The Best Son (standard:science fiction, 919 words)
Author: Jax	Added: Sep 06 2007	Views/Reads: 3251/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A struggle to survive in the harsh future.

“Get down son, you'll get killed with a head up like that”, Jon said.
“Yes father, I know”, came a quiet reply. The best son ducked back 
under the window, to wait for the winter to pass. He remembered how it 
used to be okay to be in the outside, when you didn't have to worry 
about the Cedephus Cain. The best son ran down to the mess hall, the 
ramparts were making him little queasy. The cold metal and rust was 
even less inviting today, and when the gringos saw him, they made sure 
he felt uninvited. “So, you think you can come down here eh?” said one 
of the humans. “I'm......I'm yrros swollef, ti t'now......”. The best 
son realized he had stopped speaking English again. Just then, a human 
inquisitor spotted him. He shouted something in Latin, and some heavily 
armed Audax grabbed him. Oh well, he thought. Another night in the 
winter. The Inquisitor threw him out into an airlock, and blasted him 
out into the world of the Cain. 

When Jon heard what happened to the best son, he cursed. His son's
problem only became worse each time they gave him to the Cain. That 
night though, things were different. The mess hall was put on lockdown, 
and everybody inside was quarantined. As the Audax dragged away the 
last of the bodies, the power shut down. The shields stopped working. 
The Cain could get in. 

Three or four in the morning rolled by, and still the power was off.
Sector 3 kept sending out radio signals, but nothing could be 
deciphered through the loud scratching noises, and occasional scream. 
The local inquisitor put this district on lockdown, until the shielding 
was back. Jon noticed more and more Audax going out, and more and more 
frightened people running in. The inquisitor had to keep a few Audax 
back to inspect each person that went by. The gate lowered and lowered. 
It only had about five minutes left of being open.  Jon watched the 
Audax kill a few that were suspected of infection. The line was getting 
longer, and there was still no sign of his best son. 

The best son was surrounded by red light, red blood, and red screaming.
The gargle of those in the back falling to the Cain enticed the crowd 
to push harder at the line to make in into the safe district. The Cain 
was only five or six people behind the best son. Suddenly, the best 
son's floor gave out, and they had got him. 

He awoke a few seconds later, a huge pain in his joints, and his eyes
nearly blind. His skin was reddening. He was infected. The best son 
noticed that as his body was shutting down, the Cain was opening new 
functions, replacing his old visible light-reliant vision, his old, 
useless arms, his old, useless fingernails. The best son's mind fought 
an internal war with the Cain. He struggled to control himself. 

The gate was four feet off the ground. Jon gave up. Then, he saw him,
his best son, rolling under the gate. The Audax saw him and tried to 
search him, but Jon told them that it was his best son. They parted out 
of his way. He lifted his son, and noticed that he had no eyes, only 
two black pores. He was infected, but not badly. Jon gave his best son 
sunglasses, and ran him up to his room. 

The best son could smell blood. He could also smell a friend. His
father..... What was his name? John? Jake? Jacob? What was his own 
name? He could only think of what his father had always called him. His 
best son. 

Without warning, the best son snarled. An inquisitor saw this, and sent
his people onto him. Jon pleaded for them to not do it, he claimed that 
the Cain was only minor anyway, it would go away. The inquisitor 
disagreed. Jon did what he hoped he would never have to. He attacked 
the inquisitor, jumped on him, told his best son to run. An Audax shot 
him in the back. He almost blacked out, and fell to the cold, 
uninviting metal floor. At least his blood was warm. 

The best son smelled more blood, fresh blood. His friend was gone. These
things were holding him, a human was holding a terrifying instrument. 
The best son killed him first. The Audax blew off his first head, but 
the best son wasn't even slowed. They too fell, only adding to the 
sense of blood. 

Three years had passed. The best son's infection had gone with them. Jon
had recovered, and most of the building was back under human control. 
The inquisition had finished most of it's list. But then they finally 
rolled around to his name. They called his son to “the office”. 

“I always loved you”. Jon kept saying. “You're the best son to ever
live.” “I will always remember you”. “Where are you taking me father?” 
asked the best son. “Where are we going?” “You were always the best 
son” he answered. “I love you”. 

The best son was taken care of, just as thousands of others before him.
Jon went home and washed as much of his son off of him as he could. He 
then calmly went into his office, took his gun, and went into the 
shielding complex. He turned off the safety, aimed at the nearest 
generator. “Fuck humanity,” he said. “They have already killed their 
best son.” 


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