Chapter 19
((Laila's POV))
256 literally pushed 381 out of her way with so much force, he stumbled and fell to the ground. She ran up to me, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. She grabbed my arms and pulled me to her.
"You're a Citizen? Like, a Citizen from the New World?" she asked me, looking me in the eyes.
I nodded, a bit worried. Her hands were squeezing my arms so tightly it was beginning to Hurt. Was she doing it on purpose, or was this pain accidental?
Behind her, 381 stood up and dusted himself off.
"Y-yeah, I am a Citizen from the New World." I answered.
If it was even possible, 256's eyes grew wider. She started to shake me and squealing, a noise so high and loud it made my ears Hurt too. She finally stopped shaking me and screaming, and turned to 381, but she did not let go of my arms. 381 took a few steps back, looking Worried.
"She's a Citizen!" she said to him.
"Yeah... I think we've established that..." he said, dragging out his words.
256 turned back to me, and gripped my arms harder. I hissed out, the Pain tinkling up my arm.
"What's the New World like? Is it big? How many people are there? What are the hover machines like? How do they work? Are they fast? Are they fun to ride? What's the Conservator like? Are they trying to fix us? Is the sky always blue like everyone says it is? Is it perfect?" 256 asked, question after question, her words were so rushed and fast I wondered if she took a breath at all.
381 walked up and put his hand on 256's shoulder. "256, I think your hurting her." he said, and looked down at my arms. 256 turned slightly red and let go of my arms. She held her arms together and backed away from me slightly. There were nail indents in my arms, and the area around them was red. The pain still tingled, but it slowly went away.
"Sorry..." 256 said, looking at the floor.
"I forgive you," I recited, rubbing my arms.
256 took a deep breath in, and then let it out. "It's just... I've never been there, the New World. I've heard so much about it... and... I just... it sounds so perfect." 256 said, looking me in the eyes.
I gave her a warm smile and sighed. The New World flashed in my head, and I felt fluttery inside. Thinking about the New World made me feel so comfortable, even in a new place, with new people.
"It is perfect, it's as perfect as perfect can be." I said.
256 squealed once more and did some sort of dance where she hopped really fast from one foot to another over and over again.
"Really? Really really?" she asked, getting really close again.
I nodded. "Really,"
381 sighed and pulled 256 back. "Give the poor girl some space, jeez." he told her. He looked up at me, still holding 256 back.
"Maybe we should find a place to sit, this seems like a conversation best had while seated." he offered.
I nodded. Maybe if we were sitting, 256 would calm down a bit. I spotted a someplace to sit, it looked like curbs, getting higher and jutting out from an arced wall. It was tall and looked as if it was made with metal, thin metal bars. We walked over to it and took a seat. I sat on a seat above 381, and 256 took a seat next to me. The seats were not ver comfortable, and they kind of Hurt to sit on. I brushed off the lack of comfort and turned to 256.
"Alright, so, what do you want to know about the New World?" I asked her.
"Everything!" she exclaimed.
"Well, that might take a little while..." I said. I doubted I could tell her everything about the New World in a couple of days. By the end of the week, when all the Viruses would go home, back to the New World, I doubted that I could even finish all the facts about the New World to her by then.
"Maybe you should just ask her questions so she can actually respond to you. Like, the questions you asked her before." 381 suggested to her, looking Annoyed. 256 stuck her tounge out at 381.
"Fine," she turned to me. "Alright, what is being in the New World like?" she asked me.
How did I describe it? How did I describe life in the New World in only a couple words? It was something that I felt was needed to be experienced in order to understand.
"It's... fun. Very nice, organized, nothing is dirty or broken. Everything and everyone does their job correctly and everyone gets along. It's always blue skied, and the temperature is always 67 degrees. The buildings are tall and sparkle and are just jaw-dropping. I'm sorry, it's a bit hard to explain what the New World is like... It's just... the way it is. It's perfect." I explained.
256's eyes sparkled and her head was rested comfortably in her hands. "That sounds wonderful," she sighed.
"It is," I gave her a smile. 381 did something with his eyes, the best way to describe it was like he rolled his eyes. But, I couldn't understand why. Did his eyes itch? Did he roll his eyes because they had something in them?
"Okay, hover machines. What are those like?" she asked me.
"Well, they're easy to use, and they're quite efficient. They don't go too slow or too fast, they go just the right speed. They're easier to do than walk everywhere."
256 smiled. "I want to try one someday, they sound like so much fin to drive!"
"Maybe one day you will get to try one. I drove one here, but I had to leave it by the forest because it wouldn't fit through the trees." I frowned. I wanted to show her the hover machine so she could try to drive it, but I didn't have it with me.
"When we head home, back to the Lab, can I maybe... ride the hover machine?" she asked me.
I noticed how she said when and not if. That meant she knew she wanted to go back home to the New World with me. And if she did, most likely a lot of other Viruses did too. It made me 'feel' Proud that she wanted to head back to the New World. I smiled at her.
"Yeah," I told her, "You can. I'll let you ride it the whole way back."
381's eyes went wide and 256 squeaked. "Thank you!" she said Excitedly.
"You're welcome. It's no problem at all."
256 looked down, and then back up. Her smile faded and she hunched over.
"And... um..." she started quietly, "do you know how close they are to fixing us Viruses so we can go live up in the New World as Citizens with you guys?" she asked me.
I bit my lip. I looked down and shook my head 'no' softly. 256 frowned deeper and also looked down.
"Oh," she said quietly.
I 'felt' Bad for her. She just wanted to be apart of the New World, like me. All she wanted was to be fixed and to become a Citizen. I put my hand on her shoulder and she looked up at me, her eyes filled with Disappointment and Sadness.
"But I promise you, once I get back, I'm going to work my hardest and try my best to help you Viruses become fixed so that you can all become Citizens."
256's eyes widened again, "Really?" she asked, softly.
I nodded and smiled at her. She squealed again, this time even louder and higher, and threw her arms around me in a tight hug. I put my arms around her as well, but she was giving me a much tighter embrace. It was a little bit hard to breathe. Just a little.
"Oh thank you thank you thank you!" 256 cheered Happily.
"It's not a problem, not at all." I replied.
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((Woaaaaaaahhhhh~! 2 chapters in 1 day! *gasps* I'm on a really big roll!
Question #20: Do you think the majority of the Viruses will be like 256 and will want to go back to the New World to try and become Citizens, or will they be like 381 and are a bit curious as to what the Old World holds?
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