1 The Future

Unable to sleep, a young boy rolls around and groans in his bed, before getting up and rubbing his brow. With a sigh, he checked the time, before using a remote to project a hologram above him. ' I've got some time..' 

A news channel appeared on the screen, and rotated through different reports and events:

" Prices are going up as the Government has passed a-"

" A protest has been shut down by the- "

" Civil unrest within District B, as students- "

With a sigh, the boy stood up and stretched, switching the channel once more. 

" Just in! An officer has shown off their Drive to defeat a rogue Fragmented! In district- "

Suddenly, the hologram disappeared.

' Yeah, that's enough of that. '

-

Dellin, usually called Dell by those close to him, is a tall and young 16-year-old boy, with a lean body and tidy black hair, trimmed on the sides. There was a slight tan to his body, but he was still as white as the clouds above, contrasting his dull hazel eyes. A slight frown was painted across his face as he walked through the charted streets, after all, he had school that day. 

He lives in a modern, sleek, and gargantuan city - everywhere around him, the buildings were made of satiny advanced materials and filled with blinding lights, creating a grand and futuristic city. Throughout the districts and roads, several cars roamed with stunning frames and lights, and up above were railroads that had marvelously constructed trains taking them from opposite corners of the city in minutes weaving in between towering buildings pointing to a clear blue sky, and a scorching sun - though, it was not that hot. Small cameras were embedded into surfaces all around the city peering into the lives of any inhabitant. 

Dell was coated in a mundane white shirt unbuttoned at the very top with a large black coat on top, its hood outlined with white fur, contrasting his black pants and shoes. He wasn't messy, just undeniably average. After some hours of walking through the twisting streets, he had made it to a huge building with several windows decorating the walls suppressed in giant steel walls. Walking up to the outer gate, Dellin pulled a key card up out of his pocket and held it in front of a minuscule black ball on the gate. A robotic voice spoke aloud shortly after:

"Dellin Veran, Access Request Accepted" 

A small door opened to the side, and he walked through, entering the school grounds. It was very noisy here, he couldn't even hear his thoughts over the childish chatter and screams of the people.

Dell walked through another set of doors and arrived in the corridors of the school. He scouted the bleached walls and found his classroom, hearing his classmates bickering among themselves from outside. Looking at the group, he frowned.

' Quiet down, will you? Aren't you all tired? ' 

Taking a seat in the furthest corner of the room from the commotion, he opened a book and turned to a page, beginning to read for a few minutes before his class began.

 Dell loved to learn, he loved growing his knowledge and researching different things, especially events of the past, or even just what the people of the past believed. He would find himself reading books from the school library after the day was over, unlike the average student. However, he didn't enjoy school. The presence of the other students made it quite unenjoyable for him. How could he focus when every other person was messing about?

Before class started, he turned to watch as someone came and took a seat next to him. Her beautiful white hair flowed as she sat down, her pale face encompassing 2 mesmerizing green eyes - anyone would be caught in a trance when they saw her. Dell turned to her, but then awkwardly turned away, choosing to stay silent. 

The teacher stood at the front and exclaimed with a smile:

"Good morning all! You seemed to be well rested after that holiday. But now's not the time for relaxing, after all, exams are around the corner! "

He ended his small speech with an ear-deafening laughter, contrasting the groans of the students around. Dell frowned in the presence of the clamorous man. 

' Seriously... What's with all the energy? It's period one... '

His thoughts were silenced by the man clearing his throat, once again, very clamorously. 

" Now, shall we begin? Today's lesson is about my favorite, the biology of the human!"

-

After completing a worksheet earlier than the rest of his class, he heard the girl's voice from beside him:

" Hey, you are Dellin, right? "

" Huh? Yeah. "

" Uh, could you help me with this question? I'm a little confused. I'm Vessa by the way. "

Standing up from his chair, he sighed and began to guide her to the answer to the question, showing off his impressive knowledge. She listened attentively, which surprised him - he had never seen her before and assumed she had just joined his school this year. 

" Oh! So that's how you do it... " 

Dell sat down and sighed a breath of relief. 

" Yeah, it's pretty simple if you remember that trick. For the next question, it's relatively the same. You'll figure it out. "

As he fell silent, Vessa abruptly stood up and bowed her head down, keeping her arms to her sides. 

' Huh?! What is she doing?! ' 

" Thank you very much for the help. I really appreciate it. "

Dell's arms flew up and waved about, his face glowing red too.

" N-no it's fine! Relax, will you?"

Seeing the scene, the class and teacher laughed, while Dell grimaced at the event, glowing red.

' So embarrassing! Damn it! ' -

Their class ended shortly after, and Dell walked out of the lesson, reluctantly waving to Vessa, still upset about what happened. He sighed and walked off to collect his gym wear. As he found his locker and opened it, a loud thud echoed through the hallway beside him. A small boy had fallen to the floor and fell unconscious. 

It took a moment for people to notice, but they soon gathered around to see the young boy. Dell looked at him on the floor, and noticed something; while unconscious, the boy twitched sporadically making it appear as if he was awake.

Seeing this, Dell gritted his teeth and slammed his locker shut, walking off swiftly after, some glancing at him with confusion in their eyes.

' Unfair! It's so unfair! ' 

Stopping in his tracks, he realized he had forgotten his gym wear, his mood worsening further. Clicking his tongue, he just decided to skip the lesson and visit the library to cool off.

Every time Dell came here, he was in awe - the school library was incredibly vast, and you could find nearly any book you wanted there. However, the real treasure was the computer systems that students could use. They were massive wells of stories and knowledge, one could find nearly any book or research paper with just a search - it was truly amazing. For Dell, it was like the hall of his dreams. He thoroughly enjoyed reading and discovering new bits of information.

He was about to begin reading before a voice behind halted him.

" Hey, Dell. Guess what? "

He turned around to see an energetic, smartly dressed young man, with spiky white hair and a fade along the sides - pale skin and bold blue eyes with a small scar under his right one. 

"Oh, Silva. What's up?" 

Silva smirked and pointed at himself with his thumb. 

" Guess who got their Drive? "

" Huh? No... no way. "

Silva had a cocky smile painted across his face, as the words Dell dreaded came out of his mouth.

" Me of course! Are you jealous? Maybe even mad? Even better, my ability is pretty cool! Though my trial was incredibly draining, it took me 3 whole days to beat it, to say it was scary is a severe under-"

As Silva kept rambling on, Dell's mind fell deeper into a pit of anger. He wanted his Drive Ability for a long, long time. And so, hearing this made him very jealous.

' Damn it! How could this guy of all people get his Drive before me? Am I some sort of late bloomer?! '

Silva saw the look on Dell's face becoming more intense, and couldn't help but laugh before he was silenced by people around him telling him to be quiet. But he still smirked and held his laugh in. 

" Alright man.. Very cool.. Did you just come here to taunt me though? "

" Pretty much. Getting you mad is a lot of fun you know. Oh! I did come to tell you that since I got my Drive, I've been automatically enrolled in a school for the awakened. I don't know when I'll see you again but, let's keep in touch alright? " 

" Right... "

 After exchanging phone numbers, he walked off away from Dell waving his hand as his back turned. Dell sighed, trying to calm himself down after that vexing encounter. 

Surprisingly, Silva and Dell were decently good friends, possibly the best one Dell had. He was able to see past that obnoxious front that Silva put up, Dell knew that he was the smartest student other than himself in this school, and yet in most tests, he came in the lower ranks, it was obvious that he was not trying to attract attention.

' Maybe he should try shutting his mouth, he won't catch much attention if he did. '

Still, the fact that he obtained his Drive before he did annoyed him greatly, he wanted to awaken so badly but everyone else was awakening before him.

He needed his Drive, for his goals.