He crushed the blue book in his hand. His knuckles turned white as he stared at the number written in red ink.
"32.5."
Neo closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he spread the exam booklet across his desk. Each page bled with red marks — notes, X's, and circles carved by the merciless pen of his law professor. He flipped through it, faster and faster, as if somewhere between the pages he'd find mercy. He didn't.
There was no hope. He had failed his midterm exam — the one subject everyone feared the most.Constitutional Law I.
His law school days were numbered.
"I'll make it up in the finals," he muttered, jaw tight. "This isn't over yet."
He pressed the blue book flat on the desk. At the back cover, written in cold, unforgiving handwriting:
Subject: Constitutional Law IName: Neo SicarroRating:FAILED
Neo stared at it, disbelief etched on his face.
"This is only my first year," he whispered. "Not even three months in. And I'm not giving up. Not yet."
He stood up, his knees aching from kneeling too long. He raked a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.
"This exam won't stop me," he said, voice low but steady. "I'll ace the next one. I'll show that professor who I am."
He grabbed his jacket, stepped outside, and slammed the door behind him.
"It's a shitty day anyway," he muttered. "I deserve a cigarette."
Neo crossed the street in a rush—
BAM!
The sound split the air. A speeding truck had hit him. His body soared twenty feet before crashing back onto the pavement.
"Motherfu—" he gasped, blood filling his mouth. "This... this isn't the end—"
He opened his eyes. It seemed as if it had been a thousand years since he had opened it. His left eye still had astigmatism. But he had never gotten the chance to buy prescription glasses for them. But this time it wasn't just his eye condition that was blurrying his vision.
Neo was underwater. He shook in place but he was suspended. Something was holding him up. And the water was freezing. He could see through the glass holding him inside what seemed like a water tank. There were tubes connected to his mouth, nose, and body.
He struggled to move around but to no avail.
"Wha-", his mouth stuffed with a tube, he couldn't speak his words, "What is going on?"
Through the glass, he saw a fat old man smiling creepily at him. His eyes were wide open, as if it were lion stalking it's meal.
"Is he looking at me?", Neo confused. "No, he isn't staring at me. He is staring at my dick!"
"Senator, I'd like to discuss something with you," a man in a white lab coat called to the fat old man.
Their voices were unclear, but Neo could make up the words if he tried hard enough.
The fat old man's smile disappeared. And his face frowned. It was back to its resting state. The old man turned toward the voice calling him.
"Yes, yes... What is it doctor?"
"The item you won at the auction is conscious and ready for delivery to your home, Senator. Would you like us to do the orientation process?"
"No. No. There is no need, Doctor Strauss," the Senator replied, "I will do it myself at home. Please tell them to take care of my cargo upon delivery. These teleportation docks can be quiet wreckless with deliveries."
"I'll make sure to remind them, Senator."
"Good. I'll be off then. These inferior states have horrible prostitutes. Too old, for my taste."
"Yes. Especially this one's origins," The doctor looked at Neo. "The Philippines has truly become the hell run by Filipinos that they wanted it to be. At least they got the right idea by quickening the aging of their populations to increase the work force. Unfortunately, now, it only takes a few weeks for a new-born child to become a full-grown adult."
Neo wiggling his way out of the water tank. "Where the fuck am I? And what the hell are they talking about?"
The Senator looked at Neo. And his eyes with an evil stare, burned into Neo's memory. "You wait your turn, little shit. I'll get back to you later."
The water tank's seal closed. Neo couldn't see anything. But he could feel the water start to drain. He struggled to exit move but there were wires holding him. Suddenly, the wires released him. And he fell on the metal floor of the water tank. He could feel the waters flow through the little drains of the water tank.
With his arms free, he grabbed the tubes that were connected to his body and mouth, and pulled them out with all his force one by one.
With the last tube removed from his mouth. He puked the liquids that were coming from the tube,
Then a steam of vapor leaked from the top of the tank.
"Huh?" Neo thought. "What kind of hospital is this?"
Neo then inhaled the vapor and fell unconscious.