Vol 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)

”Gege, don't go! Can't you stay and play with Dar for a little while? Just a little bit longer?” This was when little Daren was only three years old. At that time, Devon had already taken to calling his little brother by the nickname ”Dar”.

”I can't, Dar, I have to go to cla.s.s now. Or else the horrible economics teacher will get angry and something terrible will happen to gege.” At this, Devon stuck his tongue out and made a face at the little boy. Maybe this will keep didi from picking economics when he grows up.

Upon hearing his gege's refusal to stay, Dar lowered his head and pouted. He looked so innocent and pitiful.

Devon was instantly defeated. ”Fine, ten more minutes…”

Dar looked up happily and ran to the toy chest. He took out the rubber ball gege had given him and shouted with joy, ”Let's play ball!”

”Again? My face still hasn't recovered from last time. Evil Dar! You must be planning to ruin my beauty!” Devon made a face while Dar continued laughing and threw the rubber ball…

”Ah! My face! Stupid Dar…”

”Heehee!”

The two brothers continued playing happily until the door, which no one usually approached, opened. A man stood by the door. It was the man whom Dar feared the most. Behind him was the angry economics tutor.

Devon, on the other hand, was not afraid even after seeing his father's icy glare. He stuck his tongue out and made a face as usual. His father always spoiled him, so he knew he wasn't going to be reprimanded.

”Ah, I forgot to go to the lesson,” said Devon, still in high spirits, as he patted didi's head fondly and headed out of the room.

The last person to leave was his father. The man glared at Dar, who cowered in fear. When the man left the room he switched off the lights. Dar did not react, since he was quite used to this gesture. He crawled back into his tiny bed and buried himself under the sheets.

”So dark… Dar is scared.” The little boy curled up as tightly as he could and hid under sheets with his face only barely exposed. He started recalling all the scary things his nanny had told him.

The three-year-old did not understand much about ghosts and spirits. The nanny had wanted to scare the child, so she described these things as terrifyingly as possible. This made Dar hate the dark. Whoever visited his room, whether they meant to scare him or not, always switched off the lights when they left and with Dar's height, there was no way he could reach the light switch.

And so, gege's arrival felt like the arrival of light. Devon would always turn on the lights and then Dar would eagerly jump off the bed. He would see gege's smile and hear him laugh.

”Dar, come and play with me.”

How long did these moments of happiness last? Dar had no knowledge of time. Even though gege had taught him how many months there are in a year, how many days there are in a week, for a child who had lived in a dark tower for as long as he could remember, the concept of time did not mean much.

In fact, to the boy, the pa.s.sing of a day meant gege coming to play with him or teach him things. Dar liked everything as long as gege came to visit. It did not matter whether it was to play or to tutor him; everything was fine as long as Dar got to see gege.

He recalled receiving four gifts from gege when he turned three: wooden models, a toy car, a box of colour pencils, and a full collection of fairy tales. Dar still had not finished reading them. He was only halfway though reading Rapunzel and he wondered whether the girl with the long braids ever managed to escape the tower.

As he grew older, Daren was finally able to reach the light switch and no longer needed to live in the dark. But who was to know that true darkness was just about to arrive…

”Where are you taking me?” Even though this was his father, Dar looked fearfully at the man who had grabbed his hand without any intention of letting go.

”To the place you truly belong.” replied his Father without even bothering to look at Daren.

”What about gege? Will he come?” Dar said in a small voice.

His father never answered him.

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Hurts… It hurts so much!

Dar cried out in pain. He was bound to a metal chair surrounded by many complex machinery. Several wires trailing from these machines were attached to him.

The people in the white lab coats around him seemed to ignore his cries as they discussed among themselves. ”How stable is the body?” ”He is too young of age… can he survive the operations?” ”What type of steel should we use?” ”We must seek a compromise between strength and flexibility.”

”Gege… gege… Dar hurts, gege…”

A large hand stroked his forehead, it was so gentle... just like gege.

”h.e.l.lo there. Are you Dar?”

A pair of dark green eyes appeared in front of him. Through his blurry and swollen eyes Dar also noticed the beautiful azure hair. It was the same colour as the sky that Daren had seen from the tiny window of the tower.

”My name is Theodore Avery; I am your doctor.” The man was wearing the same clothes as the rest of the people in the room. The only difference was that he smiled.

Just like gege, Dar thought. Actually, Devon and Dr. Avery were very different; the only thing they had in common was that they both smiled at Daren.

”Does Dar have a gege?” Theodore asked, forcing himself to speak gently.

Dar nodded.

”Does Dar like gege?”

”Yes, Dar likes gege the best!” He nodded again with certainty.

”Then be a good boy. Dar is sick right now and can't go see gege. If you are brave and let your illness be treated, you can go and see gege.” Theodore smiled.

”Really?” Dar sniffed, his face once more filled with hope.

Theodore forced himself from turning away as he shakily answered, ”Yes… it's true…”

”Okay, Dar will be a good boy. Dar won't cry anymore.” He forced himself to stop crying and his tears no longer fell.

”Such a good kid...” Theodore could not take it any longer and turned his face away. His heart beat fast and the hand that held his cigarette shook in a way that a surgeon's never should.

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”I would never have guessed that I, the immoral doctor who only treats people for money… would be the nicest person in here.” Theodore laughed cynically to himself. If this got out to the family members of those patients he had left to die, none of them would believe it.

Theodore took a long drag from the cigarette and swore, ”What the h.e.l.l is this place? That's only a seven-year-old!”

◇　　◇　　◇

ARRRGHHHHHHH!

Dar forced himself from screaming in pain and did his best to stay silent. After the operation, every single cell in his body cried out in pain. He was only given a short time to recover before came the next dose of pain. Even adults could not bear the amount of pain that was being inflicted on a child who had not even turned ten…

Daren fell so many times, and all he could do was stand up just to fall back down again. Daren did not need the others to force him to get up. He himself forced his body to carry on. Soon his limbs no longer felt familiar; his every movement required much strength and resolution. There were a few times when he felt as if he was on the verge of giving up…

I have to heal faster so I can see gege! Daren would fill his mind with thoughts of gege. In fact, had nothing left in his memories except gege's smile.

But that image itself was enough give him the strength he needed to stand up once more.

◇　　◇　　◇

”Dr. Theodore, how many more operations will there be before Dar can heal completely and go see gege?”

How long has it been since the last time he saw gege?

Dar's awareness of time was even foggier than before. Before, he could measure the days through gege's daily visits and the years through the gifts gege gave him for his birthday. But right now, he did not even know how old he was.

Theodore's hand shook as he forced himself to smile. ”It's the last time, truly.”

”Really?” Dar's voice was filled with excitement. He never spoke much. It was a habit he developed over the years. He did not speak unless the people in the white lab coats questioned him about the experiments. No one really spoke to him except Theodore.

This is really his last operation, Theodore took another drag of the cigarette. The last operation involved implanting the microchip in his brain. After this operation, Daren would no longer be human; the only thing left would be a mindless robot. Dar will disappear forever, and only Dark Sun will remain.

”Dr. Avery?” Dar turned to face the surgeon.

”Hmm?” Theodore was a little distracted. What the child says doesn't matter; after all, he is going to disappear after a few more minutes. It is no longer necessary to comfort the boy, he no longer needs…

”Thank you, Doctor,” Dar said while giving him a strange look. The boy did not understand why Theodore stopped smiling. But he was not going to start hating him just because of that. After all, if Theodore had not been there in the past few months to comfort and talk to him, Dar would likely have gone crazy. Thinking of this, Dar said, ”Doctor, when Dar is healthy again and goes back to gege, you must come and visit Dar! I'm sure you'll like gege!”

Tears suddenly welled up in the pair of dark green eyes and Theodore was forced to turn away.

”Doctor, are you crying?” Dar was taken aback by the sudden tears.

”You idiot! It's only dust. I got dust in my eyes. It hurts! d.a.m.n it! The operation is cancelled!” Theodore left quickly; his hand never left his eyes.

As Theodore walked away, his mind echoed with the thoughts, d.a.m.n, I have a sudden idea. Now I have to find those theorists and talk some sense into them. How troublesome…

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Top priority master confirmed.

Didi… I am your older brother!

You are not Dark Sun, you are Daren Solaris, my only brother!

Attempt to murder top priority master detected. Target set to be eliminated.

This dark seed of evil who killed his own mother.

Tears flowing out. System Check: Error. Scanning Tears Section… Facial Expression Section…

You will always be my beloved little brother… and I swear that I will protect you.

Accepting Command. Activating Emotion Section. Transferring Memories...System Overheating… Danger… System Shutting Down…

Gege, you finally came.

Open eyes, a.s.sess surrounding environment. Normal bedroom, Size 10m2. Currently resting on foreign bed. Presence of living being next to bed.

Confirming living being. Blond hair. Red eyes. Appearance matches the top priority master. Top priority master… that's… gege!

Gege… no, it's master. But master is gege. What about me? Who am I? Dark Sun, no! It's Daren, Dar… Daren's hand moved to his head and squeezed hard. His mind was a mess. Somehow Daren ended up winning the struggle and no longer cared about the throbbing pain in his head. As he extended his hand, he found it shaking. What was happening? Was it the muscle or the steel bones that was reacting in such an odd way?

Daren did not bother to think about his hand anymore. Instead, he slowly extended it towards gege who was sleeping right next to his bed. When Daren's shaky hand made contact he once again felt gege's familiar hair.

”Gege--” Daren said softly despite the warnings in his brain telling him not to wake up the top priority master or refer to him that way.

The figure next to the bed s.h.i.+fted slightly and complained in a sleepy voice. ”Okay, okay… Dar, be nice. Let me sleep for a little longer… I will play with you later.”

Daren immediately became silent. The top priority master had issued an order. He wants to sleep and Daren is not to wake him. He became still and did not even move the hand that was poised above Devon's head. He only gazed at gege's sleeping figure. That was enough for him.

When Daren did not complain or make any noise, the figure next to the bed looked up in shock. A pair of ruby red eyes were looking at him. Seeing that the boy had already woken up, Devon became momentarily speechless.

”Ah… Dar…” Devon finally said with much difficulty. He was both apprehensive but excited at the same time. If any enemies saw the Solaris Emperor right now, they would not believe him to be the same person. After all, the Solaris Emperor is as brilliant as the sun, dominating the world while smiling his confident smile.

Daren was having an internal struggle. He was unsure about what to call Devon. Should it be master or gege? At the same time he did not know whether he was Dark Sun or Dar…

”Dar, what's wrong? Are you okay?” Devon asked anxiously. Actually, the question he really wanted to ask was: Have you recovered yet? Was it the robot Dark Sun or his beloved little brother that he was talking to right now?

”Nothing is wrong, master…” Daren frowned.

After hearing the word ”master”, Devon's eyes widened in grief. That word cut through him like a knife to the heart. He felt numb with the pain coursing through his body. Has he lost Daren forever? Devon clenched his fists at that thought. Anger overwhelmed him and he needed an outlet. He suddenly stood up intending to finish the job he had started, Theodore…