OVERRIDE

Chapter 2: The Hand That Feeds You

Neva was a close friend of Lotus's. He would always stand up for her when I couldn't be there to. I understood why he ran away, but Arc-J3 was simply too dangerous for an eight-year-old to be out alone.

He had to have slipped away when Aderr was drunk, it was the only opportunity. That old hag watched them like a hawk.

But why would he leave his little sister behind?

I had an idea of where to start looking for him. There was an old automaton factory on the edge of city, where they first found Neva and his sister holed up, using the forge for warmth. It was a sanctuary for them, so it made sense for him to run back to his old home.

I slipped into the factory, the smell of rust and metal heavy in the air, making it hard for me to breathe. There was barely any light, the moon providing the only illumination. 

"Neva!" I called out. "You can stop hiding, it's Ave!"

No answer.

I started searching, throwing off old dusty covering, looking in every crack and crevice. I continued to walk into what used to be a honing room where they stabilized cypher, a lab-made metal that was used in almost everything because of its high naniteo compatibility.

Personally, I dislike cypher. It is the same material they used in the weapons that devastated our home. 

A faint voice reached my ears from below the factory. I quickly scanned the facility looking for a way to the basement level as a shiny surface in the corner caught my eye. It was a particle transporter that was short-circuiting, probably too outdated to use. I was surprised he took the risk, or maybe he just didn't know.

How the hell did he get this thing to work in the first place?

I stood on its dingy silver platform, placing my foot on the circular pressure plate in the middle.

Nothing.

I groaned slightly in annoyance, and stomped my foot down harder. After a few seconds, the crevices in the platform glowed around me, I watched as my fingertips illuminated and broke apart into tiny specks of light in the air. The rest of my body followed, and suddenly I was in the basement level of factory. It left me feeling nauseous and slightly numb because of how old it was. I was lucky the busted thing didn't end up leaving my foot behind. After taking a moment to get myself together, I clearly saw the space before me.

There, under the only light in the room sat Neva, adjusting a frequency outlet. Lying beside him on the right was a currency chip, and a human arm. He continued to turn the frequency up higher and higher, by now it was out of range for human hearing. He began to chant something into it.

"Fear. Suffer. Life. Silence. Cherish. Love. Darkness. Silence. Sacrifice. Ashes. Blood. Silence. In death, o rider, they shall be silenced." A few moments passed, and a sudden grayish substance began to secrete through the walls. Only it wasn't a substance, but millions and millions of nanobots, congregating around him into what looked to be a distorted triquetra.

"Neva, what the hell is this?" I whispered, approaching him with caution. Neva gasped, turning around with the biggest smile on his face. The nanites scattered, disappearing through the walls in which they came.

"I knew you would come!" he exclaimed, jumping up and turning towards me.

"What?" I stepped back.

"They answered me! I knew they were real!"

"What are you talking about Neva?!" I rushed towards him, bending down so he could see my face in the light. His smile faded.

"Oh... Ave," He mumbled.

"Mind telling me what all this is about?" I relaxed slightly, gesturing to the outlet in Neva's hand.

"It's the Silent Cry to summon the shadow men."

I had to refrain from laughing out loud. "Shadow men?"

"Blacklist. They say if you speak their oath in silence and pay a good price, they'll kill anyone. Anyone in the whole world."

Aderr used to tell me stories of Blacklist when I was younger, she'd scare us by threatening to send them to kill us. But it was simply that, stories. It seems she continued with the tradition.

"And just who were you going to ask them to kill?" I joked, already knowing the answer. But what I didn't expect was for him to start tearing up. It made me slightly uncomfortable at first.

Had I said something wrong?

I scratched the back of my head, and reached out to apologize. Before I was able to Neva looked away, time slowing as he rolled up his sleeve, revealing multiple bruises covering his arm.

"Aderr," he paused, "I want them to kill Aderr."

The line between what is right and what is wrong can be very thin. People do what is morally right, it isn't our place to serve as judge, jury, and... executioner. When that fine line fades away, so does morality. And at that moment, my line didn't fade away, it shattered.

Fuck that.

I snapped, what was morally right didn't matter anymore. This was a child, the innocence of the earth, how long was I going to stand by and let this continue? I thought by protecting at least one of them it would help. But here I am, staring down at someone's beaten baby boy.

"I guess if they're not gonna come, I'll do it myself!" he wiped his eyes, puffing up his chest.

"No!" I instinctively yell out, my voice sharper than I expected. I saw the sudden shock on his face, and I cleared my throat.

I held my hand out to him, "Your sister and mine are worried sick about you, Neva. What were thinking running off like that?" It was time to play the responsible adult.

"I was gonna come back. I'm sorry, but there's no way I'd leave my sister behind!" It seemed like he didn't take into account all the people who would've worried about him. "I couldn't contact them in the orphanage, everyone would've been scared..."

"It's alright, let's just get you back now," I said. He held his arms up towards me. I internally roll my eyes in annoyance as I lift him, letting out a sigh in reaction to how heavy this eight year old child was.

"Question," I chuckled, "Who's arm is that anyways?"

"Aderr's." Neva grinned, "I stole it from the subzero confinement she kept it in."

The one I "accidentally" cut off 5 years ago. Why the hell would she keep it if she didn't plan on getting it reattached? I shrugged, actually finding it somewhat amusing.

"I'm gonna do it... kill Aderr dead." He yawned as I secured him on my back.

It was different, hearing words like that come from a child's mouth. Maybe he wasn't so innocent after all. They say we all have a hidden darkness, and this world was an expert at exposing it.

"A child shouldn't have to stain their hands with blood," I carried him as we went through the particle transporter again. The transfer caused Neva to fall unconscious, and I almost lost my footing due to how much it disorientated me. When we were back on the main floor of the factory, I turned and kicked in the platform, breaking it for good. Neva inaudible mouthed something, his small hands grasping onto my torn carbon jacket.

"Don't worry," I said softly, "I have no problem with staining mine."