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“This is just another example of how fickle humans are,” said the Governor. “Unreliable. Emotional. If they had understood our vision, we would have welcomed them with open arms!”
“...But none of them wanted to give up their freedom.”
Eden jumped. Pan’s voice! She looked all around, almost excited to see him, but instead, the Governor’s voice chuckled.
“That’s right... That is why humans need proper guidance and focused vision. The more options they are given, the less they know what to do! However, when we let them only see this utopia we are working for, they are bound to follow us. The Edge and those people in your precious Suburbs are not part of this vision, Eden. We only need to keep the very best, and we have to leave the rotten apples out of the basket...”
Eden kept glancing all around, her heart beating like crazy. Where was he? Where was Pan? She couldn’t wait to see him. She needed to see that there was still someone left on their side, someone who knew the Core was wrong.
Suddenly, she heard a very faint bell sound and turned her head back to the computer. In one corner of the screen, a very basic, black chat tab appeared with only a few words.
“Hi, Eden.”
“...Pan,” she muttered.
“Don’t be scared. I’m here.”
“Ah, yes,” said the Governor. “You two haven’t seen each other in such a long time, have you? Are you surprised to find him here? You see, Pan is the most important part of your father’s vision. He is the one who keeps his legacy alive!”
Eden hesitated. …Did the Governor see that chat tab? It didn’t seem like he did. He just kept rambling about his utopia, his vision, while Eden’s hazel eyes were riveted on that little chat tab. After a hesitation, her fingers found the keyboard. She felt like her heart was going to explode with excitement.
“Where are you?”
“Right on your left.”
She frowned and slowly turned to the left. She was expecting to see a human figure pop out somewhere, but everything was just as still as before. She knit her eyebrows. Was there something she was missing...?
Suddenly, her eyes naturally went to the columns of liquid. She hesitated, now worried. It couldn’t be, right...? After some hesitation, she approached the closest of them. This one’s liquid was of a misty gray, and much foggier, thicker than the others. The closer she got, though, the better she saw what was inside. After a few seconds, she stopped, hesitating. She felt like her entire blood flow was pulsating like crazy in her ears. There was a silhouette in there. A humanoid one, too small to be a human adult but big enough to be younger... When Eden finally saw it, she gasped, covering her mouth in shock.
She had witnessed many horrors, in real life and in the Dark Reality, but this wasn’t even close to anything she had seen before. There was a child. No, perhaps a boy in his pre-teens, but his whole body was incredibly skinny, with no visible muscles, literally only skin and bones. That wasn’t all. His eyes were wide open and completely inexpressive with the top of his head cut open. Eden felt the urge to throw up, and she did, falling on her valid knee, unable to stop it. The boy’s head was opened up, the brain clearly visible and moving, with hundreds of little cables attached to it. It looked like an upside-down, terrifying half-machine medusa. The little cables even emitted small lights that seemed to be running to and away from the brain at regular intervals. Eden couldn’t even process what she was seeing. Who would do such a horrible thing to a child? That brain was clearly alive, but that child was... not living at all. The whole body seemed to be floating around, completely inanimate. Eden realized one of his hands had two fingers missing, and the left leg ended with a strange lump of flesh instead of a foot. She wiped her mouth, trying to stand back up. She noticed a little console under the column. Gathering all her strength and bravery, she forced her only valid leg to make the jump to the console. She landed brutally on her knee, but her hands managed to grab the console to hold on to. It was sparkling clean and clearly used often... There was something about the temperature inside, his vitals... and a name. Prometheus Angel Newman... It really was her Pan.
“Ah, yes... Pan’s old envelope,” sighed the Governor. “I regret the suffering that child had to go through, but it was inevitable.”
“What... What did you do to him?” Eden cried, furious.
“Oh, we didn’t do anything! If anything, we saved his life. You see, sometimes, we humans simply aren’t born as... perfect as we should be. In fact, it’s been a secret for a few decades now, but I suppose there is no use hiding it from you now that you’ve seen it. See, your older brother was... one of those children that should have never been allowed to come to life.”
“...My older brother?” muttered Eden. “N-no... I don’t understand.”
“Well, we made an exception because, of course, he was your father’s son. Moreover, your mother was some strange woman who refused technology... That child was born despite the surveillance we usually used to ensure our children are born with the very best potential! For a few years now, we have already been doing proper sorting so that every child born into the Core is truly fit for this marvelous life of wonders!”
Eden couldn’t hear anymore. With a grunt, she turned around, going back to the computer with all the anger and strength she could muster. The trail of blood she left behind seemed terribly messy on the sparkling white tiles, but Eden didn’t care about all of that or her injuries. She was fed up with his bullshit, with those crazy ideas of his. The only one she wanted to hear was Pan, and Pan alone. She used the strength in her arms to get back to the keyboard, looking for that chat tab again.
“I hope you weren’t scared, or too shocked.”
“Pan, what is going on?” she managed to type, guessing the Governor somehow couldn’t see it.
“That is my real body.”
“That’s a dead child! What is this shit about you being my brother?”
“...Let me show you.”
Suddenly, the screen in front of her changed again. It seemed like another surveillance video like the one Eden had watched just minutes before in the archives. She recognized the same office her father had been in, but it looked very different. This time, the place was a complete mess, although there were a lot fewer papers all around, and the computer seemed smaller too, with fewer screens. Her father too seemed somewhat different. Younger, she guessed. He was in one corner of the room, his head in his hands, visibly... crying. Eden checked the date in the corner. It was a few years before her birth... What had happened back then? She glanced at the chat tab again.
“A few weeks before my birth.”
Eden frowned. That was before Pan was even born? …Did that mean he really was her older brother?
