Unlucky Life

"Yeah, you're right," Yu said with a slight smirk on his lips. "I'm an unlucky one. Unlucky virgin. Old bachelor."

Alina laughed softly at the words of the man who sounded very lament about his loneliness.

"Hey, come on," said Alina. "Don't take it seriously. I didn't mean it."

Yu smiled widely. "I know. And thank you."

"What for?"

"You know, you're the first woman to talk to me."

"Is that true?"

"Yeah—although, I think it's because you have to keep an eye on me with all these simulations."

"Well, maybe it is."

"Yup! Exactly as I thought."

"No, you're wrong." Alina smiled, she found disappointment on the man's face.

"Wrong?" Yu repeated with a frown.

"I'll be honest with you, Yu."

"About?"

"Yaa, about our conversation."

"Then?"

"Honestly, you're a good conversationalist."

"Am I?" Yu smiled with a happy face.

Of course, Alina could see all that. Yu may feel like he is wearing an astronaut outfit and is in outer space. In fact, he was lying on a special chair with hexagonal plates that were very sensitive to every movement that occurred in every part of Yu's body.

"I mean, you're so much fun. You're cute, too innocent, I don't know."

"Aah… I thought you would say that you like me."

"Oh my, Yu!" Alina laughed again.

"Hey, I'm feeling really tired," Yu said. "And the galaxy still looks very far away to me."

Alina immediately checked the thin transparent screen. Well, it looks like Yu is nearing the end of his simulation session on his first day.

"Hey, Yu!"

"Yaa?"

"Could you just close your eyes for the next minute?"

"You're asking me to sleep in the middle of this dark outer space?"

"You mind?"

"You want to pick me up?"

"That's how it is."

"All right, Alina. Either way, I've signed up for all of this."

"Try to be calm. OK?"

Yu took a deep breath before finally closing his eyes. He tried to follow all directions from the beautiful doctor.

***

Yu was still massaging his head when he was in a very clean room with minimal furniture other than a long semi-circular table and a few chairs.

In front of the 30-year-old man, there is a plate containing various types of food that he must consume. Several types of pills, vitamins, and two clear glasses containing two types of drinks. The first one contains mineral water, and the second contains a special drink that will neutralize the fluid previously injected by Doctor Alina into his body to undergo a simulation.

Yu smiled at the food on the aluminum plate in front of him. Well, if it weren't for his current condition, he would never have been able to enjoy a meal as luxurious as this one.

One of the automatic doors in the room opened. Doctor Alina stepped into the same room as Yu. In her hands, the young doctor also carried an aluminum plate filled with food for herself.

"Hey," said the doctor, then sat across the table, facing Yu.

Yu smiled, at that time his mouth was full of food.

"How is it?" asked Alina. "You like your food?"

Yu nodded, and he gulped. Then reach for drinking water. "Yeah," he said after taking a sip of water. "First luxury meal for me."

Alina smiled and started eating her food. Of course, the girl knew that. For people like Yu, the food he was currently eating would indeed be difficult for them to obtain in their normal lives.

Life in the 30th century is very lame and very hard. Only the elite can enjoy the full meal. Fish, vegetables, meat, eggs, rice, or bread.

Most of them out there can only get a loaf of bread to fill their stomachs every day. And more often, it was the bread that was no longer good for consumption, or even leftover bread from the nobles which were thrown away and then picked up for them to eat.

Or, they even try to scavenge in polluted and very dirty streams, lakes, and seashores. It is not health that they will get but a prolonged illness.

"Yu."

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about your childhood."

Yu smiled. "With one condition!"

"Condition?"

Yu nodded while hiding his smile. Alina laughed softly knowing what the man was thinking.

"Oh my God, Yu," said Alina. "You didn't give in to that desire of yours, did you?"

Yu shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know," he said. "Even though I know you are very far from my grasp. But… talking to you really makes me feel comfortable."

Alina stifled a laugh as she shook her head. "Perhaps, it's because you claim to never talk to anyone else, not even to a girl."

"Well, I guess you're right."

"Then?"

"Are you really that interested in the story of my life which is—trust me, very boring?"

"I guess it just depends on one's perspective. Don't you think so?"

"Hmm…" Yu took a deep breath. "Are you a native of the Nusantara, Alina?"

The doctor smiled again, she took a sip of her drink. "Not fully."

"Oh, I see?"

"My mother is of Manado descent while my father is one of the European aristocrats."

"Ah, no wonder. You are very beautiful."

"Hey, come on!" Alina laughed softly. "How long do you have to try like this? I think people in the 21st century will say; just a crap!"

Yu laughed at the doctor's words, as did the young doctor herself.

"When I was seven years old," Yu said, he let out a long, heavy sigh. "My life isn't too bad. But, that's probably because I'm still so young…"

At that time, Yu, who was seven years old, was playing with a very outdated miniature robot. Even though the miniature robot has lost one hand, little Yu is still engrossed in playing with his toy.

Little Yu was running around the yard, among the busyness of his father and mother who were harvesting the produce of their small garden. Although the soil conditions were not very fertile—just like almost all the land on the island of Sumatra at that time—they were still lucky enough, they were still able to grow several types of plants such as tomatoes, potatoes, and others.

The plants themselves don't look good either. The leaves and stems look yellowish. However, being able to have that was already a boon to everyone, including the Yu family.

Yu's cheerfulness provoked smiles and laughter from his father and mother. Well, even though life is so hard, at least they are able to give some good things to their child.

But the cheerful smile only lasted for a moment, a group of street thugs suddenly approached the residence of Yu's family.

The mother hugged Yu with a scarred face, the father tried to protect the two. After all, they know enough about the nature of these street thugs.

Without further ado, the hungry thugs immediately plundered the Yu family's small garden.

Yu's father tried to stand on to what was theirs. But facing the swarm of savages was no easy feat. And violence is part of their action.

Yu and his mother screamed as they watched his father fall because he was badly beaten by the thugs, while some of the thugs looted everything that belonged to their small garden, and others looted what was inside the Yu family's house.

It didn't stop there, the insolent actions of street thugs against the Yu family. When one or two of them saw how beautiful Yu's mother was, they dragged her along, raping her in turns.

Yu's father was already lying unconscious with his face covered in blood. Little Yu was screaming, trying to beat the thugs who raped his mother.

While the mother screamed about being treated harshly by the thugs, Yu bit the hand of a thug who was on top of his mother.

The thug screamed in pain, he nudged Yu in the head. Little Yu staggered and fell to the ground. A thug waiting his turn to bugger Yu's mother dragged Yu and threw him away.

Yu let out a short moan as his body hit the ground. He quickly got up and grabbed a hoe.

With all the anger inside him at what the thugs were doing to his mother, Yu raised the hoe high and slammed the hoe at one of the thugs who was raping his mother.

Crash!

The thug howled as high as the sky, the sharp edge of the hoe stuck in his back, he briefly got up to try to catch Yu, but ended up crashing to the ground, and died.

The other thugs gasped, then vented their anger on Yu. Little Yu tried to run, but what could Yu have done, he was caught and beaten badly.

The little body was curled up and silent on the ground with a bruised and bloodied face. Broken nose, some teeth fell out.

The anger of the thugs was also vented on Yu's father who started to wake up and crawled to be able to reach his wife who was being copulated by the savage bastards.

Yu could only watch that with his eyes open, speechless, instead of doing something. His father eventually died with a body full of cuts and bruises.

The same thing happened to his mother. Yu still hear his mother screaming very loudly before he lost consciousness.

Upon awakening, Yu no longer found where the bastards were. Only the stiff body of his father was covered in blood and the rigid body of his mother without any clothes on her body that Yu could find there.

Yu screamed, bursting into tears as he tried to wake his father and mother. Yu hoped that both of them were still alive. For a long time, Yu cried in his sorrowful screams, but the father and mother did not wake up. Only then did Yu understand that his father and mother were dead.

Yu again let out a long scream, looking up at the darkening sky while holding his mother's head.

And the pitiful scream of the seven-year-old boy ended in a choking sound, then little Yu fainted again, crashing to the ground.