The blinding bright rays of sunshine shone through the make-shift blinds in the newly built classroom, hard, rectangular, wooden beams of scaffolding still present in each corner of the room and held the ceiling in place. The light from the old sun hit the white board in just the wrong way, for whatever direction you looked at it from you couldn't see a word written on it. This received; murmurs, silent complaints and annoyed whispers from the new generations sitting in the classroom.
"Cameron, I can't see the board" grumbled the youngest generation; around fourteen years old whilst the oldest new generation was sixteen years of age.
Cameron Jones was one of few teachers, now titled Instructors, on the planet. Since Earth was reborn everything was different. There was no religion, the few humans on the planet only spoke English and different actions, people and places were given new titles, new identities. Instructors weren't called Sir or Miss they were called by their first name. Cameron stood from his slight hunched position over his wooden desk. The young man pushed his round reading spectacles up his dashing and button-like nose then moved a pen, at the exact wrong angle, back to its original vertical position in line with the three other pens all of the exact same design. The sun light reflected onto Cameron's young handsome features in just the right way. The new generations swooned over their beautiful and aristocratic instructor; his piercing, knowledgeable and calculating blue eyes that had seen too much, his perfectly curved pink lips which parted slightly as he breathed softly, his pure angelic pale skin which most definitely always burned instead of tanned, it just gave his features a softer and gentler appearance. The same boy who complained earlier let out another loud sigh of frustration.
"Yes- sorry about that Jai..." Cameron answered smiling apologetically as he rubbed the back of his neck and messed with a few strands of his radiant raven hair. There was something about Cameron's actions, his face and the tone he spoke in that made him seem so child-like, so naive and trusting yet somewhere deep inside his soul rested a wise and tormented old man that had witnessed so much in a short amount of time.
"I'll fix it" he stated then calmly walked around his desk, straightening his neatly ironed grey shirt as he sauntered toward the window with the open blinds. The closer Cameron got to the window the more uncomfortable he felt. He stood before the window and rolled up his sleeves carefully. He cautiously moved forward and then…
The drums. The blasted drums that constantly banged through his head. Not quickly, no. Always at the same pace, always the same beat, always menacingly slow. The percussion playing in his mind was plaguing his life with an inner turmoil Cameron didn't want to confront. He frowned and tried to push past the odd feeling. His disciples, previously titled students, sensed the anguish presentin the atmosphere and decided to question it. A young female new generation drew the short straw as all the stares of the other disciples were directed towards her. She cleared her throat and then confidently spoke up.
"Cameron?" she questioned, disturbing his thoughts for a moment.
"Yes Aimee?"
"Uh… is everything okay?"
"Yes. Yes- sorry. I was just-.. just thinking, that's all" he replied.
"About what?" she asked, nudging him on. To this, he chuckled sadly and ran a hand through his raven locks.
"Too many things, Aimee. Too many things" he answered with a fake smile. His disciples saw straight through him and they huddled together like penguins during the winter, whispering to each other like it was some top secret investigation, getting their instructor to delve into more detail. Jai spoke up finally after being lightly shoved towards Cameron.
"What kinda things?" Jai inquired prodding the older man futher into the conversation.
Cameron exhaled through his nose and nudged the blinds out of the way with his knuckles. With sore eyes he watched as the constructors and inventors rebuilt New London.
It pained him to look beyond the boarder which was forbidden to cross but from this height he couldn't help but glance past it. Barren. Forlorn. Desolate waste land. If you squinted you could tell that there were infact carcases from humans and animal species along with the metal remains of technology, the robots that could have been your laptop or your microwave. It was simply inventions like this that destroyed Old Earth. Being the clever one, Earth took control of the situation with iron fist and started war before the Human's even realised what was happening and what they were doing to this world.
Cameron began to remember the night his parents were murdered. His memories were shady but he would never forget the sight of his cream living room walls being splattered with deep rouge blood that originated from his parents. He could remember the sounds of screetching metal like sharpening a meat knife, as the vacuum cleaner converted into a killing machine. He swallowed the hard lump that had formed in the back of his throat and tore his eyes away from the sight of the battle field. He turned around and leaned his hands back onto the window sil, pushing his hips forward ever so slightly.
"That's a story for another time. Now my precious disciples, what shall we attain from today's lecture?" he inquired inclining his foreward and giving his best smile.
Jai looked back over his shoulders toward his class mates and gave a confused shrug. They looked at eachother with raised eyebrows then chuckled quietly to themselves. Aimee raised her hand and spoke with confidence.
"What about Old Earth?"
"Well.. where do I begin?"
