Chapter 3 - BEDTIME BATTLES AND BIRTHDAY BULLETINS

SCENE START INT. MURSIO ESTATE - BOYS' BUNK ROOM - NIGHTThe room is bathed in a soft bioluminescent glow. HIRIA, YURTO, ZORA, and ASHER are all clad in their sleeping garments, climbing into their respective bunk beds.Suddenly, a rhythmic, muffled thumping sound echoes through the wall from the master bedroom next door. GARETH's boisterous laughter and ELENA's breathless squeals vibrate through the biopolymer frame of the house. They are heavily at it again.HIRIA: (Groaning loudly, covering his solid cyan eyes with a pillow) Are you kidding me?! Again?! Do they ever sleep?!Hiria turns over in his top bunk in absolute annoyance. As he moves, his prized mechanical comb slips from under his pillow, slides off the edge, and clatters onto the floor below.HIRIA: (Sighing deeply) Great. Just great.Hiria hangs his head over the edge of the bunk to look down. Down on the bottom bunk, Zora is lounging. Across the room, the door to the guest quarters is cracked open, revealing THE TUTOR sitting quietly at a desk, reviewing glowing alchemical scrolls.Zora slithers his head toward the cracked door, his living gun-arm twitching rhythmically as he fixes his unsettling gaze on the tiny teacher. He lets out a low, breathless purr.ZORA: Hehehe... My, my... look at our little professor working so hard under the moonlight. You know, a small package just means the contents are extra sweet... why don't you come over here and teach me a private lesson, beautiful? Hehehe...SMACK!ASHER leaps down from his own bunk, his mechanical angel wings flaring open just enough to deliver a fierce, sweeping backhand directly across Zora's face.ASHER: (Hissing in a furious whisper) SILENCE, YOU DEGENERATE PARASITE! Have you no shame?! She is our esteemed instructor, and you will not bring your grotesque, flirty advances into this shared sleeping sanctuary! Go to sleep before I use my electromagnetic feathers to pin your tongue to the floorboards!Zora rubs his bruised cheek, letting out an even creepier giggle.ZORA: Hehehe... someone's jealous. Don't worry, wingy. Asher then hits him again HIRIA: (V.O. / Inner Thoughts) Please, someone just pass me my comb so I can block out the sounds of my parents and the absolute madness of this room.INT. MURSIO ESTATE - TRAINING YARD - NEXT DAYThe morning sun rises, casting a bright light over the courtyard. The Tutor stands before the boys, her expression deadpan but radiating immense pressure.THE TUTOR: Today, your true education begins. We will cycle through the foundational pillars: Magic Incantations, Bio-Alchemy, and brutal Hand-to-Hand Combat.She waves her hand, and three separate holographic stations project into the air.THE TUTOR: Hiria, you will focus on stabilizing your awakened ice output. Yurto, your armor must learn to interface with alchemical catalysts. Zora, Asher—you two will begin hand-to-hand sparring immediately to channel your... creative energies.As the training commences, Hiria takes a breath, stepping up to his station. He rubs his chin, staring at a floating data-scroll detailing the laws of society in this biomechanical world. A memory from his early studies logs into his brain.HIRIA: (V.O. / Inner Thoughts) That's right... I forgot how the laws of this world operate. Here, you aren't considered an official adult until you reach the age of 16 or 17. Until then, you are legally a dependent. And the birthday system? It's completely ridiculous.Hiria mutters out loud to himself while trying to condense a small shard of ice in his palm.HIRIA: Only celebrities get to celebrate their birthdays every year for the public eye. For normal citizens, birthdays aren't a thing until you officially become an adult. After that, people just... stop celebrating entirely.YURTO: (Overhearing him while mixing glowing fluids at the alchemy table) Of course, Hiria! Why waste energy celebrating the mere passage of time when every single day is a battle to defend our hope? A birthday is a luxury for the famous!HIRIA: (Sighing, manipulating a perfect, floating icicle) Honestly, that's so dumb. But I guess I get it. Back on Earth, adults didn't really care about celebrating their birthdays anyway after a certain point. It just meant more bills.THE TUTOR: (Suddenly appearing right behind Hiria, striking the back of his knees with a short wooden staff) Less sociological philosophy, Master Hiria, and more thermal regulation! Your icicle is melting!Hiria yelps, instantly re-focusing his cyan glare on the magic array, trying his best to survive his new, chaotic life.[SCENE END]