Eric Stever - Non Metallic

“Well, I’m not in charge of things yet.”

“But you will be,” Leo smiled sadly. “You’re the future aren’t you.”

“Damn right, old man,” Manny said, not detecting the irony in Leo’s voice. “We’ve taken out most of your people, all the Coordinators anyway. But you guys are the most important, the Distracters.”

“And I suppose the Snoops told you that too,” Leo said.

Manny fell silent.

“Doesn’t that make you think about anything?” Leo asked. “You must at least understand what we were trying to do here, man. Even if we were wrong, even if the Snoops were using us, as you said, as an evolutionary spur to make your Uncle’s develop faster or stronger or whatever the hell… Why would they have you get rid of us? We know so much more about this than you do. We could teach you.”

Leo felt the words come, some of them whisperings from his own Uncle. His Uncle had been aware of what was happening, Leo now knew. But why hadn’t his Uncle told Jim?

“The Snoops have left,” Manny said quietly.

“Left to where? And how do you know for sure. Because they told you? You believe them but not me, because I don’t tell you what you want to hear. That you are special and better than everyone else, and you deserve to rule? You’re 14 years old.”

“Look I came here to see if you would teach us,” Manny said. “We’re not going to kill all the old ones, just because we’re told. We can hide you from them, we’re pretty sure.”

“So I can be a slave,” Leo said.

Leo could see his Uncle laughing at him, at the boy and his infant powers. For the first time, Leo saw his own Uncle clearly, the pride in his face as he stepped forward, brushing aside Leo’s consciousness. The old ones won’t need to be hidden, his Uncle told him. We will rule once the dirty work is done.

Manny shrugged. “You will be an advisor. My advisor actually. I’m the new Coordinator for this area.”

“Well congratulations,” Leo said, his voice hoarse. “A murderer and now a rebel leader at the age of 14. Fantastic.”

“Making jokes,” Manny said, “can be bad for you.” His face darkened.

Leo felt a wave of nausea wash over him, bringing him down to his knees. Leo tried to focus on his Uncle, to prevent him from taking advantage of the weakness, but his Uncle was also hurt by the attack.

Leo shook his head, trying to clear it. He heard his Uncle yell out in pain and the ‘old guy’ again tried to push Leo’s mind aside. But Leo held fast. His Uncle would cripple this boy, Leo knew. And Manny hadn’t the slightest idea what was about to happen.

“Did the Snoops teach you that?” Leo winced, trapped between his Uncle and the pain.

Manny’s face was radiant. “Among other things, yes.” He closed his eyes again and the pain returned.

Let me out , Leo’s Uncle whispered to him. We’ll do it together, set the world on the right path.

Leo shook his head, whimpering. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware of the physical pain, of Manny pressing him. But his own Uncle was the true danger. If Leo lost hold of his Uncle, his life and the boy’s were over.

‘Do you think boys such as these are fit to rule?’ his Uncle said to him. ‘Have they fought like we have, have they sacrificed their talents?’

Leo continued struggling, but his hold slackened. The deed was already done, he thought, people had already died. He knew the Snoops, he knew their weakness. It made sense that he should—

‘Yes,’ Leo’s Uncle hissed. ‘Now you see. We are a man of action, not like the others. We’ve been trapped here, static. Waiting, when we should have been acting.’

This boy here would rule, Leo thought. This boy, hurting him for no reason other than he could. He or others like him would rule, unless—

‘We have the experience, the foresight,’ his Uncle said. ‘We moved when no others would; we made first contact with the Snoops.’

His Uncle stepped forward, and Leo felt himself slipping away, back to the white place.

‘You and I convinced them to leave… they are not devils, but caretakers, pruning off dead limbs. We showed them our power.’ The Uncle moved forward inside of his mind, and Leo felt a cold cruel smile form on his lips. His Uncle’s smile.

“We did it,” Leo heard himself say out loud. “We did it together—”

Manny closed his eyes, squinting harder, sending out more pain. But its impact lessened and then gradually dispersed.

In his mind, Leo fell back one step further, almost to his own oblivion. He thought of Jim, of Soledad’s sweeping, of Manny digging into the earth for garbage, an endless task. Leo thought of the mud, of the rain, of the time-without-roads. The time when nothing is clear, except that you must not stop, not even slow your pace, or you will become stuck, until the roads have dried, and the storm has ended.

The devil who would rule, his own Uncle— Leo was sure of its intention. Jim was right when he said the Uncle was him, a bigger broader version, but at its core, it was Leo. And Leo knew the man he was, the things he had done.

With the boy, Leo thought, there was still a chance. Some good could be shaped into him, even if the hands that shaped him were tainted.

In his mind, Leo ran toward his Uncle, attacking it with the only weapon he had. Acceptance.

He welcomed the pain, the hurt; he allowed Manny’s attack to flow through him, to amplify, to destroy him. He heard his Uncle give a sharp bark of surprise, and then a howl of anger. And then all was black.

Leo tasted blood on his lips, felt a wetness in his crotch. He could feel the cool wooden floor as it pressed against his face. He searched his mind and found that he was alone. For now.

Manny was standing over him, weeping. “I thought I—”

Leo was quiet for a very long time. He sat up and then spoke. “Do you think the Snoops are really trying to help you? I need to know.”

Manny shrugged again. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “We’re in charge now, soon we’ll be strong enough to stop even them.”

Leo grimaced. He thought that it mattered very much what this little boy thought about the Snoops. But it was too late, he had made his decision.

“I’ll do it,” Leo said. The cold spot flared in his stomach. His Uncle, what was left of it, disagreed.

“Is it true, what the Snoops said?” Manny asked. “That you can heal people?”

Leo shook his head slowly. “No, not me. Jim maybe could do it to other people.” Noticing the dark look in Manny’s eyes, Leo spoke quickly. “But we could train your mom to do it herself. Everyone can help themselves.” Usually, he thought.

Manny frowned, and for a few seconds, Leo saw the scowling boy in the rain, fishing garbage out of a muddy street.

“But she’s so old. Can she still be taught?”

“You’d be surprised what us old-timers can do,” Leo said, walking over to the unfinished painting.

“It’s time to go,” Manny said. He walked over to the door and opened it.

Leo rolled up the canvas, shoving it behind a bookcase before turning to follow the boy.

Manny led him out the door and into the waiting road of mud. It had stopped raining.

Eric “E.C.” Stever is the author of several science fiction and fantasy stories, as well as non-fiction works relating to history, and general science (which is the best kind of science). He has been publishing for over a decade.

He is a professional archaeologist in Idaho and Wyoming, and was previously a computer programmer. (Dear NASA: If you’re recruiting for an expedition to those recently discovered alien ruins on [REDACTED], he’s the ideal programmer-archaeologist you’ve been looking for.)