Yuka

The overwhelming events caused Yuka to fall asleep in Takeru’s bed; the whole night passed, and she didn’t wake up even once. Every so often tears flew out of her eyes, which he wiped for her.

The crimson moonlight outside never stopped; its eternal presence was raining down. The curtains tried to block out as much as possible, but even then it wasn’t enough.

Emerging from her sleep, Yuka looks around; the clean room clearly is not her own, Takeru is sleeping in the kitchen at the table, and the silence filling the room never stops. It was peaceful.

“Leader, are you asleep?” Her voice was raspy in her dry throat.

A couple of seconds later she hears a reply, “Machines don’t need sleep. "I don’t want to waste our time; it's already noon. You overslept and cried all night and most of the day."

“I don’t want to leave anymore; without Himari there is no point," her voice protested, the leader staying silent for a moment.

A mechanical sigh was heard from her ear. “You can’t leave anyway; you knew that deep down. It’s time to burn down everything now."

“Burn everything down— then I will achieve my freedom, right? Today is my day of freedom, not through death. " Yuka spoke flatly; there was nothing left for her here.

“I promise, I won't let your or Koyomi's death be lost ever. What type of person would I be if I did that?”

Her eyes closed sightlessly; no tears ran; however, those already were gone from the whole night before.

“Leader, Takeru, will he at least experience the world again? We can at least save him right, end this entire experiment and let him live, even if it's just as far as the city in the distance."

The earpiece went silent. “He just has to stay hidden until everything goes down. I already compiled everything when you were asleep; I have just one piece missing to make this real."

“What do you mean to make this real? This is real; we suffered this entire time!” Yuka's voice rose, causing Takeru to stir slightly.

“The internet isn’t too trusting of anything. This is already enough to get the police involved or the government—”

He fears that the government is part of the cover-up. I read many books on how technology is so advanced in today's society, a whole complex where people disappear and never come back or the idea that they let someone like Kensaku run the show—It's too risky to assume!

“You want me to make this real." Yuka gave a warm smile; her final purpose was this exact mission.

“That is your final mission." The earpiece was cut off. She knew what she had to do: to orchestrate a masterpiece for the camera.

If I had to make something real, then showing the cubes would be the best part, considering I can only see them so close. Takeru could record; I never even touched them. They always put me off, but let’s be logical. It's all in my mind, so nothing should happen, or only mentally.

Takeru slowly woke up from the table; his eyes adjusting, he jolted up. “Are you doing ok?” He quickly ran over to her side, seeing that her face wasn’t as depressed as before.

“I decided to put my mind off of it. Himari would definitely want me to succeed now; breaking down at the moment she gave us, I would be a terrible person, wouldn’t I?”

I am sort of lying. My mind is just avoiding it; it doesn't want to think about it, like it never happened. But that's fine, for now.

“Anyway, Takeru, we're going to record together, then I will walk into the cubes."

Silence.

Takeru's yellow eyes stared at the floor. “Have you ever touched the cubes? Or even get near them? Isn’t that too risky!”

“I thought about that already; they are just in our mind; nothing will happen since they aren't physical." Her bright pink had no shine to them; they were that of someone who just wanted to get this over with.

Takeru slides his legs around; he is uncomfortable risking such an experiment. “There has to be a better way."

“It’s only me that does this; you will live a full life once this is over. Isn't that what you wanted?” Yuka blinked slowly; she didn’t understand the protest. They just met yesterday, yet someone is so worried for her.

“I will record you— this is the only way, right?” His voice was filled with hesitation, and his eyes were unfocused. Was this really her great idea?

Yuka gave a nod in response.

Takeru stared at her blank face. “Once this is all over, what do you want to be?”

What do I want to be? I don’t know that; I never even thought about this. I wasn’t made to be anything; I just want to at least be useful, truly, I suppose—If this all goes well, Takeru and the others can get help and treatment if possible. But I don't see that future for myself no matter how hard I try.

“I will be nothing when that happens; I won’t be dead, but my purpose will end. So is there much of a difference? But everyone else, including you, will have a new life; maybe some will get better too or at least be taken care of properly."

Takeru smiled back weakly. "Even if you're just an experiment here, you're the kindest person I will ever meet."

…

“Let’s start our recording then. I will start until we leave." She twists the camera towards her face, her details showing pale skin, pink eyes, and short black hair but hiding her darkened dress, and then towards Takeru. All for the camera to capture

She paces towards the kitchen. Takeru was already searching for the food he was given for this week. She turned the camera as it watched him searching, allowing her to explain, “We get food to sustain us weekly; it's the bare minimum as you can tell from his body, but we're alive for now."

Multiple packets of instant ramen start to get placed on the table as the camera captures everything. “They inspect us weekly, then give us instant ramen—”

…

“Can I skip the boring parts?” She looks over towards Takeru sitting opposite her.

He gave a small nod before she began talking. "We were experiments; we were part of an experiment under the label 'who knows'. They wiped my memory; I basically got forced into isolation as I saw these cubes which were forced upon my mind to keep me under control, and today I will try to leave this place, hoping it goes well.” Her tone lowered towards the end.

“Leader, what more can I say?”

The earpiece returned a reply, “Just go then." With his approval, Yuka instantly moves towards the door, Takeru following close behind her.

“Give me the camera; you won’t need it anymore. " Yuka unclips it from her frilly dress, handing it over to Takeru before opening the door gently, her eyes peeking around.

Her steps left his room as the concrete complex was shown further. “Seems THEY aren’t here; just follow me."

They quietly walked to the staircase of the second floor, and then they descended downwards slowly, making their way towards the dead garden; they didn’t exchange any words. Each step was a step closer towards the final hallway.

Dry, rusted walls welcomed them; once they took a left turn, it would be a straight pathway to two sliding doors.

I never walked this far in my years of staying here. Will everything be fine outside?

This was almost a dream, stepping out of the complex for the first time ever and seeing the outside where there were no cubes, just for a bit. What would it look like?

“Just a bit more," Yuka tried to motivate them forward, but a footstep behind them, however, instantly stopped their movement.

Turning around, they saw Kensaku, the old grey hair, the white lab coat; there was no one else. Yuka knew this. Takeru on her side froze, his fear never having been even questioned before; he always saw that black, inhumane mess, still convinced it was a monster. Yuka took the lead, moving in front of him; her anger was rising steadily.

“We want to go out." She demanded, her eyes locking on towards him, the person who let Himari die.

Kensaku just walked over, his stance casual; there was nothing of danger to him. They had no weapon and just a camera that showed two of their experiments and how well they were made, even if failures. “Then go."

"What's your game? Everyone can see how bad this palace is; you agreeing to this won't change anything after what they saw."

Kensaku smirked. "Saw what? That camera is destroyed, so just keep recording and it won’t matter; I will entertain your pathetic attempt at freedom."

He isn’t aware all of this is saved? He's so confident, with an ego of someone who thinks that mere experiments wouldn't be able to take him down. Even I'm amused.

“J-019, that dead look on you looks beautiful today; your dark pink eyes really look amusing to stare at."

…

“Let’s go, Takeru." Walking over to the sliding doors, they opened without an issue. Yuka, looking out just a bit underneath, already saw it: black and crimson cubes covering everything there; it was impossible to not see them. However, her eyes quickly turned up into the sky.

The moon was up already; it wasn’t the oppressive colours she was used to, the crimson sky and the crimson moon. The sky was dusky blue while the moon was pale white, just like on the rooftop. It looked beautiful to her; her gaze couldn’t turn away.

The sky is so blue; it's peaceful like a weight off her shoulder, her mind remembering her weekly visits here after inspection, how things quickly changed.

“Takeru, I’m ready." She looked back down; behind her, Kensaku stood at the door entrance just staring at the situation unfolding. Takeru looked back at Yuka, his chest tightening slightly, his eyes just a bit hesitant.

He gulps before taking a deep breath. “I will record it; just make it quick—”

That's right, make it quick—this is my moment, my part to play.

She took a step forward, the floor cubes getting closer.

This isn’t just for me but for Himari.

Another step forward.

I'm scared, but that's fine; I can’t let everyone down.

“Just keep going; I will handle the rest," her earpiece muttered quietly before fading out fully.

That's right, the leader will handle the rest; Takeru will live on because of us, because of what we will expose, and because of our actions. But I want to live too; I don’t want to fade. Nothing will harm me, but my gut is telling me to run.

The cubes got closer, their solid yet twisting forms staring back even without eyes. Her feet standing just before the final step into them, their form would embrace her, she knew that, but would it be warm or cold, happy or terrifying? It was most likely the worse option.

Turning herself around one final time, she stares straight at Kensaku. “I, Yuka, will today show the world what you have done, the crimes you have done to me and others, and how everything was captured. I will even let you in on a little secret."

“Do tell them, J-019. "Kensaku chuckled to himself.

Yuka smiled wider, her eyes just gaining a bit of her light back. “Everything that was recorded is fed back to our leader already."

Taking her step forward, she instantly sank downwards as her body stopped moving the limbs which touched the cubes; her legs failed, causing her body to collapse into the cubed mess. It didn’t hurt; it just made her immobile. Her head being the final thing to settle

I'm done with my part. Are you proud of me, Himari, leader? We can make a change.

“Yuka—” His words were the last thing she heard; it was already too late to reply back as her head fell in, thoughts all disappearing into just a blank slate. Forever frozen

Just darkness around her; she knew her mind still existed, just broken; just random thoughts, but she couldn't move them or herself around, open her eyes, or even experience senses anymore. She was free from this cruel world.