The wind up here was strong. Balanced's brown hair was blown back by the wind. But there was something good: you could see the whole city from this platform. It just floated in the sky. A white machine platform was not unusual. Well, anyway, below… Balanced did not know how the machine had gotten so high, and he also did not know how he had gotten up here. So Balanced sat down. He looked at the modern houses from below. He turned his gaze forward and saw a huge, massive building. In the middle were two straight lines. They were something like a symbol. Well… Balanced did not feel comfortable here in this high-tech city. It had not always been like this. Back then… about a few thousand years ago, there were two powerful colonies: the Evil Ones and the Fate Group. In their final battle, their magics seemed to melt into each other and created an infinite source of magic. The source was located in this giant building. Balanced did not want to imagine what would happen if someone set foot inside. So he shook his head. "Enough history lesson! I am not a teacher who should calculate what would happen if or what once was!"
Balanced was, well, let's say, a bit different from everyone else. He constantly talked to himself, but he was not crazy. Inside and overall, he had a big heart. Unfortunately, he had never had friends, and whatever his family's name carried in society did not make it any better. Balanced massaged his temples with his fingers. "Remember, come on, you idiot!" He continued, turning motions on his temples and forcing himself to remember. "How did you get up here!!!"
As he was about to give up, everything suddenly came back in a flash of thought. It all started with…
Balanced lived in a two-room apartment. There was a living room and a bathroom. His living room was slightly larger. There was a kitchen with an oven. It looked very much like a machine, the color was black. It had an entrance, but above it was a selection display. Since the oven was off, the display was black. If you looked at Balanced's bed, you could confuse it with a couch. It floated a little in the air, a few centimeters above the floor. Balanced lay on it. To his right was a huge window. Since he lived higher up, at least the view was good.
Back to Balanced… He was sleeping deeply and soundly. Next to him, a huge display floated. It showed the time: 4:32! The numbers blinked white. Three minutes later, a loud noise sounded: 4:35. Get up! The words were repeated, and in the background a loud beeping: Get up! Get up! Get up!
Balanced jumped up. The white blanket flew down. His body moved quickly, and Balanced practically flew out of the bed. When he realized he was not in danger, he exhaled. "Damn alarm!" Balanced cursed and rubbed his eyes. He immediately went to the huge window and looked out. He could see the giant building perfectly from here.
Suddenly, Balanced was torn from his morning routine. Something gleamed at the front door. The white material of the door shimmered in a blue light. A display flew out of the door's edge. Balanced looked at it and waited for the message:
(Academy – To Balanced – Absence day 42. We expect you back this week. If you cannot manage, notify us, but if you refuse, we will expel you. Balanced, everyone knows it is hard for you, but think of the future and everything you are missing. Come this week!)
When the message ended, the display closed and seemed to be pulled back into the door handle. Balanced looked out the window and whispered, "So much time has passed already…." He hadn't even fully processed the message when the doorbell rang. "Can I even get any peace this morning?"
Sighing, Bal went to the door and opened it, slightly frustrated. Waiting for him was a kind of law enforcement robot. It looked human, even had human hands, but its strength was superhuman. It had long black hair and a scar that ran across its right eye.
"Balanced Tyl, you have not paid rent for a month. You will now be evicted. Pack everything you need. If you do not agree—"
The robot could not finish its sentence. Bal stopped it. "I know, I know," Bal grinned. "I have no choice!" His grin was strange in this situation, but Bal could not hold it back. He had a plan.
When the robot followed Bal into his apartment and Bal went to the oven, Bal shouted, "Help, look at this!!" The robot twitched and was next to Bal in less than two seconds. With a jerk, Bal pushed the robot out of the huge window. The glass panes shattered, and the machine fell. At the last second, Bal managed to pull something from the side. It hung on the robot. The grin on Bal's face widened. He had ripped a machine part out before the robot fell. Now he could sell it.
Bal looked down through the shattered window. The machine was still flying but soon crashed and broke into a thousand pieces. Nothing was as valuable on the machine as what was in Bal's hand. "I have a core! A core!"
Cores were known to be made from the infinite energy source. Just carrying one gave enormous strength, but the distortion changed everything in the body. But no matter how much Bal wanted to distort the core, he could not. He needed the money. So he looked at the black-purple glowing point in his hand.
"It's still early, so I can sell you today!" Bal grinned. He thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that he needed to get out of here quickly. After all, he had broken the city's rules. His punishment would be working in that huge building over there. Nobody wanted to work there!
So Bal looked at his apartment one last time, grabbed a black jacket, and put it on. "You're coming too!" On the table lay a watch. It was silver, with hands made of black metal, one of the rarest ores in the world. It showed the time: 4:50. Bal snatched the watch and strapped it to his arm. It fit perfectly. It was the last thing his parents had left him before… it happened… Bal's grin disappeared.
Outside, there were more robots than he liked. Apparently, the robot could send a signal in case of emergency. "Shit!" He had to make it through this. And he could buy himself two whole houses. He took a deep breath, opened the door, and immediately saw the high-tech elevator door opening. Two dogs ran out. As they jumped, their legs hissed it was robots.
Bal slammed the door shut. The robot dogs slammed against the door. Bal hated situations like this. He could never think properly. He looked around his apartment but found nothing useful. There was too little time. The door broke open, and the dogs came inside.
The door sprang open. White material and parts fell to the floor, and the dogs burst in. They were two machine dogs, made of black parts, and had a display on their faces that extended to their ears. An exclamation mark stood large in the middle of the display. A voice sounded:
"Balanced Tyl, you are under arrest. Reason: destruction of a law. Robots, we must ask you to come—"
Bal ran and kicked the robot out of the way. It flew against the wall in the apartment. The other robot dog immediately jumped out, and with threatening noises, it started the chase.
Bal slammed against the elevator wall. He pressed the button next to him. "Door opens in 1 minute."
"One minute? Shit, I don't have that much time." Bal looked around the hallway. On each side was a small window. Suddenly, an idea shot into his head. He opened one and squeezed through. Now he was on a thin pole. It seemed like one wrong step and he would fall, ending up like the robot. The window was open, so Bal hoped the dogs were not the smart kind of robot.
Bal's ears twitched as he heard the elevator door open. Someone was there! Bal peered carefully through the small window. He had barely managed to squeeze through. Whether he could get back in was unclear. He looked inside. A tall man dressed in black stood there. Immediately noticeable was the large weapon he held in his hands. The man looked at the two dogs.
"Where did he go?"
Bal looked away and exhaled slowly. This was not an ordinary situation, so he did not know how to act. Suddenly, he saw himself exposed in green light. He looked up and saw a white drone flying above him. It had scanned him. His hiding place had been revealed.
"Shit!"