5 Chapter 5: Another Birthday

Time went on, Max had gotten used to his new life. He had to follow a strict timetable setup by HUE. Which would mainly include exercising and studying. He was only given 4 hours a day to sleep.

HUE would make him exercise until his legs would give out, he made Max study until his thoughts would get foggy.

Max would get meals twice a day and the meals would be in large portions, the taste, however, wasn't quite good, Max would always feel sick after eating.

In whatever free time max had he would always pray to god, hoping that his prayers would come true

Occasionally, Max would ask HUE questions, And most of the time HUE would respond. HUE had shown noticeable changes throughout the time Max spent with him.

it was almost as if HUE was becoming attached to Max and for this reason. Max had taken a liking to HUE, after all, he was the closest thing he had to a friend.

HUE was right, time didn't stop. Although Max missed his family he didn't quite feel as broken as he once did. Sure he felt lonely but that was about it.

Sometimes Max would hear screams loud ones those screams would often scare him, whenever he would question HUE about them he would simply ignore his question.

__________

Max had lost all track of time, he no longer felt lonely it scared him how even when he wanted to feel lonely he just couldn't do it.

But he did find a new emotion though, hate. He began to hate the people that had taken his family away from him. The person he hated the most was Davis.

Max had changed a lot from his former self, The main reason being his "Mental development classes" in which HUE would force him to think more like an adult than a child. These classes proved to be quite effective as Max now seemed to behave as an adult rather than a child.

He had learned how to control his emotions and acted more like a 19-year-old rather than a 9-year-old.

The food that he received would no longer foul in taste or smell. His body had changed as well, he looked like a professional athlete even though he was only 9 years old.

Speaking of being only 9 years old Max had no idea how old he was any more he simply couldn't keep track of time.

He tired, at first he tried by counting how many times HUE would let him sleep but sometimes, HUE wouldn't let him sleep. And eventually, HUE started decreasing his sleeping time.

He would spend all day exercising or studying.

He had given on praying and just decided, no rather he forgot all about God.

________

After a while, months or years, everything just became a part of Max's routine and Max had gotten used to it.

*HEY! GET UP YOU SLEEPY HEAD" HUE yelled playfully, they had made waking up a game, if Max wouldn't wake up as soon as HUE called him out then Max would be punished.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Max yelled

*HAHA! GUESS I WON'T BE ABLE TO PUNISH YOU TODAY"

"Not happening HUE," Max said as he rubbed his eyes

Max let out an all mighty *YAWNNN*

"Permission to bathe, HUE?" He asked while covering his mouth from the yawn

*PERMISSION GRANTED YOU HAVE 6 MINUTES*

At first, Max felt embarrassed to bathe in a room where HUE would be watching him, but eventually, he got used to it. Plus HUE was a robot

"Well, what's on the agenda today HUE," Max asked as he got done bathing

*ITS A SUPRISE, YOU GUESS* HUE said playfully

"Hm, well, I know that I'm not gonna be allowed to go home, haha, so I guess you're giving me a day off?" Max hoped that maybe HUE would let him go but he knew it wouldn't happen.

Max didn't want a day off. He just wanted to voice his inner thoughts.

*NO SILLY I CAN'T SEND YOU HOME, I'D BE DELETED. BUT I CAN GIVE YOU A DAY OFF TOMORROW, YOU HAVE BEEN VERY COOPERATIVE*

"Oh thanks, but I don't want a day off. It'll only give me more time to think about my past" Max was quite depressed, he had hoped that maybe he might be released but it was hopeless.

*HM, OKAY, BUT I'M PRETTY SURE YOU WILL WANT A DAY OFF TOMORROW*

*ANYWAYS, THAT'S NOT THE SUPRISE.*

"Well, what is it?" Max didn't show it but he was excited about a surprise

*YOU CAME HERE ON THE 4TH OF NOVEMBER, 2063. AND TODAY IS THE 4TH OF NOVEMBER, 2067, HAPPY BIRTHDAY OMEGA* HUE Screamed in joy

The same couldn't be said for Max, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. Loneliness.

'i wonder if my family still remembers me, 4 years is a long time...' max wondered

*HAPPY BIRTHDAY-DAY OMEGA*

A tile on the ceiling opened up and showered Max with confetti, it was the first time in years that Max had seen any colour apart from white and the food he received which would usually incorporate something white as well, like rice.

It almost felt weird seeing so many colours at once.

*ALRIGHT BIRTHDAY BOY, THE PARTIES JUST BEGUN!*

*WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW SOMETHING ELSE?*

"..." Max wasn't in the mood to hear another depressing fact about his life. He was already disappointed enough, his day was pretty much ruined.

*YOU HAVE NOW SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPED A NATURAL IMMUNITY TO ALL POISONS AND NEURO-TOXINS*

Hearing HUE's words Max felt scared, he hadn't felt scared in a while.

'He's joking, right? Of course, he is, right?' Max thought, but Max knew that HUE sometimes liked to pull pranks on, but something inside Max's gut was telling him HUE was messing around when he said those words.

*DON'T THINK TOO MUCH ABOUT HOW OR WHEN IT HAPPENED YOU'LL POP A NERVE*

*YOUR FOOD, IT WAS POISONED, SINCE DAY ONE I'VE BEEN POISONING YOUR FOOD OMEGA*

Max's heart kept pounding loudly, so loudly that you could hear it pounding. He knew HUE wasn't his friend but it still shocked him.

*AND THE FUNS NOT OVER YET, I'VE GOT ANOTHER SURPRISE FOR YOU!*

*WANNA GUESS?*

"..." Max remained silent, he was still shocked. Truth be told he didn't even want another surprise

*ALRIGHT ALRIGHT, TODAY IS YOUR FIRST BIG STEP TO BECOMING AN ACTUAL MEMBER OF THE CROSS* Just as HUE finished his words a tile on the ceiling retracted and out came a robotic arm holding a case with a plus (+) symbol on it

'Thank god it's not a gun' Max thought

The robotic arm placed the case in front of Max and went back into the ceiling

*OPEN IT! OPEN IT!* HUE said while giggling like a little —robotic— girl

Max sat down and reached out to open it. His hands were shaking. Upon opening the case he could see that there was a syring in it. The syringe was filled with some white dark blueish liquid.

*OKAY NOW INJECT IT INTO YOURSELF!*

HUE had made Max practice using syringes by filling his blood into them and injecting it back into himself.

"W-whats in it?" Max asked his voice cracked in fear

*HEY! REMEMBER THE RULES WOULD YOU NO ASKING QUESTIONS WITHOUT PERMISSION*

Before the robotic gun welding arm could come out to threaten him, Max immediately apologized.

"Okay, okay I'll do it, HUE" he was breaking into a cold sweat he brought the syring close to his arm and injected it without thinking twice.

He could almost immediately feel his arm burning up, soon that burning sensation spread throughout his entire body.

He had dropped the syringe and was now in a fetal position, he could feel his organs burning up from the inside.

Max held in his tears he didn't want to cry or scream, but the pain the sheer intensity of it was pushing Max to his breaking point