Monochromatic

Chapter 28

Azoria

"This here Azoria, is your first job in creating a robot," my adviser stated, as if I was a doctor trained in this field, "Another doctor will be here shortly to assist you, but from what I'm told, it's best for you to be the lead surgeon in this operation."

I stared at the stiff body lying on the hospital bed, a familiar face staring at me with closed eyes.

Rave had a black eye and a mysterious bruise on the back of his neck.

'They've gotten you too, huh?'

"The boy doesn't fare well with needles, so be careful with him, will you?"

With that, he left. Looking back at Rave's unconscious body stripped naked for the operation, I covered him with the thin blue sheet at his thighs respectively. It's been a while since I saw his hair down like that, and his arms were, for once, exposed for all to see. There were faint marks on his body as far as I could see. The more I observed, the more I understood. He looked like the type who'd want to protect his sister from everything, even if it meant dying in the process. The majority of the scars were on his back where it would be difficult to spot. They couldn't have been accidents, no self-harm either as far as I've seen. His arms were a different story. They were covered in scars both recent and years back. He was indeed an abused child, I could see why he'd act so cold. This road might have been good for him. I could take away the scars and the memories. However, I'd be taking away his life as well. Those scars were a part of what made him. Without them, he'd lose his identity, his life. Years of pain can lead to more years of pleasure, I learned the phrase from a wise woman in my past. I couldn't do it, I couldn't take his life away, not like that.

Thankfully, Rave was still alive and breathing, although his heart beat was slow. Grabbing a spare coat and gown I quickly clothed Rave and sat him in a wheelchair. Escaping wouldn't be easy here, nor was it my intentions. I just had to hide Rave until he awoke and I found a way around all of this. No one was outside, allowing the two of us to leave the room into somewhere safer. The place was covered in cameras, not to mention the combat and kidnapping capabilities the employees there had, it was enough to send us both back into my office or somewhere worse. Getting passed all that would be next to impossible, but I at least had to try. Those people didn't listen to reason; what's ordered is ordered, and what's commanded is law. That became painfully obvious when I turned the corner to see a small mob of security officers awaiting my arrival.

"Nurse Azoria? Where are you heading?" The leader asked.

"Just getting more supplies."

"And why are you bringing it?"

"I can't have it waking up and running off."

"He won't."

"Okay."

"Azoria, you can't escape, return to your office peacefully and start the operation, or we'll have to watch as you do so!"

"No, this isn't right!"

"Oh? Who taught you such things? This is our law Azoria, the law you were born into!"

"It isn't my law! It's illegal!"

"It is your law Azoria, and those whom rebel against it suffer capital punishment."

I hated to admit it, but he was right. I saw what breaking those rules could do to a person, the look of despair in their eyes as they're dragged into a room to be 'put down'. I turned back, shooting a glare at the men as I headed back in my office's direction. Suddenly, I felt a hand touch my head,

"You dropped something" his voice chuckled, they caught me in the act.

He handed back my smoke bomb, a small ball that could easily slip between and out of your fingers with ease without anyone noticing a thing. Handy for commoners, foolish for them. It was a long shot to believe I could use their own tricks against them. As soon as the bomb went off I heard someone rolling Rave away while others restrained me in place. I had officially rebelled, and was now on my way to die, at least, that was until my savior spoke.

"Let them go, I think it's time for us to have the talk. I'm especially excited to talk to you, my child"

Or not...

Libia

"Untie her and let her go! Boss's orders."

I woke up after one of them put me to sleep. As the ropes unraveled I collapsed to the floor, my head was lifted up and the tape was ripped off my eyes, allowing me to open them. Lastly, meanwhile as my eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light, they removed the gag from my mouth. Everyone was a few feet away from me by the time I regained composure, but that wasn't my concern to understand why. Seeing Freedom however, caught me off guard. He was unconscious on the other side of the room. From where I sat nothing seemed to be visibly done to him, but I had to stop myself from rushing over to make sure. I had other things to worry about.

"What do you want with us?" I tried to keep my cool, but it still came out passive aggressively.

The young man in black replied smiling, "Oh, we'll save that for when your brother and his friend come in."

That twisted sugar coated grin made me sick. It wasn't the fact that I saw right through it, it was that somehow, I knew he knew how to fake a smile correctly. He just didn't feel like it was worth it, so it seemed. I tried getting up but was immediately held back by the perverted woman. I was swallowed in her arms like a newborn child, squeezed until I couldn't breathe, but no one bothered stopping her. It lasted until one of the three had picked up their phone and announced that they had another job to do.

"Well, looks like we have other business, see yah hun!" K smiled.

I was left alone with an unconscious Freedom, crawling over, shaking him awake.

His eyes fluttered, and in a few minutes, they widened in shock. He, too, knew nothing about how he got here. After we got up off the ground Freedom headed towards the door looking out for people in the halls. There were no other windows or vents, that door was our only way out, and it was irresponsibly left unlocked. I took Freedom's hand and we snuck out the room , laying low until we found a safer way out. Little did know that we'd be followed.

Freedom was faster than I anticipated, and thankfully so. I lagged behind him for a while once he got riled up, forgetting our agreement not to draw attention to ourselves. A woman, presumably some sort of doctor, came out to see two kids out of their cage.

'De-ja-vu'

She sprinted after us; I barely slipped through her fingers twice as I turned another corner. A dead end awaited us, and the doctor followed closely behind us. A few seconds before we hit a wall Freedom spotted an open closet we could hide in next to an open room, perfect. We could hide there, knowing the doctor would check the dark room first. Once she was in, we were out. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. The doctor never came, instead, it was someone much, much worse.

I was both scared and excited to hear footsteps down the hall. I waited for them to move into the room, but instead they headed to the closet. A cold sweat dripped down my forehead as the door quietly creaked open. Freedom and I were already well hidden, just as precaution that this would happen. The face I saw however, wasn't the doctor's. Despite our efforts, he spotted us both.

"Don't you want to see them again?"