Like A Fairytale

Bonus 5

The year 2060. December 20

Third cycle.

"Where are we going?" Bao looked at his old friend skeptically.

Was this still his friend? This clone? Or was he a different, new person with his friend's memories? A mixture of Elrik and Lewe? What?

What are you?

What am I?

"It's a surprise! Well... Half! It's half a surprise." Elrik, or the fake Elrik, grinned. "Bao! Don't be so skeptical! I know this look. But this time it's not a trick, trust me. We're not 11 anymore!"

Bao just shook his head as he followed his teenage friend through the corridors of their underground base. Much had changed. He felt like he was walking through a spaceship. One that used to exist in SciFi movies. The walls, formerly bare concrete or damp stone, had been covered. Bright lamps now illuminated the equally bright corridors. Everything was white, light blue, violet. Here and there, there was a poster on the wall, a sign, a signpost...

A few walls had been painted, as had the ceilings of these corridors. Beautiful nature pictures and a blue sky...

The day before, Bao had finally been able to leave the hospital room. Elrik picked him up and took him to his new quarters. A small room with a private bathroom and a narrow kitchenette. There was clean water. Not the slightly cloudy, poorly treated liquid he remembered.

In the small, bright room, he found his old things, clean and already put away, as well as new clothes. Here, everyone wore the same 'uniforms'. White sweaters, gray pants or skirts over white leggings. There were also white coats, light blue or gray scarves...

Casual clothing existed, but these, Elrik had explained to him, were 'impractical' to produce. There was therefore no individual casual clothing. The people here looked almost alike. At least when it came to their clothes. Some had embroidered discreet flowers in their casual clothes, provided they had enough money for colorful thread. Others had painted their casual clothes with colorful paint...

Most of the people Bao saw wore uniforms.

Bao refused to look like a soldier from a sci-fi space station, so he wore his old, tattered black pants and his old, white shirt, and over it his black vest with the red lining. He looked a bit like a butler. The clothes had been mended, but two buttons were missing from the waistcoat. He still preferred this to the unity of the people here.

A man with long hair walked past them, greeted Elrik almost reverently, and then looked at Bao with curiosity.

"Oh! A new face!" he greeted Bao. "Hello! I run our newspaper here! You must be Bao Wang! Finally, I see you! Elrik had refused to permit me to visit."

Bao nodded as he stared at the man's clothes. A gray skirt over white leggings... Colorful buttons were on his ankle-length coat, which he had extended with fabric, and his white shirt had been painted with colorful pens, felt-tip pens perhaps. "Hello. And you are?"

The stranger noticed Bao's gaze. "Ah! I like it airy!" Laughing, he pointed to his skirt. "Airy and colorful. But I need to go. Elrik? May I kidnap you for an interview later? And I would like to talk to your friend. I have a lot of questions for our readers!"

"Not today. Tomorrow, maybe", Elrik answered. "If Bao agrees."

"Good, good..." Smiling, the stranger left them alone again, apart from other passers-by in the corridor, who watched the two of them with equally curious or knowing glances. Bao felt like an exhibit.

"He was wearing a skirt!" he murmured.

"Who? Ah! Our newspaper-being!" Elrik winked at him. "I never know how to address him, she, um... it? Neither man nor woman. But he is fine with all pronouns. Bot not with 'it'. He says that's rude. I think 'it' as a pronoun is rather cute. It. The kid, the cute person... You'll like him. Heavens, I love this guy! Not in the romantic sense, of course. Come. Let's go. First to the technical laboratory, then to the dome, and then, yes, then, I have a surprise for you!"