Sooha woke up early and awaited information on his mother's reply; he wanted to see them again, to hear the reason why they left him out there and never looked for him.
Sometime later, the door to his cell opened, and this time it was not Damien, but the woman who had been bringing him food for the past three days. She had brought in his breakfast, an expensive-looking box accompanied by a note and a letter.
"This is from the High Marshall," was all she said before retreating out of the room upon placing it all on the table.
Sooha went over to the table and opened the letter; it was his identification and the other documents that a civilian needs.
In comparison to Site 76, where legal documents weren't in use, this was quite a change of scenery.
Alongside his ID card came an access card to his house and probably some government buildings, as the family of a councillor.
It meant his mother allowed him back.
A sliver of hope went through him again. He imagined hugging his brother and holding his sister. IT was devastating to Sooha that they had grown up without him, and the fact that his brother was barely five when Sooha was taken away meant he would have to reintroduce himself to both.
It felt awful.
He neatly packed Damien's heavy coat and left it on the bed, still confused about why he would care enough to even bother giving him the coat, and the glances from the staff as he passed down the corridor were telling him that it was, in fact, shocking to them as well.
After taking Luke's dog tags and putting them on, he went to the luxurious black box and opened it. Inside it were clothes, to be specific, a very elaborate set of matching wide pants, a tight turtleneck, and high-quality loafers.
He was taken aback by it; it was identical to the outfit he had on when he was taken away from Elysium, and in fact, it was his signature set of clothes to this day, less fancy, that is.
He suspected his mother of having sent them.
Upon putting on the outfit, he took the ID and access card and put them in his pocket, heading out.
He didn't see many people while on his way out, but once he was nearing the entrance, a tall man in a black suit came up to him.
"Master, we were waiting for you." It was his mother's chauffeur and one security guard behind him.
Sooha nodded and followed them outside into a sleek black car, taken aback by the honorific.
The city had changed, or perhaps he was just not used to it; it looked much more put together than what he remembered. It seemed like things were going well for them.
It was still nowhere near as brutalistic as Syntrum was; it now reminded him of cities from before the FRACTURE that he had seen in photographs.
On the billboard of a huge building shone a sign saying '100th anniversary since the FRACTURE'.
The event that brought all of this to earth, the event that gave birth to evolved humans and mutants.
He hated it; had it never happened, he would've led a normal life.
"Before we head to the residence, stop by the cryo vault. I have to do something first," Sooha said to the chauffeur, eyes fixed on the window of the car.
A few moments later, they arrived at a glass-enclosed facility. Sooha remembered coming here once before, when his grandmother passed away at the age of 120. It had been her choice to go, not a necessity.
Variant humans lived much longer.
Those who had the Chip of Life and survived the FRACTURE all possessed incredibly long life expectancies, even after removing the chip. The abilities it granted had changed their biology permanently.
Many of them had died fighting mutants, but in the decades since cities stabilized and borders closed off, some of those who were just children during the FRACTURE still lived today, showing almost no signs of aging, despite being well over a hundred.
Their children, born with mixed genes, were even more advanced. Sooha's mother, for example, was nearing sixty but still looked like she was in her early thirties.
Civilians who hadn't been affected by the mutation still aged normally, though modern medicine had pushed the human lifespan.
Sooha approached the woman at the reception desk. "I believe the High Marshall left a body in your care," he said quietly. "I'd like to visit it... and proceed with the funeral."
Upon typing something into the screen in front of her, she gestured to Sooha to follow her.
"The body was in a poor condition upon retrieval; we had done our best to restore it. It has since been safely frozen in a cryopod as requested by the High Marshall. Have you decided on the funeral rite you will be taking?" She said with an eerily kind voice that sent a shiver down Sooha's spine.
"If it's possible, I would like his ashes to be crystallized into an emerald the shade of his eyes," he said, a finger grazing the dog tags engraved with Luke's name.
"Of course, that is possible. What a beautiful way to pay tribute to a soul lost so young."
The way she spoke infuriated him. It was soft, composed, almost rehearsed. Why was everyone so calm and idyllic?
Was he the problem, perhaps?
It was clear that he had forgotten, or didn't notice at a young age, the utopian propaganda that was laced into the very core of Elysium.
There was no need for such formalities or hollow pleasantries in Syntrum or Site 76; no masks to wear, no appearances to keep up. Just research in one and survive in the other.
They arrived at the chamber room, and after showing Sooha where Luke's body was stored, the attendant quietly stepped away.
Sooha approached the pod. The moment his eyes landed on Luke, he winced and shut them tight. A single tear slid down his cheek as his body gave out, collapsing against the glass.
The room was silent, save for the soft hum of the cryo systems. Rows of pods surrounded him; some empty, some still cradling the dead.
But it all faded into the background.
All that remained were his sniffles that echoed as he fought against the tears.
"It's hard to keep on going without you," he said, now sitting beside the pod where Luke was.
"You were always there. For 6 years, you were making me smile each and every day, my love," he whispered, sniffling.
"If I'd known I could come back... I would've married you. I'd have endorsed your immigration request — they would've let you in... If only Site 76 wasn't in bad blood with Elysium... Oh, Luke, how I miss you." He wept as he pushed himself up, standing above Luke now, as tears fell onto the glass between them.
"Farewell, my pillar...I'll try not to fall without you."
Sooha pressed his lips to the glass above Luke's forehead.
His lips trembled against the cold pod, and for a second, he couldn't move; he stood there, taking it all in, the last time he would ever see him. Then, he turned away.
He didn't look back; he couldn't. If he had, he would have joined him right then and there.
Upon speaking with the woman organizing Luke's funeral, Sooha stepped out of the building.
As he was walking towards his mother's vehicle, a voice cracked from the side.
"Sooha!"