Lock and Key

Awash In Flame

 A system quickly emerged regarding the day to day activities of the Apex. It all centered around Simon. Simon had good days and bad days. On good days Simon would be generally affable, he'd take the children on raids and commend their efforts, he'd give them free reign of the car, aside from the prison of the Void, and would generally work on his models or his writing. About half way through the day he'd send a trusted Apex kid to deliver the Void it's meal and wouldn't mention the Void all day besides that. The Apex kids loved Simon's good days because of what they led to, calmness. Simon loved his good days because of what caused them. On his good days Simon didn't think of the Void, he didn't allow it to take up residence in his mind and

sometimes, even just for a moment, he'd forget the Void had ever existed. For just a few fleeting moments Simon felt as though this was how it had always been, he'd always led the Apex alone. Of course he did remember the Void eventually but that made his good days even better. On his good days the Void was starved not of food but of social interaction, something which he knew the Void needed more than anything else. After all, it was the desperation for connection that had led the Void to becoming attached to a Null in the first place. Without it Simon felt that he was bringing the Void closer to his goal of becoming broken, of being reliant on him as it's only social connection. But of course the existence of good days implies the existence of bad days. And Simon's bad days were far more frequent. Those were the days when the Void consumed his thoughts, when he was filled with contempt and anger at the Void, when he wanted to hurt it the most. Today was one of Simon's bad days. "Apex!" Simon yelled from the top of the escalator. They children stood at attention, recognizing that Simon was having one of his bad days. "I have a job for you all today. Grab everything you can from the Void's former room and bring them to the line in front of the Void's prison. Do not enter the Void's former room until I make the order. " Simon announced as he walked towards the room.

"Yes sir Simon sir." the children replied in unison before rushing up the escalator towards the Void's former room. Simon hadn't entered it since the Void's betrayal and as he looked inside before allowing the children to rip everything out of it he took in the feeling of seeing it look as it had before everything had changed. How many memories did he have of time spent joking and laughing here? How many nights had he and the Void stayed up here while the Apex children slept. Seeing the room, frozen like a time capsule from before the Void's betrayal filled him with rage. Tentatively he stepped inside and walked over to the Void's vanity, still covered in it's things. He snatched a photo from the mirror, a Polaroid picture of the two from before their separation from the Apex. The white section on the bottom was captioned in the Void's handwriting, it had written, "Grace + Simon Apex Forever" on the photo. Simon sneered at the caption and stuffed the photo in his pocket.

"Apex, take everything you can and bring it to the specified location." he ordered, stepping out of the room and allowing for the children to rip apart the room and hopefully all of the memories that came with it. The children did as they were told grabbing clothes, furniture, anything that wasn't bolted down, and some things that were. They took their gathered items and placed them at the line that Simon had specified with tape as the Void line. "Anyone who crosses this line without explicit permission has sided with the Void and thus will be dealt with like one." Simon had said to the children after he'd marked the line with tape. It was yet another one of his tactics and as he stood just on the other side of the line as the children dropped the former possession of the Void at his feet he made sure they knew he was watching for anyone who failed to follow his rules. As the items slowly stopped coming one of the older Apex kids addressed him.

"That's everything sir." he said. Simon nodded.

"Very good. Apex, leave this area and do not disturb me. There will be consequences for those who do." he warned. The children scurried off and Simon grabbed a lighter that he'd found around the car that had given him the idea. He walked into the Void's prison to inform it of his plans. "Rise and shine, Void." Simon said to it before opening the shutters. The Void shielded it's eyes, Simon purposefully kept the Void's prison dark in order to disorient it. "What's the matter? Not used to the glorious light of the Apex since you joined up with the Nulls?" he admonished.