Life for Maximillian barely changed after the shakeup caused by the black-suits, his parents still went to work the following day as if nothing had happened. Likewise, trash divers weren’t the least bit dissuaded from coming and going to the exchange. Nobody was seriously injured and the only people that died were the two owners.
So, time continued to tick by without much else of significance happening.
By the ninth month since his birth Maximillian could comfortably walk without tripping.
By the time his first birthday came to pass he could run at a speed that no toddler his age should be capable of.
And by the time a year and a half had passed he could speak the language, if only barely… not because of any lack of understanding but because of the limitations of his body. Often his worlds would come out twisted and unintelligible, the cause being his young, underdeveloped vocal cords and the fact that he’s had almost no opportunity to practice.
After all, it would be odd if he began speaking in fully formed sentences right out of the blue.
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Roughly around his second birthday an event happened that would truly set his life into motion, breaking him out of the monotonous but safe routine he had constructed for himself.
“Maxie, we’ve decided that you’re finally old enough to go and play with the other kids by yourself! Isn’t that just amazing news?”
Silvia stood crouched behind the front door, facing her son, Max’s father standing right to her side.
Turning his head to look out of the hole in the wall that happens to be missing a window, he could see the red disk of the sun just beginning to touch the line of the horizon.
‘Seriously?’ He was not happy. ‘The sun is beginning to set, I’ve got an hour at most before it becomes pitch black out.’
“Scawy…” He mumbles with a slight tremble to his voice, just loudly enough for them to hear. An attempt to make his parents change their minds.
“Aww, don’t worry Maxie you’ll be perfectly fine. When I was your age I spent so much time outside that my parents had to force me back home for the nights.”
‘Sure, I’m certain that a two year old is more than capable of taking care of itself in Meteor City of all places. Nothing bad will happen to me, nothing at all.’
“Here. Mother even prepared your little bag for you, she packed your lunch and your toys in it, see.”
She hands Maximillian what could best be described as a rag held by strings. Something that Maximillian had crafted for himself so he won’t need to carry around his stuff in his arms all the time. It would be more accurate to call it a sack than a bag
Just as he’s about to take the sack in his arms Max glances over at his father.
‘Oh…of course.’
He finds that the man’s attention is not focused on him in the slightest, rather when Max traces an imaginary line to where his eyes are pointing at he realizes that his father is staring directly at his mothers behind.
‘Great.’
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“Owkay, I’ll go play.”
Sylvia smiles.
“That’s what I wanted to hear Maxie.” She lightly pinches his cheek before standing up and closing the door.
*Thunk* *Click*
Like that, he was kicked out and forced to fend for himself. For a night.
‘Worst of all, I’ll have to come back. I cannot fend for myself, not at this age. I need them in order to survive. I’ll have to sleep outside… It’s not a good idea to camp out here in the building, bad people live here.’
Opening up the bag Max checks its contents.
‘Military ration, bottle of water, my tools and a dark earthy brown colored blanket … huh. I think that I’ve got an idea actually.’
Closing the bag and slinging it on his shoulder he makes his way down the stairs and out of the run down apartment building.
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Maximilian examines his work, laying it down on the dry, dusty ground.
‘I can work with this’.
In front of him there is a dirty black and brown blanket. Several small rips and tears could be seen across its surface. Bits and pieces of garbage stuck to it, if one were to look closer they’d notice that they’re kept in their place by ribbons of plastic cut from plastic bags. The plastic being the same colour as the blanket
It looks like it’s been out exposed to the elements for years.
‘I guess I have my old world to thank for this one. More specifically my history teacher… It's been so long since we last met that I can’t even recall his name.’
For a regular person the thing in front of them would be just a dirty blanket. For Maximillian though, it’s a way to safely sleep through the night.
Inspired by a heartwarming story from the first world war, a story about a dog named Rags. What the dog had gone and done has little to do with Maximilian’s inspiration, his focus is on how the dog had met its owner.
Allegedly the person that had adopted rags, a soldier in the city of Paris, had mistaken the dog for a pile of rags when they’d first met, hence the name.
‘As long as I cover my entire body with this before I go to sleep I should be safe. Just like the dog, I should be mistaken for a pile of rags… That, and I also need to find a good pile of garbage to sleep next to. The best place to hide a tree is in a forest and all that.’
Max sits on a chunk of concrete, opening up his bag to pull out the military ration.
‘Where did all of this concrete come from anyways? Don’t you need chemical factories or something of the sort to produce it. Perhaps they ship it in from outside, but won’t that be too expensive… Countries can afford to throw away their garbage here so I guess it's not that expensive, the food needs to be shipped in from somewhere too. It doesn’t concern me - for now. When I grow up I really ought to do some research on the topic, maybe I can bribe the drivers to get me out of this dump, and a gun to the head to make sure that they don’t betray me.’
Gripping the military ration Max puts all of his strength in, barely managing to unpack it.
‘I still have no idea what’s written on this thing. The characters they use for writing bear no resemblance to anything from my old Earth.’
Max grunts in dissatisfaction as he looks over the contents of the ration.
‘Brillant, it’s one of those dehydrated rice and vegetable ones. I’ve got no clue how long it would take for them to fluff up with just plain cold water instead of hot water, an hour at the very least.’
A sigh escapes his lips as he moves to inspect the other food items.
‘Diamond hard crackers, I think I'll have to soak them in water as well in order to actually eat them… some kind of jelly? A jam for the crackers?’
Upon opening up a vacuum sealed bag Max is pleasantly surprised.
‘Smoked meat!’
He immediately takes a piece and chucks it in his mouth. He feels the unmistakable flavor of beef spread.
‘Mmmh… that’s what I’ll be having for dinner today. And these cookies for dessert to top it off. I’ll fill up the rice and vegetables bag with water and let it sit overnight. It’s not like I can eat all of this in one go, this is a meal for adults, not toddlers.’
Piece by piece the smoked beef disappears until there’s nothing left in the bag. To Maximillians senses it takes him just seconds to consume the entire bag’s contents. He tosses it to the side, a bit displeased by the fact.
‘I should be happy that I’m at least able to get actual human food in this dump.’
Reaching for one of the two lone cookies Max takes a large bite.
‘Plain cookies, not even a chip of chocolate.’
‘Do they even have chocolate in this world? I don’t remember seeing anything of the sort in the anime and I sure haven’t encountered any myself.’
One half of the cookie hanging out of his mouth Max opens up the bag holding the rice and vegetables, pouring in the specified amount of water.
‘Here’s to hoping that it doesn’t turn into mush by morning.’ He reseals the bag.
Finishing the first as well as the second cookie, he packs up, placing his belongings back into his makeshift bag with the exception of the blanket.
‘Nights get really cold around here but this along with my clothes should be enough to keep me warm during the night.’
It isn’t long until Max finds a nice pile of garbage, this is the garbage city after all.
He is careful, on the lookout for anyone that might notice him.
‘Just in time, it’s getting so dark out that I can barely see what I’m doing. Thankfully the blanket is large enough to cover both me and the ground under me so I won’t be needing to sleep directly on the hard soil’
Max wraps himself up like a messy human burrito.
‘Goodnight, I guess…’