inky nova

 Synopsis: A day in the life of an antisocial university undergraduate, set in a vaguely futuristic world.

Personally, I think that plants are overrated. Yes, they sustain all life on earth via photosynthesis, and some of them are really interesting or beautiful or simply stimulating, but they are so innate! The immovable, stationary things stand like sentinels on fair soil, but what are they guarding? To me, plants, mother nature and anything with smudges of both yellow and blue are a symbol of the past. Much like antiques, people keep them around to alter their environment, giving it a more rustic feel, bringing forth the prevalence of interior design likening apartments to cabins in the woods. 

Just why do people want to go back to the past?

Nova huffed audibly, rolling her shoulders as she considered her next words. Her digital pen rotated smoothly between her fingers, the ink drying as it came into contact with the cold air in her room. It was never cold enough for her, for she had a thermoregulation disorder: heat intolerance. Just 5 minutes in a room hotter than 29 degrees celsius and she'll be fainting all over the place. 

Another reason I hate nature is that you can't control it. 

The nub of her pen glided across the black screen of her tablet, leaving a purple string of words in its wake. 

In the summers, I had to be holed up at home like a prisoner while my friends danced at pool parties and licked at popsicles in the heat. 
They say an environment determines a person's character.
My friends always call me cold, heartless and unfeeling.

"Ugh!" Nova yelled, pushing away from her table. Her wheeled chair took her to the other side of her room, to the window where she could see towering skyscrapers with ad billboards the same length. Bringing her knees to her chest, she curled inwards, her thighs blocking her view of her tablet. Strands of purple fell across her face, mingling with her tears of self-loathing.

A light-hearted ping sounded from her desk and her tablet screen lit up with a notification. 

Slowly, Nova got off her chair and padded over to the desk, peeking at the text message's content. 

inkyu: novaaa, wanna go to the old film festival? i won tickets from some lucky draw thing, plus i'm hella bored so let's just go! lmk asap kk? <3

Staring at the message, Nova started typing a reply.

nova: eh, don't feel like it srry 

Looking over her message, Nova's eyebrows furrowed as she battled between her hatred of everything before 2200 and Inkyu's companionship. 

Sighing, Nova eventually came to a decision.

She pressed send.

In school the next day, Nova was sitting languidly at her desk, sipping on an iced cappuccino. Her left hand dangled the drink precariously, making the liquid slosh around and sometimes escape from the cup, while her right hand twirled her digital pen. Call her ambidexterous, 'cause this was no mean feat. 

Her hands weren't the only parts of her that were preoccupied, for her eyes scanned the practice questions on her tablet while her mind decided on the proper answering method. Plus, she had been conversing with Inkyu the whole time.

"You can't do this one thing for me?" Inkyu asked, her voice bordering on petulance. "I've agreed to come to all of your study sessions, but you can never come to any of my events!" She continued, her arms gesticulating wildly. "And stop that!" A livid hand snatched Nova's tablet from under her, then extended to hold it out of her reach. With an exasperated sigh, Inkyu asked rather pointedly, "Why are you ignoring me?"

Nova averted her gaze from her tablet to Inkyu's sulking face. She leaned further back into her chair and took a long sip of her cappuccino before shooting back, "I didn't force you to study with me. If I had known that making you come would incur a debt, then I never would have asked."

Inkyu's breath catched, her eyes watering over. Her face was a contorted image of hurt. Shaking her head, she muttered, "I'm done," before storming out of the classroom, just as the bell for first period chimed.

Planning to return to her work, Nova turned back to her desk before yelling, "Inkyu! My tablet!" Getting out of her seat, she stumbled over the sea of incoming students, fixing her sights on a head of light purple hair. "Inkyu!" She called out again, and her only response was a quick glance back from Inkyu. Nova swore she could hear the giggle that escaped her lips, above the cacophony of students bustling in and gossiping. 

"Inkyu!"

Nova caught up to Inkyu at the cafeteria. Despite being heat intolerant, Nova had a private ice gym, where she could work out without the fear of her body overheating and giving out. Her favourite exercise was cardio, and she could spend up to 2 hours on the treadmill, pounding her feet down on the conveyer to sweat out her feelings. Now, she easily tackled Inkyu, pinning her to the door of the still-closed cafeteria. 

"Give it," she ordered, twisting Inkyu's arm as a warning.

"Woah, chill Nova," Inkyu retorted sarcastically, "I was just playing with you."

"Playtime's over, give it back."

"Okay, okay," Inkyu replied, smiling as she handed the tablet to Nova. At the last moment, her hand swerved in the opposite direction and released her hold on the tablet. Unfortunately for Nova, Inkyu was a hardware expert and managed to make her tablet land exactly on the case's weak spot.

"NO!" Nova shoved Inkyu aside and dived for her tablet, but it was way too late. How could she have predicted that? 

"Guess you didn't expect that," Inkyu commented, a smug grin plastered on her face. Nova cradled her tablet, pressing hard on the power button. "Uh-uh, the motherboard's fried. You'll have to repair it~" Inkyu's singsong voice did nothing but grate on Nova's nerves.

With that, Inkyu skipped merrily back towards the classroom, leaving Nova with her broken tablet outside the cafeteria doors.

The professor was speaking in hurried tones about the latest changes to the syllabus and grading system. Nova strained to listen attentively, but her fingers itched to write something down. 

"The Ministry of Education has incorporated monthly project work as part of your cumulative grade point average. The assignments for each month are as follows, January: Digital Marketing, February: Hereditary Diseases, March..." With his back to the class, the professor began reading off the slides on the huge screen sitting ominously at the front of the class. His hair was short yet fluffy, with a shade of ash. The fine lines of his upturned strands caught the soft light, making it look entracing and almost angel-like. 

Wincing at herself, Nova turned her head away from the professor and back to the slides. Focus. Focus, she sighed, eyes angling downwards to stare blankly at her twitching right hand, eager for a pen. She had no choice. 

Rifling through her bag for a notebook she was sure was stashed somewhere, Nova's gaze alternated from the contents of her bag to the professor's slides. Just as he finished reciting the assignments for all 12 months, Nova's hand landed on a soft paperback notebook. She smoothly pulled it out and laid it on her table in one swift motion, before reaching back into her bag for a pen. 

"Apart from the project work, you will also have to write a thesis paper at the end of this year. This paper determines what courses will be available to you next year..." As the professor went on, Nova's hand hovered over the notebook, the pen vaguely shaking between her fingers. Paper, trees, nature. Back to the beginning. She hadn't written in a traditional notebook in so long. A gentle, imperceptible warmth emanated from the pages, the heat probably generated from months of rubbing against her tablet and laptop. 

She smoothened out the page, the hairs on her fingertips catching the bumps on the uneven sheet. From her seat beside Nova, Inkyu let out a quiet sound of amusement as she turned her attention from the professor to her friend. Were they still friends?

Of course they were. Nova was never one to end a friendship, especially since so little people could tolerate her unusually antisocial behaviour. To her, her actions seem perfectly reasonable. After all, if she's going to faint from just a little overexertion, she might as well make use of every ounce of energy she can expend.

Nova let her eyes slide shut, breathed in the scent of crisp air conditioning and began to write. In a mere 5 seconds, she had already slid into a state of flow. Her ears picked up keywords from the professor's speech, her brain processed the information and chewed it apart, allowing her to understand the implications. Last but not least, her hands converted thought to text, the strokes neat yet swift, her arm strong and tense.

Thesis paper: 50% of CGPA
Topic must have <5 already published articles unless a vastly different conclusion (against majority) is made
Individual work but can ask peers, teachers, staff for help (if so, do credit them)
Deadline 9/11/2250

As the professor closed his presentation, Nova leaned back into her chair, stretching her back that had previously been hunched over the desk as she scribbled away. Rolling her neck, Nova turned marginally towards Inkyu and asked, "Do you remember what he said about those monthly group projects?"

"Ummm," Inkyu paused, tapping her purple glitter gel pen against her temple, "yeah! It's part of the CGPA and every month has a new theme. This month's is digital something, I think like advertising or social media, something like that, and--"

"You mean digital marketing?" Nova interrupted.

Scrunching up her eyebrows, Inkyu frowned as she lost her train of thought. "If you already know, then why'd you even ask me?" She crossed her arms and turned away from Nova, puffing her cheeks in childish crossness. 

Since Nova didn't know how to reply to that question, she did what she usually did.

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