Kai pulled my arm and led me through some alleys where we reached a train station of sorts. We went to a booth where someone was standing, wearing a suit and with a hollow circle in place of his head.
"Two tickets to the Nalva station please."
The man (?) looked at us and leaned down from behind the glass window so he would be at Kai's eye level.
"I'll be needing your IDs Sir."
Kai handed him a card.
"And what about the gentleman next to you?"
"He's new here. I'm going to the Nalva station to make him a new ID."
"Hm."
The Staff looked at me for a moment and typed something on a hologram.
"Here."
The Staff handed Kai 2 tickets along with his card and nodded,
"Safe travels."
We quickly left and went to a platform and from there we could see a lot of tracks going here and there with some already having trains.
"It's a mess here."
Kai chuckled at that and pointed upwards,
"Ehh, it's an organized mess."
A train suddenly went above us at a fast speed. The tracks seemed to be on top of the train instead of underneath.
We crossed the bridge to reach another platform and sat down at a nearby bench. Kai looked awkwardly over his shoulders and gave me glances now and then. He looked like a child who knew he did something wrong and was waiting for his mother to start yelling.
Not being able to stand the awkward silence as it stretched on, I finally gave in and asked the inevitable question.
"So, what's happening again? I just got chased out of my house no— wait, I got strangled at my house, went through the door, the one I told you to remove, got into a strange portal room, and now I'm sitting a train station waiting to go to Valva??"
Kia took in a deep breath and explained,
" Uh... It's Nalva, and don't worry, I won't do anything to you, I swear. It's just a misunderstanding. I uhh I know i told you I would close the gate and I did! It's just that I needed to go to the Hub because a friend (?) was calling me and I didn't want to leave but had to because if I didn't he would've come to your house but he came either way and i realized it too late and by the time i got back he almost killed you and it's on me, i'll take the blame and responsibility for putting your life in danger and i'm so sorry about it. I swear I won't let it happen ag—"
" Okay okay, calm down. Stop. Breathe. I'm not accusing you. I just need to know about a few things."
" Ah, yes! I'll answer everything."
" Where's the toilet?"
Kai looked dumbfounded at me, like he was expecting me to ask about his deepest, darkest secret.
" I need to go to the toilet. I couldn't go at home either 'cause that dude nearly killed me."
He quickly got up and led me to the men's bathroom. I went into a stall and came back a little later. Refreshed, I looked at the mirror and saw my reflection.
My black hair was a mess, my skin looked a shade lighter —probably from nearly getting murdered— and my green eyes had a strange goldenish glow in them.
I leaned in closer to the mirror and saw that the light reflected in my eyes was a golden color instead of white, and there was a thin golden rim around my black irises.
'Hm. If it didn't look this pretty i would've been concerned. Green and golden combo could never go wrong.'
I splashed water on my face and ran my hand through my hair so that it looked ruffled instead, and my skin also seemed to be going back to its original warm beige color.
I left the bathroom and met up with Kai who was standing outside holding the Bear.
"You good?"
He jumped back a little but quickly laughed it off.
"Ah, you're back. It was nothing I was just looking around. Let's go, our train is about to come."
I hummed and followed him. When we got to the platform the train was already there and we quickly rushed inside and got onto empty seats. Not even a minute later the doors closed with a click sound and the train started to move.
The train left the platform and my eyes got fixed to the windows. The view outside was magnificent.
The whole city seemed to have a cool tone to it. There were ridiculously tall buildings with neon signs which glowed even during the day, the streets had many buildings with unique architecture, there were even a few buildings with their own swimming pool at the top!
I didn't notice when the ticket checker came and went by. The train stopped at a few stations and after each station the view changed too. It turned from the cool and well-maintained city life to a more warm and messy urban town.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw Kai smiling warmly at me.
I quickly regained my composure and sat straighter. I could feel my ears heating up. Being caught gawking outside like that was embarrassing. Why was I doing it?! I'm not a kid!
" I'm sorry to disturb you but the next station is our stop."
I mumbled an apology as I scratched my cheek nervously and refused to look at him.
He laughed lightly and got up as the train came to a stop. We soon left the train and got onto the platform.
" Now what?"
" We need to get you an ID card so you won't be an illegal immigrant."
" How can I be an illegal immigrant? I just got here. Won't I get arrested?"
" People get a 48-hour delay, if they don't get an ID within that time, they'll be considered as an illegal immigrant."
" What if the person doesn't know they need an ID?"
" They will know, eventually. You need an ID for everything— going inside shops, getting tickets, using transportation systems,etc. And if the person still doesn't know they need an ID card, they will get caught by the Security where they'll be questioned. If they truly didn't know about it then they will be charged a small fine and be made to get an ID within 12 hours."
" What if someone refuses?"
" They will get sent to jail."
Satisfied, we continued through the crowds of people when I noticed they looked odd. Some had long ears like elves, one had a literal snout instead of a nose and some just straight up looked like different species altogether.
I, respectfully, didn't ask any question about them and lowered my head so I'd stop looking at them and continued following Kai.
By the time we got out of the station, I felt like I was going to die from starvation. I didn't even get to eat at home and now the hunger is only getting stronger.
" Hey Kai—"
My rumbling stomach finished the sentence for me as I could feel my face heating up.
" Pfft—"
He took me to a fancy looking restaurant which seemed to be pretty expensive but Kai denied it, saying 'Everything here looks fancy.'
After that we went to one of the tall buildings and got a room assigned from the front desk and sat in the lobby.
" Since we're here to make a new ID won't we need proof?"
" For what?"
" For an ID card. Don't they need to prove my identity?"
" You don't need it. Just say whatever you want. But remember, whatever you say will become a part of your identity, job and other stuff."
" So, I'm technically becoming a whole new person huh? Cool."
" Ehhh, more or less."
Now that I had found a way to not get stabbed or chased out, where will we go next? We can't go back since the man already knows of our location and he doesn't seem to be the reasonable kind.
After a bit of contemplation I asked,
" Will I be able to go back to my place or am I stuck here?"
Kai thought for a while before answering,
" He will most probably still be looking for me and since I hit his head, he won't stop until he gets back at me. And in the meantime you won't be able to leave either because..."
" Let me guess, now I'm an accomplice?"
Kai chuckled nervously as he apologized.
'This is ridiculous. Just because that man saw me, he's after my throat too. Ughh, I just got a shiver from just thinking that. I wonder what will happen if he appeared here all of sudden...'
" Number 8!"
I flinched hard, not expecting the lady to yell right behind me.
" Well, that's your number. I'll think about what to do nex—"
" NUMBER 8!!"
I nodded and went into the room, apologizing to the lady as i went in.
I thought it would be just answering some questions and getting scanned but it took way longer than it should've.
" Oh welcome back! Did you get your ID yet?"
" Yeah, they're pretty fast. I thought I'd have to wait for a few days to get it."
" The authority here believes in efficiency rather than accuracy."
'That's kinda wrong...'
I gave my ID to Kai and he took it out from the little packet and began reading,
" Name— wait a minute, I don't think I ever got your real name...
"... I never told you..?"
" No. I just called 'Hey' most of time."
".... Hm. Whatever, new name new me. I never really liked my real name from the start. It was too weird."
Kai nodded and continued reading my ID,
"Name: Noah Hawthorne
Date of Birth: 26 July 20XX
*Gender (optional): Male
Species: Human
Occupation: Florist
Address: XXXXXXXXX, Near Hub
Code: 51213780
·
I didn't know you were younger than me.."
" What do you mean? I'm 21."
" And I'm 28..."
I scoffed and looked him up and down. Even though he was a bit taller than me, his face looked young. He looked like a teenager who just had growth spurt but didn't quite get the masculine features yet.
" You look way younger than that."
Kai looked at me for a second before bursting into laughter which almost made me regret saying it.
" What? Do you want to look like an old man or something?"
" N-no! It's just you— who's supposed to be younger looks older and me— who's supposed to be older looks younger. It's funny because it's so wrong."
I sighed and took my ID from him. He finally stopped laughing and eyed my card. After a bit of contemplation he asked,
" Why choose Florist?"
'Florist? Probably because I've had some knowledge about flowers and... The Grandma that day made me remember something I hadn't felt in years. I should start again. I always liked it when I was young but ever since I got older, I didn't get time to explore my passion.' Since explaining all that would've been too long, I just gave a vague answer.
" No reason, I just thought I should give myself a new start."
Kai grinned and lightly punched my shoulder.
" Good for you man, even your name matches your job."
" My name? Noah?"
" No, your last name, Hawthorne. It's connected to botany and stuff. It's nice, how did you think of that?"
" I didn't. I just thought it sounded cool. Kinda like Clawthorne."
We continued to talk for a while and came to a conclusion, to start a new life.
My life back at home wasn't that great either, I didn't have job, and... I had a not-so-bad place even though the landlady was annoying and...Nothing else. I guess my life wasn't as bad as I thought. Yes, working in a restaurant was boring and got tedious during the rush hour, but it was nice. We got free food and learned a new skill. If anything, I think I don't like the employees there— most of them were two-faced and lied about almost everything. The boss was fine but she played favourites a lot. She only let us work because we looked good which meant more customers and more money. But even then, she was also two-faced.
Overall, my life felt too... Lonely. I never reached out to my old friends and my parents? They are already gone. They were good parents. And starting new doesn't sound too bad either. Kai told me about a residential area in the Hub where we could buy a house. But since we didn't have any money yet and we can't take a loan without any collateral, we looked for any jobs we could find.
After a few days of searching, sleeping on the empty benches in the Hub and eating free samples from the market. We finally found a job, not so surprisingly, in a restaurant.
-------- 𝐸𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 --------
*Gender is optional because some species don't have the system of genders. They vary in either powers or status.
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