“I don’t know what I’m doing”, Fons breathed. His pale skin looked almost paperish in the window’s soft afterglow.

“Well, have a seat, and perhaps you’ll remember better”, Silas gestured to the velvet carpet.

“It’s not ideal, but you’ll have to bear with it. Not much space within these walls.”

Fons sat.

The silence that followed had an almost ethereal, airy nature to it. Silas studied the boy- or was it a man, in front of him. His shoulders straightened, almost as if he were a runner preparing for a marathon. Both looked expectantly to the other, the momentary pause turning into an uncomfortable silence. It was only as Fons’ crimson eyes began to glaze over that Silas took matters into his own hands.

“Okay, let's start from the beginning then. If you don’t know what you were doing, what’s the last thing you remembered?”

This so-called “easy” question was really just a lateral movement…

“The last thing I remember is waking up near the bench I met you at.”. Fons strained as hard as he could,but nothing would come to him.

“You don’t remember anything before today?”

“I don’t remember anything.”

“Your childhood? Parents? Friends?”

“...I don’t quite understand”

Silas gave Fons an incredulous look. “Then how the hell do you know how to speak? How do you recognise anything? Do you have a phone or something?”

“Fone?”

“Ph-one.”

What even was this “phone”? Silas was right, this sequence of events makes no sense at all. Why was he even in a stranger’s apartment? Shuffling around, Fons remembered the satchel. The book! While the satchel had seen better days, perhaps the book escaped the rain’s outburst.

It had. Apart from a few droplets on its spine, The Manual to Existence (V00), was serviceable.

“A book? There’s really nothing else in there, huh?”. Fons pointed to the cover page.

“When I came to, this was the only thing inside.”

Silas sized the book up and down.

“Tsk. What’s up with this title? The Manual to Existence...you don’t remember this?”

Fons shook his head.

“Well then, maybe you should. I’m not one to intrude into others’ privacy. It could help you remember something, at least. Or possibly give us an explanation on how someone as well kept as you ended up sprawled on a park bench like they were receiving Jesus.” Silas pointed to the grandfather clock in the wall. Almost 5pm. The storm clouds were quickly dissipating and giving way to the beginnings of a glowing moon.

“You’re lucky I’m a nice guy. I’ll set something to eat while you look through that there. Give me around fifteen minutes or so. I trust you’re not a picky eater- well you wouldn’t know anyways, would you?” Silas gave a small smile to himself.

Handing the book over the Fons, he left to a small countertop tucked in the corner of the room.

So what exactly was in front of Fons? Fons eyes widened at the book before him, hands feeling over its rounded edges, admiring every indent, every defect. Slowly, he opened the first page, picking up where he left off.

FONS.

That is who you are. What lies in this book will guide you through existence, should you follow its suggestions. It contains the very foundation of which humanity’s existence is based on. Fons, if you do not understand anything else from this manual, you ought to remember this one point.

THIS MANUAL ANSWERS ALL THE QUESTIONS, EXCEPT THE ONES WITHOUT ANSWERS

Navigate to the “Table of Contents on the next page. It should help you to journey the rest of the manual. You would be advised to read, “About you” starting off, before you begin the setup series

Hmph. Table of contents it was. Fons pushed aside a pesky tuft of hair and soldiered onwards.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

MAKER’S NOTE (!!!) ABOUT YOU

2.1 - DROIDS

2.2 - DEFAULTS

2.3 - PURPOSE

THE WORLD AROUND YOU

3.1 - EARTH

3.2 - AB OVO

3.3 - PEOPLE & OTHER ANIMALS

SETUP SERIES

4.1 - THE FOUR NECESSITIES, WHAT MAKES THE WORLD TURN

4.2 - THE OTHER ESSENTIAL NON-ESSENTIALS

4.3 - STARTUP PHASE 1: ESTABLISHMENT

4.4 - STARTUP PHASE 2: STABILISING

4.5 - STARTUP PHASE 3: BASIC INTEGRATION PT.1

4.6 - STARTUP PHASE 4: BASIC INTEGRATION PT.2

GRADUATE SERIES

5.1 - EDUCATION AT A GLANCE

5.2 - EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

5.3 - EDUCATION MECHANISMS

5.4 - SUB TOPIC: CAREERS

5.5 - CONNECTIONS PHASE 1: COMMUNICATE

5.6 - CONNECTIONS PHASE 2: LINK

5.7 - CONNECTIONS PHASE 3: MEANING

COMPLEMENTARY SERIES

6.1 - TRAVEL

6.2 - CULTURE

6.3 - ENTERTAINMENT AND MEDIA

QUESTIONS

7.1 - ANTICIPATED QUESTIONS

7.2 - QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWERS

7.3 - THE CURRENT SITUATION

DICTIONARY

Bombarded with an utter sea of information, the table of contents stemmed over a page and a half long. Part one, two three, four… it seemed never-ending. While his eyes were drawn to the highlighted, “Maker’s note”section, Fons elected to browse the aforementioned, “About you”section instead. He turned to 1.1. Fons felt a painful, pulsating sensation on his right temple. What was a droid anyways? Yet another word he didn’t understand...

1.1 - DROIDS

YOU ARE A NELO-572 NAMED FONS. You are not like those around you. You are a droid, not a human. If you want to prove this, draw three small circles around the upper left section of your chest.

*Dictionary:

“A DROID is typically a robot with human-like features-

“I’m not human?” Fons gulped. Weren’t all the people around him humans? Were some of them not?

His words didn’t fall on deaf ears.

“Say what??” Silas exclaimed.

“This thing says i’m not like those around me”

“Pffft! What do you mean, “Not like those around me”. Get over yourself. Maybe I’ll slice your arm open to check”

“Maybe I can prove it...”

“Go for it”, Silas’ eyes narrowed.

Fons tentatively raised his index finger, placing it over his chest as specified.

Three small circles…