Underground City: ■■■-■■■■■

It’s dark…

I always had thought that death would be exactly like this. Without image, or sound, and yet, somehow peaceful.

It’s kinda strange that I’m not feeling particularly sad or regretful, despite still having many unanswered questions. Guess it’s because now there’s nothing more I can do to change anything.

Now that I think about it, maybe I couldn’t have changed anything from the start and just struggled in vain.

…

For some reason, I’m still here… Maybe it takes some time to disappear into oblivion? Or maybe, I still have some regrets after all?

…

I don’t have anything to do anymore besides waiting, so I guess it’d not hurt to give it some thought.

…

..

.

Oh! Now I think get it…

In the shows I used to watch, when the hero died after a noble sacrifice, they always had a flash showing them all of what happened in their lives. All their remarkable and even some unremarkable moments.

Of course, like all the citizens of Violet, I know very well the difference between fiction and reality, however, when scenes like these appeared, I couldn’t help myself but wonder: “What moments of my life would be worth revisiting one last time?”

Now the answer is very clear, and it somehow annoys me, but the simple truth is that:

There is none!

Not a single memory,

Not a single emotion,

Not a single person.

…

..

.

Guess only heroes have those kinds of last moments.

So in a way, this boring ending is somewhat fitting for me. I’m nothing but a traitor, and ultimately a cold-blooded killer.

This is harsh. But it’s not like I don’t deserve it.

…

“Don’t die!”

…

!!

Wait, I’m hearing something…

A voice, a female voice that seems to be very distant...

It’s like I’m inside a lake or a cave, and the voice is very faint but still resonates within my head.

…

Who could it be? This isn’t 02174’s voice.

And certainly, couldn’t be her…

…

But whoever it belongs to, I like this voice.

It’s soothing and gentle, but also carries strength.

I kind of wish I could hear more of it…

…

..

.

Somehow, I open my eyes again.

I hear a whirring sound and see a ceiling I don’t recognize.

After all that, I’m still alive.

…

It’s without a doubt, a strange sensation. Just moments ago, I was accepting of my own demise, despite having fought so hard for survival, and now that I’m here alive I don’t particularly have any kind of strong reaction. I once again can’t grasp my own feelings and reasoning.

Those kinds of thoughts are too troublesome, maybe I should for once do what my teachers always told me to do: ‘If you have thoughts that are too difficult or too strange, ignore them and go with the flow

02189 stretches out and gives a better look at his surroundings.

The hell is this giant thing on the ceiling? Is it supposed to be a fan? I see, this annoying noise is this thing’s fault.

The room is kind of small and, besides the ceiling fan and the bed, the only things worth mentioning are this desk full of what seems to be outdated surgeon tools and that wall cabinet, probably filled up with medication.

This bed is not uncomfortable by any means, but it also doesn’t seem to be the most adequate for a resting patient.

In hindsight, this place as a whole doesn’t seem like a proper hospital room. It’s really shady, which could only mean one thing…

I’m currently outside Violet’s jurisdiction.

Now sitting on the bed, 02189 gives a deep breath as he tries to fathom the situation he is in right now.

A few minutes go by, and the still distraught young man decides to get out of bed, but before doing so, he apprehensively cheeks his body. Maybe unconsciously fearing what could’ve happened to him, since the time 02189 opened his eyes, he hadn’t looked at his right arm, nor other parts he had previously wounded in the fight that almost cost his life.

To his surprise, his right arm only had two small scars from where the bullet entered and another where it got out. Even more surprisingly, he had no more marks he could see.

02189 removes the saline bag’s needle from his left arm. Getting up, another thing that caught up to 02189’s attention was that he was still wearing his skin-thigh armor, and it was intact, despite now being without battery, helmet, and sword.

He gave the first step out of his bed, but he couldn’t keep his balance, 02189 by reflex tried to hang on the desk beside him, but even so, he still fell and took down the table with him causing a loud metal bang, but luckily, none of the surgery tools that were on it fell on 02189.

As he’s on the ground 02189 hears the blare of rushing footsteps coming into the room.

BAAAAAAAM!!!!

“Freeze!!”

Carrying a shotgun pointed forward, a man seemly in his late 60s had just busted the room’s fragile wood door with a kick.

The man had his head covered in white hair which was in an all-pulled-back hairstyle, he also had a cigar between his teeth and was wearing sunglasses, a leather jacket, gloves, and pants, all black and full of little blue LED cubes. That man was the single weirdest-looking person 02189 had ever seen.

It took a few seconds before the old man could understand that the cause of the sound was the person lying on the ground.

Putting his shotgun to rest on the holster on his hip, the old man offers his hand to 02189 with a relieved smirk on his face.

“I see, ya already tried to get back to yer feet!”

Using the old man’s hand as support 02189 get’s back up and says:

“So, it was you the one who saved me?”

The old man gives a surprised look to the young one and laughs before answering:

“Gahaha! Saved? Nah, I just let you sleep here”

The old man swiftly moves towards the door and before leaving the room, gives one more message to 02189:

“We’ve got a lotta stuff to discuss, but that hafta wait. ‘Till now you only had serum, so follow me, and let’s eat something”

Leaning on the walls 02189 follows the old man. Now outside the room, he finds a small, badly lighted corridor.

“I gotta say, you’re a pretty lucky fella; Woke up just in time for dinner!”

The young man stops for a brief moment after hearing those words.

Lucky!? I don’t know what part of what happened to me since I went to that battlefield was lucky!

02189 looks at the old man’s back and thinks twice before saying something mean to that stranger that was kind enough to let him, another stranger, rest in that room that was probably on his property.

The young man only let out a small sigh before continuing to follow the old man’s steps.

At the end of the corridor, 02189 is taken by surprise by the chattering and music noises he begins to hear as the old man slowly opens the door.

The strong lights dazzle me as I was in the dark probably for quite some time. In contrast to the room I was in before, this place, which resembles and probably is a cafe, is quite large and has too much goin’ on.

I don’t even know where to focus my eyes, it’s pretty overwhelming. There’re neon signs all over the place! Mostly on the walls however many of them are only half-lit. Some cables dangerously flick with sparks as they hang from the ceiling entirely made of multi-colored lightbulbs. While the floor has a simple checkered pattern that reflects the illumination from the walls and ceiling.

As for the tables… it’s honestly hard to describe what I’m seeing. The place is full of people, all of them are wearing pieces of clothing I only ever saw similar in children’s cartoons. Some of them have their hair colored in unusual colors, and others even seem to have metal pieces attached to them. Why’d someone do something like that? The majority of them are also heavily armed, but this place doesn’t strike me as a military base or anything like that, so I’m left even more confused.

The music playing also perplexes me, I can’t find a way to describe it without the words ‘loud’ and ‘chaotic’. As a greasy smell soaks the air, I begin to feel a little nauseated despite being hungry. By reflex, I rapidly cover up my nose and mouth.

“Yo! I’m glad you’re already back on your feet, numbered friend!”

A familiar voice startles me as it comes by surprise to my side as I was distracted by this place of sensory overload.

Now that I hear it again, I finally remember it. The voice I heard when I was in the dark… was this voice, it was Kaede’s voice.

I turn myself to greet her, but she passes by in response to one man’s request:

“Here!”

The man was sitting at a table with a group of three other people, he just raised his hand to grab Kaede’s attention.

Now that I look at Kaede’s attire, it’s very different from the last time I saw her. Now she’s wearing what looks like a…

Maid outfit? Not only that but she also has a hair accessory mimicking a cat’s ear.

“Kaede, grab a burger for you and ya friend and take a little break!”

The old man’s voice imposes itself despite the place’s many noises.

Kaede finishes putting the plate on the client’s table and turns back to the old man making a cutesy pose while answering:

“Aye aye, sir!”

Without saying anything Kaede takes two hamburgers from the automatic counter, puts them on a plate, and with the other hand grabs me by the wrist while going in the direction of what seems to be that establishment’s main entrance.

“What’re you doin’?” – I ask, confused.

“This‘s payback for the last time”

Kaede joyfully answers while making a face with her tongue sticking out.

The two leave the lounge and the girl sits on the sidewalk while pushing the boy down to do the same. 02189 tries to resist a little but is compelled to just do as the girl did.

When 02189 gives a good look at the place outside, he’s once again taken by surprise. It’s a garden, with many cherry blossom trees on both sides, and white stone forming the path between the grass bed on which the trees are. The cleanness and simplicity make a great contrast to what could be seen inside.

“It’s really pretty isn’t it?” – Asks Kaede calmly, while offering one of the hamburgers to 02189.

“Is this safe to eat?”

The young man asks with a concerned look on his face.

“C’mon! Have you never eaten a burger before? I thought you guys from the surface were supposed to be the most developed ones!”

Kaede’s remark again leaves 02189 to be very confused and worried, but he takes the food from Kaede’s offering hand and takes a tiny bite.

“It’s not bad…”

“Told ya!” – Kaede gives a thumbs up while munching her hamburger.

“But for your information, I had hamburgers before, but their taste and smell are completely different from this one for some reason”

Kaede scratches her head, without grasping what 02189 could mean by that.

“So, what do you plan to do with me now? If you were not lying to me, this isn’t Blue’s territory”

The serious tone of the young man’s inquiry makes Kaede also straighten up her face, as she rested the half-eaten burger on the plate she had brought with her, that was beside the girl.

“Come with me”

Without saying any more words, Kaede got up and immediately 02189 followed.

“What are you doing? You wanna show me something?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Some things are easier to understand when you see for yourself.”

The duo walks for some minutes following the path on the stone floor. Some people pass by them, and Kaede greets one another. They pass by some kind of red portal, that 02189 looks curious about, but he continues on his way trying to not get unnecessarily distracted.

When Kaede finally stops, 02189 realizes they are on the top of a place quite high, like a cliff or something similar. Making an encouraging gesture to the young man, Kaede says:

“Take a look, this is where you are right now…”

02189 approaches the edge and looks down with his eyes widened, as he’s taken aback by what he sees.

“Welcome to the underground city: Neo-Tokyo!”