12

It was as if Venus had just dreamed of her dueling with a giant grasshopper, when a very high-pitched alarm yelled at her, until she awoke and sat up suddenly. Because of that, her eyes became somewhat dizzy. Venus groaned and lay down again for a few seconds. She grabbed the tablet on the nightstand. It was still 6:00 in the morning, and there was a message in the device with a loud clink once. The girl opened the message with her arms still hugging. The message contains a timetable for new students in grade one. Venus flickers to read today's schedule.

Venus complained. She tried to sleep again, but a minute later the alarm sounded again in her ears.

"Oh, God!”

She sat and stared at the ceiling of her room, hoping to find the technological spy who was watching her. While rubbing her eyes, Venus tried to ask the device about it. She did not expect that thing immediately answered in a voice like a child. As a result, she was shocked to death and threw the device to the side. Luckily it didn't fall to the floor.

“There are no surveillance cameras, Miss Venus. Only ordinary alarms work based on ultra-scanners and body sensors behind the ceiling. If you continue to sleep at the specified time, the alarm will continue to sound once a minute until you really wake up.”

Venus murmured thanks with a strange feeling. She never imagined that she would speak to a device. The girl then went to the closet and only found a set of black casual clothes and a pair of matching casual shoes. Surprised by the situation, Venus again asked to her tablet.

“Your family will send all your equipment later,” answered the tablet.

“I have no family,” Venus replied flatly.

“Oh, yeah, that's right. In that case, Volta must have taken care of it. Your body size has been automatically scanned, so you don't need to worry. Later in the afternoon the wardrobe will be full of your clothes.”

Venus looked at the rectangular object still lying on the mattress with a frown. There are other things that are more disturbing than when and where her body was scanned.

“Who paid for everything?”

“Your father. Who else?”

More than half of the daily Venus's attention is not so focused on the surroundings. While going to the Main Hall to have breakfast with Virzash, she confessed to her about what the Venus tablet had said. Virzash even joked how Venus's father's attitude was not as cold as it seemed, and therefore Venus must be grateful. Venus slapped him because of that. Even Shad's jokes and Lou's grunts at the dinner table were unable to make Venus forget the problem. Ris asked about Venus, but Venus responded with a foolish grin and said that she was fine.

“Don't force your brain to keep thinking about that problem, okay? Don't burden yourself. You know that's not good,” Virzash whispered to Venus, while they were in Room A1, about to take a Volta Orientation Tour. His hands squeezed Venus's shoulders briefly, after that he turned to face forward.

Even after the sweet Mrs. Rein introduced herself and invited A1 class students to tour, Venus had never felt this confused before. The sudden deaf incident frightened her, the incident on the Dark Portal scared her a little and maybe a bit annoyed, and the incident at the Talent Selection last night had nothing to do with confusion. And now, after hearing that the tablet she is holding says that the father is taking care of all the needs of his child here, while said Virzash, it is impossible for an ordinary person to enter this dimension let alone deal with Volta Juana, Venus really wanted to return to First Earth and demanded an explanation from Bima.

The biggest problem is, which father is she referring to? Bima, or is Venus's biological father somewhere now?

Yet Venus is very sure that Bima is not a volt. Ignorance of Bima does not necessarily make Venus become indifferent to him. However, no matter how many times Venus squeezed her memories, she could not find a gap that could change the identity of her adopted father into a volt.

Or what is meant is actually he biological father? Venus even had time to say that to her device in a whisper when Mrs. Rein was describing the Hobby Building, but instead it says that Venus's parents are both volts. That means, Venus is not crossbreed, but pure volts. However, when the girl asked who her parents were, the little voice on the tablet still mentioned a familiar name, namely Bima Samudera and Langit Prahara. The answer that actually makes Venus more dizzy seven around.

How Venus doesn't know her own parents. Inversely proportional to the knowledgeable device that Venus is holding.

When Mrs. Rein explained in detail about a large building that looked dark in front of them, Venus took a deep breath and began trying to get rid of her parents' problems. She realized she could not continue like this. There is no point in wondering while the answer is so clear. Or to be honest, it is increasingly unclear.

Basically, Venus knows she just doesn't want to believe the reality, and instead looks for illusory truths to calm her own heart. An attempt to fool myself to satisfy mere selfishness between useless debris.

Point.

“Is there something you want to buy, Ven?”

Virzash's question jerks Venus back to reality. She realized that other children began to stand regularly in front of a window.

“Are they lining up for tickets?” Venus asked.

Virzash blinked with surprise.

“Seriously, Ven!” Virzash retorted amused. “Didn't you hear what Mrs. Rein said?”

Venus widened her eyes and tried to find Mrs. Rein, but the bridge of her nose was nowhere to be seen at all. The girl could only grimace at Virzash with a guilty expression.

Virzash sighed again and explained patiently, “They are lining up for a Volta Card containing electronic money to spend here.”

Venus nodded while understanding. “So, is this building a mall or what?”

“This is the Building of Requirement,” Virzash said, then shrugged. “And, I don't know, from Mrs. Rein's explanation, we could have guessed like that.”

Venus took the back row without complaining, while Virzash followed in disgust. After waiting bored for a few minutes later, their turn finally arrived.

“Only two Volta Cards left,” a ticket window clerk said to Venus. “You named Venus?”

Venus nodded, then accepted the card. The card looks like a silver credit card. The name and serial number on the card are fifteen digits. Without asking, Venus understood that the money on the card came from her father. She don't know which father.

The Volta Orientation Tour ends after the new students shop at the Requirement Building. Most buy things that they think are fun, with fixed limits. Namely, a maximum of one hundred volems per day. Because Venus is afraid of being wrong, she doesn't want to guess at what volem exchange rates are to rupiah or dollars. Venus herself is not interested in buying anything, so she just looks around, trying to stay away from the other children.

The alarm sounded shrill once in all of Volta. Venus opens her tablet and sees a reminder that has appeared on the screen.

LUNCH BREAK

“Do you want to eat or not?” Venus asked Virzash, who had been wearing a long silver necklace with a skull on it.

“You didn't buy anything?” Virzash instead asked back.

Venus rolled her eyes and left the baby boy without another word.

• • •

“So does anyone know what are the limitations in using Talent?”

Right now, Venus and all the first year students are marching in the middle of a closed field. The black walls that surround the clearing stand arrogantly, as if to block anyone who wishes to enter the field without permission. They were there for the Talent Development practice, right after the break.

Mr. Zub, the strict-faced coach who spoke just now, looked at the faces in front of him sharply. Venus turned to Virzash and looked at him.

“What?” whispered Virzash, feeling annoyed.

“Do you know the answer?” Venus asked probing.

“You've never opened your tablet?”

Venus rolled her eyes.

“You say as if you already know,” muttered Venus annoyed. “Why not answer the question from Mr. Zub, then?”

Virzash's face turned red.

“I once read the material book on a tablet, but I forgot,” he answered slowly.

Venus snorted. Seriously!

A bespectacled girl raises her hand.

“The length of time a person uses Talent cannot be more than two hours,” the girl said. “Or at least, until the body begins to feel unable to release strength. Symptoms are dizziness, weakness, shortness of breath, and dizzy eyes. If it remains forced, it will cause death.”

Mr. Zub clapped three times and asked, “What is your name?”

“Lira Blezana.”

“Is the explanation from Lira's answer unclear?” This time Mr. Zub asked all students, who simultaneously answered no, except Venus.

“Are the symptoms the same for an excessive volt in exerting talent?”

Venus's voice jerked the other students, except Virzash. Their gaze made Venus's head itch again.

“And you are ...?”

Even though Venus was sure Mr. Zub was only pretending not to know, the girl still answered.

“Venus Samudera, Sir.”

“Good question, Venus,” said Zub, then turned his gaze to the others. “The symptoms are the same, but with one final warning added. When we over-exert talent, the symptoms as said by Lira will appear. Then, if things get worse, our body will send a final warning in the form of a painful jolt in the stomach. This final warning must be heeded, if not, you will die within the next five minutes.”

Someone said, “But in those five minutes, the paramedics can hea—”

“They cannot,” cut Mr. Zub firmly. “Medics or medicine can never cure anything. Because, starting from the first second, the nerves in our body will be disconnected in an orderly and gradual manner. Therefore, keep this in mind. Never exert your strength, if you don't know the limits of your own Talent. If not, you don't need two hours to be able to die painfully.”

The students fell silent. Venus bit her lip, afraid that she might make a mistake by killing herself. Or, worse, kill someone else. What Mr. Zub said was just a warning and an explanation, but Venus was as nervous as if she could just spit out fire just by breathing.

“Very exciting, really,” she murmured slowly.

A krona and dozens of students looked at her in shock. They are not aware that Venus only means sarcastic. Virzash even looked at Venus with a look of horror. Venus rubbed her friend's face with a quick and playful gesture. Virzash scowled in annoyance.

Mr. Zub cleared his throat.

“Let's start the training.” He said, interrupting the existing shock.

Mr. Zub divided them into ten groups according to Talent types. All the students looked excited again, but Venus was annoyed again. She felt a little hurt. The problem is, the type of her Talent is not included in any category. Virzash also, who stood up while folding his arms. Looks just as disturbed as Venus. Venus thought they both would be ignored by Mr. Zub, but apparently the krona came to the two of them first.

“No need to worry, you two,” said Mr. Zub soothingly. “I will train you myself."

Venus and Virzash stared at the krona in confusion.

“The groups will be trained with other trainers,” explained Mr. Zub.

A moment later, ten people seemed to enter the field and start heading to their respective groups. They consisted of five women and five men, all of them still like teenagers.

“Who are they?” Venus asked Mr. Zub.

“They are talented students from third grade,” Mr. Zub answered calmly. “Every year, potential third graders will always be proposed to become temporary trainers here.”

Venus nodded in understanding, but her attention was diverted. The girl watched as a group of stones not far from her surrounded a large rock. What is the purpose, Venus cannot see clearly. Across from her, the Air group stood tense as if they were holding the invisible heavy burden. Occasionally their hair parted slightly as if someone had blown it. The members of the Fire group seemed to be concentrating hard on a small fire the size of a mound, which was hovering over their palms. In the distance, Flora's group seemed to be struggling to try to make the Sudden Gliding Park, where the plants kept disappearing, as if returning to where they were before.

The funniest is the Fauna group. The group closest to Venus and Virzash seemed to be partying with white hamsters, who didn't like being in the middle of a field full of people.

“Venus!”

The girl gasped in surprise. She stuttered and tried to say sorry to Mr. Zub correctly. A strange voice coming from Virzash told Venus that the baby boy was laughing at her. It sucks.

“This exercise is really easy,” said Mr. Zub. “Only hard work and concentration are needed. Virzash, try to light a fire or freeze your palm. Strong concentration, don't divide. Imagine your Talent is in front of your eyes and all you have to do is reach it.”

While saying so, Mr. Zub raised his palm and Virzash followed. Then the krona turned to Venus, who was now almost laughing at Virzash's expression. The boy's face was as red as a boiled shrimp, but neither fire nor ice appeared in the slightest.

“Venus, your turn.”

Venus just stared blankly at the gray haired krona.

“What should I do, sir?” Finally Venus said.

“Do as I say with Virzash. You can imagine whatever Talent you want. Try on smaller objects first.”

“Yes, sir.”

After Venus said that, Mr. Zub was suddenly more interested in his tablet device. His brow wrinkled as if he were thinking about something. He was so focused on that object, that Venus used the moment to watch Virzash's performance.

Sweat ran down Virzash's crimson face, making Venus giggle because her friend looked funny in her eyes. The two of them were both surprised when the next left Virzash's left palm let out smoke. Venus nodded encouragingly as the baby boy looked at her. Virzash again mobilized his concentration. The boy gritted his teeth until the veins on his face protruded like worms in transparent skin. Virzash's right hand gradually began to freeze. His left hand still emitted smoke, but there were no signs of a solid flame.

“Wow, cool,” said Venus, feeling happy too.

“Venus!”

Venus jumped, and for the second time today, she stuttered again. Virzash's concentration was divided, and the power of his Talent immediately disappeared. The boy glared at Venus, as if the one who surprised him was not Mr. Zub.

“Why not practice?!” Mr. Zub grumbled in annoyance.

Venus hastily concentrated, for some reason, on the shadow of the bull breathing fire. Which of course makes her drenched with sweat without results. After realizing that impossible shadow, she immediately thought of something else.

Stone.

However, before Venus succeeded, the sound of warning alarms blared throughout the field. Furthermore, there was a heavy sound like a male robot that seemed to come out from nowhere. Male robot, Venus remembered with amusement. However, she could not feel ticklish any longer.

“DANGER! FIRE BANASPATI INTRUDER! VOLTS, GET OUT OF HERE!”

“DANGER! VOLTS, LEAVE THIS PLACE! NOW!”