The worker boy let his loose leg hang freely, swinging it while chewing on a toothpick.
He was lying atop an empty wooden crate as he stared lazily at the warehouse ceiling above.
"When will this day be over?" he muttered as he glanced sideways to where the others were working and chatting.
Suddenly the ground began to vibrate and he spat out his toothpick as he saw the strange contraption they had used to dispose off the Inborn boy earlier, burst to life and begin to whirr in an unsteady rhythm.
Footsteps behind him slowly came close and stood next to him as they saw it too.
Among them his boss, a brash man named Bassi, shouted out, "you idiot! What the fuck did you do?"
"Boss, I swear to god I didn't touch the damn thing....it..it went off by itself," he stammered, trying to defend himself.
Before they could say anything further, the circular gate beamed a huge flash of light temporarily blinding them as they covered their faces behind their hands.
"It's definitely a malfunction....it's never happened like this before." Banno, the only girl amongst them said, her eyes wide with indecision.
"Bassi, what do we do?"
Their boss wasn't sure either. Getting this machine had not been easy and it wasn't even his, rather belonging to an organization that had already taken it on lease from much more shadier parties.
"Clear out! Leave it before-"
BOOM!
The machine exploded and threw out flames as they all ducked for cover almost immediately behind the many crates, the heat throwing them off balance followed by the shockwave of the blast.
Bassi was the first to regain his composure as he squinted his eyes and made out a shadow amongst the settling debris and smoke.
Ah, the warehouse.
Sanit struggled to stand as he took note of where he was.
This place had haunted him briefly in the other realm and until today had been erased from his thoughts, but the brief time he had been here was enough to tell him that he ought to have a sense of hatred for this place.
"Hey, who's there?"
He heard someone shout out and he immediately fell to the ground on all fours, taking refuge in the smoke as he crawled sideways.
His leg made contact with stray debris and he winced before shifting away.
"What are you talking about?" a female spoke up, to which the other voice shushed, "I saw someone, he looked like he was without clothes."
"What?" the female's voice was puzzled but he saw her take a stance as she waved her arms around to try and get a better look in front of her. Both of them searching for him.
After almost a tense minute, the male one grew frustrated.
"Somebody switch on the damn exhausts for fucks sake!"
As if on cue the giant fans on the ceiling began to move and cleared the smoke slowly. Seeing not much to hide behind, Sanit stood up.
"There! Hey! Get your fucking hands where I can....holy shit, no way...Banno," the male voice boomed first before struggling to speak, "Banno, are you seeing this?"
Sanit came to the center, his hands at his sides as he looked around a bit dazed and wary.
"How the hell are you alive?" Banno screeched as she reached for her blades.
Sensing the threat, Sanit went to her and grabbed her wrist before turning her around to face Bassi.
Taking the girl's blade from her chest-held scabbard, he held it against her throat while pressing his body behind her back.
"Hey, hey...calm down, don't hurt her," Bassi went into a defensive mode while Banno remained stunned for a second before even attempting to resist against Sanit's grip.
"You...are...Bassi," Sanit spoke a little unused to his new tongue, "and you are...Banno," he said to the girl in his grip.
It came to him now.
Faintly.
Getting beaten up here. There.
Thrown against the wall as they used their weapons on him, calling him a filthy inborn which was a slur of some sorts.
Why exactly he wasn't sure but he knew they meant him harm and that was enough to be on the offensive.
He jerked the girl's body, "how many of you are here?"
"Uh...including me and her....four." Bassi said.
"Get..." Sanit rasped, his voice turning a tone so fierce that it made Banno stiffen.
Sanit cleared his throat, "get the other two here, quick."
Bassi didn't have to be told again, as he turned towards his men, "hey you two, come on out. It's gonna be fine..."
"Boss? Are we safe?" a lone voice from behind them spoke out.
Banno yelled, "just get out here already you fools."
A silence ensued before two other figures came up to them, their hands holding long rods.
"Drop them." Sanit barked and Bassi nodded to them.
But they did not agree.
"Boss it's the inborn, why are you being hesitant?" the tall one of the two said and when he got a scowl for a response he turned to Banno, "arre didi, come on we just threw that guy in there like an hour ago."
"Shut up and do as he says you fucks."
The guy had enough and threw his staff towards Sanit who leapt away fast but the girl caught the imbued staff right in her skull, going through it like butter as she dropped dead to the ground.
"You bastards!" Bassi yelled but directed his fury against Sanit.
The man pulled out his hammer which elongated as waves of energy coursed and enveloped it. A familiar sight once to him, yet still as mesmerizing as ever.
He was too late to react though as Bassi swung it wide to hit Sanit right in the jaw sending him swinging through the air to hit a couple of crates which then parted to let him smash against the walls of the warehouse.
Ungh! That hurt.
But he also felt good about it. Happy that his body was responding to that kind of stimuli.
"What are you grinning about you donkey?"
Bassi roared as he crashed the hammer once again.
This time Sanit crept away and saw the sorrow in the man's eyes.
"It's your bloody fault that she's dead...and beyond that you've been a pest for my operations ever since your useless friend asked me to take you in...you inborn fuck."
That last part was accompanied by another swing which went nowhere.
But the man's words triggered something for Sanit.
A friend...he did something to a friend of mine. But who?