Fifth Universe

Gasoline Heart

Apologies for the chapters taking so long to write. Schools taking over a lot of my time right now. I hope you enjoy!

Foxy drags me downstairs to the dining hall for dinner. She's so excited about showing me one of the new 'recruits'. I nearly trip over my own feet as we walk to the dining table. I've become awfully disoriented lately.

"There he is!" She says in an exciting whisper. Although I can't tell who she's pointing at. Everyone's crowding the dining table for food. "That's nice..." I say blankly, uninterested.

Foxy gives me an annoyed glance, but I barely notice. I scan the dining hall, looking for Fenix. "Ooh... I see." Foxy  says, cheekily. "You're more interested in u know who." She teases.
I turn my attention to her and give her a glare which is enough to make her shut up. I just hope it isn't as obvious as Foxy makes it sound.

"Never mind about him! All I want right now is food. Please tell me I'm not the only one that's going to stuff my face full tonight." I say, trying to change the subject. Thank god it works. "You're not alone. I'm starving!" Foxy says, grabbing a bite from the table.

It's not long before Travis walks up onto a platform and makes an announcement. "May I get your attention ladies and gentleman?" Travis says. Everyone except for the newbies knows to shut up and obey around him. There's no messing with Travis. No messing with Fenix either. I'm beginning to wonder what's up with those two.

"In celebration of our new members, there will be a banquet on tomorrow night." Everyone cheers and claps at this. It's been far too long since we've had any excitement other than training.

"Hold your horses, there is more." Travis says, raising his voice. "I suggest you find the fancy dress outfit left in each of your wardrobes. Don't worry, each outfit is unique to you, just like all your other outfits. There will, in fact, be a dance on as well."
"Wait_" Travis says, before anyone gets to say anything. "Again, there is more. Tomorrow is our final day on this ship, we will be landing some place safe, and everyone will be dancing in the grassy hills of an unknown location where we will require you to stay until we are notified that your homes are safe to return to."

There's a long pause. It doesn't take long for someone in the crowd to throw their hat in the air and celebrate. It starts a chain reaction, which leads to everyone cheering and hugging each other.

"Finally we get to see nature again!" Foxy says, excitedly. I let her flirt with Jay for a while, and drift off into my own thoughts. A warm, rough hand rests against my shoulder. I turn around to see Fenix, smiling at me.

A frown creases the skin between my eyebrows as I look at him. "What do you want?" I say, in a grumpy tone. Fenix backs down a bit, and edges further away from me. "I figured I owe you an apology." He says, rubbing his neck in a nervous gesture.
I raise an eyebrow at him. Something about his apology doesn't seem to fit.

"What's gotten into you?" I ask, folding my arms. "One day you're acting like nothing matters, and the next you apologise for it. You're right for assuming it frustrates me. It does."

I'm about to walk away when Fenix grabs a hold of my arm. "Wait. At least give me a chance to explain." He begs. His eyes reach mine for a moment, it takes all my strength not to look away.
I press my lips together and give him a small nod.

His nervous expression returns to him. "I have um, multiple personality problems." He says. His cheeks turn red and I notice him raking his hair again.
"I'm guessing it has something to do with the piece of metal drilled into your skull?" I say without thinking. Fenix's eyes widen, and he drags me to a quieter part of the room.

"How did you know about that?" He asks, in a serious tone. His eyes are tired, but alert when he looks at me. I can't decide on weather I should be honest with him or not.

"I told you about the things I've been seeing before." I say quietly. Fenix rests his hand on his chin and nods. "Yes, I do recall that. And you say that you've been seeing me in these... visions?" He asks.
I nod.
"The first one I saw... well." I struggle to make the words come out. "You were_"
"Bald." Fenix finishes the sentence for me. "I know."

I can hear the pain of an old memory echo in his voice. If I hadn't known better I would think that he was afraid of me. I catch myself staring at his ugly scar. How badly I wish he would let me get rid of it.

"I thought that the dream was of you escaping prison. But I realised the clothes were different. I knew the mechanism in your head meant something. And your arm..." I hesitate. Words seem to have been flowing out of my mouth that I haven't even thought of.

"I felt it the night you, uh..." again I can't find words. Fenix gives me a warm smile. "You shouldn't have to feel pressured into telling me all this." He says.
"You're right. You're right about everything. I was brought up in an experiment, trained as a soldier half my life. The piece of machine in my head was to make sure I don't step out of line. It still does things to me that I can't control."

Fenix grabs a hold of my left hand and takes me to a different room. I decide to be gentle with him and let him take me wherever he wishes. I'm still unsure of weather I can trust him, but that won't stop me from taking risks.

Once we're in the room, we continue to talk. "I'm sorry." He says, "I couldn't risk anyone else listening in."

I smile weakly, I can hardly hide the anger boiling up inside me. "Is that why you are so heartless to me? Because the machine in your head tells you to be?" I say, frowning.

Fenix takes a step back, he looks as if my words were a hard slap in the face. He shouldn't pretend that he has feelings, he's not even human. "I can see through you." I growl. "You pretend to have emotions but you don't. You're nothing but scrap metal who stole and took over a humans body. I've seen robots in the Poll, I know what you're capable of!"

Fenix's expression grows angry. I can tell that I'm toying with his emotions. He grabs my arm and threatens to hurt me. His elbow is inches away from my face. I can feel cold metal pressing into my skin, making it tear apart.

My heart starts beating faster and faster. I've made the real him break, he has shown himself to me. His grip tightens on my arm and he lifts it to my face. I feel like screaming.

The gears and pieces of his metal arm turn as his grip tightens and loosens on my arm. His face is filled with rage, and I can see him blink back hot tears of anger. His scar suits him now. Like it belongs on someone angry and cruel.

"You know nothing about me." He spits. His voice is deep and hurtful. Everything he does is in pure rage.
"You accuse me of being heartless, because of what?! Because I was raised in an experiment? Because society has drained me of my humanity? Who are you to judge, when you yourself have been brought up to be the same monster you think I am." He let's go of my arm with a severe push, like he was holding a snake instead of a girl. Blood oozes out of the area he grabbed.

I can tell that Fenix was surprised at his own strength, but it wasn't enough to make him stop. He is what stands between me and the door. "I have more humanity in my little finger than you have in your whole body." I sneer at him.

Fenix lets out a cold, deadly laugh. "Your words have hurt me more than you could ever imagine. Maybe you should start asking yourself who the real heartless person is. The accused or the accuser." He swallows hard. I can tell that he is flooded with pain, it's dripping from him. Leaking out of his gasoline heart.

I can't take this any longer, I've made a terrible mistake. I can feel hurt dripping from myself as well. Both of our expressions soften as we dare look at each other. Fenix's eyes are red with tears, and I know mine are as well. There is a long pause between us. I decide to sit down in the soft carpet tickling my feet. Neither of us dare to move after that. Fenix swallows hard and backs away again.
"I'm sorry." He says in a painfully shaky voice. He looks away from me. Mumbling the smallest whisper which I can only just catch.
"You're right."
He opens the door and leaves without saying anything more.