Year 2265, Present Day
“Hello passengers. This is a prerecorded announcement. The monorail will be arriving at Aelwynne in 20 minutes, passengers who will be departing, please remain seated until further instructions are announced, thank you.”
The announcement repeated its message twice before ending. Then, the monorail became bustling as it was mere moments ago. Children admiring the view that zoomed by, a morning sun shining over a glimmering lake, surrounded by towering pine trees while adults conversating on jobs and lifestyle that they dream to obtain in Aelwynne.
Yet, among this lively crowd, was a reclusive man, whose brown eyes seemed to be staring out at the window. To anyone’s perspective, he seemed rather off since a frown was plastered across his face. Leaning back in his seat, legs crossed, and olive skin hands tucked in his forest-green hoodie pocket, he kept his eyes towards the window. Though, it seemed that he wasn't too invested in the scenery.
“…aren’t you excited Ethan?” Slightly startled by a woman's voice, Ethan turned his gaze to her. His mother, Yasmine Willburn, well-known technician and engineer. Married to Irwin Willburn, famous software developer. Both hired to be Aelwynne’s top leaders in creating technical security.
“Sorry mom, can you repeat what you had said?” Ethan said embarrassedly. Fixing his posture to be more straight and taking his hands out of his hoodie.
“You can be such a space-cadet Ethan, I do hope you fix that habit.” Said his father sitting beside him with a worried expression on his face.
“Shush Irwin, don’t be rude.” Said Yasmine, slightly kicking his feet to cease his worrying. “It’s fine sweetie. What I had said is that the mayor had emailed us regarding your experience in the military and is offering a position in Aelwynne security. She said she will give us the details in person in her office. They will provide housing for you whether or not you choose.” Finishing her sentence, she gave Ethan her phone showing the email regarding the offer.
Its description states, “Members who are accepted in this program will be notified when they are needed, thus they are free to roam around within the city until called." It seemed promising to Ethan's taste, but the only requirement was that all volunteers must be evaluated by the commanding officer. That only made Ethan slightly uncomfortable.
Though he did experience this same situation when enlisting in the military, he had chosen that path for a more personal reason. He preferred not interacting with others that much, a simple greeting or small talk is all that he is comfortable with. Having to be evaluated by someone he knows nothing about is terrifying enough, but said person having a higher rank in power and has a connection to the city itself could lead to some trouble if he were to disrespect them in any way.
Never the less, he doesn't want to disappoint his parents with the generous offer.
“…Sounds great, I’ll take a look at the offer.” Giving a phony smile to his mother so she wouldn't continue on the job, he then shifts the topic. “You made sure that all of our belongings were sent here, right?”
"Why would we forget, we are going to be living here from now on, thanks for worrying about us Ethan." His father replied, laughing at his son's worries. "You should be more worried about yo-…" Just as his father was about to finish, an announcement began to play.
“Attention all passengers arriving at Aelwynne. We will be arriving at Station 3-C shortly. We request that all personal begin to stand near the exit of the monorail in an orderly manner. Thanks for your cooperation.”
Hearing that, Ethan and his family began to gather their small belongings and merged with the crowd of people who were exiting the monorail. With the rush of people, getting out was difficult due to the minimal space. Within the hurry, Ethan had lost sight of his parents and began to head towards a directory board. Taking his phone out along the way, he began to text his location to his parents.
Not paying attention, he accidentally bumps into a woman standing by the directory, making them both drop their travel bags. After regaining his balance, he glances over at the woman who was also regaining her posture.
Her focus was on the white sweater she was wearing, smoothing down the wrinkles from the run-in from him. After she was satisfied, she lifted her head toward Ethan with a hint of annoyance for walking into her and causing her to drop her velvet handbag.
“I a-am very s-sorry. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I was texting my parents and didn't see you." Ethan nervously said he gathered the items that tumbled out of her bag which were a notebook, a couple of pens, and a small sketchbook. Carefully but quickly putting them back in the bag, he then held the bag out, in hopes that he could avoid her anger.
Her sky blue eyes were fixed on him for a short time, making Ethan more anxious. Then, the annoyed look she had quickly disappeared and was replaced with a kind and bright smile as she proceeded to pick up Ethan’s bag, probably to return the favor.
Her bright red hair was tied back in a high ponytail followed her as she bent down. Standing back up to swipe her bangs to the left of her peach-skin face, she responded to Ethan’s apology while handing his bag to him in exchange with hers.
“No worries. Thank you for your help.” Her voice was calm and collected. Stretching her hand to him, she introduced herself.
“You must be new here. Don’t worry, I won’t bite.” She said while she winked, causing Ethan to sweat a bit. This was already too much interaction for him, his anxiety was steadily rising. He has always been this way when he was young and even with the help from his parents, he was still a mess.
So here he was, frightened at the kind gesture. He was now expecting her to leave because of his not returning the gesture. Yet, she still stood patiently for him. After willing his nerves to move, he shakily grabbed her hand.
“Y-You’re welcome,” he finally ushered out, embarrassed that it took him so long to reply.
"M-my n-name is Ethan Willburn, ma'am." He said as he let go of her hand.
The woman let out a humble chuckle at his cautiousness, then proceeded to introduce herself.
“It's a pleasure to meet you, Ethan. The name is Octavia Harmonia, so the 'ma'am' isn't really necessary." She chuckled behind her hand.
“O-oh, ok." Ethan said, awkwardly shuffling his feet.
"So, what brings ya here to Aelwynne, Ethan?" She inquired.
"W-well, I'm here with my parents since they received an invite to the city that offered a position for me here as well."
"Ah, sounds like a great opportunity for you Ethan. Aelwynne is a great place to start anew. And where would your parents be? Did you all leave together or on separately?" She questioned him, gazing around the bustling crowd around them.
"O-h, they got separated as we got off so I was going to wait for them here at the directory."
"Sounds good," She then tilted her head slightly and eyed Ethan more closely, as if testing his reaction with the next question she was going to say. "Excuse my curiosity but what was that offer that you mentioned?"
Ethan hesitated to answer but didn't have the willpower to deny speaking so he replied.
"It was an offer for a position as security for Aelwynne since I have 6 years of military experience."
That seemed to satisfy Octavia's curiosity as she smiled brightly.
"That's a good deal. Aelwynne has had some
"Ethan couldn't hide the lack of enthusiasm in his voice as he scratched the back of his head in nervousness.
And to make matters worse, it seemed that Octavia had picked up on his tone as her smile changed to a small frown.
"...Hey, let me see your hand for a sec." The question surprised Ethan, to the point that he gave him a bit of a fright and made him pull his hands back to his chest.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna do anything rash." She assured him with a kind smile.
A few seconds passed until Ethan gave in and held out his hand.
Her smile grew larger as she then dug into her purse. A muffled rip was heard, almost sound like paper.
Octavia's hand then pulled out a pen and a small piece of notebook paper, scribbling something down on it and then placing it in Ethan's outstretched hand.
"I know I might be coming off as upfront, but..." Octavia hesitantly said, scratching her cheek with her index finger as Ethan look over the paper.
A set of numbers were written in a neat and regal font, with her name added there as a label for who the numbers belonged to. Then it hit them, that it was her phone number.
Looking back to meet her gaze, he was met with a kind yet nervous smile.
"If you ever want to chat, I'll be free whenever."
He was at a loss for words. He's never met someone who had put their trust in someone they just met, let alone a stranger in this strange city.
"T-thanks! I appriciate it!" He clamoured out, not wanting to seem rude.
Seeing her turn around and cheerfully parade away, Ethan slumped his shoulders in relief. Smiling to himself, began to text his parents until he feels a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he sees the smug expression from his mother and father. Taking a step back, he yelled, “HOW LONG WERE YOU TWO STANDING THERE?!”
His father walked forward and started to pat his back while his mom laughed at his embarrassment.
"My, not even a day goes by and you got yourself a girl’s number? Your charms have not left you, dearie. Such a sweetheart, now and in the past. You had women fall to your feet, until…” Suddenly remembering something, Ethan’s mother quickly fell silent. Wanting to change the topic, his father coughed.
“Well, we should probably be on our way to our tour guide. Ethan, help your mother with her bags while I get the map open.”Nodding, Ethan grabbed the suitcase and began to follow them to the car waiting for their arrival.
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