EPILOGUE

Array of lights sprawled across like a seabed stretching near infinite. They flickered like evening stars, trapped and cemented to the earth until the morning sun emerged from between the colorless billows of gray.

Red blinked, and saw rain patter against the window of the Rapid Transit. He remembered sitting on the roof of the abandoned building on Panam Street. He recalled seeing the landing pads for the drones, a large server-satellite system with a blinking light, and a water collector—all on the roof. Monkey’s hair had turned grayish-white by the time everything had ended. She disconnected the system and ended the game, there was no guarantee that Red’s sister was safe at the time, but it was all she could do.

Dorene disappeared into the night—promising to turn herself in when the time came. Red promised to stay in contact for when the time Yui and Dorene would face uncertainty together. She looked different, more fearful, shaken up—but they hadn’t leg go of each other’s hands until it was time to part ways.

Red was on his way to the hospital, he wanted to see Pomi and to make sure Yui was safe.

The FIGHTDIRTY app was offline.

Red’s eyelids weighed tons, he struggled to keep them open watching the rain slide and merge along the glass.

A young woman with faded light blue hair sat across from him. She wore the Mask of God, her eyes distant, her voice barely above a whisper.

“The water is coming.”

A low, distant roar and rumbling built up—rushing through the connected cars.

“Aren’t you afraid?” she asked softly.

The sound swelled.

Then—Water exploded through the transfer doors at the far end of the car. A violent surge flooded in, swallowing the aisle in seconds. No one reacted. Passengers remained seated, blank and unmoving as the water overtook them, lifting their bodies like weightless mannequins, carrying them away in a silent current.

It reached Red.

Reached the girl.

They remained where they were, facing each other as bodies drifted past in the current. The world muted. Submerged. Her voice disappeared beneath the water.

Red opened his mouth, the words bubbled.

“I’m… very tired.”

———————

Seven months later,

“Whatever happened to Bando anyway?” Li asked Thura.

Li stood at a grand water tank with a large glass wall that stretched from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling. It casted a glow of soft blue and lit the theater-like room.

Through the glass was the bed of a false sea and in it an ecosystem of creatures swimming and existing together in harmony, away from the world of the dry.

A silent awe filled the observation room. Thura made his way down the steps of the observatory—meeting Li. Up close, the massive water world enveloped his perceptions and peripherals. He was in another world.

“I let him go that night. He was cut down in an alley somewhere in Hlum Lang several days later.” Thura responded.

“Woah. So the Tetsu-Ryu-Jin found him.”

“Yes. When his body was discovered, he was severed in half at the waist.”

“Must’ve been some swordsman! I want to fight him!”

“I suppose that you do. You never did get to fight that giant that night—weren’t you both from the same cloth, the same year—I mean.”

“Eh. I never really knew him. We were all strangers to each other in that cramped prison. Besides, I was held back a year in that hell hole. I would’ve won anyway. There are others like me and him. Much stronger too.” Li said.

“I see,” Thura crossed his arms, “I suppose we’ll meet those others during the Fight Fish tournament.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you’re recording when I’m fighting.” Li finished.

———————

“I think that’s all from me. Everyone, I want to thank you all so much for your time spent with me here on my last stream.”

Pomi announced her streaming retirement.

Throughout the past several months, she used her streaming platform to raise money for Rangtana Hospital and those affected by the attack that night. Pomi waved a bittersweet goodbye toward her viewers and shut the camera off.

Upper Ruam Mai and the governing bodies imposed more travel restrictions on the citizens of Hlum Lang. More border patrol were added along the walls and within the Rapid Transit Systems. Rangtana Hospital no longer accepted patients from the Lower Pits.

She sat in silence thinking about her life and her possible future. She wanted to focus on her music and find more ways to help others—beyond the attack. That night had changed her and she knew it—looking in the mirror, she’d see the faces of the scared and hurt—the man that ran into the blade she held. They were ghosts that followed her into her waking nightmares.

She held herself and cried—then her phone vibrated.

A text message notification from RED: Come see us when you’re done! she’s already tired of me lol.

Pomi sniffled, chuckled, and responded: ill b there soon LOL.

———————

A sea breeze kissed at his face and cheek.

Red slid his phone into his pocket.

“Was that Pomi?”

“Maybe.”

“Do you like her?”

“Wha-no-no-we’re just friends!”

“I like her.”

“Yeah, I mean she’s cool. She’s cool.”

Red wheeled Yui closer to the water.

Yui was in a wheelchair, warm in the gray hoodie her brother lent her. He knew she wasn’t fully herself—not after everything that’s happened and not after hearing about the night of the crash. She put on a strong face, but Red knew better.

One day, she and Dorene will meet, and she’ll be crushed.

Red tightened his grip on the push handles of the wheel chair.

You don’t have to carry this burden alone.

Yui reached over her shoulder and placed her delicate hand over Red’s.

They watched seagulls fly by and distant waves crashing.

Water crawled up the shore, touching their feet, then joined back into ocean.