The world was no longer the same. Humanity had leapt into a new era, but this progress had dragged them down worse paths. No one wanted to stay with anyone else; people, on the verge of loneliness, were trying to form new families. These families were generally divided into alpha, beta, and omega. The birth of a hero also began in an omega family.
In this weak family with limited means of livelihood, the family bond was very strong compared to others. However, the problem was that the omega family was in a very low economic class. Therefore, they could not afford high-nutrition foods, which resulted in hunger and scarcity. Family members were dying one by one. Father Eric and mother Flora were very distressed by this situation. Flora and Eric had thirty children, but only five of them had survived: Johny, Klara, Cemy, Todi, and finally Black.
Black had started talking at a very young age and had learned to walk earlier than others. As the eldest in the house, he had taken all the burden from his father. He lit the stove, cleared the snow from the garden, chopped wood, watered the flowers in the garden, and got a job at a PVC (Prototype Vessel Constructor) workshop. Despite doing so much work, he was weak and frail like his siblings. Since the food he ate lacked protein, his muscles did not develop well. He struggled with some heavy tasks, but Black did not give up. He wanted to do any heavy work, no matter how much he struggled, he never gave up, he worked even harder.
Now it was August tenth. The faint reddish glow of the sun filtered into the room, and this reddish light bothering Black's eyes. Then suddenly, the door to the room knocked and Klara called out:
"Brother Black, food's ready! Wash your face and come, we have a lot of work to do."
Black said in a deep voice, "Okay, I'm coming." Then he quickly went to the bathroom and washed his face with the broken faucet. But the faucet was so faulty that he couldn't turn it off. Then he went to his room and used the English wrench he had received as a gift from his master. He wasn't very good at fixing the faucet, but he had done a better job than before; at least it was dripping very little. Then he went to the room where they both ate and chatted as a family. The family had spread a piece of cloth on the floor, and on it were Flora's delicious potatoes. Black sat down at the table and turned to Flora:
"Mother, bless your hands, there's nothing like your potatoes."
Flora replied: "I am obliged to feed my little birds like you, my son. Your master came, he said to come immediately in the morning. There's a big job."
"A big job? I'm really looking forward to it! I wonder what it is? We're definitely building a ship or a spaceship. I'll expect anything, today will be great!"
Then Johny interjected: "Brother, if your master said it's a big job, you'll either clean the toilet or mop the floors, what else can you do?"
Eric chimed in: "If Kely said it's a big job, then it's a big job. Kely doesn't lie."
Cemy jumped into the conversation: "Cut the nonsense, Cemy! Who in this small village would come and build a ship or a spaceship? You've gone crazy hanging out with Kely."
Todi replied to Cemy: "Stop the nonsense, Cemy! Kely is truly a great master. No matter how wild his ideas are, he's never crazy, don't forget that. Johny and you are testing my patience, remember."
Johny retorted: "Todi, don't forget you're only one year older than me, don't think you can play big brother to me. Besides, no one here is calling Kely crazy. You've gone mad reading your philosophy books again, go get your brain washed at a hospital, I think."
Cemy continued the argument: "I agree! Or maybe if I unleashed my dogs on you, you'd smarten up more and realize who you're defending against whom."
Todi angrily: "I would never put Kely above my brothers, but what you're doing is absolutely not right. And Cemy, if you truly acted like a brother, you would protect me, not scare me. When I got beaten up by the Clarkgils again, you just ran away. If you trust your dogs so much, you should have unleashed them on them."
Cemy stood up and yelled: "Shut up! I'm sick of those Clarkgils and I'm sick of you! I don't want to always watch your back, handle your own business, you dirty brat!"
Eric sternly and raising his voice slightly: "Sit down, Cemy! Respect the table."
Cemy yelled even louder: "I'm sick of you and your rules, old senile man! You contribute nothing to this house, you just sit and sleep. Only my brother and I earn money, I bring the bread and water to this house! You're just an extra mouth. If you die, we'll be much more comfortable!"
Black took a deep breath and looked at the clock, counting to sixty inside: "1, 2, 3..."
Todi, with tears falling from his eyes, stood up and yelled: "Speak properly to my father, you filthy person! If my father hadn't lost his arm and leg in the war, he would have done everything! Have some empathy, you stupid, don't be selfish!"
Black continued counting inside: "30, 31, 32..."
Cemy, standing right in front of his brother, pulled out a pocketknife from his pocket and yelled: "Do you want to be crippled like your father now?"
Black closed his eyes, fixed his gaze on the ceiling, and continued counting: "45, 46, 47..."
Todi wiped his tears and bravely yelled: "Do your worst, you filthy person! You'll be nothing but a big coward your whole life!"
Black continued counting: "55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60."
Cemy yelled, "I'll kill you!" and raised the pocketknife in the air, starting to bring it down swiftly towards Black's head. And suddenly, Black opened his eyes and appeared in front of Cemy in four seconds, grabbing the pocketknife with his hand and looking into Cemy's eyes with blood-red eyes:
"Cemy, did you take it again? You promised, why did you do it?"
The moment Cemy saw Black in front of him, his hands trembled. Then he dropped the pocketknife, looked at his brother's face once, and knelt down, placing his head on the floor. Cemy said in a tearful voice:
"Brother, I'm sorry. I had to take it or they would have killed me."
Black grabbed Cemy's hair, brought it to his face level, looked into his eyes, and with a slight smile: "Did Coda make you do this?"
Cemy avoided eye contact, not wanting to answer. Black this time got angry and, adjusting the force of his blow, hit Cemy in the stomach. Cemy initially seemed to gasp for air, then coughed and started crying. Cemy, both crying and sobbing:
"They'll kill me, brother, please don't! Give me time, I'll handle this."
Black grabbed Cemy's hair even harder: "It's over, Cemy, your time is up. Those men told you they wouldn't give you drugs, but they broke the rule. Now they'll find their trouble from me!"
Black quickly released Cemy and went to his room to get a knife for self-defense, a heavy stick, and finally, put on his old heavy, leather-coated jacket for protection. He had saved money to buy this jacket, but today was the day to wear it. Then Cemy suddenly burst into the room:
"Brother, don't do it! They'll kill you too. Don't do this for me, I'm a worthless person in this life."
Black said in a harsh and deep voice: "Shut up! Who told you you're worthless? All of you are of great value to me. Never, ever again talk about being worthless in front of me! And when I come home, I'll talk to you separately."
Cemy yelled: "Brother, please don't! If you value me even a little, don't go, we can't lose you too!"
Black looked sharply at his brother: "I'm going because I value you, don't forget that, brother. And I said I'll talk to you when I get home. See you!"
Cemy cried even more, falling to his brother's feet: "Don't do it, brother, please! Code is a very bad person, I saw how he killed people. He dismembered all their organs, then fed them to his animals and much more..."
Black covered Cemy's mouth: "I won't turn back from this path, brother. Take care of yourself, see you."
Cemy continued to cry, muttering, "Don't go, brother, they'll kill you." He had turned completely white; no one truly knew what he had seen.
When Black exited the room, Todi stood in front of him, saying: "Brother, I'm coming too. I really want to kill Code, I'll kill him for what he did to Cemy. Let me come too."
Johny grabbed Black's arm: "Brother, don't do it! Code's men really have a ton of weapons, it's impossible for you to go in there. You can't do anything against them with just your stick. It's not too late, turn back, brother. We can't lose you too!"
Klara interjected: "Brother, don't do it, we can't lose you either. This world has no meaning without you. What will we do if you leave?"
Black knelt down and held Klara's hand: "I'll come back, Klara, don't be afraid." He kissed Klara's hand and continued: "Take good care of Mother and Father, they are entrusted to you." And looking at Todi: "Mother and Father are entrusted to you, Todi, you need to protect them while I'm gone."
Todi said in a tearful voice: "Okay, brother, I'll do it." Then he raised his voice: "Please come back!"
Black continued: "Don't worry, I'll come back," he said.
Then Flora took her son's face in her palms: "Promise me, promise me you'll come back, my son," she said. Eric, beside her: "Son, we can't lose you too. Don't, after so much pain, don't you leave us too."
Black said in a calm and deep voice: "Calm down, Mother and Father. If I said I'll come back, I'll come back. I keep my word, don't forget. All of you take care of yourselves, don't worry about me. I will make this world better for all of us, see you."
The entire family sadly nodded their heads and gave Black one last hug, except for Cemy. He was still crying and scared. Klara looked into her brother's blood-red eyes and said, "See you, brother." Black replied: "See you, brother, see you," and opened the door, stepping into that dangerous world. He was a light advancing in the darkness. Black was risking his life for the first time this much, but this was a beginning for Black. New stories, new adventures will continue...
END OF CHAPTER ONE