The room was as bright as the main room of the palace. But there were cobwebs in the corner ceilings, a giant spider was resting on one, though there was something off about it. Maybe the fact that it wasn't moving at all, it just looks at us with its beady eyes, following our movements.
"Don't mind Ginger, he's turned off at the moment," Donnovan said out loud from his seat behind his desk, which made me confused for a moment.
"Ginger?"
Donnovan smiled and pointed up at the spider. I shuddered, human-AI is fine but insect AI, that's a bit too much for me.
"So, you all must've been tired from the journey but if you have any questions you might want to ask me. There's no better time than now, while I'm still here." Uncle Donovan said, reclining back into the chai and propping both of his legs on top of the table, one over the other.
"What do you mean, 'While I'm still here'?" I asked taking the seat that was in front of him, Anthony sat in front while Hayden leaned against the wall, as far as he can from Anthony.
"Well, I've got other things to tend to, other civilizations to wreak havoc on." He placed his legs back on the floor and leaned towards us. "We're not only trying to free Dispacia here, we're going to free each and every single person from this horrible nightmare."
"Alright then, first question, how the hell do you plan on doing that?" Surprisingly, Hayden was the one who spoke first.
"You'll just have to see, but you two," He said as he pointed towards me and Anthony. "Well, three now. You have a big part to play, you'll just have to wait and see."
"What do you mean, me and Ash? We only know basic self-defense, plus his thing with bombs and tech and sh1t, what are we supposed to do?!"Anthony was not leaning back anymore, his face was pale and in a wide panicked look.
"I'll tell you in time, for now just rest here and relax, there's not much to do in the safe zone but if you go out with the others to hunt, you may find some interesting things."
"How did you survive out here?"
"Well, It's definitely tough but not all places are this dead and toxic. Parts of The Dreadlands are actually alive with greenery, shrubs, and trees everywhere, and green grass for miles." He got a faraway look in his eyes as he tells us this. "But there are plenty of dead spots, not just plenty but they also take up more land. It's pretty dangerous out there at night, which is why I don't want you three going out on your own."
"Sure, sure, but what got you exiled in the first place?" Anthony quickly dismissed the subject.
"You...don't remember?" Uncle looked towards Anthony. It is indeed strange that he forgot, sure it happened when we were kids but I sure as hell remember the reason why he was exiled in the first place. Anthony shook his head and our uncle just sighed as he leaned back against the chair.
"Well, I guess there's no better day to open up old wounds than today." He looked up at Anthony, and there it was, clear as day written across his features were guilt. "Your mother and I never got along really well when we were kids. But it died down when she got married and had kids, I got to spend time with my favorite nephews."
From the corner of my eye, I saw Hayden shuffle closer a little bit.
"One night, she asked me to pick Anthony up from his daycare center. And since I'm the kind uncle that I am, I agreed. So Josephine and I got into the car and went straight to your daycare. We were so close to your home when a truck came out of nowhere and crashed into the side where you and Josephine were sitting. Your mother cast all the blame onto me and since I became a widow in one night, I was bound to get sent to the third district. And you know what happens to district one dwellers who will be relocated to the underground."
"You'll have to get burned so you fit in." Hayden said darkly from behind me.
"Yep, The second district dwellers won't have to be burned but it's a tough life for us first district people. They can't have posh-looking people down there, so they ruin us. That's why I had to escape, after that they just chalked up my escape as me being exiled."
"Did you know mom and dad weren't actual pairs?" I asked, before all of this went down, I was so sure that my family was as normal like everyone else. That we were no different to the people across the street from us.
"Yeah, It's uhm, a difficult story to tell."
"Then tell us, we deserve to know. Why the hell did our father have to be matched to a third district dweller? Why did he have to be put through this?!" Anthony's standing up now, his fists were scarred as he hit the stone table multiple times.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to that part okay just sit down."
"Hey, Tony, just calm down okay?" I placed my hand on his shoulder, which seemed to help just a tiny bit.
"We were second district dwellers and your mom was incredibly ambitious, and so she wanted to get into the first district no matter what. Your dad and her...they were friends and she was well-aware of his interests from the start. But since he was the closest 1st district dweller, she thought he was the easiest target." The atmosphere in the room turned sour, Anthony, slightly shaking from where he sat, his glare shifting from our uncle to Hayden, who was cowering a bit behind me.
"Long story short, we blackmailed your father, into marrying a second district person and then we blackmailed your," Uncle said turning to point at Hayden, "father to fake all the documents that were needed."
"I need to get out of here."
"Anthony!" I stood up as Anthony marched out of the room, his heavy footsteps echoing through the building. His dramatic exit left the three of us in stunned, awkward silence. Not knowing what to do, I sat back down and heard Hayden release a heavy sigh from behind me.
"He has always been a papa's boy." Uncle stood up and in his place stood someone different, someone, who looked much colder and much foreign to me, Ken Corleone. "It's time for me to got, but you three need to stay here till I get back, understood?"
"Yeah," Hayden answered for me and we watched as the man strode out of the room, carrying with him a complete overhaul of the aura he had as our Uncle.
"Well, I'm gonna go and look for Anthony," I walked towards the exit, with every intention of not bringing Hayden with me, "And I don't think he'll appreciate you coming with," I looked back at him and he just nodded as he stared at the floor.
I did say that I was going to look for Anthony but really I was just going to look around and if I do see Anthony then it's nothing more than just coincidence. I know him, and I think right now all he wants his space to be alone. To think that at first, he didn't even care that dad was sent to the third district, guess seeing your father burned and half-dead changes things. He was absent when father's burning was broadcasted.
The cave was tall and there were multiple floors that lead to houses and shops which were all built into the wall. It wasn't all fun and games though, on the ground floor, there are random people that I pass by that have blisters on their skins, boils and stuff that they cover with all the cloth they have. You won't even notice them unless you look at their face.
The androids blended well together with the rest of the populous, I didn't even notice it was them unless I see their eyes suddenly change from one color onto another. From afar, I spotted Anthony seating on a bench facing a brightly light chasm with a waterfall and an underground farm and pasture. There were a few people down there and of course, more metal stairways that lead from down there to up here. There were countless of people here, some were probably born here but most likely, most of them were exiled and were forced to seek shelter here, but this place is already turning out to be much better than Dispacia. There's much more life here, much more human.
I sat beside a red-eyed Anthony, not uttering a single word as the two of us just basked in the silence.
"Sometimes, I wish I was never born."
"Ditto."
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