Six hours since Joseph's accident.
The night air was freezing, but Anton didn't notice it. He was sitting on the curb, at the back of the hospital, with his back resting against the concrete wall. He held an old photographic camera in his hands, a heavy model that looked ridiculous in the era of holographic Inmos.
A deep voice broke the silence.
"This is where I usually smoke."
Anton looked up. Jacob Hunt, with his wrinkled white coat, was approaching. His face reflected the exhaustion of an eternal shift.
"And are you going to smoke today?" asked Anton.
Jacob let his shoulders drop.
"Today, luckily, I don't have to," he replied. He stood there, leaning against the concrete wall next to Anton, looking up at the dark sky. "The sky is beautiful. Even though you can hardly see the stars, it still looks very good with clouds."
Anton nodded, focusing back on the camera. His fingers, long and pale, caressed the scratched metal body.
"Despite it being big, I still use it," Anton commented, almost to himself. "I like that it's old and scratched. It is an... imperfect object. The photos it takes don't have great quality, but even so, I don't want to part with it. I love it. I like saving everything through it."
"I know. You've always told me," replied Hunt with a tired smile.
"And I repeat it to Joseph," added Anton, with a voice barely audible.
Jacob sighed, and the atmosphere turned serious again.
"Speaking of Joseph… Look, I know I have no say in the decision you have to make, but I can give my professional point of view."
Anton nodded distractedly, keeping silent.
"What are you going to do with Joseph? I would recommend…"
"Joseph was always a fool," interrupted Anton, with a voice trembling and angry at the same time. "Joseph didn't have a peaceful childhood, always from hospital to hospital and from doctor's office to doctor's office because of his condition. My parents didn't allow him to do things a normal boy would do. He didn't have a normal childhood. We always had to be looking out for him. The one who understood him most was my mother, always so attentive. She always left him in my charge. I was the oldest, the responsible one, the one who had to protect him… but he was always the bravest and the most impulsive. He wanted to protect me too."
Anton raised the camera and focused on a point in the sky: a distant star among the clouds, one that barely flickered in sight, hiding as the clouds passed. The cold light of the hospital illuminated the tears that now shone in his eyes.
"Once, when we already knew about his condition, we were playing in a park. I was thirteen and he was eight. We were making sandcastles; I was very good at making them. Joseph got annoyed because I always finished first and he asked me for help, he wasn't very skilled at that… Suddenly, a very big dog came toward us, very fast. I, like an idiot, froze. I couldn't move; fear took over me. I couldn't even articulate a scream. But he, being the younger one, jumped in front of me and put his little arm in front of the dog. It bit him and a lot of blood came out. I could only watch the scene from behind."
Anton broke down crying, while his shoulders shook slowly. Jacob put a hand on his head, waiting for him to calm down.
Anton took a deep breath and continued:
"The only thing he told me," said Anton as his voice cracked, "was: 'Relax, brother. It doesn't hurt me. Are you okay?' while smiling."
Anton wiped his tears with the back of his hand.
"Why did Joseph do that?" asked Hunt with a soft and reflective voice.
"I don't know. I suppose he thought that, because of his condition, he would be immortal or something like that. I don't know… it was very stupid," replied Anton, with annoyance. "He risked himself for me. Honestly, I never understood it. I never asked him; I was ashamed… and afraid he would remember how cowardly I was that day."
Anton gripped the camera tightly.
"He was always that brave. That's why he could climb those crags and do incredible things that would scare me. He is… incredible."
"He is," replied Hunt softly.
"I don't want to see my brother built of metal, Jacob. And I know he would hate me if I choose that."
"Then, what are you going to do? Let him not walk, let him not be able to move? There is no other way," said Hunt, lowering his head while squeezing his knuckles.
Anton turned toward him, eyes fixed, desperation giving way to a cold determination.
"Do you know why I became a bioengineer?" he asked.
"No," replied Hunt, staring at him.
"As a child, after seeing how that dog almost destroyed my brother's arm, I swore to myself I was going to cure him of that disease. That way he wouldn't risk himself again for me or for anyone, and he would be safe," said Anton, clenching his fists and raising his voice a little. "I swore that he and my mother would live a normal life."
"And are you achieving it?" asked Hunt.
"I will achieve it. I will make him feel again and be a normal person. So, Jacob, I cannot confine my brother in a metal cage where he won't even be able to look like a person. I will do what is possible for this to be different. And my mother would have also loved to see Jos having a normal life."
"Really?" answered Hunt, with a sad look, observing Anton fixedly.
Just at that moment, Anton's Inmo vibrated discreetly on his temple. Only he could see the notification that floated in the air for an instant:
"Meeting with Agent 1 scheduled for tomorrow at 11 a.m."
Anton nodded, his gaze fixed on the dark sky.
"Yes… the sky is beautiful."
That night, silence weighed more than the cold. But dawn would bring something worse: answers.