Angelic Layer: Dance of the Moon Princess
Chapter 1
The class was quiet. Their teacher sat at her desk punching numbers into a calculator and there was the soft hum of multiple hushed conversations around the classroom or the tap-tap of Brian's (A spindly boy with dyed spiky black hair who could drive a class crazy with his addiction to tapping out a beat on whatever available surface there was) insistent drumming on his desk with his fingers.
"Did you hear? About Angelic Layer?" said Tanya a tall blonde.
"You mean about that Japanese company that became stationed in Cape Town a few weeks ago? Don't they manufacture those new dolls?" Anne, the grade ten belle replied offhandedly whilst Mxiting on her cell phone under the desk.
It was the last few days of the second term just after the exams and the teachers didn't really care what their students did as long as they stayed reasonably quiet so that they could set up reports.
"Yes! My sister's getting one for her birthday? Those toys were actually in the news! It's amazing, what those Asians can come with. Really their technological advancements are mind blowing!" Rachel, a mousy irritating girl who had arrived at the school a few months ago had turned around in her desk to face them, butting in on their conversation. Her voice was slightly high-pitched and she sniffed after every sentence.
"You sound very excited about a silly doll your sister's getting," Anne barely looked up from her cell phone.
But Rachel, however, couldn't take a hint and blabbered on "Who wouldn't? I mean, c'mon, a doll that moves through the process of your thought signals using the same technology they use with prostheticlimbs," Despite their dislike for Rachel half of the class had tuned in on their conversation which was...despite their dislike for childish toys, very interesting. "The doll becomes like another body part and your brain sends signals to it to move through this machine just like with any of your limbs. But like any prosthetic you have to practice a lot."
Even for a moment Anne didn't have anything to say.
"So," said a soft voice behind them. "They're actually not just dolls; they must be quite expensive." Bianka looked up from her sketching. She was generally referred to as the 'Pixy' due to her petite build and sharp angled features. She had a mop of chestnut curls cropped to just below the ears, large hazel eyes and a darkly tanned skin. She rarely spoke, and thus was left alone, her only friends being in the other class. Rachel gave an inward excited titter. Here was the chance to show the class how intelligent and knowledgeable she was.
But surprisingly someone else answered Bianka's unspoken question.
"Actually they can be payed for over a certain time period if one is unable to pay up immediately, and there's no interest charged. They're not that expensive as they're factory produced in their millions and the materials they're made out of are readily available, a hard rubbery resin made from used sunflower oil, which is unlike like plastic environmentally friendly and very durable." Lindiwe, AKA Indwe grinned at Bianka from her desk, a few seats behind Bianka's.
Exasperated at the amount of big words and confusing concepts being thrown around Anne and Tanya rolled their eyes and chatted on about something else not in the mood to think on the last few days of school. Rachel also turned around huffily, knowing she had been outsmarted.
Bianka met Indwe's eyes and smiled faintly. Indwe grinned back, quickly spoke a few words with her friends around her and came to sit in the empty desk next to Bianka's. They were sort-of friends and spoke regularly with each other in Drama and CAT, both having no friends in either class with whom they could talk to.
"You should've see Rachel's face when I had finished. Livid I tell you, Livid. I put her in her place." Indwe held her hand up for a high five and grinning Bianka complied happily.
"So how come you know so much about Angelic Layer?" Bianka asked her hand moving to cover her drawing. But Indwe saw the movement and jumped up and made a grab for it, with Bianka protesting half-heartedly.
"Girl, you really know how to draw. Ha, I can see you're very interested in Angelic Layer."
Indwe handed the paper back after looking at it long and hard. It was a rough but clear sketch of an Angel, the name of the dolls Angelic Layer were producing. The Angel had short spiky hair, longer near the front and getting shorter going towards the nape. She had a ballerina like costume, a long sleeve ballet half top over a leotard, a transparent short skirt made from one piece of material tied with a ribbon around the waist, that looked flappy and easy to move in, ballet point and stockings.
"I think you should make her," Indwe said winking.