The appearance of a house sometimes reflects the nature of its inhabitants. This was certainly true in the case of one particular home, an elegant four-story townhouse located in Corneria City's most affluent district. Its ornate windows seemed to cast a condescending gaze upon its city block, as if to say that the surrounding buildings were not worthy of being in its presence. The pride of its occupants practically shined upon the polished marble walls of the townhouse.
The owner of the lavish home was a chameleon by the name of Stanislaus Powalski. The son of aristocrats, Stanislaus had pursued a career in the Cornerian Armed Forces, as was expected of an individual of such noble heritage. He enlisted in the Air Force, where he evolved into a skilled pilot. Stanislaus became known as something of a hero for his role in a series of space battles that ended in victory for the Cornerians. After retiring from the Force, he sought election as a senator in the Cornerian Congress. A highly decorated, intelligent ex-pilot with a reputation for courage, Stanislaus had little difficultly getting elected time and time again. His wife, Karolina, was the daughter of a wealthy businessman and the heiress to her family's fortune; theirs was the classic political marriage of notable and notable. The chameleon couple had one child, a son whom they named Leon.
Stanislaus and Karolina took great care to ensure that Leon received a proper upbringing. He was, after all, the scion of their family; he had to be primed to carry on the Powalski legacy. Leon's parents used their vast fortune to hire the best tutors money could buy for their son. They were not content to allow their progeny to receive anything less than a stellar education.
The knowledge of the teachers was not wasted on Leon. At the scant age of nine years, it looked as if he was destined for success. Not only did his mind retain even the most minute details of every subject he was taught, he had a genuine desire to learn as much as possible. Knowledge fascinated Leon, and was awed by the prowess of his teachers. His young mind associating intelligence with superiority, a sense of ardent determination was instilled in him. Leon was intent on achieving his perfection by learning as much as he possibly could.
Leon smiled as he heard the ringing of the townhouse's front doorbell. It was 8:30 am, and the noise indicated the arrival of his math tutor, a Blue Jay he knew as Mrs. Cornell. Any opportunity to further his studies was an opportunity Leon relished. He walked down to the vestibule to greet his teacher.
"Good morning, Mrs. Cornell." Even at his young age, Leon possessed a unique personality. He seemed perpetually calm, with a natural air of sophistication. In true aristocratic fashion, his sedate outward appearance rarely betrayed his true feelings.
"Good morning, Leon. We're starting our unit on trigonometry today."
"I'm looking forward to it," Leon replied softly. "Let's begin."
Leon walked over to the spare room in the townhouse that had been converted into a classroom. He had never been enrolled in a public school; the teachers always came to him. Mrs. Cornell felt more than a bit unnerved as she followed Leon. The boy's indecipherability disquieted her; Leon always seemed to be quietly calculating something, and he never gave any indication as to what. He was virtually unreadable. In spite of his peculiarity, however, she had no intention of quitting as his tutor. As long as the rich Powalskis employed her, financial concerns would not be amongst her worries.
Leon sat down at his desk and became quite still. Being a chameleon, he could follow his teacher simply by swiveling his eyes; this habit only increased Mrs. Cornell's uneasiness. Still, she carried on with her lesson.
"Through the use of trigonometry, we can find any angle. There are three sides in a right triangle, Leon. They are the hypotenuse, the…"
Although a slight smile was the only hint that gave it away, Leon was elated. Nothing gave him more joy than applying his mind. Learning was the chief interest in the young boy's life.
"The adjacent side has a length of radical 3 and the hypotenuse has a length of 2. Can you tell me what the angle is, Leon?"
"Adjacent over hypotenuse represents the cosine of an angle. When the cosine is radical three over two, the corresponding angle is 30 degrees," replied Leon in a calm, confident tone.
"Very good." As odd as Leon was, Mrs. Cornell couldn't deny the boy's intelligence.
Leon briefly glanced out the window and noticed some children about his age playing in the street. Watching with curiosity as the group tossed around a ball, he realized that he didn't envy them. What was the purpose of those games they enjoyed so much? They certainly wouldn't learn anything from them. Leon couldn't comprehend why they would waste their time with such meaningless activities. Didn't they realize that learning was the way to achieve true perfection? They were the same age as he was; why didn't they act like him?
Leon wondered if those children knew that the cosine of a 30 degree angle was radical three over two. They probably didn't. In fact, they had probably never given any thought to the subject of trigonometry. Leon almost felt sorry for them. They must have lived very sad lives.
After a fierce battle at Sector Y between the Cornerian Air Force and a fleet of Space Pirates, the Senate came up with the idea of Planetary Defense Day. The holiday was a thinly veiled attempt to reassure the populace that they were well defended. All throughout the planet, the Cornerian Armed Forces displayed its might with military parades and flybys.
As both a senator and an ex-fighter pilot, Stanislaus was obligated to play a role in the activities of Planetary Defense Day. The Air Force was holding an air show at a beach near Corneria City, and Stanislaus took the opportunity to launch his next re-election campaign, bringing Karolina and Leon along to the event. It was a bright summer day, and the mix of warming sunlight and cooling sea breeze provided the perfect atmosphere for the reptilian Powalskis.
Stanislaus spoke from his podium. "My friends, this is a day for us to think about our safety. As an elected official, it is my sworn duty to ensure that Corneria and its citizens are…"
Leon found the subject of his father's speech to be quite boring. The boy had no interest in listening to the drollery of politics, choosing instead to wander off and walk along the beach by himself.
Leon strolled down the coast, letting the water from the breaking waves wash over his feet. He could be rather solitary at times. Leon simply couldn't understand others; they didn't act like him, think like him, or share his motives. Except for his parents and tutors, they offered him nothing.
The distant roar of a fighter engine caught Leon's attention. At that moment, a pilot was flying his vehicle over the ocean. Leon knew very little about the Cornerian Air Force; it was not a subject his tutors had taught him about. His father may have been a former pilot, but Stanislaus, electing to spend most of his time focusing on senatorial duties, rarely had the chance to tell Leon stories of his days in the Force.
Enraptured by the sight, Leon stared at the fighter as it put on a display for the air show. He watched with amazement as it performed all manner of aerial maneuvers: it looped the loop, it made corkscrew turns, it dove sharply towards the water, and it rose up just before reaching the ocean's surface. Never before had Leon seen anything like it. He was instantly intrigued by the display. The pilot wielded so much power, controlling his vehicle like that. He could fly at supersonic speeds, he could dive, and he could flip. He could do whatever he wanted. He was the one in control.
Leon suddenly wanted nothing more than to become a pilot someday. Surely nothing in the universe could compare to flying one of those magnificent machines. Why, it must have been even more rewarding than learning a new subject from a tutor! Leon hadn't realized such a thing existed until that moment.
Becoming a pilot was obviously the true way to achieve perfection. Leon couldn't understand how he had been blind to the truth for so long.