Mr Orion paced around the class with a stick in his hand, eyeing each student carefully.

The tall, well-built man was going to be our Survival Techniques teacher for the next two months. He managed to keep a calm demeanor throughout the class. He had mastered how to demand focus from students and release the tension from time to time, providing an environment for both teacher and student to converse freely.

Mr Orion didn't look like he had a lot of years of experience on him, but the way his jaw hardly ever left it's stiff position and his eyes remained focused told otherwise. He looked no more than twenty eight, having a clean shaven face and young eyes, but the scars on his arms gave him a certain tough edge.

"I hope you have all become quite familiar with my rules. You following these rules will not only make it easier for you to learn, but they will indeed shape you into the self-disciplined guardians you need to be," he commented, arms crossed behind him.

He had mentioned earlier that today was just for introductions. So far he had come up with 5 golden rules.

Rule 1
No one is to be trusted.

I resonated with this message, after all it was one of the things my father drilled into my head during the early years of my childhood. Humans were cunning beings with complex minds that only looked after themselves. Sometimes it's even hard trusting yourself.

Rule 2
Stay sharp, always.

My eyes darted around the room, taking note of all the traniees in the room. Most of them had their eyes glued to Mr Orion, genuinely interested in what he had to say which I had to admit was quite wise. I wasn't one to suck up to others or easily be persuaded but this man had proved to be reasonable so far.

Sadly, there were a fraction of students that ogled at Mr. Orion dreamily and took in his features rather than the comments he made pertaining to the lesson. It's quite sad how people take part in such frivolous activities so meticulously but I couldn't complain, the human mind remains one of the greatest mysteries.

Rule 3
Be patient yet persistent.

Perhaps, this was one of the rules that I'd truly have a problem with learning. Patience had never been one of my virtues, you could even say the lack of led to a few of my downfalls in the past.

Rule 4
Always be prepared.

How can you truly be always prepared? I thought to myself. After all, life did have this habit of throwing things at us when we least expect it, just when we feel like we've had enough. This rule didn't make any sense to me, yet he had said it so confidently like he had mastered the art himself. I snorted.

Rule 5
Never say die.

Not all he had said sat right with me or made that much sense but what made even less sense was the assignment he gave. "For the the next seven days I want all of you to get a journal, in that journal I want to write your daily routine. In simple terms, I want you to write down the essential things you do from the minute you wake up till you go back to sleep," he said as he made several hand gestures for emphasis, a small smile forming on his chiseled face.

I stared at the brown-haired man comically, tilting my head and squinting my eyes in scrutiny.

How could writing a journal possibly help with a Survival Techniques class?

Raising my left hand, I stared at the man blankly as I waited for him to acknowledge me but clearly, he had other things to do as he paid me no heed and dismissed the class.

Jerk!

Eyebrows pulled together and teeth bared, I picked up my note book and pen and exited the class. I clenched and unclenched my arms as I walked through the hallway, muttering a few curses under by breath.

The nerve of that man!

"What's got you so cranky?" A soft voice asked from behind me. That voice was familiar. Letting out heavy breaths, I turned around and was graced with the warm face of my babysitter. A smile danced around her lips as she folded her arms. So she found this funny?

"Nothing. What's up?" I replied, grabbing my book even tighter as I tried to regain composure.

A sing-song laugh escaped her lips. "Must be having a bad day, huh? But sadly we do not have the time to talk about it right now."

In no time at all, Simone grabbed my arm and pulled into a closet similar to the one we were in yesterday.

So Simone had a thing for closets.

"Someone important needs to talk to you," she remarked.

Rolling her sleeve up, Simone tapped a flew places on her lower arm and a few blinking lights made an appearance, in response.

It was no shock to see that Simone was a part of the population of Annexia that operated with robotic parts rather than the biological parts they were born with, rather I would have been surprised if she didn't have one. Usually, here in Annexia, when diseases or accidents are fatal, doctors result to a better approach. They cut of the body part that has experienced the fatality and replaced it with robotic parts. The implanting of robotic parts in Annexians was not only restricted to victims of accidents, as a matter of fact, this option was available to everyone.

"Calling SD06004," a female modulated voice came from Simone's arm.

"She's here sir," Simone spoke into her arm.

"Very good, we can proceed immediately then. Hello, Alyssa," his silvery voice came out of her arm as several lights blinked. This unique voice belonged to the man that had bossed me around for years. The man that never failed to push me to my limits. The man that never took no for an answer. Oh how much I missed this man.

My lips twitched as I tried to fight a smile forcing its way into my lips, I leaned on the wall with one leg placed in front the other and flexed my hands. "So nice to hear from you again dad."