Chapter 2

"Savage!" Bigs punched into the concrete. The pain bringing down his temper.

"Ive been called so many things but a savage!?" His other hand joining its twins pain.

"This is what i get for upholding order!" scoffing at nothing Bigs looked down at his trembling hands.

"Its fine. Just ramblings of a broken man."

Taking a deep breath he streched his arm out until he made contact with the wall again. There it was. The reassuring absence of trouble. Sliding his hand along the wall his peacefull meditation came to an end when he reached the doors to his next stop, the nursery.

Alcoves where carved into the ever present marble. Lined with staircases the shelves reached high without surrendering accessability. The entire space was carefully planned out to achieve maximum capacity. Even the supporting pillars where designed to store the kingdoms next generation.

Bigs approached a nearby column and picked one of the oval capsules up, disgusted by its developing inhabitant. Turning the capsule on its head Bigs tried waking the sleeping baby by moving the capsule around. Unbothered by his attemt it just floated about in the golden substance it was immersed in. Bigs aways denied that fact that he too was once one of them. Small enough to fit in such a tiny enclosure and soft enough to be squished by any opponent.

"Excuse me." A young nurse sheepishly approched Bigs. "Is everything alright?"

Bigs looked at the capsule in his hands.
"I dont know? Is it?"

Bigs was impressed by the little worker bravely stepping up to him and taking the capsule off his hands. Usually some emergency would always occur in the part of the nursery he was currently not at. This one however was different. Neither fear nor awe reflected off her. Instead the big eyes of a curios child stared him down.

" Are you perhaps Major General Bigs?"

Unsure of what to make of the young caretaker Bigs simply nodded. With her face lighting up in an exited response. What followed was a never ending flow of words. So Bigs simply ignored her even as she followed him around. Other nurses watched them wandering about. Hushing rumors old a new between themselves, presented with this unique sight.

But Bigs was too preoccupied to heed them any further attention. The sterile air was nauseating and watching the nurses gleefully going about their duties was gutwrenching. All the tapping and scratching noises the capsules emitted as the rattling infants inside adjusted and reajusted themselves again and again only adding to this torturous experience. How this could be a pleasing to anyone was unfathomable to him. Hed rather fight a hundred savages himself then spent even a day as a caretaker. But even still he mentally took note of the many unoccupied nodes.

Too loud to drown out, the hissing noises the nurse caused eventually broke his concentration. He watched as she pressed down on the injection, causing the liquid inside to adapt the green tint of the nutrient gel before resealing the feeding mechanism again.

"Dont you ever tire of this?"

Picking up another capsule to feed the nurse smiled.

"No. I don't think so. Getting to meet everyone in the kingdom long before they enter it is an indescribable feeling that fills me with more emotions than i could ever list."

Inserting the injection with great care. The nurse looked up at Bigs towering before.

"I think what I want to say is that I love my duty."

Bigs felt something move inside him. This feeling warped as it may be. He could understand. Both of them looked at the capsule, changing the mood in the entire nursery. Dark purple fog formed in the capsule completly enveloping the usually visable infant. The young nurse began shaking nervously as more and more colleagues came rushing, surrounding her in clamored shouts.

Overwhelmed the young nurse looked to Bigs for guidance.

"What... do i do?"

Bigs parted the yammering crowd with a slow swing of his arm.

"Simple. You follow me."

"What's your name?"

"Huh?"

Bigs's question pulled the young nurse out of her head.

"Oh, uh. I haven't received my scent yet. You don't need to address me in a particular way."

"Chip then."

"What?"

"Because you've been chipper ever since I met you and because you talk than a songbird."

"You could've left that last part out, you know."

Even in the dimly lit tunnels, Bigs could tell she was happy about it. Chip's eyes still glued to the capsule in her hands.

"Have you ever seen this happen before?" Chip finally asked.

Bigs thought for a moment.

"No. There were rumors about it happening a few years back. But I know from firsthand sources they were only that."

Bigs noticed something off about Chip, and seeing as they still had a good chunk to go he gave in to his own curiosities.

"Go on. Speak your mind."

Chip flinched, then slowly began talking.

"Are the rumors about you only that as well?"

Bigs grew uneasy for some reason he didn't understand himself.

"Depends on what you heard."

Chip hesitated, but eventually decided to continue pushing.

"They say you're a hero. That you've repelled more savages than any Major General before and probably after you. And—"

Chip hesitated again.

"And that you've killed many of us as well... Brothers and sisters. Even soldiers under your own command."

Bigs halted at this.

Nervous she had pushed to far, Chip backed up a little, holding the capsule away from the large mass that slowly turned his deformed head in Chip's direction.

"Who told you this? The nurses? Or did you pick it up somewhere else?"

Unsure of what to do, Chip backed up even more. But for every three steps back, Bigs closed in with one step forward, and when he had caught up, he stopped. Mere Inches from Chip's face.

"They aren't only rumors," Bigs revealed.

"But they're also not only the truth. I'll let you in on a little secret. Without me, this Kingdom would be a tomb by now. When I kill, it's because whoever I'm facing is an enemy of the crown. Do I enjoy it? No, not always. But I do take pride in my duty. Just like you do."

Bigs backed up to give Chip some room to breathe.

"Im neither stupid nor deaf. I hear what people say about me. They think me a Monster both in appearance and character. But you know what? I've seen real Monsters. So as long as I stay the monster that haunts their dreams, I know I've made the right choices."

Breaking away. Bigs gave Chip a moment to recover before resuming their journey. This time in silence as neither was eager to start another conversation.