The automated doors slide open with a futuristic swish as the boy’s foot steps on a pressure-sensitive pad. Juno stares into the entrance to the building that houses his first class of the new day. A desk spans nearly 15 feet from the right side wall, stopping five feet short of the 20-foot width of the lobby. Five receptionists are leisurely working at computers with an interactive hologram display. The monitors add a blue hue to the building’s black-and-white interior. Next to the desk is a single door with a steel bar electric lock.

  “I think I may have the wrong building.” The boy mutters out loud. Nervously, he turns around to head out the doors he came in through. As Juno turns around, he, like once before, runs into someone, except this time headfirst into a wall of steel abs. “Ah, fuck.” The boy stumbles back dazed, dropping his school bag and tripping on it.

  CRACK!

  The boy’s head bounces on the tiled floor imprinting the image of the man he ran into is mind as his vision blurs and goes dark.

  The imposing image imprinted is a lab coat-clad man with a solid athletic figure. The man's stark red-violet shoulder-length hair adds to the unusual aura. The man’s eyes, and his other facial features prominent displayed. The man’s slender facial structure houses two orbs of differing colors. The eyes of this man transcend the norm for strangeness. His right eye, having no pupil or iris but just a glossy oval of white, starkly contrasts with the other eye, which has the same color as his hair. Just below this man’s strange right eye is what looks to be arcane markings, when in reality, they are just a series of intricate tattoos inked over scars.

  His chin is hidden underneath the collar of his lab coat. The coat is also another defining feature all on its own. The abstract art starts at about his knees, with several crimson claw-like marks, each slash growing smaller and not as long as the last as they go up the side of the coat. The scratches curve up toward the back of his head. The top four buttons are tightly fastened. The rest of his outfit looks more mundane, containing a pair of tan cargo pants and a black t-shirt mostly hidden under the obscene lab coat.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Moments pass before the boy wakes to the man speaking with a woman. The boy is staring at the fluorescent tubes in the ceiling of the lobby with blurred vision. His head rests on a pink and frilly purse. Words are sounding more apparent to the boy when the ringing slowly fades.

  “Well, he woke up. I guess he was tougher than you thought,” the man casually states to a clearly distressed female. She wears a pencil skirt and a nice lavender blouse. She has her orange hair tied neatly in a bun and leopard-print sunglasses resting on the crown of her head.

  “You- you could have killed the poor boy, and you’re acting like it was no big deal?”

  “I didn’t do anything. He just kinda ran into me.”

  As the boy groans, the man bends down and pulls out a small LED flashlight. He turns it on and uses it to check the child’s eyes.

  “See, no concussion. The kid is fine.”

  “Don’t I get a say in this?” rubbing the side of his head, Juno replies, though it just sounds like unintelligent grunts.

  The man taps Juno’s cheek a couple of times, “Can you speak?”

  “Y-yea?” this time in the same manner that one would generally converse in.

  “So, you just can’t STAND to see me, huh?” the man chuckles.

  “You’re an ass, Cat,” the lady states.

  “Terrible pun aside, she is right, you are an ‘Asscat.’” The boy agrees. “Whatever the hell that is.”

  “Well, that is my name.” The man retorts and extends a hand to help the boy up.

  “Your name is Asscat?”

  “What? No, my name is Cat.”

  “Who the hell names their child, Cat?” Juno pulls himself up using the offered hand of the oddly named person.

  “No one names their child, Cat.”

  “Then why are you named Cat?” the boy scrutinizes.

  “Shut up. It’s what I like to be called.”

  “Excuse me?” The lady interjects with mild frustration.

  “What?” Cat responds with an elevated tone because of the petty squabble.

  “Um, don’t you two have a place to be?”

  “Shit, my class,” Juno and Cat exclaimed.

  “Well, actually, I’m not even sure where the hell my class is,” Juno states in a confused tone. “I thought this was the building, but seeing that the only other door is locked, I’m not quite sure at this point.”

  “You have your schedule, right?” The kind lady asks. “Lets take a look.”

  “Well, yeah, but it told me to come to this building with no other instructions.” The boy reads a neatly pinned name tag right above her blouse's chest pocket. “Gazelle?” he reads confusedly out loud.

  “Yep, that's me,” she chuckles.

  “Try using your school ID in the electric lock by that door,” Cat explains, like the boy should have known what to do.

  “Kinda hard to do while walking into a moving wall.” then muttering,” For the second time today.”