Chereads / Evolving Wonder / Chapter 3 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Chapter 3

Rubbing her eyes fiercely, Farrah forcefully contorts her spiritual energy till it was practically undetectable, til she could barely hear the beating of her own heartbeat. She had tested it many times with the house AI so she knew it would also most likely work for the patrol AI who roamed the streets day and night as well. The capital was known as a safe haven, so the more advanced AI was placed at the walls and fortresses outside the capital. They were too expensive to make as well so the government had to limit the production of such costly robots. Of course, there was also less demand for them too since each fortress had an assigned team of Anialas who were good at detecting fluctuations of corrupt spiritual energy where the Awoken would materialize. Since the capital was teaming with hundreds of Anialas they felt even less of a need for them.

With this knowledge, Farrah abuses this and kept her hiccups to a minimum to avoid attracting people. Hiding in a large pipe of a new construction sight, she could hear the faint whispers in the wind of hover cars passing over her head none the wiser of a child hiding in such a dangerous place. Her brain sensor was tossed aside so it wouldn't bother her in her solace. It wasn't like they would notice she was gone anyways. She thought to herself bitterly making her even more sad without meaning to as another bout of childish hiccups attack her. "Wuuu~..." Curling up tightly to keep herself warm, Farrah vents her grievances to the wind through tiny sobs and muted hiccups.

It was only when the sky was fully darkened and she had vented all her frustrations and rubbed her eyes raw did she look up from her spot. At the pipe entrance, she sniffles feeling annoyed and ashamed by her weakness and childish actions. However, every time she was disappointed in herself she had long gotten used to finding a place to vent her inner turmoil. It only got worse when her older brother was assigned outside the capital. Her instructor told her that it was normal to feel the pressure of having an amazing family member and that she shouldn't feel ashamed or compare herself to her brother and father. However, she still couldn't help it.

As a child, she was more sensitive than others to the way people looked at her and knew what they were thinking whenever they saw her. Comforting herself with this fact, the mature little child who pretended to be a responsible little adult wipes her snot-covered face and carefully crawled out of the pipe. Not realizing how contradicting her actions and thoughts were. Rubbing her nose and eyes once more. Farrah glumly made her way to the construction site exit while avoiding the patrol robots. Remembering their routes by heart, she was just about to hide behind a pillar when she felt a strange fluctuation in the air suddenly. Farrah froze in place and stared with wide eyes at the entrance where a patrol robot was coming into sight.

In the middle of the street, she could see something raise its blobby-tainted head from the cement. A type of energy she never sensed before slowly drew it's first breath as if being birthed from the ground in front of her. Her body rejected this thing, this, disgusting blob of what she sensed was the same contents as herself but yet it wasn't. The patrol robot flashes red at the sight of the blob a few seconds after, "AWOKEN-! AWO-" "Kyaa!!" Farrah goes pale and screams when the patrol robot was destroyed the second it started making noise crushed into tiny piles of metal parts. As if hearing her scream, the blob resembling no creature Farrah has ever seen swings its head in her direction.

Weak in the knees, the child quickly scrambles to her feet and ran in the direction she came from panting like a frightened rabbit being chased by a wolf. Behind her, she tried to shut out the noise but in her fear, her heightened senses went into overdrive so she heard every gasp and inhumane screech it made crashing into construction material and machinery behind her. Mom-! Dad-! Older brother-!!! Terrified sobs escape her as she prayed endlessly for someone to save her from the monster. Running to the same pipe she hid in earlier Farrah held her breath and did her best to try and minimize her presence. Her heartbeat sounded much louder and deafening than anything else.

Covering her mouth Farrah prayed and shakily held her breath as the creature came closer. She held back another cry when the creature shook the pipe she was in trying to make herself smaller, hoping the creature didn't know she was inside. After it shook the pipe a few times, the creature seemed duller than a beast and couldn't seem to catch a whiff of the human's spiritual energy anymore and grunted. Farrah shut her eyes tightly not daring to make a pep even if her heart constricted and her lips trembled threatening to let her cry come out. Older brother-! She screams internally, unable to stop her trembling and recalling her older brother's gentle smile and protective arms.

After shaking the pipe one last time, the beast gave an annoyed growl and she heard its slimy powerful stomps as it started walking away. She only dare take a very subtle breath of air when it was a few feet away. Her tiny body shook so much she was practically levitating in place. Just as her nerves were starting to unwind and she was debating pressing the emergency content on her brain sensor. The brain sensor gave a not-so-loud but noticeable ring of notice meant to help a person find the brain sensor and possibly its owner. Usually used for lost children. Farrah's eyes snap open staring at the brain sensor in a light daze, and as her eyes travel towards the opening of the pipe a bleary large eyeball larger than the tiny child took up the hole.

Shutting her eyes and backing away scratching her hands and legs against the rough pipe Farrah's terror could no longer be contained. "KYAAAAAA-!!!" The scream that escaped the terrified child echoed throughout the entire neighborhood sounding haunting to the ears. As if stimulated by her lively appearance the Awoken growled and reached its slimy paws into the pipe earning another scream of terror from the child. "DADDY!!!! DADDDYYY-!!" Wailing Farrah scrambled away from the long paw that seemed to grow longer she gave another scream this time out of pain sobbing through the agony ripping through her leg. The creature barely managed to scratch her leg leaving a bloody ugly wound.

Despite the pain, Farrah continued to try and crawl out of the pipe through the other side sobbing uncontrollably. "AHHH-!!!" Annoyed by it's lack of progress the beast tosses the pipe from its original position sending the weak Farrah slamming into the walls. Knocking her head fiercely into the pipe walls surrounding her, Farrah's sobs abruptly weaken as blood began trailing down not only her leg but her head. Woozy and knowing she was losing consciousness. Farrah gave a heartbreaking last sob before being unable to keep her eyes open anymore.

"Da..ddy....Wuuu-..." Right before she lost vision, a silver light seemed to surround her hand. Its light faint but steady, surrounding the wounded child like a warm mother's embrace. Subconsciously, the child was lulled into a somewhat peaceful slumber of safety, as if being comforted by the unknown. It's ok. Sleep now. It'll be ok.