Nicoleta packed her bags with so much speed one would think she was a speedster, the suitcase contained her uniform, casual clothes, and the locket given to her by her father.
She rushed out of her room dragging her suitcase behind her. A smile crept on her lips, and excitement bubbled inside her. Sector 2, out of all the sectors in westinsenson son Nicoleta had been blessed with being transferred to sector 2, not seven or six or even five, not twelve- never twelve not ever again, but sector 2.
The lady led Nicoleta outside of sector 8 into the hall that Nicoleta remembered all too well from when she was first transferred into sector 8.
The feeling of dread sunk down into her stomach, memories of sector 12 flashing through, the elevator dinged along with the beep in her head, it sounded too similar to the slow beat of the monitor that tracked her heart beat.
It sounded too close to the steady breath of scientists hovering over her, it felt like needles in her skin. It sounded all too close to her father's voice whispering in her ears, telling her everything would be okay.
She followed the lady into the elevator and sat down on the bench next to her.
The woman typed something down on her tablet before handing it over to Nicoleta, on the tablet was a show of many frames with names beneath it. "These are programs in sector 2 that help children learn how to control their abilities. A child should have at least two working programs in their schedule" Nicoleta nodded.
She scrolled through her options and came across a program by the name 'De-Luca power and martial arts training' the frame had a picture of students wearing doboks all bowing to an unknown figure away from the frame.
Another picture appeared seconds after the first, and this one showed a picture of a different set of children all meditating.
"That is a very popular program in sector 2, Mr. De-Luca is quite the teacher" Nicoleta cocked a brow, "really?" the lady nodded, without hesitating Nicoleta tapped on the De-Luca program and gave the tablet back.
"Wonderful choice, and your second will be?" Satisfied with her first, Nicoleta didn't feel like picking another, his classes were popular for a reason, surely she only needed him.
"What is the second most popular?" Nicoleta asked, the lady laughed, "the one you just chose Ms. Ariti"
"Oh"
"Umm… maybe the first most popular then?" The lady nodded and tapped down on the tablet, she showed Nicoleta a frame with two pictures, one of an old man and another of an old lady, "this is Mr. And Mrs. Arnold's program, they teach techniques, strategy, defence and offence" Nicoleta nodded, it sounded good, she would learn how to control her powers, in the De-Luca program, and technique with other things with Mr. and Mrs. Arnold.
So far she was enjoying even just the glimpse of sector 2, a sector with programs, from popular to unknown, what more could sector 2 offer?
Other than the basics for every sector, like schooling, or lessons in sector 8, and gym- though Nicoleta hadn't been told of any gyms in sector 2, surely there had to be some.
Perhaps the programs were so good that sector 2 didn't have a need for gyms.
The elevator ride to sector 2 was excruciatingly long, Nicoleta's nerves felt like heat bubbling in the pit of her stomach, though it could actually have been her fire acting up.
She imagined what it would be like to walk the halls of sector 2 from here on out, to interact with kids in the same class as her, to learn how to control her powers far better than she did now.
She thought about what it would be like to be in a crowded environment, sector 8 was always dull and empty of life, but with how many kids alone bowing down in the picture frame for the De-Luca program, Nicoleta couldn't imagine sector 2 come short of the description, 'populated'
When the elevator doors slid open, a breath of new much better air entered the elevator, Nicoleta noticed how welcoming the atmosphere felt as she stood up to follow the woman.
"Where are we going?" Nicoleta questioned, looking around the hall as if it were an art piece, the walls were painted a dullish gray and cyan that mingled in the perfect way, there were no portraits, unlike sector 8 that had some portraits here and there, but the decoration was simple, it was either a vase in the corner, or some plants lining up a wall with all kinds of green blending together.
The corridor was long and plainly decorated but it blended so well with each other that Nicoleta admired every bit of it. They turned a corner and walked through glass doors that opened when they got closer to it, and Nicoleta was greeted by chandeliers with yellow and white lights mixing into a nice shade of platinum strawberry in the hallway.
Nicoleta glanced from chandelier to floor, walls, to doors that piqued her curiosity.
The two arrived in front of a wide open door, and inside behind a counter were two women, both typing something down on their individual computers.
They both turned at the sight of Nicoleta and her guide, "good evening ladies" the lady greeted, as she stepped inside. "Hello Adams" the brunette on the left said, before ceasing her typing on the keyboard.
"And who is this lovely young lady?" She asked, resting her arms on the spotless counter, smiling down at Nicoleta who could only stare back awe struck, she looked like something out of painting, like one of Nicoleta's step-mother's models, with her high cheekbones, heart shaped lips, doe eyes, and high bridged nose, she looked beautiful.
A much younger Nicoleta would have immediately grabbed a canvas and paint brushes to put her beauty onto canvas and get to see it at all times.
Nicoleta believed from a young age that beautiful people deserved to be preserved through art, so when they were no longer alive, those who weren't there to see their years would at least see their beauty.
"This is Ms. Nicoleta Ariti, she's a new transfer from sector 8" the last of Her guide's words seemed to pique the other woman's attention, and she, like her partner, leaned on the counter to take a look at Nicoleta.
"A child from sector 8, that's unusual" she said, narrowing her eyes at Nicoleta, she also was beautiful. "Yes… I'm here to register her as a resident" the brunette nodded, "ah very well- " she bounced back to her computer, "full name?" Adams turned to Nicoleta, Nicoleta stumbled on her words as if she didn't know her own name.
"N- Nicoleta Ariti" the lady typed it down, "age?"
"Fifteen years today" on a regular January Nicoleta would be with her father celebrating the new years, and her birthday. For the longest time, five year old Nicoleta assumed that the fireworks on January first were for her.
It was her favourite thing to draw, the fireworks, at this time in the night she would be watching fireworks, not registering as a resident in sector 2, if her life was normal, she would probably be eating cake, or homemade baklava.
"Height?"
"Five feet eleven inches" Sector 2 was wonderful, the smell of it, the look, the feeling, even the employee were wonderful so far, but now remembering that it was her birthday, Nicoleta noticed how silent it was, it was never silent in her household on January first, nor second or third.
"Weight?"
"thirty-four Kilograms"
Nicoleta looked around the room, it was a big space, but dull in decoration compared to the halls, there was a red sofa in the end of the room, drawers on each side, a coffee table in the middle, and more drawers around the place, a cyan coloured door stood behind the counter with the key still in the hole.
For a room of registry Nicoleta expected it to be filled with papers from one corner to another, the registry room in sector 8 was littered with papers when Nicoleta first arrived, which was surprising because there weren't many kids in sector 8, yet sector 2 a crowded sector, had a neat room of registry, even a place for people to sit.
"What abilities do you have?" Nicoleta removed her gaze from the sofa, "telekinesis" she typed it down, "is that all?"
"No, I have fire powers" Nicoleta's voice was low, and soft, almost unheard, all the excitement had been drained from her.
"Any new advancements with your powers?" Nicoleta shook her head, Adams nodded, to the other lady, before taking a file from her, it contained all the information Nicoleta had given the brunette.
"This is your certification of residency in sector 2, you must have it on you at all times for the next two months." Nicoleta raised a brow, "why?" she asked as she took the file.
"There is a transfer at least every year or two, officers always check the kids to see if they have been registered just in case there are any sneaky ones" how can anyone sneak into a sector? But Nicoleta didn't get the chance to ask before she was rushed out of the registry room back into the halls.
She and Adams walked for a moment before reaching another elevator, the two got inside and Adams pressed down on the fifth button.
When they arrived at the fifth floor, Nicoleta was greeted with fluffy strawberry floors, complemented by light blue walls, and vases of many colours, hanging plants, and paintings.
She stopped and looked at a painting of the ocean, instinctively she looked down searching for a name and found the artist, and the art piece paired together.
'Jia Lu Chen' - BLUE despite the name of the art piece there was not a drop of blue on the canvas, if anything it was more gray, with bite of red, despite the strange colouring choice, the piece still looked like the ocean, it even seemed to move when Nicoleta began walking.
Adams led her to a pink door with the initials 'N.K.A' written on a small card stuck to the front of the door.
Nicoleta smiled a little, the excitement slowly coming back to her, she realised that the room was hers… Adams merely glanced at Nicoleta before giving her a black key card, with unreadable symbols on it.
"This is the key to your bedroom" Nicoleta took it with a wide smile on her face; she unlocked the door and stepped into her new room, it felt like she had stepped through a portal into the best room possible.
The moment she walked inside, she was met with a small living space with a TV, a light brown sofa, carpeted floors, a coffee table, a desk under the flat screen, a drawer beside the sofa, and a tall lamp on the other side.
She turned to the left and right, and saw two door shaped gap ways to the bedroom, and a mini kitchen.
"Woah" Nicoleta turned, and saw Adams still standing there looking at her with a small almost unnoticeable smile on her face.
"There are some simple rules you must know. Curfew is at eleven pm, no exceptions, today is different. boys and girls are not to fraternize with each other alone, otherwise it is fine, missing school is unacceptable, exceptions can be found in the rule book, in your bedroom" Nicoleta nodded, after Adams listed some few other rules, she left telling Nicoleta that she would be back soon.
Nicoleta closed her door letting her hand linger on the knob, her fingers ran down and found a small bumpy metal, she tried pulling it then she turned it to the left and heard it click, an indication of a locked door, a sound she was unable to make for five years in sector 8.
A smile crept on her lips, the excitement that had previously been drained by awful memories rushing through, so much so that she began jumping in celebration.
"Yes!" she exclaimed. Nicoleta moved around the room, exploring the place, discovering so much more than she expected to have, like the mini fridge, and oven on the counter in the small kitchen.
Nicoleta went inside her bedroom and found the rule book where the lady said it would be, she picked it up and sat down on her bed criss-crossed, before opening it to the first chapter.
It was a thick book, upon inspection, it seemed to be about five hundred pages long. The sheer size of the book put Nicoleta off from reading it, she skimmed through the first chapter marking all the rules she already knew.
"Know it- " she muttered as she ran a finger down the rules.
No sparring outside of training halls, or permitted grounds signed by a teacher/instructor.
She cocked her head, and went down to the next line, "i know that- " she closed the book after realising just how long it would take to actually finish it, "later" Nicoleta chimed before jumping off of her bed and running to the bathroom.
The bathroom was spacious, there was a standing shower, next to a bathtub, the toilet on the other side of the room, and the sink right across from it, there was one window right between the bath and the standing shower that overlooked the ocean.
She left the bathroom and looked around her room some more. Her wardrobe contained a new uniform that was probably the official sector 2 uniform, with some hangers, and nothing else. Nicoleta emptied her suitcase into the wardrobe, all except for the sector 8 uniforms.
They gave her extras just in case of any accidents with her powers, but clearly she didn't need them anymore.
A knock on her door took her attention away from the things. She unlocked her door and opened it to see that Adams had stayed true to her word.
"Come on you have to be registered" She began walking before Nicoleta could ask her any questions, but after closing and locking her door with her key card, Nicoleta said, "I thought I was already registered?" Adams stepped into the elevator and pressed down on the number one before answering.
"You have to get registered into your chosen programs" Nicoleta nodded, the elevator doors dinged open, and the two rushed out into the halls.
Nicoleta followed Adams through the empty halls into a grand training hall, similar to the one she trained in only twelve hours ago, except this one was bigger, it had two separate doors on each side, and right across the room.. was a… man shirtless, meditating like the picture she had seen.
"Good evening Mr. De-Luca" Adams greeted, he opened his eyes, and Nicoleta was struck by light blue eyes. It was as if he was staring into her soul.
"Ms. Adams" though despite his appearance, his voice was boyish, he couldn't be any older than twenty, "good evening" he stood up, and walked over to where the two stood.
"This must be Ms. Ariti?" He said, looking down at Nicoleta. He extended a hand out and Nicoleta shook it, "nice to meet you" Said Nicoleta.
"The pleasure is all mine. Welcome to sector 2" he smiled, but Nicoleta felt like jumping. She knew she was in sector 2, she saw her room, walked the halls, but having it be acknowledged by another person seemed to hit the nail on the head for her.
Mr. De-Luca led the two over to a monitor, where he grabbed a tablet, tapped some things down, and began asking questions, "Full name please" his voice was calm, mellow even, as if he had woken up from a good sleep, he also looked very relaxed, despite his hair being fixed so neatly he looked like he was sleeping, but there was no way any human being could sleep criss-crossed, and humming.
"Nicoleta Ariti" she gave him all the important details, name, age, height, weight, and so much more, after a minute or so he placed the tablet down, and smiled at the two.
"Am I registered?" He merely nodded, the smile dropping ever so lightly, "you are fit for Taekwondo" He said voice dropping ever so lowly, Nicoleta was a little taken back, she almost forgot that martial arts was a part of his classes, of course he would suggest something like that.
"It will help you" is all he said, he had this look in his eyes, a tense searching look, as if he was trying to see through Nicoleta's soul.
"Will it?" she asked, De-Luca shrugged, "only if you want to" his eyes told a different story, he looked convinced of what he was saying, this wasn't a choice for him, though he was posing it as an option.
He wanted Nicoleta to agree.
He seemed so sure of himself, so confident in what he said. Nicoleta was convinced, so she let him sign her up for Taekwondo as well. It wasn't his tone or even his looks, it was his aura, he looked controlled, composed, precise even, every step he took seemed to have meaning, his mannerisms were professional, like a man with ten years of experience, and he looked at Nicoleta as if he knew her, inside and out.
She felt the strange urge to… shield him, like how she felt about her teddy bear when she was little, snow was never left out of her sight, never near fire, never anywhere without her holding onto him, making sure he was safe. That is how she felt with her new instructor, she was six year old Nicoleta and he was Snow.
-
Later Adams gave Nicoleta a smart watch, which had a map, means of communication, and some other things to help her navigate around sector 2.
Adams showed Nicoleta the gym, and informed her that it was one of many, and that she would be registered into Mr. And Mrs. Arnold's classes early in the morning as they, unlike Mr. De-Luca, were sleeping.
After the tour, and instructions on how to use the map feature on the watch, how to use it to communicate and others, Adams took Nicoleta into a different building that otherwise would have fooled Nicoleta that it was an entirely different place if she hadn't walked inside knowing she was in sector 2.
Inside were only four people, all male, "good- well it is really morning isn't it?" Adams for once, sounded light, like she wasn't holding two earths on her shoulders.
The rest of the room let out a light laugh, everyone sounded tired, they all looked tired anyway. "New transfer eh?" a man behind a counter commented, Nicoleta turned to him, and gave him a sheepish wave, "welcome to sector 2" another one said.
"Where's Mikah?" Adams asked, another man on his laptop pointed to a red door with his entire arm without removing his eyes from the screen.
Adams moved toward it and Nicoleta followed.
"There are many schools in westinsenson son, sector 2 and 1 have the most out of all the sectors, you have ten options, five are private schools the other five are public" Adams informed as she opened the red door, leading into an equally big room, where a man who she only assume was Mikah sat behind a desk, typing rapidly on the keyboard of his computer.
"Mikah" he looked up from the screen, "yeah? Oh… Ms. Ariti- welcome welcome.. " he jumped from his chair and met Nicoleta by the door, "I've been informed you are from Greece?" Nicoleta nodded as the three of them sat down, he pulled a laptop from the coffee table, and opened a tab -similar to the programs tab- for Nicoleta.
"I figured that something similar to home might be good" he showed her three schools, two private and one public. "These schools are all Europe based, St Eru. Is more exclusive to Greeks" he tapped on the second school, and pictures of children in the hallways, talking to friends, opening lockers, in classrooms learning, scribbling in their notebooks, teachers, teaching.
"Is it a private school?" Nicoleta asked, "oh yes." Adams chimed in, "we have your guardians on the line" Nicoleta perked, her father, she would get to speak to her father, it had been so long since they had spoken, so much must have happened since the last time they spoke.
"Right now?" Adams and Mikah nodded, "This decision cannot be taken by an individual" before she knew it a laptop had been placed in front of her, and Nicoleta was staring into her father's warm brown eyes.
She imagined seeing them in the flesh. "μπαμπάς" (Dad) his eyes softened, and the most beautiful smile crept on his lips, Nicoleta melted. She imagined melting in his arms.
"Η Ναόμι" (Nicoleta) she could cry right there, but Nicoleta somehow composed herself, "Nicoleta how have you been?" Nicoleta's gaze fell on her step-mother. "I'm fine" she tended to do that, interrupting Nicoleta and her father with English whenever they spoke in their native tongue. Nicoleta hated it, but she didn't quite have it in her to glare at Valerie.
Because no matter how annoying she was, Nicoleta hadn't seen her in a while as well.
"So what school would you like to attend?" Valerie pressed on, her father simply smiled at her, Nicoleta pondered on her question, she never thought that decision would be up to her. She was sent to a public school against her will when she was six, so in her mind, she assumed she never had a say about that.
"I guess a public school…" she muttered, not exactly sure of herself, Valerie's nauseating smile grew wider.
"Which public school- there's plenty of them- they sent us the catalogue" Nicoleta nodded towards the end, her confusion about how she knew the schools disappearing.
"Any one." Nicoleta said, shrugging, her father didn't protest, he spoke to the man that gave Nicoleta the laptop about all the available public schools. Her father chose a school named Torren.
They said their goodbyes to Nicoleta's displeasure. After the brief interaction, Nicoleta was taken back to her room, Adams told her before leaving, "you can contact your father whenever you wish"
Nicoleta wondered how that would be possible without a phone, and that was the first time she noticed the computer edged on a table right by her door.
She sat down, and opened it, went to call her father only to realise she didn't know his number.
Nicoleta leaned back and sighed so heavily she felt the chair vibrate, she sunk into the chair. Her eyes welled up with water against her will. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed for a moment.
"One one one" she repeated numbers hopelessly. Then a rhyme her father had taught her when she was little popped into her mind, "if in doubt don't be fraught, stay calm and call someone you know" she sang further wiping her tears away as she readied her finger by the keyboard.
"112778456322. I will be on the other line ready to answer" right on cue her father answered the call.
"Dad" she rapped out almost in a desperate tone, "I didn't ask i… how are you how's Liam, and… Valerie?" Her father chuckled, before answering. Her step-brother had graduated college six years ago, and since been working, her father had made so many projects that he lost count. He was an architect and Nicoleta's biggest inspiration about her own art. Valerie was still doing fashion just as popular, and talented.
"I've missed you dad" Nicoleta said, as she neared the screen leaning on her forearms. Ambrose smiled at his daughter with the same longing in his eyes, if only he could reach out and touch her cheek, or plant a kiss on her forehead like he always did.
"I've missed you more" he meant it, Nicoleta knew he did, she never really fought him on that part, "how are you?" he asked. Nicoleta leaned back on her chair, looked around her room and extended her arms out as if reaching for a hug. "Great"