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—— ELIJAH WHITLOCK waited because it seemed like that's all he ever did now. Except this time he didn't seem to mind. His thoughts raced too much to even think about the situation he was in. Elijah was being floated. He was going to be locked up in an airlock and have all the air sucked out of him while he floats away in space looking at earth and the stars while slowing dying. Maybe not slowly, but that didn't matter. Being 18 didn't feel so good anymore. 8 year old Elijah would've been so happy finally being an adult, being able to move freely without parent permission.. until he got locked up, for a petty crime that he didn't even commit. Instead was caught in the cross fire of it all, covered in blood, looking like he did do it. So maybe it looked bad, but Elijah knows what happens and deny's having anything to do with it. Because he didn't do it. He didn't do anything. He has tried telling everyone that, over and over and over again. His mother believing every word. Even his two best friends. But of course if you're caught with blood on your hands, then you can't really escape your way out of that.
He just remembers his father. Him walking in and then suddenly his father is handing him something and smudging blood all over him. Elijah's father only saying, "You trust me, son? Because I need your help. You're young and I'm not, so you have to help me." 'Help' meaning he needed to be framed for murder because Whitlock was young at the time, he wasn't going to be floated at 14 years old and would instead be locked up. When the guards did arrive they saw Elijah and his dad standing over a dead body. Arrested both, locking Elijah up and floated his dad. So Elijah's dad didn't get away with it and instead got floated, like he deserved.
As bad as that may sound Elijah was ecstatic about his dad being floated. And at the same time it was bittersweet. Only because when Elijah was growing up he was just like his father. He wanted to be everything his father was and more. Confident, out-going, a leader, telling people what to do. So everything he ever did was for his father. He tried getting into the stuff his father liked, the way he thought about things. Until their family changed. Until Elijah's father realized he wasn't ever gonna be like him. So the verbal abuse started. The whole thing took a toll on him. He started to toughen up and put barriers up. His mother worried about him, wanting him to talk to her about what's bothering him, but Elijah pretended everything was fine until it wasn't. So after the accident Elijah changed. He changed into what his dad would've wanted. But only he was scary, cold, and looked like he could murder you if you were to look at him the wrong way. Guess his father got what he wanted in the end.
But waiting for death and the Chancellor was making Elijah grow impatient. His foot tapped against the metal floor. The guards surrounding him watched him carefully. They didn't want Elijah doing something. But even if he wanted to, Whitlock didn't think there was a point. The tapping soon got annoying so he stopped, but he started to tap his fingers against his thighs. Elijah was getting impatient. He didn't know how long it took for the Chancellor to just walk in, talk to him, then float him. What other important things could he be doing?
