"Mom." Afterglow seemed to have had his eyes veiled by a ghost, only now noticing Zero Three One. "I fell into the pool when it was getting dark. My friends pulled me out, and they gave me clothes, too."
"Your friends? There are other children in the dormitory building?"
"Yes. They're really nice. They know all kinds of games, and they even taught me how to get more love from Dad and Mom."
"What did they tell you?"
Afterglow revealed a ring of strangulation marks around his neck. He merely smiled innocently without answering.
"Mom is asking you!" Zero Three One gripped Afterglow's shoulders, her expression tense.
Afterglow failed to notice anything different about his mother. His mind seemed to still be on what had happened that afternoon, and he did not cry out even as her grip distorted his shoulders.
"Forget it. I won't ask anymore." Zero Three One roughly tore off the filthy red garment. "Go get some clean clothes from the wardrobe and pack your things. Mom's taking you out to play."
"We're going out to play?" Afterglow's eyes immediately lit up. "Yay! Yay!"
He skipped into the bedroom, dragged out his little suitcase, and stuffed everything except his homework and textbooks inside.
Unease in her eyes, Zero Three One picked up the red garment from the floor and took it into the bathroom. She lit a fire in the bathtub and only breathed a sigh of relief once the garment had burned to ashes.
"Don't pack so much. We can buy whatever we need in another district." Zero Three One put the jewelry Black Man-Bear had given her and some money into her bag, then took Afterglow's hand and left the workers' apartments.
"Aren't we waiting for Dad?"
"He doesn't deserve to be your dad."
The