CHAPTER 2

“Hah! Hey taste this, it's sweet-”

The weekend was one of those times where the world didn't seem so bad. Miria and Mikael had their own special place where they liked to come and take a break. Nestled between the tall and polished buildings was a small egg of greenery, situated in a circular city square with a long glass railing along one side. From there you could stand and look out over and upon the rest of Tokyo. Even if this place was busy and filled with controlling, corrupting extraterrestrials, it was still a pleasant view.

Miria took the clear can that Mikael had handed her and lifted the container of sparkling rose liquid to her lips. It looked like glitter, and when she drank she found it tasted like it too, albeit not in a necessarily bad way.

“Just a bit sweet for me though-” she handed it back to him and hummed. At least it had refreshed her more than this clammy breeze that was rolling around. Even if the other voice scolded her for her dietary choices at times, she was finding that being outside and with a friend was making it a lot easier to cope with.

Sunday. Mercifully the weekend was still sacred in part, but only half so. The Tetranai had not only taken their freedom to think and act without being monitored, but they had started claiming other joyful things that nobody was in a hurry to lose. Yet of course they always fell back on that age old excuse.

“It's for diplomacy! Trust us!”

Bullshit.

Yeah. I agree.

Mikael must have noticed her rolling her eyes and grumbling, and he smiled a little bit before letting a dry chuckle escape his lips. “You only get that look when you're mad about my people.”

“Oh please, don't call them 'your people'.” Miria folded her arms. “You're nothing like them.”

“Well...I'm still the same species. As are my family.” Mikael pointed out the obvious. He had her there, but still, Miria just couldn't bring herself to see him the same way. When she looked up into those monochromatic eyes she didn't see any sort of enemy.

Just a friend. One she could never fully relate to, sure, but a friend nonetheless. It was a shame that he was such a rarity, and that most other Tetranai probably saw her as little more than a cockroach. A pest that was better off vacating the planet entirely.

Mikael was somebody she could trust. Even so, he wasn't privy to the most intimate detail of her life.

She supposed she was a little afraid. If he ever found out she had another her inside her head, he might judge her harshly for it too. That Miria spoke with the same voice, so it could get a little confusing sometimes, but her attitude was brash, resistant, quick to anger. Miria, the true Miria, on the other hand, was someone who was far more willing to accept her circumstances.

After all, what can I really do to change them?

You're just making excuses again.

Her eyes shut and she cringed, trying to block out that other 'her'. Miria II liked to mock and jeer and insist that she was pathetic sometimes. Was it because she was only a disembodied voice? Did she feel more powerful because she didn't have a physical body to bear the consequences?

“Miria? Are you okay?”

Hearing Mikael, she looked up at him again, and saw the worry painted thick on his face. Feeling bad for it, the girl was quick to reassure him, rubbing her eyes for emphasis as she lied:

“Fine, fine! Just finding the sunlight a little strong, I feel like I have to squint if I want to see you.”

“Oh...in that case, should we go inside instead?” he offered, but she shook her head. She spent enough time cooped up on campus during the week. This was her chance to get away from it.

After their break, they usually wandered through the neighborhood. A considerable chunk of the city could be considered 'fake' these days, with most natural parks having been replaced by faux greenery. Even the grand Aokigahara Forest had suffered, completely cleaned out and plateaued, losing what made it so eerily peaceful before.

However, there were still a few tiny pockets of natural nature that the two of them had been able to find. It gave them even the slightest taste of what the Earth must have been like pre-invasion.

“I don't want perfection. Perfection doesn't feel right.” Miria said, as they found one of their favorite spots- a small open alley of overgrown weeds and grass, the corner of which housed a faded red shrine with a spot for them to sit beside it. She walked in through the undergrowth, enjoying the feeling of the soft green blades and the tickle of curious insects on her shins.

She crouched by the shrine, pressing her palms together and closing her eyes for the moment.

They'll hear your prayers too.

Let them hear it. It's not going to stop me.

Opening her eyes again, she flushed slightly when she noticed Mikael was crouching close by. Sometimes he would sneak up on her.

“You really do believe in gods.” he mused, finding it interesting.

“...I think so, anyway.” Miria shrugged, “I don't know if they're real or not. It could all be made up, but I like to believe there's something out there that's so much stronger.”

Because perhaps then, there was some way for them all to be saved.

…

Perhaps though, they needn't rely on deities after all.

Miria knocked on the door to Kazumi's apartment as she did every Saturday evening. It was her typical routine to spend the entire weekend here before she had no choice but to go back to the dorms.

Of course, she worried about it sometimes. Was Kazumi really okay with her coming here so often? If the aliens dug around in the data deeply enough during her next 'check-up', they'd find the thoughts and memories of her going here. There were many of them, and it would leave Kazumi and her location completely exposed.

Yet the woman seemed not to mind. She always encouraged Miria to come whenever she liked.

And today, she had reason to feel safer than ever.

As soon as the teen stepped through the door, Kazumi had her gripped by the shoulders, shaking her around with a huge grin and gleaming eyes, her braces practically sparkling just the same. The vape pen she had teetering from her lip fell to the porch floor as she announced excitedly,

“I've finally cracked it!”

Miria, bewildered, found herself being pulled along by her wrist until they both stumbled into the heart of the apartment, where Kazumi's kitchen, lounge and bed all came together as one. She encouraged the girl to sit at the lopsided kotatsu in the center of the room, hopping over boxes and bags to retrieve something.

When she returned, she was carrying some kind of small silver cylinder pinched between her forefingers.

“Ever wonder why I'm so chill about you coming here? It's because I've always known I'd make a breakthrough with this little baby soon enough-” Kazumi was all smiles as she sat snug beside Miria and showed her the petite device.

“What is it?” Miria asked, looking lost, and heard a chuckle from the older woman.

“Heh, this? This is what I've been working on since I ran away from the city at 15. From day one of my freedom here, I worked to find a way to fight back. And it's finally working well.”

She held the cylinder up, showing it off.

“It's a device used to erase memories. It's not as powerful as I'd like it to be yet, but it can take care of 24 hours easily enough. Not just erase, but replace, with false recollections instead.” she said, “I tested it on myself yesterday.”

Kazumi pulled a sticky note from the edge of the kotatsu and showed Miria, “I left myself this note before I tried it. It listed all the things I actually did yesterday, from the breakfast I ate to the VHS tapes I watched. I wrote to myself that if the device worked, I would remember everything completely differently, and so I did.” she explained, “Yesterday, I mixed up some tuna and rice for breakfast, and in the evening I watched my copy of Starship Troopers. But that's not how I remember it. I remember eating cereal in the morning, and watching Star Wars in the evening.”

Turning the note over, she revealed more of her writing on the back,

“I also wrote this to myself, saying that that's exactly how I'd remember things. So I must have deliberately overwritten my memories with the device, making me think I did everything differently. Do you understand?”

Miria reeled back a bit, to the point where her palms had to keep her sitting steady. She blinked a few times, before slowly nodding.

“I...think I understand...”

“It's very simple, all you have to do is hold it up by where the implant is, and conjure up a story in your mind to overwrite your memories. Just enough for 24 hours, and it doesn't have to be too detailed. Memories are rarely that detailed, even a day earlier.” Kazumi looked relieved, “It's real easy, and I'm not experiencing any side effects so far either. It worked just how I wanted it to.”

Her fingertips graced up against the skin beneath her ear.

“It would still be nice to get rid of the damn thing entirely. But maybe this'll be enough to stop the Gougers from turning themselves into vegetables.”

Now, Maria could understand why Kazumi had been so elated. With new technology like this, they could really change the dynamic, even in a small way.

“I made a copy for you, and I'm working on duplicating more for my neighbors to start off with-” Kazumi said, setting the cylinder in Miria's open palm, “Take it with you, and if those aliens take you in for a check-up after you've met me, just use it prior. If they're checking recollections, they usually don't go past 24 hours anyway, unless you've done something real serious.”

“The worst I do is get snarky in class, and it's not even by choice.” Miria chuckled, and slipped the cylinder into her shirt pocket. On cue, that other voice piped up again:

If you expect me to be a goody two shoes through those godawful lectures, you can think again.

She was hardly so bothered now. Scoldings at the principal's office weren't fun, but knowing she could at least keep Kazumi safe was more of a priority than avoiding detention.

“You should be careful though.” Kazumi suddenly said, her smile easing away as her tone became more serious, “If that other voice of yours keeps acting up so much, they might up the ante and take you in for brainwashing. That's something I can't help you with, not just yet.”

Miria nodded grimly, placing her hand over her pocket and clutching the fabric.

Hear that? If I get brainwashed then you'll be affected too, you know? Kazumi's right, we have to be more careful.

Fine, fine. But I can't promise anything.

Miria breathed out gently, smiling softly. What a pleasant surprise.

It was the first time that reasoning seemed to have worked.