_ALONE

VI.

Content warning: Suicide attempt

Chapter word count: 4.472

~~~

There's something ringing.

Aiden opens his eyes and there is agony. His throat is dry, and when he breathes in, it almost comes off as a strained whistle. He doesn't move for a while. He later pushes himself up and lays flat on his back, and there, he begins to feel it.

Several bones, broken.

But he jolts.

He jolts at the sight of a dangling robot right above him, hanging at the edge of the train tracks with half of its body missing. Most of its camera head is blown off and puffs of smoke reach out to the already-dark skies. Other dead, blown-up robots lay all over the tracks, some limbs and shattered pieces of camera heads sprinkled on the ground. Splinters from the tracks have flown down too, several of them smashing cars. Even a few windows from neighboring buildings have broken down due to the explosions. Debris has been showered all over Aiden, and he attempts to brush off as much dust as he could but that goddamned ringing phone is getting very annoying.

He slaps a hand around his coat pockets with a groan, pulling out the phone with incredible effort. Big cracks zigzag across the blue screen. The caller ID is blank. The same green and red buttons appear at the bottom of the screen, and he taps on the green one. He presses the phone against his ear.

There is silence for one full minute, and then -

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star..."

What?

Aiden tries to sit up. He snarls in pain, and his other arm hugs his ribs, knees involuntarily twitching as he moves. A few tears escape his eyes, but he listens to the call with hitched breaths.

"We were driving in the car..."

"Lena?" Aiden croaks, but the voice only resumes its singing.

"Something happened in the sky... I feel cold, I don't feel right...

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star...

"I fell very, very far."

There is a final beep. He doesn't move.

He doesn't know for how long he has been sitting there with the phone still glued to his ear, but the moment he pulls it away his elbow feels stiff and sore. He drops his hand, stares into nothing, motionless: he is a bloodied and broken doll.

Standing up is probably one of the hardest things he's had to do in his life, right then and there. He's forgotten how it works, forcing yourself up on your two little feet, holding yourself steady and avoiding stumbling like a lost pebble rolling down a mountain. He wonders how it becomes easy over time as he tries and tries again, each attempt bringing him back to his knees with a cry, all of his bones begging for eternal rest; but then he realizes it's something that comes naturally over time - taught by loving mothers and fathers who never give up until the children grow old enough to turn away from them forever.

When Aiden at last manages to stand, like a tree teetering to the edge of a precipice, he wraps his arms around himself, bent over. His mind slowly evaporates into the distant winds of forgetfulness as his eyes travel absently around the streets, finding dented cars, lost pieces of train tracks, crushed glass. And robots - all of which are once more stopped by time.

Aiden freezes there, waiting for them to attack him. They don't.

They all regard him closely with their winking blue lights, unmoving, as if bidden to memorize him for as long as he stays. None of them move when he takes a step forward. No retaliation when he takes two. Nobody cares when he takes three. Only their heads turn after him as he walks down the streets towards the fourth beam of light. Aiden looks warily at each of them, expecting an ambush, expecting the jump - but it never comes. There are no warnings, no virus-detection calls, and no Nicky to let them know that her brother should still be hunted down. When he turns back to the beam, he notes that it is no longer red and no longer mad at him. Everything is a fluid motion of nothingness. Everything seems to fall into place, into silence, into peace.