A Ghost By No Other Name

One by one, Himeko’s days turned to several before they all passed by in a single gray sludge. She did all the things expected of her, from class to listening to Hanami’s latest setlist to choreographing Hengawa and Kōrō’s dance, but she couldn't bring herself to pay attention to any of it. When she slept, only nightmares came, and she never connected with the Cube, nor did her mirror ever try to reach out. The worst part of it all, though, was that she couldn't tell if she was grateful for that or not.

✦✦✦

It was one of those gray days when Kōrō began to poke her cheek. It started slowly at first, then sped up as Himeko didn’t react. They were sitting idly in an empty classroom, about to leave after she was done straightening out her bag. The sun cast its long rays over the two of them, making his hair and eyes seem even brighter than usual. In the hand he wasn't using to annoy Himeko with, he idly spun his hard light stylus.

“Himeko,” he whined, dragging out her name. “Himekooooo….”

“Yes, Kōrō?”

“What’s wrong with you lately? You haven’t been yourself.”

She paused and put the paper she was organizing aside. “Hm? Nothing’s wrong.”

Rolling his eyes, Kōrō leaned in closer to Himeko. He set his stylus down and spoke softly. “You don't need to lie to me. You’ve been off for days and you haven't said a word why.”

“Nothing is wrong, Kōrō,” she laughed, pressing her hands together before resting them on the desk. “But I appreciate you checking up on me.”

He gave her a deadpan stare. “You’re really awful at lying, did you know?”

Himeko’s face flushed red. “What-?”

“Since you’re so incessant,” he said sharply, a mischievous twinkle in his eye letting Himeko know she was doomed. “I won’t pry. But I can’t let you stay like this! I’ve got to go out of the city, and you’re coming with me!”

Hopping up from his seat so fast it gave her whiplash, Kōrō quickly and neatly helped Himeko shovel everything back into her bag. He tucked his stylus behind his ear and grabbed her hand, her protests dying on her tongue from the sheer warmth of it. She hoped he didn’t see her face flush as he dragged her out the school, paid for her at the station, and only let her go when they were squarely sat on a rumbling passenger car.

“Where are we going?” whispered Himeko.

That glint never left Koro’s eyes as he tapped on his phone before putting it up. “You’ll see.”

Swaying wheat was a golden blur from the train window. New Urania grew smaller and smaller, until only its outline could be seen on the horizon, pillars against the abyss Himeko knew lay beyond it. Its lights twinkled and shone and it gleamed beneath the sunlight. Boats of all kinds rolled into its harbor. It had changed so much since her time, and yet still it was kept from the crumbling remains of its namesake by a thick and impenetrable fence. A steady stream of smoke rose from within the fence’s borders, coloring the sky above it gray.

A few hard light buildings began to poke up above the other side of the horizon. Himeko leaned back in her seat, looking at Kōrō. “Will you tell me where you're taking me now?”

He sighed dramatically, grinning as he looked at where she had been. “Alright, I guess you can know. We’re almost there, anyway. Welcome to Olyhymna – the ‘cornucopia’ in the sky. Look up.”

Himeko looked out of the window again and and let out an awed little gasp. Suddenly, as if hidden by a hologram curtain that had just opened, floating hard light constructions appeared in the sky like controlled white fog. In the distance she could see more of what lay on the constructs, though at a small and undefined scale: huge buildings that stretched into the sky, bridges connecting them all, and thousands of tiny people going about their lives. The train began to slow and she looked at Kōrō eagerly.

“Hehe,” he laughed, his sweet smile knowing. “Almost there.”

The train gently rolled into its stop a few minutes later and they departed to wait for the train into the city in the sky. It seemed like artistic expression was the central focus of Olyhymna’s station, full of twisting golden filigree that reached out beōyond the borders of its hard light body. Himeko’s eyes went wide as the filigree bloomed into flowers and golden boughs and an overflowing cornucopia. A hand of translucent hard light offered the cornucopia to her, and she swore that she could feel as its bounty dissolved into mere particles.

Kōrō laughed. “It’s a nifty party trick, isn’t it?”

Himeko nodded. The two of them began to play around with the filigree until a bell chimed and another train’s doors opened. Kōrō paid the fees for the both of them and they boarded.

“I’m a little nervous,” Himeko confessed.

“Don’t be,” laughed Kōrō. “It’s like riding a roller coaster.”

She laughed, looking away. Truthfully, Himeko had never rode a roller coaster and what Kōrō had said made her even more afraid. The doors snapped shut and she dug her nails into the synthetic upholstery as the train began to chug slowly upwards. It stopped on the slope and Himeko grimaced. She looked at Kōrō. He wore a serene expression, and she relaxed –

-Only to yelp when the train suddenly shot forward, clinging to Kōrō for dear life as it accelerated and accelerated until it crested over a peak and came to a sudden halt. A light jingle played on the speakers, and Himeko let go of Kōrō, her face pink.

“Sorry,” she laughed in a stinted, awkward way.

“Don’t worry,” Kōrō said. Pink dusted his cheeks, too. “I don’t mind.”

A silence, charged with something Himeko wasn’t sure of what to name, fell over them as they followed the rest of the passengers out. It wasn’t bad, nor did their mutual blushes let up as Himeko followed him out of the station (surprisingly large considering they were in a floating city!) In fact, the silence was only lifted right before they left the smooth, featureless white walls of Olyhymna Station by Kōrō.

“Follow me?” he asked, reaching out for her hand. Their fingers brushed against each other, but neither made another move. “I have one thing to do, then a surprise planned for us.”

“Okay,” Himeko said with a smile, taking the last step outside.

Olyhymna was a city of dazzling pure gold and white. Beautified hard light columns with gold trim lead out of the station, banners strung between them. The stone roads were paved white. Produce grew everywhere, seemingly more numerous than the many, many people here. Every surface, vertical or horizontal, bore some type of crop, from grapes to lettuce to barley. Planter boxes full of onions and potatoes and carrots lined the roads. Sunflowers in bloom turned their faces towards the sky, and when Himeko looked closely, she saw the city was within a clear membrane, partially opened to let in the natural sunlight. She looked at Kōrō.

“When was the sky barrier invented?” she asked. “It’s so interesting! I wish we’d had that technology during the Era of the Stars of the Apocalypse.”

Kōrō looked uncomfortable, shifting around before stopping before one of the many structures that held growing crops, this one full of lettuce. “Actually, they were made in response to that. Every major city has a barrier, even New Urania. I think this one helps with growing things, though I’m not exactly sure how. You can ask the Minister of Agriculture when we get there.”

“That Ministry is here? And we’re going there?”

He nodded and continued to walk, stepping past the throngs of people. “I’ve got a job there. It’s for my portfolio.”

They walked for a bit until they reached a lovely pagoda and public pool, and someone tapped Himeko’s shoulder thrice. “Excuse me? Could I get a refill on this?”

She turned to face them. About Himeko’s age, it was a girl who had big eyes and wore a form-fitting two piece. A cute coverup was tied around her hips, a tulle skirt sparkling with water droplets. She held out her drink with a confused yet kind smile. “Well?”

Himeko took a step back, then another as the girl bridged the gap between them. “I’m not…” she tried to offer a smile, though she knew it was stinted. “I’m sorry, do you have me confused with someone else?”

The girl cocked her head. “Are you not…?”

“She isn’t a robot, if that’s what you’re asking. She’s a person,” Kōrō muttered, putting himself between Himeko and the girl.

“Ah...? But she looks so much like one, so I thought…”

“Well, she isn’t.” said Kōrō, the anger in his voice making Himeko back away. His shoulders slumped at her reaction, but he still reached for her hand. When she gave it, Kōrō brightened up and tugged her along, his touch as gentle as a cloud. “C’mon, Himeko.”

They left the vicinity of the public pool, and she gingerly took her hand back upon seeing two robots, their forms not the smooth, egg-like expanses of shiny metal that formed the ones of New Urania, but humanoid and fully articulated, with joints like her own. Their heads were smooth, and their fingers were tipped with blue silicon. Some worked alongside humans, some seemed to be couriers, and others stood in hard light pods with their eyes closed and their hands clasped together as if in prayer. When one left their pod, their eyes glowed.

Himeko stared at their hands and their eyes. She looked away, at the nape of Kōrō’s neck, but her gaze recentered on the robots a second later.

“Thank you,” she whispered to the boy in front of her, whose hand had somehow found hers again. The warmth made her own palm feel hollow. “For back there. I admit I didn’t expect such a strong reaction from you.”

Kōrō shifted on his feet and made a strange, awkward noise that somewhat resembled a groan. “Uwughhh…I guess its from days of arguing with that witch Gakugi Ume on whether you're a person or not.”

“Does she pick fights with you about me? Please don't get into arguments on my behalf!”

“It's more like she runs her fat mouth and gets mad when someone responds. Don’t worry, though, about ruining any relationship we might have. I don’t like her, and she doesn't like me. I don’t think anyone likes her.”

Himeko laughed behind her hand. “I think Koiki doesn’t mind her.”

“Some people have awful taste.”

Laughing again, Himeko walked until she and Kōrō were side-by-side. She brushed her long dark hair away from her face. “You’re mean, Kōrō. You don’t need to fight for me anymore, because the only thing that matters is that I know that-”

“-You’re a person.”

Himeko smiled at him and looked at the sun behind the dome of Olyhymna.

But she wasn’t really, was she?