[2086] vis-à-vis a fickle mind

7th March 2086, some time later.

Sudsakorn did not know how long he laid there, staring at the gray sky tainted with plumes of black smoke. The air was stinky and suffocating, and he was aching all over.

He could hear something approaching, and quickly sat up. It sounded like bells. Sud looked around and craned his neck to see as the sound drew closer.

He first recognized a hoverboard, something he only saw in the Old Master’s house. It was glowing. Then, he saw a streak of rainbow plunging straight at him.

The boy screamed, but stopped when he saw that it was a black bird with rainbow tail feathers.

“Su!”

“Chirp. Dumbass, you had us all worried.”

Sud wanted to hug the bird, but did not for he would end up crushing Su.

The hoverboard lowered itself slowly.

“Gramps?! How did you get here?!”

“Save the questions for later. Let’s get you out of here first.” The Old Master laughed. “Ah, I’m always patching you up, aren’t I?”

The old man picked the boy up, and the two rode his hoverboard onto the building’s roof, next to the large hole. From there, Sud could see the whole seaside city partially covered in haze.

The old man checked on his adoptive grandson’s injuries. Sud bruised his legs, but it was nothing serious. He gave the boy a few pats on the head and a big hug. Sud began spilling what happened, and the old man listened until the end.

“People cannot be trusted, for they are more crooked and complex than a labyrinth of vines. You can only trust in yourself. Think before you act. Not all who are nice to you will bear good intentions, and not all who are mean to you have ill intentions.”

“Then who can I trust?” The boy sobbed.

“Your family. You have a family always supporting you from behind, do you not?” The old man released the boy.

“Chirp, Chan being annoying, trying to make me find you.”

“You found me, Su?”

“Annoying horse gave Su location data.” The bird hopped on the old man’s shoulder.

“I was headed this way to sort some things out anyway, so you’re lucky we got here before something bad happens.” The old man stood up and picked the boy up. “We have to get you somewhere safe, then we can meet up with your brother.”

Sud nodded and followed the old man obediently, but he had to say something.

“You’re not someone pretending to be gramps, aren’t you?”

“Ha, then shall I share some of your embarrassing stories growing up? Like that one time you sat on a—”

“No, thanks!”

Before they even went anywhere, they heard a crash, and something leapt out from the building.

“Nil!”

The cyborg plunged into the ocean. Sud rushed to the roof’s fence, trying to see where his friend went. A shower of bullets was fired into the sea where Nil went in.

“Gramps, I need to help Nil! They can’t run on water if they’re already underwater!”

Nil emerged from the water, clambering up a seaside staircase. Bullets were fired in that direction. The old man watched, then nodded, taking Sud on his hoverboard once more.

“Chirp, I’m going.” Su flew away, probably to where Chan was.

“Alright. Hold on tight, Sud!”

They zipped through the air. Sud saw Nil running and dropped onto the cyborg’s back.

“What the fuck are you doing, Sud?! You’re gonna get killed as well!” The cyborg yelled.

“I don’t want you to die, though!” From the corner of his eyes, the boy saw the Old Master whip out a gun and returned fire while dodging bullets left and right. “Run, Nil!”

“I need a GPS! Does anyone happen to have one?!”

The other two went silent as more bullets zipped past.

“Oh, great! Back to old-fashioned sign-reading it is, then!”

“Sud!”

All three heads whipped to the source of the voice. It was Sin on a motorcycle. Sud waved.

“Help!”

Sin tapped his ears, whispering some orders. Then, the men chasing after them stopped.

When the bullets stopped, all of them stopped running. Sin approached them, his motorcycle blocking their path forward. Nil was tense. With the storm clouds and haze, the heat was suffocating.

“Old Master, Sud, please come behind me.” Sin took out his gun. “Now.”

“What’s going on?” The boy asked.

“Just…do it.” Nil gestured.

“No! Last time I did that, I got kidnapped! And Sin, I can still trust you, right?! You’re family, right? You won’t hurt anyone.”

“Yeah, so get over here. I’m doing this for all of us.” Sin tried to wave his brother over, but the boy would not move. He sighed. “Nil, are you trying to sell that data in your head?”

Nil did not reply.

“Do you know how reckless that is?”

“The data self-destructs if you don’t follow the protocol that I laid out. And I’m not giving that protocol to Haschai.”

“I’m not as smart as Chan, but I guessed that much.” The young man had Nil at gunpoint. “What will it take to convince you to return the data?”

“Crystal is becoming too powerful! If Khun Malee completes her satellite project, she will have power over the entire country, and even the neighbors!”

“So, you stole the data on the operation system needed for her satellites.”

“What choice did I have? I was preventing a dictator from gaining power!”

“This country needs one to move forward, anyway. Democracy is sluggish and full of corruption. Khun Malee will not become a tyrant, so she alone is good enough to wield that power.”

“Are you even listening to yourself? No country ever needs a fucking tyrant, not here, not anywhere! And what guarantee do you have that she won’t become one? People change in the face of power, and she’s no exception!”

“Sin? Nil? What are you two even talking about?”

The Old Master was the only one silent. He stared at the boy he saw as an eight-year-old; lost and heartbroken and trying to adjust to a new life, a boy that sought shelter in his house on the hills when things get too rough. Now, those eyes were cold, and no trace of that sweet boy remained.

“Who’s your contact?” Sin resumed the conversation.

“I’m not telling you.”

“Levana Victoriya Wright, Khun Huren’s sister.”

Nil’s mouth hung open, and Sin scoffed.

“You’re easy to read. That was just a wild guess, but seems like I was right.”

“You little…!!!”

"You tried to sell Crystal's assets to Langka. Do you think Khun Huren's sister can protect you? More importantly, do you think I will let you walk out of here in one piece?"

"Nil is our friend." Sud took a step back, sweat trickling down his back. There was something about the way a smile tugged at his brother's mouth that sent a shiver down his spine.

The young man went silent for a few seconds, then spoke slowly.

"Listen here, Sud. The Wrights may have a Thai mother, but they are practically foreigners, which puts Nil’s action as selling off our own country’s stability.” A shadow flashed past his expression. “Nil betrayed my mother and tried to sell her leverage to the man that killed her father."

"What?!" Nil gasped. "I have no idea what you're talking about! The man that killed Malee’s father? Khun Silrach died from a heart attack!"

"The heart attack was caused by an electric shock. We’ve identified the culprit as Madame Butterfly, the closest person to the Wright siblings."

Nil’s mouth hung open. The Old Master, having watched the whole exchange, finally stepped down from the hoverboard.

“Why don’t we all cool our heads a little?”

“Yeah! Please! Don’t hurt Nil!” Sud got between his brother’s gun and Nil. Sin’s mouth formed a straight line. After a long pause, he finally lowered the gun.

“I will give you fifteen minutes to run. If I or Chan catches you again, then it’s game over. Do you understand?”

“I…” Nil tried to say something smart, then reconsidered their words. “Yeah, alright.”

Sud hopped onto the cyborg’s back, and the two leapt towards the sea, running atop the waves. Sin batted the Old Master a sideway glance.

“I have fifteen minutes. Can I help you with anything?”

“I’m good. That was nice of you, by the way. Aren’t you afraid of Nil tampering with the data or selling it off within the fifteen minutes?”

“I guess I was being too soft on my brother.” The young man sighed. “Well, I’ll excuse myself.”

He went to his motorcycle, then sped away.

Atop an electric pole, half-flooded by the sea, Chan perched like a large bird looking for a prey. Su flew in circle above his head, then rested on his hair. The sea breeze blew past them. Chan caught sight of a cyborg horse running past.

“Fifteen minutes, huh? But you didn’t say I have to stay far away from those two, though?” He smirked, then took a step into nothingness.