Rian Cole stumbled out of the hospital's analysis room, hair a tangled mess. They'd poked him, measured him, weighed him, and checked him top to bottom.
Compared to the clan, those checkups were a joke—just a grumpy healer glaring at him, smacking his back, and sending him off to work with some weird herb.
They'd always half-assed it, treating him like a nuisance, but here? This was different with all the attention they piled on.
The hospital walls gleamed white, the beds had crisp sheets, and the doctors spoke with a respect that made him squirm.
And the best part…
No heat!
Cool air wrapped around Rian, and for the first time in forever, he didn't feel like he was roasting alive.
'This place ain't half bad…' he thought, until he caught something odd.
Some doctors eyed him from a distance, whispering among themselves as they passed with their clipboards. They stared, but it wasn't the usual scorn—it was…
'What the heck do they want now?' Rian wondered, scratching his neck as he trudged down the hall toward where they'd told him to go.
When it was all done, a nurse handed him a stack of papers and a bag stuffed with new pill bottles.
"Supplements," she said, pointing at the values on his results.
Rian squinted at them, but the numbers and words like "iron" and "vitamin D" meant zilch to him.
All he caught was that his body was a wreck, according to her.
"Chronic malnutrition," she'd said, and he just nodded, though he had no clue what "chronic" even meant.
He stepped into the main hall, papers in one hand, bag in the other, when Lena popped up in front of him. Her white hair glowed under the hospital lights, and her golden eyes raked him up and down.
She crossed her arms, raising a brow as she peeked at the results he held.
"Wow," she said, voice dry with a dash of mockery. "Your numbers are in the gutter. What've you been eating? Dirt?"
Rian sighed before answering.
"Fruit bread, when there was any," he mumbled, scratching his cheek. "Or sometimes soup."
Lena frowned, giving him a judging stare.
'What kind of diet is that?'
"That's seriously it…?" she asked, voice ticking up. "No wonder you're a mess. How'd you even survive on… that?"
She stepped closer, jabbing a finger at the papers.
"This says you're missing everything."
Rian scratched his neck, uneasy.
"Yeah, I saw," he said, glancing at the floor for a sec. Then he looked up, switching gears. "Where's your grandpa at?"
Lena let out a long sigh, arms dropping to her sides.
"He went off to handle something," she said, a hint of annoyance creeping in. "Left me here to babysit you."
Rian nodded, stuffing the papers into the supplement bag.
"Cool," he said, hopping up with a quick move. "Tell your grandpa thanks from me. I'm off to find that academy they signed me up for."
He started toward the exit, but Lena tailed him, brow furrowed.
"Wait, how're you even gonna get there?" she asked, confused and starting to get irked. "Do you even know where you are?"
Rian stopped, turning to her with a shrug.
"Nope," he admitted, voice calm. "But I'll just walk till I find it."
Lena blinked, thrown.
'What's this kid even saying? Walk till he finds the academy!?'
"You're gonna find it by walking…?" she echoed, trying to knock some sense into him. "Do you know how huge this city is? Or how far you'd have to hoof it?"
Her golden eyes widened a bit as she tilted her head.
"Normal amount," Rian replied.
Lena huffed.
"Hang on a sec…" she snapped, grabbing his hand.
Rian flinched at the warmth of her fingers, caught off guard by the feel.
"What's up?" he asked, frowning as he looked at her. He scratched his cheek with his free hand, puzzled by her reaction.
Lena let go and fished a small, shiny black box from her jacket pocket, holding it up to him.
"This is a phone," she said, coughing slightly like it embarrassed her to explain. "I got it for you."
Rian opened his mouth to say he didn't need it, but Lena raised a hand to hush him.
"Listen," she said, voice firming up. "These days, everyone's got one. Without it, you're gonna hit snags left and right—especially here. You can't just wander around like you're still in some cave."
She paused, gauging his reaction, and seeing her pitch land, wrapped it up:
"Trust me, this'll save you a ton of headaches."
Rian went quiet, thinking. The black box in Lena's hand didn't look like much, but if she said it mattered…
"Alright," he said finally, shrugging again. "I'll take your word for it."
He took the box carefully, turning it over in his hands. To him, it just looked like some plain old container.
"How's it work?"
Lena let out a long sigh.
'Am I dealing with a grandpa here?'
"Good grief…" she muttered, snatching the box back from him.
She popped it open with a quick flick, pulling out a flat white phone. She pressed a side button, and the screen lit up with a soft glow.
Rian stepped back, startled, as the light hit his eyes.
"How'd you do that?" he asked, pointing at the screen with a finger. His voice carried a flicker of awe as he leaned in for a closer look.
Lena rolled her eyes, but a tiny smile snuck onto her face.
"It's a touchscreen…" she said, keeping her cool to avoid losing it. "It reacts to whatever you tap on the screen. But first, we've gotta set it up. Look."
She brushed the screen with a finger, and a bunch of words popped up.
"You can read, right?"
Rian nodded, though not super confident.
"A little," he admitted, scratching his neck. "I'm not great, but I get by."
He scooted closer, watching Lena slide her finger across, making the options shift.
"Good," she said, voice turning serious. "We'll set it to this language for now. Then you need an account with your email and…"
She paused, glancing at him sideways.
"Guessing you've got no clue what an email is, huh?"
Rian shook his head, shrugging again.
"First I've heard of it," he said, so chill it almost sounded like a gag.
Lena let out a louder sigh, running a hand through her white hair.
"This is gonna take a while…" she mumbled under her breath.