A Fine Black Sky
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
Osseus Rivalis, First Son to the Lord of the South Tower, and erstwhile bully to Kid, had gained a promotion of sorts within the Apprenticeship regime, to one of Supervisor. It was quite obviously a nepotistic gain, and no one, not even Kid could deny its voracity, as he was within his home, was to become the Lord of the South Tower one day, and that if it were in any other’s Tower, the same would undoubtedly occur there also. It was a universal truth that the honours would go to the one with the power, or at least the one who held the heartstrings of the one in power. And Osseus was certainly an abuser of his position. There were occasions in the intervening years that though Osseus became embroiled in venoms acts, or battles with fellow Apprentices, even contretemps with the Tutors, a little word with an Attendant and the trouble would be smoothed over. It was how Osseus had been able to systematically wear Kid down over the time they had been ensconced in, even sequestered in, the high, garret-like rooms of the Apprentice Quarters.
It was a long corridor, barely painted, and certainly not carpeted, that a couple of dozen or so tiny rooms threw out, like leaves upon a branch - each with a bed of sorts, a simple table and chair, and a window to longingly gaze out upon the City of Unity and endeavour to leave apathy and despair locked up somewhere safe, in order to prevent the desire to be anywhere else, or nowhere else entirely - duty being something larger than themselves and unassailable - left bereft of all the will to go on.
It was impossibly sad to recount it, but at least three of Kid’s acquaintances had removed themselves form the Program, through methods acquitted by their own hands, a further four had simply left - no one knew quite to where exactly, but it was believed that given the frosty reception they would have received upon loosening themselves of a genetically promised duty, they had found themselves somewhere in Unity as a whole, perhaps victim to the Aberrants, or become Deviators themselves.
It was more common than the Tutors would have liked to admit, but failure was something uneasily tolerated in Unity, despite the peace that spread throughout the land. There was an unrelenting, deep-seated element of honour and a desire to prevent a loss of respect amongst principally the Noble class, that drove the Apprentices either onward or to despair, taking difficult choices to heart and finding a solution to suit their preference, be it escape by one method or the much darker other.
It was the nature of the Apprenticeship institution, in that it elicited great emotion - sometimes too much to bear, if the spirit was never willing to begin with, or the desire to succeed exceeded what was on offer from the individual themselves.
In part as his role of Supervisor, Osseus Rivalis would determine which Apprentice would be designated their correct work area. Over the last few days, it was evident that Osseus wasn't particularly suited to the job, and would frequently make mistakes. That was why when Kid was told to clean the Oculator Machine, having never been trained on its delicacies and intricacies, that Kid initially became suspicious. But Kid was a fast learner, so took it either that the mistake would be rectified, or he could muddle through it somehow.
The Machine was placed in a room of its own, because of the sudden swinging and rotating the Machine would perform, without warning, regardless of the position of the Attendee. For some reason known only to them, the actual Attendant, who should have been either inside the room, upon the inspection platform, or at least close to the exterior of the room, in case it needed sudden recalibration, was missing.
Kid was used to small holes, crouching, crawling even, to get to ones destination, so took it upon himself, perhaps foolishly, to crawl inside and make his way to the inspection platform.
Kid was upon his hands and knees, waiting patiently for the swiping arm to zoom overhead, before he moved on. The gear, large enough to turn the Tower, clicked monotonously for every swipe of the arm, allowing a rhythm for Kid to follow. It was a little greasy where his hand rested, and he almost slipped, falling into a hole left by a travelling cog, now somewhere over in the west part of the room. The door opened to the room then, and suspecting it was the return of the Attendant, Kid spoke out, informing them he was somewhere within the system, almost at the inspection platform. But there was no reply, no answer. He called out again, and all that returned was a kind of distant titter, as though someone or some people were there, laughing behind their hands. Kid was quite agitated and called out a greeting once again. This time, the whole machinery ground to an ear splitting halt, metal rending against metal as it was forced to brace against the momentum of another ratchet or cog.
The Machine screamed its disapproval as a voice spoke up, hidden by the rough machinery, smoking in places where the strain was too much on the gears, and the grease, by the aid of friction, began to smoke furiously. Kid was too attentive upon this occurrence than he was upon the figure who paraded around the outside of the great Machine - integral to the smooth and continual running of the Tower, and perhaps beyond - no one knew, because the Machine had never been stopped before. The figure stopped its movement somewhere opposite Kid, who remained dirty, covered in dust, grease and the general malaise of working machinery.
“The cripple. Finally, I have you where I want you!” spoke Osseus Rivalis, accompanied by the chuckles of his minions.
“Osseus. Enough of this nonsense. We are too old and in too much danger to play this old game.”
“Such words from a Broken Boy! Who are you to tell me, heir to the Rivalis Tower, that I should be anything but what I am!”
“The Machine is about to crack, Osseus. Return to the switch and turn it back on. We may still repair it.”
Osseus raised his finger in anger and followed it toward Kid, “Don’t ever tell me what to do, you snivelling, cracked faced, limping -“ but he was cut short, as the machinery began crying once more, jerking a movement suddenly and catching Osseus unawares, sending him to his back, upon a gear, where the teeth had purchased upon his outfit, pinning him to the floor.
At that moment, the billowing smoke burst into flames, and the room was filled with life extinguishing black smoke and a massive ball of fire, licking at the roof some twenty foot above. Anything that could burn flashed alight, including both Kid’s and Osseus’s clothes. Kid patted himself down, extinguishing as much fire as he could upon him, moving rapidly toward Osseus, who was panicking, and hitting himself excitedly, while in a juddering state of shock.
The noise was as though a hundred clerks rustled a hundred leaves of crumpled paper inside the ear canal, while the heat began to singe the hair of Kid, and undoubtedly Osseus. Kid could almost hear a scream from the two cronies, and soon there came more shouts as the Tutors and Attendants had been informed of what was occurring, along with guards and Nobles.
Kid pushed on toward Osseus, who was struggling against his being pinned down still, tugging at the cloth in a vain attempt to free himself. The Machine screamed again and something gave, inevitability returning to the world and the cogs, wheels, springs and gears crunched back into action.
Osseus was beginning to be pulled around, badly bending and scratching his legs and arms. Kid pushed on, at many times upon his belly, until he had almost reached Osseus. And Kid could see what was coming. He could do nothing about it, but did his best anyway, as the spring flicked and the arm sprang round, hitting Osseus hard in the face.
There was alot of blood. Injuries to the head had a tendency to bleed more ferociously, but the yell of primordial pain told Kid Osseus was alright, if a little damaged. It seemed the arm had cut deep into Osseus’s left eye, creating a gouging valley of flesh and bone from forehead almost to jaw. It had obliterated Osseus’s left eye, which he clutched, attempting to stem the flow of blood and also in the hopes that holding his hand at the wound would in some way make it not so. But it was, and Kid had reached him at last.
The first thing Kid did was calm the young man, “Calm now, Osseus! No need to fret! I’ll have you out of here in a jiffy! That’s it, it’s going to be alright!” Kid smiled, even as Osseus looked at him scared with his one good eye, his cries down to a whimper as shock began to set in and the pain became less. Kid yanked at the cloth and it came free, even as Kid rolled himself and Osseus out of harms way, as the dangerous arm was coming around for a second shot. It swiped overhead, splattering pinpoints of blood over the two of them where it had collected from Osseus upon the previous rotation. Osseus was making unintelligible noises now, still holding his eye, but following Kid’s lead as the two of them made their way through the thick smoke, Kid attacking the flames that blocked their way with his own shirt, until they reached the doorway, where Osseus was yanked up and rushed away, amidst the murmur of the crowd, happy to look, not so happy to participate and help.
Kid pulled himself out of the pit of fire and metal, nearly choking as a hacking cough caught him suddenly and he spat the black out of his mouth, hobbling to his feet and making his way to his room, while the crowd talked about what was to be done - was the boy Osseus alright? And how long was it going to take to repair the room - up to and including whether it was going to cost them extra.
But Kid was in his room, at his window, watching the window where the girl held her child up to the darkness outside her window, showing it the world that would one day be whole again.
For the next few weeks, and as the Apprenticeship was coming to an end at the South Tower, Kid would sit by Osseus’s bedside, bereft of anyone else, which only pained Kid emotionally. Not one of the other Apprentices came to see Osseus, not even his cronies. They had quickly disassociated themselves from their one-time master, choosing to blend into the background and make it seem as though they had always been there.
It was this. Osseus had burned too many bridges in his childish acts, many recipients wishing the young man further, if not fatal injury. But not Kid. He saw what Osseus was, and what he could become.
As the young man awoke, and the two began talking sensibly, as equals, and confederates - as friends - Kid learned more about the once boy called Osseus, of how he felt alienated from his family, including his siblings who were to be his Advisors. His siblings felt resentful of their Brother and had set about him, bullying him and belittling him. As an abusee often becomes an abuser, so this happened with Osseus, and the only way he felt he could be anybody was through such tactics. Kid was a perfect subject, Osseus had told him, being almost an equal in position, not least the Son of a Lord, but more importantly because Kid was well known, the Boy Who Should Have Died. But didn’t. Easy pickings, said Osseus. Too easy.
But now he could see the friend he could have had, the Cousin not from blood. When Kid was ready to leave, Osseus Rivalis, the man with one eye, embraced his friend and bid him good fortune on his next great adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment