Hay-wired
By BlackHawkGawd
Chapter 1 – Haytexx & Haylium
"Alright… Testing… Good to go?" Haytexx says as he checks his golem, J.O.N. The asura has chocolate brown eyes and skin with black striped markings around his figure. He has black, short and straight hair with a dark red headband to support the look. He wears a red pocket button shirt and grey cargo trousers.
"Recording now"
"Awesome." The engineer clears his throat, "Today is the day- no that sounds too predictable… Uh, this is a very special- nope, even worse… It's my little sister's first day of college! Yeah, I should've started with that." He pauses for a moment and then puts his hands to his head, "Ugh! I gotta stop doing that! Anyway!" He throws his hands down, "Today is Hayli's first day of college at Dynamics and I'm gonna go show her around the college since I'm a proud graduate of course." He smiles in a smug manner. "Also graduated from Statics as well, but that isn't the point right now. What's important is that my sister got in and I am…" Haytexx takes a short pause "Relieved? Okay, I was getting stressed over her, I mean she barely got accepted." His cheerful expression starts to fade, "I know she's not doing well academically and that's worrying, because I know she's smart, and her teachers know that…" He continues to stare off into the distance, but turns back to J.O.N. and smiles "Nah, I shouldn't worry. Where was I? I feel like I forgot something…"
"Your krewe?"
"Oh yes! Thank you J.O.N." Haytexx goes back to his cheerful state, "Going with Hayli isn't the only thing I'm doing. I'm seeing Professor Lensii to talk about starting my krewe, it took me a while to read through the applicants… Oh my word, you have no idea how many resumes I have to read. Due to my reputation, many krewe seekers want to work with the best, but unlucky for those people, I choose the best to be in my krewe…" He sighs with exhaustion "Unfortunately, I only found two and I need to have a minimum of four krewe members, including myself to start one. That's why I need to talk to Lensii and look over the situation." He suddenly claps his hands. "Alright! That should be it, end the recording." Jon flickered and the taping stops. Haytexx hops out of his chair and picks up Jon to his back, sticking on as most servo golems should. He presses a button next to his door and it slides open, he walks down the large corridor of his mansion like asuran home towards his sister's room that was next door. The house screamed of asuran architect as smooth stone furniture, cutting edge tech and cultural décor surrounded every inch of the house. Pictures and paintings of family and friends hung on the walls, some are with Haytexx and his friends, and some that are with the family at events.
Haytexx walks up and stares at the one group photo of Haytexx and his college krewe winning the Snaff prize with his family cheering and smiling with them. Haytexx was in deep thought as he gazed the photo, and then he sighed. "That's gonna be you claiming that one day."
He continues to walk down the hall and approaches his sister's bedroom door giving it a soft knock and slides open the door. "Hayli? Are you ready?" Haytexx said with excitement in his voice. Hayli was sitting on her bed holding tight her pink quaggan backpack, and she was in her smart casual wear, a green short sleeved unbuttoned shirt with a black undershirt, grey hand-me-down trousers that were almost too big for her, and brand new black shoes. It seemed simple enough, but she was still wearing her thief's hood that covers her eyes.
"… No…" She replied with a soft whisper that was barely audible, but Haytexx only gave a smirk as he sits down next to her.
"Hey," With a cheerful voice he puts his hand on her shoulder, "I know you're nervous about this, but you shouldn't have to worry so much."
"I know…" She turns away from her brother trying to form words out of her mouth "I-I…" Nothing, but stutters came out. Haytexx lets his hand off her shoulder and places it next to her lap on the bed.
"Something you want to tell me?" He said being as supportive as he can. Hayli shook her head slowly and abruptly. Haytexx gave a weak smile and got down from the bed. "Well now we don't want to keep Professor Lensii waiting." He starts walking out, but stops to pick up a quaggan plush from the floor and places it back to a collection on a display shelf. It was far from where the quaggan was, "Quaggans don't fly, Hayli." Haytexx gave a grin to her.
"It… Fell…"
"Well unless it fell down and somehow rolled its dense fluffy body to the opposite end of the room from where you're sitting, then I might have to question the physics in this room." She remained silent, but she gets off her bed and heads to the door.
"Okay, I'm ready let's go now." Hayli said quickly as she hopped out of her bed and sped walked to the door passing her brother on the way. Haytexx smiles and leaves with her closing the door as they exit the room.
"Professor Lensii is waiting at her office, and after that I can show you around the complex." Haytexx said while walking beside Hayli, going through some asura gates to the capital of the Asura, Rata Sum. Crowds of asura, golems and other races pass by eyeing the two, but mostly at Haytexx. Haylium pulls her hood down from the watchers.
"Texx… People are looking at us…" She said quietly while holding her hood with one hand and hugging her brother's arm with another. Haytexx keeps looking forward and seems to keep his casual stroll.
"Don't worry Hayli, they're looking at me. I'm used to it, and maybe one day they'll look at you constantly." He smirks at his shy sister. Her face snaps to him with worry.
"Wha-What?! I-I don't want that!" He gave a chuckle to the response.
"I'm kidding." He cheerfully gives a reassuring smile to her. "Well, at least you'll achieve something like I did and college can get you started."
"There's no way I can do what you did…" Her head drops back down again.
"Hey, you're right no one can be like me." He smiles.
"How reassuring of you." Jon flickered as he said on Haytexx's back.
"What I'm trying to say is that you do what's best for you. You don't have to do everything I did specifically to get where I am. Just do what you feel is the right thing to do, and blah blah blah whatever dad said." Haytexx was doing the talking hand gesture to mimic his father's words. "I wonder why they haven't made a motivational ad of him yet." Hayli giggled at the thought. "Anyway we're here." Hayli looked up and realized that they were in front of an office door.
"Wha- We're already here?" Hayli looked around seeing that they were now in the college of dynamics.
"You were looking at the floor more than what was in front of you." Haytexx knocks on the door.
"W-Wait, Texx, there's something I need to tell you." Hayli holds his arm in distress, but as Haytexx turns his attention to her, a loud and proud feminine voice is heard behind the door.
"Come in!"
"You can tell me after this, alright?" He opens the door.
"But…" She sighs "Okay…" Haytexx lets her go in first then closes the door as they both enter. The office is a simple room, a desk with a terminal, bookshelves that are filled with documents and awards hang on the walls. Sitting behind the desk is Professor Lensii, a fairly tall tinted yellow asura wearing smart clothing. She stands up from her seat to walk up to the two.
"Haytexx! Haylium!" Lensii hugs the siblings together, "Oh, so good to see you both!" Haytexx chuckles.
"Happy to see you too, Professor." She then turns to Haytexx and puts her hands on his shoulders.
"I wish I was there to see you celebrate your victory. You have no idea how proud I was when I heard the news about you." She starts to stream tears of joy. "Your parents are very lucky to have you both." She turns to Hayli "Haylium, are you ready to get started to your new college life?" Hayli rubs her arms.
"Um… I-"
"Oh, please take a seat first." Before Lensii can register her expression she leads both of them to the two empty seats in front of the desk, and sits back down behind it. "You were saying, Hayli?" The two sit down. Haytexx leans casually on the back of the chair while Hayli seemed hesitant.
"I… Don't know…" She said as softly as she could.
"I understand if you're nervous, we all get nervous during our first day. Although I can't say the same with your brother." She eyes Haytexx who gave a grin.
"What can I say, I basically graduated at that point." Lensii giggled
"Professor… I really want to ask you something…" Hayli looked up at her.
"What is it, Hayli?"
"Going to a college is my own choice, right?"
"Of course, every student gets to choose where they want to go after higher education."
"Well…" She rubs the back of her neck, "I… Don't want to go to college." The professor's smile quickly faded to blank. Haytexx turned his head to Hayli with concern.
"H-Hayli… Your family planned your college life for a very long time." Lensii voice feels broken, and she clasps her hands on the desk.
"But I don't want the college life." Hayli's voice remains passive "I never liked the academic life to begin with, and I was always really bad at school."
"Don't say that Hayli, you got the minimum grades to pass."
"But that's because you had to do some appeals." Hayli's soft voice started to raise "I'm not going to college. Everything at school was horrible, I had no friends, people bullied me, I never did any work, I skipped classes, I hid from everyone, I never learned anything, the teachers never cared about me, I just…" Tears started to run down her face, "I'm sorry…" She ran out the room slamming the door on the way out, Haytexx remained in his seat letting his sister go.
"Haylium!" The professor sprung out of her seat, but Haytexx signals her to sit back down, "Oh, Haytexx, I never seen her act like this." She rubs her eyes, "Why couldn't I have noticed her feelings sooner? She never liked my classes? I'm a horrible teacher..."
"Impossible, Professor, you gave the best classes I've ever had and Hayli's too. Just give her some alone time she's going through something emotional if she said those things." He stands up turning to the door, "Although, I have an idea." Haytexx paces around the office giving him time to think. "Why don't I teach her?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I need one more member for my krewe and it is possible for Hayli to be part of it." Haytexx leans on a chair in a relaxed manner.
"Are you sure she's ready and willing to handle your projects?"
"I never had difficult plans to begin with." He goes back to pacing around the room. "Honestly, after all the peacemaker and Pact work I did. I have done for my parents, showing them that we can make it." He sits back and slouches on the chair, "Fighting alongside with so many great people to save the world and become a hero, but I don't want to go off tangent right now. All I'm saying is that I have different plans for my krewe and I want the projects to support her. I want her to be my apprentice." After giving some thought the professor lets out a deep sigh.
"Haytexx, after everything you did. Anyone can trust what you're doing. Go tell her about it and let's make it official." She gives a warm smile to Haytexx. He nods and opens the door to find Hayli huddled up with her backpack next to the door.
"Hey, do you still need time alone?" He closes the door behind him.
"No… I'm sorry Texx… I just had to say something…" She almost started to cry again.
"Were you really bullied at school?" He crosses his arms keeping a relaxed posture.
"Yes… I mean… I don't know…" She hugs her quaggan tightly, "No one wanted me around…"
"You sure? Because I remember Lensii telling me that you declined any group work, even when the other students were asking you personally to join their groups." Hayli looked down at Pinky in silence, "Also I know you weren't bullied, because I was told that many other students wanted to talk and hang out with you."
"That was because you're my brother…"
"Hayli, most younger siblings suffer that problem. Connections has always been a major thing and it's the best way for people to get to know each other."
"You don't know that, you don't know if they were going to use me to get to you." Her head was so down low that her face was now completely hidden in her hood, "That's all they do, use others to get what they want."
"Woah, okay, where did this come from?" He tilts Hayli's head up showing her face again. "Were you lying?"
"W-What?" Her expression becomes worried.
"Hayli, are you lying about being bullied?"
"N-No."
"Because to me, you're the one who was being the bully." His voice was raising, but it was never too loud to cause a commotion.
"… Me?" Her tone goes defensive.
"Denying others because you assumed they were going to use you, even if they were being friendly to you in the first place. You don't think that's bullying? You say that you had no friends, but that's because you never wanted to be theirs and you were being rude about it."
"Rude? I can't say don't want to be disturbed?"
"Telling others to go away and or saying 'don't talk to me' is not a nice way to state that, and so is threatening to stab them if they got close to you."
"But you get to kill whoever bothered you..."
"Hayli, the people that bother me are criminals, terrorists and elder dragons that wanted to destroy the world. Innocent children are not those." Haylium closes her eyes and sighs.
"Okay… I get it… I'm a bad person…"
"Aw, you don't want to be that. My hit list can only get so full." Haytexx places a hand on his chest, "Well, actually, I don't have one, but I'd like to imagine I do. Anyway, Hayli, I'm not here to give you a lecture, but you're gonna have to stop being anti-social. I didn't get anywhere if it weren't for my friends and their support, and you can't judge someone until you actually know them personally." Hayli lets out another deep sigh.
"I know… I don't know how you do it…"
"And that's when I come in."
"…Huh?" She looks at him with confusion as Haytexx opens the office door.
"We have a proposition to give you." He holds the door open waiting for her to come in. Hayli hesitantly complies and walks back in the room.
"Hayli!" The professor was pacing around the room to see the two enter, and she runs up to give Hayli a motherly hug.
"I'm sorry, Professor," She returns one as well "I didn't mean to say all of that."
"I hope so; I was going to have a heart attack from hearing that."
"Uh…"
"Anyway," She lets go of Hayli and returns to her desk, "Hayli, as you know, Haytexx is starting his own personal krewe now, since he never had a proper one after college." Haytexx sits back down on the chair and leans back.
"I was too busy killing risen and saving the world, but eh, what can you do?"
"Haytexx received thousands of requests to be part of his krewe, but he said that he wants the best of the best."
"And because of that rule I only managed to find two that fit that role." Haytexx stares at Hayli as she sits down.
"So… What are you saying?"
"Hayli? Would you like to be a part of Haytexx's krewe?" Lensii said, and Hayli took a short pause.
"Me? But I thought- "
"Nah, it's not necessary." Haytexx cuts her off and stands up to walk around the room with his hands behind his back, "Still, you need some form of education, so you'll be my apprentice. Learning from what I do."
"It's that how it works?"
"We can make anything work." He turns to Hayli with a cocky smile, "So, yes or no?"
"Yes!" without hesitation she replies in a split second.
"Aw, I was hoping you'd say no."
"Texx!" Lensii scolds at him and he throws his hands up in defence.
"I'm joking, I'm joking." He says with the smuggest look. "In any case, we should get to know our other members now." He turns to the professor while she gets out two document folders onto the desk.
"Here they are." She presents them to the two, and Haytexx sits down to see. "I'm surprised you haven't checked their personal background or even their names yet."
"Well, I only cared about what they can do and from what I saw. These are definitely the people I want in my krewe." Haytexx opens a folder and Hayli opens the other.
"Experience with more than ten different krewes?"
"Oh hey, they're both siblings as well." Haytexx views both files simultaneously. "Guess we'll get along with them, huh Hayli." He nudges his sister.
"Wow…" She looks at more files and details, "No wonder you picked these two. They've done so much and they're almost the same age as us… Haytexx look." She points to a date of birth description. "She actually is the same age as you."
"Oh yeah, I was wondering about that." He looks at the rest of bio. "Hmm, where have I heard that name somewhere?"
"Do you know anyone from Synergetics?" The professor asked.
"Can't recall one, no." He puts the file back in the folder and closes it. "Alright," He checks the wall clock in the room above the desk showing the time to be afternoon. "We're going meet them today. Are you ready for the new adult life, Hayli?" She gets up from the chair, ready to get going and nods at the others.
"Thanks, you guys."
"Heh, you better behave well, but I bet this krewe is going to be the best part of our lives."
"Slaying an elder dragon wasn't your best moment?" The professor smiles at Haytexx.
"No, of course not. That was stressful. I had to keep telling dad that "I'm not going to die" every second to him."
"I was betting on it." Jon flickered as he said that.
"Hey!"