Jack of All Trade

Chapter 2: Morning Greetings

Transmission Start

The clock reads 8:30 AM. The room is a mess, clothes scattered around and the computer left open with a document filled with different programming codes. Lawrence wakes up with heavy breathing and dry sweat, his blanket falling off his bed. He gets up and tries to collect himself. "That was a weird dream. More like a nightmare in fact." He says to himself trying to process what kind of dream he just had.

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"The Philippines was in ruin, buildings were destroyed and the ground smoked. Two groups of people filled opposing sides of the field. Lawrence knew he was stuck in a war he didn't mean to be part of. A giant card appears on top of Lawrence. Confused, he looks at the underneath of the card to see a complex design of different flourishes. Contrasting the flourishes are geometric shapes that appear to be more technological-like. The card drops and merges into the ground of the field. Both groups rush into each other and war happens around Lawrence. He watches as people fly and fall to the ground. Different kinds of effects happen all at once that Lawrence doesn't know what to focus on. A giant card almost hitting Lawrence marks the end of his dream."

I look at the folder filled with details about the past. "Still as I remembered it."

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Lawrence begins to slap himself, trying to collect himself from that dream. He walks towards the computer to look at the incomplete coding he was making. He thinks to himself if he could finish this final project he's trying to code. He has big aspirations for this program that it's taking longer than he expected.

He closes the program and ejects his USB from the PC. He shuts off the PC and gets to the shower to prepare for the day that is coming.

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"He plans to go out with George later because he wants to play the game that just got released. It's a game about a group of students trying to figure out a murder going on in their town. Lawrence loves those kinds of games so he will do anything to get them. The last time Lawrence was excited about a game was when he was in high school. He begged Sauren to join him since the game he was excited for was a co-op game. After a few days of pestering Sauren, Sauren gave in and joined him to play."

I read a passage from the folder aloud even though I know exactly what is going to happen. A little refresher doesn't hurt.

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Lawrence opens his bathroom door and heads straight to the dresser. He picks out his usual outfit, a dark green hoodie, and skinny jeans. He looks at the mirror and grabs his bag. He packs his notebook and laptop in his bag and walks out the door.

He walks down and gets greeted by his parents. "Good morning! You're going to be late. Sauren is right outside." Lawrence waves to them and grabs the breakfast they made for him, an egg sandwich. He waves them again and he joins Sauren to walk to school.

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In the day, Lawrence's parents help around the cafe before the others go and work. His mom helps around the financial part of the cafe while his dad helps with the legalities of the cafe. What is great is that Lawrence's parents are proud because Lawrence manages to establish a cafe that is doing great and is famous among the students in that area, even in their school.

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Lawrence greets Sauren and they begin to walk to school. The sidewalks are filled with students and people starting their daily routines. Some people are running and some people are talking about their time in their lives. The sounds of the roaring engine of the cars in traffic scatter the air. Sauren tries his best to listen to Lawrence's rambling about his program and his dream with different noises scatter the area.

"Hey, I got this crazy dream last night" Sauren looks at Lawrence, wanting to learn more about this dream. Lawrence tells the story of what the dream was and Sauren just looks at Lawrence, slightly frowning his brows. "Why what's with your face?" Lawrence asks.

Sauren stays silent before saying something. "Nothing. I thought of something." He says, calmly.

"Hey, what were you thinking about?" Lawrence asks Sauren, shaking him. Sauren hides his face, letting out a little laugh before looking at Lawrence, smiling. "It's nothing, don't mind it okay?"

Lawrence stops. "Okay. Anyways-"

While walking to school, they see a tall guy wearing a plaid button-up and a girl with long hair wearing a red coat. Lawrence sees them and runs towards the tall guy and gives him a hug.

"George!" Lawrence exclaims. George looks at Lawrence and returns the hug.

"Hi Lawrence. We're still going later right?" Lawrence nods and looks at the girl in the red coat. She furrowed her eyebrows as if she was mad to even see his face. Lawrence gives a little smirk to the girl and runs off.

"Wait!" Sauren shouts at Lawrence before running up to the two "Sorry, Lawrence is really like this at times when he's excited about something."

"I see." George looks at the running Lawrence before looking at Sauren. The girl in red and George nod at Sauren.

"Again, I'm really sorry. Sauren, wait up!" He shouts before catching up to Lawrence.

"Is he really the guy that will help us?" The girl in red asks George.

"Don't worry Unice, Sauren knows what he's doing. I think" George says to Unice before continuing their conversation

Sauren catches up to Lawrence, both out of breath. "Please don't run again," Sauren says to Lawrence.

Lawrence reaches to Sauren and pats his back, "At least, we ain't late!"

Sauren looks at Lawrence with a menacing stare. Lawrence smiles and both of them compose themselves before walking through the gate of the school.

"You're finished with your assignment, right?" Lawrence asks Sauren. The hallway was scattered with different students chatting and checking up on each other.

"Yup. The history of Philippine Island and its pre-colonial culture. It's pretty interesting actually, you see..." Sauren continues on talking about history. Lawrence just stares at Sauren while Sauren just speaks. Some students rush past the two, apologizing to them and continuing running into the hallway.

The first bell rings while Sauren talks more about his assignment. The two bid each other goodbye and go on with their separate ways.

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"Sauren, the history student, and Lawrence, the computer engineering student, both live normal lives. Well, at least in Lawrence's perspective, they both live normal lives." I stretch out my arms and crack my neck. "Baron, may I have some tea? This is going to take a while to watch."

I close the folder, drowning out the sounds of the teacher talking about what C++ is or what kind of history theories there are to learn about. I don't need the teacher to be speaking about these subjects again.

"Yes, sir." Baron bows before leaving the room. I am left alone again, in this large hall. The sounds of the teachers bounce off the walls, creating echoes of people talking. It gets lonely sometimes, Baron and the others are usually not around since they need to go and collect more information. I just stare at ruined walls and ruined paintings of this ruined room.

I look through the window and see buildings broken in half. The world around is covered in a red haze, the occasional sound of explosion in the distance. Baron and the other told me that I would be safe in this place since this place is untouched by them.

Sometimes, I go outside to explore with them but I cover my face with a mask that hides my true face from people. The mask may be menacing but some people look at this mask and believe that safety is coming.