It was difficult to make the kid understand.
Well, Noli couldn’t just tell him outright—that his father had turned into the monster of his own nightmares, that was far beyond salvation of any kind. It wouldn’t be nice, would it? Plus, it would fly right over the child’s head.
It didn’t stop the kid from asking.
“Noli, uncle Noli!” c00lkidd would call, tugging on the hems of Noli’s robes, insistent as any infant. “Why won’t you tell me where my dad is? I miss him!”
“Because he isn’t anywhere near right now,” Noli would respond, allowing the child to cling to his garments, only so that he could work on generators in peace. It was crucial to get them to work so his team would have power back at Camp.
“But I’ve seen him! He looks lost! We should help him!” c00lkidd would then protest, still bugging Noli. The man sighed, & turned to the child as he flicked the final switch on the generator, the machine humming to life.
“He isn’t anywhere near here in the head. He’s very lost, c00lkidd, & there… isn’t much we can do to get him back.”
c00lkidd fell still for a moment. He frowned. …Then, he piped up again—once again insistence on how he could bring his dad back, how his dad could be saved as easily as a rubber ducky from drowning in the bathtub.
Noli sighed again, & carried on with his work.
A kid wouldn’t understand it. A little kid wouldn’t understand the utter horrors that 007n7 had gone through to get to his current state. It was a little Noli’s fault, & a little 007n7’s fault as well, the whole predicament.
It was heart wrenching to witness it all firsthand.
First, it had been 007n7’s obsession with the c00lgui. He used it for hacking, yes, & Noli was accustomed to it too. Nothing too weird there. Until 007n7 suddenly decided one day that he wanted to step up his game.
“I want to make it stronger,” he’d told Noli one morning, already working away at the gui in their dorm room. Noli had watched with intrigue, initially curious as to how 007n7 would upgrade the already-maxed out hacking gui.
Noli, at the time, hadn’t realised how deep this whole upgrading escapade would go.
It started off with 007n7 missing classes. Nothing much, they usually bunked off classes together to hack Robloxia’s establishments. Then, it was 007n7’s indulgence to an apparent void star—a thing of nightmares & dreams alike, an otherworldly star said to be hidden deep within the ground of Robloxia, in some concealed cave.
“I’ll find it, I’ve got to find it!” 007n7 would cry every late night, with Noli stirring in their shared dorm bed. “It’ll make the gui stronger! So much stronger! I’ll be the best!”
007n7’s “best” has led to this disaster—what he was reduced to today.
& the worst part of all, was that Noli still loved him. He just… couldn’t any more. Not because he lost his dear feelings for the man, but only because it was impossible.
One embrace, & he’d be torn to shreds in an instant.
Noli was trudging through the woods, c00lkidd trailing by his side, as usual. They’d finished their generator rounds, & had found some relatively unspoiled food from an abandoned campsite. It had been a good day.
Until.
“Dad, dad!” c00lkidd suddenly cried, tearing away from where he was clutching at Noli’s robes to dash to the side. Noli dropped the bags by his side & broke into a sprint after the kid, not intent on letting the child fall into the hands of whatever killer was out there.
He broke into a clearing, before he knew it.
There, in the glaring light of the clear canopy, stood c00lkidd. He was grinning, giggling as bright as ever, chubby little hands outstretched as he reached out for…
007n7.
The very man turned killer, crouching in front of the vulnerable child, his extra appendages, now only used for war, held low. He didn’t seem hostile. He didn’t seem to attack the kid.
Noli froze, his breathing quickening in both worry & panic as he surveyed the scene, frozen in his tracks as he stood on the edge of the clearing.
He couldn’t run. But c00lkidd couldn’t stay, either.
He swallows, hard.