Kybernan - 1

Chapter One: Paper

Kybernân was a dimension parallel to the planet Earth. It was a world filled with amazing powers that could be used to control both worlds. The people of this world call themselves the steersmen. For years and years evil humans would try to gain control of Kybernân and the steersmen would find their world in chaos. Many humans worked with the steersmen and together they saved Kybernân a number of times.
But peace never lasted. The evil that had attack Kybernân had polluted it. Darkness now attacked them from within as well as from outside. The steersmen then decided that it was time to cut all ties with Earth and they sealed all entrances and exits to their world. Kybernân no longer cared about the humans that ruined what was once a utopia. The steersmen were now only concerned with their own problems.

Roni sat in his sixth grade classroom energetically moving his pencil across his note book as his teacher recounted the stories of Kybernân. His desk was fitted with a touch screen displaying two identical wireframes of the planet Earth to illustrate Ms. Taylor's lesson. The young teacher noticed the boy's feverish writing and smiled. "Roni, can you answer the question?" she asked kindly. Roni froze. He actually hadn't been listening that closely or taking down notes. Instead he had been sketching what he thought Kybernân would look like. He looked past Ms. Taylor at the widescreen monitor that also displayed the two worlds, hoping that he would find a clue as to what he was supposed to say, but there was nothing. "Um…can you repeat the question, Miss?" he asked with a nervous smile. The teacher repeated, "Why do the people of Kybernân call themselves steersmen?" Roni relaxed. He actually knew the answer to this one. "Because they planned to steer their world towards a better future after they won the war against humans for severance. The word Kybernân means 'to steer a ship.'" he stated like he was reading from a textbook. "Very good, Roni," his teacher said before moving on with the lesson. Roni sighed and went back to sketching in his notebook.
Kybernân hadn't been seen by humans in nearly a hundred years. There was no telling what it really looked like anymore, but Roni liked to imagine that was like the fantasy worlds in books he had read. Tall mountains reaching into the mists, golden deserts with hidden oases, vast forest stretching for miles, and medieval towns complete with castles and knights. It all sounded so much better than the big city where he lived. Over the intercom system came the chime of the school bell and all the students started gathering up their Miniature Application Processors (aka MAPs) and digital books. Ms. Taylor reminded them all of a test due on Monday as they left.
As Roni walked out of school he continued to think about the magical world of the steersmen. He decided that he was going to color the sketch of the desert he had been doodling in class. First he would add a pyramid to it and maybe the dark figure of a steersman standing beside it. The main reason he used a notebook instead of his MAP was that he drew in it more than studying in it. Sure there were plenty of applications that allowed you to draw on your MAP (the devices could do almost anything), but he liked the traditional way of drawing more.
"Hey Roni!" called a voice. The boy turned around to see a group of his classmates all holding skateboards or wearing roller skates. He recognized the boy who had called him as Dash, a very popular kid at their school. Roni shouldered his backpack and walked over to the group of friends. "Hello, Dash," he said politely. "What can I do for you?"
"We were just headed to the skate park," he explained. "You want to come along?"
"The skate park? Um…no that's okay."
"Don't you have a board or something?"
"Doubtful," interrupted one of the other boys. "I'll bet little Roni's never even set foot on a board."
Roni hung his head. He actually never had been on a board and had no idea how good his balance might be. Dash sighed and offered Roni his own skateboard. "Would you like to try?" Dash said evenly. Roni stared at the board hesitantly before taking it and saying, "Sure thanks. I guess it couldn't be that difficult." He put the board down on the ground and stepped onto it shakily. Roni really had no interest in skateboarding or hanging out with these boys at the skate park, but he wasn't about to look like a wimp in front of them either. He pushed himself forward like he'd seen other kids do and ended up picking up speed without any problem. He skated down the sidewalk easily and decided that he would try to turn and head back towards Dash and his friends. He adjusted his feet and turned the skateboard around in almost a perfect 360. Dash looked thoroughly impressed with Roni's performance. Roni himself was starting to gain a lot of confidence in his new found talent. He picked up more speed and breezed passed his classmates. Unfortunately, at that very moment another boy on a three wheel bike was coming around the corner and Roni slammed right into him knocking over the bike and sending both boys skidding onto the cement.
Roni lifted his head and saw rolled up newspapers scattered everywhere around him. The boy he had knocked off his bike immediately got up and rushed to his side. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. Roni sat up slowly just as Dash and the other boys ran up. "Nice job, Roni," Dash said picking up his skateboard. "You managed to wreck the best beginner's luck ever." The other boys chuckled.
"I guess so," Roni replied with a forced smile.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. You okay?" Dash asked.
Roni stood up and replied, "I'm fine. You guys go on to the park. I think I'll quit while I'm ahead."
Dash nodded and he and his posse ran off. Roni finally turned to the boy who he'd knocked over. "I'm really sorry about your…newspapers?" he said looking at the papers he'd scattered.
"Don't apologize for them. Apologize for skateboarding without a helmet," the boy replied as he tapped his fist against his own helmet.
"Who reads papers in this day and age?"
"Enough to cover my job for now."
With that, the boy went to work picking up his bike and grabbing the newspapers. Roni slowly moved to grab a few papers, but he winced. He had hurt his knee when he had fallen, but he was trying to hide it. The paperboy noticed how he'd flinched. "I thought you said you were okay," he said with a reprehensive tone.
"If I had told those guys, they never would have let me hear the end of it," Roni said as he sat down on the sidewalk rubbing his injured knee.  "Do you have a long way to go?" the other boy asked.
"Not really. I live on Red Lion."
"Red Lion's almost six blocks from here!"
"I'll be okay."
Roni got to his feet and tried to avoid limping to assure the other boy that he was alright. The paperboy looked off down the street as if considering something. "Listen, if you don't mind following me on the last of my route, I can drop you off at home. It'd still be faster than limping."
Roni didn't really like the sound of this plan, but he liked the idea of stumbling home even less. He looked over at the three wheel bike that the boy had been riding. It looked a little big and heavy for the admittedly scrawny paperboy. "Are you sure you can drive with both of us on there?"
"I'm stronger than I look," he chuckled.
Reluctantly, Roni agreed to his offer and climbed into the large basket on the back of the bike.
"By the way, my name's Peter," said the paperboy.
"Roni," he replied shaking Peter's hand.

Peter zoomed down the streets, obviously trying to hurry though his paper route so he could drop Roni off at home before it got, too late. Roni admired how Peter never missed a single porch as he hastily threw the rolled up paper to every house. He definitely was one of those guys that took pride in his work. "So why didn't you want to tell your friends the truth back there?" Peter suddenly asked. "About your knee."
"They're not really my friends," Roni replied evasively. "I just know them from school."
"You should try to make friends with them," Peter continued. "They seemed nice enough and I'm sure they would have been happy to help you if you had told them the truth."
"You sound just like my Mom," Roni replied sourly.
"Your Mom sounds like a smart person," Peter chuckled.
It was true that Roni didn't have any friends at school. People told him he was "antisocial." Roni didn't have any problems actually socializing and he didn't have any ill feelings towards anybody. He just knew how complex people could be. There was no telling if two people could get along and even if they did, it was only a matter of time before one upset the other in some small way. Roni didn't like dealing with these ideas, so he just never tried making friends. He didn't appreciate Peter's ill-informed advice. This only fueled his speculations.
"I had a friend that never listened to his Mom either or anyone else for that matter," Peter said reminiscently. "That always got him into so much trouble."
Roni noticed the past tense way Peter was speaking. "Where is your friend now?" he asked curiously.
Peter was silent for a moment. They came to a crosswalk and stopped to wait for a green light. Peter finally turned to Roni with a forced smile on his face and said, "He actually died a long time ago." Roni's eyes widened in shock. He didn't know what to say. He'd never experienced the death of a loved one.
The light at the crosswalk turned green and Peter turned his attention back to the road as they set off across the street. "Don't feel bad," Peter went on. "He was a great guy and we had more than our share of adventures when he still around. Besides, I'm sure he's in a better place now."
Roni sat in the basket of the bike in silence. Finally they came to Red Lion street and Roni pointed his house out as they rode up. Peter got off the bike and helped Roni to the front door. "Are your parents home?" Peter asked with concern. Roni assured him that his Dad would be upstairs working and that he'd be fine now that he was home. "Alright then, It was nice meeting you," Peter said as he descended the porch steps.
Roni was now feeling horrible about the way he'd been thinking earlier. He always put as little effort as he could into dealing with other people and here was Peter who had done so much for him without asking for anything in return. He couldn't just let him walk away. "Peter!" he practically squeaked as Peter got onto his bike. "I think you may have been right. Maybe we both could use a few friends," Roni said. "You don't have to, but maybe we could hang out again tomorrow?"
Peter thought for a moment and then shrugged saying, "I guess I could. How about I come by after my morning route?"
"Great, I'll see ya tomorrow," Roni said as he waved goodbye and then went inside his house.