The year was 2134 and young, proud man stood on a stage in front of a large group of people. He wore a long maroon gown with a matching cap. In his hands, he clutched a piece of paper tied together with a maroon ribbon. He was grinning from ear to ear looking down upon all the faces below him. 

There were two faces he was especially looking for and he found them. His parents. They sat in the third row smiling proudly up at him. His mother was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief and his father sat beside her with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. His father sat up proudly and gave him a thumbs up, smiling as big as he was. 

A man standing behind a podium turned toward him and held out his hand. "Everyone! I would love to introduce you to our only graduate this year in the field of science, Anton Dalca!" He started to clap and stepped aside, allowing Anton to come up to the podium.

Anton placed the paper that was in his hands on the podium and looked around at the smiling faces. He leaned down to the microphone and recited the speech he had prepared. 

"I want to thank everyone of the professors for the wonderful experience. If it weren't for my parents, friends and teachers pushing me to follow my dream, then I wouldn't be here. I am thankful that I am the only one of my graduating class to be graduating with a science degree." He took a deep breath and stood up straighter. "The field of science has been dwindling in their research of the Morphers and I'm wanting to help contribute to their research." He looked down at his parents and smiled. "Thank you all again."

The large group of people clapped, and Anton smiled at them even wider. He stepped aside for the man to take his place. 

"Anton, I want to say how proud I am that you made it to this point. Now, you'll have the chance to study with the well-known scientist from all over the world." He reached into his jacket pocket to bring out an envelope. "The President of the science committee, Flaviu Arterberry, told me to give you this and to say, 'Welcome to the team.'"

Anton looked down at the envelope in his hand then back up at the man. He them smiled even wider – if that was even possible – and took the envelope from him. He clutched it close to his chest, like a child would, and looked down at his parents. 

"I congratulate you, Anton Dalca, for being the 2134 graduating class!" The man started to clap again as did the rest of the people below.

Anton grabbed his cap off of his head and threw it up in the air. A feeling of worry was lifted off of his shoulders at that point. 

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After a quick meet and greet after the graduation ceremony, Anton climbed into his hover car and clicked auto pilot and typed in his address. Once the hover car was moving, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He still couldn't believe that he graduated. He had worked so hard and too long to make it to where he was now. Now he had the chance to go work in the same research lab as Flaviu Arterberry.

Flaviu Arterberry was Anton's hero. He had all of his work in a document file at home. He had read all of his books that he had written over the years. Flaviu was the person who inspired Anton to study science. He was the first person to complete a successful experiment on a Morpher without being injured or killed. 

The Morpher's were ruthless, incoherent creatures who had existed for centuries. They fascinated the scientists, but they were hard to find. They lived deep in the dark jungles of Scoj Bren. For centuries, Scoj Bren had been the forbidden lands of the world. The government had placed guards and huge fences around the edge of the jungles, blocking out anyone who wanted to get in. The ones who dared crossed the fence and the guards, they never returned. Scoj Bren was dark and dangerous. That was probably the only reason the Morpher's lived there. 

From what Anton had read from Flaviu's works, the Morpher's were violent and unintelligent. They tried to claw and bite you in their beastly form while using crude language in their human form. Trying to communicate with them was even harder. They didn't have a written language and they wouldn't dare translate for the scientist who asked them. 

Anton had pictures of the Morpher's around his room. Scientific drawings mostly. That's what he wanted to study. He wanted to stand beside Flaviu and study a Morpher with him. He hoped that with this letter of acceptance, he could do just that. 

Finally, the hover car came to a stop outside his small home. He had bought the house when he first got into college. He wanted to be by himself when he left high school. He loved his parents, but he wanted to start his own life by himself. The house wasn't the best-looking in the world, but it served its purpose and for that, Anton was happy with it.  

The one-story house was made with white brick and had small windows spaced out evenly around the house. The grass around it was green and that was the only foliage around his house – there was no other kind of decoration. His mother had offered to get him all sorts of flowers and ferns, but he didn't want to take care of them. He didn't think that he would be able too. A garage just big enough to house his hover car was connected to the side of the house. He personally controlled the hover car just long enough so that it was in the garage. He opened up the door and climbed out. 

He walked through the connecting door and into his living room. The inside of the house reflected the outside. Nothing was amazing about the inside besides the many trophies and medals he had hanging over the fire pit. Hardwood floors ran all over the house. A black couch and chairs sat across from each other near the fire pit. Anton's floating television sat in the middle of the couch and chairs. 

He walked through the living room and into his bedroom. A dresser sat on the wall to his left while the queen-sized bed sat on the right. A small mirror was placed above the dresser and a large window was seen across from him. He walked over to his dresser and placed his diploma on top of it. He then took off his cap and gown, revealing his solid color maroon t-shirt and blue jeans, and folded them carefully and placed them inside a drawer. Looking into the mirror he ruffled his dark brown hair out of the stiff hairstyle he had styled it in this morning. His brown eyes still sparkled from the excitement over the ceremony. 

The doorbell rang and Anton excitedly ran to the front door. He was greeted by the smiles from his parents. After a quick hug, he let them inside and brought them into the living room. His parents sat on the couch while he sat in one of the chairs. 

Anton started to get up from his chair. "Let me go get us some drinks." He started to leave when his mother placed her hand on his arm, stopping him. 

"No, honey, let me go get them and you sit down here." She stood up and left the two men alone. Anton watched his mother walked into the kitchen and disappear through the double doors. 

"I'm very proud of you, son," his father told him making Anton turn his attention back to him. "Are you excited that you'll be working for Mr. Arterberry?"

"Yes, sir," Anton nodded. "You know it's been my dream to work with him."

His father chuckled as he nodded, running his hand through his greying beard. "Yes, I know. You've only been saying that for the past dozen years."

"What do you think you'll be doing?" his mother asked as she walked back in with three glasses of water on a tray. 

Anton shrugged. "I'm not sure that he'll have me start off with. I hope that he'll let me automatically join him and his team to study the Morpher's, but I believe that will not be the case. I'm just hoping it's not cleaning any beakers or other equipment." He gave a nervous laugh as he grabbed a glass and brought it up to his lips.

His mother sat back down on the couch next to his father. "I'm sure Mr. Arterberry will see your genius and will put you to excellent work." He watched as she leaned into her father and him put his arm around her. 

Anton nodded hopefully. "I sure hope so, Mom. I can't wait to get there. Too bad my flight leaves tomorrow and not today."

"What do you mean?" his mother asked quietly as she sat up. "You're leaving?"

"Yes."

Anton's father looked at him with a confused look. "I thought he had a lab here in town?"

Anton nodded and took another drink of his water. "He had, but it was moved so they could be closer to the Morpher's habitat."

"So, the lab is near Scoj Bren?" His mother's eyes widened at the thought of her only son being near that jungle.

His father grabbed his mother's hand quickly and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry, dear. Nothing can hurt our son. He'll be safe." Even though his father's face held a calm smile on it, he could see a hint of worry in his eyes. 

Anton's mom gave a nervous, reluctant chuckle. "All right. But you call us every day. You hear me?" She started to wag a finger at him. "Every day."

Anton chuckled and hugged his parents. "Of course, I will call every day."

His father nodded, satisfied, and checked his watch. "Well, look at the time. I believe it's time for us to go." He stood up and held out a hand to help his wife up to her feet. "We'll hear from you soon, son. We're proud of you." Anton hugged his parents one last time before walking them to the door and watched them fly off. 

He then noticed the darkening sky and decided to get ready for bed. It was going to be an early morning for him. His flight left early, so he had to get up and pack whatever he needed to take with him. 

He walked into his room and got dressed in his pajamas and brushed his teeth. He then climbed into bed and stared at the ceiling. Whatever was going to happen tomorrow, Anton was excited for. After a few minutes, he finally fell to sleep.

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