Chapter 36 - An Inculcate Broken
It had been a couple of minutes since Speed and Malaria left to go retrieve food. Remaining in their spots on the flat space on the hillside, Triselle and Sonic kept quiet. Still having his head resting on her thighs, she tried not moving too much. Despite her legs staring to get tried from sitting on them, she toughed it out for the sake of the child's comfort. The small hedgehog on the other hand was feeling conflicted. Knowing that she was just trying to help, he still was wary of her given her appearance and that his body was spent.
"..." the canine woman cleared her throat a little. Looking down at the boy, his eyes stared at her then looked quickly to the left.
"...so...uh...weather outside feels nice," she spoke able to break the awkward silence. "You feel comfortable? Would you like to sit up against a rock instead?"
"..." Sonic responded with looking back at her. "...against a rock...please."
"S-Sure," the woman responded with a small smile. Looking around them, there was a small boulder to their right. Lifting him up into a sitting position, she slowly moved to stand. Feeling the blood in her legs begin to coarse through her veins, a tingling burning sensation occurred. Slowly trying move, she stiffened given the pain from the sudden rush of circulation.
"I forgot that sitting on my knees will cut circulation off to my legs...they kind of fell asleep," Triselle mentioned with a nervous, amused voice.
"...mine do that when I sit for too long," Sonic added feeling a little better not being on an organic cushion.
"You normally sit with your legs folded under you?"
"No. The adults at my village taught all kids to sit with our legs crossed with our knees bent," he explained. Able to move his legs a little, he slowly got into a sitting position. Seeing her look over his shoulder, her face registered as recognizing it.
"Ah. I know that style. The humans called it Indian style."
"Indian style?" he repeated never hearing that term before.
"It is a type of sitting that tribal people do. It's also used for meditating," she informed.
Feeling the internal pressure waning, she was able to adjust her feet. Reaching down and grabbing under the boy's shoulders, the canine struggled to lift him up. Hiding her embarrassment of how weak she was, she clenched her teeth and began to drag him. Making the short distance and setting him down against the massive rock, she didn't stand up initially. Putting her hands on her hips, she began to take deep breathes of air.
"...s-sorry...as you can probably tell...I have no strength or stamina."
"That's okay...I can't move well either."
"You will in...due time with rest and recover...I haven't...been moving around...much in good while."
"Because you were in that...scary prison?" Sonic commented. Part of him felt trepidation from wondering if that would make her angry. Instead, the female stood up and gave a sheepish expression.
"...that's true...it is my fault for going in there the first place."
"...did you do something bad?"
"Bad?...no..." Triselle said then nervously scratched her forearm. "...I had one too many loose screws in the head...you could say."
"Oh...but...you are...okay now?" he asked feeling ambivalent. The apprehension and paranoia were still resting in the back of his mind while at the same time feeling a bit at ease talking to her. She seemed a bit more normal than the other two women he's recently interacted with. Seeing her give a small smile at him also helped.
"I will recover...have a lot of thinking to do," she answered. Moving to an area of the boulder that Sonic was against, she sat down a person's space to his right. It seemed to not cause a negative reaction from the child.
"You mentioned you were at a village. Which one?"
"I grew up in Oberi village with other orphans."
"Oh...are you a war orphan?" the female canine wondered turning her head to him.
"...I don't know..." the hedgehog answered looking at the ground. "The adults at the orphanage stated that all kids had parents. When we ask what happen to them, they stated that there were various reasons."
"...I see..." Triselle spoke quietly. "How old are you Sonic?"
"Seven."
"Oh, then that wouldn't make you a war orphan," she remarked and gave a small smile.
"A war orphan...what's that?" he asked turning his head towards her.
"A child who lost their parents due to war," she answered calmly. Keeping her relaxed expression, she continued.
"Do you remember your parents?"
"...mmm...not really," the boy responded then turned his head to look at the ground. "I can't picture them clearly...just foggy images."
"Were they doing something important that you remember?"
"Something important?" he repeated then squinted a little. Not coming up with anything, he looked back her.
"Something important like what?"
"Like they were researchers? Explorers? Scholars? Scientists? Professionals of a trade or skill?" she suggested. Seeing him look unfocused and narrowing his eyes again, it gave the impression he was thinking hard.
'Hopefully this line of topic doesn't go south...he doesn't appear to be down from talking about his parents,' the canine thought watching him. 'Makes me wonder if he ever thought hard about it...or chooses to ignore the whole aspect.'
"...I don't really...remember what they did...I just remember long hallways and carpeted rooms," the child answered focusing his eyes. Blinking, he looked at the ground and frowned a little.
"Carpeted rooms? Quite a vast difference from out here and in a village. Right?"
"...yeah..." he responded a little quieter than normal. Seeing the emotional response cue, the adult woman continued.
"You are lucky to still know you had parents...mine died after I was born."
"..." Sonic reacted with lifting his head and turning towards her. Seeing her looking forward, there was a sad smile on her face.
"I grew up in an orphanage just like you. Had a life goal to find my parents and see who they were. Took a long time before I was able to do something."
"What did you do?"
"When the Great War was happening and I was 16, I signed up for the war effort. Became a field medic and was sent to various places. Saw different landscapes from forestry like here but with different colors. Landmasses that had no trees and were just flat. Grasslands with rolling hills all around. Deserts to swaps. You name it. Seen 3 continents during my 10 years in our species military," she explained then looked at him. She felt better seeing how his face and demeanor changed.
"...whoa...3 continents?" Sonic asked with interest. "You mean you travelled over the endless sea?"
"Hee hee...yes. The sea is vast, but not endless. If you travel in a straight line and continue, you will circle right back to where you started."
"No way. The kids at the village say that if you get to the horizon, you fall off of Mobius's edge," the blue boy stated scooting a little closer. Seeing her looked amused, she looked at the landmass in front of them.
"Mobius is not flat, it is a sphere."
"...a...s-fere?"
"Like a ball."
"Oh, okay. Really?"
"Well if you don't believe me, you'll have to ask Speed. I bet he has travelled all over with his superspeed. And if your superspeed can get up to his level, you can validate it yourself."
"You...think I can be as fast as Speed?" the boy asked looking a bit hyped up.
"You won't know unless you try."
"..." the hedgehog reacted with a smile and nodded his head. Seeing the demeanor change in the boy made Triselle feel good. It also helped ignore her tiredness and dwelling on the poor life choices she made after the war ended. The flashbacks that came during their conversation shot pings of guilt and self-loathing. Shaking her head internally to rid of those thoughts, both continued to converse and wait.
'...oh hell no...OH FREAKIN' HELL NO!' Chiara shouted in her head. 'HE IS NOT GOIN' TO DO THAT SHITTY DISAPPEARING ACT AGAIN!'
"YOU FREAKIN' BASTARD!" she shouted. Her bellowing caused her voice to echo through the streets. Without pausing, she got on all fours and pounced off the roof.
"..." Malaria reacted standing neutrally in her spot.
Watching the stoat lunge toward a tall streetlamp, she grabbed. Stopping her momentum and doing a controlled drop, the female ermine made it to the ground below. Pushing off of it hard, the furry woman dashed off in the direction Speed was heading. Keeping her eyes on her, the bat woman ignored the aspect of the large illumination fixture vibrating from the hard launch. Continuing to observe, she saw that the other female could trace where he went to and where he was going.
'She mentioned...that she hates spirits,' the female Chiropteran thought. '...and from when we were on the road...her approach was that of fear towards me and Vermilion.'
'With the healed damage eye...is she now a clairvoyant?' she wondered with narrowed eyes. 'If he gave her something to make the organ regenerate itself beyond normal capacity...then he must have obtained a medium of sorts.'
'How did he obtain this...gift?'
Blinking and continuing to stare at where the hedgehog and stoat were last seen, her mouth turned into a frown. To answer her pondering, the amputee would know the answer. Already perceiving where he will end up, Malaria gazed around the city. Seeing the surface appear as a ghost town, the stench of burning rumble and cooked rot didn't bother her. Reminding her of the Sanctum, desolation emulated here instead of a cleansing place. Thinking about the scenery and its context, Speed's voice seemed to enter her head.
'...the evil society...you have been seeking...beneath the metropolis...has been purged...'
'...the tyrants...you have been hunting...from underground rings...are dirt napping...'
'...the leaders...in the hub...and below...are dead from...the inferno...'
'...with heads gone...organization system...withers...'
'...he pulled me out...of the Sanctum,' Malaria began in her mind. '...to liberate me of what was there...there was no reason for him to do so.'
'And yet...here I am,' she continued. Looking down at her hands, she stared at her rough and toughened fingers. Trying to understand why he did so and the plain answers he gave, it gripped her hard.
'I...have committed myself to the Sanctum...for years,' the bat woman voiced in her head agitatedly. Closing her hands into fists, she did not move her eyes away from them.
'To throw away an identity I chose to mold...as an act of transcending from my past self...I will not allow that.'
'He stole it...destroyed it...burned it...without consent or blessing,' she thought getting angrier.
'He is no different...just another lost soul...he was always a lost-'
'YOUR CONDEMNATION IS NOTED #$%get off your high horse batty!'
"...!?" Malaria reacted with stiffened shock.
In midst of remembering the amputee's voice of intense resentment, another glitched in. A voice that ringed hard in her head to which her mind began to grind. As if large gears were slowly going in the opposite direction, memories started to invade her brain. Shaking her head to rid of them, the visions increased as if she was being rapidly infected. Images of various things went through her mind's eye as she held her head.
'Another spec#$$#in the#%$#ght of this wor#%$#' an unknown individual spoke in a darkened hollowed room. Its voice echoed in an environment that was cold and large. Despite sounding close by, it was mostly filled with darkness and moving shadows. As rapidly this flashback came, another invaded and took over. It was as quick as changing a channel on a TV.
'It is crazy girl! Listen...you can almost here da machines rumble the earth,' a male hound spoke in a military uniform. The scene showed a forest around them as they were in a trench of some kind. The smell of dirt and gunpowder filled the air as the sky was overcast. Blinking from surprise, her surroundings morphed again instantly.
'#$she is not $%$forming to the#$%#$ppplllaaannnssss...explain$^%' a different mysterious voiced spoke. He sounded agitated with an odd elongation of a word. The room seemed similar as the area with shadows, but there seemed to be silhouettes of large equipment in the background. Mechanical movements were heard as if the entire room was some active machine.
'...what...what is thi-!?' the bat woman thought. Cringing harder, the bombardment continued making her fall on her knees. Upon hitting the floor, what she was seeing went static for a second. Feeling alarmed from not seeing or hearing anything, she jumped from sudden environment appearing in front of her.
'INCOMING! FALL BACK! FALL BACK!' a female walrus bellowed from a camp tent.
Sounds of something loudly whistling in the air blared loudly. Not feeling in control of her body, she felt herself turn around. Running with other similar uniform wearing individuals in what looks like a militia base, explosions were occurring behind them. Hot air and flying earth flew past them as soldiers that didn't run fast enough were getting blown apart. The forceful expansion of pressure and hot shrapnel flew passed them. Feeling herself get knocked off her feet, she slammed into solid glass of some kind.
'Why must we#$$#use these beings#%$#$just make metallic alloys of their fle#$%#' a female stated with snobbish accent.
Blinking rapidly from the spontaneous change, Malaria felt dumbfounded. Seeing the world from a trapped large size test tube, arms were raised in front of her. Seeing hands of a different skin color, it contrasted with the darkened liquid that she was submerged into. It felt odd to not be drowning and breathing in fluid. Unable to make sense of what was happening, she tried to snap herself out by getting angry.
'...s...t...o...p...i...t...' Malaria seethed in her mind as she began to shake all over. Sudden movement came in front of her that made her look up. Seeing it was the same female, her silhouette seemed to be more of a tall bipedal. Towering over her as if she was double the bat woman's height. Seeing the other physical characteristics and style of clothing, the recognition made her clench her teeth together in hate.
'JUST KILL THEM ALL ALREADY AND BE DONE WITH THIS #$% #$%' the woman doctor shouted then threw something at the glass. Upon impact, a fissure spread from the entry point. At the same time, the vision scrambled and warped rapidly.
'I...can't go on...all the death...all the destruction...all the suffering...' a defeated sounding male spoke. Without blinking, everything changed to being outside in some landscape of some kind. It was nighttime and there was a small bonfire near the collaborated makeshift tents. Looking to the left, a canine soldier was nearby. Looking as if he had given up on life and the war effort, he stared at the contained blaze lifelessly.
'...it is all the same...doesn't matter if we live or-' he continued before he veered to the right hard. Slamming into the ground, the crack of a distant rifle was heard. A bullet hole on the left side of his head was seen. As blood pooled out of his lifeless face, Malaria felt herself fall backwards to the ground. Making contact and blinking out of reflex, the vision changed harshly to a crueler environment.
'#$A#$R#$E#$%#N#$T#$Y#$O#$#U$%#F#$#E$%#I#$S#$T#$Y#$%' a cruel person shouted with much white noise. The vision was shaking from the aspect of being electrocuted of some sorts. Harsh gasps of breath followed by a voice crying in agony came. The victim sounded identical to her own voice which made her eyes go wide. Feeling pseudo pain surge through her being, she violently thrashed around to free her chained arms and legs. Breaking free, she closed her eyes still in her kneeling position.
"STOP IT!" Malaria shouted out loud. Gripping her face hard and growling, the visions began to go on fast forward. It was as if witnessing years fly by in seconds.
'We've been out here for weeks on end...there isn't a regroup...there isn't a resupply...' 'You are...now a part of our...collective of special vermin.' 'There is no point in waiting for support girl! We need to attack them now!' 'Find those defects...those creatures that have soiled human minds...all of them are corrupted!' 'Everyone has died because of those monsters. They even turn our brothers and sisters against us. They are the scum of Mobius!' 'NOW GO! DESTROY ALL OF THEM! THAT'S AN ORDER FROM YOUR MASTERS!' 'DAMN ALL THE HUMANS! THEY TOOK EVERYTHING FROM US! WE GOT TO KILL THEM ALL FROM EVERYTHING THEY DESTROYED!' 'RISE AND OBEY US...MALARIA!' 'SALVARIA! SAVE YOURSELF! GET OUT OF-'
"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!" Malaria screamed madly from her position.
Every muscle tensed up as she was murderously gripping her hands into fists. Her clenched teeth continued to increase their pressure against each other. Her long canine fangs were beginning to rub her gums as if trying to scrap them and make them bleed. The only one responding to her intense bellows was her own echos. Bouncing off buildings, her fading voice was coming from various directions.
"NO!...I DID NOT...WHO ARE THESE...WHY..." she yelled panicking. Placing her head on the ground, she continued to tremble with various emotions raging inside of her.
"I...I...I AM NOT A PRODUCT OF THOSE DEVIL HUMANS!"
'...liberation from restraint...' Vermilion's voice sliced through the mental noise. It cleared so much that it felt that he spoke directly in front of her. The environment stabilized back to the rooftop of a building in the city. Her mind raced in the stillness as if searching for a reason why he knew. Able to think and remember joining S.O.S., the pride and identity she held onto suddenly became afront.
"..." Malaria froze from the morbid revelation.
Opening her trembling hands and looking at them, she began to breathe faster. Squeezing her teeth together harder in self-hate, her hands closed again into murderous fists. Feeling her head shaking, she bored at clenched digits as wrath began to consume her. Unable to contain her geyser of emotions, she punched the roof top hard. Without hesitation or windup, she unleashed several blows to the concreate floor. Slowly, the platform began to crack from impacts. At the same time, her hands became bruised and bloody. Throwing one more down, she stopped.
"...eehhhaaaaaa...eeehhhaaaaa..." the bat woman breathed through bared teeth. Feeling immense pain in her hands, her vision became watery. The sensation of tears rolling down her face made denial of truth harder. The internal turmoil she felt still surged through her essence regardless of what she told herself mentally.
Unable to think and wanting to get away, the only salvation she thought for herself was the one person that saw through her. Forcing herself to open her hands, she groaned in agony from how her fingers and knuckles felt. Knowing where he was stopping at, she turned around. Running in the direction of the mountain side, she began flapping her wings. Reaching the edge and jumping off the roof, she was able to sustain air. Seething from how the wind seemed to hurt her lacerated and bruised skin, she continued to fly in the direction of where the child and former slave were.
After dashing away from the two women and hearing one yell after him, Speed traveled to known locations he knew that had food. Going into the first area that was 3 street blocks away, he slowed down to a stop adjacent to the entrance. Testing all the doors while not being in direct sight of a window, they were all locked. Knowing that he could break in regardless if it was locked, he chose to forgo the action. Knowing that there would be people inside, he did not want to create more chaos than there already was.
Not staying long knowing who was pursuing him, he bolted to the next area. Travelling and passing several intersections, he flanked left and sped forward. Seeing the next building, he skidded to a stop and began to check all the doors. Finding all were shut and secured, even the windows were locked. Narrowing his eyes and sighing through his nose, he still felt the pings of agitation from earlier. Shaking his head, he looked around himself.
Finding where his location was in relevance to the city layout, he rushed down a back alley to the next block. Getting to the street, he banked to the right and sprinted faster. Heading back to where the burnt down buildings of the pub were, the third building was up ahead. Flashing by the entrance and getting to the establishment's side, he slowed down and crouched. Looking around, there were possible openings for him to venture into. Seeing cellar doors nearby, he walked quickly to them.
'Normally the owners leave this unlocked during the daytime,' Speed thought getting close. Taking a quick glance around, no one was staring at him from the windows he could see. Halting at the metal doors, he grabbed the handle and gently pulled on one door. Heavy and opening slowly, he cradled it until it rested against its concrete frame. Peering down and seeing no lights or sounds of people, he tipped-toed down the steps.
Getting into the basement, his crimson ring eye did not detect anyone inside. It only looked up at the ceiling and seemed to move on its own. Figuring it was the people that were stuck inside the building under the martial law in place, he said in his head that they were not a threat. Seeing the eye look back forward, the amputee proceeded to where the stairs were. Reaching them and glancing behind him, nobody else was seen or appeared in the room. Turning back to the flight of steps, he cautiously went up.
Reaching the lobby level and peering around a corner, he heard the citizens. A majority of them were discussing about their town's current status. Some bickered about the law enforcement being power hungry to take over. Others disagreed given the severity of the out of nowhere accident that occurred at the pub place. Emphasizing the explosions, fire, and the death fog consuming a good portion of their city, the individuals indicated that that put all their lives at risk.
Despite some arguing back and forth regarding the police, none turned into violent confrontation. There was a smaller number of individuals that were talking about conspiracy theories. They ranged from an underground agency that controlled what happened behind the scenes in Oastial Harbor to the humans planning to kill them all. Only a couple of individuals talked about these wild accusations to which they were near an uncrowded corner of the lobby area. Keeping his ears perked to listen, he began scanning and found the kitchen area.
Vibrating his image to instant dash, he entered the room. Seeing no one inside, there was another opening on the opposite side. There was no wall opening to the lobby which provided enough coverage to stay hidden. With on ear open to the voices, Speed began to look around. Scavenging, he only collected a small portion of what was on counters, in the pantry, and refrigerator. Putting them in an abandoned container, he closed the lid on it slowly to not produce a loud snap.
About to pick up the small food holder, he his ears flickered a little from hearing softer movements in the building. It appeared to be coming from the basement. Noticing that no one on the other side of the wall seemed aware, the pair of feet were moving towards his location. Guessing in who it might be, the action to change his mouth into a smirk came. Not fulfilling that psychological motion, the hedgehog walked to the other opening. Seeing that it leads to an open hallway, he got close enough to peer out with only half of his right face showing.
Having a clear view of the lobby, there were other pillars around in the room. The people were occupying almost all the furniture. Facing in various directions, he concluded he would be seen if he just ran down the passageway in plain sight. Waiting for an opportunity to appear, his cybernetic eye began to move to the left. Stopping at the corner and looking at the other door opening, it shifted minutely as if tracking something's movement. Gripping the container in his hand a little firmer, he narrowed his right eye and bent his knees a little.
Seeing a glimpse of who rushed up the steps with a pounce, a single eye seemed to distinctly glow from the shadows. Pivoting off his left foot, he sped dash to the end of the hallway within a second. Reaching it and turning into the right hallway mildly, he did a running barrel row up the left wall, across the ceiling, and down the right wall. Without stopping and navigating to the back of the building, there was a heavy metal door. Braking hard to not slam into it, he forced it open. Getting outside and putting the container on the ground quickly, he grabbed the door handle eased it closed to not slam.
Hearing quicker feet following his pathway, it seemed to be accompanied by extra thuds. Almost seemed like galloping and was closing in on his location with great speed. Picking up the small storage piece, he turned to the street and rushed down the left one. Going down a street block or two, he flanked to the right. Going down a couple, he turned right again. Now heading to the destruction site, it would be his final place to search and scavenge.
Slowly down quickly a few buildings away from where he had the incident of the patrollers earlier, he stayed out of direct sight. Moving to the complex to his left, it was one for apartments. Seeing people through the windows, they were not near them on the inside. Taking a roundabout way to get to the back, there was an alleyway that all the neighboring places shared. Reaching it and just walking down, Speed began to scan around.
'...what was used...last time...?' the amputee wondered in his mind.
Stopping and staring at the passageway as a whole, he noticed a spot that had almost too much coverage and material. Walking to it, a silhouette came over the roof of the building ahead to his right. Going towards the wall of the opposite complex, the individual kicked off of it. Landing on the ground a few meters away from him, Chiara legs wobbled a little. Losing balance and out of breath, she fell on her bum.
"...haaaa...eeeehhhaaaaa...eeeehhhaaaaa..." she breathed heavily. Unable to speak or stand, she just glared at him while inhaling and exhaling.
"..." Speed reacted by staring stoically at her. Blinking his right eye, he turned to the overload pile nearby. Setting his food holder down to the ground, he reached his hand towards the clutter and trash. Pushing and pulling things off, a lot of tumbling occurred. Causing a chorus of clanking sounds, there was still much stuff built around it.
'Acting like a petty thief...he still thinks he can do whatever he wants,' Chiara stated in her head. Trying to move, her limbs responded lethargically. Clenching her teeth together, the female stoat slowly got to her feet and stood. Still heaving for air and feeling a cold burn in her lungs, her expression didn't change.
'I'll show him...I'll show him I'm not some trash to use and throw away,' she continued mentally.
Feeling a 2nd wind from becoming angry, she focused back on what he was doing. Blinking from seeing him clearing a lot of debris and clutter, there were sturdy basement doors hiding underneath it. Watching him reach one of the handles, he muscled it to pull it open. Wincing from hearing the hinges squeak loudly, he was able to fully open the right door. Shaking her head to remember her priority, the hedgehog grabbed the food container he placed on the ground. Seeing him head toward the opening, she got there first.
"...hold it...jerk..." she stated in a hoarse voice.
"...I suggest...you go...inside..." Speed spoke and got toe to toe with her.
The dried blood on his face didn't make her flinch as she stared him down. Without warning, a rush of rotten air and decay blew out from the opening behind her. Breathing lungs full of that pungency after sprinting on all fours like a madwoman made her feel nauseated instantly. Feeling out of it and losing balance, she was going to fall into the descending staircase. Stopping, he wrapped his left arm around her lower back.
"...latch or...hold on...if you don't...want to fall..." he stated while moving forward. Feeling her loosely reach her right arm over his shoulders, he adjusted himself to get more leverage. Walking down the steps into a darkened staircase, her coughing and wheezing filled the underground passageway with bouncing echos.