Humanity's Last Light

Refraction Sucks

"Pass the butter please," Emma asked politely.

"Sure thing, sweet pea," my Dad replied, sliding it across.

"Anna, why aren't you eating? Roast duck is your favorite," my Mom said.

"I'm not hungry, and I've got a massive headache. I think I'll go lay down for a while, and see if that helps." And with that, Anna stood up, and left the room. Faintly, we heard her door shut, signifying she was out of earshot.
"She's been having quite a few headaches lately. I'm a little worried," Mom confided.

"I'm sure Construction is a very demanding job. Once she gets into the rhythm of it, she'll be right as rain," Dad assured Mom.

In truth, none of us knew what she was going through. Mom was an Engineer, and Dad was the Representative for our section of the City. My Test was coming in two months, to determine what field I had the most Aptitude in. Mom thought I would become a Teacher, and Dad thought I would follow in Mom's footsteps.

Personally, I wasn't sure what I wanted. Before I had met Sun, and the Outlaws, I had wanted to be a Firefighter. But now that I had seen the damage done to the land outside the walls, and knew the extent of the government's role in it, I wanted to escape.

Scraping the last morsel of food into my mouth, I stood up and cleared everyone's plates. Dad quickly stood up and took them from my hands.

"Don't worry about the dishes tonight; you need to go study," he reprimanded me, not unkindly.
There was an odd expression on his face, like a cross between pride and sadness. Shaking off the weird feeling creeping up my spine, I nodded at him and turned toward my room.

I had only taken a few steps, when a vicious banging started on the door.

"What on Earth...?" My dad wondered aloud, setting down the plates on his way to the door. He had just put his hand on the knob, when the door exploded inward, sending him flying into the broom closet. There was a groan, then silence.

"Dad!" I cried, rushing forward, only to be knocked backwards by a figure entering the room. I looked up to study the intruder, while scrabbling to find something to use as leverage to stand up.

It was a man, with a severe face set in an expression of indifference. Oddly enough, he was dressed in head to toe plate armor, made of a translucent material, with a reflective silver metal set behind each plate. As I watched, a teal beam of light went into it; it refracted, sending smaller beams dancing over the walls. One landed on my arm, and started burning a hole in it. I hissed in pain, and collapsed to ground again.

The man chuckled evilly. "Really, Rose? You thought a simple laser would kill me? You know better than that. Now I suggest you stop; you're hurting your dear sweet son."

Laser? With some effort, I turned my head to look at my mom; she had a pistol clenched in her hands, her face a mask of murderous rage. It was from her gun that the light beam was shining; the man was right though. The burning had gone to a sharp, white hot sting.

"Mom, please!" I begged. Her eyes glanced toward me, and softened. With a visible sigh of defeat, her finger left the trigger.
The light vanished immediately, though the pain didn't. Looking at my arm, I realized disconcertingly that I could see the floor through a hole the size of a chopstick; smoke rose from it, acrid and sweet smelling.

The man glanced at me, and clucked his tongue. "Now look at what you've done; you've hurt your child. You're a horrible mother; how could you do something so terrible?" His face was twisted into a horrible facsimile of a smile, cruel and slimy, as he watched my mother blanch and start shaking.