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Short Story

Decent Essays

Certain things are instantaneous. A breath. A heartbeat. A blink of an eye. They happen naturally and without thought. Such things around us, outside our jurisdiction, follow the same pattern.
“We’re going down, we’re going down!”
Asra’s side shudders as the kaiju’s tail collides with the left-side reactor. The cockpit jerks to the right and he feels like a ragdoll suspended by oxygen tubes and neuron cables. His temple hits his helmet and he has to take a second to blink away the blood dripping down his face. Asra’s stomach is twisting in on itself in lieu of what’s going on, but his mind remains focused elsewhere, far away from being the left side of the brain to the right mere meters away from him.
“I— shit! Help me get the right …show more content…

Unknown. Nameless. It’s attached with everything broken.

When Asra woke up, things were different and he couldn’t see out of his right eye. The world had grown quiet, once more in order, but he couldn’t seem to think clearly. He gingerly touched the bandage covering his face — it was warm, fresh and already stained, and smelled of potent medicine.
“I’m…” he started slowly, voice low and hoarse and speaking to no one. He kept his open eye trained on his left hand, trying to piece together the events before he blacked out. He couldn’t seem to do it, all his memories found was a garden and a face he did not recognize.
His head jerked up at the sound of footsteps and Asra found his heart stuttering into a rhythm of panic and fear. Flashes of teeth, claws, water, and blood rippled across his view, calmed only when he found Commander Vesuvia approaching his bed.
“I’m glad you’re awake,” she said calmly, a kind smile on her lips. She took a seat nearby and watched Asra watch her for a moment before continuing. “The Coyote finished it off, by the way. Faust had done most of the damage, but… somehow you got two lucky strikes that put the entire thing out of commission for the next year and a half.”
Asra stared a moment longer before confessing, “I… I chased the…”
“Yes.” She took a long, deep breath. “And… you’re going out of commission too. At least for the next six months. Your surgery is happening tomorrow. Julian’s happened today.”
Asra sat up straighter,

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