Pat groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't like cleaning his tracker himself, but he didn't want that Gemoid touching him anywhere near his vital parts. Who knows what kind of sick and perverted thoughts ran through this creature's head. He didn't want to take the risk of getting choked to death.
Patrick removed his tracker delicately with the machine, groaning at the uncomfortable sensation of the wires retreating from his skin and sudden air on the hole in his neck, and started cleaning. He rubbed the red irritated skin with his thumb, then cleaned the hole, shoving his finger in and moving it around. He then took out a cloth and poured a bit of cleaning products on it, gently cleaning the machine, inside and outside, as he had always done.
He then placed it back and pressed on the machine's button, the wires moving back into his skin in a painful but familiar maneuver.
Pat placed the tracker remover on his nightstand and laid down on his bed. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. What a day.
He looked at the closed curtains for a bit, then stood up and opened them again. The stars were just as bright and beautiful as they were before.
Pat's tablet beeped and the boy picked it up. He slid his finger across the screen, reading a text message he had just received. He looked at the name: Lud. 753. Patrick did remember Ludoviko's number being in the 700’s. He swiped left and the text appeared.
L: “So, how's the book?”
Of course he'd be asking about the book. Patrick looked at it for a second, then opened up his keyboard and started typing.
P: “It's nice. Thanks for recommending it to me. Don't know if I'll have enough time to read it tho.”
L: “Whatchu mean”
Pat swore under his breath. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that. Seeing that text, it would mean Ludo wanted to know more. But Pat didn't know Ludo enough to tell him all about his life story.
P: “I don't want to keep the book for too long, the teacher prob wants it back, right?”
That wasn't completely a lie, but he did dodge the actual answer, because talking about his father to a stranger would be a bad idea.
L: “Yeah, guess so..”
Pat heard a shattering noise outside of his room, and he sighed, placing his tablet down on his bed. He walked outside and down the stairs, then groaned, seeing OB-7 quickly cleaning up residues of a plate that had fallen on the ground and broken into pieces. The Gemoid looked up, terror in his eyes, that then darted to the table, where Pat's father was sitting, hunched over his tablet, reading a news article.
“Coffee was too hot for its weak little hands.” the man said dryly. “He dropped it.”
Pat looked at his father, then at the Gemoid. He sighed, and turned around to walk back up the stairs.
“Not so fast, young man.”
Pat tensed up at the tone of the man's voice, a dry and cold voice he knew too well, and slowly turned around. “Y-yes?”
“I saw you brought a book with you. What is it about? Why do you have it?”
Pat swallowed. “I-it’s a book about the school, h-how it was founded and stuff. A friend told me to read it. So I did.”
“And if this friend told you to kill, would you?” His father said, not even looking at Pat, his ice-cold eyes glued to his tablet screen.
“N-no.”
“Don't do what people tell you to. You're too curious, and naive. That can be dangerous.”
He then waved his hand in his direction. “You're dismissed. And I want this book out of this house by tomorrow.”
“B-but, that book is-”
The father stood up and huffed, putting down his tablet. “Patrick..”
The boy tensed up, nervously tapping his fingers against his leg. “Yes father.” Pat nodded as he walked back up the stairs.
He quickly closed the door behind him and sighed. He grabbed his book and reluctantly placed it on his nightstand, face down, then took his tablet and browsed through it. Not much was new in his newsfeed.
Except...
“Protest in front of Castel quickly stops after the army steps in.”
The title caught Pat's eye, and he pressed on it with his thumb, opening the article.
“At 3PM today, a small group of delusional humans and wild gemoids started a protest in front of Castel. These hostile bigots tried to enter the building to, we can only guess, attack our poor defenseless King, still inside at that time. The rebels were quickly tamed when the army stepped in only a few minutes later, thankfully.
Guards will now be more strict in the area, to try and maintain peace. If you ever see someone acting strange, report it to the authorities, as this could become dangerous if too many incidents occur. And if you see a gemoid acting out of line, alert the nearest guard immediately, and stay away from them until further notice.”
Patrick winced as he looked at the pictures following the article. On the first one, a few humans and gemoids, banging on the door of Castel, with angry enraged faces.
On the second one, an army woman pushing away a hostile with her gun handle.
A notification appeared on the screen of Pat's tablet and he opened it.
J: “You heard about the attack today?”
It was Jane.
Pat quickly started typing.
P: “Just read about it. Pretty scary lmao, can you imagine what would've happened if they had gotten inside?”
J: “Fuck, don't make me think about it.”
Pat chuckled.
P: “Nah, jk, he's pretty well guarded, of course nothing would've happened.”
J: “Still scary to think about lol”
J: “OH”
P: “Hm?”
J: “The King made a message after the attack happened earlier. Wanna see? I can get you the link.”
P: “Yeah sure, gimme.”
A link appeared on the screen, and Pat pressed it.
It was indeed The King, very recognisable by his long white hair, scrawny body and wires all over his face and torso, all plugged in the machines wired to his wheelchair. As the video started, Pat realized he had never heard the man's voice before, and was a bit surprised to hear a perfectly normal voice coming out of him. Judging by all the stuff plugged inside him, including his throat, nose and eyes, one would assume the man's voice would sound broken, or that they would've replaced his vocal cords with synthetic ones. But his voice was strong and unmoving, like an oak tree during a storm. It incited pride and admiration. It was low and sultry as well, contrasting with his weak-looking body in an odd but reassuring way.
“This is the first time an attack this terrible has happened, and I am very saddened by this. Something is changing in our glorious country, and not for the better. Because of twisted logic, the rebels that you have seen today think that our society is wrong, that we, you and I, are not good people, that we hate them, that we do not accept them. Tonight, and for as long as they persist, we'll have to prove it otherwise to all of them. Because even if they think differently than us, they are still our fellow humans, and we need to make them understand that we don’t mean any harm and that we only do what we do for the betterment of the society.”
A man walked to him and whispered something in his ear. The King nodded and turned his head back at the camera.
“So, while security will indeed be reinforced, to not have another incident like this occur again, we should always remember to treat all humans the same, and show them kindness and acceptance. We, as the country in power, should remember that we have to show everyone what we really are. We are the future of this world, and we should try to strive for the best in everyone.”
The man bowed and smiled, and the video ended.
Pat sighed. He was glad that The King was such a wise and mature ruler. The man knew exactly what to say to calm the population down.
“I'm sure everyone will understand in a matter of days..” the young man thought.
Patrick looked at the time on his tablet. It was getting a bit late. He should probably sleep.
He turned off his tablet, placing it on his bedside table, and snapped his fingers, the lights in his room dimming. He quickly undressed and walked to his closet, taking out his night clothes and putting them on, then going back to bed. As soon as his head hit the soft fluffy pillow, he felt his eyelids get heavier, and he quickly fell asleep.
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