatively new to them. It would be difficult for any newcomer to catch the rhythm right away. I could only laugh. The event was enjoyable up until the very end when the false moonlight broke through the nighttime shade.
The moon increased its glow as it watched people leave to go home. I found Carlos, Shaki, Lin and Maverick cleaning up the mess along with the help of the officials and the machines. I decided to help as well. Because there were so many hands helping us, it did not take long to complete. Once it was all finished, we said our goodbyes. We knew we would not be able to see each other in person for the next few weeks. We could still talk to each other by machine and through I.D. numbers.
I decided not to say goodbye to Lin. I felt we had already had an uncomfortable encounter, which did not seem to bother her in the least and walked back to my room. I prepared everything for the trek home the next day. It was not too late. I went to bed immediately and fell asleep. Excited to see my father but tired from the night's entertainment. I wondered how he would take to the foods I had sent him, and if he would be upset or simply happy that he would soon see me. I knew one thing was for sure. I could not tell him that I was possibly a Pariah. A powerful one at that who could not even control his own powers.