Shards

chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The darkness pushed in from all sides and I ground my teeth, trying to remember what I was doing, asleep on the training room floor. Had this been a night mission gone wrong? Raising myself into a crouch, I began to make my way forwards, staying low to the ground. I was utterly blind and completely disoriented. Maybe if I could find a wall I could determine my location and find a way out of here.

My foot caught and I tripped forwards, landing on my knees. My hands groped desperately in the darkness, searching for whatever it was that had disrupted my step. Finding something surprisingly soft, I squeezed; only to realize that it was flesh, cold flesh. Tangled in their clothes, I quickly jerked my hands away. This person wasn't just unconsciousness, they were dead, and—judging by how cold they were—had been for some time.

For some reason I couldn't just get up and keep walking. Instead, I searched this lifeless frame, for anything that might help me identify him or her. The first thing I noticed was how small the body was. It was a child, either that or a midget. The little bit of logic that remained in my mind told me it was the first.

Suddenly, I heard a rustle of cloth behind me. Leaping to my feet, I spun to face them and raised my arm to deflect a blow. They were fast, and I wasn't able to stop the other hand from ramming, full force, into my face.

It was the blow that knocked some sense into me. The anger came rushing back and I screamed in fury, but then it went light. I'd fallen off the edge of this broken piece of my mind. Although where I landed was a completely different place in space and time, the person I was sitting beside was much the same.

Cradling his auburn head in his hands, Shay scrunched up his face in distress. The fists that tangled themselves through his curls were the same ones that had smashed into my face, all those months ago.

“So,” I said, hopping myself up onto a nearby cardboard box, “what do you think we should do with him?”

Ian shrugged. His blond curls were cropped short; too short for my liking. The looping ringlets of hair were about the only thing he shared with the scum in front of us.

“I told you!” the captive grunted, “I only came here to help Emme!”

“You see,” said Ian, smiling maliciously, “we would listen to you, except for the fact...”

He paused and I picked up where he'd left off. Things tended to have more power when we said them together. “...that we don't talk to robots,” I spat out the derogatory term and watched in pleasure as Shay flinched away from my cutting words.

“And why would we?” Ian took a couple more threatening steps forward. “I mean, you betrayed us, you betrayed yourself. How dare you become what you're supposed to become!” Ian's voice had risen in volume and he grabbed Shay's shoulders, shaking him vigorously.

Shay lunged forwards, aiming for Ian's face but he jumped back, just in time. Laughing, Ian turned to me.