Chapter 2 Zxexrisca

14th February 2069, Zxexrisca.

It was a Friday night. Valeria Davis smiled as she flipped the pages of "Voyage With The Weres", a book she had recently invested all her interest in.

She was interrupted by a bumping sound on her window. She groaned and stood from the bed to open it for her younger sister who flew into the room on her hoverboard.

"Pandora," Valeria said under her breath, almost gritting her teeth, "How many times have I told you to quit knocking on my window and get in through the door?"

Pandora took off her helmet and nonchalantly tossed her dark hair with a few of its streaks dyed purple. "Sis, one thing you should know is that kids stopped using the door since the generation after yours. So chill, you're going to pop a vein."

Ever since Valeria could remember, she had tried to teach her sister how to use the front door like any other human being.

The world was steadily evolving, garages were now being built on rooftops and somehow, Pandora had clung onto this fact as a defense for her annoying action.

"Traffic today was another horror like always, phew, hectic." Pandora stepped down from the hover board and stretched out her hand for the machine to levitate into her arm.

"Sounding like the victim. You know perfectly well that you're the one bumping into flying cars and tripping robot mailmen. The complaint to dad has piled up, young lady."

Valeria turned to close the window not missing her sister roll her eyes at her. The world was very busy today as everyone tried to round up their work for the week. Cars of various colours zoomed past her window.

Robot mailmen floated around doing their job while avoiding advertisement holograms and some chaotic drivers like Pandora who bumped against others in their haste to God knows where and still turn around to hail insults at their victims.

Valeria heaved a sigh. "By the way, you are late again. Dinner finished an hour ago." She showed Pandora the time on her table's screen before sitting on her bed.

"Who is that?"

"What?"

Pandora took the tablet from her sister and took one more look before turning it towards Valeria.

"This."

Valeria opened her mouth and closed it again. After a brief silence, Pandora's brows rose in utter disbelief. "Don't tell me that he is the new managing director at your place of work. The same person you've been crushing on for close to three weeks now."

Pandora started laughing as Valeria tried to wrestle the tablet from her grip.

"How did you get this picture by the way?"

The said photo was actually a selfie Valeria had taken and managed to sneakily fit in the figure of Luke Alston who had been standing in the background.

He was the perfect definition of manliness with a touch of boyish innocence brought to life by his splendid smile. That gentle smile that could easily transform into a frown, giving her a scare the first time she saw it happen towards one of her colleagues.

He sometimes acted like two entirely different beings; absolutely warm and entirely cold individuals. Valeria had managed to find herself crushing hard on him. Too bad she hadn't yet gotten herself to approach him.

The weird angle which Valeria had shit the selfie from did plenty harm to her than good. It enlarged her nose and forehead by five times its actual size but no worries, the handsome managing director who was oblivious to the scheme and focused on a phone conversation was in it and that was all that mattered.

Feeling flustered, Valeria tried to change the topic.

"What's that you're holding by the way?" She pointed at the fist sized box that Pandora was holding.

"Oh this?" Pandora's attention was instantly shifted from Valeria's love life, much to Valeria's satisfaction. She kept the box on the table to free her hands for wild gestures.

"Helix and I are really working on something big this time. Science rules the world and scientists are now hot cakes. We are on our way to becoming very famous ones, you know. We could then be billionaires and not need to go to school."

Valeria shook her head at that," tsk, tsk, kids. Spoken very much like a high schooler. "

"You don't believe me? Helix and I both haven't officially agreed on a name yet but this is gonna be an illusionary machine.

"Okay, a new invention. Little wonder why you're always home late recently." Valeria laid back down on her bed to continue with the book. Sometimes, she pitied this Helix guy. A cute guy with a freckled nose, curly hair and the mind of a genius, whom her irritating sister had stuck to like a gum.

"No. It's because Helix moved to his cousin's family's home and it's much further from here than his parent's home. You know he's the one with most of the equipment."

Pandora glanced at her sister who wasn't looking her way anymore.

"Are you even paying attention?"

"No. Please could you now shoo?"

"Valeria, you just got on my nerves!" She stormed off and banged the door.

The door clicked open again and Pandora's head slipped through, "Shame on you."

Valeria sighed.

Not long after, her mother knocked and came in. "Val?"

"Yeah mum?" She craned her neck towards her mother.

"Your dad and I are off to the theater. Don't pick on your sister while we are gone. She then patted Valeria's laps.

Valeria was flabbergasted and almost replied to her mum that she was telling the wrong person when father interrupted from downstairs. "Barbara, we are late already. Show some mercy now, will you?"

"I'm coming Tom, just wanted to make sure we will meet a house that doesn't get brought down while we are away."

She patted Valeria again and rushed out clutching her purse.

Valeria was left alone wondering why the love life of a twenty five year old was as bad as having no date to look forward to on a Valentine's day.

She picked up her tablet, took a look at the person on the screen and sighed again.