The Annihilation Code

Chapter Four ✰ Chase Huxley ✰

Everything was a blur after the crash. All I can remember is the pain. I had a dream where I was carried by a skeleton into his van, and then he injected me with something and I blacked out.

I awoke to the feeling of something soft rubbing against my skin. When I opened my eyes, total darkness surrounded me. I blinked, and my vision immediately adjusted to my surroundings. My eyes darted around the room, as I searched for what was touching me. A charcoal-colored cat sat on top of my bare chest. It wasn't a normal cat, it was... a cyborg cat? I've never seen an animal cyborg before. It let out a friendly mew, demanding to be pet. "Hey, creepy little cyborg cat." The cat purred in response. Fine. I'll pet you. I attempted to raise my arm to stroke the feline's ears. A sharp pain tore through the entire left side of my body. I wanted to scream. I'd never felt pain like that before. I collapsed back down on the table where I had been laying. The cat seemed to sense my distress and curled up on my right side to comfort me. "Thanks, ugly robo cat."

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty has finally awoken from his slumber." A cyborg with messy brown hair and an eye patch waltzed into the room. "I was getting worried about you, kid."

I sit up, causing another wave of pain to course through my left side. "Who are you?" I ask, trying to sound tough while simultaneously wincing from the pain.

"Well, the folks over at Bionic Corp called me Cyborg 16541815, but everyone around here calls me Patch."

"Do they call you that because of your eye patch?"

"No, they call me that because I'm great at quilting," he rolled his eye. "Yes, they call me that because of the eye patch!"

I run my right hand through my hair. "What happened?"

Patch leaned against the door frame. "According to the news, your car exploded."

"My car exploded?"

"That's what I just said. Anyway, somebody was kind enough to drop your nearly dead body on my doorstep." He sighed. "If I had a nickel for every time I found a half deceased boy outside my workshop, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."

"Did you see who brought me here?"

He shook his head. "They ran off before I could get a good look at him."

"Was it a skeleton?"

His eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"I had a dream I was being carried away from the crash site by a skeleton."

Patch shot me a look of concern. "I can confirm it was definitely not a skeleton that dropped you off here."

"Where is here, exactly?"

"You're in my workshop on Ikigai II."

"As is in the metal island Ikigai II?"

He nodded.

"What? No! I can't be on Ikigai II! I'm supposed to be in New Sacramento today!" Not to mention, I'm terrified of floating islands.

Patch shrugged. "Well, we'll be docking in Australia in a couple of days, so you can try to get a flight home when we dock."

"Wait, how is that possible? We were in California yesterday!"

"You've been unconscious for five weeks."

"This day keeps getting worse and worse!"  I wailed.

Patch chuckled. "You haven't even heard the worst news yet."

"What's the worst news?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't like to sugarcoat things," he ripped a tarp off a mirror at the edge of the room. "You should see the damage for yourself."

I stood up and inched my way to the mirror, waves of pain flooded my body with every step.

Patch flipped on the lights, so I could have a better view of my reflection. My entire body trembled as I gazed at my reflection. My left arm and leg had been amputated and replaced with cybernetic parts, massive burn scars marred my left cheek. Upon closer inspection, I noticed my left eye was also cybernetic.

"I'm sorry, kid, the explosion did some serious damage."

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to give myself some semblance of comfort. I'm a model, it's my job to fit the mold of what everyone wished they looked like. I'm going to get fired. No one will hire me if I look like this. I gently traced my finger over my reflection.

Patch stood uncomfortably in the doorway. "I'm going to give you some time to yourself. I'll send my nephew, Atlas to check on you in a few minutes." He departed without another word, leaving me alone in the dark workshop.

An ancient-looking Holopad rested on the workbench in the corner of the room. Patch wouldn't mind if I borrowed it, right? I desperately needed someone to talk to. I switched on the Holopad, and it immediately took me to Patch's home screen. This guy doesn't use a password? He was practically begging me to hijack it. His home screen wallpaper was a picture of Patch with a boy and a girl who looked roughly the same age as me. Does Patch have kids? I examined the photo closer. The girl had wavy magenta hair that fell past her shoulders and a warm smile. The boy had a nicely sculpted jawline and hair the color of snow that pleasantly complimented his light-brown skin. He had a look in his eyes that made him seem perpetually sad. I don't know what he has to be sad about, he's almost as handsome as I was in my prime. Almost. He could've been a model in another life.

I was so transfixed by the picture, I almost forgot why I borrowed the Holopad in the first place. I opened up the call app and entered Mason's number. The call rang twice before he answered.

"Who is this?"

"It's me, Chase!"

"Chase! You're alive!" He let out a relieved laugh. "Turn on your camera, so I can see you."

"No!" I blurted out.

"Why not?"

I glanced at my cybernetic arm. "I have a huge zit." I lied. "It's super embarrassing."

"You're such a drama queen, Chase."

"Yeah, I know," I said half-heartedly.

"So, where are you now?"

"I'm on Ikigai II."

"Why are you there? I thought you were afraid of floating islands."

"I am! I hate it here so much! You can feel the ground moving beneath you!"

"Why don't you come home?"

I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. I don't think I can go home looking like this. The tabloids are going to go crazy.

"Are you still there?" Mason asked.

"Yeah," My voice cracked. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for making fun of your cyborg girlfriend."

"Umm, thanks." A loud crash sounded in the background of the call. "Son of a– sorry, Chase the dog just knocked something over. I'll call you back later."

"No! Please don't hang up, I don't want to be alone."He was already gone. I didn't know what else to do, so I collapsed onto the floor and cried.