City X ([BxB])

Chapter 3: The West Side

When I got inside, there were two people inside my house, along with my mom. She must've been crying, given the crumpled up tissues that were next to her on the couch. I also heard crying from the couch, trying to block the sounds with a pillow that would be stained black from the oil dripping from her eyes. I could still hear it from the front entrance. The walk to the living room felt like a very long one, but soon enough, shouts from the three adults in the room were heard, making me know I was in big trouble.

"WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?!" My mom yelled as I flinched at the sound of her shrill voice. Her voice could make a baby cry, but growing up with her made it easy to ignore the shrieks I heard from her every day. It was always something... ever since I was built and came home that one day.

"Leave me alone," I replied to her question, ignoring what the two officials around me were talking about. I knew that we were probably being forced to move to the East or West Side since I have been studying this for a while. Considering I'm top of my class, my learning course is the same as an eleventh grader, with so much more to learn up ahead for me.

Well... not anymore.

More jet planes flew overhead, the sound they make meant they were cracking the 1000 mph mark. They were trying to find Damien. Just the thought of it made me shudder out of nervousness. The two officials laughed, throwing a luggage right at my face. Luckily, I caught it, happy the hard leather material didn't smack me right in the nose. They threw one at my mom also, but not as hard, considering I was the one who messed up big time.

"Alright, let's go. The van will be here in 5 minutes," The taller of the two guards told us, standing behind my mom and me to make sure we didn't get any funny ideas. As I walked out the door, the shorter one, which was in front of me, came over to me, whispering, "Don't worry about your little friend, he will be just fine."

Yeah, right, lies are told, but the truth will come out eventually. While this thought crossed my mind, the van arrived. It was black and have the government logo: a white heart surrounded by vines, with a circle surrounding it. The circle read 'CXGA', that same four letters appearing at least six times around the triangle. What does CXGA mean, you ask? Well, it's kinda obvious. It stands for 'City X Government Association' which is basically the headquarters up in the Northern Side.

I got in, handcuffs applied to my hands. They emitted a soft blue glow, which was just the high voltage electricity waiting to be released if I did something stupid, such as resisted against them. I looked out the highly tinted window, my violet eyes trying to make out the building nearby us. But as I looked, I started thinking again. Thinking about the government itself, with nothing else blocking me from thinking this way.

Do these people really have nothing better to do than kick people out for thinking differently? What happened to individuality? What happened to progress being made by other people besides the ones in the government? What happened to-

"QUIET BACK THERE!" One of the officials shouted, a shock spreading through the wires inside me, overworking my system just a little bit. He was probably listening to my thoughts through the V-Chip. Also, remember the materials that I talked about earlier, the one that protected us from the electromagnetic pulses? Yeah, this mechanical-made electricity doesn't get blocked by that, thus allowing it to damage my internal processors. I flinched, not giving into the pain just yet.

"Sorry, sir," I muttered, my focus drifting back to looking outside once more. In the time I was thinking to right now, the houses got noticeably worse, the crowds got bigger, and the air smelled worse than before. By just these three things, I knew we arrived at the West Side.

As the wall that surrounded the city got closer, and the houses got worse, the people got worse along with it. Druggies, drinkers, gangsters, the like. I noticed my mom looking out her window, her brown dress decorated with golden gears glittering in the broken sunlight. Her black tears fell down her face, a surprised expression at the scenery outside complementing the teardrops. I haven't cried since I was a baby. I was a good child, but apparently, that didn't last, haha.

"We're here," The shorter one said, the taller one stopping the van. Neither of us moved, being too scared of the surrounding people and the two officials who looked very threatening. What can you expect? Most officials were raised in the North Side, only a few coming from the upper-class part of the South Side, so they obviously had intense training.

Opening the door with the cuffs still on my hand, I stepped out onto the dirt road, my long coat the looked similar to my mom's dress getting dirty from that first step. Kids around my age looked at me, confused about the new kid (that being me) getting out of that high quality, expensive black van. Yes, very descriptive indeed. But it is true, it was very nice and looked nicer than everything else around here.

"This is Phillip and Sevil Matrix," The taller official started, reading from the screen on his arm. Only people that live in the North Side get 24/7 access to the Wrist screen, while the South Side only gets emergency broadcast, and the East and West side getting nothing. See? The North Side gets so many more privileges there than everywhere else, which is kind of unfair... "They are from the South Side and were kicked out due to Phillip being a part of breaking one of society's biggest rules. Damien Hace was the person he was getting information from, and has been-" A beeping came from his screen. An emergency newscast. Those never come through... unless-

"Emergency news to all residents in City X! Criminal number 1258623 Damien Hace has escape City X! We need all officials out to find him, no matter what it takes. His tracking system is no longer available, and the last place he was tracked was the East Side, towards the bottom right edge of City X! I repeat, all officials," The reporter said, his voice being cut off by the biggest jet planes I've seen flying overhead, those breaking 2000 mph.

I just watched, everyone freaking out over the news. Even my mom was freaking out, considering he was the person I was hanging around with. And I just watched, observing the way we all reacted to this news. Of course, I wasn't surprised. He promised me he would get out, and he kept that promise. That was... just surprising, and where would he go anyways? There's nothing outside City X besides water, loads and loads of water surrounding us.

Unless there's something else around us that I don't know about.

Another shock. This time I shut down, disappearing into the state of being anything you want, but nothing at all. Dreams are just made up events that are based on things we think about. This one was different than the ones I've ever had. Who knew that I would have deja vu...

The dream had to do with me meeting someone, in some sort of dark hallway. I recognized them, and I felt... surprised. I don't know who that person was, but I had a connection to them. I reached my hand out, and they spoke words I would hear ten years later,

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. Phillip 'Pip' Matrix," The person said, reaching his hand out to grab my hand. I pulled back, not sure about this mystery person and if I should trust them. They pulled their hand back and started walking towards me, bumping into my shoulder as they passed by. As I followed him, signs on the wall read,

"Outer City? What's that place?" I asked that figure, who stopped in their tracks before the light at the end of the hall got brighter. They turned around, and just looked at me. One second, two seconds, three seconds... time passing with no answer whatsoever. Their eyes just kept looking at mine, like they were looking deep into my core.

Just for information, the core is located right in between our eyes and is the power source for the complicated machines and processes in our heads. The battery compartment located on the lower half of our left leg powers the rest of our body. They both are replaced every ten years, and-

"What a lesson," My mom said, waking me up. Was I sleep talking again? That always happens to me, and I can't control it. It was an unfixable glitch in my system, due to a malfunctioned battery from a long time ago. Somehow, that happened, and no one has helped with it yet. So I'm stuck like this for a long time...

"Sorry, mom. Besides, how long was I out?" I asked, looking around the room that was most likely my new room. There was mold on the wall, and the room was a pale blue color. It was disgusting and looked like trash.

Just like how the next ten years went for me.