Venom was not a good place to live in, even for the worst of the worst of the Lylat System. It had been reserved for convicted criminals as a penal colony, set out to mine the natural resources of the Evergreen Planet. Normally those criminals were generally murderers, thugs, burglars and gang members, but it had evolved into a place where just about all of the undesirables were sent to.
It was all that Leon knew, though. He had lived on the planet from the day he was born, living in tiny buildings and carrying around oxygen masks wherever he went. With the air in Venom incredibly caustic and coarse, it was necessary to create small bases on the surface so that clean air could be breathed in, and vegetation could be grown. Whenever he had to step outside, he had to bring out the masks in order to breathe. Not doing so would result in an inevitable death. That was the way of life in Venom.
Basil, Leon's father, had just returned back to their base after a long day of work. Leon was already there, tinkering with a rifle he had purchased the other day. Basil walked by Leon and went into his medicine cabinet, taking his prescribed pills before going back to his computer. He turned it on, then entered that he had taken his meds for the day. He sighed, then opened up the notepad on the computer, containing a large diary he had been maintaining for the last couple of years.
The first entry on the diary always popped up when he opened it up, hitting him softly in the face as a small reminder of what he was planning. Today I've decided to start a log of my thoughts on this miserable planet, in the hope that someone would be able to learn from my misery. He turned over towards Leon, quietly at work on his rifle. Pangs of regret sank through Basil's mind, his son a daily reminder of how his own life was wasting away.
There were other entries listed on the diary, of course. I've been on this planet for far too long, for the only reason being that I'm considered too dangerous to live on Corneria. Here I am, bunched up with murderers, gang members, thieves, but what do I get sent here for? Speaking up against the Generals of the Cornerian Army.
Basil took a quick glance outside towards the empty fields of the planet. He hadn't been on Corneria for nearly 20 years. He longed to see the day he could see the blue skies of his home planet again, and the sweet smell of the plentiful grass in the fields. Instead, each day the skies were painted a toxic yellow, the grass non-existent, and the canned oxygen he had to breathe when outside incredibly stale. But then his mind inevitably led back to Leon. Another entry in the diary started, I do not know which is worse; to be deprived from what you know is good, or to not be aware of its existence in the first place. Leon was 14, and had not drank fresh water from the lake, or wandered outside without worrying about breathing in proper air. He had longed for his son to experience life away from Venom.
Life seemed to have other plans, however. Even though he was still a prisoner, he was still intelligent enough to be of use on Venom. He was commanded to teach and educate, to tell other prisoners how to work and behave on the planet. He was also responsible for managing the schedules for the prisoners. In return, he and his son were spared from the hard labour camps the planet was known for. The diary entries continued. I know the penalty for speaking out against the Cornerian Army. So I just do my job and keep quiet, even if it's the most menial and monotonous work. I know what my punishment will be if I disobey.
Basil shook his head, his mind rattling from the day behind him. He scrolled to the end of the diary, where he could start another entry. He turned briefly over to Leon, who was still tinkering with his rifle. Basil moved over to type onto the computer, his hands starting to shake, as he began to write a new entry.
Leon adjusted the sights on the rifle for the last time, confident that it was pointing in the right direction. He picked up the rifle and brought the sights to his eyes, seeing through towards the other side of the room, where it had zoomed in onto one of the numerous books his dad had smuggled in from his contacts on Corneria. It was the only point of reference he had from that planet, and how life was like without wearing an oxygen mask around him all the time. For Leon, going outside with a mask felt like second nature to him, even though his father despised having to do so. But it was just another everyday activity to him. Besides, he tried breathing in the harsh air of Venom once, and he instantly regretted it. It was comparable to having someone strangle their neck with both hands. It certainly wasn't an experience Leon would wish on his worst enemies.
Leon grabbed some ammo from the nearby cabinet and placed it in the pockets of his jacket. He then grabbed his oxygen mask, then wrapped the strap of the rifle over his shoulder, making sure the orange tip at the end of the rifle was plainly visible. He stepped over towards Basil, who was nervously typing on the computer, biting his lips.
"I'm just heading out to the firing range," said Leon.
"Wha?" Basil jumped, snapping out of his daze. "Ah, sorry, Leon. Didn't mean to get startled. Take care of yourself."
"Thanks," Leon replied back. He put on the oxygen mask just the sliding door opened up to the humid air, then he quickly stepped out. The dust blowing around hit Leon almost instantaneously, forcing Leon to pull up the hood of his jacket so that the dust didn't make his scales drier than they already were. If there was one thing that he didn't like about living on Venom, it was that the caustic outside air always made his scaly skin dry up, making everything rough to the touch. The same thing happened to his father, and also to his mother to a certain extent.
He hardly saw his mother, given that she often worked as a maid for the elites at Corneria after she finished her sentence of exile on Venom. It wasn't like his parents were close to begin with. Leon was often referred to by others on the planet as being part of the "native population" of Venom, which Leon himself found odd considering that he didn't consider himself a citizen of Venom, just someone who happened to live there. But the tag stuck, whether he liked to or not, hanging over his head, as his superior officers would often remind him of.
As Leon arrived at the firing range, there wasn't a single soul nearby him, such was the state of the atmosphere on Venom that day. The range itself was simply a large plot of land, with a few targets placed about a hundred yards away from a pile of rocks Leon had managed to haul over to act as a place to stand up his rifle to keep it steady when shooting. Leon set the rifle down onto those rocks and peeked through the sights, which was able to filter through some of the dust floating around, making seeing around him with only his eyes difficult.
Though he could see the target clearly, he saw somebody stumbling through over towards the side of the range. Baffled, Leon adjusted the rifle so that he could see the figure more clearly, seeing the figure wander aimlessly towards the small shack that was a few feet from where Leon had set up his rifle. Leon adjusted the focus on the sights a bit more, so that he could see the person a bit more closely. There, he noticed that the woman had no mask on, and was clearly having difficulty breathing, trying her best to get to the shack where she could at least rest for a bit out of the elements. Leon dropped the rifle and ran towards the female monkey, even though it was difficult to see where she was without the filters aiding him.
As he ran closer to the woman, Leon could start to see her more clearly, and also noticed that she was grasping her neck with one of her hands, desperately trying to block out the coarse air out of her body. It was of little use, though, as she stumbled down onto her knees, barely able to breathe. Leon was now sprinting towards the monkey, taking off his mask in preparation for placing it onto the monkey's mouth. As he got to the woman, she had fallen onto her side, writhing on the ground in pain as she gasped and coughed violently. Leon tried placing the mask onto her mouth, but her body was writhing around so much it was hard to place it on her securely. Eventually, Leon managed to place the strap of the mask around her ears, as she took in a giant breath of fresh oxygen, and her body relaxed in relief.
After about a minute, Leon was able to get the monkey onto her feet as the two went over towards the shack, while Leon helped the woman stay on her feet. It took a couple of minutes to get to the shack, but as they both stepped inside, already Leon breathed in a bit easier, the air inside the shack free from the coarse dust of Venom. The two sat down on the ground, leaning against the walls of the shack, while the woman continued to breathe from the oxygen mask. Leon was able to catch his own breath being inside the shack, away from the elements.
The woman slowly opened up her eyes, turning her head towards Leon in a daze. "Who… who are you?"
"That's not important right now. I'm just wondering how you managed to get all the way out there without a mask on you."
The woman shook her head, with a small amount of tears starting to form from her eyelids.
Leon sighed, not wanting to get wrapped up in the woman's emotions. "Well, my name's Leon. I live a bit away from here. Normally I go here to test out the weapons I build."
"Weapons?"
"Rifles, really. I suppose it's a hobby of mine."
The woman turned her head from side to side, mumbling words underneath the mask. She then turned towards Leon, her eyes still in a bit of a daze. "Do you need this?" she asked, pointing to her mask.
His own breath was starting to become hoarse. "Only for a minute, if you don't mind."
The monkey handed over the mask to Leon, as he placed it gently onto his own mouth, taking in a few deep breaths. Through the hisses of the oxygen flowing through, he could hear the woman quietly sobbing under her own breath. Leon returned the mask to the woman, who was able to put on the mask under her own power.
"We can't stay in this shack forever. We need to get to a pressurized environment where fresh air is being pumped in. Let me call the police, so that they'll pick us up."
"NO! WAIT! Don't do that!" the woman snapped out of her stupor as she stood up in a panic. "They'll kill me!"
"…wha? But why?"
The woman leaned onto the shack, embarrassed to face Leon in the eyes. "They think I killed someone."
"Who? The police?"
"YES, the police! They're running after me!"
"Wait a minute! Surely you can defend yourself in court -"
"You don't understand! They think I did it!"
The woman tried to run away, but Leon was able to stop her from running outside. Leon grabbed her shoulders, attempting to snap her out of her frenzy. "Listen to me! I can help you! It's not worth throwing away your life for this!"
"My life is already ruined, you idiot!"
Leon felt his own hands tremble as the woman fell back onto her knees, now sobbing profusely as she struggled to compose herself. "Look, let me call my dad. He might not be able to get here right away, but at least this way we'll keep you out of the eyes of the police for the time being."
The woman barely kept eye contact with Leon. "They'll find us."
"At least there will be a chance for you to live!"
"What difference does it make, if I'm going to be in prison for the rest of my life?"
"Just hold on for a minute," replied Leon, taking out his cellphone. "Let's just get to some fresh air while we try to figure this out." He called his dad's phone number, waiting impatiently for him to pick up. He heard the phone ring, each second taking an eternity to pass. No response. "Damnit. He should be at my home. Why isn't he picking up?" Leon called his dad's phone again, as the woman was shaking her head solemnly. No response. "I don't know what the hell's going on, he normally picks it up right away. He's always wondering where I'm going every day."
"…they're going to kill me."
"They're not going to kill you," said Leon, with a gentle dose of naivete. Leon dialed his dad's number again, quietly thinking to himself where his dad might be. Perhaps he went to the washroom, Leon joked to himself. It had been a couple of minutes since he tried calling his dad the first time. But once again, he didn't pick up the phone. "What the hell's going on with him?"
Before he could answer his question, a stranger knocked down the door of the shack, opening it up to the dusty air. As the stranger walked inside the shack, Leon could see straight away that it was a policeman who was standing in front of him. "What's going on here?"
"None of your business," Leon grumbled.
"We'll see about that." The policeman looked past Leon, where the woman was trying to keep low and try her hardest not to get noticed. "There's a fugitive directly behind you!"
"Now, wait a minute -"
Leon had no chance to voice out his opinion when the policeman brought out a taser and shot it at the woman, as she fell down flat on the ground, stunned by the taser's shock. When the policeman went over to the woman to place handcuffs on her hands, another policeman entered the area.
"Where did you find the perpetrator?" the second policeman asked nonchalantly.
"I just saw her wandering around in the middle of the desert. She was dying out there! I hope you realize that! And she seems adamant that she didn't commit the crime, whatever it was! Even if she's guilty, it doesn't excuse you from simply dumping her into prison!"
"That's our problem," the second policeman grumbled. "Besides, what are you doing outside without a mask on you?"
"The woman didn't have one, you fool! So I let her borrow mine!"
The second policeman sighed as they carelessly tossed another mask at Leon. "Here, take this one, then. Don't say we don't provide for you."
Leon put the new mask on, as he stepped out of the shack, where he saw the woman coming to, realizing what had happened to her, as she started to break down in tears again. "I didn't do it! I swear! Please believe me!"
As the woman was gently forced into the police car, the second policeman approached Leon, while Leon stood silently, at a loss on what to do.
"Forget about her," the second policeman said to Leon. "There's nothing you can do to help her now."
"So what am I supposed to do? Leave her like this?"
"She's guilty as hell. Can't you see that in her eyes? She's better off rotting in jail."
Leon clenched his fist, his mind boiling to a feverish pitch. "You don't even know what happened! Hear her out for a change!"
The policeman, though, didn't listen at all to Leon, as they entered into the police car without another word and drove off, leaving Leon alone in the desert.
"Damnit," Leon grumbled. "I didn't even get her name. And I still don't know where the hell Dad is." He brought out his cellphone again, calling his dad for the fourth time. The phone rang and rang, each second ticking away for an eternity. Still nothing. "Something's wrong. He's always nearby his phone. I have to get back home."
Leon hastily grabbed his rifle which had been left on the rocks directly across the firing range the entire time he was helping the woman for the past few minutes. He still had his ammo with him, having not fired a single shot. But that was the least of his worries. His pace heading back to his home grew more frantic with each second, turning from a steady walk to a near sprint.
Leon stormed through the front doors of his home, stumbling inside as he ripped off his oxygen mask without much thought. "Dad?" He was met with no response, the tiny base echoing silence all around him. Leon went over to where his father's computer was, knowing that was where his father was when he left.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few drops of blood splattered across the keyboard, some more drops on the floor. He then went over to his father, lying down on the ground, with a large bullet wound on the front of his forehead.
Leon rushed over to his father, his whole mind numbed at the sight of his motionless father. He felt his neck to try to check for a pulse, but already his body was starting to turn cold. Grasped on Basil's right hand was the pistol he owned, its safety mechanism switched off, showing signs of use on the outside. His left hand was clenched tightly, as if it was holding onto something. Leon forced the hand open, finding Basil holding onto a flash drive. Leon carefully put the flash drive in his jacket, then turned his focus back to his father. Leon's mind was blank, his mind not knowing how to process what had happened in front of him.
The police showed up a short time later. The second officer that Leon had talked to when he tried to prevent the woman getting arrested was there to investigate this incident. Leon said nothing, not wanting to talk to anyone, especially the police officer he didn't approve of. The other officers told him that everything was going to be ok, that they felt sorry for his loss. But Leon didn't say anything in reply, not knowing if he should be appreciative of their support or not. His whole mind was in a daze.
He didn't get any sleep that night. He couldn't get the sight of his father lying down motionless, with a bullet hole in the front of his head. The flash drive his father had clenched in his hand bothered Leon. What the hell did it contain? He kept thinking to himself.
It was at five in the morning when Leon gave up trying to sleep and got out of the couch he usually slept on, heading over to the computer which still had a few blood droplets missed over from the cleanup. Leon put the flash drive into the computer, then saw the extensive list of diary entries that his father had accumulated. Suddenly, Leon's mind raced, wondering what he had been up to in the last few years. He scrolled down to the last entry, written the previous evening, the night he died.
Leon's morbid curiosity got the better of him, opening the file as quickly as he could.
To my son Leon,
Please accept my apologies in advance for the ramblings I am writing right now.
His heart sunk. His father was writing a suicide note, and Leon did nothing.
He always seemed so positive, Leon kept saying to himself. How could I have caught him sooner?
The note continued.
The only thing I can say about my life is that it has been a living hell. I have been sent here to die, I've been convinced of that. The Cornerian Army is doing their best to suck out every last bit of energy out of me, getting me to work my butt off every day of my life. If I stop, I get sent to the gulag again. I don't want to go there. Anything but that.
I never wished this on you, Leon. Even your mother has a better life than this. All that she did was take part in a robbery. That, somehow, is better than speaking out against the government.
I've tried to think of the ways to get both of us out of this goddamned planet. But the longer I stay here, the more I'm convinced that I have no chance to escape. But if I die somehow, there's at least a chance for you to choose whether or not to stay here or to go to your mother in Corneria. After all, your criminal record is clear, at least for the time being.
I saw you go outside with that riffle of yours before I started writing this lettter.
Let me be the first to say that there wasnt anything you could have done to change my mind tonight.
I'm done with all this
If anything I dont want you to see my brain splatered all acrosss the floor and all over the place and the mess and everything
Leon couldn't help but notice the spelling errors accumulate on the note, his writing becoming more erratic as it went along.
I know you're life willl be bettter without me in the way I can guarantee that. You deserve better. Take my advise dont speak out against the general he will be mean. my coleages where very evil.
I really dont know what to say. Its an odd feeling knowing your going to die soon and you want to write out as much as you can but I dont know what to say.
Im sorry if this is sounds a lot of crazy but im not in the mood to edit right now
Leon was rubbing his hands on his face, trying to make sense of his father's last words.
I dont want to be a burden on you any more. You must look at me as a failure every day. I can only hope youre life gets better from here. Dont fret for me, I will soon be in a better place myself.
Peace, love, empathy
-Basil
I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU
For the first time since his father's death, Leon started to sense the gravity of his loss, knowing that he would never see his father again. I should have spent more time with him. Been near him more. Figured out a way to get him out of this mess. Even if he still kills himself, at least learn from him more… Leon punched the desk in front of him, taking out a chunk of the desk, such was the strength of his frustration.
"If there is a God… please take care of my dad, please… that's all I ask…"