Rebellion of December - 4. Frost

With a slow, steady breath of the cool night air, Felix gazed up at the star-lit sky. He was sitting on the roof of their base, which June had warned him he shouldn't do, but he wanted to see the stars so badly. At the time, he thought he was alone up there, until there was the distinct sound of a book snapping shut. He jumped and sat up quickly, looking around until he laid eyes on someone he hadn't met before. "You must be July. . ." he said softly. July was only person who had been absent from any meals that day, and rather scarce when June went around introducing him to anyone.

 

July nodded, giving a friendly smile, although his eyes didn't show it. They remained full of curiosity, and slightly guarded. "You must be Felix," He spoke in return, in an equally soft voice. "What are you doing up here?" There was nothing accusing about his tone, simply guarded curiosity, which was respectable.

 

"I just wanted to see the stars," Felix said honestly, pointing upward. "I've. . . spent a lot of time not being able to, and I nearly forgot what they even look like. It's nice to see them again."

 

"Ah. . . ." July stood, striding over and sitting next to him. "Well June will fuss at you for being up here, especially at night, but don't worry. I've made sure they can't detect us while we're up here any better than while we're inside. This place is totally camouflaged from top to bottom." He looked up at the sky almost longing in the way he sighed and gazed up there. "The stars are pretty anyway."

 

"Yeah, they're beautiful. . ." Felix agreed with a nod, lying back again. He smiled faintly, "I've missed them. . . so much."

 

Silence settled for several minutes before July spoke up again. "I've read up on you. Felix Fallair," he said, tapping a small portable computer device at his belt. "Brought up in the colony of Stella, home of the astronomers," he glanced at the boy sitting beside him, "They took you from your home, didn't they?"

 

Felix sighed weakly, sitting up again and looking at July, "Yeah, they did, and I don't remember home all that well. It was ten years ago. I was only five years old." He grimaced, "All I remember was that I loved to lie out in the grass and gaze up at the stars. I don't even remember if I had a family or not. I guess not. If they were important to me I should have been able to remember."

 

July nodded slightly, "What. . . exactly were they experimenting on you for?" He asked curiously, "I've been trying to find out, but that information is very difficult to maintain. Either they're working especially hard to guard it, or it's already been destroyed. Whatever it is, we do kind of need to know. If you've been infected by nanobots like November or December, that's something we would need to be made aware of."

 

"I don't know," Felix said honestly, "I'm not really sure what they did to any of us. I never was able to tell what differences were made, and it wasn't easy to find that out from the scientists either. They said a bunch of big words that I couldn't understand. Such as biomeckestry and cat-list. . . ."

 

July chuckled, "I think you mean biochemistry and catalyst. Which are two of the simpler words you probably heard." He put a hand on Felix's shoulder, "Sorry. . . you probably don't want to be thinking about that stuff, huh?" He mumbled, "Just. . . we do need to know, sooner rather than later."

 

"I get it," Felix grumbled, removing his hand and scooting away just a bit. "But I don't know. And this whole sympathy thing isn't working out so well for me either. Can we just drop it?" His tone was pleading. He really didn't have any desire to discuss this, especially with someone like July. He seemed to have that same curiosity in his eyes that he saw in some of the scientists. Like he wanted to dissect him and then put him back together then do it all over again. He didn't need to go through that agony. He had enough scars as it was from all the other horrible things they'd done to him 'in the name of science'.

 

"Fine, fine, I'll back off." July let his hands drop into his lap. "It's getting late, and cold. You really need to head inside. Both of us do. June will start to worry."

 

"I don't want to go yet," Felix grumbled, like a stubborn young child, "You go ahead."

 

July frowned, standing, "Oh come on you can come out again tomorrow night to see the stars. Or I could show you countless images and holograms," he added, "You'll catch your death out here." After all, Felix was wearing nothing but a short sleeved shirt and sweat pants. He didn't even have shoes, and the air was getting to freezing temperatures.

 

"The cold doesn't bother me," Felix grumbled.

 

"Seriously kid you--" July had reached out and grabbed him by the arm, but he cut off mid-sentence and jerked his hand back with a yelp. It burned like he was touching something incredibly cold. And he was. He stared at his hand and the ice crystals forming on his skin. "What the hell?!"

 

"What?!" Felix scrambled to his feet, stumbling back from him. He staggered, "Ow, shit!" His face twisted into an expression of intense pain and he crumpled to the ground. Where was all this ice coming from? He started to shiver and shake.

 

July gasped and rushed to him, taking off his jacket and putting it around him. "November!" He called out loudly, starting for the door in the roof which led down into the building. "November!" He called again, struggling to keep ahold of Felix. The boy was writhing in obvious pain and the jacket was starting to become covered in frost. It hurt to touch, but July couldn't just leave him like this.