The Lost

New sights

Annabeth sighed, and resolved herself to eating the spaghetti alone. 'Is that how my life is going to be from now on?' She thought to herself. With nothing or no one to distract herself with, the spaghetti was quickly devoured. She threw away the biodegradable box and recycled her plastic fork before she grabbed her boots.

"Oh how i've missed you." She says as she looked at her boots with the kind of adoration a toddler would give its favorite toy. She kicked her shoes off, and those wretched ankle socks and opened her storage to retrieve her thigh highs before putting her boots on. Finally, after a month without her boots, she finally felt complete as herself. She also decided to change into one of her many dresses, and put her hair back into a ponytail.

She looked at herself in the one mirrror the room had. She made a few adjustments to her hair, and straighted out a few wrinkles before she felt satisfied. Ah, she no longer felt hot either. Its like her body rediscovered how to breathe properly. She was much more comfortable now.

What is this feeling? Azazel had described it to her once. She believed he had called this feeling, when you had everything you are used to to be comfortable...creature comforts. Yes, that sounded right. It was one thing for her to wear shoes to protect her feet, but she very much preferred her boots.

She looked at herself once more and spoke to the system. "How do i look, Georgina?"

It took a second for the system to reply. "You look splendid. And i can see you're more at ease. How do you feel?"

She knew her responses were probably being monitored, but at this point, she didn't really care. "I feel so alone, Georgina." She sighed, looking at the floor with sad eyes.

"Would you like to learn today?"

She shook her head. "No. Do you have any games, Georgina?"

Georgina was silent for several minutes. "There are no games in my database. Would you like to go through a training exercise?"

She blinked. This was the first time she was told about a training exercise program. "How do I access it?"

"Contacting The Curator." The system chimed off.

"Georgina? Georgina?!" 'Crap, alone again.' She sighed and decided to sit on the floor against the wall with her knees pulled up to her chest.

The Curator walked through the door, noticing Annabeth had changed her clothing and was wearing her boots again. "You seem interested in the training program. You don't want to learn instead?"

Annabeth looked at The Curator, shaking her head. "Don't feel like learning today, Curator."

He nodded, walking over to her. "Come with me. I'd like to show you something."

"Won't that get you in trouble, Curator?" She asked, puzzled as to why he was being nice to her.

He looked at her and smiled. "As long as you behave and listen, I won't be in too much trouble. Now, do you want to get out of this room for awhile or not?"

Annabeth looked at him. "Y-yes." She knew The Curator the most, since he was the one she mainly ever saw. He was always there for her examinations, her education. For lack of a better word, The Curator was her handler.

She stood and walked over to him as he turned and began to walk from the room. Annabeth was surprised. She had not seen any other part of the facility other than her room and the medical lab. She followed behind him cautiously. He put his badge against a metal door she never knew was there, and it opened.

She followed The Curator as he led her outside, into the bright sunlight of the star they were orbiting. "Woah." She said, realizing just how small a part of the facility she had been confined to.

She was amazed as she saw the asteroid belt orbiting an ice giant. She was speechless. The Curator had been talking, but she had basically tuned him out as she was in awe of what she was seeing.

The Curator cleared his throat once, but it didn't snap her out of her trance. He cleared his throat a second time, louder this time. "Ahem!"

She came to her senses and looked down at the Curator. "I'm sorry.. its just so..."

"Beautiful? Awe inspiring?"

"Big" was her simple response.

The Curator laughed. "Such a simple response. But one that holds a magnitude of truth to it." His hands were behind his back. "Come along now, i want to take you to the training grounds."

He turned and walked away and Annabeth followed after him. If this was the outside of the facility, she wondered what to expect at the training grounds. They had walked past several different beings, sentient robot and maintenance droids.

"What is this place?" She looked at all the tall buildings. And the flying vehicles

"We call this place Vallenheim. It is a sanctuary for those wishing the progress of technology and intergalactic peace." He said as he continued walking.

Annabeth had no difficulty in keeping up with him as they continued on their way. They made a left and walked down a small flight of stairs to a bank of elevators.

They got in after a small group got off, they were wearing uniforms and some had lab coats. She got in when The Curator whistled for her attention.

Once inside, The Curator entered a code. "18739A" he said out loud. The doors hissed shut and they quickly descended, the lights in the elevator shaft passing by quickly.

Soon they slowed and came to a stop. The Curator turned to Annabeth. "Welcome. To the training grounds...." the doors hissed open...