The Destruction of Batana

THE ZENZEN 2

“Ador, are you inside?” I knocked quietly on Ador's room door.

Door opens. Let out a rustling sound.

“Oh, Zenzen. You apparently. Login.”

I'm nodding. Ador's room looks more like a workshop than a room. But not as bad as my room used to be when living in the slums. There was a shabby mattress in the corner of the room with various ancient books. While on the side of the room there are various furniture and items that look like a bionic body made. Maybe Ador was still thinking about what happened this morning.

Ador's appearance was as messy as this room. Her hair was disheveled. His shirt buttons are not buttoned properly and correctly. His glasses even seemed to slump a little down. Ador was about forty-five years old. But now he looked like a seventy-year-old grandfather. His face was very uncomfortable and filled with oil and dust.

“Sorry, surely you are very uncomfortable with other children.” Ador scratched his head which was not itchy. It looks like he feels guilty. Then sit on his desk while fiddling with the tools he made.

I just smiled thinly. “Not really.”

“I know you must be surprised by their attitude like that. But know, they all have bitter memories that end up making them behave that way. That's why I beg you to understand their attitude.”

I just ducked. It seems that I still cannot accept all Ador's words. Whatever is wrong is all of them. But it never hurts to pretend well.

“What are you doing?” I asked as soon as I noticed Ador who was connecting various circuits on the bionic body.

“Oh, I'm trying to make a new bionic leg for Bastian. Tomorrow he'll have a birthday. At least I've been preparing this thing for a month. I want to give him a surprise. That kid easily misunderstood me. That's why I don't want to tell him to teach him a lesson if I'm not a picky man to my children.  Can you keep this a secret?”

“Then what is the thing next to it?” I pointed at an object that looked like an iron hand.

Ador took the object and brought it closer to me. The robot's hands are moving. The hand has a shiny gold color with a smooth texture. There are segments that emit orange-colored light.

“This is a boxer glove. I'll also give it to Bastian as a present tomorrow. Ah, so remember first how to first meet him.” Ador was silent for a moment while putting back the iron gloves.

“Bastian was the first child I saved from all the children I gathered in his year. He managed to control his pain and trauma. She was the same age as you were then. Twelve years. I saved him from a martial academy. He was orphaned and had no relatives from birth. He was great without knowing what love was. He is not very intelligent but has an incredible spirit. Because of his spirit, he was able to enter an academy with the money he collected himself at a very young age.”

Ador was silent for a moment. Eyes glazed. Imagining what happened to Bastian made him feel very sad. “For the first time Bastian wants to fight the harsh reality. He challenged a child at his academy in an unofficial match. The result is predictable. Bastian lost a landslide in that match.”

“The impression of him who lost despite doing many things and practicing every day makes it very hard. Bastian was angry at himself. He did not accept with his defeat and attacked back the opponent before him. But what's going on? Bastian was the one who got lost in the match. His opponent slammed Bastian's small body onto the tiled floor as tightly as possible. His right eye was injured and he could not see clearly. Not yet there, the friends of his opponent began to beat Bastian simultaneously, even until someone broke his leg. No, it's more like crushing his legs.”

“As a result of the incident, Bastian had to be admitted to a hospital. Yet he was helpless upon hearing the enormous cost of treatment. Plus the fact that he would no longer be able to walk normally. All of that left him broken into pieces. Making a huge crack in his heart. Not enough to reach his suffering, all the children who bullied him were found not guilty. The academy shut up. Tortured about the problem. Reversing the fact that it was due to the carelessness of Bastian who forced himself to train to hurt his own body.”

Ador re-assembled the components of the bionic leg. I just fell silent. I was actually very sleepy to hear that story. My story is more painful and bitter. That's why I don't feel sorry or sympathy for him at all. But I had to listen to that story until the end. Let me know where Bastian's greatest weakness lies. It was really easy to drop it. He was just jealous of talented people. He only envied people who were geniuses from birth. That is what makes him thirsty for love. So childish.

“I finally came to him and gave him a little hope. At first, he accepted my offer. After all the events she went through, she was very traumatized and it was difficult to trust others. I kept persuading him. Gave him an offer. “If you are with me, I make sure you can walk back,” Such a sentence is what I set for him. It's hard to persuade him. Just got accepted because I paid the hospital bill. Bastian would not want to have to follow me. I'm sure at the time he felt he owed me.”

“As I promised him. I made him bionic legs and artificial eyes to bring back what he lost. But the price to be paid is very expensive. He had to completely lose his right leg. Alias undergoes amputation to be replaced with a bionic leg. Bastian took a long time to think about it. Until finally he decided to accept my offer.”

“Surely he also could not directly accept my bionic foot. When he realized that his right leg had been replaced with a prosthetic leg, he was shocked and a little frightened. He even regretted choosing that decision. I let him reflect for days. In the meantime, I started to gather some other children. But all of them gave up. They decided to end their lives. Those were my hardest times, son. Seeing the children's deaths and my failure as a doctor. But on that day, I still remembered how the feeling of spirit finally came. Bastian, the boy finally accepted the reality. He passed the test for three months. Though there was still fear in his dream. That's how Bastian's story begins.”

“She started learning to walk using my homemade tools. What a feeling of dignity and pride filled the ins and outs of my chest. Replacing my pain over the loss of other children. I made him the senior of the other kids. I raised him with all my heart. I took him around for a while. What an immeasurable memory. She began to enjoy her role as the eldest sister. I never realized if his heart was ever hurt. And today it proves everything. Bastian still can not let go of these bitter memories. He still could not accept the fact that one could be superior to him. Today I realized, that I still failed to be a good doctor.”

Silent. Ador's hand stopped. His lips are dropping. Showing deep sadness. I don't know if it's fake or not. But I know how it feels to fail after you've done years of research. I've also experienced that. I feel like I failed at everything. But that was before I met the group of thieves. I have always considered myself unlucky and will always fall. But the truth is not. I'm the one who has to break that chain. The chains that restrain me are pathetic. If I don't cut the chain, I'll only be in a crumbling confinement forever.

Ador ruffled my hair. “At least you should be able to respect him, Zenzen, however he is older than you. He has high self-esteem.”

I smiled thinly. That's what makes it never heal. Ador did not tell him the fact that talented people will always be superior to someone who does not have talent but has a hundred percent effort. Ador only gave him a false wishful thinking that he was superior to anyone. Look at the consequences of his trivial mistakes over the years! Bastian will only be shackled back by his dark past. In the end, all the time and memories with Ador were just a lie to him. In the end I will only be considered an antagonist in the story he wrote.