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| Initializing system... |
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| [■□□□□□□□□□] 10% |
| [■■□□□□□□□□] 20% |
| [■■■□□□□□□□] 30% |
| [■■■■□□□□□□] 40% |
| [■■■■■□□□□□] 50% |
| [■■■■■■□□□□] 60% |
| [■■■■■■■□□□] 70% |
| [■■■■■■■■□□] 80% |
| [■■■■■■■■■□] 90% |
| [■■■■■■■■■■] 100% |
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| Boot sequence complete. |
| Status: CONNECTED |
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For as long as he could remember, Touki had always wanted to be someone special — or at the very least, someone he could be proud of. He often wondered what it truly felt like to be 'fulfilled'. After all, his only real passions were computers and graphic design, and he spent most of his days at his desk at home, absorbed by the vast universe of the World Wide Web.
By this description, one could easily guess that he lacked social skills and had only a couple of friends at best.
Touki was a brown-skinned, 19-year-old male with a slender build, and he wore glasses. The only noticeable quality at a glance was his height and his dark bottom eyelids. Standing at 180 cm, he was taller than most, though still within the average range.
As he sat at his desk, the glow of his screen reflecting off his glasses, he opened his mailbox, which was full of messages with various subjects like "Rent Payment Due" and "About your student loan…" He refreshed the page — then let out an audible sigh.
"Ahh… still no replies from all the companies I applied to. This is bad. Am I really that bad…?"
Touki was in a pretty tricky situation. He was at a point in his life where he needed to secure a paid internship if he wanted to continue studying abroad. That was the type of contract he'd agreed to when enrolling in [an unnamed, renowned school] — one that helped cover his tuition.
"Well, no time to ponder over that. It's time for my 1 hour and 30 minute commute to school! How cool is that, huh?"
He was talking to himself. Touki always woke up at 5 a.m. to prepare and get to school on time for his 9 a.m. classes. He was in his second year. He lived alone in a small dorm room in Singapore — but it was still comfortable enough for one person. Not only that, but he took the train to commute every day of the week. He wore his headphones, which were playing "slowed and reverb" tracks, and headed out. He couldn't go out anywhere without his headphones actually.
The way he managed to attend this school to study graphic design — aside from the tuition support — was based on pure luck. In fact, a lot of Touki's life seemed to revolve around luck. Whether he intentionally let luck dominate his life, however, was a different matter.
After a commute that felt like a phantasmagoric experience, mainly due to the fact that he had a lot of time to waste, he finally arrived at his stop. The sounds of car traffic and tires scraping against the concrete grew progressively louder as he marched up the stairs, revealing an array of tall skyscrapers. He had stepped out of the subway, revealing the urban sprawl of a city. Each building showcased eye-catching architecture along with vegetation. It was a beautiful sight — one of the reasons that had pushed Touki to study abroad in Singapore after high school.
A decision that had buried him in debt, as foreshadowed by the entries in his mailbox. He cleared his throat and thought:
"Woah, at least I can never get enough of the urban planning in this city. Whoever came up with that knew what they were doing. Seriously, look at that!"
Touki really had a thing for well-designed things. After he was done marvelling over his surroundings, he adjusted his clothes and immediately remembered he had to go to class. After showing the contents of his bag to security at the entrance of the school, he entered the main building. The architecture was just as immaculate as when he was outside a few moments ago. Paintings were framed in a glass casing and mounted on the walls in hallways. The ceiling was embedded with rows of neatly arranged lights that reminded him of stars in the sky. It felt like a museum exposition. Coffee vending machines were scattered throughout the hallways on every floor.
Touki met up with his friend, Akhil, who was leaning against a wall with his phone in hand, in one of the many hallways before class. Out of the 24 students in their year, Akhil was the only one he could somewhat relate to.
Among their friend group, the two of them were very different on the outside. They were like day and night at best. Akhil was light-skinned. In fact, Touki was the only dark-skinned student in his class — something that had made him very insecure at first. But over time, he simply accepted it and moved on.
Akhil was a fashion freak — just like Touki. While Akhil went for high-end sneakers and layered fits, Touki preferred baggy clothes to balance out his scrawniness. He also just thought they looked good in general.
Touki wore a troubled expression, then opened his mouth.
"Akhi… There's something I need to tell you. It's about the intern—"
Before he could finish, the professor for the course walked in. The class fell silent instantly. He wore a brown, extravagant suit with a long-sleeved black shirt underneath — emblematic of high-ranking citizens in Singapore. Without wasting time, he began:
"As all of you may know, today was the deadline to secure an internship that will help you finance your tuition for the second year. Without it, you will be forced to drop out."
Many students, including Touki, looked visibly shocked. His heart skipped a beat.
What? I thought the deadline would be extended. But to think I'll have to drop out?! I should've spent more time reading that contract…
"I will now announce the list of students who won't be able to continue their studies at this institution. If your name is called, please pack your belongings and head to administration for the next steps."
***
Unsurprisingly, Touki's name was on that list.
He had been searching for an internship for over eight months now. He'd done everything in his power — from submitting countless resumes and portfolios to seeking guidance from student counselling. But once again, luck had bested him and dictated the 'uncontrollable' parts of his life.
Akhil, however, hadn't been as unfortunate. He'd already signed a contract with a company.
"Tch… God forbid a man be different. All that money and debt just for this tepid result? In the end, I never got what I wished for. So this is what being an adult is like."
Still, Touki quickly let go of his bitter feelings toward the study-abroad experience he'd been living for over a year now. Like in many situations in his life, he would simply "let them happen." His only real regret was having to leave his friend behind. Touki wasn't the type to overflow with empathy, but he knew how to be polite — and grateful.
If it hadn't been for Akhil, Touki would've left with far more regret.
A few days later, he booked a plane ticket back to his home country. But before departing, he met Akhil at the airport one last time.
The sky was painted in crimson and gold, the sunset reflecting poetically off the airport's glass walls and metal surfaces. It was a calm, bittersweet scene — a fitting conclusion to a companionship that felt like it had just begun yesterday.
"This is as far as we go. We've had a lot of fun together, but I guess this isn't what life had planned for me."
— Or maybe I'm just an idiot.
"It's sad to see you go... Uh, how did it ever come to this?" Akhil replied, holding back tears.
"In any case, our friendship is better than that. Even if we don't see each other again, it won't change anything. That's the kind of bond we have — unspoken," Akhil said confidently.
"Facts. Might take years, but we'll reunite. No matter how long it takes. B-besides, I can always just shoot you a message on Dizzy," Touki added with an awkward smirk.
"Always remember — whenever a door closes, another opens. Whether you like it or not, life can be full of surprises… if you let it."
Touki just stared at him, smiling.
I wouldn't know about that…
They exchanged one last handshake, and Touki headed to his gate. By the time he boarded, night had fallen.
He pulled out his phone to check his notifications. There were messages from his parents, and one promotional email caught his eye:
「 Start your own company and receive grants! 」
Just as he was about to turn off the screen and get some rest, a familiar sound startled him — the nostalgic ping from an old computer alert, like the ones from Windows 8.
Then, it appeared.
A Terminal window was floating in the air in front of him. The background was dark, with white and gray text rendered in a nerdy font, appearing one word at a time. At the very top was a tab, opened.
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| ~environment/warp | [+] |
|————————————————————— |
| [text entering…] |
| loading terminal... |
| your terminal is ready to use, |
| ask me anything to get started! |
| |
| > █ |
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Touki rubbed his eyelids violently with his hand and looked around him with a terrified expression.
"W-What's this now?"
— End of chapter 1 —