Centum Malediction

Chapter 3-2

Monday, September 20th. 2010

Alexander's trip through the long hallway was normally a dull one. Today was different. With a single pluck of a string sent him to a magical wonderland. Soft vibrations landed in the air around him, creating ripples of soothing music. He closed his eyes and accepted the vision. An endless field of flowers, no, a meadow in a forest where a single flower grew. It was a white rose, if such a thing existed. The dew dripped from it, as if it were crying. The tall trees lurched in the background creating an almost intimating image, yet somehow it was beautiful. Alexander reached the end of the hall where the program manager stood with another woman. They looked into the lobby where the music originated from.

Mr. Reynolds was a tall man in a fancy business suit, stretching over six feet. Other than that Alexander couldn't help but compare him to Einstein. His face and hair looked exactly the same.

The woman next to him was Ms. Aoki, a young Japanese woman Alexander rarely dealt with. She wore the typical businesswoman attire, a black suit that seemed to meld with her long skirt of the same color. Even her hair was the same color making it look like every part of her was connected except her tanned skin. Alexander thought about what that would be like for a moment, if your hair detached with your clothes. It was strange, of course, but was it really so farfetched? People already wore clothing to protect their skin. If they were sentient beings, would adding hair really be so different. Of course, if that were the case, hair itself would be an abstract thought.

"Alexander, I'm glad you're here." Mr. Reynolds snapped Alexander out of his thought process as he turned to face him. Alexander merely nodded, not wanting to disrupt the music any further. He walked to Mr. Reynolds's side, looking into the large room.

Satori's creation room, that's what Alexander liked to call it. The walls were covered in paintings, drawings, and numerous other art projects. In the back corner was a piano, a violin was placed gently upon it. Next to the piano was a blank canvas with a large number of different art tools such as paint and brushes. In the center of the room sat Satori, a Japanese girl the same age as Alexander. She was the only other Lost Dream of Century City. She sat on a stool, playing a harp that looked way too big for her. Despite the size differences she managed to produce beautiful music. She let out a small smile upon seeing Alexander before looking down, continuing to focus on her music.

"It's always nice to see her playing music. For the longest time she wouldn't touch an instrument." Ms. Aoki commented in a whisper to Alexander. She had a slight Japanese accent which could make her hard to understand at times even though she spoke English very well. She was in charge of Satori, just like Mr. Reynolds was in charge of him.

Alexander found it hard to take his eyes off of the beauty. She had large blue eyes and flawless skin. She wore a white headband in her long hair, with the image of a pink flower on it. She wore the uniform much better than Alexander did. Her skirt looked much more comfortable than his khakis. He paused his thoughts for a moment, wondering how Mr. Reynolds would react if he requested to wear a skirt as well.

The music halted abruptly with an unusual note echoing through the halls, a mistake. Satori gasped and pulled her hands away from the harp as if it had hurt her in some way. She watched the vibrating string with wide eyes.

"Satori-chan?" Ms. Aoki said with concern, before continuing to talk in Japanese to her. Alexander could only speak English. He had never bothered to learn a second language. Satori simply shook her head and looked down at the ground, a look of defeat. Ms. Aoki walked towards her ready to comfort her.

"Hmm, we should give them some privacy." Mr. Reynolds said leading Alexander into the lounge room. Alexander nodded, following Mr. Reynolds into the living room on the opposite side of the hall. There was a nice comfortable couch with two large lounge chairs on either side of it, all facing a television with a table between them. Mr. Reynolds stood in front of the television and Alexander sat on the couch, facing him. He could still see Satori in the corner of his eye.