-29 Years Earlier-
Inside a small research facility on the planet Sargasso, a planet in the Portland system (AN: I shit you not), stood a pair of scientists carefully observing and experimenting on various samples of plants that had mutated due to the extensive terraforming done in the 24th century. As they worked, a city-wide broadcast played in the background.
"They say today is going to be a scorcher! Isn't that right, Martha?"
"I believe that's right, Tom, with the high at 91 F (32.8 C) and the low at 85 F (29.4 C), it's going to be rough out on the farms today. Now let's look at the weather for the week-"
The two broadcasters bantered with each other as they slowly drifted away from the topic. Meanwhile, in the lab, the male researcher couldn't help but groan upon hearing the news.
"It's going to be hot as hell," he complained to himself after staring at the weather for the week displayed on a large screen in the room before he turned back to analyzing data on his computer. The man had brown hair and was dressed in a signature white lab coat with a blue United Earth Government (UEG) issued uniform underneath.
"That it is," His wife, the other researcher, agreed. She wore a similar garment with her long hair tied up in a bun. Neither of the two was fond of the hot weather, but as botanists, they accepted the fact that not many plants grow in cold weather.
A few minutes passed until the man eventually smiled as he stared at the screen in front of him, "Aha! I was right!" he called out as he swiveled around in his seat.
"Hmm?" his wife looked up from the microscope she had been studying.
The man got up, making his way to a red leafy vine plant that was the topic of the month. His wife raised an eyebrow while watching him with some amusement, "That," he snapped his fingers, pointing at the plant, "Is kudzu," he announced.
This got her attention, "Really? Is that what the test said?" she asked with interest. Her husband nodded in response, "That's one piece of the puzzle down," she smiled.
"Right, though I am baffled as to why they are red," he said as a cursory beep was let out from his watch. Looking down, he read a reminder he had set and then turned back to his wife, "Well, I guess it's as good a time as any to call it quits. I promised David we would go get some ice cream for his good grades."
"Sounds fun," his wife nodded planting a kiss on his cheek, "I'll go get changed," she began to walk towards the door before her face changed to hold a hint of concern, "By the way I haven't seen him since breakfast do you know where he is Adam?" she asked.
"No need to worry, Rachel," Adam waved away her concerns. "He's been in the conservatory garden all morning," He pointed to the computer, "I've been checking in with him now and then through the cams,"
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Amid a lush, domed greenhouse stood a child no older than five, gazing at various bushes of flowers while matching them to a florilegium in his hands.
The boy resembled his father somewhat, with black hair and light green eyes. He wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt, indicating a nearby early education institute, along with a pair of plain sneakers covered in dirt.
His eyes were focused as he slowly plucked a blue rose from a bush, 'Just this one and one more and I'll have a gift for Mother's Day,' he thought to himself as he placed the flower in a small, clear vase beside him. Inside the vase were 5 other roses, covering the colors of the rainbow. Red, yellow, green, indigo, and violet-colored roses had already been gathered; now, with a blue rose, all that was left was an orange to complete the set.
Tucking the Florilegium under his armpit, he picked up the vase and began walking, "I think they're this way," he spoke to himself,f unsurely. Slowly, he made his way back towards the entrance of the conservatory and off on a small trail.
"There it is!" he smiled wildly as he spotted the final piece of his gift. Walking up to the flowery bush, he glanced over his shoulder,r checking to see if anyone was behind him. After all, gifts are supposed to be a surprise, and David, the boy, always enjoyed giving surprises.
Quickly reaching out to finish his mission, a sharp pain erupted in his hand the moment he grabbed the plant. "Ow!" he cried out, shaking his hand before looking down at it. Upon peering down, he could see a deep cut that was beginning to bleed.
"Told you to be careful with those roses,"
Almost jumping into the bush, the boy turned around to see the amused smile of his father, "Dad! You scared me!" he said as he began to shake the pain out of his hand again.
His father laughed, "Sorry, young buck, but you need to pay more attention to your surroundings," he said before approaching the boy and motioning for David to show him his injury. Looking down, he whistled, "Phew, you're definitely going to need a band-aid, but you've done worse."
The man nodded with his head, "Go ahead back to the apartment, get a bandaid, and get dressed to go out. I'll take care of hiding your little gift," he said, bending down to pick up the vase from the ground.
His son nodded, "Alright, Daddy," he said before trotting off completely ignoring the blood that was beginning to drip down his hand. He then wiped his hand onto his white shirt, not bothering to notice that he had stained the shirt.
Adam couldn't help but adopt a wry look as he watched his son's actions. Eventually, he shook his head helplessly, 'Forget the plant, maybe I should have studied him?' he thought to himself.
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"What is that monstrosity?" asked Rachel as she stared in disbelief at the 'ice cream' her son had ordered.
Her words weren't hyperbolic as in David's hand was an 3 ice cream-scooped cone featuring mint, Neapolitan, and rocky road in that order. The ice cream was then covered in a mixture of caramel and milk chocolate syrup with sprinkles and peanuts. With a cherry on top. Suffice it to say that the dessert had enough sugar to put down a fully grown African Elephant and just enough to power a 5-year-old boy to be awake past his bedtime.
David only giggled, "Ice cream," he said matter-of-factly before taking a bite of the rocky road scoop.
They sat around a table eating and chatting. It was the first time the family had been out for fun since they had relocated to Sargasso. The truth was that Adam and Rachel's research required them not to stick around for too much time on any planet or particular city. It didn't help that David needed a great deal of care while in this developmental care, and in the 26th century, it wasn't uncommon for parents to send their children to an inner colony boarding school so as to focus on their career.
And yet they didn't. Rather than shipping him off, they instead kept him close, bringing him along on their expeditions. Though it was difficult at times, and the two certainly missed opportunities in their field, despite that, they held David to be a greater importance.
"Oof!"
Turning to look behind his back, David caught the scene of a young girl falling after tripping on a rock. He watched as she picked herself back up with the help of her parents. The image reminded him of his mother wiping up the blood from his cut this morning.
Glancing down, he looked at the band-aid on his hand, rubbing the cloth with his thumb and feeling the adhesive bandage.
A moment passed before he looked back u,p seeing that the girl had left, and a glance down the sidewalk walk, he could barely see the back of the pink sunhat she wore. But at the spot where she fell, something caught his eye. Getting up from the table, he walked up before reaching down and picking up- 'A bear?'. In his hand, he held a small stuffed bear that hung on a key chain.
Realizing that it was hers, he quickly turned, standing up in the direction she was walking, "Hey-wait!" he called out, while taking off down the sidewalk.
"Hold on, David-" he heard his father yell, but he nevertheless didn't stop.
He bobbed and weaved through the oncoming foot traffic, "Excuse me!-Sorry!-Just trying to get by!" he gave apologies to everyone he bumped into as he began to see the pink sun hat and matching pink sundress through the large crowd of people. He no longer heard the shouts of his father attempting to catch up to him, as the noises from the busy street beside him and the various voices muted his surroundings.
"Slow down pinky!" he cried out as he was less than 20 feet away from the girl and her parents.
This time, his call got the girl's attention. While holding her father's hand, she turned to look behind with a confused expression, only to see a boy with a black t-shirt and blue jeans waving her down erratically. She stopped walking, much to the concern of her parent,s who stopped as well, wondering the reason for her actions.
Finally catching up to the group, David raised his hand holding the bear keychain. "You dropped this when you fell." Now that he was finally in front of her, he was able to see that the girl had golden blond hair with crystal blue eyes. Her head was tilted to the side and angled up a bit at him, as she was shorter than the boy.
The girl's eyes lit up, "Mr. Alexander!" She quickly snatched the stuffed animal and hugged it tightly to her body. Obviously thankful for her reunion with the toy.
"That's quite sweet," the girl's mother smiled at the heartwarming scene. She then bent down to talk to David more on his level, "What's your name, big guy?" she asked kindly.
"David, ma'am," he responded politely as he looked up at her.
"Well, David, thank you for returning Mr. Alexander to us," she said before turning to her daughter, "Now, Daisy, what should we say to Mr. David?" she asked in a teaching way.
"T-thank you," she said shyly with a small, embarrassed blush on her face before trying to hide behind her father. However, she still peered at the young boy out from the large figure of her dad.
"Don't mention it," David scratched the back of his head before smiling, 'All in a day's work,' he thought to himself.
"Now we must be going, and it seems that your father wants to speak with you," she said, pointing behind him.
Turning around, David's eyes widened as he saw his angry dad staring down at him, "Bye, David!" the family said in unison, but the only thing David thought at the moment was, 'Uh-Oh'
Adam waved to the family as they walked away with a stern expression before he turned his attention back toward his son. It was plain to see that he wasn't pleased with his son's little disappearing act. His mouth twitched as he slowly considered what he was to say and do.
Moments passed as the two stood across from each other silently in the midst of the busy sidewalk. Just as David was starting to sweat fearing the wrath of his father, Adam spoke, "Well done returning that toy to that girl. I am proud that you were willing to go above and beyond for someone else. It was kind of you to do that," he said almost verbally applauding David's actions. David, wanting to accept the praise, began to open his mouth but was interrupted.
"But running off on your own, without notifying me or your mother so that we could accompany is completely unacceptable David." his words made David feel uncomfortable as a lump formed in his throat. "What if you weren't paying attention and ran into traffic? What if some thug saw an unaccompanied young boy and decided to scoop you up before I caught up to you? You'd never see me nor your mother again," he earnestly spoke as David began to feel guilt for his actions. Tears welled up in his eyes and began to leak out over his actions disappointing his father.
Crouching down Adam called David over and wiped the tears out of his eyes before his expression settled to show his role of a loving protector, "My son, what you did isn't wrong, but if you were to take anything away from today then take away this: Righteousness must always be tempered by responsibility and duty. If not then it becomes irreverence, and someone who is irreverent of the world around them is among the worst type of people," David nodded seriously at his words.
"Now I am not going to punish you this time for what you've done as you did it with good intentions. But I want you to promise me, going forward that you'll be mindful of your actions, ok?" he asked raising a pinky. David nodded apologizing and intertwining his finger as well. They locked and shook their hands before releasing.
"Alright, lets not dwell on this. Your mother is waiting for us, we need to get a new shirt to replace the one you wiped your blood on," he said with a wry look standing up and directing them back toward the shopping block.
…
..
.
"There you are!" Rachel called out looking up from her seat at the pair as they emerged from the crowd.
She looked as though she was about to reprimand her son as well but was cut off by Adam, "Sorry it took so long, me and 'big D' right here had a little discussion about thinking before acting," he said winking at his wife, "Isn't that right David?"
"I am sorry Mommy," the boy said looking down at his feet.
Sighing the woman patted his head, "Just know that we say these things because we love you, and that we wouldn't know what to do if something happened to you," she said getting a nod from her son, "Well, lets forget about that for now. Because now we have to get a shirt for a certain SOMEONE who ruined his other one," she said casting a fake glare at her son.
David gave a sheepish smile back at her, "Guilty as charged," he said getting a laugh out of both of his parents.
"Well let's go in," Rachel said as she began ascending the stairs leading to the store. Adam followed behind her.
"Wait! I gotta tie my shoe," David called out as he crouched down to grab the laces of his sneakers.
Above the half of flight of stairs stood Adam holding the door open, "Come on sport we need-
Before the man could finish his words, David had finished tying his shoes and as he stood up to walk up the stairs he began to have a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. The moment he climbed up to the top of the stairs time seemed to slow down from his perspective.
In an instant, his eyes began to grow wide, as he watched the wooden floors of the department store flex upwards as if they were a metal spoon being bent. The flooring gave way ripping into two as the orange-colored flames from the basement seemed to crawl their way upwards. In the next moment, the floor nearly gave way disintegrating from a combination of pressure and heat that spiraled upwards.
No one in the store or out had reacted nor realized what had taken place. In fact, the shoppers inside were completely unaware of the fact that they were being vaporized in that instant.
As the nano-seconds passed the fireball climbed higher and higher in the middle of the store until just like with the floor the ceiling and subsequent roof buckled and gave in.
Anyone and everyone inside had died in that instant. The passersby on the street and sidewalks were spared thanks to the architecture of the city block's outer walls being a mix of concrete and metal containing the blast.
David who had been frozen in time was flung backward off the stairs, spared by the fact his father in the doorway had inadvertently shielded him from the heat and pressurization of the bomb. He landed only to blackout immediately upon impact.
He had no other living relatives.
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Drop your thoughts, hope you like it!