Chapter 6

AL.I.C.E-2968442(Cynthia)

The entire makeup of the mountain appeared to have been a city built on a city built on a city. If it were not so dark and difficult to navigate, I would not have minded exploring more. I had spent enough time unconscious after coming to a crash on the ground, and I had no way of knowing how long I had been here. I had managed to find an assortment of things, books, tools, and clothes. I found a jacket among some of the clothes and decided to put it on since the air was cold. I did not know the color, but I thought it would help blend in with the monsters, if possible. At the very least, they did not wear our standard uniforms, if Ren was any indication. Still, my objective was to see the place Ren came from for myself. I had already come this far. I might as well go all the way.

When I found the exit to the lowest city, a small hole about my height that I had to slide through sideways, I was greeted by another wall creating a narrow space. It looked like a smooth wall that went parallel to the mountain for a while before merging with the mountain. There was no way to go under or around the wall, or at least not one I could see. I pushed my right hand and leg against the side of the wall and my left against the mountain. I inched my way up to the top of the wall. This felt dangerous, but what else could I do to get over it. When I reached the top, I pushed forcefully with my left leg and arm to find myself on top of the wall. It was thick, so I had plenty of room to stand on.

On the other side of the wall were the backs of buildings. They were small and dirty and appeared to be mismatched with no attempt at aesthetic unity. Maybe this was not a good idea. The beings that lived here were probably disgusting. Ren might just be an outlier from the rest, after all. I looked up at the sky. It was blue, but the color was somewhat lacking from what it was like at home. White puffs of smoke seemed to fly high up in it, in an assortment of shapes. I should probably turn back. Still, I wanted to know what world someone like him could come from. I had come this far. Carefully I hung my legs over the wall. I had maybe a 6-meter drop. It should not hurt. Even a beauty model like myself was made to be fairly robust; that much was proven when I navigated inside the mountain. Still, I hesitated.

I finally got over whatever odd sensation was stopping me and leaped off. My feet hit the ground first, but instead of stopping there, they slipped, and I kept going until my behind hit the ground, then my head. I laid on my back and stared at the odd sky. Perhaps I should not have thought about how stupid he looked when he fell from the bush. It did not hurt physically, but I feel like I had this coming.

The sounds of people in the distance convinced me to get up. For a second, I thought they were walking toward me, but their voices never grew closer. I draped the jacket over my body. It was blue, a strange bright color of blue. I put the jacket hood up and pulled it more over the right side of my face, and headed to the voices. Ren did not have any insignia, so it would be unlikely that the others would either. The space between the buildings emptied onto what I assume was the main street.

There were people everywhere if I can assume they were people. All over, they walked in every direction, barely managing not to run into each other. Some would talk to each other as they walked along. Others would stop and talk when they saw each other, and some still walked without acknowledging their surroundings. I saw a green area where children were kicking around a black and white sphere in the distance. What were they doing? Why was no one bothering to teach them anything?

What made everything even more overwhelming was the non-uniformity in any of their faces. Each had a distinct look to them. Different hair, different nose, different eyes, everything was different. It was as if no two looked alike. I began to walk into the crowd of moving people. They seemed to pay no mind to me as I navigated through them. I walked closer to the children who were kicking around the sphere. One kicked it hard and fell on his back. The sphere rolled over to me and stopped.

"Lady, throw our ball back!" A kid yelled to me, paying no mind to the one who fell on his back. I picked up what I assume was the ball and tossed it to them with a smile. It was a good enough throw, and the ball bounced off the child's chest. He did not bother trying to catch it. All the children had stopped and were staring at me. Why?

Then I realized—my face. I had let my guard down. One of the children ran over to an adult woman like creature, who had been sitting in the shadows watching them. He was looking back and forth between her and me and pointing in my direction. I turned and began to walk away.

"Chimera!" a woman's voice shrieked. The busy crowd halted. In an instant, they all seemed to stop suddenly. The people in front of me locked on and stared at me, and it felt like knives were stabbing me in the back. They all started to back up and mutter to themselves. I could not make out what they were saying.

We stood there for a moment. I was not sure what to do. They were not sure what to do. Should I try to say something? I opened my mouth, but before I could get words out, something hit me in the back of the head. I felt some discomfort and put my hand there as I turned to look. There was a rock at my feet, and a man stood frozen in a throwing position. He looked like he was contemplating what had happened. Clenching his fist, he began to yell,

"Freak, go back to your mountain! Leave us alone!"

Some of the adults began to place themselves between the children and me. Another rock came from the crowd. Then another. The discomfort was growing more intense. I could not tell if it was pain or something else that caused me to feel it. I started to run. The part of the crowd that I was running toward flinched for a minute then started to throw even more rocks at me. A rock hit me in the face as I began to jump. I leaped over the crowd, just barely avoiding hitting anyone. My feet barely scrapped over their heads.

When I landed, I lost my footing and rolled on the ground. I put my hand to my face where the rock had hit me. It was beginning to hurt. It hurt, but it should not. The crowd started to throw more stones at me as I laid on the ground. I put my arms over my head. I was not sure why. It just felt right to do given the situation. I felt water start coming out of my eyes. There was something wrong with me. They were yelling all sorts of words I was unfamiliar with as they started to surround me. They did not let up as more seemingly joined in while throwing stones.

I managed to push up off the ground and break out in a sprint. The crowd I charged at stumbled back at my sudden burst. I was able to push through and clear the crowd before they could surround me again. My hood was down, and every new face I passed while running would stop and look with horror. Behind me, there were shouts from the crowd that chased after me.

"Get that chimera."

"Kill it!"

"What does it want?"

I could only make out short parts of what they were saying, but their anger was apparent. I was able to outpace them and turn onto an empty street. I turned quickly and ran through an opening between two buildings. There should be fewer people in between the buildings, and there were enough turns. I grew the distance between us until finally, I fell to my knees. I had no idea where I was. I was hurting where the rock had hit me, and my eyes were full of water and would not stop. What was I even doing? What did I even want to accomplish?

"Oh child, are you okay?" a voice spoke out from in front of me.

I immediately tried to leap back but instead found myself rolling on the ground like some mad animal. I scurried on my hands and knees behind a metal can that sat off to the side. I put my legs in front of my body defensively and kept my head down. It was only a matter of time before this new person attacked me.

The person who spoke to me kneeled and looked at my face. He was an ugly, bald man with half of his round face scarred. He wore all black except for a metal letter 't' on a necklace. I did not know what to do, so I just buried my face into my legs. I felt him put his hand on my head for a moment. He grabbed some cloth and wiped off the dirt that was on my forehead. I looked up. I should run before he told them where I was, and they all came back to attack me again, but I could barely see with my eyes so full of water. What was wrong with me? The person, no... one of the creatures, wiped off the rest of my face, insignia, and all. Then he gently placed his hand on top of my hand while standing up.

"At the very least, they did not break the skin," he started to say, "I suppose that is more convenient to justify their anger," now he muttered something. "Please wait here." Then he turned and walked in the direction I had come from.

It seemed like an eternity while I sat there. Finally, I heard footsteps. It was only a single person. I looked up and prepared to run. I did not expect to see his face. He stared at me with the same stupid look as he had when we first met. I was safe. Or was I? Now I was in his world. What would keep him from attacking me as the others did?

"Ren?" I said. It was the most I could choke out.