Breaking The Shackles (GaryCato) (A Final Space Fan-Fic)

Chapter 4. Things Change

"And The Outside World has become much more dangerous now. Who knew all it took was a single person to work up the government? ... Well, actually I do. That taco stand set an example for me there." Gary chuckled and swung his dangling legs from the table, while he told a story to Little Cato.

"Taco stand? What does that have to do with anything?" Little Cato questioned, imagining that stand in the middle of Tera Con Prime.

"That's a story for another time." Gary chuckled and pat Little Cato on the back. "Thank you for staying with me for a bit. You make way better company than your dad. I get why, but I still hope he sees me different someday. And that he doesnt sell me off."  

"Trust me man, He won't sell you. Not while i'm around. We're friends now, and you're not bad at all." Little cato slipped off the exam table, and approached the door. If you need anything, just check the peptide jar." He motioned to the medicine cabinet with his thumb, and left the operating room.

Gary followed with his eyes, and saw the Peptide jar that Little Cato mentioned. He could see a rectangular silhouette in the thin white plastic bottle, assuming it was a communicator. "That boy is awesome." Gary smiled and laid back down on the table.

His healing arm had gotten itchy over the past couple of days. Every now and then, it would go numb, and now was one of those times. Gary flicked his upper arm, and tried again when he didn't feel anything. "That's probably bad." He commented, and began to nervously pop his lips. He wanted to ask Little Cato, but it had only been a few minutes. "What would he say?"

Avocato was upstairs in his room filing a report on the human crisis. "So far, 41 humans identified, 53 missing from registration. Only 27 found." He spoke to himself as he typed. He thought about the number for a moment. "Only 26 found."

He stretched his arms over his head, and glanced to the window, watching for something to happen. "I need to get rid of him soon. I can't allow him to be a burden to us anymore." He thought about Gary again, starting to form ideas, but they always fell apart when Little Cato came into the picture. "When will he learn that this can't work." He mumbled, now rolling his eyes to a framed picture of Little Cato, proudly holding a dead animal in one hand, and a blaster in the other. His first hunt.

"He's just like me, a hunter. Where do we see this differently..?" Avocato stood up and started walking out of his room. He continued back and forth in his head as he went. "He's just another animal, we kill those together all the time. What makes him so special anyways? Does he think he's dangerous because he's smart?" Before he knew it, he refocused and the Operating Room door was right in front of him. He contemplated his move, then opened the door.

Gary sat up sharply, watching Avocato step inside. He felt a cold sweat come over him, and he clenched the table at his sides. "Oh, heeey Avocato. Bud, whats going on in your world?" He finger gunned Avocato with one hand, amd a weak wiggle from the other.

Avocato cringed slightly, clearing his throat to speak. "I just came to check on you. Your medicines should have worn out its effect by now. However, by the motion of your arm, it looks to have not worked at all?"

"Ha, what? Noo! Its good as new!" Gary didn't want Avocato getting much closer, afraid of being snatched up and thrown out. He grabbed his weak arm and wiggled it to wave, and it dropped back to his side when he let go of it. "See?"

"Yes I see. Very cleary." Avocato closed the door and stopped next to the medicine cabinet. "I'm also here to ask, what do you think My son sees in you? He's a hunter, a good hunter. He's like me, but he accepted you in a moments notice. What have you told him?"

"Ohhh, somebody's jealous." Gary rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Look, I get you don't like me because, i'm a dirty human who hasn't seen a shower in who knows how long. I'm barely getting my muscles back, and I look like a wreck to you. But maybe to him, I'm just a guy. A guy having a hard time because of how many times I've gotten beat up, and how little times I've seen a good meal. The difference is, he understands me."

Avocato felt moved for a moment. He knew Gary was right, but how?

"Right. I don't understand you. You haven't tried to hurt us, or destroy our house, and you've been relatively happy this whole time. What is it about you?"

"Like I said, I've been beaten up a lot. But since I got here, neither of you have hurt me. Nearly as bad." Gary twiddled his thumbs, starting to lose track. "But that was the past, the future is probably better right? We might not be friends for a while, but I don't hate you. I just kind of wished you knew me better." Suddenly, Gary winced and held his shoulder. "Cramp." He commented lowly. "This is a harsh one."

"... Let me take a look." Avocato circled around, and pushed Gary's hand away carefully. He saw that his arm was more pale than usual, and the veins were getting more blue. It even shocked Avocato. "That, is the start of oxygen deprivation. I think you had a negative side effect to the medicines we gave you."

Gary swallowed hard and winced, feeling his arm muscles contract as avocato tried to massage them. "Yeah, could we just ignore that? Its probably not-"

"No." Avocato looked into Gary's eyes, and huffed. "You'll last 2 days before this spreads to your heart and kills you. Its a cell death infection, caused by over saturation. You're not designed for the medicines we have. I'm sorry Gary." He glanced away as he spoke. "Really, I am. I'm afraid it'll have to go."

The cramping seemed to stop in that instant, and Gary stared at his arm. "You don't really mean that, right? You're just pulling my leg- well arm, right?" Gary laughed and tried to pull his arm away from Avocato.

"Please let go."

Little cato couldn't help but eavesdrop while Gary and Avocato spoke alone. He had to know what was going to happen. And it shocked him too, when he heard Avocato's statement. It sounded like Gary was almost ready to run, or even fight back, but that changed when Gary fell silent.