Scattered Memories

02.01. Start of A New Journey

"I assume you two can finally grasp the work here, or all the things I've said were just a waste of my spit and just wearing out my mouth orienting the two of you earlier." The man, who was beside Mr. Aphelion had already spoken and now looked at the two of them after speaking.

Presence of discomfiture could be felt throughout the whole lobby, and the two interns who were sitting on the couch inside the lounge, were looking at him when they heard him speak, feeling the tension in the air. Yet they didn't say anything, seeing that the uneasiness they're sensing right now might get them in trouble soon.

Psyche, who was having a hard time thinking what she should do, just laughed it off awkwardly and said "Ah no, we assure you that we listened well and understood everything you've said earlier, Mr. Liu."

Mr. Liu, who was also looking at them, shifted his attention to Psyche, making the latter on edge.

"That's rich coming from you who wasn't paying attention to what I was saying a moment ago and was just staring at his supervisor as if looking at him like a painting in an art gallery."

Psyche's eyes, which were having eye contact with Mr. Liu froze together with her feigned smile, her whole body then went rigid as if she's being paralysed. A cold sweat broke into her and her hands started shaking lightly. She's starting to become antsy and doesn't know what to do. Psyche was about to word something out when a gentle and mature-like voice spoke from her behind. It was her fellow intern.

Oh, thank Heavens!!

"Uhm.. Mr. Liu, may I ask what time our senior will be here?"

Mr. Liu was still having an eye contest with Ms. Reinherz, though, was interrupted by the young man who was sitting beside Ms. Reinherz. He then raised his right eyebrow and slowly shifted his sapphire blue eyes towards him.

Psyche, who was just having a hard time with Mr. Liu, at last, could take it easy now and turned herself to see the man who was beside her with a thankful look painted on her face.

Before he could speak, he stared at him, first looking from head to toe multiple times before breathing out a heavy sigh. Thereupon he fixed his glossy black eyeglasses and looked at his Jaeger-Lecoultre brown strap watch he stated,

"She'll be here any minute now. No need to worry, you'll just tour the institution and be done for the day. And since she doesn't have any on-going projects, and is the only person available, she will accompany you two from today onwards." Reassuring the young man.

"Thank you, Mr. Liu," said the intern. Subsequently, after thanking Mr. Liu, he averted his gaze at Psyche, who was now thanking him quietly. A small smile escaped his lips and afterward, he nodded and winked at her as if cheering her up that things are fine now.

Mr. Liu saw what the other intern did and just rolled his eyes out of exasperation.

Kids these days.

Psyche, on the other hand, was still thanking the other intern quietly and was just talking without making any sound, as it might irritate Mr. Liu more.

A little while later, sounds of stilettos clacking were starting to be heard, indicating that someone was coming. Hearing that, the two who were sitting on the couch stood up and pivoted their attention together with Mr. Liu, who also heard the sound, now looked in the direction where the sound was coming from.

There, they saw a not-so-tall young maiden that looked like she's in her late twenties walking towards them with her hands tucked inside the front pockets of her lab coat and a genuine smile plastered on her face. Later, when she saw that the three of them were looking at her, she pulled her right hand from her front pocket and waved at them. She then winked and her genuine smile turned into an adorable laugh. The young lady had shoulder-length periwinkle hair tied in a top knot and although some strands of her hair were scattered on the side of her face, it still didn't disrupt her face and sight. She had a tight ivory skirt that perfectly matched her sable silk V-shaped top together with her leather stilettos.

"Why the f**k did I agree to do this?" said Mr. Liu, in a low tone, almost whispering, who they thought was a level-headed person, cursed and his left hand on his temple massaging it as though he was having a headache just by looking at the woman with his eyes closed.

The two interns that were looking at the lady who was walking towards them are now looking at their senior who looked like he had a headache. Didn't know what to do, they just stood there with both of their hands clasped in front of them.

Seconds later, the young lady was finally ahead of them and now looking at the two interns and Mr. Liu. She first greeted Mr. Liu by tapping his shoulder numerous times and ruffling his hair just like what you do to a dog's head.

"Hey, don't be such a stranger, Cameron. I know you missed me. Your brother told me earlier."

Mr. Liu Cameron stopped what he was doing and slowly opened his eyes, revealing again his sapphire blue orbs, and looked at the young woman who was up front and way shorter than him with his raging eyes, just as though he was threatening her. He then scoffed in disbelief of what this lady was saying and aggressively removed her hand that was on top of his head and fixed his hair that was messed up by the woman earlier.

"Miss my ass. I never wanted this job to begin with. And I'm busy. Stop bothering me with your mediocre flirting skills. Also, how many times do I have to tell you that you should not use my name when working?" replied Mr. Liu, who was now shaking his head, his eyes closed again, and was about to march out of the lobby when he remembered something. The young woman who was rejected by Cameron just laughed it off in an endearing way and looked again at the two interns who were watching the two of them.

Turning his head towards the three, he moved the folder in his right hand and used his left hand to gesture, pointing to the young woman.

"This is Ms. Luka Amerie Goverteas. And she will be the one joining the both of you to tour the facility." He begins to introduce Luka to the two while still keeping his dispassionate face.

The young woman who was their senior looked at both of them and her genuine smile came back after laughing.

"Nice to meet you two. Hoping that you'll like our institution." She said, slightly tilting her head sidewards. Now that the young woman is in front of them, they can now see her distinctly, especially her emerald green orb that befits her translucent glasses. And her beauty mark that wasn't visible earlier below her right eye. Her small face proportioned superbly with her body and height.

She's like a model that you'll only see from popular brands. Psyche thought as she observed Luka who was in front of them.

Cameron then shifted his hand towards the two, still wearing his usual poker face. He first introduced the young man who saved Psyche.

"These are the two interns we will be having this year. The young lad here is Mr. Hugo Scintilla,"

Hugo, the young man, extended his right hand for a hand shake and said, "Nice to meet you, Senior."

Luka smiled at him and gladly took his hand while replying, "Same here."

Cameron then moved his hand to Psyche and introduced her to Luka.

"And finally, this is Ms. Psyche Reinherz. You three now know each other, then there's nothing for me to do here. I shall take my leave. Enjoy your time here leisurely." Cameron said while lowering his hand and stormed his way out of them, leaving the three by themselves.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Liu." the two said while bowing their heads as a sign of respect for their senior, Mr. Cameron Liu. However, the latter didn't bother to look at them once again and just continued walking away until he was out of sight.

They then also bowed their heads to Luka while saying "Please take care of us."

After bowing their heads and paying respect to their seniors, they raised their heads up facing Luka who was still smiling at them.

"Of course I will. You two are our only precious interns who wanted to conduct their research after how many years that I've been working here." Luka said as she guided the interns towards the front of two massive halls where all the general affairs are mostly managed.

"Let's go. We'll take the left side first, since all of the offices and meetings are usually held there." She started leading the way towards the sinistral side of the institution.

The thing Luka said earlier made Psyche's inquisitive self come alive, hence she couldn't help asking about it.

"If you don't mind, uh, Ms. Goverteas... You said earlier that we're the only interns here for years that you've worked here. What do you mean by that?"

Luka, who was ahead of them, gave her a back gaze and smiled at her whilst still walking. She then turned back herself and continued walking, "It's pretty self-explanatory, you know. But since I'll be touring you two at our institution for a day, I might as well tell you..."

Hugo's and Psyche's ears perked up as they waited patiently for Luka to continue what she was about to say as they walked towards the first door on the dextral part of the sinistral side of the institution.

"The first time I worked here was when I was nineteen years old. I started working as soon as I graduated from college. And I was the last intern after eleven years, then you two came. We didn't expect to have interns after that many years, and we gave up. And suddenly the two of you applied for our institution, which made all of us mystified and overwhelmed, you know, as to why you wanted to conduct your research here." She said while pushing a massive glass door and entering the room, followed by Hugo and Psyche. The room was lit and an elliptical-shaped table made out of glass, with a branch-like tree as its support was at the center of the room, surrounded by quite a number of black leather office chairs. At the front is a projector screen and a wooden podium beside it. Greens and the institution's monogram were located at both sides of the room. There's also a dispenser and a mini pantry full of pastries and snacks in the sinister part of the room.

Psyche's eyebrows got deeper with each other as her interest in the institution started to increase and became more curious. Consequently, she wanted to bombard Luka with questions regarding the institution, but restrained herself and asked only one question at a time.

"Excuse me, Ms. Goverteas, but what do you mean by saying that all of you were shocked when we wanted to conduct our research at this institution?"

Luka stopped walking towards the front and turned around with her eyes open widely and her right eyebrow raised as she looked at Psyche. Her eyes then squinted and an indescribable expression was painted now on her face,

"You.." Luka halted what she was about to say, as she started observing the two interns, particularly Psyche. She noticed the color of her eyes was somewhat similar to hers. Psyche didn't sense that Luka was staring intently at her, even though Psyche was also staring back, as she was only interested in what Luka would say next.

"What university are you two from?" Luka then asked as she stopped staring at Psyche. She then walked to the end of the table where a chair could be seen. She sat there, crossing her legs and resting her arms on the armrest at the same time connecting the tips of her fingers with each other.

Psyche was dumbfounded by the question thrown by Luka. She was expecting Luka would continue to talk about the things in their institution. Nevertheless, she still answered her question.

Before she spoke up, Psyche looked at Hugo first and answered, "We're from NC University."

Hugo and Psyche are now waiting for Luka's response as they're both starting to be fidgety with the sudden question while looking at Luka's expression as it darkens and her thoughts become deeper.

Luka asked another question, making the two fix their posture. "May I know what your professor's name is?"

They both looked at each other first, then proceeded to answer Luka's question again. "It's Professor Fluor, Ms. Goverteas." Psyche answered again.

Fuck, knew it.

The indescribable look on Luka's face started to fade, afterwards she leaned backwards on the backrest as though she's thinking deeply about something. Hugo and Psyche were still standing near the door awkwardly, still haven't shaken off their anxiousness. Moments later, Luka heaved a sigh and shook her head off.

For now, let's just get to know these two brats and tell them about it later at the meeting.

Luka flashed a smile at the two who were still at the door looking at her. She gave them her genuine smile again, "I'm sorry about earlier. There's just something. No need to worry."

The two who were obviously waiting for her response finally lowered their guards and laughed it off stiffly. Luka stood up from her seat and endearingly laughed together with them,

"Alright, let's leave the matter earlier there. We still need to tour more than 10 rooms here." She said as she walked towards them.

"Clearly, because of the chairs and the big round table placed in the center, it's the institution's conference room. You'd assume that we usually hold our meetings here, and things to talk about concerning the institution.." She halted her track and went to the mini pantry to get 3 packs of messy cookies. Luka then gave it to Hugo and Psyche.

"Here, a welcome gift." She said while smiling. The two accepted it enthusiastically and even thanked their senior Luka in unison.

Before she continued what she had to say earlier, she first opened the pack of messy cookies and ate one.

"Now where was I.. Oh yes, we rarely use this room since we only use it if there's a big upcoming project that all of us working in the institution are required to take part in. That hasn't happened for a year now. So we decided that we'd just use the room next door, which is much smaller and more comfortable than this. And it's hard to clean since there are only two custodians in our facility, and they both have quite the age."

Luka opened the glass door where they came from and went outside. Hugo and Psyche immediately followed her, they then saw Luka opening another glass door only a few steps from the room where they were in earlier.

There, they saw a visibly much smaller room than the other one. If in the other room, there's a round table, here they saw a peculiar shape of a table and chairs. A large messy and full of writings glass board is seen in front of the room across the door. There was also a dispenser and a mini pantry on the dextral part just like the one in the other room. Beside the door, they saw a black leather couch with throw pillows scattered near it. A lot of papers and folders are seen and visible wherever your eyes wander in the room.

One thing that caught the two's attention is that there was no monogram nor marks that signified this room is part of the institution. It was more casual. Nevertheless, it was clean and somewhat organized despite the papers and folders that were dispersed all over the quarter.

The two still wander their eyes in the room as they walk further inside. While Luka was still left behind by the glass door as she awaited the two to enter.

"And this, the room where we usually hold our short meetings and gatherings. When we present or propose projects that only a few people could join in, we use this. Just like what I said, it's much more comfortable than the other room and much more casual. And needless to say, Division III of the AR Institution is an independent one. We just use our time inventing or researching things that society doesn't find interesting. We sometimes work together as a pair, in a group or individually," Luka stated as she stood behind the two.

She stopped what she was saying again as she saw the two were looking at the room with awe visible in their faces. Not long after, she continued what she's saying.

"As you two may know, there are only nine scientists in our division. Pretty small for a research institution, right? Though we also accept projects from public facilities only when it piques the interest and the pay is high."

Hugo, who was the first to stop looking around and noticed that Luka was behind them, turned around, now facing her, and said, "Ah, yes. It was said earlier at the orientation that there are only nine scientists in the facility. To be honest, I was quite shocked to know that there would be an institution in the country to only have nine scientists working." Hugo scratched the back of his head, looking shy and averting his gaze, not wanting to have eye contact with Luka.

Luka let out a snicker and looked at Hugo, who was being flustered.

"The only benefit of having nine scientists working here is you'll have your own lab and space. And it's quite peaceful having only less than twenty workers here."

Psyche, who's still looking around, finally stops after hearing Luka speak again. And of course, Psyche, being the curious cat she is, asked Luka again.

"Ms. Goverteas, may I ask why there are only nine scientists working here? The facility's quite large if you ask me. And I'm sure you can accept and accommodate interns like us."

Luka walked first towards the edge of the table and sat there with her other leg hanging in the air.

"Hmm.. You know that this is the Third Division of the famous Aphelion Research Institution, right? And it's an independent institution, which means the pay is lower than a public one and sometimes your freedom of researching things are restrained. But it's mostly because people want a higher pay, so they either apply for the second and main division." She said while eating the pack of messy cookies they got earlier.

While the two still hadn't opened the pack of messy cookies and were just busy looking at the room like children that were experiencing something for the first time.

Psyche begins to understand what Luka was saying earlier about the institution little by little. She then just nodded and proceeded to wander her calm feline eyes in the room.

As time went by, the two swamped Luka with questions full of inquisitiveness and amusement plastered on their faces. Luka didn't mind it as she was also enjoying answering their questions. Hugo and Psyche asked their Senior Luka until their hearts were finally content.

It was a quarter before eleven and the two finally stopped asking Luka questions. Luka then looked at the clock that was at the very top of the room. I'll tour them to the laboratory first and eat lunch with them soon. Maybe I'll interrogate them too.

"Let's head to the laboratory first, then we can have our lunch at the cafeteria." Luka stated as she stood up and fixed her skirt.

The two also started preparing to depart and returned the inventions they saw earlier as they dawdled around the room.

The laboratory was only across the room they were in and the glass that was dividing the outside and inside of the laboratory was frosted all over. Unlike the other rooms that they saw for now at the sinistral part of the institution, the room across them was the only room that had all the glass frosted.