Jin Lin glared at his mother with bloodshot eyes but this only aggravated her more. "What are you fuckin glowering at me for? Tsk, all you know is to cause trouble... you even went out to earn yourself a pair of handcuffs, for what?"
Jin Lin remained tight-lipped walking out of the room ashen-faced.
He dragged his weak body to the chairs outside drowning out his mother's scoldings with grief. His entire body felt numb from the pain as he sprawled on the chair.
His head lowered as he cried in the empty corridor with the security guard sitting opposite him. After hearing the crazed woman berate her son, the security guard sort of pitied the teenager and could only offer some words of advice. "She is emotional... don't take it to heart, kid," he said but Jin Lin heard none of it.
He kept his head lowered listening to the news headlines. They seemed to be reporting updates on the oil rig while speculating a possible cause. Unexpectedly, the news shifted attention reporting on a noble peace prize winner who got stripped of his title for unethical practises. The man in his forties was being dragged out of the international criminal court as the news anchors mocked him.
"That's the problem. Dr Zheng actually used human subjects in his experiments claiming to send them to a so-called different dimension. I mean the guy was caught with mutilated corpses in his research lab," said the male news anchor with a wan face.
The female anchor twirled a pen in between her long slender fingers and said, "He is a noble peace prize winner for heaven's sake. He even manipulated homeless people into joining his research. Good thing he was found guilty on all charges by the international criminal court. Let's go back to the live footage at the headquarters in the Netherlands."
The screen abruptly shifted focus showing a sophisticated architectural building with a dozen different flags flying high on the flag poles. An average looking reporter holding a microphone tapped on his earpiece before saying, "I am here outside the ICC offices as you can see. It is now confirmed Dr Zheng has been charged with life imprisonment over an hour ago. We are currently waiting for... oh, it seems Dr Zheng is being taken into custody." The last statement was said as a group of soldiers came out of the building surrounding a screaming man.
"I am not fuckin crazy, I am not. It's real, that place is real and has so many resources. Let me go! You morons!.... You will all regret it!" yelled Dr Zheng while being dragged into an armoured grey bus.
The rest of the report was drowned out by Jin Lin's chaotic thoughts. The handcuffs were especially tight making it hard for him to move. The security guard noticed his discomfort and strode over to loosen it up a bit while talking about the chaotic scene playing on the television screen.
"Tsk, tsk... the man is too smart for his own good. It's true, all geniuses are crazy. Tsk, tsk, tsk.... even killing people in the name of research," said the security guard before returning to his seat.
Jin Lin didn't pay much attention to him wiping the sweat off his forehead. He just wanted to be inside with his brother but as long as his mother was in there, there was no way he would be allowed in.
He was about to ask when he would get these silver bracelets off his wrists when another breaking news grasped his attention. It was some type of game known as Equino that had just won the Lead Technological Innovation Award.
He had heard about it as well but what made it memorable was that it was being marketed as the best virtual reality game out there equipped with advanced gaming pods. This is where he stopped reading the article as he lost interest when they mentioned how much it costs to get a gaming pod. Even if he sells his kidney he wouldn't be able to afford it.
"It's an escape. A fresh start to those that seek an intriguing exciting life, unlike the tedious monotonous existence. A new dawn brimming with adventure," was the sound of the company representative's voice from the television screen.
Jin Lin leaned his head back while closing his eyes that were almost blinded by the bright fluorescent lights hanging on the ceiling. He couldn't help but think wouldn't it be interesting having a different life, a sort of paradise? But of course, that was only his wishful thinking.
Unknowingly, Jin Lin dozed off on the seat as a wave of exhaustion took over his body. He had endured a lot of emotional stimulation today resulting in his brain shutting down without warning.
He was awoken by a hot slap across his face echoing along the corridor. The slap was so loud that it made the people around him draw in a cold breath of air.
The boy literally saw stars after that slap but his mother's yelling was a thousand times painful than the stinging pain emanating from his pulsing cheek. "You useless thing... you are sleeping. You are actually sleeping while my son is dying in there? Wuwuwu.... what did I do to deserve this?!" She wailed like a paid mourner at a funeral. The police had been called and it seemed the hospital wasn't going to let him off for the incident in the emergency room.
It wasn't that they didn't want to let him go, it's just that the families of the patients in the emergency room weren't too happy and demanded retribution.
When the police arrived, Jin Lin was sleeping in the seat outside the corridor. They called for the teen's guardian to inform them on what was going to happen next but who would have thought the woman would borrow the hand of god and descend a hardcore slap on her son.
Seeing the boy's distraught expression and teary eyes, they couldn't help but pity him. His left cheek was as red as a cherry tomato with a visible handprint. Regardless of how they felt they still had to do their diligent duty and lead the teenager to the police station.
"Don't bother calling me to bail you out.... do you hear me?" she yelled after him but Jin Lin didn't respond, "Call your dead beat of a father!" The woman kept yelling till Jin Lin's figure disappeared but no one paid attention to her. This further infuriated her but she could only go back to sit by her eldest son's bedside and watch over him.