The Colony

CHAPTER 2

"Dibs on the corner bed!" Yells Becca, as soon as we enter our dorm room, throwing her stuff on the bed.

"You can calm down Becca, there are two corner beds. And why did you throw your stuff like that? Don't you have breakable things in there?"

"Oh crap!" She says, quickly checking her things.

I calmly walk to my bed, sit down and start unpacking. The room is modest, something we will have to get used to since we grew up in a big room with our own bathroom and closet. I wonder if I'll even have enough space for all my clothes and books here.

The girls' dorm has seven hexagon-shaped buildings. Each building has six floors filled with three beds bedrooms, shared kitchens, and a common room on the ground floor. There's also a Laundry room in each building, so we're the ones supposed to take care of our clothes. It will be good for Becca to acquire some responsibilities instead of relying on a Droid to do everything for her.

The corridors are busy with people trying to find their rooms, some meeting old friends and others their new roommates. I wonder who will be ours. For all one knows, a girl like Becca, who enjoys parties, has many friends, and can't stand boredom. Or maybe a bit more like me, organized, with good grades, and knows what she wants for her life. However she is, I just hope we get along well. It would be a shame to endure to share the room with someone we don't get along with.

"Hello, I guess I'm your roommate." Says a girl standing by the room's door.

She stuns us with her big deep blue eyes. A tall elegant girl, long golden hair with just the right hint of wave.

"I'm Olivia Leif. Nice to meet you"

"What's up, I'm Rebecca."

"Hi, I'm her sister, Samantha Geon. Nice to meet you." I say as I shake her hand.

"Geon. I'm assuming you're Ethan Geon's daughters."

"Yup, that's our father."

Without saying a word, Olivia merely looks at us, smiles, and goes to the only vacant bed to get settled.

While everyone else brought at least three bags, I notice that Olivia only has one. She carefully shifts her things out and starts organizing her side of the room. She looks like a modest girl. To think that all her life fit in that bag she brought. After some brief seconds, she looks at me and catches me staring at her. She just smiles for a second and directs her attention back to unpacking.

As for this week, we are expected to get to know the University and get familiarized with how things work around here. Since it's one of the best Universities of the continent, they care a lot about their reputation, especially when it comes to how students behave. Along with the Manual of General Regulations, we also receive two Winter and Summer uniforms, that we have to wear on University ground except for weekends and holidays. Each uniform has the student base information, so it also works as a student card to have access to the University facilities. Every time we walk into class the school database automatically confirms our presence, which makes it a lot easier for the teacher to identify who's in class. The Library is open 24/7, being the only facility we have access to with facial recognition, not needing to wear the uniforms.

Next Saturday we will have the University annual Banquet. Every student's presence is requested. We will then have the opportunity to know the Director, some Professors and socialize with other students. I hope to see Elon there, if not before.

After unpacking and organizing our stuff, we change to our uniforms and head to the cafeteria to get lunch.

"Oh my god, you look so cute!" I tell Becca. Seeing her with a skirt is something new and though not fitting her usual clothing style, I have to admit she does indeed look cute in this uniform.

"Spare me the compliments, Sam." She murmurs.

As I turn to look at Olivia, I notice she has already left the room. "A rather weird roommate," I think. I shrug it off and head to the cafeteria with Becca.

The cafeteria is already crowded, making it hard to find a good table to sit and eat. We find a table on a corner, with a girl sitting, alone eating a sandwich while reading. As she notices our presence, her green eyes follow our steps as we approach.

"Hey! Do you mind if we sit here?" Becca asks.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Appreciate it."

"Thank you!" I say. "I'm Samantha Geon. This is my sister Rebecca."

"I'm Victoria or Vi for short."

"Nice to meet you"

"Is it?" She asks, turning her attention back to her book.

We start eating, Becca devouring her meal, as usual. But even with such turmoil, our presence is totally ignored as if we're not even next to her.

"Excuse me to interrupt your reading. But may I ask you something?"

She closes her book as stares at me as if waiting for the question.

"Why were you sitting alone here?"

"Because upper-class people don't usually mix with people from the Low-Grounds. I'm even surprised to be talking with two Geons."

Her appearance doesn't reassemble a bit, anyone, from the Low-Grounds. People from the Low-Grounds are kind of considered society parasites. The Low-Grounds are the impoverished areas of each country where we can find the biggest concentration of minorities, like the Bionics. For coming from such a poor place, I'm surprised she can even afford to study here. Even if they are discriminated against by almost everyone, our parents made sure to teach us to respect everyone no matter their social class.

"Low-Grounds?! That's awesome." Says Becca. "Have you ever been to Underground parties?"

"Hell yeah!" She answers. "Have you?"

"Well, I managed to sneak out once, but it got me grounded for almost six months,"

"I think you mean «us»." I correct.

"Totally worth, though!"

"Rich people crap, I see. But you look like cool rich girls. There's a huge Underground party tonight. Hakeby wy vimu se ki to dafaku."

"Vimu faso ka"

"Li tu ne" She says, getting up, leaving.

"Huh...what just happened here?" I ask, confused.

"It's Mupi, a language spoken on the Underground."

"How come you speak that? You've only been there once. Right?!"

"Picked up some words here and there. From friends...friends of friends...I don't know." She shrugs her shoulders.

"Sometimes I just feel like I don't know you at all."

"Don't be a drama queen. Anyways, she said to meet her in her room at 5pm to go to that Underground party." She says, finishing her food.

"Well, have fun."

"Not yet?"

"Not yet."

"Understandable" She gets up. "I'm going to get ready then, Guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Just be careful Becca."

"Don't worry sis. I'm still the baddest b***h around." She winks at me and leaves.

I roll my eyes and grin. As careless as she is, I just hope she doesn't do anything stupid or get into any weird situation.

As soon as I'm done eating, I open my tablet and search for the latest news. If there's anything that bothers me about this University is how close it is to Faliaici, the city where the murders have been happening. The two guys my mom's defending are also being accused of all these murders. This would make sense if they are indeed to blame for the disappearance of their girlfriends. But that's not the case in my opinion. Whoever the murderer is, he wouldn't allow himself to get caught so easily after killing so many.

Just as expected the sole thing the media seems to pay attention to right now is about Faliaici Killer. Two more killed...it doesn't seem to stop. Scrolling down the page I read the victims were found in the Faliaici Forest and after some investigation, it was confirmed that they are...the two girls that disappeared...this is going to make my mom's job so much harder. Just like the other murders, this one was just as gruesome. The pictures display a symbol drawn on trees with the victim's blood.

This bothers me more than usual, maybe because it influences my mother's case. Not that she could lose her first case, but being the Killer's attorney...I can already imagine the media headlining the Geon as another wicked wealthy family.

I take my phone and call my mom. After ringing for almost a minute, she picks up.

"Hello, Samantha. Please be quick I'm in a hurry."

"I was just wondering if you read the news about the two girls that disappeared."

"That's exactly why I'm in a hurry. I was on my way home when I read the news. I have to take the plane to Faliaici now."

"Hey, I'm not going to do much here, and classes only start next week, would you like me to help you with this?"

"Samantha, we talked about this before. Humanities and Droids relation is not the same as law. I'm not going to let you take part in this, especially on such a complex case. Stay there and don't get in trouble."

"I never do..."

"Then look out for your sister. And stay away from the Underground."

"I will..."

"Good."

She hangs up without saying goodbye.

Every time I ask myself why I don't have a good relationship with my mother, something like this happens to remind me how distant we are.

"Hey, Samantha! You look troubled, what's wrong?" Asks Olivia, coming outta nowhere.

"Oh...it's you.- I say, startled." I'm fine, don't worry.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes... I'm fine."

"Ok then. I was on my way to go look for some dresses for the Banquet. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure!" I say, enthusiastic.

"Lovely! Where's Becca?"

"Oh, she's getting ready for a party."

"Would you rather do this tomorrow with her?"

"Don't worry. She'll find something in time..."