"So, you want to know how we got the metal arm, am I right?"

It was the year 2107 that my brother and I had the best time of our lives. Our parents had died in a Hover accident when we were just infants. And although many people would consider that to be a hindrance to a normal life, for us it wasn’t. We never even met them, but we knew that we were better off without them. They were a pair of good-for-nothings, low-life junkies.

Technology, Food, medicine, peace… life is no longer a struggle or the great burden as it was in the past. yet people go and get themselves hooked on drugs. And the worst kinds, are the ones who refuse to accept help not because it’s difficult to but because they enjoyed living that way. Well, among this group of low-lives, were our parents. After they had us they vowed that they would make some kind of a change for the better. Get cleaned up, get a fixed job or at least quit while we were around, but it was more or less of the same. Less than 4 months after we were born, they both overdosed on the kitchen floor, leaving us two infants on the changing table. Todd eventually rolled himself off and suffered a mild blow to the head. We were lucky enough that our Aunt stopped by and found us crying on the floor. Two months after that, they passed in the accident. Their hover break failed and the vehicle collided into a building full force. They died on the spot.

‘Good riddance - is what I said after learning and actually seeing evidence of all the horrible things they’d put themselves and us through. Todd, on the other hand, was somewhat more sympathetic. He agreed that we were better off without them, but he wasn’t too happy that they died.

Anyways, we grew up with our aunt Henley. She was an amazing aunt. She worked for the Government in the Scientific Agriculture Department. We never got to see her at work but she would always bring back some cool inventions from her job back home for us to see and play with. I guess we have her to blame as to why we became so fascinated with science.

As we grew older, whenever the rain fell and the thunder roared. Todd would often crawl into my bed when he couldn’t sleep. I’d hold him tightly and assured him, that I’d never leave him until he fell asleep. I knew that with our parents gone and with Todd being so fragile, I would have to take care of him. When we started school, of course, kids made fun of us. So I was always getting into fights and kicking people’s asses. When we turned 15, we were a couple of badasses. I’d taught Todd how to fight and no one dared to make fun of us ever again. People can spout that bullshit that fear doesn’t equal respect but they’re wrong. Fear is just a different kind of respect.

But sadly, fear wasn’t going to save us that night.

Someone broke into our house that year, January 2107, our aunt was on her way home from work but she was running rather late. We were already in bed. Todd heard a noise downstairs and didn’t bother to wake me. When he got down there, there were two guys with weapons. It was an attempted robbery. I woke up due to all the noise and rushed downstairs just in time to step in and scare them off.

“Are you okay?” I rushed over to him after the goons retreated.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

With the immediate threat gone, I infuriatingly punched him in the face. “Why didn’t you call me?”

He grabbed his jaw and rubbed the area of pulsation “There was no time.”He vindicated.

I scoffed him off, placed him on the sofa then headed towards the phone. “Stay there, I’m calling Aunt Hen…

*Boom*

And just like that …

A bomb exploded in the middle of the house. It happened so fast and rendered me unconscious. By the time I came to it, I could hardly make clear what had happened.

Time slowed down. My ears were ringing; I couldn’t focus as my eyes swerved back and forth the room. I had suffered a minor head injury from the blast after being thrown back into the concrete wall. I wobbled around then managed to stand up straight. I immediately started shouting.

“Todd!”

Blistering my fingers against the fresh rubble, I yelled again and again, “Todd!”

A van drove up in the yard and some men wearing uniforms and carrying some sort of laser weapons and guns came out. A red beam flashed across my retina.

“Hold your fire!” A woman shouted. Then she came closer. “Todd?”

I looked up to find my aunt, “Jason, is that you?”As she came closer, she placed her hands around my neck and pulled me in closer.“Thank God you’re okay. Where’s your brother?”

I welled up, “I don’t know…”

“Stop crying” she ordered me as she wiped my tears away, “We will find him.” Then she handed me over to one of the men in uniform. “Get him to the van.”

It took them about 20 minutes to find him. His right arm had been blown off, his leg was broken and he wasn’t breathing. I wished death upon myself if he didn’t make. I couldn’t stand the thought of living without him. He was loaded in the van next to me. Then Aunt Henley started bossing everyone around.

“You know what you have to do.” She shouted, “Find them and deal with any potential leak. We can’t have a word of this getting out.”Then she got alongside me in the van, “Oh, and call clean-up. Before that sun rises, this mess had better be gone. My nephews and I were never here. Got it?”

“Yes, mam.”

It was in that moment that I realized everything she’d told us was a lie. Well, almost everything. She did work for the government but as a double agent. She worked for the Resistance as a Scientist.

She brought us to a safe house then told me about our real family history. Our parents weren’t real drug addicts; they were just playing the part they were given by their leader. They were murdered by the Government in what they made appear to be an accident after they were found out. Our aunt was recently found out and would once again have to change her identity and appearance in order to relocate.

“I want to see my brother,” I ordered.

He’d been in surgery for over 18 hours but it was finally over. He was resting for about an hour but I couldn’t wait any longer to see him. After the condition that the blast put him in, I didn’t know what to expect.

As we approached the door to his room, I clenched up.

“What have you done to him?” I yelled.

“Jason, calm down,” she ordered.

“It’s one of our latest projects. It’s made of Mendotha infused Titanium Steel; one of the hardest and strongest substances on earth.”

“You’ve made him into a freak! Why didn’t you just give him a prosthetic replacement?”

“Why?” She rhetorically, “because that equipment is only available in secured Government facilities.”She argued, “We’ve tried to duplicate it, but this is the closest we’ve come to it.”

Then she walked over to his bedside and lightly brushed his hair to the side, “Besides, this suits him way better, I think.”She smiled.“Let’s wake him up. It’s time for a History class.”

After he had woken up, she filled him in on everything just like she did with me. Todd was calm about the whole thing, but not me… I was furious.

“You lied to us,” I snapped, you lied to us our whole lives!”

“I protected you.” She reprimanded.“You weren’t ready for the truth and quite frankly you still aren’t. But someone has forced my hand and now we need to move on to stage 3 ”

“Stage 3?”

“I am sorry to say this but you two will have to learn to survive without one another.”

“What!” we echoed.

I turned to look at Todd then back again at my Aunt, “You are not separating us!”

She chuckled, “I am afraid you have no choice in the matter.”

She went on to tell us how since we now know the truth it was our duty to continue in our parents' footsteps, to serve the Resistance and its cause. Anything less would be dishonorable. She insisted that we had to be placed in separate departments due to Todd’s new ‘abilities’, and that he would have to be erased from the system. Todd, whose real name at the time was actually Stephen would have to die in order to become Todd. He would work for the Resistance Military Department in order to infiltrate the Government and perform ‘clean up’ jobs on those who dare to betray or run away from their duties. While I would be stuck around a desk and acting in the real world as if I had lost my brother to a genetic disease.

With our world turned upside down and the weight of the world placed upon my head, my only real concern was him…

“Okay Aunty, I understand.” I conceded. “If this is what we have to do, we will do it.”

Her brows lifted in surprise “Now that’s a good attitude,” She smiled in approval, “Come here,” She beckoned, and then reached out her hands to give me a hug.

I walked over to her slowly as if in emotional turmoil “I know that this is hard, but I am proud of you for being so mature about it.”

I hugged her tightly, reaching all the way to her back. “Thank you, Aunty. You took care of us all these years.”

Then I made my move.

“What are you doing? Put that down!”She shouted.

I pulled the laser knife straight from out of her left back pocket. “But as I said…” and I lifted my right arm,

“No!”

“You are not separating us.”

*Shing*