/ Hikaru
It's a weird setting currently. Everyone was all in their own nooks and crannies of the place. Mia was on my case every now and again, trying to start a conversation, though I genuinely had nothing to say. Most of the time. A few word replies made her have this odd smirk and she'd leave me be. I'm not sure why or what is in that head. But she does make me uneasy.
"Come on you lot, dear mother bear is calling us into the common room." - Mia came into our hideout and spoke out loudly for all that are nested here to hear.
"That means everyone!" - Mia shouts out and leaves the room.
Verin comes out along with Ary. We walk to the so-called "common room", which is the place we eat at every day. There I see everyone is gathered. Some looked rather quizzical, some expectant. I wonder what this thing could be about, knowing that A.I.O. was not having any communication with us for the past two weeks. Leaving our bunch to go around and explore, as much as we could.
"I've finally managed to acquire what you've been requesting and eagerly waiting for." - AIO proclaims over the speakers.
"Mama Bear finally has some intel to share? About time, mommy dear!" - Mia exclaims happily.
"Indeed. Now take a look at this." - AIO speaks up.
The wall on the left lit up - it was apparently a huge screen wall length and width. Huge monitor. And on it - the whole of the world map.
"Oh shit…" - Jane says under his breath.
"Oh that does not look well…" - Mia gets serious.
"As you can see - I've managed to procure the scanning of the planet." - AIO began her lecture. - "I've managed to scan all I can over the past two weeks through a few satellites I managed to get into. That was a bit of a tricky situation, as the coding changed and I had to adapt, but it was possible. As you can see, the water levels have elevated around 250 metres, from my estimates. The other parts…"
"It looks like a whole lot of toxic waste zones." - Jane points out on the map.
"Indeed, by the looks of it, part of what we called Europe is under the water. The Americas, the north - do look like they've been through the nuclear issues. The earth crates, the…" - AIO steps in.
"So you mean we literally had a full blown nuclear war going on. Fucking hell." - Mia lets out.
"By what we can observe - that could be a very prominent explanation." - AIO speaks.
"The whole outlook is rather dark dystopian, if you ask me." - Jane lets out.
"I mean, with all the political turmoil that was unfolding before and during our getting here - I would not be that surprised." - Mia replies.
"Wait-wait-wait! What do you mean by nuclear war?" - Killian slaps the table.
"Well hun, you might be quite unaware, but the shitstorm that was happening during our chilling out here was quite the destructive kind. And give a few power hungry apes the damn button to go and blow up the world just to prove their dick is bigger? That's most likely what they'll do." - Mia replies.
"Those areas look rather populated." - Niko points out a few places across the map.
"By the looks of it - there have been a few settlements across the globe. Not the kind that were originally there, but more relocated to higher altitudes. So that's why we've got a few places in South America that are still with some population, there's the African continent with some cities surviving, there's also a new made places in the Saudi Arabian peninsula, the new formed Indian island, regions of central Asia with China and Mongolia, then there's Korean peninsula and a few parts of Japan. I've put out a few points on the map that suggest a city or a densely populated settlement." - AIO let out. After that on the map there were some dots that appeared.
"Can you show us where we are and the nearest cities around us?" - Niko spoke up.
"Absolutely." - AIO zoomed into the China region, with a red dot in the mountain region, then a blue dot around 500 km from us towards the north-east. - "That there looks like a very prominent structure." - AIO adds, as this shows us the most she can zoom into the city. - "It looks like a dome structure, fully covered from external influences. Though the very top seems like glass, I doubt that it's purely 'just glass'. There might have been other interesting items developed to make that. Other than that - the whole other thing is a mix of metals. A fortress of sorts." - AIO concludes.
"Were they protecting themselves from outside, or just protecting themselves as a main point of survival?" - Killian chimes in.
"Well, if you've got the whole arse of natural disasters and the toxic bollox of the warfare in your case, I just presume that thing was concocted to help them survive all what the outside world could make." - Mia eyes Killian.
"Though it looks rather tall, does it not?" - Jane looks at Mia.
"It does, like the tower of Babylon, to get closer to the arse of God, but that's a wild thing to do, in the case of toxic chemicals and whatnot… That's odd." - Mia lets out.
"How tall is this thing?" - Jane asks.
"My guess is approximately 800 metres tall, with around 10 kilometres in diameter. Rather a large egg-like structure of a dome." - AIO replies.
Jane looks at Mia, wide-eyed.
"Oh that's fucked up…" - Mia replies.
"Does it not remind you of something that we sort of had been in?" - Ary looks at Niko, as he taps the table.
"Forbidden City of Lights?" - Niko asks back.
"Forbidden City of Lights." - Ary smiles back.
"If there's correlation between the two - then may I be damned." - Verin lets out.
"Why?" - Killian furrors her brows.
"Dictatorship issues? The cult leadership issues? Power struggle issues?" - Ary side-eyes Verin.
"If that's all you think it was, then I'm highly disappointed, brother." - Verin lets out. - "My remark is more about how it operated. From the experiments, to torture, to expendable people, to endless chemical issues. It was a beauty of a place for those with power, status and money. Not so much for those who worked to keep the place running." - Verin lets out. - "Even though the Emperor was fully aware of own shortcomings, he would not face up to the trials and make it all right for his people… He left it to sort itself out."
"Which lead to uprising, war, and many more issues along the way." - Niko lets out.
"Ah, the 'good times', huh?" - Ary jokes.
"Maybe from a side view, but not when you're inside the deep end of it all." - Killian lets out.
"You were never there." - Ary quizzically looks at Killian.
"Indeed. But I do know a thing or two about the civil unrest and how dark the things can be in the dark, deep end of the story." - Killian replies.
"Sheesh…" - Ary lets out.
"I noticed something else. Around 300 km from us and around 200 km from them is a small settlement." - AIO makes a dot in-between the two places. - "It seems like there's some people there too."
We all looked at the map. Sure enough, the size was that of a small town, with a layout of some streets and houses, some fields for produce. But it was more make-shift, rather than really well made.
The rest was just endless forests, greenery, some other places across the globe - deserts. Maybe it was the toxic deserts, maybe something else. But the world did look like it underwent some harsh changes.
"Marine biologists would have a field day in this soup." - Mia lets out.
"With half the known sides of the earth under the water… I guess so." - Jane replies.
"So what do you think?" - Jane asks out loud.
"Well, from what I see there's only one solution currently. To obtain more information, as well as to go and explore." - Mia replies.
"About that…" - AIO chimes in. - "I see that you've managed to clear out the air duct vent that was clogged with debris, using the robotics we had here. So the functions of the place have improved. That I applaud you. Though I found a bit of a problem."
"A problem?" - Mia says.
"We have another person that's awake." - AIO replies. - "I've tried guiding them here, but instead they've gone up to the floor where David came from. So I wonder if someone could go and get that person."
The unease from that information seeped through cracks for everyone it seems. Even Mia and Jane, ones who sort of established themselves as the leaders here and self-proclaimed specialists of this place - they seemed panicked. The others were looking rather puzzled.
"How can someone wake up on their own?" - Mia asks.
"Oh… With this person - I cannot tell. I'm truly unaware." - AIO replies.
"What do you mean unaware?" - Niko chimed in.
"It's pretty impossible to wake up by yourself, unless you are either one of the first experiments or if someone pulled you along with them." - Killian stated. - "Isn't that what you said?" - She looked at Jane.
"That is what we were sort of thinking. And that is something we proved. Though it's rather unprecedented to wake up out of their own volition somehow out of the blue if you're not within the parameters we know. That's pretty much…" - Jane was answering.
"Impossible - is what it is." - Mia glances at everyone. - "Through the check we did - all the firsts are well asleep, all of them."
"Then what's that about?" - Verin cuts in. - "Do we know who it is?"
"I'm not sure of this specific person. It's out of my jurisdiction. They're not someone I looked after." - AIO spoke up.
"Someone should go and check." - Mia let out.
Silence hung in the place. Everyone just waited for something. Rather someone. A heightened sense of caution was buzzing in everyone.
"I'll go." - I let out.
"I'll go along with you. At least I know what it looks like there." - David added.
I looked at him, he seemed rather solidified in his decision. I was rather anxious, but curiosity was taking the best of me.
I got up, so did David.
"Be careful." - Niko lets out, as we walk out and towards the elevator.
Once inside the elevator, AIO chimes in for a moment.
"I'm not sure what they are. Caution is suggested." - said AIO and left us in silence.
The right floor came up, the elevator stopped, doors opened and we walked out. Then down the hall, into a pretty bright lit room.
It looked like an office floor, with computers, monitors and the endless buzz. Bright, clean, very interesting indeed. We looked around at the pods - one opened, one broken, but nothing was there to have any leftovers of the breakage.
"What the fuck?" - David lets out. - "That's absolutely NOT how I left this. And we've not cleaned up in here what so ever."
David walked further, I followed. Then he suddenly stopped, watching someone. I too set my eyes in the same direction.
A woman sat at the computer, contrary to all of us - her hair was salt-and-pepper, she typed about on the keyboard, looking very seriously at the screen. Then she stopped. She noticed us. Her gaze shifted to us. For a moment she looked puzzled, her brows furrowed. Then an expression of the uneventful meeting came.
"Aw hell nah." - She lets out, as she eyed both me and David, then shook her head in disdain. - "Not you two. Ahhh…" - She grunted with annoyance.
"Who the heck are you?" - David walked over to her, now a few steps away from her. She's still sat at the desk. I followed suit.
"David, right?" - She looked up at him, her face pretty much showing a lot of unwillingness to indulge in conversation with us. Then she looked at me. - "Hikaru, huh?"
"How do you know us?" - David leaned on the desk. - "How did you wake up and where from? This floor only had two pods."
She rolled her eyes, let out an annoyed sigh, then looked at us again.
"What are you, police? What's the inquisition about?" - She looked at David. I sort of started to sense they sure will fight like cat and dog in a moment.
"Sorry." - I cut in. - "We just had a notice from the system that someone awoke, so we came to check. And found you."
"Polite. That's one thing that you just can't get rid of, huh? Even from the days of the Kingdom. Ehhh…" - She lets out a sigh. - "Take a seat boys, if you want to have a chat, you better not tower over my head. It's rather annoying."
I sat at the next chair placed at the computer table. David looked up, then rolled eyes, made a few steps back, took a seat from the other office table and pulled it in closer to her, sitting arms length away.
She went back to checking something on the screen, typing things in.
"So, you playboy bunny bisexual train wreck of a male with a name David. Not my best work, but here we are. I was young and highly flattered by your type. So that came to be as it came to be. The loyal dedicated softie with a flip personality upon request, given a tragic mental switch activated, well, you're the one who gets all the girls with saviours syndrome wooed, Hikaru." - She lets out as she checks the notes on the screen.
"So who are you? A bag of dicks in the shape of an annoying human female?" - David glares at her.
"I'm sure it would have been a blessing if it were, love, but that's not how it was meant to be." - She squints at the results on the screen. - "Well bollox."
"What's your name?" - David grunts at her. I can see that a bit more and he might even throw hands. Patience is a virtue, but somehow over the past few weeks he just seems endlessly irritated by everything. Barely keeping it in.
She stops for a moment, then turns around to face us both, having her elbows on arms-rests, her fingers intertwined. Looking directly at us.
"Ehhh…" - She lets out, as she takes one more look-over of both of us. - "You won't fuck off, will you? Tsk, well that'll be that then." - She tilts her head back, rolls her eyes, takes another deep breath in and out and once more looks at us. - "Do you really want to know my name or do you want to know how to manage to live here, or rather, if you're able to get out of this bunker to live a free life under the sun?"
David grabs her by the shirt:
"Listen here, you little shit, you answer my questions before I beat them out of you."
"Hmm, kinky." - The sarcastic smile. Like a highly mischievous cat. David yanks her, then hits her back against the table.
"I ain't got all day here, sis. So you better reply while I'm nice." - David presses her against the table.
"Ha… Ha-ha…. A-ha-ha-ha-ha!" - She begins to laugh. Like some sort of a maniac.
I can't bring myself to intervene. We do need to know what she is and where she came from. So I just… I… I'm an observer.
David pulls her up and throws her on the floor. She stumbles, but does not lose her balance, standing on her feet. She turns to look at David with a grin.
"A kinky little brat with fucking issues. Missing your boyfriend so much it makes your head dizzy? Is that why you have them pms issues, hun? Have you tried warm camomile tea?" - She's smiling at him. And he? He's fuming now. A few steps close the distance and he punches her in the face. That makes her stumble back a bit.
For some reason the whole air started to feel colder. The lights and the screens started to flicker. Even David halted in his pursuit.
"So, you little twink, you think you can fuck around with the writer and get away with it, huh?" - She lets out, then all the lights go out. Complete darkness.
Feels like silence swallowed this place up as well. This eerie darkness. I can hear my own heartbeat thumping in my ears.
"Where the hell did you go?!" - David shouts out. - "Do you think this will scare me?! Show yourself, you coward!"
It's dead silent. So dark and silent. Maybe 10 seconds go by, maybe a whole minute… I can't move. David seems to be glued to his spot as well.
"Thing is, I was not meant to show up here. And sure as heck I did not mean to even see any one of you from down there. You silly geese happened to have that curiosity you must sate." - Her voice was cold as ice, calm, sounding really tired.
"What do you mean, damn it?!" - David blows up, there's the sound of him knocking something off the table.
"Why do you wanna know my name? Is that gonna do you any good? Are you gonna figure something out? I'm not one of the system kids. You won't find me in the files. Jane won't dig up a squat. Mia ain't gonna find out a thing. Even Niko won't excavate me out of her memories from all the places. I just don't exist for you all. So why?" - She calmly speaks. In a manner that's close to a very tired parent educating kids. A very odd stranger with a hint of familiarity.
"How do you know about all of us?" - I let out, feeling how my own voice is trembling.
"That's pretty easy, hun. Really, really easy." - I hear her voice right next to my ear, I sense her behind my back, placing her hand on my left shoulder.
A sense of something nostalgic, forgotten, familiar and warm blooms inside. Like a summer day in the countryside with the people you treasure the most, the happy, joyous sensation. A sensation of being complete and without a single worry in the world. I feel like it's harder to breathe. Tears start running down my face. I can't stop the sense of how much I yearned for this feeling. I bury my face in my hands as I wail in tears.
"What the heck? What did you do to him?!" - David shouted out. Feels like he's flailing in the dark to beat the invisible enemy. - "Come out here, damn it!"
I sensed the hand leaving my shoulder, though the sensation remains. The warmth of this hand and the soft touch… I can't stop crying.
"What the?!" - David exclaims in surprise… and then silence. The sound of my crying is filling up this silence. Then I hear the familiar heaving and similar crying… Guess it's David. She got to him too. Now we're both wailing our hearts out like little kids. As if the bits that were missing were mended.