“Well that got out of hand”
Habiki
chuckled,
Ongaku
smiled alongside
Wolfgang
and
Disco
as they stood outside the back of the hotel burning. Ongaku smiled as he recalled
Chem
hustling them out of the building with his hands waving. The scene was chaotic, and while the crowd around them were deeply uncomfortable, Ongaku felt at home for the first time in a while. The rush to leave with the crisp cold air surrounded by close friends. It reminded him of the good old days when they were young and touring the world. The manager used to rush them out of venues when the crowd got too rowdy. That was Ongaku’s favorite part.
“Just like old times”
Ongaku
grinned, “All we need now’s some liquor.”
“You mean like this?”
Disco
opened the side of his coat to reveal a large bottle of sake.
“How’d you score that?”
Habiki
laughed.
“When I picked this yellow shiny jacket, you all told me it was stupid!”
Disco
started.
“Because it is stupid.”
Ongaku
corrected. “You look like a beehive.”
“Is it stupid that people are distracted by it?”
Disco
argued, “Is it stupid that you can’t notice if I’m hiding something in my sleeve?” Disco paused, “Because if this stupid phenomenal jacket is the only reason we have booze right now, then someone might have to apologize if he wants some.”
“Well I always liked your jacket.”
Habiki
said.
Disco
happily handed him the booze.
“Fine.”
Ongaku
sighed, “Your jacket isn’t stupid.”
“Thank you.”
Disco
answered.
“It just ‘looks’ stupid.”
“I’ll take it.”
Disco
replied as
Habiki
handed
Ongaku
the bottle. “But this jacket will win you over one of these days!”
“No it won’t.”
Ongaku
grumbled as he took a swig of the sake.
As the wind whistled past, and the crowd clamored around them, the group was overtaken by an unconscious silence. They all looked slowly at one another as the moment held firm between them.
“Has anyone seen
Jazz
?”
Habiki
asked.
Wolfgang
paused, then answered, “No. Not since he joined Team Order.”
“He always had to be different.”
Disco
smiled.
“Is that them?”
Kasimir
whispered.
“At least four of the five, yeah?”
Natsuki
answered.
“Do you think we should introduce ourselves, I mean ‘really’ introduce ourselves?”
“I know, I do too.”
Kasimir
sighed, “I just thought that they would get it, you know? More than anyone.”
“Then everyone would know. I don’t want to go back to that”
Natsuki
insisted, moved closer to
Kasimir
and held his hand. “When I met you on that movie set, I was so starstruck. Then came the cameras and the photoshoots. I couldn’t even tell what was real anymore. I just…”
“I remember.” Kasimir looked down and shook his head. “You weren’t happy. That’s why we ‘plugged in’ in the first place. I know how much this second chance means to you and I’m not going to mess it up.” He held her hands and looked deep into her eyes. “Don’t worry darling. We’re going to make this work.”
Noir
waited silently in the back of the diner. He leaned against the side of the building with his arms crossed, standing firm in his black suit. He was a tall man and had firm strong muscles from years as a bodyguard. His physique hadn’t diminished at all, even after years in the facility. After a few minutes,
Itamae
emerged from the back of the building and tossed off his apron. Noir glanced at the Triangle Company logo across Itamae’s bandana.
“You’re still wearing that thing?”
Noir
asked.
“If they have the audacity to use the Resistance logo in there, then yeah, I’m keeping my bandana.”
Itamae
snapped.
“That must not make you popular in the kitchen.”
Noir
remarked.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter. No one back there can cook as well as me.”
“How are the supplies?”
Noir
asked.
“Not great. Apparently
Chaos
burned up a lot of food in the fire. We’re making due, but I don’t think the nearby farm is going to feed a city anytime soon.”
“And the facility has plenty of nutrients. All you need to do is plug in again.”
Noir
stated.
“Only the Resistance could make the founder of eternal bliss a villain.”
Itamae
shook his head. “Tell me a
Takahashi
story.”
“You want another one?”
Noir
asked.
“I worked for him covertly for four years. You were his bodyguard for ten. I’d like to know more about the guy I’ve never met.”
“Alright.”
Noir
started, “One day I was escorting
Takahashi
into a building. There were protesters all around, and one of them broke through the barrier and darted towards him. I wound up my fist and clocked him out. When we got inside,
Takahashi
looked at me intensely. It was always intense when he looked you right in the eye. He looked at me, grabbed the back of my neck and said ‘Strong men shape the world’. I’ll never forget it.”
Noir
smiled at his friend. “And I bet you were the best chef he’d ever seen.”
Miné
tiptoed quietly past her
daughter
who was listening to music in her room.
Jiro
stood quietly beside her in the hallway.
“Hi honey” he whispered to her.
“Where’d your
father
go?”
Miné
asked.
“Oh, just out on one of his walks. There’s no telling him what to do.”
“How’s
Vault
adjusting?”
Miné
whispered intently.
“What are you sorry about?”
Miné
asked.
“My family. All of this. I wanted our lives to be normal, simple and happy. I made you a promise that I wouldn’t let my
brother
interfere with our marriage.”
“He hasn’t!”
Miné
insisted.
“Look at our heads right now Miné”
Jiro
sighed. “Look at our lives. It’s all on his terms. I’m sorry, I just … I feel like I failed you.”
“Hey!”
Miné
protested, “You haven’t failed anything! I married you because you’re your own man. You’re compassionate and a great father, and this life of ours is completely our own. Your brother is gone. You should never had to have worried about him, but you especially don’t now. And
Vault
is a kind, sweet girl. She’ll come around. And you’ll be a better father to her than he ever would be. You know that’s true!”
Jiro
smiled through his emotion. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”
Suddenly, their teenage
son
burst through the door with someone else by his side.
“Ka-Gamer”
Miné
corrected herself, “Who is this?”
“You insisted we all get to pick our new names Mom, ‘Gamer’ is my name now.”
Gamer
stated.
“We’ll talk about that later.”
she
said, “Now tell me who this is!”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Inicio
said, “I have a gift for you that I made yesterday. It’s amazing how much tech is lying around the facility!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a mechanical device with gears shifting and lights flashing in a rotation. Its task was unclear, but it moved in a perpetual state of enigmatic motion.
Jiro
bent over to look at it with great interest. “What the hell is that?”
Mizuto
grumbled as he rushed to the casino. He’d heard there was a fire and panted as he arrived at the scene. He saw the sight of a few flames dwindling, but his experience told him that the fire wouldn’t spread. He sat down and leaned against a nearby building to catch his breath. What was it with these people? Always burning things. He knew a world without a formal government would be chaotic, but he didn’t expect anything like this. He’d hoped
Order
would bring things under control, but without running firetrucks, he was helpless against these frequent fires.
Heart
with a beating heart on his screen approached
Mizuto
. “Are you okay?” the man asked him.
“Am I okay? Are you okay? Every time I blink, there’s another fire. How crazy are you people? This is insane!”
Heart
sat down next to
Mizuto
, and gave his question serious thought. “They’re afraid.”
Heart
finally answered. “They’re afraid that they’ll never experience the happiness they crave so deeply. The freedom from the isolation we’ve all experienced. So they take shortcuts through short-sighted destructiveness. They just want to feel something. And
Chaos
does too. Neither of them will be satisfied in the end. The only difference with Chaos is that he doesn’t care.”
“Then why are you with these people?”
Mizuto
asked. “If you’re opposed to all this - why are you still here?”
“I don’t want to sound patronizing,”
Heart
started, “But someone needs to look out for these people. Otherwise they’ll be alone when they wake up one day and have to pick up the pieces.”
“Hello!”
A man
with a snowman on his screen approached. “My name is Shimo! Is everyone alright here? I know
Order
led a charge here, and I want to take care of the wounded, on either side of course!”
“Thank you so much for coming. It’s good to see someone like you out here.”
Heart
answered. “
Chaos
is inside the hotel nursing his wounds. He broke something in his fight with
Order
.”
“On it!”
Shimo
nodded and walked into the hotel.
Mizuto
looked to Heart. “So is it over then? Is the Order Chaos war finally done?”
“I hope so.”
Heart
answered. “Most people evacuated out back, but
Order
and
Kitsune
came through here not long ago to make sure no one had planned anything reckless. I don’t think
Chaos
will take it quietly, but I think “Team” Chaos will be a lot quieter from now on.”
“I’m grateful to hear that.”
Mizuto
answered. “In the meantime we have people like
Shimo
to help out.”
“In any war, you need people who see outside of it to help others.”
Heart
stated. “I think the three of us are well suited for it.”
Aeth
sat alone atop a clearing overlooking the city. She could see the entirety of Nozomi, the three square blocks where the lights were on and citizens made their homes, as well as the remaining city that still had no access to electricity. She could even see the makings of a small fire on the top of a building. This was of course the Order / Chaos conflict.
Aeth
decided not to take sides in the faction war. Both leaders seemed selfish and small-minded. While they quarreled over details and philosophies, she thought they’d missed the greater picture. They would get nothing done at all unless they were able to come together.
“How’s the view today?” A familiar voice said from behind.
“Chaotic as usual. The conflict doesn’t appear to be over yet.”
Aeth
answered, facing forward. “How are you?”
“Oh, you know me.” The voice said, “I’ve been better. But being outside like this among whatever nature’s left … it reminds me that not everything has changed.”
“That’s good.”
Aeth
replied, “The world has been reset. We all have a second chance here.”
“I know. I just …” the voice cut off. A loud echo boomed through the air. The ground started quaking beneath
Aeth
’s legs, as she found her bearing amidst the vibrations.
“What was that?”
Aeth
asked. “It sounded like it came from the facility..”