Surface R: Reunion

Part 03.1

::TREY::

"Cody! Cody!"

"Trey!" A kid is suddenly in front of me. "Do you have time? Let's play soccer!"

I smiled kindly. Most of the kids here under my age grew up Underground before they got sent here. They didn't know about soccer till I showed them how. Now I'm the one who rarely has time for it. Most of them reminded me of Nina, with their brown hair and eyes, but none of them were as perceptive as she was.

"Sorry Jack, I'm busy now."

"Aw, you're always busy." Jack pouted. "Will you have time later to continue your story? I wanna know what happens to me after I climbed the big tree."

I had to think about that. I told him the story of Jack and the Beanstalk last time I had a chance to. Somehow, he seems dead set on seeing the main guy as himself since they have the same name. But he can't seem to grasp the concept of a Beanstalk.

"It wasn't a big tree. It's a Beanstalk, just imagine one of Kytes's crops being gigantic, the size of our tower base. And what happens next is—"

"Jack!"

"Aw drat!" Jack yelped, running for it. "Bye Trey! Tell me later!" I see Snowflake crawl under me, hot on the kid's heels.

Lexie and Kytes came along.

"Damn it! That tyke is good at giving us the slip." Kytes grunted.

"Honestly, kids are cute angels but with horns."

I snickered. "Uh, so demons?" I joked. "Doesn't seem too long ago it was us in their shoes."

"Except we had to take care of ourselves without being told to do so," Lexie huffed, smiling proudly. "We were much more responsible back then—"

Suddenly Rhys's panicked scream comes from somewhere. "DON'T TOUCH THAT! AH! SNOWFLAKE, GET DOWN FROM THERE, YOU COULD DIE!" He yelped. "KYTES, LEXIE! I BELIEVE IT'S YOUR TURN TO MIND THE CHILDREN! THEY'RE INTERRUPTING MY PRODUCTION!"

Uh oh. I thought. An interrupted-from-work Rhys is a Rhys you don't want to meet...

Both Lexie and Kytes paled. They know this too.

"Heh. So much for responsible." I teased and Lexie scowled, pulling a tongue out. I laughed in good nature. "Good luck to you both."

"Sorry Rhys!" Lexie calls back and runs to the general direction of Rhys's work room.

I caught Kytes's arm before he can follow. "Hey Kyi, have you seen Code around? Leon brought on some new orphans. We need an orientation."

When there are newcomers we have an orientation held for them, in the form of a tour. Usually, the ones doing it includes myself, since they have to be aware who's in charge and who to tell when they've appointed their own Leader and Second-in-Command. Rhys joins in to explain most of our protocols properly since he's the only one trusted not to leave anything out. Cody doesn't really do anything official, but his aura always, and I mean ALWAYS helps the newbies calm down. At first, we thought he had some emotion controlling R. Ability, but believing that he had a very amiable personality that puts anyone at ease sounds more genuine and more... Well, Cody. He's the only one that can do it without overwhelming the especially clammed up ones or making it seem force.