As Rohan enters the dorm building, he is immediately overwhelmed by a strong breeze of air, and his eyes are immediately defeated by a blinding light that seemed to consume him and the room he had entered. He lowers his head as a defensive mechanism to better adapt to his environment without total annihilation, and as he does, he hears the students around him express amazement, something not usual for a dorm building.
He still felt the tormenting punishments for his lazy morning, as he was still battling the tiredness that followed the waking of his nap. He had hoped for a more energetic beginning to this new adventure, but he was left with a monotonous effort, as it felt more as though he was being dragged around rather than him exploring a new world.
Rohan blinks twice, and his eyes finally manage to take in light without being turned to ash. He lifts his head up, and he opens his eyes to take in what seemed to be so interesting, to which his eyes widen more so from the immense glory of the sight.
He finds himself in a massive lobby that holds a level of luxury to an expensive hotel, with a tall and smooth white interior that encompasses the vast first room. In the center of the room appears to be a luscious circular garden, which provides a sense of green and nature in the otherwise more modernized room.
The garden contains many variations of plants with many having large leaves, with seemingly small trees protruding out with little stems that only raise it a few feet high. There are several openings that cut through the garden, as though allowing someone to step inside, as the garden is only present at the edge of the circle, rather than filling the middle.
In the center of the garden are a few circular silver disks seeming to be large enough for multiple people to stand on, with each disk being close to one of the openings, as though designed to allow people who venture through the opening to stand on the disk. The disks seem to hover in the air, as below them is a deep pit that resides below the lobby.
Down the pit appear to be several floors leading down to the base, with the floors containing soft leathery sofas and nice wooden tables, much like what a typical lounge would house, for it seems to be just that. A pit of lounges is what resides in the center of the garden, with there seeming to be at least five levels, housing a decently sized basement lounge region for the students of the dorm.
Along the far wall of the lobby, opposite from the entrance that Rohan walked through, stands several great glass pillars that start on the white floor and rise all the way up to the ceiling of the lobby, seeming to continue up into dark shafts above. Them being the tallest objects inside the lobby, several students' attention is drawn to them, including Rohan, whose initial instinct tells him that they're likely elevator shafts.
With there being so much that even the first room has to offer, Rohan figures he would explore on his own time after the tours, as he knows he would have to go on his own in order to truly understand where he would be living for the next several years of his life.
For now, such a promise is already enough to give him more energy, as he finds excitement in this exploration seeing what paradise this campus seems to be.
The tour guide turns around to face the sea of astonished students, and he calls out with a voice loud enough to be audible to all, "This will be the dorm building that you will be housed in for your time in this school, that is unless you wish to move into an apartment near the college. Usually when students become third years they'll begin moving, but this building should have everything you need for now. You will most likely be spending your leisure time here, with the countless lounges we have on different floors, and the fact that we all know you all will spend as much time in your beds as you can."
Some of the students laughed quietly at the joke, as they knew how predictable their desires were.
Rohan turns to Dexter, who was smiling, as it seems he too was enjoying the tour. The amusement causes Rohan to smile as well, and he turns back to face the tour guide.
The tour guide begins walking backwards as he moves the group once more, and he heads down towards the middle of the lobby, but walking towards the right wall, as he isn't moving towards the garden.
Instead, he seems to be approaching an opening built into the wall, as in that opening is a long white desk, and on the other side of that desk appears to be an adult middle aged woman, who's engrossed in her own work at the time.
The tour guide then exclaims, "We also know that you all may find yourselves in times of needing assistance. Now, our official app does have a support feature with multiple staff members on twenty four seven, but if for whatever reason you're unable to use it, or if you'd want something more face to face, we have a receptionist who's always happy to help you!"
The man guides the students to the desk, where the woman is seated, seeming to be typing on a holographic projection cast by her Connect, providing her with a keyboard and one monitor for her to view the screen out of. The woman then looks up to see everyone, and she smiles softly before waving her hand to the many students.
The woman then stands up to her feet, and puts her hands behind her back to presume a more professional and authoritative stance, as it's clear by the posture of the adults that the university holds some class.
She then introduces herself, "Hello, I am Mrs. Benter, and I will be the receptionist for your dorm. If you get lost, lose something, or just need help with anything related to school, you can come and ask me anytime I'm available, which is from 6 AM to 10 PM, one hour before lights out. We have a lost and found in the building in case you lose your Connect or other belongings, and we make sure to keep the lost and found safe and secure to prevent theft."
The tour guide turns to Mrs. Benter, and nods his head.
He responds, "Thank you Mrs. Benter."
He then turns back to face the students, and he continues speaking as he walks towards the central garden.
He says, "Now, let's talk about the main portion of the dorm buildings: the dorms. Each of you should have your room ID on your app, and we've created a powerful security system through Connect scanning for identification in order to prevent any sort of assault in the dorms or attempt of theft. So that said, your Connects will be your IDs, because we all know it would be tedious if we gave you a set of physical cards and told you each of them had a special purpose. We're not a community college so we're going to try doing things a bit differently, and hopefully, a bit better."
The tour guide stops in front of the garden, and he turns around to face the students. He then lifts up his Connect, which is in the form of a wrist watch, and it projects a holographic screen displaying a long yet short white window with simply the black text: "ROOM ID A25F17."
Beneath that window is a blue hologram of a map, however rather than it being on a flat window such as most typical screens, this projection is three dimensional, for it has a width separate from its length and height, allowing more intricate and accurate detail to be shown without the drawbacks of dimensional compression.
The three dimensional hologram is of a map of the interior colossal dorm building with what appears to be a yellow pathway leading from the center of the bottom towards the far wall where the shafts are, then straight up before stopping and moving horizontally in an upper level of the building, seeming to be moving in a half circle before then diverging into a straight line towards the edge of the circle. The line doesn't reach the edge however, but instead stops halfway.
Especially with the help of the true three dimensional shape provided, the path seems to be an example of a course to one of the dorm rooms, although it's logical to understand that all the paths for each individual student would vary in some capacity. Still, the example is useful, for it shows how the map can help guide to one of the dorms, to which all the students take mental note of.
The tour guide states, "Now, you will be able to access this page from your home page on the official S.A.T Connect app, which I hope you have all installed by this time. From the home page, you will find this exact page by clicking the button that says 'Dorm Room.' The page gives you your ID and a path to get to it, and it is vital to have this page open in order to unlock your door, so you should probably make sure to have your Connect with you. If you really are worried about losing it, you have the option of ordering a physical card from the reception desk in order to open your door. Another neat feature you probably noticed was the map feature which can help direct you to your dorm room, as the building is complex and you may get lost searching for your room. You can expand on the map to get voiced directions if reading is still too confusing, and the ID itself is telling of the location as the IDs are broken up into four sections. The first letter indicates the building, the number proceeding indicates the floor level, the next letter indicates the sector of the floor, and the final number indicates the exact room in the sector. At the least, the final two digits of your ID should help you locate your exact room."
The tour guide takes a deep breath, and the holographic screen closes. He then lowers his arm to his side, seemingly done with the presentation of the room page.
He continues, "Your app has a sophisticated map of every building on campus, including your dorms. You will be able to use the map to navigate through the dorm, including the cafe and different lounges, as some are special in their own ways. There are also a few study rooms since lounges can get loud, and you'll find more surprises after you search a bit on your own. There is only so much I can tell you, and now you have all the basics. Each floor will have a set of staff members who can help guide you if you're lost, so if you're unable to find your dorm room, they should be walking around at this moment. I can't hold your hand to every floor because I just am not going to take that trip, so I think this is a good place to end off on. You can rest now and get comfortable in your new rooms, and at 5 PM you will be alerted to head to the main hall for your first meal, and your entrance ceremony."
The tour guide closes his eyes, opens them back up, and asks, "Any questions?"
The students stay silent as they cast glances at one another, waiting in the awkward silence as the dorm went quiet the instant the tour guide requested for another speaker.
The tour guide looked eagerly at the silent crowd, as it seemed as usual, nobody wanted to speak up.
That was until one hand rose up from the crowd, and the tour guide turned to the hand with an ecstatic expression.
The tour guide summons, "Yes? Speak up, please."
The hand lowers, and a young feminine voice softly speaks, just enough to be audible, "Just wondering...are there like...any kitchens in the dorm building…? Sorry if you already answered...."
The tour guide shakes his head, and he smiles softly at the delicate presentation of the question. He then answers with a far louder voice, "I don't believe I did, yes every sector has multiple kitchens that are open all day and all night. There is even free food in case you need it, which is refilled daily. Please just be mindful of the fact that you are sharing the kitchen with others, so make sure to leave it as it was when you first entered."
The tour guide then asks once more, "Any other questions?"
However, Rohan has stopped listening to the tour guide, as instead his eyes are directed to the source of the voice who had asked the question, as the tenderness of her voice had pulled him from the immersion of the tour. His eyes peer through the crowd, although the density rendered the search mission impossible.
He sighs with defeat, for a moment he felt gravitated towards the voice, but he realized he was captivated by a presence that ceased the moment after it was created.
The tour guide puts his hands together, and he concludes, "With that, I will let you all go to your dorms now. Don't get lost, and make sure to get to the main hall in time. You probably don't want to be the one kid that overslept and enters midway through the president's speech. The elevators are on the far side."
With that, the tour guide walks off, leaving the students on their own to locate and accustom to their dorm rooms. The students look at one another, as they were once more abandoned from their omnipotent hand, and left to explore blindly for their rooms.
Some of the students turn to the glass pillars, and they begin to head towards them, seeing how it looked to be the right way up as it was the only clear path. They break up into fragmented groups, sticking close to those they made minute-long bonds with, as it felt cosmically stronger than what they had with any other random student.
Dexter walks to Rohan's side, as he seems lost as well, waiting to be guided. Rohan turns to Dexter, and he then turns to the pillars, and heads towards it along with the rest of the flock. Rohan's eyes still jump around as he scans the massive group of students as a last resort, however upon another result of failure, he realizes it was best to give up on the short spark.
He turns his gaze back to the glass pillars, and lets out a disappointed sigh.
Rohan and Dexter arrive at the front of the elevator pillars, to which as he had believed, are indeed hollow, as each of them house objects of their own on the ground.
On the floor of each pillar is a large circular white plate, similar to the ones in the center of the garden, however these are far wider, as they're wide enough to be nearly the same radius as the pillars themselves, large enough to hold quite a lot of people and still have a good amount of space remaining.
In the center of each plate also seems to be a white, smooth podium, although it's only about three feet tall. The body of the podium doesn't seem to have much detail, however what it does have is a hidden holographic projector which displays a neat hologram displaying a model of the dorm building, similar to what the guide had shown earlier. There is an opening into the pillars as none of them seem to contact the ground, instead giving a space of ten feet from the floor, enough space for anyone to step inside.
Dexter turns to Rohan, and he asks with slight nervousness, "Wait, where is our room again?"
Rohan turns to Dexter, and then extends his arm and holds his hand out. A holographic screen projects off his earbud and to where his hand was, displaying a two dimensional screen of an app page. The page has a white background with several blue rectangular buttons in neat rows, although the edges of the buttons have been smoothed to make them rounder. On the top and center of the page is black text which reads 'OFFICIAL S.A.T APPLICATION,' for it appears he's using the app that the guide had mentioned the students should have by now.
He notices that one of the blue buttons has the text, "Dorm Room," which he focuses on, for it's the button he needs to use. From focusing on the button, the screen pulls up another page similar to the one the guide had shown, for it has the white long and short screen, and in it is the black text: "ROOM ID A50X20."
Below the window is the three dimensional map much like the guide's, which shows a yellow path which seems to start off moving straight up, however far beyond what the guide had shown, as Rohan's map indicates that the path must reach all the way to the top of the building, likely on the highest floor of the building, or at least one of the highest.
From the surprise of such a long vertical line leading all the way to the top of the map, Dexter stares at the blue hologram, and his eyes widen with disbelief, as he asks, "Wait, we're on the top floor??"
Rohan sighs, and he turns off his Connect, ending the hologram once he gets the ID memorized. He then watches as students begin boarding the different circular platforms, and he begins walking towards the one on the far right in the hopes that the least amount of students would take it.
He nods his head as he walks, with Dexter following behind, and he says, "Looks like we'll be one of the last to get off, let's hope this doesn't take too long."
Rohan and Dexter walk through the shaft openings until they get to the farthest shaft, where they stand on the plate amongst about fifteen other students. They all stand around awkwardly, as one of the students walks towards the podium, and looks at the holographic building. The student then puts his hand on the hologram, confused as to how to operate it, only to jump back as another window suddenly pops up from the podium, displaying a two dimensional screen which contains a menu of sorts, with the menu fitting an array of numbers from one to fifty.
The student hums for a few moments, embarrassed by his sudden movement, and he then asks everyone on the plate, "Does anyone have their dorm on floor two?"
Everyone in the elevator stares at one another in silence, waiting for someone to speak up.
The student sighs, and then he asks, "Okay, does anyone have their dorm on floor three?"
Once more, there was silence, as none of the students in the elevator spoke. They just stared at one another, as it was hard to tell if they genuinely didn't have their dorms on said floor, or if they were too afraid to speak up.
Rohan turns to see the other elevators in the shafts next to him begin to ascend as the other students are heading up, as it seemed they had a more efficient method. His eyes trail up as he hears the soft hum of the ascension, wishing he just took the elevator in front of him.
Part of him wants to take over and begin pressing different buttons, but another part of him knows such an act would be highly unprofessional and would cast odd impressions for him, and he couldn't afford such on the first day.
So he is forced to stay reserved as the boy continues to go through the list with nothing but silence as response.
Minutes go by, and the student says, "Okay, well I guess the next floor is floor thirteen. That's actually my floor so I guess you guys can take turns after."
Finally, he presses on a holographic button from the menu, that being the one labeled thirteen, and the button lights up with green rather than the usual blue.
The plate then begins to ascend at last, and Rohan gives a sigh of relief. He watches as the plate seems to ascend by just the flat pad he stands on, as it isn't hooked to the shaft by any cables, but instead is its own system. The pad rises straight up as it begins to accelerate, giving a nearly silent hum as it doesn't give off any exhaust, and yet effortlessly carries the weight of all the students on the pad. Much like the pods that Rohan arrived at the campus in, the pad seems to be capable of advanced hovering abilities, as it carries the students up into the confines of the glass shaft above, moving the ten feet in mere seconds.
Even with the fact that the plate is operating on its own, the elevator pad moves fast nonetheless, accelerating as it gives a soft humming whoosh sound while climbing up the different stories. It didn't feel nauseating at all either, even though it was clear they were climbing fast by the view outside the elevator, for they are able to get a view of the lobby, as the glass shafts allow them to do so with precise clarity.
Rohan stares at the garden as it grows smaller with every passing moment, and he then looks up as it seems the pad enters a white metallic solid shaft after ascending past the lobby. Along the shaft are many closed doors which are passed with every moment, most certainly leading to the other floors. He keeps his hands by his side, hoping that the dorm rooms would be as nice as it was made out to be.
His heart was still beating, whether due to anticipation or anxiety, as he didn't know himself. He would like for a nice room to sleep in, but he knew in the end, what mattered most was if he succeeded in his classes, as in the end, he could only stay in the dorm for as long as he's in the college-- which would only be a few years-- yet he had a whole life to live past it and his living situation was very much based off of the results of his class grades.
He already had his major down, a specific role down, in fact he already knew a fair amount of companies he was aiming to be a part of. Everything was set on paper, and now all there was left was to secure that position.
Yet that felt like the scariest part.
The elevator slows down to a stop, leveling with one of the doors along the shaft. The door along the shaft is then dematerialized into a cloud of white nanites, opening and revealing a large hallway with a sea of voices inside, as it seems that all the students are trying to get familiar with their neighbors or are struggling to find their room. However, due to how busy the elevator is, Rohan is unable to get a view of the floor itself, for that view is covered by the students in front of him.
The student who had pressed the button walks to the door alone, as it seems he is the only one among the group who has that floor level.
He walks through the doorway, and turns his head to look at the other students inside the elevator pad. He gives a smile as he boards his floor, and he says "Bye, good luck," and walks off away from sight.
The door closes, leaving the rest of the students in silence inside the elevator without a direction to go.
The students turned to one another, for the one who just left was the only one trying to coordinate the elevator path, and now nobody knew who to take the lead.
Rohan turns to Dexter, who turns to him, and they both shrug to one another, as they debate taking the wheel, however they knew that they had the stop level and thus it could be a rather insensitive move to the rest of the students. The ultimate unanimous conclusion was to allow someone else to choose the level to take, as neither of them acted.
Finally, one of the students steps towards the podium, as it seems he is the one that decides to lead the elevator. He looks at the holographic screen as the other students stare at him, as it seems every student hoped for a different floor to be chosen.
The student presses on the button for the 48th floor, which is rather surprising, as it is hardly off from the top floor, and yet he chose to take it from the very bottom.
A few of the students groan in annoyance, as it doesn't seem anyone wants the next chosen floor to be one of the top, however to Rohan and Dexter both the prospects were bright.
The elevator starts ascending once again, and the student who picked the floor steps back, however the students all seem to step away from him as though he was repelling.
Rohan glances at the student, and then at Dexter, knowing that at least now they could get to their floor much sooner than they originally thought they could.
Moments pass as the elevator raises up the floors, with all the students waiting with boredom, knowing that they were passing their floors.
It felt like a minute passes until the elevator finally shows signs of slowing down, and it levels with one of the doors.
The door is dematerialized open, and the student steps out and into the hallway. He turns both ways, and begins walking as the door once again materializes, the white nanite cloud appearing and covering the doorway before solidifying and shutting the opening, once again trapping all the students in the shaft, which feels claustrophobic due to the density of students inside.
Rohan turns to the other students, knowing this was his chance to get to the top floor. He takes a step forward towards the podium to choose the floor only two off, knowing it wouldn't be an issue, and his eyes train on the fiftieth button.
However, before he could make it to the podium, another student steps in his place to take command of the elevator. He then presses on floor 17, which seems to be his own floor, which also was only few off from the first stop.
Rohan's eyes widen as he stops, and he turns to the student who chose the next stop. He opens his mouth to argue over the move, ready to say how close he was to his own floor, but he stops himself from making a scene.
He takes a deep breath, and steps back in line, feeling the elevator begin to descend and move from his floor.
The elevator pad, rather than ascending as before, begins to descend down the shaft, from one of the highest floors to one of the lowest, which would no doubt take a while as well. While the pad falls down the elevator, it moves at the same speed as it did when ascending, as it seems that it is still hovering, moderating its own plummet. The students inside stare at the student who chose the next floor, as there was a clear sense of triumph within the student for taking the floor that seemed far more logical to take versus the one who chose the last, and yet now it was possibly even more illogical.
The elevator eventually slows down to a stop in front of a door, and the door dissolves open to allow for exit. The student takes the exit, and gives a wave with his body still facing ahead, and he walks out of view.
Rohan takes a step forward towards the podium again, as now he was hoping to take back the floor he felt he should've been able to get to, but another student beats him to it, taking a long step in front of the podium and cutting Rohan off.
The student presses the button for floor 36, and another wave of quiet groans come from the rest of the students.
The door closes, and the elevator begins climbing up floors again to the thirty sixth floor.
The elevator slows down and stops, and the door dissolves open. The student walks out, and the door closes promptly after. Rohan steps towards the podium, and another student steps in front of him and presses the twenty third button.
The elevator descends down to the proper level, stops, and the student exits the open door.
Rohan steps towards the podium, but loses to another student who chooses floor 43.
The elevator ascends up the floors, and brings the student to his destination for dropoff.
The next student steps to the podium before Rohan, and he presses the forty ninth button, which causes Rohan to smile, as while he didn't win, he knew he would easily be able to get to the next one.
To best secure his victory, Rohan says out loud, "My floor is the fiftieth so I'll go after him."
None of the students respond to him, as if they don't hear him.
The elevator ascends up to the forty ninth level, and it slows down to a stop. The door opens, and the student steps out and into the hallway. The door closes, as it is now time for the next student to take command.
Rohan steps towards the podium, having called the next ride, and so there was nothing stopping him from being the one to press the fiftieth button. He smiles as he begins raising his hand to press on the button, which is all his eyes could see.
However, right as he's about to get to the button, another student who was closer to the podium presses on the eighth button.
Rohan freezes in place, and his eyes widen in complete disbelief. He slowly turns his head to the student who had pressed the button, completely lost for words at how he just got dropped.
The student who had pressed the button wore a dark sweater, and his hands retracted into the inner pockets. He looks down at the floor, and begins bopping his head, as he was wearing earbuds, and was most likely listening to music.
Rohan stares at the student viscously, as he realizes there was a chance he wasn't heard due to the fact that the student could've had music playing. So thus, in a way, it was hard to fault the student, but at the same time Rohan felt a sudden urge to throw his fist.
But to dump the salt on the wound, he had chosen one of the very first floors, meaning they would drop the greatest.
He chose a floor that the first student had called for at the beginning of the journey, and had never responded to it.