Chapter 3: “The Newcomer”
I reached the main gate, but only Natoe and Haley were standing there.
“Where…is….who?” I panted, taking in deep breaths.
“You mean the newcomer?” said Haley, “He’s been taken to the lab to be washed up.”
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“Alex,” answered Haley, “Why are you so eager?”
“Oh…” I muttered in disappointment, it was not him.
“Where are you going?” asked Haley, but I did not answer. If I were a Kreon, my body would have been a dark shade of blue right now.
“What’s gotten into her today?” Haley asked Natoe who shrugged.
Haley caught up with me and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I replied.
“Com’on, your moods almost as predictable as a Kreon’s you know. What’s up?”
“I thought,” I answered, “I thought they’d find my brother.”
Haley was startled. Even though we were very close, I had never told her I had a brother.
“Brother? You have a brother?” she asked in shock.
“I used to. He’s either dead or in a zoo by now…” I paused trying to fight back the tears, “But I-I still had that little thing called hope that...he-he would still be alive…”
“Trinity…”
“Who was I kidding?” I said hopelessly, “He’s dead.”
The tears ran down my cheeks. It’s painful to hope everyday that you’d see your loved ones again, but each time, it turns out to be a disappointment. Haley rubbed my back as I forcefully stopped crying.
“Trinity you can still keep that little thing called hope. Hope is endless no matter what the circumstances…heck, I still have hope that humans will dominate the world again even though it’s been sixteen years!” Haley said smiling.
“You do?” I asked, not believing her.
“Yeah, of course I do! And you should too, after all isn’t your real name Hope?”
Humans, if they were kept as pets, had two names- the one given by their parents and the other given by the Kreons who owned them. “Hope” was what my parents used to call me. The Kreons gave me a weird name, “Trinity” and I preferred people calling me that, for I didn’t want to think about my family. Each time “Hope” was mentioned, I’d break down.
“Yeah, it is,” I answered.
“So, you, of all people, should have hope! Now, promise me that you’ll have hope that
your brother is alive unless we prove that he’s…up there…” said Haley.
“This is silly. How will you—” I started.
“Promise me!” interrupted Haley.
“Okay, okay, I promise.” I said in defeat.
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We walked back to our quarters. When we were there, we found the others huddled over someone.
“Trinity, Haley, this is Alex,” introduced Wanda when she saw us.
The first thing I noticed about Alex, was that he was tall. He had slightly brown hair and a pair of astonishingly sharp, sky-blue eyes. It seemed like I had seen those eyes before. In fact, his whole appearance looked strangely familiar. When Alex saw me, it seemed like a look of recognition passed his face, but he did not say anything, and before I could take a closer look, it was gone.
It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. That was not true with Alex. I could not read anything in his eyes; they were blank, as if he had put up a curtain before them, as if he was trying to hide something.
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“Don’t they have robots to do this stuff?” asked Alex for the fifth time.
Alex was annoying me with his endless questions. Since I was the most experienced person at the farm, I had the task of teaching him everything. Now, whenever I do show him something, he always has to ask me that question, and it was getting on my nerves.
“I mean seriously, farming is so medieval. Before the war we had automated farms with robots so why can’t Kreons have automated—” started Alex.
“Would you please stop repeating the same thing for the zillionth time?” I interrupted him.
“Actually, I think I said it for the fifth time,” said Alex.
“Well, if you counted the number of times you said it, why don’t you shut up!” I snapped, cursing the Kreons for bringing such an annoying character into my life.
Alex did not even show the slightest of surprise. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself. That irritated me further.
“Okay, so after that, we need to check those machines over there and make sure they are in good working order. You do know how to make them work, right?” I asked.
Alex didn’t answer, he kept staring at me with his blue eyes.
I patiently repeated the question and then explained to him how to use the machine I was talking about. Yet, Alex remained quiet and his silence, together with his indifference, made my temper reach its boiling point.
“Okay, fine, if that’s the way you want to treat someone who is just trying to help you, then I’m not teaching you!” I said, turning around to leave.
“No, wait!” cried Alex.
I faced him and asked, “What’s your problem?”
“It’s just that you told me to shut up, so I shut up,” explained Alex, smirking.
“I said that because you were-” (I restrained myself from calling him a very flowery term which had sprung to my mind) “Okay, from now on, don’t repeat the same thing over and over again and answer me when I ask a question,” I said, trying to be patient.
“Whatever you say, boss,” replied Alex with a smug look on his face.
I seriously wished that day to slap him, and wipe that smug look off his face.
