Futura

Neo, tired of not having answers to his questions, decided to visit the future school since the brown-haired girl was wearing a uniform from there. Perhaps if he found her, she could provide more answers than his teacher. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember the details of his dream, just that she had long brown hair. He walked to the west of the city, full of doubts and fears, paranoid as he looked around, not forgetting the faceless figure.

He arrived at the future school and saw several students wearing lab coats and formal green and white clothes. The doors were open, and it seemed like anyone could enter, especially since their library was open and common for research work. As he passed through the school's doors, he found himself being stared at by various different people. Neo thought it was a normal reaction to seeing him in a different school uniform since it wasn't common for a student from another school to appear there, especially when Hoshi School had its own library.

Neo wandered around the future school, feeling a bit out of place. The building had a tall vertical structure with multiple floors, large windows, and glass staircases, allowing natural light to enter and providing a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. The spacious corridors were decorated with interactive panels displaying information about the school's activities and events, keeping students connected and informed. The decor predominantly featured shades of green and white.

Neo carefully observed each person passing by, searching for the brown-haired girl. And to be honest, he had already found several girls with brown hair. Due to not remembering exactly how she looked, he wasn't sure if any of them could be the one he was looking for. He decided to leave when he was close to the exit, and he noticed a banner indicating that it was the Technology Exhibition Week, happening at that moment. Neo's curiosity was piqued, and he wanted to take a look, as he enjoyed robotics and technology.

The large hall was filled with various booths, well-dressed students, and different projects aimed at improving or facilitating people's lives. Neo was particularly impressed with a project by a group of boys developing a bionic prosthesis. He felt moved at the thought that someone who had suffered an accident could have their limb back.

Another project that caught the boy's attention was the EcoCleaner, a robot designed to clean the pollution from rivers in large cities. Although Neo no longer bathed in the river, he was pleased to see efforts to keep the waters in his city clean.

Neo's attention was drawn to a drone that swiftly passed through the air at the exhibition. Looking up, he didn't realize he was heading towards a table. He stumbled and accidentally knocked over a glass that was on top of it. Seeing that the glass was about to shatter into pieces, he closed his eyes. Suddenly, an alarm went off, and Neo heard the sound of motorized wheels, as if several remote-controlled cars were approaching. Opening his eyes, he saw several mini-robots on his feet, equipped with cleaning materials.

A brown-haired girl with braids and round glasses appeared, standing up from behind the table he had bumped into. She was smiling. Neo couldn't help but notice that compared to the other students, her clothes were quite messy, with her shirt untucked, buttons undone, hair disheveled, and glasses askew.

"I do that too," Neo looked confused, not understanding what she meant.

"I also tend to trip over things," she chuckled lightly while adjusting her glasses. "If you had one of these, maybe you'd never lose your balance again," she said, pointing to a large belt around her waist with a big jewel on the big round buckle.

"What is that?"

"I call it Balancebuddy, a balance assistant. It helps you maintain balance anywhere that is unstable. Since I got it, I never fell again. Want to see?"

Neo didn't know what to say and just nodded. The girl grabbed a small stool and placed it in front of him. She stood on the edge of the stool.

"Oohh, I'm going to fall," she pretended to lose her balance, and Neo prepared to catch her.

"Just kidding, Balancebuddy!" she said while striking a pose on the stool. "It's amazing, isn't it?" she said, with a sparkle in her eyes. "The Balancebuddy uses advanced sensors and intelligent algorithms to detect changes in the terrain and body movements. It makes automatic adjustments to your balance to prevent falls or stumbles. It's like having a friend by your side, helping you stay steady!"

She then stepped down from the stool, and Neo remembered the glass he had knocked over.

"I'm sorry about the glass."

Looking at the glass, he was surprised to see it intact on the floor.

"It's okay; the glass is part of my inventions, UnbreakableGlass. It doesn't break even when it falls from any height. It's made of a special polymer. Do you know what a polymer is?"

Before Neo could respond, the girl's arm stretched out, picking up the glass from the floor, and Neo was startled again.

"What's that?" he asked, perplexed, swallowing hard.

The girl laughed at his question, took off her lab coat, and showed him her arm.

"No, silly. This is EZReach, a robotic extended reach arm. You wear it like a glove. You know when you want to grab the TV remote without getting up? It's very useful, especially for work. I keep forgetting some tools, and I'm too lazy to get up to get them."

Neo looked around and saw all those gadgets, then looked back at the other students who were showcasing just one project each.

"Why are you presenting several projects while the others are only presenting one?"

"Well, actually, these devices are what I use in my daily life. What I'm showcasing is something else."

"Really? Like what? A robot that cooks by itself?" Neo tried to guess what the girl's invention could be.

"Look! That would be cool. But my invention is this..." The girl took out a pocket watch from her pants. "I call it TimeWarp."

"TimeWarp?"

"Yes, TimeWarp! With this watch, I can manipulate time and go wherever I want."

Neo swallowed hard.

"But that's impossible."

"ANOTHER DEMONSTRATION! Now I'm going six months into the future, and I'll guess the lottery numbers. When I come back, I'll tell you."

The girl started a countdown, and with each passing second, Neo grew more anxious. Could that girl really have invented time travel? It would be a groundbreaking discovery. As the countdown neared its end, she couldn't contain herself and burst into laughter.

"Of course not, silly. Time travel is impossible," she said, still laughing.

Neo felt angry that the girl had fooled him and turned away from her, thinking about leaving.

"Hey, hey, wait. No more jokes. My greatest invention is this one."

Her arm extended to a table filled with different tools and items. She picked up an object that looked like an Oculus Rift.

"I call it DreamCapture."

"DreamCapture?"

"Yes! It records people's dreams."

Neo was curious; that device could be very useful, especially for him to find answers through his dreams. He stared at the girl, waiting for her to activate the device.

"Unfortunately, I can't show you how it works since you need to be asleep. In fact, I couldn't show it to anyone today."

That was a big disappointment for Neo, and he felt upset. The girl then struck a pose, pointing to her table full of things.

"So, what do you think of my inventions?"

Neo looked at everything and was quite amused.

"They're a bit weird..."

The girl felt a little sad at the beginning of his sentence.

"But they're very cool and fun," he said, laughing.

She gave him a wide smile.

"Thank you. I have more at home, but they said I could only bring these. Maybe I can show you more another time."

Neo was already tired; reaching that school was quite a walk, and he would have to walk back to the dormitories.

"I need to go home now; I have something I need to take care of."

"Wait!"

She took something out of her pocket and handed it to Neo.

"A souvenir, as you had the patience to listen to me. You can put it in your bag."

Neo looked at the keychain. It was a metal black cat.

"Thank you. Well, bye..." He looked at the name badge the girl was wearing in search of her name. "Carolina."

"Bye-bye, Neo."