Chapter 48: Welcome to Jeed
Darius was sitting in his train seat. He was peering out over the wastelands. ‘This place looks so miserable,’ he said as he turned to face Mikayla.
‘It is the wastelands,’ replied Mikayla. ‘I guess your friends told you it was a hidden paradise.’
‘Not exactly,’ said Darius. ‘We just believed there was more to it than just vast nothingness of inhabitability.’
‘Well, that’s why I’m here,’ said Mikayla. ‘I’m freeing you from your old paradigms.’
‘I want a new paradigm,’ said Darius. ‘I don’t want to be pulled into everyone else’s paradigm.’
‘Maybe you shouldn’t assume everyone thinks the same,’ replied Mikayla. ‘There is a very large world outside of Adoy.’
‘That is true. My life experiences are a little limited,’ said Darius.
‘I have a packet of jellies,’ said Mikayla. ‘There are six different flavours. I want you to close your eyes. I want you to taste each of the six flavours without seeing which flavour you have eaten.’
‘Sure,’ replied Darius as he closed his eyes.
Mikayla placed six green jellies in front of Darius. Darius ate each jelly in the order they were placed from left to right. After he had finished eating all the jellies, Mikayla asked Darius, ‘Which jelly tasted the best and which tasted the worst?’
‘The second jelly was the best, and the fourth jelly was the worst,’ replied Darius. ‘I think the second one was red and the fourth one was yellow.’
‘Let me guess,’ said Mikayla. ‘Red are your favourites, and yellow are your least favourites.’
‘Yes, that’s correct,’ replied Darius. Mikayla began to giggle. ‘Did I get it wrong?’ asked Darius.
‘Completely wrong,’ replied Mikayla. ‘Your favourite was green, and your least favourite was also green.’
‘You tricked me,’ said Darius as he clenched his teeth.
‘You tricked yourself with the preconceived idea that you were tasting different flavours,’ replied Mikayla. ‘I’m here to open your mind. Be prepared. I have a lot more in store for you.’
‘Well, if it works,’ said Darius. Mikayla began giggling again.
‘What now?’ asked Darius.
‘I really dislike green jellies,’ she replied.
About an hour into the journey, the hot drink and donuts were served. 'Hmm, it smells like hot chocolate,’ said Darius as he sniffed the warm air directly rising from his mug. ‘Donuts look good. Do you want the sprinkled or chocolate-coated?’
‘It’s okay. You can have both,’ replied Mikayla.
‘Seriously, you don’t like donuts,’ said Darius in amazement.
‘Too doughy for my liking,’ replied Mikayla.
‘What do you like to eat other than jellies?’ asked Darius.
‘Salty and meaty food,’ replied Mikayla.
‘You are so different from anyone I know,’ said Darius.
‘I hope so,’ replied Mikayla. ‘You need to experience something different.’
They both drank the hot drink, and Darius ate both donuts.
Around two hours into the journey, the black and grey of the wasteland was replaced by the vibrant greens of the Southern Agriculture Zone.
‘Wow, what an amazing change in scenery,’ said Darius in excitement.
‘It’s like this all the way to Jeed,’ said Mikayla.
‘What excuses do they have in Jeed for not letting us past the wall?’ asked Darius.
‘Anyone with access to a vehicle can enter the Agriculture Zone,’ replied Mikayla. ‘There are normally plenty of vehicles. You just need to pay a small fee with travel tokens.’
‘I’m eager to go out and explore,’ said Darius.
‘No problem,’ replied Mikayla.
About an hour later, the train arrived in Jeed. Darius and Mikayla got off the train.
‘Do you smoke?’ asked Mikayla as she pulled out a cigarette from her bag.
‘Smoke what?’ asked Darius.
‘Sorry, I just remembered. They don’t sell these in Adoy,’ said Mikayla.
‘What does it do?’ asked Darius.
‘Just a bit of enjoyment,’ replied Mikayla. She lit the cigarette and began smoking it. ‘Let me take you to your accommodation,’ Mikayla said as she continued puffing on the cigarette.
They walked along the main street. Darius noticed that the shops and attractions were quite different. ‘Virtual Reality World, ‘Paint Balling with Sapes’, ‘Safari Tour Operators’, ‘Rent-a-Buggy’, ‘Ueban Restaurant’, ‘Boozy Palace’, and ‘Baby Games’ were just a few that stood out to Darius.
‘This place is so different from Adoy,’ said Darius.
‘Adoy is a “family-friendly region”. Jeed caters for young adults who just want to have fun,’ said Mikayla. ‘That structure over there is a rollercoaster,’ said Mikayla as she pointed to the big metal structure about four blocks away.
‘Is riding that a “right” or a “privilege”?’ asked Darius.
‘It is a “privilege”, but for you, it is a “right” as it is part of your programme,’ replied Mikayla.
‘Could I try it out now?’ asked Darius.
‘Just one quick ride,’ said Mikayla.
Mikayla used her tokens to pay for both of them to ride once.
‘Wow, that was so cool,’ said Darius as they got off.
‘This is only just the beginning,’ said Mikayla as they continued their way to Darius’ new accommodation.
When they reached the apartment, the apartment attendant informed them that the apartment was not ready yet. The attendant said that the apartment was in need of redecorating.
‘That’s disappointing,’ said Darius. ‘Now what?’ he asked Mikayla.
‘I’ll put you up at my place until we have somewhere else you can stay,’ replied Mikayla. ‘It’s only a five-minute walk from here.’
Mikayla opened the door to her apartment. The apartment was quite spacious. The kitchen, dining area, and lounge were all in one room. There were two bedrooms. One large bathroom, which contained a Jacuzzi spa. The apartment had a large balcony facing the main street. The apartment had minimal furniture and decorations. The colour scheme was dark grey and white for all the rooms.
‘This is nice,’ said Darius. ‘I wouldn’t mind having a place like this.’
‘You definitely could have something just like this,’ said Mikayla.
‘Not much chance of that in Adoy,’ replied Darius.
‘You need to think bigger than Adoy,’ said Mikayla. ‘You can’t stay with your parents for life, and Adoy doesn’t cater for single living.’
Mikayla opened up a cupboard and pulled out some sheets. ‘Just chill out for a bit. I’ll make the spare bed up for you.’
Darius went out on the balcony. He observed those walking down the street. It was indeed a region for young adults. He saw no children or older adults walk past. He did not see any on the way to the apartment or at the rollercoaster.
‘Okay, your room is made and ready for you,’ said Mikayla as she stepped out on the balcony with Darius. ‘We need to discuss a plan for your next week.’
‘Does it involve paintball?’ asked Darius.
‘At some point. For now, I would like to work on the more serious stuff,’ replied Mikayla.
They sat on the balcony together to discuss the plan for the week. After that, Mikayla gave Darius an exercise to complete on the computer. He needed to describe his feelings when shown various different types of pictures and photographs. After he completed that task, Mikayla invited Darius up to the roof of the building.
‘Nice view of the sunset up here,’ remarked Darius.
‘This building is on a slight hill. We are able to get a better view than most others,’ said Mikayla.
‘Looks like they are preparing for a rooftop party,’ said Darius.
‘There are several parties every week,’ said Mikayla. ‘It’s a party region.’
‘How do we get invited to one?’ asked Darius.
‘I know most of the Sapiens,’ said Mikayla. ‘I could get us invited to any party you like.’
‘How about tomorrow night?’ asked Darius.
‘No,’ replied Mikayla. ‘Two nights from now, there will be a party on top of that building there,’ she said as she pointed to the building.
‘Great,’ replied Darius.
Once it had become dark, they both headed back down to the apartment.
‘Would you like me to run you a hot bath before dinner?’ asked Mikayla.
‘That sounds great,’ replied Darius.
Darius sat back in the large bathtub with the jets on full blast.
Mikayla ordered chilidogs and fries for dinner. It was delivered shortly after ordering. Mikayla placed them on the dining table and poured two glasses of beer. Darius came out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe.
‘That smells spicy,’ remarked Darius.
‘Yeah, I asked for extra chilli,’ said Mikayla. ‘Are you up for the challenge?’
‘You bet,’ said Darius as he bit into the hotdog. He could barely handle the heat, but he kept going. Between bites, he would take a quick gulp of the beer. Mikayla ate much slower. She sucked the chilli sauce off the hotdog sausage before eating it. The spice did not affect her at all.
‘You did well,’ said Mikayla. ‘I can see you are not used to spicy food.’
‘Yet another new experience,’ said Darius as he struggled to talk.
Mikayla poured him another glass of beer. Darius downed it quickly.
‘I haven’t had this drink before either,’ remarked Darius.
‘That’s a good end to our day,’ said Mikayla. ‘Time for bed now. We have a busy day tomorrow.’
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