Alex sat at the bus station, waiting for a bus that should've arrived three minutes ago. The clock on his shimmering glass phone display read 11:03 P.M.
"That's why I prefer walking," he sighed, leaning back on the bench until his gaze met the sky. A pitch-black, glassy ceiling with no stars.
There was nothing to see up there during the night, or even in the daytime for that matter. The sky looked pitch-black at night and azure during the day, but somehow it always calmed him to look at it.
Ever since he was a kid, he'd been fascinated by his grandmother's stories of how, a hundred years ago, the heavens used to glitter with luminous stars before the dense sphere appeared and swallowed the sky.
She said there were more cities beyond the ocean, and a whole world of people were out there. Alex never stopped wondering how it all would be like to see it himself.
'It probably the same as anywhere in this country,' he thought. 'But that wouldn't be so bad. At least I wouldn't be stuck in one place. I'd have the whole world for myself in that case.'
Alex's thoughts were cut short by a hiss of brakes. The bus had arrived. With a quiet sigh, he stood and stepped inside.
The inside of the bus was still full of people, even at this hour. All the seats were taken, as he expected, so more people were standing, holding onto the hand straps overhead.
Alex found one of the straps to hold onto. The bus was already moving before he could stabilize himself; he stumbled a little but shortly found his balance.
He would've preferred walking to where his friends wanted to meet him if it weren't hours away by foot, so he had to act like any other normal citizen and take the bus, even though he preferred not to. He wouldn't have minded bus rides if it weren't for how crowded they always were.
With more people, there was always a fight going on or something weird, like someone standing upside down in the bus. Like that gentleman right there.
Ever since Alex had boarded, he'd been watching a man hanging upside-down like a bat, trying to sleep. It wasn't even weird anymore. This kind of thing was pretty common on a bus. While Alex was still staring at the man's strange position, the bus suddenly stopped, making the upside-down man fall to the floor.
Luckily, Alex saw it coming and quickly steadied himself, but the young girl beside him wasn't as lucky. She came right at him, using Alex as a soft cushion to keep herself from falling. Alex used his free hand to slow down her momentum.
Fortunately, for her that was enough to stop her from getting sent flying. After regaining her balance, she took a few moments to calm down, looking a bit disoriented.
This was another thing Alex hated about bus rides. The sudden stops. It always felt like the bus went full speed one second, then stopped dead the next, sending everyone flying.
"Get off me, you pervert!"
Alex was ripped from his thoughts by an angry shout right next to him. He turned his head to the girl he had just saved, she was glaring at him, furiously for some reason. Alex raised a brow.
'What's wrong with her?'
The girl shouted again, "Are you deaf? I said get off me, you pervert!"
"What? Who are you calling a pervert?" Alex groaned. After all, he wasn't even touching her anymore; he had only caught her to stop her from falling; that was the only time he even touched her. Confused and not wanting to start anything, he kept quiet.
He was getting off at the next station anyway and didn't want to deal with some ungrateful kid accusing him after he'd just helped her. But to Alex's dismay, she didn't seem like she wanted to back off.
"How irritating! Why do you men always touch me when I'm just trying to take the bus?" she said. Alex was stunned. This girl was unbelievable.
'When did it get this bad?' he thought, more shocked by her behavior than anything else.
"I'm not touching you. Calm down," he said flatly.
"Why should I calm down—" she began, but before she could finish, the bus started moving again, stumbling both of them. She fell right back onto Alex.
He pushed her away after regaining his balance, but the belligerent girl wouldn't stop.
"You—you just touched me again, didn't you?!"
Alex tried to ignore her, but she kept yelling even as he tuned her out. Shortly, the bus finally reached his stop. As he stepped off, he could still hear her shouting behind him:
"You pervert! Where are you going? Come back here right now!"
Ignoring the belligerent girl, Alex sighed in relief to be out of the overcrowded bus. Then, he felt a buzz against his thigh, his shimmering glass phone. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. A notification from NOVA.
He opened the app and was sent straight to the trending feed. A new headline flashed at the top:
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[NOVA TRENDING | 11:05 PM | #1: XyrenixBreakthrough]
In a stunning announcement tonight, Julian Cross, CEO of the tech conglomerate "Xyrenix", confirmed that his team has developed a prototype powerful enough to breach the surface of the "Black Sphere."
Cross described the achievement as "the dawn of a new era in energy and space manipulation."
The company is expected to hold a controlled reveal event soon, sparking national speculation about the true potential and risks of their creation.
A looping clip auto-played beneath the post. Julian Cross stood at a podium. He was a blond-haired man with a well-kept beard who looked to be in his early thirties. His thinned smile and dark circles under his eyes were the most noticeable features on his face.
Above the comments, a small banner flickered:
["Watch Live Reaction Stream – Sponsored by NOVA."]
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Alex sighed and swiped the news away. These kinds of stories had been common a few years back. Every corporation claimed to be the one to crack the Sphere, until they all gave up, realizing how indestructible it truly was.
'So why's this new company so confident?' he thought. 'What tech could they possibly have that others didn't?'
Shrugging it off, he opened his messages. The most recent one was from Michael.
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Michael: Dude, where are you? The party just started, everyone's already here. [11:09 PM]
You: The bus was a little late, but I'm close by. [11:12 PM]
Michael: Walk faster, everyone's starting to wonder where you are. [11:12 PM]
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Alex turned off his phone with a quiet sigh. Tonight was his 18th birthday, and his friends had insisted on celebrating it out in the city. He had tried to refuse, since he'd never really celebrated before, but they didn't take no for an answer.
It still felt strange to him, but maybe a little excitement wouldn't hurt. He had even cleaned himself up for once, he had a fresh haircut after years, his messy dark hair now neatly trimmed. His clothes were new, comfortable, and for once, he actually felt confident in them.
'Let's just hope it's worth the trouble,' he thought, adjusting his jacket as the bus rolled through the flickering luminescent streets.
When he was getting ready to leave, someone bumped into him. Alex was starting to get annoyed because people had been bumping into him all evening. But before he could see who it was this time, a soft voice reached his ears.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
It was a young woman, probably in her early twenties. She had striking violet eyes that seemed to glow faintly under the night lights, and raven-black hair that fell down her shoulders like a shadowy waterfall. She was gorgeous. dead gorgeous.
Alex froze for a moment. He had never seen someone as beautiful as her; even the belligerent girl from the bus didn't come close. He was mesmerized, but he quickly snapped out of it to seem polite. Clearing his throat, he said,
"No, it's not a problem. Are you alright?"
With a bright smile, that somehow makes Alex's irritation disappear like it was never there a moment ago. She then replied,
"Yes, I'm fine. And sorry again."
Feeling like he should say something, though his mind had gone blank, Alex forced a calm tone.
"Yes… don't worry. I'm fine… as long as you're fine."
Still smiling, she extended her hand.
"My name's Cera. What's yours?"
Alex awkwardly shook her hand.
"Alexander… yeah, that's my name. But you can call me Alex."
For some reason, he couldn't stay calm around her. His thoughts tangled, his words tripped.
"Nice to meet you, Alex," she said. "I need to go now, but I'll see you when I see you."
Before she could walk away, Alex instinctively reached out and stopped her. She turned back, looking at him curiously but still smiling.
"Is there something I can do for you, Alex? I really must go."
He cleared his throat, steadying his voice.
"Can I have your NOVA?"
Cera tilted her head slightly and replied,
"No, I don't use that sort of thing."
Alex blinked, raising an eyebrow. She doesn't use NOVA? The most popular web platform that connected everyone?
'Is that her way of rejecting me?'
Suddenly, he felt his face heat with embarrassment. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice. Before he could say anything else, Cera's voice drifted over again, soft and melodic.
"But I'm sure we'll meet again very soon. Now, I really need to go. Bye-bye, Alex."
She slipped her slender hand out of his and disappeared into the crowd of pedestrians. Alex exhaled slowly, watching until she was gone.
'This sucks. I feel like an idiot,' he thought.
His phone buzzed again. Pulling it out, he saw a string of messages from Michael.
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Michael: Dude, where are you? The party just started, everyone's already here. [11:09 PM]
You: The bus was a little late, but I'm close by. [11:12 PM]
Michael: Walk faster, everyone's starting to wonder where you are. [11:12 PM]
Michael: Where the heck are you? Everyone's waiting! [11:21 PM]
'Oh shit, I almost forgot why I came all the way here.'
He quickly typed a reply:
You: I'm not far, I'm coming. [11:21 PM]
Michael: Make it quick or start running! [11:21 PM]
You: I'm running! [11:22 PM]
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Alex pocketed his phone and stepped into the moving crowd.