The two sat at the kitchen table, finishing dinner. Darling's bowl was already empty.
"Slow down, kid. Didn't know you were that hungry," May said, pointing her fork at him with a full mouth. "Would've made extras if you told me."
Darling put his bowl down and let out a small burp.
"'Scuse me," he said, rubbing his belly.
May laughed, swallowed er food, chugged a drink—and let out an even bigger burp.
Darling burst out laughing, pointing at her.
"That was disgusting!"
He laughed so hard he slipped out of his chair and hit the floor.
May walked over, smiling, and crouched beside him.
"You okay?"
Darling rubbed the back of his head with a grin.
"Yeah, I've taken worse falls."
May stood and started cleaning the plates. She glanced back and saw Darling still watching her.
"Aren't you gonna watch TV or something?" she asked, raising a brow.
Darling shook his head.
He kept watching her clean.
"So… what exactly am I doing here?" he asked, lightly kicking his feet in the air.
May finished drying the plates, took off her apron, and walked over to sit across from him.
"Well," she said, folding her hands, "what do you remember?"
A faint noise buzzed in May's ear. She flinched slightly and quickly covered it, smiling awkwardly.
"What the hell are you doing?" came a familiar voice from her earpiece.
May yanked it out and shoved it into her pocket, glancing nervously at Darling.
He tilted his head, puzzled.
"Continue," she said, waving him on.
Darling nodded.
"I remember you guys picking me up somewhere, but I can't really think of anything else."
He looked up at the ceiling, tapping his chin.
May stood again and hung the apron on a nearby hook.
"That's great… So you don't remember anything else? Like your mom or dad?"
Darling shook his head, then pointed at her.
"Nope. I thought you were my mom."
May's jaw dropped. She turned away and quickly shoved the earpiece back in.
"YOU IDIOT," she whispered. "You wiped too much!"
She spun back around, composing herself with a smile.
"Sorry about that. No, kid—I'm not your mom. I'm more like… your guardian."
Darling shrugged.
"Doesn't matter if you're my guardian or not. You're cool!"
May sighed and chuckled, hanging up her apron.
"Do you remember my name?"
Darling shook his head again.
"I don't even remember mine—ahahah!"
May let out a breathy laugh, shaking her head.
"Well, my name's May. And you? You're Darling."
She reached for his hand and led him over to the couch.
Sitting him down, she crouched in front of him, face-to-face.
She held up a key—not an ordinary one. It was futuristic, moderately large, pulsing with subtle energy.
Darling's eyes widened. He reached for it instinctively, but May quickly pulled it back.
"First," she said, voice sincere, "tell me what your dream is, Darling."
Darling kept staring at the key as he absentmindedly dug a finger in his nose.
"Uhhh… I wanna be an astronaut."
May held back a chuckle and nodded.
"An astronaut, huh? Big dreams."
Darling popped his finger out of his nose.
POP.
A giant booger hung from the tip.
"Yeah, well, I wanna see the whole world and stuff like that."
He casually flicked it—
SMACK.
Right onto the TV screen.
May's face twisted in disgust.
BONK!
She whacked him on the head.
"THAT'S SO DISGUSTING!"
Darling wobbled, dazed, cartoonish stars spinning around his head.
"Ow! I didn't know it'd land there!"
May grabbed some napkins and cleaned the mess, grumbling.
"Even if it didn't, that's still gross!"
A laugh crackled through the earpiece in her pocket.
"What the hell are you laughing at?" May whispered, annoyed.
She washed her hands quickly and returned to the conversation.
"Now Darling… have you thought about school?"
Darling shrugged.
"Can't I just learn from home? Like usual?"
May placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Look, kid—you've gotta go to school now."
Darling looked down, thinking for a moment. Then smiled.
"OKAYY! I mean, how bad could it be?"
May smiled back, relieved.
"Let's get you to bed. You've got your first day tomorrow."
Darling nodded and stood up, ready for whatever came next.
Darling lay peacefully on a futon mattress in the living room, his head sunk deep into the pillow as drool trickled from the corner of his mouth. The soft hum of the city night buzzed outside the window.
May stood over him, a quiet smile forming on her face. She gently turned off the lights, casting the room in calm shadows.
A voice crackled in her earpiece.
"Are you really going to commit to this? You do know we can just put him in a lab."
May settled onto the couch, flipping open her laptop as she crossed her legs.
"Bit inhumane, aren't we?" she replied coolly. "Besides, remember the last time we raised one in a lab?"
The voice on the other end sighed. Keys clacked faintly in the background.
"Yeah, but—"
May cut him off before he could finish.
"Listen. This one doesn't need all that, okay? He's already going through a lot. Just… let the kid have a normal life."
Her screen showed a folder open—photos of another kid displayed on the side of her screen. Marked with soft red indicators: potential feather holders.
On the other end, the voice yawned.
"I found the perfect school for him. And by the way, May…" The voice grew more serious. "He should be wearing a dampener."
May's tone shifted immediately. It sharpened—protective.
"For what!? He's just a kid. He won't be able to do much anyways."
The camera cuts to the source of the voice—Buddha.
He stood in a sleek, futuristic office filled with glowing tech. A wide floor-to-ceiling window painted the room with diffused golden light, the blinds casting angled shadows. A plush couch sat behind him, a TV mounted on the wall. Near his desk, a luminous orb hovered midair, cradling a watch inside it.
Buddha glanced at it.
"I know you don't like this stuff, May," he said calmly, "but what if he does lose control? Casualties happen when we're not cautious. We can't afford that again."
May sat in silence, her eyes locked on the sleeping boy just a few feet away.
Darling snored gently, completely unaware of the weight of the conversation unfolding around him.
May finally broke the silence, voice softer this time.
"Okay. He can wear the dampener… but it can't be a collar."
A low chuckle rumbled through Buddha's mic.
"Relax. I'm not that crazy." He walked over to the orb and tapped on the glass gently.
"It'll be a watch."
May's eyes returned to her laptop. She zoomed in on one of the photos of the other children, pinpointing a specific location on the map beside it.
She closed the laptop with a quiet snap, now sitting in complete darkness.
"Well… as long as he gets to live a normal life."
There was a short pause.
"By the way," she added. "I found the other one."
Back in the office, Buddha's face lit up with a wide grin.
He turned to his massive holographic display, a marker pulsing on the map.
"Great," he said with satisfaction. "Well… not for him. But for us?"
He leaned back in his chair.
"Now Darling will have a companion."
May hovered her hand over her earpiece.
"I'm going to go. Just be ready for tomorrow."
The line cut off with a soft tone as Buddha tapped the End Call button.
Silence fell over his office—brief, still, electric.
He leaned back in his chair, the gentle hum of holographic tech fading. His gaze shifted. He wasn't alone.
A flicker stirred in the far corner—a presence.
Without looking, Buddha spoke calmly.
"What is it now?"
From the shadows emerged a figure—smooth and silent, like mist taking form.
He wore a crisp white suit, immaculately clean, with a sheathed sword clipped neatly at his side.
His face was hidden beneath a uniquely designed biker's helmet, sleek and unreadable, its surface reflecting the light of the tech around them.
"What are you doing now, TRUE?"
Buddha spun his chair around to face the man.
The guy's presence was cold, calculated. He stepped forard without a sound, then blurred, reappearing beside Buddha in a whisper of motion.
He raised a gloved hand and tapped Buddha's glowing screen. The most recent file opened—a profile labeled DARLING.
He stared at it for a long beat.
"Really?" he muttered. "Another Shadowsong?"
Buddha grinned wide, from ear to ear, and casually shrugged.
"What can I say? That family's too damn interesting to ignore."
The guy sighed, annoyed. With a wave, he dismissed the open holograms, the screens folding away into dark.
"TRUE… how do you even know this one isn't a threat?" he asked, voice sharper now.
"And why the hell is he with May of all people?"
Buddha stood slowly, placing a firm hand on TRUE's shoulder.
"You guys worry too much."
He looked him in the helmet, unwavering.
"Threat, not a threat—he's human. And that's all he'll ever be."
The person immediately brushed his shoulder free of Buddha's touch, his voice rising.
"Yeah? You said that about his sister too."
He pointed a finger, unwavering.
"And look what she became."
Buddha's grin faded for a second. He turned, walked back to the glowing core of the supercomputer, and shut it off. The room darkened slightly, the only light now coming from the streetlamp glow behind the massive blinds.
He glanced back.
"This one isn't in a lab, is he?"
He kept walking.
The person's voice came sharp behind him.
"If anything goes wrong—it's your fight."
Buddha paused, then nodded, shoulders relaxed, voice steady.
"So be it."
~END OF CH 2