Chapter 16
Upcoming Interview
"Thanks for everything dude, I'll make sure to repay all of this after I'm done with my identity issues, alright see you later Edward"
With smile Edward nodded,
"No problem Lucius, it's my pleasure to help a friend in needs, just text or call me if something happen, and don't worry about repaying all of that,
I really meant to help you without expecting anything after all,
"Also you won't just go without farewell when you go abroad right? So don't forget to tell me when you pass the screening!, see you later then"
Lucius already went back to his home, their trips to Edward' villa was a great experience for him, he also able to get a really cool video to submit to the organization screening,
As it's already late when he arrived at home, both his sisters were already sleeping now, so he used the spare keys to open the door, and get inside quietly.
After washing up his face, feet and hands, he immediately lay down on his bed,
Decided not to take shower because it requires him to have access to the bedroom, as the sisters already sleeping the door are locked,
Well he didn't really sweat when he got a really comfortable drive home, unlike when he rode his own motorcycle.
Because the long day he experiences on the villa, he actually quite tired, the flying, shooting a video, and just being around a foreign place spent a lot of his energy and attention,
So not long after laying down on the bed, he fell asleep still wearing the clothes he wore before.
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Fast forward it's close to 6 AM, his phone rings, alarms going off at its intended time, he wakes up and stops the alarms.
Both Eve and Sophia already wake up, preparing their departure to their destination,
Eve school have really morning class, she has to be ready before 6 AM and arrived at school before 6:30 AM,
Meanwhile Sophia is preparing a lunchbox for Eve, before she gives Eve a ride to school with her own motorcycle.
Their morning from Monday to Friday always the same, actually it was Lucius that gave ride to Eve before, but he can't do it now,
Noticing Lucius already wake up, Sophia ask him about his last 'adventure' while still busy preparing lunchbox for Eve and herself
"Luci, how's your plan going yesterday? Is it a success?"
Lucius get up from bed, walk towards the water dispensers, he said while taking a water to hydrate,
"It's a success!, I actually have the video with me, want to take a look?"
Putting the glass down he immediately take his phone from the bed, he walks closer to his sister to show her the video.
"Here look"
Sophia, with both of her hands still busy with cooking utensils, gave a look at the phone screen.
The finished video from yesterday are played, the scene with Lucius standing alone in a dim study room shows up,
Only 'her' back showed to the camera, after a couple seconds a pair of wings came out from her back.
The camera moved to her left side, taking a low angle, she then slowly faced the camera and followed the movement.
Then the top lights switched on, giving her something akin to a halo of an angel because of the low angle of the camera.
With her serious and cold expression, she looks away from the camera and faces the light in front of her, the camera moves again in diagonal to her front left.
A second later she hunched a bit, wings folded and then she launches ahead with a flaps of her wings,
The scene stopped, what appears next is a scene when she is standing on top of a wall facing a sunrise, only her right side and her back appear to the camera.
Winds blowing, the dress and her hair dancing in the air, the dawn light illuminating her figure.
She closed her eyes, then wings came out from her back, leafs scattered then the camera moved slightly to the side zoomed in focusing on her upper body.
She walked ahead, a couple seconds later her figure was falling from the wall, the camera failed to follow her down.
Seeing the scene Sophia flinched almost screamed because of the horror she saw,
Fortunately after a couple seconds later a black silhouette appears, the camera followed, it was 'her',
She flew fast from the bottom of the ravine to the sky ahead, light illuminating her figure, after gaining altitude suddenly she stopped.
Her gaze focused on the sunrise, floating in the air in silence, after a couple seconds her head moved in fast motion focusing her gaze toward the camera.
With a graceful motion she dives down from the sky getting closer to the camera, after almost colliding with the camera she stopped.
Her wings extended to the sides, then she got closer with her hand reaching towards the camera, the light of dawn illuminating her back, so her front face was almost dark.
After holding the camera she flew again with astonishing speed towards the sky, penetrating the clouds.
The camera took the scenery of the forest bathed in the light of dawn, mountain, rivers, lush vegetation, and a calm lake are seen in the screen.
The camera moves scanning the whole region, a cluster of houses appears in the distance, it appears very tiny,
After getting a good scenery, the camera suddenly flipped now showing a beautiful face,
In that beautiful face appears a captivating smile, the camera getting closer to the face, then the video ends.
Sophia's hands already stopped before the video even took half of its duration, hyping after seeing all the scenes, especially when Lucia fly closer to the camera.
For her everything was amazing, smiles sprouted from her mouth, a grin showed up, and with a big hand movement she hugged Lucius' body.
"Amazing! It was fantastic, fabulous! Wow! I just can't say anything…"
After realizing that she made an exaggerated expression, she getting embarrassed, and quietly stopped with a fake cough.
"Ehem, but! I really meant all of that!, let Eve watch that, she will like it for sure,
"Alright let me finish this lunchbox, you can go to Eve, she should be done dressed"
Lucius smiled, he was really happy seeing Sophia's feedback, he felt that the video will work for sure.
Then he immediately walk towards the bedroom door and knocked, after hearing an answer,
He get inside, with a grin on his face he said,
"Eve, I have something to show to you"
Actually Eve already heard the commotion in the kitchen, she know something really cool and amazing happen,
To be able to make her aloof sister make that reaction, so her expectations are soaring through the roof right now.
With a smile she got closer to Lucius and focused her eyes on the phone screen.
"Heeh.. Let me see"
Lucius played the video again, now letting Eve hold the phone by herself.
Through the whole duration of the video, her expression changes several times, amazement, shock, chills, and finally genuine happiness.
Still shocked after seeing the video, Eve fell seated on her bed frame, a grin slowly appearing on her face.
After that.. Well an eruption of emotions comes from her, she almost can't say anything but gibberish.
Eventually she chose to just hug Lucius to calm herself down, after releasing Lucius from a tight hug,
A tears comes out because of intense emotions, she said with a big smile,
"Brother Lucius.. That was amazing!!, how are you able to make that video!?, the directing and acting gives chills down my spine!,
"And.. And those views on top of the sky were really beautiful, I can't even describe how amazing the views are..
"It must be more amazing seeing that directly.. Wow.."
Lucius is only able to grin, because she also feels the same, the feeling of flying freely in the sky was not something she ever thought of before.
Sophia comes to the bedroom, she was ready to give Eve a ride to school, as it's almost 6 AM, and she already finished packing the lunchbox.
Eve calmed down after seeing her sister, but the thoughts of sharing the feeling with her made her heart beat fast once again.
"Sister Sophia!, you see the video right!? That was amazing!!,
"Brother.. How were you able to make all of that?"
Sophia was also curious about the story of how he was able to make all of that happen, so she listened from the side.
Lucius of course feeling happy to finally able to share it, with a grin he said,
"Actually the directing is mainly suggested by Edward, I do have some suggestions and have modified some scenes, but he is the one who makes the whole scenario"
Knowing her brother Sophia wouldn't say much because she knows that Lucius for sure will try his best to repay back the help he received.
Instead she feels genuinely happy and said with a gentle smile on her face,
"You really have a good friend Luci, keep in contact with him, and help each other, at the end of the days who gonna help you besides family is friends,
"Ah, please relay my thanks to him, oh maybe when we can meet again I'll say it myself"
Eve watching from the side with a bit of complicated expression, but eventually smile appears on her face, she add,
"Yeah brother, your friend really is the best.. So keep him around!"
Already knowing that he has a lot of debt to be paid to his best buddy Edward, he feels really grateful, because not all friends will go as far as what Edward did.
Checking the time on her phone, Sophia realizes that it's time to give Eve a ride to school, so she wears her outdoor jacket and long pants.
Already done packing the lunchbox into her school bag, Evelyn went outside to wear her shoes, as Sophia started her motorcycle.
Lucius watch from the front door, well his sister Sophia will be back in about 30 minutes and preparing to go to work.
So in the meantime he decided to help Sophia with washing the dishes,
After giving Eve a farewell and seeing his sisters departed, he went inside and do small chores, then he take a shower,
Out from the bathroom fully clothed, he went to dry his hair with a hairdryer, and began making a draft for the email of the video.
Not long after that a sound of motorcycle can be heard, Sophia back after the shuttle.
Because the time are short for Sophia, she immediately get dressed for her work clothes, gave Lucius farewell and went to work after about 40 minutes of preparation.
Now being alone in the home, Lucius is finally able to focus on making the draft for the email.
After about 20 minutes of typing on his phone, he finalized the draft thinking that it's already quite good.
'Alright, let's check the draft, grammar checks, polite and formal words checks,
'Wait.. If i remember correctly email only supports small size files.. How much is the video size again..?
'Oh.. More than 1 gig.., hmmm maybe i can attach a link to a cloud files, yeah this is the only way,
'Alright let's upload the file to my cloud storage first, when it finished i can finally sent the email'
Uploading the video to his account Lucius Waited for a while, it's because his wifi speed is only up to 30MB/s so it takes quite a while to upload.
Finished uploading the video he takes the link and attaches it to the email, then with a deep breath he presses the send icon.
"Huft.. Now it's only waiting"
Because he feel restless about waiting without doing anything, he decided to practice controlling his wings and get more familiar with it.
There's still no answer past noon, so he decided to just forget it for a while and just do his usual daily routine when he's taking time off from work.
Night comes when Lucius finally finishes a bath, then he try to make dinner for three, so he hasn't even checked the email again.
Like always the sisters comes together at around 6 PM, the dinner is almost ready when suddenly his phone rings.
"Huh? Who will call me at this time? Edward?"
After telling his sister to take over the kitchen, he picks his phone just to realize it's an unknown number that is calling him.
"Oh? Who is this? Wait..A foreign number?"
Looking closely at the number it doesn't start with the same code as the one he used and other in the same country used.
With a slightly nervous heart he answered
{Good evening, may i know who am i talking to?}
{Good evening Ms.Lucia, I'm from the Magical and Power Transformation Ability Research Center or in short M.P.T.A Research Center, I called to inform you that you have passed our second screening and is eligible for next step, congratulations Ms.Lucia}
A calm and composed male voice can be heard from the other side.
{Oh?! Wow.. Thank you for informing me about it, ah sorry to ask but is it a procedure to call us for this information? No, i mean i really appreciate all of this but to go this far, honestly I'm quite nervous right now}
A hearty laugh can be heard from the male callers
{Hahaha.. Understandable, actually we won't go as far as calling everyone like this, the procedure is to sent a confirmation email to their contact,
Ah?! I'm sorry i forgot to introduce myself, I'm the chief researchers from M.P.T.A Research Center for Korean branch, Song Im-Hyun,
Actually I'm quite interested by your profile and power, by your first email i already keep an eye for your power and traits,
So calling your number actually my own choice, as I'm also the one that will become the interviewer for your next step }
Lucius felt really nervous right now, as he got someone on his caliber calling him personally and giving his attention to him.
He didn't know what to say, so he just awkwardly said his gratitude.
{Thank you for using your time for me sir Song Im-Hyun}
{Haha no problem, let me tell you about the next step, there will be 2 step interview before finally passed all the test,
Step one will be done via online meeting, so please prepare a working devices with a good webcam and do it in a place good light, we will do the interview in Wednesday on 9 AM in KST time
If you pass this interview you basically already become our research members, the second interview is for contract and personal contract, customized demands, and other information about rules and benefits.
The second interview will be held in our research center, maybe in about one or two working weeks.}
As Lucius listened, a question sprouted from his thought, even though he felt nervous he still tried his best to appear polite,
{Uhh.. Sir, can I ask something?}
Without hesitation Song Im-Hyun gives his approval
{Sure, ask me anything}
After arranging his thoughts he then say it carefully,
{I'm sorry if I appear to be rude or uneducated, may I ask about a favor?}
Nervously waiting for an answer, Lucius is sweating hard, thinking that his question is a rude one, because the chief appears to be silent for a couple seconds.
{Hmm… tell me the specifically, I'll decide after hearing it}
There's a drop of tone in the chief voice, appear to be colder than before, of course Lucius felt that he really make a mistake for asking that, but he must do it for his own good,
So with a determination, he explained what his favor is,
{Actually sir this is related to my power and traits, and my whole identity,
What I'm asking is to keep all of this secret, even from other volunteers or awakened in the organization later,
And…the most important things is to keep my original identity a secret from media,
Uhh that's all, once again sorry that I'm stepping the line here}
{Ahh… identity huh, power and traits… so what you submitted to the organization isn't all of it huh.. Alright then convince me of why i should give you a special treatment}
The chief researcher seems to be amused by Lucius request, his voice can be heard by his curious tone,
Lucius begins telling half of his secret to the chief, it's about the curse and his identity, but he still wants to keep his special traits of 'dual elemental affinity' a secret.
{... So that's why i want to keep it secret from the media, i don't want my family get exposed to the media and become viral, you can tell them about the gender change thing but please keep my old identity secret}
{Ahh.. I see, That's really interesting indeed, having your identity gone because of body and gender change, actually when you talk about it,
There's another person who have similar circumstances as you, well 'he' or should i call her she is still able to change his transformation body back,
So your case is actually more unique, it is a curse isn't it?, alright if it's only that favor i can try to keep it from the media, but don't put your hope high,
As your information is exchangeable from branch to branch, but It should be only accessible to higher up,
Alright is that all?}
Sighing hard Lucius calm his heart down and giving all his gratitude towards the chief,
{Yes Sir, that's all, thank you very much for accepting my request, I'm sorry if I offended you at some point}
Finally went back to his usual tone, the chief laugh lightly as he heard Lucius,
{Haha.. I don't really get offended by your request, it's all good, i actually quite surprised by your bravery, i applaud that,
Alright, let's end the call now, and don't forget to prepare yourself for the interview,
See you in the interview Ms.Lucia}
{Ah yes sir, once again thanks, good evening sir, have a good day}
The chief ended the call with a deep hum of approval,
Finally the nerve breaking situation is done, Lucius felt to his butt onto bed, actually the whole time when he have the call
Eve and Sophia both are silently listening from the side, while Sophia still continuing the cooking for dinner, Eve was curiously watching with anticipation,
With her brother ending the call with a sigh, she becomes nervous, thinking about something bad, she then asks Lucius about what actually happened.
"Brother.. Did you pass? It's a call from that organization right?"
Lucius smiled after hearing Eve's question, his heart finally calmed down, so he told his sisters about the call and the interview.
"Eve, sister Sophia, actually I'm passed the second screening, the chief researcher just called me for that, also to tell me that in two days i have online interview,
So yeah.. He ask me to be prepared"
Eve and Sophia are visibly excited, but also nervous because of the interview,
After giving Lucius encouragement, Sophia ask about the preparation, as Lucius need a bright clean room and good laptop she let Lucius borrowed her own laptop to use,
But Lucius feel bad and concerned as that laptop is used for her work,
"Sister Sophia, is it okay? Don't you need that laptop for your work related tasks?, won't I bother you by using it?"
Her hand holding a large plate full of food for dinner, she stopped and look at Lucius in his eyes,
With a smile she told Lucius,
"Luci, don't worry about that, what important is completing your interview, you don't have to think about that, I'll be fine as i can use the company device as a backup,
Alright let's go eat dinner, we can talk the details after eating"
Eve helping her sister to arrange the dishes onto the table, she didn't forget to give her encouragement.
The night continues as the siblings have their conversation.
Lucius felt his determination, as in two days he will have an interview, and a really important one.