Vroom!!!!
The car roared through the jungle, following a deserted, man-made road.
It was a black Hammer—vintage if not for the military designs covering it. Whoever owned it clearly was an official of some kind.
At the back, Kairo slept straight on the chair, wrapped in a blanket for warmth. The blood on his face earlier had vanished, cleaned without his noticing.
Suddenly, a soft, familiar voice cut through his twisted dream, piercing the darkness like sunlight.
"Wake up!" it murmured calmly. Light broke into him.
"Wake up, darling!"
"Mom… is that you?" he mouthed, reaching instinctively for someone long gone.
Blink.
His blurry eyes slowly opened.
"Where am I?"
He glanced at the oversized blanket covering him. At its end, an empty beer bottle rested in the corner. The hum of the car droned in the background. On the roof, thick gas tubes stood like silent sentinels.
"How did I even get here?"
Questions rattled his mind, but the one with answers sat up front, steering the car with calm confidence.
He turned his gaze forward. The driver had silver hair that complemented his light-dark skin. A jacket? No—a jumper, oversized with a fluffy hood. Around his neck, a circular red bar magnet with both poles exposed, and on his wrists, midsized bars resembling bangles, they seemed fake since they didn't do anything when he gripped the met wheel. All in all, he was a weird guy, with a weird car. A combo that doesn't seem to disappoint.
As if fate brought them together.
Kairo noticed something, a symbol.
An open lock emblem on his back. Not big to most—but to Kairo, it was nostalgic. It matched the symbol painted on the walls of the last house he stayed in with his mother 5 years ago, before the Null disassembled her body.
The memory hit him fresh as day.
The sunrise beaming into the house through the opened windows, a soothing cold chill flying in the air, as the little family began cleaning the house.
"Mommy, what's with those symbols?" Little Ayanda asked.
"It means a band of Oxides used to stay in here."
"Really? That's cool!" Kairo interjected, eyes glowing as if he'd seen God.
"What's with boys and Oxides?"
"They kill Nulls, trying their best to help everyone even though there numbers are against them, I would be surprised if anybody doesn't like them!"
"Besides that, they're strong too. When I grow up, I'll be an Oxide, so I can protect you both. That way we can stop running from the Nulls."
"But you don't have powers!"
"I don't care. I'll be an Oxide even if I don't have powers. In fact, I will be the first one to do it!"
Ding!
Back to the Present
The empty beer bottle fell from the corner, kicked by his leg.
"Heyyy! You woke up! Amazing!" the stranger called cheerfully, glancing in the rearview mirror. Charismatic, almost suspiciously so. Handsome, with a small line-scar on his face adding mystery. You didnt need skills to read his story, with the amount of care he spent on himself,surely he was a ladies' man.
"I know he carried me when I fainted… but Can I trust him? He is an Oxide, so what if his like Accex and Armslaw… treacherous, disgusting…"
But then the lock symbol flashed in his mind. The place was protected, a safe hideout from the Hungerbeasts. If this guy was one of them, maybe—just maybe—he was good.
"How are you feeling, bro? You looked pretty hurt down there."
Kairo tried to push himself upright, hands twitching painfully.
"Yes… I'm okay."
" Wooh I'm finally relieved mehn, For a second, I thought I carried a corpse!" the stranger chuckled.
"Is he insane? Kairo thought." Polite… then insulting? Who is this guy?"
The driver noticed the thought reflected in Kairo's expression.
"No laugh at my joke , iiiish. What a tough crowd.....My name's Magnum by the way," he said proudly.
"That's your real name? It doesn't sound natural."
"Nah. My real name is Chinedu Okweze. I don't usually tell anyone—they wouldn't take me seriously."
Hm.
Kairo smirked slightly.
Magnum saw it instantly. "That's better," he thought.
"Well then… my name's Kairo. Kairo Heno."
"It's your real name?"
"Yes."
Magnum's eyes widened, like he'd seen a ghost.
Kwahhhh!
The car screeched to a halt, tires scratching the road as if a cliff had appeared ahead.
Kairo's eyes widened, fingers trembling. Was something dangerous lying before them that made him stop like that?
"You mean to tell me your real name is Kairo Heno?!"
"Yes?"
"Wow, dude! That's a cool name!" Magnum shouted like he'd won the lottery.
"You mean you stopped the car just to shout my name?!"
"Yeaaah! Names have power around here !" he defended, vocally proud of his stupidity.
"Is your head screwed onto your neck properly?"
"I bet girls rush at you with that kind of name and face!" he added, ignoring Kairo's irritation.
"In what world would girls chase someone like me?!" Kairo yelled.
In the Veil, many girls avoided him. Families picked partners based on looks, intelligence, influence. He had none.
"Why so down? I've dated hundreds. Sometimes, you just have to believe in your looks for others to believe in you!" Magnum's words struck warmth into Kairo's chest, a spark of confidence.
"I didn't mean for it to sound weird!" Magnum added, shaking his head and hands. Kairo mirrored him.
"I'm into women… women with a large… nyash!"
"What's a… nyash?"
"An ass, Kairo. An ass!" Magnum muttered, smiling.
He didn't seem like he was bothered by the age of the person he was talking to, infact it seemed like he was proud of every word he uttered.
Vroom.!
The car hummed back to life instantly. Magnum grinned the whole way.
A wave of peace flooded Kairo's chest. For the first time, he didn't feel like he was carrying the whole world.
"I don't know why, but I think I'm going to get along with this guy.!"
"I have a question for you Kairo!" Magnum called. "You knew you're an Oxide, then why didn't you put on your gas mask, you can't survive without one you know?"
Kairo couldn't believe what he had just heard. He froze in terror, thousands of questions he had no answers to.
"You know you're an Oxide… right?" Magnum pushed, looking back in the mirror. Kairo's disoriented face said it all. He was scared to the bone.
Magnum saw it.
Kairo didn't know a thing.
"Our kind doesn't breathe oxygen. We breathe carbon. The more we breathe oxygen, the weaker we become. The more we breathe carbon, the stronger we become. That's why you fainted back then when you used your ability."
"My abi…li…ty?"
"Yah, a pretty strange but cool one....To fix the breathing defect, we wear gas masks. They filter out the oxygen, leaving us with good ol' carbon!"
"So I killed Accex and Armslaw…"
"Hmh."
Magnum took a deep breath, preparing to make a cheer-up speech.
"You were protecting yourself. It was either they killed you… or you killed them."