3. My Journey Begins

Next morning

I walked out of the hospital door, and a chilly wind swept over my face. It was the real outside temperature.

It’s winter!

I inhaled the cold, fresh air and looked up at the sky; it was dark gray. A piece of white fluff fell on my hand.

"Snow!"

I felt happy.

Then I noticed the color of my outfit was changing, turning light blue and then white. I wondered if it was because of the freezing weather. Then I realized that I wasn't that cold anymore.

“Mr. Shine,” a male voice said behind me.

I turned to him. He was not a human. But his gentle voice and friendly gestures were genuinely human.

“Hi, I’m Maruva. I'm here to take you home.”

“My home?" I paused for seconds. "Thank you. Do you speak my language?”

“A little, sir. I learned some of your language in this morning.” Then he smiled, looking behind me.

Oh!

I turned around and waved toward the dark lobby window as a farewell gesture. The window turned brighter, and I could see the inside – Dr. Bicar and robot nurses.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

I was stunned when I walked into my ride. Two robots suddenly appeared out of thin air. They were standing by both sides of the door.

“Holy,” I thought they were statues.

“Welcome aboard. Mr. Campbell,” one of the robots walked to me, ushering me to my seat. “I’m Precta, and this is Kaive. We are honored to serve you.”

“We are responsible for your safety from now on,” Kaive added.

Wow, my bodyguards! I was a little flattered. They looked sturdier and stronger than any other robots I’ve met.

“Sounds nice. And if you don’t mind, call me by name.”

“Certainly, sir,” they replied and silently stepped back to their spots.

“Thanks.”

I sat down on my seat and looked around. It’s more spacious than I thought. The size of the merry-go-round, perhaps. A perfect circle surrounded by glass. But this ride had no steering wheel, no gear, or no dashboard.

Can this thing even move?

Then I was shocked as I turned around to see outside.

“No!”

I almost screamed. The hospital building was sinking into the ground.

“It was just an optical illusion.” Maruva walked to me and handed me over a bottle of water. “This will help.”

“Thanks.” I drank some water.

It was a hovercraft that flew up perpendicular so quickly that everything else looked like it was sinking.

“31.4 position,” Maruva replied to someone on the screen. Then, the hovercraft slowly turned its direction and stopped. It seemed to be waiting for permission.

Now, we’re high up in the air. All the buildings became as tiny as Lego blocks. And the snowfall even got heavier.

“It’s going to be delayed by 15 minutes to arrive due to weather conditions,” Maruva explained.

“Fine for me,” I replied, smiling. “I have plenty of time.”

“Enjoy the flight, then.”

We were watching the snow in silence. The snowfall was getting heavier and heavier.

“This is abnormal,” Maruva said, tilting his head like a human.

“The heavy snow?” I asked.

“No, the weather forecast. They missed this snowfall today.”

“They always do, don’t they?”

“No, they have never missed once.”

“Oh, they’ve never missed,” I repeated after him. “Now, they’ve gotten once.”

“Exactly,” he winked. “By the way, this is the first snow of the year. Much more snowfall than the regular season.”

“How much is much?”

“A meter or more.”

“I guess I’m lucky.”

“Yes, you are.” He mused. “People love snow.”

The hovercraft shook in the wind. He walked back to his seat.

“We’re ready to fly in ten seconds.” He notified.

“Rodger that,” I nodded, sitting on my seat.

The whole city was covered in a white storm, and I felt strong emotions from that scene. It was something dangerous, heartbroken, and inevitable.

My right hand began trembling again. Seems like someone is desperately calling me from a distance that I can’t reach. It was like a message that I should come back to Earth soon.

“Yes, I will,” I talked to myself silently. "But not now. The people of Rinia are waiting for me. There must be a reason why I'm here. I have to figure it out."

The hovercraft slowly began to move through the storm.