Capítulo 15: Activate- Stasis

T-4 Days to Incident

#Baker Residence

Tom stood before the entrance. He tried to listen through the door.

“Eh! Nothing? No shouting! No cursing?” He was anxious and had a foreboding of a severe beating. However, a silent home made him even more scared. Butterflies are in the stomach. Dried throat. Sweating palm and forehead. He was clearly afraid. “The beating from being bullied hurts me but it doesn't scare me as much as the beating from my dad. He won’t stop until I faint. It happened many times before. What do I do?”

He took out his keys and entered the house.

Hearing the sound of some faint arguments, he moved closer to the study room to eavesdrop. He could hear his mom taking his side and fearlessly protesting the MIGHTY Edmont Baker. “That’s right, mom! Give it to him. How dare he talk about divorce? If anyone has the right to do that, it should be mom! You can take your BS elsewhere, Mr. Dad! That’s my mom!”

He kept listening and grinning in satisfaction. “Serves you right. It’s time mom gave him some taste of his own medicine.”

The conversation stopped. So, Tom stood like a culprit in fetters, awaiting judgment.

Janis came out of the study and saw Tom.

“Go to your room. We need to have a talk.” She sent him away to his room.

“What’s it now? Why the talk of having some talk?” Tom was worried again. “Was there any new development while I wasn’t listening?”

Tom moved upstairs to his room. Now that all the tensions had subsided, he felt a searing pain in his buttocks. Placing the bag on the bedside, he sat on his bed.

Janis entered the room. Tom quickly grabbed the chair and placed it in front of his bed. When Janis took her seat, he sat on his bed. The soft cushion on the bed gave some relief to his painful backside.

“Tom, you have to be honest with me.”

“Mom. What’s going on?”

“You’re late. That’s what happened. Don’t you know what could have happened?”

Tom nodded in assertion.

“So, tell me from the beginning the reasons for your delay. You are never this late!”

Tom hesitated for a few seconds.

“I can’t hide it forever. I’ll just dilute things down a bit and then tell her.” Thinking this, Tom told her mom what happened today, of course, skipping the last part where he lost his pride as a human.

“How can they do that? Did you tell your teacher?”

“Mom, they beat me even more if I snitch. They beat me even if I didn’t say anything to the teacher.”

Janis sat by her son and embraced him.

“My poor child. Why aren’t you strong? At least show some resistance. Even if they beat you, protest bravely. Make some noise! If you keep yourself silent, they will keep trampling over you.”

“I want to, but whenever I remember their faces, my whole existence shakes. I freeze.”

Janis knew. It’s not easy to suddenly change one’s nature. Her child had been timid since he was young. Not having support from his father greatly weakened his confidence. It was Edmont’s duty to teach his son about courage, resistance, and, above all, to be brave. “But he himself is less than a man; how would he teach his son how to be one?” Janis sighed.

Changing the very nature of Tom would be like completely breaking the boy and then constructing him anew. “Is that even possible? What do I do with this child? He keeps getting bullied.”

“Show me where they hurt you.”

“Mom, I can’t. It’s embarrassing. I’m not a little kid anymore. It’ll be okay.”

“Okay, get a bath. Then come down for dinner when I tell you. Your father will be done by then. And take care of your wound. Tom, what will I do with you?” True anxiety was showing on her face.

“Okay, mom. I will be brave from now on, I promise. I will resist from now on. So, don’t worry.”

Janis sighed and left the room.

Tom remained in his bed for a long time.

“It’s easier said than done, mom. I know you are genuinely worried about me. You’re the only one who loves me. But being brave is a very difficult thing and it will come with a price. It’s impossible the way I am now.”

The thought of that homeless bum reappeared in his mind. “Ah! That old fart! Why aren’t you taking me to Aboron? You said I could become brave and strong! Then take me already!”

Closing the door to the room, Tom took his clothes off. Then, entering the bathroom, Tom investigated his wounds. The place where he was repeatedly hit looked burning red. Part of the skin in that area looked blackish blue. Some blisters appeared.

“I won’t be able to take more beatings tomorrow. I have to skip school somehow.” He began to think about what to do.

#After dinner

Tom was in bed after dinner. He was very tired, and it felt nice as he took a shower. Finally, the harshness of the day was showing, as he immediately fell asleep.

A few hours went by. Tom was in a deep sleep. The whole world around him was! Everywhere, it felt like pin-drop silence.

Suddenly, Tom felt someone saying, “Brat! The whole day, you kept complaining about me not giving you a gift! Okay! Take this, and thank me later."

Tom thought he heard something, but it wasn’t enough of a cause to wake up! So he continued sleeping.

Then I heard a mechanical voice. “Stasis activated.”

“Stasis? What’s that? Who cares.” He thought with a half-awake mind.

“Repairing wounded tissues. Recovering stamina and health.” The suppressed mechanical voice spoke again.

"Hmm!Repairing what now? Oh, well, do whatever. Do your best. Let me sleep.” Tom could not open his eyes as his whole body was fatigued. His eyeballs only moved a few times under his eyelids; he was fast asleep.

T-4 Days to Incident

Tom woke up feeling absolutely the best. The pain in his body was completely gone. He went to the bathroom to examine his wounds from yesterday, but to his surprise, he was completely healed.

“What magic is this? How has it healed so much in such a short time?” He remembered hearing someone say something during his sleep. He couldn’t remember.

“What was that really? Anyway, I’m healed; that’s what matters. But I’m skipping school today for sure—or maybe not. Ah! Shit… We’ll see to it later.” His thoughts wavered between going or not going.

Tom prepped for school and ate his breakfast. Then he said goodbye to his mom.

“Now, then, shall we talk to the school?” He thought.

After almost an hour of surprisingly non-exhausting walking, Tom was on the sidewalk opposite the school. A few hundred meters of walking will place him right in front of the hellish school. All the refreshing sensations from the morning vanished into the air. He felt butterflies in his stomach again. He hid behind the bus stand shed. As he was hesitating, a bus arrived, and some students disembarked. To Tom’s surprise, one of them was that cute girl, his savior. Tom’s hesitation subsided, and his curiosity piqued.

The girl was hesitating to cross the road. After a few minutes, she decided on something and started walking toward a different destination.

“Wait! Is she skipping too? Then I will skip. Let’s see where she goes. Hahaha! Punk! Are you stalking a girl now? Wait a second! If you walk in that direction, you'll be going to...

Tom couldn’t believe his eyes. “Is she going to do that for real?”

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