Mum and dad had been arguing with the man in the lab coat for what felt like forever. I didn’t really get it, but it sounded like he had done something really bad.
“This is a complete violation of informed consent!” Said Dad, not bothering to keep his anger in check.
“They signed up to help test harmless new tech, not to have their minds hijacked by cybernetic body parts!” Said mum, nearly on the verge of tears.
“Sacrifices must be made in the pursuit of scientific progress. I thought you two were intelligent enough to understand that.”
“These people didn’t volunteer to be sacrificed! They had no idea! You unilaterally decided that their autonomy was a fine price to pay for your own gain. This is unethical and against the very spirit of scientific advancement. I cannot support a project that used unsuspecting people as Guinea pigs.”
Dad was practically yelling in the man’s face. I had never seen him so livid before. Whatever the man in the lab coat did, it must have been really bad.
They stared at each other in silence for a little while, until the man scoffed and turned away.
“I’m disappointed to find that the two of you are as simple minded as the rest. Truly, I had high hopes for you. But, if you’re not at my side anymore,” the man spoke as he took a few short steps forwards and reached into the inside pocket in his lab coat, “then I suppose measures will have to be taken to make sure you can’t squawk.”
The man turned 180 degrees as he drew the snub-nosed revolver from his lab coat. In a movement so fast that I barely saw what happened, he aimed the revolver at my dad’s head and pulled the trigger. In just seconds, my father had gone from passionately speaking his piece to losing his life.
Mum immediately reached for the man’s gun, trying desperately to wrestle it out of his hands.
“Run! Get yourself to safety, please!” Mum yelled at me as the two continued to struggle. At first, I was paralysed in place. After all, what child wouldn’t be in shock after witnessing the death of their father? But at some point, my feet seemed to start moving on their own, and I found myself bolting away from the scene as fast as my little legs could carry me.
For a moment, I thought the situation had gone silent, but that illusion was broken when a gunshot rang out through the whole metallic building. After a momentary pause, it was followed by four more in quick succession.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
It wouldn’t take long for me to find out which of the two won the struggle.
“Attention, all staff. There is a thief loose in the research centre. Last spotted on the ground floor, running toward the exit. The thief is nine years old and is the child of Doctors Tadashi and Yasashi. Apprehend at all costs, I repeat, apprehend at all costs.”
The voice of the man in the lab coat echoed down the metal halls of the building, blasting from every speaker around.
I didn’t even have time to mourn the death of my parents. I had to escape.
Knowing that the main entranceway would almost definitely be blocked off, I diverted into the nearest room and looked for an open window. I wasn’t tall enough to unlatch them myself.
To my luck, there was a single window unlatched, through which I climbed out of the building and headed for the enormous fence around the facility. Had someone not left that window unlatched, my life almost certainly would have come to an end on that day.
My heart pounding out of my chest, I quietly found my way to the fence and began climbing. I knew that I would be dead to rights if I was spotted by any of the guards, but I thanked my lucky stars that none come to check that particular area, and before long I was on the other side.
I sprinted away like my life depended on it, and eventually, I found my way back to the city.
***
“…oh my god.” As I finished recounting my story, Mai was unable to give any response other than that. Her eyes had widened and she looked to be on the verge of tears.
“I’m sorry I never told you until now. I just never found the ti-“
Before I could finish my sentence, Mai pulled me into a tight hug. She had hugged me many times before, but this one felt… different. Like she was pouring every ounce of love and affection into my body that she could.
“I’m… I’m so sorry you had to go through something like that. Just… No child should ever have to watch their parents die.” She was practically sobbing as she spoke, holding me tighter and tighter as if she feared I would shatter if she let go.
“Silly girl, you have nothing to say sorry f-“ I stopped speaking as I felt the first tear run down my cheek. Followed by the second. Then the third, the fourth, the fifth, until my eyes were so filled with tears that I couldn’t even see straight. “Mum… Dad…”
I had spent these last 8 years just trying to get by in life, without thinking of the horror I witnessed that day. I buried the love I felt for my parents somewhere deep in my heart, locking it away so I could avoid the pain of loss.
But as Amai held me tight in her arms and sobbed with me, the floodgates that held back these years of emotions burst at the seams.
I missed them. I missed them so much that it hurt to breathe. My brilliant father, the man who taught me everything I know with the patience of a saint. My kind-hearted mother, the woman who dedicated herself both to raising me and to her research, without ever settling for less than the best in either.
Those two wonderful people. Those gentle souls that so fiercely opposed that awful man. They were long gone from this world, and nothing would bring them back.
And the only thing that prevented the weight of that knowledge from crushing my very soul was the girl with her arms wrapped right around my body.
The girl who was there for me every single time I needed her.
The girl whose sense of justice had reignited my passion for life.
The girl I loved.
The girl I loved so dearly that it hurt.
For just that one moment, I let myself cry my soul out on her shoulder.