Arwa

6- Chimaera

After I finished, I looked at the Mynx who was now stashing the rest of the honey in an old bag. I felt like I needed to make conversation, if I got on well with em then maybe I could find a path back to The Core if that was even possible.

"What's your name?" I said to em as he looked up. He made sure the pack was secure and didn't look at me in my eyes,
"...Chimaera," he replied stiffly as I tired to copy,
"K-eye-mare-a? Chimaera?" He nodded and tried to stay a far way away from me, tightening the straps in his shoulders,
"Whas' yours?" I think I smiled? I wasn't sure.
"AR-W4"

Chimaera seemed confused as he stood up scratching his dark, pointed horns,
"What you say?" I repeated again quite blandly,
"AR-W4." When I looked at Chimaera's face he didn't seem to understand,
"Your tellin' me that those scramble o' letters you just said then are ya name?" I nodded once. He seemed almost angry, muttering to himself, "What family are as heartless as that to just call ya a bunch 'o letters... and numbers!? W4, what has there been a W3 too?" I shrugged, he didn't seem to understand. How else are you supposed to name people?
"Yeah. There's been an AR-W3 and a 2 and a 1..." Chimaera seemed furious,
"So- so ya family just go and when one of ya ancestors die they just make a replacement huh?" I didn't understand these words that he was saying.

I didn't know what a parent was, or an ancestor. I'd heard ancestors a little more, I think it meant something like people before you, but I had no idea what a parent was. Was it a guardian? Was it a maker?

At least Chimaera seemed to know, so I just asked,
"What's a family?" Chimaera seemed completely confused but also a lot more sympathetic
"'Was' a family?' You don't even know was' a family is?" I shrugged,
"We're made. In... a factory. I'm not a clone, but we don't ever get 'family'. That's why I'm named after a number, that's my production code. We're born and then that's it." Chimaera looked sad,
"What bout when you're a kid, who's lookin' after ya then? Y'know, the people who take care of ya and teach ya things. That's what a parent does, they look after ya when your little." I shook my head,
"We... skip childhood. It's unimportant. Why? Don't you have a production number?" Chimaera took a step back he looked like he'd been crushed. So what? Isn't it normal for people to have production numbers?
"I don't 'ave a production number. I've gotta name. My family... the people who looked after me when I was a child, named me Chimaera."

He looked straight at me and my mask,"Why you humans wear masks?" I challenged him back, he should of known,
"Why you wear a cloak? Last time I checked Mynx don't wear cloaks to hide themselves," Chimaera laughed angrily,
"Well last time I checked humans 'ave personalities. But maybe you don't have those where you come from."

I laughed, I couldn't remember the last time I laughed. This was an insult... I should of been offended. But there was just something oddly friendly about this guy. Maybe it might of just been my strange expectations of Mynx.
"I have a personality!" Chimaera put his hands on his hips,
"Well, what stuff you into? What you lifeless things like to do?" I thought for a while, speaking slowly,
"I like... cooking." He nodded,
"What you like to cook then?" I think I smiled again as I loosened up a bit,
"Oh loads of stuff, pasta, soups, fish..."

Chimaera jumped up when he heard me say fish. He looked around and then at the reservoir,
"Fish, fish, fish, fish! I forgot bout it, it's almost sundown!" He began to run west until we heard large, chopping sounds. Whirring, machine chopping noises, not chopping trees, just the choppy noise you'd hear if you open a car window for too long.

That was until we looked up, to see a huge helicopter with lights flashing and people yelling above us as it began to land, people jumping out. We stood out in the light, then people began to chase after us. And they had guns, real harmful guns.
Killing guns.