The Force

 “Debuu-ni, are you Beatle?” asked Inês in a short breath.

The bug's scarlet eyes narrowed with a shared understanding, and its pompon tail quivered as its name resonated. The hail's perennial beating was still shaking the world as the mirror readied itself for the next scene.

Among blue light, Truck-kun created snow and his Japan under it. It was without life, so he breathed into it the data of real people; fragments became clones and clones begat trapped souls.

The clouds were heavy in Paris that evening; a young woman left the metro in a hurry, like she had work to do. She was beautiful, with skin as white as snow and black, almond-shaped eyes. She passed the closing boutiques on a bustling boulevard and turned into an adjacent street. There was an ice cream truck parked in the road. As she went to enter her building, the vehicle's backdoor opened and a soft cry, like a child's, escaped it. She stopped and looked around. She stepped forward cautiously and went to look into the the truck's freezer. Then, she was gone.

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It was a sunny day in the small, Italian street; yellow and cream-colored buildings lined the way, and the clear blue sky shined brightly. An ancient, pittoresque church appeared on the horizon, between the elegant shops and restaurants. A lonely young girl skipped across the crossing, her backpack in hand. They saw through his eyes: Truck-kun struck her without delay, his distorted lullaby playing with a baleful hum as he did. A blue glow gleamed darkly as he hovered over Henrietta's unconscious body.

The mirror went blank. Its gleam faded and it retracted onto itself as it regained its place on the mantle.

Inês looked to her left at the other three: taciturn, Marcel was lost in thought, Jin seemed angry, and Lu was a wreck.

“That woman, I've seen her before.” said Lu as she fought back tears. “Who is she?”

Debuu-ni looked down for a moment, as if to find the words. Fluttering to Lu, it tried to meet her gaze.

“That was Yuki Fujikawa, but you would remember her as the Yuki-onna.”

Lu let out a strangled scream and fell onto herself, sobbing. Inês put a hand on her back and brought her into her lap; she looked at Debuu-ni, her own eyes welling with tears.

“I don't understand.” she said. “Have all the adversaries we've fought been real people?”

“No, Yuki was a particular case. Tyler had been communicating with her on a language app; he fell in love with her, but she didn't love him back, so he imprisoned her in his world.”

Inês thought back to their battle. Lu was still shaking and weeping.

“Yuki said something about us being blinded by the light and not seeing the truth.”

Debuu-ni nodded.

“Because she wasn't merely a data clone, but a person who had been brought into this world like the four of you, Yuki had been able to somewhat fight her programming. The mission she had put herself on was to freeze all of the inhabitants of Truck-kun's facsimile, freeing them from his control.”

“And you sent us after her.” said Jin.

Debuu-ni looked down.

“Yes, I did.”

A cover of silence fell like an autumn leave inside the shrine, interrupted only by the outside beat of the elements. Marcel got up and walked to the door, opening it slightly and looking out at the storming hail.

“So Tyler is dead?” he asked.

“His physical body has died, yes.” said Debuu-ni. “His mind merged with the truck's artificial intelligence. He can control it and every other vehicle it's connected to.”

Marcel turned around, an anxious look on his face.

“If he's dead, does that mean we are too?”

“Not necessarily. Tyler has been frozen for a long time; his body can't be brought back, but depending on how long it's been for you, there might still be hope.”

“We've been here for weeks at this point!” protested Marcel.

“But the time we experience here is twisted.” explained Debuu-ni. “For all we know, only half an hour might've passed in the real world. There's no hope for Tyler or Yuki, and there's no hope for me or for Henrietta, but there might be hope for the four of you. You can't give up!”

Marcel turned around and looked outside again, quiet.

“Debuu-ni?” asked Inês. “Why has Truck-kun been abducting kids? I don't get it.”

“Tyler was a scientist, an engineer. When he was still himself, he used to say that there was no such thing as a free lunch, meaning that one can't create energy or matter from nothing, only transform it. In other words…”

“We're batteries.” said Marcel.

There was a stillness after that sentence, where even Lu's cries ceased. She raised her head, staggered. Debuu-ni didn't offer a rebut.

“Yes.” conceded the bug. “You and every other child that's been brought here was chosen to provide the necessary force to power this world.”

No one spoke. The four teens grappled with the truth inwardly as they listened to the persistant falling ice. Among the crushing wet rocks, a distorted lullaby began to sound. The shrine's rice paper door slid fully open; Truck-kun was here.