“Your brother’s there!?” Elise asked me with shock on her face.

  She and her dad were alternatively glancing at the violence happening on TV and back to me.

  I couldn’t really think. Damnit, I had already lost my mother. If I’d lost my brother too…

  “Wh…what do we do?” Elise asked me.

  We? She wanted to help? What could she do? She would only be put in danger.

  Calm down. I had to do this myself. First, more information.

  “I’ll…I’ll call him,” I managed to say, composing myself.

  I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my very short list of contacts. I called my brother once I found his name. I haven’t contacted my siblings at all since I was banished from home. We were not allowed to have contact with each other anymore, since they would be punished.

  The call immediately went to voice mail.

  Damnit, his phone was off. Or worse.

  “James, it’s Jack. I saw the news about Philadelphia. Let me know if you’re alright,” I spoke into the phone.

  I hung up. Elise and her dad were staring at me as if to say, ‘what now’.

  I didn’t know, so I started thinking.

  Do I steal a car and rush over there? My own car is still at my home, perhaps I should ask if I can have it again?

  Although, leaving this town, after having stated to the police that I wanted to stay here in case my mother is found, is highly suspicious, even if my brother's safety is my excuse.

  And, what can I do against a rioting city? I’ll stand no chance.

  I want to save my brother, although everything in me seems to tell me I should stay here.

  …Do I want to save him?

  Cold reality hits me. My instincts are telling me I shouldn’t go. It’s too dangerous. I have bigger fish to fry. I won’t get anything out of it.

  I’m so glad I can still catch on to what’s happening, why my instincts are screaming no.

  It’s the question that endlessly haunts me. For the answer would decide my fate.

  Can I, my father’s creation, be saved? Can I, my brother, my sister, be saved from what he has done to us.

  When I left my household and came to this town with my mother, I had to adjust. In my old house, my evil nature was rewarded. In the new house, it would be ineffective to save my mother.

  To do that, I investigated my own nature and reevaluated what I needed to change so I could save my mother.

  It took some time, but I succeeded. I had been making progress with my mother.

  Due to the experience, my moral compass gained some valuable epiphanies.

  Is evil born, or created? Is it predetermined, or do your genetics, environment and experiences mold who you are? I had found the answer. It’s both. It’s a chicken and egg question.

  You have no control over your genetics, upbringing, and such, therefore it’s predetermined.

  But, in that answer lies salvation. You can’t change who you were born as and how you were raised. But you yourself can choose to be in a different environment and experience new things. You can choose a new reality for yourself, and therefore develop a new nature.

  It’s the freedom of human will. If a criminal feels guilty about the sins they have committed, the guilt won’t go away as long as they keep doing the exact same thing.

  No, they choose to go to the police, or church, and confess their sins. They lay their fate in a new environment that could wash away their sins, thereby slowly redeeming their guilty, evil nature.

  Evil is born, then created again by your own choices, thereby being born again.

  But, salvation lies in the fact that you yourself can choose to break that cycle.

  I’m proof of that. When my mother was broken, I could have chosen to submit to my father, to choose my evil nature. But, I refused.

  I had created a new reality, to save my mother myself, something which I previously had not been capable of.

  And I had succeeded. My nature changed, and my mother got better and better in turn.

  I changed my evil nature, and rejected what my father had created in me.

  As if. My father is way crueler than that. He had already found the solution to the freedom of human will.

  Evil creates evil. But for what my father had created in his children, evil was just the appetizer. He did something far worse to us.

  He had broken us too. We have an evil and broken nature.

  A broken clock could still get the time right twice, but it can never repair itself.

  Even if we choose to change our nature, we will always go back to what our father had created in us.

  It seems ridiculous, absurd, impossible, paradoxical.

  That we’ll choose to go back to our old nature, even if we are actively rejecting it.

  But since my mother was murdered, that’s exactly what had been happening to me.

  I was using all my father had taught me to actively hunt him, reject him, and thereby being just like how he had created me.

  And I’ve been enjoying myself, for I’m completely in my element.

  When I discovered what my powers were, I was in a good mood.

  When the world moved to my mechanisations, I was satisfied.

  Power revealed your true nature, and mine was still what my father had embedded in me.

  To understand, use, and bend human nature to my will.

  Changing my own evil nature I could only do by using my evil nature. Therefore, I could never change my evil nature, since I could never get rid of it.

  That was how my father had broken me.

  I will always choose to be what my father had created.

  And the most terrifying part is that my father didn’t personally do anything for me to become this way.

  He just set up the environment, and I’ve made myself this way to survive it.

  Against a tyrant, you could rebel. Against the world, you can only yield.

  My house was a puppet show. Every servant around me was always forced to act a certain way. And if I didn’t notice the show and failed to act along, I would be punished.

  At the dinner table, if I didn’t notice that everyone had a napkin in their lap, and I didn’t, I’d suddenly get only meat on my plate.

  If I didn’t notice that everyone spoke with a certain emotion in their voice or expression on their face, and I didn’t, a sudden sparring match would be arranged for me.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  If I didn’t notice that a teacher was lying about the material he taught me, I would be forced to study late into the night until I learned the truth.

  The worst part was that my father constantly changed the show, and I needed to constantly rediscover what was new, so I could act along. To constantly rediscover and replicate human nature.

  For if I did a good job, I would get what I wanted for once.

  To visit my mother for a weekend, so I could relax.

  How ironic it was, that my father made me act so constantly that I began to hate the very notion of it. And that with my mother, the world’s most famous actress, I could drop it and be my true self.

  And how ironic it was that my father taught me everything about how to act, not my mother. And he had not even done a good job at it.

  At my old home, I never became good at it. Acting always felt limiting and useless to me. My true self always shone through because of that.

  But during the time I left home with my mother, I had become as good as her.

  Because the punishment I could endure, but losing my mother would have been unbearable.

  I used all my father embedded in me, and understood, used and bent love itself to avoid losing it forever.

  And my act of defiance made me see the light.

  That my father had made a mistake in creating me. No creator is all knowing, after all.

  He had created in me a paradox to his paradox.

  Broken things can’t repair themselves, but I discovered that I could repair other broken things. You needed a repairman for such things, after all.

  And my father had made me into a master of human nature. I am the best repairman there is. I can repair the brokenness that keeps other’s nature in stasis.

  Otherwise, I could have never saved my mother, who my father had broken completely.

  It was all a miscalculation on his part, because he doesn’t believe in other people. He has no trust or feelings for others after all.

  Why would he expect me to use my evil nature to repair people and create good in others. He didn’t believe in other people, so it was a senseless thing to do.

  He didn’t expect other people to return the favor.

  That was his mistake.

  My fathers evil nature. Only trusting and caring for yourself, always choosing yourself and not other people, is what led him to miss this.

  If I choose to change other people for good, I’ll still have chosen to change my environment.

  And in this new environment, someone I had repaired could repair my broken nature too.

  Only broken things can understand the damage once repaired. If they’re repaired themselves, they’ll recognize how the reparation process works. They’ll learn how to repair me too.

  It’s how I plan to repair my broken nature. By letting my evil nature create a world of good, and letting that goodness repair me in return, therefore resolving my need to use my evil nature.

  In a world of good, I won’t need my evil nature anymore. The world will bring me salvation. I’ll be repaired. I’ll be a good person too.

  When I discovered this about myself, I became convinced to save my mother myself, instead of yielding to my father.

  For if I saved her, in return, I believed she would save me too.

  And I was right.

  While I was repairing her, she began repairing me in return too.

  I became a better human being since leaving my old environment and creating a new one for myself.

  However, the transformation was incomplete. My progress was terminated.

  My father had murdered her, and my repairs are now being undone by his hands.

  He had taken my salvation away. I would show him no mercy for that.

  But my salvation was not lost.

  My brother and sister are also broken products. Once I repair them, they can repair me too.

  Therefore, saving my brother is imperative to me.

  Otherwise, I’ll be lost completely.

  If there’s no one left in the world that can repair me in return, then evil is the only choice left for me in the world.

  It’s already happening, not even a couple of hours after I lost my mother. My evil nature is already regrowing in me, letting me instinctively pose the question if I should save my brother at all.

  I can still recognise it happening, and reaffirm my moral compass. But, I know my morality has a time limit until it’s completely taken over by my base nature.

  I have to save my brother. Otherwise, I’ll be lost.

  But how? I still don’t know, and I can’t think of anything.

  But I remember now that I’m not alone, a fact I had realised again after reaffirming my morality.

  I’ll pose the question to the people around me.

  “I immediately got his voicemail. I…I don’t know what more I can do,” I said to Elise and her father.

  “Can the rest of your family do something?” William asked me.

  No, what could they… wait.

  Family. My father has police connections. It started with the police opening fire on the students. Realization hits me. I sense my father’s machinations behind what’s happening in that city.

  But, why? I can’t imagine at all what he gained out of it, except for that my brother is there.

  Was he involved somehow? His faculty of study was also involved in the happenings, so it seems likely.

  Had my brother defied my father, and had the order to execute him be given to the police?

  My father’s shadow could have just as well been spying on my brother next to me. Had James rubbed my father the wrong way, and got caught.

  He’s been there for a few months after all. He had left the house too. Perhaps he finally found his own way of life?

  That makes no sense. Our father could just use the shadow to end him.

  Unless James is more powerful than him?

  Even so, it’s impossible for my brother to ever defy our father. He made absolutely sure of that when personally training my brother.

  I’m certain, and therefore, I don’t have to worry about my brother’s safety anymore.

  My father and brother had likely orchestrated the riot in the city together in some way.

  I don’t know why. Maybe my father was also testing how effective my brother is, like he did with me. I lacked information, so it seems most likely for now.

  In that case, I need not go to Philadelphia. I’m sure my brother has accomplished what he had set out to do and was safe. Our father trained him well, he’s very capable. Burning down a city would be a cakewalk for them.

  So I just have to wait, and respond to William now.

  “My father has some police connections, so I believe he will do something. I guess all I can do is wait…”

  “Can’t you call him or something, to make sure?”

  “Uh…”

  “Dad! You know how he feels about his father!” Elise snapped.

  “Well, this should be an exception, right?”

  I found his question quite ironic. Would he still ask me to make an exception if I told that my mother’s remains were sitting in a vase right in front of him, and whose fault it was?

  “I can’t call him. I don’t have his number stored in my phone…”

  It was a truth and a lie. I didn’t have his number saved, but I had it burned in my memories. I could call him anytime I wanted.

  “…but I can call my sister,” I continued.

  Jane. The other lost soul I had left behind, the one I felt most guilty about. It has been around two years. She should be 14 now, and I only feared how much worse she has gotten without me being there for her.

  But, I now needed to call her. Getting more information about the state of affairs at my own household was never a bad thing.

  And…I wanted to hear her voice too, after such a long time.

  I always had it in mind to try and save her once my mother was whole again.

  I…what my father was turning that sweet person into, filled me with absolute horror. I found it even more horrible than what he had done to me and my brother.

  Next to my mother, she’s the person who I wanted to save the most.

  I excused myself from the table, and walked out of earshot, but still in sight of them.

  I grabbed my phone and called her.

  The phone rang a few times. It took a while, but someone answered.

  “Jack?” Jane’s soft, shy, pleasant and pretty voice vibrated in my ear.

  “Hey,” I answered back to the phone.

  “ …I…I don’t know if we should be speaking.”

  “Is father there?”

  “No, I’m in my room. He’s been very busy.”

  “I see. Then it’s fine we speak a little, right?”

  “…If that’s what you want.”

  “…Right. I was worried, I wondered how things are over there.”

  “Well…, it’s been busy…People come and go. Father’s ordering everyone around. …Bodyguards everywhere. Everyone’s stressed or tense… I haven’t been feeling well when everyone’s like that. I’ve been staying in my room most of the time.”

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah, it’s better in my room.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  “…”

  “Anyway, I wanted to ask what father’s up to now. Do you have an idea?”

  “…Not really, I haven’t spoken to father. Mother keeps me informed. And… I heard what happened to your mother. I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And…, I heard you’re not coming back yet.”

  “Yeah. I’ll stay here for a while. She might be found again soon.”

  “I hope so. Then you can come back here again.

  “…You want that?”

  “…Yes? Yes, I guess so. It’s been a while, after all.”

  “Are you lonely?”

  “No..., I have my dolls here.”

  “I see. Any new ones since I’ve been away.”

  “A few… If you come back here again, I can arrange them for you, and we could play together again.”

  “Sure, that sounds nice. I’d like that too. And hey, about James, do you know how he’s doing? Is he also back home?”

  “No. I heard father arranged something, but he’s not back yet. And…, I haven’t spoken to him since he left home.”

  “Okay. Have you been keeping up with the news? Do you know what’s going on in the world?”

  “Mother told me.”

  “Uhu, and…, have you noticed anything off about yourself?”

  “Off?”

  “…”

  “No…, I don’t think so?”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  “…”

  “Shall we end it here? It was nice to speak with you again.”

  “If you want. I found it nice too.”

  “Alright. You can call me anytime you want, okay?”

  “Okay… Goodbye.”

  “Bye.”

  I hung up and walked back to the table, filled with melancholy.

  Damnit…, she’s so much worse than I feared. And…, could that be her power? How ironic would that be. I didn’t think she was even aware of it. Maybe that was more of a blessing for now.

  …I had to shelve my feelings right now. My father needed to be dealt with, before I could turn my attention towards her. My sister is just another one of the countless reasons why that monster needed to die.

  I sat back at the dining table, my composure still perfectly intact, and spoke.

  “My father has arranged something to bring my brother back home, but he’s not back yet. So…, we can only wait, I guess."

  “Yeah…, I’m sure your brother’s fine,” Elise said emphatically.

  William nodded to that.

  “You’re right. Thanks. I’ve calmed down somewhat,” I said with a slight smile.

  It was really true, I thought.

  Not only because of her encouragement, but also because of my experiments.

  I was always observing for signs of the shadow, but haven’t witnessed signs yet.

  But not witnessing is information as well.

  I’m regulating my behaviour constantly, and was leaving openings.

  Like for example walking away while calling, leaving the knife at the table. It was a prime opportunity for the shadow to strike at me or the people at the table.

  Yet, it did nothing.

  Which is good for me, because that means my father hasn’t caught on yet.

  And doing nothing, considering the openings I left, gives me information about its reasoning.

  And reasoning comes from limitations.

  I was leaving openings, no, traps. I never left a trap that I couldn’t kill it in.

  If it appeared and fell for the trap, it was doomed. If it doesn't respond, I gain more information about its limitations.

  And the more limitations I know, the bigger the openings I can leave, gaining insight into even more limitations.

  And that will all lead to something. Understanding its behaviour. And if I can understand that, I know when it will appear.

  That’s the penultimate trap. If I know that, I know when and where to strike.

  Even if it’s invisible to my senses.

  The bait is guiding it to appear at the desired moment, by predicting its behaviour.

  And the shadow is my father, and I already left bait for my father’s behavior.

  But is the shadow's behavior the same as my father’s? Figuring out its limitations lets me draw a conclusion regarding that,

  And, even if there is bait, there must also be a trap.

  The trap was striking it at a predetermined location.

  And more information is needed about striking and location.

  Because I don’t yet know the form of the invisible. Is it also three dimensional, or something else. Does it have any form at all?

  What environment is limited enough for its invisible form to be harmed.

  I’ll figure it out. I need to gather more knowledge and conduct more experiments.

  It’s time to use my mother’s ashes.

  I finished my thoughts as I looked at Elise.

  “After washing the dishes, shall we go upstairs so that I can unpack my luggage?”