All Which Remains

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Ramelan

Why did I have to ask?

Why did I ruin it?

Of course, he doesn't have a crush on me. Who in their right mind would? Especially a cripple like me.

No, no. I have to stop thinking like this.

I pull my homework out of my backpack and sit at my desk. Homework is something that I'm good at.

Let's focus on this.

I wonder if Arron asked Mrs. Hadi to teach him sign language.

I'm sure she's better at it than I am.

She is a real teacher after all.

I slap my cheeks.

No, focus on the homework.

Mom opens the bedroom door. I turn to face her. "Ramelan, honey, dinner's ready," She signs.

"Thanks. I'll be there in a second," I sign back. She closes the door.

I turn back to my homework and finish up the math problem that I was working on.

I stand up and leave my bedroom. I'm heading to the kitchen, when I hear a knock at the door.

Should I answer it?

I head to the door and open it.

L-10

I've met many friends here. They've been incredibly helpful. I don't know how long I've been here, but I'm older now. If I was eight when I got here, I'd say I'm eighteen now. Everyone's so proud of me. They tell me so all the time. They say:

"L-10, we're so glad that you don't fight back. It's amazing how far we've come with your help. Thank you, we're so proud of you and everything that you've done to help us."

I'm glad I've been of help.

I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't helpful.

Anyways, today, they showed me what I've been doing to help them. Apparently, I've helped further the future of humanity. Whatever that means. There was a big TV screen and on it, I got to see the world's that have been created.

There were a lot of TV screens with people on them. Each one monitoring their behavior in different situations. I didn't understand. So, I asked one of Them.

He said, "We've created a way to study human psychology. Things that no one has done before. We've put them in situations where we can monitor how they react to something horrible. Take, for instance, this one, right here," he pointed at a monitor with a guy and girl building things, "We've made them fight. We made them strong, so that we could figure out how they react to a friend becoming an enemy. In this one," he points at one with a teenage girl and boy. They're glaring at each other, "We put these two together, knowing that they hate each other. With this, we can figure out how hatred affects the human body along with their minds. Human emotions and feelings are basically what we study here. We were going to use you in one of these, but decided that you were too valuable to risk." He pats me on the head, I lean into it. "You were one of the first tests here, that makes you special."

"Thank you." I told him.

I don't know what to make of any of this. But I'm special! That makes me happy,