Justin was frozen in the air. The master let out a disappointed sigh. He didn’t move from his spot, but he gestured to the frozen Justin while he spoke.“This is quite disappointing. I did not expect this attitude from him. I even saw some potential in him.”“How in the world is he frozen?” Henry asked.“I control the electricity, Mr. Henry. The air is made of tiny circuits of electricity. Don’t you know?” he grinned. “I thought you were brilliant, Mr. Henry.”Henry sighed. He was tired of this back and forth between him and the master. For all the time he had bought Justin, he still failed at the end. The master cocked his head at the side.“Join me, Henry. Join me, and I shall give you anything you want,” he said. “We shall rule the world together.”When Henry did not reply, the master circled him like a predator while he made his point.“I have tried to stop my aging while trying to control in infestation of the machine in my body.”Henry shifted on his feet, trying to match his ey

The master scowled again. It was funny how Henry was able to recognize his scowl when he had a half face of robot and human. He would have loved to sit down and assert his point, but he just really wanted to go. Henry gestured to Justin s he spoke.“Master, as you see Justin is very skilled in recognizing robots and disarming them. Don’t you think I did you a favor rather than using him against you?”The master said nothing. He simply stared at Henry, as if seeing him in a new light apart from the one he’d constructed in his head. He glanced at Justin too, making sure that the other guy was dead and gone.“What do you want?” he hissed.Henry smiled. “Oh you know; a safe passage out of here so we can all get to our respective lives.”Zhixi looked at Henry. This would be their last time together. He was using Justin as a bargaining chip so that each of them would be out of here and alive. It wasn’t enough that that they escape. The master was the owner of the system as it stands, and th

HENRY sat in the crooked chair Louis offered him. His wife Mia was quiet. She went around the house to get him water, and then a plate of cold porridge. Henry turned it away. He hasn’t even thought of hunger, plus the food looked like something that would repulse him. Hell, he nearly retched looking at it. Their living conditions were terrible, the absolute worse. With a round check, Henry saw that they probably cried when it rained. The half opened roof and the soaked ground underneath told him that this place was prone to flooding. He glanced at Louis again. He looked shabby, his beards untrimmed and his shirt torn. His wife did not look any better; she left her hair in a wild flow down her back.Louis noticed the eye he gave him and said nothing. He sat quietly as Henry continued to examine the place. He and Mia’s child was grown now. He ran around the place, helping his mother to pick out the moth on the floor so it won’t disturb them when they slept.“What happened to you?” Henry

HENRY drove into the school environment in a calm state. He parked his car carefully into a spot and then stopped the car. He sat in there for a moment, his thoughts wandering. He wondered if he should be here after all these while of not showing his face. How was Mie doing? He had abandoned him for so long, throwing himself into his work to escape his grief. Not only that, Henry had sent him off to a boarding school that young. He wondered how big Mike would be by now, if he had gotten beards and his masculine features, if he thought the earth was flat and the land was bigger. Henry was eager to hear his thoughts, but he was also afraid of meeting him. Louis glanced at him from time to time.“Are you okay boss?” he finally asked.“Yeah,” Henry answered vaguely. “I’m okay.”“Great. Remind me again why we came to see your nephew?”Henry shrugged. “I abandoned him for years and I nearly died; don’t you think it would be nice to see him one last time before I mistakenly die again?”Louis

Henry ran out to his car, followed by Louis. He drove out in a frenzy, screaming questions as they chased down the car.“Did you see the plate number?!”“How would I see the plate number?!” Louis screamed back. “They moved away with such force that I couldn’t even recognize them leaving.”Henry heaved a sigh. They drove down the road until they got to a junction. It had three different roads at opposite directions. Henry looked back and forth, the frustrates seeping into his bones.“Do you know where they must have gone?” He asked Louis. Louis gave him a look and Henry nodded to himself. “I’m going to take that as a no.”He tried to calculate the exact place they van would have gone with that kind of speed.Henry realized that he could have gone anywhere, but the road to their right seemed to be the best option. The one opposite them was sort of crowded and would risk getting caught in the web of crashes car. The one to their left were filled with walkers, which means the van could on