115 CHAPTER 114

Anabel folded her hands over her breast. She was sitting down on one of the stone chair, cut out from the ground and resting on the side of the wall. For the office of the Regent, she was really impressed. If the resistant group can handle little things like this and keep it, how much more will they function if they were given the seat of the government? Most of the people work tooth and nail to keep everywhere polished and neat, but they fed well at least, and they lived happily, unlike the rubber industry back in the Heroes academy.

The hologram image on the table blinked again, and this time Anabel picked it and crossed her legs. She waited patiently for some seconds until the light flared again, this time revealing the face of a cotton candy skin-colored woman, smiling wide and holding a small baby in her arms. Both woman and baby had the same coppery eyes and dark hair and in an identical blue jumpsuit. They were in a garden of some sort, and beside them were a candle and a cake.

Anabel smiled weakly as the image glowed away and surface almost immediately. Pictures like this were for memories. They were like the visual part of the mind and always played a good role in printing the face of our loved ones on the stone of time. She remembered her family all too well, and it pained her that she had not kept a visual picture of them. How could she? They hadn't given her the chance. Being blessed with a son she can be with, and a daughter whose face she can hardly remember, and a husband who cherished and put her first in all things. They were her jewel and the dire of her compass. Too bad her husband had died trying to protect her. Too bad her daughter had also died because of her foolishness. And her son had run out of the house. 

The weak smiles on her face faded into a frown. Life had not been easy. Not since that evil maniac ascended the throne. He had turned everyone into a puppet, with him holding the strings and directing the path which everyone was supposed to walk to fit his venal ambition. If only she knew how to fight back… No, there was no fighting back. General Zack cannot be defeated. It was best to do his bidding least you perish out of the way and was forgotten. There was no going back, and she knew it. If only her son would retire to safety and let her battle this on her own. Winning was not a hope in her mind and she was not wishing for it. All she wanted at the moment was to keep her son safe. To protect him from the cuddles of this insane general.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," The Regent said, walking into the room with some steaming mug.

For some seconds, Anabel had forgotten why she had come. She hated playing this role too. She hated that she was doing the biddings of the general. It pained her that she had dumped her own life and had picked up the life of another, all because General Zack wanted her to.

"Tea?" William said as he held the jug on the empty cup.

"Who drinks tea in the afternoon?" 

"I and you should try it sometimes," William said and poured himself a cup before taking the seat behind the table. "It is good for the brain."

He was still in that patch colored cloth with a blue-collar hanging on the helm. For someone whose adopted child was locked in some dark hole, Anabel expected him to wear worries all over his face or to be busy, trying every possible way to get the boy out. But his current posture made her doubt if he was even concerned about the boy at the very least. 

"So, what can I do for you," He said after sipping from the cup and setting them down, beside the pot of painted flower, at his right.

"Stop acting like you don't know." Anabel uncrossed her legs. Her eyes fell on the hologram picture again and she resisted the urge to pick them up. The boy in the picture had William's nose and face. 

"I don't, to be honest," William said, picking the Sol-X from the plastic cup and fiddling with them. "The rest of the people that had come with you have been accepted into the community. They are well-fed and have a nice place to stay." 

And you work them to almost to death. Anabel wanted to say but added instead.

"And I thank you and the Defiant-3 for your hospitality."

"You are most welcomed. What else do you want me to do for you?" The Regent picked the cup and sipped from them again, "You certainly have not come here to thank, have you?" He said before setting the cup back on the table.

"No, I could have passed the thank you outside. But" Anabel lined in and rested her hands on the table, "I came for a much more pressing matter."

"Hmm," William grunted and pushed the drawer aside. He picked up his gamepad and the clashing sound of metals ramming against each other, echoed through the room when he started playing "You still haven't said anything." He said without lifting his head.

Anabel hissed and snatched the gamepad from his hands, "Are you always this rude or do your subject put up with your idiocy because of those muscles on your chest? You are too old to be playing Racing Gladiator for crying out loud."

"Like seriously?" William laughed, "Racing Gladiator is my favorite video game. And this is the first time someone is pointing out that it is for kids."

"It is, and you should learn to show respect for people, no matter how insignificant or informal they might appear."

"My bad," William said, reaching for the gamepad, "Give it back to me,"

Anabel took her hands back so that the gamepad was out of his reach. There was a longing in his eyes, a longing she had only seen in the eyes of children who were too addicted to the video game.

"The government really needs to put this game out of the market." She said and smashed the gamepad on the stony floor. The smashing parts echoed as they scattered when they met the rigid hands of the stones.

"You didn't just—

"Yes I did," Anabel said, elevating her eyes to meet the face of a man who had stood up and was towering above her. His eyes were burning with rage though, but the longing was gone.

"That cost me 12 Qiz" 

"You will get another one. But not today." Anabel said, leaning back on the table as the man took his seat reluctantly. He picked the tea and sipped from them hesitantly, keeping his eyes away from Anabel.

"You got, my attention," He said, still not sounding so happy, "What do you want."

"Quit frolicking with the ignorant card, Regent. I need to know why he is still locked up in the dark hole after three days?"

"It is not within my powers to free him," William said and the sadness clothed his skin almost immediately, "It is beyond my jurisdiction." 

"Bullshit," 

"Please, we don't use such words here and—

"You are a fool, William. A big damn fool. You all talk about orders and principles, but you hardly practice what you preach. Alex is your son, for god's sake. He might not be your biological son, but he is your son. You adopted him and you trained him."

"But he disobeyed the community and ran away with his sister. I know I should free him, trust me. But there are ways to do things. Everything has a step and a process. If I burst him out what picture will I be painting for the people who are looking upon me for guidance?"

"That's the problem with you, William. Too many principles. Rule was built to be broken."

"No," William shook his head in disagreement, "Not every rule. There is some rule that bends us in its wing, instead of the other way round."

"I pity you, William." Anabel rubbed her brow, biting the anger that was trying to surface. These people were much stupid than she had expected. The government should have destroyed this place long ago. Everyone in this place needs to die, everyone except Alex and her son Nimrod. She must save those two. They will not perish with the others; she must save them.

"That's your family, I presume," she pointed to the hologram picture.

"Yes," William said weakly.

"How long have you been married, William?"

"Three years. Why?"

"Three years." Anabel repeated the words as if she had not heard the man correctly, "If your son was the one in the dark hole, will you be here drinking tea and playing video games?"

William shifted his weight on the chair as if the question was itching him. He mumbled some gibberish words but remained silent, looking everywhere in the room but to Anabel.

"Well, I guess not. Go to them now, William. Hold them and kiss them, because you might not see them again."