Precious Metals (On Hold)

Chapter Five

When Sjon woke up, his first instinct was to immediately go back to sleep. His whole body felt exhausted, and he was not looking forward to the next day.

It had been two weeks since his first training session. He still hadn't made any progress, which only seemed to entertain Pilar.

He shuddered.

What was her problem? Over the past two weeks she had continually gotten much too close with him. She didn't remember anything about her previous life either, so they didn't have much to talk about. Except— she kept pushing him. She wanted to know the things he liked, his favorite foods, colors. All he wanted to do was move those stupid pieces of metal.

Whenever he tried to practice, she always talked to him. She'd sit on the table, her body unnecessarily close to his. Then she would ask him questions. Her hand would reach up to his head, and she'd run her fingers through his newly grown hair. It wasn't longer than a couple inches, but that didn't stop her.

"I want you to grow your hair out" She'd say to him. "Just imagine how attractive you'll look with your hair down to your chest," She'd claim.

He hated it. His hair should be short, and he didn't care if she thought he was attractive. She was constantly in his personal space. Clothes that were much too short were constantly adorning her body. They were like underwear in contrast to his wardrobe of high collared fashion.

Sjon knew what she was doing. Pilar was obviously into him... but, she wasn't his type. He liked a different sort of person. Not her kind.

He sighed and finally got up, ready to face another day training with her.

As he shuffled to the wardrobe, he picked a maroon vest with a high collar and a pair of pants, similar to jeans. Under the vest he wore a white long sleeved shirt, complete with fake buttons.

As he sat down in the simple training room, waiting for Pillar, Sjon played with his fingernails. His fingers were very short compared to Pilars, and even tinier when contrasted with Cyrus. Pilar explained to him that longer fingers were a result of evolution, one of the few changes made in the human race. They were selectively bred into existence, hoping to make using mobile devices easier.

While Sjon played with a hangnail, the door suddenly opened, revealing Cyrus.

"Where is Pilar?" the old man asked.

Sjon absentmindedly answered, "I dunno."

Cyrus left, the door closing behind him. After a few seconds, Sjon realized what had happened, and apparently so did Cyrus, and he came running through the door.

"Is it working? Can you understand what I'm saying?" yelled Cyrus, holding onto Sjon.

Sjon stared in disbelief. He could. It was strange. He recognized that Cyrus was speaking Kameng, but the words made sense to him. He nodded.

"Say something to me," Cyrus demanded.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" asked Sjon.

Cyrus gasped. "It's working! Finally!" he exclaimed. "It took much longer than it did with Pilar," he grumbled.

Sjon looked confused. "How can I understand you... and how can you understand me?" asked Sjon, obviously very perplexed.

Cyrus looked grateful to explain. "It's a makiàn," he said, one word not getting through to Sjon, "I placed it in your serèbrro, after the shori" he babbled on, some words not making sense. "It accelerates the learning of a new language, how's it doing?"