Chapter 22: Lost Record Number I (1)

“Wakie wakie!” a cute voice uttered into Astora’s ears.

Slowly opening her eyes, the girl yawned tiredly. Her voice somehow got deeper than usual. Perhaps she caught a cold from the day before. The expedition was quite tiring for a young girl such as her. Something felt odd though. What was this soft texture she was lying on? It was certainly not the harden wooden bed of the inn, that was for sure. For a moment, it almost reminded Astora of her bed back in the apartment she shared with her mother. But there was just no way that she would end up there, wouldn’t she?

“Wake up!” Someone was pushing her out of bed. But their small delicate hands were simply not strong enough.

She finally got up, with much effort from her part. Though, it felt like her body moved on its own. Maybe it was just an automatic instinct that kicked in when someone was not awake enough. She did that sometimes and found herself in the bathroom so many times within even realizing it. Her vision remained blurry after that deep sleep. Suddenly, a pair of cold limbs picked her up and put her onto some sort of seat. The seat moved smoothly toward a door that automatically opened itself. Meanwhile, Astora tried to move her head to watch her surroundings but it didn’t move as she wanted. Her body must be very tired for being like this. When the moving chair finally stopped, Astora could feel it was pushing her upward like a small elevator. What an amazing chair, she thought. Then, without warning, a brush was stuck into her mouth and started to vibrate inside. The feeling was so uncomfortable the girl just wanted to escape. But again, her body didn’t move to her desires. Without a choice, the girl accepted her fate and suffered the agony of teeth brushing. When it was finally over, a cup of water was handed to her and her hand picked it up, poured some blue water inside her mouth, letting it move a little before spitting it out. A tower gently washed her face while her hair was being brushed. It felt almost like a princess being cared for without ever need to do anything. Then her sweaty cloth was being taken away and replaced with fresh fragrant attire. She could get used to this kind of royal treatment, she thought. Although, what the girl assumed since the very beginning was about to take a very different turn.

“Just one more thing left.” Astora’s body spoke. However, it was her who spoke those words. In fact, she never intended to say anything. Why was her body was speaking on her own? Why was it standing up on its own and moving? Wait a minute, why was she pulling her pants off? What was that disgusting thing hanging between her legs? What was it doing? Why was she holding that snake-like creature in her hand? A warm feeling took over as her legs trembled while a liquid was flushing out of the extra small limb between Astora’s legs.

‘ARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!’ Astora screamed in her mind. She wanted to cover her eyes but her body refused to let her do so. It just kept doing what it was doing without paying a care to its owner. Unable to even close her eyes, Astora had to endure the entire show until the moment her pants were back on. What was happening to her? Her answer came sooner than expected when the body passed by the hanging mirror on the wall. Some similar features were still there. White hair, eyes of two different colors, those were accounted for. But the hair was cut much shorter and a little spiky. The womanly chest, which never existed in the first place, Astora could not tell. But that extra limb she saw between her legs…and this new face she had, there was no doubt about it. The person in the mirror was no longer Astora but a young man in his early twenties or likely younger. This was a male body.

‘Who the hell is this guy?’ Astora screamed inside, unable to do anything.

So, this explained why she couldn’t do anything she wanted with her body. It was never hers in the first place. Even worse, she was trapped inside this guy who somehow looked awfully similar to her. It would seem all she could do for now was watching everything from this guy’s eyes and wished that she would be freed later.

The young man exited the bathroom. He was in his room again. Now that her vision has cleared, Astora could finally see what the room actually looked like. She was no longer at the inn nor the shop. In fact, Astora was not sure if she was even in the same era. The room was well lighted by a few carefully hidden lights inside the ceiling. The furniture was all white and devoid of dusts or stains. A fragrance smell like a field of roses was sprayed in the air. A light serene voiceless music played in the background but was never to loud to break up the peaceful atmosphere. The whole setting invoked a sense of tranquility and behind it, the nature of the owner. Astora has never visited a boy’s room before so she didn’t know much but for a boy’s room, she expected to see more games and the likes. Perhaps a few dirty clothes spreading around. Those kinds of things and certainly not this kind of room. She wondered who and what kind of person the young man she was inhabiting was. Aside from this, there was another thing that bothered her. Just from a glance at the room and its furniture, Astora felt as if she was in some sort of science-fiction alternative reality. The technology clearly surpassed that of Valhalla and even much more than her own original world. Robotic hands climbing out of the walls to change a person’s cloth. Automatic chair that guided the user to the bathroom. Not to mention all other sorts of potential craziness hiding in other objects in the room that she dared not touch, not that she could anyway. Just where or when was she now? More importantly, could she go back to her world? The thought of being trapped forever inside this male body frightened her so.

Finally the young man exited the room. The hallways outside were covered in some sort of grass-like mats. At least, that was what it looked like until the man stepped on it. It was only a projection coming from the floor. But the way the grasses flattened or spread out whenever the person stepped on it, accompanying with the sound of grass being step on, made it feel so real. Then the young man went down the stairs. He grabbed onto the handrail tightly while trying to support the weight of his body with that handle, hands trembling. He didn’t have too much trouble walking on flat floor but going downstairs was a different story. Slowly, he moved down, step by step. Astora found it odd that this young man seemed to have some trouble to climb down the stairs despite being at such a young age. He was not as slow as an old man but he was not exactly much faster. There was clearly something wrong with his body to make him move this way. At last, he reached the ground floor safely. The moment he got down, a small creature tackled him, almost pushing down have he not held onto the handrail of the stairs.

“You are finally up! Hi hi!” a young teenage girl, around the same age as Astora herself, hugged the young man tightly. Astora recognized the girl’s voice as the one who talked to her at the beginning.

Patting the girl’s head gently, the young man smiled at the girl. “Good morning my dear sister!”

A woman’s voice called out. “Come on you two. It is time for breakfast. Helenor, help your brother!”

“Okay mom!” The girl Helenor carefully supported her brother on her small shoulders.

“It is fine, Helenor. I can walk by myself.” The big brother said.

“Hi Hi! But I want to help you.” The girl smiled brilliantly in such a cute way that was impossible to refuse her. Reluctantly, the brother let his sister help him to the kitchen room. Taking a closer look at the girl, she actually looked quite similar to her brother, and by extension Astora herself. White hair just like Astora but both her eyes were crystal blue and her face was slightly different. Fortunately, it was certainly not Astora. Else it would be quite a shock to see a copy of oneself while staying in another’s body.

The kitchen was as Astora expected this time. It was oozing with cutting edge technology but very well incorporated into the decorations and walls, bringing a sense of simplicity yet evoking elegance and avant-garde design. Furthermore, everything was automatic without needing anyone to control them. An ivory robot stood in front of the stoves, preparing the meals while some flying smaller robots were delivering the cooked meals to the table for their masters as well as removing any finished plates. By the table, a senior man and a woman in odd fashion sat while checking virtual screens emitted from a device they wore like glasses.

“Ah, here you are, our champ!” The man turned off his screen and greeted the young man. “Just in time for breakfast! Take a seat!”

“Good morning father, mother!” said the young man. So, these two adults were their parents. But for people of the same family, they didn’t really look alike. Helenor and the young man could be easily taken as siblings but the two adults with brown and black hair did not look like the parents of the siblings at all. Or at least, they didn’t share any resemblance.

“Dear Ender, are you excited to finally go back to school?” the woman asked with a big smile on her face. So, the young man’s name was Ender while his sister was Helenor. Astora took note of the names in her mind.

“Yes. It has been quite a while.” Ender looked at his excited sister and pat her head.

“It has only been a few weeks since the operation. Take it easy, pal! If you feel unwell at any moment, just call us and anyone of the school staff! I have already informed them of your circumstance so you don’t have to worry about anything.” Said the father.

A memory flashed in front of Astora. Apparently, Ender had a sickly body since birth and was subject to many medications or even surgeries during his life. However, the most recent crisis was a rather big one that made him collapse and take a break from school for several months. It seemed that today was the day he finally went back to school. Astora wondered what kind of illness Ender was afflicted with for being in this state. Judging from what she saw so far, this world he lived in must have extremely high level of technology. There should only be a very limited number of diseases that the people of this place couldn’t cure.

“Thank you, father!” said Ender. “About what you said yesterday….”

“But of course. Truthfully, your mother and I have been discussing about it and we also think it is time you have one. How about today after school?”

“Really?” Ender turned to his mother, excitedly.

“Yes. We all know how much you want one. Personally, I think it will be of great help for your rehabilitation too.” Said the mother with affection.

“Thank you, father, mother!” Ender smiled.

“Look at the time! You two should hurry up and eat before going to school.” The father stood up and headed to the door. “I will be going ahead. Helenor, watch over your brother, okay?”

“Dad, I can take care of myself.” Ender grunted.

“Of course, you can. It is just in case. Alright, goodbye honey!” The man kissed the woman on the cheek and departed.

“We should hurry up too.” Ender said to his sister.

“No worry! I can just bring us there instantly.” Helenor grinned.

“Now now, you must restrict using your powers for casual things like this. Dad won’t be happy if he finds out.” The mother said.

“Buuu.” The girl pouted.

“Mom is right. Besides, I prefer walking to school as it will help me get better. Won’t you help me, Helenor?” Ender said.

“YES!”

The young man skillfully turned the situation around. He made the girl feel wanted, asking her to help him out. With her innocent mind and naïve drive to help her dear brother, what else could she do but jumping to the bait? After finishing their breakfast, the siblings said goodbye to their mother and departed from their home.

“Children, you forgot to take your doses today again.” The mother said in a cheerfully tone while handing out two red pills, each for one of her children.

“That stuff again?” Helenor moaned.

“Now now, don’t you waste it. It is the highest quality pill money can afford. You don’t know how much everyone craves this thing. I doubt if anyone at your school would even have this, aside from the few exceptions.” The mother watched her children swallowing the pills attentively then smiled at their efforts and hugged them both. “Now go along! Have a nice day you two!”

At that moment, Astora was watching everything from Ender’s eyes but she also shared his sensations, his current thoughts and his feelings. Unlike what the scene portrayed, Ender’s mind was slightly perplexed about taking in the pill. A curious boy he was, yet he never knew what the pill was exactly. A product made to stimulate the brain and improve both one’s mental and physical abilities, the pill was some sort of drug highly sought among the populace of this age. However, the higher the quality, the more expensive and effective it was. In short, it was a wonder drug. Astora learnt this from Ender’s mind. Everything sounded great about the pill. Its effect has been proven so there was no doubt about it. Yet, on this day, Ender did not take the pill. He tricked his mother and instead put it between his fingers before hiding the pill away and exiting their home.

As the two walked down the streets, Astora was left speechless at its surprisingly charm. The scenery outside was unlike anything Astora has ever seen and she felt that she has spoken that sentence quite too often recently. Blocs of white cubic buildings occupied the two sides of the streets, stacking upon each other in a very organized plan. Lanes of green blooming flowers and green trees trailed across the streets, providing soothing shadows from the hot sunlight. The roads were large with strange vehicles hovering above the ground one after another. The people all looked like humans without any trace of other races, unlike Valhalla. Perhaps much like Astora’s original world, this was a land of humans. Large aircrafts could be seen floating in the sky with majestic design, equipped with imposing rockets and of course, weaponries. They didn’t look like civilian aircrafts but rather military. Together with the cannons and rockets, it almost seemed like a huge spaceship to travel into space. Considering its size, it was certainly possible. The aircrafts, one by one, passed through the sky of the city before stopping at a specific location: a huge white tower with two pillars spiraling around each other toward the sky seemingly located at the center of the city. Each aircraft would drop some sort of shipping container which would be recuperated by an extended platform coming from the tower.

“Look, brother! It is another shipment.” Helenor pointed at the aircraft. “I wonder what it is that they are transporting to the Tower.”

“I don’t know…” Ender looked at the cargoes fall down and disappearing into the Tower. “Let’s move on okay?”