The supersun sets slowly over the campus, as another long day of class comes to an end. Most of the students either spend their time eating dinner or relaxing in their dorms, with the outdoors being nearly empty.
Not all of the students in the dorms were relaxing, however, as behind one of the top floor's windows, Rohan is hard at work on his desk, typing on his Connect's keyboard.
Rohan has a total of five holographic screens, with three two dimensional screens on his left side, and a three dimensional screen on the right accompanying another one two dimensional screen.
The screens on his left side were showing his different programs for his Orial program, with the central left screen being his files full of code. The screen indicates more code being added to the rightmost file, as Rohan seems to be currently occupied with one of the many visible files on his one screen.
The screens on his right side display new designs to his suit, with the two dimensional screen being more of a conceptual drawing of the suit, and the three dimensional screen being a specific component, with the current component visible being the helmet.
The suit was noticeably smaller than the giant he had before, and was instead far more resembling his first suit, however it also had deviated more heavily from the typical air hockey suit. There was less of a significance on slimness and aerodynamicness, and more of a significance on tougher armor, yet there was a far better compromise between the two rather than leaning too hard towards one or the other.
As Rohan continues to type, he turns his head back to face the bed closest to the door, which was empty, meaning that Dexter was not in his dorm yet. After their last major conversation, it seemed Dexter had his own set of friends, which Rohan was proud of.
It made him feel easier about having to exclude his own brother from part of his life, knowing that at least Dexter wasn't completely alone.
He turns his focus in front of himself again to continue improving on Orial and tweaking his suit's design. Of course, he wasn't sure how successful his work would be until he'd go to the city, as he was severely limited in what he could test while in the confines of the campus.
Rohan lets out a soft and tired breath, still feeling the sour guilt of the destruction he unleashed on the city he swore to protect. While he learned that there weren't any casualties from the collateral damage, there were many innocents injured and sent to the hospital, and there was still massive damage to the city that had to be repaired.
He was completely unaware of what he was doing that whole fight, as he nearly forgot that the battlefield was still a bustling city, and he no doubt scarred countless lives.
He had to save the city, not destroy it.
As Rohan continues working, his Connect projects another holographic screen, this time of his notification feed, which reveals a message that was sent by Shuraj.
The message reads: 'So are u coming to the party later? I got it if ur too busy, it could be cool tho. U should let yourself have fun every once in a while."
Rohan turns his attention to the message, and he sighs, remembering the conversation he had with his friends over lunch.
They had offered to take him to one of many parties they had been going to, as they were relatively popular within the school, thus they managed to earn spots in parties with more popular circles.
The parties were late into the night, not too long after when he'd normally leave Erica's dorm. They were nearly daily, and his friends went to most of them, however Rohan had never accompanied them.
He answered their request by asking them to let him think over the idea, as he was hesitant to follow in an activity that was usually associated with delinquency, as it was well known that these parties included illegal substances.
Even then, Rohan was unsure to begin with if he even wanted to utilize his time for something as unproductive as parties, as he could spend that time working.
He knew how much his friends wanted him to accompany them, and he knew that there was the potential to make lasting memories with them if he went, however he was also weary of the effects of such deviation.
He still had much work to do, and didn't want to sacrifice the city's health for his own mindless fun.
Rohan turns his head away from the popup message, causing it to vanish. He then grabs the holographic keyboard before throwing it to the side, causing it to vanish completely. Instead, he grabs the screen of his suit's design, and pulls it towards him before placing it down like a piece of paper.
He then holds his hand out as though holding a pen, causing his Connect to project a holographic pencil between his fingers. He begins gently erasing the edges of the helmet on the drawing, and starts adding more to it, slightly adjusting the design.
Knowing now of the dangers of occupying himself with only one objective, he keeps himself busy with all of the work he had, making sure to constantly update all that needed work.
Another holographic screen projects from Rohan's hologram, showing another message notification. Rohan sighs, anticipating that it was his friends again, so he turns to read the message before he'd then look away to continue his work.
However, instead, it was a message from none other than Erica, who had sent him: 'Heyyyyy, I just got back, so feel free to come whenever you want.'
Rohan keeps his eyes on the message for a few moments, rereading Erica's words, as he realized that with all the time that he spent working, he was nearing the time he'd typically head off to spend time with her.
However, he instead feels more inclined to continue his work, and so he looks away from the hologram, causing it to vanish.
He continues drawing his suit until eventually adjusting the helmet, and he picks up the screen before placing it in the air back where it was before. He turns to the three dimensional hologram to see it morph to become larger and more armored, adjusting itself to better represent the new helmet in the drawing.
Rohan pauses for a moment before frowning. He opens his hand, causing the holographic pencil to vanish, leaving his hands free once again.
He looks at the code on his left screen, and then the other programs to help him design Orial, such as the private database he had made to allow Orial to store his recordings, which would be far superior than his memory being built in.
He had been working his hardest for the last few days ever since the failed battle, spending his whole Sunday working, and then the first few days of the week trying his best to resolve the many problems he had.
However, Rohan still felt a void within him, the feeling that even with all the work he was putting in, it wasn't enough.
Rohan turns his attention away from his screens, and instead to his window, where the supersun sets below the city in the distance. He stands up from his chair and begins approaching it, his eyes contracting as he peers at the beautiful sunset.
He stares at the cyan sky, the cool color hitting his body, shining on him as its source descends into the night. He takes a deep breath, watching another day come to an end.
While Rohan could spend every moment of every day from Sunday to Friday designing his suit and working on Orial, in the end, none of it mattered once he'd take the bus to the city, and find another list of problems that would only be resolvable in the next week.
It felt as though Rohan was hardly making any progress, as he was already about a month into this new mission, and while he wasn't expecting to have the skills accumulated from years of experience, he couldn't help but feel especially slow.
Most of the work he put in throughout the week was useless anyways, as most of it would need to be changed after finding out how problematic it was, and he was severely limited with what exactly he could improve on when he could only test for problems once a week.
If only he could balance his time in battle and out, and have more time in the field to test his creations for a more steady stream of analysis, he could improve at a far quicker rate.
However, the bus only came once a week, and so with his current schedule, he was limited.
That was, with his current schedule.
Rohan turns back to face the screen of his suit's design, as an idea slowly creeps up his mind, one that would be far fetched, but if done right, could prove as a solution to his problem, and also improve his scope of success incredibly.
Rohan approaches his desk once again, and he looks down at his screens, starting to wonder if the small spark could manage to become something greater.
He picks up the hologram of his helmet, and turns around, walking back towards the window. He stands in front of the door, the holographic helmet in his hands, and looks down at the helmet once more before turning his attention back to the sun.
His plans for the day was to meet with his girlfriend as usual, and contemplate grouping with his friends for a party, however neither of them seem to interest him, at least not when compared to the idea that had come to mind.
He couldn't have everything he wanted, he couldn't keep holding the relaxing warmth of his school relationships while also expecting himself to achieve a feat that had never been done, bringing balance to the chaos of the Exhumans.
He couldn't play with his friends and love forever if he wanted to become the best protector he could imagine.
He couldn't have everything without sacrifice.
He had to be able to rely on himself, not a public school bus to take him for internship opportunities. He had to rely on himself to practice and improve as much as he could, and push his own boundaries. He needed to take action more than he already was, transforming his weekly adventures to a true half of his life.
Rohan holds the holographic helmet to his forehead, and he closes his eyes. Behind him, all his screens vanish, as the Connect seems to close them all.
Rohan's body continues to glow cyan from the sun, however it begins to start glowing with a shade of blue, yet this color seems to originate from Rohan himself. His mist begins to start coming off of his body, as his chest starts to glow first and most strongly.
He had already finished a new design to work off of for his suit, and he studied it enough to be able to go off it. With his eyes closed, he imagines the suit, and begins stepping towards the window again.
Streaks of blue energy run from his chest and to his limbs, with streaks also running up his closed eyes, which themselves start to give off mist.
Rohan's whole body becomes covered by the mist, which then hardens and solidifies, creating the shell of his armor. The shell morphs in shape, allowing more intricacies in the plating and individual pieces.
The finished shell then starts to colorize, with the first layer being made of a white and black fabric, which is then layered with blue armor. His boots and gauntlets become black, and his blue armor starts to give its own metallic shine.
Rohan's window opens, allowing strong wind to enter the room due to the height of the building. Rohan marches into the heavy winds, his hands on the holographic helmet, which begins to steadily fade from his hands as his suit keeps developing, as blue electricity comes off of his body, powering his suit.
His helmet begins colorizing, with the mask having a dominating white color with black accents.
As Rohan's holographic helmet completely vanishes from his hands, his physical helmet's eyes start to glow blue, awakening with power.
Rohan slips out of the window, holding onto the wall of the building to keep himself from falling. With his suit completed, he looks down at the campus below, which was devoid of people, just as expected.
He lifts his head up, facing the sun ahead of him, leading him towards the direction of the city.
Rohan takes a deep breath, and slowly lets it out. Once again, he was taking another step deeper into this new life, and once again, he was sacrificing another part of Rohan to make it happen.
He wouldn't have the time to see Erica and spend the time he usually did with her, and he wouldn't be able to accept his friend's request to the party.
He knew that these choices would have consequences, and that he was actively trading off part of his life for another, however it was a deal he was willing to make, a deal that would benefit far more people than if he had stayed home.
Rohan couldn't remain as the hard working student at the Superversal Academy of Tomorrow forever, and he couldn't always keep his future narrowed to only pursuing a job in an office.
He had to take risks to make his dreams a reality, and he had to make sacrifices to give his best effort.
Rohan kicks off of the wall of his dorm, throwing himself out into the air. He glides towards the direction of the sun, towards the direction of the city, moving gracefully in the sky like a bird whose wings were spread out.
His life as Rohan would always exist, however he needed to devote more time to his new identity, and to his new life.
Not just as Rohan.
But as Meditat.
The man who will bring balance to the chaos.