She wondered if closing the door was their last interaction. The way he voiced his words was strange.
“Open the door! Cal!” His voice was full of hatred. Liera heard soft sobs on the other side.
> Scanning…(0.3s)
> Analysis: target located: [Calan Nuthlann]
- subject shows average life signs
She lifted Linan up to inspect him. He protested much more than the girl from before but no human was a match for her machine strength. She managed to twist him in to a knot in a second and she located the point where vervid burrowed into him. It was just above his forehead, a small bleeding hole.
> Analysis: vervid burrow location contributes to the rate of infection
- evident by previous cases
- the age of the infected might also be a factor
It was based on the experience she synthesized from the dead mother and daughter. The vervid sought to release the payload in the brain or somewhere close to it. The child that got the vervid burrow into her neck underwent rapid changes. Her mother took a long time after being bitten on the thigh. Both age and burrow point were factors that contributed to the rate of infection.
Based on that half proven theory, Linan could very well be doomed. Liera parted his hair and ran her finger over the path the parasite cut through. She traced a thin line going deeper and deeper into his skin all the way to the back of his head towards softer tissue.
His mother had resigned to her fate way before she lost her agency. Aegis knew there was no way to save someone once the vervid made it anywhere near the brain. She couldn't waste more time with an infected.
> Analysis: subject is in a later stage of infection
- subject is classifiable as deceased
Liera put Linan down. He ignored her completely and turned back to the door, scratching it impatiently. His nails were bloodied by repeating the same action over and over again.
> Sineul: neutralize contaminated target, locate the living target
Sineul was correct. She hadn't seen when the tar/biomass conversion began. It couldn’t be much longer; the boy's teeth were already black. Once his flesh turned black and dripped off his bones, it could invite all Vervid in the vicinity to gather here. It could mean, by the time she gets the living boy out of the room, he could be just as infected as his brother. She had to act. She grabbed Linan by the shoulder and flipped him towards her.
> Analysis: destroy the brain and get rid of the body
- residue biomass is likely to attract more vervid
- protecting the living subject takes priority
> Sineul: located open window
“Open the door, please!” Linan cried at her. She couldn’t tell if he was still in here or not. At this stage of infection, it was anyone’s guess. The vervid had made it into his brain and any subject in this predicament couldn't be trusted around healthy subjects.
Liera’s hand wrapped tightly around his neck. He screamed and struggled against her but there was no point. She lifted him off the ground, hoping to end it quickly.
“Nuh! Help! Help!!!”
He managed to croak. Tears flowed from his eyes as he struggled to breathe. Her left hand grabbed the top of his head. One squeeze could end all of this. She could just as easily throw the entire thing out the window, letting gravity take care of the rest.
“Open the door~”
Linan wailed through tears. She felt his throat move on her palm. Her hand tightened around his neck, slowly crushing his windpipe.
> Override
> Sineul: neutralize the target
> Override
> Sineul: incinerate -
> Override
> Sineul: dispose -
> Override
She set him down and he went back to scratch the door immediately. In the absence of other options, she found one that could work. There was a room next to the one he was so desperate to get into. She grabbed him by the back of his shirt, lifted him off the floor and tossed him inside. She slammed the door shut before he crawled back on his feet. He screamed the whole time, only stopping to fill his lungs just to scream again. The door shook as he ran up against it furiously. Liera sabotaged the lock by melting it with a superheated finger. His screams died down with the loss of visual stimuli.
“Calan, please stay away from the door” she voiced at the scratched door. “I’m here to help you; We're running out of time”
“N-No! Who are you?! Where is Li!”
"Help!" he screamed. "Please help!!"
Of course, he didn't hear or see the whole commotion that took place with his brother. Liera made no noise so far as she quietly wrestled the options. She should’ve announced her presence much earlier but Linan took all of her attention. With only the sounds to go on, Calan must have a twisted idea of what happened.
> Sineul: all emitters calibrated
- 41780 emitters primed for predictive concentration
- klin shield extended to 2m
This was a precaution that she needed to establish against the airborne parasites. She anticipated the insects to dash to Calan as soon as the door was opened. Her shield could now destroy them at microscopic scale, concentrating Klin fields to the detected insects.
“Stay back from the door or it will fall on you” She warned him.
Then she kicked the door in.
They were waiting for their mother to come home and Linan wanted to open the window. Something was happening outside and all sorts of airlifters dashed across the sky every few minutes. Many huge ships left the spaceport and bright lights flashed above the clouds where they went.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
They had a perfect visual feed from outside cameras of all of this but Linan wanted to see things with his own eyes. This was a bad idea. In Rhea, opening a window was dangerous. Strong gusts of wind carried small debris at dangerous speeds. They weren't supposed to open anything without an adult.
They couldn't have done it under normal circumstances.
But things weren't normal on this day. They experienced the first power blackout in their lives. When the building lost power, it removed all mag locks, leaving responsibilities to the residents. Linan was quick to test the latch and he found out that he could just twist it open with no problem. Soon after they lost power, they lost the video feeds from outside and he ran out of patience just listening to the sounds coming from the outside.
"No we can't! Li, stop!" Calan tried to stop him.
"Ha! you can't stop me!" His brother was very good at starting fights. Linan threw his slipper at him and it bounced off his forehead.
"You!" Calan exclaimed in disbelief.
They fought to settle the score and it ended with a decorative vase in the living room being shattered to pieces.
"Your fault!" Linan accused, his face twisted in shock.
"Your fault!!!" Calan yelled, outraged. Linan always forgot who started things as soon as things went wrong for both of them.
They fought even more to decide whose fault it was and it ended when Calan slammed him hard over the head with a book. Admittedly, It was a bit too heavy to hit a fellow 6 year old with.
Linan cried, wailed and complained the whole way as Calan tried his best to make up for what he did. He gave him 3 out of 4 fried meatballs from his lunch and his entire sweet dessert but Linan still needed more. He wore that purple bruise on his forehead like a badge.
That was exactly what he used to open the window. Linan insisted that was the only thing that would console him after 2 hours of glares and hurtful remarks. He made Calan wish he hit himself on the head with the book instead.
"Hey Cal, look! there's a fire down there"
Linan called out a few minutes into celebrating his victory.
"It happens every day," Calan mumbled, reluctantly sitting on the couch. He didn't want to participate in something Linan seemed to enjoy so much
"Eh? You heard that from where?"
"Mommy said so," Calan lied.
"No, she didn't," Linan chuckled. "You're just making that up!"
"Fires happen all the time down there!"
"No they don't; this one's big and there's more. Come look"
"No thanks"
"Hey, I see people running. Something's gone all wrong!" Linan was leaning on the grill now. This is something their mother would punish him for. Calan hoped she opened the door right now. The scolding would be heavenly retribution.
"You're lying! I know when you're lying"
"Ouch" Linan fell back suddenly as a gust of wind came through the window. He came crashing down with the chair he stood on and he made a sound that was between a groan and a thud.
"Now you've done it!" Calan pulled the latch down with all his strength to close the window. He couldn't seal it shut but no wind was coming from it now.
"Aaah! help!!" Linan struggled on the floor. It was funny for a second but he was in pain and Calan rushed to him.
"Are you okay?"
"Argh! it hurts! It hurts!" Linan grabbed his forehead. Calan was confused. He couldn't have hit his forehead, he very clearly fell on his back.
"Come on, stand up," Calan gave him a hand. His brother didn't even look at him.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Calan crouched next to him, trying to pry his hands open. He was curled up with all his strength and he made a scary noise through his gritted teeth. "Oh no oh no!" Calan cried, touching the side of his neck with two fingers to start a transmission to his mother.
To his dismay, their mother didn’t answer. It didn't feel like his panicked transmission even went to her.
"Li, talk to me! What's wrong!" Calan begged, tears in his eyes.
"It hurts!!!" came the reply.
"your forehead? Is it because of me!?"
"Aarrgh!!"
But his hands were squeezing the top of his head, not the bruise on the left side. Did he break something inside when he hit him with that book? Calan was scared enough to wet his pants.
"Hey, I'll get help, I'll get help!" He shook Linan to no avail. He struggled with the keycard with trembling fingers to open the apartment door and he ran outside, screaming for help. He banged on every single door and rang every alarm he saw but he found no one. Some doors just flung open when he threw himself on them but no one was inside. He ran back and locked the door. He was gone for less than 10 minutes and Linan lay still, his eyes wide open and his mouth overflowing with saliva.
"Oh no! Li! Hey! Li!" he screamed, shaking him by the shoulders. He didn't know how long he shook his brother. he was in a daze of tears and sheer panic.
"Euh?" suddenly, Li spoke, gargling his own spit. It all drained back inside like water in a sink. He raised himself calmly and looked at Calan.
"Are you okay?" Calan asked, checking him for whatever that hurt him.
He belched forth, vomiting breakfast and lunch on the carpet in two disgusting heaves.
"I'm okay. Did you call mom?" He asked, rubbing his face on his shirt after he was done.
Calan felt acid rising to his own throat at the sight. He swallowed it back and kept his eyes away from his brother.
"Yeah but it didn't get to her, everyone else is gone too. What do we do!"
"Ah" Linan whispered. "I'm...going to sleep"
"What?"
He didn't answer. He got up and dragged his feet to his room. Calan followed him but he couldn't get his brother to even look at him no matter what he did.
"Are you still mad at me!?"
He gave him the worst of it all: the silent treatment.
"Fine, I'll stay right here then"
He sat in Linan's room for at least an hour. Linan made no sounds as he slept. In fact, he didn't even sleep. Calan could see his ribs moving erratically, silhouetted against the night lamp over his bedside wall. Calan knew he was still hurt, he just didn't want to show anybody.
Calan nodded off eventually, tired from his frantic run through the hallways earlier. His nap was short-lived. He woke up suddenly, feeling a sharp jab of pain on his body. When he opened his eyes, He screamed the walls down.
"H-HUGH-H-HAAAAAAA!!!"
It came out his trembling throat as his eyes to keep focus and brain struggled to make sense of what he saw.
Linan was on him, pinning him down. That wasn't the part that scared him. It was what he did with this mouth. Calan could feel his teeth on his ribs on the right side. He was nibbling on his skin through the shirt. He had been doing it for a while, Calan felt that entire side of his chest slimy with his saliva and... something black dripping to the carpet, thick as if it just squeezed out from a paint tube.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU WHY DID YOU BITE ME!" He screamed in Linan's face, breaking away as fast as possible. Linan didn't seem to hear anything. He smiled, drooling all over, his lips and chin blackened with that paint and blood.
"Is the window still open?" He asked calmly, wiping his mouth on his shirt just like he wiped the vomit earlier. "I wanna look outside"
"Ugh, Look what you did! I'm telling mom!" Calan yelled, grabbing his side. It hurt like hell, he could feel clear tooth marks right over his bones and something else crawled there, something he couldn't see. It bled too; this was easily the worst wound he ever got.
"I'm opening the window Cal..." Linan told him sleepily and wandered off.
"What, wait! What's going on!" Calan cried, clenching his side. The pain came in waves. It felt as if he got stabbed over and over with a fork. The pain moved too, he could feel the stab in different spots each time. He managed to crawl to his feet and run to his room.
"Don’t talk to me again! I hate you!" He yelled at Linan. He was standing in front of the window, looking blankly at the ceiling. His head lolled to the side and his sleepy eyes twitched as he looked at Calan.
"You get back here and watch!" He screeched like an animal. His voice cracked at his throat and his expression was something Calan never saw before. They fought all the time but there was nothing that couldn't be fixed with an apology. Linan's face right now was something that chilled him to his core. It was anger to an intensity Calan never experienced before.
"Don't come closer! Time out! Y-You're scaring me!"
He shouted meekly, grabbing the door handle just in case.
"YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW CAL"
Linan dashed at him, his eyes burning with white-hot rage.
"No way!" Calan slammed the door hard enough to shake all four walls and he locked it with the bolts. None of them were ever allowed to lock their down doors. Locks only existed in case of an emergency. Calan didn't know what this was. Was this even an emergency?
As far as he could tell, It was just Linan being extra rude. He told himself nothing was wrong and this would all turn out fine in a bit. Linan couldn't stay mad for that long. He himself had a wound now, it was way worse than the bruise he gave to Linan, even if did make him all crazy. As far as he was concerned, he had the most damage to complain and whine about as soon as their mother came home.
To his utter surprise, what came home wasn’t their mother. The way his door flew off the hinges all but confirmed it. His mother nor any other mother he knew could ever do that to a door. This was a dangerous door kicking stranger. He was in real big trouble now.