Graduation (5)
Six hours later, John walked towards the back of the auditorium.
The moment he got near the door, he saw a stream of people also going towards the door.
They were all wearing the same uniform as John. They were trying to maintain a stern face. Still, it was impossible to hide the happiness and excitement in their faces since they would finally become proper Protectors.
John easily blended with the crowd and entered in the backstage.
When they went through the door, the students were greeted with a few Protectors with some devices in their hands and others with weapons.
They ordered the students to form a line and went identifying one by one.
There was no trouble, and the Protectors soon liberated the students.
"Curious. Why the need for so much security?" A robotic voice sounded behind John, "Do you have any idea why, John Connor?"
John glanced back at the person that spoke with him.
It was a male Glitch, a robotic humanoid.
He looked like those robots from old movies, with a bulky and metallic hull that didn't bother to hide the fact he was a robot. The coloration of his shell was gray, slightly chromed.
His two unblinking round eyes that resembled lamps stared directly at John's black eyes.
John was surprised for a moment before recovering and spoke, "I have no idea, Leonard."
The name of the Glitch was Leonard Kepler, son of a Councillor of the Privy Council.
The Privy Council was the united government of the Glitch. To be recognized as a king, a Glitch needs the approval of the Council, If one tries to forcibly become king, he will suffer grave punishment from the Privy Council.
As it stands, a Councillor of the Privy Council was more influential than any Glitch king.
Despite being the son of such important person, Leonard never showed any arrogance that these people usually had.
He always stayed silent most of the time, and only talked when someone talked with him first.
John never had any interaction with him before, and that's why he was surprised that Leonard was suddenly speaking with him out of nowhere.
Glitch's face was always solid and emotionless, that was why it was difficult to show their emotions. The only way to know how they were feeling was when they speak. Most of the cases, their first word spoke is how they were currently feeling.
John scanned Leonard, and then his surroundings, but he didn't manage to find why would he choose to speak with him.
[Why is that everyone is suddenly coming towards me today?] John wondered, [First Aoi, then Cael, Liese, Zyanya and now Leonard... what's happening?]
"Suspicious. You have an inkling about the situation, right?" Leonard continued pressing John.
"Why would you think so?" John curiously asked.
"Because out of everyone here, you are the only one that isn't curious about the current situation."
Of course, John wasn't curious.
The current situation only confirmed the information Cael told him.
There were a lot of important people in the auditorium. High ranking officials and the Grand Protector herself.
While most of the students were curious about why the security was so tight today, John just casually glanced at the Protectors before losing interest and moving to a corner to stay alone.
Suddenly the chattering in the backstage stopped.
The students all looked towards the door as five people walked in.
Every student stared at those figures with admiration and reverence.
John and Leonard also were attracted by the situation and looked over.
The newcomers were none other than Cael, Liese, Zyanya, Aoi, and one other that John barely knew about.
John looked at the unfamiliar figure among those 4 he knew and searched his memory for a name.
It took less than a second for him to remember the name of the figure.
Khu-en-pthah, a male Avian.
The colors of his feathers were, in the majority, blue, with some white around the neck and the end of the limbs, near the talons and wrists. His entire being had a cold aura around him, and his eyes gleamed with sharpness as he looked to be a sword ready to drawn blood whenever it was needed. There were faint scars on his beak and body, which showed that different from most students in vicinity, he had experience deadly combats.
He completely ignored everyone else as he coldly walked with large strides.
Liese and Aoi greeted everyone, one by one, with warm smiles in their faces.
Zyanya just waved her hand as she greeted those few that dared s to get close to her.
Cael blended with the shadow of those four that were more famous than him and was utterly ignored by the crowd.
After they finally were free from the crowd, they saw John at the corner and tried to get closer. Still, it was at this moment that a Protector entered the room and gave orders for everyone to be silent and ready as the ceremony was about to begin.
John knew how the ceremony would be carried out.
The Grand Protector will open the ceremony with a speech. Then someone would call the students one by one in overall ranking order to go to the stage to receive their Matter Manipulator and receive a round of applause from the officials and family members at the seats.
The ceremony would be televised through the entire universe as it showed the grandiose of the new members of the Terrene Protectorate.
At least that's how it usually happens, John's was curious if it was going to have some change as the Grand Protector and a lot of high officials were present this time.
The other ceremonies, the Grand Protector, would only be present as a hologram and just say a few words before needing to leave. Grand Protectors are always busy with a lot of matters and wouldn't have time to be present at such a small ceremony. Still, this time was different since the Grand Protector herself was on the planet and was surely going to climb that stage.
John was very curious to see the legendary young Grand Protector, Leda Portia, in person.
His glued at the holovision in the backstage that showed the situation at the auditorium.