Leaving

Tobi didn't know what to say he never knew what to say to his father and mother. The two where a very big thorn in his side always asking for money and every time Tobi gave in and afterwards would curse his stupidity. His family was sat around an old wooden table with countless dints and groves, the five of them sitting in eerie silence his fathers gazes drilling into him while his mother tended to his siblings. Tobi was the oldest of the Greyson children at 17, it was nearly his birthday, his younger brother and sister had a 5 year age gap between them Cody was 12 and Lilly was 7. His parents John and Sam where both 36, Tobi had been born when they where still very young. Tobi had a simple goal for that night, make it through the next 2 hours until his friend James came to pick him up and then never go back, in one month he would turn 18 and be old enough to join the EMC, earthen mech core.

His mother cleaned the table and put his sister to bed and his brother was herded into his room, then the mess began. It started calm his father asked for a loan, he said no. His father talked about his mother, he said no. His father talked about his siblings, he said no. His father started to yell, he said no. His father stood slamming his hands on the table, he said no. This is where his mother started to cry, usually he would break at this point and shell out a few dollars but this time, he said no.

Silence fell over the family, his fathers face covered by a shroud of anger veins and wrinkles in his skin stood like mountains, his breathing heavy. Tobi's mother was on the ground tears slowly rolling down her face even though she was no longer crying, she stared at him like a whimpering pup.

"Get out" his father said his face turning a vibrant red. Tobi stood still he had no idea wether to do as he was told.

"GET OUT NOW" Tobi turned and headed for the door calmly.

He sat on the step of his old home, he hated this place but it was still his home he hated his parents but they where family, he could only hope for his siblings to get a high aptitude to.

Half an hour passed as Tobi sat on the step staring out at the worldwide cave system he had spent 13 years of his life in, on his 13th birthday he had his aptitude test and gains admittance to Ardent Academy. after that only a small amount of his time was spent here, as small as he could manage, but none of that time was pleasant. James pulled up outside the house in his car, it was a few years old but James always looked after it, sometimes it constant flux of colours and designs made Tobi wonder wether the car meant more to James than his schooling, this was not the case however James was a genius and scored in the top 5 in his year constantly. Tobi made his way to the car and touched the door, the car although old had stare of the art systems. The door registered his C.M.D. And opened the seat morphed to his preset height and cushioning as he sat in it.

"Hey buddy, you look rough" James put the car in gear and began to drive away from the house.

"Old man give you a rough one?"

Tobi stared straight ahead the question barely registering.

"Yeah he had a fair go at me when I said I wouldn't give him any more loans" James drove the car onto the main road to the mass elevator, these are the main transport between levels.

" he probably wasn't happy having his son get rich only for him to leave and never come back" the silence the followed was heavy

" Jesus man you did tell him you were leaving right, right... bloody hell" James parked the car on the elevator behind a gas truck, he turned to Tobi.

" You should have told him, what are you thinking Tobi... your never going back are you" James sat back in his chair with a sigh.

" if I'd told him he would have flipped. Besides I left him a letter."

"A letter? He's still gonna flip and his blast radius will find you, make sure to ring, even if you only talk to your mother" the elevator opens up and the car drove out onto the road and towards the next elevator. James lived on the third floor, the trip and elevator rides took 30 minutes but it felt longer.