File 3.9 - A New Home

Quiet, almost like a cemetery. Not that Shizuka had ever been to one. It was the image that conjured in her mind. An unnerving silence in the middle of civilization. It felt like much of the city from her memories.

Antarctica City long disappeared from her thoughts when she left. It wasn’t something that captured her attention. Better forgotten than remembered. A place of suffering alone surrounded in a crowd. Bad memories and a father that ceased to be. It was all too easy to flee from. Yet they dragged her back. Almost like the city itself couldn’t bear the thought of being without her.

The apartment had to have other people, as the Ensign mentioned. Perhaps because it was still work hours everyone was gone. But she never saw or heard a hint of everyone as she walked the halls. Everything was the same, if it wasn’t numbered she would have gotten lost. The pristine quality said it was new, but Shizuka knew that couldn’t be true. The base had been around for longer than she was alive. It was her father’s home.

At the door to her room, she paused. Glancing down at the band on her wrist, she thought back to the outside. Her run from everyone amounted to time wasting. Yet she didn’t regret it. If even a little bit made things worse for her father that was enough, petty as she knew that to be. But escape wasn’t an option anymore. She needed to find a new path. Escape wouldn’t be it. Their plans couldn’t be either.

Shizuka worried about what her father had planned. Resistance would only work so well as she thought more about it. The might of the military was more than she could handle as a teenager. She was a mouse among giants.

Inside, she was greeted with a stillness once again. It wasn’t stale, just long vacant and unused. She could stand it, as much as anything within the city. The chill of the North would be missed. The village, everyone, she fought with her emotions.

She began looking around the apartment. It was certainly more than just a room as she had lived in for years now. The whole thing felt like too much for one person. They could have saved space, especially with the dome limiting things. Yet they indulged in the strangest things.

The room they gave Shizuka came fully furnished. If it didn’t have the military base surrounding it and protocols, it would have passed for a standard studio apartment with an attached kitchen and bathroom. The bed and couch functioned as one set changing to the desired need. An entertainment monitor provided limited channel access. The cupboards recently received a new store of food. They prepared everything for her, as Ansgar told her. It still felt empty and impersonal.

Shizuka didn’t care for much of what she saw. After the day she had, she just wanted to sleep. She changed the couch over to a bed and dropped down. Sheets or changing clothes didn’t matter to her. She didn’t feel up for it.

All her mind focused on was the whirlwind of things that happened. The girl, Aerona, appeared in her mind. The thought that the girl lived on Base and didn’t have a problem with it bothered her. Then the case of the Ensign, who seemed kind, but forced to do things he found distasteful. Moreover, she fell on Edgar and herself, tricked or forced into service. ‘None of this is right… This is not how things should be… Where people are forced to take orders, become used to military service while still a kid, tricked and forced… It’s not right…’ Shizuka narrowed her features as she stared at the ceiling. ‘I’m going to make sure this never happens again…’