Chapter 10:

Request and Decision

Violet: No. 02189


BAM!!!

“Are you mocking me!!?”

Mayu looked startled at Ren who had left his chair and was punching the table while Hideki maintained his composure (it was like he was already expecting some kind of reaction from the young man) and stared firmly at Ren’s infuriated eyes.

“All of this! All you said is complete and total bullshit!!”

“Do I look so stupid that you think I’d be fooled by a story like that!!?”

“Calm down Ren-kun!!”

Mayu stands up and put her hand on Ren’s arm in an attempt to divert his attention and stop his fit of anger. Ren looks over his shoulder and exhales. At the sight of Mayu’s pleading face, the young man decides to stop acting harshly.

Now back in their respective chairs, Hideki decides to keep talking like nothing had interrupted his exposition.

“This reaction of yours Renichi-san most probably condones with your innocence”

“The only thing I’m left curious about is:”

“Which part of my story is the one you find so outrageous?”

Shaking his leg, trying to dispel the energy that would otherwise be used against Hideki, Ren impatiently answers the man:

“The whole thing! What you described was Violet!”

“A Blue would never live a life like that!”

Hideki raises one eyebrow, as Ren continues his reasoning.

“The only thing your people do is steal and attack us!”

“I see…” – Hideki calmy asserts.

“Could you please tell us your vision of Blue and its people?”

“I’m sure you know this much better than I do!!”

“No, no, I insist. Your opinion is very much necessary for this conversation to go forward”

Visibly bothered by Hideki’s calm attitude and request, Ren rubs his nape while lifting his chin.

“Despite copying Violet’s tech for war purposes, people from Blue believe that all the technology Violet has had become a curse”

“That’s why they try to invade Violet’s territory and destroy all our progress!”

“The Blue say all the technology made us lazier and less human!”

“When in truth, humanity itself would have perished long before without it!”

“What a joke! How could any of this technology ever be a curse? Almost everyone can live without worries for at least 120 years. We can travel long distances in a blink of an eye. We don’t even have crime or inequality anymore. So how could any of this be a curse!?”

A brief silence fills up the room as the three of them stare at each other before Hideki decides to break the quietness:

“Don’t you think this explanation is a little strange? Why would the Blue want to condemn technology as evil, while also using the same technology to attack Violet?”

“Well, that’s what I want to know as well!”

“The people from Violet have many theories on that, the main one being the simplest:”

“Blue wouldn’t stand a chance against us without weapons on pair with ours”

Hideki massages his forehead while a seemly disappointed expression is drawn on his face.

“And there I thought there was goin’ to be something more refined and justifiable. Guess I expected too much”

“What do you mean!?”

Hideki leaves his chair and relocates behind it placing his arms on the chair’s backrest.

“Since the beginning, I didn’t think the reason for Violet invading us made all that much sense”

“Blue said to us that Violet wanted more resources that they couldn’t find on their own land”

“That’s ridiculous! The nano-robot technology covers any resource problem we could ever have!”

“And for that, they just said the resources are some kind of rare metal only encountered in our land, and that metal is used to create the nano-robot battery”

Mayu up until that moment had not said a word, she only looked at both the men discussing terms and experiences she had no idea how to grasp. However, she still paid attention to every single thing uttered by them before finally deciding to say something herself:

“Both Violet and Blue lied to their citizens about the reasons for the war!”

It’s an obvious conclusion, and one any person who heard the conversation could draw. However, the innocent and honest tone carried by Mayu disarmed any kind of hostile response Ren could have upon hearing it.

“!!”

Despite forcing himself to make a shocked expression, this conclusion was also an obvious one for Ren.

“I see…”

A pained look is cast on Ren’s face as he squeezes his eyes and averts his gaze from the others by looking down.

“One more thing Renichi-san”

Ren looks at the man from the corner of his eye, while the professor reaches for something inside of his lab coat’s internal pocket.

“If you still somehow doubt me, maybe this can change up your mind”

Hideki throws an object in Ren’s direction. The young man quickly stretches his arm and catches it in mid-air.

Taking a look at it is enough to make Ren realize the professor’s story had at least some credibility. It was a smartphone, not a model made in Violet, but still very similar in design and functionality.

Upon handling it, Ren is able to see photos in which he saw people, structures, and a great variety of objects that could only be found in a place extremely similar to Violet. While also still harboring enough differences that you could not take one place with one another.

Ren sighs and puts the phone on the table. At that point, he was almost one hundred percent sure the man was not lying to him.

“You could’ve shown this to me before. It’d have saved our time a bunch”

The professor takes the phone from the table and puts it where it was before while answering Ren’s remark:

“Don’t you remember what I said before? This whole conversation was not to tell you my past, or to make you believe in what I want you to believe”

“I wanted to make sure you’re someone to be trusted”

“And to be perfectly honest, I’m still not completely sold, but you seem trustworthy enough to stay with us”

“Yeeeeeey~!”

Mayu raises from her chair with an arm lifted above her head, punching the air in a celebratory pose.

Hideki lets out a little chuckle.

“So that means you trusted my judgment, after all?”

“Eeeeehh!?”

“I never said that, stupid!”

Hideki clears his throat, trying to bring seriousness into the environment, once again.

“Renichi-san, what do you plan to do now after hearing all of this? Keep in mind I won’t let you walk around doing whatever you want. Not until I’m 100% sure you’re not a threat to everyone here”

Ren puts his hands behind his head and inclines himself on the chair giving out a relaxed and carefree aura to himself.

“Well, I don’t know much about this city myself in the first place, so it’s not like I can actually do anything I want”

“I don’t mind if you stay with us Ren-kun!”

“Grampa, or should I say, Mr. Amano, certainly would not have a problem in accommodating you to our shrine!”

Mayu finishes her statement with a smile on her face while making a gesture inviting Ren to leave the room.

“Wait up!”

The professor says before Ren could even get up from his chair.

“Before you go, I have three personal requests for you Renichi-san. You’re obviously not obliged to adhering them, but if you do, I’ll be much more inclined to see you as an ally”

Ren changes his posture, demonstrating interest in Hideki’s words.

Making gestures with his hand, Hideki illustrates each topic of his speech:

“Frist: Team up with us and help our work of recovering lost relics from the surface”

“Second: Try to understand and assimilate the culture here”

“And third: If you decide to follow the two other requests, come to talk to me in a month”

Ren looks confused at Hideki. As the man doesn’t show any reaction, he turns to Mayu who only shakes her head signaling even she doesn’t know fully well what Hideki meant by that.

Ren complacently sighs as he finally gets up from the chair.

“Okay, I’ll try to do as you said”

Hideki nods to him as Ren and Mayu both leave the office.

“One last thing Renichi-san…”

“You don’t have to pretend anymore. You’re free here, nobody will ever reprimand you for thinking for yourself. So, try to use that in your favor, okay!?

That last phrase, although it only seemed to be meaningless banter, reached Ren’s very core. After this convoluted and strange interaction with the professor, Hideki Junpei. Those last words were the ones that resonated the most with Ren. Even if they are from opposite places, even if they have contrary personalities, Ren could not deny that no one could understand him better than that man, for better or worse.

The walk towards the exit was silent and continued like that all the way until Ren and Mayu came out through the hatch. When both of them finally reached the messed-up room where they were surprised by the professor’s sudden attack, Mayu decided to try break-up the ice:

“I don’t know if it’s ok to say it like this, as I’m honestly still confused by a lot of the things you and the professor said to each other, but-”

“Try to cheer up, okay!?”

A genuine smile is drawn on Mayu’s face as she leans her torso forward in a cute gesture.

“T-thanks…”

Without knowing what to say Ren ends up responding in a sharp and embarrassing way while looking away from Mayu.

“But, you’re not the only one who is confused. I honestly don’t know what to think from all of this”

“It’s like I’m having a really weird dream, and I’ll wake up at any moment”

Mayu expressively puts one hand above the other in a sign indicating she had an idea.

“Then, let’s pray for you to have good dreams!”

“Pray, uh!?”

Ren once again appears to be intrigued and uncomfortable with words that have some kind of mystique meaning to them.

The young man and the girl walk side by side in the temple’s garden amidst all the other people visiting the place.

While walking, Ren once again seems to lose himself inside his own mind. Imagining and trying to understand what exactly was happening to him and what path he should take from that moment forward.

Cora
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