H.A.I.U.

~8~

Haiu hovered outside her door. He had raised his hand to knock, but then he heard her crying. He didn't know what he did, but he suddenly felt guilty. It was new to him, guilt never came easy to him. He didn't want to alert her of his presence, so instead he left the hallway and entered the kitchen and realized just how small the house was.

He searched the cupboards, which were few in numbers and mostly empty except for instant ramen. He shrugged, took what he could, and began working.

Zion growled in rage. His son was gone. It was too early, he needed another week to get more information. Now all he'll remember is everything up to the fire and nothing after. This wasn't good. Zion ran a hand through his black hair, stressed. "Haiu...please come back." he whispered, closing the door behind him as he left his lab.

"Sir?"

Zion turned to find Fawn, his assistant. She was a short, round woman, but she could move. "Yes?"

"We still don't know who the girl was, but we suspect she might have taken him against his will."

"What? Show me the evidence."

"Well, she did knock out the security bot, and her hoodie hides her face from security cameras. We can search other security bot's footage of the high schoolers because she looked young. But in the liquids from the tank your son was in, there seems to be footprints of a scuffle. We are expecting a ransom, sir."

"Search the footage, identify the girl. I want my son back, and when you find her..."

"Yes?"

"She will likely know many of this company's secrets, so when you find her, terminate her on the spot."

"Understood, sir. But..."

"But what?"

"What if your son left on his own? Just throwing it out there, sir."

"If my son left on his own, we need to find him. He's dangerous. The most dangerous boy on the planet."

Monica smelled something. It was good, but she was very scared. What was it she was smelling? She sniffed the air, and a memory that had been forgotten came back, of her mom cooking ravioli. The same smell from her memory was in the air.

She stood, her hand hovering over the door handle.

She opened the door.

She let her nose draw her to the back of the house to the kitchen, and she peeked around the corner, holding back a snarl as she saw who was there. She opened her mouth to complain, but then, she heard it. Soft humming, a tune any young Italian child knew. He was towards the end of the song, but Monica recognized it immediately.

"Dove sei diritto birichino? Fermati e ascolta il mio grido da bambino. Ascolta--"

The humming stopped abruptly, as did Monica's heart. he front door had opened, and now there was a sounding of footsteps through the house. Monica went to her stop her father in the hallway, and he was already suspicious. "What is that smell?"

"I'm...cooking!" she said, and tried to make herself look eager to get back to the kitchen, which wasn't hard.

"When have you been interested in that?"

"I...I just remembered momma cooking, that's all! I found a cookbook, and you know...I have to go, but don't come into the kitchen! Just go relax, turn on the TV, set up some VLD, and I'll...be right back." She said, her face getting red. Her father was still suspicious, but he knew his daughter has always done weird things for no reason. Like getting that cat. He shuddered, he hated cats. Creepy little things, their eyes always peering into your soul.

He set his tools down and went into the living room, and he heard voices. "Mono?"

"Yes, Pa?"

"Are you talking to someone?"

"Just myself! Like always!"

He frowned, suspicion meter rising, but he turned on the television and went to Netflix.

Monica whipped back around to Haiu. "I told you to leave! Why were you cooking?"

"I don't know. I think the bathroom rubbed off on me while I hacked it."

"Speaking of which, how long were you my bathroom?"

"When you came home with a broken leg. I followed you, and then when your leg was getting fixed, that was me and every moment up till now."

"You say that as if it's not a big deal. You need to leave!" she hissed frantically, pacing the kitchen. Haiu was still cooking, which agitated Monica more.

"Why do I have to leave? Besides, as I have said multiple times, I don't have anywhere to go."

"Just...go to your girlfriend's house. My dad will probably rip you limb from limb if he got the chance."

"Your family is just full of pleasant people. You throw punches and knives, your father rips limbs off. Do you have an uncle or something that takes eyeballs? And I don't have a girlfriend."

"A friends house? Anywhere but here, right now."

"Wait, you said he'd rip me apart, and right now you're making me leave. So, that laughter in the bathroom wasn't just an incident? Can you really be a soulful person who cares?"

"No, I just don't want my dad charged with murder." she growled, and she could feel her hair stand up on end. Haiu glanced back at her for a quick second, but it was enough for her to see the sad sparkle in his eyes.

Her blood was boiling and there was a knot in her chest and she wanted to scream and throw something. Her fists clenched as tight as her jaw, she let out a breath. And suddenly her anger turned into fear and sadness. "Just finish cooking because I can't cook. Then you can stay in the garage, my father hasn't gone in there since--since a while."

To be spiteful, Haiu almost asked since when, but he could see in the monitors that she was sad. He had used the small chip in the back of his head so he could google anything and see it in his fake eye. It also had monitors that could tell him health information about those he was near, and right now he saw the sudden slowing of Monica's heart.

He kept his mouth shut and continued the YouTube video on how to make crab and cream vino ravioli.

Risa's heart began to flutter suddenly. She didn't know why, but she was feeling weaker. She sat down in a small, worn wooden chair. Probably the only useable one in the house, the rest were broken and covered in mold. Her metal finger began to twitch vigorously, and she frowned. She stood up in the small cramped apartment, and hesitantly knocked on her dad's door.

"Father?"

Silence. Silence was bad.

"I'm sorry for ruining the security bot--"

"Do you know how much that cost?! It took me and your mother years to save up for that, so you could be safe from the kids who hurt you! But you come home and blame it on a cyborg with weapons. They don't give cyborg weapons, you ungrateful imp! Go to your room like I said!"

"But my finger--"

"CAGNA! I SAID GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

Risa shrank away from her father's bedroom door. She looked to her finger, and suddenly she felt even weaker.

And then, she felt nothing. Empty.

Emotionless.