Awake (6 page)

Genesis growled, “So? There’s nothing for
you here.”

“With the humans gone, everything is
ours!”

“The humans aren’t gone.”

“Only a fool would cling to such fantasies.
The humans won’t last.”

“Do you know what’s causing it?”

“Even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you.
You might as well kill me.”

Genesis looked to the front door and barked.
Two dogs, a collie and a bulldog, entered into the store and
approached Genesis. Genesis told the dogs, “Take him away.” The
dogs nodded. With their jaws, the two dogs held firmly on the snake
by its neck and tail, being careful not to let it escape.

As it was being carried out, the snake
hissed, “Don’t think for a moment you have a chance at saving the
humans.
He
will come, and when he does, it will all be
over!”

Kevin and Tom came running back inside.
Genesis turned to them and said, “We’re done here. Seems like we’ll
have to watch our patrols more closely.”

Kevin exclaimed, “Is Andrew in here?”

Dusting off his tiny black garments, Helios
replied, “I never saw him come in.”

His hands trembling in fright, Kevin said,
“Andrew’s gone! I can’t find him. He left his phone on the sidewalk
and disappeared…”

“Hey, get back here!” Andrew cried. He ran
down the block until the crow finally stopped. The crow rested on a
fire hydrant. It had in its beak a pair of eyeglasses.

Andrew took small steps toward the crow.

The crow put the glasses down. “Boy, do
these glasses really mean that much to you?”

“I need them!” Andrew replied, slowly
getting closer.

“No, you don’t.”

Andrew snapped, “I need them to see.”

“You’re going to sleep anyway. And when you
do, you won’t need to see anything.”

Andrew straightened up. “I’m not going to
sleep.”

“You are. Every human needs to sleep.”

Andrew shook his head. “I know that. But if
I go to sleep, I won’t wake up.”

The crow flew over to the boy’s shoulder.
“Oh, you poor, poor boy. How do you know you won’t wake up? Have
you tried it?”

“I haven’t, but a dog named Genesis told me
that.”

“A dog? You believe a dog?” The crow cawed
in laughter. “Dogs are such pathetic creatures. They can’t properly
hunt for food or groom themselves. They chase after their own tails
and will eat anything! Those uncouth savages would rather sniff
butts than flowers! The dog is yours to command. You shouldn’t
listen to them. They should listen to you!”

Andrew said nothing, musing over the crow’s
words.

The crow leaned closer to Andrew’s ear and
said, “You’re putting your life at risk for no valid reason. Do you
honestly think you can achieve anything by staying awake? I’ll let
you in on a secret. I know the truth. This whole thing is
temporary. If you sleep now, everything will be back to normal when
you awaken. The dog lied to you. You said his name was Genesis. I
know of that crafty dog. He’s a stray. He bit the hand that fed him
and ran away! He could care less about you or your family. He’s
just keeping you awake because he loves to see you suffer.”

Tears welling in his eyes, Andrew didn’t
know what to believe.

“Is this true?” is all he could utter.

The crow nodded. “You understand, right? You
can’t do anything anyway, especially without rest. Take a little
nap and everything will be okay.”

“Yeah,” Andrew mumbled, “a nap would be
nice. I’m so tired.”

The crow whispered, “Just a little nap.
It’ll feel great. Take all that stress and worry away. Don’t think.
Just come with me. I know of a place with a warm bed. It’s really
comfortable—amazing, even. Heck, as a bird I don’t even use beds,
but that one is so special…even I love to sleep in it when I get
the chance.”

Andrew nodded slowly as though in a
trance.

“Hold it right there!” shouted a voice from
above.

A streak of black and blue crossed Andrew’s
vision. The crow jumped off Andrew’s shoulder and tried to fly
away. However, it was only able to stay aloft for a few seconds
before getting knocked down. A small bird zoomed quickly past,
tackling the crow from behind. The crow plummeted to the sidewalk.
As it got back up, it staggered before regaining its balance. The
small bird perched itself on Andrew’s shoulder. Andrew looked
curiously at it. It was a blue-bottomed, white-faced budgie, its
back covered with alternating rows of black and white.

The budgie saluted Andrew with a wing and
said, “Sorry I’m late. I’m Agent Terminus. I was sent by the HPC to
assist you.” Terminus pointed at the crow with his wing. “He stole
your glasses, right? Don’t listen to a thief! He’s only telling you
what you want to hear, not what you need to hear. Always question
yourself. Always question the world. If you desire truth, you’ll
find it!” The budgie crossed his chest with a wing proudly and
said, “That’s my motto.”

Andrew was astonished by the budgie’s
confidence, something he found admirable.

The crow scowled at Terminus. “A little
parakeet like you…you think you stand a chance against me? Don’t
get cocky just ‘cause you landed a cowardly blow.”

“Cowardly?” Terminus said, “Ha! Surely you
jest.”

Terminus launched off Andrew’s shoulder in a
flash. The crow tried to fly, but before he could even spread his
wings, Terminus headbutted him in the chest, knocking him back
several feet. Terminus suddenly disappeared again, his movement too
fast for the crow to keep up. The crow tried to parry the budgie’s
next attack. But this time, the attack came from behind. Again and
again Terminus zipped back and forth, diving at the crow with
breakneck speeds and striking him from all sides. Finally, after
several more strikes, the crow took a hit to the head and
fainted.

Terminus landed on Andrew’s shoulder and
offered some advice, “Listen, even a mouse frightens an elephant.
Everything matters one way or another. No human can do everything
but every human can do something. You, my young friend, need
confidence.”

His eyes pink, Andrew bowed his head
sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure what to do…. It’s just that
I—” Terminus fluttered over him, pecking Andrew on the head.

Andrew flailed his hands, trying to protect
himself. “Hey! Ouch! What was that for?”

“Don’t apologize! I’m giving you advice.
Just say thanks.”

“Oh, okay,” said Andrew, sounding doubtful.
“Thanks.”

“Now the others are looking for you. We’d
better hurry back.”

- Evening Comes -

By the time Andrew arrived, everyone was
waiting for him at the entrance of the supermarket. The two boys
sat on the sidewalk, eating their lunches, and they gave Andrew his
share. Having only eaten a skimpy breakfast during the early
morning, the boys were famished and ate two meals worth. Unable to
restrain themselves, they grabbed from the supermarket whatever
they could eat. They also decided to gulp down some instant coffee
and energy drinks in order to stay lively.

The animals ate lunch as well. Tom found
some plastic bowls and fed them whatever he could find at the pet
aisle. It was mostly canned food. But he got a small bag of seeds
for Terminus.

Kevin didn’t feel right about not paying for
it, so he left some money—a few dollars and a handful of pennies—at
the checkout. He hoped it would be enough to cover the costs.

They ate and chatted for a while. Before
they knew it, it was already mid-afternoon. The sun was descending,
slowly changing the colors of the sky from blue to a reddish
orange.

After they were done, Genesis called for a
meeting. “Ahem, I believe we should discuss our next plan of
action.” He pointed at Helios with his snout. “Since you are a
prince of Korgen, I thought perhaps you’d like to shed some light
on the matter.”

“What?” Sounding surprised, Kevin said,
“Helios is a prince?”

Helios stared at Genesis. “You knew?”

“Not quite. It was merely a guess. I’ve been
wandering the streets for years. All I know is that the royal
family of Korgen descended from lab rats.”

Helios glared at Genesis. “So you just
tricked me into admitting it.” Feeling rather embarrassed at being
deceived so easily, Helios frowned. “Well you got me. Yes, I’m a
prince.”

Kevin wondered, “Why would a prince want to
help? The queen rejected us.”

Helios smiled, tugging at his garments.
“Look. I’m wearing clothes. I’m doing this against my mother’s
wishes. To me, humans are fascinating. They invent things to solve
problems. They wear clothes to stay warm. They build massive
shelters and cultivate the land. So much freedom and creativity.
It’d be such a waste to let the humans die out.

“However, as prince, things are very strict
for me. I have no freedom. I’m not allowed to go into the world.
I’ve always had to sneak out. But for a grand quest, sneaking out
wouldn’t do much good. I decided to fake my death by letting the
boy step on me.” He grimaced upon recalling it. “Though it almost
did become a real death because the boy didn’t lift his foot for a
long time. I thought I was going to really die.”

“T-that was you?” Kevin tried to make amends
by offering moldy cheese, but Helios seemed offended.

“Anyway,” continued Helios, “try not to let
word of this get out. If they find out I’m alive and working with
humans, they’ll send someone after me. More importantly, if other
animals learn that a prince of rats is helping humans, the
neutrality of the rats may be threatened. I don’t want to bring
trouble to my family.”

Kevin nodded. “Okay, I promise to keep the
secret.”

Genesis said, “Now onto the topic at hand.
The boys didn’t make it to the Nexus. But Helios has informed me
that he visited the Nexus beforehand.”

Kevin said, “I still don’t know what a Nexus
is.”

Genesis admitted, “I don’t know much about
it either. But it is rumored to be useful.”

Helios entered Andrew’s clothes from the
pant leg. Andrew squirmed and kicked around as the white rat
climbed up his skin. Helios popped out of Andrew’s collar. He
situated himself on Andrew’s left shoulder. Andrew wondered why
Helios didn’t just climb up his clothes. It would’ve been much less
painful. Then, after noticing Terminus on his right shoulder,
Andrew wondered why his shoulders had become quite popular.

Helios began, “Let me explain. The Nexus is
the meeting place of information. It is our knowledge and fact
center. There is a Nexus in every area with a high population of
rats. When a rat is born, he is placed through a series of tests.
He’ll run through mazes of intense complexity. If he is found to
have amazing memory, he will have the privilege of joining the
Nexus. Those who are of the Nexus sit in a chamber and receive
information from our networks of informants and spies. And when a
foreign rat comes to our city, he must stop by our Nexus and give
us all the information he can. By doing so, we will also have
information about foreign lands.”

Andrew said, “So it’s like a database, a
storage of information?”

“Exactly,” said Helios. “A word-of-mouth
database.”

Tom raised a brow. “Why would rats need
information?”

“Knowledge is important for everyone, not
just humans,” said Helios. “By having knowledge of which
restaurants are lenient and which are dangerous, we can determine
where we can go to for a safe meal. We can also discover if humans
are planning any form of extermination against us so we can
relocate. By knowing vital information, we can survive.”

Kevin shrugged. “So how’s that suppose to
help us? We’re not looking for food and we’re not avoiding
extermination.”

Helios replied, “Because the Nexus takes
all
information. It doesn’t filter out anything. It doesn’t
only contain information about food sources. It’s also our source
for news.”

Coming to an understanding, Kevin said, “Ah,
I see. Then? What’d you find out?”

Helios cleared his throat. “The current
cause of the sleeping epidemic is unknown. There is nothing
definite that we know. However, I still have information that may
interest you. First, let me tell you something concerning our group
and our mission. That snake you saw was not from around here. That
will not be the last time we see a dangerous, wild animal try to
make their way into human territory. Now that the humans are
defenseless, we’ve been seeing movement from the forest. Once news
of your investigation reaches the forest, wild animals will
definitely try to stop you.”

His eyes widening, Andrew asked, “The
animals hate humans that much?”

Helios thought for a moment before replying.
“Hate…I wouldn’t say hate. But they do find humans to be a threat.
Over the years the humans have been stealing land and resources.
Some species are even on the brink of extinction because of them,
whether it is from destruction of homes, introduction of foreign
germs and species, or even hunting.”

Helios continued, “Now for the second piece
of information. There’s a laboratory in the south area of the city.
It is a secret underground laboratory. According to rumors, they
have been doing strange experiments involving sleep.”

“Hmm.” Kevin said, “Looks like our only
thing to go on.”

“Indeed,” said Genesis, “there might be some
vital information. We should see the research.” Genesis stared at a
stain on the concrete wall, looking worried. He looked at Helios.
“There is something I’m wondering about. The snake we caught was
saying that someone would come. Do you who he’s talking about?”

Helios sighed. “I didn’t want to worry you.
But rats all over the country are saying that,” Helios swallowed,
trying to gather the courage to say the name, “
Kain
is
returning.”