章節 18: Imminent destruction

When Mrs. Richardson finished her introduction, she asked the new students to speak a few words about themselves. Donald, who had been absent at trial classes, decisively stepped forward.

"Hi, I am Donald Tan. My family is in the oil business," he said smugly, "My interests include geography, geology and chemistry, everything I'll need to take over the business in the future. I enjoy playing sports, football and basketball, boxing too."

He politely stepped aside and let others speak. Except Donald, no one else talked about their families or financial situation. The twins tried to imitate Fred and George Weasley, finishing one another's sentences, and drew quite a few laughs. Anna, embarrassed as she was, managed to announce her name and love for biology before moving back to her position in the corner.

When Michael's turn came, he didn't shy away from making bold statements. "I am Michael North. It's not my real name, I'm Russian, but please call me Michael," he said, without even mentioning his birth name. "I intend to sign up for the most advanced group in every subject and attend as many master-classes and clubs as possible. My other projects include running a YouTube channel and developing a game with several of my new classmates."

Dimitri almost fell from his chair when he heard that. They didn't shake hands or anything yet, but Michael already informed everyone. What if they fail? Will he have to live in shame? He gave Michael a sullen glare, but the speaker had already gone back to join Anna in her cozy corner.

After everyone was done with their introductions, Mrs. Richardson asked them to take their seats. She explained that there was only one 7th grade in EIS, same as other grades. However, for every subject, there were groups that students could choose to study in. Those differed in difficulty and intensity and it depended on the students' preferred specialization which ones to choose.

That was not only done to allow everyone to customize their learning process and tweak it to their strengths, but also to appease the rich and less talented. Even though the classes' difficulty varied, their grades were considered equal. For example, if a boy gets a grade of 8 in the Basic Math class and a girl gets a 7 in Advanced Math class, the boy's academic performance is considered to be better, but in fact the girl is more knowledgeable in the subject. It was up to the students to analyze their situation and set their own goals. Better grades with easier material or having to struggle with classes approaching college level to develop competences.

Michael's declaration of choosing the hardest classes was familiar to many of his classmates. When the school had been founded two years before, many of them became the youngest, 5th grade. A year later, ten new students enrolled, raising their number to thirty. Everyone thought of themselves as gifted, but to this day no one managed to support an all-advanced classes timetable.

Mrs. Richardson gave out forms to sign up for classes. Start of the school year meant the old students could make changes to their timetables freely while new students had to choose for the first time. They would have a day to decide.

With the meeting over, Michael turned back to see Dimitri but was surprised to see him pack.

"Where are you going? It's still early, let's talk about the game."

"You told everyone about it," the boy frowned, "Why would you? What if it's terrible? We will be a laughingstock!"

"It will be fine. No one will laugh at you. I didn't tell them its name or genre. If it matters so much to you, we can ask the girls not to speak about it."

"I won't," Anna voiced.

"Oh, do we have to keep mum? I was going to tell everyone!" complained Sofia who missed the start of that conversation.

"There is no real need to. I promise you all that the game will be awesome, addictive and popular. Millions of people will play it."

Three pairs of eyes gaped at him in shock.

"What? I always keep my promises, you know."

The four found a small empty classroom nearby and held their first meeting. Michael wasn't stingy with encouragement. "I don't think it's necessary to establish a company at this point. Let's talk about it when we have a finished product. Now, I'll announce everyone's positions in the project. Dimitri! You will be our head developer and lead programmer."

"Aren't I the only one?" the boy asked with a smirk.

"Yep. Anna!" Michael continued shamelessly, "You will be the sound director. Dimitri, can you provide us with good recording software?"

"I know a program or two."

"Good. Sofia – art director!"

"Yay!"

"I will be project manager, producer, creative director and lead designer. I will be responsible for cooperating with all of you, giving you ideas and assessments. I will also outline the game's look and levels. When we have something to sell, I can also cooperate with the app stores."

"That's a lot of things to do. I can ask someone to help us sell the game, there are people with experience working for my father, I'm sure. Not that I don't trust you…" Sofia retorted.

"Let's put that off for later," Michael backed off lamely. He might be much older than these three but had no real experience. Competing with someone from Bulgarian ambassador's entourage was impossible, "Let me tell you what the game will be about."

The four kids stayed in that classroom for two more hours. Sometimes, shouts and laughter could be heard in the hallway, "Why can't the birds fly? They are birds!", "Pigs don't eat eggs, Michael", "Wait, the birds hit the structures with their own bodies? Why are pigs so advanced? They have houses and castles, but they need to steal eggs?", "You are all insane! They are birds! They can already fly!"

Right away, Michael introduced several types of birds and breakable structures. Dimitri would have to make the materials' resistance vary when hit by different objects, which was new to him. They decided to work independently for a week and then see what they have. Classes would start tomorrow, and they wouldn't have a lot of time for the project, so no one expected much.

Michael got home late because of spending time with his old friends who considered him a new friend. Dimitri had been one of his greatest supporters, even clashing with Leon on multiple occasions. Sofia and Michael were never very close, but no one had a bad word to say about the girl.

Michael sat down, ready to record Mass Effect gameplay for North Gaming, when Glory suddenly spoke up.

"Host, be advised. Another leaf's energy has been located in your world."

Michael was already used to deciphering the program's words.

"Glory, you mean something from another world just entered this one?"

"Host is correct."

"Well, what is it? Is it dangerous?"

"Currently, infofield has no other information available."

"How close is it?"

Glory went silent and replied after a minute, "Taking the energy's direction and speed into account, it will arrive at host's planet in 35 days."

Michael's throat went dry. Was this how the world ended? He was the only one with this information that he couldn't use in any way. Any measures humans could take would pale before a mass of energy capable of traversing the cosmos.

"Glory?" he mumbled, "Will it hit the Earth?"

"Calculations impossible, too many variables. Estimated chance of collision is 40% with 25% possible error."

That meant Earth's chances of survival were somewhere between 35% and 85%. Michael looked at his computer and stood up. What good was recording a video if he could die in a month? It took him a moment to regain his balance, his head span, a feeling of nausea creeping in his throat. With uncertain steps, he went to pour himself a glass of water and then collapsed on the bed.

"Glory, what should I do?"

"Host is advised to leave the planet."

"Unlikely. Even if the rich escape to a space station or something, there will be no place on the spaceship for me. What can I do here, on Earth?"

Splendid Glory's voice sounded softer this time, more caring than usual.

"Host, please cultivate."