Asset 0419-KJX-7

   — Anya Ray (Age: 14)

The room was full of a mechanical buzzing. It was sterile and metallic, the air tinged with the scent of chemicals and blood. Kael pulled on latex gloves, releasing them with a sharp snap. They moulded to the shape of his fingers, showing the outline of the ring on his middle finger. He turned to the little boy sitting on the hospital bed. “Do you have your number?”

The kid nodded, holding out a piece of paper. The numbers were written there in neat, precise letters with red ink. 0419-KJX-7. Kael scanned the number into the machine. The system pinged: name, age, gender, blood type, nutrition level. All of it would be encoded into the barcode− another set of numbers in a database, another asset for the government to track. The machine buzzed as it printed a stencil. He pressed it to the boy’s wrist, ignoring the way he flinched at the sudden cold. He used to tell himself that it was better him than someone else− at least if he did it, he could try to make sure the pain of the tattoo would be eased. Lately, though, that was beginning to feel like yet another lie. He blinked and looked up as the kid tugged on his sleeve.

“I’m scared, Mister.” The boy whispered. “Does it hurt?”

Kael felt a pang in his chest. The kid couldn’t be older than six, and now he was branding him like an animal. They got younger each year− at this rate, soon it’d be babies in the womb. He crouched so he was at eye level. “What’s your name, squirt?”

“Miko.” The kid whispered, like it was a secret.

“It’s gonna sting, Miko. But it’s alright. I’ll be right here the whole time, okay? You’re gonna be fine.”

The kid frowned, his tongue toying at one of his teeth. It was loose, barely hanging on by a thread. “My sister said it hurt a lot.”

“Maybe it hurt a lot for your sister. But you’re a big, brave boy, aren’t you? It won’t hurt a bit.”

Miko screwed up his face, and then he nodded. Kael reached for the tattoo gun, turning it on. The kid watched with trepidation as it hummed to life. “Close your eyes, okay?” When the kid squeezed his eyes closed, Kael brought the needle to Miko’s wrist. He ignored the way the boy’s teeth clenched, focussed on engraving the barcode, until he heard the sickening squelch of spit and blood as the kid’s loose tooth tore free from his gum and rolled onto his tongue. Miko coughed, and spit it into his hand with a slick plop. The root was still a little pink.

Kael watched as the kid’s face screwed up and he began to cry, cheeks turning red with the force of his sobs. “Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s just a tooth-” Kael said frantically, desperate to stop the cries tearing from the kid’s throat. He was cut off when Miko threw his arms around Kael’s abdomen, muffling his sobs into his shirt. His chubby arms didn’t even go the whole way around. Kael froze. What the hell? Slowly, tentatively, he patted the kid’s curly head like it was a dog. His heart clenched as he saw watery green eyes looking up at him.

“Am I dying?” The kid whispered, bottom lip trembling.

“No, I promise, it’s just a tooth. It happened to me too.”

Miko looked at him suspiciously. “But you have all your teef.” He had a slight lisp due to the gap in his mouth, and Kael found himself melting.

“That’s ‘cause they grew back, squirt. You’re gonna get big boy teeth.” He hesitated, then ruffled his hair. “Let me put that in something so you can put it away for the tooth fairy.” He grabbed his inking rag, hastily wiped the blood and excess ink from Miko’s wrist, and then carefully wrapped the tooth in it. Normally, he would’ve thrown the rag away, but it couldn’t hurt to leave it.

“What’s the toof fairy?” Miko’s tears had almost stopped now, and he was looking at Kael with curious eyes.

“She’s from way back. Before we had the Authority. When little kids like you lost their teeth, she’d collect them and give them money.” Kael’s voice trailed off. He could still remember it, vaguely. His childhood had been in the time when the world was being recreated, during the early years of the new government calling themselves the Authority.

“My momma says that we shouldn’t talk about the Old Days.”

Kael blinked, coming back to himself. “Your momma’s right, squirt. Sorry. Don’t talk about that, or you’ll get in trouble.” He was going soft. Still, he rubbed the last remnants of tears from Miko’s cheek with a gloved finger.

“How do I give it to the fairy?”

“Here. I’ll give it to her for you.” He tucked the tooth in his pocket, and then impulsively pressed something into the kid’s hand. It was a coin. The currency was long dead, but he had kept this one. He remembered his joy at receiving it− it had been the last thing he had received from the tooth fairy, his last physical remnant from the old world.

Miko blinked. “What’s that?”

“The tooth fairy gave it to me this morning. She said I’d meet a big, brave boy, and that I should give it to him.” Kael grinned at the kid− it was wide and genuine, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled like that. “Bye, squirt.”

“Bye, Mister!” The kid grinned at him. He looked backwards and waved as he hopped out of the room. Kael told himself that Miko would be allowed to keep the coin, told himself that the kid would have the chance to grow up happy and treasure that coin as much as he had. The lie helped to slightly ease the guilt gnawing at Kael’s chest.