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16 - Farms

Cross

~~~~~

I was in a room. The room was dark, and I could barely see in front of me. Then the lights turned on. Scientists surrounded me, some of them talking, others staring at me. I was the only child in the room.

"One hundred marks.." The lead scientist scoffed. "That isn't acceptable; we expected more, 055. You shouldn't have made that many mistakes. Were you feeling unwell, or are you simply inefficient?"

"I-I.." I could barely speak.

"Don't stutter!" The scientist slapped me. "Adults do not stutter."

"I'm sorry.." I felt a tear forming. "I..don't know...what happened.."

"That's a lie." He slapped me again, harder. "055, this is not a game; you are here to work and to learn, not to slack!"

"I..I will try harder..I'll do better.."

"You had better hope you do better." He grabbed my arm. "But until you do, let this serve as a reminder of your disobedience."

"N-no, please don't hurt me, please!"

He broke my arm..why did he do that..? I sobbed on the floor as they laughed at me; I didn't mean to do wrong..I didn't mean to..

"Crossy?" A hand touched my face. "Crossy, wake up!"

I opened my eyesockets to see Error.

"Oh..hello, Error.." I was glad that it was a dream; my arm was mobile, thankfully.

"Crossy, why are you crying?" Error tried to flick the tears off my face.

"No reason.." I wiped the tears away; Error didn't deserve to see those. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I got scared.."

"Scared of what?"

"The dark..there are humans in the dark.."

"Error, we're literal monsters."

"Humans are scary..can I sleep with you tonight?"

"I guess so. Hop in, then."

I moved over for Error to get into my bed, which he did accordingly.

"Thank you!" Error grinned.

"You're welcome." I returned the smile.

"Will you protect me from the humans?"

"Of course I will! No humans are going to get you while I'm protecting you!"

"Yay!"

"Go to sleep, now; Killer's sleeping nearby, and I don't think he'll be too happy if we wake him."

"But he wakes us every morning.."

"..." I had nothing to say to that; his point was too valid. "Good night, Error."

"Nighty night, Crossy!"

I closed my eyesockets once more, holding my little brother close; he was so adorable. I loved my little brother; he was the best little brother ever! I often dreaded that day when my little brother would be hurt, but I didn't want to focus on that; I would make sure that my little brother had the best childhood ever! As soon as I knew that he was asleep, I allowed myself to follow, having a dream that was definitely better than that nightmare. I had considered calling them something else; Nightmare was my dad, and nothing bad should have been related to him, since he was good! Dad was the best dad I had ever known - and..the only dad I had ever known, but that was a different story - and he didn't deserve to mean something bad! I decided that I would think about that later. When I woke up, I found Error still asleep; somehow, Killer hadn't woken us up yet, although it was a whole hour past the time when he usually would; I hpped he wasn't ill. I decided to climb out of bed and get dressed before waking up Error, which I did. When the time came to wake my little brother, I did so with a tenderness I reserved for him.