Chapter 9

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The slicing sound of the knife is the only music inside the room

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The slicing sound of the knife is the only music inside the room. Starting off with a constant thump of its chopping motion, the rhythm plays perfectly. Continuous. Never-ending. Then it slowly rolls into a build up, its intensity tapping like as a million tiny beads rattling inside a container made of steel. With each of its thundering tick, the beat progresses smoothly before finally drops into a frenzy chorus. At least that's how it goes for me. Morgana is actually preparing our breakfast at the kitchen counter with her red-inked hair tied up in a bun.

"I see you've already met Chester," she says.

"Oh, yeah. He even broke my nose,"

"He what?!" A crease of agitation slices across Morgana's face but I simply laugh it off and lumber my way towards her spot to offer some assistance.

"C'mon! That's what boys do. We were just having fun. That's it." Chester is sitting on a sofa not far from where we are with a ton of tools laid flat on the floor. He seems to be fixing some kind of device. It's a tiny, round technology that acquires a similar-looking lense that a usual camera has. It must be some type of a surveillance tech that he considered worth-looting at the Scrapyard, I guess.

"By the way," I say while filling the saucer with mushrooms and chopped fennels. "How did you have a fully functional shower?"

"Oh, you can ask Chester about that," my eyes directly dart at Chester and meekly wait for him to spill the tea.

"I, uh, created these rectangular tanks on the rooftop. It basically stores rain water. It comes with its own filtering mechanism too so it would come out clean. I know, I know. Pretty dope, right?" Chester stands up, chest puffed out and chin held high. He firmly plants his arm on his waist as he tries, with the best of his abilities, to make his voice sound mysterious and heroic. Although for me it sounds hilarious. “And that, folks, is the birth of a new hero..."

Morgana just rolls her eyes, probably accustomed to Chester's daily dose of silliness.

"As you know, aside from my asset..." he trails off with a naughty, teasing face that makes me chuckle a bit. Morgana blankly stares at us while having no idea of what we're laughing about, and chooses to wave it off. "I can say I’m kind of nifty when it comes to tinkering. Well, I'm not really expecting to learn anything after being cooped up in the Nursery but turns out, I did."

Nothing but a fact. He definitely hits the head of the nail right there. Not a single word can describe how dreadful it is to experience the torments that we’ve experienced in that city. But even if it's an actual hell minus the flames and demons, I won’t be able to deny that living in the Nursery has also given the defectives a few good things which completely molded us as a person. We may be different from the others but these enhancements clearly made our lives less miserable. Of course it comes with a freebie; a package of traumas and nightmares that's been left open inside our heads.

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