Section S9

"Hey, little boy, you're sleeping on my turf," said a strange man who smelled of burnt cigarette butts and car exhaust.

The little boy slowly rose and held his throbbing head. Through blurry eyes he noticed he had been sleeping in piles of garbage. He shot up in disgust but quickly fell after his knees buckled. He tumbled end over end and landed on the damp ground with an audible splat.

"Don't get up too quick now, kid, might hurt yourself. You've been laying here for three days, I'd bet you're a bit sore," the strange man said as he walked to the little boy who quickly dropped back down.

The strange man's footsteps were heavy, heavy enough to crack the already busted tiles beneath him. He bent down and lifted the little boy's head off the ground by his chin. The boy opened his eyes and saw the man staring at him, with a toothy grin, from about an inch or two away. A stream of smoke rushed from the strange man's clenched teeth and the boy quickly closed his eyes and coughed as he breathed it in.

"What's the name, kid?" the man asked after a long inhale.

"I don't know," the kid said after a few more coughs.

"What kinda lame kid doesn't know his own name? You can't be older than six, aren't you supposed to know it by that age?" the man said with a small chuckle.

He dropped the kid's chin which hit the ground hard enough to make his teeth hurt.

"I'll give you a name, I guess. I ain't very good with names however."

The boy stood up and looked at the strange man with a mixture of fear and curiosity. The strange man walked away and sat in a beat up chair which had been burnt by at least a hundred cigarettes.

"Where is this place? What is going on?" the boy asked as he followed the strange man.

"Weren't you briefed during the GDP transfer? Eh, I guess you are a bit young to remember anything important, must suck to be a dumb kid."

The man was joined by a small cat not more than a foot long. It had one eye missing and the other glowed bright red.

"G...D what? What are you talking about?" the kid asked in confusion, his words slightly cracking as he began to tear up.

"Shut up, you'll scare ol' 8 here with that kind of baby babble. Just sit, shut up, and let me think of a name for you," the strange man said as he lit seven cigarettes, six of which he gave to the cat.

The strange man had one glowing red eye and another that was normal. He wore something similar to a bowler to cover his unkempt ash filled black hair. He also had a long dark burnt leather jacket with what seemed like a hundred pockets, each filled with packets of cigarettes.

The boy looked around in the room they were in and noticed there were six other chairs with burn marks that rivaled the strange man's chair.

"What is your name?" the boy said, holding in his tears.

The man simply pointed with his thumb to a giant sign painted on the steel wall behind him. The boy looked up and saw a row of numbers over the chairs. The man sat under "7".

"7?" the boy asked.

"No way, the boy can read. 8, cancel the tutor scheduled for tomorrow and return the diapers," 7 said sarcastically and he blew smoke from his teeth again.

8 puffed smoke from under its fur. The boy noticed that 8 wasn't a real cat, its fake fur covered a metal body that looked like it had been assembled out of parts from different machines.

"I know, he is still too dumb to know his own name but still, reading is a start," 7 said to 8.

"I am not dumb!" the boy yelled suddenly.

7 stood quickly and grabbed the kid by his shirt, lifting him to eye level. The kid kicked at 7 once while locking eyes with him.

"I like this kid, 8, any ideas for his name?" 7 said, his smile, stunningly bright for a person who lived in garbage, let alone a smoker, almost lighting up the dark room.

A single mechanical meow was heard.

"No, not that, too many things are named that, something more original but clearly similar," 7 said.

Another meow.

"Perfect. Boy, I'll now call you...0! No no...10!," 7 stated proudly.

8 growled softly and 7 sighed in defeat.

"Fine fine, Alex...ander...Alex or X for short, better, 8?" 7 said.

"That's boring, why not something like Dragonpunch or Victor the Beast, something cool!" Alex said.

"Shut up! 8 reschedule the tutor, please. He is more dumb than we anticipated."

The sound of an alarm blared through 7's room and he sighed.

"Stay here, kid, 8 will keep you safe," 7 said before walking over to a door at the far end of the room.

As he opened the door Alex heard the sounds of explosions in the distance.

"Wait, don't leave! What's going on?" Alex yelled.

"Man, they really didn't tell you anything, huh? It's the Frost Wars, baby! See you soon!" 7 said before slamming the door.

Two days had passed and word spread quickly of Alex's arrival, but more so because of 7 deciding to care for him. During a council meeting the attendees all talked about it on the refurbished benches that littered the area.

"Have you heard?"

"What? The boy?"

"Can you believe 7 took him in?"

"When was the last time 7 took in anyone?"

"I don't think he ever has."

"Why don't you mind your business."

The wide doors of the Council Chambers burst open revealing 7 with Alex and 8 in tow. 7 strutted down the central path of the chamber and proceeded to the middle of the room to address the council. Alex followed while holding on to 7's jacket, occasionally looking around to meet the gazes of the council.

The four head council members sat in order of seniority from left to right. The right most councilman looked as if he was kissing death daily.

"This kids mine, see ya later," 7 said and immediately turned around, strutting out of the room.

"7, wait a sec," the head council member called out.

7 stopped for a second before he continued to walk out. Alex bumped into his legged and fell over before quickly rising and grabbing hold of 7's jacket. At the exit, 7 was greeted by two guards who blocked his path. They both were nervous but maintained composure.

"I told you 'see ya', I suggest you allow me to leave," 7 said with a shiny grin.

"With all due respect, face the council….please?" one guard said as sternly as he could muster

Alex noticed 7's body making a crackling and whirring sound.

"7, I only have one question," the head council member called out.

"Hit me with it, Cat," 7 responded.

Alex quickly took refuge in 7's jacket, behind his legs.

"After nearly one hundred years of refusal, why take part in the family system now? What makes him special?" Cat asked.

7 paused before answering, he briefly tilted his head to the side before smiling wide.

"He ain't special. He's just a lonely brat who is quick to anger. Foolish, but with guts to match his unbelievably poor taste in names," 7 paused as he took a long drag of his cigarette "just like me," he finished as he blew a large cloud of smoke into the air.

"7, your usefulness is invaluable, but you set a bad example for the city, the council should be treated with respect," the eldest councilman said.

"I disrespectfully disagree, the way I see it, become as useful as myself and you get to tell the hoity toity council to kick rocks. Seems like the best kind of motivation to me," 7 replied before lighting another cigarette.

7 forcefully separated the two guards with his hands and walked out of the building. Alex looked up and saw the destroyed ruins of an old city, very different from the one he was from.

Each road was lit by rows of what looked to be Christmas lights with a random assortment of bulbs. Sometimes white, sometimes not. Some poorly soldered on, some not. Every building had just a few lights on, flickering, but on. Half of the skyscrapers that dotted the skyline were either damaged beyond repair or completely stripped to its skeletal structure.

Alex noticed some men walking towards the opening of the council chamber and quickly hid his face.

"Alex, come on out, nothing to be afraid of as long as I walk these streets," 7 said as he pulled Alex out by his hair.

"Ow! Be more gentle, I'm just a kid!" Alex yelled.

7 took a drag of his cigarette, finishing it off and flicked it at Alex's head. Alex jumped to the side in fear and 7 tripped him before he landed.

"Shut up, brat, I can't go around babying you all the time, can I?" 7 said with a short chuckle.

Alex stood up and kicked 7 in the shin. A clang rang out and Alex fell back down holding his hurt foot.

"Well, look at that, karma does exist! Now come, let me show you around a bit. You've been doing nothing but crying for the last 2 days," 7 said as he walked away.

Alex rose to his feet and in frustration teared up a little. He quickly ran after 7 and held onto his jacket. Together they made their way through the city, hopping on passing automated rickshaws, the last remaining tech working in the city.

"This here is our 'tribe's' region of the city, hundred years ago it was called new yolk or something like that," 7 explained.

"I know a name similar to that, New... York! My...great grandfather...Ra...tim...I think...was from there," Alex said, piecing together more of his fractured memory.

"You remember something as obscure as that but not your own name?" 7 said in shock.

"For some reason, yeah. But that's not on the same-"

"That's cool," 7 interrupted "I have lived here since almost a hundred years after the start of the Frost wars."

"What's that?" Alex asked curiously, excited by the idea of fighting.

"An evil 'being' known only as Frost cared for the people here and suddenly turned on us and separated us and forced us to fight, or so it's said. I'm not a historian, I'm far too cool for something like that," 7 explained.

As they hopped off the rickshaw they were on Alex pointed to the sky, to the large black box that covered the city. It was dotted with bright bulbs that illuminated the area.

"Is that what is holding us here?"

"Great observation skills, here's your prize," 7 said as he pushed him over.

Alex groaned, scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it at the jacket of 7.

"How do you like it!? That's 16 times today! Do you see how dirty my clothes are!? Alex yelled.

A person a few yards from them scoffed and approached 7.

"7, you bullying the local elementary school kids again?" he asked.

"Grow some tits, Ruby," 7 responded without even looking in his direction.

"If I was a girl, I'd get right on it," Ruby responded.

Alex had assumed Ruby was a girl as he looked very feminine, but his voice was clearly male. Ruby saw him staring and bent over to Alex's level and helped him to his feet before dusting him off a bit.

"Hey, kid, ditch the clunker and come live at my place. Not many people know this, but...I got a car!" Ruby said with excitement.

"And?" Alex responded.

"It's the only working one in this whole Section!" Ruby howled.

"Dad, are you talking about your crappy low rider that you can only drive in and out of our driveway cause the road is too damaged for a car like that," a small girl said.

Alex stared at this young girl not much older than him and quickly hid behind 7's leg.

"Andee, you scared him," Ruby said with a laugh.

"Must have been cause I'm adorable," Andee joked.

"Grow some...uh...decent...hair...and that might be true," 7 said and lit another cigarette.

After flipping it up to his mouth it fell and was put out by a puddle.

"Ha! Not so cool now, 7," Andee yelled.

7 squinted and quickly turned away.

"Let's go, Alex, we have cool non-bitch related things to do," 7 said calmly.

"See you tonight, 7. Oh and good luck with your kid, better find two more or else the council will take him," Ruby said as he waved them away.

7 walked away and Alex chased after. After one more trip on the rickshaw they arrived at the center of downtown. Alex noticed that a makeshift banner was sloppily splayed out across the intersection in the middle of downtown.

"Phoenix: We Rise Until They Fall," Alex read outloud.

"You read pretty good for a dumb kid," 7 said, lightly clapping with fake admiration.

Alex's posture suddenly changed, as did his speech.

"I'll have you know I'm top of my class at the academy, have academic scores of kids twice my age, if my dad hear-" Alex yelled before freezing mid sentence.

7 knelt down and patted Alex's head.

"Is your little brain freeze over, kid?"

"Uh, yeah, I just remembered something, but now I don't anymore," Alex responded, his voice now shaking.

"Well, next time it happens, warn me so I can boot you into the nearest alley because that was incredibly embarrassing," 7 said before messing up Alex's hair.

Alex smiled and tried to push 7's hand away before ducking out from his grasp.

"Now let's keep going."

"Ok!"

Soon after, they approached a tall building that was very neatly decorated with various lights found around the city. They took turns turning on as the city barely had enough power for several toasters let alone a whole light grid.

"Alex, use your ears, this place is our tribe's beacon. Although, mostly bums and snobs roam its floors, so it's a dirty beacon," 7 explained.

Together they walked into the entrance and the lobby had hundreds of people in it, packed shoulder to shoulder. From people fighting to knitting, this room contained it all.

"Hold on to a leg, kid," 7 warned.

As Alex clamped on to 7's leg, 7 reached out his hand and started charging forward. He pushed through all the people in the way till he got to the front where there was a receptionist's desk. The worker there was less than pleased to see him.

"Ugh, 7, you could have just asked them to move," she said.

"That would have required me to ask about fifty times, that's fifty one more times than I'd like to ask," 7 replied before resting his elbows on the counter

"Whatever, who are you here to see?" she asked.

"One child, please," 7 asked with a smile.

"That's...not how it works. Floor 56 is the orphanage. You're in luck, Frost just deposited a new batch," the receptionist responded.

7 nodded and blew a huge cloud of smoke in her face before stepping back and bulldozing through more people. Alex barely held on through all of this. They reached the one working elevator and waited for it to come down.

"This damn thing, takes forever," 7 shouted.

Alex didn't speak, only listened while occasionally looking at the people of the city through the burn holes in the back of 7's jacket. He inspected them and noticed their rags for clothing with mismatched socks. He also noticed weapons, and a lot of them. Every third person had some kind of shank or odd looking gun on their side.

"7, why-"

"Because," 7 answered instantly.

The elevator finally came down and 7 stepped in with Alex. Other people walked in after but 7 gently pushed them out.

"Nope," 7 said firmly.

Alex laughed as the doors closed and 7 smiled.

"Get comfortable, kid, this elevator will take thirty minutes to reach that floor," 7 said as he sat down and crossed his legs.

"Do you have any toys?" Alex asked with excitement.

"Uh," 7 said and looked around.

7 quickly took off his left glove and threw it at him.

"How am I supposed to play with this?" Alex asked with a chuckle.

"That's your job," 7 said as he rested his head on the wall of the elevator.

Alex put the glove on and acted like it was shocking him.

"May the lunar force guide you!" Alex yelled.

Alex ran around playing make believe with himself for a while until he got tired twenty minutes later. He walked to 7's lap and sat in it. 7 was startled and reached to grab Alex by his head. Alex leaned back and rested against 7, closing his eyes and groaning with exhaustion.

"I need food, 7, I'm getting hungry," Alex said quietly.

7 grabbed Alex's head but quickly changed his intent. He softened his grip and rubbed his hand over Alex's head gently. They reached the right floor soon after and 7 stood quickly, launching Alex's sleeping body. The lady at the front desk of the orphanage counter witnessed the event and smiled.

"Tender moment?" the lady said.

"Tracy, kid me," 7 responded as he started walking towards her.

"At least look at some first, you barbarian."

7 groaned as he blew out a large cloud of smoke.

"I'll check your inventory, why not," 7 said.

"Not the best way to think of a kid but it's the best I'll get from you," Tracy said after a short chuckle.

Suddenly, a little girl walked up holding a tiny bag and a backpack in each hand. She put the backpack on and used her free hand to grab Alex's hand.

"I hate this place, let's go," she yelled.

7 stared at Tracy in confusion.

"She just arrived as part of a big shipment. She has tried to escape 4 times already, I don't think you can handle her, 7. You haven't had 1 kid in the entire time you've lived here," Tracy explained.

"I don't know, she has a fire in her, and if that fire burns me I can always stomp that fire out," 7 said while looking over the girl.

"I don't think you understand, the moment she gets into an open space she is going to run," Tracy said.

7 blew out a stream of smoke across the room causing the kids nearby to cough. He picked up the girl by the back of her jacket and lifts her to eye level, yanking the still connected Alex up as well. The whole event caused Alex to crash his head into the side of 7 as well.

"My eye! Let me go, stupid!" Alex yelled.

7 laughed to himself as he carried them back to the elevator. Alex tried to kick at the girl so she would release her grip, but 7 released his grip on the girl first. They both dropped, crashing into the floor. 7 then pushed them into the elevator with a gentle swing of his foot.

"I'm great with kids, never met one I couldn't beat up either. Therefore, everything's gonna work out just fine," 7 said with a sly grin.

He stepped back into the elevator and blew one more puff of smoke as the doors closed.

"Those kids are dead," Tracy said to herself.

"8, using my absolute genius I've finally come up with a name for our newest family member! 10!" 7 roared, nearly jumping from his chair.

8 groaned and growled. 7 slumped into his chair and crossed his arms.

"Fine fine, Eeeeellll-" 7 began before hearing a low growl from 8 "-ahem, Eliana! El or Elli for short!"

8 cocked its head to the side and hissed.

"Yes I am sneaky!" 7 responded.

Off in the distance there was a knock at the front of the warehouse. 7 got up and bumped into Alex on his way to the large door in the front of his warehouse.

"7! The council has requested we inspect the safety and status of your household! Open up!" 7 heard a voice yell from outside.

"Wonderful! Alex, Elli, initiate project '3rd pass'," 7 ordered.

The kids quickly dropped what they were doing and scrambled around the room, gathering trash bags and random trinkets.

7 lifted the warehouse door and gestured the three inspectors inside with a wave and a smile. They carefully walked in, stepping over busted machinery and hundreds and hundreds of cigarette butts.

"Well then, 7, call your three kids out so we can meet them and assess their health," the head inspector said, a cleaner than average lady, now holding a clipboard and a pen.

"You heard the peeps, come on out, brats!" 7 yelled.

Alex and Elli came rushing out holding a poorly constructed dummy composed of the refuse they collected earlier.

"Gentleman, and woman, this is Alex, Elli and...uh...Trash…-y," 7 said with a giant beaming smile.

"7, this is a joke, that's just garbage," the head inspector said, clearly unamused.

"Excuse me, Alex is a wonderful kid, he is definitely not garbage," 7 said, his smile still prominent.

"No, not him, the mound of garbage in the middle!" the inspector said.

Elli quickly pulled out a blue marker and drew tears on the face of the abomination.

"Look at what you did!" Elli yelled.

Alex quickly stepped in front of Trash-y and raised clenched fists.

"No one disses my family and gets away with it," Alex growled.

The inspector's faces changed from unamused to annoyed. They looked towards 7 whose smile was slowly fading.

"Inspectors, do you know how disappointed I am in you? You come into my house, and insult my family, and expect to leave here without consequences?" 7 said quietly.

7's body started to make a whirring sound and smoke flowed from under his coat.

"What a beautiful child!" one of the inspectors blurted out.

"Yes!" the head inspector added "Great work, 7! I'll be sure to give you a good report. Let me just get their signatures and get out of your hair."

"And now you mock her baldness? Do you have no shame?" 7 yelled.

"Our sincerest apologies! We will just come by later for the minor details. Thank you for your time!" the head inspector said quickly before turning to speed walk out of the room.

After 7 closed the warehouse door Elli and Alex began laughing so hard 7 was sure the inspectors heard them.

"Well done! Nice touch with the tears Elli, that really sold it," 7 said, reaching out his hand for a fist bump.

They both returned the gesture and ran back to their corners of the repurposed laboratory in the warehouse.

Three months later, 7 had tasked the kids to find useful materials in the scrap heap behind the factory. He said it was for something called a "Virga".

Together they slowly sorted through dozens of bits and bobs, busted machinery, bent roof panels, and plenty of broken glass.

"Hey Elli, do you think this is the thing 7 needs?" Alex yelled as he held up a small silver coin shaped item.

"Shut up, he didn't tell us details on purpose! To keep us busy while he takes a nap! Wait, does he even sleep?" Ellie yelled back.

Alex shrugged and went back to searching. As he turned his head he quickly caught a glint of something down a tube buried in the rubble near a small destroyed section of 7's warehouse.

In the distance a loud siren went off and Elli popped up instantly.

"Alex! Let's go! They are attacking!" Ellie called out before running back in the direction of the warehouse.

"Hold on, I think I found something!" Alex yelled back.

He reached his arm down the tube all the way up to his shoulder, straining as he failed to reach the object.

"Come on, let's go! Get it later," Elli yelled, now at the warehouse back entrance.

As he finally managed to grasp the object he suddenly felt his arm lock up and burn.

"Elli! I'm stuck!" Alex called out.

"Let go of it and run!"

"I can't, my arm is stuck!"

Elli turned back and saw a blinding flash of light strike Alex. Moments later, a large mass impacted him on his trapped arm and severed it clean off. Alex howled in pain before passing out.

"Alex!" Elli yelled before running back towards Alex.

8 quickly jumped down from the top of the warehouse and landed in front of Elli, causing her to trip and come to an abrupt stop.

Moments later an explosion burst from directly in front of them and sent Elli flying backwards. 8 rushed forwards and quickly reached Alex, biting down on the collar of his shirt and dragging him away rapidly.

"Stop right there, puss," a voice boomed from the sky.

The voice was loud enough to shake Alex conscious. He immediately clutched his arm and cried in agony. However, it did nothing to stop 8 from carrying Alex away.

Alex looked up and saw a man in a robotic suit of armor floating above the warehouse.

"T-that's the Baron of Shadows! 8, take Elli and run, leave me!" Alex yelled, barely conscious.