Alkalians Read online

  The man with purple eyes stands up, trying to look calm despite being dreadfully nervous. He has to remain standing as the principal continues calling out names, and more of his fellow class reveal themselves. He observes how they, as well as many of the other students, seem to come from many different backgrounds. Some are fair skinned, others a dark bronze tan. Some are decorated in expensive looking suits and dresses, others in casual or the cheapest brands of pants and shirts. Some look excited to be here, others appear impatient in waiting to get out of there, and then some just don’t seem to care. After the list is finished, the rest of the students clap for the freshmen before they sit down, and attention returns to Prof. Kaystone.

  Prof. Kaystone says, “Now, I bet you all are anxious to get out of here and hurry off to your cabins to get settled in, so I will soon excuse you all. But first, I would like to just say a few things…” There are highly audible groans from some of the students in the assembly. “Which won’t take too long! Anyway, the first thing I would like to address is the status of all you students here at college. You all come from the five states of our great nation, the Alkalian Confederacy. There are many of you from either Minari, Tirez, Corrasin, Saratu, and Riaquen. Some of you come from noble and wealthy families, some of you are from the common house hold, and there are even some of you from remote and humble life styles. However, no matter what you are outside of these campus grounds, you are all students in a professional, educational environment here, and you shall respect and treat each other as equal peers in study and recreation!

  “The next thing I want to mention is informing the freshmen, and remind all others, of the rules here at our college campus. Number one, there will be no battles that would harm any innocent bystanders or be targeted against someone not wanting to fight. But of course, I can’t restrict your right to morph and fight, so please have your battles in appropriate areas, which would be outside the buildings on campus grounds, the gymnasium, or in the specified area at the casino.

  “Number two, you are expected to carry out all assignments given to you in your classes, no matter how much you like or dislike it, and get them turned in on time. The reason you are at this institute is not to be goofing around and partying all the time. You are here for an education, to prepare you for adult careers and responsibilities throughout the states! If there are any problems in completing your tasks, please seek help from fellow students or the professors, and no cheating!

  “Number three, there will be no ill-appropriate behavior on our school grounds, which includes anything to do with bullying, harassing, drug inducing, or sexual assault. And number four, last but not least, all students are to follow all school curfews, never disrespect the professors, and keep note not to upset your fellow students. That way, everything will go by much easier for everybody!

  “Urrrhem, now, as you leave, please stop by the computers out in the hall to receive your class schedules and cabin rooms. All you have to do is go up to the machine, enter your name, and the already, randomly decided schedule and cabin room will be given to you. Make sure you keep these, just in case you forget, and head immediately to your cabins. Classes will begin tomorrow morning. Good night to you all, and I do hope we can all enjoy this new year of college together!”

  ***

  All the students, many of them rushing with relief to get out of the auditorium, file out into the hall, and go to the hallway computers to get their schedules. Matthew soon arrives at one, a large computer monitor with typing input. For a moment, he looks at it in a confused manner. This is the first time in his life he has ever seen such a machine. Some of the students behind him, impatiently waiting for their turn, tell him to hurry up and enter his name. Noticing the keyboard before the monitor, and after side-glancing to see other students using it, he then proceeds to type his full name in. Recognizing him a student, the computer prints out his class schedule and cabin number, which startles him when he sees them coming out of the machine. He takes them, shyly, due to the humored eyes upon him, and follows the dispersing students who are leaving the building.

  The sun sets as the adolescents trot some hundred feet toward a field full of small buildings away from the main campus, the cabins. Divided by color to indicate the different class levels, Matthew follows the instructions to the yellow cabins and finds his cabin, numbered 248. He tries to open the door, but it’s locked. Wondering why the door would be locked, he looks around to find other people doing swiping motions with their cards before entering their cabins. He then understands the cabin number card is a key, so he slides it through the automatic lock near the doorknob, and the door clicks unlocked.

  Passing through the door, Matthew looks around the inside of the cabin. A spacious living room was to the right of him, complete with table, chairs, a couch, and a kitchen, furnished with fridge, counter, and oven grill, to his left. Coming farther in, he sees a door behind the couch, another door past the kitchen, and stairs leading up and forward. The stairs lead to a small hallway with a door on both sides. Upon further inspection, Matthew sees the door behind the couch is the bathroom, while the others are bedrooms, filled with a desk, chair, small window, clothes dresser, and a large bed.

  Back at the entrance, Matthew finds his luggage among other suitcases and bags. He brings them into the room upstairs on the left, deciding the first guy here picks his own room. He puts his clothes in the dresser, lays out his hygienic necessities, and sets a small bottle of prescription pills on the desk by his bed. Finished unpacking, he comes downstairs to hear someone coming up to the door. He freezes, takes a deep breath, and braces himself for meeting his first roommate.

  The door clicks open, and in walks a man right about his age. He wears a full suit of mahogany, with long sleeve vest, pants, and tennis shoes. His hair is an ashy black and spiked-back style, his eyes a dull brown, and his face smoothly shaved except for a black goatee on his chin.

  The man looks up at Matthew, jumping a little in surprise, and exclaims, “Whoa! I’m not the first guy here? Huh, not what I was expecting. So, who might you be?”

  A little startled by his upfront approach, Matthew answers, “Oh, um, I’m Matt. Matthew Calamos. But you can call me Matt.” He puts out his hand for a proper handshake.

  The man replies while accepting the handshake, “Cool. My name’s Sean Wyseinburg. Say, weren’t you the first freshman announced?”

  “Oh, um, I believe so. And, weren’t you the last guy called?”

  “Yep. I wonder why…” After the sarcastic open thought, he starts digging through the luggage to find his belongings. “So, did you pick out your own room yet?”

  “Uh, yeah. Upstairs, on the left.”

  “Alright, I’ll take the bottom left.” Pulling out a cooler, Sean drags it into the kitchen and opens the fridge. “You a people’s person?”

  “Well, I was raised in a small family, far away from any town. I didn’t get much chance to meet anyone else besides my parents.”

  “Eh, that’s no problem. I’m sure you’ll get less shy, the more you get used to dealing around with other people.” Sean pulls out bottled drinks from the cooler and starts putting them into the fridge. “You want some vodka?”

  “…Vodka?”

  “Yeah, this!” He shakes a bottle. “You have heard of vodka, haven’t you?”

  “No, not really.”

  “Really? How about rum? Whiskey? Wine? Beer?” To each one, Matt shakes his head no. “Have you even drunk alcohol before?”

  “…What’s alcohol?”

  Sean has a perplexed, comical look on his face. “Wow, and I thought I was once uneducated.” Holding up a bottle, he adds, “Okay, here’s your first lesson at college, Matt. Alcohol is a kind of drink that is smooth tasting and leaves a funny, pleasant sensation as it goes down your throat. The names I just mentioned are different brands of alcohol, each of their own flavors and dosage of alcohol. The amount of alcohol you drink is important. If you drink too much, you can lose all sense of yo
ur surroundings, lose your conscience and make bad decisions, or even get physically sick and exhausted! However, a few drinks should not be bad for you. In fact, to your individual benefit, it helps loosen up people, makes them more talkable, sociable, and energetic. And so, to get you started out right, I say we split a few bottles of this vodka here and let you know just what alcohol is like. That sound good to you, Matt?”

  Matt thinks it over, and decides, “Sure, I guess I’ll have one.”

  “Excellent!” Sean hands him one. “Here you go. One for you, one for me, and a fridge full to last us a month!” He closes up the fridge and cooler, and pops open a bottle along with Matt, grinning widely. “A toast, to a happy school year, with lots of fun and minimum carnage!”

  “Okay.” Smiling as well, Matt taps his bottle with Sean’s, and they take a sip. While Sean lets out a pleased sigh, Matt’s eyes go wide with surprise and he totters a little, exclaiming, “Whoa, what a feeling! It feels like there’s fire going down my throat!”

  “Ah hah, hence that warming sensation I was telling you about! And don’t try gulping down the stuff. You gotta preserve the drink, make it last, make it count!” Suddenly, they hear someone rattling the door. Sean perks up and says, “Oh! Here comes our other roommate! Brace yourself.”

  They stand back from the door, ready for the guest to enter. The door clicks, and in comes, to both their surprise, a woman.

  ***

  The woman before them is their age as well, dressed in green with a t-shirt, dark khakis, and moccasins on her feet. She has flower red hair that falls to her neck, bright green eyes, and a face that seems to shine in the light. Hanging from her neck is a small golden amulet, looking like four petals spinning around a tongue of flame.

  The woman looks at Matt and Sean. While Matt’s still surprised, Sean walks forward cheerfully, saying, “Welcome aboard, milady! Please allow me to introduce your fellow roommates. Call me Sean Wyseinburg, and him, Matt Calamos. What shall we call you?”

  Motionless for a second, she smiles and answers, “I am Rose Alamence. A pleasure to meet you.” She gives a small, forced bow.

  Sean exclaims, “Ah, so your name is Rose! What name could be finer, for such a rose as you!” He laughs a little, then asks Matt, “What do you say, Matt? You fine with sharing quarters with this fair lady, because I sure am!”

  Still trying to get over the fact he could be sharing a cabin with a woman, Matt says, “I, uh, I’m okay with it, I guess. What do you think, Rose?”

  She glances back and forth between the two men and asks, “Does the school allow both genders living in the same cabin?”

  “Trust me, they do,” answers Sean.

  Rose’s worry vanishes, and she says with a shrug, “It’s fine with me, then, as long as you two don’t get any bad ideas.” She walks around the living room, observing the setting, and states, “The cabins sure are nice.”

  “Hey, this is nothing compared to the higher classmen’s attire, from what I’ve heard,” Sean says.

  As Sean takes another sip of his drink, Matt finally asks, due to his mounting curiosity, “If you’re a freshman like us, how do you know so much about the school already?”

  After a pause in his resolve, Sean deflects the question with, “I’ll tell ya later. But for now, I say we get all settled, hand Rose some vodka, and make our first night together fun! Who agrees?”

  Matt and Rose turn to each other, expressions blank, look to Sean, and both shrug in agreement. Rose adds in, “What better way to get acquainted?”

  “Just what I thought! See, our great minds are already thinking alike!” Sean grabs another bottle from the fridge, delivers it to Rose, and raises his drink up. “Friends?”

  Matt and Rose follow the gesture. “Friends!” The bottles bang together, and they all take a few gulps of their drinks. They then spread out to sit at different spots. Matt sits on a stool near the kitchen counter, Sean takes the left side of the couch, and Rose seats herself on the right side.

  After having another quick sip of his vodka, Sean begins the conversation. “Now, to make this ice-breaking easier for us, I say we tackle one subject of introduction at a time until we’ve all explained ourselves on it. So, I think the first subject should be, obviously, where we are from. How about it, Matt?”

  Matt agrees, “Sure.” Taking a breath to focus his thoughts, he tells them, “I’m from Minari, the Mining State of the Confederacy and to the west of this college. I live only with my two parents in the remote wilderness, far away from the nearest town. The only news I’ve gotten of the outside world is whatever my father brings back. He is a state ranger who patrols Minari’s boundaries with its neighbors, so he’s only at home for a few days before returning to another month of patrol.”

  When Matt finishes speaking to take another sip from his bottle, Sean picks up where he left off. “Hah, what a coincidence! I’m from Minari as well, but unlike you, I live a little closer to society, and my family’s much bigger. We’re simple farmers who work out in the fields, and thus most of us aren’t all that bright. I, however, am the most intellectual of my siblings, and that’s the reason why I’m the only one of them here!” He turns to Rose. “And where are you from, my fair Rose?”

  Ignoring his overly courteous reference, Rose replies, “If you must know, I hail from the state of Riaquen, far east of here.”

  Sean, in the middle of drinking, spits out his vodka and gasps with shock, “Say what!? You’re from Riaquen, the state known for its military regime!? How could such a peaceful thing like you come from that land that thinks only of war?”

  Annoyed by his outburst, Rose suggests to him in a low tone, “You shouldn’t judge other people so quickly. Keep up the flirtatious mood, and you’ll find out I’m not as peaceful as I look.” Amused to see Sean squirm in his seat, gulping down fear instead of vodka, she continues, “Anyway, I’m from the Alamence clan of Riaquen, who are well known for their success in any field of profession and their skills in battle. The necklace around my neck, in fact, bears the family crest of Alamence.”

  Finding an opportunity to speak up, Matt implies politely, “How interesting. Well, um, after seeing a little tension between you two, I think it might be a good idea if we settle into our rooms, get a good night’s sleep, and try this conversation another time.”

  “That’s a great plan, Matt.” Turning back to Rose, Sean adds, “By the way, I’m truly sorry if I’ve offended you, Rose. Of all the people I may want to have bad blood between, I don’t want it to be with a roommate of the opposite sex!”

  “…Apology accepted,” Rose replies, a little smirk behind her eyes. Then standing up, she finishes her drink and says, “I would like to unpack my belongings, get some rest, and be ready for classes tomorrow.”

  “I couldn’t agree more!” Jumping up from the couch, Sean takes the last sip of his vodka, tosses the bottle expertly into the garbage can near the kitchen fridge, and exclaims while grabbing the rest of his bags, “If there’s nothing more to do, then I bid you adieu!” He opens the door into the bedroom near the kitchen, enters it, and kicks the door closed behind him, leaving a bewildered Matt and Rose in the living room.

  After a moment of staring at each other, as if they actually saw each other for the first time, Rose clears her throat before saying, “So, have you picked out your room yet?”

  Slow to respond, Matt jolts before admitting, “Oh, yeah, the room upstairs, on the left. The last bedroom is the one across from it.”

  “I see.” After tossing her own bottle into the garbage just like Sean had done, she goes for her bags, picks them up, and heads for the stairs, stopping to tell Matt, “I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Oh, right! Good night, uh, Rose.”

  “Good night, Matt.” With a smile still on her face, she turns and walks up the stairs, disappearing into the hall above. After hearing a door open and close, Matt breaths out a calming sigh, finishes off his vodka, and tosses it toward the garbage can.
Instead of falling in it, it bounces off its rim and lands on the floor with a clink. Startled by missing the shot, Matt retrieves the bottle and drops it into the bin, a little embarrassed, and flicks the lights off in the room before going upstairs to his bedroom.

  ***

  Morning comes, and with it the first day of school. Students soon flock into the college buildings, and Matt, completely unused to such a high level of traffic in such confined spaces, is dragged and shoved along with the flow of students down the halls and eventually finds himself in what appears to look like a cafeteria. However, to his mounting confusion, most of the students, as they retrieved breakfast foods like pastries, fruit, or juices, took their food with them out of the cafeteria and back into the halls as they hustled off to their classes. Going with the flow, he gets his own food, a blueberry muffin and a bottle of orange juice, and consumes them on the go as the river of students gradually dwindles down further into the main halls of the building. Soon realizing he is lost, he tries to remain calm as he looks for and finds a map of the building’s halls and room numbers. He locates the room he believes is his first class of the day, and takes a few minutes to hurry down the corridors and up some stairs to the room, hesitating before he opens the door.

  As he comes into the room, Matt is instantly blushing from the many faces of other students, some freshmen like him and others of higher classes, turning about to stare at him. However, any further symptoms of embarrassment and shyness are denied as he detects peculiar, calming features about the room. The walls are brightly colored, a pleasant scent is in the atmosphere, and the person he figured might be the professor, rather than being some old, gray-haired man, is a young lady, pretty to look at with her long orange hair, shimmering green dress, sparkling green eyes, and cheerful smile as she looks back at him.