Alto pressed his wrist comm on the scanner by the door, a second later it beeped and the saw disintegrated to reveal the portal that led into the room.
A wrist comm was somewhat of a common necessity in the world they lived in currently. It's acted as a communication device, as a web connector, a projector, a clearance pass. It was practically a walking super-phone. The version Alto had was nothing special, all of its functions were reduced to the mech division grounds, it was nothing special to others but it was a luxury to him.
As much as everything could be thought and downloaded on these wrist Comms like news and textbooks, the professor always made him carry around huge, heavy books that looked more like relics than actual useful data.
One thing Alto had learned in his three years with the so called mech designers was that they were all weirdos, some just to some heavenly elevated degree. He walked in and was greeted by the usually unordered room a bit more moderate than always, Alto was always taxed with cleaning up. At first he hated the taxing ordeal of cleaning up after the others messes but after a few weeks turning months he finally saw something to it.
Alto soon became able to identify certain things like mech parts, weapon shits, and tools. So it was not a wasted action, there was always more to learn.
As he walked forward past some huge clubs mech armour pieces while keeping the number of books up he was greeted by the one person he did not want to meet.
It was Charles Vans, the so called number one disciple of the professor. To Alto he had the ego of engine oil on a white shirt, impossible to get rid off my normal means.
"You're late, master has been waiting for you. Do you have any idea what you just did?" His voice as inflated as his ego.
Alto stuttered. "It's only been like ten minutes." He shoved his way past Charles and continued towards where he knew the professor would be.
Charles snorted.
"You even had the audacity to keep count of how much of master's time you've wasted."
Alto rolled his eyes and said nothing as he approached this so called master. Just a few work desks away, he could see her sitting on a silver chair that hovered in the air, her head was in the work desk looking at the bottle of alcohol before her. It was half empty but still enough to peak her interest.
Alto dropped the books on a nearby table and announced his presence to her. From his time learning from her Alto had learned a few things about her, she was a hard to discern person. She spent a great deal of her time in her special room only her had access to, no one knew what happened in there. Alto had struggled for years since she neglected him a lot and his co disciples, if he could call them that were anything but helpful.
All Charles Vans did was talk trash about him despite being twice his age and as for the other one, Eleven, he was a godsend case when it came to being a weirdo. From day one, they had not said a word to each other. Alto preferred not to think about him, or any of them for that matter. He doubted the professor even coached them.
If they were to agree to one thing it was that professor Maria Alberta Einstein was strange, she always claimed to want nothing to do with the planet's matters or the mech division but she still stayed.
The professor raised her head but did not look at Alto, "I was bored so I thought I'd give you a test. Everyone else leaves the room."
As usual Charles was the first to object about leaving her with him. "But master--"
She waved a finger to shut him up. "But nothing, you are doing nothing here in the first place to scram."
Charles looked very hurt before leaving, as for Eleven he stayed behind for a few seconds working on what looked like coils of wire that served no purposes in anything. He paid them no recognition and left the room.
Next the professor handed Alto a bundle of papers looking more like tests than a single work. Alto grained internally knowing that he would be busy for a very long time.
Over an hour passed before Alto exhausted his thinking capacity but he still had a few ways to go before finishing the work. He pushed himself from the work and made his way to the refrigerator for a cold drink. Deep down he still had not come to terms with his dreams of being a mech pilot thrown out the window.
He still had yet to achieve anything if he was to meet her again, he knew Amy would be doing well and that was enough encouragement for him to do better.
Just as he was just about going back to his test he could hear whispers coming from somewhere in the room but he was alone. "Is anyone there?" He asked but no one responded.
He knew no one had entered the room while he was working on the papers and the professor had fallen asleep on her work desk. Alto traced the source of the voice to the professors special room.
He could hear the whispers coming from within, hundreds of them together, it sounded like a discussion coming from the other side.
Alto felt frightened by the fact that people might be trapped on the other end, he wanted to wake up the professor but took a moment to think. Why would she lock up people in her work room? Was this some hidden agenda. Each question bore even more questions that he could not silence.
He went back to his work but the whispered did not stop, they grew more violent. In the end he decided to go take a peek in the room. It was then he would decide on what action to take, he managed to swipe the professors key card and walked up to the room. After gaining access to the room, what he encountered rattled him to the very core.