Come Wayward Souls

I walk through a city with Gothic-style architecture. Buildings, lampposts, everything is crooked, there is not a single right angle.

The buildings are so dark that they look like a single shadow. What separates one house from another are the shapes of the roofs and the lights coming from the windows.

Elegant people walk silently. Their eyes are black and their sclera slightly lighter. The only thing that differs in their dark figures is their skin, which varies in acid shades of yellow and green.

The sky above is orange and peacock blue. The two colours sway, twist, move to the right. The sky's the only living thing I can make out of the place.

I walk along the grey cobbled road until I come to a square. At the end of it, there is an imposing cathedral towering over everything. Its presence is overwhelming.

I stop in front of the fountain in the middle of the square, the water reflects the colours of the sky. I recognise it, my art history teacher mentioned it, it is the “Fountain of the Four Rivers”. But the statues look different. Instead of the Danube, there is Bea, Pierrot replaces the Rio de la Plata and Seneca the Ganges. While the Nile remains a mystery, I can't figure out who is represented.

«Beautiful, isn't it?»

I leap in fright. «Vincent?! Don't do that again!»

He smiles chuckling. «If you scare so easily, it's because you feel guilty about something.»

I turn my gaze back to the fountain. «… That's right.»

He turns, fluttering his coat. «Get in, let's take a ride.»

«Get in?» I turn to him, he's sitting on a gondola. «Where did that come from?»

«You better get in before you drown.»

«What do you mean?» I lower my gaze, the water floods me up to my knees. I look behind me, the fountain is overflowing. I climb into the gondola at a run, sitting down opposite Vincent.

The boat begins to move on its own along the city streets. The lampposts light up, illuminating the way.

«Tell me, boy, what do you plan to do from now on?»

«I… I don't know… I'm tired of struggling, every time I try to chase happiness, there's always something worse than the previous time that drives me away. I know what you will tell me, life is made of ups and downs, if we know what happiness is it is because we suffer. But I would like to enjoy at least an instant of that happiness that I have never been able to see.»

Vincent tilts his head slightly, his gaze peering into me. «Do you really want to give up? Or would you rather find a way to change what's tormenting you?»

I look down. «Change?… I don't even know where to start again. I've lost everything. I no longer know what it means to strive for something good.»

The gondola glides slowly, the waters around rippling slightly, reflecting the sky in turmoil above us. Vincent remains silent, giving me time to speak.

«Pierrot…» I begin, hesitant. «He… he's part of this. He forced me to do horrible things to Bea. The blame for his choices fell entirely on me, turning me into a beast… It's his fault I feel this way now.»

Vincent strokes his chin. «Pierrot is an android. He acted according to logic, perhaps according to necessity. Are you sure he is really to blame?»

«It's not just logic, Vincent! It's like he manipulated everything, every choice, mine and Bea's! Even when he wanted to help me, he always seemed to have an ulterior motive! He probably set his sights on Bea from the start, and to keep me out of the way, he did everything he could to make me look like the extra one, the villain in their story!» My voice rises. My chest burns with suppressed anger.

Vincent remains calm, his eyes deepening. «And Punch? He had nothing to do with Bea. Still, I suppose something drove him to destroy the bond you had with her, and with Pierrot.»

I clench my fists. «Punch... that traitor. He has done nothing but sow discord. He took every opportunity to turn us against each other. If only he had not been with us... And the Republic of Venetia?» I continue, my voice charged with contempt. «It all started with them. They created this world. They turned Bea into what it is. They manipulated our lives, our minds. They made the world nothing but a huge slaughterhouse to fatten themselves up. I want to see them suffer. I want to destroy everything they have built!»

Vincent sighs, shaking his head. «This path will bring you no peace.»

«Then what am I supposed to do?» I shout. «Accept all this? Let them trample me again and again and again and again AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN?!… I must make them suffer, all of them! Pierrot, Punch, the damned of the Republic of Venetia… and then, I'll take Bea and Seneca, and we'll go away, far away from everything, to the mountains. We will live in peace, away from this madness.»

Vincent looks sorry, but says nothing. The gondola starts to sink more and more, the water rises at the edges.

I look around in agitation. «What's going on?»

As I look at Vincent for answers, I see that a sheet has appeared, veiling his face.

The water submerges the gondola in an instant. We sink. I try to swim, to emerge, but it is useless. The more I struggle, the more I sink. Chains bind my body to that of the figure. I turn towards it. The sky is behind it, the bottom at my back.

«I cannot stop us. After all, I am you, even if you are not me. If you walk this path, you will be alone, and only then will you have two choices, whether to be a god or a beast.»

I begin to sink further and further away from him. I reach out my hand, in an attempt to grab him. «Wait! What do you mean?»

I jerk up, my heart pounding in my chest. I'm in my bed, in my room.

«Was it all a dream?»

A sharp, unbearable sound fills my ears. An alarm is sounding. The white lights in the room flash intermittently red.

«What's going on?»

I head for the door and start banging violently with my hand.

«Hey! Hey! Why is there an alarm?»

I get no answer.

I lean my ear back to try and hear what's going on outside. No one says anything, I only hear the rumble of numerous running footsteps.

«What's going on?! I want to know!» My hand clenches into a fist, starting to shake. «I can't stand being in the dark any longer! Of being at the mercy of anyone!»

With a stifled cry I throw a fist at the door. The pain running through my arm is sharp, but it doesn't matter. A lump forms on the shiny metal. I punch again, and again, and again, and again, and again! Each punch is stronger than the last, fuelled by the fury that consumes me. The door groans under my blows, until it gives way with a thunderous crash.

I gasp, watching the result of my fury. My knuckles bleed, skin torn, and my hand trembles in pain.

«How did I do that?» But I have no time to find an answer. A sound of footsteps comes from both sides of the corridor. Amber suits, advancing towards me. There are at least six of them.

An android throws himself at me, I duck just in time, its fist shatters against the wall leaving a crack, I grab it by the arm, I throw it at another android, both fall heavily to the ground, the next android hits me in the side with an electric jitte making me stagger, I turn around, I hit it in the neck with all the force I have deforming the shape, two others approach, one tries to hit me with an electric lance, I deflect the blow suffering a recoil, the other tries to hit me with an electric baton, I move out of the way just in time, roll on the floor, grab the fallen jitte, snap, pierce the necks of the two androids, the electric discharges short-circuit them.

I look around quickly, hands clutching the electric jitte. The remaining four androids advance, synchronised.

The first one attacks me head-on, the jitte in its hand descends towards me like a guillotine, I parry the attack with one of my own, a blue spark explodes between the two instruments, with the second jitte, I hit its knee joint hard, the metal gives way with a dull crunch, the android gets off balance, I finish it off with a quick blow under the chin, short-circuiting it.

I don't even have time to breathe, another one comes at me from the side, trying to catch me by surprise, I duck just in time to avoid the blow, with a fluid movement I thrust one of my jitte into his side, feeling the internal cables tear, I drag him hard to slam it against the wall, I increase the voltage of the jitte until it fries him completely.

The last two surround me. Coordinated, they attack together, I move back, dodging the first blow and parrying the second, sparks fly around us, illuminating the corridor with a dim blue light, one of them smacks me in the arm, the pain is sharp, I sprint, slip between the legs of one of the androids, I hit him in the back converging the jitte, the electrical discharge is greater, his body locks in a spasm, I hear a small explosion coming from the suit.

The last one advances calmly, wielding an electric spear, it attempts a lunge, I dodge, he is discovered, I don't waste any time, I hit it in the side, the blow is not enough to extinguish it, but it blocks it, I attempt a second blow to the neck, I send it to the ground in a shower of sparks.

I stand still for a moment, panting. My body burns, my hands are bloody, but my mind is clear.

I bend down and begin to undress one of the androids. Its amber suit is intact. I put it on. The fabric adheres perfectly to my skin.

«I have to find my belongings… Where will my stuff be?»

At my question, the helmet's interface activates, showing me a map. A sign flashes “Confiscation Depot”.

«Well.»

I walk calmly, mingling among the other androids and arrive at the warehouse without difficulty. It looks like a cold, antiseptic warehouse, full of numbered lockers. I walk over to mine, open it and find what I was looking for: my clothes, my armour gloves, shield arm, poleaxe and the suit Pierrot had modified for me.

I take off the amber jumpsuit, feeling a sense of liberation, and get dressed again. Pierrot's suit merges with my clothes. The neon lights turn purple, pulsing like living veins.

I download the map of the piles into the suit. I grasp my poleaxe. I clutch it with both hands. «Now… I'm ready.»

I walk back into the main hallway, ready to end it all.

«I knew I'd find you here! My infallible intuition is never wrong.»

I freeze. I recognise the annoying voice. I slowly turn around. A figure stands out in front of me.

«Scares.»