Chapter 1:
Parallel in Two
[This 'zero chapter' contains two prologues to maintain chapter numbers throughout the story. This is important for continuity with the ARG. Please do not discredit this chapter for word count violation, and judge or not, thank you for reading!]
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In a tumble, Arufa found herself sitting on the dirty pavement, facing the run-down public library. The old librarian shooed her off and slammed the double doors in her face.
“Hey, I placed a hold…!” she called to no avail. “Damn.”
She grabbed a hold of the rusty iron columns beside the stairway and hoisted herself up. This is the second time she’s caught me this week, she thought, rubbing the stains off on her pants. I keep this up, they’ll call the police. Not like that means anything down here.
Among the crowd of passersby in the dark streets, Arufa was something of a stand-out. She wore an oversized metallic jacket, reflecting and warping the neon signs over and around the alley. Her frizzy brown hair sported laser-orange highlights to match her amber eyes.
She felt a hard slap on her back. “Hah! The look on her was priceless,” someone said.
That someone was Skyler, her roommate and close friend. She knew it as soon as she saw their fluffy blue-grey hair pass to her side. They held two books in their left arm underneath their own black jacket—dark clothing was something of a trend in these parts.
“Wha– when did you nab those?” Arufa asked.
“When you were at the front desk,” they replied. “Did you actually go in there and place a hold?!”
She shrugged. “Yeah, couple days ago. Thought it’d be worth a shot.”
“You would’ve missed that shot if it were point-blank to the back of my head. We’re blacklisted from… what, sixteen libraries now? Maybe if you’d get your face out of these books, we could pull off a heist or something…”
Arufa pulled the books from Skyler’s hand in one big yank. “Then why’d you steal these for me, dork?”
“Because they keep you awake at night when I’m trying to sleep. Loud-ass snoozer.”
“Hey, screw you, I don’t snore!”
Skyler lowered their eyelids and raised their brows. “Note the Arufa-isms. Very confident. Very wrong.”
“Whatever. Thanks for these,” Arufa said.
“It brings me joy to steal.”
“Okay, freak.”
The two walked along the sidewalk, cigarette butts and a low haze lining their path. They bumped shoulders with faceless strangers as they had so many times before—in a city so densely packed as X2, isolation was a privilege in itself.
Sirens blared deep into the uneven grid of the city, chaotic and freeform much like its residents. Anyone in the Underside who claimed financial stability was a fraud or a liar; more likely both. Glowing graffiti lined the cracked windows of every drugstore, every pawn shop, and every bail office.
The only commodity free for anyone down here was the rush of adrenaline running from the cops—provided you could even commit a crime bad enough to grab their attention. Skyler was the sort of person who thrived on the chaos. Arufa was not.
Huh. One of these books is a sci-fi murder mystery. Not exactly my jive, but the premise is interesting, at least. Killing people ain’t my thing.
“Hey, the walk’s only five minutes if we use AG. How much do you have?”
And the other one they picked out is a psychology textbook…? What are they trying to say? Does Sky think I’m uneducated? Might genuinely be the first book I don’t pick up.
“Rufa! You got distracted reading the blurbs? That’s a new low.”
“Not sorry. Why’d you grab a textbook??” she inquired.
“It was just whatever was on the shelf. Did you even hear my question?”
“Yeah. I’m at…” she checked the implant on her wrist, “...almost full charge. But I don’t want to waste it now. You wanted me to get us some money for dinner tonight, right?”
Skyler shrugged. “Whaaaat? Me not wanting to put in the effort? That’s so unlike me.”
Well, where we’re heading is through Shark territory. They’re tough, but I mean… I could handle them. I think they’d get too scared of me, because I’m just that imposing. Super tall, super awesome… yeah, no. I am pretty tall, but even then there’s no way I’d make it out alive.
“Well, you know what, fine. It’s dangerous in that part of town. You win.”
“Yay! I get to do even less work!” Skyler joked. “You’re the best!”
“What am I, your big sister?”
“Arufa, six-year roommates either make kids or become siblings. There’s no in-between.”
“And that somehow means I have to babysit your lazy ass?”
“Okay, fine. Just say you hate me.”
She broke face and chuckled. “What?”
“Nothing.”
Arufa tapped the interface integrated into her wrist and flicked her hand upward. The artificial gravity generators in her boots kicked into high gear, shooting her into the air and over the crowd. She was so high up she could almost see the horizon—rather, the edge of the space station.
X2 was the most populous space colony of its time, bolstering a civilian count a million strong cramped into a two-sided disaster of a city. The poverty-ridden, claustrophobic Underside housed a majority of its residents, while the rich and spacious Overside held only the nobles and elitists. It was polarizing—quite literally—and such was the source of a distinct hatred between the two worlds.
Seeing the whole of Underside from here, she found smoke rising from several buildings. Red and blue flashed all over each block, but only so the police could pretend they were catching criminals. Nothing ever changed in Underside; everyone knew that.
Skyler shot up to her side, a little wobbly from the G-force. “Why are you smiling…?”
“Heheheh.”
“I don’t like that, Rufa.”
“I got an idea. The Sharks don’t have AG, right? They’re all against it and whatever?”
Skyler’s face dropped. “You sick bastard.”
“What do you say we fly right through their little base camp and dodge some bullets?”
“No. Arufa, you agreed to use AG so we could go home safer–”
“Too late.”
She dove, weaving through a couple of overhead bridges and through the dock of a floating car park. Skyler hesitantly followed soon after, copying her moves. She flew like she’d never fallen before, gliding into the darker, grimier parts of town. That was the one thing Arufa knew for certain—she was fearless.
“Ay! Who’s that?!” someone called. She heard a gunshot echo between alleyways and underpasses—and laughed a little.
“There’s two of ‘em! On our turf!”
“Fuck ‘em up!”
The rattling of an automatic made Arufa reconsider her ballsy play for only a split second. Maybe Underside wasn’t her ideal home, but she would sure be taking advantage of the free adrenaline. She flipped into a barrel roll and swooped right, watching the trail of bullet holes shatter the glass behind her.
“God, I look so sick doing this,” she said aloud, watching her reflection shoot by. In the alternate reality through the windows, she found Skyler right on her tail.
“We should’ve just walked,” they groaned. “This sucks.”
“What do you mean? This is– oh, that’s an RPG! Up!” she shouted, twisting her wrist and falling straight into the hazy sky.
She looked down as she flew away, watching the explosion shake the building’s foundation. Skyler shot up with the smoke—but they were coming straight towards her.
“Hey– agh!” Arufa laughed as Skyler tackled her mid-air. “All we did was fly around, man. I didn’t think they’d pull out the illegal arms on us.”
“For the record, all the arms are illegal.”
“Even these ones?” Arufa asked, holding up her forearms and staring at them like an idiot. “Huh. You learn something new every day.”
They repressed a smirk. “That’s really fucking dumb.”
“Yeah, I agree. I’ve had these since I was born, they shouldn’t be illegal!”
“God, stop talking before I go back down there and shoot myself.”
Arufa cackled for a bit and let out a long exhale of relief. “So? How’d you like our little detour?”
“Never make a decision again,” Skyler retorted. “You're the bravest person I know. You need something to knock that ego down.”
“It’s not ego, Sky. I just know what I’m doing!”
They hmphed. “What if you don’t one day? What are you gonna have written on the gravestone we can’t afford?”
“...We’re wasting AG.” She started to descend, albeit away from the gang’s hideout. Neon lights and vivid colors lit up her pensive expression, covered in stains from the rust she lived in.
“Okay. What’s the plan? You go get us some cash, I’ll wait back at the warehouse?”
“Sure. Meet at…” they checked the digital displays across the many buildings below. “How about eight?”
Arufa nodded. “Sounds good. And take these books back with you, okay? Don’t want them getting messed up.”
“Why? I mean, it’s not like the quality matters that much unless you’re– oh Lord, you’re gonna try and return them when you’re done.”
“Even if it means getting my ass busted again,” she laughed, angling her wrists and falling back into the Underside. “Over-under is thirty bucks!”
“Under!” Skyler called after her.
She cupped her hand to her mouth and shouted once more before disappearing into the smog.
“Solid bet!”
SINISTRO PROLOGUM: FINE
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“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
The redhead idol threw her hands out to the adoring crowd, basking in applause. Dripping sweat gleamed on her forehead in the spotlight—she could taste the salt on her cracked lips. Her throat was dry, her stomach was empty, and her energy was depleted.
She held a smile, looking pretty as could be for the cameras, before slowly walking off stage left in her gorgeous high heels. Her white dress trailed behind her, her long red locks swaying with her stride. The most confident woman in all of X2 had just put on another stellar performance.
And when she returned to the dressing room, she collapsed on the couch and let out a long, deep sigh.
“Aaaaaaghhh,” the young lady whined. “Lonestar, my throat hurts. May I have some water?”
A tall bodyguard had been stationed by the door. She closed it and grumbled, “Oh no! My name is Marsia and I can’t get water for myself.”
“Oh, shut it, Locri. You try singing for two hours.”
The guard, shrugging it off, walked over to the refrigerator with energy Marsia simply did not have. She tossed the girl a cold metallic bottle. “I get it. Tell me how it went.”
Marsia fumbled with the canister for a moment before finally holding it solidly in her hands. “You mean you didn’t hear it?”
“I–”
“But Locri, the whole performance was just for you, couldn’t you tell? I’m madly in love with you!”
“Lady Marsia, our forbidden love will echo across the multiverse. We are inseparable.”
She took a sip from the supercooled can and coughed. “Okay, it’s not funny when you play along.”
“Right. As I was saying,” the bodyguard continued, “I heard it. I want to know how you felt about it.”
“God, that was…” she took another sip and let out a quick exhale, “...atrocious. My worst yet. Possibly ever.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Locri said.
“WHAT!”
“I jest.”
“I would hope so. Only I get to criticize myself,” the girl scoffed. “That is an exclusive privilege to the Lilia family lineage.”
The idol and her guard settled in brief silence as Marsia drank more of her water. It broke when she threw the can on the ground and grumbled.
“Locri, I don’t want to be a pop star.”
“Locri, I don’t want to be a pop star,” Locri mocked. “You literally chose to do this, right?”
“No. Mother wanted our family to maintain relevance. So she sat me down a few years ago and got me into this… business. If you can even call it that.”
“Rich people crap,” Locri replied.
“Indeed. I’d much rather have an actual life.”
She stared off at the repetitive wallpaper in the greenroom. Hundreds of parallel lines falling down the wall—it was a putrid design, like zebra skin without any evolutionary advantage. She deemed herself at least more useful than a wallpaper like that.
Locri sat down on the couch next to her and felt a buzz in the pocket of her suit. “Oh, the manager sent me a text. We have to be out of here in, like, five minutes.”
“Lord. We get to talk less and less these days. Do you think our romance will die?”
“There was never anything between us, Miss Lilia.”
“Wha– nooo! Don’t leave me! I’ll be better! I’ll change, I promise!” Marsia fake-cried.
“Hah. I see why you didn't want me to play along now.”
Locri brushed an olive green strand of her short curly hair out of her face. The tuxedo she wore outlined her figure nicely, but if not for her eyeliner, her face could have easily been mistaken for a man’s. Marsia had known her for about six years now.
Marsia laid upside-down on the beige sofa and let her red hair fall to the ground in a mess.
“Pardon. What are you doing, Lady Marsia?”
“Don’t question it. Just… let it speak to you. Do as I do.”
The bodyguard raised a bushy eyebrow. “Do I have to?”
“Yes. Supreme command from your authority. Be silly with me.”
Locri tentatively flipped around on the couch and leaned back. Her hair, like Marsia’s, fell all over the floor. Blood pooled in their faces, tinting their cheeks a rosy red.
Marsia turned to her bodyguard. “Isn’t this exciting?!”
“No.”
“Yes, you’re right. It’s actually quite uncomfortable.”
The two repositioned themselves and stood up—Marsia stretched her arms to the ceiling and yawned. With her eyes closed, she imagined for a moment her ideal life: being with the people who needed her most, spreading joy to whoever she could.
“Miss Lilia?”
“Oh, what now?”
“I wanted to apologize. You know what for,” Locri said.
Marsia’s brain blue-screened. “Erm. No, I do not.”
“A couple of months ago, when I snapped at you about the gun safety protocols. I hope you know that was a moment of weakness for me.”
“Locri, Locri—genuinely, I do not remember that happening. And isn’t that basically like it never happened at all?”
“...”
“There’s no need to apologize over something like that. But I appreciate your willingness to come forward about it.”
“...You’re a kind person, Marsia.”
“Well, I’d hope so! My whole bloody job is making people happy, isn’t it?”
“I suppose so, yes,” Locri replied. “And mine is making sure you can do yours.”
“Great! So let me go to Underside.”
Locri blinked.
“...In what world would I let you do that?” she questioned.
“No, just hear me out! You’ve heard the news, how bad it is down there! I could help them!”
“At the risk of being raped, kidnapped, and sold into prostitution. And that’s if they don’t shoot you on sight.”
“No one’s ever tried to change things down there! We’ll never know until we try, right?” Marsia declared. “Please. I really want to see what the world is like.”
“I can tell you a story I had in Underside. Then maybe you’ll understand,” Locri replied. “Sit down. Management can wait a little.”
Marsia sat prim and proper on the sofa’s armrest. It bent the weight of the furniture slightly towards her. “I’m listening.”
“Your parents hired an elite force of bodyguards to keep you safe. I’m not kidding, these are some of the toughest guys in the whole X-Chain. It was probably around four years ago when we were being trained in Underside.
“We’d cleared out an area to use as a practice course. Hundreds of guys stationed all over. Should have been perfectly safe, but… we lost some good men in that exercise. Men who shouldn’t have been in danger at all.
“Someone shot a bazooka from a couple blocks away. We don’t know why. There was a long investigation, but never any answers. The police don’t do shit down there. No justice for the dozen lives lost, no closure for their families.
“That’s where some of these scars come from, on my face and hands. It was bad. Shrapnel everywhere, no one coming to save us. Most of your bodyguards probably remember it just as well as I do. But that’s the reality of Underside. Sometimes, the news will make it out to be a misunderstood haven of creativity and passion. But it’s a den of killers, and don’t you forget it.”
Marsia, rapt in attention, lowered her gaze. “Not everyone down there is, right? There has to be at least one good person in Underside.”
“Not one you or I will ever meet. Those parallel lines do not cross. They’ll never cross. So I hope that steers you off that self-destructive ideology.”
“It hasn’t. If anything, I want to go more.”
Locri squinted. “Seriously? After all of that? Marsia, you must be begging to get slaughtered.”
“If I can help the one good person down there, that’s all I need.”
“There is no good person, alright? End of discussion! So quit trying to live your stupid fantasy!”
“Stupid…?”
Locri winced and looked away. “That slipped out. I’m sorry.”
“I think you need a hug,” Marsia said, standing up and approaching the bodyguard.
“No, no, I’m not a… okay, fine.”
Their height difference turned the embrace into more of a joke than anything. Locri towered more than a foot over Marsia, holding her head as if she were a child. They both chuckled a little before stepping back.
“Just in case you needed a refresher. That’s stupid. Not my ideals.”
“Well, I’m glad you cleared that up for me, Lady Marsia,” Locri replied. “But they do really need you in the limo. Get yourself some good rest and I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”
Marsia smiled. “Right. Night, Lonestar.”
Locri opened the door for her as she walked out in her dress and heels. “Night, Lilia.”
“And do promise you’ll be there in the afternoon, please? They’re playing bingo again.”
“You… want me to play bingo?”
“No. I need you to keep me entertained while they do.”
“Heh, should've seen that coming. See you tomorrow, rockstar.”
Marsia walked away, her white dress trailing behind her—the same way her thoughts of the other side drifted along, muddled but not quite faded…
Maybe parallel lines could cross, if someone would just let them.
DEXTRO PROLOGUM: FINE
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Act I: Parallel as One
Initium.
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