Humanoid-Nuclear (Humanoid Trilogy #1) [ON HOLD]

14

She soared through the gap in the wall of the decaying tower, her red wings glistening in the sun and snow. This was just a base; not the mother, which was in a different country. Her dented armour pinched her throughout the entire thirty or so minute flight above the small ocean gap between where she was and where she had been. The entire time she felt like falling into the ocean or just going back to rest. But she knew she would get zapped if she disobeyed.

She didn't like getting zapped.

Other cardimans peppered the inside of the base, their carers--who were also under control--cleaning their fur and feathers, feeding them, adjusting their armour, and making sure they didn't regain any of their memories or humanity until the scheduled time. Unlike every other cardiman, she was extremely lucky. Her carer was nice, which was unheard of here. In fact, he had given her a name. And, no, it wasn't anything like her assigned cereal number, which was 0079.

Her carer had given her the name Scarlet. When she landed, her carer rushed over to her landing pad and began to check if she was okay. He held a bucket in his hand, which was used for anything she found.

"Come on, Scarlet." He whispered her name, knowing he'd get in trouble if anyone heard it. "Did you find anything useful for him?"

She snarled at who he was talking about, which gave her a hearty shock from the collar around her neck. Obediently, she regurgitated the things she had found.

"Good," he gave her an apologetic smile and set the bucket--which was now filled with saliva and the scrap she could swallow down her large, thick esophagus--down on the desk. "Where on earth do you find all this metal, Scarlet?"

She screeched in response.

"Ah, a secret. Well, then." He smiled at her, then noticed the dent in her armour. "Uh oh. What happened here?" He reached over and took off the dented armour, giving her much relief . "There you go," he took off the helmet on her head, patting her feathers, "we'll get that repaired as soon as possible."

"ATTENTION CARERS," said the speakers from high above, "IT IS NOW THE SCHEDULED TIME FOR THE MUTANTS' HUMANITY. PLEASE SECURE CONTROLLED HUMANITY NOW."

He sighed. "Well, you heard what they said, 0079." From the desk, he placed her armour in their spots, then picked up a new canister filled with yellowish liquid, then injected the canister into the collar. She gasped along with everyone else as her humanity was reached, then looked down at him.

"Hello, Bruce." She whispered.

"Scarlet, how was it?"

She took a deep breath. "Interesting..."

"Well come on, then. Spit it out."

He was eager. Scarlet could see it in his grey eyes. But where to begin? There was so much to tell, yet so little should be said. How could she put it to words?

She looked around. Along side her were landing pads, each ten feet apart. Each pad had their own cardiman. Knowing their were so many people and humanoids around, she was bound to be overheard. "Not now,"

"What do you mean?"

"Not while we have company."

"It's that serious?"

"Indeed."

Bruce glanced around. "Did you recover a memory?"

"No, sadly."

"Oh," he sighed.

When a cardiman or any other humanoid in the bases found a memory, they had to keep it a secret, or else the one they worked for would have someone erase it. The entire process was painful and fatal. The last humanoid who let his tongue slip, a carisman, became paralyzed, and then was put down because he wasn't useful anymore. Scarlet had two memories all to herself, and Bruce--her trusted friend--shared them with her. He was very good at keeping secrets.

"Well, we'll discuss this later, I suppose." Said Bruce. "Need some water?"

"Yes, please."

Quickly, Bruce went to the desk and retrieved a water bottle. "You're not going anywhere else today, so you can shrink your wings now."

She nodded, letting her wings go to their regular, small size. Bruce gave her the water bottle, the cardiman chugging the water down as he took the rest of her armour off, then led her to her dorm. When they were safe inside her room, he turned to her, waiting for her to speak. He had been able to destroy her listening devices long ago, so they could now speak freely.

She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. "I saw a... non-mutant."

"So?"

"You don't get it, Bruce, he was free. He was actually free!"

"Seriously?!" He whisper shouted. "Where?!"

"My secret place. He was at least fourteen or so."

"Well.. where is he now? Why didn't you capture him?"

"He was with someone..."

"Another non-mutant?"

"No, no, he was a mutant, but..."

"But...?"

She swallowed, her wings finding a more comfortable position. "... A jayman."

Bruce was taken aback. "Those things are dangerous and rare! Why is it with a human?!"

"He was protecting him."

Bruce was trying to understand everything. "Those things don't protect non-mutants, they kill them in the blink of an eye. What was... I don't..."

"What's even more astonishing is that he had his humanity as we fought."

"I think I need to sit down..." Bruce took a seat from the corner of the room, holding his head in his hands as he tried processing the information. "Scarlet, do you understand how big of a find this is?"

"Yes, I do." She said plainly.

"We need to find them and bring them back here!" He looked up at her with determination.

"Well, actually, uh... I don't think--well, I mean..."

"What?"

"It... It doesn't seem right. I mean, they're both rather young. The jayman seemed to be in his twenties--"

"As are you," Bruce reminded.

"--and the boy was only in his teens. They both must be scared as it is. Why capture them and send them to our own hell?"

He was silent and thoughtful, so she continued.

"We both want desperately to leave. Why send two innocents to our own fate?"

"Because if we don't, then we'll get in huge trouble. If we do, we may be rewarded with more trust, and then we can escape easier."

"We're already in trouble as it is. We brake their stupid laws left and right."

"We're chest deep in trouble, for sure." He agreed.

"I don't think anybody is going to know unless we report this. So why not we keep this as our little secret?"

"This would be our--what?--forty sixth secret by now?"

"Most likely." She grinned down at him.

He sighed. "So now we have forty seven..."

"Thank you, Bruce." She sighed with relief.

"Mm-hm. But if we get caught--"

"We never do."

"True..."

"I know it's true, that's why I said it." She held her head high.

"Whatever."

"ATTENTION, CARERS." Barked the speakers in a painfully loud volume. "HUMANITY TIME IS NOW OVER. PLEASE REMOVE THE CANISTERS FROM THE COLLARS IMMEDIATELY."

Bruce sighed, and Scarlet frowned. "I suppose we can talk later, if I sneak another canister for ya."

"Which secret was that again? Number twenty two?" She joked.

He chuckled, then unattached the canister, losing Scarlet's humanity along with it.