Chapter 1

A lot of people would say that I was arrogant. Every one of them would be correct.

Going into high school at fourteen was only one of the very many things I bragged about - starting in tenth grade, no less. Every quiz, every test; all aced. Everything they taught or tried to teach, I'd learned about a few years back. During all of my classes, I'd study up on astrophysics and software engineering instead of listening to their lectures. They didn't really care, and I never asked why. I'd always assumed my father had something to do with it.

My father. I frowned as I lost my place in the book I was reading. Just thinking about him put a sour taste in my mouth. Everyone I knew expected me to follow in my father's footsteps. While that was something I'd looked forward to when I was younger, now I wasn't so sure myself.

The sound of the teacher getting up out of her chair broke me out of my trance. I glanced up in time to see the projection board at the front light up. With a deadpan look, I turned my attention back to the book on my desk. I can only imagine what she's going to suggest we watch.

The teacher clapped her hands together, drawing the attention of the rest of the class. "Alright, students, I know we're all eager to get back home, but as per tradition with the beginning of the school year, the Ministry of Science requests that we play their educational video."

"Tch," I scoffed. Some of the students surrounding me turned back with a glare.

The teacher's eyes sharpened as she turned to me. "Mr. Tenma," she warned.

I sighed dejectedly, closing my book and turning my full, undivided attention to the front, leaning forward a little too eagerly.

She turned back to the projection with a sigh, clicking the remote in her hand. The room dimmed and the speakers started to play a cheesy tune.

My overly eager look faded and was replaced with boredom. Absently, the words from the video echoed in my ears; words I'd heard too many times to count. I began mouthing the words mockingly, making faces at the screen.

"Metro City," the narrator of the video boomed. "One of the most technologically advanced cities in the world." The video began showing the life of the city, panning through several shots of parks, streets, and buildings from both Level One and Two.

I rolled my eyes. While it was true Metro City was a beautiful sight to see, the same couldn't be said of Level Three. Most of it was all robot scrap, thrown to the surface and discarded. Some of it even underground; hundreds of tunnels through Mount Sofia, inhabited by God knows what. And yet, there were still people who lived on Level Three. My face betrayed my thoughts, curling in disgust.

An idea flew into my head and a mischievous grin settled onto my face. Glancing around the room and making sure no one was looking, I reached into my bag and grabbed my laptop. If the Ministry of Science was hellbent on making sure we watched this video every year, then I'll be damn sure to make it one to remember.

I opened my laptop swiftly but silently and got to work. My fingers blurred on the keyboard as I began hacking into the presentation board.

"Leading this revolutionary vision is the Minister of Science, Umataro Tenma."

My head snapped up and I stared evenly at the face on the screen. There he was in all his glory - my father. His long dark brown beard and beak-like nose took up the whole resolution, it seemed. Taking my anger and putting it towards my task at hand, I continued on.

Almost had it.

"Thanks to the labor of our robot handymen, life in Metro City is-is b-brigh-ter than ev-ev-ev-ev…"

Let the chaos begin.

The sound continued to repeat as the screen pixellated and warped. The class began to stir following the disruption.

"What in the world?" The teacher looked up, bemused. She looked at the remote and pressed a few buttons, hoping one of them would work.

The room went black. A few voices from the class let out yelps of surprise.

"Well, howdy!" a voice with a very southern drawl exclaimed from the front. A blue hologram appeared on the screen, hopping excitedly. Every one of the students' faces were drawn to the sudden appearance of the entity.

A very pixellated hologram of my father's face appears next to the cowboy. He looks over at it and leans on it with one arm. "So you think this guy's a prodigy, do you?" The cowboy scoffed and waved his hand in dismissal. "Please. He's a genius, sure, but when you start getting full of yourself, there's a line to be drawn." The cowboy laughed before adding, "The guy can't even tie his own shoe!"

A picture of my father's poorly tied shoes appeared next to him. The hologram chortled at that and slapped his knee. At this, some kids bubble with laughter. However, most of them are silent. Some are even bold as to look back at me with a frown.

Well, that's not quite the reaction I expected. I closed my laptop discreetly and moved to hide it in my desk when -

The teacher's hand slams on the top. I jump, eyes wide. When did she get there? I hadn't even noticed she'd moved!

Her blue eyes were seething. "Principal's office, Mr. Tenma. Now," she demanded.

I grabbed my bag and swung it onto my shoulder as I stood. The eyes of every student were burning into me as I exited the room.

The school bell sounded as I grumpily made my way to the principal's office. Students of every grade began swarming the halls and I was soon surrounded by the sound of their chatter like mad bees. Arriving at the door, I let out a huff as I sat, my bag falling to the ground in front of me as it slipped off my shoulder.

My eyes remained fixed to the ground, but I knew there were people staring at me. I could feel their eyes as my skin crawled with embarrassment. After a moment I began fidgeting, playing with the strap of my bag and running my thumb along the seam.

My thoughts ran wild, quickly saddening me. Where did it all go wrong? Why had I become the way I did? Was it truly all just rebellion, or was there something deeper? Some other meaning to why I was acting out in the way I was?

I let my strap fall as I grabbed for the hat on my head. Pulling it in front of me, I looked down at it. Sad memories began to flood into my head - memories of my mother, back when everything was more simple. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes, but I blinked them away.

The door beside me opened, and the vice principal - a silver robot with small, beady green eyes - rolled out. It looked down at me with an affirmative beep. "Principal Kisaragi will see you now."

My eyes stung as I stood, grabbing my bag and entering the office. As the door closed behind me, the robot rolled away to the corner of the room where it stood, hands crossed in front of it. I stood in front of the principal's desk awkwardly, refusing to make eye contact for fear that if I did, my tears couldn't be held back.

Principal Kisaragi looked up. "Ah, Toby. Please have a seat," he said simply, motioning to the chair in front of his desk. I placed the hat back onto my head as I sat.

The silence dragged on for what seemed like hours before he finally let out a deep breath. I looked up briefly to see his mustache hairs flow outward. His fingers were laced together as he stared into my eyes. I quickly looked down, focusing my gaze on his desk.

"So we both know what brought you in here today," he began. "Now, let's explain why you thought this would be a good idea, hm?"

I began to zone out, not because I wasn't listening, but because I didn't know what to say. The principal's hand entered my line of sight. I looked up at him, and he seemed to notice my desperate look. His eyes softened.

"Toby...help me understand. You were one of our model students-"

"Were?" I echoed, aggravated. "I still am!"

"You can't expect us to keep having high hopes for you when everything you do makes us think twice," the principal voiced sternly. "I've known you for years, Toby, and I can't imagine what's compelled you to act this way. This is not who you are."

I scoffed quietly, rolling my eyes. I knew that everything he was saying was true, and part of me wanted to agree with him; to just stop and start over. But it would never happen, not while my father was the way he was - all caught up in grief; believing that the only thing that could satiate his depression was to keep working.

I must've had a thoughtful expression on my face as the principal added, "Has something happened at home?"

He struck it right on the cord. My eyes remained fixed to the desk as my thoughts bubbled, yet my voice remained inside. I couldn't tell him surely? What could he even do about it?

The principal sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I can't help you if you won't talk to me, Toby."

I'm trying! I wanted to scream. I couldn't find my voice. It seemed as though whenever I was provoked was when it decided to rear its ugly head. And when it did, all that came out was anger and betrayal.

"Do I need to set up a meeting with your father?"

"Good luck with that," I scoffed. "He has such a tight schedule, you won't be able to even get him on the phone for a few weeks if that."

The principal smirked. "Ah, it seems I got an answer out of you after all. So this is about your father."

He was so smug! Even though he got it out of me, it seemed like nothing really surfaced at all. My fists balled in my lap as I looked away from him. Then, something inside of me released and my fists uncurled, my body untightened.

"I'm nothing but a burden to him…" I murmured.

"No, you're not," the principal replied with a shake of his head. "You know your father loves you."

If that was love, then I'd eat my shoe.

"Then why doesn't he act like it?" I snapped, my eyes threatening tears once more as they burn into the principal's own. Upon seeing my expression, Principal Kisaragi flinched as if he'd been bit. "He does nothing for me!"

"Toby-"

I stand abruptly, the chair screeching against the vinyl. "Don't act like you know me, because you don't. You don't know a damn thing!"

I ran.

Slowing to a halt as I reached the front door of the school, I paused as anger began to build. There was no one around, everyone had already left. I punched the door with all of my strength, screaming in anguish. Again. Again.

I was blind to the pain as the tears finally fell.