012.4 | Discrepancy
2156 Words
There are many things to consider before one decides that they are merely seeing things. Humans are quite imaginative, so it is ordinary to see unusual stuff sometimes. The brain pick up things differently and the combination of these visuals to the senses produces a slight distortion. The mind is pervaded with surprises that it wholly wants to play tricks on itself
It could have fallen in this category if not from Leon seeing the fluctuation of numbers and Shin recognizing everything he perceives once.
"Is this even real?" Shin asked after a long time of pause.
His eyes darted towards the gigantic spider that kept of climbing up the building until the sole thing that they could perceive is its remaining back legs. The creepy sense of having ants climbing on your skin overwhelmed him to the point of shivering. He hugged his arms and stroked them to offer comfort to himself.
Leon is in a much more tranquil state, but one can see that he is not feeling pleasant too. He is quite repulsive against insects since he had been lugged to the hospital many times due to bug bites. He appreciates nature and would often endanger himself by jumping unto bushes that are housed by poisonous insects.
The spider is presently out of their sight. With the unanswered question, Shin asked once again, "Is that real?"
Leon slowly nodded. He wanted to deny its existence but the numbers it was showing proved that it is present.
"Then... what the heck is that?"Shin scratched his head in frustration."Are we getting targeted by aliens or something?"
His voice wasn't loud, but it captured the attention of the other students in the class. Shin instantly concealed his mouth and gestured an apology. Leon heaved a sigh. He pinched Shin's waist without reservations. Shin's face became stiff from the pinch and looked at Leon with wounded emotions.
It is always the after effect that hurts!
Curling like a worm, Shin bore the feeling of needles stabbing on the pinched area. He weeped a few tears and mumbled about Leon's s******c tendencies. Leon scorned him completely and instead focused on the situation they were in. He opened his terminal, that is actually not allowed in the class and searched for a certain person.
Clover... Clover is still offline after a week.
He had been waiting for Clover's instruction, but the person did not contact him - no, his terminal is not even connected to the network. It is unusual for terminals to lost connection from the servers nowadays unless the person is...
They suddenly heard scurrying noises. The window that has been blessed by the warm morning light is now getting covered again by the gigantic spider. It seems that it had strolled around the walls and roofs of the building and ended up returning to their window. The two obviously did not like it the least.
The ends of the legs of the spider had some sticky and silky stuff attached on them. It seems that the spider is making a nest on their campus! Shin is very horrified by the precise idea that he is close to standing up and screaming. He wasn't absurd enough to be ridden by emotion, so his reaction is just to sit closer to Leon.
Leon did not mind the contact as he earnestly watched the spider under their proximity again. The spider paused directly in front of them. Its legs dotted with sharp hairs made the spider to attach on the walls. The spider also tried chipping off the glass but, as sturdy it may be, it only left a scratch.
The little snippets on its mouth would make some munching gesture while staring at them with red eyes. Or maybe that is just an assumption considering that everything on their eyes is black. There are no clear distinctions on their irises and pupils that's why it evokes the sense as if they are watching.
The large spider is crawling around the walls and roof the building. Sporadically it would pass by the room where Leon and Shin are situated and would pause as if observing them. There is also the misty thread covering the surface of the glass. Every time the spider comes over, the thread thickens.
It was extremely nerve wracking. Many times, Leon just wanted to walk out and beat the large spider away. He is getting annoyed by the shadow appearing and disappearing since their area is brilliantly lit. It stings the eye when the environment rapidly shifts the color from brightness to darkness and vice versa.
But he restrains himself. He is just a normal human right now so doing such things without any preparation will only cause him trouble. The disaster performed by these insects had proven their worth and Leon did not want to test it with his life.
In the game, he wasn’t this resistant. As what Carter told them before, their ability to differentiate reality from the game is quite high so all he could see is data and numbers. It is entirely different in real life. Just the sight of a nail-sized spider can give him goosebumps, what’s more for a larger one?
Shin wasn’t composed too. Though he is not as fearful as Leon, he is quite repulsed to uncomfortable situations. He has the mind that could remember everything so such memories that could bring trauma could not be forgotten. It will come by and haunt on his head for years until he dies.
He didn’t want that.
The scene continued in this way until professor stepped out from their lectern. The class moved from lecture to self-study so the professor could do rounds to assess the student's progress. The professor already noticed the two students acting weirdly and reached out.
"Hello, are your guys fine?"
The professor had taken a closer look and found out that the two are sporting with pale faces. It is so white that they resembled a dead fish. They hastened their steps over to get closer and see whatever the two students are doing.
"Give me your terminals," the professor stated. "I want to check your vitals."
"There's no problem, sir. We are oka-" Shin protested.
"Give me your terminals." The professor repeated his words more sternly.
Teachers and professors are given authority of them think that their students are in danger. They possess one of the most professions that have high authority that could even be used against the federation. This is to highlight the importance of the teacher that molds the students to become a better individual.
Shin and Leon handed their terminals. The professor checked their vitals and found out that both of them are normal. There are few fluctuations but it is the emotion of excitement. The professor frowned a bit to understand the situation when a thought entered his mind. He returned the terminals and cleared his throat while looking at Shin and Leon strangely.
"Are you sure that nothing is wrong?" The professor asked slowly.
In the other person's perspective, nothing should be wrong. The day is good and the weather is fine, the flowers are chanting praises, and the birds are twittering. It is the usual day every day and nobody could wish no more for this kind of comfort.
Leon and Shin tried to reveal their smiling faces as they answered in unison, "there is no problem."
However, in their eyes, everything here is wrong.
The spider is gawking at them outside the glass. It has its legs outstretched almost covering the entire window. Its body filled with hair is exposed, showing the grey colored scales within. The light is covered by its plastering body that flung shadows and bathe the people inside the room.
This scenery is straight up horrifying. If the teacher sees it, he us sure that he will freak out.
The professor asked more question about their health and the two of them honestly replied. The two has good reputation, so the professor did not suspect anything and is just genuinely worried.
The class schedule ended. The two hurriedly walked out to look at the spider on the building but did not see anything. They walked around to search for it but did not see. With their stomachs crying for hunger, they decided to just go to the cafeteria to eat.
The cafeteria is set with a hierarchy.
Well, it wasn’t to display who has lesser money but to differentiate the availability of the food and to avoid crossing contamination. Even though the technology is advance, the world hasn’t recovered from the contaminated soil even after a thousand of years.
The climate wasn’t helping much so there are fewer plants that can survive. They also did not want to contaminate food from making them in the same place. Plant based products rot easily and they don't want to compromise.
Artificial food like starches, snacks, and energy drinks are found on the ground floor. It is technically cheap, and some are even handed for free. Students that wanted to get proper nutrition without worrying about money would just grab a couple of cup noodles and energy drinks.
Though, it didn’t taste good even if it was given with flavors especially the flavored jelly energy drinks. It is bland and tasteless. Students would often accompany it with salads from the second floor.
The second floor is where all the natural foods are sold. It ranges from fruits to vegetables. Most of the students go in this area. The third and last floor is for meat products. Meat products are the most expensive and only few students could appear on this section.
The two did not hesitate stepping in on the third floor. A waiter went over to give them the menu of the day. Shin skillfully checked the names of his favorites while also ticking Leon's preferences. The waiter is gone, sending the orders to the chef. With no more people around, they discussed about the spider they have seen today.
"They are identical," Shin said. He recalled the image of the spider. "Why are they here?"
"I also have the same question," Leon heaved a sigh. He mouthed a string of numbers that Shin easily memorized. "These are the numbers showing when I was looking at them. It is the state of life."
"If they are alive, why are we the only one who can see it?"
They only have question with vague answers. The food arrived and the two ate lunch. In the middle of their meal, someone familiar arrived on the side. The two wanted to stand to give greetings but they are immediately declined. Leon offered the free chair to have Frass a seat.
Frass did not bother for formalities but instead went straight to his reason of approaching them. He is from the Business Department so pretty sure Frass had seen that large spider crawling around. He asked their opinion after seeing it.
"I was terrified, to be honest," Shin directly admitted."To be stared at those eyes..."
He is halted when Frass' terminal blinked. It is accompanied by a sound. Frass' demeanor immediately changed. He hastily opened his terminal under the presence of the other two people as if he wasn't scared of getting caught. The call connected and rather a familiar voice replied.
"Hello?"
"Adrian," Frass soundly replied. The repressing feeling in his heart seems to lighten away. He added, "Are you alright?"
"Yah?" Adrian paused for a while. "Probably."
Frass noticed something weird. The surroundings from the other line is noisy. Frass opened the GPS function and connected it to Adrian. Surprisingly, the guy that should have stayed in the hospital seems to appear in the downtown. Frass gritted his teeth as he controlled his rage.
"Where are you?" Frass laboriously asked.
The other person laughed lightly. Frass did not like the attitude and asked again, "Where are you?"
"You would not believe if I tell you," Adrian said, still with humor on his tone.
"How sure you are?" Frass smirked. "Tell me, where?"
Adrian canceled the call. Frass is about to erupt in anger when he received a message. It is from the caller. There is no text in the message but just a mere picture of two blooded person resting under a tree. One person is placed in a stretcher while the other one is looking at the camera with a grin.
Frass no longer contained his anger as he stood and rushed to the stairs. Leon and Shin just watch the figure run away. However, before Frass could take a step, a loud sound accompanied with red blaring light suddenly sounded. It alerted all the students and personnel inside the premises.
After a few seconds, an announcement is then played in a loop stating:
"CODE RED: ATTENTION! CODE RED: ATTENTION!"
"Code Red?" Shin muttered exclaimed. "Isn't that the alarm for a universal threat?"
- Writer
