Shadows of Atlantis: Emergence of the Engi (27 page)

Thousands of students began pouring into the brand new grand auditorium as the fresh starts of 2018 got ready for an epic speech. Everyone in the auditorium began to settle down as various conversations began to turn into whispers and people hushing each other. Then, a well-dressed man with silver eyes shining through a set of smart glasses, slowly walked onto the stage. The sleeves on his buttoned shirt were rolled up, revealing black markings on his forearms. The anticipation was astonishing. One could hear a pin drop with the silence of everyone in the auditorium.

“XENOGEEK!” shouted Masters.

“What’s a Xenogeek?” whispered a young man with blonde hair.

“The three B’s. You know, brains, beauty, and brawn? Never mind, you’ll see.” replied the young kid with blue hair sitting next to him.

“Xeno!” yelled Authore Masterson. “Alien! Strange! And by definition, is synonymous with the word different! Geek! And…. I…. quote! Someone who is intelligent, single-minded, and accomplished in either mathematics or science. But! Is often unfashionable and socially inept! Does that sound like you?” he asked.

Then Authore Masterson paused and paced the stage closely, scanning the crowd with his hand on his chin.

“From the looks of it, yes. Up until now you all have lived up to the stereotypes the galaxy has about you! BUT NO MORE!!!” Masters yelled. “Here at the Xenogeek Academy of Science, Medicine, and Technology, you will break the stereotypes! Defy the odds! Social skills, wit, humor, and combat are but a fraction of what you will learn here. You won’t just be doctors, scientists, and engineers, but you will also be athletes and soldiers. So take courage and apply yourselves. And in time, you will be different. You will…….be…. xeno.” he smiled.

The crowd then erupted in a standing ovation with applause and cheers as Authore Masterson walked off of the stage.

“Oh, like a nerd/jock hybrid?” said the blonde kid.

“Yes. Exactly.” smiled the kid with the blue hair.

As the students began sitting down again, a screen less display appeared on the back of the seats in front of everyone. It showed the message:
Please select your guild
. Listed, were the names of the various academy guilds, including the Black Horde Guild and the Blue Storm Guild.

“I read a little about this but I still don’t know which one to choose.” said the kid with the blonde hair.

“Oh. You can choose any one. There’s no real difference. Every guild is pretty diverse and xeno.” informed the one with the blue hair.

“I see. Which one are you going to?” asked the kid with the blonde hair.

“Me? I already had my mind made up before I applied to this academy.” smirked the kid with blue hair. “I’m joining the Blue Storm Guild with the big six.” he nodded.

“Who are the big six?” asked the blonde kid.

“Ha. That’s pretty funny.” laughed the kid with blue hair.

But as he saw the bewildered look on the blonde kid's face, he realized that he wasn’t joking.

“Wow. You’re serious.” said the kid with the blue hair.

“Yeah. Pretty much.” said the blonde haired kid nonchalantly.

“Well then, I guess you’ll just have to find out by joining like me.” smiled the blue haired kid.

“Deal.” smiled the blonde haired kid.

As he pressed the Blue Storm Guild button, two pairs of smart glasses slowly ejected from the back of the chairs in front of them. Then, a tiny holographic marker then appeared in the lens and began pointing in several directions as they walked the grand halls, guiding them to their Guild Zone. As they walked, they passed by three intimidating figures in Black Horde uniforms. The one with the red hair slightly smiled and nodded as they passed by each other.

“He seems like a cool guy. Who was he?” asked the blonde haired kid.

“That was Reizen Demeroth and the two shadows, Reina and Drozen. They’re pretty cool xenos.” informed the blue haired kid. “Oh. I just realized that I haven’t introduced myself, how rude of me. My name is Navale Poros. You must be one of the new transfers from earth.” he said.

“Yeah, I am. It’s pretty cool to think that just a year ago on earth, we were getting hints about the existence of your people. Now we’re going to school together. My name is Aran by the way. Aran Tanner.” said Aran.

“It’s a pleasure.” nodded Navale. “I must tell you, I am quite looking forward to meeting Prince Eirisidae himself. He’s young like us, but he’s already a living legend.” he smiled.

“Man, that’s a pretty cool name. He sounds awesome.” smiled Aran. “It’s pretty weird, but I used to know someone named Eiris back on earth. He was a pretty cool guy. I sometimes wonder what happened to him.” he said.

“Well Prince Eirisidae………” started Navale before they came upon the grand statue of white gold in front of the Blue Storm building.

“Wow. What a masterpiece.” remarked Aran in awe. “Who is he?” he asked.

“Glover Nhore.” said a beautiful girl with green hair from behind them. “He was a friend and true hero to this planet.” she smiled.

“Oh! It’s an honor meeting you Captain Keznah.” nodded Navale as he saw who it was.

“At ease fresh start.” Kezzy smiled. “You both better hurry to the conclave room before orientation begins.” she nodded.

“Right.” replied Navale as he dragged Aran away, who was staring in awe of her beauty.

“Who was she?” asked a wide-eyed Aran.

“She, is one of the big six. And she’s taken.” advised Navale. “Trust me, you don’t want to mess with her boyfriend, he’s a ruthless machine.” he joked.

“Haha, sure.” laughed Aran as they walked in the room.

As all of the fresh starts got settled in, the Guild Captains took to the front of the room. Aran was frozen in disbelief as the one with purple-eyes began speaking.

“Welcome to the Blue Storm, fresh starts. My name is Eirisidae Penatia and I’m one of the Guild Leaders here. Next to me are the other Guild Leaders. Their names are Dextrius Tesla, Keznah Genoran, Azonei Masterson, Dahlia Arabella, and last but not least Paseo Odius. Most of you will be normal members, helping the guild in various ways. But some of you will be chosen to play on our war sport teams in the gauntlet games. The Gauntlet Games are the yearly games that help measure the aptitude and advancement of each student here at the Undarian Academy. The games consist of three different war sports: Electroball, The Lunar Rally, and one-on-one combat in the Gauntlet Arena. The guild with the most team and individual wins in each game is awarded the coveted Luridium Trophy at the end of the year. And if you’re wondering, yes that is our Luridium Trophy from last year encased in Nhore Hall. I think we’re due for a repeat, don’t you?!” exclaimed Eiris.

“Yeah!!!” shouted all of the new guild members in unison.

“Good. Now here at the academy, things won’t always be easy. So it’s important you always remember that adversity reveals our true character. We can either see it as an obstacle or an opportunity. With that said, let’s all welcome the opportunities coming our way! Besides people, we’re xenogeeks. We’re just………. better.” beamed Eiris.

The End.

First, I want to thank the brave and inspiring people that are no longer on this earth but still remind me every day to live life to the fullest and use whatever resources I have to give something beautiful back to the earth, no matter how big or small. So here’s to you Keziah Moore, Pamela Moore, Caleb Moore (Professional snowmobile racer), Lauren Hill (the basketball player), and Welles Remy Crowther (The red bandana).

I also want to thank my middle and high school teachers who truly saw how different I was and believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. Thank you Mrs. Gilpin, Mrs. Locke, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Bostick, and Ms. Coleman. To Ms. Coleman, although I was very young, I never forgot what you told me, “sometimes the best thing to do is to keep quiet.” To Mrs. Jones, I never forgot how many times you told me you thought I was a genius and if I just stopped assimilating, I could do great things. To Mrs. Gilpin, I never stopped persevering. To Mrs. Bostick, I’ve always kept in mind that if I always do what I’ve always done, I’ll always get what I’ve always gotten. Thank you all for being excellent educators.

To finish things off, I want to thank everyone by name that has had an effect on my life, good or bad, because either way it’s resulted in the person I am today. So to Larry Wilmore; one of the coolest nerds I’ve ever seen, thanks. Thanks Orson Scott Card; a brilliant writer and someone whom I also consider to be among my greatest teachers. A special thanks to my immensely talented book cover designer, Karen Ronan. Thanks to my favorite YouTube star, the super sincere and inspiring Yousef from Fouseytube.

A very special thanks to Abby Moore, this book wouldn’t be what it is without you. Thanks to my fellow underdogs, Kevin White from the Chicago bears and Victor Cruz from the New York Giants and Tyler Perry. Also Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, J.J. Watt, Odell Beckham Jr., Richard Sherman, Eric berry, and Cam Newton from the Carolina Panthers; my favorite football players. Thanks to Elon Musk the incredible visionary and technologist, Yogi Berra, the incredible David Bowie, the amazing Felix Baumgartner and the incredible Alan Eustace, Tommy Carroll and Brett Devloo; two blind skateboarders who are truly inspiring and amazing, Albert Einstein, Laken Tomlinson, Ahmed Mohamed, J. Michael Straczynski, The inspiring Hollywood Anderson, Raury the rapper, Stephen Piscotty, Torrence Hatch aka Lil Boosie, Prince Amukamara, the talented Justin Bieber, LAHWF YouTube channel, AngryPicnic YouTube channel, One Republic the amazing band, the originator Stanley Martin Lieber aka Stan Lee, Malala Yousafzai, Coldplay the band, My darling fury the band and my buddy Joel (the drummer), Ed Sheeran, Marshawn Lynch aka beastmode, The immensely talented and inspiring Jared Leto and the Thirty Seconds of Mars band, Antonio Brown from the Steelers, Patrick Willis, the inspiring Nick Vujicic, Rob Dyrdek one of the coolest skaters and entrepreneurs, Ryan Fitzpatrick the QB, the amazing Nikola Tesla, Jeremy Lin, the awesome Kevin Hart, Austynn and Josh Samarco, Bill Gates, James Cameron, Chris Gardner, Leroy Sanchez the singer, Jaden Smith, Willow Smith, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, J.J Abrams, Tianne and Heaven King, Silento the rapper, Bea Miller, Chip & Joanna Gaines, George Lucas, X Ambassadors my favorite band, Steven Spielberg, Paul Allen, Machine Gun Kelly, Trevor Noah, Steve Urkel aka Jaleel White, Mark Zuckerberg, Kevin Durant, Steve Jobs, the incredible Colton Satterfield, Colten Moore and Caleb Moore, Michael Jordan, M. Night Shyamalan, Orson Scott Card, J.K Rowling, J.R.R Tolkien, Michael DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and John Paul Dejoria. Eric Wallenberg, C. Rosario, Cinnabon; who’s always been my biggest supporter, helping me to believe in myself when no one else did. Thanks S. Taylor, G. Crawford and the entire Crawford family, Sasha & Nico, J. Bellucci, D. “Sully” Sullivan, P. Sullivan, both Wilson families, A. Delahanty & the Delahanty family, the Sylvia family, K. A., Nessa, the Battle family, the amazing Amber Terrell, Malachi my broski, K. Qazolli, Amber, A. Thomas, E. Vasquez, T. Sawyer and the Sawyer family, J.Lowe & the Lowe family, T. Lowe, C. Blaisdell, Ashia, thanks to the awesome Maddy aka “Giggles”, Ryan and Kirsten, my wonderful brothers and sisters I miss all seven of you, my beautiful mother Latisha, J. Washington, Pops Washington, the incredible Jaden, Jared for being a great person to Sam, my broski Johnny Washington, the super awesome Kaitlyn and Dashawn, the awesome Mia and Rachel, the prodigious Hongpha, My broski Steele, my broski Sam Moore, Jim “Pop” Moore, Devorah, “Mom” Moore, the super awesome Tori; one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met and an amazing nurse, J. Saunders, Jamel Davis my broski, Deche, Terrence, Del, Ronnie, Corey, the awesome Kara and Mark, Netta, my broski Tyree keep your head up, my little brother Domo keep your head up, Reggie keep your head up, Shak body keep your head up, Lacy Towles, Kyla Towles, and the astronomically cool Towles family, Jules and Alexandra, A. Lightfoot, A. Calhoun, R. Kerney and the Kerney family, Sheridan, Adriann, and to my fellow HSP people. I also want to give a special thanks to the syfy channel phone operator who laughed at me when I called to talk about this cool story idea I had.

Thanks to everyone who’s ever given up on me over the years, without you all I wouldn’t be fighting for my dreams today. Thanks to all the underdogs and everyone who’s ever had to overcome impossible odds, to the dreamers, to those trying to change their stars, to the bookworms, the nerds, the geeks, the students, the jocks, the fighters and never giver-uppers, to the skaters, the freedom writers, the warrior poets, the romantics, the optimists, and last but not least, thanks to YOU the readers. You’re the ones who are making my dreams come true every day. Thank you all.