[T/W: Child Abuse, Gore]
Unit 155455.
I didn't know if there was an operator behind it or if the robot worked on artificial intelligence. I never could quite tell. Even if I went up to check now, this place was just my illusion, my memories. What I didn't know wouldn't come true, and even if it was wrong, what I did know wouldn't change.
I had spent the last twenty years just around like this, but how much time had actually passed was something I wasn't aware of.
Slowly, I followed behind the small service robot carrying along the smaller child in its claws as the destruction of the facility behind me continued. Like falling dominoes, the place started to collapse onto itself.
Even though my own steps were short and slow, in almost no time at all, I managed to keep up with the robot that dragged Apate through the mountain path under which the facility resided.
The unit's wheels weren't made for operation on such a jagged road and its motors weren't made to handle such speeds, but the unit continued running ahead.
The breaking down of the facility became distant as the robot and the child moved into the trees. The forest path and its oblique faults made them both roll and tumble multiple times over.
Even though I was having a hard time walking after sitting still for what seemed over 20 years to me, no matter how far behind I was left, I was always next to them.
Smoke rose from the unit.
The cursed unit started bellowing as black haze left its burnt wheels and wisps of flames scaffolded the unit's motors.
And then, another rock came in the path.
"Auh…"
"BEEEP…"
The robot rolled and the child fell from its grasp. Already beaten down to a grotesque degree, the child's back smashed against the tree.
Only the howling of the wind echoed in the place.
With a small, mechanic, whirl, the robot pressed its claws down on the ground and slowly lifted its frame up. The sparks inside were nigh a blaze, but even then, by some miracle, it managed to move ahead.
"Apate…"
It spoke.
My eyes widened at the robotic voice that emerged. Something stirred in my heart as this very moment flooded not just my sight but also my mind, many times over.
Its claws nudged the child's face.
"Apate…"
The child's eyes fluttered open.
"Y-you…"
A zwing rang out as its camera probably failed. The motor must have stopped running and the power left its wheels.
"You… reacted… to… all… the… images…"
A lump rose in my throat.
No, in the child's throat.
"You… are… fake…"
I took in a sharp breath.
"But…"
But.
"That… doesn't… matter… with…—"
A crackle rang and sparks of electricity filled the frame of the robot. In the blink of an eye, its claw fell limp and its body started burning.
I see…
I see now.
It seemed that robot had died before it could finish speaking. But what was the point of knowing that now?
That child. Me.
I had already heard what was next. Whether it was in my head or whether it truly happened. What was done was done.
I closed my eyes.
"Strength…"
The robot's voice continued.
"It… will… all… be… good… if… you… are… strong…"
I looked at the sky.
With a blink. It turned dark.
And with another. It turned blue.
Once more. And then once more.
When I turned to my side again, the child was moving. Leaving behind the dead frame of the unit, the boy moved. His body was ragged like torn old clothes, and his breath more haggard than that of an old man on his death bed.
Slowly but surely, the boy moved.
Gulping down air, I followed behind. Our steps seemed to be coinciding as we walked down the mountain path.
And before we knew it, a megacity unfolded in front of us.
From skyscrapers that scratched the clouds to cars levitating slightly in the air. Gigantic holograms and posters displayed the latest gimmick of the biggest brands while hundreds and thousands of people looked at their watches and glasses as they moved through the busy roads.
"If only you were strong."
Few noticed the wounded child amidst their busy lives.
"You are fake."
And those that did, didn't have the time to bother with him.
"If only you were strong."
It was best that they didn't.
"Fake!"
Since all of their words were nothing but what that child had heard.
"Were strong."
From the billboards to the people, from the speakers to the advertisements. Every last one of them said the same thing.
"FAKE!"
The child grabbed his ears.
"STRONGER!"
But the sounds didn't stop.
"YOU ARE FAKE!"
All the voices in the entire city merged into one.
"IF ONLY YOU WERE STRONG!"
As they chanted his curse over and over!
"FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!""FAKE!" "STRONG!"
And then.
The boy stopped.
For in front of him.
Was what he had craved.
A man and a woman, and along with them, a young child laughing merrily.
In this world where every single eye glared at him, where every single mouth cursed him out.
Only those three smiled brightly.
The boy looked to his side. The frosty glass pane reflected his visage.
And a soft smile spread over his lips.
I crossed my arms and watched as the child ignored the sounds all around him and only glared at the group of three, following their every move.
For a day, and then another, and then a third, that child followed them no matter where.
And then, he found a chance.
Late in the evening, the young red-haired boy had left his home on an errand. With a small bag in his hands, he crossed the streets of the neighborhood. But the child was stunned not long after.
For standing in front of him, under the dimly lit street light with his hands behind his back was a boy that looked exactly like him.
"Uh… hello?" The boy cutely muttered.
Ah.
There was a difference.
The child under the streetlight, Apate, would never sound that cute and innocent.
Waving his hands, Apate beckoned the red-haired boy over. Unsuspecting yet curious at what seemed to be like a mirror, the red-haired boy followed Apate as he was guided through the streets and behind the parks toward land that was under construction.
"Hey, do you want to be my friend?" The red-haired boy asked.
"Friend…?"
"Yeah!"
Slowly, the red-haired boy neared Apate. "You look like me!"
Apate chuckled.
His hand hiding behind his back soared, a giant rock tight in his grip.
And without hesitation, he brought it down on the child's face.
"AHH!"
"DIE! DIE! DIE!! YOU'RE THE FAKE! YOU!!"
Over and over, the fake swung the rock on the face of the boy. Blood dyed the rock red and flowed down the construction ground. Teeth clattered and fell off while the muffled sound of crushing bones spread through the site.
Splats resounded.
The fake's breath heaved.
The boy underneath his feet wasn't recognizable anymore. His face had turned into a mush, a scramble of flesh, bones, and organs, none of which could ever be separated from another.
And then, the fake laughed.
"Haha…"
Slowly, he tossed the stone aside and then pulled out the clothes of the boy. Replacing them with his own one after the other, the fake donned the clothes of the boy.
His eyes remained fixated on the blurry mess he had made out of his face.
Slowly, he pulled the boy's limp body and dragged it through the construction site. It was all perfect, he had learned more than he could use in that lab. He could easily handle this. He dragged the body up and tossed it into the cement churner in a single go.
With my arms crossed, I watched.
I watched as the child was thrown into hell where not even its flesh would be recognizable anymore. Swiftly, the fake covered the blood marks and even the stone before grabbing the bag the boy had brought.
And with a smile, the fake left through the streets.
His feet tapped against the ground as he slowly reached the home he had been following.
It was twenty-four years back. When the world's strongest hunter and the strongest villain fell in love.
In exchange for freedom from their charges and lives of serving the world, amongst sealing their abilities and many other conditions, they gave up their blood. DNA of the two strongest beings in the world was in the hands of labs that, with advanced genome sequencing and magical healing and reproduction, could do anything they wanted under the right conditions.
They ignored it all, and after twenty odd years when their fame had died down, the two lovers came out to the surface of the world, living a happy peaceful life.
They even had a child, the first of two, never knowing, that another, indistinguishable boy was made of their own blood in a lab.
Worriedly, the world's greater villain stepped out of her home. With her abilities sealed, she was no longer any better than a simple housewife.
"Ah, there you are!" Under the street light, she found her child on his way back home. "What took you so long—My! Did you fall somewhere?"
"Ah…"
"Oh dear, don't worry. Let's get you cleaned up."
The boy saw her, but he couldn't see her anymore.
Instead of her face, there was only the bloodied mess that he could see. The blurry, bloodied mess of a human face.
"Let's go home, Yujin."
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