"Hm? What is even this?" Approaching the parking lot, Arthur examined one of the sonic boards with his eyes. The boards looked like a mix between a scooter and a hoverboard with no wheels. It had a sleek metallic finish with a glass screen at the top that looked very advanced.
"Is this... The means of transport they were talking about?" Arthur raised an eyebrow. "How is it even floating?"
Looking down, Arthur slid his hand under the sonic board and yet he didn't feel anything beneath. The board was indeed floating.
"Yes, technology! Yes, science!" Arthur clapped his hands with an impressed look on his face. "I don't know how they pulled it off, but my compliments to the ones who invented this."
At this point, the technological advancement of this place was something he had seen everywhere he went. This was not that huge of a surprise as hoverboards had existed in some way for a while in the real world so he wasn't really that shocked.
As Arthur's eyes wandered to the side, he noticed a number written on the slot where the hoverboard was standing. Then, his eyes moved to another slot and he eventually realized what was happening.
"Each one indicates a student's room. I guess mine should be somewhere around- There!" Finding his number, he quickly approached the slot with his room's number on it.
"Ok, so, how does this thing work?" Jumping on top of it. He balanced himself easily on the board and then tapped on the screen. Immediately, the screen activated, showing him a small square with a few words written on top of it. 'Swipe your device on the square.' it said.
"Device? Oh, they mean this." Pulling his phone out, Arthur put it against the screen and swiped. Almost immediately, the hoverboard made a ringing sound as the screen activated. Then, a strip of neon light lit up across the frame of the hoverboard while the engine slowly activated.
Arthur stared down with pure excitement. He never expected a day would come when he would ride one of these things. 'I'm living the dream!'
His eyes then shifted to the screen. There, he saw two new options appear on the screen.
"'Please choose the travel mode: Automatic/ Manual.' Hmm, automatic sounds better than manual. But, who cares about what's best? I want to drive one of these things! Manual it is!"
Without hesitation, Arthur tapped the manual. Then, he put his hands on the handles.
"Ok, so... If I'm not wrong, I should twist this and it should wor- WOAAAAAH!!"
The monster Arthur twisted the handle, the hoverboard suddenly launched forward at a horrifying speed.
"Holy shit!!" Arthur panicked as he quickly steered to the side to avoid smashing into other hoverboards. But, he couldn't control it at all.
"The brakes! The brakes!"
With no other choice, he quickly pressed the brakes when the sonic board finally stopped before hitting the wall.
"Hah... Hah... Ok, goddamit! I'm not using manual mode!" Arthur clenched his teeth as he tapped on the corner option and then chose Automatic.
"Holy shit..." Arthur muttered. "Are those elevators?"
Although the design was unfamiliar at first, Arthur eventually recognized what that was. 'So that's how we reach the main areas. Makes a lot of sense.'
Arthur had been wondering how it was possible to climb such a mountain to reach the institution. After all, climbing stairs was simply not an option and so was climbing the mountain. There had to be alternatives that could contain the large number of students and staff that live on the island. So, massive elevators were the answer.
Then, Arthur looked down and he saw a few students standing here and there. There were no more than a dozen students seemingly idling around waiting for something.
"I guess it's not time yet." Arthur checked his time. There were at least 35 minutes left.
"What should I do for the rest of the time now? Tsk, I should've probably spared some more time before arriving here. I don't know anybody around he-"
"Arthur?"
At that moment, Arthur heard a very familiar voice behind him. Turning around slowly, he saw her face. For a second, he was surprised before his eyes instantly brightened up as he smiled widely.
"Isla! Is that you?" He asked.
Isla stared at Arthur with an equally surprised look. The boy looked different from how he looked yesterday. He was taller and more good-looking. When she saw him, she almost didn't recognize him which is why she asked uncertainly.
"Yes, it's me. I wasn't sure if that was indeed you. It seems the serum had truly changed you a lot." She said.
"Hahaha, yeah, I'm still not that familiar with it. Though, you don't look that far off from how you usually look."
"Hm? Do you think so? I think the serum didn't have any effect on me."
Hearing that, Arthur's expression froze for a moment. 'Ehem, I don't think so. The serum probably tried to change some things, but with how you look... There was really not that much room for improvement.' He coughed inwardly.
Isla was already the most beautiful girl he had ever met. She was also tall and slender. She looked like a world-class model or even better. She didn't seem to lack anything appearance-wise.
"In any case, thank god you're here! I really didn't know what I was going to do for the next 35 minutes. I'm glad I met someone I know." He said.
"Mm, me too." She nodded. "What a sudden and quick reunion that is."
"... Yeah, we aren't that far away from each other, are we?" Arthur laughed.
A//N: Don't forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3