The Brother

Chapter Eighteen

After a shower that lasted over half an hour and a breakfast that was humongous, Jace sat on his bed thinking of his plans for the rest of the day.

“Nothing.” muttered Jace.

“What are you thinking about?” asked his bed.

“Just that I’m a lonely guy.”

“Why? You broke up?” asked the voice coming from his bed.

“No. I don’t have any friends.” said Jace. He didn’t know why he was saying this to his bed.

“Well, that is lonely.” said the bed.

Thanks.

He headed to the sim room to clear his head and improve his skills. He had improved significantly. He managed to take down seven undead and three dogs.

“Why do you have dogs in the simulation?” asked Jace. “Does our enemy have dogs?”

“No. Dogs hate them. We use dogs to check the reflexes of every soldiers.” said Sameer. Looking at the horrified expression on Jace’s face he added, “Relax. I’m talking only about simulation.”

“What happens to Stryke’s army if he dies?” asked Jace.

“The Chief and I had a discussion about that.” said Sameer. “We concluded that the army will suffer the same fate.”

“So the monsters die with Frankenstein.” said Jace. Looking at the confused look on Sameer’s face, he said,”It’s just a reference from our time.”

“Anyway, how’s your friend hunting going?” said Sameer.

“That just made me sound desperate.”

Sameer seemed to ignore the remark and said, “Try spending some time in the dining room. You might find someone who might be fun to hang around with.”

“When’s the lunchtime?”

“About an hour from now.”

I better get another shower and freshen up.

“How many times do you shower every day?” asked Sameer. He had a curious look on his face.

“Usually one. Today two, ‘cause I’m pretty sure that no one would want to even look at me if I stink.”said Jace. “By the way, where’s the dining room?”

“Just use the elevator.” said Sameer.

“I don’t have one of those balls.” said Jace feeling a little disappointed.

“No one needs to be authorized to eat.” said Sameer. “We’re all humans and we all eat.”

After a quick shower and a nap of half an hour, he wore a pink T-shirt and jeans. Do people here wear jeans? - he thought and decided to ask the question to his bed.

“Hey, bed. Do people here wear jeans?”

“Try that again, but this time don’t call me a bed.”

“Alright.” said Jace and quickly thought of a name. “Sheila, can you tell me if people here wear jeans.”

Sheila was the kid in high school that Jace had always hated. He would always distance himself from the situations which involved talking with her. There was something about the girl that he didn’t like. Something he didn’t know about. He remembered the one time when he was paired with her for a social studies assignment. It was a nightmare for him.

“Of course they do. Humans have been wearing them since your time.”

“Much before mine.” said Jace as he walked out of the room and headed to the elevator.

Jace entered the elevator and said “Dining room”.This was the first time that Jace found himself alone in the elevator, at least in Prayot. Jace felt the elevator accelerate downward and he could feel that his legs were being slightly relieved of his weight.

Why is this so fast? - Jace thought and felt the elevator take a sudden left. He was pushed to the right wall of the elevator. Not wanting to hurt himself, he crouched down and waited for the elevator to stop. The elevator slowed down to a halt.

Jace stood up and quickly smoothed the wrinkles on his T-shirt before he headed out. Unlike the other floors, this one was entirely dedicated to dining. There was just a hall with at least ten rows of table which were long enough to accommodate at least five hundred people each. The placed looked deserted as only half of them were filled.

Why does everything have to be massive? 

There were over a hundred food stalls serving various kinds of food. Jace noticed that the queue was maximum for a pink coloured dessert and tried to search for a stall which had the smallest queue.

He found one that had just two people standing in front of it. It was in the far corner of the room.

Jace walked past the rows of tables attached with benches and noticed that the two people whom he had noticed earlier were a couple of boys who appeared to be his age. He watched them take their order and move towards one of the empty benches.  

Jace stood in front of the stall and stared at the images of the various dishes that were served in this place. He zeroed in on one, simply because it appeared to be slightly normal, at least to him.

“I’ll have one of those” said Jace and pointed to the dish he had selected.

The fat man behind the counter nodded and spun around on his heels as he began to prepare the dish.

Jace turned around to see that there were two girls standing behind him, one behind the other. The girl right behind him smiled at him. She had red hair and was fair. Jace was surprised at the flawlessness of her skin. Jace smiled back and quickly turned back to see the man plating the dish he ordered.

“That will be three-thirty.” said the man and placed the dish on the counter.

Jace thrust his hand into his pocket and found that it was empty. Jace’s heart skipped a beat. He tried the other pocket and all he could find were his bow and the quiver. He gave a nervous look to the chef and said, “Can you just keep it at the side, till I come back with the money?”

“No.” said the man. He was definitely frustrated and he did not look like he could be reasoned with.

“It’s alright.” said the girl behind Jace. “I’ll pay for it”

“Thanks” said Jace and sighed in relief.

He took the dish and stood beside the counter and waited for the girl to get her dish. Soon, they were on their way in search of a place to sit.

“Thank you for doing that back there. I was worried that he might make me clean the dishes.” said Jace. “By the way, I’m Jace.”

“I’m Grace.” said the girl as they arrived at one of the empty tables. “Why on earth would you think that he was gonna make you clean the dishes?”

“What else would he do?” said Jace. He had heard plenty of stories about restaurant owners forcing their customers to help them clean up the kitchen if they didn’t have the money to pay.

“The best case scenario is that you are gonna have to spend a couple of nights in the prison.” said Grace.

“That’s the best case scenario?” He was dumbfounded. He couldn’t imagine a person being sent to prison for not being able to pay the restaurant bill.

“The worst is a month.” continued Grace. “Why are you so surprised? Everyone in Albik knows that those are the rules.”

“Well, I’m not exactly from around here.” said Jace and immediately regretted it.

“So you’re from Carimen?” she asked as she took a bite of the blue fluffy substance from her plate.

“Yes. I came here a few days ago.” he said.

“Do you miss the place?” she asked with a curious look on her face.

“Yeah. I miss the farms, the lake.” said Jace and tried to act normal. “Enough of me. Tell me about you.”

“Well, I am from Barlum. Five years ago, the Chief asked us to evacuate and I ended up moving to this place.” she said.

Jace took a bite of his dish and immediately regretted ordering it. He said, “Do you like this place?”

“Albik? It is similar to Barlum. But it doesn’t feel like home.”

“I understand.” said Jace and for some reason, he felt like he actually did.

“Well, I’m going to be late for my class. Sorry.” she said and stood up. “Call me if you feel like hanging out” she said and quickly scribbled on a piece of paper she found in her pocket and handed it to him.

“Bye bye” said Jace and watched her move gracefully to the elevator.

Finally! Someone to hang out with! - Jace thought. He opened the piece of paper she had given him. In it there was a writing which he couldn’t read. His inability to read what was written on the paper made him realize that he didn’t have a caller.

I’m gonna have to ask for my brother’s help. Crap.