Ava 13

I woke up, unrolling myself from a sheet I used as a bed. Red lights flickering, the bulb buzzed resembling a tiny insect, in a room so small I can touch each end.

There would've been days I used to cover my ears from these horrors, but now it's all the same.

I wish for there to be silence.

Water slithers from an old rusty pipe above my head, dripping to the ground. Damn it. I barely slept, let alone, think. Whatever, it's time for my shift. I zip my jacket up to my neck.

Leaving my room, years of blood stains the halls, so much that the taste of iron lingers on my tongue. My eyes strained against the brighter lights, like acid to my eyes.

My boots echoed down the long halls lined with human-size capsules, with the gargles of wails within. It was hard to breathe, as the air was drenched with steam. The pipes whistle almost if a volcano was to erupt in a tide of molten magma.

"Get me out!" A drowned voice said from a capsule to my right. I keep my eyes on the ground. I'm tired of their expressions, it's always the same. I rub my nose and keep trudging on.

Two solid steel doors opened, and I entered the main room. The heart of the factory, where the horror sleeps. Lit better than most of the buildings, a mechanical arm swoops over my head, assembling a humanoid remnant machine. Hundreds of remnants travel on thick chains above my head and piece by piece, they will become whole.

From my side, a drone scans my iris, beeping, letting me forward. Giving me the all-clear. If not, there'll be a bullet in my skull. It's time for me to work.

Livestock enters from the west gate conveyor belt. They lie tied with a hood over their heads, muffling outcries. I pressed the red button on the side of the wall. It buzzed, drowning the screams for a moment. The belt grinds to a halt. Chains rustled with the chopping and clanking of the building.

"Is someone there? Help me!" a voice said, at the top of the bodies of livestock. "Please, I want to go back." It wants to go back when there's nothing left for it. The voice was soft and high like mine. It was faint, but I heard it under the ruckus of metal.

That thing is talking to me, isn't it? But I know better, never interact with the livestock. That's what Father said. They are nothing but cattle for biofuel.

So, I packed them into a white cart. They were sardines in a can, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. One wheel sang an unmatched tune, like the old blues I once heard Father listening to. Bodies on top of bodies. I threw them in. Plopping them inside in the same manner as a tissue into a toilet.

Some wiggled, some squirmed, and those that didn't, their bodies were already cold. At least they save me the trouble of watching them struggle. Whatever they did to get here, there is no reason for me to lose sleep. Besides, they're only human, they're meaningless.

"Sister. Do not delay," Eve said. It took a moment to recognize the one-pitched voice. As I almost forgot the sound of my sister. Eve didn't waste time, she only gathered the stock off the belt in a cart and went her way.

As did I.

I wheeled the cart to a hallway with newly available capsules. Spending the last half hours loading them into the capsules. They squealed of course. I couldn't help but think of them as pigs. But it wasn't long before their squeals faded with their flesh melting from their bones until even the bone turned to a red liquid.

My nose burned from the gases emitted and my lungs were acid. The worst part is that I grew numb to this pain and their agony means nothing to me. If they had families, friends, hell, even a goddamn dog. Here, all that has no meaning. It's the end of the line. All hope is lost and insanity becomes sanity.

Soon there was nothing within the pods, except for the desperate stains of what was flesh. At least their pathetic little lives came to an end.

I returned to the belt. For a moment, my chest sank and the hole in my heart grew deeper. This is my life. Day in, day out. Rinse and repeat. The more I think about this, the more my head shrivels into itself. The air here sticks to my skin, and it repulses me.

I placed another body over my shoulder to dump into the bloodstain cart.

"Please, no! What are you going to do to me?" the same voice spoke from before. She thrashed around, slipping off my shoulder.

Stupid.

Her arms and legs tied. There was nothing to break her fall. She hit the ground with full impact. The sack over her head oozed red. There was no thud when she fell as the roaring of the factory overshadowed it. The right corner of my mouth stretched into a grin that quickly faded.

Why is she making this so difficult? You're only hurting yourself.

I reached to grab her. She flinched away from my touch. Seriously? I don't have time for this. Well, I do, eight hours in fact, but I would rather get this over with. So please don't waste my time.

"Please, I have a name! My name is Raven, I'm Raven."

"Raven? Like the bird?" I said. Wait... Shit, I voiced that out loud. I honestly can't tell my voice from thoughts anymore.

"Yes, yes! I am Raven. Who are you?" she said. I looked over to see if Eve was nearby, she wasn't and my eyes focused back on the girl below me. She was shivering, hyperthermia likely from traveling in a box for days with no clothing. How unfortunate she reached here alive.

It took me an awkward minute to think, then I remembered, "Who am I? I'm Ava 13." The words came foreign to me and so did my voice. So that's what I sound like. That's nice, I guess.

A machine drone bumps into my back, almost causing me to tip over. My arm morphs into a gun with a two-foot barrel. I shift my arm back to normal. It tingles through my nervous system like sparks flying.

"Ava? Did something happen? Are you okay?" Raven said. I looked at her. I don't know, but I felt heat deep within. My fingertips itched… it burned for action.

"If I am… okay?" My mind flashed through the past two years of my life. My stomach wanted to empty itself. "It's already been two years." The skin around my throat felt like a noose. It's only a matter of time before I slip. "You are evil. Humans are evil," I repeated the words Father always says to me and Eve. And yet, why… Why does it feel like a lie? No, I need no justification. I must believe in Father.

Her face was covered, but I knew that look she had on. She thinks I'm crazy. That I lost my marbles. But who the hell can be sane in a place like this? Every day is like a thousand bad days, just to wake up for another day.

"You think I'm crazy don't you!"

"Sorry, please I'm…" she squealed.

"Shut up, I wasted enough time," I grabbed her by the sack, feeling a head full of hair in my palm. I flip her over into the cart. Her body practically deflates on impact. My arm gained the tingly sensation again, like electricity shooting across my body. I could feel the nano rushing within my blood fighting for control. I try to calm them down. Blood smeared my palm. I must've grabbed the sack where the blood leaked through. Her blood is on me.

The girl mumbled something from her lips. Soft like a whisper that she was chanting, repeatedly. Her head swiveled on her shoulders like a newborn.

"Repeat that," I demanded, stepping to her. "Repeat what you said."

"I thought I had more time. To see the sky."

"The sky? I've…"

"Sister," Eve grabbed my arm, my finger twitched. It is annoying how silently she moves. Eve's blood-red eyes pierced at me. "You know the rules."

"You're quite the talker today."

"As you are curious today, sister. What would Father think? You talking to the meat. He will disapprove."

"So what? We repeat the same task daily. Haven't you wondered-?"

"You shit eat and piss daily. Do you want to complain about that too?" Eve said. "This will only stay between us." She did that thing with her eyes, where she was telling me to drop it before she walked away.

Like always, talking to Eve is like talking to a wall, but even a wall can bounce an echo.

I knew she wouldn't understand. Since Father sent us here, it's like she barely acknowledges my existence.

Raven lay still on top of the steel cart, her chest raised with each breath. "Please, I want to see it. I have to..." She talked through the hood, her voice wavering.

"That's too bad," I said, "Really it is."

As she lies on top of the cart. The sack tie is loose. Underneath, Raven's lips quivered. Her skin is blue to the touch. Just a peek. I wanted to see what lay underneath. The urge swelled. All I had to do was pull. But I refrain from doing so.

"The rules are, you are to be melted into biofuel," I told her, and deep down, the place in my mind, where only darkness sleeps, a single thought rose. "I envy you, Raven. I envy that I'll never understand your kind."