Humanity's Peacekeepers

Realization and Tribute [ 16 : ШЕСТНАДЦАТЬ ]

- Игорь // Igor -

"That was a lot to take in, wow," said Jack.

"Yeah, quite a long story," I agreed. "But it seems that this is how Chewdo was created?"

"That's one heck of a backstory, Chewdo. You're like a mouse's equivalent of a superhero!"

"Squeak!" Chewdo nodded.

"I'm surprised if all that's all he is — a mouse in a metal shell..." I muttered.

"Why's that?"

"Because he's rather intelligent for a mouse, don't you think?"

"Squeak." The mouse struck a jubilant pose. Jack snickered.

"Ahem, where do we even begin with this one?" I asked. This was getting confusing really quick.

— - — - — - — - —

To summarize, P the engineering kid made Roborodent 1.0, which killed a real lab mouse. P felt guilty, but the professor fixed the robot up, only to realize the mouse was controlling it. And this backstory is about Chewdo.

Because the sun was about to set, we went back into the lab of the UN building. We had to go down the stairs to B3, then take the elevator down. "Do you need a lift, Chewdo?" Jack asked.

The mouse shook its head. Apparently, the edges of the stairs were thin ramps, which allowed him to go up and down without any issues.

"How convenient!" I smiled.

"You know what would be more convenient, though?" said Jack. "A functioning main elevator."

"...Yeah." I sighed.

The moment we got down, Jack waltzed into the ward, and lay into the mattress I laid down for him yesterday. "Mmm... cozy."

"Hah, you can relax there for a bit, then. I'll get the backpack."

"Squeak!" Chewdo climbed to my head again.

"Do you know where it is, buddy?" I asked. He nodded and pointed next door, at the pantry. "Hm..."

I went in the room, and Mr./Mrs. Carcass was still there. At that moment, Chewdo started to squeak in a very sad tone. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Squeak..." He kneaded the skeleton's hand.

"...Oh." I felt my figurative heart start to race. "So, that's..."

Chewdo nodded, and lay beside the body.

I walked over to Jack, hugging his pillow, about to go to dreamland.

"Jack, this is important," I muttered, and led him to the pantry.

"You mean... that's Owen...?" Jack whispered. "How are you sure?"

"I mean..." I pointed at Chewdo, huddling up beside him. "...Who else could it be?"

"...It could also be P, right?"

"Squeak..." Chewdo shook his head. It really was him.

"Oh, lord, I'm so sorry," said Jack, sitting down next to Chewdo against the wall. He shook his head and lay next to Jack instead, licking him.

"...I'll go outside for a bit," I whispered. Jack nodded.

— - — - — - — - —

I went back out to Ralph Bunche Park. The towering white obelisk glowed orange from the setting Sun; the Isaiah Wall left its shadow onto me and the yellow flowers below. I picked a few stalks, avoiding looking at the vandalism.

"Don't feel too bad about it; humans are very hurtful creatures, after all. You really never did anything to deserve all that. In fact, you three are very innocent in the grand scheme of things." The professor's words echoed in my mind.

"..." I gave in and looked back upon it. The dusk made the vandalism a lot harder to see. The words etched into the wall, however, were... glowing?

— - — - — - — - —

ᴛʜᴇʏ sʜᴀʟʟ ʙᴇᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ sᴡᴏʀᴅs ɪɴᴛᴏ
ᴘʟᴏᴡsʜᴀʀᴇs, ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ sᴘᴇᴀʀs ɪɴᴛᴏ
ᴘʀᴜɴɪɴɢ ʜᴏᴏᴋs; ɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ sʜᴀʟʟ ɴᴏᴛ ʟɪғᴛ
ᴜᴘ sᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴀɢᴀɪɴsᴛ ɴᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, ɴᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ
sʜᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇʏ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ᴡᴀʀ ᴀɴʏ ᴍᴏʀᴇ

ɪsᴀɪᴀʜ

— - — - — - — - —

The words were just barely luminous, but was enough to grab my attention away from the faded paint and marker, all thanks to the now-faded glow-in-the-dark paint, barely noticeable, and with good reason. It had been at least 100 years, after all.

I smiled a bit. It was a subtle yet poetic gesture, maybe something like "unity prevails in the dark"? Haha.

"...But did it really?" I whispered.

— - — - — - — - —

I walked out the elevator and into the pantry. As I expected, Jack and Chewdo were asleep in the same positions as when I left. I decided against dragging Jack again, and let them be.

I looked through the trash can to find a bottle or some sort as a make shift flower vase, only to find an oddity in there.

"...What is this?" Amidst the empty tin cans and water bottles, there was a transparent capsule bottle with a masking tape label. "...NaCN... Sodium cyanide..." I kept a mental note to tell Jack in the morning.

I took out a bottle and filled it with some water from the tap. I was kind of surprised to see any flowing water come out of it, actually, but I'm not complaining. I put the yellow flowers in, and set it in front of the professor's body.

"Rest in peace, professor," I whispered. "And thank you, for quite a lot of things."