The Return of the Universal Tamer Chapter 12- Our World Is In Danger

Matthew Logan was as imposing as the last time Kudzai had seen him, graced with a pulled back hair style, long side burns, and a refined physique. His very presence in Zambezi house changed the entire atmosphere as if he was the epicentre to a violent earth quake. Dionne gleamed at the very sight of him, but in a more fanatical cult like manner. She really knew how to act weird in situations that didn't require such eccentric behaviour. Kudzai could relate to the fanatical chants that he was seeing now due to having been exposed to such at his former school. Heyzafolt was a barbaric man cave, which echoed the howls of idiots, disguised by its rich and n.o.ble history as a respectable school. During his time there, he realised that a lot of things there were overrated, but what he witnessed within the Zambezi house was an infectious energy, the kind found in extremely driven groups. The whole house began to chant tumultuously to the point of deafening the surrounding sounds. The psycho who had ravished Kudzai's mind with a very despicable act of brutality during the virtual reality game was now the source of noticeable euphoria amongst the students in the infamous Zambezi house. Did these guys really know how depraved Matthew was? This notion was doing several rounds in his mind, driving him into internal discomfort. As everyone cheered and marvelled at sir Tinashe's presence and Matthew's energy as well, Kudzai was the only one who was left looking apathetic and distraught towards Matthew. The form ones only did what form ones did best, following suit. The youngsters of the house were not aware of who Matthew was, but were smart enough to know that the needs of the many outweighed the confusion of the few. The prep.u.b.escent voices of the juniors resonated down below the grandstands, which made the senior forms chuckle. As soon as all the other house prefects had a.s.sembled, glancing ahead with visible smugs on their faces, two eyes met as the commotion died down. Kudzai was looking directly at Matthew who was looking back at him. Matthew's indifference was fixed into his eyes, disturbing Kudzai even more. Kudzai then opted to leave, an impulsive act triggered by his intolerant repulsion towards Matthew. As he rose from his bench, Dionne noticed this act of disdain towards the house gathering and yanked Kudzai. She grabbed his left arm, pulling it with surprisingly muscular force, something that took Kudzai by surprise. She was a tamer after all and Kudzai had been reminded by her painful grip.

"Kudzai what are you doing?" she hissed, pulling him down into his seat.
"What do you think um doing, um leaving," he said, feigning an indifference towards the pain of her grip.
"Don't be ridiculous Kudzai; I wouldn't want to be embarra.s.sed this morning. Just behave yourself, it's still way too early in the morning for you to be causing an uproar." she said with majestic elegance, abating Kudzai who had already decided to walk away without looking back. Kudzai eventually succ.u.mbed to her persuasion and sat down. Dionne went on to award his submission with a modulated 'thank you', which sounded very cute. Kudzai didn't take notice of her unusual tone, but instead glared at Matthew. The heinous imagery of the little tiger girl being bludgeoned to death did not escape his mind, reminding him of the sadness that tarnished his first day of school. How fate had placed him in the same house as Matthew Logan perturbed all reason, but in the end, he would just have to sit this one out and watch.

Like all house a.s.sembly formalities, the house captain would outline his goals for the particular year and review the previous year's accomplishments. Matthew was gifted in the oratory skills department. Kudzai couldn't help but notice his charismatic energy, which resonated with the rest of the house. After Matthew's speech, sir Tinashe addressed the form ones of the house with an intimidating tone, one used to initiate the new comers into their respective roles. After this exposition of authority, everyone in the lower forms was told to contact their form captains. This order gave Dionne a great feeling of ent.i.tlement. She called out all the form 2s in her stream, over powering the shrill of the 2 older male form captains from the form 3 and form 4 section respectively. She had the 46 members of the form 2 section of Zambezi coming up to her and leaving a thumb print on her tablet. The thumb print would scan and relay complex and intricate information about the one who had left the print. The information would be transferred to the Zambezi house private server, one that would be scrutinized by Matthew and his team. From athletic attributes to possible talents and estimated intellectual capacity, Dionne's tablet recorded each individual's peculiar data for the house captains to later view. This was a compet.i.tive way to discover a house member's latent talent, keeping tabs on their performance in cla.s.s and also their level of influence in the school. Kudzai had heard about such from a random discussion, which he had with his brother, but seeing it now in person really made the farfetched discussion into something mind boggling. Matthew had implemented a very tactical system into something as domestic as a school house. Kudzai began to question Matthew's level of excessiveness and loftiness, wondering what the psycho would do with everyone's personal information. Kudzai followed suit like the rest, leaving his thumb print on Dionne's tablet as she swiped her screen from time to time. Dionne looked quickly at his stats and somehow gleamed methodically as if she had discovered something special. Kudzai noticed her expression but decided to move along, not wanting to prolong the queue. Dionne suddenly stopped him, surprising the young boy yet again with her unbashful behaviour. She caught him by the shoulder and screamed out, "We have a 7.5 ranking here!" The cacophony of murmuring and idle discussions dissipated in an instant, paving the way for Dionne's attention. Matthew and his subordinate house prefects halted, glancing at Dionne who seemed to have a smug on her face. Dionne then uttered, "We have a 7.5 in the form 2s section. A 7.5 I tell you!" Matthew gazing at Dionne realised that she meant Kudzai. The whole house began to murmur, discussing vehemently about what Dionne had just revealed to them. Kudzai looked perplexed, wondering what the term 7.5 meant. Kudzai then asked a random boy who was stocky and maimed with scruffy hair what that meant. The boy simply shouted out, "It means you're awesome mate!" Kudzai immediately twirled his head to view all the darting eyes that were looking at him. He could hear them whisper many praise worthy things about him as they marvelled at the fact that he was a form 2 with a 7.5 ranking. Kudzai was now feeling awkward and couldn't help but embrace the praise he was getting. Matthew eventually got riled up by this chanting and silenced his house with a loud, "Silence!" His voice carried an impact that even startled his fellow cla.s.smates in the house. Kudzai was freaked out and wondering whether the turn of events would amount to him being in serious trouble. This wasn't like him to be frightened at all and back at Heyzafolt high, he would have gladly rebuffed his house captain, but this time, disobedience wasn't an option. Matthew then surprisingly told his form captains to continue on with the member list, giving relief to those who were expecting a very grave situation. Kudzai watched pensively as Matthew carried on with his house duties, acting as if he didn't exist. Kudzai's focused gaze was soon interrupted by his new fans, a concoction of form 4s, 3s and his very own stream. Dionne who had just finished her list came just in time to save him from the mob of admirers, yanking him yet again in an unbashful manner. This happened in conjunction with Matthew dismissing the house, ending the ecstatic formality, which had left them, discussing about Kudzai. Kudzai soon enough brushed off Dionne's hand and then asked, "Why do you insist on grabbing my hand? What's wrong with you? You literally pulled me away from those guys, like seriously what's up with you?"

"You don't seem to understand Kudzai, you're a 7.5, you don't need to entertain the lower cla.s.s of the house." she said shamelessly without seeing at all the error of her discourse.

"You know that' that elitist talk makes you highly unlikeable right? Anyways, what does me being a 7.5 mean?"

"It means that your estimated athletic, intellectual, and latent abilities are within the senior ranking." she said, taking Kudzai to the cafeteria as they walked away from the grandstands.

"Senior ranking?"

"Yes. There is a ranking for each age group. Form 1s to 2 are usually in the 3.1 bound and the form 3s to 4 are usually within the 6.5 bound. There are some students who are exceptions to this norm and prove to be valuable a.s.sets to the house. My tablet instantly relays what you're made of in real time. Sir Matthew is really brilliant for having come up with such a system."

"I know how the system works; it's used all the time at the sea sh.o.r.e barracks. So what you're saying is that um a special case? Wow I didn't think I would be ranked the same as my seniors." he said with a smug on his face.

"You should thank me for boosting your ego Kudzai. Um the type of girl to give credit when credit is deserved. So yes, it's awesome to have such a rank." she said, flaunting her majestic smug.

"What's the bench mark rank for a senior and what's the highest ranking there is for any member of the house?" he asked, curious about how special his position was in Zambezi.

"The highest ranking would obviously go to sir Matthew whose ranks 11 out of 10, followed by sir Edmund, sir Tinashe, Ms Tariro and Gwen who are all in the ranking of 10. They are all potent tamers by the way. The bench mark for seniors is 7, but both of us managed to get to the top."

"Both of us?" he asked, stupefied by her remark.

"You can't honestly think that you're the only special one amongst the form 2s, surely? Can't you recognise the one next to you?" she asked, seeming rather disappointed by Kudzai.

"You're the other record holder for the juniors?"

"Well used to be, until you showed up. Well as long as it's you and not that s.h.i.tty Neo, I am okay with being below you. By the way um ranked 7.4 in the house."

"7.4! Wow that's incredible," he said, getting his tray of food from the cafeteria lady, "but why do you not like Neo? He seems like a cool guy. I noticed your… whatever it was stuff with him."

"Hmm, you noticed," she said, taking her own tray of food, "well Neo isn't like us at all, we are special and of n.o.ble blood. His just a natural born poser."

"I think you're just jealous." he said, teasing her for being so negative towards Neo.

"Hardly Kudzai, why would I be jealous of a commoner. He doesn't have well established parents like those that we do. His funded by the government on a scholarship and somehow is made to coexist with us cut above the rest students. His a glitch in the system that needs to be fixed."

Kudzai was astonished by what she said and went on to say, "Wow you really are a b.i.t.c.h, I actually thought you'd have something reasonable to say about Neo, but somehow you're behaving like a sn.o.bby t.w.a.t."

"You're really harsh Kudzai, but nevertheless I will forgive you for telling me such harsh words. You see us n.o.ble children of Tameria were carved out of the finest silver of this world, groomed to be leaders of tomorrow. Neo is invading our s.p.a.ce. His not a natural potent tamer. People like him are considered trash in the military hierarchy if I am not mistaken, but I guess the government wants to look good for its charity work so that it can foster orphans of Neo's calibre."

Kudzai immediately felt sickened by Dionne's venomous words. What was wrong with her? Kudzai paused and left Dionne who was now pacing alone, heading towards a vacant seat on the cafeteria. Dionne noticing that she didn't have an acquaintance walking with her, glanced back at Kudzai and asked him, "Are you not gonna join me?"

"I don't think I would after what you just said."

"I don't see why a person like you would be offended. You're the son of the vice Admiral of the state. If its sympathy towards the boy then I guess you do it as a whim. Um just stating what everyone is thinking. If that makes me bad then I have been incriminated by the truth."

"You really have issues." he said, astonished by her unwavering petulance.

"It really hurts me when a fellow house mate says that, but I guess there isn't much I can do. Well I guess I will see you later in cla.s.s." she said sitting on one of the mounted tables in the room. Kudzai felt like an a.s.s for having left Dionne to herself, but her uncouth mouth was too much to take in. She clearly didn't understand the term political correctness. Kudzai immediately averted his attention to sit elsewhere, hoping to have a decent meal during the brief break time. As he wondered about what had happened to Jonathan and how grave his punishment was, he saw Dionne's cronies coming from the opposite direction. They all flocked like sheep heading towards their shepherd, joining Dionne for another meeting. Her cronies acted like her disciples, even going to the point of returning her tray for her when she was dissatisfied by her meal. As Kudzai observed this spectacle of a girl, sighing deeply as if to pity her, an unexpected hand touched his shoulder. It was Meiko! Kudzai averted his attention to the pet.i.te beautiful Asian girl who surprised him. Meiko had apparently changed her look, cutting her hair short and gleaming due to the lotion she had applied on her body. Meiko noticing that Kudzai was surprised at the same time pleased to see her went on to say, "Seems like you have made yourself comfortable new guy."

"Oh its Meiko, wow you look different." he said, happy to see her new look.

"Hopefully I didn't interrupt your national geographic nature watch." she said, sarcastically pointing out the fact that Kudzai had been observing Dionne and her clique.

"Oh, it's not what you think." he said, trying to abate the possibility of her thinking that he was prying.

"I think a new guy like you is sensible enough to avoid Dionne."

"I guess um not the only one who thinks that she has issues."

"Oh my, you got a glimpse of her. Well I apologise on her behalf." she said, chuckling sarcastically.

"You're in a jovial mood today. Hmm are you always this friendly to cool looking guys such as myself?"

"Wow, you don't waste time. Is this how all boys are like from most boys schools?"

"If there were many like me then I wouldn't be special then." he said, chuckling with a smug.

"Um actually being serious here," she said, nudging his shoulder, "well anyways, which house are you in?"

"Um in Zambezi."

"You're part of the group of strung ups? Hmm, they usually choose people who are of the same behaviour as them. Are you an elitist?"

"I just show off." he said, wincing at her.

"Ah ya yah," she said, pouting like an adorable creature, "well I think you'd fit in the drama club, you seem like the type who can act."

"The type, really. Seriously?" he said, laughing at the thought of him acting on stage, "um good with cameras, well kinda learning but I can be of some use in the film club. That is if there is one in this school."

"Oh... well, you can use cameras? That's a surprise, well we have a photography club, but if you want to start a film club, you have to apply for a new club application. That would depend on you being able to get at least 10 members" she said, fumbling her hair, "well… to be quite honest, I just wanted someone who could act in my play. There is a character in it that matches you description."

"Wow and you went out of your way to look for me, I guess I did leave a lasting first impression the first time we met." he said, with an exhibitionist grin.

"You really are ridiculous, don't flatter yourself." she said, feeling shy and meek at the fact that she secretly was looking forward to seeing him. The young Asian girl who had approached the boy with an air of confidence was now cringing to her shyness and blushing. This caused her to fall into silence for a few seconds. The awkward silence drove her to say, "Oh look at the time, I must get going. Please do consider the offer. Bye." she thus trotted away, looking very peculiar in her movements. Kudzai, who had thought that a good thing was going well for him, was left with his mouth wide open. He was confused and wondering why all the sudden Meiko had made her quick exist. Did he scare her off? This was a strange occurrence, which made him ask himself, "What was going on with her?" The optimistic boy was thus left alone to finish his meal, wondering what had driven the female psyche of a girl like Meiko to end an interesting conversation with him. This contemplation was soon enough, interrupted when Kudzai saw Tinashe and Matthew approaching him. Kudzai did not give them the time of day and immediately left his tray of food to walk away, but he was soon impeded by a Caucasian fellow with short hair and broad shoulders. The senior who had blocked his path looked like a delinquent gangster in a St. Calteco high uniform, relaying his intimidating aura towards Kudzai. He was grabbed by the shoulder by this fellow, instantly restrained as if he was a stationary object. The grip, which he got, from an onlooker's perspective, would have been considered, as a mere resting of one's hand on one's shoulder, however, what Kudzai was actually experiencing was pain. It felt like a severe dog bite from blunt teeth. Kudzai looked petrified and wondered what was going to happen to him. He looked at the other students who were in the food court, hoping that they would take notice of his struggle, but no one even flinched. They simply carried on with their break time feasting as if all was okay. It was certainly not okay for Kudzai, but before he mustered the strength to scream, Matthew told his crony to let go of the young boy, relieving the young man from his torture. Matthew came face to face with the boy and said, "There is no need to worry kid, I just came here to do 2 things."

"Um not interested in anything you have to say you sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" he said, glaring at him and at the same time feigning confidence. His shouting gained attention in the cafeteria food court. The prying eyes of girls and boys of different ages all gawked at Kudzai and his surrounding hostile opponents. Matthew took notice of this and then went on to say out loud, "Finish off your meals! Break is almost over. Lest you want to be a partic.i.p.ant in my manual labour I would suggest you finish up quickly." his threat silenced the whole food court, making them continue on with other activities. Kudzai noticed this and felt a tang of helplessness.

"I came here to apologise and to congratulate you Kudzai. I was too forward with you yesterday and should have realised that you're still young and haven't been exposed to a lot. It was my fault for making such lofty a.s.sumptions."

"What you did yesterday wasn't human it was sick, I don't want to be next to you, not even near you..."

"Hush young lad, that's no way for you to be talking to your senior." said Tinashe who relayed his bloodl.u.s.t to Kudzai, which instantly intimidated the boy.

"It's okay Peezy, scaring him isn't necessary. Um totally at fault. I can always explain to you why I did that later. As for now, you're a member of Zambezi house. It's a pleasure to have you in the house. You even scored a 7.5 in your first entry. Quite impressive for a junior. I must say that Dionne has been in luck for the duration of her membership."

"Luck?" he asked hesitantly.

"She has a knack of having talented people in her stream; I could even say that the form 2s might be the spear headers of this school. Anyways, make sure you attend all house a.s.semblies and use that fine brain of yours to get good grades. I will be counting on you. Tell your bro to pay me a visit one of these days. He still owes me a rematch."

Kudzai's brief interrogation thus ended with him feeling uneasy. Matthew and his henchmen were really scary individuals who had chastised a defiant boy such as himself. Heyzafolt high had never once had seniors who could make him feel this mortified and yet it was an all-boys school, the cream of brawling and boyhood tension. Apart from the vivid grotesque memories of the tiger girl being bludgeoned to death, Kudzai began to wonder how this particular individual known as Matthew was friends with his brother.
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Tendai meditated inside a fortress full of crevices, embodied with ancient inscriptions and pillars that were keeping hold of the rocky ceiling. A luminous red light bloomed in the dark setup as he chanted words that were of a foreign dialect. The hallow walls echoed his rhythmic voice and reverberated sounds that travelled into the distant emptiness of the underground layer. He was dressed in white fine linen, sweating and breathing calmly as he uttered each word. The glowing light, which was in mid-air, began to morph into a shape. It evolved and took upon the shape of a being. As it changed its previous form, the surrounding serrated rocky walls began to glow as well. The ambient energy from the glowing coursed through Tendai's body, making his hair stand as if it had a will of its own. His body began to float, slowly, levitating upwards to meet face to face with the glowing light. The glowing form began to take tangible human like shape and then devoured Tendai. Tendai was instantly transported to the far recesses of the universe as a tiny spec of light surrounded by several other different colours of light that twinkled intermittently. He was seeing the synapses of the universe; they glistened in the void of s.p.a.ce like fireworks in the night. He was in the mind of the universe, the brain that controlled all facets of life. Tendai was in a foetal position until a white light came from the darkness. Tendai stretched out his limbs and then focused on the coming being. It was the Sentient One! Tendai embraced the embodiment of power with his eyes, marvelling at how imposing he was as he waited for the great being to speak. The almighty was always gargantuan as ever, but this time, he had a very distressing message for the young man.
"Young Tendai! You haven't fully evolved yet as I had sanctioned you to! The time for you to take the t.i.tle as the new age reformer is drawing neigh, but yet you detract from your path. You were an impudent creature when I found you, a defiled product of your father, but I have guided you out of the error of your ways and have given you a duty to humble the world before you. Nevertheless, you're still lost regardless of having been shown a path. Tell me why you still encounter error in your path?"

"Forgive me oh great Sentient One, father of the universe. I am trying my best to gather the ma.s.ses into oneness of mind. My first big step to achieving my goal is drawing near." he said, trembling as he spoke to this great deity. The vibrations of the Sentient One's voice were so powerful and unprecedented to the point that Tendai felt as if his skin was going to be flayed off by each word the deity uttered.

"Your goal is drawing near, but your methods and attachments to the world have affected your decisiveness. You must give up on your peaceful methods of subjugating the world and realize that the world only knows one common language. Pain and suffering. Blood will be shed for you to fulfil my goals, thus, you must follow me whole-heartedly and sacrifice everything. Even the family you cherish so much should not be greater than me. You can only unite the world once you change your heart and strengthen your conviction."

"I know that the path to world conformity is narrow and hard, but it's not easy for me. I know that I am the chosen one but it's not easy, forgive my weakness, be patient. I can make things work, the world isn't all driven by the sword."

"You dare defy me child! I speak only the truth you wish to evade. I have evolved from my earlier form since the conception of time and have become a living body, as your kind now knows as the universe. My body has several perfect functioning systems that could do without this disease that you call humanity. Man was a beautiful project that I created and one that went astray with the free will I gave it. Unless you reform the world into one ent.i.ty, I shall soon find another and if he can't achieve my goal, the body will then purge the infirmity to cleanse itself from uncleanliness. I will give you time Tendai, but remember, I will only entertain the existence of Reverie for a while. The days of your planet are numbered."

The vision soon ended with the light regurgitating Tendai. He was ejected and landed on the surface of his meditating stage. Tendai rose up immediately, panting as he reflected on what had just happened. As soon as he had returned, he heard the sound of wood being banged. It was a door that was being knocked, reverberating from down below. Tendai walked towards the steps of his shrine and trotted downwards in the dark cave. He soon got to the door after traversing close to 1km worth of steps. As soon as he arrived at the door, which looked gothic with ancient heraldry engraved onto its walls, Tendai pushed it open. At the door, he found Morgan Freed who was wearing his usual attire and looking worried over the fact, that Tendai looked fatigued and drained. Tendai immediately asked, "What's the problem Morgan?"

"Your team is waiting for you Master Tendai. Apparently, your meditating overlapped your initially stated 2 hours. They have been waiting for 3 hours sir.

"Oh I was out for that long." he said a bit surprised.

"Yes apparently Miss Emelia, Muswati, and Mr. Rick Pelsh are waiting for you in the loft.

"I guess I won't keep them waiting anymore. I will be in there in a matter of 5 minutes. Keep them entertained for me."

"Emelia seems to be doing that quite well without my a.s.sistance." he said, with a smug on his face.

"Oh really, well I must warm down and then look presentable to the team." he said about to close the door. Morgan quickly blocked him from closing with his right hand and asked, "Well onto other issues. Did you get what you needed to hear?"

"No, the memory of G.o.d keeps on repeating the same message to me. It never changes at all. I need to make more progress to uncover the true purpose behind the universal tamer. The creator loved his creation when he created it, he wouldn't just discard it like that. My progress in the real world is the only way for me to wake up the Sentient One. As long as I don't make progress, the world will be in danger. The memory of an angry G.o.d will always seek out the cruellest means to punish its flawed creation. I will soon tell the team about project phase 1. Until then, keep them busy."

"I will do my best sir." said Morgan Freed who watched the door close in front of him. Morgan did not know what was going on inside the head of the young master, but was surely troubled by the information he had been given. With the memory of G.o.d dawning on mankind for its destruction, the old man could only hope that Tendai would come up with a solution soon.

"Hey hey, how is it that you can eat more than us and still maintain such a body. Animorph genes are ridiculously durable." said Rick Pelsh, the blonde haired pale skinned endomorphic 20year old who was sitting next to Emilia. He was wearing a grey country plaid shirt with silver chains on his shoulder pads. He had grubby cowboy boots and scars on his wrist. Rick Pelsh starred at the several stacked greasy plates which had bones all trickled all over them, the left overs of a voracious eating machine such as Emilia. Rick was also sitting beside Tinaye Muswati, an average looking girl who had dread locks, dark skin, was wearing spectacles, had a short disposition and a flabby body. She was dressed in a hound's-tooth sleeveless top; black latex pants and hiking boots. Her gla.s.ses were the huge nerdy types that looked ridiculous due to their size, making her already large eyes even more startling. They were waiting for Tendai in his underground loft, a room filled with several cutting edge computers, a plethora of books and a large LCD monitor. Emilia who was still wearing her black latex mission gear didn't have her mask on, exposing her true form. She was an Animorph fox girl type. Her orangish red hair was wacky and pulled back. She had long side burns that looked more like lengthy husks of fur. Her pretty medium sized orange eyes, freckles of cuteness and succulent lips made her ravishing facially especially with a nose that was more close to a fox's nozzle. She was an alluring beauty despite not being human and her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s were well endowed. Rick had noticed her figure before and could not help but fell aroused by her very presence, but tried by all means to feign indifference. Tinaye would not admit up front, but deep down inside she felt belittled by the voluptuous body that Emilia possessed. However, her actions on the table did not reflect what would have been expected from a true acceptable lady of the modern times. After all she was still part animal.

"Seriously don't you have any shame Emelia?" asked Tinaye who was disgusted by Emelia's lack of etiquette and feminine withdrawal towards her unbecoming behaviour.

"Um an Animorph, I can eat a lot and still look s.e.xy. A female is gotta eat too." she said, taking Rick's plate and devouring all its contents. Emelia went on to burp like a savage and said, "It was a well-served meal. I should show Mr. Morgan Freed my appreciation. Hmm what kinda women do old men like to mate with?"

"Hold that thought Emelia, I think a simple thank you would do." said Rick who didn't want the conversation to escalate into lewd talk.

"So you're saying that a thank you is just okay? Really? What a joke. Humans really should have more fun with their bodies." said Emelia who did not realise how peculiar she sounded in front of Rick.

"Well humans here have other means of celebrating and showing appreciation... " said Tinaye before being interjected by Emelia.

"I already know your ways; you don't have to remind me of the Tamerian mannerisms. It's just that I am still not appealed by the lack of activity amongst people. Such a culture takes time to fully understand."

"If she only knew how active we were." said Rick who glanced at Tinaye, giving her the eye. Tinaye noticed this and smacked him on the shoulder to reprimand him for having said something that was indirectly perverse. As the three played along nicely, Tendai suddenly appeared. He was wearing a black tank top and leather pants. The tone of the room immediately changed as if he was the only bearer of seriousness in the world. Tendai greeted his friends and then pointed at his monitor, which was mounted on the walls. As everyone waited to hear what he had to say, the screen's dashboard began to show a number of images. Ones with dates and set blue prints. The group observed the charts and the blueprints with seriousness and plausible concentration. After everything was shown on the screen, Tendai went on to say, "The typhoon is our only shot, brace yourselves guys, we leave on the day of the storm."