no. EEZO

THE OLD AND THE NEW CHAPTERS

CHAPTER 3

7.

The morning rises and everything seems to be as usual as it could be. It's like waking up on Sunday after enjoying your leisure time last Saturday. Only few still remember that feeling but Alioth is no stranger to it. Using the mechanic stool, Alioth attached a rope at the end of it and pulled it outside. This new task is added to his daily routine, he'll eventually pull it back once the sun settles. This setup will be continuously repeated until the robot finally functions.

Day after day, the routine is accurately being maintained. Morning will be spent in doing household chores, afternoon is for roaming around, sometimes at Martin's house or just strolling with Rigel, and then doing his own research at night. This monotonous setup lasted for more than a week. At first, it was all good for Alioth but his impatience eventually caught up with his quite stagnant result.

The next day, it is indeed a bright morning but Alioth's mood differs. Bored and observably irritated, Alioth pulls out the robot then goes straight to Martin's house.

"Good morning kiddo" Martin greeted as Alioth entered the shop. Martin noticed the gloominess of Alioth at first glance. He immediately asked Alioth if there's something that he wants to learn but Alioth shakes his head.

This kind of scenario is nothing new to Martin, if a teenager has indefinite mood swings, what more from a child with trauma. After a couple of minutes, a friend of Martin arrived for a visit.

Going down from his SUV, an old bearded, medic fellow who's quite the same age as Martin, excitedly greeted. "Hey there bud!" Joe said.

Martin was surprised by the sudden visit but he warmly welcomed his old friend. "It's been a while! What brings you here?" Martin asked.

"I delivered some tools to the pharmacy by the town, since I have some spare time, I decided to stop by. It's quite rare to have this timings" Joe explained.

"Good thing I'm not that busy today, come in! Let's have some beer and catch up" Martin offered.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Joe responded as they entered the garage.

Upon entering the garage, Joe saw Alioth just staring at the window. He does not recognize the kid, not until they start drinking beer while having random chats.

"Is that Aster and Ascella's son?" Joe whispered as he finally saw some familiarity.

"He is, it happened so fast..." Martin answered in a low tone.

"He looks like his father, like a small version of Aster" Joe said.

"Yeah, but I must say, the kid's intellect came from his mom" Martin said as he chuckled.

Joe laughed and said "He is the slowest in our group! I remember when we were at senior high, he barely passed our math class!"

"But his football skill saved his failing grades. Being the star player of the team somehow gave him the passing grade in math" Martin replied.

"That shows how they badly needed him!" Joe loudly said.

Martin and Joe laugh as they enjoy their reminisce of the good old days. Meanwhile, Alioth ignores the chatter as he daydreams while looking outside near the window, creating his own world, being occupied by his imagination.

Catching up indeed brought them numerous stories to talk about. With all the stories they chatted, they did not even notice that it was already raining outside. As they drink further, the mood changes when Joe brings up the story that the whole town knows.

"I still couldn't believe that happened..." Joe melancholicly said.

With that tone of voice, Martin immediately knew what Joe meant. "It was supposed to be a vacation for them..." Martin responded.

"It sounds dramatic but the newspaper tells it exactly how it happened. The neighbor said that It was a peaceful night, driving smoothly towards their destination. Everything was going as they planned until the unfortunate event happened." Joe halfly drunk said.