The door doesn't give way, no matter how many times I kick it. What the hell is wrong with Maximus! How could he hurt Grayson like that? And push a gun into his back. He's going to kill him, he's really going to kill him. I wasn't able to stop it.

Does that mean I'll get charged as an accessory to murder? I'm too young to go to jail! I've never studied anything that would help me survive in there, because I find those type of stories gross. They always have so much of that r word. Oh my god, I don't want to add that to my list of experiences.

I let out a long breath, curling my hair around my index finger.

If I don't report this, I'm guilty, but if I do, I'll still be seen as guilty. This is terrible. I should have asked to be fostered instead of being sent to live with my closest relative, he's a freakin psycho! What gives him the right to kill this guy?

I begin to pace, not knowing what else to do. There's no way out of this room from the inside.... Unless, it will be happy and recognize my voice like it did earlier.

"Hey glowy room? Open the door." I command.

"Voice recognized as girl on timeout, access denied. Sit down, and shut up, girl on timeout." The voice replies.

"Dammit!" I cry kicking the wall.

"Watch your language, girl on timeout." It chirps happily.

"Gah!"

"Vocalization not recognized, do you mean go?"

"You know what, I'm just going to stop talking to you robot lady. Go play elsewhere." I say with a huff.

Pressing my back against the wall, I slide down to the floor in defeat. There's nothing I can do now but wait, and hope for some reason that Maximus didn't decide to murder Grayson.

"Playing elsewhere." The computer states, pulling up another video on the screen.

Screams fill the room, coming from the speakers shrill, blood curdling.

Goose bumps prickle my arms and chills spread all over my body as if the ghosts have entered the room. I whirl around, just to be sure that they haven't.

Desperate humanoid creatures run towards the camera, ground collapses beneath their feet, being sucked into a dark abyss.

"Max! What's happening!" I hear my mother shout over the noise.

"I don't know Vidya, we need to get out of here!" Maximus replies.

The screen goes black, before turning back on in another world. I watch in horror as a small village is torn apart by the same void that appeared in the other one.

There is no longer audio as different worlds flash on the screen, each one meets the same destruction. Pictures of the void destroying uncountable places go so quickly that if I blink I'm sure I'd miss two or three.

The screen goes black before a much older looking Maximus appears on the screen. He has large rings beneath his eyes, and streaks of grey throughout his hair. "After the destruction of the third world we thought to have saved, I begged my father to shut down the program. He refused, despite the evidence that our presence upset the balance of dimensions. It created black holes big enough to destroy worlds, galaxies even. I haven't been able to sleep since they started trickling into our house. He can't see them, they hide from him. But every night I work, I hear them, feel their icy grip on my shoulder."

"If I close my eyes, I see the faces of those dead that I could have saved, by simply not creating a portal into their world. Vidya stopped being involved in the project after the first void appeared. She was right, this discovery should not have been shared."

Holy crap! He's responsible for the death of millions! Massacres! I've been unknowingly living with a serial killer.

Static travels across the screen, the man on the screen looks frantic before turning the camera off.

"I brought you a sandwich," Maximus says quietly.

I jump, when did he enter? My attention was so focused on the video, I didn't hear the door open. Glaring dangers, I suppress my curiosity and cross my arms. "I'm not hungry."

He raises his eyebrows and sets the plate on the floor, turning to leave. "Fine. Don't eat."

"Did you really cause the deaths of countless worlds?" I ask, not able to stay silent. I need to hear him say it. I have to know.

Maximus removes his spectacles, handing them to me silently. Glancing at him, I cock my head to the side. "Why are you giving me these?"

"Put them on," He says, his eyes glisten, but he doesn't allow any tears to fall.

My eyebrows raise, but I do as he says. In the corner of the right lens an unending list of words flashes. It's much too close to define anything besides a blurred length. On the left side the same images that has flashed on the screen appear, matching the blinding speeds of the right.

"I recognize the images on the left, but what is the list on the right?" I ask, removing the spectacles before they worsen my headache.

Maximus sighs, "Those are the names of everyone who died as a result of my idiocy. Some were necessary deaths, others, innocents caught in the cross fires of a young man who thought he was a hero. Now that you've unfortunately been exposed to a different reality, it's time I told you why I know you're parents."

I swallow. It's true. He's a killer. But he at least feels guilty for what's been done, though that justifies nothing. Since there's not much else I can do, I will listen to what he has to say.

"I am not your fifth cousin, in fact we are not related in any way. Your mother, Vidya was our gardeners child. We grew up together, with her intellect far superior to mine. Often we'd compete in inventing. The goal was to impress my father enough to make him look up from his computer screen."

WC: 13,941 (A little side note to help me keep track for the completion of this ONC)