Zero

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The family had been flying for almost two hours without saying a word, the silence was so tense that you could feel a ton of rocks on your shoulders; the wind was blowing strongly, a First Age zaykan would have died of hypothermia, but to their good fortune, they were their most evolved descendants, with bodies capable of withstanding very low temperatures (one of the many reasons holographic clothing was so popular), yet they were not insensitive, only they did not feel the cold so intensely, for their bodies produced the heat necessary to counteract it, but even so the icy breeze made the journey even more frightening.

Noah was huddled on his mother's legs, with his eyes closed and swollen from so much crying, his cheeks sticky from dry tears and his mother's soaked trousers; all the way he had been whining, always in silence so as not to bother his father, but sooner rather than later tiredness dominated him. Meanwhile, Naya and Giuseppe kept thinking about how to break the ice; the tension was unbearable but none of them dared to let go of the first word. Sermon also wanted to start a dialogue, not because he disliked silence, but because he wanted to go over the plan; Giuseppe had not paid attention to it and Noah surely didn't know where they were going, he was urging him to update them with the situation; luckily for everyone the radio began to ring as soon as he picked up one of the Base signals:

"... live with his favorite hero, Cool-Brizze, who just stopped a White Card gang heist. Tell us: What do you intend to do in your fight against this new criminal group? It's now February 5th and it’s been seven robbery attempts...".

Noah opened an eye to catch up and then sat up in his seat with an abdominal, freeing Naya's leg that was beginning to tingle...

"Indeed, Mr. August -replied the hero- as you said, they have seven robbery attempts, of which I have stopped six with my own fist, and my companion, the Laser Man, stopped the other one; so I have a message for White Card: this Segment is strongly protected by "divine justice", so go on preparing for the Fletch, because soon Bottom will be your new home...".

-Wow, it's quite a show -said Sermon with a smile as the volume of the radio diminished.

-It's part of belonging to a group of “supers”; the news helps spread your accomplishments and in the process intimidates a few who want to get started in crime -Naya reproached.

-You're right, "Dynamic" -he responded sarcastically to his wife, using his alias from when he belonged to the Base Police.

-I had my moment -she replied proudly- I even belonged to the "Protective Veil"... shortly before I was married.

-Yes, the local police is the best, what a pity we don't have that one in the middle," added Giuseppe insecurely, looking sporadically at his brother, waiting for a reply that didn't arrive.

-On the contrary -said Sermon succesfully because he had found a way to introduce the plan -if Middle had supers now we would have to face a lot of them, the plan wouldn't work against the alchemist or Red-Fury, but against a group of SSBM it's a little less complex, and speaking of the plan, you still don't know, don't you, Noah? -The boy shook his head, he had fallen into the trap.

Sermon began to explain Noah's task itinerary, but Noah had been caught up in a thought: what was the difference between the super groups and his family? They were both fighting for the good of society, weren't they? Even they represented an even greater change, but unlike the suits, they were no more than criminals; both pretended to be the good guys in history but nobody saw it that way. What was the difference that he didn't even understand? Everything seemed very complicated to the boy, even though the answer was very simple...

Really in life there are no good or bad people, there are only rules, laws, norms, restrictions when acting zaykan; that shelter the obedient and adorn him as a moral being, ignoring if his motivations are really benevolent, while the true just, who seeks the common good is called infamous by using unconventional means that escape the normative parameter, thus giving the depraved the possibility of sinning in silence, and closing the various paths to the visionary who watches over social interests, those abandoned by all, those who really matter...

Noah came out of his reflective state when silence reigned again in the shuttle; his father had finished explaining, and the chameleon nodded, implying that he had retained everything, but inwardly prepared to be scolded as soon as they realized that he did not know what to do. The boy began to marginalize himself trying to remember, but it was useless, so he asked himself, what would cause him less trouble? Ask for the explanation again or ask as you go? Suddenly, an overwhelming burst of ideas flooded his mind, the whole plan in brief was there, he turned to see his older brother; he had passed the information to him psychically, the ex-zero smiled at him and Noah returned the gesture but looked away quickly.

At least he looked straight in my eyes; it's progress -thought the talented man.
-The Base signal was lost, we are now officially in the middle, we will reach my industry in 15 minutes -announced the pilot.

Silence took over the trip again, not even the radio sounded, because in Middle there was no such thing; the synchronizers transmitted all the important news, in contrast with Base, which was a little more independent of the See, in addition it was much bigger and overpopulated.

The journey took longer than estimated due to the lack of gravitational spheres, but they had finally arrived. Sermon Industries rose glorious, opaque in size to most of the buildings of the quadrant; the businessman did not exaggerate when he said that a minimum of a thousand SSBM would be needed to guard the six towers.

The first step was to be positioned under the "O" tower, as it was the only one other than the "M" that had a gene-corporeal projector and a radioactive synthesizer; the problem was that the "M" was seriously affected and the machines would probably fail if they turned on, leaving the "O" tower as their only option, in addition the switches that gave way to the light were disconnected and when turning them on would call the attention of all the guard to the tower, losing the element of surprise ... If they failed to choose the tower everything would be complicated, it was best to go to safety. Giuseppe introduced the other two family barons to the building with the help of their intangibility, depositing them on the lowest level; they would have to go through the whole building, but it was more pertinent than entering through the main door.

-Well, as soon as they have the formulas, go to the engine room of this tower, there we'll see them with the weapons -said Sermon. Giuseppe nodded and returned to the shuttle through the wall.

His mother would stay with him on the mission, but she would be unarmed until they were reunited with her father. Yes, grandfather Morrus had given each one an FP-10 (his own homemade version of the FP-20), but they weren't the big deal. He could have given them better weapons, he himself had seen them, but he limited himself to lending them those rubbish that only had three shots.

Naya took the command seat of the ship and set it in motion, they had to be extremely slow so as not to be heard by the multiple squadrons of robots guarding the "M" tower. Their goal: they had to sneak into the former secret laboratory of Sermon and bring all the ampoules that Yurikaft had left unsynthesized, they had to look for chips to load them with serum. The trip, which normally took four minutes, could take up to half an hour due to the stealth and technological shortcomings of the gadget.

Giuseppe had lightened his burden without the presence of his brother by reminding him of his mistakes and the pressure of his father's simple company, but he still couldn't help but feel guilty. Fortunately he was with his mother, she would know how to give him proper advice and the time had come to let off steam.

-I screwed up, didn't I? -asked the teenager.

- What are you talking about? You saved Noah and before that you saved all three of us at the checkpoint.

-Dad saved us at the checkpoint, he gave me the formula, and the second time I put them in danger in the first place, if I hadn't gone looking for that silly animal none of this would have happened.

Naya remained silent for a few moments, but Giuseppe could swear it was hours.

-I'm not going to lie to you, Giuseppe, I'm quite angry that you risked your brother's life in this way, but I'm glad you accepted him responsibly, and in the end you made the right decision -his voice had returned to that pleasant, gentle and comforting tone - these kinds of lessons are the important ones, those that leave their mark on your life, that teach you to make wiser decisions in the future. You're a good person, son, and if you've acquired these talents now, it's for a reason; there's an old story about karma that my parents used to tell me when I was a kid, it's practically summed up in that if you do bad things wrong and vice versa, you already had a life full of tragedies, and you endured them without hardly complaining, you always faced the day to day with the best of intentions, even now that everything seems wrong, your goals are noble, so don't hesitate for a second, because good things don't take long to arrive -the woman turned to give her a smile.

- How can you be so optimistic?

-I just told you my secret: good things always come around.

-I have only seen tragedy in our lives, good news rarely compensates for bad.

- Like what tragedies?

-You were forced to marry Sermon, who is not the best husband in the world, and for that you left behind a life that would probably make you happier.

-Yes, maybe, but from this arranged marriage came out my two greatest treasures -the boy couldn't help but smile.

-And what about your career at Base, you never became one of the big ones because of that decision, they made you throw everything away -he asked after feeling challenged by the turn he had given to his previous question.

-Yes, but without that race I would never have been able to keep up with Malcor and we probably wouldn't be here, so it wasn't time wasted. Besides, during my service in Base I helped many people, I assure you that all of them are grateful that that particular day we had crossed paths, even if later I had to abandon my vocation, in those moments I improved the life of some people.

Giuseppe was speechless, how was it possible, there couldn't really be something good in everything, it wasn't logical. He began to search for an even more complex situation for his mother, but the search turned out to be counterproductive, returning him to his state of disappointment and anguish:

- What's so good about him killing Goat? -he whispered.

-That's easy: Noah's still alive.

-But he's mad at me and it looks like he'll be mad forever.

-I don't think so -said Naya in complete safety. The answer fell to the teenager like a bucket of ice-cold water. I don't really think Noah's mad at you, he's just confused. Taking the life of that little animal was extremely difficult for you, it was obvious that you wanted it, and yet you were willing to sacrifice it for your brother; apparently not, but Noah came to the same conclusion and is angry with himself for putting you in that situation - the woman paused, expectant of replies. There were... That day, after you left, in his weeping your brother whispered something: "I made him break his promise" -Giuseppe felt overwhelmed by the revelation, new doubts arose, but he didn't want to interrupt. At first I didn't understand, but when he explained to me I could see that the sacrifice you made was even greater than it should have been and your brother knows it, he knows that you are willing to protect this family no matter what, he knows that there is no reason to fear failure when he has your support, so stop tormenting yourself about things from the past and enjoy the present. Every action cultivates a future... and it depends on you whether the fruit is good or bad, and not in the strict sense that only good actions bring good, but in the perspective that you decide to give this consequence, because even the bitterest fruit gives you seeds that will serve to sow again.

The lie had been thrown; Noah really was angry with Giuseppe, and the mother could not stand the idea that this pair distanced, had instilled in the child the same philosophy, trying to make him understand that the sacrifice made by Giuseppe was an act of love and should be taken as such, a sample of how important was the child in the life of the ex-zero. But there was another problem: for Noah to forgive his brother, Giuseppe had to be convinced that he did indeed deserve to be freed from guilt, otherwise he would only strengthen the chameleon's ideas and justify his contempt for him. Naya knew that it was wrong to manipulate her children in this way, she was even reached because of guilt, but she knew that later they would thank her, they say that "even if bread is stolen, it takes away hunger", right?

The talended man stayed meditating for a while on his mother's words until he was almost convinced, but he still needed one more piece of information.

- And you? Do you feel protected with me around?

-So protected as to challenge the See for the second time - a simple statement, even subjective, but enough for the boy.

The boy was loaded with confidence, the sweet tone of his mother was healing and at that time Giuseppe felt invincible; he was completely convinced of the success of the mission, he would not let anything go wrong, his spirits began to grow until he came across a new idea.

- Do you think he'll grow up to be a super?

The woman was taken by surprise by that question, but to a certain extent she was flattered that her son wanted to follow in her footsteps.

- Why wait till you're an adult? At least to me you're already a full-fledged superhero," he replied.

The boy couldn't help but smile, his eyes sparked with joy, and his imagination began to fly.

-I could be the first super in Middle, and make my own team, you could be part of it and thus continue with your career, apart we would free the Zeros and we could create a special level for them, above Middle, because they would all be gifted like me.

-I think it's an excellent idea -replied the mother with a sincere smile at her son's projections.

Giuseppe was immersed in his thoughts, in the future he wanted and for which he would fight. His ideas began to take shape for the first time since this had begun, he felt he was winning the war. The teenager settled into his seat and stared at the night sky clouded with clouds so dense that they seemed infinite and began to come up with a catalogue of superhero names he could use... The future sounds great, he thought, but if he was planning to be the hero of an entire planet, it must first be his family's hero.

February 5th: it would be a memorable day, not only in his life but for History.