The junkyard Gabriel worked at was part of the sector Peacemakers patrolled. They never went inside, just strolled outside of the fenced area. They usually spoke one of their preprogrammed greetings and waved as they went about their business.

Wheeler was running late. A small 10 year-old, he was one of the latest employees.

A Peacemaker stopped Wheeler and said, "You need to be more careful, young man. You could slip."

The robot's brain was conflicted between protection and execution, and its hand was firmly placed on Wheeler's shoulder, preventing him from moving.

Ari, who was taking his time getting to the junkyard, confronted the Peacemaker and said, "All right, you can let him go now."

Fortunately, the Peacemaker had selected protection as its directive and gave a mechanical goodbye.

"Wow!" Wheeler said. "Thanks, Ari."

"You need to be more careful," Ari responded. "I won't always be there to save your life."

*****E V*****

A line of workers waited outside of the junkyard thanks to Mr. Taylor. Because he never had a meeting with them, or lectured them, everyone knew it was serious. Mr. Taylor was still upset about the other day when the workers went to the execution.

"We lost a lot of productivity this week because of some selfish people," Mr. Taylor said. "Executions happen all of the time, people die, it's normal. You're stealing from me every time you leave here. Next time you leave without permission, I'm firing you, is that clear?"

The young workers acknowledged him before going about their day.

*****E V*****

Gabriel and the others snacked on chocolate bars and tart candies in the break room. He had not been looking forward to leaving the room. If only Mr. Taylor allowed snacks outside of the break room, Gabriel wished.

Per usual, as the young employees left the break room, they hit the rag-dressed manikin, even Gabriel. It was Wheeler who broke the tradition.

"I don't want to," Wheeler said. "My momma said not to be violent."

"You and your momma sound like punks," Ari replied.

*****E V*****

At dinner that night, Jocelyn inquired why Gabriel was distracted and learned about Ari and the punching bag of a manikin.

"What, are they turning that place into a gym?" Jocelyn remarked.

"What's a gym?" Gabriel asked.

Even though he didn't want to hit the manikin like everyone else did, Gabriel complied to fit in. When the new boy, Wheeler, someone even younger than Gabriel stood up to Ari, he felt like a coward.

"All I do is keep secrets," Gabriel said. "I feel like I'm ashamed to be an Eon Viant. I mean, that woman who birthed me, left me on earth like I was her trash, so maybe I should be."

"Don't you say that, Gabriel Honor!" Jocelyn erupted. "I don't ever want to hear those words come out of your mouth again, do you understand me? You're not trash. You're treasure. You're my treasure, you know that."

Jocelyn assured him that he wasn't a coward. Understanding peer pressure when she was his age, Jocelyn gave Gabriel some advice: "Tomorrow morning, talk to Ari and kindly explain that you don't feel comfortable with participating in his little game. As long as you're honest and respectful, he'll understand."

Gabriel thought Ari wasn't someone to say 'no' to; Ari and his friends dragged Wheeler to the bathroom where they cleaned a toilet using his face. But, Gabriel would speak with Ari to honor Jocelyn's wishes.

*****E V*****

With his feet kicked up, Ari scarfed down cinnamon rolls. The box now empty, he dumped it on the floor. Supervising his team as they disassembled a car bored him. Ari walked by, mischievously pulling the shirt over one of the teen's heads and walked away, cackling.

After getting nourished at the water fountain, Gabriel wiped the sweat from his palms across his pants and intercepted Ari on the way to the junkyard's entrance.

"Hi, Ari, can I talk to you?" Gabriel nervously asked. "There's something important I have to say."

"I'm going on break, so you'll have to be quick," Ari responded.

"I don't really like hitting the manikin," Gabriel said. "I feel like it's out of hate for Eon Viants. They're like us, you know."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Ari told him about his father, the soldier who died protecting earth from Eon Viants. He had a deep-rooted hatred. "Unless they bring my dad back to life, I will always hate them," he said.

*****E V*****

The streets outside of the junkyard were wet from a storm the previous night. A Peacemaker passed through, its feet scraping the ground. Detecting Ari's distress, the Peacemaker cautiously approached.

"Greetings, young citizens," the Peacemaker asked. "What kind of assistance do you require?"

"Get out of here, you useless piece of junk," Ari commanded.

Something happened. The Peacemaker's big, warm eyes disappeared into smaller, angrier ones, and it now had fangs which it used to dig into Ari's shoulder. Ari's yells summoned the young workers, yet they fearfully remained behind the fence.

Mr. Taylor marched through the crowd to confront the Peacemaker. His pleas were ignored, and he was quickly knocked on his back.

The Peacemaker took off on all fours, Ari's neck trapped within its jaws. The workers pursued on the ground, but the robot's crawling outpaced their running.

Gabriel headed down one of the back roads. He bounced between a pair of commercial building walls, ascending to a roof. From there, he jumped over a chasm, tackling the Peacemaker through a window.

The building was full of office spaces that were cleared out a year ago. Gabriel wrapped his arms around the Peacemaker's neck, hanging on as the robot tried throwing him off.

Gabriel reached into the robot's back and pulled out wires and gears bundled into a barely formed dagger. He jammed it into the Peacemaker's head. He exerted a lot of force to push through thick carbon fiber layers. The defeated Peacemaker laid on its side, violently twitching as oil sprayed everywhere.

The young Eon Viant turned over Ari's limped body. Ari's eyes were opened, but his throat had been crushed.

*****E V*****

Later that week, after Gabriel left for work, Jocelyn heard a knock at the front door. When she opened it, she was greeted by two professional women with badges. One had a mole near her left eye, the other had dreads.

"My name is Star Hamill, and this is Kim O'Donnell," the one with the mole said. "Do you have a minute? We want to ask you a few questions about Gabriel."

Jocelyn lead them to the living room where they took their seats on a couch that had been patched up and was likely found beside a dumpster.

"Can I offer you something?" Jocelyn asked.

Kim saw a family of roaches retreating into the cracks in a wall. "No, we're fine."

"Ms. Honor, Gabriel is not your biological son, is that correct?" Star asked.

"That's correct," Jocelyn responded. "Years before we divorced, my husband and I adopted him when he was just an infant."

"Has Gabriel displayed any unusual talents?" Star continued.

Upon Jocelyn telling them about Gabriel being a kind, average boy who was unable to keep his room clean, she was met with brief silence.

After Kim disgustingly kicked away a rat nibbling at her foot, she said, "Ms. Honor, I'm going to be frank with you, because honestly, I think you already know the truth. We know Gabriel is an Eon Viant. He's already demonstrated that he can be a threat. He nearly killed someone."

After reassuring them that they had confused Gabriel with someone else, Jocelyn led them to the door. The two visitors still were not convinced.

"Think about his safety, Ms. Honor," Star said. "We just want to protect him, that's all."

"That's a job for his mother," Jocelyn said before shutting the door.

*****E V*****

When Gabriel returned home that night, he found Jocelyn at the table, in deep thought.

"Mom? Is everything ok?" Gabriel asked.

"Gabriel, let me ask you something and be honest with me," Jocelyn replied. "Have you shown anyone what you can do? I mean, what you can really do."

"...N-no," Gabriel said.

"Gabriel!" Jocelyn responded. Her mother's intuition gave her a suspicious feeling.

Gabriel didn't want to tell her about the thief who tried to steal her necklace, or that he used his abilities and still failed to save Ari. He didn't want to upset her.

"I didn't! I promise!" Gabriel assured.

Jocelyn calmed herself, some part of her feeling regret. "I'm sorry, Gabriel, I just worry about you sometimes. So, how did things go with Ari?"

"You were right," Gabriel said. "He understood."

*****E V*****

The next morning, Gabriel slept in bed. He may have had a full time job, but he still slept for long hours on the weekend.

Jocelyn frantically slammed open the door, the cordless house phone still pressed to her ear. "He'll be there soon, I promise you!"

Jocelyn threw open the curtains. "Gabriel! Rise and shine! Mr. Taylor wants you to come in."

Gabriel pulled the sheets over his head. "But I'm off on weekends!"

"Now, Gabriel Honor!" Jocelyn firmly said.

He knew that tone all too well. Still, Mr. Taylor didn't mention anything to him about working that weekend. Gabriel begrudgingly got dressed, mumbling under his breath.

From the other room, Jocelyn called out, "What was that?"

"Nothing!" Gabriel said.

*****E V*****

The junkyard was at 50% capacity. Mr. Taylor only gave the best workers the weekends off. It was a fair and very competitive benefit, he boasted.

Mr. Taylor criticized one of the new teams dismantling a car. "No, no! You're doing it all wrong!"

Mr. Taylor took the Buzzsaw from them and forcefully drove it through the car's sunroof. Sparks flew like fireworks. "That's how you do it! Get it right!"

Upon finding Gabriel dismantling a car by himself, Mr. Taylor asked, "What are you doing here, Gabriel?"

"My mom said you wanted me to come in to work," Gabriel replied, sparks reflecting off his safety goggles.

"Kid, I never called you."

That didn't make sense to Gabriel. His mom wouldn't lie to him, he knew she was on the phone with someone.

*****E V*****

Jocelyn took the dried clothes out of the dryer and neatly folded them into the laundry basket. As she took the basket through the living room, she jumped from the line of rats scurrying for the front door. She armed herself with a spray and disinfectant. The rats doubled their speed. They were more afraid of her than she thought.

Then, darkness slowly enveloped the room. Jocelyn looked out of the window, to the last sight she would ever witness.

A giant shadow shaped like a serpent passed above the gray clouds, leaving behind a dreadful buzzing. A bomb broke through a cloud and right over Dakurai Manor. There was not enough time to run, to hide. Jocelyn only had time for one last thought before the flash of light: Gabriel.

Gabriel was on the outskirts of the Grid when the bombs dropped. He jumped off his bike and desperately ran up the top of a hill. Seismic explosions muted his screams. Powerful gusts of wind scooped him up and dumped him elsewhere.

*****E V*****

After regaining consciousness, Gabriel traveled Grid 0047. The city had been incinerated. Pockets of craters and blinding clouds of dust were in every direction. Rubble and stumps of buildings stretched for miles. Between the countless rocks and smoldering fires were skeletons, as if still frozen mid-scream.

What was going through their minds before it all ended, Gabriel could only imagine. For now, he worried only about his mother. He held onto some small hope that she survived.

Finding what was left of his neighborhood took an hour, but it was a graveyard. He dug and flipped every rock. Buried under debris was something shimmering.

His legs buckled, and he fell back against the burned foundation, cradling her necklace close to his heart. He cried until his eyes burned.