Chem relished the sight of it all, and marveled at what a wonderful job the event’s organizers had done. Chem grabbed a small cookie and held it in his hand. The logistics of the event were a pleasant surprise. Up until this point, they had been fed by the tubes of their old facility, which seemed to have an unlimited supply of liquid food without smell or taste.
The festival, though, was a welcome array of sights and smells, but even it too was limited. There was no fresh produce, or bread, or any food that could expire, since the grocery stores weren’t actively managed. All that remained were non-perishables like canned meat, nuts, and frozen food. Although the frozen food couldn’t leave the freezers they were stored in. Still, the event was a soft reminder of the city’s culture. It wasn’t quite the same as the old world, but with the mixture of sights, smells, and people, Chem was proud that it felt like a new one.
“Hey there”
Birdcage
said as she walked up to
Kasumi
, “I’ve been waiting for you. How have you been holding up?”
“Yeah, nope.”
Birdcage
laughed, “No farmers means no produce, so I think everyone here would welcome your decision. Actually, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” Birdcage gestured with her arm, and a tall
man
with a worn hat and overalls stepped forward.
“Hi, miss …”
“
Kasumi
,” she said, looking up at the man, “You can call me Kasumi.”
“Kasumi.” he said, “You can call me
Farmer
. It’s not a name like Kasumi, but it’ll do.”
“Alright Farmer”
she
said, “Why did
Birdcage
here introduce you?”
“Well, if it isn’t obvious, I am a farmer.”
he
started, “I intend to harvest the nearby farms and grow some fresh crops. And if it’s alright with you, you can join me. I’ve done my fair share of farming before, but not much around this area.”
“Yeah,”
she
said, “Yeah, I’d be happy to show you around.”
“Perfect.”
he
said.
Kitsune
weaved through the crowd with her sword on her hip. It had been a long time since she’d been in such a large crowd. She scanned the crowd for any potential threats, as she made her way forwards. Behind her was a
man
with a plaid shirt and an apron with the number forty-three at its center. A
woman
followed him with a soft purple screen, holding the hands of a teenage boy and young girl.
“Thanks for looking out for us,
Kitsune
.” the
man
said.
“I can’t turn down a request for protection, especially for a family.”
she
said.
The teenage boy looked away and ran off.
Kitsune
started to dash after him until she saw him join a small crowd of four teenagers.
One
had a key on his screen,
another
had glasses.
One
had hearts across his screen, and
another
had a locked safe across her face.
“They’re okay.” the man said, stopping
Kitsune
. “They’re the only other teenagers we’ve found around here. It’s good that he has people to play with. The one with the lock happens to be my niece.”
“Is it worth the threat of being exposed?”
Kitsune
answered, “You still haven’t told me the nature of your threat.”
Kitsune
looked over and saw the
mother
holding her young daughter’s hand. “I understand. I won’t let any harm come to you unless you invoke it. This new start has been peaceful for us so far, and I intend to keep it that way.” Kitsune began to spot a face through the crowd. Through the frantic motions of people moving about, one face had stayed still and staring. It was the face of the man,
Gang
, who had walked away from their campfire on the first night. “Stay here.” Kitsune directed at the family, and took a few steps forward. “What do you want?”, she directed at Gang.
Gang
stood still and stared right at
her
. “I see you still carry around your sword.”
“Out with it.”
she
answered.
“I’m putting together a group of people to take charge of this world. I want to make sure no one despicable takes power over us.”
he
paused, “I want you to be part of it. Join us.”
“And what manner of world do you intend to build? Which values do you intend to use to guide its course? Is this the same group where you’ve recruited my
brother
?”
“Don’t think I don’t track your movements or know the nature of your company. My
brother
and I could not be more different in terms of aim or purpose. You seek to claim power, but you care not for the values to champion, nor mission to pursue. It’s power for power’s sake, an empty ambition without the vestige of purpose”
she
paused, “And I don’t align myself with thugs.”
“You don’t know me.”
Gang
said.
“I know enough.”
Kitsune
answered.
Suddenly a
man
with a dark suit and jagged red lines across his face started to walk up to them. Alarm bells pulsed in
Kitsune
’s head. Every intuition raged against her as she looked towards the man walking forward. She turned to the father in a panic, and grabbed his hand. “Come on.”, she said, “We need to get away from here.”, as she and the adjoining family disappeared into the bustling crowd.
Gang
glared towards
Chaos
in repressed rage. He took great efforts to contain himself and regain composure. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.
Chaos
walked calmly over, with a
man
following closely behind. “We’ve heard you’re putting a group together” he said, “We would like to humbly request to join.”
“And why would I let you?”
Gang
barked.
“Come now. We’ve worked well together in the past haven’t we? It’s really a question of where you would rather have me? With you here, or off somewhere else? And I promise I’ll always follow orders”
he
whispered, “sir.”
“Of course.”
Chaos
answered, “And you have one more entry.” he took the
man
behind him by the shoulders and shoved him between himself and
Gang
. The man was trembling and had ‘Do Not Enter’ written on his face.
“What’s his name?”
Gang
asked.
“What use could
I
have for a man who’s always afraid?”
“Come now.”
Chaos
taunted, “I’m sure he has some measure of ferocity.”
Gang
stepped back a moment flashed before his eyes from twelve, no, sixteen years earlier. Gang clenched his fists as he looked towards
Chaos
behind the man. “Fine. He can join too, but that’s it.”
“Of course.”
Chaos
said.
“Is everything alright here?” the
woman
with the witch’s hat approached them. The muscular man and
Superior
followed closely behind.
“We’re fine.”
Gang
said, turning to
Chaos
and
Fear
, “We’re going to make an announcement soon, in front of the crowd. We’re in charge, and it’s time that they know it.”, he turned to the
woman
, the muscular man, and
Superior
, and pointed at Chaos. “I want this one on a tight leash. He’s part of the group, but not above anyone here.”
Chaos
smiled and looked to his side. “I’m telling you” a
man
in a suit and headset said to another man, “Any of these non-perishables are valuable commodities. You need to HODL them now and wait until there’s demand.”
“Fascinating.”
Chaos
whispered.
Gang
walked up to a table of food that was mostly empty. He looked around the city block to the crowds of people gathered there. This is the perfect place, he thought, for us to make our stand. He shoved the food to one side, and stood up on the table.
Superior
,
Witch
,
Chaos
,
Fear
, and the Muscular Man all climbed atop the table.
Birdcage
glanced at
Kasumi
. Kasumi and
Kitsune
glanced at each other. They stared with bitter resolve in their eyes, and conviction in their hearts. This felt wrong. They all knew it. Kitsune kept her eyes peeled, staring forward towards
Superior
. He had also found her in the crowd and was staring back – both with their hands on their blades.