Browser City

Chapter 9: What Should I Do?

A stern loner like Ajax had never looked back. However, hard memories were overloading his mind after that degrading conversation with Dominic in the Console Room. His eldest brother was always like that. Hard on him. Like their parents and brothers.

Ajax was standing in the Console Room while everybody went back to their work as if nothing had happened. He welcomed that kind of reaction. Many of his alleged friends, colleagues from the academy and his professors had always asked him personal questions after meeting Dominic or any of his family members. Ajax hated being pushed to open up.

Deep into an introspective mood, he reflected on his life with a forlorn expression on his face. He didn't want to save any of those hard memories, but personal baggage like that never exceeded any storage limit. Conversations with any of his family members were usually demeaning. He was sure it would happen again. He dreaded every waking nanosecond while waiting for it to happen.

However, Shannon's words had turned that conversation into something different for the first time in his life. No one had ever done such a thing for him, let alone a female.

He replayed Shannon's last comment and the way she had left the Console Room with a nice smile on her face, proving that the tension between them had upgraded to something closer to friendship somehow. Was that friendship? He couldn't know. He had zero friends.

His lips quivered a little until they drew a gentle smile on his face as he stared at the closed door of the Console Room while the rest of the entities present were busy talking among themselves. An unfamiliar kind of warmth invaded Ajax's whole body, starting from his heart.

He dived into that new, strange, and invigorating feeling emanating such warmth inside him, wondering whether it was real – or whether it would last.

I don't know what this is but I don't want it to be over, he thought with amazement. Ever.

Out of the blue, Algo's stomach growled.

"I'm hungry too, Algo," Zita said.

"Ragna," Aethelred told his wife after a heartfelt chuckle, "can you take Zita and Algo to the kitchen, please?"

"Sure, cookie," she replied with a smile. 

Zita got on her flying skateboard and fled from the room with Algo running behind her with joy. 

Ragna soon followed with a nice, loving smile.

Ajax had loved that sweet and calm family atmosphere, but self-pity loaded his heartbeats again. He wished he had had such a loving family while growing up. He wondered why they were so different from his family and the ones he had known all his life.

All he had ever learnt was to strive for success. It had been the only thing that had mattered.

Therefore, he had never sought anything in his life that wasn't linked directly or indirectly to being perfect and achieving every single goal. He had always sought his parents' praise, but his history log proved he would always be unable to get it. His achievements, either personal or professional, had always paled in comparison with any of his brothers', rendering him obsolete.

Growing up as the youngest of five siblings who had always been far more praised than him had taken a toll on him in the long run. True, they deserved such praises. However, Ajax felt he was constantly being left behind. He felt he had no space left in his former home, his former city, his former social environment.

That was why he had joined the AAA – a boarding school kind of institution. So, far from home and those who had never fully valued his worth, he sought a brighter future. He was proud of being a stern loner who could fend for himself, even save others. He would look for recognition from other add-ons, in other programs.