Chapter 2 - DOUGH, DREAMS, AND DIMINUTIVE TEACHERS

SCENE START]INT. MURSIO ESTATE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHTThe biological walls pulse with a low, rhythmic nighttime glow. MARA, the stoic housemaid, is safely asleep in her room down the hall.HIRIA, YURTO, ZORA, and ASHER are all cleaning the house together. Yurto is aggressively sweeping, while Asher neatly gathers stray debris with a magnetic pulse. They are all bonding, but Yurto and Asher are whining softly under their breath.YURTO: (Pouting intensely) I fight for hope, but cleaning at midnight? Father Gareth explicitly commanded us to have this whole sector pristine before dawn. Why must he delegate his cleaning duties to the vanguard of the future?ASHER: It is unfair. Mother Elena is far more reasonable. If you ask me who my favorite parent is, it is undoubtedly her. She understands structural order. Gareth just throws his muddy boots on the living biopolymer rugs.Yurto and Asher turn to Hiria, leaning on their brooms.YURTO: What about you, Hiria? Who is your favorite? Our boisterous father or our brilliant mother?HIRIA: (V.O. / Inner Thoughts) They talk about them so naturally... like actual brothers. The way everyone fits into these specific fantasy tropes so perfectly... I can't help but wonder. Is everyone in this world reincarnated from Earth, or am I just the crazy one?Before Hiria can answer, a muffled shout echoes from the master bedroom. Gareth's voice booms through the wall, complaining about being hungry. Elena shouts back, telling Hiria to go ask what they want to eat.YURTO: Go on, Hiria! Ask them what feast of hope they require!HIRIA: Right. I'll go check.INT. MURSIO ESTATE - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUSHiria walks down the dimly lit hallway to the master bedroom door. Without thinking to knock, he twists the handle and pushes the door open to ask about the food.INT. MURSIO ESTATE - PARENTS' BEDROOM - CONTINUOUSThe door swings wide. GARETH and ELENA are definitely not sleeping. They are heavily entangled, caught in the middle of a wildly passionate, deeply private moment together.Gareth looks up, eyes wide with shock. Elena gasps.INT. MURSIO ESTATE - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUSSLAM!Hiria slams the door shut in a split second. His face is completely crimson, glowing brighter than the hallway's ambient nanolights. He leans against the wall, clutching his chest.HIRIA: (V.O. / Inner Thoughts) MY EYES! MY SOLID CYAN EYES HAVE BEEN SEARED! Knock, Hector! Always knock! Why are parents in this world always like this?!Hiria stumbles back into the kitchen where his "brothers" are waiting.YURTO: What did they say? Are we preparing a banquet?HIRIA: (Stammering, face still bright red) We—we'll just make something ourselves. They are... deeply occupied doing something together.INT. MURSIO ESTATE - KITCHEN - LATERHiria decides to take over the cooking to distract himself. Using the local bio-oven and strange, glowing ingredients, he rolls out a flat disc of dough, spreads a vibrant red nutrient-paste over it, and layers it with melted, bubbling bio-cheese.Yurto and Asher watch over his shoulder, completely baffled.YURTO: What is this circular shield of sustenance?HIRIA: It's called pizza. It doesn't exist in this world yet, but I... remember it. Just trust me. Eat up.Yurto takes a massive bite. His eyes widen as his organic tech-armor flashes bright yellow in pure euphoria.YURTO: BY THE LIGHT! This is the flavor of ultimate victory!The kitchen door opens. Gareth and Elena walk out, wearing loosely tied robes. Hiria instantly looks away, blushing deeply and staring intently at the floor, filled with immense shame for opening the door before knocking.ELENA: Oh, you boys made food? It smells wonderful!EXT. MURSIO ESTATE - TRAINING YARD - NEXT DAYThe morning sun beats down. Hiria, Yurto, and Asher are practicing their combat stances, training hard together. Hiria focuses on his internal nanite flow.HIRIA: (Concentrating) Come on, channel the energy...Suddenly, an absolute surge of freezing, sub-zero energy erupts from Hiria's hands. A massive, jagged spire of solid biomechanical ice shoots across the yard, instantly freezing a training dummy. Hiria undergoes a sudden ice magic awakening.Hiria gasps, stumbling back. Elena steps into the yard, her face completely stern and serious. She looks at the ice, then stares directly down at Hiria.ELENA: Hiria... did you do this?HIRIA: (Dropping his head, terrified) I'm so sorry, Mom! I didn't mean to, I lost control—ELENA: (Suddenly squealing in pure, unbridled happiness) KYAAAAAA! My baby is a prodigy! An absolute magical genius! Ice magic awakening?! You are going to be the greatest mage!GARETH: (Slamming his practice sword down, stomping over) Hold your horses, Elena! That's the stance of a swordsman! He's going to wield a blade infused with tech!The parents continue aggressively arguing, their faces inches apart. Finally, Elena huffs.ELENA: Fine! We compromise! We have hired a prestigious elite tutor who just arrived. They will train all of you in advanced magic incantations, bio-alchemy, and brutal hand-to-hand combat!The estate gates creak open. A tiny figure cloaked in heavy, high-tech robes steps into the courtyard. The hood falls back to reveal their new teacher, who is incredibly small.ZORA edges closer, peering down at the tiny tutor. He lets out his signature creepy giggle, pointing his living gun-arm at her.ZORA: Hehehe... look at the little specimen. Are we being taught by a pocket-sized toddler? Hehehe... look how tiny she is!ASHER: (Suddenly erupting in pure, uncharacteristic rage, his tech-angel wings flaring out with terrifying sparks as he steps in front of the tutor) SILENCE, ZORA! How dare you mock someone's small size!Zora blinks, turning his creepy gaze toward Asher instead.ZORA: Hehehe... why are you getting so defensive, wingy? Oh, wait... look at you. You're practically a micro-specimen yourself! Hehehe!ASHER: (Veins popping on his forehead, losing his absolute mind) WHAT DID YOU SAY?! I will dismantle your gun-arm piece by piece! Do you think a lack of height equates to a lack of power?! I will vaporize you!Yurto and Hiria rush forward to hold Asher back as his metallic wings furiously try to swat Zora.HIRIA: (V.O. / Inner Thoughts) Wow... Asher is incredibly insecure about his own size. This semester is going to be a complete disaster.[SCENE END]