Fantasy Vs Reality | The Tear

35: The Defect

"A what?" I asked, looking back and forth between Marcus and Ra'sheen.

Marcus ignored me, continuing to glare at the Moon Empire leader.

"It is wrong to accuse me of such things." Ra'sheen said sharply, his amber eyes flared for a moment as his gaze flickered to Fifi for a brief moment.

Marcus jabbed a finger at Sensor. Sensor cringed away and ran behind me, gripping one of my hands. "Don't let him hurt me." It whispered. I wrapped my fingers around its small hand.

"Does this not look like a defect to you!? Just look at it! It has no fur, it's eyes definitely aren't normal, and it's glowing!!" Marcus bellowed, there was an edge of something else in his voice... sympathy? "If any empire finds out that you're involved with the sheltering of a defect, then the consequences would be disbandment and execution!"

"Marcus!" Fifi finally piped in. "Why don't we ask why they are sheltering a defect in the first place? Let's be reasonable here."

Marcus fumed for a moment before clearing his mind and sighing. "You're- you're right... I'm... I'm just dealing with a lot right now..." Marcus sank to the ground and sat cross-legged, staring hard at the stone ground.

Fifi cleared her throat. "Okay Ra'sheen... give us a decent and clear explanation about why you're sheltering a defect, and we'll see what we can do and plan our next moves without anymore obstacles."

Ra'sheen cleared his throat too. "Thank you Fifi..." Ra'sheen acknowledged. "First of all, how much do you know about defects?"

Fifi glanced at Marcus, then me. I only had a tiny clue of what they were talking about. Fifi sighed and looked back at Ra'sheen. 

"A defect is a mutated being who deformed from there natural state due to radiation and lack of clean air, food, and water. Not to mention places where planets cross through space clouds and have old stations that orbit the planet that contain hazardous materials that fall to the planet. Most defects found today were known to be slaves of the once destructive Canis Empire who wanted to destroy all who stood in there way."

Marcus flinched, no one noticed.

Ra'sheen nodded. "Yes, that's true, you know more than I thought. But it is impossible to know whether Sensor's past is involved with the Canis Empire due to DNA decay and mutation. However, he is an excellent hacker and weapons handler. He's one of the main reasons this place is still in existence."

Suddenly, more rumbling shook the ground. Buildings all around shifted, while some collapsed. Sensor tugged on my arm and pointed at the far end of the cavern. "Chieftain!" He said squeaked to Ra'sheen. "We need to leave! The planet is dying! Soon, this cavern will collapse and bury everything in it!"

Ra'sheen nodded. "We don't have time to worry about what the law says at the moment, this is a life or death situation. Follow me, I know a way off this planet."

Ra'sheen took off as the survivors and the rest of us followed along. Sensor tried to help me, but he looked tired and hurt himself. So Marcus just shooed him out of the way to help me along. I glanced up as large rocks and chunks of stone fell from the ceiling. 

"So much for finding safety..." I muttered, Marcus nodded slightly in agreement as we ran. "It feels like the whole universe is against us."

"It seems so..." Marcus growled over the crashing sounds of rock hitting stone. "It's a bit of a nuisance if you know what I mean. I just... want to see my Starshine again."

Fifi appeared next to us, she had picked up Sensor, who was giving mild protest about being carried, but he didn't struggle. He probably wouldn't have been able to move much faster if not maintain the same speed as us with our longer legs. As we were about halfway through the cavern... the ceiling behind us finally started giving way. Orange light broke through and shined down on us as shards of the sun fell in.