Shuraj and Rohan lead the group down the colossal white lobby, as while the sky is dark, the room is still illuminated. However, the room does seem noticeably dimmer than before, as it seems that the rooms gradually darken the later it is into night. Both to help reduce eyesores and to act as an indicator when it is advised to sleep, the room is still very much visible, but just as the sky, it gradually darkens.
The group walks past the central flourishing garden, moving down the lobby which only has a few students standing around, with a few tight groups discussing their day. Most of them had already left for their dorms, however it seems that some of them are taking the liberty of talking to people they likely met just today.
As Rohan walks alongside Shuraj, heading towards the back wall of the lobby where the elevator pads are, he surveys the people in the lobby, more specifically those heading to the elevators with them. He would've been more concerned with going through another hellish experience with the elevators as that was what his first impressions of traversing the elevators indeed was, however now he's imparted greater confidence, now that he is accompanied by a group who no doubt would be able to turn a tide he couldn't even surf on himself.
Rohan's eyes jump to a collection of students walking towards the elevators as well, as it seems that a few of the students are trying to leave. As they seem to get near the elevator, Rohan takes his hands out of his pockets, readying to use the elevator pad's podium to choose his floor.
He doesn't want to repeat the earlier situation, as even though he feels more confident that they could get to their floor quicker, he doesn't want to take the chances of failure again.
The seven approach the open shafts, where the other group of students stand around aimlessly. In front of them and inside each of the shafts, there doesn't appear to be any elevator pads present, as to their dismay, it seems they are all in use.
Rohan lets out a soft sigh of disappointment after realizing that there isn't even an elevator to take, which is arguably worse than being unable to choose his floor in the elevator. Now knowing that he has to wait for an elevator to be done being used gives him the anxiety that it would take even longer to get on, as that newfound confidence begins slipping.
Rohan stays next to Shuraj as he looks at the empty glass shafts, and then turns to the other group of students waiting, to which he notices that the group is composed of four students, with two being male and the other two being female. They all seem to be the same age however, the same as his, as they're all freshmen, lost in the dorms.
His bored analysis is interrupted as he suddenly hears the sound of a whooshing hum from above, which instinctually triggers him to raise his head towards the ceiling.
To his pleasant surprise, he watches as in the center of the elevator shafts, an elevator pad descends from above the lobby, plummeting down towards the lobby floor. The hum becomes louder as the pad approaches the groups, as it seems that they are finally saved with a way up.
The elevator pad lowers down to the lobby floor after making its journey, touching the ground and allowing other students to now board it. As the pad reaches the same level as the ground, it becomes clear to the students that there is nobody on the pad, for the only entity standing on the pad is the podium, which already projects the holographic menu of floors.
The group of four students all first step onto the elevator, seeming to have been waiting the longest, although not by a great difference.
Without any other options presented to them due to the fact that there is only one available pad, Shuraj boards the centermost elevator pad as well, joining with the group of four. Rohan follows alongside him, and behind the two, the other five follow, with Dexter being the last to enter the pad, as he stands by the back.
The eleven students all stand on the elevator, and while that is quite the sizable number of students, they all seem to fit well, with there still being more than adequate room for students to space each other out. The pad's area allows for the groups to break up into smaller chunks, as Shuraj and Rohan stand together, Sriya and Vrey take their own area, and Ara and Ari stay near the far wall.
Dexter contains himself to the edge of the pad, secluding himself from other students with multiple feet keeping him isolated, and the group of four is broken up into two chunks, with the males standing by the edge opposite from Dexter, and the females standing by the center, in front of the podium.
It seems that regardless of Rohan's readiness earlier, he wouldn't be the one controlling the podium, as the two girls had already gotten to it first. He adopts a flat expression with some disappointment, and he retracts his hands back into his pockets as an admission of defeat, now having to prepare himself for another long and painful ride.
As the group adjusts themselves on the elevator pad, a student who isn't one that Rohan had talked to earlier speaks, asking in a delicate and feminine voice: "What floor are your dorm rooms in?"
Even though the voice isn't of one of the students Rohan ate dinner with, especially since it was clearly the voice of a female whereas the group were all boys, even then Rohan seems to immediately recognize the voice, and his eyes shoot wide open from such realization.
He doesn't move his position nor dart his eyes around, as part of him felt as though he had to stay where he is without movement, for part of him consciously concerns itself with the prospect of making an odd move.
However, at the same time, he contemplates why he'd even think of such worry, for something as simple as observing his surroundings has never been something he'd be ashamed of doing.
Shuraj then replies to the student with a casual tone, "All of us are on the top floor."
As Rohan stands in silence, his eyes focused on the floor of the pad, he once again hears the female student speak, as she seems to offer:, "Okay, well you can choose your floor then, they'll be the last ones anyways."
Guessing by the last part of her statement, it seems that she isn't referring to Rohan nor anyone of his group, as 'they' is likely them, and so she would have to be referring to someone of the group of four she was a part of earlier.
Rohan hears the sound of footsteps from the far edge of the elevator pad approaching the center, as it seems to be that of one of the two boys who made up the collection of earlier students. He then hears the responsive ding that sounds from the podium's holographic menu after an option has been selected, indicating that a choice was made.
The elevator pad then promptly begins to ascend, gaining speed exponentially as it rises up the large room, moving faster and faster towards the ceiling of the first floor. The whooshing hum becomes louder as well, indicating that the pad is using more energy to bring the students up to their destinations.
After a few moments, the light that emanates from the lobby diminishes, as the pad has ascended past the lobby, now traversing up the individual shaft. The shaft is still well lit of course, although darker than previously due to the later time of day.
Rohan continues to stare at the floor of the pad in silence, waiting to eventually get to his floor, however he anticipated a long journey. Especially now that there are multiple groups who likely have very different floors, he'd be here for a while.
His silent staring is interrupted suddenly as he hears Dexter ask him, "So, what did we do in terms of unpacking anyways? Didn't we just throw our bags and leave?"
Alas, Rohan raises his head and turns his body around to face his brother, as he turns his gaze to Dexter, who stands by the edge of the pad behind him. Rohan promptly nods his head once, remembering their lack of adequate unpacking, as they hardly did anything that they could qualify as setting up their dorm room. Of course, it wasn't their fault, but even then, Rohan understands that it is their responsibility to find a solution after failing to make one earlier.
He contemplates for a moment before planning, "Yeah we did, and nothing really beyond that. When we get to our room, we should just unpack only what is necessary to sleep, and we can do the rest tomorrow when we have more time. I'm exhausted right now, and I can tell you feel the same."
Dexter nods his head, and he sighs, saying "Yep."
The elevator finally slows down to a stop in the shaft, and one of the doors in the shaft dissolves open, revealing one of the dorm floors. Rohan turns his head as he hears footsteps, to which he watches the two boys of the other group leaving the elevator pad, as it was their floor that the pad arrived on.
After the boys board their floor and walk away from the elevator, vanishing from sight, another responsive ding is sounded by the podium, indicating that another floor had been chosen from the menu, likely being the remaining students of the other group. The shaft door then materializes shut, enclosing the elevator pad once again, and the pad once more begins ascension.
Rohan, whose head was now raised up after answering the question, instinctually begins observing the rest of the pad, and the students who stand on it, for his trance on the floor has been broken.
He looks back at Dexter, then at the five boys that he had met earlier in the main hall, Shuraj beside him, Sriya and Vrey not too far, and Ari and Ara who stand by the edge, however have now stepped closer towards the rest of the group with some of the other students having gone.
Now that he's already making this observation, Rohan turns to the final two students on the pad, who stand by the center near the podium, not too far from him. His eyes catch the two female students, who both stand in front of the podium, seeming to be now waiting for the pad to reach their floor.
Rohan focuses on the two female students, as he knows that one of them had to be the student he recognized from earlier in the day, however he's unable to deduce who immediately.
One of the females is relatively tall, about the same height as Rohan in fact, with a fit and curved body. She has blonde hair which is made into a ponytail, being held by a dark blue clip on the back of her head. She also wears a plain white hoodie and black tight leggings, with her hands outside her pocket.
The other girl is shorter, as she's several inches shorter than Rohan. Her body isn't as fit, as instead she has a more casual body. She has long brown hair which flows smoothly down her back, groomed well as to be presentable. She also wears a green blazer, unbuttoned to reveal a black shirt underneath, and long blue pants with pockets that bury her hands. She stands the closest to the podium while speaking to the other girl.
After staring at the two for several seconds in complete silence, Rohan lowers his head after looking at the two, as he doesn't want his gaze to be caught, and so he returns back to his gaze on the pad floor. However, he listens in on their conversation from a distance, as he finds himself oddly interested by them, although it likely could be a distraction as he waits for the elevator to be able to get to his floor.
One of the females speaks, however she has a different voice as to the softer one who spoke earlier, as there is a sharper accent and deeper voice present, "I'm throwing this out here right now, we're not going to be going to every floor in the morning when we leave our dorms."
The other female giggles from the annoyed tone of her companion, who seems bothered by her choice of letting the other students go first; she responds back, her voice being far more akin to the one Rohan had heard earlier, as it was soft yet accompanied by a kind energy resonating through her words: "Of course not, but it would be mean if we made everyone wait through us going to the forty ninth floor if their floors are much closer to the ground."
Rohan blinks twice in surprise to what that the female seems to reside in the floor just below his, as of the fifty floors, it's quite unlikely for such an anomaly to occur. Of course then again, there was a chance, and so it's simply that, luck.
Although, he's unsure of why he'd even care, for he doesn't know her. Why does he find it lucky, when he shouldn't care, for there are many students in the school who reside in different dorms, with many likely being close to Rohan's as well. Yet he finds a particular fascination with this individual, as there's an aspect of her that he feels compelled by.
Perhaps it was due to the fact that there seems to be a certain purity and charm to the female, as she seemed so adamant about helping others, even when it was clear her closer companion, who likely was her roommate, wasn't so fond of her efforts. There was something remarkable he found about such a strong drive to help others, even if it didn't reward her with any gain, but instead it only seemed to subtract what she started with.
It isn't a trait that Rohan himself believes he shares, for in all honesty he finds himself to be rather selfish, as he'd have definitely chosen the top floor regardless of who else was there if he wasn't restricted by the anxiety of the population. He also doesn't go out of his way to help others, especially when it doesn't benefit him directly, as he has always put his top priority to be his work, and only today did he begin finding a strange compulsion to speak to other people and try forming bonds.
Although, he is at a new school, and perhaps it was necessary to find some companions as a way to relieve the stress of work, and so that is why it should be uniform to conduct such searches.
But seeing how this one girl exhibited that rare trait regardless of the sacrifices, it infatuated him, as while he knew that the trait wasn't exactly impossible to exist in others, he found it interesting nevertheless.
As Rohan's mind seems cluttered with the thoughts of this random girl whom he didn't even know the name of, his contemplation digs deeper, as he finds himself with the odd feeling of envy and desire, something he didn't expect to feel from just simply standing in an elevator with this stranger.
He begins to suddenly experience memories from recent years, recalling times he spent in the final years of his grade school. The memories aren't pristine exactly, for he had always had some trouble recalling old memories, for they usually end up rather foggy. He was never sure why, yet it never really bothered him since he usually didn't linger on past experiences.
However, through the fog of the past, he recalls many instances throughout his grade school where he'd be walking down the large white hallways from one class to another. He remembers gazing ahead at the sea of students in front of him, who are all clearly younger than Rohan in the present as well as the other students he's met, walking past or ahead of him.
Of the students he'd walk with, he remembers watching some of them, as there'd be pairs of students walking beside each other. Not only that, but one of their hands would be interlocked with the other, as they'd hold each other casually down the hall with a noticeable affectionate aura between them.
He then also recalls instances of passing by doorways leading into classrooms, where he'd see pairs of students by the doorway either in front of the entrance or against the wall. He remembers watching them say their goodbyes as they parted ways, and even remembers how much of the time, as a goodbye, they'd bring their faces together, and touch lips.
It wasn't anything uncommon for the school he went to, as during this time, many students had an infatuation with becoming pairs with another. Many students would attempt to find a partner while dealing with their work, so much so that Rohan would seem to be the uncommon one, as he'd attempt no such acquisition, but instead focus simply on his studies.
He never pursued anyone in his many years of life, and he certainly was never pursued, as he never put time into making himself attractive. His only workouts were derived from the air hockey teams he played in, and he only tried to look presentable and formal for the teachers as to give off a good impression, rather than trying to make a show for any students.
However, while he never attempted to get anything, and even consciously found it to be quite wasteful to pursue something that wouldn't help him at all with his grades but only potentially hinder them, he could never help but feel an odd lingering envy every time he saw students showing such affection to each other.
While to him they weren't accomplishing anything purposeful, for Rohan found it a far better use of time to develop his skills in programming and other fields of studies, he still couldn't help but have a feeling of desire for what seemed to be paradise for those students, as they seemed oddly happy whenever with their partner.
They weren't happy due to their accomplishments and work per say, however they were happy nonetheless, and they even seemed far happier than Rohan was from any of the work he did. They were happy in a way Rohan didn't know how to achieve, and for that, it was those memories that appeared through his haze.
But the girl that stands in the elevator wasn't with anyone who seemed to be her partner, and so he isn't sure why he feels such envy at this moment. He doesn't know her name or anything about her, and in fact, there's a nearly perfect chance that they won't meet each other again or have any meaningful relationship whether it be acquaintances or anything beyond.
In essence, regardless of her seemingly exceptional desire to help, she was just another person, and there were many people on the campus, with none of them being particularly special. To Rohan, she could never be anything, for that simply wasn't his path, for he would never be one of those students walking happily down the hallway with a partner's hand in their own.
Instead, he was subjugated to the role of that student who'd focus on his studies and linger, working only on his work rather than any person. Even though he had made a few friends today, pursuit of close relationships wasn't something he should be wasting his time with, not in trying to seek more friends and especially not in search of anything more. She was just a normal student as was most of the others on campus, and having the five friends Rohan met today was more than sufficient in terms of a social life that he didn't need. That was all he was meant to have.
Suddenly, his deep contemplations are broken by the voice not of the soft one, but instead the sharper and deeper one, which makes an annoyed groaning sound before commanding, "Come on, let's go!"
Rohan lifts his head up in confusion, and sees that the elevator pad has stopped, presumably at the next stop being the forty ninth floor. He then turns his head towards the center, to which he watches as the taller female begins walking towards an opened elevator door, presumably their dorm floor. The first girl steps off of the elevator pad, with the second one in the blazer still standing in the center, however seeming ready to also leave, as she waves her hand and begins sprinting for the door.
The shorter girl nods her head and speaks in the gentle voice Rohan recognizes, "Coming!," before stepping off of the elevator pad too, and chasing her companion out of view.
Once the two leave, Vrey finally approaches the podium, and presses on the fiftieth floor button. The door materializes shut once more, and the pad again resumes ascension to one more floor, as the previous green button was the forty ninth.
Shuraj turns to Rohan, and he chuckles, having noticed Rohan's constant stares at that one girl earlier. As a joke from his observations, he leans closer to him, and comments, "That girl was cute, right?"
Rohan's eyes widen, and he lowers his head, returning his gaze back to the ground in embarrassment, acting as though he didn't hear Shuraj's comment as to not have to respond to such a bold and explicit claim.
The elevator slows down once more, and the door opens to the top floor. Vrey walks away from the podium and to the opened door, as Ari, Ara, Sriya, and Shuraj all head out behind him. Rohan raises his head and returns his gaze towards the center of the pad by the podium where the female stood, as she's no longer there. He then turns towards the door where the rest of the group is, and follows them out of the pad, now trying to forget the string of thoughts he had earlier, knowing they'd be irrelevant anyways.
Rohan steps off of the pad as Dexter follows behind, and he looks at the group, who all stand on the left side of the elevator, opposite from where he has to head towards to get to his own dorm. Recognizing that they were on separate sides of the floor, it's clear that this is as far as their paths would converge, and now they had to part ways too.
Rohan nods, and states, "Well, I'll head to my dorm now, see you tomorrow. Today was fun, thanks for letting me hang out with you guys."
Shuraj turns to Rohan, and he smiles, replying "Of course, anytime my guy! See you around!"
He then turns around and begins walking down the hallway away from Rohan, putting his hands in his pockets. Sriya and Vrey turn towards Shuraj and begin to follow him, followed then by Ari and Ara, as it seems that they all have the same side, potentially closer in proximity to each other.
While it'd be nice for Rohan to be as close, the fact of the matter is that it's lucky that they're even on the same floor. However, it's still lucky for the rest to be so much closer, although it's not something to think over too much.
Rohan then turns around to face Dexter, and gives a nod, as though signaling to him that they'd now move together. He then begins walking his own way down the hallway, with Dexter by his side. He lifts his hand up, causing his Connect to project a hologram of the three dimensional map to his dorm room after having commanded it to pull up such with his thoughts, guiding his Connect with the right commands.
He walks down the hallway, and the two make a turn into their corridor. He continues down the narrow hallway, and makes his way to the end of the hall, where their dorm room was. Dexter walks alongside Rohan, and he turns to him as they walk, deciding to ask "How was the first day for you?"
Rohan turns to Dexter, and he smiles softly, responding "I think it was good. The school looks great, I learned a lot, and met some people. How about you?"
Dexter nods his head, and he answers "I also liked it. I think the school was worth working for, I just hope I don't fail all my classes or anything."
Rohan shakes his head, and he reassures, "You won't, you're really good with engineering, you always have been a builder. You got this, I know you do."
Dexter sighs, and he shrugs his shoulders. He instead argues, "You mean you're good at engineering, and you carry me so it looks like I'm good."
Rohan shakes his head again, and he stops in front of his dorm room. He lets the door scan his Connect, which is now much faster, as within the second of standing before the door, it dissolves open, revealing the interior of their dorm. He walks in, and finishes the short conversation with: "You should credit yourself more when it's deserved."
The two enter the dorm room, and the door materializes shut after them. They walk inside, and Rohan immediately heads to his bed, where his bag was. He then grabs his bag, and sighs, turning back to Dexter. He then says, "Okay, well it looks like the beds are already all set up on their own, that's good. Should we just change into our night clothing and tomorrow we can unpack the rest?"
Dexter nods his head, and he responds, "Sure, that works. We can do the rest tomorrow, since we'll probably need hours, and I'm not going to be awake for much longer."
Rohan nods his head, and he looks back down at his bag. He then places it on its back, which reveals a silver metallic patch near the top. However, it isn't only a patch, as Rohan taps on it, which then triggers that patch to project a holographic menu similar to that of his closet back at home, albeit smaller, as it shows an inventory of different objects such as different articles of clothing such as blue pants and black shirts, and small bags, seeming to be images depicting what is housed by the bag. Rohan presses on a few of the holographic icons on the inventory, and the hologram then vanishes.
A second later, a small opening appears in front of the bag, and a blue light shines out onto the bed. The light projects over the bed for a few moments, and suddenly, white fabrics begin to start appearing in the spotlight, with more appearing and weaving together in a fashion similar to when he'd put his clothing on with the closet. Beside the white fabrics are black fabrics that appear a few feet away, materializing a different construct, as the bag seems to be summoning clothing.
Within a few seconds, the white fabrics complete a full plain white shirt, and the black fabrics connect together to create a full pair of black shorts. The light then vanishes, as the hole closes.
Rohan then grabs the bag, and walks to his desk, where he places the bag on the top so he could work on unpacking the rest the next day. While he has the energy to do so today, he knows his brother doesn't, and he feels wrong doing something so significant to their experience in college without him.
He then walks to the side of his desk, where the panel was between his desk and his brother's. He turns to Dexter, who had also deployed his pajamas, and he says, "I found this feature to hide the other side of the room, change and tell me when you're done so I can know when to undo it."
Dexter turns to Rohan, and tilts his head in confusion, asking "What do you mean 'hide?'"
Rohan smiles, and he presses on the panel, which brings
up the holographic menu. He then presses on the button he remembered pressing on, and suddenly the other half of the room becomes covered by a black wall.
Dexter speaks from the other side of the wall, exclaiming: "Woah, that's cool! Well okay, I'll tell you when I'm done! Can you hear me anyways?"
Rohan responds to the wall, "I can hear you, and I got you."
Rohan then takes his jacket off and lays it over his chair, over beginning to change out of his current clothing. He then replaces it as he dawns the new wardrobe he summoned, as he wears the white shirt and shorts, with the shirt having a small black panel above the top over the chest, as it seems the shirt has its own technological systems itself.
Once he finishes changing, he looks towards the black wall, and asks, "Are you done?"
Dexter responds, "Wait...okay...now!"
Rohan returns back to the black panel where he presses on the button again on the holographic menu, and the black wall vanishes, revealing the rest of the room, including Dexter, who was now wearing his pajamas.
Dexter smiles, and he exclaims, "That was cool, they really outdid this place didn't they?"
Rohan nods his head, and he says, "They did. Well okay, we should sleep now, we'll unpack tomorrow morning. I'll wake you up early, so get some rest, okay?"
Dexter nods his head, and he says "Got it, thanks."
He then climbs into his bed, and takes his Connect off of his ear. He then places it on the bedside table, properly relinquishing it of its main work, and allowing it to begin charging itself now that it's not in use.
He then proceeds to lie on the bed, rustling a bit to get comfortable, and turns to his side to sleep.
Rohan takes his Connect off as well and places it on the bedside stand next to his bed, and slides into his bed.
He lays on his back at first, staring at the ceiling. He then turns on his side to face the window, where he could see the city in the far distance. While it was hard to see before due to its distance, he notices the city now illuminated with blue lights, as it seems alive even during the night, allowing him to clearly see it, even if all he can see are a few tiny towers. His bed warmthens as he feels a warm aura wrap around him, keeping him from getting cold at night, acting as an invisible blanket.
As Rohan stares at the city in the distance, he hears Dexter softly say, "Goodnight brother," before presumably sleeping.
Rohan smiles softly, and he responds in an equally soft voice, "Goodnight." He then stares at the window for a few more moments as his eyes slowly close, and he drifts off into his first night's sleep in his new home.
His morning didn't start the best, as he was extremely tired, sleeping through the pod ride and feeling sleepy throughout the beginning of the day.
However, it seemed to get better over the day, and by the end, he had found a group of friends he could be with during his classes, a group consisting of great people he hoped to be good friends with.
He may have not fully unpacked his bag, but he knew he felt relaxed in the school, in the programs, and in the community.
He was excited to see where his experience would go. How his relationship with his new friends would go. Who else he'd meet. He still couldn't help to remember that female student, who he felt the desire to speak to.
He most likely wouldn't talk to her, but if he did, it could be another friend. There was something about her that fascinated him, although he would have to keep it to himself, but at least it only showed how much more interested he was in the people now.
He also was contemplating joining the air hockey club, and if he did, he'd be able to play with one of his new friends, which pushed him even more to wanting to join. He was a strong player back when he did the rec leagues, and now he knew he'd be doing more serious work, but he felt as though the challenge was more enticing than repelling.
Finally, he was still excited to see how the school would go. How his classes would be. He loved his major, and wanted to see how much more he could explore. He knew that he'd go to the city to visit some of the offices, and that excited him even more, as he had never gone to the capital city of the Earth, and of the whole system.
This felt like the beginning of a new era, of a new life.
Most of all, this was just the first day.