Snippet #2602195

They went to the c“It sucks to be forced to stay inside this complex until the expedition starts.” Said Nine as he walked a giant corridor filled with rooms. He stopped right in front of the door to the room which key he had been given. The room? 900. He smiled sarcastically at another twist of fate that was thrown upon him as he put the key into the lock and turned it, a click sound coming of it, as the passage was now open to the room.

He quickly entered locking the door behind him, and throwing a bag full of clothes and other important things he would need for the expedition such as first aid kits and etc. Abelle’s healing skills were very good, but it wasn’t recommended to use then while not on a battle since it drains a lot of her energy. Remembering of his furry friend, he stared inside of the pocket, seeing her sleeping quite confortably. She always liked that pocket. He took the jacket away, slowly and very carefuly, placing it on top of the bed. He then took away the shirt he had under and went to the closest mirror he could find. He stopped at it checking the runes of healing she had painted on him. They were almost fading.

“I am going to have to ask her to re-do then before the expedition starts.” He tough to himself as he put the shirt back on. He then took off the eye-patch. He hated using it, but it was necessary in order to not bring up to much attention. But like Nathaniel said, it actually brought a lot of attention to him. More than he would like. But it was better than being seen as a Undurmet. His race was badly seen by others, especially because of the way the relationship between the current races of the multiverse, and his worked out. They were seen as predators, and life was very hard on then. Oftenly prejudiced for their nature, Undurmet had very little to live for.

He walked to the kitchen and started making some food. After a few minutes Abelle woke up, and flew next to him.

“My favorite time of the day!” she said happily.

“It is still a mistery how you are slim.” Nine said making fun of her. Abelle simply replied by showing her tongue to him, in a childish manner. He laughed and sat on a chair next to the place of the table Abelle was sitting on. He gave her plate with dried fruits and a bit of vegetables. Since she was very small, the plate was actually a saucer. The cup was right next to her, and it was actually one that was custom-made for her, that Nine carried with him wherever they went. In the cup, just water. She hated soda. But since there was practically nothing besides the dried fruits she was eating, he couldn’t make anything else.

“You could at least have made me a juice.” She said

“There is nothing here at least for now Abelle. We can go later to buy some fruites if you want.” He said as he took a bite off an apple.

Both of then kept talking about regular stuff. They seemed like siblings and many would take them for such if not for her very different form and size. After a few hours of rest, both of then got up. He put his jacket and his eye-patch, and with Abelle on his shoulder, he walked out of his room, bringing the key with him. He felt kind of left out. His room was one of the few left of the old area, and while mostly everyone had keycards, he had a rusty key ring.

They went to the cafeteria, and mostly everyone was there, either talking with each others, sharing ideas and expectations, or simply reading the journal or pretty much anything any of then could get their hands on.

“Let’s also take our time and try to blend in.” Nine said to Abelle.

“You really think it is necessary? I don’t feel that good around people.”

“Abelle you’ll do fine. We need to build some sort of companionship in order to survive. It’s just momentarily. The moment the expedition is over, we will just leave. So don’t worry.”

Nine scanned the cafeteria for anyone whom h felt more comfortable talking too. However, before he could decide on which group tp blend, he felt someone pass by him, and wave at him.

“Yo.”

It was Nathaniel, the same man as before.

“Hey.” Nine replied. Nathaniel kind of smiled and let a smirk appear on his face.
“You’re not very good at blending in.”

“I am not very social.”

“Yeah I know. I got that impression already.” Said Nathaniel, while he stared at Nine’s white hair. “It is funny how we both have white hair but share almost no other features to be alike at all. However, being different does not mean we can’t be friends.”

Nine remained quiet while Abelle stared at Nathaniel, then at Nine, then back at Nathaniel than Nine again.

“You are that Anoan right? Abelle, if I am not mistaken.” He said smiling at her. She simply smiled and nodded back in agreement but said nothing.

“Geez, you guys are horrible at making friends. For starters, why not buy me a drink? Soda would be fine.”

Nine stared at him. They both went to the closest table there was, and Nathaniel made his order to the waiter. The place was pretty fancy. For a complex from where most people would never come back to.

“You see, the advice I gave you. You are taking it seriously. That is good. Very good. You will need friends to survive out there.”

“What kind of expedition are we into?” asked Nine curious, while Abelle was pretty much just a bit scared.

“Well, the only type I know. The unknown.” Nathaniel said while smiling. He took a sip of the soda before continuing. “You see, there can be pretty much anything on the portal that will be opened in the next few days. So you better have a guard up. Do you know why they leave us here for a few days before letting us go out there?”

Nine simply remained quiet. Taking that as a no Nathaniel continued.

“It’s to make us build camaraderie. To become friends, at least as much as someone can be in such a short amount of time. You see, if they simply opened the portal and threw us in there, we would have no one to protect, and no one to protect us. We would be all by ourselves, each one going anywhere they wanted. Well, that’s the theory pretty much. To make the expedition have the biggest chance of success possible, this time we get is to make ourselves comfortable with one another enough to trust each other with our lives.”

“I am not sure I trust anyone in here with my life.” Nine replied.

“It’s because you’re to closed! Too deep inside your own little world. Perhaps if you came with me for the next few days, I could present you to some people. Make you see the world differently. It would sure help you in your task.”

“Which task?”

“To blend in?”

Nine smiled a bit before nodding in agreement. The smile was not genuine, but there was no way Nathaniel could not know.
“Great. We are friends then.”

After a few hours of talking with Nathaniel, learning pretty much almost anything there could be to lear about expeditions, Nine went back to his room. In there Abelle went to the bed lying on top of it.

“Are you sure we can trust him?”

“He is pretty straight forward, but he seems to be a good guy. He will do nothing he feels may be uncomfortable to us. So we can trust him. I think.” Said Nine as he too the eye-patch out once more, along with the giant jacket. He was sweating because of the heat of being inside such a piece of clothing in such a time of the year.

“I am still a bit scared of what may happen on this.” Said Abelle.

“Just remake the runes on my body a day before we set out, and everything will be fine.”

Nine sat on a chair where a small notebook was and turned it on. He then started checking stuff about socialization.

“You’re really taking this seriously aren’t you.” She said as she flew and sat on his left shoulder.

“Nathaniel is going to be introducing me to a friend of his tomorrow. It’s a good chance. We can’t miss it.”

He made his “research” for quite some time before going to sleep. When he finally did only one tough was in his mind. How to survive this expedition and make as much money as he could.